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ment of God. God Almighty-the
F ather of J esus Christ-is
Supreme Lawgiver, and Head over
Christ , and over all that is. We
know that Jesus Christ is to be
King of kings, and Lord of lords–
over both state and church, united
through him.
We know that King David of
ancient Israel (detai ls later) will
be king over the twelve great na–
tions composed of li teral descen–
dants of the twelve tribes of Is–
rael. We know the twelve apostles
will each be a king, sitting on a
throne, over one of those great
nations descended from the tribes
of Israel.
We know it will be government
from the top down. There is to be
a definite chain of authority. No
one will be elected by the people.
Mortal humans have proved they
do not know how to judge qual ifi–
cations, and do not know the inner
minds, hearts, intents and abilities
of men. All will be divinely ap–
pointed from above. All, in posi–
t ions of governmental authority,
will be resurrected immortals, born
of God-no longer flesh-and-blood
humans.
W ith this in mind-with t he
knowledge that Abraham is (hu–
manly) the father of all who are
Christ's and heirs of salvation- it
becomes plain that Abraham will
be given a g reater position of au–
thor ity in God 's kingdom than
David-and that he will be over
both Israelites and gentiles. He is
" father" of gentile converts as well
as l sraelites.
Then again, repeatedly the Bible
uses the phrase, "Abraham , Isaac
and J acob," grouping them to–
gether as a team, and calling them,
together , "the fathers ." For the
promises were repromised, also, to
Isaac and Jacob, whose name was
changed to Israel.
What is plainly revealed indi–
cates, then, that Abraham, Isaac
and J acob wi ll funct ion as a
topflight team, with Abraham as
chairman of the team, next under
Christ in the coming world govern–
ment of God.
J esus himself said, definitely,
that Abraham, Isaac and J acob
shall be in that glorious and glori–
fied kingdom (Luke 13:28).
Joseph qualified in a very special
October 1986
way, but we shall come back to him
a little later.
8 oth Church and St at e
Another principie is made clear in
God's Word: church and state will
be united under Christ. There will
be one government, over all na–
tions. There will be one Church–
one God--one rel ig ion--one edu–
cational system--one social order.
And, as in God's original pattern in
ancient Israel , they will be united .
Three men- Peter, James and
John, among the original twelve
disciples-were privileged to see
the kingdom of God in a vision
(Matt. 17:9). In this vision, J esus,
who was actually with them in per–
son, became transfigured-appear–
ing as the glorified Christ. His face
became bright, shining as the sun,
bis clothing white as light. Two
others appeared with him in this
vision-this glimpse into the com–
ing k ingdom- and they were
Moses and Elijah. These two, in
the vision, represented the offices
of church and state, wi th and under
Christ, as they will be in God's
kingdom. Both Moses and Elijah
qualified in their human lifetime
for very high positions in the king–
dom of God.
Moses was the one through
whom Christ (yes, he was the God
of the Old Testament, as many,
many scriptures prove) gave the
laws and the statutes of govern–
ment for the nation Israel. Moses
was t rained as a son of a pharaoh
(king of Egypt). His training and
experience were among gent iles, as
well as the children of Israel.
Elijah, above all others, is repre–
sented in Scripture as the prophet
who restored the worship of the true
God-and obedience to bis com–
mandments. When Elijah ordered
King Ahab to gather on Mount
Carmel "all Israel" (1 Kings 18:19-
21) and the prophets of Baal and of
Asherah (Easter), he said: " How
long halt ye between two opinions?
if the Lord be God, follow him: but
if Baal, then follow him ..." (verse
21) . And when, at Elijah's 18-sec–
ond prayer (verses 36-37), the fire
fell miraculously from heaven con–
suming Elijah's sacrifice, the people
fell on their faces, and said, " The
Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is
the God" (verse 39).
The vision of tbe Transfiguration
(Matt. 16:27 through 17:9) gave
the apostles Peter, James and John
a preview of Christ coming in bis
kingdom- as he shall come. The
indication is thus given that Moses
and Elijah represented the heads,
under Christ, of state or national
world government (under Moses),
and church or religious activity
(under Elijah).
These two meo, like the " fa–
thers," Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
will then be resurrected immortal,
in power and glory. Certainly the
indication is given us that, under
Christ as King of kings, and under
Christ's top team-the "fathers"–
will be Moses over all organized
national and international govern–
ment; and Elijah, over all orga–
nized church, religious and educa–
tional activity.
Actually, the gospel and reli–
gious development is merely spiri–
tual education . And it is significant
that Elijah had organized a nd
headed three schools or colleges (11
Kings 2:3, 5; 4:38- at Bethel, J eri–
cho and Gi lgal) teaching God's
truth in a world corrupted by false
pagan education.
On the Nat ional Level
Now we gain further insight into
God's coming world government
organization.
On the purely national leve!, the
nations descended from the two
tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
(descended from J oseph), will be–
come the two leading nations of the
world (Jer. 30:16-18; 31:4-11, 18-
20; Isa. 14:1-2; Deut. 28:13).
But, next to them will be the
nations descended from the other
tribes of Israel. And, after them,
but still prosperous and full of
abundant blessings, the gentile na–
tions.
King David, resurrected, immor–
tal, in power and glory,
will
be
king, under Moses, over all twelve
nations of Israel (Jer. 30:9; Ezek.
34:23-24; 37:24-25). Each of the
original twelve apostles wi ll be
king, under David, over one of
these then super-prosperous na–
tions (Matt. 19:28).
Under the apostles, each now king
over a great nation, will be the rulers
over districts, states, shires, counties
or provinces, and over ci t ies.
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