THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SERIES – PART 19
By Danny
Shreffler
The reality that there is indeed a racial aspect contained with
the scripture provokes a large variety of reactions. Among them we find:
Ø Those who reject the Scripture because they believe the humanist
view of the equality of all mankind. This category totally rejects the reality
of divine inspiration. They are blind with the ability to neither see nor
understand the spiritual teachings of Yah’s word.
Ø Those who believe that the racial aspect of the Old Scriptures has
somehow been totally abrogated and replaced by a spiritual Israel inherent
within the parameters of the New Covenant alone. Those of this category believe
the New Covenant was totally instituted at the time of the death of Yahshua the
Christ some 2000 years ago.
Ø Those who do believe there is a scripturally based chosen people
but differ on who they think they are. A variety of races have those among them
who believe they are the descendants of the ancient Hebrew or Israel race.
Subcategories of this group include:
Blacks who believe they are the
Israelites of the Scripture and are due the inherent promise or rewards and
blessings to which they have long been denied. Most of these totally ignore the
downside of the curses that also follow those same people when in disobedience.
Many in this group also believe ‘Jesus’ was black.
Some Orientals who have also
believe they are the true chosen descendants of the Hebrew patriarchs.
Those who call themselves Jews
today but follow a religion centered on occult Babylonian religious practices
which are totally aberrant to the true teachings of the Bible.
Whites who believe they are the
true descendants of Adam and recipients of the blessings promised to his
progeny through the linage of Seth, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Unfortunately most people do not have enough regard for the Word
of Yah to even concern them with the question at hand. They could not care
less. This includes both the secular sense and those who discard the physical
heritage of Israel because of religious beliefs. Most of those who purport a
belief in the Christian Bible rarely even read it let alone study it. The
extent of their understanding is enclosed within the parameters of the church
they attend on Sunday morning. In many cases this brief encounter is centered
on a sermon containing one verse of scripture and a lot of feel-good
psycho-babble prepared to make the listener feel good about their existence in
the midst of a society which has forgotten God. True understanding is avoided
and sin totally ignored.
“The priests said not, Where is
Yahuwah? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also
transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after
things that do not profit.” – Jer.
2:8
THE
reality OF GOD
To a true believer, it is unimaginable how it is possible for one
not to believe in the existence of an intelligence which created the heavens
and the earth. Just as the physical heaven and earth testify to His existence,
the allegorical equivalent (the physical and spiritual) proves the very
existence of God.
God exists. In fact His very name YHWH,
means I am or I exist. One of the attributes of the true God is that He is
eternal. Just as He does exist, He will continue to exist, forever. Just as
certainly, if this god is the true God, His words will endure forever. Just as
God exists, truth exists. It cannot be modified nor changed and it cannot be
forced to fit a false narrative.
“Heaven
and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” – Luke 21:33
Of course many will deny this simple truth. In doing so they also
deny and ignore the very creation which testifies to the existence of the one
who unabashedly acclaims I EXIST – I AM.
In juxtaposition to those who refuse to acknowledge or believe in
God, we find others who willingly accept Him as a reality without ever being
able to give a questioner any tangible reason for their faith. Their belief is
based on faith and faith alone.
Then there are the true theologians, those who seek truth and long
to answer the deep questions. What is really true? How can it be proven to the
doubter? Where and who is God and how does He reveal His will and His way to
mankind?
One of those answers is race. If there is truly a God who created
all things and as theologians teach divinely inspired the words of Scripture,
then it follows that those words must be true for Him to be true. In vetting
the book we know as the Christian Bible, we find a teaching that sets forth the
proposition that the God of this Bible has chosen a particular group of people
on the earth to be special to Him. In order for this to be the true God as set
forth by Christianity, then we must find the words to be true.
If we examine
the words and find a people which answer to the words He has spoken, then we
will have found a witness to the authenticity of His very existence and
validation of His word.
“For
thou art an holy people unto Yahuwah thy God: Yahuwah thy God hath chosen thee
to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of
the earth.” – Deut. 7:6
Theology is like any scientific study. Those who do seek answers
in its confines find their ventures to be akin to pealing an onion. Every layer
takes one deeper and exposes more of that which is within. In examining the
claim stated above, we seek not only to identify those ‘special people’, we
seek to validate the very existence of the One who spoke these words.
Finding evidence of relationship between God and a particular race
necessarily requires plain statements identifying those of whom He speaks. Can
they be identified as one particular race, family or people? Are the words of
the creator about race still applicable today? How do we find these answers and
how do we know who they are? The answers are in His word.
A
PECULIAR PEOPLE – a treasure
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for
all the earth is mine:” – Ex.
19:5
There are several places in both the Old and New Testaments of the
Scriptures which call the chosen people of God peculiar. Why are God's people peculiar? Are they odd? Queer? Strange? Some people
believe they are. Others don't believe you qualify unless you are looked upon
by the ‘world’ as being strange. Let's look deeper.
The
Hebrew word for peculiar is defined in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible from the Hebrew (5459) as: to shut up; wealth (as closely shut up). It is
translated in the KJV of the Scripture as: ‘peculiar (treasure), proper, good,
special.’ The connotation used here refers to something which is unique,
precious and special rather than odd. It seems as though the word peculiar is
almost exclusively used in our day and age as someone as odd or weird even
though that is not shown in Webster's new world dictionary as being the primary
meaning. Quote “peculiar 1. of only one person, thing, group, country, etc.;
distinctive; exclusive. 2. particular; unique; special. 3. out of the ordinary;
queer; odd; strange.”
Three of the passages where the adjective ‘peculiar’ is used in
reference to Yah’s people, it is properly joined with the word ‘treasure’. We
find the word peculiar as used in the scriptures has a fuller meaning. It
carries with it an implication of something in which great wealth or a very
precious treasure is stored. In each of the passages used in the Bible the
inference is that the chosen ones of God are very precious and unique in their
relationship with the Almighty. They are his repository, his storehouse with
whom he has deposited great wealth. This makes them unique, not in the sense of
being odd or strange but precious and rare. Within them, the great allegory of
Yah’s plan is stored.
“...thou
art an holy people unto Yahuwah thy God, and Yahuwah hath chosen thee to be a
peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” – Deut. 14:2
Just as an earthly father has a special place in his heart for his
own children, God holds a special place in His heart for His own children. He
has chosen to protect them, bless them, provide for them and correct them just
as any good father would do. Closely relating to the treasure chest, He also
calls them his jewels. In a kingdom parable He calls them a pearl of great
price, and in Revelation 21:21 there are twelve gates of pearl signifying the
twelve tribes of Israel.
“And
they shall be mine, saith Yahuwah of hosts, in that day when I make up my
jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” - Mal. 3:7
“And
Yahuwah their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for
they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his
land.” – Zech. 9:16
“Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of Yahuwah, and a royal diadem in
the hand of thy God.” – Isa. 62:3
The jewels in
the ephod detailed in Ex. 28 also represented the twelve tribes.
This should
also serve to give us a great clue to the symbolic meaning of the crown on the
woman’s (Israel’s) head in Revelation 12:1 The segue between jewels, stars and
the 12 tribes is readily seen in scripture when you consider the various
passages applying to the same thing.
STARS
“Yahuwah your God hath multiplied you, and,
behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.” – Deut. 1:10
Joseph saw the tribes as stars. In multiple passages Yah promised
to make the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the stars. They
correlate with the sons of God in Job 38:7. (see: Gen. 15:5, 26:4, 37:9; Ex.
32:13; 1 Chron. 27:23; Job 38:7; Isa. 14:13; Dan 8:10; and Dan. 12:3)
In summary, there is some wealth or treasure within the true
people of God. As we look for the
meaning of what that treasure is, what it means and who the people are, we
should anticipate, nay, expect multiple characteristics, promises and
attributes manifested in them which reveal their proper claim of Biblical
ancestry. More importantly we will seek to understand an even deeper
allegorical meaning to exactly what it means to be a son of God.
JACOB
& ISRAEL
Adam was chosen from those created on the sixth day and set in a
garden designed to protect him and in some sense restrict him. His sons parted
into two different lineages, one which pursued the true religion given to the
people as ordained by God and illustrated to Adam through the slaying of a lamb
to provide clothing for him and his wife.
Seth, who may rightly be called the righteous branch, continued in
the forming process Yah had begun with his father Adam passing down the
teachings (the treasure) God had begun with his father, Adam. As the linage
continued we find one named Abram who extra Biblical sources tell us considered
the gods of his father Terah. Among these gods were the sun, the moon and other
celestial bodies. Abram reasoned none of these could be God, because any being
truly being God, would necessarily have created the very bodies others chose to
worship.
He listened and the Ever-living called him away from the land of
his fathers into a land where he could prosper and be blessed. Because of the
faith exhibited by obedience to the voice he had heard, God blessed him and
promised him that his seed would be like both the sand of the seas (his
physical seed) and the stars of the heaven (his spiritual seed). In doing so, he changed his name to Abraham
meaning ‘father of a multitude’.
Abraham
then had a son who he called Isaac. God told Abraham “...in Isaac shall thy
seed be called.” (Gen 21:12) In the course of time Isaac again passes these
promises down to his son Jacob.
“And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and
said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go
to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a
wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. And God
Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou
mayest be a multitude of people” – Gen
28:1-3
In the pronouncement of the blessing, Isaac, as his father before
him, does all he can to see that the purity of race is maintained. Certainly
the very reason for the great flood of Noah and the very evil most preachers
today ignore or improperly understand, was still fresh in the minds of the
patriarchs of the Biblical saga.
Jacob then has a dream where Yah speaks once again and tells Jacob
his seed will be as the dust of the earth. In the dream there is a ladder
reaching from the earth into heaven. God once again reveals to his people the
desire to show the symbiotic relationship between heaven and earth, His desire
for the two to be one and His desire for man to see the ultimate goal of the
Almighty as expressed by Yahshua when He instructed us to pray “thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven.”
Upon rising, Jacob erects a pillar and names the place Bethel
meaning the house of God.
As his father before him, Jacob exercised faith when called by
God. He left his idols behind. He followed God’s leadings, promised a tithe to
the Almighty, and cut out a portion of his flocks as a restitution and peace
offering to his brother Esau whom he felt he had wronged. Still Jacob, whose
name meant heal catcher (one who trips) or supplanter, was ill at ease. He had
no peace and one night in solitude began a process any truly born again person
should immediately recognize. He wrestled with God, allegorically likened to a
man, and would not let go until he was blessed by the Almighty.
Now understand that Jacob had already been promised a multiplicity
of seed and blessings in the land that God had promised, but he was not
satisfied. Now he exhibited a characteristic that undoubtedly made him even
more precious to God. He sought forgiveness of his past sins evidenced by his
stated remorse. He sought peace that only God can give and true to His divine
nature, Yah answered. In the account he touched Jacob’s thigh and the man once
surviving on his own prowess and his own labor as exhibited in his relationship
with his father-in-law, now found it necessary to lean on Yah for his strength.
God changed his name to Israel.
An allegorical level of this event is missed by many, perhaps most
people. Understanding this event brings us up another step in our search to
understand the proofs of exactly what God is seeking to reveal to His people
through race. It also leads to the absolute factual truth of who truly is the
creator God, and who His people are.
THE
SEGUE – THE WITNESSES OF GOD
Most people believe that Jacob and Israel are one in the same. Are
they really? Sure Jacob once he became Israel was the same man physically
speaking. He was not, however, the same man in the spiritual sense. He had been
born again. No longer would he live by heel grabbing, tripping and deceit; he
would now obey the precepts of God and enjoy the inherent blessings. Indeed
Jacob and Israel are two, and it is in this sense the following passage has its
significance.
“But
now thus saith Yahuwah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed
thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy
name; thou art mine... Ye are my witnesses, saith Yahuwah, and my
servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me.” – Isa. 43:1 & 10.
Now my dear friends consider carefully the verses above. You see,
Jacob and Israel were indeed one but still are two. Just like the previous
writings on the creating, choosing and forming of Adam, we now see God in His
allegorical method of teaching is showing the first is created; that’s the
physical and the second is formed; that’s the spiritual.
Jacob was created. Simply put, Jacob (the physical man) changed
morally and spiritually. The forming process had begun as reflected in and
represented by his new name, Israel. The inner man was now being formed in the
image of God just as the Almighty had sought to form Adam into the man He
wished him to be. The process was a new birth. The new inner man represented
the new creature man becomes at the moment of his spiritual birth and referred
to in 2 Cor. 5:17 and Gal. 6:15. Once touched by God, the clay (physical man)
began to be shaped and formed into what Yah desired him to be. Once again
heaven had united with earth. The event also serves as a type of the rebirthing
of the entire nation of Israel to come.
The same theme is continues in chapter 44. In Isaiah 44:1-2 he
says: “Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
Thus saith Yahuwah that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will
help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, (the upright) whom
I have chosen.”
Just as Adam was chosen to begin the process of forming and
molding into what God wished him to be; Israel represents the choosing of
another man, Jacob in whom the same allegory is repeated. Both, of course in
the royal sense, represent the entire group of Adamites or Israelites and
ultimately those chosen and formed by the work of the almighty into exactly
what He wishes them to be.
Do you see it my friends? Jacob, the servant, represented the Old
Covenant. The Old Covenant represented servitude, bondage and rote physical
adherence to the document signed between Yahuwah and His people. On the night
Jacob wrestled with God, the Father chose him and drew him to Himself. Jacob
became Israel represented as Jesurun in this passage, meaning upright.
Read the entire chapters of Isaiah 43 and 44. They speak of the
blind and the deaf! They speak of justification, redemption, and salvation.
They tell us why God has given us over to correction. It speaks of them being gathered
and considering the FORMER things!
Bring all the nations and have them consider the FORMER (physical)
things! That is history. That is what has happened to our fathers in the
physical realm. You are my witnesses God declares (and yes it is plural).
Beside me there is no Savior! And lastly it tells us that they, whoever they
are, have forgotten their history (the former things). This is the history of
the Exodus, the flood, the numerous times they were saved from their enemies
and the correction meted upon them by the false christs who God himself set
over them for their correction
Yah
says “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my
praise.”
It also speaks of the new thing (covenant – spiritual) that will
spring forth! It is the formed in the image of God, the Jesurun, the true
Christians, the born again who are the second witness.
So can we now dispense with the Elijah and Moses or the Elijah and
Enoch theories? Can we now understand the three days as being a period of time
from distant point in our past history until the day the witnesses, in unison,
again rise to proclaim the factual existence of the ever-living creator? A
period when both the physical Jacob people and the spiritual Israel lying dead
in the proverbial and allegorical streets of the world arise to again give
evidence of our God?
Adam and his descendants are also called the sons of God. In New
Testament passages those who were benefit of the same event Adam, Abram, and
Jacob experienced are also called sons of God.
Angel means messenger and it fits perfectly that those holding the
treasure and doing the witnessing, whether they know it or not, are carrying a
testimony of the Living God. They are His witnesses and they are the messengers
(angels) spreading His message.
This is what a witness does. In this sense the applicable dictionary definition
which applies is this: to bear witness to; testify to; give or afford
evidence of. In the context of Biblical understanding it is to prove the
reality of God by observing what He has said and to discern whether or not it
is true. It is to spread his treasure or his message. It is to be his angel!
Now if you aren’t getting a bit intrigued about how race proves
the reality of God, if you are getting a bit excited about being formed in His
image, or if you have not yet figured out who these people are, then you need
to check your pulse because you are one of the deaf and blind in the scriptural
passages. Worse yet; you are simply dead.
See also: Deut: 26:18; Ps. 135:4; Tit. 2:14
& 1 Pet. 2:9.
