Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
As we begin reading
the books of the various prophets cited in the Old Testament, we see
such grief over the disobedience of the kings and the people of the
kingdoms of Judah and Israel (the divided kingdom).
As long as they obeyed God, they prospered in all that they did.
But
when they disobeyed God and followed another god or their own ideas
apart from God, then God raised up an adversary against them.
Which is more difficult to see: Disobedience to God or what happens to them as a result of disobedience to God.?
I
grieve over both when I see someone disobey God and when I see the
results of their disobedience. Both cause me great grief. I've seen
such things many times in the NT church among individuals who call
themselves Christian.
It is important to start the work ... but it is vitally important to continue the work as long as we live on this present earth and to finish our personal "course".
Paul
talks about the race. If you are in a race, it is not just starting
that race but you must finish that race. If you drop out along the way,
how is that to your credit?
I Cor. 9 ... 24
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the
prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not
as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:27 But I
keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Paul knew he could preach to others and still end up being a cast away.
Certainly this could happen to us. We must continue the race and
finish the race.
We start in the faith in God and in
HIS Word ... but we cannot afford to fall away as many do ... This
falling away from scripture (or falling away from the Holy Spirit and
choosing to go another way) is the sign of antichrist ruling in the hearts of those persons who once followed the Word of God.
II
Thess. 2 ... Paul says ... 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ
is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means:for that day shall
not come, except there come a falling away first (they fell away from scripture and followed another doctrine), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
(anti-christ
is revealed in those who fall away from the scripture they once
professed and find a church that approves them in their own way so they
can continue in their own way. This is antichrist... they oppose
doctrine of the Bible and thereby exalt themselves above such doctrine.)
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(They
who "fall away" continue to attend church or gather with the church
through this blog and such, but actually though they read Bible, they
show themselves to be god over the Holy Spirit for when HE speaks in
gentle thoughts they reject those ideas and do what suits them, thus
following another god and showing themselves to be their own god.)
5
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these
things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in
his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work (Both Paul and John saw this antichirst spirit already at work in the church groups of their day.)
Paul explained: Acts 20 ... 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
John said: I
Jn. 2 ... 18 Little children, it is the last time:and as ye have heard
that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby
we know that it is the last time.
II Thess. 2
:only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And
then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
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The OT happenings are examples for us.
The children of Israel prospered so long as they obeyed God.
When they disobeyed God and went in their own ideas, eventually God
brought an adversary against them to hurt them or they were taken into
captivity and taken to another kingdom where they were slaves to the
kings of that other kingdom.
The OT were kingdoms of
this world where they were taken captive. The NT people who turn from
the way of God are often taken captives by relatives in their own
households or by neighbors.
It is the same thing. They disobeyed God and were taken captive and served another.
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All this was a terrible thing for the prophets and the people of God to see.
It is usually called "the captivity" when you read OT.
Nebuchadnezzar took Judah captive and destroyed the city of Jerusalem.
Belshazzar was one of the kings after Nebuchadnezzar. We read of this in the Book of Daniel.
Then
Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC. And in some of the books of
the prophets in OT we read of Cyrus allowing them to go to rebuild
Jerusalem. But Jerusalem was never restored to the glory of Solomon.
And the kingdoms were still divided into Judah who lived at Jerusalem
and to the other 10 tribes which were Israel who lived outside
Jerusalem.
Some people looked forward to the restoration of one kingdom.
The disciples came to Jesus with this question, desiring one kingdom. Acts 1 ... 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the
seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:and ye shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Will the kingdom ever be restored to one kingdom?
I believe the following tells the truth about this matter.
II
Peter 3 ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all
holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Revelation
21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I
John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former
things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
... 22 And I saw no temple therein:for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it:for the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are
saved shall walk in the light of it:and the kings of the earth do bring
their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be
shut at all by day:for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall
bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in
no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:but they which are written in the
Lamb's book of life.
Today's Jerusalem is not
the "new Jerusalem" wherein dwelleth righteousness. The nation of Jews
in Jerusalem today do not even recognize that Jesus is the Messiah.
The earthly Jerusalem today is not going to be the "new Jerusalem" described by John. That Jerusalem was a holy city coming down from heaven.
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In
the OT, the captivity was terrible to see. The prophets wrote about
the grief. We read this in the various books of the prophets: Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi ...
We,
today, see a captivity in the spirit of individuals when they disobey
God and go in their own thinking. It is very hard for us to see this.
It is hard for us to see them disobey God and it is hard to see the
captivity they put themselves into as a result.
We
experience the emotions experienced by Isaiah, Jeremiah and the OT
prophet in their writings. That is one reason we can identify so
strongly with those things they wrote about the captivity of the OT.