SOooooo... dear hubby and I were talking about my comments as to being a "city" girl and the WTBTS "paradise" scenes in dear John Foster's thread (may you all have peace!). Just to be clear, by "city" I don't mean living in a high rise, with heavy traffic, smog, people everywhere, etc. I mean, I'm just not the tilling, sowing/planting, reaping (from the earth) type. Not that I can't be; did a LOT of that as a kid many summers when visiting all the grandparents "down south." That... and a lot more: peeling/cooking/canning, feeding chickens and hogs, hauling water from the spring close to a mile away when the well went dry... bathing in a tin tub and using chamber pots and the outhouse. Picked cotton, tobacco, melons, cucumbers, strawberries, peaches, plums, apples, grapes, corn, tomatoes, and your sundry variety of peas, beans, and squash. Oh, and dug peanuts!! ALL of my grandparents were "country folk" who grew their own produce... and two sets slaughtered their own meat/poultry... which we had to help with during our summers... so, I can DO that kind of "work" - I just don't particularly WANT to do that kind of work. I'm more of the "So, let's see what's good in the produce/meat section today" kind of girl. A bit of a "secretary" maven: gimme a pen, typewriter, computer, book, manual, text, papers, folders, charts, forms, graphs... and/or things to be organized... versus planted, picked, hoed, cut... knifed... and I'm good. Really. I digress.)
But that's not the reason the whole WTBTS "paradise" theme never intrigued me. It didn't... because it never rang "true"... at least, not for ME. Especially the whole tilling the soil, planting, etc., part. Somehow, "something" was always "wrong" about that... for ME. Of course, the WTBTS' teaching of two "hopes" stands to explain that for SOME... but does is it ACCURATE? Maybe not. I will let YOU decide.
When dear hubby commented on my comment (that, knowing me, it made him laugh out loud), I explained what I meant by "city" and that the prospect had never rung true as to the "new system." Something wan't "right" about it. And he reminded me of the 62nd and 75th chapters of Isaiah... verses 8 and 9 of the former and verses 21 through 25 of the latter. And in reading those, I can see where one might believe in... even want... this eventuality.
And there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. Except... and here's where I kept having problems... two things just didn't "add up" to the truth of CHRIST.
First, 65:20 -
“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed."
Say, what, now? But how can someone... who has received ETERNAL life... die at "a hundred" (years)? How can they die... at ANY years? Or how can they "FAIL to reach a hundred (years)?? People live to 100 years NOW. Hmmmm... No, something was not "right" as to this hope. Not that the promise was/is WRONG, but something is out of whack here.
Then there's Isaiah 62:8, 9 which state:
"JaHVeH has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain as food for your enemies, and never again will foreigners drink the new wine for which you have toiled; but those who harvest it will eat it and praise JaHVeH, and those who gather the grapes will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
No, something is wrong here, as well. Something's not ringing quite "true", at least as to the hope set out by CHRIST. Because... isn't such "toiling" the result of Adham's SIN? Isn't his sin WHY he to go from just simply picking food/fruit... because PRIOR TO IT BEING CURSED... the land simply gave FORTH it's produce? And as part of consequence of his sin the land was CURSED... so that now HAD to "toil"? How is that cursed LIFTED... if folks STILL have to toil to bring forth produce from the land????
No, something just didn't "add up" for ME... when listening to the WTBTS tout how this would be the eventuality for Israel.
And so I was (re)pondering this when my dear Lord came to me and asked:
"Is that the promise I made to YOU, child, and to all those whom my Father gave to me... that you would live a mere 100 years? If death is the payment for [your] sin... but my blood has removed [your] sin... so that you have become CLEAN and so have NO condemnation... of what benefit is your death? What is it payment for, THEN? Was my promise to you that you would once again toil... or was it that if you wished to STOP toiling... all you would need to do is come to ME, take MY yoke and carry MY load, follow ME... and I would, in return, take YOUR load? How is that I would promise you freedom FROM toiling and FROM death, yet lead you to toil and die AGAIN?"
And of course, he was right. But, faithless ME... there it was, in black and white... written right in the scriptures (and Isaiah IS scripture, my dear Lord himself even quoting FROM it... AS scripture... so). So... I needed more information so as to UNDERSTAND. So that my LACK of faith would not prove a stumbling block, causing me to question what HE was saying to me, over what was "written" (in scripture)! Praise JAH... he did not withhold understanding... but "led" me... through HIS reasoning... into the TRUTH!!
Which is... that these things are what will occur during the "thousand years" of the "separating" of the sheep from the goats. During THAT time, people will still die! And, he helped me understand that we can KNOW that because... death is not done away with... YET. DEATH is not destroyed... until the "thousand years" have ENDED. And so, those who are being "separated" (which event begins once my dear Lord has returned, resurrected/changed those who belong to him as part of his BRIDE... and these being their rule WITH him)... who die BEFORE receiving a "white robe"... the spirit body that NEVER dies (but must be destroyed)... will have their part in the SECOND resurrection, where THEN... THEY are RESURRECTED to ETERNAL life.
During the "thousand years", the Adversary is abyssed. So, there is no one to (mis)lead mankind. Mankind will truly be on their own as to their choices/decisions. There will be no one to exploit the "desires" in them... so as to LEAD them to sin. Sin will be a pure choice, not a misstep. AND, there will still be sin in the flesh for these... because they have not yet come to LIFE (i.e., eternal life, by means of the "white robe" of the spirit body).
Some will ask, "Well, wait, why would some die, if they are SHEEP?" Such one must remember: the "separating" TAKES "a thousand years." So, it's not done in a blink, every sheep separated from every goat all at once. It is a PROCESS... that takes some time. Apparently, "a thousand years."
HOWEVER, those who belong to Christ, as his BRIDE... have ALREADY received eternal life... when Christ RETURNED (at the BEGINNING of the "thousand years") and resurrected/changed such ones to THEIR "white robes." THEY are not subject to lives of a mere "hundred" years... nor is THEIR "work" building houses or planting/farming. They will have already attained to the immortality that the "sheep" are being given during this period... or after (a part of the SECOND resurrection).
This was the ORIGINAL hope for Israel: to live long lives, in freedom and peace, particularly from their enemies... on their own land, which they would "work." But that was for Israel... BEFORE my dear Lord held out part of his kingdom rule... to OTHERS. To rule WITH him. Others from both Israel (144,000 from among the sons of Israel)... AND a great crowd of people from EVERY nation, tribe, and tongue. Before HIS offer, Israel's hope was solely in an earthly resurrection to Jerusalem and its lands, with each one being allowed to prosper in conjunction with his own piece of land, marry, have children, build their homes, and live in peace. And that promise WILL occur... during the "thousand years". Because the NEW Jerusalem WILL have come down... out of the spirit realm... AND the Adversary WILL have been restrained.
At the END of that "thousand years", however, that Adversary is loosed... and goes out to mislead Gog (the "goats" who were not allowed "entry" into the New Jerusalem) and Magog (the spirit beings that were cast out of the spirit realm with the Adversary). By THAT time... ALL of the "sheep" who still live have received "white robes"... spirit bodies. Prior to, they are "camped" just OUTSIDE of the "beloved city," the "NEW Jerusalem." But they are in VERY close "proximity" so that WHEN Gog and Magog attempt to "come against" that city, these don't have "far to go" to enter her gates. And so, in the nick of time, they, TOO... are taken inside... where they are protected. NOT just from Gog/Magog... but from the "fire" (dynamic energy) that comes upon Gog and Magog... from JAH Himself. If they remained OUTSIDE, they would receive the fate of these. But because they are given "white robes"... the SPIRIT body... they can enter and be "safe." Flesh... with ITS blood... however, cannot enter into the kingdom (of God), the NEW Jerusalem. So, these, too, will be changed.
And, again, those "sheep" who have died BEFORE receiving such "white robe" receive it when they take part in the SECOND resurrection.
Those who are ALREADY "city" dwellers... the Body and Bride of Christ... are not among those who "build houses" and "plant vineyards"... because THEY are (already) "like the angels." Neither marrying nor being given in marriage... toiling... or dying.
Does this mean there are TWO "hopes"? NO!! The "sheep" don't HAVE a hope, per se. At least, not one based on the promises of JAH and Christ. They are deemed "sheep" simply by means of how they treat Christ's brothers. They are not thinking "Well, I want to live on earth/I want to go to heaven." They may not be considering such things at ALL... but simply "doing by NATURE the things OF the Law (of love)." THEY don't KNOW when they've done good to one of Christ's brothers... and so their DOING good is not for an intended purpose, but simply because it is their NATURE.
The only HOPE held out... is for eternal life. Which life is granted BY and THROUGH Christ, alone. It is given to those who DO have the hope... of being a PART of him, he the head (of the Body)... and those who have no such hope, but receive it merely by means of his mercy, due to their "natural" show of love toward him, by showing it to his brothers. BOTH receive it as a GIFT, because neither, in their OWN right... DESERVE it. Because the price for sin... and ALL have sinned... is death.
OH! And I am reminded about that... "all HAVE sinned." Some will ask, "But, wait, AGuest... how can a newborn baby HAVE sinned? How can one that hasn't even been BORN yet HAVE sinned... such that THESE die?"
You may recall that I shared with you that WE are "living" in JAH's PAST. What is taking place for US now... has ALREADY taken place! That is HOW prophecy is possible: because the One sharing it with US is on the FINISHED end. They are not just matters told BEFORE they occur - it is only before they occur for US. They are matters that HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED... in THEIR timeline.
And so, they can say, with certainly, what "will" occur and when... as well as that ALL have sinned. Because they know what's IN a person... EVERY person... and there is sin in EVERY human. EVERY human WILL sin... at some point. And for those who died (before being born into this world) but WOULD have put faith in my Lord, the HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah)... there is a resurrection. Either as part of the first and so into his Body... or as part of the second.
Not one... NOT ONE... is lost. EVEN if such one never fully made it into THIS world.
As a "city" girl, I now understand: the building of houses and planting of vineyards will be the "work" of those who enter the "city" during and after the "thousand years" and second resurrection. Those of the "camp" just outside her gates. As part of the "beloved City," the NEW Jerusalem, however, and not the "camp" (which is made up of sheep, absolutely, but not "other sheep" - both those of Israel (the "little flock") AND the "great crowd" (of "other sheep") make up the Bride of Christ, the NEW Jerusalem... but those of the "camp" are the "sheep" separated from the "goats" BY Christ and his Bride)... building and planting, in a literal sense, will not be my "work." It is not the "work" of Christ and his bride and so, somehow, I never thought it would be my "work," either.
Which is GOOD news for me... as I never felt good about NOT having the desire (to build houses/work the land). Well, I wasn't made/allowed to feel good about not having it. Until now.
I, SA, have shared with you dear ones here these things just as I heard and received them from my dear Lord, Master, and King, the HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah)... who is the Son and Christ of the MOST HOLY One of Israel, JAH of Armies. May any with ears to hear, hear and get the sense of these truths. May those without ears... but wishing them and thirsting for the life that comes from the One who grants them, BE granted them, so as to get the sense of these truths, as well as hear when that (Holy) Spirit and his Bride say to YOU:
"Come! Take LIFE's (Christ's) 'water'"... the holy spirit of God, Who is the MOST HOLY One of Israel, JAH of Armies... which "water" is HIS breath, blood, and seed... which GRANT life... ETERNAL life... because it is HIS life... and is poured out from the innermost parts of His Son and Christ, that HOLY One of Israel and Holy Spirit... JAHESHUA... the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah)... FREE!"
Peace to you ALL!
YOUR servant, as I am servant to the Household of God, Israel, and to all those who go with... ALL of whom are God's sheep... and a slave of Christ,
SA
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