The present in the light of the past, and filtered through
prophetic passages from the King James Bible

EDITOR:
Steve Van Nattan

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CALVINISM--
ROBBING ISRAEL
OF THE COVENANT

By Steve Van Nattan

So, if we can thrash them soundly in the covenant department, we will then be able to assign them to the company of the Wizard of Oz as to Bible prophecy. If they can be kicked out of their safe zone ( Israel's covenant), then they may, just possibly, find time to look into the glorious exercise of the literal use of the Word of God.

How did priests become dumpster divers?

I Peter 2:9, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

All saints of the Church age are priests under the High Priest, Christ.
[ We will work our way through more of the Hebrews text below. ]

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

Are there still earthly priests?
Ans. YES, the saints, who are now "a people."

Hebrews 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Can any true saint mediate salvation or atonement?
Ans: NO, that is Christ's office.

What was the sacrifice He offered?

Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

But, the saint of the Church Age is the supporting priest who serves the High Priest, Jesus Christ, as his ambassador
( II Cor. 5:20 ) to bring the ministry of reconciliation to lost sinners.

Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So, is the Bible believer today, as the supporting priest of the High Priest, offering the old covenant warmed over?

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

What is the second covenant according to literal interpretation of verse 7?
Ans. The age of salvation offered by the Church on behalf of her High Priest, Christ.

What is the second covenant according to spiritualization interpretation of Reformed theologians?
Ans. What Israel botched, the Church inherited in tact.

This is wicked, for it defies the fact that verse 7 says there is "no place.... sought for the second."
Implied: Those who seek to rob Israel of their covenant, who decide to go dumpster diving in God's rubbish bin, are showing that they do not want the new covenant. They want the old one left over, "nine days old." They are shopping at Goodwill Industries for their blessings instead of rejoicing over the new.

Tell me, you status seeking Reformed boys, if you had an unlimited charge account at the exclusive Ikea, would you go shop at the Goodwill store for used trash? I gather you would, for you do so theologically.

Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

How many new covenants are there?
Ans. Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
What is the explanation?
Ans. There is a second and new covenant which is for the Church. There is a new covenant for the Jews in dispersion of the future Kingdom reign of Messiah for Israel who lost their first covenant under law.

After the cross, there is no distinction in terms of atonement, mediation, and salvation. All is by faith. All is without works. All is WITHOUT law keeping. So, while the Jews will have their covenant restored in the future, with its real estate and national promises, they will NOT have their first covenant conditional on law keeping. They will have a new version, but they will not have the Church's covenant either. Nor can saints, who are saved by grace plus nothing, salvage the old moldy covenant God discarded from the Age of Law. PRAY TELL, WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO CLAIM THAT COVENANT THAT DID NOT SAVE THEM?

I.E. The Church has neither law based promises, nor does the Church have real estate and national identity in the state of Israel and Jerusalem. Anyone who simply takes the teaching here literally cannot possibly end up hugging the old covenant.

This settles many confusing questions.

The only aspect of the old covenant to present itself is the promises physically and nationally to Israel. In this kingdom era, Messiah will personally preside. The Reformed Churches cannot produce the physical promises of the first covenant. They have not happened, so they claim all the physical prophecies were fulfilled in the past 2000 years in obscure events. Others claim that the physical prophecies are merely symbolic, and they must be used to make various spiritual conclusions about life in the Church Age.

This shows the stupid notions of the Reformed Churches who reject the future in the New Covenant for Israel.

( Read carefully with Nicolaitan dignity ) According to the great Reformed thinkers, a symbolic Jesus will symbolically descend from heaven. His symbolic feet will touch the symbolic Mount of symbolic Olives which will symbolically cleave in half, allowing the symbolic city of Zion to symbolically rise up high. There will be two symbolic rivers that flow symbolically from the symbolic throne of symbolic Messiah, one to the symbolic former sea, and one to the symbolic hinder sea. Symbolic Israel will start at the symbolic great river of Egypt, and reach to the Symbolic Euphrates River. The symbolic Land will be divided up symbolically so that each symbolic tribe of symbolic Israel can have its own symbolic portion, and every symbolic man will symbolically sit under his symbolic fig tree. The symbolic desert will symbolically bloom like a symbolic rose, and the symbolic reapers will symbolically overtake the symbolic sowers. There will be a symbolic highway which runs from symbolic Egypt up to symbolic Jerusalem, and another which runs symbolically from Assyria to symbolic Jerusalem. Ten symbolic men will grab the symbolic robes of a symbolic Jew and say, "We will symbolically go with symbolical you." This symbolical kingdom will last for 1000 symbolic years and at its symbolic end the symbolic devil will be symbolically released from the symbolic pit to symbolically gather the symbolic rebels of the symbolic earth to fight symbolically against Messiah. We symbolical saints will join him symbolically when he symbolically defeats these symbolically evil forces, and so shall we symbolically ever be with the symbolic Lord. World without symbolic end. Symbolical Amen.

Do you see the value of the literal interpretation of the Word of God?

Hebrews 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

The critical problem is, once you start finding symbolic (or Preterist historic) alternatives to interpret a prophecy, rather than a literal interpretation, you can end up addicted to the method. The end result is that you may find yourself symbolizing and allegorizing the reality of the Gospel and Christ himself.
Far fetched?
Not at all-- This was the method Origin used in 300 AD to deny Christ of his deity and make him a mere exalted man. This heresy stuck well and is with us today.

Will the Jews need evangelizing in the Kingdom?
Ans. NO!
They will have the knowledge of Messiah by covenant.

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

Does this rule out salvation by faith for the Jews?
Ans. NO.
We just don't know how this will work because we don't know everything God will do. Don't try to guess.

Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

The old vanished TO US and TO ISRAEL.
This does not mean that God can no longer keep his unconditional covenants with Israel. It simply means that we will not participate in the covenant to Israel, neither the old nor the coming Messianic version. Also, the Jew must wait until we are removed before they can see their Messiah fulfill their future covenant.

This is a powerful argument for a Rapture BEFORE the Great Tribulation. The Tribulation is to prepare Israel, and the world, for the arrival of Messiah. If we were on hand, there would be an overlap of the new and the old covenant which would cause chaos spiritually.

We are in the new covenant strictly by Grace. Grafted in, as it were.
Cf. Rom. 11:1-7 and 20-24.
Same olive tree, same salvation, same destiny, same faith "once delivered," but NOT the same covenant.

What is the point?
Ans. You are the priests of this part of the new covenant to the Gentiles, and you will share that distinction with Tribulation saints martyred for the love of Christ.

Why does Satan want this all to be symbolic about the literal truths in the Word of God about the future?
Ans. So you will not act like a priest.
So you will not exercise your office.
So that you will sit on your symbolical duff and leave it to symbolical George.

Side note: To this purpose, the Reformed Churches have done due diligence and slipped the old covenant into their theology. They do this by dropping all the ceremonial and social laws. That would just be to messy and ruin their good godly liberty to sin and stay saved. They only bring forward what works well, like infant baptism. This is sold to their groupies as a covenantal make over of circumcision under Moses law. Problem: Why does the Reformed Church baptize girls? You see, it is not hard to slam the beggars into a corner if you just get you old KJV out and examine them as a noble Berean should.

What is the priestly work of a saint today?
Ans. Declaration of the Good News, the Gospel.

2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God..

Compare to the High Priest who went into the Most Holy Place, and returned to the people with the good news that the Glory of God came down on the mercy seat.
Do we have Good News?
AMEN!
The mercy seat shines forth with mercy to all men who will receive it.
Are we doing our priestly work.

1. Now, what can we tell the lost that is better than what Moses told Israel?
Romans 10:14-- God has chosen to limit Himself to your preaching.

2. The Word of God. Psalms 105:7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. Psalms 105:8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Somewhere in every generation someone has God's Word. Do you? Or do you have a revised edition with copious deletions? II Tim. 2:15- We priests will mediate the true Word of God to sinners and saints. How are we doing?

3. God wants his priests to declare His holiness. Ez. 44:23-24 He wants grounds for a verdict of guilty.
Cf John 7:24; Matt. 16:18-20; 18:18-19.

Finally, why do the Reformed gurus lust so greatly for Israel's covenant?
Ans. They believe that, since Israel lost their first covenant, that the Church inherited it, and the Jews are historic trash. They, since Martin Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, have regarded the Jews as losers and gone. This is their cover story to try to convince you that they are VERY special. Anyone who has had to deal with Reformed people knows about this. Like, "If you are not Dutch, you are not much." This arrogance and ethnic superiority complex has served them well as they exalted themselves to glory.

We reach the end of our examination of the weird beast, the dumpster diver.

What is the point?
Ans. There will be an accounting.
We can take comfort in Rev. 3:9. Is this an isolated thing?
Cf Rev. 6:9-11; Psalm 94- Read at least part, if not all.

1. Hudson Taylor of China was horribly treated by the Church of England missionaries in India. His zeal for a literal use of the Word of God terrified the ecclesiastical high muckety mucks.

2. Bill Ebeling was mocked in China because he did everything possible to culturally adapt to the Chinese in order to be their priest of a better covenant.

3. Ecumenicals and denominations- They award power to those who condescend to power of man. They even collude with human government to hurt the Philadelphians. The Hawkins were Baptist missionaries in Manaus, Brazil. The Wycliffe Translators in that area hated the Hawkins for using the Receive Text in their translation. The WT people used the Vatican texts of the Greek. So the WT missionaries turned states' evidence on the Hawkins to destroy their work. It almost worked.

4. Pentecostals- They mock at the faithful missionary and tell native Christians that the Fundamental Bible believing missionaries are not giving the Church a "full Gospel.". They bring faith healers to field to produce frenzy in the unsaved as fake healings are performed.

5. Mega church- Numbers, bus ministry, bowling allies, big show. Signs and Wonders- All of this is touted as the REAL CHURCH, while small country churches, and common pastors who have to work on the side to survive, are made to look like losers.

Since 1900 any real Philadelphian missionary has often been in heavy terror- not from cannibals, but from Nicolaitan wolves in sheeps' clothing and seminary robes. Thousands of faithful missionaries and pastors in the USA have been mocked and looked down on as blithering fools by Reformed men. I have experienced this myself from Dutch Reformed pastors in church leaders in western Michigan. Knowing they are standing on quicksand doctrinally, they take a lofty posture and make patronizing talk about how we cannot be sure of any prophecy.

Pray tell, ye flaming fools, why would a sane God give the amazing bulk of prophecy in the Bible, only to be unable to reveal its truth to his people?

Where are you-- hello-- I cannot hear you brilliant followers of John Calvin. Maybe you are still trying to bash the rest of the Lord's Church into your slimy mold, as your murderous mentor did in Geneva. Well, you may well be as lost as he is, and you may discuss it in hell with him. Your mockery at God's revelation, as if you know he messed up by giving us uncertain revelation, will certainly be rewarded.

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We rejoice in the hope of seeing these Reformed egg heads and leaders, and lazy church house four flushers from the Reformed movement, worship at the feet of the Philadelphians.

Question: Why will it be safe for us to have such vindication in heaven?
Ans. "We shall be like Him."
We will rejoice in this justice without malice.

So, let us look forward to that day with encouragement. Anyone who thinks this is unspiritual has not gotten to know God and His holiness very well. Ignore them.

Last Question: Are Reformed people born again?
Ans. Seldom. When people set themselves on high-- when they reject what God offers them (a new covenant)-- when they go BACKWARDS into the sorry past-- then how can we have any confidence in their alleged confession?

Certainly, I have met truly born again Reformed people, but, in every case they are reading prophecy privately and are suspicious of the covenant doctrine they have been fed. These few do give me hope that more will catch on, and these few have been some of my most precious friends in Christian fellowship.

Revelation 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

DO YOU WANT TO BE A SPIRITUAL VERSION OF THIS?

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