By Robert Anthony
Dec 22nd 2023
Introduction -
God has used Israel since the very beginning to tell His story. He has chosen to communicate to man in many ways actually but one of His most preferred methods remains thru His Israel. Time would fail me if I tried to count all the times He has revealed Himself thru His chosen people but one of my very favorites is right at the beginning with Abram (who received the breath of God and became, Abraham!). God led Abraham to believe that He wanted him to sacrifice Abraham’s child of promise, his heir and only son with Sarah, Isaac, but then at the last-minute stayed the sacrifice. God has chosen to reveal Himself over and again thru these stories. Many of us believe God sent His only Son to die for us, only God did not repent at the last-minute and gave up His only Son to be our sacrifice. And God did this work thru Israel!
What other truths and awe-inspiring mysteries has God chosen to speak to man thru the true-history and story of His Israel!? A Countless many.
He declared all throughout the prophets that “For the sins of Israel going a whoring after other gods,” and “refusing His goodness and truth,” for over hundreds if not thousands of years, God was going to scatter His holy people to the nations! And He did. But all these are signs, meant to be interpreted, they are not what we read at face value. We should come to know the intentions of God, together with His Love for the nations! Perhaps God scattering His people was more than merely a punishment? Perhaps there was more to this than we are commonly taught? Perhaps from the beginning God has had this perfect and flawless plan..?
These are some of the famous Christmas scriptures. Look at what the Hebrew Prophets of old prophesied of God and His desire to save the nations:
“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the nations (Gentiles, KVJ) seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” Again, “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations (Gentiles, KVJ)…” Still again, “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the nations (Gentiles, KJV), that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth…” God always had it in His mind to save the nations!
But what if the nations simply refuse God?
In many ways the whole of history can be summarized: God actively engaged, trying to convince the people (the nations) of His unending love but the people continually rejecting Him, His truth, His good-commands and His love… until this day.
The Beginning of the Great Return –
We are in the days of the beginning of the Great Return but there are layers of understanding to see what a Huge and Monumental Work God is doing in these last days! In many ways we are still in the beginning stages but the work is quickening. Now that we understand that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, now that we understand we were intended to live with our God in paradise, in perfection from the start, without pain, suffering, death or sorrow – now we can begin to grasp the enormity of this Great Return! God is returning us to His presence, for unto forever.
He never wanted to lose any of us. Not a one. We left Him. We, as a whole, followed after fables, false gods, empty lusts, deception and more. We, all like sheep, have gone astray. But our God has only just begun to bring us Home! Read the beginning again, it tells in detail what our actual home is like. We were never made for this world and now because of the mercy, which is death - we are merely passing thru this temporal life. Soon, every single one of us that wants God, we will be home and those who don’t want Him - God will not overpower any of our freedom to choose. But it’s God's intention to bring us all, Home.
This is still the beginning of this process. Hebrews 12, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” He is shaking everything for our own good. When times are good, money is abundant, we are healthy, fat and overflowing, rarely do we turn to God with any sort of longing, desperation and zeal. But in the tough times, in the shaking, we tend to humble ourselves, bend a knee and seek after our Maker and King. This is an unfortunate reality of man. That's why they say, and truthfully, “There are no Atheists in a foxhole”.
God promised this. He promised to get our attention. He promised that He would not leave us fatherless but that He would come for us, and Adopt us! This world was never our home. God is coming to Return us Home.
The Greatest Ending to Any Story Ever Written -
But there is more! Technically this world was our home. It was intended to be our home before this corruption destroyed everything. So God is Returning this home of ours to its intended purpose, He is restoring the earth to what He had always wanted. The Creation will return to paradise! What exactly He is creating, or recreating upon it, He has seemed to have hidden from us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” But we can read about Eden and marvel, contemplating the grandeur of the wonders that lie in store for us, who are God’s own children!
All of Creation awaits, the scripture (Romans 8) tells us. What is the whole of creation waiting for!? SIMPLY: To Be Redeemed! To be restored. To be RETURNED to what God intended in the first place. And what was that?! “God walked in the garden in the cool of the day.” It’s not enough that the earth would return to paradise but even better, That Paradise would Return to the Earth! This is a fundamental to the Bible's teaching, God will restore all things. If God merely gave us back perfection and yet decided to withhold Himself from us, what would become of us? Would we this time care for His gift and cherish the blessing!? Doubtfully. At any rate, Paradise isn’t enough. We would eventually bore with perfection. We would. We would find ourselves incomplete and lacking… and Why? Say it with me, We were never intended to live separated in any way at all from our God and Father! So our Father is returning for us!
It's not enough that He is restoring the creation. It’s not enough that He is fulfilling all things of Scripture. God is quite literally returning to the earth, for us! We are living in the most exciting times, in all of time! We are abundantly fortunate to have been created for such a time as this. Will we be alive to see the heavens split open and the Son of Man coming on the clouds, riding a white horse, sword in His hand, followed by His army!? A generation will live to see it!
God promised to end all these things of the curse: sin, death, loss, pain, suffering, darkness – He is putting an end to everything that came of the curse. And all things will be made new!
A Generation will Return –
“And then this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the nations and then the end will come…” Matthew 24 (paraphrased). God is going to give all the nations one last chance to return. He will send out His own, elect, out to all the nations, tribes, families and tongues and they will be given His power to proclaim the Truth: God loves you, He never wanted any of this for us and He is coming back soon. There will be a new returning to the name of God. Not the old religious names of God but the name of God made new, like we have never heard of Him before! “This” gospel will be given to us like a gift, like life imparted to our bones, like a burning flame inside of our soul. And many will find their way back to Him.
A generation will receive this. It’s been prophesied, it’s been Promised! “This generation will not pass away until all is fulfilled.” (Luke 21) There will come and generation who will receive Him, they will return to Him and He to them! His word is Yes and Amen. And all of this begins and ends with His… ISRAEL. Do you think He cast them off and then forgot about His own, Chosen ones…? The greatest ending to any story ever written is being performed before our very eyes! (But only those with eyes to see and ears to hear can understand it.)
Daniel prophesied, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” God is bringing His people home. He is quite literally returning us to Himself. And what began with Israel, will end with Israel. I will explain more in Part Two…
For now, let the Gentiles come into their fullness (Romans 11). Prophecy among yourselves, fan this flame of hope into a burning inferno, it’s time for the bride to make herself ready. God will save His own elect. And the bride must make herself ready. When the bridegroom returns, will the virgins be waiting and ready!?
Come into your fullness Gentile Church…
Your time is now…
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