Least in the Kingdom
Yahshua declared He is the door through whom entrance into the Kingdom of God is gained. Therefore, the seal of permanency of citizenship in the restored Kingdom upon the earth is through the acceptance of Him as Savior. Peter stated this truth emphatically:
�There is no salvation through anyone else, for there is no one else in the world who has been named to men as our only means of being saved.� (Acts 4:12, Smith & Goodspeed Translation)
There are those who by virtue of birth, have a right of citizenship in the Kingdom but who will forfeit their citizenship if they fail to conform with the requirements which will secure its confirmation in the day of restoration. Yahshua was referring to the attainment of citizenship by those who had no acquired it by birth and the loss of citizenship in His Kingdom by those who by birth had right to it when He said:
�Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.� (Matthew 8:11-12)
Thus, those within the Kingdom, in order to remain, and those without, in order to enter, must have their right to citizenship established through Yahshua. This is what Paul meant when he said:
�For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.� (Romans 11:32)
It is through Yahshua that God will have mercy upon His Israel people, for He is the Redeemer of Israel.
����������������� Importance of the Kingdom
The importance of the Kingdom in relation to the ultimate fulfillment of all the Divine purposes cannot be overemphasized. It is only by the administration of its righteous laws that poverty, distress and all forms of inequity will be banished from among men. Neither should it be overlooked that man�s future home, even after death, is to be on the earth itself, for this is the purpose of the resurrection. At that time Daniel declares, the saints (God�s People) shall possess the Kingdom. (Daniel 7:27)
All the prophets looked forward to the day when the Kingdom would function upon earth in perfection. Thereafter sickness and every allied affliction will never again be experienced by its citizens. Peace, well-being, prosperity and happiness will be the portion of all who are privileged to live under its benevolent rule.
������������������������ The Law of the Lord
Nothing is more vital to humanity in the establishment of orderly governmental functions than an adequate system of jurisprudence. Law and order go hand in hand to produce liberty and peace. It is self-evident that the perfection of the Kingdom can only be preserved by a reverence for and faithful adherence to its laws. This fact is made quite clear by Yahshua�s condemnation of all those who oppose the law:
�Whosoever there fore shall break one of these least commandment, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heave.� (Matthew 5:19)
This is a clear statement that among those who have obtained citizenship in the Kingdom of God, having accepted Yahweh�s call and have accept Yahshua as their Savior and Redeemer, will be found some who, because of their opposition to the laws of the Kingdom, will find themselves occupying a place of obscurity there.
The commandments, or laws, to which Yahshua referred, are not the ordinances of sacrificial worship. The laws of ritual and sacrifice were nailed to the cross as the result of the atonement accomplished by the death of Yahshua, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world for the remission of sins. (Colossians 2:14) The ordinances comprised the law that was added because of sin (Galatians 3:19) and they were our schoolmaster to bring us to Yahshua, through whom we are justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)
In speaking of the laws, which will be obeyed in the Kingdom, Yahshua was referring to the laws contained in the commandments, statutes and Judgments These comprise the Law of the Lord, which has never been abrogated. In fact, Yahshua came to confirm and strengthen it, as He did in his discourse on the Mount. (Matthew 5)
��������������� Restoration of Righteousness
Both John the Baptist and Yahshua preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, declaring the need for the restoration or righteousness. Righteousness cannot be defined apart from the law and will only be restored through the administration of the perfect laws of the Kingdom. For this reason Yahshua admonishes all of His followers who desire to be free from worry and fear:
�Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness (the laws of the Kingdom); and all these things (the needs of life) shall be added (given) unto you.� (Matthew 6:33)
���������������� Identification of the Kingdom
The Kingdom of god (or the Kingdom of Heaven) is the Kingdom over which Yahshua is to reign upon His triumphant return to earth. In the annunciation to Mary, the Angel Gabriel declared that His Kingdom is the House of Jacob (all 13 tribes):
�And the Lord god shall give him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom (the House of Jacob) there shall be no end.� (Luke 1:32-33)
The identification of His Kingdom could not be more clearly set forth. All we need to do is to study the history of the House of Jacob and identify the people who are their descendants in the world today. We will then possess the necessary knowledge concerning the people who will ultimately grow into a great mountain (i.e., government) and fill the whole earth as Daniel foretold of the �stone cut out of the mountain without hands.�
�Thou sawest till that A STONE WAS CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.� (Daniel 2:34)
�Forasmuch as thou sawest that THE STONE WAS CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN WITHOUT HANDS, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.� (Daniel 2:45)
The organization of the Kingdom of God upon earth is outlined in the 19th chapter of Exodus. Yahweh instructed Moses:
�Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel...Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.� (Exodus 19:3-6)
This was a Divine pronouncement far-reaching in scope. It was not; indeed, it could not be, fulfilled by the generation that received those words from Yahweh through Moses, His spokesman. They were spoken to the �House of Jacob,� a title which usually refers to the people in their unconverted condition, rebelling against Yahweh. But Moses was also commanded to �tell the children of Israel.� That is, the words of Yahweh were to be told and retold to the descendants of �Israel� and this title designates their future destiny of �ruling with God.�
Many skeptics will say how can you prove that the Kingdom of Yahweh is on earth at the present time, for we see no evidence of it.
Well the scriptures clearly state that Solomon sat on the Lord�s throne:
�THEN SOLOMON SAT ON THE THRONE OF THE LORD AS KING INSTEAD OF DAVID HIS FATHER, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.� (1 Chronicles 29:23)
Here we can see that not only did Solomon set on the Throne of the Lord, but that David his father did also.
When Yahweh said, �Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests (administrators) and an holy nation,� this was a promise for a future time, to become a reality in a day many generations later on. In Isaiah�s day it was still not an accomplished fact and the prophet looked forward in a vision to its realization through the triumphant coming of the Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulder the government will rest. (Now one must realize that this is speaking of Yahshua; but it is speaking of His second coming, not His first) Notice also the process f fulfillment indicated by Isaiah�s words:
�Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.� (Isaiah 9:7)
The Kingdom of Yahweh cannot be defined apart from the people who are its citizens because they are an integral part of it and essential to its completeness. If you destroy the people, the kingdom will become nonexistent. No less fundamental to the structure of the Kingdom are its laws and in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy the Bible records the giving of the commandments, statutes and judgments to the people of the Kingdom to be administered as the law of their land.
We should pause here to relate to you that many people believe that God�s Law, Statutes and Judgment were no given until Mt. Sinai; but that is simply not the case. For Abram (Abraham) was given them long before that time by Noah and Shem. And of course he taught them to Isaac and Jacob/Israel:
�Haran was forty‑two years old when he begat Sarai, which was in the tenth year of the life of Abram; and in those days Abram and his mother and nurse went out from the cave, as the king and his subjects had forgotten the affair of Abram. And when Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem, and he remained with them to learn the instruction of the Lord and his ways, and no man knew where Abram was, and Abram served Noah and Shem his son for a long time. And ABRAM WAS IN NOAH�S HOUSE THIRTY-NINE YEARS, AND ABRAM KNEW THE LORD FROM THREE YEARS OLD, AND HE WENT IN THE WAYS OF THE LORD UNTIL THE DAY OF HIS DEATH, AS NOAH AND HIS SON SHEM HAD TAUGHT HIM; and all the sons of the earth in those days greatly transgressed against the Lord, and they rebelled against him and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth; and the inhabitants of the earth made unto themselves, at that time, every man his god; gods of wood and stone which could neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they became their gods.� (Jasher 9:4-6)
��������������������� Opposing the Kingdom
The active opposition of many theologians, evangelists and Judeo-Christian leaders to the statement that the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, peoples are the House of Israel, Yahweh�s Kingdom people, in the world today is based upon their contention that Yahweh has chosen nation to be His own people.
Their position may be compatible with modern systems of theology, but it is not Scripturally based; nor does it recognized Yahweh�s continuing purpose to bless mankind through a race that He chose to serve Him and assume certain specific responsibilities in fulfillment of His plan.
Following are several scriptures that prove Yahweh did indeed choose a people to be His above all the people on earth, and that it is only these people that He knew of all the families of the earth.
I have heard some sermons by some Judeo-Christian preachers, one in particular, which would have you believe that the Blacks, Jews, Mexicans and all the other races are God�s Chosen people;� who were crying out that there is no Chosen Race, or People. This is a damnable, and provable lie. There is a Chosen Race and People in the Scriptures. The following very clearly shows this, and there are many more that I could have listed, but these should suffice.
���������������������������� Chosen People
�For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: THE LORD THY GOD HATH CHOSEN THEE TO BE A SPECIAL PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF, ABOVE ALL PEOPLE THAT ARE UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. The LORD DID NOT SET HIS LOVE UPON YOU, NOR CHOOSE YOU, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: BUT BECAUSE THE LORD LOVED YOU, and BECAUSE HE WOULD KEEP THE OATH WHICH HE HAD SWORN UNTO YOUR FATHERS...� (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 14:2; Isaiah 41:9; 43:1, 10-20; 44:23; 48:10; 49:3; Haggai 2:23)
�But ye are a chosen generation (race), a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people (Marginal rendering: �a purchased people�); that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.� (1 Peter 2:9)
�������������������� Israel of All The Families
����������������� of The Earth Known by God
�You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.� (Amos 3:2)
��������������������������� My People Israel
�Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain OVER MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, THAT HE MAY SAVE MY PEOPLE out of the hand of the Philistines: for I HAVE LOOKED UPON MY PEOPLE, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, BEHOLD THE MAN WHOM I SPAKE TO THEE OF THIS SAME SHALL REIGN OVER MY PEOPLE.� (Exodus 7:4; 1 Samuel 9:15-17; 2 Samuel 3:18; 5:2; 7:7; 7:10-11; 1 Kings 6:13; 8:16; 14:7; 16:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2; 17:7; 17:9-10; 2 Chronicles 6:5-6; Jeremiah 7:12; 12:14; 23:13; 30:3; Ezekiel 14:9; 25:14; 36:12; 9:7; Daniel 9:20; Amos 7:8; 7:15; Matthew 2:6)
�������������������������������� My Chosen
�I HAVE MADE A COVENANT WITH MY CHOSEN, I have sworn unto David my servant.� (Psalm 89:3; Isaiah 43:20; 65:15)
����������������������������� I Have Chosen
�BUT THOU, ISRAEL, ART MY SERVANT, JACOB WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN, THE SEED OF ABRAHAM MY FRIEND. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, THOU ART MY SERVANT I HAVE CHOSEN THEE, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. FEAR NOT, THOU WORM JACOB, AND YE MEN OF ISRAEL; I WILL HELP THEE, SAITH THE LORD, AND THY REDEEMER, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.� (Isaiah 41:8‑14; 43:10; 44:1-2; 44:21-23; Jeremiah 30:10; John 13:18)
����������������������� Thou Art My Servant
�Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, THOU ART MY SERVANT I HAVE CHOSEN THEE, and not cast thee away.� (Isaiah 41:9; 44:21; 49:3)
�REMEMBER THESE, O JACOB AND ISRAEL; FOR THOU ART MY SERVANT: I HAVE FORMED THEE; THOU ART MY SERVANT; O ISRAEL, THOU SHALT NOT BE FORGOTTEN OF ME. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I HAVE REDEEMED THEE. Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for THE LORD HATH REDEEMED JACOB, AND GLORIFIED HIMSELF IN ISRAEL. THUS SAITH THE LORD, THY REDEEMER, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.� (Isaiah 44:21-24)
�������������������������� His Chosen Ones
�O YE SEED OF ISRAEL HIS SERVANT, YE CHILDREN OF JACOB, HIS CHOSEN ONES.�. (1 Chronicles 16:13; Psalms 105:6; 135:4; Isaiah 41:8; 44:1; Acts 9:15)
��������������������� The People whom God
������������� Has Chosen for His Inheritance:
�Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and THE PEOPLE WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN FOR HIS OWN INHERITANCE.� (Psalm 33:12)
�For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.� (Psalm 135:4)
���������������������� I Have Called Thee by
������������������� Thy Name; Thou Art Mine
�But now thus saith the LORD 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...For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.� (Isaiah 43:1, 34)
������������������ God chose Abraham alone.
�Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: FOR I CALLED HIM (Abraham) ALONE, and blessed him, and increased him.� (Isaiah 51:1-2)
Evangelist Billy Graham, must another lying jew, stated:
�We must not lull ourselves into complacency by thinking we are a chosen people immune from God�s judgment. The Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. The Bible indicates that God is no respecter of nations either, but �in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him.��
This we take to be a challenge of the tenet of the Gospel of the Kingdom, which maintains that Yahweh has chosen a race, which is today represented by the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Scandinavian, Celtic people. At the outset the premise of his argument IS FALSE, for from no authoritative source has the statement ever been made that �we are a chosen people immune from God�s judgment.� On the contrary no race has been more severely chastened than God�s servant people, who were banished from Palestine and endured captivity among Gentiles peoples for a long time at the commencement of a �Seven Times� term of 2,520 years of punishment. While this term of punishment has not expired, Yahweh is bringing the pressure of adversity upon His Israel people to compel them to keep the terms of their covenant with Him.
������������������������ Thus Saith the Lord
When what the Bible says is taken out of its context, Biblical statements can be made to appear to support ideas, which are contrary to Scriptural teaching. The attempt by Billy Graham (among many others) to adduce the statement, �God is no respecter of person� as evidence that God has never chosen a nation becomes absurd when this sentence is examined in its context.
Let us turn to Chapter 10 of the Acts of the Apostles from which this is quoted. Peter had gone up to the housetop to pray and he became very hungry. He fell asleep and in a vision he saw a sheet let down from heaven with all manner of animals and creeping things upon it. A voice told him to arise, slay and eat, but Peter replied that he had never eaten anything common or unclean. The voice told him again, �What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common,� and this was repeated three times.
When Peter awoke, he began to wonder about the meaning of such a vision. He knew it had nothing to do with eating, for no vision from the Lord would set aside the specific stipulations of the laws that forbade the eating of certain animals.
�On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: WHEREIN WERE ALL MANNER OF FOURFOOTED BEASTS OF THE EARTH, AND WILD BEASTS, AND CREEPING THINGS, AND FOWLS OF THE AIR. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.� (Acts 10:9-16)
As he pondered the matter, Cornelius, a Centurion came inquiring for him. As the result of what followed, Peter explains the meaning of the vision by his own remark:
�God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.� (Acts 10:28)
Then Peter gave as a part of his testimony the statement quoted by Billy Graham. But its has nothing whatever to do with the selection of a nation. It pertains to the proclamation f the Gospel of salvation to Israelites as individuals among other nations who, through Yahshua are acceptable to God:
�Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.� (Acts 10:34-35)
Smith and Goodspeed translate this:
�Now I really understand that God shows no partiality, but welcomes the man of any nation who reveres him and does what is right.�
To use this statement by Peter in an endeavor to destroy the teachings of the Scriptures regarding His Kingdom and His choice of a nation through whom He is to ultimately establish the administration of righteousness upon the earth is to do violence to the Word of God. Those who undertake to subvert the Scriptures for a purpose tread on dangerous ground.
God has indeed chosen a people to show forth His praise and the Angel Gabriel confirms the fact that this people, as a nation, was selected and chosen to be His Kingdom upon earth. By His death upon the stake Yahshua wrought salvation and Redemption for His Israel people.
�But now thus saith the Lord 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.� (Isaiah 43:1)
Billy Graham attempts to assert this is no longer true, but his resort to what �the Bible says,� or �indicates,� is completely refuted by the unequivocal authority of each Biblical pronouncement prefaced by �Thus said the Lord.� Isaiah continues:
�When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rives, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.� (Isaiah 43:2-3)
���������������� Preservation of the Kingdom
Yahweh does not state that He is the Holy One of all peoples, or nations, but only of Israel. He declares moreover:
�I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.� (Isaiah 43:3-4)
Why is Yahweh willing to give nations and people so that the House of Jacob may survive? The reason is found in an understanding of the relationship of the House of Jacob to the Divine plan of the ages. Because the House of Jacob is the Kingdom over which Yahshua is to reign, it is imperative that this Kingdom be preserved for all time. If that Kingdom were destroyed, Yahshua would not be able to return to take the throne of His father David and reign over the House of Jacob forever.
Satan is moving heaven and earth in his endeavor to prevent the return of Yahshua and his desire could be realized if he could bring about the destruction of the Kingdom by the annihilation of the Kingdom people. In the same way that earthly rulers will send the flower of their young manhood to battle and death to preserve their government. God has decreed that He will permit nations and peoples to perish rather than allow His Kingdom to be destroyed.
It is only through the preservation of the people of the Kingdom that we can have any hope of the ultimate establishment of righteousness throughout the earth. The whole message of the prophets, of the apostles and Yahshua Himself is predicated upon the triumph of His Kingdom over all the forces of evil. Therefore, nations will perish and people will die in the agelong conflict to preserve the life of Yahweh�s servant people and the continuity of His Kingdom upon the earth. These two Divine objectives are identical.
������������������������ Setting the Bounds
Furthermore, Moses stated that the Lord set the bounds of all nations according to the requirements of His people:
�When the most high divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord�s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot (measuring rod) of his inheritance.� (Deuteronomy 32:8-9)
From the very beginning, when God apportioned the lands of the sons of Adam, and throughout succeeding generations, He has had the needs of Israel constantly in view. We are told that �the earth is the Lord�s and the fulness thereof.� If, then, Jacob is the lot, or the measuring rod, of His inheritance, it follows that the earth and its fullness will belong to His people for their possession when the Kingdom of God finally becomes visible worldwide.
������������������� The Rod of Chastisement
Today God is dealing severely with His people and His judgment will accelerate until, as a nation, we become willing to do His will. When, in former days, His people decided to repudiate His covenant and become like the heathen nations around them, the Lord addressed a message to them:
�As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you...Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me.� (Exodus 20:33, 36-38)
This is what the Lord God of Israel says through His prophet Ezekiel and it completely refutes. Evangelist Billy Graham�s idea that because, as a people, we are obviously not immune from judgment, we are, therefore, not a chosen people. These words, bearing the official stamp of �Thus saith the Lord,� show instead that His people are subject to rigorous penalties for their failure to perform the assigned tasks. God says He will pour out his fury upon them to compel a return to Him and the keeping of the terms of His covenant. The national call going out to His Chosen Servants today is:
�Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel.� (Ezekiel 33:11)
This call is national in scope and is addressed to the people whom God has chosen; the race through whom the righteousness of the Law of the Lord is ultimately to be manifested to all nations. To ignore or to belittle this aspect of the Gospel is to entirely miss the meaning of the coming restitution of all things through the triumphant restoration of His Kingdom in perfection earth. Then the promise made by Yahshua in the Beatitudes will be fulfilled that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.