Ever since Vic Kubik was removed from office the United Church of God has been trying to reinvent itself. Strangely, they still cling to the myth and relevance of British Israelism as necessary for their "gospel". They also continue to think it necessary to smear Christians of the world as being deceived by Satan believing that that action shows how much more enlightened they are about the "unknown Jesus" whom they still hardly know. Let them take about the law and they can wax eloquent.
They are going to try and make a concerted effort to target younger adults through social media. They believe they can provide proper direction to those really interested in the Bible.
After receiving blowback from members over their "worldly" Magnified series, UCG admits they need to keep members better informed and how it is necessary to "effectively communicate" with younger people on their level.
One would think that as they inch closer to 30 years of existence they could get their act together and preach a simple message of Jesus, but no, there is too much other crap necessary for them to discuss.
In the latest Council of Elders report they had this:
Peter Eddington continues as Operations Manager of this area of the work. Mr. Shabi commented that he and Mr. Eddington have had many discussions reviewing the methods and means of preaching the gospel, as well as reviewing and developing the metrics that can be used to monitor the effectiveness of what is being done. “Where have we been, where can we go, what are we missing” are questions being asked as it pertains to preaching the gospel and the various means of communication available to us today.
- Social Media and Web Presence – Mr. Shabi mentioned that we have to be relevant in today’s world. We give people hope through the Word of God without compromising, gently leading them to see that the Word of God is as relevant today as it was in Christ’s time.
- Beyond Today TV – New four and five-program series are being recorded to air back-to-back beginning in Mid-April with the following subjects; Joseph’s birthright, focusing on the crown in England and the identity of modern-day Israel (Darris McNeely), Satan’s deception in the Christian teachings of the world (Steve Myers), and the unknown Jesus (Gary Petty).
- TV Ads – There are plans to buy TV air time on various networks for 30/60 second ads that will feature key comments from the Beyond Today program designed to draw attention to our teachings. Those ads will direct people to watch Beyond Today at ucg.org, YouTube, and at the Beyond Today channel.
- Social Media Campaign – Mr. Shabi mentioned that social media (Facebook and Instagram) are key areas to consider when it comes to reaching young adults, both in and outside of the Church. There are many out there who are interested in the Bible, committed to what it teaches, and looking for direction. We must put forth the effort to reach them and give them what they are searching for. There is a force behind why they are responding the way they are – they want to go deeper into the scriptures. They want conversation centered around the Bible and are looking for truth. We must fill that void using the type of communication channels they are engaged in, such as Facebook, Instagram, and podcast formats.
- “Magnified” – Mr. Shabi noted that this short film series is a first step in the effort to reach young adults outside the Church, which is the target audience of this project. It has been successful so far, but we realize we must effectively communicate to our members what we are doing and who is the target audience when we introduce these new methods of preaching the truth.
50 comments:
Hmmm pro Kubic but anti Shabi interesting.
Kubic was not removed from the presidential office. His term had come to a natural end. The council of elders chose not to renew a third term.
Why lie?
Why be deceptive here 1:32? Kubik admitted it took him by surprise when the church did not want to let him run again. This action essentially removed him. As a UCG member, I am glad he is gone. Every time he turned around we were expected to give money to his "charity" or extoll its virtues. While his charity is certainly doing good work, its quasi-endorsement and support by the UCG hierarchy was an appalling conflict of interest.
1:32. this blog has always been run by ministers hiding in UCG and elsewhere. They love their paychecks but hate God's work.
Wow! I just saw their "Magnified" on "Modern Idolatry" and to illustrate idolatry they showed a video of some Black men pouring out their drinks in memory and honor of a deceased loved one.
I guess UCG doesn't want new Black members in their church. Let's remember that in Genesis 35:14, Jacob poured out a drink (though probably not a 40 oz. malt liquor) in much the same way Black folks do today. Nothing pagan about it at all. Unless you are going to say that because pagans drank alcohol, Christians must not do so. And because pagans slept on soft beds, Christians had better not do so. And so on.
Until the COGs repent (Rev 3:19-20) and begin to teach tithing is not required today and the 14th (Eze 45:21) is the first day of 7 days of unleavened bread.........Jesus is outside of their organization.
What they are missing? They are missing the fact that God doesn't care a bout the perishable crowns or thrones of the British fallen empire. That God cares about devout Christians seeking after a crown that doesn't fade. They got one foot in the world and the other one in the Bible.
No point to finding new methods to "preach the truth". You have to have it, before you can preach it. Hence, the dilemma of the COGs.
Dump British Israelism. Dumb the law. Dump tithing. Then maybe you can find Christ at work in Christians around the world.
Dump British Israelism. Dumb the law. Dump tithing. Then maybe you can find Christ at work in Christians around the world.
What Christians? None of them follow Jesus. They just pay lip-service and virtue-signal.
Let's get to the point. Many people from the Armstrong movement have been waiting for that breakaway blessed group to emerge, the one that rises above all the others, to be recognized as the true successor to the old WCG, the one that is actually getting out HWA's "half a gospel" with the same power and recognition which HWA and GTA had.
No such group has emerged. All of the ACOGs are stagnant. What these UCG leaders are pondering is what approach to take to make UCG that breakaway group. From time to time, the other ACOGs do the same, or they use sleight of hand in an attempt to demonstrate that theirs is already the breakaway group or successor. The movement remains moribund. The time and date stamp has expired on Armstrongism. Gamaliel's wisdom has once again proven timeless. Sorry Mouseketeers! There is no authentic successor. It died with the founder, and if you believe the founder was Jesus Christ, then HWA (Wizard of Oz) really took you for a ride.
2:20 writes:
“the 14th (Eze 45:21) is the first day of 7 days of unleavened bread”.
I disagree.
Below is Leslie Allen’s translation giving THE SENSE of Eze 45:21-23:
On the fourteenth day of the first month you should hold the passover, AFTER WHICH unleavened bread is to be eaten for seven days. The head of state is to provide on that day a bull as a sin offering for himself and all the people in the land. During the seven days of the festival he is to provide as a holocaust to Yaweh seven bulls and seven rams, unblemished beasts, on each of the seven days; also a young goat as a sin offering each day...
Now it may be objected that "after which" is not in the context, but I suggest that the ancient-near Eastern hearer or reader would have made that connection without it being stated.
“... the Bible is an ancient book and makes sense if we look at it in ancient ways" (Peter Enns, The Bible tells me so, p.187).
The Bible is ancient-near Eastern literature written in the thoughtforms of the day. Take a literal translation of the Hebrew in the verse below for an illustration:
Eze 43:11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done the design of the temple and its arrangements and its exits and its entrances and entire its design and all its ordinances and all its forms and all its laws make know to them and write down in their sight so that they make keep whole its design and all its ordinances and perform them
"The prophetic charge [Ezekiel 43:10-11] consists of a series of clauses whose sense is not always clear and whose arrangement is certainly not logical by Western standards" (Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48, NICOT, p.587).
Coming back to 45:21-24 Leslie Allen comments:
"[In] the combined passover and festival of unleavened bread in the spring ... [the] ... sequencing ... [of the] ... two-part celebration in vv 21/22/23-24 represents an AB/A'/B' structure. In each case there is some emphasis upon the sin offering. In particular, the passover sin offering has no parallel in the Pentateuch. This emphasis aligns with v 17b and implies the regular need to purify the sanctuary and so protect its holiness from the people's sins" (Leslie C. Allen, Ezekiel 20-48, WBC, p.266).
The 'athnach placed under “passover" sets up the AB sequencing in v.21.
Below has A/A1 = the 14th; and B/B2 = 15th-21st
A Eze 45:21a In the first month, IN THE FOURTEENTH DAY of the month, ye shall have the passover,
A1 Eze 45:22 And UPON THAT DAY shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering.
B Eze 45:21b A FEAST OF SEVEN DAYS; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
B1 Eze 45:23 And SEVEN DAYS OF THE FEAST he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.
The Mosaic and Ezekielian Torahs agree.
Lev 23 lists moeds (Hebrew for fixed or appointed or meeting times). Ex 23:14-16 lists 3 chags (Hebrew for feasts). Moeds are both feasts and sabbaths. Chags are only feasts. Lev 23 listing 7 or so moeds/feasts/sabbaths does not contradict Ex 23 listing 3 moeds/feasts.
Only 3 feasts as named in Ex 23:14-16 are to be observed as God's feasts. The other moeds are weekly and annual sabbaths. A question is: where's the Passover, the 14th, in Exodus 23:14-16? Answer: It is the first day of the first feast listed in that passage, a feast of 7 days, Nisan 14-20. But COg members eat unleavened bread including the Passover 8 days.
Other references to consider: Deut 16:1-4; Mark 14:12; Acts 12:3-4, others.
United and the other churches in the Armstrong tradition would be more successful if they would acknowledge good works of other churches that they might find common agreements on rather than denigrating them and going on a smear campaign that they always seem to do. It seems as if they always take the arrogant position that they and ONLY THEY are the possessor of truth. I guess that is one reason why they continue to trend downwards and have no growth. Leadership is mainly focused on maintaining their position and lifestyle.
Years and years of marketing , and there is not the revelation to the supporters , that new to the organization people come at a cost of OVER $100,000 , a sum that would never be made back from the remaining lifetime of those new members, even if they fully tithed.
Additionally, it is buried in UCG press that less than 100 people are baptized each year in the entire organization , virtually all of them offspring or close relatives of current members, not from media outreaches. The amount of people who actually fully tithe to UCG is rumored to be less than 1500 , with the rest just being offerings or the like. Many UCG folks are retired, or non income producing, perhaps as many as 50%.
The old saying is certainly true... "if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting".
The UCG: Forever Godless
The UCG is forever trying to figure out how to grow and make money without behaving properly. The UCG is full of godless and wicked people behaving badly. One could never recommend that anyone go to the UCG and put up with all the bad behavior there. The old “ministers” in the UCG are bad enough, and the newly-credentialed, fake, UCG “ministers” are TOTALLY FAKE. The UCG will go to its end still trying to figure out how to grow and make money without behaving properly.
Common knowledge 1:54.
Nd then languish in sexual immorality 4:32. That's your end goal.
Keep taking the pills...
Well you should know Connie..I mean Tonto... secretly wanting everything to amount to nothing, steering everything into the abyss.
Hey Anon 11:39 PST (a.k.a. bitter COGWA member),
Please get a thesaurus. Your cut-and-paste posts are old and tired, repeating the same accusations over and over and over again. If you think COGWA is guiltless and only full of true godly ministers, you are either blind or extremely naive.
Look at the attitude of the Apostle Paul concerning others who preached Christ. He didn't exhibit an arrogant position over them:
Philippians 1:15-18 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
Much different than the ACOGs
Anonymous on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 12:33:00 PM PST said...“Your cut-and-paste posts are old and tired, repeating the same accusations over and over and over again.”
Of course they are, and of course they do. Nothing e-v-e-r changes in the old and tired and godless (don't forget godless) UCG.
Sign of the times when sneaky anti God blog writers accuse Christian organisations of being godless.
So half the people in the UCG are retired, and in some ACOGs congrgations the average age is in the 70's, yet their group photos on the web shows them as being middle aged. They must be using photos that are decades old. Or they are using the new de-aging tech.
10:45 pm "Sign of the times when sneaky anti God blog writers accuse Christian organisations of being godless."
More like Jesusless.
I still disagree 10:23
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month between the evenings is the LORD'S passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Ex 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
Nu 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
Nu 28:17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
Lev 23:27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls...
Lev 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
When looking at the above Scriptures:
The Passover was killed between the evenings on the 14th, that is in the afternoon (compare the time when Christ, the Passover, which all the Passovers looked forward to, was killed).
At sunset on the 14th day the fifteenth day began (cp. the tenth day of the seventh month beginning at sunset on the ninth.
"... two reckonings [of the day - sunrise to sunrise and sunset to sunset] were not in rivalry with each other, but could coexist harmoniously within the mind of a single writer" (Roger T. Beckwith, The Day, its Divisions and its Limits, in Biblical Thought, The Evangelical Quarterly, October-December, 1971, p.226).
The fact, 10:57, is that many areas of our culture are greying. We are gradually losing our baby boomer culture, which was based on rock music, as an example. Every day we read of influential rock musicians from that era dying. I checked out a DVD biography of Eric Clapton, made with his cooperation, and in the opening remarks he stated that he represents a form of music that has all but disappeared. Other icons, such as writers, comedians, and actors are now inactive or dying off. Long held ideals have shifted and now seem to be based on ego, entitlement, and capturing and preserving power at the cost of ethics and morality.
Armstrongism was time and date stamped for the parents of the baby boomer generation, although a percentage of their offspring has continued in it in vain as nothing it forecast or foresaw has come to fruition. Will there ever be a resurgence? I think the world has progressed beyond something that is so simplistic that it doesn't even stand up under light weight fact checking.
Yea, Chuck Berry and Little Richard just recently passed a few years ago just thinking about it. But yea the boomer generation participated in Woodstock and that summer of love. They rose up and played. LOL
Yea, Chuck Berry and Little Richard just recently passed a few years ago just thinking about it. But yea the boomer generation participated in Woodstock and that summer of love. They rose up and played. LOL
Anonymous on Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 10:45:00 PM PST said...“Sign of the times when sneaky anti God blog writers accuse Christian organisations of being godless.”
Sign of the Laodicea era when ineffective little splinter groups like the UCG are full of godless sinners and weirdos spouting off their own pet heresies.
Giving too much information away for free 7:56. One of your whopper mistakes.
Some of those old sinners and semi-retarded, demon-influenced weirdos in the UCG are so bad that it would be too embarrassing to take anyone to a UCG meeting. Family and friends need to be shielded from such godlessness. Even some ham-eating Sunday-keepers would be appalled by all the bad behavior in the UCG.
"Let's get to the point. Many people from the Armstrong movement have been waiting for that breakaway blessed group to emerge, the one that rises above all the others, to be recognized as the true successor to the old WCG, the one that is actually getting out HWA's "half a gospel" with the same power and recognition which HWA and GTA had."
Herbert Armstrong deserves a lot of credit for growing the church and advertising the doctrines the way he did. I believe Christ used him in certain ways.
I also believed a number of false doctrines were introduced by men to render the church ineffective going forward both during and after the life of HWA.
I think when Herb died a lot of his and Gerald Waterhouse' promises died too.
Nobody believed Joe Tkach was an apostle but they kept paying him money. The infrastructure was still in place.
COG7's doctrines will never go away but there does need to be a reformation within it's ranks. And that would come from the bottom up and not the top down.
Sites like this and exrcg.org help with this process.
"Many people from the Armstrong movement have been waiting for that breakaway blessed group to emerge, the one that rises above all the others, to be recognized as the true successor to the old WCG, the one that is actually getting out HWA's "half a gospel" with the same power and recognition which HWA and GTA had.""
Exactly! The good thing is that there has been no one to accomplish that. Bob Thiel thought he could draw thousands of members and the COG community turned its back on him en mass.
Anon 3-6 1:10 AM: There are answers for you but after 40 years it gets a little tiring responding: Jesus observed, ate the passover when He was betrayed, at the right commanded time, the evening/beginning of the 14th. Lev 23:6 commands a feast, chag, for one day, the 15th, commonly called in the COGs the NTBMO (Night to be Much Observed). A comment that "on the 9th the 10th began" is, well, technically impossible. There is at the end of the 9th an evening but it turns into the 10th. There is no time that is both the 9th and the 10th. Ex 12:18 can of course refer not only to the end but also the beginning.....of the 14th to the 21st, 7 days.
But the "biggie" evidence is probably the most subtle mistranslation in the Bible: Luke 23:54. As translated the verse is entirely true: it was the day of preparation and a sabbath was approaching. But that is not what Luke wrote. He wrote the sabbath began to grow light, that is, darkness was leaving the land - Luke 23:44 - on a sabbath, the annual sabbath, the 14th of Nisan, the first day of unleavened bread.
Is there a dress code for UCG sabbath services? if so, do you guys call it Shabi chic?
Just saying.please consider. I always thought that the seven congregations in REV, existed contemporaneously in the time of John. So there would be seven churches of God existing at the times of end.like the UCG is divided, the Lcg is dieing and so on. It makes sense to me. Just a heads up.
3:03 writes:
"There are answers for you but after 40 years it gets a little tiring responding".
But you don't get tired of telling us that there are ‘three chags'. Do you think one could tire of you repeating this over and over?
John favourite expression is the "Mickey Mouse Millennium" and yours ‘there are only three chags'.
If you are tired of responding, perhaps you should give a thought to refraining from making your favorite point.
Nu 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
Nu 28:17 And in THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THIS MONTH IS THE FEAST: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
Also if you are going to say what you say below, you should expect to be challenged:
"the annual sabbath, the 14th of Nisan, the first day of unleavened bread".
This statement is biblically untrue, as per Num 28:16-17.
Please show us anywhere in the OT that the first day of Unleavened Bread is a "sabbath;" or any non-atonement holy days that are called sabbaths;
Mk 14:12a And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover,
In the first century, the 14th, by convention, could be said to be the first day of Unleavened Bread, this is captured by Josephus:
"Whence it is that, in memory of the want we there in, we keep a feast for eight days, which is called the feast of unleavened bread..." (Bk. 15, chpt 15, 317).
He technically knew that the 14th wasn't the first day of UB:
"The feast of unleavened bread SUCCEEDS that of the passover, and falls on the fifteenth of the month and CONTINUES SEVEN DAYS, wherein they feed on unleavened bread..." (Bk. 3, chpt. 10, 249).
Josephus agrees with Num 28:16-17 above and Lev 23:5-6 below
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month between the evenings is the LORD'S passover.
Lev 23:6 And on THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SAME MONTH IS THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
But you say: "the annual sabbath, the 14th of Nisan, the first day of unleavened bread".
Mk 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Jn 18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.
"... in John, Jesus' trial before Pilate occurs on ... the 14th of Nisan, before the first Passover seder has been celebrated, whereas in the synoptic Gospels it occurs on the 15th of Nisan, the day after the first Passover seder has been celebrated. Verse 28 makes clear that the Passover meal still lies in the future..." (Gail R. O'Day, The Gospel of John, NIB, pp.814).
Just for the record: Christ ate the Passover on the evening of the fifteenth according to the calendar used by the Synoptics; "the Jews" ate the Passover on the fifteenth according to the calendar used by John. Christ was killed between the evenings, on Friday afternoon when the other passovers were being killed to be eaten on the first day of Unleavened Bread (John's calendar).
In AD 30, the first day of Unleavened Bread occurred on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week - April 8.
You write:
"Lev 23:6 commands a feast, CHAG, FOR ONE DAY".
Eze 45:21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, A FEAST [HAG] OF SEVEN DAYS; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
Eze 45:25 In the seventh month, IN THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, shall he do the like in THE FEAST [HAG] OF THE SEVEN DAYS,
Ex 23:15 Thou shalt KEEP THE FEAST of unleavened bread: (THOU SHALT EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD SEVEN DAYS, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib;...).
Are you saying that the other days when UB is to be eaten are not part of the hag/festival?
Using the term “semi-retarded” shows just the type of person you are.
Using the term “semi-retarded” actually illustrates quite well the problem with the UCG. The UCG is simply godless and warped. Some people go to the UCG expecting to run into true Christians with the Holy Spirit, or at least people who can act civilized. Instead, they run into rude old sinners and “semi-retarded, demon-influenced weirdos” who come around hissing and muttering angrily and trying to spread their own heretical pet doctrinal theories. The UCG “ministers” want everyone else to put up with these sinners and demoniacs in order to “show love” to them. The UCG “ministers” do not seem to be able to cure anyone of their evil spirits and get them to behave properly.
Hissing and muttering angrily ? I call troll on this comment.
Fake troll 10:03. Who ya kidding ? No one.
Every UCG pastor or member I have met has been very ignorant and rude.
Anonymous on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 11:30:00 AM PST and Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 11:36:00 AM PST said... some ignorant thing about trolls.
Go to the UCG yourself if you do not know any better.
COGWA troll. In your humble (which is a character trait you clearly lack) opinion, what % of UCG members are semi-retarded and demon possessed?
Too many people in the UCG are warped. The big problem is that the UCG “ministers” support it.
Below is part 2 & 3 of “Sit and Stand” on the roles of kings and priests.
Mekchizdec, king and priest, sets the precedent.
MELCHIZEDEK KING-PRIESTS
Ge 14:18 And Melchizedek KING of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the PRIEST of the most high God.
2Sa 5:3b and they anointed David KING over Israel.
2Sa 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites...
2Sa 5:7 And David captureth the fortress of Zion, it is the city of David. (YLT).
Ps 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a PRIEST for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
"When centuries later, Jerusalem fell into David's hands and became his capital (2 Sam. 5:6ff), he and his heirs became successors to Melchizedek's kingship, and probably also (in a titular capacity at least) to the priesthood of God Most High" (F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Revised, NICNT, p.124).
One of the difficulties in understanding the OT is that the revelation of the NT is often read back into the OT. In this scenario Psalm 110 is understood as a DIRECT MESSIANIC prophecy. But it is argued that this royal psalm was composed by the psalmist for his contemporary Davidic king. Later after the return from the Babylonian captivity, when no Davidic sat on the throne, this psalm came to be understood as a MESSIANIC prophecy - cp. second temple exegesis in the first century AD. It is highly probable that David composed (Mk 12:36) the psalm in his co-regency with Solomon when he was too ill to perform his royal duties - as acting king, Solomon was David’s lord - and in his anticipation that Solomon would build the temple and be the patron of the temple and temple worship.
Ps 110:1 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
1Ki 5:3 ... because of the wars waged against ... David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet.
(God, “first cause,” put David’s enemies under his feet, through David, “second cause,” but because of his bloodshed he still could not build the Temple.
(For human Davidic kings, “sitting at God’s right hand” was ancient near-eastern hyperbole; for Jesus it is literal. Eventually God, “first cause,” is going to place Christ’s enemies under His feet through Jesus Christ himself - “second cause” (cp. Rev 19:11ff; just as He did for and through David; with God at His right hand (110:5)).
“David and his royal sons, as chief representatives of the rule of God, performed many worship-focused activities, such as overseeing the ark of the covenant (see 2Sa 6:1-15, especially v. 14; 1Ki 8:1), building and overseeing the temple (see 1Ki 5-7; 2Ki 12:4-7; 22:3-7; 23:4-7; 2Ch 15:8; 24:4-12; 29:3-11; 34:8) and overseeing the work of the priests and Levites and the temple liturgy (see 1Ch 6:31; 15:11-16; 16:4-42; 23:3-31; 25:1; 2Ch 17:7-9; 19:8-11; 29:25,30; 31:2; 35:15-16; Ezr 3:10; 8:20; Ne 12:24,36,45).
1Ki 2:35 The king ... replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest. (NIV)
“In all these duties they exercised authority over even the high priest. But they could not engage in those specifically priestly functions that had been assigned to the Aaronic priesthood (see 2Ch 26:16-18). In the present oracle the son of David is installed by God as king-priest in Zion after the manner of Melchizedek, the king-priest of God Most High at Jerusalem in the days of Abraham (see Ge 14:18). As such a king-priest, he was appointed to a higher order of priesthood than that of Aaron and his sons. (For the union of king and priest in one person see Zec 6:13.)” (NIVSB on Psalm 110:4).
Part 2
Zec 6:13 ... and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
“Kelly brings out the full import of the prophetic announcement by saying: “He is now a priest after the order of Melchisdec; He will then exercise it in all is fullness of meaning (not as now Aaronically in the holiest, but) coming forth with refreshment for the conquerers over the hostile powers of the earth, blessing the most high God ... and blessing man, Himself the channel and security of all blessing for ever” [William Kelly, Zechariah, KCBB, p.463]” (Charles L. Feinberg, God Remembers - A Study of Zechariah, p.64).
2Ch 9:8 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God ... he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
Eze 43:7 and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever.
While Jesus inherits the throne of David he will delegate one of his relatives as his vice-regent during the Millennium/Messianic kingdom, while in the lower realm of heaven where is throne will be ‘located’. God through Christ will also have a “dwelling presence” in the Millennial Temple.
HEAVENLY MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTS
Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude .. stood [histemi] before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; .
Rev 7:15a ... they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple (BSB).
While human Davidic kings are prohibited from entering the inner court (cp. Eze 46:1-2), heavenly Melchizdek king-priests can stand and minster before the throne of God in the Most Holy Place.
(Revelation 7 is a retro-prospective insert prophecy in the chronological story line in the book of Revelation).
HEAVENLY MELCHIZEDEK KINGS
Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities [exousia], against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms [literally, “in the heavenlies”] in Christ Jesus, (a prolepsis).
"... the Bible tells us that ... [demons] ... are organized into various provinces or domains, which are referred to in the NT as archai ("governments," "rulers"), exousiai ("authorities"), and enjoy the status of kosmokratores ("world rulers," "powers of this world"). Without flesh and blood, they are evil spirit-beings who occupy assigned superterrestrial regions (cp. Eph 6:12: "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm")" (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Daniel, EBC, Vol.7, pp.126-127).
Da 10:13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
Da 10:20 So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come;
"The prince of the kingdom of Persia... a representative of Persia in the heavenlies is intended; Greece also has an angelic counterpart (20)..." (Joyce G. Baldwin, Daniel, TOTC, p.181).
Christ and the Saints are going to replace Satan and the Demons in the heavenly realms. Instead of ‘demon’ kings of Persia and Greece there will be ‘saint kings’ of Persia and Greece.
Generalize much?!
12:14 Yeah I interpret the 7 churches of Revelation as existing at the same time throughout the history of God’s Church till Christ’s Second Coming hence all Christian churches (ie Catholic and Protestant) exhibiting various traits mentioned in the letters.
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