Guest article:
Christ and the Saints in ‘heaven’
1Co 15:50a Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
1Co 15:51b but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [epouranios].
The premise of this “scribble” is that a person is changed from “flesh and blood” to ‘spirit’ so that one can ‘live’ in the spiritual realm. During the Messianic Age, inaugurated when Christ’s glory [second cause] takes up residence in the Millennial Temple (Eze 43:1-7a), Christ and the Church Saints will inhabit the ‘heavenly’ realm, a realm that “flesh and blood” cannot enter.
Heavenly and Earthly Kings and Priests
Heb 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:
“It occurs to the writer that some confusion might arise in his readers’ minds over the co-existence of two orders of priesthood. He proceeds, therefore, to show that the priesthood of Jesus was not established on earth. The main point he is making is the impossibility of Jesus fulfilling the conditions in the matter of genealogy, or in the precise nature of the gifts, which are stipulated in the Mosaic Law” (Donald Guthrie, Hebrews, TNTC, pp.174-175).
Jer 33:20 Thus saith the LORD; if ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Jer 33:21 Then may also my covenant be broken ... with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
The covenant with the levitical priests can only be broken when the alternation of day and night is also broken.
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Ex 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
“Israel was to be kings and priests to God on behalf of the nations” (Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Exodus, EBC, p.417).
There may be “some confusion,” from Rev 5:10, of the co-existence of two orders of kingship on the earth. The argument below is that the ‘kingship’ of the saints is not established in the “terrestrial” realm of the earth, but in the “heavenly”.
The success of the Messianic Age requires two priesthoods, one in heaven and one on the earth. It also requires heavenly and earthly “kings”.
Lk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Lk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me...
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies[epouranios].
In the diagram above, the “heavenlies (6:12),” as it relates to Satan’s kingdom, is referred to as the “heavenly-earth.” Typology suggests that the lower realm of heaven is the invisible, higher realm of the earth - “the kingdom of the air” (Eph 2:2).
The heavenly realm comprises “heaven” and the “heavenly-earth”. In Hebrew “heaven” has a dual ending - “used to designate things that occur in pairs” - which implies that heaven is a two-part realm.
In this heavenly realm of the Kingdom of God, the Saints - the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) - will be kings and priests.
The Saints will exercise their kingship over the earth from the “heavenly-earth”. (The heavenly-earth is where Satan and the demons are now).
1Ch 11:5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David.
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand...
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels
As David cast out the Jebusites from the strong hold of Zion, which then became the city of David, so Jesus Christ, David’s greater son, will cast out the demons from the heavenly-earth - the heavenly Mount Zion - and this will become the ‘city’ of Jesus Christ. Christ’s throne (Rev 3:21), will be in the heavenly-earth.
Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
From the heavenly-earth the Saints will ‘go-up’ to God’s throne in heaven, where they will exercise their priesthood (cp. Rev 7:14-15).
Eze 44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok ... they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
Jer 33:20 Thus saith the LORD; if ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
Jer 33:21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne;...
The Davidic kings and Levitical priests will exercise their roles on the earth. The Davidic kings will exercise their kingship on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem.
2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up [‘alah], rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
Eze 40:22b and they went up [‘alah] unto it by seven steps
In the Messianic Age the Temple is north of the city of Jerusalem - the Temple Mount was higher and north of the City of David - and the people will ‘go-up’ 7 steps to the north and south gatehouses through which one enters the outer court of the Temple.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up [‘alah] to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Zec 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing:
“The glorified Son of man shall rule mankind by His transfigured Church in heaven, and by His people Israel on earth: Israel shall be the priestly mediator of blessings to the whole world...” (A. R. Fausset, Revelation, JFB, Vol.3, Pt.3, p.692).
Eph 2:6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenlies [epouranios] in Christ Jesus,
“By virtue of their union with Christ .... [the saints] ... have shared in his resurrection, ascension and session... For if we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, there can be no doubt what we are seated on: thrones!...” (John R.W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians, BST, p.81).
Note:
The preface to Pt.3 - “1 Corinthians to Revelation” - of the JFB Commentary was dated November, 1869”. Andrew Fausset noted on 1 Cor 6:
“The mistake of the Chiliasts was, they restricted the kingdom to the terrestrial part. Besides this earthly glory, there shall be the heavenly glory of the saints reigning above” (1 Corinthians, JFB, Vol.3, p.298).
Some twenty years before HWA was born Andrew Fausset was pointing out the mistake of the Chiliasts, now known as Premillennialists, a mistake that HWA was also to make; and both Sabbath and Sunday keeping Premillennialists are still making today.
The Good News of the Kingdom of God, as it relates to the kingship of the Saints, is that Christ and the Saints are going to replace Satan and the demons in the heavenlies [epouranios] - Andrew Fausset understood this over 150 years ago.
John
