THE NEW EXODUS: PART 2
This writing is based on an article by Peter Goodgame
(link below)
Quotes from Mr. Goodgame will be highlighted.
STATUS OF THE
GENTILES (NATIONS)
Everyone is unrighteous and under sin, both Jews and
Gentiles (nations).
Romans 3:9-10 NET What then?
Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and
Greeks alike are all under sin,
(10) just as it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one,
No one practicing the law is righteous, only those of the
faithfulness of Jesus who believe. There is no distinction between Jew and
Gentile. Paul states the law, which
gives the knowledge of sin, has performed its mission and is no longer
applicable to the people of faith in Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
Romans 3:20-22 NET For no
one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the
law comes the knowledge of sin.
(21) But now apart from the law
the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has
been disclosed -- (22) namely, the
righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction,
The gospel of the Kingdom of God was told to Abraham and
he was credited with righteousness because he believed before his sign of
circumcision was implemented. Abraham
was shown that Gentiles (non-Israelites) would be justified by God through
faith as he was justified by believing God.
Galatians 3:6-8 NET Just as
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, (7) so
then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham. (8)
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying, "All the
nations will be blessed in you."
Through the covenant of God, Abraham was promised a large
number of descendants (nations). After
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ these descendants are called
Christians people of the Way, (Kingdom of God), whether Jew or Gentile. No one enters the Kingdom of God through
sacrifices, circumcision, Sabbath keeping, or works of the law; only through
faith in the fulfillment of the sacrifices, circumcision, Sabbath, and law which
is Jesus Christ.
Genesis 17:2 NET Then I will
confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of
descendants."
NOTES ON THE
NEW EXODUS
Deuteronomy
30:2-6 proclaims the “second or new exodus”.
Well, the Jews thought that it was all about THEM, and they looked for a
political solution that would bring righteousness and vindication and establish
the Jews as the rulers of the world. The
religious rulers of Judea expected a messiah to conquer the Romans, expand the
empire, and eventually make Israel the reigning empire of the world. That is the reason they rejected Christ in
the first century and continue to do so today.
Many consider they are currently attempting to be their own personal
messiah and set up an earth encompassing empire.
Deuteronomy 30:2-6 NET Then
if you and your descendants turn to the LORD your God and obey him with your
whole mind and being just as I am commanding you today, (3)
the LORD your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He
will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered
you. (4)
Even if your exiles are in the most distant land, from there the LORD
your God will gather you and bring you back.
(5) Then he will bring you to the
land your ancestors possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better
for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. (6)
The LORD your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your
descendants so that you may love him with all your mind and being and so that
you may live.
But
God, in fact, had something much bigger in mind. Truthfully, the first forced
exile was not Israel taken
into bondage by Egypt. No indeed! The first exile was when Adam and Eve were
driven from the Garden of Eden! And then after Cain killed Abel he established
the first city, which my previous research has shown was in fact BABYLON.
So we see that mankind was driven from Eden into Babylon, even before the
flood. This is the first exile, and it continues to this day for many of the
lost out there in the world today who have not found Jesus Christ.
Jesus
came to redeem the Jews, of course, but this was only a small part of His
mission. The “second exodus” predicted in Deut. 30:3-6, which is also mentioned
throughout Isaiah 40-55, is actually the redemption of all of mankind — all the
nations of the earth, not just the Jews — out of our exile from the spiritual
darkness and wilderness of BABYLON, and back into the Garden of Eden. This
original Garden, where human beings lived in communion with God without shame
or guilt, takes its final form as the New Jerusalem of Rev. 21-22, wherein we
find, once again, the Tree of Life!
CHRIST, THE
FULFILLMENT OF OLD COVENANTS
The first five books of the Old Testament, generally
referred to as the Torah, contain the story of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt,
the wilderness journey, and the Mosiac laws.
The religious leaders of Judea rejected Jesus as the Messiah and as a
result, they essentially rejected the teachings and prophecies of the
Torah. The purpose of the Torah was to
point to the Messiah Jesus who would fulfill all the covenants, laws, and the
second exodus as written in those books.
Jesus specifically stated this truth to the scribes and Pharisees.
John 5:37-40 NET And the
Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard
his voice nor seen his form at any time,
(38) nor do you have his word
residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. (39)
You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you
possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about
me, (40)
but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
If the above statement is true, then there is no such thing as a Torah-observant
non-Christian “Jew”. To be truly “Torah observant” can only mean to accept
the One to whom the Torah pointed.
THOSE WHO SAY
THEY ARE JEWS
In the church letters at the beginning of the Revelation,
Jesus twice referred to a group as, “those who say they are Jews and are
not.” This statement has been used by
some commentators to refer to people who claim to be Jews but are not actual
Hebrew descendants of Abraham. Jesus may
have meant something completely different.
To Smyrna Jesus said:
Revelation 2:9 NET 'I know
the distress you are suffering and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know
the slander against you by those who
call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
They are accused of blasphemy (KJV) and slander; a synagogue
of Satan.
To the Philadelphia church Jesus said:
Revelation 3:9 NET Listen! I
am going to make those people from the synagogue of Satan -- who say they are Jews yet are not, but are
lying -- Look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet and acknowledge
that I have loved you.
In this instance, He accused them of being liars and
continued to refer to them as the synagogue of Satan. They will be made to bow at their feet.
These
are incredible statements for Jesus to make, especially when compared to
today’s popular end-times teaching that declares that the unbelieving
genetic/cultural descendants of the ethnic Israelites that rejected Jesus
–those who populate the modern-day state of Israel– are “the apple of God’s eye.”
The Lord God had a special purpose for the Hebrew
Israelites. The Messiah Jesus Christ
would come through their linage. The
worship of the one true God and His moral principles were delivered and defined
through them by the Mosaic law system.
The laws, the sacrifices for sin, and the rituals were all fulfilled by
Christ who is the embodiment of the New Covenant. Jesus made a way in the wilderness for the
new exodus to all who will follow His light, both Jew and Gentile.
THE APPLE OF
GOD’S EYE
The phrase “the apple of God’s eye” is supposedly a
reference to the children of Israel taken from Zechariah 2: 8. This may be a reason for John Haggee’s
statement that Jews do not need Jesus to be saved because they are God’s chosen
people. I suppose that would mean,
Haggee believes they are above the New Covenant. Actually, his statement is pure heresy and
anyone who believes that is a heretic (in my opinion).
Zechariah 2:7-8 KJV Deliver
thyself, O Zion, that dwells with the daughter of Babylon. (8)
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto
the nations which spoiled you: for he that touches you touches the apple of his
eye.
However, this is another example of ignorantly taking a
verse out of context; or maybe it is done purposely hoping that 99 percent of
the readers will either not read or understand the verses following Zechariah
2:8. Verse 11 gives the identity of the
“apple” which is many nations that will be joined to the Lord in that day. Also notice in verse 7 that God is delivering
people from the Babylon wilderness. The
Lord’s people of Zion will be all those having righteousness through faith in
Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
Zechariah 2:11 KJV And many
nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I
will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts
hath sent me unto thee.
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