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Jews: Behold Your God
Chapter 16
Messiah’s Misunderstood Mission
The English word Christ derived from the Greek word Christos and the English word Messiah derived from the Hebrew word mashiach mean “anointed one.” The Jews associated anointing with the ruler as Saul, David and Solomon had been anointed, even though the priests also were anointed. To the Jews Christ and “King of the Jews” were synonymous terms.
These terms and the fact that the Jews expected the Messiah to be a descendant of David as the Pharisees declared in Matthew 22:42 because of God’s promise to David of an everlasting dynasty, the Jews understood the mission of the Messiah to be restoration of the Kingdom to Israel.
The Greek name "Jesus" is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Yehoshua or Yeshua, the English form of which is "Joshua." The name literally means “God is salvation.” Joshua was a common name in Jesus’ day. So the Jews could not associate Jesus’ name with the purpose Jesus came to fulfill “bring salvation to humanity, i.e to save humanity from death thus making eternal life possible.” The angel mentioned this to Joseph the husband of Mary in Matthew 1:21 (NKJV), “21 And she [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus performed more and greater miracles than any of the great prophets had performed. So the people wondered if Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of David. John 7:31 states, “And many of the people believed in Him, and said, 'When the Christ [Messiah] comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
In fact after Jesus had performed a miracle by feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, the people were ready to make Him king by force. But He escaped as described in John 6:14-15 (NKJV), “14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
Even after Jesus was resurrected the disciples did not have the complete prophetic picture. They were still focused on the Kingdom of Israel in Acts 1:6-9, “6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This occurred even after Jesus had been with the disciples for 40 days after His resurrection and opened the scriptures to their understanding. Thus we can hardly blame the Jews of Jesus’ day for having misunderstood the timing of the Messiah prophecies. The prophecies in the book of Revelation were yet to be revealed more than 60 years later.
Misunderstood Timing of Fulfillment of Prophecies
There are many prophecies of the establishment of God’s glorious Kingdom on earth in the Old Testament. Micah 4:1-4 is one, “1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. 2 Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”
No wonder the Jews were looking forward to the establishment of their glorious Kingdom. This was a prophecy for the latter days. Daniel the prophet had prophesied what the conditions would be in the latter days in Daniel 12:4 (NKJV), “4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” These conditions did not prevail in those days.
What the Jews of Jesus’ days did not understand that there were two sets of prophecies. All these prophecies are in the Jewish scriptures. One set of prophecies pertained to a glorious kingdom of Israel and the other set of prophecies pertained to the suffering of the Messiah. The Jews of Jesus’ day including the disciples were focused on the prophecies of the Kingdom only. They wanted to be rid of the Roman yoke. Even when Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer at the hands of the Jewish religious leaders and be killed the disciples just could not comprehend it. Even after Jesus’ death the disciples did not understand them till He explained these prophecies to them and opened their understanding. They then understood the prophecies concerning the suffering and death of the Messiah.
But the disciples still expected the Kingdom of God to be established in their time. Some members of God’s Church were just waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom any time. But Paul had to correct them in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-7, “1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work…”
Paul said that the mystery of lawlessness was already at work. So he thought there seemed to be nothing restraining the revealing of the ‘man of sin.’
We are now more than 1,980 years after the days of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God has not been established yet. The problem all along with the timing of the prophecies concerning the Kingdom of God has been that those prophecies were sealed till the time of the end. When the end time came, those prophecies were unsealed and were understood first by the end-time Elijah Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong. We have already proved right in the beginning of this book that we are now living in the very end times. The fulfillment of all the prophecies about the Kingdom of God is now at hand.
The Jews of Jesus’ day misunderstood the Messiah’s mission. They did not understand that He had not come to establish the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Israel in their day. He had come to bring salvation to all of humanity as His name Jesus meant “God our salvation.”
When Jesus was on trial in front of Pilate accused of claiming to be King asked Jesus if He was a King. Jesus answered in John 18:36-37, “36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth…”
Messiah’s Mission
The minds of all Jews were focused on the Messiah’s mission as reestablishing the kingdom of Israel. But they did not understand the prophecies about the suffering and death of the Messiah. At the last Passover with His disciples Jesus explained why He came in Matthew 26:26-28, “26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
He had come to sacrifice His body and have His blood shed for the remission of sins for all mankind. John the Baptist put it succinctly in John 1:29, “29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
After His resurrection Jesus Christ explained the scriptures about Himself to the disciples and charged them with a commission as Luke states in Luke 24:44, “44Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Thus at the first time the Messiah came to have His blood shed as the Lamb of God so that all of humanity could receive forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ now makes eternal life possible as Romans 6:23 states, “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Gospel of the Kingdom of God Jesus Preached
The Jews understood the Messiah prophecies to mean the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel. Even after being 40 days with Jesus after His resurrection, the disciples still asked Him, “"Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). This was their understanding after being three and a half years with Jesus. This misunderstanding arose because till that time almost all the members of God’s Church were Jews. So they still thought the Kingdom of God meant Kingdom of Israel.
But Jesus had been preaching about the Kingdom of God and not the Kingdom of Israel. Mark 1:14-15 (NKJV) states, ''Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'"
In Luke 4:43 He said, “43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.”
Not only did Jesus preach about the Kingdom of God, He sent His disciples also to preach the same message in Luke 9:1-2, “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”
The apostles also preached the same message about the Kingdom of God. Paul did so. Acts 14:22 states, he "strengthen[ed] the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God'" (Acts:14:22). Later, in Acts 19:8, "he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God."
Old Testament prophets talked about the Kingdom of God. David said in Psalm 145:10-13 (NKJV), "All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations."
Daniel the prophet mentioned the coming Kingdom of God in his prophecies. He wrote in Daniel 7:27, “27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
Few of the Jews understood the Kingdom to be the Kingdom of God. They equated the Kingdom of God with the Kingdom of Israel in Jesus’ day. But Jesus came to explain the mysteries of the kingdom to His disciples. When He had told them the parable of the sower they asked Him in Luke 8:9-10, “9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”
Jesus explained many things that were hazy in the Old Testament prophecies and the Kingdom of God was one of those mysteries.
Even though these mysteries are written about in the New Testament, many in Christianity still misunderstand what the Kingdom of God is. Part of the problem with humanity is that they have read about the kingdom of God for more than 1,980 years now, but it’s still not here. Many in the previous centuries have thought the same thing. So various Christian denominations have come up with their own ideas of what the kingdom of God is. Some say the kingdom of God is within the heart of Christians, or the Church collectively is the Kingdom of God. But that is spiritualizing away what the Kingdom of God means.
Part of the problem is that things have not changed for humanity since the days of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ mentioned that He would return. But He still has not returned. That’s why Christians spiritualize away what the Kingdom of God is.
But the truth is that the Kingdom of God is a real kingdom. A kingdom must have a king, subjects, laws, means to enforce the laws and territory. So the Kingdom of God must possess all these 5 elements. When the Kingdom of God is established on earth it will have all these elements. Jesus Christ will soon return to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords [the kings and lords will be the resurrected saints who will rule with Jesus Christ] to establish the Kingdom of God over the entire earth [the territory the Kingdom of God will rule] and over all nations of the earth [its subjects]. The laws the kingdom will be governed by will be the entire Bible. The laws will be enforced by the government of Jesus Christ and the saints. Thus the Kingdom of God will be a real kingdom and not something ethereal in the ‘hearts of men.’
There are numerous prophecies describing many aspects of the kingdom and how it will solve humanity’s problems.
Daniel the prophet described it in his interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2:44-45 (NKJV), “44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands [meaning not the work of humans but of God], and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
As explained in the prophecies in Daniel and the book of Revelation the kingdom that the God of heaven is right now resurrecting itself, the seventh resurrection of the “Holy Roman Empire” in Europe which will be an alliance of ten kings, represented by the ten horns on the 7th head of the beast in Revelation 17 and by the 10 toes in King Nebuchadnezzar’s image. This indicates that the return of Jesus Christ is only a short time ahead.
Daniel 7:13-14, 26-27 mentions that the Kingdom of God will encompass all nations, “13 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man [Jesus Christ], coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed…26 'But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion [this is the dominion of the fourth beast and the little horn], to consume and destroy it forever. 27 Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'”
We will not go through the numerous prophecies about the Kingdom of God. But the United Church of God offers a free booklet “The Gospel of the Kingdom” available at its web site www.ucg.org. It answers many questions that the Jews or other readers might have about the Kingdom of God. I would recommend that the reader read it for a thorough explanation about the gospel [meaning ‘good news’] of the Kingdom of God.
Here are some of the prophecies describing conditions in the Kingdom of God from the UCG booklet (scriptures quoted are from the NKJV):
“What kind of future does God have in store for planet earth? Through His prophets God reveals many specific details of how this world will be transformed in the Kingdom of God. Notice a few prophecies about the marvelous world God has planned for us:
A world of unparalleled peace
". . . They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid . . ." (Micah 4:3-4).
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).
Nature of Wild animals Transformed
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them . . ." (Isaiah 11:6).
A world of agricultural abundance
"'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it . . . They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them'" (Amos 9:13-14).
". . . I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase" (Ezekiel 34:26-27).
Wastelands transformed
". . . Waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water . . ." (Isaiah 35:6-7).
Sickness and disease healed
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing" (Isaiah 35:5-6).
Mankind given a new heart and spirit
"Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them…that they may walk in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
Nations will learn God's ways
"Many nations shall come and say, 'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD…He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth . . .'" (Micah 4:2).
Jesus Christ will rule the world
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder…Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end . . ." (Isaiah 9:6-7).
All these prophecies about God solving mankind’s problems that the Jews have seen in their scriptures for the past 3 millennia will be fulfilled. Only the timing of their fulfillment has been misunderstood.
Restoration of the Government of God
Jews’ ideas about Satan based on the Old Testament scriptures are also hazy about his impact on humanity.
Ezekiel and Isaiah describe his rebellion against the Most High. They know that he provoked David to number Israel. But only the New Testament sheds much more light on his nature and impact on humanity.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 states, “3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost [or perishing in NIV]: 4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Here the Bible identifies another god who is blinding the minds of those who do not believe the good news of Jesus Christ, which is the remission of sins through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ making eternal life possible; the offer of salvation which is being born as immortal sons of God and ruling with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God on earth.
Revelation 12:9 identifies this ‘god of the world’ , “9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
The ‘god of this world’ now stands exposed. He is identified as Satan the devil, the one who deceives the whole world. So he and the ‘god of this world’ are one and the same being, because the ‘god of this world’ is also engaged in deceiving the whole world about the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he is identified as the serpent of old that deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Satan is a Hebrew noun meaning "adversary"—the enemy, opponent, antagonist, or foe. The verb forms of the noun mean to "accuse," "slander" and "be an adversary" (Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 5, 1992, "Satan," p. 985).
Devil is the other name for Satan. Devil is translated from the Greek word diabolos, the root from which we get such words as diabolic and diabolical, used to describe something wicked or sinister. Diabolos means "an accuser, a slanderer" (W.E. Vine, Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Devil, Devilish").
The Bible reveals much about Satan’s nature. Jesus Christ said in John 8:44 (NKJV), “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Peter the apostle shed further light on his murderous nature in 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NKJV): “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
Peter thus declares that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking any human being he can devour, and that he is the cause of our suffering.
Ephesians 2:2-4 says he works in all the children of disobedience to God, “2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan being called the prince of the power of the air means he broadcasts his thoughts, moods, ideas, feelings and attitudes to all humans], the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation [conduct] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath…”
Satan’s evil influence is so pervasive that he "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). And he achieves this influence on mankind through his lies and deception. Founding different religions with false promises of salvation based on cunningly crafted lies has been one of Satan’s prime strategies to try to devour mankind. In addition he blinds mankind to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Satan at present rules the kingdoms of the world. In his confrontation with Jesus Christ he said in Luke 4:5-6, “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. 6 And the devil said unto him, all this power will I give to you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”
Jesus did not dispute that Satan at present rules in all the kingdoms of the world. Even Daniel the prophet indicated that Satan appoints some of his demons as princes over the kingdoms of the world (Daniel 10:13, 20).
When Satan rebelled against God, God’s government was no longer being administered by Satan on earth. But the Day of Atonement pictures the putting away of Satan after all the sins of mankind are laid on his head and he is imprisoned for the 1,000 years of the kingdom of God (Revelation 20:1-3, “1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.”)
Putting away of Satan is pictured in the Day of Atonement ceremony of the Azazel goat practiced in ancient Israel (Leviticus 16:21-22, “21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.”) The significance is explained in the UCG Booklet “God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind” available free of charge at www.ucg.org).
Kingdom of God thus means that Satan will be removed as ruler of earth and the government of God will be restored.
Other Ideas about What the Gospel Is
People and Churches have other erroneous ideas about what the gospel is. Some believe that it is about the person of Jesus Christ and what He did for humanity. So preachers preach mainly about Jesus Christ. Others talk about forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That certainly is part of the good news. It is the necessary first step for salvation. But the gospel as we have seen is primarily about the establishment of the earth ruling Kingdom of God, replacing human governments of all nations with God’s government.
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