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FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD
BELIEFS 15, 16
BELIEF 15 – ISRAEL AND GOD’S PROMISES TO ABRAHAM
God’s Church believes that to demonstrate His righteousness and faithfulness, God made incredible promises to Abraham, the father of the faithful, and has fulfilled them all. His purpose was to demonstrate that He makes promises to human beings and has the power to faithfully fulfill them in every precise detail so that they can believe and trust Him that He will faithfully fulfill His promise of salvation and eternal life to all of humanity as His sons and daughters.
God’s promises to Abraham were passed on by him to his son Issac who passed on Abraham’s promises to his son Jacob whose name was changed to ISRAEL by God (Genesis 32:28). God fulfilled His promises to Abraham through the descendants of Israel.
These are the promises God made to Abraham which have been fulfilled and or are being fulfilled or will be fulfilled in the future.
God’s Promises to Abraham
God appeared to Abraham and gave him a command and a new plan for his life. This is recorded in Genesis 12:1-5 (NKJV):
“1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So, they came to the land of Canaan.”
Note that all peoples on earth shall be blessed materially and spiritually through Abraham’s descendants.
Abraham was completely obedient to God and did not question why God asked him to go to Canaan. He did not argue with God to bless him in the land where he was rather than asking him to go to a strange land. He simply obeyed God’s instructions and departed.
God later began to add more details to His promises. Genesis 13:16 adds (NIV): “16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” This means descendants of Abraham will increase greatly in population.
God then further expanded the scope of His promises to Abraham in Genesis 17:1-7 (NKJV): “1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless [“be perfect” as translated in the KJV]. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers." 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
Now the promises include instead of one nation, many nations being formed from the descendants of Abraham, and him becoming an ancestor of kings. Also, God promised him all the land of Canaan in which he was a stranger.
Later when Abraham was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, God’s promises to him became unconditional. The account is stated in Genesis 22:11-12, 15 -18 (NKJV): “11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." 12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me…15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-- 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate [the translation could be gates because possessing the gate of each enemy would be many gates] of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
This time the promise of Abraham’s descendants possessing the gates, meaning narrow land and sea passages of access to enemies’ lands and strategic islands around the world is added.
Promises to Abraham Passed on to Isaac and Jacob
God then reconfirmed His covenant or unconditionally binding agreement [meaning Abraham had to do nothing more, but God was binding Himself to do His part and perform His promises to Abraham] with Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants in Genesis 26:1-5. Then in Genesis 27:26-29, 28:1-4, 10-14, 25:9-12, the covenant and the promises were reconfirmed with Abraham’s grandson Jacob.
In confirmation of God’s promises to Jacob, many additional interesting details are revealed. First, Jacob received the birthright, which naturally belongs to the firstborn. Esau the firstborn sold the birthright to his younger brother Jacob for bread and stew of lentils.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explains that the birthright was "the right belonging naturally to the firstborn son...Such a person ultimately became the head of the family, the line being continued through him. As firstborn he inherited a double portion of the paternal estate...The firstborn was responsible for...exercising authority over the household as a whole" (1979, Vol. 1, "Birthright," pp. 515-516).
Isaac pronounced the following blessing on his son Jacob in Genesis 27:28-29 (NKJV): “28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you!"
Isaac also let Jacob know that the promises of Abraham were being passed on to him in Genesis 28:3-4 (NRSV): “3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham." Here Jacob is promised that his descendants will become a company of peoples, meaning many nations.
God then revealed through Jacob what the birthright and the blessing entailed in Genesis 28:14 (NKJV): “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God promised that peoples and nations would serve the descendants of Jacob and bow down to them, meaning they will be the foremost nations on earth. They would spread around the world in all directions, north, south, east and west, from the Middle East. They would multiply greatly in numbers, as the dust of the earth. These are not idle words. When we consider what God has in store for humanity for eternity in the universe, descendants of Jacob will literally multiply in numbers as the dust of the earth and the stars in heaven.
Jacob Passes on God’s Promises to his Twelve Sons
Before Jacob’s twelve sons, God had passed on His promises to Abraham to one son Isaac, preferring him over the other son Ishmael. Then Isaac passed on Abraham’s promises to his son Jacob instead of his older son Esau. But then God began to pass on Abraham’s promises collectively to all the twelve sons of Jacob. Among the twelve sons of Jacob, God chose out two sons for special national blessings.
In Genesis 35:11-12 (NKJV) God promises Jacob: “Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." Here God promises Jacob that a great nation and a company or commonwealth of nations would proceed from him.
That part of God’s promise Jacob then passed on to his two grandsons, Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of his son Joseph in Genesis 48:14-19 (NKJV): “14 Then Israel [Jacob’s other name] stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." 17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." 19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
So, God’s promise to Jacob that a great nation and a commonwealth of nations would proceed from him is conferred by him on his son Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. This way, the birthright that conferred a double portion of the paternal estate was given to Joseph because each of his sons became the separate tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. However, not all dimensions of the promises to Abraham would go to Joseph. Judah received a very important promise of great physical and spiritual dimension.
Through Jacob God prophesied in Genesis 49:10 “the scepter [ruler’s staff] shall not depart from Judah.” That prophecy pointed to the dynasty of Israel’s future king David, a descendant of Judah, and also to Jesus, a descendant of Judah and King David as the Messiah, and ruler of the earth as King of Kings.
1 Chronicles 5:2 clarifies these two promises: “…Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's.” Thus, the birthright promise of great material blessings and to become a great nation and a company or Commonwealth of Nations went to the descendants of Joseph, but the promise of rulership went to the descendants of Judah.
Details of Promises to Joseph and Judah
When Jacob was close to death, he called his twelve sons together and prophesied what would happen to descendants of each of them in the last days, meaning our time. These blessings provide more details on the birthright promise to Joseph.
Genesis 49:1, “1 And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days.” Then Genesis 49:22-26 (New Century Version) state: “22 "Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit, a healthy vine watered by a spring, whose branches grow over the wall. 23 Archers attack him violently and shoot at him angrily, 24 but he aims his bow well. His arms are made strong, and his strength from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. 25 Your father's God helps you. God Almighty blesses you. He blesses you with rain from above, with water from springs below, with many babies born to your wives, and many young ones born to your animals. 26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the oldest mountains, greater than the good things of the long-lasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers!”
These prophetic blessings pronounced on Joseph's descendants "in the last days" mean that they will live in a very fertile, well-watered highly fruitful land. They will be a people “whose branches run over the wall” means they will expand their territory by being a colonizing people. At times they will be attacked by their enemies, but they will remain strong and victorious through God’s miraculous intervention and help.
Their population will continue to grow steadily, enjoying blessings of great herds of livestock, bumper crops due to climate favorable for agriculture, and extensive mineral resources to support a robust economy. They will receive these blessings "in the last days," meaning in our time.
God’s promise of the scepter [or kingship] to Judah would be fulfilled through the descendants of King David. After David planned to build a temple for God, He made a covenant with David which provides details of the promise of that kingship as stated in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (NKJV): “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name [which was fulfilled by David’s son King Solomon], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever." Here God promised David that his dynasty would last forever.
Summary of God’s Promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
God’s promises and blessings to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Judah and King David can now be listed as follows:
1) Jacob or Israel will be a father of many nations. Each of the tribes of Israel has become a nation. Joseph’s son Ephraim has become a commonwealth of nations (Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and whites of South Africa) and son Manasseh has become the greatest single nation on earth, the USA.
2) God promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob “you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This simply means that those nations who work with the descendants of Jacob will be blessed and those who don’t and curse them will be cursed.
This also obligates the descendants of Jacob to be a blessing to other nations and not a curse to them. That means they are required to help other nations to grow their wealth and prosperity or help them when in distress.
God also promised to curse those who curses them. Recently nations have formed a confederacy to commit genocide on the descendants of Israel which means to curse them. In doing so, they have cursed themselves. I don’t know in what form yet but rest assured that curses from God are coming on them.
3) God promised incredible material blessings of resources of the earth and riches to all of Jacob’s descendants, but primarily to Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh in the last days.
4) The land of Canaan, or what is called Israel today is promised to the descendants of Jacob.
5) God promised to increase their population. The USA is the third most populous nation on earth and the population of British Commonwealth nations would make them the tenth most populous nation on earth, equal to Russia.
6 Descendants of Jacob would possess the gates or narrow sea and land passages of their enemies.
7) God promised that peoples and nations would serve the descendants of Jacob and bow down to them, meaning they will be the foremost nations on earth.
8) The descendants of Jacob, particularly Joseph would be a colonizing people. That’s also how nations served the descendants of Jacob and bowed down to them.
9) All nations would be blessed materially and spiritually through the descendants of Jacob. That means they would be the engines of the world’s economy, and salvation and the knowledge of salvation and the true religion would go out to the world through them. They have fulfilled that promise through Jesus Christ the descendant of King David being the Messiah and the Bible being translated into almost every language in the world and distributed at very low cost by Britons and Americans.
10) In the last days enemies will attack the descendants of Joseph, meaning the USA and British Commonwealth nations, but God will help them. God preserved us through two world wars and has preserved us miraculously through a total genocide attempt in the past year.
11) The chief ruler would come from Judah through king David, with an everlasting dynasty. King Charles rules in Britain as a direct descendant of King David. Jesus Christ, also a descendant of David will rule for eternity.
FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES
All these promises of God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were major prophecies. To see how all these incredible promises have been fulfilled, we must first identify who the modern descendants of Jacob are. Fortunately, various Church of God organizations have published excellent books and booklets on the subject. For comprehensive proof that white Americans are mainly the modern descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the son of Jacob or Israel, and the British are the modern descendants of Manasseh’s brother Ephraim, the reader may refer to the following six free books or booklets:
1. “The United States and Britain in Prophecy”; by Herbert W. Armstrong, available from the Philadelphia Church of God at www.pcog.org.
2. “The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy”; published by the United Church of God, available at www.ucg.org.
3. “The Throne of Britain: Its Biblical Origin and Future,” eBook published by the United Church of God, available at its web site www.ucg.org under booklets.
4. “America and Britain in Prophecy”, by David C. Pack; published by the Restored Church of God, available at www.rcg.org.
5. “The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy”; published by the Living Church of God, available at www.lcg.org.
6. “Jews Behold Your God”, author’s free eBook, available at this website, www.ChurchOfGodMessage.com.
For detailed proof of where the other tribes of Israel are settled, the best source is “America and Britain in Prophecy” by David Pack. From his book, here is where the modern descendants of the other tribes of Israel can mainly be found:
Joseph’s son Manasseh – USA. Whites in the USA have come from almost all white nations. How can they all be descendants of Manasseh. The answer is found in Amos 9:9, “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” Descendants of Manasseh were sifted and herded through all nations and brought to the USA.
Joseph’s son Ephraim – British Commonwealth nations of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and whites in South Africa mixed with the Dutch Boers who are descended from the tribe of Zebulun, which is settled in Holland.
Reuben – France
Simeon and Levi – Prophesied to be dispersed among all the tribes of Israel. Largest portion of Levi or the priestly tribe lives among the Jews.
Judah – The Jews worldwide, with a branch in Ireland.
Zebulun – Holland
Issachar – Finland
Dan – Primarily Ireland and Denmark
Gad – Switzerland
Asher – Belgium
Naphtali – Sweden
Benjamin – Norway, Iceland and among the Jews
[Much proof of the modern identity of the twelve tribes of Israel has been added by the Israeli scholar Yair Davidy in his books “The Tribes: The Israelite Origins of Western Peoples”, “Ephraim” and “Lost Israelite Identity.”]
Here is how God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been fulfilled in the American, British and Jewish people.
1) God promised incredible material blessings of resources of the earth and riches. This promise has been fulfilled in the descendants of Jacob in our time which are the people of the USA, British Commonwealth Nations, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and the Jews.
2) The nations of the earth would be blessed through them both materially and spiritually. The world has indeed been materially blessed through them by trading with them, and the British have been the engine of the world’s economy in the 19th and the Americans in the 20th century. The industrial revolution started in Britain. The French too made significant contributions.
These blessings also obligate the descendants of Jacob to be a blessing to other nations and not a curse to them. That means they are required to help other nations to grow their wealth and prosperity or help them when in distress.
The world has also been spiritually blessed through them because the Savior Jesus Christ was a descendant of Judah, the son of Jacob. In addition, the knowledge of the true God has been preserved through them and propagated by the British and the Americans by translating the Bible in virtually every language on earth in our time and making it available to the world at subsidized rates. Knowledge of salvation would not be available without the Bible.
It is important to bear in mind that the promise of salvation is not by race only to the descendants of Israel but to all of humanity. All in the world will be called by God to receive His holy spirit to offer them a chance for salvation. We become children of God in Christ through the holy spirit (Romans 8:9, 14-17) and spiritually become “Abraham’s seed “and heirs of salvation (Galatians 3:28), and “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16).
3) God also promised to bless those who bless them and seek their welfare, and curse those who curse them and seek their destruction. When the catastrophes that are soon to engulf the entire world are all over, we will see that this promise will have been fulfilled, and we will continue to see its fulfillment throughout God’s Kingdom into eternity.
4) The patriarchs were promised that their descendants would multiply as the stars and the sand on the seashore in number. They already number more than 500 million today. Besides descendants of the Israelite nations, children of Abraham include the Arabs, the Turks and some other eastern nations descended from Abraham’s children through his wife Keturah. But true fulfillment of this prophecy will go on throughout eternity.
5) The promises included the land where the patriarchs roamed. The Jews today possess that land. But the true fulfillment of this prophecy will be in God’s Kingdom when descendants of Jacob will possess all the land between the Nile and the Euphrates rivers, as promised in Genesis 15:18. Eventually Israelites will fill much of the world with fruit, meaning with their population (Isaiah 27:6, “6 He [God] shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.”)
6) In Genesis 17, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord changed his name to Abraham and promised that he would become the father of many nations and of kings. Today, the Israelite nations, the Jews, the Arabs, the Turks and many other nations we may not fully know are all descendants of Abraham, including obviously all their royalty. So, this promise has been fulfilled.
7) Abraham’s promises were passed on to his son Isaac, who then passed on the promises to his son Jacob and not his brother Esau. Many more prophetic details were further added to the promises. Isaac pronounced the following blessing on Jacob in Genesis 27:28-29: “28 Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you.”
Here instead of merely the land of Canaan, the promise of land is expanded to include the fatness of the earth, meaning lands that are richest in agriculture and mineral resources of the earth. Just look at the lands possessed by the British, American, French, Irish, Swiss, Scandinavian and Benelux peoples to see how this promise has been dramatically fulfilled. And nations of the world have bowed down to and served the British through their colonial empire.
8) Then Isaac also let Jacob know in Genesis 28:3(NRSV) that his descendants would become a company of peoples, meaning many nations. Jacob passed on these promises to his 12 sons. The company of peoples promise has been fulfilled in the nations descended from the 12 tribes of Israel in Europe, and the Jews worldwide.
9) When passing on these promises to his sons, Jacob singled out Joseph and his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim that they would become a great nation and a commonwealth of nations. Their descendants are the peoples of the USA and the British Commonwealth nations. There has been no other single greatest nation on earth than America and the greatest Commonwealth of Nations than the British Commonwealth that have ever been closely allied before in the history of mankind.
Joseph was given the birthright of the firstborn which is a double portion of a father’s inheritance. Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim became two tribes, each receiving their separate inheritance, thus obtaining a double portion of their father’s inheritance.
The birthright people were also promised they would be famous on earth and possess the richest resources of the earth. At the zenith of their power, the British and the American people constituted only 4% of the world’s population but possessed about 70% of the world’s agricultural and mineral resources.
10) When Abraham was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, God’s promises to him became unconditional. In Genesis 22:11-12, 15 -18 the additional promise that Abraham’s descendants would possess the gates, meaning narrow land and sea passages of access to enemies’ lands was added. This incredible promise has been fulfilled in the British and American peoples who at the zenith of their power have possessed almost every major gate and strategic island on land and sea such as the Suez and Panama canals, the Rock of Gibraltar, the Khyber Pass, Hong Kong, the islands of Malta, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the Falklands Islands and virtually every other gate around the world. Outcome of the Second World War hinged on the possession of these strategic gates. Most of the world’s commerce also passes through these gates. Even the Strait of Bosporus has been possessed by the Turks, the descendants of Esau, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
11) In prophesying the future of Joseph’s descendants, Jacob stated in Genesis 49:22: “22 Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit, a healthy vine watered by a spring, whose branches grow over the wall.” A people "whose branches grow over the wall," or beyond their original borders, certainly means that they will be a colonizing people. There have never been such a colonizing people in the history of man as the British and American peoples. Thus, this prophecy stands fulfilled about 3,500 years after it was given.
12) In the last days enemies will attack the descendants of Joseph, meaning the USA and British Commonwealth nations, but God will help them. God preserved them miraculously through two world wars and recent attempts at genocide at the hands of German masqueraders (people of German ancestry living in our countries) in collusion with Germans.
13) And finally, the promise of the scepter, meaning the chief ruler would come from Judah through King David, with an everlasting dynasty. Today, King Charles of Britain sits on that throne in unbroken dynasty from King David. In God’s kingdom, Jesus Christ, also a descendant of King David, will be the chief ruler over the earth, occupying that throne for eternity. What an incredible way for God to fulfill His promise and continue to have this prophecy come true throughout eternity?
From the founding of ancient Israel as a nation after the Exodus from Egypt around 1443 BCE till God began to bestow His blessings on Israel around 1800 A.D., there has been a time gap of more than 3,240 years. God gave many detailed and incredibly intricate prophecies to chart the future course of Israel and Judah after coming out of Egypt till these prophecies would be fulfilled in these “last days”. It makes for a story more thrilling than fiction and shows God’s Almighty power in fulfilling all the prophecies over a period of more than 3,000 years. Details can be found in my free eBook “Jews Behold Your God” and the free books and booklets offered by the various Churches of God as mentioned earlier.
A people can fulfill one or two prophecies by mere coincidence, but when a people fulfill hundreds of prophecies, then probabilistically we can be absolutely certain of the identity of those people as the ones whom the prophecies were written about. If Britain and America fulfill hundreds of prophecies about Ephraim and Manasseh and Israel, then there can be no doubt in our minds that they are in fact the descendants of those patriarchs.
BELIEF 16: THE CHURCH
The biblical name of God’s true Church is the “Church of God” stated in 12 places in the New Testament, in both singular form as “Church of God” and in plural form as “Churches of God, including in Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 10:32; 11:16; 1 Timothy 3:15. It is a body of believers who have received God’s holy spirit after water baptism and laying on of hands by God’s true ministers from the Church of God, and are led by the holy spirit. It is a spiritual entity and not a building.
God’s Church started on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. On that day when the disciples were assembled together on Jesus’s instructions to remain in Jerusalem, God’s holy spirit was poured out on them (Acts 2:1-4; 5:32; Luke 24:49). Over the next several days God “added [disciples] to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
The mission of God’s Church for all times has been to preach the true Gospel [good news] of the coming Kingdom of God at the return of Jesus Christ to be established on all the earth as a witness unto all nations (Matthew 24:14, Mark 1:14). Preaching of the gospel will result in repentance and conversion of people whom God calls to become members of the Church of God (Mark 16:15-16, 20; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-39, 47; Romans 8:14)). The Church is to organize local congregations to feed and nourish the flock and provide for the spiritual and material needs of its members.
We are living in the very end of the end times. God has given His Church understanding of prophecies that are soon to be fulfilled which include global catastrophic events resulting in the Great Tribulation for three and a half years for the entire world. However, it is a time of the greatest trouble for the USA, British Commonwealth nations and the Jewish state of Israel (Matthew 24:21-22) and these nations have to be specifically warned about the coming global catastrophes. In the end of the end time in which we are now living, the Church’s preaching to the world is to be focused on prophecies to fulfill Revelation 10:11, “And he said to me, you must prophesy again about many peoples, and nations, and tongues [in many languages], and kings.”
SCRIPTURES
The word Church is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia which means a body of called out ones to assemble together; or an “assembly or congregation of called out ones.”
No one can become a member of God’s Church on his own. God initiates the call by opening a person’s mind to understand His truth preached by His Church, leading to repentance and baptism for the remission of sins and receiving the gift of God’s holy spirit (Acts 2:38) to become a member of God’s Church. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44) and unless "it has been granted" by the Father (John 6:65).
Indwelling of God’s holy spirit identifies God’s people (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) and its members as “living stones...[are] being built up a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5), or a “holy temple” as a dwelling place for God in the spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). The Church is also referred to as the “body of Christ” with Jesus Christ as the living Head of the Church (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 4:12; Colossians 1:18).
God calls His New Testament Church "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people" (1 Peter 2:9). It is also called the "general assembly and church of the firstborn" (Hebrews 12:23) and "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16), meaning the Church is God’s spiritual Israel. In prophecies in the Old Testament, some of the prophecies concerning Jerusalem and Zion apply to God’s true Church. These references to God’s Church are important to understanding prophecy.
In the false concept of replacement theology, some in mainstream Christianity believe that all prophecies concerning Israel apply to the Church. That is not true. Most of the prophecies concerning Israel or House of Israel and House of Judah apply to the modern physical descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel, primarily the USA, British Commonwealth nations and Israel and not to the Church. Some prophecies concerning Jerusalem and most concerning Zion apply to God’s true Church, mainly in the end time. In some prophecies, God’s Church in the end time is referred to as “the daughter of Zion” (2 Kings 19:21; Isaiah 16:1; 37:22; 62:11).
Jesus Christ is called the first of the firstfruits because He was the first to be resurrected to eternal life. All people whom God has called during the first 6,000 years of human history, including the patriarchs and the prophets, most of them after the Church began after Jesus’s ascension, are called the firstfruits. Those who qualify to receive eternal life will be resurrected to eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ to earth. They are called the firstfruits of God because they are firstfruits of God’s harvest of humans to eternal life as His literal sons and daughters.
God of the Old Testament was the husband of physical Israel (Jeremiah 31:32), but they broke the covenant by disobeying Him. At present, the Church is betrothed to Jesus Christ but will become His bride at His return at the beginning of God’s Kingdom. Thus, the covenant between Jesus Christ and the Church will be a marriage covenant. Human marriage has been modeled after that marriage covenant (Ephesians 5:22-33; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7, 9).
God’s true Church is a mother to its begotten children, the baptized members. Just as a begotten child receives physical nourishment from its mother in the womb and grows till birth, a child of God begotten through God’s holy spirit receives spiritual nourishment in the Church and grows spiritually till he is ready to be born as God’s literal immortal son at the resurrection. Thus, human marriage and physical birth of a newborn is modeled after humans being born into God’s family as His literal sons and daughters.
Jesus called His Church “little flock” in Luke 12:32 because till the return of Jesus Christ, only a few have been called and God’s true Church will always be small in numbers, unlike mainstream Christianity’s Churches which number in the millions. However, Jesus promised that His Church would never die out (Matthew 16:18) and that there will always be some true members of His Church living and obeying His laws. He promised that He would never leave or forsake members of His Church (Hebrews 13:5) and will be with them “even to the end of the age” [meaning till His return to earth which will end man’s age] (Matthew 28:19-20.)
At the return of Jesus Christ, all those who were called into the Church during the first 6,000 years and have qualified will be resurrected to eternal life. They will constitute God’s "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people" (1 Peter 2:9), that will rule over the kingdoms of the world as kings and priests (Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 5:10; Daniel 7:22; Daniel 7:26-27).
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