Peace restored;- True leadership

The Bible identifies God’s people Israel as a community.
And, as a community, they have needed the guidance of human leaders.
There were the prophets, who spoke for God in presenting messages of warning and encouragement.
There were the priests, who must have had a teaching function alongside the sacrificial function which dominates the record.
And there were the kings, who administered justice and helped to preserve the people from their external enemies.

At the end of the kingdom period, the collective leadership was failing in a catastrophic way.
There were two genuine prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, presenting the warnings of judgement which were God’s message at the time. But there were at least twice as many self-serving false prophets (Jeremiah chs28-29) promoting the untimely complacency which was what their clients wanted to hear.
The priesthood of the Jerusalem Temple, having manoeuvred themselves into a monopoly position, were using it in support of the false prophets and opposing the word of the Lord.
While the kings, as a dynasty, had ceased to be loyal to their God, and were disobedient in other areas.
Therefore God allowed the kingdom to be demolished by its enemies, and the people to be taken into exile, in order to be able to clear the ground and make a fresh start.

Some of the prophets of the Old Testament promise a final battle in which the enemies of God’s people will be overcome conclusively. I looked at this theme in The Last Battle in Old Testament prophecy
Following this final victory, God’s people are able to return to the land, and the restoration of the people is to be accompanied by the renovation of their leadership

Restoration of leadership; Old Testament version.

Jeremiah is promising that God will ensure a better kind of leadership;
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture… I will gather the remnant of my flock and I shall bring them back to the fold… I will set shepherds over them who will care for them and they shall fear no more”(ch23 vv1-4).
“I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (ch3 v15).
Putting this another way, they will have their own kings again;
“Their prince shall be one of themselves, their ruler shall come forth from their midst” (ch30 v21).
This is a promise made very specifically about the house of David; “I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land (ch33 v15).
Similarly the Temple vision of Ezekiel assumes that there will be a prince (ch46), and this prince has already been identified as “my servant David”, who shall be their prince ”for ever” (ch37 vv24-5).

The theme of the “ideal ruler” is even more prominent in Isaiah.
There is the passage beginning “For unto us a child is born”, which offers the promise;
“Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore” (ch9 v7).
There is the promise of the “shoot from the stump of Jesse”. We are told that the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. “With righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth” (ch11 vv1-4).

At the same time, though, there is a parallel theme in the prophets to the effect that the Lord will do this work for himself.
He will be his own shepherd.
That is what Micah asks him to do; “Shepherd thy people with thy staff, the flock of thy inheritance” (ch7 v14).
When Ezekiel prophecies against the shepherds of Israel who have allowed the sheep to scatter, the Lord warns them that “I will require my sheep at their hand”, and promises that “I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out…
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them lie down… I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays and I will bind up the crippled… I will feed them in justice” (ch34 vv10-16).
Similarly in Zechariah; “My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah (ch10 v3).

Again, he will be his own king of Israel.
Zephaniah says “The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more” (ch3 v15)
Isaiah says “A king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice” (ch32 v1), but he adds a little later “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us” (ch33 v22).
And he too describes the Lord as “king of Israel” (ch44 V6),

Restoration of leadership; New Testament version

In the New Testament, the themes of kingship and shepherding are both focussed upon Jesus.
On the one hand, he is credited with descent from the line of David, which is counted as fulfilment of that line of prophecy.
Matthew applies to him the words of Micah; “From you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel”. He also applies the opening words of Isaiah ch9, which includes the promise “Unto us a child is born”, a child who will rule in peace on the throne of David.

On the other hand, Jesus calls himself the “good shepherd”, in contrast with the many faithless shepherds. He compares himself with a shepherd seeking out ”lost sheep”.
This imagery is clearly based upon the prophecies of Ezekiel ch34. But that chapter of Ezekiel, we must not forget, is promising that the Lord will become their shepherd in person. In order to fulfil that prophecy, Jesus must himself be the Lord. Which is exactly how Isaiah ch9 describes the future ruling child – “the God almighty”.

The New Testament church is defined as the community which acknowledges the Lordship of Christ.
“What we preach is Jesus Christ AS Lord” (2 Corinthians ch4 v5).
The expectation is that the rest of the world will also recognise him as Lord, on that day when he is “revealed” (Philippians ch2 vv10-11, Revelation ch1 v7).
In the vision which describes him on that day, the name inscribed on his thigh is “King of king and Lord of lords” (Revelation ch19 v16).
In the meantime, his followers are “sitting with him in the heavenly places” (Ephesians ch2 v6).
He rules the world, behind the scenes, and his faithful martyrs are sharing in his rule (Revelation ch20 v4).

The two themes of the Old Testament, that God will give his people fresh leadership, and that he will take on the task of leading them himself, have been merged into one solution.
In the final scene at the end of Revelation there is one joint throne- “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation ch22 v3).
In this way, the Old Testament prophecies will find their fulfilment.

+++
This new series keeps the promise made in the recent “Old and New” thread, viz-

This thread will be followed up by a short series considering what happens after the Day of the Lord, in what might be called “the state of lasting peace”.
[The series title has been changed, to express more clearly the contrast with our present condition]
The overall story can be summed up in this way;
There is a final and conclusive defeat of the enemies of God.
Once the battle is over, the exiles come home.
They are safe in their own land.
Their God rules over them, and their Temple is restored.
They are re-united with their brethren, and even reconciled with their former enemies.
They are holy to God.
And they will have the full blessings of life.

I’ll be taking different aspects of the story in turn. In each case taking the message of the prophets in the Old Testament, and then considering how the New Testament is reinterpreting the message in the light of Christ.
Thus, like the wise householder, making the best use of the old and of the new.

The title brought me in.
The first line sent me out..

no pun intended, just jesus christ....

a reply to: gallop
This thread was placed in the Theology forum. If the content is theological, that should not have been a surprise.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: gallop
This thread was placed in the Theology forum. If the content is theological, that should not have been a surprise.

Dross is dross.

But I understand, and will bow out.

a reply to: DISRAELI

May I ask which temple will be restored? Or will it be the Ezekiel's temple which has never been built?

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
The Temple has already been restored (I was going to talk about that next time).
"Do you not know that you [i.e. the church] are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians ch3 v16

a reply to: gallop

Same here.

Gods people is all people. Adherents of Judaism are the biggest racial supremacists alive.

a reply to: IAMALLYETALLIAM
If you read on from the first post to the second post, you will see the definition of "God's people" changing from Old Testament to New Testament.
The whole point of the series is about the way the Old Testament understanding gets reinterpreted.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Yes, once Christianity was established Christians deemed all people to be Gods people.

The adherents of Judaism continued to believe themselves exclusively as Gods people. That is racist to consider no other race than your own could possibly be in the grace of the almighty.

Imagine the uproar if western and Northern Europeans had this belief about the self.

a reply to: IAMALLYETALLIAM

I missed the part where a religion is a race. People make this same mistake with Islam too.

Granted, both of those religions can be passed down from parent to child: Judaism is matrilineal and Islam patriarchal, but you can still convert to either as well making them religions as much as races.

And as far as that goes, Christians may say all are God's children, but only those who accept Christ as their Lord will be saved, so in our own way, we are as exclusive. The sheep hear and know their shepherd.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
The Temple has already been restored (I was going to talk about that next time).
"Do you not know that you [i.e. the church] are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians ch3 v16

So why the need for the physical temple?

originally posted by: DISRAELI
There were two genuine prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, presenting the warnings of judgement which were God’s message at the time.

Ezekiel, was either mad..or on the wacky baccy, or both!

Jeremiah, was quite the nutter himself, as a self, (by the Lord of course) styled chaser of 'mad' prophets, with a duty to lock 'em all up in stocks and chains...a bit like the way Trump is talking today.....

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
There isn't any need for a physical temple, and I'm not expecting a physical temple. The main theme of the series is that what is literally and physically interpreted in the Old Testament gets a spiritual re-interpretation in the New Testament.
So the temple we should be expecting is a spiritual temple, the one we've already got.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
There isn't any need for a physical temple, and I'm not expecting a physical temple. The main theme of the series is that what is literally and physically interpreted in the Old Testament gets a spriritual re-interpretation in the New Testament.
So the temple we should be expecting is a spiritual temple, the one we've already got.

Then do you believe that the antichrist who sets himself up in the temple is not a physical but fleshly?

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
If the church is the temple of God, my theory is that he takes control of the church- or at least the outward organisation of the church.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: PhilbertDezineck
If the church is the temple of God, my theory is that he takes control of the church- or at least the outward organisation of the church.

How does that or does it relate to Daniel 9 and the ruler being cutoff after 3.5 years or in the midst of the week?

a reply to: gallop

lol.... The Bible identifies God’s people Israel as a community.

In the past, I also got upset at hearing this statement. But then I actually started trying to understand the old testament and how that god differed from the god in the NT.

Now I no longer get mad at hearing that the tribe are the chosen ones of god. Because when you really understand the god of the OT, they fit so perfectly together it is amazing. Now instead of anger all I feel is pity. I just now shake my head at those that shout the link at the top of their lungs as if it is something to be proud of.

If the choice is to live with either the god of the OT or the god of the NT or eternal damnation, I will run towards hell with all of my might.

I love the Bible....you can make up anything and it fits the scriptures.

Here's one to salivate over......from the scriptures of course .

The Lord sent his shepherds to gather and teach his people.

Maybe they weren't all Sheep Herders.....maybe some were Goat and Camel Herders who converted to sheep?

Mohammad may have been one such desert cameleer....who happened to like sheep (Jews)...

He became the greatest Cameleer sheepist in all of the deserts of Arabia....gathering his Israelite sheep.

As he loved his sheep.....he decided to start a new religion to complement that of the Jews.....

He Called it.....IS-LAM.....which means ISRAELI LAMBS..........sheep come to my ALLAH (GOD in Arabic).

And so it came to pass.....Peace on you.

The bible is a wonderful font of knowledge.