''So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.'' Daniel 10:20-21
The above was spoken by the angel Gabriel to Daniel. He follows the last line with this sentence:
''And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him.)'' Daniel 11:22
At the end of last year, the Lord told us that because we were beginning to see Jesus as he really is, i.e. as 'Lord and Messiah' [Acts 2:36, Luke 2:11], angels had been sent to empower and protect us AS we go about his business. Just as Gabriel was assigned to 'support and protect' Darius the Mede (because of the key role he was to play in YHWH's plans for the reconstruction of the walls and Temple in Jerusalem), so also angels have been assigned to those committed to building and fortifying the Church in preparation for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
However, it is only God's Temple if it is built according to his blueprint. The blueprint for the Third Temple is laid by Jesus the Messiah through his message of the Kingdom. This is Jesus' revelatory interpretation of the messages of the Prophets and the New Covenant he made with his Apostles. It is imperative that the knowledge with which we are building is consistent with what Jesus came to reveal.
So I ask again, 'Who is YHWH?' I mean how is he shown in our messages?
-Is the God we know consistent with the one Jesus came to reveal through the scriptures?
-Is the focus we have the one he came to reveal to us in Jesus?
-Is our message consistent with what the Father came to reveal to us through Jesus for this Third Temple?
- Is it aligned with the new Holy covenant (agreement) YHWH has inaugurated?
The past few years have been very revelatory. For me, primarily, the Lord has given us the privilege to see the areas in which we - the Church - need to make adjustments.
Daniel's vision by the angel Gabriel continued with this in Daniel 11 verse 30 about the King of the North:
''Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
Please pay particular attention to the phrases unlined. It is in line with what Jesus prophesied :
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ''Matthew 24:9-11.
Jesus inaugurated a new covenant through His sacrifice. This is the basis of the Third Temple. It is this basis that will inspire persecution. As Jesus said in Mark 4:17, persecution arises for 'the message (word)'. ''...When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. '' The attack will come against the preaching and holding on to the message of the New Covenant. This is the message of the Kingdom as preached by Apostle Peter:
'' Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.''
We have the spirit of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, but just as the Apostles discovered, the enemy is not threatened by our good works. While those give us rich rewards in heaven, they are not the power to save men's souls nor will they remove the Devil's grip over their souls. The power to deliver men and defeat the adversary is in the good news of Jesus.
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in his sight; and from beginning to end it is through trust — as the Tanakh puts it, “But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust.” Romans 1:16-17
As the Angel Gabriel said, while the attack on those who keep to the New Covenant continues, the teaching and instructions will increase through those who are 'wise' - i.e. the discerning.
33“Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.
This period is also the period of pruning even the discerning. As the next verse reads,
35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. [see also John 15:1]
The important thing to note is that we must keep the preaching and teaching of the message of the Kingdom under the New Covenant in the name of Jesus. Everything else might be important, but it is the message of this spiritual holy covenant of grace that truly saves.
In John 4:22-24, Jesus in his conversation with the Samaritan woman, pointed out the priority of the age he was ushering in:
''But the time is coming — indeed, it’s here now — when the true worshippers will worship the Father spiritually and truly, for these are the kind of people the Father wants worshipping him. God is spirit; and worshippers must worship him spiritually and truly.''
As I wrote in 2021:
We are being directed back to the basics of scripture, True worship and prayer (i.e. the daily sacrifice), not to point out how we are better aligned than the other churches, but to come together under the banner of Jesus - the word of God, to build the universal Church of God together.
''But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! Acts 4:17-19
''Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.''John 12:44
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