The Wedding Feast (~19.49) - Moriel Ministries

Feature Article – Continued
These were Jews. The apostles were
Jews. And they were simply asking Jesus,
“When are you going to restore the kingdom
to Israel?”
The Messiah had to restore the house
of David, the throne of David (Amos 9:11-
12; Acts 15:15-18). They were asking Him,
“When are You going to fulfill the rest of the
Old Testament prophecies? When are You
going to restore the royal line of David?”
They were asking when will the
Millennium be? There must be a Millennium.
Jesus did not fulfill all the Old Testament
prophecies in His First Coming. He
still must fulfill the promises to the house
of David. If there is no Millennium, He is
not the Messiah. He had not yet fulfilled
these prophecies. He must fulfill the rest
of the prophecies.
One Messiah, Two Comings
In Judaism, there are two pictures of
the Messiah: “Messiah Son of Joseph” and
“Messiah Son of David” – “HaMashiach
Ben Jozef” and “HaMashiach Ben David.”
The rabbis say that Joseph, in the book of
Genesis, and King David, are both pictures
of the Messiah. And some of the rabbis say
there are two different Messiahs: one in
the character of Joseph, one in the character
of David.
Joseph, in the book of Genesis, was
betrayed by his Jewish brothers into the
hands of the Gentiles. God took that betrayal
and turned it around and made it a
way for all Israel, and all the world, to be
saved. So Jesus was betrayed by His Jewish
brothers into the hands of the Gentiles and
God took that betrayal and made it a way
for all Israel, and all the world, to be saved.
That same Joseph was condemned
with two criminals. As Joseph prophesied,
one would live and one would die. Jesus
was condemned with two criminals and, as
He prophesied, one lives, one dies.
Joseph went from a place of condemnation
to a place of exaltation in a single day;
so Jesus goes from a place of condemnation
to a place of exaltation in a single day.
To Joseph every knee had to bow; so
to Jesus, every knee shall bow.
Upon exaltation, Joseph takes a Gentile
bride; upon exaltation, Jesus the son of
Joseph takes a Gentile bride, as it were the
church.
They bring Joseph’s cloak to prove he
is not in the pit; they bring Jesus’ shroud to
prove He is not in the tomb.
Joseph is betrayed by his brother “Yehuda”
– “Judas” for 20 pieces of silver; so
Jesus is betrayed by “Yehuda” – “Judas”
– for 30 pieces of silver.
Joseph’s brothers, the Jews, do not
recognize him at the first coming, they
recognize him at the second and they weep
bitterly; so Zechariah 12 states that Jesus’
brothers, the Jews, do not recognize Him
at the First Coming, they recognize Him at
the Second and they weep bitterly.
That is the “Messiah the Son of Joseph,”
the “Suffering Servant” in Judaism.
But then they have the “Messiah the Son
of David” who comes in the character of
David and brings God’s rule and conquers.
What the apostles are asking Jesus in Acts
1:6 is, “We know you’re the ‘Son of Joseph.’
When are You going to be the ‘Son
of David’?” “We know you’re the ‘Suffering
Servant.’ When are you going to be the
‘Conquering King’?” For Jesus to be the
Messiah, He had to fulfill ALL the Old
Testament prophecies; both the “Son of Joseph”
ones, and the “Son of David” ones.
In His First Coming, He fulfills the
“Son of Joseph” prophecies as the “Suffering
Servant.” In His Second Coming,
He sets up the Millennial Kingdom and
establishes the promises to David. If there
is no Millennium, Jesus is not the Messiah.
If Yeshua is not the Messiah, Jesus is
not the Christ. Forget all this amillennial,
post-millennial hogwash. It is an invention
of incipient Roman Catholicism. It came
into play after Constantine the Great. After
Constantine pseudo-Christianized the Roman
Empire they had to spiritualize away
the Millennium. But the early Christians
believed it. Jesus must fulfill the rest of
these prophecies.
And so they are asking Him in Acts
1:6, “is it at THIS time You are restoring
the kingdom?” Never is the kingdom restored
to the church – only to Israel. Jesus’
kingdom is NOT of this world. (Jn. 18:36)
He only restores the kingdom to Israel.
That is what they are asking Him.
Cut-And-Paste Theology
Well, let us do what Rick Warren did.
Pretend Acts 1 is on a computer screen.
Take the mouse and highlight verse 6 and
delete it. Then turn to Matthew 24:3-4…
As He was sitting on the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came to Him
privately, saying, “Tell us, when will
these things happen, and what will be
the sign of Your coming, and of the
end of the age?” And Jesus answered
and said to them, “See to it that no
one misleads you.
The first words out of His mouth are
to look out for deception, and He gives a
whole list of things to look out for. Highlight
verse 3 and cut-and-paste it in place of
verse 6 of Acts 1. What Rick Warren actually
did was take verse 3 from Matthew 24
and substitute it for Acts 1:6. And then he
instructs not to study the Last Days, keep
away from it, it is a diversion. A Jehovah’s
Witness would not have the audacity to
pull a stunt like that with the Word of God,
but Rick Warren has!
What scares me is how many pastors
are teaching this garbage and listening to
him and his global P.E.A.C.E. plan. Peace?
There is no peace until the Prince of Peace
returns. We will be hearing of wars and
rumors of wars (Mt. 24:6). That does not
mean we should not work for peace, but
to think that the church is going to bring
in global peace? That is not what the Bible
teaches. Additionally, GOD’S peace plan
is the Gospel. “Shod your feet with the
shoes of the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15).
Isaiah says, “How lovely on the mountains
are the FEET of him and who brings
good news, the gospel of peace” (Is. 52:7).
There is no evangelism in Rick Warren’s
P.E.A.C.E. plan. He has his own
peace plan, which somehow people imagine
to be Christian. THIS is the very kind
of deception we are told to look out for in
the Last Days. “If possible, the elect will
be deceived.” (Mt. 24:24)
Jesus said, “Preach the Gospel of the
Kingdom” (Mt. 24:14). Use End Times
prophecy. Tell people the Bridegroom is
coming. Here is an invitation to the Marriage
Supper of the Lamb; it is imminent, it
is soon, Jesus is coming again. That is the
way we should be evangelizing. But because
that is the way Jesus said we should
be evangelizing, Satan will get messengers
into the church to deceive with a different
message. We either believe Purpose Driven
or we believe the New Testament, but
we cannot believe both. We either agree
with Jesus or we agree with Rick Warren,
but we cannot agree with both.
They Go Their Own Way
What does Jesus tell us? He sends them
out and He says it’s imminent.
But they paid no attention…
What we will see before Jesus returns
is a growing apathy. Both Jesus and Peter
use the days of Noah to illustrate what the
Last Days will be like. Jesus warns Christians,
Peter warns about unsaved people.
Unsaved people, Peter tells us, are going
to say when we tell them judgment is coming,
that the end is coming, “See, things
are continuing the way they have always
been” (2 Pe. 2:13).
It’ will be the way it was with Noah.
Noah preached and preached and preached.
In the end, only seven people besides he
were saved and they were all related to
him (2 Pe. 2:5). They did not believe until
it was too late, until he was on the ark. That
is what the Last Days will be like. We will
see an increasing apathy towards the Gospel
and with this apathy…
Moriel Quarterly • December 2009