NO. 59 THE PROPHECY FOR THE CHURCH

TEXT: JEREMIAH 23: 18- 20 18 For who hath stood in the council of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

20 The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. (KJV)

Today I am going to give a message entitled “PROPHECY FOR THE CHURCH.”

When we read the Old Testament, we find many prophecies concerning God’s people, Israel. Many prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah have prophesied for the future of Israel one after another. Their prophecies occupy quite a volume in the Bible. And they are described very much in detail.

Now we are going to think of the prophecies for the Church. They are incomprehensively few in number in the Bible. We see some in chapter 2 or 3 of Revelation. But it is too hard to find the others.

If we compare the prophecies for the Church with the others, we come to know that there is such a great difference between them. The ratio between them may be 1 to 10, 1 to 100, pr even more. Why is that so?

The heart of God in the Bible should firstly be centered on the Church. Israel is strictly the type. Then, why do we have such a small number of the prophecies for the Church? We can think of the following possibilities.

1. God has no ability to prophesy for the Church of the New Testament though He can for Israel of the Old Testament in detail.

2. God has judged that He does not have to prophesy for the Church in detail. Therefore He has not done that.

3. God has given the prophecies in detail in the Bible. But they are kept in secret forms. So, they are hard to understand.

We will see them. 1. is out of question. God is almighty. As to 2, we can find no reason why God has thought He does not have to prophesy for the Church. It is not natural that despite of that He has given many prophecies and warning for the Israel history as the type He has thought He does not have to give many but a few simple obscure prophesies for the Church age as the real aim. We take an example. Suppose they hold the school plays. The audience has known the order and content of the songs and plays beforehand with the provision of the programs given at the day of the rehearsal. So, they decide they do not provide with the programs at the acting day before the audience.

This is a little unnatural. It is not the thing that ordinal people think of. So, I have the idea of above 3. The Church history is in their hidden form. More concretely speaking, I think that they are expressed in the history of Israel as the type.

We are going to see them. When we read the Bible, we notice one principle. That is, God has given the expressions of the Israeli similar to the Christians. They are as below.

-wild olive trees, own live trees

-the twelve tribes, the twelve disciples

-both are sons of Abraham

-both God’s people of the Old Testament and the Christians as those of the New Testament are expressed in the same way as vines or olive trees.

Why does God describe these two like similar ones? The reason is because He likes us to realize one thing. That is, the prophecy for Israel is also for the spiritual Israel, Christians. So, what happen to the former will also happen to the latter. These two are always expressed in the similar forms in order to understand that.

The Lord says that it is given only to His disciples to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

Others are told them in the parables. So, even if many prophecies for the Church are given in detail in the Bible, they should be written so that the others than His disciples cannot understand since the parables belong to the things concerning the mysteries. That is, the parables should have been applied there in this manner.

And the prophecies concerning the Church are really the mysteries. So, if others than His disciples read them, they do not even notice that these are written there. But to His disciples that should be not the case. And we should read these parables and understand them.

I understand that the history of the kingdom of Israel is the sign for that of the kingdom of God, the Church. This age is one distinct period. For it is written in Matthew, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.” So, the age from David to the Babylonian deportation is the distinct one. And this is the age of the “kingdom” when the kings of Israel rule and so the sign for the Kingdom of God, the Church age as it is.

There is the similarity between these two ages as below.

The history of Israel: Beginning essentially with David who is the type of Christ. He becomes the king at the age of 30. He is endangered his life by Saul, his former king.

The history of the Church: Beginning with Christ. He enters into the public ministry at the age of 30. He is endangered His life by Satan, the prince of this world.

Israel: The kingdom is divided into two, the kingdom of Judah who seeks God but is the minority and the kingdom of Israel who is the majority but is not eager for God.

Church: The Kingdom of God is divided into two, the Protestant who is eager for God but is the minority and the Catholic who is the majority having its name as the representative Christian but is not eager for God.

Israel: Though several times there come out the kings who are eager for God and try reformation, it returns to the idol worship again and so heads for the destruction as a whole.

Church: Some great revivals come out several times, but then it comes back to be worldly. Worldly Christians increase.

Israel: As the result of its infidelity it is deported to Babylon from the country of promise of their forefathers.

Church: As the result of its infidelity of the Christians the Church becomes like Babylon as a whole. They will not inherit the Kingdom.

Israel: Some minority return from Babylon and rebuild New Jerusalem.

Church: Some few Christians come out of the churches like Babylon and escape from the judgment. The book of Revelation describes New Jerusalem.

Now we understand that they are so similar. And many prophets prophesy of the history of the kingdom of Israel. They are Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They prophesy that Israel is filled with the sins and also is carried away into Babylon. In my understanding these prophecies can be considered as ones not only for the country of Israel but also for the Church. For the things at “the day of the Lord” as the end time prophecies are mentioned in relation to these prophecies.

The story of the deportation of the kingdom to Babylon in the history of Israel is especially told in the book of Kings, Chronicles and Prophets. They tell in detail that how the people of Israel leave away from the Lord, True God, worship idols, and then are carried away into Babylon from their own land of the heritage as the result of their infidelity. They tell the prophecies not only for the people of Israel but also for the Church. So they tell that how the Church of God leaves away from true God, loves the things of the world, is infidel, and eventually many becomes the harlots of Babylon separated from the Kingdom.

Many Christians do not understand the reason why the harlots of Babylon emerge suddenly. They fail to understand because they try to interpret it only by the text of Revelation. But they should not do so as Peter mentions clearly that the prophecies in the Bible should not be interpreted by the private interpretation, only by the text.

We should refer to the other texts, too. As many things concerning Babylon are written in the Old Testament, we should learn of them. We come to know that the Babylonian deportation is one of the climaxes in the history of God’s people of the Old Testament. It is the final result of the kingdom of the God’s people due to their infidelity. We also see the destruction of the kingdom of Israel during the time of the Babylonian deportation.

This is the sign for the Christians who are the God’s people and the Kingdom of God at the present time.

It is written, “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand.” It is very important for us to read the Bible through many times, but even so we cannot see or hear God’s true intention if we do not get the mysteries in secret.

Let’s understand the prophecies for the Church rightly and do His will in the end time.

End.