The Church under the Abrahamic Covenant, not the New Covenant, Part 10

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Now from our previous post we understand that the nation of Israel is to be God’s specially chosen agency through whom the rest of the world may receive restituional blessings, but whom precisely will govern?


Who will be the Lord’s earthly representatives, the ones speaking for the Lord?


What kind of government will it be?


Possibly sometime during or shortly following theTime of Jacob’s Troubleand AFTER the establishment of the kingdom (the spiritual phase of the kingdom) we believe the first individuals of the earthly phase of the kingdom will be resurrected.

“Chief among the world’s inhabitants in the new age, the millennium of favor to come to all mankind, will be a class called “the Ancient Worthies.” These are they who during the ages preceding the gospel age recognized God and exercised faith in His promises, and sought to pleased Him in all their ways. They were such persons as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, David, Samuel, etc.

These were not called to the church’s high calling, which only began to be promulgated by Christ, and made applicable to any following Pentecost. Christ is the head, forerunner, leader of the church, and this being the case no one could have preceded Him in the race. But the faithfulness of the ancient worthies, manifested in extreme trial and difficulty, is not to go unrewarded, because the apostle, in referring to this class in Hebrews Chapter 11, declares that though they died “not having received the promise,” they are to be blessed after the church’s blessing.

That is to say, “All these who having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise (the “better resurrection”, an instantaneous resurrection to human perfection), as they were forced to wait until the completion of the Church, “God having provided something better for us (the Church, the “first resurrection”, an instantaneous resurrection to spirit perfection, and not just to any spirit nature but to the highest of all spirit natures, the divine or immortal spirit nature), that they should not be made perfect apart from us (prior to us, this because the blessings of all other classes is to come through the glorified Christ).” Heb 11:13, 35, 39, 40

The promise made to this class was of earthly favors as, for instance, when Abraham was told, “All the land that thou sees, to thee will I give it,” although during his lifetime he was not permitted to own as much as a foot of it. (Acts 7:5)

These earthly favors will be granted to the ancient worthies when the kingdom of God is established, and these faithful ones will constitute the beginning of the perfect humanity which is to fill the whole earth in due time, and to be used as God’s human agents in bringing order out of chaos, and assisting in administering the laws of the kingdom of God on earth.

Reference is made to Psa 45:16 in this connection: “Instead of your fathers shall be your sons, whom you shall make princes in all the earth.”

The Ancient Worthies will get restitution blessings as a part of the world. They will be the first-born children of "the everlasting father." Under the new order of things they will be made “princes in all the earth”, the earthly agents or representatives of the Kingdom.

Presently we think of the ancient worthies of the past as the “fathers”, but in the next age during the general resurrection the world (including these “fathers”) will receive life through The Christ, the Church glorified who will exclaim: “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev 22:17). The Church will then bestow life to the world, thus instead of these ancients being considered our fathers they will be our children.

“The Scriptures declare: "I will restore thy judges and counselors as at the first." You remember he gave them a counselor, a lawgiver in Moses and not a king, and so this represents a kind of a republic, if you please--not a real republic, but a theocracy. God will be the great one, Messiah will be his great representative to bring righteousness and peace and blessing to all the earth, and lift up mankind from the degradation and weakness and imperfection of sin, and Messiah will operate through these saintly ones of the past, to bless not only Israel, but through Israel to bless all mankind, all the families of the earth.”

The thought thus expressed of two phases of the kingdom of God, one of a spiritual kind, represented in the Christ, head and body, and the other the earthly, represented in those worthies,” was supported by the scriptural statement,

The law shall go forth from Mount Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” This was explained as signifying that the spiritual phase of the kingdom (Zion) would promulgate all the laws for the direction of the affairs of mankind, and would hold supreme authority and rule, in connection with the bringing of the purposed favors to mankind; while theworthieswould exercise representative authority, as the visible agents of the kingdom promulgating the laws from the earthly capital, Jerusalem.” (Harvest’s Gleanings 3)

In our next post we should like to elaborate a bit more upon the Ancient Worthies and their part in the Plan of God.

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