(620 B.C.)
11
Jeremiah is the one prophet who tells us something about himself and what it was like to be a prophet of God. When Jerusalem went into exile in Babylon. Jeremiah tells us:
Jeremiah 1:4
The Word of the Lord came to
me:
"Before I
created you in the womb, I selected you;
Before you were born, I consecrated you;
I
appointed you prophet concerning the Nations."
Overwhelmed by this, poor Jeremiah says the same thing that Moses said. He replies in a sheepish voice:
Jeremiah 1:6
Ah…..Lord God?
I don’t know how to speak,
For I am still a boy.
And the Lord’s booming voice then comes back:
"Do not say, ‘I am still a boy.’
But go
wherever I send you
And speak
whatever I command you.
I’m sure that Jeremiah feels little relief until:
Have no fear of them
For I am to deliver you
Declares the Lord.
The Lord put out His hand
and touched
My mouth, and the Lord said to me:
Herewith I put My words into
your mouth.
See, I appoint you this day
Over nations and kingdoms:
To uproot and pull down.
To destroy and overthrow,
To build and to plant…
Jeremiah 1:17
So you, gird up your loins,
Arise and speak to them
All that I command you.
Do not break down before
them.
I make you today a fortified
city…
They (the people and leaders) will attack
you,
But they shall not overcome you;
For I am with you to save you.
- declares the Lord.
One can only imagine what the
"collaboration" of Melchizedek with the prophets was like. But
Jeremiah paints a very good picture of what it was like to him. My mental
picture is of a boy who hears his name and says "who me?" With his
index finger pointing to his chest, and his head swiveling around, desperate to
find anyone else at all. If his friends had been around, perhaps hiding behind
a wall, they would have been howling with laughter. Poor Jeremiah, suddenly he
is over "nations and kingdoms" when just yesterday all he had to do
was the equivalent of today’s mow the lawn. Surprisingly, to me, Moses’
reaction was just the same – as a matter of fact "the Lord" had to
promise to let Aaron, his brother, speak for him to get him to go along at all.
Prophets are normal human beings like
everyone else, except that through their relationship with God they are molded
into a new form for a new task, the seed of which has been planted within their
own being, the as yet unfolded flower of new possibility.
The Lord addresses Israel in picturesque language:
Jeremiah 2:24 Consider
what you have done!
Like a lustful
she-camel,
Restlessly running about,
Or like a wild ass used to the desert,
Snuffing the wind in her eagerness,
Worse passion none can restrain,
None that seek her need grow weary –
In her season they’ll find her!
The lack of sexual restraint is a frequent trait noted by the prophets, especially when speaking against Israel, Ephraim, and the Northern Tribes. Heightened pleasure potential and enhanced spiritual receptivity are markers for the presence of Adamic genes, which augment creativity, imagination, aesthetic appreciation and pleasure responsiveness (UB 586, 942).
Jer 3:14
Turn back rebellious children (Israel) – declares the Lord. Since
I have espoused
you, I will take you, one from a town and two from
a clan, and bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds after My
own heart, who
will pasture you with knowledge and skill.And when you
increase and are
fertile in the land, in those days – declares the Lord – men
shall no longer
speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, nor shall it
come to mind.
They shall not mention it, miss it, or make another. At that
time, they shall
call Jerusalem "Throne of the Lord," and all nations shall
assemble
there…They shall no longer follow the willfulness of their evil
hearts. In those days, the House of Judah shall go with the House of Israel;
they should come together from
the land of the north to the land I gave
your fathers as
a possession.
This passage refers to the end of
this age when Judah is reunited with Israel. The shepherds (leaders) are replaced
by good leaders and "the Lord" is in Jerusalem and on his
"Throne" symbolizing the sovereignty of "the Lord,"
Planetary Sovereign, Melchizedek.
We are told that the new reunified Israel of
Christians and Jews, will not revert to the traditions of ancient Judaism but
instead will go forward with religion in the new light in which they stand at
ages end.
We are also told indirectly, that 'the nations had
followed the willfulness of their evil hearts' in times past. This is
consistent with the negative judgment of the nations and their leadership
expressed many time elsewhere in scripture.
This passage definitely refers to the messianic end of
the age by virtue of : 'in that day', 'in that time', 'the assembling of all
nations in Jerusalem', and the reunification of Judah and Israel.
And now Jeremiah speaks about the onslaught of
Jerusalem by Babylon in ancient times. The Lord says:
Jer 4:19 Oh
the walls of my heart:
My heart moans within me…
Disaster overtakes disaster…
"The Lord’s" heart breaks watching his children’s chosen fate of destruction at the hands of the Babylonians. With frustration the Lord says:
Jer 4:22
The people are stupid
They give Me no heed;
They are foolish children,
They are not intelligent
They are clever at doing wrong.
But unable to do right.
This is a perfect, if not tactful, description of we "the people" now, as it was then. We ignore our prophets and follow our foolish and deceitful leaders into destruction-- over and over and over again!!!
Jer 5:23
Yet this people has a wayward and defiant heart
They have turned aside and gone
their way…
Among My people are wicked men,
Who lurk, like fowlers lying in
wait
They set up a trap to catch men…
So their houses are full of guile;
That is why they have grown so
wealthy.
They have become
fat and sleek…
And they prosper.
Jer 5:30 An
appalling, horrible thing
Has happened in the land;
The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule accordingly;
And My people like it so.
This fits our country perfectly today. Ends of ages are very similar. America is repeating the history of ancient Israel. Human beings are very predictable. We repeat the same mistakes over and over again. We do not learn from our mistakes. We see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. As God says "My people are stupid, foolish, and unintelligent." We never heed our true prophets. We don’t love truth and so we can’t recognize it when it is right in front of our face. The collapse of this nation is heralded by its near total disrespect and disregard for the truth. Jesus says, "I have come into this world, to bear witness to the Truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears and listens to My voice." We, like Pilate, respond "Truth? What is truth?"
Also consider these quotes about truth.
Mk 4: 22
Nothing is hidden that will not
UB 1682 be made manifest
(Jesus)
UB 1713 You cannot compel men
to love the truth
UB 43 All truth is both
beautiful and good
UB ll25 All truth takes
origin in God
UB 1745 There is no peace in the heart or progress in the mind unless you fall
wholeheartedly
in love with truth.
UB 2078 The sincere pursuit of
truth, beauty, and goodness leads to God.
UB 42 Happiness ensues form
truth because it can be acted out, it can be lived
UB 1459 Truth can never be
man’s possession
Without the
exercise of faith.
UB 1731 "fail not to
discern the words of truth that come not through the
traditional
oracles of supposed inspiration" (Jesus)
UB 1466 "the man was not
hungry for truth. He was not dissatisfied with
himself. He was
not ready to ask for help, and the eyes of his
mind were not
open to receive light for the soul…You cannot
reveal God to
those who do not seek for Him." (Jesus)
UB 1796 "You shall know
the truth and the truth will set you free." (Jesus)
UB 247 (The Urantia Book) is
assigned to enlarge truth.
UB 1008 The Urantia Book is the
most recent presentation of truth.
But truth, if too bright, can blind as well as illuminate, therefore –
Emily
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant -
Dickinson Success in Circuit lies
#1129
Too bright for our infirm delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As lightening to the children eased
With explanation kind
The truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind –
It is more certain than a law of physics that –
Hosea 4:14 A people that is without sense must stumble
.Jeremiah continues, the Lord says:
Jer 6:10
To whom shall I (Lord) speak,
Give warning that They may hear?
Their ears are blocked
And they cannot listen
The word of the Lord has become for
them
An object of scorn; they will have
none of it.
Jer 6:13 From the
smallest to the greatest,
They are greedy for gain;
They act falsely.
They offer healing offhand
For the wounds of My people,
Saying, "All is well, All is
well,"
When nothing is well…
They do not feel shame,
And they cannot be made to blush…
Jer 6:17 And I
raised up watchmen for you.
"Hearken to the
sound of the horn!"
But they say, "We will
not."
Above, Jeremiah warns Israel in the days before the Babylonians in 600 B.C. They would not listen. They could not see. They believed what they wanted to believe. They did not love truth. Can we learn from the past?
The watchmen are the prophets gazing out ahead over the changing landscape of events. One can see from these passages that human nature at its worst has not changed one iota since Jeremiah’s time.
Jer 8:5 They cling to deceit,
They refuse to return…
They do not speak honestly…
They all persist in their wayward course…
My people pay no heed…
Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored,
For naught the scribes!
The wise shall be put to shame…
They reject the word of the Lord,
So their wisdom amounts to nothing.
Worldly Wisdom
And so, the leaders lead the people, as the blind lead the blind. And we love to have it so! Notice very carefully, the "wise" reject the Lord (God) and therefore their wisdom amounts to nothing. If you answer the most important question about life wrong, everything else you think, do, or know, is colored by this gross misperception of reality. Modern science is far, far more compatible with the idea of an intelligent creative source than it is with the idea of an infinitesimally small, random accident appearing from out of nothing. The physical constants, such as the mass of the electron, are so finely tuned, that if just one of them were changed, by an extremely small amount, then the prerequisite conditions for life would be eliminated! The probability of these constants being so finely tuned by a random accident is so infinitesimally small that it is indistinguishable from zero. And yet this is just what most of our scientists actually believe. They readily accept that a universe can just pop out of nothing for no reason, but to believe that Jesus gave sight to the blind is intolerable. Let us be very clear, the assumptions of most of our scientists, philosophers and other "intelligentsia" are not supported by logical analysis but rather are articles of faith, lacking any plausible rationale whatsoever. History will look back at our so-called "modern intellectuals" with a wide-eyed stare of disbelief; that so many, for so long, could have been so wrong, about so much. Fortunately, the laws of modern physics speak for themselves. They tell us that every part of our Universe is connected to every other part by instantaneous connections. The reason for this is that what we see and measure is a lower dimensional reality embedded in a higher dimensional reality. The seemingly disparate and separate universe phenomena are really unified and coherent at higher reality levels. Modern physics is now contemplating a universe of ten physical dimensions rather than the three dimensions that are apparent. The equations for our modern laws greatly simplify when represented in this ten dimensional form, which may prove to be the form of a new physics for the 21st century. Time will tell. The Urantia Book also tells us that the physical universe is based on the number ten. In truth, no one understands what simple words such as space, time, energy, and mass are. These words are symbolic representations describing a reality that transcends all mental constructs about said reality. The greatest error in philosophy is the confusion of our symbols about reality, with reality itself. For example, everyone has heard about the "wave – particle duality" of quantum physics. Hundreds of books have been written about this subject of how small particles can sometimes behave like waves, and vice-a-versa, waves can behave like particles. This confuses us to no end, until we realize that reality is telling us that there are no such things as either particles or waves and that the actual reality is something altogether different and beyond our ideas about that reality. The source of all reality is the transcendent God and therefore, reality is "made out of" something wholly transcendent to mere mortal ideas about it. And so, reality, like a banana peel, slips ever faster from our hands as we try ever harder to squeeze and define it into our artificial mental constructs. The duality is not in nature, rather is it unavoidably introduced by our analytic models of nature. Reality is whole. The process of analysis must break the wholeness in order to study it. The real limit is in the very nature of how a human, finite, mind must function. The source of the world around us is the absolute, transcendent, and infinite God and since the source of something determines the nature of that thing, all reality is transcendent and "miraculous," wholly beyond the finite grasp of man. Modern physics tells us that when finite mind contacts infinite reality, paradox results. In fact, paradox is a marker for the contact between the infinite and the finite. Paradox tells us that there is something more in addition to what our analytic symbols can represent. The whole is always greater than the part. Humility always results from the understanding of our true insignificance amidst the infinite. And yet, we are deemed worthy by God to inherit an infinite kingdom.
Now, returning to the main text of Jeremiah. The Lord says:
The People
Jer 9:1
Oh, to leave my people
To go away from them –
For they are all adulterers,
A band of rogues.
They bend their tongues like
bows;
They are valorous in the land
For treachery, not for honesty
They advance from evil to evil
And they do not heed Me
declares
the Lord…
Jer 9:4
One man cheats another
They will not speak the truth…
Lo, I shall smelt and assay them –
…
And I will make the towns of Judah
A desolation without inhabitants.
Jer 9:11 What man is so wise
That he understands this?
To whom has the Lord spoken.
So that he can explain it:
Why is the land in ruins
Laid waste like a wilderness
With none passing through.
God is speaking here through Melchizedek in "collaboration" with the prophet Jeremiah. Most importantly, the prophet misconstrues God as the agent of "punishment." The "punishment" however is actually the necessary result of man’s own poor choices and behaviors, which disregard the laws of God. If someone walks off a physical cliff, they will fall on the rocks below. If one walks off a spiritual cliff of rebellion against God’s Will, one will also fall and hit the rocks below. Night follows day. Reaction follows action. Result follows cause. This is why the prediction for crisis in our world and in our country is so easy and so certain. The spiritual laws of God are being intentionally and unintentionally violated on an immense scale. Consequence must follow cause. It is not God’s will that we suffer. It is His will that we choose to become His sons and daughters, inheritors of His kingdom, His junior partners in His magnificent plan for an infinite and ever expanding future. But without freedom to choose wrongly, there is also no possibility for goodness and love, and without the possibility of love, God would venture no universe. And so, the choices of life and death are placed before us and we individually and collectively choose what we will. The biggest problem today is our leadership, our morally bereft political and financial controllers who steer us toward sure disaster. But God will not allow the few to ruin it for the many. There are many, many good people throughout the world that are doing their best for their families and their fellows. However, none of our decent human beings are in positions of true power. The ones with real power are the ones willing to "step on" other people to get where they are. They have "paid their dues" and "sold their souls." Our very worst element of humanity is in control of the destiny of the entire planet. What is required is a leadership transplant. And this is precisely what will be accomplished by Melchizedek’s arrival. The meek will inherit the earth and the arrogant will disinherit it. Consider:
The Leaders
Ezek 39:10 Thus
said the Lord God.
Behold I am against the shepherds
(leaders)
And I will require my flock at their hand
And cause them to cease from feeding
the flock…
Ezek 34:5 And they were
scattered (the sheep, people)
Because there is no shepherd…
Therefore I will save my flock
They shall no more be a prey
Ezek 34:2 Woe to the shepherds of
Israel (past and present)
That do feed themselves!
Should not the shepherds
Feed the flock?
Isaiah 9:16 They who lead this
people
Cause them to err,
And they who are lead by them
Are swallowed up.
1Enoch 38:4 From that period those who
possess the earth shall
cease to be powerful and exalted…
1Enoch 38:5 Yet the mighty kings of
that
Period shall not be destroyed;
But will be delivered into the
Hands of the righteous and holy (elect)
1Enoch 46:4 He (messiah) shall hurl
kings
From their thrones and their dominions…
The countenance of the mighty
Shall He cast down, filling them
With confusion.
1Enoch 46:7 In those days shall the
kings
Of the earth and the mighty men,
Who have gained the world by
Their achievements, become humble
In countenance…
1Enoch 46:8 They shall be in
subjection to
Those whom I (Messiah) have chosen.
1Enoch 48:10 But in the day of their
(Kings) trouble,
The world shall obtain tranquility.
These passages in Enoch and Ezekiel (with my parentheses) definitely refer to the yet to be consummated, Messianic period, the fast, approaching end of this current age. Perhaps this next line will help convince us about which age 1Enoch is speaking.
1Enoch 55:1 I
(Enoch) beheld another army of chariots, with men riding in them.
And they came upon the wind from the east,
from the west,
And from the South.
The sound of the noise of their chariots
was heard…
The pillar of the earth shook from its
foundations.
This passage describes the approaching air attack on modern Israel by "all the nations." Men riding noisy chariots upon the wind – perfectly describes the airplane. 1 Enoch was written over two thousand years ago when men flew in nothing anywhere, with or without noise. The pillar of the earth shaking from its foundation refers to a large tectonic event that occurs with the arrival of Melchizedek, when "all the nations" come against modern Israel and Jerusalem. This tectonic event in connection with the arrival of the Messiah is described consistently and many, many times in scripture.
Ezek 38:18 When
Gog sets foot on the soil of Israel,…
On that day, a terrible earthquake shall
Befall the land of Israel…every human
Being on earth shall quake before
Me (Messiah). Mountains shall be
overthrown
Ezek 38:20
Cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall
Crumble to the ground.
Gog, of course, is the unidentified army from the North (? Russia, Moscow is due North from Canaan) which carries out the land attack on Israel, during the time when "all the nations" come against Israel. The consistency and coherence of the Old Testament prophets about these events is quite remarkable and pays silent tribute to their authenticity and validity. Further along this line of reasoning regarding the leaders, consider:
Ezek 7:19 They
shall cast their silver in the streets
And their gold shall be removed.
UB 1713 Know
ye not that every plant
Which my heavenly Father has not
Planted, will be rooted up? (Jesus)
UB 1766 Tell my children that
I am not only tender of
Their feelings and patient with their
frailties
But I am also ruthless with sin
And intolerant of iniquity. (Jesus)
UB 1766 I am indeed meek and humble in the
Presence of my Father, but
I am equally and relentlessly inexorable
Where there is deliberate evil
doing and sinful
rebellion against the will of My father in heaven (Jesus)
And so, the days of our corrupt leadership are numbered, but they will be the last to know.
Psalm 2:10 Be wise Kings and be instructed and warned. Serve the Lord with
reverent awe.
Here is their warning! The Kings are our modern day World Leaders. Will they listen?
Isaiah 52:13
"Indeed, My servant shall prosper,
Be exalted and raised to great heights…
Just so he shall startle many nations.
Kings shall be silenced because of him
For they shall see what has not been
told them,
Shall behold what they never have
heard."
The servant of Isaiah is the end of the age prophet, the interpreter of the law of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He will startle nations and shut the mouths of kings because he will reveal and inform them of their soon to be ill-fated destiny (as foretold by The Prophets) if they fail to heed their warning. As always, the door will be held open for any that will turn from their way. God desires man to correct his ways. He does not desire their punishment. However, the innocent must be protected, and poor choices have poor results.
Returning to Jeremiah:
Jer 10:23 I know, O Lord, that
man’s road is not his to choose,
That man, as he walks cannot direct his
own steps.
Secular humanism assumes that man
is capable of building his own world and using his own rules. The only problem
with this assumption is merely that it is false and is being proven false as we
speak. Man not only should want God, but more importantly man needs God and is
dependent on Him for everything. This layer of necessity will be laid bare for
all to see. The failure of man’s sovereign rule is a valuable lesson to all who
look upon us.
Man and God are incomplete without one another. They
are related as parent is to child. Now, Jeremiah asks the Lord:
Jer 12:1
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are the workers of treachery
at ease?
You have planted
them and they have taken root,
They spread they
even bear fruit
You are present
in their mouths,
But far from
their thoughts.
The Lord answers:
Jer 12:7 I have abandoned my House
I have deserted my possession,
I have given
over My dearly beloved
Into the hands
of her enemies…
My own people
act toward Me
Like a bird of
prey or a hyena;
Jeremiah asks the Lord what all the prophets ask or wonder. How long will the strong dominate and trample the weak? Next, the Lord, probably Melchizedek here, states that he has abandoned his House, meaning, probably, that his semimaterial presence no longer dwells in the First Temple, as he leaves his rebellious people (his dearly, beloved possession) to fend for themselves in the upcoming Babylonian invasion. The Lord greatly grieves over the situation and says:
Jer 12:10 Many shepherds have destroyed My
vineyard,
Have trampled My field,
Have made My
delightful field
A desolate
wilderness.
The shepherds again, are the overseers, the leaders, and the ones in power. With the emotion of a father for his errant children, the Lord says:
Jer 13:17 My
inmost self must weep,
Because of your arrogance;
My eye must
stream and flow
With copious tears
Because the
flock of the Lord
Is taken
captive…
Jer 13:25
Because you forgot Me
And trusted in falsehood
"The Lord" (probably Melchizedek) bares the broken heart of a loving father, rejected by his children, for any that would see. But never giving up:
Jer 15:11 The
Lord said:
Surely, a mere remnant of you
Will I spare for a better fate!
Those who heed the warnings of God’s prophet, Jeremiah, will survive due to their receptivity and obedience. Thus a healthy sprig (the remnant) from a dying plant is taken and transplanted in Babylon, and a sprig from that transplant is later taken and planted back in Canaan when Judah is released from Babylonian captivity seventy years later. Spiritual receptivity therefore confers a survival advantage and successive generations of this line thus become progressively more receptive. The concentration of Adamic genes in any given individual determines the biologic substrate for this spiritual receptivity. However, this biologic substrate is only one factor amidst many other environmental, and cultural factors, which influence a person’s relationship with God. Family upbringing, for example, would seem to be at least as important. And ultimately, the individual will is sovereign over all. Nothing can override an individual’s desire to "connect" with God in the inner Kingdom. Having emphasized this point, we can proceed safely with some further genetic considerations.
Genetic Factors
The Urantia Book tells us that Abraham is selected from a highly admixed Semitic genetic line containing nodite and secondary sangik elements. This line represents the male half of the subsequent lineage. The female side of the lineage comes from a variety of sources most important of which are the status wives. The status wives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph are also highly selected individuals. For instance, Abraham sends his servant to find a very select wife for his son, Isaac, and says to the manservant:
Gen 24:3 Do
not take a wife for my son from among the Canaanites,
among whom I have settled. But go to
my country and my
relatives and take a wife for my son Isaac.
(Amplified Bible)
But, Abraham, has received these instructions from:
Gen 24:7 The
Lord… who spoke to me (Abraham) and swore to me saying,
To your
offspring I will give this land – He (the Lord) will send
His Angel before
you (Abraham’s servant), and you will take a wife
from there for
my son. (Amplified Bible)
When Abraham’s servant arrives outside the city of Nahor (Abraham’s Brother) in Mesopotamia, the servant says:
Gen 24:12 O
Lord, God of my Master Abraham, I pray You, cause me to meet with
success today
See, I stand here by the well of water… (Amplified Bible)
Gen 24:14 Let
it be that the girl to whom I (servant), say, I pray you, let down your
jar that I may
drink, and she replies, "Drink and I will give your camels
drink also"
– let her be the one You have selected…for your servant
Isaac…
(Amplified Bible)
Gen 24:16 And
the girl (Rebekah) was very beautiful and attractive, chaste,
and modest…And
she said, Drink…and I will draw water for
your camels as
well. (Amplified Bible)
"The Lord" (Melchizedek) is similarly involved in the selection of Sarah and Rachel; the status wives of Abraham and Jacob. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel form the main genetic trunk off of which the two main secondary trunks Judah and Israel will grow. These selected women are all intelligent, beautiful, compassionate, and humble. One could speculate that they derive from an andite stock that has a relatively high concentration of Adamic genes. It would appear then, that the highly admixed male Semitic line is being crossed with a female line of relatively concentrated Adamic genes in a biologic upstepping operation. This would also explain why the "birthright son" in the era of the Hebrew patriarchs is frequently not the oldest son, as one would expect from past cultural traditions. The "birthright sons" are selected through the influence of "the Lord" and appear to be based on the presence of superior qualities of intelligence, sagacity, and spirituality, which result from a relatively high concentration of Adamic genes. An example of this is Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel. Jacob and Rachel have one other son, Benjamin. Jacob has six other sons by his other wife, Leah, (Rachel’s sister) and four more sons in concert with his two maids. The total is twelve of course, and are the original branches of the twelve tribes of Israel. The main point here is that Joseph is not the oldest son but he is "chosen" by Jacob to be the "birthright son," who therefore receives the lion’s share of material and spiritual blessings from Jacob and the Lord. Joseph is the "fruitful" bough that contributes most of the offspring of the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel, subsequently the lost ten tribes of Israel, who we have been previously, loosely identified as present Christendom. Why is Joseph chosen? Joseph is characterized by intelligence, sagacity, graciousness and a highly developed spirituality. These traits reflect the potentials of a high concentration of Adamic genes with which he is endowed. Joseph is the "cream of the crop" produced by the carefully guided genetic upstepping program described previously. Joseph transmits his "chosen" status to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, with Ephraim being the most favored "birthright son," again, even though he is the youngest. The lost ten tribes today are referred to as Ephraim in scripture because of Ephraim’s fruitfulness and dominant share of the population percentage. Ephraim, and to a lesser extent Manasseh, correspond loosely today to Christendom, the identity of the Lost Ten tribes of Israel. And so, there are probably billions of people on this planet that have been influenced by this genetic program. We now understand why:
Gen 12:3 in you (Abraham) will all the families of earth be blessed. (KJV)
Gen 35:11 And
God said to him (Jacob), I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and
multiply: A
nation and a company of nations shall come from you. (KJV)
Gen 17:4 You (Abraham) shall be a father of many nations. (KJV)
Gen 17:15 God
(Melchizedek) said to Abraham… (KJV)
You shall not call her name Sarai; but
Sarah (Princess) her name shall be…and
she
Shall be a mother of nations.
If modern Christendom is
"Israel" then prophecy has been abundantly fulfilled. Abraham was
promised descendants as numerous as the "sands of the sea" and the
"stars in the sky" -- and so it is. Material bounty and military power
were promised -- and so they have been delivered to the British Empire of
yesterday and to America today. America is the present elect recipient of God’s
eternal blessings on Ephraim and his descendants. An area of land much larger
than present modern Israel was promised for Abraham’s descendants (Israel and
Judah). And so it will be. Unfulfilled
Old Testament prophecies are promises that God intends to keep.
Next, Jacob prophesies information received from
the Lord (Melchizedek), who is present in semi material form.
Gen 49:1
Jacob called for his sons…that I may tell you what shall befall
you in the
latter days… (Amplified Bible)
Genesis Joseph is a fruitful
bough…by a well…whose branches run
49:22-26 over the wall…the arms of his hands made strong and active
by the Mighty
God of Jacob …blessings of the heavens above,
blessings…in the
deep, blessings of the breasts and womb…greater
than the blessings than your
forefathers and are as lasting as the eternal
hills.
Is there any doubt that these
‘blessed’ people of Joseph, of Ephraim, living in the latter days with bounty
and power are the citizens of the United States of America, the most powerful,
blessed, and fruitful nation in the history of the world. The Jewish identity,
as opposed to the Israelite, is derived from Judah, who is an offspring of
Jacob and Leah. This Judah (Jewish) strand has maintained its historical
identity and consciousness, unlike the Christians who have not maintained their
Israelite identity.
The reason for this discussion is not to create a
consciousness of "genetic identification." We need quickly to
remember that it was the tribe of Ephraim that first and foremost turned its
backs on God and who took up the "pleasure pursuit" with zeal. The
most blessed is also the foremost trespasser. Also, compared to normal planets
in the universe, we are all decidedly genetically inferior as a result of the
Adamic default (UB). Also,
UB 1055
"Abraham was not the racial father of all the Hebrews; he was
not even the
progenitor of all the Bedouin Semites who were held
captive in
Egypt. True his offspring, coming up out of Egypt, did
form the nucleus
of the later Jewish people, but the vast majority of
the men and
women who became incorporated into the clans of Israel
had never sojourned in Egypt."
The major reason for this discussion is to point out that within the history of Israel there is a program for genetic uplift that is part of Melchizedek’s "complete plan for the rehabilitation of Urantia." Complete refers to the inclusion of material, intellectual, and spiritual components; the three levels of all reality. To further emphasize the point that the individual will, and not genetic factors, is the most important determinant, consider:
UB 1863 The will as the determining factor in man’s experience.
UB 753 The free will of man is supreme in moral affairs.
UB 71 No
other being, force, creator, or agency can interfere to any
degree with the
absolute sovereignty of the mortal free will, as
it operates in
the realms of choice…God has decreed the sovereignty
of the material
and mortal Will, and that decree is absolute.
Emily
What I can do – I will –
Dickinson Though it be little as
a Daffodil -
#361
That
I cannot – must be
Unknown
to possibility –
Returning to Jeremiah:
Jer 16:14
Assuredly a time is coming – declares the lord – when it shall
no more be said,
"As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites
out of the land
of Egypt," but rather, "As the Lord lives who
brought the Israelites out of the
northland, and out of all the lands
to which He
banished them." For I will bring them back to their
land, which I
gave to their Fathers."
Very clearly here Melchizedek collaborates through Jeremiah to say that
someday he will lead the remnant of the Israelites (Christians) back to the
land of Canaan just like he did thousands of years ago with Moses during the
Exodus. This time they will be led out of the "northland" instead of
Egypt (south).
Next, Jeremiah pours out his own heart:
Jer 20:7
I have become a constant laughing stock,
Everyone jeers at me.
For every time I
speak, I must cry out,
Must shout,
"Lawlessness and rapine!"
For the word of the Lord causes me
Constant
disgrace and contempt.
I thought,
"I will not mention Him,
No more will I
speak His Name" –
But (His Word)
was like a raging fire in my heart,
Shut up in my
bones;
I could not hold
it in, I was helpless…
All my supposed
friends are waiting for me to stumble…
Accursed be the day
That I was born!
This doesn’t sound like a great job description! Anyone interested? Rapine is a frequently used word by the prophets and means: to seize or snatch by force, the property or person of another. Everyone today would also jeer if the truth would be told them. God’s message of accountability and responsibility is quite unpopular in our present society. Without a moral foundation, genuine spiritual experience is an impossibility. We want to skip the "hard" stuff and go right to the "good" stuff. In addition, there are many that hate the Judeo Christian God and His word and if they hate God, they will hate those who love God as well. The basis for this hatred is the human desire to hold his own will supreme without any interference from anyone else including God. Mans own self desires sovereignty. The existence of God is perceived to be a threat to one’s self-sovereignty and therefore the resultant anger and hatred toward God. If we deny that there is a God, we free ourselves to do anything and everything that we so desire; without consequences, we think. This is the equivalent of a two-year old’s "No!" Man is free to ignore reality but reality cannot and will not ignore man. If we deny the presence of a brick wall, it still hurts when we hit it. Mankind is about to experience that brick wall of reality so very long ignored. Next, the Lord says:
Jer 23:1
Ah, shepherds who let the Flock of My pasture stray and scatter! –
Declares the Lord…It is you who let My
flock scatter and go astray.
You gave no thought to them…I Myself will gather the remnant of My
flock from all
the lands…I will appoint over them shepherds who will tend
them…
Jer 23:5
See, a time is coming – declares the Lord – when I will raise up a
true branch of
David’s line. He shall reign as King…and he shall do
what is right
and just in the land.
Here the Messiah is envisioned as a human being, born from the line of David. Later, he is envisioned as a divine being, a Son of God. From the Urantia Book, we know that there is much distortion regarding David and his role in scripture.
UB 1072
"The greatest of all distortions regarding Jewish history had
to do with
David."
It is not surprising then that archeologists have found only small shards of evidence that David ever existed, grossly disproportionate to the grandeur described in scripture. (The Urantia Book tests out true over and over again in the light of present knowledge – a fine subject for an entire book in itself.) The Lord continues:
Jer 29:20 But
you, the whole exile community which I (Lord)
banished from
Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the word of the Lord!…
Jer 24:14
I will be at hand for you…and I will gather you from all the nations
and places to which
I have banished you – declares the Lord – and I
will bring you
back to the place from which I exiled you…
Jer 24:11 For I am mindful of the plans I have made
concerning your welfare,
not for disaster,
(but) to give you a hopeful future.
The Lord makes explicit in these lines that all His plans are for His children’s ultimate well-being and that He has no intention of abandoning anyone. Right now, today, God is gathering the Judah remnant (the Jewish people) from among all the countries of the world to which they have been scattered. Thousands of Jews pour through the gates to modern Israel everyday, another prophecy in the process of being realized (Jer 29:14). God speaks through his prophet:
Jer 29:13 You will find Me, if only you seek Me wholeheartedly.
Jer 30:11
I will not make an end of you!
I will not leave you unpunished,
But will chastise you in measure…
Jer 30:17 I will bring healing to you
And cure you of your wounds…
Jer 3l:3 Eternal Love I conceived for you.
Jer 3l:31
See, a time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the House of
Israel and the House of Judah…I will put My
teaching in their inmost
being and
inscribe it upon their hearts.
These lines describe a future of restoration and salvation. The New Covenant is the "kingdom of heaven within" that is enabled by the outpouring of the Spirit of Truth by Jesus Christ; and the Spirit of the Father, the internal guide within. What begins in external commandments of what not to do, is completed by internal guidance in the joyful following of God’s will "inscribed upon our hearts." And God’s will is God’s Way. God’s Way is the Way of truth, beauty, and goodness. It is the Way of Love. Next, the Lord says:
Jer 31:21
Return, Maiden Israel!
Return to these towns of yours!
How long will you waver,
O rebellious
daughter?
(For the Lord has created something new
on the earth: A
woman courts a man)
This stanza is a call to Lost Israel in the latter days (now) across 2600 years of time. The time of the latter days is dated by the reference to the ‘liberated woman’ of modern times, who for the first time "courts a man," reversing her traditional role of being the one courted. Also, notice the term "maiden," which means inexperienced; untried; unused; new; fresh (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 3rd edition). Israel is maiden because she has never before lived in or known of her homeland in Canaan and her roots in ancient Israel. This maiden is the long lost Israel, Ephraim who awakens from her historical sleep and returns to Canaan and to her roots. This lost Israel is Christendom and its faithful remnant will live in Israel, where Lord Melchizedek will dwell. (Don’t sell your house yet.)
Jer 32:35
They (Israel) build up the shrines of Baal…
Where they offered up their sons and
daughters.
Ancient Israel turned their backs on the Lord and worshipped the God Baal. They even sacrificed their children to Baal! (We’re not so bad after all.)
Baal: A common Semitic word meaning "owner, lord,
husband."
…Although the
head of the Canaanite pantheon was El, Baal was the
most important god because of his
association with the storms that
brought annual
revival of vegetation and fertility…(Oxford Companion
to the Bible,
Pg. 70) The theme of opposition to Baal worship runs
throughout
Deuteronomic literature and the prophets. By the 9th century
BCE, Baalism had
deeply pervaded Israelite life…Saul and David had
sons with Baal
names…alters to Baal were among the appointments in the
Jerusalem
Temple! (Oxford Companion)
Opposition to
Baalism was led by Israel’s prophets. The fertility
rites (sex
rituals) associated with Baal worship corrupted the faith in
Yahweh,
and…wrongly deified aspects of nature…That the struggle
against Baalism
was finally successful is signaled by the replacement of
the Baal element in some proper names by the word boset meaning
"shame" (2 Sam. 2:8; CF Hos 9:10). (David G. Burke)
(Oxford
Companion)
Baal-zebub. In Aramaic, may have been construed as "Lord-Dung,"
Baal-zebul came to be used for a leader among the demons opposed to
God…Christian
interpreters identified Beel-zebul with Satan on the basis
of the Gospel
passages. (Oxford Companion)
This "battle against Baalism" is the historical trace of Melchizedek’s successful efforts, in collaboration with the prophets, to establish monotheism in anticipation of Michael’s (Jesus’) bestowal mission (incarnation).
UB 1065 Good crops depended on the favor of Baal.
The cult was largely
concerned with
land, its ownership and fertility. In general, the Baalites
owned houses,
lands and slaves. They were the aristocratic landlords and
lived in the
cities. Each Baal had a sacred place, a priesthood, and the
"holy
women," the ritual prostitutes Baals were many, Yahweh was one
monotheism won
over polytheism.
UB 1052 And
this is one of the purposes of Melchizedek’s incarnation:
that a religion
of one God should be so fostered as to prepare the
way for the
earth bestowal of a Son of that one God (Jesus).
And so we can readily compare the evolutionary religion of man with the revealed religion of God. Man’s religion (Baalism) centers around self-interest and self-gratification while God’s religion is the selfless pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness. Is it any wonder why the former is the more popular and the latter is "the road less traveled?" Isn’t Baalism without Baal still the most prevalent ‘religion’ today? Also, notice how well the Urantia Book illuminates known history. It puts history into a higher perspective that explains historical events in a much wider context. This organic flavor of the Urantia Book is the flavor of truth. Disconnected human history is a cross section of a higher dimensional reality, the reality of eternity. If one takes successive horizontal cross sectional views of a vertical tree and its branches, you will first see one large circle (trunk) and then several smaller circles (main branches) and then finally a great multitude of still smaller circles and ovals of variable size and separation (small branches). If you give these cross sectional views to someone who has no idea of how it was formed, he will not see a tree – but rather various patterns of circles with no particular connection to one another (similar to looking at a wood ceiling with its "knots"). He will write about these circles in descriptive language of the individual circles and ovals with no idea of the relationship of one circle to another or one cross section to another. If you then tell this person about the higher dimensional reality of the tree and how the circles were formed through its cross-section, a "light bulb in the mind" turns on and his understanding is radically transformed and simplified. Reality doesn’t change but our perception of it does. The higher dimensional object, the tree, contains in itself all of the lower dimensional cross sections. In this same fashion Einstein’s higher dimensional theory of general relativity contains within it Newton’s laws, a lower dimensional cross section. Higher levels of truth take up into themselves the lower level cross sections below – just as standing on a mountain puts new perspective into a familiar landscape below. Paradox also disappears at the higher level. Therefore, one way to recognize the presence of a higher dimensional truth is the recognition of this powerful, explanatory, and simplifying character. The Urantia Book has this character, as does all higher dimensional truth.
This transforming illumination by higher order truth is reflected in the passage:
2 Cor 5:17 If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold all
things are becoming new.
Stated differently, this means that when a person "finds God," or "enters the Kingdom of heaven" the realization within consciousness that God is truly within us, with us, and over us is the realization of the higher dimensional reality that pervades and indwells our very being. This is the equivalent of realizing that "the little voice within" that guides us in what we should do, is in truth, the "indwelling spirit of God," referred to in scripture as the "Guide" within and the "Kingdom of heaven" within. The goal of life then, becomes to find and to listen to this inner guide, despite self-sacrifice, and through obedience become transformed in our journey toward "becoming perfect, even as God is perfect." After the realization of this "inner connection" the universe and our place in it are never again the same. "Old things are passed away," and a "new creature," and a new understanding is born. The confusing circles are gone and the spiritual tree is revealed in its glory. The facts (circles) stay the same, but new meanings (relationships of circles to the tree) are revealed. This is also why Jesus comes to "complete the law" and not to deny it. The former law is the lower dimensional cross section which is part of, then taken up into, and completed by the higher dimensional construct, the Kingdom of heaven within, just as Newton’s laws are taken up into and completed by Einstein’s. The lower framework is not discarded – it is part of the higher structure. The Old Covenant is not discarded, it is taken up into and completed by the New Covenant.
Returning to Jeremiah:
Jer 50:4
In those days and at that time – declares the Lord – the people of
Israel together
with the people of Judah shall come and shall weep
as they go to
seek the Lord their God. They shall inquire for Zion;
in that
direction their faces shall turn; they shall come and attach
themselves to
the Lord by a covenant for all time, which shall never
be forgotten.
This double declarative, in those days and at that time, reliably indicates the Messianic period at the end of The Age. Notice that the people must inquire where Zion is because they don’t know where it is! They are "maiden" Israel, (Jer 31:22); untried, inexperienced, unused, new and fresh. They are not familiar with Zion because they have just newly discovered themselves as "lost Israel." They are Christians returning home to unite with the Jews who have been already gathered to modern Israel! The remnant of the Christians and the remnant of the Jews become one people living in an expanded Canaan under the personal stewardship of Messiah Melchizedek.
Jer 50:20 In
those days and at that time –
-declares the Lord
The iniquity of
Israel shall be sought,
And there shall
be none;
The sins of
Judah, (shall be sought)
And none shall
be found;
This holy status has been obtained through spiritual transformation achieved during the difficult choices of the trial period. The act of choosing the Will of God over all other concerns requires the obliteration of the dead center of doubt and results in the total identification of man’s will with God’s Will. Let’s look further at these people in scripture who elect the Will of God as their own.
Enoch 95:4 You shall not fear those who trouble you;
for restoration shall be yours; a splendid light shall shine around
you, and the
voice of tranquility shall be heard from Heaven.
Enoch 97:9 But
in those days blessed shall they be, to whom the word of
wisdom is
delivered; who point out and pursue the path of the
Most High (God);
who walk in the way of righteousness, and
who act not
impiously with the impious.
The 'word of wisdom is delivered' to the elect through special books as we shall see later. Continuing on with the those who elect God we have:
1Enoch 91:2 Let
not your spirit be grieved on account of the times; for the
holy, the Great
One, has prescribed a period to all.
1Enoch 91:3 Let
the righteous man arise from slumber; let him arise, and
proceed in the
path of righteousness, in all its paths; and let him
advance in
goodness and in eternal clemency.
1Enoch 91:1 That
which was written by Enoch. He wrote all this instruction
of wisdom for
every man of dignity, and every judge of the earth,
for all my
children who shall dwell on the earth and for subsequent
generations.
1Enoch l:1 The
word of the blessing of Enoch, how he blessed the elect and
righteous who
were to exist in the time of trouble. (the end of the age
trial period)
1Enoch 1:2 From
them (the angels in his vision) I (Enoch) heard all things, that
will not take
place in this generation, but in a distant generation,
which is to
succeed on account of the elect.
1Enoch 5:7 The elect shall possess light, joy, and peace; and they shall inherit the
earth.
1Enoch 5:8 Then
shall wisdom be given to the elect, all of whom will live and
not transgress.
1Enoch
Another mystery also I point out.
To the righteous and wise shall
104:12 be given books of joy, of integrity, and of great wisdom…Who from
these (books) shall
acquire the knowledge of every upright path.
A particular group of people is being described here. So far, this group, referred to as the elect:
1. Receive books of great wisdom, through which they are made wise
2. Acquire the
knowledge of every upright path
3. Pursue and point out the path of the Most
High (God)
4. Live in the
latter days, the time of tribulation, in a distant generation
from Enoch.
5. Inherit the
earth (after the ruling elite are deposed)
6. Are from
among ‘Israel’ or Christendom of today.
The
Book of Revelation contains a vision of the apostle John where John is
instructed to write messages to the seven churches. The seven churches are the
various types or groups of Christians living at the end of the age right before
Messiah Melchizedek arrives. These messages contain a divine assessment of the
pluses and minuses of each group or personality type existing at the end of the
age upon us now. All of the seven churches have considerable portions of
negative criticism except for one – the Church
of Philadelphia:
Rev 3:7 And
to the church of Philadelphia write: "This is the message
from the one who
is holy and true. He (Jesus) has the key that belonged
to David, and
when he opens a door, No one can close, and when
he closes a
door, No one can open it.
The one who is holy and true, with the key of David, is Jesus Christ who holds the keys to the spiritual kingdom of heaven within. He says to the church of Philadelphia:
Rev 3:8 I
know your works. Behold, I have set an open door before you,
which no one is
able to shut; I know that you have but little power;
and that you
have kept my word (or have been faithful to my message:
Phillips
translation) and have not denied my Name (Jesus).
This is a group that Jesus gives wholehearted approval (an open door), living at the end of The Age, who are true to the message of Jesus, the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Consider the "door" which Jesus speaks of:
Revelations 3:20
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock,’ if anyone hears my voice and
opens his
door, I will come in to dine and eat with him and he with Me.
Matthew 7:7
Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will
find, keep on knocking and the door will
be opened to you.
John 10:1
I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, he who does not enter by the
door into
the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way is a thief and
robber. But
he who enters by the door is the shepherd of sheep…
John 10:6
But they (the apostles) did not
understand what He was talking
about.
John 10:7 I tell you that I Myself (Jesus) am the Door of the Sheep.
The door represents entrance into the kingdom of heaven within where man communes directly with God, as son with Father. For the price of faith and obedience, God promises to do everything else. Jesus is the personification of faith and of obedience to God’s will: "not my will but Your will be done," Jesus prays. And so, the Father is glorified in Jesus and Jesus is glorified in his Father. "The kingdom of heaven is the will of God enthroned in the heart of man." (UB 1487) And so, the door of the kingdom of heaven is always open to the members of the church of Philadelphia because they already know God and seek to do His Will, i.e. they already understand the kingdom of heaven. Now we need to know more about this church of Philadelphia:
Philadelphia, not a very large city, was a busy commercial center. It
was the meeting
point of roads from Sardis, from the coast and from
regions in the
Northeast and Southeast. (Handbook on Revelation to John
– United Bible
Societies)
The final letter to the church of Philadelphia takes us to the ultimate
evolutionary
stage – full knowledge of consciousness, a state beyond
duality…
(Revelation, Peter Lorie, Simon & Schuster)
From the very beginning Philadelphia was seen as a monument to the
possibility of
divinity within mankind. The Greek word "philadelphers"
means one who
loves his brother"… Founded in around l50 B.C., it was
situated on high
ground and formed a perfect geographical position for
trade. It was
known as a gateway to the East…We can suppose that for
John,
Philadelphia would have epitomized the ideal of a city which had
balance, good
will, and good judgment. This gives us a good allegory for
the final stage
of human spiritual evolution – that of enlightenment, the
ultimate
consciousness, a state that brings perfect balance. At this stage
according to all
Eastern and Western traditions, there is no duality, but a
oneness with
life and all existence. The other six letters of Revelation can
be exemplified
by the opposites of the Zodiac signs – Leo and Aquarius,
Gemini and
Sagittarius, for example. Here we have characteristics that are
in opposition to
one another, whereas in the final stage of human
development (as
symbolized by Philadelphia) we become one with
existence –
enlightened. (Peter Lorie, Revelation)
Put simply we become holy, the word derives from the Old English hal, whole or integrated and complete.
Transcendence, overcomes the paradox of duality, the experience of the reality of the Kingdom of heaven within allows us to identify with a higher, spiritual reality, instead of a lower, material reality. The higher completes the lower. And the Highest Reality, the source of all reality is God, who’s very Will is motivated by love and guided by wisdom. Now, lets look at the missing links contained in the Urantia Book regarding Philadelphia:
UB 1869
Within a short time after the destruction of Jerusalem, Antioch
became the headquarters of Pauline Christianity;
while Philadelphia
remained the
center of the Abnerian Kingdom of heaven. From
Antioch the
Pauline version of the Teachings of Jesus and the teaching
about Jesus spread to all the Western
World; from Philadelphia the
missionaries of
the Abnerian Kingdom of heaven
spread throughout
Mesopotamia and
Arabia until the later times when these uncompromising
emissaries of
the teachings of Jesus were overwhelmed by the sudden rise
of Islam.
UB 1832 …the believers at Philadelphia held more
strictly to the religion
of Jesus, as he lived and taught, than any other
group on earth.
Now prophecy is true both in the context of the time of its writing and in the time of its prophetic future fulfillment. And so, the church of Philadelphia spoken of in Revelation as existing in the latter days (now) would have characteristics like the church of Philadelphia existing at the time of John’s vision and writing. One might then expect this congregation or church of the latter days Philadelphia to be a group, like Abner’s, true to the message of Jesus (the gospel of the kingdom of heaven), and to be concerned with issues of brotherly love such as the brotherhood of man predicated on the Fatherhood of God. This is exactly the effect of the Urantia Book, ie; to explain and inspire the living of the kingdom of heaven within; the true way, the true gospel of Jesus that the apostles did not understand. The Urantia Book actually brings into being this latter day church of Philadelphia. The Urantia Book teaches the doing of God's Will. The elect are those who choose (elect) God's Will. Now if we integrate these concepts from Revelation about the Church of Philadelphia with the concepts of Enoch, one could envision a group in the latter days that:
1. is blessed with book(s) of joy and great wisdo
2. that give
them knowledge of the way of God which they practice
and point
out to others; (the choosing of God's Will)
3. that know the
true message of Jesus and are faithful to it, (the choosing
of God's
Will)
4. and have
reached the enlightenment stage of brotherly love.
5. live in the
latter days, the time of tribulation, in a distant generation
from Enoch.
6. have but
little worldly power, probably a small group.
7. Are found
among ‘gentile’ Christians.
These descriptions from Enoch and Revelation seem to mesh very well. The "elect" congregation is one and the same as the "church of Philadelphia." Also, consider this line of scripture addressed to the church of Philadelphia:
Rev 3:11 I
am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may
seize your
crown.
Remember this crown?