God has A Plan

God has a wonderful plan for mankind since the very beginning of time. God is building a family with sons and daughters, and He has chosen to work through families. That is His will, and He wants to bless us as His children. In Ephesians chapter 1, let's just turn there to Ephesians chapter 1, starting in verse 3.

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, it reads, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

God is blessing us with every spiritual blessing.

I think sometimes we don't think enough about that, because you and I may say, well, you know, I've got all these physical problems and challenges. Where is this? All these blessings. But He says, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

God has decided before the foundation of the world, and that is what He says.

It says, according to the good pleasure of His will at the end of verse 5. So He is the predestinist for sonship to be sons and daughters, and that's His good pleasure.

And we read in verse 9 that it says that He has made known to us the mystery of His will.

This understanding is a mystery. A mystery to the world. The world doesn't get it.

The world thinks, oh well, when you die, you go up to heaven and you play a harp and you're there. And what are you going to do? Oh, I don't know. But God's got a plan for you and I.

To be creative. You know, you think about when you have billions and billions of planets and stars out there, what amount of creative opportunity we have for the future, for eternity.

And these things, people say, it's just, you can't understand. Every time they get more powerful telescopes, they find more things and more things that we can't see. And so there are more galaxies.

There are more galaxies. And you know Milky Way is a galaxy and there are billions and billions of stars and therefore even more planets around. There's more galaxies than human beings ever lived on planet Earth. Wow! So this is an amazing opportunity. God asked for us that you and I can't grasp it. And He wants to give us these blessings. And many of these blessings come in in two forms, let's call it that, physical and spiritual. Because the physical blessings are purely an image or an example of what even more is going to come as spiritual blessings.

You see, God is the Master Potter. And as I was mentioning to you when we went to Angola, for instance, we see how little some of the people have, but they're so grateful for the blessings they have. And how many more blessings we have that sometimes we take for granted.

But God in His great wisdom has decided to work through whom He has decided first. But His intent is to reach everybody. His intent is to reach everybody. His intent is not to leave some people behind. No, He wants everybody to be blessed. But according to His plan, there is a sequence of events that He has planned because He's the Master Potter. And as a Master Potter, you can take a piece of clay and work on something. And you can decide on this piece of clay I'm going to do this and take it from that same chunk of clay, take another piece and do something completely different. And He decides one portion of the clay to use now and the other portion of the clay to use a little later. That's His call. That's His decision. And so because He's working through families, He has chosen to work through those families that have proved over the times to be obedient. And of the first family that showed great obedience was the family that they had to send from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In fact, from Abraham, we see that he was, Abraham was called. And we see in Genesis 12, verse 1 through 3, that He says He called him out of his family, out of his household. And He says, I'll make you a great nation and I'll bless you. And so we can see in Genesis 12, starting in verse 1, Genesis 12 verse 1, He says, Get out of your country from your family and your father's house to a land that I'll show you and I'll make you a great nation and I'll bless you. Now, obviously Abraham at that time, Abraham was already surely an obedient person because he saw something that was of the right characteristic in Abraham.

And he said, I'll make you a great nation, says in verse 2. And he says, I'll bless you.

And then in verse 3, he says, I'll bless those who bless you and I'll curse those who curse you. But then in at the end of verse 3, he says, And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And he is showing that the blessing was not just to be to Abraham and is the sentence, but ultimately that through him, God would use him and his family and the descendants from that family to bless the whole world. You see, so we can see that God has an intention right at the beginning of physical blessings and spiritual blessings, because you can see all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And so it is a great purpose that God has for all of us. And so the promise is not just to Abraham, but it is a covenant. It is a promise. It's a covenant that goes through his generations and beyond. And the mere fact that it says all the families of the earth shows that was not intent to be to Israel only, but for the whole world. And those promises included great greatness we see still in chapter 12, verse 7. It says, then God appeared to Abraham now a second time, and it says to your descendants, I'll give this land. So it is to his descendants first. So it goes through his family to his descendants. And then we can see a little later in chapter 13, verses 14 through 17, it says, then God said to Abraham, and he said, lift up your eyes and look northward and southward, eastward and westward for all the land that you see I'll give you and your descendants forever. And so God is expanding this promise to a whole innumerable amount of descendants. And in chapter 15, verse 18, it clearly shows that it says in 15 18 on the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, a covenant with Abraham. And that very probably, very probably was on the night to be much observed on that day. And he made a covenant with Abraham. And the covenant means it's an agreement, it's a commitment. It's something that is not conditional. It will happen. And we see later on when that covenant is restated and when Abraham shows his commitment, complete commitment, it is guaranteed. It is a covenant. It is unconditional. And therefore we see that this promise of land is not just symbolic, but it's real. It's real. And understand that Abraham himself looked beyond, even far beyond.

He understood far beyond than what actually is written here. Why do I say that? Because if you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. Now we know Hebrews 11 is the 5th chapter. And in Hebrews 11, we see, let's get to it, Hebrews 11, we see the promise that is to a point that Abraham saw it looking for a city in new heaven and new earth. In other words, so what is mentioned here in Genesis, it's just the bare bones because Abraham had understanding far beyond that. Because we read in verse 10 of Hebrews 11, it says, for he waited for the city which has foundations, who's bolder and maker is God. So he was looking beyond to new heaven and new earth, that new Jerusalem.

They'll come in after the millennium, after all the resurrections, and when there's a new heaven and new earth, he was looking for that. So there is quite a bug that it's not described in the first chapters of the Bible and the first few books, but he was already looking beyond not only a physical inheritance, but a spiritual inheritance. Now it's interesting that the promises then went from Abraham and the the birthright promises went now not to Ishmael, which was his first son, but it went to Isaac. If we read, we go back to Genesis in Genesis chapter 26, because now it becomes a promise of faith and trust. And Genesis 26 verse 3 and 4, he says, God says, Dwell in this land and I'll be with you and bless you, for to you and your descendants I'll give these lands and I'll perform the oath which I swear to Abraham your father.

And then he says, And I will make your descendants multiply the stars of heaven. And this is actually talking to Isaac. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So we see this promise was repeated to Isaac, and so went from Abraham to Isaac and not to Ishmael. Now, we know that Ishmael had still been given a lot of blessings and promises of that, and they will and they are a great people, but the Abrahamic covenant promises go through Isaac.

This is important for us to trace through scripture this history. And from there the promises passed to Jacob, and we read that in Genesis 35. In Genesis 35, verses 9 through 12, Genesis 35, verses 9 through 12, and it says, And God appeared to Jacob again, and when he came from Adam and blessed him, and God said to him, Your name is Jacob.

Your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name. So he called his name Israel. And God said to him, I am the God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply, and nation and company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

And so we see that the promise came from Abraham through his family to Isaac and then through to Jacob, who was renamed Israel. And it says, through your descendants, there will be that birthright promise that would include a nation and a company of nations. And so this is important and crucial to understand because the promise is not merely that Israel would become one nation, but that from Jacob, now renamed to Israel, would come both a nation and a company of nations from this birthright, from this firstborn birthright.

So this is key and prophetic to understand because it was fulfilled through Joseph's sons. And so we can see that the birthright blessings now from Jacob, which became Israel, should have gone to Reuben, because Reuben was the firstborn, right? Reuben was the firstborn. But Reuben being the firstborn of Jacob through Leah, but Reuben committed a grave act of moral and family betrayal. And therefore, as we read in Genesis 35 verse 22, Genesis 35 verse 22, and it happened when Israel dwelt in the land and Reuben went and laid with Belial, his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it.

And so he slept with his father's concubine. And if you keep your finger there in Genesis, if you read the 1 Chronicles chapter 5, 1 Chronicles chapter 5, Kings Chronicles chapter 5 verse 1. 1 Chronicles chapter 5 verse 1 says, Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.

So the genealogy is not listed according to that birthright. You see, because Joseph was the firstborn of Rachel. You see, so instead of going through the firstborn of Leah, through Leah, it was gone through the firstborn of Rachel. And so the birthright was given to Joseph, which is the firstborn of Rachel. And so it passed down to Joseph, and then to Joseph's children. And we know Joseph's children were Ephraim and Manasseh.

And we know Manasseh was the firstborn, and Ephraim was the secondborn. And we now read in Genesis 48, at the end of his life, Jacob, at the end of his life, is passing these blessings of birthright to his children. You can see in Genesis 48, first to the birthright, the firstborn, which would be Joseph, because Reuben permitted that grave act of moral and family betrayal.

And so the birthright went to Joseph. And so in chapter 48 talks about the blessing of the firstborn, the birthright, being given to Joseph. And then in 49, Genesis 49, talks about the blessing to all the children, basically for the last days. But we see in Genesis 48, starting in verse 13, it says, And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand, towards Israel's left, and Manasseh on Joseph's left hand, towards Israel's right, and brought them near. Why? Because Manasseh is the firstborn, so he would be on Jacob's right hand, the firstborn, and Ephraim would be on Jacob's left hand, because he was the secondborn.

Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's hand, who was the younger. So, Israel, which was Jacob, with name changed to Israel, he crossed his arms like this, and his left hand on Manasseh's head. So instead of going like this, he crossed his arms this way.

And so, guiding his hands knowingly for Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph and said, Go before whom your fathers, Abram, Asik, wilt, the God who has fed me all the life from this day, and the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the laughs. Let my name be upon them. So, the name of Israel was going to be upon these two children, and they would be, they would be Jacob's children. And so, he crossed his arms like that, and the name of my fathers, Abram and Asik, and let him grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

And so, Joseph saw this and he said, No, no, Dad, you're wrong. And, but he said, no, that's the way I want. And so, Abram and Manasseh now become as if they are direct children of Jacob, of Israel. And so, that's why we see they become 12 tribes, not, they're probably 13 tribes, not 12. And we know the story that the Levites then were separated for God's service. And that was the numbering there for the Levites becoming treated as the firstborn, saved when they came out of Egypt as the price for them to become gods, servants to serve in the temple. And so, we've been back from the 13 tribes to the 12.

And so, and then on Genesis 49, we see the blessing for the whole children. He had a blessing for all of the children. So, we see that the blessing of the this birthright was to the firstborn, which was Joseph, but these two children of Joseph became as the firstborn, because it says, that my name be upon them. They became as the firstborn. And then one would be a great nation, which is Manasseh. And the other one would be a company of nations, which is Ephraim, because that's what it says in verse 19, Genesis 48, 19. And he said, I know, I know my son, Jacob or Israel said to Joseph, he shall become a people, and he also shall be great. But truly, you know, Manasseh would be great. But truly, his younger brother, that's Ephraim, shall be greater than he. And the descendants of the younger brother Ephraim shall become a multitude of nations.

And so, what we have is, the blessings would go, the physical blessings, the birthright blessings would go to these two children, would be now treated as the firstborn, or the ones that would get the birthright blessings. We know through history that this blessing was delayed.

We can see that there was a time that King David became the king, and then the blessing of the national identity came through Solomon. But we know through, if you look at biblical history, that Israel then was split into two major kingdoms, the Kingdom of the North and the Kingdom of the South. And the Kingdom of the North was the Kingdom of Israel, and the Kingdom of the South was the Kingdom of Judah. And the Kingdom of the North was led by Jeroboam, which comprised of ten northern tribes. And the Kingdom of Judah led by Solomon's son, Jeroboam, which then consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and later the Levites went with them as well.

Now, the Kingdom of Israel had basically, in the Kingdom of Israel, the northern tribes, had basically Ephraim and Manasseh there. So the birthright blessings through Joseph, in other words, Ephraim and Manasseh, was in the nation of the North, the Kingdom of Israel.

But we know that the Kingdom of Israel, the northern Kingdom, all the kings under Jeroboam and Durophta, they all were very disobedient. And they ended up going to slavery in Assyria.

And they lost their identity because they did not keep the Sabbath. And so they lost identity and identity sign. But there was a covenant commitment from God that would bless that nation. Now, we got a booklet, the United States and Britain in Prophecy, and it addresses a lot more of the information we're covering in a lot of detail. But we know that this promise was not forgotten by God. But we see in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 that this promise was unconditional, but conditional upon obedience. It was unconditional, but it would happen when they would start obeying. But there were certain degrees of conditions. Now, when we look at Genesis, Leviticus 26, there are three, in fact four places where it says, I'll punish you seven times more if you disobey. In Leviticus 26 verse 18, if we just go back to Leviticus 26, we see that the blessings, Leviticus 26, Leviticus 26 verse 18, in fact, Leviticus 26 says from the beginning, if you're by me, you will have all these blessings. But if you disobey me, starting from verse 14, then it gives basically a series of waves of punishments. Then the first one starts in verse 16, and then if they still don't obey, then in verse 18 says, I'll punish you seven times more for your sins.

And then in verse 21, then if you still don't obey me, I will punish you seven times more.

But then in verse 24, when it says, if you still don't obey me, in verse 24, it says, I'll punish you yet seven times. Now, the interesting is that the other two, it says seven times more in Hebrew. And in Hebrew, at this time, then it says, I'll punish you seven times. It does not say seven times more. And so we can see that when it's talking about more, it's implying an intensity, a greater punishment in intensity. But then, in verse 24 and verse 28, which is describing this punishment will go for seven times.

The word more is not there in Hebrew, and also not in some English Bibles. Some English Bibles have the word more added, but it's not in Hebrew, which therefore it can imply to a continuation of seven times, or a duration of seven times, or a repetition for seven times.

As we read, for instance, in Psalm 119, Psalm 119 verse 164, Psalm 119 verse 64, it says, Psalm 119, 164, I think part of it, 164. 119 verses 164 says, seven times a day I'll praise you. It does not mean that it's more intense every time you're praying. It's that you're repeating it seven times a day. So that implication of seven times is a repetition, a continuation. Also in Proverbs 24 verse 16, Proverbs 24 verse 16, it says, For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. It doesn't mean that the second time it falls is more intense and the third time falls even worse. It just means that it's repetitious and keeps getting up. So it is a period of duration. We also see in Daniel 4 when he talks about the king Nebuchadnezzar, that he was punished seven times. That is a duration, and as we know, it was for seven years.

And we know that a prophetic year, we can go to other scriptures, we can see the prophetic year is 360 days. So if you punish seven times, implying seven years of 360 days, we end up with 2520 days. And using the day for a year analogy in Numbers 14.34 and is equal to 4 over 6, a day for a year 2520 days means 2520 years delay. And so we have a conclusion here that we have come to in the Church of God for many years, that the Abrahamic promises, physical promises, although were unconditional in God's ultimate purpose, the timing of those blessings were affected by Israel's disobedience. And God remained faithful, but it was delayed by 2520 years.

Obviously, this is not a direct statement from the Bible. This is an understanding we have.

We believe that to be correct. And so if we look at the historical development and migration of the nations, as we read here in this booklet, starting from page 58, where it talks about the mysterious Cynthia's burst into history, a migration of those nations which went into captivity into Assyria, they lost their identity and they migrated. And if you put together with this 2520 years, we come to development of history, migration patterns, as well as time delay, which is very significant, implying a future blessing for both Ephraim, a company of nations, and Manasseh as a great nation. Now, if you consider, therefore, that the northern kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, was punished by going into captivity during the Assyrian captivity. That Assyrian captivity was over a period of 25 years, from the years about 745 before Christ till the year 721. It was basically three main phases or stages in 745 and 744 BC. Israel became a vassal state.

Between 734 and 732 BC, there was a major invasion of Assyria, taking the northern part, and many were deported. And then later, between 722 to 721 BC, Samaria Falls, which was like the final major deportation of Israelite-ish people to Assyria. So it took a number of years, 25 years for that to happen in happening stages, various stages, but the three main stages are those. Now, if you add 25,2520 years to that, from 745 to 744 BC, you add 2520, you get to about 1776 when it was American independence. If you look at the second, the major invasion of 734 to 722, when many were deported, you add 2520, you get to 1787 to 1789. That was when the U.S. Constitution was signed in 1787. It was ratified in 1788 and was enforced in 1789.

And if you look at the last one when Samaria fell and it was a final major deportation, 722 to 721 BC, you add 2520 years, you get to year to the years, to the years, 798 to 1800, which is the time of Britain's decisive rise as the dominant power falling in the defeat of Napoleon, particularly in Egypt and the Battle of the Nile.

And so you can look at the historical flow that seems to be a proof of that immigration. We look at these dates and you could say, well, it's mere coincidence, you could say, but historical evidence shows that Ephraim became a company of nations. It was Great Britain and a commonwealth of peoples of British ancestry. And there's no other nation in the world that could fit that characteristic. And likewise, Manasseh became a great nation in the United States.

Therefore, with that understanding, and I understand that it is not a perfect exegetical analysis, but when we look at all these facts, we come to that fair prophetic conclusion that points to end-time prophecies of Israel, which then refer to the United States and Britain and related English-speaking peoples. You see, so what we have is a covenant which requires a responsibility. And these promises were unconditional. Ancient Israel for fated or did not have them because of the disobedience. Leviticus 26, the latter part, points to a seven-times punishment, implying the duration in the last two instances of Leviticus 26. And we can see that the immigration of those nations and the delay, it clearly points to only two possible nations today in the world, or groups of nations like the British and the Americans, the United States of America.

The thing is that Israel should have been a model nation to the world.

You know, Israel should have been an example, a positive example to the world, to demonstrate how God is loving and kind. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 5 through 8, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 5 through 8, It says, surely I've taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore, be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise understanding people.

For what great nation is there that has God, so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon him? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which are set before you this day? Therefore, keep yourself. Reverend, the point is this blessing, this covenant blessing is a responsibility, an accountability. And Israel failed, failed because it lacked the heart to obey. If you and I look at Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 29, Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 29 says, oh that they had such a heart in them they would fear me and always keep my commandments. That might be well with them and with their children forever. And so what do we have is, Israel failed and there's come in the past under national punishment. And I don't think it's much to jump to a conclusion that today we are failing as a godly example to the rest of the world.

So unfortunately this is true for all of us. But it's not just the physical point, but there's the spiritual point because God says you'll be a blessing to all nations.

And so there is not just an old covenant, but there's a new covenant. And the problem is not with the law, but it's with the human heart. And physical Israel could not, and today's modern physical Israel is not fulfilling that responsibility as a model nation. And so we are endowed with these blessings, but we do have a responsibility to be an example.

And if we're not an example, the video is 26, can again demonstrate to us that there is a punishment coming if we're not an example like we should be. And so in Genesis 12 verse 3 we read, In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. And in Galatians 3 verse 8, Galatians 3 verse 8, let's just turn there. Galatians 3 verse 8, it says, And the scripture foreseen that God would justify, and it was make the Gentiles just, in other words, forgive them, would forgive mankind by faith. Preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed. And so the Abrahamic covenant contains the gospel. The covenant given to Abraham right at the beginning in Genesis 12 contains the gospel, the blessing for all nations. And we know if we continue reading in Galatians 3 verse 16, Galatians 3 verse 16, And to Abraham and to his seed where the promise is made. And it does not say to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to your seed who is Christ.

And so the argument here that Paul is emphasizing, which is very precise, it says that the promises converge in Christ. Christ is the central descendant of Abraham, through whom the spiritual promise becomes available to all nations. And so those in Christ become Abraham's seed. In Galatians 3 verse 28 and 29 says, There is not a Jew, no Greek, there's not a slave, no free, there's not a male or female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ, and Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Because if we are Christ's, and we should belong to Christ, we're part of that family, spiritual family, and therefore we descendants, spiritually speaking, of Abraham. And brethren, the point is that this blessing is not imputed upon us because we're such great people. If we go back to Romans chapter 4, Romans chapter 4, verse 1 through 4, Romans chapter 4, verse 1 through 4, what shall we say? That Abraham, our father, was found according to the flesh.

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

But what does the scripture say? We're sleep. Abraham believed God. Abraham trusted God.

God said, leave your land and go. Abraham trusted God. And it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. And so it was accounted to him for righteousness, as we read in verse 3.

And so, blessed is he, as we read in verses 5 through 8, that upon whom God does not impede sin.

You see, the promise is not by law, but by that righteousness of faith. The promise is sure to the Jew and to the Gentile. And so we are forgiven and we are made right with God by faith, as we read in Romans 5 verse 1, therefore having been justified by faith. Now it doesn't say we are saved by faith. We are justified. We are forgiven by faith. Not my faith. I don't have enough faith for that. It's Christ's faith. Christ had the faith to die for us. And therefore, because of his faith, we are forgiven. And so we are able to rejoice, as it says in verse 2, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice that we will be sons of God. And the promise is sure indeed to all seed. Not only those that are descendants according to the birthright and physical descent of the law, but also those that are descends by faith. Just like the promise went from Abraham to Isaac by faith, not to Ishmael. And so the physical lineage has a prophetic significance. Yes, it has a prophetic significance. And that physical lineage will be used in the world tomorrow still to bless all nations. But the spiritual inheritance comes through faith, repentance, God's calling, and our union through Christ. And part of that, God's Holy Spirit is central because the apostles received the spirit of promise and we are sealed with the spirit of promise as we read in Ephesians chapter 1. Let's just go to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 and 14.

Ephesians chapter 1 13 and 14. And it says, therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love to all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my praise. That's verse 15, 16. Sorry, I meant to read verse 13 through 14. And it says, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of faith, the word of truth, Abigail Parran, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you as sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance. God's Holy Spirit is a guarantee that we will receive an inheritance. And so, brethren, we gotta be very grateful. We gotta be led by God's Holy Spirit. We gotta use God's Holy Spirit. And therefore, the church, as you and I, are the forerunners of this future covenant promise. Finally, ultimately, all Israel will be saved as we read in Romans 11 and 12. And so, the Abraham promises are not finished.

There is much more to come, much more to come, but they will be fulfilled. And they will be fulfilled spiritually through you and I. You know, God's promises to Abraham contain both physical blessings and spiritual salvation promises. You see, the physical promises through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, explain the modern Israelite nations and provide a key to prophecy. Because a lot of prophecies are to Israel and to Jacob. They're not to Judah alone. And so, if we don't know who those nations are, we don't understand prophecy. And also, the spiritual promise is through Jesus Christ, Abraham seed, by whom all nations may receive salvation.

And so, brethren, you and I are called for a great blessing. You and I, we who repented, we need to use God's Holy Spirit. We really have to use God's Holy Spirit and be faithful to the end. We belong to Christ and ultimately, we become Abraham's spiritual seed and heirs according to the promise. Thank God for His blessings that He's giving to us.

And thank God for His grace and kindness through Christ. May God help you and I and us all to fulfill that calling that we have to do. It's a big responsibility. May God be with you in the days ahead.