Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 2 * BOOK 77
CONNECTING THE DOTS OF SCRIPTURE – PART 42
Genesis – Revelation (The Kingdom)
Okay, good to have you all back after our break. We’ll go into program number two for the afternoon. Let’s see, we’re in book 77, and we’re in the middle four programs today. Hopefully by the end of book 77, we’ll have all the dots connected in Scripture. Huh, Jerry? Hopefully. But we’ll just take it as it comes.
So anyway, we always want to – what shall I say – thank our TV audience for your prayers, your financial support, and everything. And as I’ve said before, I’ll say it again, mail time is something else. One of my girls from the office is here. It’s not just the mail, but the phone calls, as well, isn’t it, Delena? My, how we appreciate all those fine phone calls. You know, I don’t need any financial pay. That’s enough in itself, just to hear how folks are being exercised by the Word. Not Les Feldick. It’s the Book that’s getting them exercised and excited.
Iris wants me to let the audience know once more that we’ve still got our one and only book. It has eighty-eight questions and answers. We like to let folks know. It’s a well-received book. It’s got a lot of information in it and makes wonderful gifts. It’s nominally priced, so call if you’re interested.
So anyway, we’ll continue right on now in this program where we left off in the last one. We’ll do that all afternoon. We’ll just go until our time runs out. Then we’ll take our break and come back on the next one. We’re going to jump right back in on the Kingdom concept in Isaiah chapter 9 and a couple of familiar verses, verses 6 and 7. We are going to continue getting ready for the New Testament introduction of the thousand year reign of Christ.
It’s been promised ever since Israel became a Nation. That’s what I’m trying to show, that this isn’t just a New Testament concept. This is something that the Nation of Israel has been promised almost from the time of Abraham. Definitely since the time of Moses, and that’s why we started today in Exodus chapter 19. But now we’re up to the Prophets, 700 B.C., up to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6:
Isaiah 9:6a
“For unto us (the Nation of Israel) a child is born, unto us a son is given:…” I always connect that with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten So.,” I connect that this is what they got when He gave.
Isaiah 9:6b
“…and the government shall be upon his shoulder:…” Looking ahead now to the time of this royal family coming to a head in the person of the Messiah, the Christ, sitting on David’s throne ruling from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Never lose sight of that. It’s going to be an earthly Kingdom on which God the Son Himself will rule and reign. Now this is all prophecy, yet—700 years before Christ.
Isaiah 9:6c-7a
“…and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (All those are titles that God the Son will wear, you might say, when He becomes King of this glorious Kingdom.) 7. Of the increase of his government…”
Now, what does government speak of? People. Government is what controls the masses. Without it you’ve got anarchy. So here, even in the Kingdom economy, we’re going to have a government. It’s going to be a benevolent government. It’s not going to be one of high taxation. It’s not going to be one of penal punishment and all those other things. It’s going to be Heaven on Earth. But nevertheless, it’ll be a government under the rulership of the King. Later on today, or whenever we get over into the New Testament, we’ll see how the Twelve Apostles of Israel will each rule one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. They’ll sit on thrones underneath the throne of Jesus Himself. All right, here we have it then.
Isaiah 9:7a
“Of the increase of His government and peace (There’ll be no war during this Kingdom.) there shall be no end, (Because like I said in the last half hour, it’ll slip right on into the eternal environment. He’s going to sit there–) upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,…” See that? I made reference to it in the first half hour, that it’s the throne of David on which Christ will sit on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. All right, so He will sit:
Isaiah 9:7b
“…upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment (that is rule) and with justice (There’ll be no bribery. There’ll be no corruption, and it’ll be–) from henceforth even for ever. (Because–) The zeal (or the authority, the sovereignty) of the LORD of Hosts will perform this.”
Well, now that’s about as plain as language can get, isn’t it? Now turn the page. We go into another aspect of His earthly Kingdom, and that is the animal kingdom. Isaiah chapter 11, now this isn’t Heaven, this is the Kingdom. You know, I think I made mention in the last taping. Somebody sent me a book that he had authored or someone had authored. I think the guy did himself, and he was speaking of what Heaven will be like. Well, all of the references were these Kingdom references.
This isn’t Heaven as we think of Heaven. This is the earthly Kingdom. Now keep that straight. This is the Heaven that Israel is looking forward to on the earth under the headship of their Messiah. But it’s not the Heaven that you and I think of, which is, of course, in the Heavens of the Heavenlies. I don’t know where it’s at, but it’s certainly not here on the earth. This Kingdom is simply going to be a heavenly-like environment but on planet earth with the capital in Jerusalem.
All right, now on planet earth we’re going to also have aspects of the animal kingdom. Let’s jump in at chapter 11, and let’s start at verse 4. Again, we’re making reference to the King.
Isaiah 11:4a
“But with righteousness shall he (the King) judge (or rule) the poor, (Those who are at the bottom of the totem pole.) and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:…” Now, of course, whenever I read that verse I’m always reminded—when did Jesus address these things? Well, in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes—they’re the constitution of the Kingdom. And they make far better sense if you leave it with the Kingdom than try to bring it into Christianity today.
Isaiah 11:4b-5
“…reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, (That, of course, is previous to all of this.) and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (That was all accomplished before we open the Kingdom.) 5. And righteousness (Absolute perfect fairness and equity and honesty, everything will be without any smack of pollution or corruption. It’s going to be perfect!) shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” Now verse 6, and we jump into another aspect of the Kingdom—the animal kingdom. It’s going to be there.
Isaiah 11:6
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, (Because the curse has been lifted. They’ll no longer be carnivorous. They will eat as they ate in the Garden of Eden before the curse fell.) and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; (the baby goat) and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; (They’ll all be co-mingling. And in the midst of what used to be carnivorous animals, what?) and a little child shall lead them.”
Kids are playing. They’re going to be playing with these wild animals instead of cats and dogs, or rather along with cats and dogs. I shouldn’t say instead of, or somebody is going to get all shook up, and say, wait a minute, I’m not going to have a kitty in the Kingdom? But we know that all these wild animals are going to be domesticated. They’re no longer going to be carnivorous. I’ll show you why in the next verse.
Isaiah 11:7
“And the cow and bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion (the fiercest of all) shall eat straw (or forage) like an ox.” Well, if it can forage like an ox, it doesn’t have to kill something else for its food. So everything is going to revert back.
Now, let me show you from Scripture. Go back to Genesis again. Like I said in the last program, we’ve got to keep reviewing Genesis, because it’s been many, many years since we taught it verse-by-verse. But you remember back in Genesis chapter 1 verse 30, and this is before Adam ate. This is before the curse fell. This is what it’s going to go back to when the Kingdom is set up—just like it was in Eden before Adam fell.
Genesis 1:30
“And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, (in other words, every living thing) I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.”
In other words, everything in God’s creation ate and survived on things that grew naturally. They didn’t kill anything. Why? Death was still unknown. Death was an unknown factor back here. Nothing died. Consequently, nothing killed something else for its food. Everything ate of that which grew naturally. Well, it’s going to come back to that.
Now back to Isaiah 11, this is why the lion will eat grass and forage and so forth just like cattle. All the other carnivorous animals will eat the same way. They’ll eat of the herbs and so forth. And now verse 8:
Isaiah 11:8-9
“The nursing child shall play on the hole of the asp, (or a poisonous snake in our time) and (a larger child) the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. (without any harm or danger) 9. They shall not hurt nor destroy (Nothing will die, and nothing will go back into uselessness.) in all my holy mountain: (That is the Kingdom.) for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
Now, isn’t that a fabulous promise? You know, I think I read years and years ago that the human capability of even the brain that we have is only about 5%. That’s all we can use is about 5% of our capability. Well, can you imagine what will happen when God gives us full knowledge? Paul even speaks of it—that we will have full knowledge and understanding.
That’s why when questions come in that are kind of hard to answer, and over which a lot of the theologians like to argue, you know what my favorite answer now is? Well, hey, if it doesn’t affect where you’re going to spend eternity, if it doesn’t affect your daily life, why worry about them? We’ll find out when we get there. We’re going to have full knowledge.
We’re going to understand all these things that today are in a state of unknown. We’re going to have this kind of knowledge as the waters cover the sea. Now, that is for these here in the Kingdom. Of course I’ll have to refer to the Church’s experience in the Kingdom at a later time. But anyway, “the knowledge of the LORD will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”
Now, let’s move on up through our Old Testament. Let’s go on up to Jeremiah. This is what I wanted you to see first—Jeremiah 31:31. We’ve looked at these verses before. Again, the Lord is speaking through the prophet, and look what He says.
Jeremiah 31:31a
“Behold, the days come, (Now, what does that speak of? Out in the future. Doesn’t say when, but sometime out in the future.) saith the LORD,…” This is a promise that He’s giving concerning the believing element of Israel.
Now you want to remember—only a small remnant of Israel has ever been believers or will believe. Even as we saw in our last taping, that only 1/3 of the Jews of our present time will become true believers and go into this glorious Kingdom. But nevertheless, this is the promise that God makes to that surviving remnant that will enjoy these Kingdom promises.
Jeremiah 31:31
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will (It’s going to happen.) make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:” Now that makes me stop again. You know, there are so many people who still think that the ten tribes were lost and disappeared and only Judah and Benjamin survived. Don’t you believe it. God never lost a single tribe. They were all intact when they went out into the Babylonian captivity. And don’t you ever forget that.
When they came back from the Babylonian captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah spoke over and over of the whole house of Israel. Not just Judah and Benjamin – the whole house of Israel was represented going out and coming back. All the way up through the Old Testament it’s a constant reference not just to the tribe of Judah, but to all of them.
Then when you jump all the way up – now let’s just do this, because this is what I have to do with Scripture. Jump all the way up to Acts. Keep your hand in Jeremiah. I’m not through there by any means. But just to see what I’m talking about, jump up to Acts chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost. Peter is preaching his Pentecostal sermon. Let’s see, I was going to use even more than one, but one will do for now—verse 36. Got it? Acts chapter 2 verse 36 and remember, he’s addressing the Jews that have been gathering there around the Temple for this Feast of Pentecost. And look how Peter addresses them. This is in plain English.
Acts 2:36
“Therefore let all the house of Israel (not just two tribes, all of them) know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” They’re all there. Now, if that’s not enough for you, just keep going. Go all the way back to Revelation chapter 7.
Now how can they be lost when Scripture has got them right in front of you? I’ll tell you what; the devil is a master at spreading a lie. You know that, don’t you? He was the father of it. He’s the master of it. But we’re not going to follow a lie. We’re going to follow the truth.
Revelation 7:4
“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and they were sealed an 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” Two? All of them! Now, when you take all twelve tribes of Israel and you take 12,000 out of each one as it shows in verses 5-8, how many do you end up with? 144,000.
And it’s not Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s Jews! Next time they come to your door, you just ask them, my, are you a Jew? You don’t look like one. Well, no, I’m not a Jew. Well, then you can’t be one of the 144,000, because they have to be Jews. It’s what the Book says—twelve thousand from each one of the twelve tribes. Now, can you get it any plainer than that?
Okay, back to Jeremiah. That was all free for nothing. I didn’t intend to do that either. Jeremiah 31 verse 32, this new covenant is:
Jeremiah 31:32a
“Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;…” That was where we first started this afternoon back in Exodus 19—when Israel was gathered around Mt. Sinai and God was getting ready to give them the Law. Now, Jeremiah says, we’re not talking about that covenant. We’re not talking about the Ten Commandments and the Temple worship. We’re talking about a new covenant. And now verse 33:
Jeremiah 31:33
“But this (This new covenant that’s still out in Israel’s future when the Kingdom comes in. That’s when this covenant will kick in.) shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, (In other words, after all of their history is gone by, and they’re now coming into the Kingdom. Then this new covenant is going to become a reality. God says–) I will put my law (in other words, their means of behavior, their daily discipline) in their inward parts, and will write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” What a difference from where they’ve been for the last couple thousand years.
Jeremiah 31:34
“And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and (They shall no more teach–) every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive (See that?) I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
All right, now let’s jump all the way back for comparison sake to where the Jew even today is still resting. That is Deuteronomy chapter 6. Many of you know where I’m going to go. Deuteronomy chapter 6, now this is just for comparison. Look at the vast difference between this first Covenant of Law and the New Covenant that Jeremiah is talking about. Deuteronomy chapter 6 and drop in at verse 4.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD: 5. And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:” But not like it is in Jeremiah, because in the next verse what are they still going to have to do? Teach it.
Deuteronomy 6:7-9
“And thou shalt teach them (That is these words which God is going to give in His Covenant of Law.) diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” You see the difference?
In other words, beginning with the Law, they had to work at it constantly in order to pass it on to their children and in order to practice it. But when they get into the Kingdom, it’s going to be so glorious there won’t be any need for a law that says “thou shalt not.” Instead, God is going to write all of His righteousness in their hearts. They’re not going to have any problem living a righteous life.
Now, while I’m back in Jeremiah 31, I want to bring you back there for a moment. Because, here again, I have to disagree with these people who are maintaining that Israel has gone down the tube. They’re gone—they’ve disappeared, and all these promises have been given to the church. Don’t you believe it! Israel is still a viable entity. That’s why they’re back in the land. That’s why everything is getting ready for these Kingdom promises to yet become a reality.
Okay, let’s look at what the Scripture says to these people who claim that Israel disappeared. Jeremiah 31 verse 35. Now, that may shock some of you people, but there are a lot of them out there. I get a magazine every so often, and that’s all they trumpet—that the Jew disappeared in A.D. 70. Christ returned in A.D. 70, and all the promises that were given to Israel have disappeared and have now been turned over to the Church. Well, that’s not what my Bible says. Look at verse 35.
Jeremiah 31:35
“Thus saith the LORD, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: (Now this is what God says.) 36. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. 37. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, (Because they certainly deserve it.) saith the LORD. 38. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.”
All of God’s promises are going to be fulfilled. Israel hasn’t disappeared. Israel is not going to disappear. They are there today by virtue of God’s decree, and it’s a miraculous thing that they’ve been called back from every nation on the planet. They resurrected the dead Hebrew language. And then people scoff at it and say they’re nothing but impostors. Well, not according to this Book. You have to remember that all of these promises are still future. They are still valid.
Okay, now for the minute that we’ve got left, let’s just stay in Jeremiah and turn over to chapter 33 verse 7. Now, these are God’s promises. And, beloved, if God can break these promises, then what have you and I got to stand on? Nothing! Because if He can break His promise with Israel, He can break it with you and me. But He won’t. He hasn’t. Okay, now look at this, Jeremiah 33 starting at verse 7. The “I wills” are God speaking. And He says:
Jeremiah 33:7-9a
“And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, (Now that’s all Twelve Tribes. Israel is the ten. Judah is the two.) and will build them, as at the first. 8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. 9. And it shall be to me a name of joy,…”
Why? Because Israel is now at the place that they have been waiting for—for 4,000 years!