The Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth some two thousand years ago to deliver the gospel message of the kingdom of God from the Heavenly Father. After preaching the gospel for three and a half years, only one hundred twenty believed what He preached (Acts 1:15). The rest who heard the gospel either disbelieve it, or worse, distort it into 'another gospel'. Throughout the centuries that follow, except for a small group of faithfull believers, the church has ignored preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. For those preachers who do so in the end-time, they either misunderstood or misinterpreted the gospel to suit their agenda. Looks like it has come full circle since the days of the first century Apostles!
The kingdom of God is the Government of God which will be established on earth for a thousand years after the Second Coming of Christ, with Jerusalem as the headquarters. But before this is to happen, the Great Tribulation will come upon earth as Satan unleashed his vengeance on planet earth before being dethroned with his incarceration for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-3). It will then be followed by judgment from God known as the Day of the Lord or the time of Jacob's Trouble!
Before Adam was ever created, the angels walked and inhabited the earth. The Government of God was over them. Unfortunately, they sinned and rebelled against God. God created Adam and Eve with the plan to restore the Government of God but they failed. The Word finally came, incarnated as the Son of God (John 1: 1-14) - aka Jesus Christ - the second Adam to save the world from ultimate destruction! Even Jesus Christ had to pass the test at the wilderness to qualify as the King of kings and Lord of lords to rule in the Millennial Age. Testings and trials will be required of His true disciples.
The prophet Ezekiel was given the message by God to warn the house of Israel - the lost ten tribes of Israel - about the impending judgment to come (Ezekiel 2:3, 3:1,17). However, Ezekiel himself was a slave from the house of Judah, not that of Israel. The house of Israel was taken to captivity by the Assyrian more than one hundred years before the house of Judah was taken to captivity by the Babylonian. The people of the house of Israel would have migrated to Britain and Western Europe by the time Ezekiel issued the warning. There was no record that Ezekiel left the Middle East and go west to deliver the message. In all probability, the warning of Ezekiel to the house of Israel was not meant for that time. It could mean that the warning message of Ezekiel was meant for the modern descendants of the house of Israel - people who have since taken roots in modern day United Kingdom, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.
The warning is a call to repentance before the coming of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is the time when God supernaturally intervenes in the affairs of this world. Currently, it is the day of man when man manages his own affairs. Though the prophecy targets specifically the house of Israel, it is also applicable to all who would heed the call. For God is no respecter of persons. God commanded Ezekiel to convey the message of warning of the coming judgment (Ezekiel chapter 2) as it contains lamentations, mourning and woe (2:10).
The sixth chapter of the book of Revelation shows the opening of the first six seals of judgment. The sixth seal ushers the world to the Day of the Lord with catastrophic signs of the sun, moon and the stars.The seventh chapter unleashes the seventh seal which consists of the first four trumpets of the seven trumpet plagues. Only the servants of God - at that time will be the 144,000 and the multitudes from all nations - that have been sealed on their foreheads will be protected (Rev 7:3).
Seven trumpet plagues make up the seventh seal. The first plague burns up one third of the trees and grass, the second turns one third of the seas into blood , the third fell upon the rivers and water source and the fourth struck the sun, moon and stars (Rev chapter 8). The last three plagues, called woes, struck and killed one third of mankind (Rev 9:18). But still man will harden their hearts and not repent of their sins (8:20-21). The seventh trumpet consists of the seven last plagues, and will culminate in the return of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on earth with the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15!
Ezekiel was called to be a watchman to warn the house of Israel - not for his days but for end-time such as ours. It will continue on with the two witnesses preaching much to the same drumbeat (Rev: 11:3). The call to repentance with the coming of the kingdom of God is God's work of pre-eminence in these last days. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, 'And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.' The true church is tasked to complete this Great Commission in this end time. Sadly, few would heed the call.
The primary reason is found in Ephesians 2:1-2, 'And you He made alive, who were dead in trepasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.' Most who claim to be Christians lack the faith to believe Christ - His very words - though many believe in Him, of who He is. As such , many were being deceived to follow the slippery path of the great deceiver. That is why pop stars and sports personalities command more attention, wealth and influence than preachers and politicians. The mass media has been sold out to lure fame and fortune, and generally does not care what values and morals are being conveyed.
Even if the Lord tarrys His coming, a new world will dawn in the horizon. In it will be a totally new paradigm where values and systems will be based on the laws of God. The coming Millennial Age will be ruled by Christ with the resurrected born again saints as kings and priests to reign and teach God's truth and to reclaim all that have been lost to evil during the six thousand years of man's history (Acts 3:19-21). Will you heed the call and be a partaker of the most exciting time ever ?
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