Certified Kingdom Course 2

THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM YAHSHUA the King of the World, the Citizens of His Kingdom, and the Authority by Which It Is Governed First Harvest Ministries International Rev. John Shane Vaughn, Founding Apostolic Overseer Scripture is quoted from the King James Version with the Sacred Names restored (YAHWEH for "the LORD," YAHSHUA for "Jesus," Elohim for "God"). PART ONE: YAHSHUA, THE KING OF THE WORLD The Bible is the record of Kingdom history for the first four thousand years, and then it prophesies the rest of the story to the end of time. The apostles wrote the finishing touches on Scripture just after the midpoint of the plan. Everything since has been prophecy walking itself out, and this assembly holds that the six millennial days of man's government are drawing to their close. That is why this study matters. We are not studying a King who reigns in some spiritual abstraction. We are studying the King who is about to take the throne of this planet. From the beginning, it is clear that YAHWEH created Adam to be the king of creation, ruling as a steward or trustee of YAHWEH's Kingdom. His authority to rule is set forth in Genesis 1:26, followed immediately by his responsibility in Genesis 1:28 to be fruitful. "And Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth... And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion." — Genesis 1:26, 28 Notice that authority and responsibility are given in the same breath. That pairing never separates in Scripture. Authority without responsibility is Nimrod. Responsibility without authority is slavery. Consider both halves. Nimrod took dominion over men but answered to no one for their welfare. He had the rule of Genesis 1:26 with none of the fruitfulness of Genesis 1:28. That is a tyrant — power that consumes what it governs. Egypt is the other half. Israel in Goshen bore the full weight of responsibility — the bricks, the quotas, the sons — but held no authority over any of it, not even over their own children. That is a slave — burden with no right to decide. YAHWEH's design joins the two in one steward. Adam was to rule the garden and answer for it. The husband leads the house and lays his life down for it (Ephesians 5:25). The overcomer is given a city and is judged for how he governs it (Luke 19:17). Of course, we know from the record that Adam failed through sin and was replaced by "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45), YAHSHUA the Messiah. All that Adam lost through sin was regained through the obedience of the last Adam. Though there was a long delay, YAHWEH's plan for creation was going to succeed. The Last Adam Was a Man Settle this before anything else. YAHSHUA did not "leave His heavenly Father and come down to earth." That is the doctrine of Rome. He did not descend from a prior life in glory; He was begotten — the repaired seed of Adam placed by YAHWEH's power into Miriam's womb (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20). He had no biography before that womb. He was made "a little lower than the angels" (Hebrews 2:9), tempted in all points as we are (Hebrews 4:15), and He "learned obedience by the things which he suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the stake. Wherefore Elohim also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." — Philippians 2:8–9 This is not a footnote. It is the entire basis of His worthiness to reign. If YAHSHUA were Elohim in a body, His obedience would prove nothing, for YAHWEH cannot be tempted (James 1:13). But a man who was tempted and did not fall — a man who was offered every kingdom of the world by the adversary (Luke 4:5–7) and refused to take the throne any way but the Father's way — that man has earned what Adam forfeited. Paul says it plainly: wherefore Elohim exalted Him. Because of the obedience. YAHSHUA the King When Gabriel announced to Miriam that she was to bring forth the Messiah, he said, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and YAHWEH Elohim shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." — Luke 1:32–33 Notice three things. The throne is given — He does not possess it natively. It is David's throne — a real, earthly, Israelite throne. And He reigns over the house of Jacob — all twelve tribes, Ephraim and Judah together, not one house only (Ezekiel 37:15– 28). Gabriel was quoting the prophecy of Daniel: "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." — Daniel 7:27 It is clear, then, that He was born to be the King. The wise men knew this when they arrived asking, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2). Whether they understood that He was to be King of the World and not merely King of Judah, we do not know. But they recognized Him as the legitimate King, and Herod understood the threat perfectly. A legitimate King had been born, and every illegitimate throne on earth was on notice. Later, the apostle Paul wrote, "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that Elohim may be all in all." — 1 Corinthians 15:25–28 Read that slowly and you will never be a Trinitarian again. The Son reigns until. The Father is excepted. The Son is subject. Elohim becomes all in all. This is the clearest governmental chart in the New Testament: YAHWEH at the top, the Son enthroned by delegation, and every enemy — including death — put under the Son's feet by the Father's power. We see from this that Messiah was given authority not only over mankind but over death itself, which Scripture calls an enemy. The Father "hath given to the Son to have life in himself" (John 5:26), and life and death cannot share a throne. Death must be abolished in the end. This is also where the glory sits. The Kavod departed the temple (Ezekiel 10–11) and waited for a Son who could carry it. YAHSHUA was given that glory (John 17:22). The Man plus the Kavod is the Firstborn enthroned as Elohim. And He said His brethren would share it: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne" (Revelation 3:21). YAHSHUA, our great King, in whom we have placed our trust, is the Monarch of creation. He proved His worthiness by His obedience, which was motivated by His love for the world. Most earthly kings ask men to die for them; YAHSHUA came to die for the world, so that death itself might be abolished. Why the Throne Waited Messiah's death on the stake at His first appearance laid the foundation of His reign and set into motion the training school for those called to reign with Him. His life and death occurred while the fourth beast, Rome, was at the height of its power. YAHWEH had contracted with the beast empires to bring judgment upon Jerusalem for her sins: "And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant... And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come." — Jeremiah 27:6–7 Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome — Daniel's statue runs its full course before the Stone strikes (Daniel 2). YAHSHUA was born under Rome and refused to seize the throne ahead of His Father's timing. He would not violate His Father's contract even to take His own crown. That restraint is the mark of a legitimate King. And it is the pattern for us. YAHSHUA lived His whole life under Rome's boot and never once raised a hand against the beast — not because Rome was righteous, but because His Father had signed the contract. So He paid the tax (Matthew 22:21), told Peter to put the sword away (Matthew 26:52), and said plainly, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight" (John 18:36). We do not seize the throne by ballot, bullet, or rebellion. We do not curse the magistrate (Exodus 22:28; Acts 23:5). We pray for kings so that we may live quietly and keep Torah (1 Timothy 2:1–2). Daniel is the model: he served Babylon faithfully at the highest level and still would not eat Babylon's food or stop praying toward Jerusalem (Daniel 1:8; 6:10). Restraint is not surrender. It is refusing to let the beast set our calendar, our diet, our worship, or our allegiance, while refusing equally to fight the beast for a throne YAHWEH has not yet handed over. When the Stone strikes, it is the saints who receive the Kingdom (Daniel 7:27), not the saints who stormed it. When does the contract expire? This ministry's reconstruction of sacred time, Creation Time Restored, places the close of man's six millennial days at approximately 2035 — the end of man's age and the opening of YAHWEH's Day. The principle is settled even where men argue over the date: the beast contract expires, the Stone strikes, and the dominion passes to the saints of the Most High. We are in the pre-gathering now. The Revelation of Messiah's Reign The throne of Messiah is established at His second appearance. Then, too, thrones are set up for the overcomers (Revelation 20:4), "and they lived and reigned with Messiah a thousand years." Of these it is said that "they shall be priests of Elohim and of Messiah" (Revelation 20:6). Messiah is proclaimed "worthy" of this honor, not only because of His genealogy back to David, Judah, and Adam, but because of His love for mankind, proven by His death on the stake (Revelation 4:11; 5:12). No one else did what YAHSHUA did. Hence every rival to the throne must discount His work on the stake, for none of them can make the same claim of worthiness. In the end, all the nations and their kings will recognize what YAHSHUA did. They will sing the Song of the Lamb: "Great and marvellous are thy works, YAHWEH El Shaddai; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O YAHWEH, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee." — Revelation 15:3–4 From Messiah's throne pours forth the water of life (Revelation 22:1) for the tree of life, whose leaves heal the nations and whose fruit fulfills the Fruitfulness Mandate of Genesis 1:28. Messiah's authority and responsibility are established equally, and this is the foundation of His worthiness to sit on the throne of creation. The Restoration of All Things In the end, Messiah's throne will be supreme in the created universe. This is the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21) prophesied from the beginning. All who died through Adam's sin will be made alive through Messiah's righteous act: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah shall all be made alive." — 1 Corinthians 15:22 John foresaw that great day: "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." — Revelation 5:13 Judgment in this assembly's doctrine is corrective, and the end is reconciliation. All who were deceived are restored — men, nations, even the fallen who were led astray. Some say Messiah's throne will leave "nothing to the devil." Say it more precisely. The one who was deceived by no one, who sinned with full knowledge and a high hand (Numbers 15:30), is the Azazel goat (Leviticus 16). He is not restored. He is removed. And his removal is what completes reconciliation. Justice ends where sin started. For discussion. If YAHSHUA had been Elohim in flesh, what would the offer of the kingdoms in Luke 4:5–7 have actually tested? Read 1 Corinthians 15:28 aloud — who is "excepted," and who is "subject"? Jeremiah 27 says YAHWEH gave the nations to Babylon "until"; what does that require of us in the meantime? PART TWO: QUALIFYING AS A CITIZEN The citizens of the Kingdom of YAHWEH are all those who have faith in YAHSHUA, manifested by their support of His rightful claim to the throne. This was the great issue during Messiah's ministry when He presented Himself to the nation. He "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38) with signs following. Some believed in Him, but many doubted. Most importantly, the religious leaders of the land rejected His claim. In the end, the majority of the people followed the lead of their religious leaders, because they trusted the men in the pulpit more than the Man in front of them. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Elohim, even to them that believe on his name." — John 1:11–12 Their rejection was necessary in order for Messiah to die and thereby redeem the people from sin and restore all things in the end. His death, therefore, was not a failure but a success. But mark it: the people lost their King because they let their teachers do their thinking. The Household of Faith Those who receive Messiah, believing that He is indeed the King with the divine right to rule Judah, Israel, and all creation, are given "power to become the sons of Elohim." Citizens of the Kingdom, then, are not defined the way nations define citizenship — many unrelated families gathered under one flag. Kingdom citizens are a household, bound together by love and loyalty. In the Old Testament this household is the house of Abraham. Abraham's household included thousands who came out with him from Ur and joined themselves to his house. Before he had any children of his own, he was able to send 318 trained men, "born in his own house" (Genesis 14:14), to rescue his nephew. We may reckon from this that at least two thousand men, women, and children were in his household who were not his biological children. They did not form a household of their own alongside Abraham's. They joined themselves to Abraham, walked in his revelation of YAHWEH, and manifested the same faith he had. This is where Paul got his phrase "the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10), and it is why he wrote, "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham... And if ye be Messiah's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." — Galatians 3:7, 29 Here we must be careful, because Christianity has taken these verses and built something Paul never built — a "spiritual Israel" that replaces the natural one, or a third body standing beside her. Neither is true. Let us set the doctrine in order. Who Is Israel Right Now? In this age, YAHWEH's call to salvation is going to the biological children of Abraham — the Lost Tribes of the house of Israel, scattered among the nations. YAHSHUA said so without qualification: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), and He sent the twelve to the same sheep (Matthew 10:6). Peter's "all that are afar off" (Acts 2:39) and Paul's "ye who sometimes were far off" (Ephesians 2:13) are Ephraim — the house that YAHWEH divorced, named Lo-Ammi, "not my people," and promised to call back: "in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living Elohim" (Hosea 1:9–10). That is the first harvest. Only they are Israel now. "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation." — Psalm 147:19–20 "Ye were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise... But now in Messiah YAHSHUA ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Messiah." — Ephesians 2:12–13 The covenant was cut with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31), and no one is a citizen of a kingdom he was never joined to. So what of the gentile who hears the word and believes? He does what Abraham's two thousand did. He joins himself to Israel as Israel. Ruth is the pattern: "thy people shall be my people, and thy Elohim my Elohim" (Ruth 1:16), and she became the great- grandmother of David. The stranger who sojourned with Israel and kept Passover was to be "as one that is born in the land," under one law with the native born (Exodus 12:48–49). YAHWEH said of the sons of the stranger who join themselves to Him and keep His Sabbath, "Even them will I bring to my holy mountain" (Isaiah 56:6–7). The gentile is not the object of this age's calling; but when he comes, the door is open, and when he walks through it he is "no more a stranger and foreigner, but a fellowcitizen with the saints" (Ephesians 2:19). He is grafted into Israel's olive tree (Romans 11:17). He does not become a church standing next to Israel. He becomes Israel. The Millennium: All the World Becomes Abraham's Children What is a remnant now becomes the world in the Kingdom age. When Messiah reigns from Jerusalem, "every knee shall bow" (Isaiah 45:23; Philippians 2:10), the nations will go up year by year to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16), and "many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of YAHWEH... and he will teach us of his ways" (Isaiah 2:3). That is when the promise to Abraham reaches its full width — "in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). All the world will become the children of Abraham through faith in the same Messiah. This is the order of restoration: the Lost Tribes first, then Judah, then all men. A Jew Inwardly One verse has been used against Judah for two thousand years, and it must be cleared up: "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." — Romans 2:28–29 Paul was not denying anyone's natural status as a Jew. He was a Jew himself and never stopped saying so (Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5). What he was speaking to was the intent of a Jew. Judah was set apart to be the man of faith — the tribe of the King, the tribe of the promise, the tribe whose very name means praise. Abraham was a man of faith, and he saw Messiah's day and rejoiced in it (John 8:56). YAHSHUA said to the men who claimed Abraham as their father, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham" (John 8:39). That is Paul's point exactly. Until you act like your father, do not claim your father. Think of it this way. A man may be born an American and never lift a finger for America; when the country needs him, he is nowhere to be found. He is an American outwardly. Another man was not born here, but he fought for her, bled for her, and would die for her. He is an American inwardly. Nobody is saying the first man's birth certificate is fake. What is being said is that birth gave him a status, and he never took up the intention that the status was given for. Paul is not denigrating natural Jews. He is telling them that only when a man comes to faith in the Messiah Abraham saw does he become the full manifestation of what a son of Abraham was always meant to be — a man of faith in the same Messiah his father trusted. So genealogy and faith are not rivals. Genealogy tells you who is being called in this hour. Faith tells you who has answered. And the gentile who answers walks into the same house, under the same law, as a son of the same father. As heirs, all of them carry Abraham's calling: to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, so that in the age to come the nations may repent and join the household (Acts 3:25–26). The Gate Has a Name Faith does not float free. It walks through a gate. Abraham's household had a sign of entry (Genesis 17:10–14), and returning Israel has one: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of YAHSHUA Messiah for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as YAHWEH our Elohim shall call." — Acts 2:38–39 "For as many of you as have been baptized into Messiah have put on Messiah." — Galatians 3:27 Faith hears the promise; baptism answers it. The old woman goes under the water and the new creation comes up (Romans 6:3–4; 7:4), circumcised in heart (Colossians 2:11–12). This is how a citizen is made, not merely counted. Levels of Faith And yet there are different levels of faith, which determine one's position and calling within Abraham's family. "And the apostles said unto the Master, Increase our faith. And the Master said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you." — Luke 17:5–6 We see from this that faith can be increased, and that faith as small as a mustard seed can work miracles. Faith can grow and mature. Paul says the righteousness of Elohim is revealed "from faith to faith" (Romans 1:17), and he tells us to receive the one who is "weak in the faith" (Romans 14:1). The weak brother in Romans 14 was the one who feared meat from the idol markets and ate herbs instead. It is a passage about idolatry and conscience — it is not a repeal of Leviticus 11. YAHSHUA's household still eats what YAHWEH calls food. But the point stands: some faith was weak, which means other faith was strong, and all of it was in the household. Not every citizen carries the same measure, and measure determines assignment. The thirtyfold, the sixtyfold, and the hundredfold (Matthew 13:23) are not three levels of salvation. They are three levels of fruit, and fruit is what qualifies a man for a seat (Matthew 25:21). The 144,000 of Revelation 14 are not a head count but a quality count — twelve times twelve, divine government — those of the first resurrection who reached the high call. What Is Faith? First of all, faith is the gift of Elohim (Ephesians 2:8). Everything else we say about it hangs on that word gift, so let us not rush past it. Christianity speaks as if faith were a native human faculty — something every man carries, like reason or conscience, which he may point at Elohim or not as he chooses. Scripture says the opposite. "And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith." — 2 Thessalonians 3:2 "There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after Elohim." — Romans 3:11 No man seeks after Elohim. Not some men; no man. Man does not have the ability to seek Elohim. If any man is ever found seeking Him, it is because Elohim sought that man first. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44). The whole of Scripture is the record of Elohim seeking man — walking in the garden calling "Where art thou?", appearing to Abram in Ur, sending Moses to a people who had forgotten His name, and finally sending His Son to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). The seeking runs one direction. Someone will object: "But Scripture commands men to seek Him. 'Seek ye YAHWEH while he may be found' (Isaiah 55:6). 'Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart' (Jeremiah 29:13). He is 'a rewarder of them that diligently seek him' (Hebrews 11:6)." Read the addresses on those letters. Every one of them is spoken to a people YAHWEH had already called by name, covenanted with, and pursued. Isaiah is speaking to Israel. Jeremiah is writing to the captives in Babylon whom YAHWEH promised to visit. Hebrews is written to the household of faith. A man who finds himself seeking YAHWEH has not disproved the doctrine; he has demonstrated it. The seeking is the evidence that he was sought. "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Therefore faith is not something man produces. It is a gift of the Spirit, given only by the Spirit, by election, to man. The texts are plain. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Messiah, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake" (Philippians 1:29). "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). Peter writes "to them that have obtained like precious faith with us" (2 Peter 1:1), and the word he uses — lanchano — means to receive by lot, by allotment, the way the tribes received their inheritance in the land. You do not earn an allotment. You are assigned one. Paul names it "the faith of Elohim's elect" (Titus 1:1). And this is why the King James Bible, more honest than most of its successors, calls it the faith of Messiah: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of YAHSHUA Messiah, even we have believed in YAHSHUA Messiah, that we might be justified by the faith of Messiah." — Galatians 2:16 "I live by the faith of the Son of Elohim, who loved me, and gave himself for me." — Galatians 2:20 "That I may win Messiah, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Messiah." — Philippians 3:9 Not faith in Messiah only — the faith of Messiah. It belongs to Him. And He Himself exercised it toward His Father. Hebrews puts the words of Isaiah in Messiah's own mouth: "I will put my trust in him" (Hebrews 2:13). The Son who "can do nothing of himself" (John 5:19) lived by faith in the One who sent Him — a thing no co-equal deity could do, and a thing a begotten Son must do. That faith was given to Him by His Father, and the Father and the Son give it to us. That is why He is called "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). An author originates. A finisher completes. Neither role is ours. The saints of the last days are described as "they that keep the commandments of Elohim, and the faith of YAHSHUA" (Revelation 14:12) — His faith, kept by them. Faith, then, is the one thing we cannot create. We can create religion. We can create zeal, and doctrine, and institutions, and vows. We cannot create faith. And because we cannot create it, we cannot recreate it — a man who lets it slip cannot manufacture a replacement. Only the One who gave it can restore it, as He restored Peter: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:32). It is a cherished gift, and a man may spend his whole life protecting it until the end. That is what Paul meant when he said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7) — not that he generated it, but that he guarded what had been handed to him. Jude tells us to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). You contend for what was delivered. You hold what was given: "holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck" (1 Timothy 1:19). Many will answer with Paul's words in Romans 12 — "Elohim hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" — and say, "You see, every man has been given faith." Look closer. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as Elohim hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." — Romans 12:3 "To every man that is among you." Paul is not writing to mankind. He is writing to a very specific group — the assembly at Rome, the men to whom faith has been given. Among them, every man has received a measure, and no man among them may boast, because his measure was dealt to him. The verse does not say every man on earth has faith. Set beside 2 Thessalonians 3:2, it cannot mean that. It says every man among the elect has been dealt his portion of the faith of Messiah — which is precisely why levels of faith exist within the household, as we saw above, and why none of them is grounds for pride. Does this make YAHWEH a respecter of persons forever? No. It makes Him a Husbandman with a first harvest and a later one. In this age faith is given by election to the few who are being trained to rule. In the age to come it is given to all: "they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them" (Jeremiah 31:34), and "every knee shall bow" (Isaiah 45:23). Election is about order, not exclusion. The firstfruits are gathered first so that the harvest may be gathered after. How is the gift delivered? Faith is the by-product of the word of YAHWEH, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Elohim" (Romans 10:17). There is no faith until YAHWEH speaks and a man is given ears to hear. His voice has creative power; His voice creates faith. Faith is a response to something YAHWEH has said — and even the response is His work in us. Faith is also a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Fruit does not appear by its own initiative. It comes from the vine: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches." — John 15:4–5 We are branches drawing life from the trunk, and the fruit we bear — faith, in this case — is His life showing up in us. A true response of faith is then made visible by faithfulness, which is a continuous life of faith. Its Hebrew name is emunah, which is why Habakkuk 2:4 may be read "the just shall live by his faithfulness." To be faithful is to be full of faith over time — to keep guarding the gift. The bottom line is that if a man says he has faith but is not faithful, we may question whether he was ever given it. It is the same with the man who claims to have faith but produces no evidence of it: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." — James 2:17 If a man's claim of faith lacks evidence, should the faithful consider him a child of Abraham? Renewed Covenant Faith True faith is set forth by the example of Abraham: "He staggered not at the promise of Elohim through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to Elohim; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." — Romans 4:20–22 This is the clearest definition of faith in Scripture. Faith is not a religion or a denomination, as when men ask, "What faith are you?" Neither is faith an assurance that what I have promised YAHWEH, I will be able to perform. That was Sinai. The people said, "All that YAHWEH hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8), and broke it in forty days. A covenant that stands on the strength of a human vow will fall. Abrahamic faith rests on YAHWEH's promise to man, not man's promise to YAHWEH. And the Renewed Covenant stands on YAHWEH's oath: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people." — Jeremiah 31:33 Two things must be held together here, and most of Christianity has dropped one of them. The first: our salvation does not rest on our decision or our vow. No matter how sincere a man is in declaring that he will follow Messiah, he cannot fully succeed, because he is still imperfect. We dare not build on that. This does not mean we should refrain from committing ourselves to YAHSHUA — far from it. We are all called to repent of our own ways and follow Him. The error is in resting the outcome on our own promise rather than on His. The second: "our salvation does not rest on our vow" must never slide into "our obedience is not the issue." That is where Christianity has been drowning for seventeen hundred years. Read Jeremiah 31 again. What does YAHWEH promise to write, and where? His Torah, in the heart. The Renewed Covenant is not Torah removed; it is Torah internalized. The evidence that YAHWEH is keeping His promise in you is that His law is showing up in your Sabbath, your table, your calendar, your speech. Faithfulness is not the price of the promise. It is the proof of it. True faith, then, is knowing that YAHWEH will not fail to perform all that He has promised. We give ourselves over to His Spirit, and He takes responsibility to train us and write His law into us until we bear His image. Those with this faith follow the example of Abraham and are his children and the children of Elohim. These are the citizens of the Kingdom — and more. As sons, they are called to reign with Messiah, and they are given authority according to their faithfulness. For discussion. Ephesians 2:12 says the nations were "strangers from the covenants." If citizenship comes by grafting into Israel, what changes about how we evangelize? What exactly does YAHWEH promise to write in Jeremiah 31:33, and how would you know the writing has begun in you? Why is "I made a decision for Christ" a Sinai-style vow, and what is the Abrahamic alternative? Read Romans 12:3 and 2 Thessalonians 3:2 side by side — who is "every man that is among you," and what does that do to the claim that all men have a measure of faith? PART THREE: KINGDOM AUTHORITY Not all citizens of the Kingdom are given the same level of authority. Some will rule as heirs, while others will be ruled as part of the general populace, exercising specific authority under supervision. The first resurrection is for those who qualified; they "shall be priests of Elohim and of Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6). The second resurrection brings up the just and the unjust to be taught by them. There is no shame in the general populace of the Kingdom. There is great loss in being called to a throne and disqualifying yourself. The highest authority was given first to Adam and later to YAHSHUA. There are lower levels of authority under Messiah as well, and this is the reason for human government. Originally all government was under Adam, but as population increased it became necessary to establish more levels of authority, each functioning under the direction of the one who authorized it. Moses delegated at Jethro's counsel (Exodus 18). Delegation is not the problem. Such a structure would have worked well, except that sin and rebellion corrupted it. If every level of authority had been obedient to YAHWEH, the Kingdom would have functioned perfectly. Bureaucracy is not the disease of human government. The disease is that men at every layer stopped recognizing the Head, and stopped obeying His laws. Note what changes at the end of the story, and what does not. When "Elohim is all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28) and every mind agrees with His, the friction of rule disappears; no one will need to be compelled. But the order does not disappear. Even at the end the Son is subject to the Father. Government is not a temporary scaffold to be torn down when men behave. It is the permanent shape of YAHWEH's house, in heaven and in earth. What sin added was resistance to it. What the Kingdom removes is the resistance. Marriage Relationships Adam was given authority "over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing" (Genesis 1:26). He was not given authority over other human beings. When Eve was taken out of him (Genesis 2:21–22), there is no word that he was given authority over her. None was needed. The two were one flesh, in agreement, and where there is agreement the question of who rules never arises. Authority between man and woman entered only after sin: "Unto the woman he said... thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." — Genesis 3:16 This was the first extension of human authority over human beings, and it is the root of every layer of government since. It was an accommodation to a fallen world, not the design of Eden. Paul confirms this when he forbids a woman to authentein — to seize or usurp authority (1 Timothy 2:12). The word is not about authority granted; it is about authority taken. Usurpation was the original sin — the serpent over Eve, Eve over Adam, Adam against YAHWEH — and Paul will not have it repeated in the assembly. That is a different thing from saying a woman may never carry authority YAHWEH Himself hands her. Deborah judged Israel. Huldah spoke for YAHWEH to a king. Junia was "of note among the apostles" (Romans 16:7). And the direction of travel is back toward Eden: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Messiah YAHSHUA." — Galatians 3:28 That is not a denial of gender, and it is not a promise that the Kingdom will be flat. The Kingdom is a government, and government is top-down. Heaven itself is ranked — an archangel over angels (Jude 9; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), princes over nations (Daniel 10:13, 20–21), twenty-four elders on thrones before the throne (Revelation 4:4), and the Son under the Father (1 Corinthians 15:28). The millennium will be the same: Messiah over the twelve, the twelve over the tribes (Matthew 19:28), overcomers over five cities and ten (Luke 19:17–19), and the nations under them all with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:26–27). Hierarchy is not the curse. Hierarchy is how YAHWEH governs. What Galatians 3:28 restores is the basis on which rank is assigned. In the Kingdom, authority is not handed out by sex, bloodline, or social station — Jew or Greek, bond or free, male or female. It is handed out by faithfulness (Matthew 25:21). The rule of Genesis 3:16 — a man ruling a woman because she is a woman — is lifted with the rest of the curse. A woman who overcame will sit above a man who did not. That is not equality of position; it is equality of opportunity for position, which is exactly what Eden had before sin. Until then, headship in the home is YAHWEH's preferred order in a fallen world, and authority always carries an equal weight of responsibility. Adam's authority implied that he was to love his wife as Messiah loves the assembly: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Messiah also loved the assembly, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious assembly, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." — Ephesians 5:25–27 The original intent of marriage is stated in Genesis 2:24: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." One flesh means agreement and unity. In this the man is primarily responsible, for it was not the woman who was charged with leaving father and mother; it was the man. He must take the initiative. His part is not to lord it over his house but to carry the weight of bringing it back into agreement. Often, however, it is the wife who seeks YAHWEH rather than her husband, and in such cases Paul says she must take the responsibility to sanctify her husband: "the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband" (1 Corinthians 7:14). It works both ways, because the goal is what Eden had — unity, not rule. This applies to all forms of government. Those in authority ought to love the people as Messiah loves the assembly. But where those in authority are unbelievers, the citizens themselves must take the role of the believing wife and do what they can to sanctify the unbelieving husband. That is an accommodation in an imperfect world, and it is the posture of Daniel in Babylon. Sanctification and Authority Sanctification means being set apart for divine service. It implies moral holiness, of course, but more specifically it means being called by YAHWEH to serve the people. "And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them." — Leviticus 8:10 The Hebrew word is qadash. The anointing oil did not suddenly render the sons of Aaron morally perfect. It gave them spiritual authority, and that authority carried the responsibility to do the work with the mind of YAHWEH. YAHWEH's will was that they serve the people, not lord it over them. Men tend to use authority in order to have servants. YAHWEH defines authority by what it owes. "But YAHSHUA called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." — Matthew 20:25–28 Authority is the YAHWEH-given authorization, anointing, and ability to serve others. This is true in every form of government: family, assembly, business, and civil office. The only difference is in the application. The governing principle is love, which seeks to bring out the best in people and to train them to know the mind of YAHWEH so that they come fully into agreement with Him. True authority begins with authority over yourself. The measure of a ruler is not how many obey him but how many he has brought into agreement with YAHWEH. Men Usurp YAHWEH's Government After the flood, YAHWEH made Noah the king of creation. He carried the birthright passed down from Adam, and he was a righteous man who walked with Elohim (Genesis 6:9). A short outline of divine law was written down in Genesis 9:1–7, and again the Fruitfulness Mandate is stated at the beginning and end of it. Its emphasis aligns perfectly with YAHSHUA's emphasis in Matthew 20. In Noah's day, however, Nimrod the son of Cush rebelled against the government of Noah. "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth... And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel." — Genesis 10:8, 10 Nimrod proceeded to conquer men and subject them to himself. In this way he invented a new definition of authority — dominion over men rather than service to them — and it soon became the model for the nations. This is the model YAHSHUA censured when He explained authority to His disciples. Nimrod's name carries the Hebrew root marad, "to rebel," and he built Babel with its tower (Genesis 11:4, 9). He was in rebellion against YAHWEH and His legitimate government on the earth. Every beast empire since is Nimrod's heir. A word on a popular teaching that Shem was Melchizedek, with a throne succession running from Shem to Isaac. We do not teach that. Scripture never names Shem as Melchizedek; that identification comes from the Targums and the rabbis, and this assembly establishes doctrine from Torah, not from Mishnah or Midrash. Hebrews 7:3 says Melchizedek is presented "without father, without mother, without descent" — the very opposite of a man whose genealogy Genesis records to the year. Melchizedek is a priesthood order, and YAHSHUA holds it (Hebrews 7:17). The contrast that Scripture does draw is true and Torah-based: Babel on one side and Salem on the other, the usurper's throne against the righteous King's. Abraham recognized the rightful order and paid tithes to it (Genesis 14:18–20). Leave Shem's name out of it. Israel's Kingdom Israel was meant to be ruled by YAHWEH through priests and judges. The corruption of the house of Eli brought an end to that era, and with the coronation of Saul the time of the monarchies began (1 Samuel 8). After the death of Solomon the kingdom split, and Israel became distinct from Judah, each with its own kings. Then came the captivities, which ended the time of the monarchs. The Dominion Mandate was given to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:5–7). Because of sin, Jerusalem became subject to Babylon, and the Kingdom of YAHWEH was subjected to Nimrod's successors. All seemed lost. The captivity was longer than anyone anticipated. Even when a remnant of Judah returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the second temple, they remained under Persia, then Greece, then Rome. YAHSHUA was born under Roman domination, and He refused to go against the divine mandate that had given dominion to the beasts. "Seven times" (Leviticus 26:18) had to run their course. Which Jerusalem? There is a teaching abroad that expecting Messiah to rule from the earthly Jerusalem is "loyalty to Hagar," and that such people are not qualified to rule. Read Galatians 4 carefully and you will see Paul did not say that. "For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." — Galatians 4:25–26 Hagar is Sinai as a human-vow administration — "all that YAHWEH hath said we will do" — and "Jerusalem which now is" was that city in Paul's day, under Rome, under the Sanhedrin, under a covenant men had turned into a self-righteousness machine. Hagar is a condition, not a set of coordinates. The bondwoman is cast out. The city is not. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of YAHWEH; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it." — Jeremiah 3:17 "And YAHWEH shall be king over all the earth... and Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." — Zechariah 14:9, 11 "Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of YAHWEH from Jerusalem." — Isaiah 2:3 In the millennium, Jerusalem is the governmental capital of the earth, and the Torah goes out from it. What we reject is the carnal version — the idea that a stone temple must be rebuilt for animal sacrifice, or that loyalty to a modern political state is loyalty to YAHWEH. The seventh temple is not built with hands; it is a people. New Jerusalem comes down after the thousand years (Revelation 21:1–2). So both are true, in sequence: the earthly city is the King's seat in the Kingdom age, and the heavenly city is the bride — the government of sons — that descends when the work is done. This is also the order of restoration: the Lost Tribes first, then Judah restored, then all men. Discipleship Training The message of this hour is to learn how to reconstitute the Kingdom of YAHWEH. Christianity credits "the church" with two thousand years of Great Commission work. This assembly reads that history differently. The institutional church that rose under Rome in the fourth century was the falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3); it replaced the coming Kingdom with itself and Messiah with a Vicar. The true witness ran outside it — John to Polycarp, the Nazarenes, the Audians, the Waldensian Sabbath-keepers, the Seventh Day Baptists, Cranmer's Hope of Israel — a small flock preserving Sabbath, Passover, Torah, and the truth that the Son is subordinate to the Father. And here is the sober truth: gaining citizens has outrun discipling them. While nearly all who name YAHSHUA understand that He is the coming King, only a few have studied the laws of the Kingdom. They have not studied to show themselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15), and so they lack the skills to rule and judge with the mind of YAHWEH. The Kingdom does not need more converts who know YAHSHUA is coming. It needs a government-in-training who know the laws they will administer — because they will be judging disputes, teaching nations, and sending Torah out from Zion. Every hour you spend in Leviticus now is an hour of civil service training for the age to come. The King qualified by obedience. The citizen enters by covenant and proves it by faithfulness. The ruler is the one who learned to serve under authority before he was given any. The throne is coming to the earth, to Jerusalem, to the house of Jacob — and it is coming soon. Be found studying the laws you will be asked to keep. For discussion. Write Nimrod's definition of authority in one sentence, then YAHSHUA's from Matthew 20:25–28. Which one runs your home? Is Hagar in Galatians 4:25 a place or a condition — defend your answer from the verse. If you were handed a city in the millennium tomorrow (Luke 19:17), which part of Torah would you be least prepared to administer? That is your next study.