soundoctrine

I’m just a guy trying his best to put the real story of what God is doing today together for people to understand. I struggle with putting these mysteries into words. One thing I spotted early on in my awakening now indentifying myself as remnant, it became clear that in this remnant camp there is a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. I’m talking about doctrine. This applies to many teachings, but probably one the biggest, admittedly mysterious portions of scripture is the 70th week of Daniel. You know that I haven’t settled for either of the 2 main interpretations, the dominant one in the remnant camp is that the 70th week was fulfilled at the cross, whatever version you want to pick either full or partial preterism esentially, I maintain that view is only half right. With the prophecy to build the wall and the street and claiming that was fulfilled in Ezra is just not acceptable. The prophecy is talking about new Jerusalem and it is not completed until the lively stones are built into the wall and the street is complete, the street being the multitudes.
so with that said I am not afraid to see what the other end of the pendulum swing has to say. How is it that 70 weeks are determined upon Daniels people but the true spiritual fulfillment doesn’t manifest until the last 2 chapters of the bible? So is there a gap? Well there’s something, either a gap between the 69th and 70th seek or the last week of God’s redemptive plan is a metaphor and represents the entire period between the first and second coming. Right now with the rejection of the Messiah at his first coming, there is scripture to support an actual gap.

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,

The Gap?

and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Isa 61:4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
Isa 61:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
Isa 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

When we consider that Daniels prophecy included an end to sin, an everlasting righteousness we have to consider what I am saying. These claims have been spiritualized away by the remnant and turned into fables by the lost sheep.

The truth is these dilemas are resolved at the end of the age, it is upon us and the Lord is opening up these words that were sealed until the time of the end.

There are 2 distinct winesses that we have studied for years. The Lord continues to open more and more of the mystery of the 2 witnesses and how everything comes together in the end.

The 2 witnesses:

Law and Grace

Judah and Ephraim

Joshua and Zerubabbel

The Royal Priesthood

Moses and Elijah and on and on.

A big signature of the 2 witnesses I’ve just discovered is in the mystery of Rev 20. the seeming contradiction in the group that rules and reigns for a thousand years then after the thousand years the rest of the dead rule and reign for a thousand years.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

What we see represented here are the 2 witnesses, the first being Judah, the lawgiver in v4 and then Ephraim or the whole house as the joining of the 2 sticks in the fact that we see them as priests ruling. This is the signature of Melchisedek. It represents the 2 stick coming together. We know the thousand years is a metaphor representing a period of time in the same way the phrase “a picture paints a thousand words” is a metpahor.

What you’re seeing here in Rev 20 is the Sceptre, Judah, Apostolic church ruling and reigning over principalities and power during the troublous gospel age. At the end of the age, now the bottomless pit of false teaching deception on a level that never was nor ever will be, consumes the land, (war with the saints).

We then see a second period of time “a thousand years” again a metaphor and now representing eternity I believe.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

This is when the kingdom partially strong and partially weak, iron and clay is crushed and

Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:27 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.

With those comments I want to encourage you to read this article written by a guy who see’s the gap, I believe still decieved as far as the physical Jews go but even that is something that in learning the problems with throwing the baby out with the bathwater, maybe the Lord is giving us and outward sign as far as the physical Jew as he types the church, blind in part. Please enjoy this article with profound insites, many of which I had been seeing but lacking the articulation to put them into words… As always I must make a statemnt, the views of this writter are not necisarily the views of the management…but he has profound spritual insights.

Chris

GOMER AND HOSEA.
THE FORMER AND PRESENT AGONY;
. . . . . . . . . AND THE FUTURE ECSTASY.

The story of Hosea and Gomer was a sad and tragic story as it began. Yes, Gomer would depart from Hosea, just as Israel had departed from God. She would wander off and allow herself to be drawn to her worldly lovers. But her would-be protectors would all double cross her. They were pretenders. And when they were finished using Gomer for their pleasure they abused her. Her scattering into the nations would take her far from home. She wandered off among the mountains and into a world of sin. Gomer ended up in a dissipated life of hopelessness, amnesia, and despair. Her spiritual life along with her memories of home would fade from her as she drifted off into the mists. Her true identity would slip away from her into a sea of forgetfulness. Her lodgings were tenuous and dangerous as she wandered among the heathen/goyim.
Fortunately this was not the end of the story. Gomer would come to a time of self realization. She would be scorned by all the biggest and baddest of her lovers. Finally, after entering into a seven year covenant with a certain peacemaker she would come to the ultimate crisis in her life. He would turn out to be a beast. This would be her final fling. After that she would fall on hard times and go into a period of Great Tribulation. She would find herself an outcast from the nations. Moses prophesied that God’s covenant people would eventually come into a tribulation. The prophet Isaiah saw the Lord upon His throne, high and lifted up. He was given much the same message. (Isaiah 6)

But here is where we begin to pick up the wonderful redemptive elements woven into the story. Gomer’s life would not end up in a lost state of spiritual and national oblivion. Her husband Hosea went out looking for her. And He eventually found her. She was in a slave market being offered up for sale. By that time Gomer/lost Israel was in a very low state. She had been left with nothing. And at this point she had even lost her freedom. Is this a prophecy of a future time of tribulation for God’s covenant people, even a time of exile?

Hosea would purchase her there. He paid out fifteen pieces of silver, five bushels of barley, and a measure of wine. He would not take her home to himself at that time. Gomer would find herself at a certain place, even the Valley of Achor. Achor means “trouble” or “tribulation”. Was this the end for her?
No. Not at all.

Here is where we see God at work in His wonderful mysterious way. There, right in that place of trial and tribulation, Gomer would begin to remember her true Husband. And she would rediscover the great love she had for him. The end of the drama would see her love him as never before. Eventually Gomer would be restored to Hosea.
PROPHETIC INTERPRETATIONS AND
PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL APPLICATIONS.

Evangelicals have found that the story of Gomer and Hosea can have personal and devotional application. It is also a vivid demonstration of that great tragedy which is divorce. See the poem ‘Gomer’s Song’ by J. Marcus Weekley.
In Christian circles we have been taught that the story of Hosea and Gomer is the story of the Jews in their wanderings, their regathering in the 20th Century and their eventual spiritual salvation. (Zech.12:7-13:1) There is no doubt that this is true. But is there more to this poetic prophecy? Might there be a much bigger story here than than we have been told? Is it possible that the prophetic message is not only for our Jewish brothers and sisters but for us as Christians today?

Conventional Christian interpretation of this saga is that this story relates to Israel, – and it does. The story is usually just applied to the Jewish nation, spiritually lost Judah. But is the story bigger than this? Are the lost ten tribes of Israel a part of the picture here? And might the Song of Hosea be a foretelling events that are soon to transpire in the west among the covenant people of Abraham inside the western church?

It is a very strange thing.

Christians open their Bibles.
And they read about their new identity in the Seed of Abraham. (Gal.3:29)
And they read about their new status in the Commonwealth (or citizenship) of Israel. (Eph.2:12-13)
And they read about themselves as the wild olive branch grafted into the olive tree. (Rom.11)
And they are fully aware that this olive tree represents Israel.

But even after they read the message they still fail to appreciate their connection to Israel.
They are now new creatures in vital union with Israel through Christ.
He is Yeshua Hamashiach, Israel’s Sacrifice Lamb and coming King.
So why are Christians still unable to “see” this, their new identity in Israel?

The Bible tells us why.
As lost Gomer, lost Israel, even the Church, is in a state of partial blindness. (Rom.11)

Of course, (as we are quick to see), our Jewish brethren are in a state of partial blindness as well.
The royal Jewish House of Judah cannot (yet) “see” their Messiah as YHVH in the flesh, having descending Jacob’s ladder.
But the Church cannot, (yet), see themselves in Israel.
Both houses of Israel, (and not just the Jewish house of Judah), are groping in partial blindness.

But the scriptures have shown us that there is an Anointing ointment for blinded spiritual eyes.
And this is the healing that will be ministered by a loving God at the close of this age.
The End Time Revival will see the hard scales of blindness fall off, even as foreskins from circumcised hearts.
And all Israel will see, and be saved!

Gomer’s story certainly has a grand finale.
Is there a wider prophetic application to the life of Hosea and Gomer?
And if so, has it been hidden from us?
Have we heard the “rest of the story”?
THE STORY OF GOMER AS IT RELATES TO THE NORTHERN 10 TRIBES.
THEIR DEPARTURE FROM GOD, THEIR SUBSEQUENT SCATTERING AND WANDERINGS.
AND THEIR EVENTUAL REDEMPTION AND RESTORATION.

Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century B.C.. This was after that great divorce had split the northern ten tribes off from the southern kingdom. The royal house of Judah along with Benjamin and much of Levi remained. The southern kingdom possessed the holy city of Jerusalem and the Temple. Under Jeroboam and the kings that followed him the northern kingdom was cut off from the temple worship and went further into deep idolatry. The inevitable judgment of God came. The Assyrians first came for tribute. Then in 722 B.C. they eventually invaded and carried the northern ten tribes off into captivity.

This is where the divine romance begins to reach out to lost Gomer. The laying down of the law, which she hated, is now being replaced by an inner ruling Presence. He is a gracious ruler who comes in by invitation and never forces her or imposes His will on her. He rules in her heart by the gentle bonds of love. Something has happened to Gomer. She obeys the gentle leading of her Betrothed and Husband because she now knows it is the best Way. And she follows her Betrothed because she loves Him.

This is the serendipity of the divine romance. It is discovered by those who respond to the Good News of the Gospel. God comes inside us. He changes us and empowers us to do what we cannot do ourselves. He brings us into His likeness. He is in the process of changing us from the inside out just as fast as we light the lamp of His Word and with the oil of His Holy Spirit we surrender ourselves to His gracious leading. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that a time would come when God would indwell His people by His Holy Spirit and write His law in men’s hearts. (Jer.31:33) The bonds of His Love would bring them into unity and harmony and so bring peace on earth. Into this Love would come Gomer. She would begin to remember her true Husband. And she would come to love Him. Instead of calling Him ‘Lord’ she would come to call Him by a new name reflecting that new relationship. She would call Him ‘Ishi’ or ‘Beloved’.

All this glorious future lies before us. Until that time we have to deal with this present age. The admixture of the church with the state is a matter of present political necessity and present political expediency. This is the iron and clay mixture that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon saw in his dream. (Dan 2). The Rome in this instance was the iron. Religion was the clay. He saw the iron-clay mixture down at the bottom of the statue making up the structure of the legs and feet and ten toes. So this state of affairs will continue up into the end-time. The climax of this age will see and event of momentous significance happen. A Stone will strike the ten toes to shatter the iron and the clay. This will be the return of Christ as Messiah. This was Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare. The the whole humanistic colossus we have seen with the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ will come down at the climax of this age. Humanistic Luciferian political systems, angelic and human rulers of darkness, the principalities and powers of this world which have brought us such misery, will all be replaced when the Kingdom of God is established on this earth.

So much for the iron and the clay. Ever since that Nicean church-state accord the same pattern of accommodation by the established Christian Church to the worldly powers has been seen. An established church must be broad based and ‘politically correct’. The bulk of Christendom just will not go into the strait and narrow way. A life of holiness in consecration to God is too much to expect of most church-goers in this instance. Big establishment religion must therefore stay with the masses of middle of the road Christians in order to maintain its popularity and hold over the people. If it does not then it will lose its position of privilege with the state. A more ambitious or “successful” religious conglomerate will get the church contact with the state.

This is just the way it always is in politico-religious matters. Evangelical Christians should not try to change this by political means. That is not the Way. They will fall into the same trap which now has the ecumenical church held fast in government religion. Our orders, as given to us by Jesus Himself, are quite clear. It is to take the Good News to the ends of the earth and to make disciples of all races, nations, and tribes. This is the Great Commission.

Dabbling in politics is not the Pilgrim way. It has been truly said that the paths to Hell are strewn with the wreckage of what began as good and great intentions. God obviously allows this church-state accord to continue for His good purposes. We would be wise to go along with this present compromised system just as far as our consciences will allow.

Yes, the world system will come to judgment at the end of this present evil age. We see this beautifully presented in Handel’s Messiah in the Hallelujah Chorus where “the kingdoms of this world (will) become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ/Messiah, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15) But right now it is His permissive will for this present church-state system to continue to preside and to maintain what peace it can in the world. This is important too for our continued Gospel and missionary outreach.

The Council of Nicea was both a triumph and a tragedy for the Christian Church. First the triumph. The Roman Christian Church would be given prime status at the top of a hierarchical pyramid sitting next to the Roman Caesar. And the tragedy? The Christian church would be established in the state, cut off from the Word of God, and then paganized. Gomer was locked up by her lovers. She was limited in her movements, bound up by fear, and beholden to her political protectors, men of the sword. Gomer was incarcerated in a Roman castle for a long 1,000 years. Our literature gives us glimpses of Gomer from time to time. We see her reflected in the waters surrounding the boat where the Lady of Shalott drifts sadly down the River towards her knight in shining Roman armour. She is barely conscious and fading away.

How did this happen? How did Gomer get into this sorry state. There she is, enclosed by thorns. It is very easy to trace what happened. She left her first love. And in that derelict spiritual state of denial of her true sins she became fearful of what might happen to her. But why was she fearful? Didn’t she belong to a powerful and caring Husband? And was He not the Sovereign all powerful God of Israel?

And so Gomer became enamored with her lovers, the princes of this world. They were quite taken with her beauty. And she was taken by the seductive power of their big sword. In the legends of Arthur it was the Excalibur. Then it was the gun, and now the missile. They even promised her “protection” from her fears.

Gomer honored the princes in turn, imparting her glory to them. She gave them titles such as “Defender of the Faith”. She was seduced by the powers of this world.

Meanwhile, back at Nicaea, the pagan priests and shamans hearing what had happened at the Council in 425 A.D. knew that they had lost religious favor with Rome. Moneys going into pagan temples slowed to a trickle. They had to do something fast. Quickly, they “converted” themselves to “christian”. and came rushing into the Roman church as it was being established. They wanted to cash in too. Making their presence known at the various committees they proceeded to install their own pagan traditions, vestments and architecture, (including gargoyles), inside Constantine’s Church. The Roman Emperor was still at work overseeing and forging the ongoing church-state compromise. He continued to sit in on the discussions and direct the religious “dialogue”.

The annual festivals of the early Church were re-engineered as well. The Passion of our Lord Jesus at Passover, His burial on Unleavened Bread, and His resurrection at the Feast of Firstfruits was put aside. In its place we got a Christian Resurrection Day celebration mixed in with a pagan springtime fertility festival. Over time the Resurrection celebration was pushed aside. The spring festival was named ‘Easter’ for the Egyptian fertility goddess Ishtar.

The very worst effect of this pagan admixture was this. Over time the pagan practices became “normalized” in the emerging church tradition. The shift in the celebration was less and less noticed. And why was that? Because the Holy Scriptures had been locked away from the people. No longer was God’s Word a matter for discussion. It had now become ritualized. The Christian religious ceremonies the early Church had practiced faded away. In their place they were given an impersonal gnostic ritual performed vicariously by the priest up on the platform or altar. This was nothing like the open church meetings of the early church. And it was a far cry from the Holy Spirit led order of service we see laid out in scripture. (Eph.5:18-21, 1Cor.14:26)

The result of all this was absolutely disastrous. A great darkness invaded the church. In the place where a faithful priesthood would normally usher seeking men into the Presence of God a gnostic semi-pagan priest craft now installed itself, blocking the Way to God. Jacob’s Ladder, the portal where man is led to God, was clogged with the showy trappings of a dark and earthy gnostic religious ritualism.

The descent of the Christian Church and Christendom with it into the ignorance of the Middle Ages is quite understandable. The low road after Nicea led into this dark medieval forest. The loss of access to holy scripture was the killer. The scriptures would be locked up by religious elites. The Bible would be kept in locked up in Latin, the dying language of Rome. Only the priests had access to God’s Word. The life in Christ in human hearts would be squeezed out. The true Christian life in relationship with Jesus Christ would be curbed by an oppressive gnostic priest craft. Church life would eventually degrade into a plethora of idolatrous pagan/Christian rituals. While insolently laying claim to the Millennium or Kingdom of God for herself the western church would become increasingly beholden to secular and pagan princes. That was the tragic cost of a church being politically established as a structure and owned and controlled by the state.

This was a great spiritual tragedy for the church. This pattern would go on for centuries. Western Christendom would suffer greatly from this corruption. This spiritual darkness would then lead the west into an awful period. This time of fear and ignorance and superstition would last for a thousand years. Instead of the glorious Millennium the established church actually got the Dark Ages. Gomer was lost in a dark forest like Little Red Riding Hood. And voracious wolves in sheep’s clothing owned the darkness.

The only light shining during that period came from another realm south across the Mediterranean Sea. Those centuries saw the ascendancy of the Arab world. They made many discoveries in science, mathematics, and ruled the sea in trade throughout the Mediterranean.

Will Gomer ever be convinced that Her true Husband loves her? He has provided a magnificent future for her. If only she will just believe Him. He has prepared a mansion for her personally in a glorious Holy City. A Kingdom awaits her. Can she believe this?

It is truly sad that the established church seeks no other millennium than a contrived ecclesiastical sort of eartly millennium of their own making. Embracing this Amillennial, (no Millennium), view, most of the older Christian denominations still refuse to believe the scriptural prophecies of a coming Millennium of Messiah.

THE WESTERN CHURCH AS GOMER AND THE CONTINUING PATTERN OF SPIRITUAL UNFAITHFULNESS AND DRIFTING DEVOTION

We saw what happened to Gomer as we read the story in the Old Testament. Her compromise led her away from her true beloved and husband Hosea. What can we say about a church compromised by the world? Is she ready to be a bride right now? Or will she have to change her heart and her garments?
The story of Gomer is surely the story of the western church just as much as it is the story of Israel. When the true and legitimate relationship with her betrothed is neglected a replacement devotion begins to creep in. This spiritual vacuum provides an opportunity for profane desires to take over in the heart. Lust for secular princes and an unholy reverence given to the mystical psycho-sexual power of the sword was the result.

Of course the old pagan Gnosticism still persists in the Church. Like the gargoyles in the cathedral wall these dark medieval fantasies go unnoticed. But a look through the images on the front cover of magazines and paperback novels or in video stores will show that these hidden fantasies of illicit sex and killing killing on behalf of or in company with the damsel in distress still rule the hearts and imaginations of many throughout Western Christendom. Click on image to go to the poem Like Gomer, the western church, is still to this day obsessed with power. Not the inner power of a life lived out in the walk with God. But the raw earthy power that this world deals in. The power of goods and guns and money still captivates and entrances us, even as Christian people. A daily “quiet time” or devotion with our true Beloved seems insignificant in comparison. And so Western Christendom still fantasizes. She secretly longs for that ultimate “affair” with another lover. Even if that prince attacks her, as in the vampire fantasies, and sucks her life blood from her.

Compromise with the world has always had the effect of decreasing Christian devotion. This is how the Church has become distanced from her Saviour. Physicians know all about Gomer. They often make clandestine references to certain patients as “Gomers”. These are patients who are repeatedly prone to trouble trouble usually of their own making. The story of Gomer is told repeatedly in our literature. Many of our Hollywood movie stars are “Gomers” although no editor would ever allow them to be referred to as such. These are the stars from which many in society get their inspiration. In the fantasy world Gomer gets into trouble but is always saved by her hero or by her own power or the manipulation of someone else’s power. But in the real world Gomer gets in a jam from which there is no recovery. A classic poem which tells the tragic story of Gomer is The Lady of Shalott.

Here we see a girl who fantasizes about her Sir Lancelot in his castle down the river in Camelot/Babylon. Her true Betrothed is strangely absent. In the final scenes we see her lying in her boat, slowly dying as she sadly drifts down the river toward Camelot. Can she be revived?
Pray God that she is awakened from her deadly reveries.
Pray God she remembers her Betrothed.
Because He is the only One who really loves her.

‘Click’ on the image at right to to the classic poem, the Lady of Shalott.

Through the centuries that Nicaean church-state accord has prevailed in many forms. In 800 A.D. the Emperor Charlemagne engaged in a marriage of sorts with the papal rulers of the Church of Rome. He would receive the title, “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire”. When Martin Luther looked like he was about to be taken to Rome to burn at the stake the German princes came to his aid. They were the ones who gave his Lutheran Church the political protection it needed. In the Anglo-Saxon world the Church of England had their King Henry VIII. The Puritan Church, in need of political patronage, had Oliver Cromwell and Parliament. Today’s American churches have their secular champions in their president, their congress, their supreme court, and also their merchant moguls and lawyers.

Out of all this post Nicean church-state dualism it is little wonder that the medieval Arthurian romances still hold sway in western Christendom. From Camelot to Star Wars these earthy tales of sex and sword still capture the imagination of Christian women and men. They provide the dominant themes for books and the movies. Like Gomer, the church continues to be seduced by her earthy princely lovers. It is these earthy fables that bridge the gnostic gap between the realm of the spirit and the earthbound mortal Christian man and woman today. The average Christian churchgoer is happy for all this double dealing to go on it seems. We are satisfied.

GOMER IN TROUBLE AT THE END OF THE STORY MIRRORS THE THE CHURCH IN TRIBULATION AT THE END OF THIS AGE.

Who shall wear the starry crown?

Click on the image to go to
‘the rest of the story’.
…………………..
Art used by permission of
Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
Visit her ‘Revelation Illustrated’ website.
Can this state of affairs go on forever? Those of us who read our Bibles know that it will not. We serve a holy God. And He is in control of history. So it cannot go unjudged. Holy history will come looking for us one day. And the knock will come to the door of our heart. Christ is inviting us to eat and drink with Him. He is calling us into a deeper blood covenant relationship than we have ever known before. How shall we respond? Shall we be like the Shulamite in her disturbing dream? Are we too comfortable and pre-occupied with our reveries of the flesh and of our “self life” to get up and answer? -Song of Songs 5:2-3
As Christians we imagine that we are now modern people of the 21st century. We think that we are now well clear of this medieval gnostic spell. But are we? Has it been superseded yet? Is the divine romance between us and Christ an established reality yet? Or are we still under the spell of Sir Lancelot and his sword/gun/ICBM missile etc? How many Christian saints are in love with Jesus first and foremost? How much time do we spend with Him and in His Word? How many of us long for His Presence with us now? Do we know and understand His plans for us as we come into the end-time drama? How many are preparing to witness on behalf of the Bridegroom, before kings and rulers, even under threat of death? Do we still long for His appearing upon this earth?

Have we, like Gomer, being seduced by our worldly political lovers? Are we too on the way to being hedged up with thorns? And in this final drama will the church, like Gomer with her lovers, get into trouble with the princes of this world?

AT THE END OF THE STORY GOMER REMEMBERS HER TRUE HUSBAND AND BEGINS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM. IS THIS THE FUTURE OF THE WESTERN CHURCH? JOEL PROPHESIED THAT A GREAT END-TIME REVIVAL WILL ACCOMPANY THE TRIBULATIONS AT THE CLIMAX OF THIS AGE. (JOEL 2:28-32)

As we continue to trace the story of Gomer we make an exciting discovery. In the process of going through her tribulations an amazing thing happens. Even though he is not living with her at that time she remembers her true husband. And at that time and in that place she begins to fall in love with Him.
What can we say about the church in the end time wilderness? Shall we, like Gomer, end up finding true love out in a wilderness place, Even the valley of Achor, (tribulation)? -Hosea 2:14-16

Will the western church, as Gomer, be wooed into her destiny in the true bride of Christ?
Will she go beyond calling Him ‘Lord”?
Will she come to call Him ‘Ishi’ or ‘Beloved’? (Hos.2:16)

Quite obviously we have only just begun to ask ourselves these questions. It is clear that great adventures lie before us. It is very important that we know and understand church history. We must then link this to future events as revealed to us in the Bible. As holy history unfolds we shall come into the end-time drama and at that time both the Church and Israel will flow into and become the woman in travail of Revelation 12. John saw her as she cried out to be delivered from the encircling dragon. In the days before the written Word the patriarchs saw the story outlined in the literature of the constellations. In the constellation of Andromeda they saw the woman chained at the seashore under threat from the sea monster. Turning around Polaris they saw the little dipper, known to them at that time as the lesser sheepfold. They saw the sheep of God’s pasture in the sheepfold encircled by the dragon. And they saw the magnificent deliverance by Messiah as ‘the Breaker’ spoken of by the prophet Micah. (Micah 2:12-13) At that time the woman of Revelation 12, as Gomer, will respond to the last message given to her as she sojourned in the Church of Laodicea. Her confession and her profession to her Husband will be something like the words in this song by Brian Doerksen.

“I am here to buy gold
Refined in the fire,
Naked and poor,
Wretched and blind I come,
Robe me in white
So I won’t be ashamed.
Lord light the fire again.”

We must understand that we need to go through this period. This period of re-adjustment and refining will bring us as a people into our final glorious destiny in Christ. And by His grace we shall find our covering in His glory.

The highway of holiness, (Isa.35:8-10), a new and Living Way is up ahead. Our passage along that highway will call for everything we have within us. It will turn out to be a race for the finish line.

The journey ahead will take us into the heart of the Shepherd of Israel. It is a serendipity more glorious than we have ever known. We shall enter into a relationship of unspeakable splendor. This is the divine romance, and the pathway to the mansions of glory to which we are called.

Grace and shalom to all the saints,
GOMER, THE LOST HOUSE OF ISRAEL, HAVE UNDERGONE GREAT NATIONAL TRAGEDY. 2,700 YEARS AGO THEY WERE PLUCKED UP FROM THEIR NATIONAL ROOTS IN THE OLD COVENANT OF ISRAEL. THE ASSYRIANS TOOK THEM CAPTIVE. THEN THEY SCATTERED THEM AND MINGLED THEM IN THE NATIONS. THEY ARE OUT THERE TODAY THEY HAVE COALESCED IN THEIR HISTORIES AND IN THEIR MIGRATIONS. THEY ARE IN THEIR TRIBAL COMPANIES AS NATIONS AND STILL SUFFERING FROM AMNESIA. BUT YHVH-GOD IS DOING SOMETHING WONDERFUL. LOST GOMER IS NOW BEING REDEEMED AND PURCHASED OUT OF HER SLAVERY TO SIN. AS “THE CHURCH/EKKLESIA” SHE IS BEING “CALLED OUT” AND REDEEMED TO THE GOD OF ISRAEL. (Gal.3:29) BUT THAT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. THE TIME OF ‘JACOB’S TROUBLE’ IS UP AHEAD. IN GREAT TRIBULATION GOMER WILL BE WOOED BACK TO HER ORIGINAL HUSBAND. THE END OF THE STORY WILL SEE HER FULLY RESTORED.

THE VALLEY OF ACHOR, (OR TROUBLE), IS A SPIRITUAL DESTINATION. THIS WILL BE THE PLACE WHERE IT WILL HAPPEN. LOST GOMER WILL FIND HER ISHI, HER BELOVED. (Hos.2:14-16) THIS WILL COME IN WITH THE LATTER DAY REVIVAL. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL BE POURED OUT IN A GLORIOUS FLOODING WAVE. AND THE INDWELLING MESSIAH WILL COMPLETE HIS MARVELOUS WORK INSIDE THE HEARTS OF ALL HIS COVENANT PEOPLE. (Jer.31:31) IN THE DIVINE ROMANCE GOMER WILL BE AWAKENED AS FROM A BAD DREAM. THE TOXIC GNOSTIC FOG WILL CLEAR AND GOMER’S AMNESIA WILL END. ISRAEL’S PARTIAL BLINDNESS WILL AT LAST BE HEALED. THE CLIMAX OF THE AGE WILL SEE THE ARMIES OF THE NATIONS GATHER AGAINST JERUSALEM. BUT THE JEWISH NATION IN JUDAH WILL CRY OUT TO GOD TO FIND SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE. (Zech.12:7-13:1) AT THE SAME TIME THE CHURCH WILL BE IN HER REFINING AS WELL. AND HER PARTIAL BLINDNESS WILL ALSO COME TO AN END. THE REMNANT CHURCH WILL REDISCOVER HER TRUE IDENTITY IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE CITIZENSHIP OF ISRAEL. (Eph.2:12-13) THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL WILL RETURN AS MESSIAH TO WRAP UP THE HISTORY OF THIS AGE. AND SO ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED. (Rom. 11:26)

Gomer and Hosea