Question: Your February 2003 article was wrong about Christ reigning in Jerusalem. His throne will not be there (Acts:2:22Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
See All..., 25-28). David sees Him sitting at the right hand of the Father (Acts:2:30-35 [30] Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
[31] He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
[32] This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[33] Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
[34] For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
[35] Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
See All...). The Jews are scattered even today (Deuteronomy:28:64And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
See All...). We are in the church age...believers have been born into the kingdom....All authority has been given to Him, not will be given.
Answer: This grievous error denies hundreds of scriptures promising full restoration of Israel in her land, with Christ reigning on David’s throne over Israel and the world (see Ezk 35-39, for example, and many others). Israel is the earthly people and kingdom; the church is the heavenly. Don’t confuse them (see 1 Cor:10:32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
See All...).
The bias and special intent of Randy Blackaby in the article you enclosed from Truth Magazine is self-evident. He points to Luke:3:27Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
See All... to find the name Shealtiel (actually Salathiel in KJV). But instead of accepting that his father was Neri, he goes to 1 Chronicles:3:17And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,
See All... to show that Shealtiel’s father was Jeconiah. But Shealtiel of 1 Chronicles:3:17And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,
See All... is not the Salathiel of Luke:3:27Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
See All..., whose father is clearly stated to be Neri!
Blackaby doesn’t seem to realize why the genealogy in Matthew is different from that in Luke. The former is through Joseph, the latter through Joseph’s father-in-law (i.e., Mary), as the margin notes. He disregards the fact that Jesus, as “the second man” (1 Cor:15:47The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the LORD from heaven.
See All...), was created by God in the womb of a virgin (as Adam was from dust). “The only begotten Son of God” did not “inherit” sinful “genes”!
Blackaby then contradicts himself by saying that Jesus “was the Son of David—the true king.” Yet he tries to “prove” that Jesus was “precluded from ever being a king in Judah.” But David was King of Judah and over all of Israel. Mary was promised that Jesus would “reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] for ever...on the throne of his father David” (Lk 1:32,33).
David’s throne was not in heaven but in Jerusalem. David never ruled from heaven, nor will Christ rule over Israel restored to her land from heaven, but from earth. In heaven He is the groom and the church His bride. He does not rule over His bride as king.
If the kingdom of God is already on earth, we must be in the slums! Do you think the prayer for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven is already answered?