“a door was opened in heaven…And immediately I [my soul] was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals….behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof…for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation…After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb…And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God… And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:” (Revelation 4,5, 7:9-10, 21).
When we understand what a nation is, we understand that a plurality of “nations” means simply a variety of styles of cultures, including formalized religious practices.
These nations came into being after the flood when the single mass of humanity was broken up as a defensive measure against being corralled by the Adversary. This was not a rejection of everyone NOT Jewish or whatever.
Logically, we can deduce that New Testament Christians and Old Testament Jews aren’t the only religions who make it to heaven. This resolves the angst of Christians debating on the justice, ergo reality, of a God who can send people to hell who never heard the name “Jesus” so can’t call upon his name.
“if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13) cannot be twisted to mean that whosoever does NOT call upon his name SHALL be damned. Not to mention “name” is “attribute” and refers back to Lord Creator God.
King’s dominion which was given by God to the first Adam through a verbal covenant
- was not made a reality until
- the last Adam sealed the deal by taking dominion
- but was accepted by faith in God’s word that IT WOULD HAPPEN.
“Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6)
What matters is not a formal religion but acknowledgement, worship and submission to Creator God expressed in relationship with him through personal righteousness, most emphatically documented in advance so the guilty have no excuse on the day of judgment.
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them [multiple nations] on his right hand, Come, ye [multiple nations] blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
CRITERIA FOR MAKING IT TO HEAVEN:
For
- I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:
- I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:
- I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
- Naked, and ye clothed me:
- I was sick, and ye visited me:
- I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we THEE..?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
ONE BODY!
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
CRITERIA FOR BENG SENT TO HELL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CREED.
For
- I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat:
- I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
- I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:
- naked, and ye clothed me not: sick,
- and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we THEE..and did not minister unto THEE? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matthew 25)
This principle is detailed in the account of Judah’s elevation from playboy to God’s ruler of the nation of Israel in an account as fraught with drama and tension and surprise twists as the best novels. After marrying out of her Canaanite culture into Judah’s Hebrew culture, Tamar’s rights are withheld. Desperate for sheer survival, she literally lays her life on the line by playing the whore and tricking her father-in-law, Judah into having sex with her, getting pregnant, and forcing Judah to accept responsibility for the child or to deny her. Until DNA analysis gave women some support in their claims, any pregnancy up to modern days could be denied by men, especially in this case where the pregnant mother was after all playing the whore.
In a dramatic twist on his typical self-serving behavior, Judah doesn’t discard her once again, or worse yet, lay blame on her. He accepts her account and does right by her.
“And Judah acknowledged…and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.” (Genesis 38:26)
And here is where Judah’s actions prove that repentance as proven by changed behavior is key to acceptance by God, NOT adherence to a list of dos and don’t.
Over our lifetimes we are guaranteed to fail, to engage in sins of omission and commission. We have a lifetime to experience the harm we cause to ourselves and others, be sorry for it, and enter into a relationship with Almighty God who empowers us to convert not just our behavior but our attitude, motives, desires, and actions by identifying with him.
And that’s everyone in the world, not just Catholics who go to confession and take communion or Baptists who do likewise in their variation of a theme, or Pentecostals who erupt into frantic emotion or…
Job’s address as the land of” Uz” (Job 1:1), one of Shem’s grandsons, his herding lifestyle in what soon became a heavily urbanized area, his experience with the pre-urbanized raiding Chaldeans, and his long lifespan estimated at about 200 years dates him as living during the formative stages of post-flood civilization. He was not an Israelite. He undoubtedly crossed paths with Shem and Eber, possibly with Abraham who lived 175 years during this same time frame.
Job proves to us that the way of salvation in ancient times under “their” Melchizedek was exactly the same as that known to us under the terms of “our” Melchizedek – repentance and profession of faith in the promised Redeemer.
“Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! [As a sure testimony in the day of judgment.] That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! [As was Cyrus the Great’s last words.] For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God [resurrection]: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me…Then Job answered the LORD and said…I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent...” (Job 19:23-27)
Kingdom Come 