Kingdom Come

“ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:” (I Peter 2:9-10)

“if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

For…The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26-31)

To understand this warning, we need to back up to Moses’ law.

“Aaron / The High Priest shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim;” (Exodus 28:29-30)

Ur-im is translated fire-s of destruction (the city of Ur was famous for its burning fiery furnace used for execution of blasphemers and dissidents, and Thummim means perfect, complete, whole, i.e. in compliance with the laws, i.e. “not condemned”.

Believe it or not, the belief that heretics should be burned to death is the historic and infallible declaration of Catholicism. In the papal bull Exsurge Domine by Pope Leo X condemning the errors of Martin Luther, Leo declared that it is an error to be opposed to the burning of heretics.

This bull has never been rescinded, despite the Pope’s ecumenical visit to Sweden in October 2016 declaring that Catholics and Lutherans are ‘no longer defining themselves in opposition to each other,’ because Pope Leo X “reserved for himself the possibility.”

In the end, our choices boil down to the urim from the Adversary on earth or YHVH in heaven, or the thummim from the root word תֻּמ is translated completeness, integrity, perfect, upright, blameless, guiltless only provided by YHVH’s Savior redemption while we are here in this life on earth.

But by far my favorite translation of “thummim” is “finished”.

“Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished.” (Deuteronomy 32)

When YHVH’s Savior completed the work his father had given him, he uttered the same phrase referencing Moses’ work. I am certain that he used the Hebrew language to get his point across to the scripturally literate Jews, just as he did when he called out to his Father “Why?!” 

Not to elicit an answer for himself which he already knew – but to relay an explanation to his audience of the fulfillment of YHVH’s promise to deliver all humanity from sin and death through the Seed of the Woman, whose lineage was tracked through Judah but not limited to Judah’s people.

And some of them got it, like the Ethiopian eunuch, who had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover but who couldn’t qualify to enter the temple to practice Judaism.

The biblical version of Paul’s gospel is that ethnic Gentiles joined ethnic Israel in providing spiritual leadership in the Kingdom of God to the rest of the world.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles…without Christ / Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

• But now in Christ Jesus / YHVH’s Anointed Savior ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ / Messiah…
• who hath made both one [equal citizens in the Hebrew commonwealth of Israel]…
• built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [like Isaiah and Jeremiah], Jesus Christ / Yeshua Mashiach himself being the chief corner stone…
• In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit / Temple.” (Ephesians 2:12-22)

Germany’s Churches during the Nazi Holocaust are the perfect examples of Gentiles who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ choosing NOT to identify with YHVH’s Chosen Savior.

When it was just beginning and vying for support, the Nazi Party identified itself as a Christian party. One can find quotes of Hitler himself expressing support for Christianity. This is understandable, considering that about 95 percent of Germans in the 1920s and 1930s identified as Christian. To ingratiate themselves to voters, Hitler and other leaders of the Nazi Party issued statements that sounded very pro-Christian. 

In 1934, at the beginning of the Third Reich, the Nazis aligned with a nondenominational Protestant movement called the Deutsche Christen, or “German Christians.” The German Christians were so antisemitic that they denied the Jewish roots of Christianity. The movement repudiated the Old Testament, much of the Gospel of Matthew, and the letters in the New Testament attributed to Paul. These were considered too Jewish. Instead, Christianity was a religion of Aryans.

The Nazi government ushered in key changes to the Protestant churches in Germany, creating a national church under the centralized leadership of Ludwig Müller, a well-known pastor and Nazi Party member. Müller vowed to purge Protestant churches of all “Jewish influence,” including removing the Old Testament from their bible because it is based on the Hebrew bible.

German Christian leaders claimed that “the eternal God created for our nation a law that is peculiar to its own kind. It took shape in the Leader Adolf Hitler, and in the National Socialist state created by him. This law speaks to us from the history of our people. . . . It is loyalty to this law which demands of us the battle for honor and freedom . . . One Nation! One God! One Reich! One Church!”.

In response to the growing power of the German Christians, another Protestant faction was formed called the Confessing Church.  Martin Niemöller met with Hitler to reaffirm support for his domestic and foreign policies but refused sign a statement of unconditional loyalty to Hitler personally. Karl Barth’s Barmen Declaration went further, arguing that the Church‘s allegiance to the God of Jesus Christ should give it the impetus and resources to resist the influence of other lords, such as the German Führer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer went the furthest, arguing that National Socialism and Christianity were incompatible and was executed for his role in a plot to assassinate Hitler in 1945. But there were no mention of the Jewish problem or condemnation of other injustices in Nazi Germany.

What a condemnation of organized Christianity. Hitler’s rise to power with the consequent fall of the great German Empire is the inevitable biblically prophetic consequence.

Not against Naziism! Against the individuals who claim to be God’s people but in Germany’s democratic process raised to power and supported a wicked ruler!

And the raising of power and support of a wicked leader by nominal Christians has happened again in the current iteration of the Roman empire – the United States of America.

The root cause is the same – the racist ideology that God separated out Gentile Christians from Jews.

In the replacement theology model of understanding scripture, God changed his chosen people from ancient Israel to the New Testament Church when they rejected Jesus as their king at his crucifixion, death and resurrection. 

Dispensationalism is a theological system that maintains God works differently with different sets of people during the period of Biblical history. While Dispensationalism claims to interpret the Bible literally, there is obviously a disconnect with Paul’s multiple assertions that the Gentiles are grafted in to Israel and that there is one body combining both Gentiles and Jews.

Exactly as in Nazi Germany, this theological belief has crossed over into political affiliation.

Christian Nationalism is “a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life. It contends that America has been and should always be distinctively Christian from top to bottom—in its self-identity, interpretations of its own history, sacred symbols, cherished values, and public policies—and it aims to keep it that way. But, the Christian in Christian Nationalism is more about identity than religion. It carries with it assumptions about nativism, white supremacy, authoritarianism, patriarchy, and militarism.”

As Donald Trump – exactly like Hitler – increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings while coasting to a third Republican presidential nomination, his support is strong among evangelicals and other conservative Christians.

“Trump supports Jesus, and without Jesus, America will fall”, “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president”. Many attendees said in interviews they believed Trump shared their Christian faith and values. Several cited their opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, particularly to transgender expressions.

Nobody voiced concern about Trump’s past conduct or his present indictments on criminal charges, or indications of coverup of his significant involvement in Jeffery Epstein’s sex ring. Supporters saw Trump as representing a religion of second chances.

Christian nationalism’s obsession with power is a leading predictor of which Americans believe the riots at the Capitol on January 6th were justified and that violence is acceptable in advancing political goals.

2025 – Statement from Christians Against Christian Nationalism

Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. 

As the majority of America’s Christians have blended so thoroughly into the godless lifestyle that there is no longer any witness of righteousness – the way of salvation – to show the world. So the only way American Christianity can set itself apart from the world as being “superior” is through political power.