Why was it that the northern kingdom of Israel was eradicated and the southern kingdom of Judah taken captive in Babylon? Because both nations had failed to function as the LORD’s ekklesia.
The northern kingdom could never function as the LORD’s ekklesia because they were founded in rebellion and always apostate. On the other hand, the southern kingdom of Judah could have functioned as the LORD’s ekklesia but chose not to, preferring to adopt the beliefs and practices of their northern “brothers”.
The final straw was when Jehoshaphat aligned himself and his kingdom with Ahab and his kingdom; the “true” and the “false” inextricably united as one unholy mess.
But the LORD did as He promised. He acted for the sake of His Holy Name. The northern kingdom of Israel was completely wiped off the map never to be seen or heard of again. The southern kingdom was effectively destroyed but then restored and rebuilt.
The LORD restored and rebuilt Jerusalem’s altar and temple, and the city’s walls and gates. This is something we need to take note of today, because history is repeating itself.
Today, the Lord is getting ready to eradicate once and for all the apostate church system. It was founded in rebellion under Constantine around 320 AD and has always been apostate. The church system has never and will never function as the Lord’s ekklesia. At its core is the work of men.
On the other hand, the body of Christ, that could have functioned as the Lord’s ekklesia, has stubbornly refused to do so. Preferring instead to adopt the beliefs and practices of the church system.
The final straw was when Pope John Paul II held a day of prayer for world peace, with which many church leaders and their congregations aligned themselves.
“Going home to Rome” is nothing less than a stench in the Lord’s nostrils.
So today, the body of Christ is shattered in pieces and captive in a spiritual “Babylon", an unholy mess where the yeast of the “false” has now totally corrupted everything that was once “true”. But the Lord is going to act for the sake of His Holy Name.
The Lord is not going to be without a fully functioning ekklesia. He is repairing and restoring; worship in spirit and truth, a house for the Holy Spirit to dwell in, the government of God (spiritual wisdom, power and authority).
At this time, the Lord’s ekklesia has no idea how to function effectively. The church system put an end to that. But in the not too distant future we will see it again, a fully functioning ekklesia.
When we do become a fully functioning ekklesia we are going to be sorry for all the things we did as “church”. We will look at “church” and say, “this is not ekklesia!”.
We will wonder how we ever managed to get into such an unholy mess in the first place.
But we will also have first-hand experience of the grace and mercy the Lord we profess to know so well. And we will be very, very humble.
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