The Great Reversal
-Isaiah 14:2 (NLT)
God wants the nations or peoples to help his people get back or return to their place of inheritance or their land of promise. And God wants his people to take spheres of authority or influence. God also wants his people to be over those who they were under, and who previously were even their enemies.
My understanding is that this text was not fulfilled in ancient Israel, before Christ. The people did return, but not with the perks or blessings mentioned here. So, this remains as an unfulfilled prophecy.
I understand that interpretations of Old Testament prophecies are debated today. There is a spectrum of opinion. I believe that prophetic texts can apply to Christians, because Christians are God's people, now being in God's Son.
I believe that in this verse, we have God's desire for his people, Jew and Gentile. God is a God of restoration, inheritance, and destiny. God's design for his people has always been for them to take possession and rule over land and peoples or nations.
God has wanted this for his glory. God uses people who carry his blessing, to release the blessing for the saving of the world. God has always wanted the world to see him and get saved. God wants to do this today through his people.
The astonishing word of God here says that God will use unredeemed, unsaved peoples to bring his people into their rightful places, which are described as lands and rulerships. I would call these positions of authority or influence for the glory of God.
What this verse says is that you will rule over those who have ruled over you, or you will capture those who previously captured you. If we interpret this verse under the kingdom of God and through the lens of the love of God, we see that God's desire is for us to bless those who have hurt us, with the love of God in the good news of God's saving grace and power in Jesus Christ.
Think about every sphere where God's people have been captured. In all these spheres (lands and nations or peoples) that have hurt God's people, who carry God's blessing for God's cause in the world, God's plan is for those hurtful (oppressive) peoples to help or promote God's people to be the bosses or rulers of those spheres.
God wants his people at the top of every sphere of influence in the world, to release the blessing of Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. The idea that the whole world is going to hell and we just need to build the church until the end and invite others to join us and get saved and discipled inside the church completely misses the message of God in Christ.
The good news is that God so loved the world, which means all the world and all the nations, groups, and spheres of the world (John 3). The other part is that God wants us to take that good news to all the places of the world (Matt. 28). That's the message and the mission.
We Christians need to shift from church focus or kingdom focus. We have Christ if we are authentic Christians and the kingdom is the message that Christ speaks. The kingdom happens everywhere. The kingdom of God clashes with the kingdom of Satan throughout the kingdoms (plural) of this world. These are the battlefields, where God's people and God's angels fight the dark forces (Eph. 6:12).
When the devil tempted Jesus with giving him rulership of all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4:8-9), we need to understand that the devil's authority is stolen authority that God's people, in Christ, can take back. All demonic bondage is stolen territory, whether it is in one person or in a whole sphere of influence, like in higher education, the media, or in politics.
God's plan is for people who have not been serving him and have had the authority, to elevate or make the way for God's people to rule them. Most people are not completely hardened against God's love or grace. They are just waiting to see Christ's love and grace in his people that is irresistible.
God wants the nations or peoples to help his people get back or return to their place of inheritance or their land of promise. And God wants his people to take spheres of authority or influence. God also wants his people to be over those who they were under, and who previously were even their enemies.
My understanding is that this text was not fulfilled in ancient Israel, before Christ. The people did return, but not with the perks or blessings mentioned here. So, this remains as an unfulfilled prophecy.
I understand that interpretations of Old Testament prophecies are debated today. There is a spectrum of opinion. I believe that prophetic texts can apply to Christians, because Christians are God's people, now being in God's Son.
I believe that in this verse, we have God's desire for his people, Jew and Gentile. God is a God of restoration, inheritance, and destiny. God's design for his people has always been for them to take possession and rule over land and peoples or nations.
God has wanted this for his glory. God uses people who carry his blessing, to release the blessing for the saving of the world. God has always wanted the world to see him and get saved. God wants to do this today through his people.
The astonishing word of God here says that God will use unredeemed, unsaved peoples to bring his people into their rightful places, which are described as lands and rulerships. I would call these positions of authority or influence for the glory of God.
What this verse says is that you will rule over those who have ruled over you, or you will capture those who previously captured you. If we interpret this verse under the kingdom of God and through the lens of the love of God, we see that God's desire is for us to bless those who have hurt us, with the love of God in the good news of God's saving grace and power in Jesus Christ.
Think about every sphere where God's people have been captured. In all these spheres (lands and nations or peoples) that have hurt God's people, who carry God's blessing for God's cause in the world, God's plan is for those hurtful (oppressive) peoples to help or promote God's people to be the bosses or rulers of those spheres.
God wants his people at the top of every sphere of influence in the world, to release the blessing of Christ, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. The idea that the whole world is going to hell and we just need to build the church until the end and invite others to join us and get saved and discipled inside the church completely misses the message of God in Christ.
The good news is that God so loved the world, which means all the world and all the nations, groups, and spheres of the world (John 3). The other part is that God wants us to take that good news to all the places of the world (Matt. 28). That's the message and the mission.
We Christians need to shift from church focus or kingdom focus. We have Christ if we are authentic Christians and the kingdom is the message that Christ speaks. The kingdom happens everywhere. The kingdom of God clashes with the kingdom of Satan throughout the kingdoms (plural) of this world. These are the battlefields, where God's people and God's angels fight the dark forces (Eph. 6:12).
When the devil tempted Jesus with giving him rulership of all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4:8-9), we need to understand that the devil's authority is stolen authority that God's people, in Christ, can take back. All demonic bondage is stolen territory, whether it is in one person or in a whole sphere of influence, like in higher education, the media, or in politics.
God's plan is for people who have not been serving him and have had the authority, to elevate or make the way for God's people to rule them. Most people are not completely hardened against God's love or grace. They are just waiting to see Christ's love and grace in his people that is irresistible.
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