It is December 26, Christmas is finally over and hopefully my radio station will return to normal programming and not playing “carols” non stop! No more “Santa babe” please, sorry Eartha Kitt!
When I read the bible from cover to cover I do not find Santa mentioned once, nor jingle bells, nor that we should decorate trees, nor that we should celebrate Jesus’ birthday! It is not a time for seasons greetings. God has given us feasts to celebrate that teach us about his plan of salvation. They are not Jewish holidays, they are God’s feasts. “These are my appointed festivals…” (Lev 23:2) He is the creator of the universe, He knows what is good for us.
Before Jesus was born God sent the messenger Gabriel to Mary with an important message about the son she will have: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:32-33)
That is a description of the Messiah, what people had been hoping for. This is exactly the message that the prophets had been declaring all along – the Kingdom of God will be a worldwide kingdom, based in Jerusalem, with the anointed one as God’s agent administrating a perfect government.
Isaiah describes it as follows: “In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it — one from the house of David — one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. (Isaiah 16:5)
What the prophets describe is a world with Utopian conditions, after the world has been conquered by God working through his chosen agent, the promised King.
“The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders —with great glory. (Isaiah 24:23)
“I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He (the Messiah) will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
(Zechariah 9:10)
Israel will be in a leadership role then:
But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken.
People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.
Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD’s. (Obadiah 1:17 – 21)
Israel will get back the many territories taken from them. The Kingdom of God will have its headquarters based in the promised land of Israel.
Jeremiah confirms: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety…” (Jeremiah 23:5,6)
The Good News
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news (gospel) of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the good news (gospel).” (Mark 1:14-15)
Whatever the kingdom was, IT was good news. This was God had instructed his prophets to record for us. No ho ho Santa, no elves and reindeers with red noses, but a real King who will govern justly and with love, one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.
He is not a helpless baby as the enemy would like the people to stress but God has given him great glory and authority.
“The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:2)
That is in the bible, imagine that, Joshua (the correct English translation of his Hebrew name Yehoshua, is the right hand man of the greatest being in the entire universe, no – even greater than that! He has created the universe and “holds in His hand” as the song goes. Close your eyes and imagine how immense the universe is. Now imagine how great God is – he has created all this, He has planned all this, yes, Father has done this.
He knows what he is doing, He has given Joshua an enormous position of authority as his right hand man! He has chosen Joshua to be His agent, His King in this worldwide Kingdom! That is the Father’s Good News that He wants us to know and to change our way of thinking.
But he will not hesitate to use his authority when necessary – he is not a baby away in a manger. He is Father’s Messiah!
He is actively building his team, as he was when he told the congregation in the town of Thyatira through the apostle John ” And to the one who overcomes and continues in my work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery— just as I have received authority from My Father. (Rev 2:27 – 28)
Joshua was excited about the Kingdom, he had started to preach the Good News about the kingdom. The people were excited too. They knew what the prophets had said, most of them knew the verses we have quoted off by heart, and many more! So the people were looking for him “and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You!” But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach (the good news) there as well, for that is why I have come.” So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues … ” (Mark 1:38)
Preaching the Good News was what Father has commissioned him to do and he did it with all his energy.
Talking about the time of the end , Jesus said “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
Am I like Scrooge?
The enemy, Satan, has done every thing to hide the truth from people. One of his masterpieces of deception is the Christmas tradition! I am sure many will be angry with for daring to say this. So the Leader of the Opposition has to villainize people like me. So he inspires stories like a Christmas Carol and movies like A Christmas Story. So I have been called Scrooge, the Bitch who stole Christmas, the Grinch, the f. Jew, etc.)
If that is what I get called for exposing Satan’s deception hiding what is really important, wonderful and exciting, then thank you, I will gladly be one xxx, you fill in the term of your choice, who stole Christmas. I want to replace for you, what I am supposed to have stolen but is nor worth stealing, with the wonderful, good news, of the Kingdom of God!