Letters

Dear Bro. Peter,

I am writing to comment on the article titled, “Why will the Law be restored in the Millennial Kingdom” (The Tidings, Jan 2015, page 32.). The article states, “Even Christ will be offering burnt offerings and sin offerings outside that fourth temple in the divine plan” (Ezek 45:17,22).

This, surely, is a serious misunderstanding of Scripture and a serious misunderstanding of the immortal person of the Lord Jesus. Ezek 45:22 states:

“On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering.” (RSV)

Jesus does not need to offer a sin offering for himself. He was, and is, sinless. To suggest that he needs to offer a sin offering for himself, is completely incorrect. Whatever this verse means, it most certainly does not refer to Jesus. The prince here has to be a mortal person, capable of sinning.

Your brother in Christ Jesus,

Ian Hyndman (Beechworth, Victoria, Australia. Feb 7 2015)

Reply

Dear Bro Peter:

I am happy to respond to Bro. Ian’s objection to the understanding Jesus Christ has to be the prince who will offer a sin offering for himself and the people in the temple during the restored Kingdom of God.

There is certainly no question that Christ is now and will always subsequently be immortal and without sin assigned against him in any way. That recognition does not eliminate the appropriate application of the observation I presented. Jesus still has work to perform in the defeat of sin, and he is the only one qualified to do this. No other possible application of the “Prince” would have the capacity to defeat sin as Jesus still has to accomplish. So far he has only defeated sin in himself. This corresponds to the second of the three maturing stages of sin that James highlights (James 1:14-15). The first is the guilt free stage of temptation, generated from within our sin cursed nature. The second stage is the conception of sin, which does apply guilt. The third is the full maturity of sin, bringing death which is the divine answer for sin. While Jesus was certainly tempted and died to sin, he never allowed temptation to conceive into the guilt assignment stage of sin (2nd maturity sin stage). He clave the power of sin in his death by experiencing the first and last sin maturing stages, but never the second, validating his Father’s righteousness in the judgment of death for sin. This is why we break the bread (representing his body).

Christ still has two more applications of sin to defeat. The first stage of lustful temptation emanating unbidden from human nature has to be defeated in the immobilization of the saints at the beginning, as well as the end of the Millennial Kingdom. Our sin producing nature must be covered (atoned) with immortality (1 Cor 15:51-54; 2 Cor 5:1-4). After the Sabbath Kingdom of the seventh day has ended, that third and last sin maturing stage will be eliminated in circumcision like fashion on that eighth divine day. This is the last enemy: death (1 Cor 15:26). After Jesus eliminates death (the third sin maturing stage) he will deliver the Kingdom to his Father (1 Cor 15:24) in the exact state that was intended before the first day of Yahweh’s creative activity. Jesus Christ, the only possible “Prince” of the Millennial Kingdom, exclusively has the capacity to defeat these additional maturity stages in the progression of sin. The full comprehensive understanding of what constitutes sin is provided by John: All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Whatever does not qualify as divinely right does qualify as sin. The reference to merely transgression sin from 1 John 3:4 should never be mistaken as being comprehensive.

These three defeats of sin by our savior are spelled out in his very name. There are six letters forming the name of Jesus in the Greek text of the New Testament: iota, eta, sigma, omicron, upsilon, and sigma. The corresponding numerical values of these 6 letters add up to 888. Just as the man of sin is identified by triple sixes (Rev 13:18), the man of righteousness is identified by triple eights. These three eights derived from the six Greek letters of our savior’s name have two primary applications. One is the three maturing stages of sin from which Jesus must save all of creation over the course of three divine days of 1,000 years each, prophetically projected by the three full days and nights that death had dominion over our savior in the tomb. The second is the three salvation events in the divine plan when sin will be covered with immortality, when six will become eight on three occasions. Six is the number of the curse of sin and death. Eight is the number endlessly associated with immortality, salvation and our Messiah. His was the first immobilization almost two divine days preceding the second (as prophesied in Hos 6:1-3). The second will be the immobilization of the saints at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom and the third will be the immobilization of the remaining saints at the conclusion of the Millennial Kingdom.

This 6-8-3 pattern of our savior’s name is repeated subtly in many divine shadows, emphasizing the same lesson to those within the enlightened community with seeing eyes and hearing ears. The structural design of the Ark of the Covenant was achieved by six surfaces being joined at eight corners where third surfaces met. Abram’s covenant of heaven and earth required the cleaving of three three-year old beasts, making six sacrificial components to which two whole birds were added to make the necessasiry eight total sacrificial components. Additionally, those three beasts cleaved into six components each had eight foundational cloven hoof components upon which they stood. There are many, many applications of this shadow pattern to demonstratsie the three applications when our savior will defeat sin with righteousness and replace death with life, replacing the six with the eight at three points in the divine plan.

The fact that our Prince has no guilty sin assigned to him is actually what qualifies him to offer the Millennial Kingdom sin offering at the temple, as he is the only one who can defeat sin in the necessary two additional stages.

I hope this is helpful, as it is a very abridged answer. The validating substance casting the shadows in Scripture and creation abound in validating this lesson of the Prince offering the sin offering for himself and the people in the Millennial Kingdom.