Jehoshua is on the throne of David in New Jerusalem and He is the King of a New Israel
Jehoshua the King, part 1 of my study of the most important prophecy about Jehoshua which is His Kingship.
Most of Christendom will readily acknowledge the Kingship of Jehoshua but rarely talk about the significance of it especially in relation to the prophecies concerning His Kingship. Infact, much of Christendom has lost and obscured the fact that Jehoshua is indeed a real King. For most of Christendom Jehoshua being our Saviour is the sole focus of who He is. That and Him being God. Most of the professed Church has lost sight of the importance of Jehoshua's Kingship and that His being King of Israel (the Church) is of primary importance concerning His office and identity. Jehoshua being King is actually more important prophetically than Him being God. Jehoshua is not God but rather the Son of God. Of course, He is our Savior having redeemd us unto God the Father however once we are begotten (born again) into the Family of Jehovah God then Jehoshua is not only our Saviour but just as importantly, He is our King. When the moniker "Lord" is used of Jehoshua it is in reference to Him being the King of Israel. Often times, so called Christian's teach against what they call "Lordship salvation" which means Jehoshua being the Lord of your life. They will say that Jehoshua doesn't need to be Lord of your life and that He only needs to be your Savior in order to have eternal life. What they are doing is denying the Kingship of Jehoshua which is His most important function and ministry. They are denying His right to rule over them as King. Remember the scripture: Matthew 7:22-23 (KJV) 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. The word "iniquity" means "lawlessness". This is a scary proposition for those who teach against "Lordship salvation" as Jehoshua clearly says there will be those at the judgement who professed Jehoshua as Lord yet denied His Lordship over their lives. Denying the Lordship of Jehoshua leads to the working of iniquity as these easy believists teach that you don't have to follow the commands of Messiah in order to have salvation. Let's continue in Matthew 7 and see what Jehoshua has to say about those who do follow His commands: 24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Jehoshua says that those who actually do and perform the commandments He taught will be wise and withstand the trials of life. To the contrary He calls those who don't actually do and perform the commands He teaches are fools and that these foolish ones will have a great fall. This great fall will be seen in the judgement when they are told by Jehoshua that He never knew them. Remember, this passage in Matthew 7 is not talking about professed unbelievers but rather professed believers who were actually doing ministry. In other words, they were active "Christian's". Those who have no guile in their mouth acknowledge the Kingship of Jehoshua. You can't truly acknowledge the Kingship of someone without also acknowledging their right to rule over your life. Look at what Nathaniel confessed upon His meeting Jehoshua: John 1:49 (KJV) 49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jehoshua called Nathaniel an Israelite with no guile in His mouth. Nathaniel acknowledged 3 important identities regarding Jehoshua. 1) Rabbi meaning that Jehoshua is a teacher 2) Sonship meaning that Jehoshua is truly the Son of God in identity which means He is not God. 3) Kingship meaning that Jehoshua is a real King and it is not just a generic title and that as a real King He requires that His Congregation obeys His commandments. Let's look at the covenant promise that Jehovah God made with David concerning Jehoshua as the future King of Israel. 2 Samuel 7:12-17 (ASV) 12When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.14I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;15but my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.16And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.17According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. The Davidic covenant was a major advance in Jehovah's redemptive message regarding the Messiah (Genesis 49:10). Note the divine initiative (repeated "I will"), the unique relationship (father and son), the everlasting throne and kingdom, and the unconditional gaurantee unlike that given to Saul. Genesis 49:10 (ASV) 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler`s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. In verse 12 of 2 Samuel 7 we see the ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy is when David would already be asleep with his father's in other words "dead". David's son Solomon was inaugurated as king when David was alive. This prophecy does have a near application to Solomon and also a far application to Jehoshua. This prophecy would be fufilled in someone who was of David's seed (posterity, carnally, child). People often forget that this is the number one requirement that the coming Messiah had to meet. The bible never teaches that the coming of the Messiah had to be God, a god or a preexistent angel. The Messiah had to be of David's family line and heritage. David was not an angel or God. Verse 12 also says that the coming Messiah would proceed out of David's bowels. Lets look at the definition of the word "proceed" (Strongs Hebrew 3318). The Hebrew word is "yatsa" and means "begotten, bring forth, issue out, spring out, proceed, grow". So the Messiah would be begotten literally from David's family line. The Messiah would have to born from the womb of a woman who was from the line of David. This was fulfilled in Luke 1:29-35. The Messiah would have to grow up out of David's family tree, this why he is called the Branch and the root and shoot of David. The Messiah had to be a fleshly descendant of David. Let's look at the word "bowels" (Hebrew strongs), the word is "me'ah" and means "the abdomen, the intestines, the stomach, the uterus (or of men, the seat of generation), the heart, belly, bowels, womb". As you can see that the coming King of Israel had to be begotten and brought forth out of either the seat of generation from a male of David's line i.e. the sperm or out of the womb of a woman from David's family line or both. In the case of Jehoshua, He fufilled the propechy by proceeding (brought forth, issued out of) out of the bowels (womb) of David's descendant Mary. Instead of having the seat of generation (sperm) from a male of David's line, Jehoshua was miraculously begotten by Jehovah God in Mary's womb. This is why Jehoshua is the unique Son of God. No one can claim being begotten by God in this way. If you read Luke 1:29-35 closely you will see that in reference to Mary giving birth to Jehoshua the greek word "titko" (strongs 5088) is used and it means "bear, be born, bring forth, be delivered, be in travail". I believe the use of this word instead of begotten was on purpose to make the distinction that while Mary brought forth Jehoshua by delivering Him out of her womb as "titko" also means to be in travail obviously the phrase "brought forth in Luke 1:31 is specifically in regards to the actual birthing out process of Mary delivering the baby Jehoshua. In Luke 1:35 the word "begotten" is used and it comes from the Greek word for word "gennao" (Strongs 1080) and means "to procreate (properly of the Father, but by extension the mother); figuratively to regenerate: - bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring." As we can see the word "begotten" unlike "brought forth" (titko) has flexibility as it primarily is in respect to a Father procreating a child which is in respect to conception. Of course, only a woman can bring forth (titko) a child by delivery. In the definition of "gennao" (begotten) is the word "conceive". Begotten can also be used for the actual birthing out process, however primarily it used of the Father procreating (conception) a child in the womb of a woman. So Mary birthed out Jehoshua (titko) but God the Father begat (gennao) Him through conception. This shows us two things, first that Jehoshua fulfilled the requirement as the coming Messiah from proceeding forth out of David's family line through Mary. Secondly this shows that, Jehoshua as the second Adam, was directly pro created (begotten) by Jehovah God. Just as Adam was God's directly pro created son, Jehoshua is also God's directly pro created Son albeit through conception (begotten) in the womb of a woman. The two family lineages of Jehoshua in Matthew and Luke also validate His claims to the throne showing that His family heritage is from ancient days (Micah 5:2). Let's go to Matthew 1 for further proof that Jehoshua being begotten was not the result of Mary giving birth to Him but rather it is in reference to Him being conceived by the Holy Spirit of Jehovah God in the womb of Mary. This proves that the begetting of Jehoshua had nothing to do with anything that happened in eternity but rather Him being begotten by the Father has to do with the virign birth. Many SDA semi arians claim that Jehoshua being begotten in respect to the virgin birth had to do with Mary birthing out Jehoshua in travail i.e. labor. They claim this, because if it turns out that Jehoshua being begotten in respect to the virign birth was Him being conceived by God the Father then there whole argument about Jehoshua being begotten by Jehovah God in eternity suffers a significant blow. This also could be true of arians and nicene trinitarians. Matthew 1:18-21 18Now the birth of Jehoshua Messiah was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JEHOSHUA: for he shall save his people from their sins. This passage in Matthew 1 clearly proves the virign birth and also that the begetting of Jehoshua had to do with being conceived by Jehovah and not Mary bringing Him forth in birth. Verse 18, tells us that this is the true story re the birth of Jehoshua. The phrase "on this wise" comes from the Greek word "houto" (strongs 3779) and means "in this way (referring to what precedes or follows): - after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all that, like (-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like manner), thus, what." Basically Matthew is saying that "what i'm about to tell you is the exact truth about Jehoshua's birth". What verses 18-21 describe are the fashion in which Jehoshua was conceived (begotten) and subsequently born (birthed out in travail). In verse 18 Matthew clearly says that before Joseph and Mary came together (cohabit, conjugally) meaning basically that they were not married yet hence they hadsexual relations yet as that is what actually compacts (consummates) the marriage. They were only engaged (espoused) at this point. Matthew then says that before Joseph and Mary came together (married hence no sexual relations) that she (Mary) was found with child of the Holy Spirit. The phrase "of the Holy Spirit" denotes possession meaning that the child (Jehoshua) derives His existence (pro created) directly from the Holy Spirit. This is not just metaphorical because we just read in the same verse that Joseph and Mary had not come together (sexual relations) yet. In others words, the conception of this child was a direct result of God the Father's operational power which is the Holy Spirit. In the book of Luke, we read that the Holy Spirit is eqauted with the power of the Most High which of course is the Father. Since God is the Father of Jehoshua it stands to reason that the Holy Spirit is not another person of the Godhead which would make the Holy Spirit the Father of Jehoshua. Simply put, the Holy Spirit is the actual Spirit (mind, presence, power) of Jehovah. Verses 19-20, we see that Joseph was ready to put Mary away privately, thinking she had broken their vow to get married by having sexual relations with someone else. However, the angel of Jehovah appeared to him and revealed to Joseph that the child that was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. The angel is cleary saying that the Holy Spirit is directly responsible for the conception of the child that was in Mary's womb. The word concieved is used in verse 20 in regards to the baby that was in Mary's womb. Obviously this conception of the child by the Holy Spirit had nothing to do with Mary giving birth to Jehoshua as that would not happen for another 9 months. Conceived comes from the Greek word "gennao" which is also translated as "begotten" throughout the new testament. Here again is the definition of gennao i.e. conceived and begotten: "gennao" (Strongs 1080) and means "to procreate (properly of the Father, but by extension the mother); figuratively to regenerate: - bear, beget, be born, bring forth, conceive, be delivered of, gender, make, spring." Verse 20 absolutely proves that Jehoshua being begotten was a result of the Holy Spirit conceiving Him and not the result of Mary giving birth to Him. The angel of Jehovah clearly says that the begetting of Jehoshua was at His conception and not at his birth. The actual birth of Jehoshua was not until 9 months later. This conversation between the angel of Joseph was at the beginning of Mary's pregnancy and the angel tells Joseph at the beginning of her pregnancy that the child in her has been conceived (greek word gennao which is also translated as begotten) by the Holy Spirit. So now we see that the begetting of Jehoshua by the Father happened in time and not eternity. This hurts the semi arian argument severely about Jehoshua being begotten by the Father in eternity. It also severely damages the eternal generation (begetting) theology of trinitarians. Semi Arians rely on the fallacy that the begetting of Jehoshua in respect to the virgin birth was Him being brought forth out of Mary. They need this to be true so that elsewhere, where it talks about Jehoshua being the only begotten Son of God, they can attribute that (Jehoshua being begotten by the Father) to a time other than the virgin birth. Obviously they make the claim that this took place in eternity. In verse 21 of Matthew 1, we see that Mary was to bring forth a son. Remember bring forth comes from the Greek word tikto which means to bring forth in travail i.e. the actual birthing out process. The phrase here "bring forth" is not begotten as begotten comes from the Greek word "gennao" which is used primarily of the father pro creating a child but could also be in reference to the delivery process. However in this narrative of Jehoshua's birth, gennao (begotten) is strictly used for the conception of Jehoshua in the womb of Mary and not the birthing out process. Obviously, it is the Father by His Spirit that was responsible for the conception (begetting) of Jehoshua in the womb of Mary. Two more times in the birth narrative of Jehoshua here in Matthew 1 that Mary is said to "bring forth" Jehoshua (verses 23 and 25) and both times the greek word "tikto" is used which means "to be delivered, be in travail, bring forth, be born". Again, this shows us that Mary did not beget (gennao) Jehoshua but rather brought Him forth (tikto) in travail. Gennao (begotten) in the birth narrative of Jehoshua is strictly used in regards to the Holy Spirit conceiving Jehoshua in Mary's womb. This presents a problem for the semi arians, arians and Nicene trinitarians because now we have conclusive evidence as to exactly when Jehoshua was begotten by the Father and it was not in eternity. Of course, they may end up conceding this point but then look to other passages to try and prove their doctrine. Just to drive home this point even more, let's go to Luke 1:29-35: 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.31And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JEHOSHUA.32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:33and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.34And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. As I already mentioned, in verse 31 it is said that Mary will "bring forth" (tikto, deliver in travail) NOT "beget i.e. gennao" a son. So remember Mary "brought forth" Jehoshua as the word "tikto" is the greek word that "bring forth" comes from. As I have repeated "bring forth i.e. tikto" is in reference to delivering a baby in travail in other words the birthing out process. In verse 35, we see that as a result of the Holy Spirit, which is equivalent to the power of God the Father, overhadowing Mary that the child begotten of her shall be called the Son of Jehovah God. Now in verse 35, the word "begotten" (gennao) is used and it is connected with the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary which is in reference to the conception of Jehoshua in the womb of Mary. In fact, it is precisely because of what the Holy Spirit miraculously did in the womb of Mary that Jehoshua shall be called the Son of God. This elminates any prior begetting of Jehoshua in the times of eternity. Luke is telling us that the Holy Spirit conceiving Jehoshua in Mary's womb is exactly precisely the reason He is God's Son. Let's examine the last part of verse 35 to prove this: "wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God." The word "wherefore" comes from the Greek word "dio" (strongs 1352) and means "through which thing, consequently, for which cause, therefore, wherefore". With the definition of wherefore as meaning "consequently" let's look at verse 35 with this understanding: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: CONSEQUENTLY also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. The angel of Jehovah tells Mary that as a consequence of the Holy Spirit overhadowing her that the holy thing that is begotten (conception by the Holy Spirit not birth in regards to the context of verse 35) shall be called the Son of God. The angel is saying that Jehoshua shall be called the Son of God as a direct result of the Holy Spirit conceiving (begetting) Jehoshua in Mary's womb. This took place (conception, begetting) when the Holy Spirit overhadowed Mary.
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