1 Thessalonians 2:15
15 Who both [kai] killed [apokteino] the Lord [kurios] Jesus, [Iesous] and [kai] their own [idios] prophets, [prophetes] and [kai] have persecuted [ekdioko] us; [hemas] and [kai] they please [aresko] not [me] God, [theos] and [kai] are contrary [enantios] to all [pas] men: [anthropos] KJV-Interlinear
15 who both killed the Lord Jesus
and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile
to all men, NASB
As to who killed Jesus
Christ, there is a simple answer and a complex answer. First, no one killed Christ. Christ is God,
and as God, He cannot be killed.Jesus
as humanity was formed with a physical body, and human soul, and a human
spirit, combined together with deity.
Jesus Christ is both man and God, united together in one single person,
the unique person in all of creation and heaven included.
The physical body can
be killed, but the soul and spirit cannot.
So the obvious answer
is that the Jewish people back in Jesus time, convicted Jesus by means of six
different and extraordinary trials, then they turned Him over to the Romans to
be crucified.
But Paul states here
that they killed both Jesus and the prophets, and that is a complex reference
to the Jewish history of constant and repetitive rejection of God and those who
He sent as his representatives.
When the prophets came
along, they were rejected and even killed.
The Jewish history is
one of a chosen people, of whom they presumed they were, however their conduct
demonstrates that they in fact were not Gods chosen people, but rather
represent the rejection of God, that exists in all of humanity.
Gods chosen are those who are chosen by spiritual birth
(faith in the Savior, faith in the plan of God, faith in the promised Messiah,
faith in Christ), not by physical birth.
Just being born through some genetic descendant does not qualify one for
salvation.In fact, of the races since
the time of Noah, there have been so many mixed marriages, and breeding because
of inter-family, inter-tribal, inter-cultural, inter-whatever relationships,
that a single pure race simply does not exist.
Even Abraham was not called
an Israelite, but a Hebrew.The term
Israel did not exist until Jacob was renamed by that term. His sons were then called Israelites, and
thus the nation was formed in concept.
It would not be for another four-hundred years or so, and until after
the Exodus that the nation would be recognized.
And even then, there were many recorded inter-marriages with the local
gentile nations in the promised land.
These inter-marriages
were in violation with Gods command against such marriages. However this command was instructional in so
far as it taught the differences between Gods chosen, and Gods un-chosen, the spiritual
life versus the carnal life.
Those who believe in
Christ must live a spiritual life in fellowship, in maturity as they advance within
their spiritual lives.Living out of
fellowship, living in the carnal sphere rather than living inside of Gods chosen spiritual sphere, is the same symbolically as
inter marriages with the gentiles.So symbolism
was the point here.
As a parable, the
purity of the Israelite race was comparable to the purity of a person living in
their spiritual life.And living out of
fellowship and thus in the carnal world, was symbolized by choosing from the
gentile realm.
I hope this makes
sense.
So, the Jews of Jesus day, thought of themselves as Gods chosen, but in fact they
rejected the very person of whom was represented within the scriptures, that
they held custody of.And by their
behavior, the Jewish peoples of Jesus Day, represent
all of humanity in their rejection of truth.
Thus the need for mans rescue through salvation.
Just because they put
Jesus up on the Cross, does not make them any worse than you when you ignore
your spiritual life.
God planed the crucifixion
of Christ in eternity past in the Divine Decrees. If it were not for Satan s rebellion, then
man probably would never have come into existence. If it were not for Adam and Eve s failure,
then the Cross would not have been required.
But of course those
things did occur, and thus Christ presented Himself for the work of salvation,
which was His plan all along, even though man believed that he, man, was controlling
his own environment and destiny.
You see, humanity does
not have much control over anything.He
just participates in a divine plan which God put into place long ago.
The events happening in
our current day, are not events that mean that the
Rapture will occur at any given moment. Our entire 1900 plus year history of
the Church Age, has been one long and continuous sequence of alignment of
things, which God is putting into place piece by piece.
It took many centuries
to form the nations that currently exist.
It took many centuries to form the technologies that currently
exist.It has taken many centuries to
position the continents where they are, ready for the great earthquakes yet to
come.Even the current nation of Israel,
did not come into existence until 1948, and yet that was not the last ingredient
before the Rapture and Tribulation are to occur.
God is still forming or
allowing to form, the many things that need to be in place before the Rapture
can occur.
People have to be born,
people have to die, people have to believe in Christ, people have to reject
Christ, nations have to be formed, political views have to come into existence,
technologies, laws, regulations, patterns for future legislation and so forth
all have to be arranged.
But at some point in
time, all will be ready, and then the Rapture will occur.
God does nothing haphazardly. Everything that God does in contained within
His plan.There is a schedule, there is
a timetable, there is a date certain already set, for
the Rapture.You and I just do not know
when that is.
All we can do is sit
back and observe human history unfolding right before our eyes. And because we are so far along within our
dispensation, we have the opportunity to see many things unfold at a somewhat
quicker pace, and compare them to the things that have already been revealed as
existing in the Tribulation.
For example, the
anti-Christ of the Tribulation will promote universal identification and
registration, for all economic activities.
When the Social Security system was put into place back in the 1930 s,
folks said that the end was then.Then
World War Two, then the nation of Israel was formed, the United Nations
followed the pattern of the League of Nations from the 1920 s. The world powers were formed with China,
Russia, the Arab States, and the US and Europe, representing the four world
powers.
But as you can see,
these things were only the placement of a few pieces of a puzzle which God is assembling,
and keeps assembling.
The current Health Care
legislation, though totally objectionable, is giving us a peek into where our
future is heading.And whether it occurs
now or not, it will occur sooner or later, because that is the course of human
history.A history not forced by God,
but chosen and orchestrated by man.And
one day, it will all be in place for the Rapture, and then man will have his
last attempt at controlling his own destiny, which will fail miserably.
And so what does all of
this have to do with our verse?
Rejection of God, means rejection of
truth.And that leads to ideas that will
not work.When mans ideas do not work,
then persecution and violence always follow.
Hitler murdered
millions. Stalin could not support his
population so he murdered millions.Mao, had weird ideas and took millions from the farms to build
cities, and that led to no crops, no food, and mass starvation because of a
man-made famine.
When the few try to
control the many, then disaster always results, and suffering is horrendous.
So read the last few
words in our verse, hostile to all men.
When truth is rejected,
then your fellow countrymen will turn on you.
They will turn on each other.
They will become snitches and spies.
An evil government cannot exist unless it knows who is for them and who
is against them, and then they get rid of their opponents. That is always inevitable. Sooner or later everyone becomes the enemy.
It all begins with arrogance
and then rejection of Christ, something that seemingly causes no harm to
anyone, but ends up causing great harm to all.
The subject of 1 Thessalonians
is waiting. Paul is
developing several concepts, so you and I can see the history which has already
been, and the history which is yet to come. And through our observations, we can know
that all we need do is be patient, and stick with our daily studies. God will take care of us and God will take care
of all of the details of history, on His timetable.
Mans plans will be
many, and they will be sophisticated, and they will all lead to suffering, but
Jesus Christ controls history, and your life is safe in His hands, not mans.
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