Three Rescue Efforts

Biblically things are established by at least 2 or 3 witnesses (repeated 7x’s in scripture) and God has designed 3 major rescue efforts using willing, smaller humanity groups, to be witnesses of His unfailing love to the larger, yet ignorant or still rebellious humanity.  Witnessing began after mankind’s turn from God recorded in Ge 3:1-6, as noted in 4:26 when men began “to call” (or “publicly declare”) “the name (character) of the Lord” .  Like a boy’s pond skipping stone, God made many end adjustment attempts to save each rescue effort as they individually faded.  Each rescue effort occupies an approximate one-third of this earth’s history.  God first encouraged family churches to keep alive and spread the knowledge of His character of unfailing love – to be His ambassadors.   Human families failed to enter, to represent and/or the more openly rebellious groups to respond to, His unfailing love.  So God rebooted with a worldwide deluge of water leaving now eight to restart the human race.  The family church  was given a second chance but soon nearly all humanity was again hellbent on a path away from God and His unfailing love.  God hit the reset button again, this time for a different witnessing approach (Ge 32:28; Ex 33:5) and began preparing the way through Abram>Abraham for a nation church to be His new ambassador to the rest of humanity.  The promise would be fulfilled through the descendants of his son of promise, Isaac. The new ambassadors were biblically and secularly called the Hebrew race Ge 14:13. Hebrew meaning “from beyond the river.”  In the culture, implying the Euphrates River – the fourth river coming-out of the garden of Eden (Ge 2:14) with its name meaning, “Good I declare,”  thus grace.  The people were, as a group given unmerited favor – grace – repeated undeserved favors and multiple opportunities, but because of their rebellious stiff-necks (Ex. 32:9; 33:5; 34:9; Ez.36:16-21 repeated 19 times) they were also given many episodes of redemptive discipline. The Hebrew race (because the majority returning from their God designed Babylonian redemptive discipline came from the tribe of Judah) became known as the Jewish nation. They also had become known by the name of victors/overcomers – Israelites [not the continuation of the deceased Israelite nation taken away by the Assyrians],  the divine title that was given to their progenitor, Isaac’s son Jacob  (Ge 32:28) by God.  A reality God had desired/envisioned each Hebrew/Jew to be. (Some define the new name from the first part of God’s renaming, ignoring the reality that “wrestling with God” started with Lucifer and subsequently has been integral in each our experiences. But God’s joy was that Jacob was a “victor, an overcomer”). Israelite/Israel were the terms God graciously used, and they euphemistically called themselves while they continued with stiff necks failing to be victors, to overcome, to enter onto, to represent and disseminate the deep everlasting love of the God who watched longingly for each human to return Lk. 15:11-32.  Eventually God through Daniel, gave the Hebrew race/Jewish nation/God’s desired Israelites, a final ultimatum to finish their rebellion and become His envisioned over-comers by AD 70  in Dan. 9:24.  A line drawn in time  (see The Anointed One). They would not and did not finish their rebellion, even with the Son of God in their midst, and then sealed their recalcitrant rebellious decision by hanging their God and everyone’s Creator God on a wooden cross. The Creator of all, who had come in a divine/human attempt to make salvation available to all.  Their God, who on the cross said,  “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing” Lk. 23:34.  This Son of God had prophetically informed them that their “house is left to you desolate” (“now I leave you to yourself” Goodsped) Mt. 23:38; Lk. 23:28-31.  So God then (Ex..33:5; Acts 1:8), through His Apostles set up a third opportunity for humans to represent and pass on the experiential knowledge of His unfailing love to their human brothers and sisters as a worldwide church composed of all nationalities.   Ambassadors now with no race or land definitions to hopefully minimize pride and exclusiveness.  Christ warned them of dangers to come from false prophets Mt. 24:24; 1 Jn.4:1, false messiahs Mt. 24:24 and false teachers 2 Pe. 2:1.  But the larger part of the “Israel of promise” through Abraham (Gal. chapters 3,4), victors/over-comers through Jacob (Gen. 32:28), or the new “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) headed for, not the old, but the New Jerusalem ( Rev chapters 21,22) — like the God envisioned nation of over-comers at the foot of Mt Sinai when only one out of 12 tribes actually stepped out for the Lord Ex.32:26  —  did not take heed of the warnings.  Christ again described this history prophetically in the book of Revelation through/as the seven Churches of Asia Minor (Rev. chaps. 2,3), and again as false/deceitful horsemen taking the majority of the worldwide church/ Israel of God down the path from purity to death (Rev. 6:1-8), eventually becoming what the Bible describes as the beast, the little horn speaking blasphemy, a harlot, and a part of spiritual Babylon (spiritual confusion/chaos).  So God again attempted a series of reformation attempts within, (as He had with the family church via evangelism Gen 4:26 then with Noah inviting them to repent before a worldwide flood, and then the Jewish nation via prophets and redemptive disciplines) to turn at least some of the worldwide church people back to purity and ambassadors of His love.  But though some progress was made with each attempt, it would stop with the reformer and begin a retrograde.  So God kept touching the reset button like the final skips of a boy’s stone, eventually putting together a people movement as an attempted means to pull together the remaining scattered and incomplete truths to their rightful position in a continuing attempt to more fully reveal of His faithful love to the greater of humanity Rev. 14:6-12.  This now multi-denomination track record, though stellar, repeated many of the failures common of His previous human witness/ambassador groups as noted in Rev. chaps 2 & 3 – with especially current historical pertinent last church of 3: 14-21.  Witnesses in any of these above worldwide scenarios did not and do not equate with their future salvation, but to a calling, to a duty, and to blessings given for greater responsibilities, which brings to them a higher standard upon which they will be judged. God is still longing, calling, rejoicing over each one (Lk. 15:11-31) who chooses to become a true part of the Israel of God -victors/overcomers – as He envisioned and so desires each to be as repeated seven times in Revelation chapters 2 and 3  with “to him that overcomes….just as I overcame” Rev. 3:21.  He, as His own witness, is standing at each hearts door knocking Rev. 3:20.  Read and contemplate John chapter 17 verses 20-25.