Posted on 07/14/2004 7:05:42 PM PDT by Polycarp IV
You'll note that any instances of a 'key' in the OT, it was VERY visible.
Just WHEN did JESUS ever display a 'key'?
Where (and who) would HE have GOTTEN it from?
When he gave the key to Peter?
Jesus didn't physically hand Peter a key, as far as we know. But the meaning of the key is clear, and would have been understood by the Apostles, who were Jews. The key of the earthly house of David was a type for the keys of the Kingdom (the eternal House of David).
Notice that in Isaiah 22 the position of the king's vice-regent is described as an office. And the events in Isaiah 22 describe Shebna being deposed from his office and being replaced by Eliakim. Similarly, Peter was succeeded by Linus
2 Chronicles 21:7
Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.1 Kings 2:1-41. When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
2. "I am about to go the way of all the earth," he said. "So be strong, show yourself a man,
3. and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go,
4. and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: `If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'1 Kings 8:22-26
22. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven
23. and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
24. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it--as it is today.
25. "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, `You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.'
26. And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.1 Kings 9:3-8
3. The LORD said to him: "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
4. "As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,
5. I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
6. "But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
7. then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
8. And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, `Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'2 Chronicles 7:11-22
11. When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace,
12. the LORD appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13. "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
14. if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
15. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
16. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
17. "As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,
18. I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, `You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel.'
19. "But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,
20. then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.
21. And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, `Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'
22. People will answer, `Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them--that is why he brought all this disaster on them.'"Psalms 89:18-3719. Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: "I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people.
20. I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
21. My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him.
22. No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him.
23. I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.
24. My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted.
25. I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.
26. He will call out to me, `You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'
27. I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.
29. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
30. "If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,
31. if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,
32. I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;
33. but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34. I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.
35. Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness-- and I will not lie to David--
36. that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37. it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." SelahJeremiah 33:17-18
17. For this is what the LORD says: `David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
18. nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.'"
8-)
No one's questioning that.
The point is, the position of the vice-regent of the House of David really existed. It's clearly mentioned in Isaiah 22. A real key of the House of David existed. It was held by the vice-regent of the House of David.
Scripture also tells us that Jesus holds the key of the House of David (Rev 3:7), and that He gave the keys of the vice-regency to Peter who, as the vice-regent of the eternal King of the House of David, acts as Christ's earthly representative in His absence, just as the vice-regent of the House of David did in the king's absence in the Old Testament.
This is all Scriptural.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.""But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
A very thorough and well written article! Excellent work!
Somebody needts to get to the writers and urge everyone to define homosexuality as strictly recreational sex.
The homosexuals are trying to define the issue of LAW as based on "love". (like a pedophile "loves")
The law has no provision of love.
As far as the law is concerned homosexual sex is ONLY abour recreational sex as NOTHING is produced from it.
Recreational sex is about the individual.
Marital sex is about society. Socety rewards the insitution not the individual.
Dear "Claim," I suggest you do not allow her to focus on the rights of adults in this argument. Keep the discussion focused on the rights and needs of children. Ask her if society has an obligation to protect and educate children. She will of course say yes.
Ask her: if she had been given a choice in childhood, would she have preferred to grow up with a father and mother, or two mothers, (or two fathers). She will probably qualify her answer by criticizing two-parent families, saying that two loving gays often make better parents than a male and female who treat the kids badly.
Don't let her distract you from your core point: Children BY NATURE (God-given) yearn for the love and guidance of a male and a female parent.
Children need to see father and mother interacting, negotiating, working out differences, loving and having fun together. That is very life-affirming for them. Children come into this world as the result of both their father and their mother. They need to learn about themselves by living with, learning from, and observing both their parents. It is a matter of self-identity.
Little boys need their fathers in their lives as well as their mothers. A little girl needs her mother as well as her dad. It is a crime to bring a child into this world just for your own selfish needs. Parents have to be grown up, capable of sacrificing themselves and their needs for the sake of their children. Sometimes fathers and mothers help each other grow up in the process of parenting the children.
In the truest sense, homosexuals are not good role models for children. They are not engaging in the healthiest type of relationship, they are not loving in a way that can expand the human race. Their love can never create new life. It is at root narcissistic and needy.
All Americans have the same rights: to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They are protected by the same Bill of Rights, the same Constitution. But homosexuals want SPECIAL rights. They want an unhealthy, non-normal union to be ENDORSED BY THE STATE. They are demanding to be "blessed" by the society in which they live. But homosexuals simply cannot have the blessing of society without taking away the blessing from the next generations.
We would be saying to all young people: Homosexuality is exactly equal to heterosexuality. That is a lie. It is harmful to children to lie to them.
Tell your niece that if she ever does get married and have kids, she will gain an entirely different perspective on this issue. To me, this issue revolves around the responsibility of adults to children.
The Constitution requires the federal government to provide for the general welfare. To allow homosexual "marriage" would be hurting the general welfare by creating confusing and misleading "equality." Children would be forced to learn in school that homosexuals are exactly equal to heterosexuals, that they themselves might grow up and want to marry someone of the same sex. They will be forced to believe that this is wonderful! Children will be force-fed this lie, and more and more confusion and mental illness will be the result.
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