by James W. Stivers, 2002 (from the old Grail Church archives)
Most people want to go to Heaven when they die. Me, too. I want to be with God. There is nothing wrong with that desire.
However, going to Heaven is not the goal of history. That’s not God’s plan. His plan is for Heaven to come to Earth. He does not want us to have to “go to Heaven” to be with Him. He wants to come to us.
Consider the scene in the final chapters of Revelation: the New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven, and “God dwells with men”. Jesus said for us to pray, not that we can go to Heaven when we die, but that His “kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
That is what the quest for the Millennium is all about.[1] Theologians differ pointedly over how and when the Millennium will come. But they are all agreed that it refers to a future time of Paradise on Earth – a time of healing, restoration, peace, and joy.
Many theologians believe that the Millennium can only come if there is a physical return of Jesus Christ to Earth. That may be. But there are others who believe that the Atonement of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are all that is necessary to achieve it. They say that if we have the eyes of faith, as did Stephen the first Christian martyr, we can see Jesus on His heavenly Throne right now (Acts 7:55-56).
We believe that Jesus Christ was enthroned when He ascended into Heaven (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Daniel 7:13-14,25-27). We believe that He has united all things in Himself, that the Kingdom has come and that He rules the earth today (Psalm 2; Ephesians 1:18-23). We are just too blind to see the signs of His Messianic rule.
Unfortunately, we are not enjoying the blessings of His reign. Why? It is because of our disobedience. We do not take seriously His Law. We refuse to believe that the Law He gave at Sinai can be a blueprint for a just society (Matthew 5:17-20; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Hebrews 9:13,19; 10:22).
We also have rebelled against those whom He has ordained to be the visible representatives of His Kingdom: His kinsmen according to the flesh.
In the ancient church, the Lord’s kinsmen were the descendants of David chosen to lead the Church after His Ascension. They were called the “Desposyni”. They were chosen for two reasons.
First, the Dominion Covenant was given to King David and his descendants (2 Samuel 7). It had been passed through Judah to David, then from David to Jesus. Jesus was the titular head of the House of David. It was His mission as the Messiah, aside from being the Savior of the world, to restore the House of David to its ruling mission in the world. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11:29).
Second, the Desposyni were chosen because they were the faithful. They followed Jesus and continue to follow Him. They are the fruitful vine (John 15; Romans 11:5).
That was why James, the brother of Jesus, was the first leader of the Church. And that was why in Acts 15 he quoted the prophet Amos to explain why the church doors had to be opened to the Gentiles. He said,
After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
Speaking prophetically, the Apostle Paul said that the consummation of history could not occur until the last bastion of rebellion had been subjugated: the unbelieving Jews. He said that would not occur until “the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25). Come into what? The Messianic Kingdom. Not just in a spiritual sense, but in a visible manifestation. This would “provoke them to jealousy” (Romans 11:11).
The House of David must be restored, both demographically and governmentally, to the world of nations. When that occurs, the blessings of Christ’s Millennium will begin to flow out of Zion and the Jews will be provoked to jealousy. They will repent and be converted and the earth will be restored to Paradise.
Currently, Christianity is led by many rival leaders. There is much pride and rebellion in the many sects of the Church. There is great division. Unity will come when the people turn their hearts to the Desposyni.
Where are the Desposyni today? There may be as many as one to two million of them in the world. Virtually none of them know who they are. The ones that do are usually not in the institutions of power or in the professions. If they are, they are probably in league with Satan and practice the black arts. Stay away from them. The faithful are probably small farmers, tradesmen, and poor people. Historically, that has been the case. They are the unpolished gems of whom “the world is not worthy” (Hebrews 11). They will not be restored to power until the apostasy of the Church has finished its course (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12; 1 John 4:1-3). [2] That awaits the destruction of the “spirit of lawlessness” and a restoration of Old Testament law as a guide to Christian ethics (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
[1] “Millennium” means “1000 years” and is mentioned in Revelation 20.
[2] The Jerusalem Church taught a different definition of the term “the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7) than what is popularized today in some Fundamentalist and Evangelical circles. Among the prophets, “the coming of the Lord” is often viewed as a “day of visitation”, a time of judgment and spiritual renewal that occurs in history, and only rarely does it refer to the day of Resurrection at the end of time (John 11; Acts 1:11). Paul’s reference to the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” refers to His first coming in the flesh (compare with 2 Peter 1:16-18), “and our gathering unto him” refers to the work of the Desposyni and their Apostolic messengers (2 Thessalonians 2:1; Matthew 24:31, i.e. the angels as human messengers aggelos, cf. Matthew 11:10;). These “liturgical comings” occur in the Church first, “until we reach the perfect man” (Ephesians 4:11-16). At such time, then the end will come (1 Corinthians 15:24).
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Author’s Update, 2022: The above article was written over twenty years ago and remains relevant as ever. It suggests a very different perspective of the role of the Church and how it is meant to choose its leadership. I invite you to read the short study on James, the Brother of Jesus, found on this website, then type in “desposyni” in the search function to find the many articles and Peshers which can be found here to learn more. God bless you.