There is so much in the old testament scriptures that are about now and the immediate future. God is good, the best wine is coming now. Light shall shine in gross darkness. Even in a time of Judgement the Lord is faithful and true, He is gathering His ‘saints‘ (Chasdi, חֲסִידָי) together.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above,
and to the earth,
that he may judge his people.
5 Gather my saints <חֲסִידָי> together unto me;
those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice<זָֽבַח>.
Psalms 50:4-5
Notice that the Lord qualifies who his ‘saints‘ (chasdi, חֲסִידָי) are, they are those that have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. What is the sacrifice that they bring? I think it is spiritual and is the fulfilment of the sacrificial system in Leviticus which is but a shadow of the spiritual sacrifice.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2
So as a principle we can see that the Lord’s saints that are gathered have made a covenant by sacrifice. And that sacrifice is themselves. They have put into practice what Paul instructs us to do in Romans, they die to self. And that self denial can ultimately lead to death in resisting sin. This is strong meat indeed.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Hebrews 12:4
There is a cost involved in getting close to our Lord.
26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26-27
Thus discipleship is personally costly. How far do we dare to go? There are many believers in Yeshua. But Yeshua has an elect group that go further. They take up their cross and follow Him more than others it would appear from scripture. Like Joseph they are not chosen for nothing. It is my belief that they are tested like Joseph. They go deeper, they go lower in order to go higher.
The 144,000 disciples of Yeshua will soon be sealed.
This is an excerpt from my brother Rory’s blog “10 Lost Tribes” from Australia.
