Revelations of the Divine Plan of the Ages

The Early Church

Another misconception of God’s redemptive plan was developed in the first century and has remained up to the present.  While Jesus established the Church, He, himself, did not give specific instruction as to the organization or structure of the Church. It remained for the Apostles to teach the people and train leaders to carry on the work of the Church. The events of the Ephesian Church Age then set the stage for the events that occurred in the subsequent Church Ages. Jesus anticipated that the Church will experience extreme difficulty, for in response to Peter’s confession, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus said, “Thou art Peter, (a stone) and upon this rock (Peter’s confession) 1 will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:13-20) But the Church took off in the wrong direction. What went wrong in the early Church?

In his letter to the Ephesian Church Age, Jesus commended the early Christians in the first and second century for their work, patience, and resisting the teaching of false doctrine, and more importantly, condemnation of idolatry and immorality. But Jesus found one thing wrong. He said, “Thou hast left thy first love.” These words are tied directly to an understanding, or lack of understanding of the sacrificial system and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  Here, again, we need to be reminded that the eyes, ears, and hearts of people have been closed by God so that they cannot understand nor perceive the secret things of God.  Jesus made this clear when he said that “the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” has been given only to the elect. (Matthew 13:11-17)

There are four references in the book of Daniel which indicate that the Mosaic sacrificial system must come to an end:

Daniel 9:26b “The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end of it shall be with a flood.”

Daniel 9:27b “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.”

Daniel 11:31 “And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and they shall take away the daily sacrifice.”

Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolation set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”