National Message
The National MessageIn regards to the national message of the Bible it is important to note that most of the content in the sacred writings deals with nations , tribes and groups of people and of their civil administration and of their destiny in God’s plan for the earth. About 75% of the Bible deals with the national message from God and about 25% deals with the personal message regarding personal salvation , manner of good living , etc. .
Pastor Stadsklev spent much of his efforts in conveying the national message. The main idea he conveyed was that our nation and all nations of Christendom are undergoing great trials and tribulations ( economically , socially , morally , politically , etc. ) that will develop into a great crisis wherein people will have to turn to God and God's law for the nation in order to regain the peace , blessings and favor of our heavenly Father. In this time of " Jacob's trouble " people will have to make a choice between the security offered by the governments of this world or the Word of God - Christ. Exactly how this choice will present itself was not known by Stadsklev nor is it known now by the editor.
This editor personally knows many seemingly good Christian people who look to the government for all of the answers to all of our problems. This , the editor believes , is a form of idol worship and a false step for Christian people. The Scriptures deal a lot with idol worship and yet we are clearly a people who do not have physical idols in our homes that we worship but rather there are now many idols or things of importance to us that have taken their place. We must remove such idols from our hearts and minds and worship the only true God of the universe.
Included in the national message is the answer to the question of who and where are the 10 lost tribes of Israel ? In regards to this topic it is best for one to keep in mind that the chosen people were " chosen to serve " . There is no indication they were chosen as a superior race or group of people.
Lastly , as you read through the pages of this website you will find Pastor Stadklev's interpretations of the parables from a national message point of view. They may seem strange , however , one may do well to look to the scriptural footing he backs his ideas up with as he unfolds his interpretations. The editor is conveying what Stadsklev wrote because he believes most of it is important to know and that it is applicable to the times and trials of this period in our history. The editor is not in agreement with all of Stadsklev's ideas and interpretations.
The national view of the physical reestablishment of the Kingdom of God on earth ( restored from the time of David ) was a focal point of the prophets and had become a way of thinking among the people such that when Christ came 2000 years ago the good people of the day were in anticipation of the Kingdom arriving. In Christs’ time all of the people were expecting the Kingdom of God to commence as is evidenced by many words and actions of the Apostles and others while Christ was with them and by the last words spoken by the Apostles to Christ in the book of Acts , where , in the first chapter , just prior to Christs' ascension into heaven , they asked : " Lord , wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? " . Christ's reply was " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put into his own power " . This indicated there would be a time and season for the restoration of the Kingdom , much as He taught us to pray in the Lord's prayer - " Thy kingdom come , thy will be done , on earth as it is in heaven " .
The Apostles were thinking literally and had trouble understanding the spiritual truths Christ was conveying to them. They were " Kingdom men " in that they were fully expecting the Kingdom to commence even after Christ had risen as noted in the first chapter of Acts. They thought, as we read in Luke 19:11 , “that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” They did not understand why Christ had to die ( He had to explain it to them after he rose - see Luke 24:25 ) nor did they understand there would be a long Church Age between their time and the Kingdom age. Ironically , today we have the opposite situation wherein Christians think in terms of spiritual truths and have cast aside the idea there will be a literal Kingdom of God on earth. God tends to be a step ahead of us - when we were expecting a Kingdom to commence he gave us spiritual truths to think about and develop for 2000 years . Today we see the good people of this world focused on spiritual truths when the time is ready for a literal Kingdom to commence.
Stadsklev's interpretation of the Kingdom parables and other writings address the coming in of the Kingdom and of the reign and rule of Christ on earth.