In other words, "open home," "personalism,"
"extended family,"Clicking on any of these archetypes will begin
a chain of links which flesh out each theme, showing the "Vine
& Fig Tree" vision for life in Christ's Kingdom.
But don't take our words for it. Another way to look at this passage is to
examine Micah's prophecy word-by-word. It's very revealing. It's part of
"A Vine & Fig
Tree FAQ."
In 100 words or less, Micah's prophecy
teaches us about:
|
1. The Kingdom: Christ established it
at His First Advent. |
|
2. Catholicism: He promises that it
will spread across the globe, and will be universalistic,
including all nations, all peoples, all races. |
|
3. God's Law: This global spread of
Christ's reign will be in terms of obedience to Biblical
Law, which is Christ's Standard of Love, Justice, and Holiness. |
|
4. Peace: Biblical Law teaches
attitudes of virtue and service; when mature, these qualities
beat "swords into plowshares." |
|
5. Family: Rightly related
to those who gave us birth. Rebellion against the natural authority
of parents and elders gives rise to tyrannical,
"paternalistic" institutions. We reverse this trend. |
|
6. Garden-Land: Militaristic
industrialism is then replaced with contentment and a harmonious
relationship with the land. |
|
7. Community: Christians do not
practice "rugged individualism." The "nuclear
family" is culturally sub-Biblical. Living in extended-family
communities, Christians exercise dominion and resist the pressure of
worldly peers spouting the myths of the pre-Christian
"principalities and powers." |
Let us take apart Micah's prophecy theme-by-theme. We will see the overall
theme of global-human-Divine Reconciliation emerge.
Stated in broad propositions, Micah's
prophecy teaches us about:
1. The Kingdom:
Christ established it at His First Advent.
Micah says man was created in a Garden, "the Mountain of the Lord."
We rejected God's Providence because we wanted to "be as gods"
(Genesis 3:5). In our poverty, we sold ourselves to the demonic slave-traders
of the polis.
Jesus paid the price necessary to "redeem" us (buy us back) from the
slave-traders. Satan has been
bound. By destroying this slavery, Christ established His Kingdom. If we
accept His gentle yoke, we escape the harsh taskmaster of addiction to sin.
Christ's plan is not to "rapture" His people, but to empower them to
"overcome" sin and the demonic State. He is not "coming
soon" to establish an Empire in Jerusalem.
Churches preach defeat, slavery, impotence, and
self-centeredness. "Shepherds" paralyze and castrate "the
sheep." Liturgy and rituals replace dominion. Spontaneous obedience to
the Blueprints of Life is muzzled by "doctrinal" diversions.
Politicians legislate dependence and serfdom.
Flag-waving replaces dominion, vengeance replaces mercy and "voting"
soothes the conscience.
The Media
tempts us to self-worship. Meditation
on God's Law is crowded out by "entertainment." Mousketeers
graduate to cocaine.
Yet whenever the Gospel
has been believed and fleshed-out, culture has blossomed. Science, the arts,
schools, hospitals, "justice, mercy and faith," are the products of
Christ's Kingdom.
Christ has established His
Kingdom. Find out more.
2. Postmillennialism: It is a global
Kingdom; a New Earth.
Jesus promises that His Kingdom will spread
across the globe, and will be global, or universalistic, including all
nations, all peoples, all races. Though the "dominant culture" only
reluctantly admits it, Christianity has leavened the loaf, and the dough is
rising. "The earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
(Isaiah 11:9)
Churches
teach that everything is getting "worse and worse." Reforming lives
and nations is thought to hinder the "return of Christ."
Sectarianism and ecclesiocentrism is their sorry substitute for a
Christianized Earth.
Bureaucrats
stalk the borders to keep "illegals" out. "My country right or
wrong."
Christ's Kingdom will grow to
cover the planet. Find out more.
3. Theonomy: Man's law will be
replaced by God's Law.
This global spread of Christ's reign will be
in terms of obedience to Biblical Law, which is Christ's Standard of Love,
Justice, and Holiness. We do not adjust our interpretation of the Bible to fit
our culture; we reconstruct our culture according to the Blueprints of the
Bible.
Churches
teach that "we are under grace, not law." They still enforce their
own laws and traditions, but not God's. The rates for shoplifting, perjury,
adultery, divorce, and abortion are as high in churches as among
non-Christians. Governments seize billions, murder millions, destroy
continents; churches are silent.
Judges
assert that law and justice are "culturally relative." All cultures
are equal — except Christian culture, which is "oppressive." It
becomes politically incorrect to condemn massive human-rights violations in
so-called "left-wing" dictatorships.
Biblical Law will reconstruct all human society. Find out more.
4. Peace: "Swords into
Plowshares."
Biblical Law teaches attitudes of virtue,
reconciliation, and service; when mature, these qualities beat
"swords into plowshares," disarming the heart of the individual and
the polis.
Decentralization replaces institutionalization.
Churches support wars, bless bombs, cheer
executions. When institutionalized violence is approved by the pulpit, it is
practiced by the people.
Organized
government has murdered an average of 10,000 people per day
throughout the 20th century. More killings are planned. Copy-cat street gangs
protect their "turf."
Non-violent
Christians follow the Prince of Peace.
Find out more.
5. The Family: Home of God's
global Shalom
The Family is the root
and center of Kingdom growth -- overthrowing the violence of the State,
abstaining from the sycophancy of the Church. Vine
& Fig Tree means a return to Biblical Patriarchy
-- and then new growth in terms of this family-centered paradigm.
When families begin exercising independent dominion, the
"shepherds" question their loyalty to the church.
Inquisitions keep would-be patriarchs docile and "submissive."
Leviathan is at war with Jefferson's "yeoman
farmer." Free men of independent creativity and political skepticism have
been replaced by consumer zombies easily managed by the State.
The Christian Family will abolish the Church-State hybrid. Find
out more.
When families put Biblical Law into
practice, militaristic industrialism is replaced with contentment and a
harmonious relationship with the land.
When
Christians attempt to live debt-free, church finance boards
call them "unrealistic" and "impractical." Industrialist
peonage is nurtured.
The Federal
Reserve Board rewards debt, impersonalism, and cut-throat
competition.
Ecological destruction is a
result of polluted hearts.
Christian
Patriarchy will restore Edenic conditions world-wide. Find out
more.
Just as we were adopted into the Family of
God, Christians extend their families, bringing in the solitary and abandoned.
Christians do not practice "rugged individualism." The "nuclear
family" is culturally sub-Biblical. Living in extended-family
communities, Christians exercise dominion and resist the pressure of worldly
peers who spout the myths of the pre-Christian "principalities and
powers."
Modernist church
hierarchies pressure Christians who question birth control, HMO
births, mass-schooling, and Secular Humanist degrees. Christians who practice
hospitality, sanctuary, and home Bible-study threaten ecclesiastical monopoly.
The nuclear-armed State is no less hostile to the
decentralized provision of social wholeness.
The Creeds say "I believe in the Community of Saints." Find
out more.
Let us take apart Micah's prophecy theme-by-theme. We
will see the overall theme of global-human-Divine Reconciliation
emerge.
And it will come about in
the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be
established as the chief of the mountains
And it will be raised above the
hills
Micah 4:1
Many Christians are not participating in
The
Christmas
Conspiracy because
they believe that they must wait for Christ to come to earth a second time.
The Old Testament Prophets foretold (and Christ's Apostles confirmed) that the
Messiah's Kingdom would be established when the following had taken place:
- Satan is
bound and his power to deceive the nations curtailed (Revelation
20:1-3).
- The Eternal King
is enthroned upon the Throne of David (Psalms 2 and 110).
- Believers
are anointed as priests and kings to reign
and rule with the Messiah (Isaiah 61:6; 66:21; Revelation 5:10).
Christ accomplished all these things at His First
Advent.
The New Testament clearly states that Jesus lived, died, and
rose again in "the
last days" of the Old Covenant order. His last act under the Old
Covenant was the destruction of the Old "House
of the Lord" (Matthew 24) and the establishment of a new
House, a new Mountain (Daniel 2:35,44; John 4:21,23).
This is the
beginning of The Christmas
Conspiracy. NOW is the time to begin
fulfilling our mandate (Genesis 1:26-28) to exercise dominion under Christ.
The
Christmas
Conspiracy Extends
Christ's Kingdom
Explore
First Archetype: Victory
[Back to
Archetypes]
And it will come about in
the last days
That the mountain of the House of the LORD
Will be
established as the chief of the mountains
And the peoples will stream to
it.
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to
the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
Micah
4:2
We sometimes decide whether or not to follow Christ based on whether it's
popular. We don't want to be "different." We should realize that
what is important is the long-term, and in the long run, Vine
& Fig Tree Christianity will be "mainstream."
"Extremist fringe" today; dominant culture tomorrow.
Catholicism:
The entire planet — all races, all cultures, all languages — will be
governed by Christian principles.
"Roman Catholicism": A
Contradiction in Terms. Ecclesiocentrism: racism; statism.
Optimism:
The Gospel ("Good News") is predestined
to succeed.
What
is the Gospel? Is "Vine & Fig Tree"
a "new gospel"? NO! The word means "Good News" The Good
News is victory. "The Gospel" is the predestined success of
"
The Christmas
Conspiracy"
(Galatians 3:8).Postmillennialism or Apostasy? Why postpone
"the Rapture" by working for Global Reconciliation? Man's work of
reconstruction is backed by the Power/Promise of the Spirit.
The
Great Commission vs. the Wimp Commission
Hal
Lindsey: Passé Prophet of the Wimp Gospel
Appendix:
A Scripture Checklist of Conspiratorial Success
The
Christmas
Conspiracy is Rooted
in Sovereign Grace
Explore
Second Archetype: Catholicism
[Back
to Archetypes]
And many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the House of the God of Jacob,
That
He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths."
For
from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Micah
4:2
The whole Bible
-- including the Old Testament -- is God's Law-Word.
From
Moses to Malachi, God sets forth an unchanging standard of Justice,
Mercy, and Faith (Matthew 23:23). When faithfully taught and obeyed,
observance of the Law of God mends the torn fabric of life. Bringing our lives
under the total jurisdiction of Christ is the key to social renewal, not
reforming the lives of others through the impersonal violence of statist
bureaucratic regulation. Biblical Law is God's pattern for peace, justice, and
harmony.
Theonomy
vs. Autonomy
The Comprehensive Scope of God's Law: Every
Area of Life, Every Activity
Obedience in Life pleases God more than
Ritual and Sacrifices in
Church
A Slave's View of Law
and Politics
Legal
Obedience and the Gospel
Theonomy
in Christian Ethics
Liturgy vs.
Law
"Spirit" vs. Law
Law
or "Fruit of the Spirit"?
Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is
against such there is no law.
"Love" vs.
Law
The
Impossibility of "Legalism"
Living
Faith
The Origin
of Greasy Grace
- Getting in
Touch with Your Feelings
- Emotions in Psalm 119
Can you be a Christian if you don't "worship" God?
Can you
"worship" God if you don't worship
His Law?
The Gospel Message is a Word from God. Every
Word of God is Law.
The
Christmas
Conspiracy is
Grounded in God's Law
Explore
Third Archetype: Law
[Back to
Archetypes]
For from Zion will go forth
the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge
between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then
they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into
pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
And never
again will they train for war.
And each of them will sit under his
Vine
and under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid.
For
the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Micah 4:2-4
Christ is the Prince of Peace. His vassal-subjects must be committed to
Peace. The Prince of Peace commanded us to love our enemies. True Christians
are willing to follow Christ to the cross (Matthew 16:25; 1 Peter 2:21).
But
the religion of Secular Humanism (America's State religion) teaches vengeance.
Modern Man believes it's better to make someone else die for you than to give
your life for another. Entire populations are organized on the principle of institutionalized
vengeance. The
State was invented to replace Pax Christi with Pax
Lamech, Pax Nimrod, Pax Pharaoh, Pax Babylonia, Pax Romana, and Pax
Americana.
"The Christmas
Conspiracy" is a conspiracy to
crush the "New World Order" into powder (Daniel 2:44).
Biblical
Law teaches us to pray
and work for peace: personally, locally, globally. Obedience
to Biblical Law will eliminate "the State." Justice is
altruistic, not adversarial.
Jesus Christ was executed as a threat to
the "New World Order." His followers must be prepared to be punished
as "anarchists."
The
Chief End of Man: The Glory of God, not the Glory of the
"Fatherland"
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: War is the
Health of the State
Militaristic Industrialism or Decentralized
Harmony? Swords into Plowshares.
The
Christmas
Conspiracy is the
Discipling of the Nations
Explore
Fourth Archetype: Peace
[Back to
Archetypes]
For from Zion will go forth
the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge
between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
And
each of them will sit under his
Vine and under his fig tree,
With no
one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Micah
4:2-4
In the Garden of Eden there was the Family. There was no priesthood, no
State.
All human beings are created in families. Patriarchy
is an inescapable concept. If the Christian pater does not train his
family in the Ways of Peace, he will be oppressed by a "paternalistic"
State.
The Institutions of Church and State are unBiblical. They reflect
rebellion against God's Law.
The
whole history of man as recorded in the Bible is the history of sinful
rebellion against society as created in the Garden of Eden, and the
construction of institutions based on coercion and violence. It is the history
of Politics vs. Patriarchy.
Not Priesthood, nor Statecraft: The
Family is God's Central Institution.
Training Ground for Morality,
Forgiveness, Self-Discipline, Competence.
Obedience through the
Family eliminates
tyranny, protects property.
Institutions such as Church
and State were formed in rebellion, not faith.
The
Christmas
Conspiracy Is the
Product of the Home
Explore
Fifth Archetype: Family
[Back to
Archetypes]
And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the House
of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains
And it
will be raised above the hills
And each of them will sit under his
Vine
and under his fig tree,
With
no one to make them afraid.
For the LORD of hosts has spoken.
"The Mountain of the Lord" is a
reference to the Garden of Eden.
The original Garden had the following characteristics.
The Life of Man was characterized by the following:
In general, each of the characteristic Blessings of the Garden and of Man's
Life in the Garden are reversed as man rebels against the Lordship of the
Creator. We will soon post links to the anti-parallels:
Instead of water |
Thirst |
Instead of the Mountain
of the Lord |
a
desert Valley |
Instead of the Botanical
Garden |
a
Wilderness |
Instead of Precious
Stones |
Clay,
wood, stubble, asphalt |
Instead of God's
Presence |
Separation,
"Hell on earth," alienation |
The Life and Nature of Man are also ruined by Man's rebellion
Instead of Dominion Man |
Neanderthal
Man |
Instead of a Garden |
"The
Concrete Jungle" |
Instead of Knowledge |
Mythology |
Instead of Harmony with
Nature |
Conflict,
Pollution |
Instead of Freedom to
Enjoy and Glorify God |
Economic
Scarcity |
Instead of The Family |
"Singles,"
"Careerism " |
Instead of Long
life-spans |
Sickness,
Death |
Instead of Unmolested
stewardship over land |
Serfdom,
slavery |
Instead of Stability |
Wandering,
Unpredictability |
The Christmas
Conspiracy is a conspiracy
to restore Edenic conditions throughout the globe.
"Deep" Creationism vs. Evolutionism /
"Deep Ecology" / Fascist
Genocide Dominion vs. Domination: The Model of Christ or The
Survival of the Fittest? Culture
vs. Commerce: Salvation by Grace or by the Machinations of Man? Agrarianism
vs. Industrialism: Covenant Blessings or Humanistic Idolatry? |
Vine & Fig Tree
is a movement
to restore Edenic conditions throughout the globe.The
Christmas
Conspiracy Embraces
All of Creation
Explore
Sixth Archetype: Garden
[Back to
Archetypes]
Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us,
we will walk
In the Name of the LORD our God
forever and ever.
"In
that day," says the LORD, "I will assemble the lame,
I will
gather the outcast And those whom I have afflicted;
I will make the lame
a remnant, And the outcast a strong nation;
So the LORD will reign over
them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
Please watch for coming links!
Patriarchal Communities: Beyond the "Nuclear Family" and
"The American Dream."
The Weak and Illegal: Standing Against
the Principalities and Powers
Perseverance of The Saints in Community
Encouragement
from Believers vs. Social Peer Pressure
Social Darwinism vs. Personalism
The
Christmas
Conspiracy Creates
Community
Explore
Seventh Archetype: Community
[Back to
Archetypes]
More Ideas
A Random Assortment
People
who refuse to be categorized as either "left" or "right"
click here
The Christmas
Conspiracy
No, this isn't "Let's stay inside and be glum because Christmas is 'a
pagan holiday.'"
This is "Followers of the Babe born in a feeding
trough are plotting to topple all Empires."
The Conspiracy is exposed here.
Have You Seen . . . ?
Answers to your questions!
A Vine & Fig
Tree FAQ
Previews of coming pages!
An Outline of Vine
& Fig Tree WWW Pages!
In our House of
Hospitality
In
the Courtroom
C.A.U.S.E.
On
Radio
Our Prayers
Ideas Need Friends
So writes the author of this webpage. My name is
Kevin Craig, and sometimes I feel like the loneliest guy in the world. I
was formally
excommunicated from the "Religious
Right," but as a Bible-believing Calvinist I am not comfortable with
the anti-"Religious Right," even though for the last 10 years the
"radical leftwing"
Catholic Worker movement
has been a large part of my life.
I do not wish to be anyone's leader.
I'm not trying to be "ordained" or "elected." I want to
join you and other kindred spirits in a life-long search for the Vine
& Fig Tree ideal I find in Micah's prophecy.
I have
this gut feeling that there are a lot of other people like me; people who are
terrified at the emerging secularist dictatorship ("The New World
Order"); but uncomfortable with the cold machismo of the militia-minded
"Reconstructionists" and the manipulative rituals of the churchmen.
If you find the "Vine & Fig Tree"
vision attractive, please write me: Kevin4VFT@aol.com.
Updated January 20, 1999
Vine & Fig Tree is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit educational and charitable organization.