In November 2016, I called a Church-wide fast for the growth of God’s Work to be held on Sunday, January 15, 2017. Those who had to work on that day fasted instead on January 14, the Sabbath day.

I have said before that I have never received a vision from God outside of the Bible, and I still say that. But on January 14, I did have some interesting words come to mind about several scriptures. It has happened before that words come into my mind and lead me to a scripture. But this time, I heard a strong voice. That had never happened to me before. This voice said, “There is a new stone of destiny and a new throne of David.”

The stone of destiny is the stone over which British monarchs are crowned. It is also known as the stone of Scone, or Jacob’s pillar stone (read its origin in Genesis 28:10-22). We have written a lot over the years about the importance of the British monarchy and how it is actually a continuation of the royal dynasty of biblical King David. God promised to preserve his line forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). The Bible shows that Jesus Christ will take over that governance Himself at His Second Coming! The stone has always been connected with the throne, so it is very important, biblically and historically. The stone is a symbol of David’s throne. It is also a symbol of our Rock—Jesus Christ—who is about to rule on that throne forever! You can read all about this in my book The Key of David.

God has shifted the symbol of David’s throne and that royal line to a new stone, and there are scriptures to prove it.

Remembering History

During my time in the Worldwide Church of God (wcg) ministry, I was living in Washington State, serving there and in Oregon for 10 years. Just about 40 miles south of where I lived was Umapine, Oregon.

This is the area where God had worked with Herbert W. Armstrong in the 1930s. Mr. Armstrong went on to found the wcg (first called the Radio Church of God). He was a prolific author, educator, philanthropist and minister. Mr. Armstrong taught the true causes of the problems facing humanity and their ultimate solutions. He published the Plain Truth magazine, read by 1 out of every 583 people on Earth; broadcast the World Tomorrow program from 382 television stations and 36 radio stations; and founded three campuses of the well-regarded Ambassador College.

When Herbert W. Armstrong died on January 16, 1986, he left behind a church with 725 congregations in 57 countries around the globe and a powerful work going out to the world. It had a weekly worldwide attendance of more than 130,000 people, and another 210,000 outside the Church donated money regularly. Serving these many members, prospective members and contributors were more than 1,200 ministers worldwide.

Then there were the many books and booklets—more than 40 million of which had been distributed over the course of Mr. Armstrong’s 50-year ministry. The most requested book was The United States and Britain in Prophecy—mailed to 6 million people. The truth in The United States and Britain in Prophecy is at the core of the key of David vision: the throne of David. His final and most important book, Mystery of the Ages, also makes plain the vital understanding relating to King David’s throne.

On December 7, 1989, John Amos and I were fired and disfellowshiped from the wcg, and the work of the Philadelphia Church of God essentially began. Understanding and remembering this history helps us see what God was doing over a sustained period of time.

Back to Umapine, Oregon. Mr. Armstrong wrote about Umapine in his autobiography. In this town, he and a minister from the Sardis era of God’s Church held evangelistic meetings. The meetings were a failure. But then that minister hastily left to tend to some business elsewhere. Only then, when Mr. Armstrong was left alone, did his efforts begin to produce fruit!

The Autobiography describes the building where the meetings were held, so I traveled to Umapine to see if I could find it. It is quite a small town—you can drive through it in about a minute and a half. I found the only building that could have been used for Mr. Armstrong’s meetings.

It was very inspiring for me to visit that place, which resonated with the fascinating history of God’s end-time apostle.

I mentioned this experience to David Todd, a man I had known in the wcg and who became a minister in the Philadelphia Church of God (pcg). “That kind of sparked my interest to investigate,” Mr. Todd later told the Philadelphia News. “I always wanted to see some of the sites Mr. Armstrong spoke of. I thought it would be inspiring.”

In August 1998, Mr. Todd moved to the eastern part of central Oregon, and he took the opportunity to begin searching for the sites described in the Autobiography. He enlisted the help of some local Church members, and they began looking for every site they possibly could. In every case—sometimes only after intensive investigation—they succeeded.

Their discoveries led to the development of a substantial and fascinating tour through Mr. Armstrong’s history in that area, covering the early beginnings of the Philadelphia era of God’s Church. We have members still giving these tours. There is so much that Mr. Armstrong did that is wonderfully inspiring to us today!

The Powerful Prayer Rock

In his autobiography, Mr. Armstrong described what he called a “prayer rock” that he used very early in his ministry, during his time in Oregon.

It was 1933, and Mr. Armstrong was holding a series of Bible lectures at the Firbutte school in Eugene, near the Fisher farm where he was staying. “To the rear of the Fisher farm home was a fair-sized hill. Running over this hilltop for exercise I discovered a rock about 14 inches high,” he wrote. “It was in a secluded spot. It came to mind how Jesus had dismissed the multitudes, and gone up into a mountain ‘apart’ to pray—alone with God. I dropped to my knees before this rock, which seemed just the right height to kneel before, and began praying earnestly for the success of the meetings. It became sort of a daily pilgrimage, during my stay at the Fishers’, to this, which became my ‘prayer rock.’ I’m sure that I drank in much energy, spiritual strength and inspiration at that prayer rock.”

Mr. Armstrong wrote that under the subhead “The START of the Present Work.”

Mr. Todd found the former Fisher farm. He walked over the whole area and examined it closely, and there was only one rock that could have been Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock. Remarkably, its dimensions were precisely as Mr. Armstrong had described.

In April 2002, Mr. Todd took me on a tour of the sites of Mr. Armstrong’s early days in the Work. When I saw the prayer rock, I said it was “the most inspiring rock I’ve ever seen, second only after the stone of Scone.”

We thought that the rock was something we ought to have. We were going to hold off getting it until we could do a little filming there. But Mr. Todd said that someone else was trying to get it. So we hurried along. We offered to purchase the rock, but the man who owned the property gave it to us free of charge, and he was happy to do so. We brought it to our headquarters campus in Edmond, Oklahoma, and put it on display.

God wanted us to have this rock. The Bible has many examples of God using stones for special purposes (e.g. Genesis 28:10-22; 31:45-52; Joshua 4:1-9; 8:30-32; 24:26-27). A stone is tangible. Here we have something that I think is supremely precious to God and the Philadelphia Church of God! I believe God gave it to us because we honor Mr. Armstrong and believe in what he did. It is meaningful to us because it is a tangible symbol of the infinitesimal beginning of the Work of God in our day—the greatest Work ever on Earth in terms of the impact and the number of people reached! Mr. Armstrong reached millions of people with God’s truth, and it started at this rock (sidebar: “Founded on a Rock,” page 6). For this reason, the prayer rock holds great significance to God’s people. It also seemed so unusual that Mr. Armstrong had accurately recorded such precise details about it, and that we were able to find it. Surely God had something important in mind.

There is a towering lesson here: If we are going to succeed spiritually, we must build on a foundation of prayer!

I now see that God was behind those events, and for a very important reason.

Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock has replaced the “stone of destiny.”

The date on which I came to recognize this is significant. It was yet another example of God making something momentous happen on or near January 16, the anniversary of Mr. Armstrong’s death in 1986. God is continually reminding us that we are continuing the work of Elijah. We have proved that Mr. Armstrong was the end-time type of the original Elijah. We must follow Mr. Armstrong’s example. The understanding that God has given me about this stone underlines this point emphatically!

Establishing God’s Throne

This new revelation about the prayer rock will have far-reaching consequences. It is a major step toward establishing the rule of God on Earth!

How?

Jesus Christ is about to return, and when He does, He will take His place on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:31-33). On that throne, He will rule and bring salvation to all humanity! We are living in the final phase of David’s throne just before Christ returns.

As I have said, the stone of destiny has always been associated with the throne. Coronations have always taken place in its presence. Read Chapter 6 of my book The Key of David to learn the history of that stone.

There are a couple of interesting Bible prophecies about that throne during the time immediately ahead of us—before Christ returns.

One was given by the Prophet Hosea: “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hosea 3:4). I have pointed to this verse for many years as a prophecy of Britain during the Great Tribulation, a short period of suffering that precedes the Second Coming (verse 5 shows that it is an end-time context). For example, I wrote in Chapter 7 of The Key of David about this verse:

This is describing a very tragic period—the Great Tribulation—almost upon us. It is a prophecy about Ephraim [Britain], Manasseh [the United States] and Judah [the Jewish state of Israel], when they no longer have a king or even a prince. Jeremiah wrote that David’s throne would never lack a man sitting on it [Jeremiah 33:17]—yet here it says that for a time, Israel will have no king or prince. How can you reconcile this apparent contradiction? We must remember that the very elect of spiritual Israel [the faithful Church of God] is being protected by God at this time.

Consider this as well: The word image in Hosea 3:4 refers to Jacob’s pillar stone—the stone Jacob called “God’s house” that stayed with Israel for generations, and that to this day resides in Great Britain. God revealed to Hosea that in this end time, Ephraim is going to lose that stone.

Where do you suppose that stone will be?

To answer this question, in the same chapter I tie in the Hosea 3 prophecy with the one given by the Prophet Isaiah: “And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness” (Isaiah 16:5).

This prophecy is in the context of God’s people being protected in a place of safety. Verse 1 speaks of a group of people (taught by God) sending a special tribute to the ruler of Sela, which means rocky fortress, the equivalent word in Greek being Petra. It is a time of turmoil in the Middle East, when the Jordanian people are trying to get away (verse 2; Moab refers to the modern-day country of Jordan). Verse 3 shows people dwelling in caves, probably in a place like Petra, Jordan. In verse 4, God tells Moab (the Jordanians) to protect His people, who have become “outcasts.” Why are they outcasts? Because people would rather hate God’s truth and the Ten Commandments than repent and save their nations! So they cast out the people who deliver God’s message to them! But God always protects those who do His Work.

It is there, in that place of protection, that God says “the throne”—speaking of David’s throne—will “be established”! In The Key of David, I explain:

That throne of David is in Britain today. For millennia, the kings and queens who have been crowned on that throne have done so over Jacob’s pillar stone, also called “the stone of destiny.”

How could that throne be established in the context of Isaiah 16? Only the stone of destiny could firmly establish the throne of David!

Is Isaiah 16 telling us that God will somehow give us that stone when God’s people go to the place of safety? After all, we are going to be sharing that throne with Christ in a matter of just a few years!

The stone of destiny is really the symbol of David’s throne—not the chair that sits in Westminster Abbey. … God said there would never lack a man to sit on that throne—and here He says the throne will be established in a temporary, Tribulation setting, with God’s loyal people dwelling in a rocky fortress!

Isaiah’s prophecy says the individual sitting on the throne at that time will be “seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” I wrote how this implies it will be occupied not by a member of Britain’s royal family, but by a Spirit-led member of God’s Church. I then pointed to the prophecy in Micah 2:13 referring to the leader of God’s Church as “their king.” “It shouldn’t be too upsetting to think of God calling a man in the Church a ‘king,’” I wrote. “After the 3½-year period of the Tribulation, every converted member in God’s Church will be a king and a priest forever!” (ibid). (We will discuss this prophecy in greater detail in the next chapter of this book.)

This is all spiritual understanding God gave us that we have had for many years. We must possess the throne of David in the place of safety, meaning we must also possess the stone that represents the throne. I encourage you to read Chapters 6 and 7 of The Key of David book to refresh your memory.

Now, this new revelation about the prayer rock brings these prophecies into sharper focus. I was wrong in thinking the way I did about us getting that stone. God had a better stone in mind—one superior to that original stone!

God is making this significant change for a good reason: We are ready to go to the place of safety, and we now have the new stone of destiny! This is much more practical than what we thought would have to happen. This significantly helps our job of preparing the way for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ!

A Purer Symbol

Hosea prophesied of a time when Britain would be “without a king, and without a prince … and without an image”—referring to the coronation stone. We are in that time now! Britain doesn’t possess the image—the stone—any longer. We in God’s Church now have an even better symbol of King David’s throne.

This is what God wants. I realize it is radical to say that there is a new stone of destiny. But it is also radical to say that God’s people will have the throne of David, and that is straight out of the Bible! And the stone is a symbol of the throne.

God used Mr. Armstrong to prepare the way for Christ’s Second Coming (e.g. Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). Mr. Armstrong also received the key of David vision (Revelation 3:7) and was a physical descendant of King David. It would be logical for Mr. Armstrong to have a personal connection with the rock that symbolizes the throne of David that Christ will rule from. Mr. Armstrong had a special calling, and you have to be impressed with all that he accomplished. God wants us to learn even more from what he did.

God used him to “restore all things”! (Matthew 17:10-11). What a monumental work! Mr. Armstrong did in God’s true Church what Christ is about to do in this world!

Jacob’s pillar stone ties back to Jacob when he was unconverted. God changed his name to Israel upon his conversion (Genesis 32:28). That stone has been witness to generations of coronations of unconverted men and women who have carried on the royal line of David. In the final phase of His Work in this end time, surely God wanted to have a different stone—a purer spiritual symbol found within God’s Church, where His people possess the Holy Spirit. This symbol embodies so much more. I believe that is why God made the change. God’s faithful people today are following through on what Mr. Armstrong did as he prepared the way for Christ’s Second Coming. We are raising up the ruins of his work and magnifying him and what God did through him.

God is certainly concerned about purity. As Mr. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages, when Jesus Christ came to Earth the first time, He “was born of the tribe of Judah, and it was necessary that He be of the original pure racial strain, even as Noah was.” As God prepares for Christ’s universe-shaking Second Coming, He is surely thinking about representing and preserving spiritual purity! God wants more purity there; and He achieves that with the prayer rock and all that it means.

My Messenger

God gave Mr. Armstrong the key of David to help him build the Philadelphia era of the Church (Revelation 3:7). This key unlocks the focus of God’s entire Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. It reveals to us all about how God is going to use the house of David—physically and spiritually—to establish God’s rule and offer salvation to all mankind! The key of David means everything to us!

It is also something that Satan passionately hates. It reminds him that his reign on Earth is almost over and that he will be cast into outer darkness forever. He has consistently and repeatedly worked to stop the key of David message.

Soon after Mr. Armstrong died, the people who took over the Church rejected the truth unlocked by that key in Mr. Armstrong’s book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Worldwide Church of God leadership slashed away 70 percent of that book. Then they lied about shelving the book for a short review process. Joseph Tkach Jr. said that the marvelous understanding in that book boils down to: “So what?”

“So what?” The key of David message is the only fundamental message that Christ gave to the last two eras of His Church! (Revelation 3:7). That is the message that Herbert W. Armstrong delivered to this world. The Philadelphia Church of God must deliver the same message. The United States and Britain in Prophecy is an indispensable part of this message!

These liars are in the thrall of the devil, who hates the throne of David and hates the rule of God and the law of God. Christ shed His blood for the sins of all mankind, including theirs, and they are throwing that away!

Satan stirred up antichrists, one man especially, within God’s own Church to destroy that epic vision for 95 percent of God’s people (1 John 2:19). We must understand Satan’s power. He turned our brothers and sisters—God’s Family—away from the marvelous Work of God built through Mr. Armstrong.

The prayer rock is a wonderful symbol of a man getting on his knees before the Father, then getting up and defending God, His law and His government. Mr. Armstrong was a great spiritual defender. His corrupt successors knew nothing compared to him, but they thought they were so intelligent and scholarly. God considers them fools.

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap” (Malachi 3:1-2). Christ’s return will be a fiery time for the rebels.

God makes a blanket statement here: “[H]e shall prepare the way before me.” Period! No caveats or qualifications. What an endorsement of this man! God made a covenant with Mr. Armstrong, and He knew that Mr. Armstrong would do the job. Did he ever! What a messenger!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful for God to trust absolutely that we will fulfill our purpose?

Mr. Armstrong’s life is one of the highlights in the history of man. God really was moved by how he delivered His message. He was moved by how he used the prayer rock to keep himself fervent and stirred to do God’s will! So now, Mr. Armstrong is going to be honored forever through the prayer rock!

Isn’t it wonderful that God will bless us so richly for being obedient and loyal to Him?

Mr. Armstrong prepared the way for Christ’s Second Coming. That means a lot. No matter whom he spoke to, at the Firbutte schoolhouse or in front of kings and dignitaries, he spoke about God’s law and way of life. He made mistakes as we all do, but he never stopped serving God.

It would make sense for the new stone of destiny to relate to Mr. Armstrong. This new stone is more appropriate for introducing the perfect Jesus Christ, who was crucified so we can be born as sons into God’s Family.

Christ is pleased with His messenger! How God is honoring Mr. Armstrong with this new stone of destiny!

God is also pleased with the spiritual “sons of Zadok” who, like Zadok the priest to King David anciently, remain loyal to God’s throne from beginning to end. He trusts His people to take care of the prayer rock—the new stone of destiny. This is a noble and worthy cause.

We recognize this reality, though the world does not. But many will come to see this truth while we are in the place of safety.

God has commanded us to raise the ruins. Now, I am a man with vanity and sins just like anyone else. If I ever begin to think that I can do my job without following Mr. Armstrong’s example, I will be falling into a fatal way of thinking! But I have realized that every time I honor Mr. Armstrong, God honors me. Isn’t that wonderful? This is God’s government. It is a wonderful truth that we all must learn deeply.

Near the end of his life, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “That restoration of God’s government is the one great purpose uppermost in God’s mind” (Plain Truth, July 1977). God wants to restore His government in our lives right now. And soon He will restore His government to the whole world.

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7).

That is what this is ultimately about. David’s throne will unite the world. God is going to bring all mankind, including those who are so rebellious today, to the point where they will bow down to Him—the Rock—and take a closer look at the love, the way, and the life of God! We must humble ourselves before God, and then take on anyone who challenges our Father, the Head of His Family! We have nothing to fear with God on our side.

Look at the history of what Mr. Armstrong was able to accomplish during the time that he prayed daily at the prayer rock.

To spread word about the upcoming public meetings, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Fisher walked and drove to all the homes within five or so miles, passing out flyers. That was just about the only way to draw people to the truth of God in those days. At the first meeting, 27 of 35 chairs were filled. The number dipped to 19 on the second night.

After the second meeting, though, attendance spiked because of what happened during the meeting. A man named Belshaw had made it his custom to heckle new speakers at the theological seminary on the nearby University of Oregon campus. Since he owned the most extensive theological library in the district, he considered himself a Bible scholar. His intent at those meetings hosted by Oregon theology students was to put them on the spot with a trick question. He figured that if he could trip them up, the audience would laugh and then wouldn’t attend any further meetings. He decided to try the same method on Mr. Armstrong at the Firbutte schoolhouse.

But Mr. Armstrong was seeking divine power at the prayer rock before these Bible meetings. His contact with God had prepared him for Mr. Belshaw’s challenge.

An Attack on the Law

“Have you been saved yet?” Mr. Belshaw asked.

“Jesus said, in Matthew 24:13, that he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved,” Mr. Armstrong replied. “And in the very next verse, Jesus also said that His gospel of the Kingdom—which is the rule of God—the keeping of His commandments—shall be preached in all the world as a witness. That is what I am doing here tonight. Why do you not obey the commandments, as Jesus said, Mr. Belshaw?” (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Chapter 29: “The Real Beginning of Present Work”). Mr. Armstrong was blunt and bold. His inspiration came from answered prayer.

Mr. Belshaw said he would keep the Ten Commandments if he could see any love in them.

“Then you must be spiritually blind,” Mr. Armstrong responded. “The Ten Commandments are merely the 10 points of the great law of love. The first four tell you how to love God; the last six how to love thy neighbor. The Bible says love is the fulfilling of the law. The commandments came from God, and God is love. He gave the commandments. Do you think God ever did anything that was not done in love?”

The people at this tiny schoolhouse must have been astonished! These were fireworks like they had never seen before. Mr. Armstrong had come ready to take on anyone who dared try to make God and the law look bad!

Nearly every critic of Mr. Armstrong presented him with challenging questions about the law. Mr. Belshaw’s behavior was human nature in action. Human nature hates God’s law!

When members begin to drift spiritually and read the wrong meaning into scriptures, it almost always starts as a problem with the law. If we let down and get away from our prayer rock, that is so often where our perspective gets off track. Mr. Armstrong learned that lesson and taught it to us.

How protective of God’s law are you? Do you take a stand for the God of love and His law of love?

What an example Mr. Armstrong set. Here he was, talking to a tiny group of people—as yet, making no impact on the world. What difference did it make whether he went to his prayer rock? At first glance, you might say not much at all; it was only directly impacting those few people. But God used, and will use, Mr. Armstrong to teach the whole world about the law and government of God! Mr. Armstrong went on from this small start to make a worldwide impact!

Mr. Belshaw couldn’t answer Mr. Armstrong’s rebuke. Word spread of the confrontation, and attendance at the Bible meetings grew to as many as 64—29 of those people had to stand.

Defending the Sabbath

At another of these Bible meetings, Mr. Armstrong invited a young visiting minister to give the opening prayer. Like Mr. Belshaw, this minister also fought against God’s law. He knew that Mr. Armstrong planned to speak about the Sabbath, so he used his prayer to try to discredit the entire lecture.

“I thank thee, O Lord, that we have a Christ to worship, and not a day!” the minister prayed. “Help us, O Lord, to preach Christ, and Him crucified—not about days and laws. Help us to be like the Apostle Paul, who said, ‘I am determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.’”

While this rebellious minister prayed, Mr. Armstrong prayed silently and earnestly for God to provide the answer. God gave him the right words to say.

“I am glad to know that Mr. … (I don’t remember his name) says he is determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, for I, too, am of the same determination. I am going to preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified tonight! But to do that, one must first know why Jesus Christ had to be crucified!

“I have just received a letter from my wife in Salem,” I continued. “She wrote me that our elder little son, Richard David, 5 years old, has just preached his first sermon. He, too, preached Christ crucified. He and another little boy were playing by the side of our house. The window was open, and my wife overheard the conversation. The other little boy had been using a lot of slang. Our Dicky was exasperated. He picked up two sticks, crossing the longer with the shorter one.

“‘Now you look here, Donald,’ said Dicky with flashing indignation. ‘Do you know what this is?’

“‘No,’ answered Donald.

“‘Well, this here is a cross. And they had to put Jesus Christ up on a cross, and drive nails through His hands and His feet, and nail Him to that cross so He would die, just because you have been saying gosh and darn and gee-whiz! Don’t you say those words any more!’

“And I wonder,” I continued, “if people realize that sin is the transgression of God’s law—and that Jesus Christ was crucified because you people have been transgressing His holy Sabbath! Don’t you profane what is holy to God any more! And now I propose to preach to you Christ crucified tonight—and why He was crucified!” (ibid).

The young minister stormed out of the schoolhouse, furious and embarrassed, as the audience laughed at him. All he had done was provide Mr. Armstrong with the best possible introduction for his sermon.

Mr. Belshaw’s Last Stand

Mr. Belshaw wasn’t done with Mr. Armstrong just yet. He made a comeback—his last stand. By this time, the Firbutte schoolhouse meetings had concluded, and Mr. Armstrong was holding meetings three times a week at a schoolhouse four miles to the west.

Mr. Belshaw waited until the end of Mr. Armstrong’s sermon and then loudly questioned him about the Sabbath. Mr. Armstrong was not surprised like he had been before. He smiled confidently, knowing that God would provide the correct answer.

“If it is binding on us, then it was necessary for Paul to teach them to keep it. Now can you show me any scripture where the Apostle Paul ever taught or commanded the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath?” He felt he had delivered a telling blow—unanswerable, that would finally discredit me and what I preached once and for all! He was shocked at my answer.

“Yes sir, Mr. Belshaw!” I answered without any hesitation. “I certainly can! But before I do, I will now ask you a question: If I do show you where the Apostle Paul commanded the Gentile converts to keep the Sabbath, then that is irrefutable proof that you are commanded to keep it today. Now before I show you this command, I demand to know this: If I show where Paul commanded the Gentiles to keep the Sabbath, will you now give up your rebellion, and surrender to keep it also?” (ibid).

Mr. Belshaw would not surrender. He was exposed as a lawless rebel.

How does a person become so inspired and stirred like Mr. Armstrong, ready to take on any doubters? It all started at the prayer rock. He broke through to God. He wanted to represent God the right way, uphold His law, and help people understand that Christ died for our sins and was beaten savagely for our healing.

Mr. Armstrong was confronted with some of the biggest questions in the Bible and answered them beautifully. His history with the prayer rock is one of the most inspiring stories in this end time. Look at how God used that man because he went to the prayer rock for help and strength.

We have Mr. Armstrong’s formula. The work of the pcg is small. We are a little remnant, not a large corporation—but what we are capable of accomplishing is miraculous! Realize, though, that we have the impact we have only because we learned the lesson of the power of prayer from Mr. Armstrong!

God is not impressed by the person who says, “Well, what can I do? I’m just one person.” If you have a strong prayer life and you follow Mr. Armstrong’s formula, you can do amazing things! You can change the world! That is what God wants all of us to learn. We are here to teach all mankind about how to build a relationship with God!

In Jeremiah 33:17-18, God promised that there would always be someone sitting on the throne of David, and that there would always be a priest or minister doing the Work of God and teaching about that throne.

Look again at 2 Samuel 7:12-16. There God promised to establish David’s throne and said that Solomon would sit on it. He said, “If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him ….” God told David how He would sustain the king sitting on that throne: He would use men to chasten him and keep the throne with the line of David.

But what if that nation becomes so evil that God must destroy it and plant the throne in another nation? Anciently, God sent the Prophet Jeremiah to warn Judah of its destruction. That is a type of what is to happen to Britain, America and Judah in this end time. (Request a free copy of my booklet on Jeremiah for a full explanation.)

After ancient Judah was destroyed, Jeremiah was used by God to overturn the throne of David (and take the stone of destiny) to Ireland by taking a direct descendant of David, one of King Zedekiah’s daughters, the princess Tea-Tephi. David’s throne was later moved to Scotland and eventually to England where it has resided for several generations, again with those sitting on the throne being descendants of King David. In the coming Great Tribulation, however, God does not send a prophet to remove David’s throne from Britain. So what happens to that throne?

God has revealed the clear answer to this question.

Britain Loses Its King and its Stone

Think deeply about the prophecy in Hosea 3:4: “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image [the stone of destiny] ….” By the time this prophecy is fulfilled, Britain will have been conquered by the Holy Roman Empire. The British lose their king, and they lose their stone (a symbol of David’s throne), and there is no Jeremiah type to protect the stone and the king. God doesn’t have somebody there to tear down and destroy and transplant that throne.

What does this mean? God promised to continue that throne forever, yet here we see that suddenly there is no king and no stone, and the prophecy doesn’t even say where they are. During the Tribulation, the king will probably be dead! Jacob’s pillar stone will be lost; we don’t know what will happen to it but it could be destroyed.

If no one sits on David’s throne, God will have broken His promise!

The truth is, by the time this prophecy is fulfilled, the throne in Britain is no longer David’s throne!

Even before Britain loses its king and stone, the British throne is no longer the throne of David, or God’s promise is broken.

Hosea’s prophecy shows that before the Tribulation, God must have a new stone and a new king—a new throne. Otherwise He could not allow Hosea 3:4 to happen. How else can you explain what is going to happen in Britain?

God must no longer recognize the throne in Britain as David’s throne.

When does this happen, and where is David’s throne? This is the endless throne of our eternal Husband we are talking about!

We are living in a time of terrible corruption in the nations of Israel. With the royal family in Britain today, God cannot correct the situation by the stripes of men. He cannot set things right within Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah under present conditions. So there has to be another king—someone who is also a descendant of David.

Imagine someone during the Tribulation who had any understanding of God’s promise about the throne of David. If he looked around and saw no king and no stone—perhaps the king is dead, and he doesn’t know where the stone is, or maybe he saw it destroyed—what would he think? He would have to conclude that God’s promise was broken, unless he understood what I am explaining to you here.

But God is keeping His promise!

Hasting Righteousness

Look again at the prophecy in Isaiah 16 about the place of safety during the Great Tribulation. It says God’s people are outcasts, protected among the rocky crags and caves of a fortress in the wilderness (verses 1-4).

Verse 5 reads, “And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” In the place of safety, there is a “he”—a man—sitting on the throne of David—in a tabernacle, which is a temporary dwelling. This is a man who understands and believes the truth of God, who is “judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness,” really moving things along in establishing God’s righteousness.

Could this king be someone outside God’s one true Church? That would be impossible. This king is speaking the truth and hasting righteousness, so it must be a converted member in God’s Church.

God has to have a king in this Church who is a descendant of David. And we also must have a stone that is a symbol of David’s throne. God has given us a new stone. The stone is always associated with the throne—not only as a symbol of the throne, but also a symbol of our Rock, our Leader, Jesus Christ!

It was right around January 16, 2017, that God revealed the truth about the new stone of destiny.

And it was on this date that God moved the throne of David to this Church!

God is getting us ready to go to the place of safety where David’s throne is prophesied to be. There is a new king and a new stone. There has to be for this prophecy to be fulfilled! And this new king would have to be God’s apostle, at least for this time.

The prayer rock, the new symbol of David’s throne, also came to us through a descendant of David, Herbert W. Armstrong. And it all happened around January 16, 2017, the anniversary of his death.

God made all these things happen miraculously. This is all prophesied, and God has brought it about in a way that is truly mind-staggering when you think about it.

What Does This Mean for Us?

Even now, the United Kingdom no longer has the throne of David. And Jacob’s pillar stone is no longer relevant. There is a new stone.

Think about this: If Britain no longer has the throne of David, this strongly indicates that Britain is going to go down rapidly! How could it be otherwise? This is a great condemnation by God against that people! And, in a sense, against America as well.

Jeremiah was there when Judah was conquered by Babylon. He took Tea-Tephi—a princess of the house of David—and the coronation stone with him to Ireland and preserved David’s throne. Now, a modern Babylon is going to conquer Britain, America and Judah and destroy them—all together (Hosea 5:5)—and David’s throne is no longer in Britain. But God has preserved it another way.

What does all this mean for the Philadelphia Church of God? We must think about this deeply. What does this require of us?

This is some of the most amazing prophecy ever revealed to the pcg!

Here, in this Church, is the hope of the world—the only hope there is! Descendants of David have sat on this throne since it has been in existence. This fulfills God’s scepter promise to Judah (Genesis 49:10). But that promise is also about grace. This throne is the one Christ will sit on to direct everything in the universe under the guidance of God the Father! It will last for eternity and bring salvation to all mankind! And we have that throne right now!

David’s throne is alive and well—and being honored more than it has been in a long time!

There is a difference in how David’s throne will be handled from now on because it is in God’s own Church with His own very elect.

What a tremendous gift God has given His remnant Church! We are going to be kings and priests shortly, and already are kings and priests in embryo. This certainly ought to make our calling—the fact that we are going to be ruling on this throne with Christ forever—far more real to us! You really are kings and priests! (Revelation 1:6). You cannot sit on a throne if you’re not a king and a priest. God’s spiritual nation is going to be born overnight! (Isaiah 66:8). This will astound the world: People will suddenly see a whole family of kings and priests on David’s throne!

It is mind-boggling to even think about what God is doing. But this is real. This is what these revelations from God are all about. We have the throne in our possession now! God’s very elect now plays the key role with David’s throne. It is no longer in Britain—it is here in the pcg, which means we are now ready to go to a place of safety.

But before we go, we will be exposing some important facts and proclaiming a more powerful message than we have ever had before! How could it be otherwise? This honor is certain to come with additional responsibility. It dazzles your mind when you ponder it!

The Nobility of Israel in Adullam

The book of Micah has some key scriptures we can better understand in light of this new revelation.

This book covers a span of time from just before the Great Tribulation to a time far into the Millennium. It prophesies what will happen to God’s people during the Tribulation.

Micah 1:9 says, “For her wound is incurable ….” This is a time when the nations of Israel are sick with an incurable wound—a life-threatening condition that cannot be healed! Their only hope is to go through the holocaust of the Tribulation.

“Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee” (verse 16). Here is a descriptive warning of what is about to come upon national Israel. Think of the symbol of the United States, the bald eagle. God says the baldness of Israel is going to be enlarged as its people go into captivity! During the Great Tribulation, they will suffer as never before!

Now—what will happen to God’s people during that time? Verse 15 says, “Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.” This translation is a little awkward. The word Mareshah means summit, or chief place. And the New King James Version reads: “… The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.”

Where is Adullam? This was the cave to which David escaped when he was on the run from King Saul (1 Samuel 22:1). Remember, Micah is an end-time book. Here is a prophecy of a time when “the glory of Israel” will come to a cave, or rocky fortress. The Cambridge Bible Commentary says it is “the worthy part of Israel” that goes to Adullam. The Soncino commentary says, “[T]he phrase means that Israel’s nobility will take refuge in a cave” (emphasis mine throughout). Who are the nobility of israel? They are the people who have the throne of David!

They are spiritual Israel, or God’s true Church.

God considers these people worthy to take responsibility for David’s throne. That is a lot of responsibility! But these people are God’s nobility! What greater nobility is there than having David’s throne?

David escaped to the cave of Adullam along with several hundred people. Prophecy shows that, in the end time, God’s people will have to escape to a cave as well. They will go to a rocky fortress to escape the Holy Roman Empire, which has been chasing them for centuries! The Church had to flee into the wilderness for 1,260 years (Revelation 12:6—described prophetically as “days”). Now, we will have to flee for 1,260 days (verse 14). When we do, we will take with us the throne of David.

We must be prepared to go to the cave of Adullam, the place of safety. Make this a part of your thinking, because we live in the most urgent time ever! We must be willing to go anyplace and do anything God wants. We must get our minds conditioned to do that! He often offers opportunities or directs us to do things we don’t want to do, humanly. We all have to do things we would rather not do; that is good for us! We must have the mindset that whatever God says, we will do. That will bring the most wonderful reward you could possibly receive!

You can review the history: David and God’s people came to power shortly after he left that cave. God says that immediately after we leave this rocky fortress, the place of safety, we are going to come to power! We will rule the world with Jesus Christ on David’s throne!

Think of the honor God is giving us! What a wonderful blessing it is to have the great God give us the throne of David—which is really the throne of God—now! What a calling we have been given, and what a blessing to understand this and to know what it all means!

Micah 2:6 foretells of God’s lukewarm people trying to stop us from prophesying these things. They are not the nobility of Israel. They want to blend into the world and prophesy smooth things.

That is not the life God has called us to! Those who sit on David’s throne must obey the great God with all their being as David did, a man after God’s own heart! That is what God wants all of us to strive to be: men and women after God’s own heart!

God abundantly rewards such obedience. He promises that even in the very worst circumstances, He will protect us. As people attack us, they will fall, and we will be the only ones left standing.

‘Their King’

Isaiah 16:5 prophesies, “And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth ….” This is not just another throne—it is “the throne.” This is the only throne of God on Earth! The title king is not used in this context. But the Prophet Micah does use the word king—and it is the only place in the Bible that uses this term specifically in connection with the pcg.

“I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them” (Micah 2:12-13).

Verse 13 specifically links the “breaker” with the “king” who is leading God’s people in the place of safety. The king and the breaker are the same person.

Lange’s Commentary explains: “They break through, pass into the gate, and go out through it. And their king passes on before them, for no other than the king, out of the house of David, can be that ‘breaker’ ….” This is talking about the house of David and the throne of David. How could anyone in God’s Church become a king? There has to be something new to even make that happen.

This man breaks the way to the place of safety through a gate. There is a “gate” to the place of safety. God provides a strait and narrow gate that we must go through to get to the place of protection. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says this about the word gate: “The root idea is ‘to split open’”—like parting the waters. It says, “Two other words are sometimes translated ‘gate,’” and one of them “means ‘entrance,’ from the verb meaning ‘to open.’”

Somehow, God uses this king to be a breaker and to open the way—to protect the kings and priests of God’s very elect. There is structure and government here. We cannot do anything haphazardly. God lays it all out about how we will do it: He says a breaker will open the gate and lead His people to the place of safety. We must follow God’s structure if we are to go to a place of safety. Follow the system where Jesus Christ is the Head! If people don’t like God’s government, then they will not be there.

There is a way it must be done. After all, God is leading us! Christ—our Stone, our Rock—is “on the head of them”! It is not some man! What man could possibly do something like this? God Himself is at the head, leading the whole procession! God Himself brings about this new stone and new throne of David.

This prophecy is dated: It is specifically about going to the place of safety with the new throne of David. We had to break away from the lukewarm Worldwide Church of God. God is focusing our minds on the place of safety, and also on conducting ourselves like King David did.

This prophecy shows not just a leader going to that place, but all of God’s faithful people going there together. Daniel 12:8-11 paint a similar picture. We are all in this together; we leave together and are taken to a place of safety together. It says, “And from the time that the daily [the Work of God] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Subtracting the 1,260 days we are in the place of safety from this 1,290 days indicates we have 30 days to get to a place of safety, and all of us go together.

And notice verse 10: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.” God wants us to be purified. I think that has a lot to do with us having the new throne of David. God wants a purified throne and a pure people when He arrives!

Verses 12-13 talk about the wonderful ending of all this: It is leading right into the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when He receives the throne of David!

Amos 7 tells us when we go to the place of safety. There you see a priest, Amaziah, telling the king, Jeroboam, about God’s prophet. There is a confrontation, and the priest does the dirty work. He tells God’s prophet, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there” (verse 12). This is spiritual Antiochus—Satan incarnate!

All indications are that this is how the nobility of Israel will go: We will be outcasts, sent to a cave! But we have the very throne of David! We don’t look to things or to people—we look to God! It doesn’t matter where we go as long as God is directing us!

In its account of the history of Jeremiah rescuing Zedekiah’s daughter to transplant the throne, the Bible never mentions him taking a stone. We know he did because it is a symbol of David’s throne. Jeremiah had to have the coronation stone—after all, he was taking the throne of David to Ireland! Mr. Armstrong proved from Irish history that when Jeremiah came to Ireland with Tea-Tephi, he had an ark, David’s harp and a stone called lia-fail. But these last three items were not mentioned in the book of Jeremiah when it discusses the king’s daughters. The same is true in Micah: It mentions a king but doesn’t say anything about the stone. As with Jeremiah, that is covered elsewhere. But we need the symbol of David’s throne, and we need somebody to rule from it!

We must spiritually nurture the throne of God that is in our presence in every way we possibly can! God has given it to us to care for it and to be responsible for it.

Realize that God has made a major change! We are not an insignificant remnant. Soon we will be sitting on David’s throne with Christ! That is our future!

God has just said, I am going to lift you to a higher level. I want you to recognize that and take on this responsibility. He wouldn’t give it to us if He didn’t think we could do it! This should tell you a lot about who you are!

We cannot overemphasize how great this is—and how wonderful that God would honor us with this opportunity! Surely as a result, God will empower us more and more in a very short span of time.

‘Is There No King in You?’

Later in Micah there is another proof about the king: “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? …” (Micah 4:8-9). This is speaking to God’s lukewarm people. There is no king among them!

But realize: The Laodiceans do have access to the pcg—the door is open if they would just take the strait and narrow path, and enter the gate here. In the pcg, there is a king who is led and directed by God! That is what makes it all happen: The king is nothing apart from God. Not one of us is! But God is telling the Laodiceans that they have access to a king—if only they would accept it!

Sadly, 95 percent of God’s people want nothing to do with that. What is going to happen to those people? “[P]angs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion … and thou shalt go even to Babylon” (verses 9-10). They are going to experience a cauldron of nuclear fire! Why? Because they won’t follow God and the king.

It is not easy to follow God. But look at the calamity that will befall those who don’t want God to guide and direct them! God is telling them, If you won’t follow my government, you will not be going to Adullam, and you won’t be protected!

Again, in Micah 2:13, there is “their king … and the Lord on the head of them.” The Head of all this is Jesus Christ, not some man. But you don’t see Jesus Christ. You do see a king, or a human leader whom God is using, and you follow him as he follows Christ. The Laodiceans are not willing to follow, and they will suffer horrendously as a result.

When Mr. Armstrong was alive, many people in God’s Church looked to him—not God. Then, when he died, they didn’t know what to do. You had better be sure that doesn’t happen to you. You must not look to a man.

Remember, God’s ministers are “compassed with infirmity” (Hebrews 5:2)—and that includes evangelists and apostles. We struggle just like you. We are surrounded by problems and difficulties. We fight the same battles that you do. In that way, we are all in this together! You had better not look to one of us because we are not going to get you anyplace—unless we are following Christ, and then we’ll be a great help to you! But it is your responsibility to know if we get off track. If you look to a man, something could happen to him, and you could be misled. But if you look to Christ, and something happens to the man He is using, you just carry on following Christ! We all must learn this lesson deeply!

Three Overturns, Then ‘It Shall Be No More’

Another scripture we have used a lot in the past becomes far more clear in light of this new revelation about the throne.

Ezekiel 21:26-27 read, “Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”

This passage is about David’s throne and the stone. As Mr. Armstrong wrote in The United States and Britain in Prophecy, “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown” refers to King Zedekiah’s death in Babylon. “This shall not be the same” means a change was to take place. God abased the house of Judah and exalted the house of Israel by moving the throne to Israel. The first of the three overturns (“overturn, overturn, overturn”) occurred when Jeremiah brought the stone and throne to Ireland. Later it was moved to Scotland, then to England.

Then, God prophesies, it shall be no more, until Christ comes. What does this mean?

Notice: There is no fourth overturn. This is because, after the three overturns, there is something new! A new throne and a new stone! That is what happened on January 16, 2017. God nowhere says anything about a fourth overturn—because there isn’t one! He said, “It shall be no more.” The throne as it was will come to an end; that is what this means.

Regarding these three overturns, Barnes’ Commentary says, “‘It shall be no more,’ or ‘this also shall not be’; the present state of things shall not continue ….” That is exactly right! What else could it be? There will be three overturns, and it shall be no more. That throne is now irrelevant.

God expresses it this way because this is exactly how it will appear to anyone in the world. People see the three overturns—and then, when Christ returns, He has a throne! “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him” (verse 27). That is exactly what the people in this world will see because they don’t understand what God has done. They won’t see it because they are in a state of rebellion! How much do people even care about David’s throne anyway? Who pays attention to David’s throne?

But the very elect of God are honored by God to be given the throne of David and of God! God doesn’t call it a fourth overturn because it’s not a fourth overturn; it is a new throne.

There is a new throne of David, and there is a king to sit on this throne. We in God’s Church, who are kings and priests in embryo, have now been given the throne that Christ and His Bride will sit on for eternity! We are to be the stewards of this great possession—to watch over it and protect it and proclaim the meaning and the hope that it symbolizes! That hope resides with us in a special way. What a blessing!

God’s Judgment on Britain

God is not happy with those who have been sitting on David’s throne. In 1996, England returned the stone of Scone—then the symbol of the throne of David and Jesus Christ, our Rock—to Scotland. England was willing to give it up! In the Trumpet at that time, I wrote, “I believe this stone is the most precious physical thing on this Earth. I also believe that Queen Elizabeth just made the worst decision of her life! And the British government has made the biggest mistake in its history! [England’s] actions have scorned the omnipotent, living God. And there is going to be a terrifying penalty unless they repent” (August 1996).

Look at the prophecy in Jeremiah 22: “Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, And say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates” (verses 1-2).

Herbert W. Armstrong proclaimed his message through the reigns of three kings on David’s throne, before Queen Elizabeth ii was crowned in 1953. The greatest warning ever was delivered in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. This warning is directed to any king or queen who sits on David’s throne. But since January 16, 2017, David’s throne is no longer in Britain.

“Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house [of David] kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house [of David] shall become a desolation” (verses 3-5). This specific prophecy is coming upon Britain! God is telling them why He has taken the throne from them!

Notice what God says in verse 6: “For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.” This is a terrifying prophecy! The great cities of Ephraim will be emptied of their inhabitants!

“And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city [London], and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them” (verses 7-9). This is a physical nation; its people don’t have the New Covenant. This is talking about the covenant God made with David! The throne was located in London.

Britain has been cozying up to the Roman Catholic Church in recent years. The archbishop of Canterbury visited the Vatican and kissed the pope’s ring! He was putting the pope’s throne ahead of God’s throne! This had to intensify God’s wrath against Britain. This in spite of the fact that the Catholic Church has been fighting against the throne of David for generations! The Holy Roman Empire knows about the throne, and it has tried to destroy it throughout history!

Britain has forsaken God’s covenant with David! And God warns that its punishment for doing so will be unparalleled in the history of man!

In verses 18 and 19, God says of the British king, “He shall be buried with the burial of an ass.” The Holy Roman Empire won’t give this man any royal treatment!

Consider all the blessings God has given to Israel and Judah: the birthright blessings and the scepter blessing! Yet now, everything is falling apart. God is full of wrath because of their sins—to the point where He has now removed the throne of David and given it to His very elect.

Transition Period

The prophecy surrounding David’s throne has tremendous depth. It is about our birth into God’s Family. It all begins for us when we are born again into the Kingdom of God, ruling with Jesus Christ forever.

We are part of a transition movement into the very throne of God and Christ ruling the world. This is the first step into Christ’s headquarters’ rule. Having this throne ought to make the rule of Christ on David’s throne far more meaningful and real to us! We will be used to solve this world’s problems. We must think like God’s kings and priests! We have the throne that Christ is going to rule from—and we are in that transition period right now!

Look at the transition period in a physical birth. That process happens in three stages. According to BabyCenter, “The first stage begins when you start having contractions that cause progressive changes in your cervix and ends when your cervix is fully dilated. This stage is divided into two phases: First, early labor: Your cervix gradually effaces (thins out) and dilates (or opens). Active labor: Your cervix begins to dilate more rapidly and contractions are longer, stronger and closer together. People often refer to the last part of active labor as ‘transition.’”

It is called transition because it is right after this that the mother begins pushing, which is the second stage. It is the transition to the actual birth. The third stage, after the baby is born, is the delivery of the placenta.

We should think seriously about this because Mr. Armstrong said that physical birth is a direct type of our birth into the Kingdom of God! It happens the same way, but on a spiritual level (John 3:3-6).

The transition phase of the labor is the shortest, but the most intense part of labor (ibid). It is intense because of the major changes the body is undergoing within a short period in order to start the baby’s descent out of the womb. “Transition, unlike active labor, is the storm before the calm that is the pushing stage. It is by far the hardest part of birthing, but also the shortest” (givingbirthnaturally.com). I think that is a good description of how God is going to bring forth the birth of His firstfruits and the Philadelphians of this era.

“It is here that a mother’s focus might falter,” the report continues. “This is the stage where women may doubt their ability to birth the baby and request medications. They may worry about how long labor will last, and how much more intense it will become. Mothers become suggestible at this time and are the most vulnerable to accepting interventions they previously did not want.”

This transition isn’t precisely the same as what we are going through right now, but it certainly gives you a dramatic and mesmerizing picture. Remember what Mr. Armstrong said about that physical birth typing the spiritual.

Did our receiving David’s new throne start our descent into being born again?! Are we now in the pushing stage into our birth in God’s Kingdom?

Surely God would give us a dramatic sign of when this pushing stage begins! Keep this understanding in mind when you look at the terrible evil in this world and the trials coming upon God’s new royal Family.

We must see spiritually and realize we are in a transition stage! This is different from what it has ever been before. We have the very throne that Jesus Christ will sit on and rule this world from forever! We are transitioning right into becoming the Bride of Christ. At that time, we won’t have these physical problems anymore; we will be God beings!

What a wonderful, imaginative picture of our birth into the Family of God! We are here to be born into the Family of God and sit on David’s throne. From that throne, we are going to help Christ save humanity. What could be more wonderful? This vision will get us to the birth into eternal glory!

God Expects More

The throne of David is all about saving all of humanity! We have to keep this great hope in our minds! This is what we are here to do!

Do we realize who we are? Do we realize what God is using us to do? We have a wonderful message of hope, and God has now put the throne right in our midst! This is phenomenal and mind-staggering! God has upped the ante considerably. He expects more of us. He believes we can do more. He believes with everybody pitching in, we are going to excel in every way—but we are going to do it on our knees, as Mr. Armstrong did before the prayer rock. That is the only way!

Think about how honored we are to have this throne. God has truly honored us with what He has done! Surely that must mean a much more powerful message and more impact on this world than ever before.

We need to be thanking God and asking Him to help us rise to the level He wants, to publicize this message and usher in the throne of God to this world!

Habakkuk 2:11 says: “For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” Viewed physically, this verse does not make much sense. But it is one of the most fascinating verses in the book of Habakkuk. This verse has become one of the most meaningful verses in the Bible for the Philadelphia Church of God.

The “stone” is crying out! And there is an answer to that cry; the “beam” provides the answer.

This is a prophecy for the end time, our day today. God says, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak …” (verse 3). When God says “at the end it shall speak,” you had better take note! God is speaking specifically to the pcg in these verses. This is revelation even Mr. Armstrong did not understand. Why? Because it is reserved for the Laodicean era.

The Laodicean era is the last of the seven successive eras of the New Testament Church described prophetically in Revelation 1 through 3. The first of these Church eras was the first-century Ephesian era started by Jesus Christ when He was on Earth.

With Christ’s return close at hand, God continues to give His Church new revelation! He is constantly speaking to His people. And with this new revelation on the stone and throne, God is again speaking to us at the appointed time. And this revelation is a powerful vision that can keep us stirred and inspired!

Church Crisis: ‘How Long?’

The vision that begins the book of Habakkuk puts it right in the context of our day.

“The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!” (Habakkuk 1:1-2). What Habakkuk saw in this vision of the end time terrified him! He saw evil men taking over God’s Church and the Church being torn apart. He called it a burden! And it truly was a burden on God’s people when it was fulfilled. Who is behind this catastrophe? In a very direct and personal way, it is Satan the devil. After Herbert W. Armstrong died in 1986, members of God’s true Church watched as Satan and his henchmen simply tore the Church apart! Supposedly “righteous” men came along and decided it was their self-professed “Christian duty” to stop printing Mr. Armstrong’s writings.

This spiritual crisis grew so severe that 95 percent of God’s own people turned their backs on Him, and the Work was stopped! In a war, losing 95 percent of your soldiers is an unparalleled catastrophe!

This is the burden that Habakkuk saw! It was a real crisis. How could the Church survive?

It wouldn’t have unless Jesus Christ Himself had intervened!

During this crisis, Christ led a small group of people who were committed to God and His way of life to stand up and fight for the truth. The pcg entered a six-year court battle with the Worldwide Church of God to gain the copyright to Mystery of the Ages. This court battle did take a toll on God’s Work; we had to cut back on most of our television stations for the Key of David program. But we believed and had faith that God would pull us through.

In my Habakkuk booklet, I wrote this about our fight for survival: “What is God preparing us for? I believe we are in for a significant and dramatic change in this Church. We must have Mr. Armstrong’s written material to do God’s Work and deliver His message. I (along with God’s supporters) have to beseech God and ask, How long will this go on? I see now that the answer is right here in Habakkuk.”

If you have Christ at the head of your Church, you just have to be patient and trust Him. If you cry out to Him, you can be sure you will receive an answer. It might not come when you want it to, but you will get the answer at the appointed time.

“Why dost thou shew me iniquity [lawlessness], and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention” (verse 3). Strife comes from a word meaning a personal or legal contest—like a lawsuit. Contention also comes from a root meaning to strive as at law. Lawless people had decided it was their “Christian duty” to destroy everything that Mr. Armstrong wrote. During our six-year court battle, judgment was perverted and the courts were corrupt.

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says that “there are that raise up strife and contention” is speaking of an individual. A man inside God’s Church was raising up strife and contention. He was intent on destroying the truth. That is the mindset of those we fought in the court case: They had a passion to obliterate what God had established. Why? There is only one way to explain why someone would want to destroy God’s precious truth: Satan was leading these men! The leader was a man who was possessed, at times at least, trying to destroy everything he could and cast the truth to the ground!

“Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (verse 4). The wicked are surrounding the righteous. But the good news is there are a few thousand righteous people! These people continue to do God’s Work, even in the midst of an apostasy.

The Companion Bible says two men are discussed in this verse. One is lawless. He hates every scintilla of God’s law. This is the epitome of Satan’s character. It is amazing that a person can turn so completely against the great, loving God. All indications are that he is possessed by the devil! And he is leading what was God’s own Church!

I marvel at the fact that the prophecies for this end time specifically describe almost every significant individual, and you can know who they are! That is quite different from what has been the case for most of the history of God’s Church!

Lange’s Commentary says that during this court battle, justice was perverted. God let that happen because He wanted us to fight our way through the battle!

This crisis in God’s Church lasted for quite a while. No wonder Habakkuk cried out to God, asking when He would do something about it. Habakkuk nearly had a nervous breakdown! But God allowed these trying conditions to continue because He wanted to learn about His people. The son of perdition and those who went along with that lawless spirit did not love God’s truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10). God wanted to know how many really loved His truth!

Ask yourself personally: How much do you love God’s truth? This is what the six-year court battle was all about. It tested our love for God’s truth. Many of us had to endure severe tests. That is the way it is in God’s Church.

God knows that if we stay faithful to Him and have our heart in the Work, then we love His truth. This is the commitment God is looking for—even if only 5 percent of His people pass the test! God has chosen not to know, until He sees our fruits. He wants to know who loves His truth and who loves Him! He will figure out where each one stands on these two criteria before He accepts anyone into His Family!

Wonder, Wonder

“Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you” (Habakkuk 1:5). This is another fascinating verse in Habakkuk. The Hebrew words translated as “wonder marvelously” mean wonder, wonder—a double wonder. I previously thought it only applied to our court case victory. But God has revealed new truth about this verse, expanding the “wonder, wonder” exponentially!

That victory was a wonderful blessing from God, but there are two specific wonders discussed here. When you combine this verse with Habakkuk 2:11, you are talking about two of the greatest wonders discussed in the Bible!

God promised to revive the Work “in the midst of the years” (Habakkuk 3:2). During the court case crisis, God’s Work was revived because it had virtually come to a stop. We were unable to offer Mr. Armstrong’s material to the world. But God assured that He would revive the Work and that Mr. Armstrong’s literature would be sent out again.

God told us that we would win but we needed to look to Him and be empowered by His Spirit. We need the same attitude Habakkuk had, looking to God for correction (Habakkuk 2:1). We need that spirit of humility and a desire to change.

“Stand upon my watch” is military language. The court battle was a war. The fact that only 5 percent of God’s people are in the pcg today is a testament to this fact! We continue to fight even today; every day is a battle. However, when we have God on our side, we can take on anyone or anything and emerge victorious! That is how this Church survived that court battle, and that is how we continue to survive today.

Verse 2 shows the urgency in our message: The person who reads it must run! No one can afford to slouch or slack off.

When we entered the court case, some people left the pcg. They said we should not be fighting in court. Those individuals didn’t want to do battle for God! They wanted the easy life. But you won’t find the smooth life in God’s true Church. There won’t be a time when you can just sit back and relax. In this case, God’s truth was being cast to the ground! God’s people do not react in a laid-back way when that happens! God’s people will give their lives for the truth if they must!

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (verse 3). We didn’t understand these prophecies when the court case started. This verse says God would speak in this vision. If you love and are clinging to God’s truth, then God will speak to you. God did speak to us, and He continues to do so today! He has not ceased to give us new revelation.

We will learn more about these two wonders later in this chapter.

The Unjust One

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). This refers to two individuals: one who walks by faith; the other who is lifted up by the pride of the devil and actually fights against his Creator!

Verses 5-10 focus on this unjust man. “Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people” (verse 5). This is a man who is trying to take over everything! Satan is using him to commit a terrible evil. He tried to get all the members and prospective members from around the world on his side and, at the same time, destroy God’s truth.

Remember, the main focus of the book of Habakkuk is spiritual.

“Because the imagery is quite concrete,” the Anchor Bible says of verse 5, “it is death as a monster that opens its maw [mouth] …. The insatiable hunger of death is shown by the fact that its meal of the living never ends.” This is about a man possessed by the devil, who is devouring people’s eternal lives! This is how 50 percent of God’s people lose their salvation! A lot of passion, time and money are being devoted to destroying God’s truth.

Verse 6 tells us this man worked to increase “that which is not his!” When we went to court, we were fighting for something that is ours. God gave it to His very elect so we could deliver His message to the world! We had to fight for it! God wanted to see what kind of love we had for Mystery of the Ages, for Jesus Christ and for God the Father!

The same man who tried to suppress the truth in Mystery of the Ages also worked to destroy Mr. Armstrong’s second-most sought-after book, The United States and Britain in Prophecy. This book, more than any other, built the Worldwide Church of God. Notice what Joseph Tkach Jr. wrote in an August 10, 1992, personal correspondence letter: “From a plan of salvation view, in light of the New Testament and the centrality of Christ in God’s plan of salvation, as mentioned above, much of the relevance of our teaching on usbip is reduced to, so what?” You can sense his hostility. He’s condemning Mr. Armstrong, everything he taught about the United States and Britain, and the book that built the Work!

If you lose the history and identity of Israel, then you lose one third of the Bible. The United States and Britain in Prophecy gives us the wonderful vision of Christ ruling on the throne of David! That is the focus of the book—the most important part being that Jesus Christ is going to save all humanity that He can and rule forever!

Verse 9 says the man who stood up against God coveted a house, a royal house or palace, for himself. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines house: “a royal house, a palace.” Another definition is “the house of God, i.e. temple.” This is talking about God’s house, physically and spiritually. This man wanted the membership of God’s Church for his selfish gain!

“Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul” (verse 10). God holds this man guilty of cutting people off from Him. This is the antichrist discussed in 1 John 2:18. What’s happening here is a picture of horror! What is God going to do with somebody who would work so fervently to cut people off from their Creator?

But consider this: What this man did shows not only his satanic intent, but also the spiritual weakness of the people! They were not on fire for God’s truth. They deluded themselves into thinking that their half-hearted dedication was enough to save them. But when this evil man came along and cast the truth to the ground, he was able to cut off many people!

Before Mr. Armstrong’s death, wcg leaders acted as though they were committed to the Work. They appeared righteous. They talked so seriously about obeying God. They said so many heroic things. But when he died, their real fruits were revealed. In this crisis, their real character manifested itself. Overnight, these men turned away from all the truth that God had revealed to Mr. Armstrong, and they left God. It is amazing that they could stand up and preach for all those years, and then just get up and walk away—in some cases for nothing more than a paycheck!

Suddenly, we had a burden on our hands! Initially, I couldn’t believe God would let the Church fall apart like that, with 95 percent of God’s people turning away and most of the ministry abandoning everything they had taught!

Habakkuk 2:5-10 depict a spiritual crisis of tremendous magnitude! Many people thought, How could we turn away from something that we have been committed to for most of our lives? How can people, if they really believed what Mr. Armstrong taught, just turn away? Like Habakkuk, we wondered how long God would allow this to continue!

But all this leads right into the central scripture here—verse 11—where God provides the solution!

The Stone Cries; the Beam Answers!

“For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it” (Habakkuk 2:11).

As I wrote in my booklet on Habakkuk (request a free copy), the “stone” is God; He is “the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24). As our Leader and Head, Christ is crying out to the pcg. This Stone is crying out of the wall—right out of the house of God, spiritually and even physically to a certain degree today. Stone, wall, beam and timber are all materials in a physical house, but this is primarily a spiritual house.

The Hebrew word translated “beam” means to join together or connect; it is derived from a root that means “to fasten” and signifies “a connecting girder.” The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary says it is “the cross beam or the main rafter connecting the timbers in the wall.” The beam brings everything together. I wrote in Habakkuk that this beam is Mystery of the Ages. It brings things together because it is a synopsis of the Bible; it connects the whole Bible. We are together and we fight together because we have the most important book since the Bible! Mystery of the Ages connects everything—it is foundational to our understanding! It connects God’s people to each other, and connects us to the whole world, and connects the world to God!

God revealed the truth about Habakkuk 2:11 toward the end of 2002, just as our court case revolving around Mystery of the Ages was reaching its climax. Our court battle began over this book.

Yet I have come to realize that the “beam” in this verse is more than just Mystery of the Ages. That book is the centerpiece, but the “beam” includes everything that happened with that book—all the history of the court case, including all the other writings we obtained in it. The Stone was crying out, and we heard that cry in the midst of those crisis years. Mystery of the Ages and our copyright battle spells out the answer to this crisis!

It also includes the stunning truth revealed in Amos 9:1 that Jesus Christ made a personal appearance during the court battle! The “Stone” came in person; it was a real appearance; it was not just symbolic. While we were battling in court, God was working something out. He was there and He won that battle for us! (We will discuss this in the next chapter.)

When it says, “the beam … shall answer it,” we have to consider everything that happened during the court case. Not only did we obtain the copyright to Mystery of the Ages, but we also received new revelation and had a personal appearance from Jesus Christ Himself to the Church!

Why was it so important that Jesus Christ make a personal appearance when He did? He was concerned about the throne that He will rule on forever. This is something that we have to build our faith in. We didn’t see Him, but we saw what He did!

God, the Stone of Israel, is our Shepherd (again, see Genesis 49:24). He is looking after His sheep. God protects His people if we do our part. Jesus Christ and God the Father look after their sheep like no other shepherd.

Look at the chronology and you see another miraculous blessing that happened in the midst of the court case: We received possession of the new stone of destiny.

Another ‘Stone’ That Cries

Habakkuk 1:6-11 discuss the resurrected Holy Roman Empire conquering America and Britain. This united European power will conquer the people who have the old throne of David and the old stone of destiny (Hosea 3:4). The stone sitting in Scotland is about to be seized by the Holy Roman Empire, and there is no telling what will happen to it beyond that. But God has given a new stone to His Church!

Remember, in the August 1996 Trumpet magazine, I said I believed the stone of destiny in Scotland was “the most precious physical thing on this Earth. I also believe that Queen Elizabeth just made the worst decision of her life! And the British government has made the biggest mistake in its history! [England’s] actions have scorned the omnipotent living God. And there’s going to be a terrifying penalty unless they repent.” I wrote this just before we entered our court battle over Mystery of the Ages.

The stone of Scone was moved out of Westminster Abbey on November 15, 1996. It was officially placed in Edinburgh Castle on November 30. That was the same month my son contacted a copyright lawyer about the legalities of reprinting Mystery of the Ages.

What is more, the process of finding, acquiring and moving Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock from Oregon to our headquarters campus in Edmond, Oklahoma, took place during the court case years (sidebar: “Timeline of Events”).

Habakkuk says the stone was crying out! The revelation about the new stone of destiny brings another spiritual dimension to this prophecy.

You can certainly see that the Stone, referring to God, was crying out to His people as we fought in the court case. He was crying out for us to act and fight for His truth! But God is also revealing that while Christ was fighting the battle for us, the literal stone—the new stone of destiny, Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock—was “crying out.” We heard that cry and retrieved the stone. Though we didn’t know it then, Jesus Christ was about to establish a new throne and a new stone!

What a marvelous blessing! Even as we were fighting for Mystery of the Ages, we were being given a new stone of destiny, which led to us receiving a new throne to proclaim God’s wonderful truth to the world! When the stone was crying out of the wall, God was stirring us up and getting us ready to receive the throne of David!

Let me make it abundantly clear what the double wonder is. While we were fighting a six-year court case, the new stone—Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock—was “crying out.” The rock is Jesus Christ personified. He was crying out for us to retrieve this prayer rock, which was to become the new stone of destiny. This stone symbolizes the throne of David and God’s promise to him, which will climax at the Second Coming of Christ.

We also have a descendant of David to sit on that throne—which means that we have the new throne of David. Britain no longer has the throne of David.

The new stone, which symbolizes the new throne, is the first wonder of the double wonder.

The stone (also a symbol of Christ) cries out. Our court case victory gave us Mystery of the Ages, which answers the stone that cries out: This is the second wonder of the double wonder.

Mystery of the Ages is the synopsis of the entire Bible—the Old and New Testaments. It is the only book on Earth that explains the Bible. It has the answer to the stone’s cry. Mr. Armstrong believed Mystery of the Ages was the second-greatest book on Earth, second only to the Bible. We have the same belief.

Look again at Habakkuk 2:11: “For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” Habakkuk 2:11 is the single greatest new revelation that God has given the Philadelphia Church of God so far!

It is not just a wonder—it is a double wonder!

Let me make it very clear. First wonder: the new stone and the new throne of David that God has given us. Second wonder: In a six-year court battle, God gave us Mystery of the Ages, the only book on Earth that can answer the stone’s cry!

This is the double wonder that has occurred in this Church!

God is honoring His Church in a wonderful, wonderful way!

We heard the cry of the stone—Jesus Christ made sure of that. We knew we wanted Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock, a symbol of how Mr. Armstrong built the greatest work ever on Earth! He built it on prayer, going to God continually. He had a prayer rock, which is the focal point of all this symbolism. And now, God has shown us that this rock symbolizes King David’s new throne.

This stone is tied to the man who wrote Mystery of the Ages. God is putting a dramatic spotlight on the man who prepared the way for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. God is honoring this man and telling us to follow his example. There is no stone on Earth like the prayer rock used by God’s end-time type of Elijah. He prepared the way for the Second Coming, and we are here to raise up the ruins.

We received the prayer rock in August 2002. About five months later, the court case ended! In so many ways, this Work continues to revolve around Herbert W. Armstrong, the “signet” of Haggai 2:23. (Request my free booklet on Haggai to understand.) After all, it is his prayer rock, and he was the one God used to write Mystery of the Ages. God orchestrated these events to fulfill Habakkuk 2:11 precisely!

Now, at the time that the United States and Britain are about to die, we have the stone and government of God united. Now the throne is combined with God’s government and law just before the return of Christ! This is one of the greatest achievements that this Church will ever be involved in!

When you look at what happened in the court case revolving around Mystery of the Ages, it is amazing: We received the copyright to Mystery of the Ages and 18 other works, and we were given new revelation. We received all the answers from God! When you understand what God has done, you realize why it is a double wonder.

God has given us the stone—a symbol of the very Head of this Church, Jesus Christ—and Mystery of the Ages, which we must teach to the whole world. What gifts! The Stone cried out, and Mystery of the Ages answered. How these two go together! The Stone is our Head, and if you don’t have the understanding in Mystery of the Ages, you won’t hold on to the Head.

God orchestrated this transition to a new stone and a new throne. Study the chronology and you can see it building. It is deeply significant that the stone of Scone was separated from the throne of David the same month we prepared to print Mystery of the Ages. The prayer rock was acquired at the height of the court case, just before its dramatic conclusion—exactly when God was revealing the truth about the stone and beam in Habakkuk 2:11! The timing of all these events proves that there is an appointed time for everything! We didn’t understand it at the time, but in retrospect, we can see precisely what Christ was doing. Only God could put all this timing together!

Note: There are exactly 14 years from when the court case ended on January 16, 2003, to January 16, 2017, when God revealed that the prayer rock was the new stone of destiny! The number seven means completion or perfection. God tested our faith in the court case, and He gave us the new stone. Then He tested us 14 more years to see if we would really get out and do the Work. It’s as if God said, All right, I’ll give you all that wonderful truth from Mr. Armstrong—but I won’t reveal the truth about the new stone and throne until I see you have proclaimed that wonderful message, especially of Mystery of the Ages! He is testing us, and we have to qualify, step-by-step, to do what God wants us to do! Every one of us has an important part to play in God’s Work!

Isaiah 22: ‘A Glorious Throne’

During the reign of King Hezekiah, Shebna was a corrupt treasurer, similar to Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Christ. Judas was possessed by Satan. An end-time type of this man was directly and personally behind what happened to the Worldwide Church of God after Mr. Armstrong’s death. Satan the devil undoubtedly possessed and led this man, making him his puppet. Because of the wickedness this man committed against God’s Church, God passed a terrifying judgment on him (Isaiah 22:15-19). The end-time Shebna is carving out an eternal tomb for himself!

God stripped Shebna of the leadership of His Church and transferred it to Eliakim (verses 20-21). Regarding this new leader, God says: “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (verse 22). It is about the house of David—descendants of David himself! That truth is critical to our understanding.

God is opening powerful doors for His Work. He gave us victory in the court battle. He has given us David’s throne. He has given us many powerful tools to proclaim His truth around the world—most recently, an airplane! How God is blessing His people!

“And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house” (verse 23). The “father” here is Mr. Armstrong and what he was to all of us. Eliakim is the son of Hilkiah. Mr. Armstrong is in the picture the whole time. He prepared the way for us to have a new stone and a new throne.

But how is Eliakim going to be for a “glorious throne”? What “glorious throne” could this possibly be? This is David’s throne—a glorious throne!

“And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons” (verse 24). The “offspring” are the Laodiceans who repent and come back to God. The “issue” are the 50 percent who lose their eternal lives. The jfb says “issue” refers to “vile things … worthless shoots, excrement.” God says they are like worthless excrement! (Please read Chapter 6 of Isaiah’s End-Time Vision for more information.) If we reject God, then we are like spiritual dung! God will have nothing to do with us.

During the court battle, we made an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. The justices refused to even look at our case. But on the same day they rejected our appeal, God began to reveal Isaiah 22 to me. This was God’s way of saying, Don’t worry about the Supreme Court led by man; focus on the Supreme Court in heaven! I will give you the victory!

Isaiah 22 leads right into a prophecy about the place of safety: “In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it” (verse 25). This is referring to God’s Church going to the place of safety. It is clear here and throughout Scripture that when we go to the place of safety, we have the throne of David. We now have that throne. There is no more question as to how we will get it.

Textbook of the World Tomorrow

At the beginning of 2017, at the same time that God revealed the understanding of the new stone, I began a series on Mystery of the Ages for the Key of David television program. God had a strong hand in that. The prophecies in Habakkuk about the court case, the stone and the beam are all connected. God is reminding us who is the Head of this Church!

Habakkuk 2:17 is about the destruction of Lebanon, which was at one time the jewel of the Middle East. God is saying that the entire Earth will soon experience that kind of destruction! The Laodiceans will have to go through this because they are lukewarm; they aren’t excited or on fire for what God has given them. And some of them ended up fighting God and trying to destroy His truth!

But notice where this all leads: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (verse 14). We are getting ready to fill the Earth with the truth taught in Mystery of the Ages! After the Bible, this will be the main textbook in the World Tomorrow. It is the instruction manual God will use to teach all mankind! This will be the number one book that all mankind will study, after the Bible, because it decodes the Word of God! It contains the most wonderful message you could possibly hear. As God’s kings and priests in embryo (Revelation 1:6), we are preparing to teach the entire world from this book!

God has now given His future kings the very throne that Jesus Christ will return to. We are preserving it for the King of kings. God has given us a lot of proof of this truth. After all, we are kings and priests in embryo, just waiting to be born into the Family of God and rule with Christ as His Bride forever! It is logical that God’s kings and priests, who are about to sit on God’s throne, would possess the stone of destiny that represents the throne and have a man on this throne today!

Our calling has to be real to us. God wants to make this real to His people, and He is making it real! If we learn from the new revelation He is giving us, we will see that. And as we do, that will make us considerably more fervent in our prayers to God so we can emulate Mr. Armstrong’s marvelous example—and get ready for the return of Jesus Christ!

Timeline of Events

November 1996

Stone of Scone is separated from David’s throne and transferred to Scotland. The same month, the pcg begins plans to print Mystery of the Ages.

February 1997

The Worldwide Church of God files a federal lawsuit against the pcg for printing Mystery of the Ages.

August 1998

David Todd moves to Oregon and begins the hunt for sites related to Herbert W. Armstrong, including the prayer rock.

November 2000

Mr. Todd informs Mr. Flurry that he believes he has found Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock.

April 2002

Gerald Flurry visits Oregon and is shown the prayer rock. Later that month, Mr. Todd acquires the rock.

August 8, 2002

A member and son set out for Oregon to retrieve the rock and bring it to headquarters. Prayers are requested of those attending Philadelphia Youth Camp for its safe arrival.

August 15, 2002

Prayer rock arrives.

August 2002

Depositions reach their high point, which proves to be a real turning point in the court case.

September 2002

Royal Vision publishes “Habakkuk Reveals the Outcome of Our Court Case,” by Gerald Flurry, in which the meaning of the stone and beam was revealed.

January 16, 2003

(anniversary of Herbert W. Armstrong’s death)
Principal terms of the court case settlement are agreed upon; litigation ends.

Genesis 49:10 has more meaning than we previously thought. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet [meaning, this man would be a Jewish descendant], until Shiloh [Jesus Christ] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

The first verse of Genesis 49 establishes the chapter’s end-time prophetic context: It describes “that which shall befall you in the last days.” This is for the time of Mr. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Church of God today.

But if you understand it, you see that when we get to verse 10, it is just about the Philadelphia Church of God.

“Until Shiloh come” would be better translated “until He comes to whom it belongs.” The throne of David really belongs to Christ! It is Christ’s throne.

This scepter promise refers to the throne of David—it is about the salvation of all mankind. As Jesus said in John 4:22, salvation will come to everyone through the Jews—through the scepter. Christ is going to sit on that throne and rule this Earth. And when He does, everybody will gather to Him. He will save all people who want to be saved and are willing to submit to His rule!

Genesis 49:10 explicitly leads up to the return of Jesus Christ, so you know absolutely that its context is the last era of God’s Church. The scepter promise is for the very time frame we are in now! The time referred to as “until Shiloh come” is this present sliver of time leading right up to the Second Coming—the last era of God’s true Church.

Wouldn’t it be appropriate for God to receive the throne from a people who keep the law?

One Coin, Two Sides

The Ferrar Fenton translation of Genesis 49:10 is rather fascinating. It formats the text in a poetic style, as it was in the original. It reads:

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Or the Giver of Law from between his [Judah’s] feet,
Till peace arrive, and the nations obey him [Christ].

Notice: Where the King James Version says “nor,” Ferrar Fenton says “or.” That is a better translation: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Or the Giver of Law from between his feet ….” It’s like the two parts of that statement are interchangeable, like a coin with two sides. God is talking about the scepter and the law being together. The scepter is about God’s rulership. How do you rule? With the law of love! That is what this Church is all about.

Young’s Literal Translation, which is a literal Hebrew translation, reads, “The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his is the obedience of peoples.”

Ferrar Fenton says “or” and Young’s Literal says “and,” based on the Hebrew grammar. One of our staff who has studied Hebrew wrote me explaining, “The conjunction ‘and’ is similar to using ‘or’ since both of them combine two subjects together, rather than separating them, as ‘nor’ does.” This indicates that the two offices or individuals spoken of here—the scepter and lawgiver—are not separate; they are now combined into one. Genesis 49:10 combines the law and the scepter.

This is talking about us getting the new throne and the new stone with the law of God! Remember, if you have the law, Mr. Armstrong said, that presupposes government—or, in this context, the scepter. It is all together now—the scepter and the law!

This prophecy is specifically referring to the time when the new throne and the royal law combined, which happened on January 16, 2017. When God combines the scepter and the law, things really begin to be heightened spiritually. The scepter must be ruled by the royal law now, and the royal law must be applied to that scepter promise—“until Shiloh come.”

Before Christ’s return, we had to have David’s throne. We needed a new throne combined with God’s law to be appropriate for Jesus Christ to accept when He returns. Genesis 49:10 specifically describes the fact that we have the new throne of David in our possession when Christ comes!

Contrast With Jeremiah 33

Now compare the Genesis 49:10 promise with the twofold covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 33:17-18.

“In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely …. For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want [lack] a man [or woman] to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” (verses 16-17). Jeremiah wrote this prophecy when Judah was being destroyed. He was about to transplant the throne to Israel—not Judah. Mr. Armstrong wrote about this promise: “During these more than 2,500 years, David shall not want for a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel …” (The United States and Britain in Prophecy). For that time period, the throne of David would be in Israel.

But what if Israel dies—then what? In this context, God didn’t say “until Shiloh come,” or until Christ returns—He simply said the throne of David would never lack someone to sit on it.

Remember, Hosea 3:4 speaks of a terrible time when Israel will lose its king and its stone of destiny. But there is still a good ending: “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days” (verse 5).

Notice too that Jeremiah 33:17 is about a man on “the throne of the house of Israel”—then a semicolon follows, and then the narration introduces a second covenant: “Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually” (verse 18). Here are two separate subjects, two separate covenants.

That is different from the way it is in Genesis 49:10, where the two subjects are together.

We previously taught that Jeremiah 33:17 was a counterpart to Genesis 49:10. But Jeremiah 33:17 says that “David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel,” that is, as long as Israel exists—referring to physical Israel. But Genesis 49:10 refers to spiritual Israel. Jeremiah just says there will never lack a man to sit on the throne, whereas Genesis 49:10 shows the scepter combined with a “lawgiver.” Also, the verse shows this leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which Jeremiah 33 does not do.

In Who Is ‘That Prophet’?, I wrote this about Genesis 49:10: “Concerning the scepter promise, we have always believed it refers to a kingly line today that would rule right up to the Great Tribulation.” So I put it only up to the Great Tribulation because of the prophecies that God would give us the throne in the place of safety. But when would God give it to us?

Isaiah 16:1-5 show that we will have the throne of God by the time we arrive at the place of safety. It says the man on the throne will sit on it “in truth” and “hasting righteousness”—so it is obviously in God’s Church by that time; the lawgiver has to sit on the throne. The question is, when did we get it and how? Genesis 49:10 gives us more of the answer.

Satan the devil is filled with hatred, anger, bitterness and wrath against King David’s throne. And no wonder! That throne is going to replace him and his rule over the Earth! When Jesus Christ sits on that throne, Satan will be thrown into outer darkness. He knows the end of his reign is extremely near, so his fury against that throne is only getting stronger.

We have witnessed a great deal of that wrath in recent years. And it is certain to intensify even more.

The good news is that, as important as this throne is to Satan, it is far more important to God! Even though God’s people can expect the pressure on us to intensify because we now possess the throne of David, we can also expect more miraculous help from God.

In fact, there is a lot of evidence in the Bible that Jesus Christ Himself is already becoming more personally involved in helping this Work to protect that throne!

Decline of the Royal Family

Look again at the time frame of events related to the change in the throne.

In November 1996, the pcg began plans to print Mystery of the Ages. That same month—on November 15—the stone of Scone was transferred to Scotland. Mystery of the Ages was on the rise, and that stone of destiny was faltering—and it is no longer the stone of destiny today.

About 10 months later, on August 31, 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash.

Did the royal family of David’s throne lose some of its protection from God? I don’t know for certain, but it is interesting that it happened within a year of England surrendering the stone. God does give special protection to those who have the throne of David. He also punishes them for their sins more acutely than He would others.

When God gave the revelation about the new stone on January 16, 2017, the royal family of Britain was displaced as the royal family of David’s throne. That was a signal of terrible things to come upon Britain, as well as a sharp decline of America and Judah. It was also an indication that we would see a rapid decline in Britain’s royal family.

Look at what began happening to Britain’s royal family almost immediately after this change.

The Queen was 91 years old at the time and obviously near the end of her reign. Her husband announced in May 2017 that he would step down from his royal duties later in the year. In its June 30, 2017, issue, Newsweek published a feature article about Prince Harry, in which he said that when his grandmother dies, nobody wants to assume the throne. “Is there anyone of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time,” he said.

Well—God is relieving them of that responsibility!

The Newsweek article was written by a reporter who had received liberal access to Prince Harry for most of a year—as part of the royal family’s effort to update its public image. The article showed the disturbing direction the monarchy is taking.

“We are involved in modernizing the British monarchy,” Prince Harry said. The royals are breaking with many past traditions. They are championing popular social causes, trying to relate to the public by showing that they are “ordinary people.” They are working to boost their popularity by rubbing shoulders with immoral celebrities and in other ways that degrade the throne. They are also undermining biblical teachings.

In April 2017, Prince William appeared with American pop star Lady Gaga in a Heads Together video aimed at normalizing mental health problems like depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. He also sued a French magazine for £1.3 million for publishing pictures of his wife, topless. Her sister, Pippa, married the brother of a reality tv star. The British Spectator called the royals “Britain’s biggest reality tv show.”

Is Lady Gaga the kind of company the royal family of Britain should keep?

On May 12, 2019, Prince William was named the “straight ally of the year” at Britain’s lgbt Awards. “It’s so important to be proud of the person you are,” he said in a video accepting the award.

The Newsweek article dwelled quite a lot on Prince Harry’s efforts to live a “normal” life. “He tells me several times that he aches to be ‘something other than Prince Harry,’” the author wrote. She described various ways how he has essentially tried to escape from being a royal.

“Harry’s determination to be ordinary seems reflected in his love life,” the article says. “His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, might be a well-known actress, but she is also a divorcée, a vocal feminist and American, none of which conforms to the stereotype of a royal consort.” When Prince Harry became engaged to Ms. Markle in 2017, everyone welcomed it as a wonderful thing. She decided to be baptized and confirmed before they got married. Is this supposed to make David’s throne righteous? The Guardian actually printed an article saying, “I don’t know if the impressive Meghan Markle believes that she is entering a fairy-tale family. And I do slightly worry that the introduction of Hollywood glamour into the royal family serves only to reinforce the wrong sort of monarchy, the bread-and-circus version.”

“The younger royals are just too interested in the cringe-inducing world of celebrity and in the popularization of their own image,” wrote the Spectator. “We are told that they are reinventing the concept of monarchy for the digital age, and so on. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. … In 30 years’ time, royal historians might look back at the Heads Together campaign, at the eager association with pop stars, and the blooming romance between Prince Harry and Miss Markle, and ask: Was this the moment when it all started to go wrong?” (May 13, 2017; emphasis mine throughout).

Isn’t it amazing that a worldly news source would note that something has gone seriously wrong that severely changes the future of the monarchy? And it happened just months after God’s people received this new revelation.

‘Abdication’

Harry the duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan, announced in January 2020 that they would step down as senior members of Britain’s royal family. Many likened the couple’s announcement to an “abdication” or a royal divorce. It sparked a public crisis within the royal family; coming at a hard time for the Queen, whose husband was in ill health. The Telegraph wrote of her, “It is no secret behind palace gates that she has been left devastated by their bombshell statement” (Jan. 18, 2020). The Telegraph said the timing of the duke’s decision, “when the family, and the monarch, needed the younger members to put aside personal animus, is in many ways unforgivable” (Jan. 9, 2020).

Harry and Meghan were stripped of their “Royal Highness” status. No longer “Prince Harry,” he became “Harry, duke of Sussex.” He lost his military posts, including captain general of the Royal Marines, and no longer represents the Queen in any official capacity.

Harry and his wife are good friends with important figures on the radical left in America. The Daily Mail reported that the Sussexes got advice on their break with the royal family from former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife. The Sussexes want to “mimic the way they had managed to build a successful, but dignified, life for themselves after the White House,” it wrote (Jan. 10, 2020).

The left in America, with its film stars and celebrities, loudly supported Harry and Meghan’s decision. During a trip to the UK, Hillary Clinton said Meghan’s critics in the press were “bad guys.” Meghan, she said, must “[k]eep going—do what you think is right.”

Others in the radical left went much further than merely praising the Sussexes—they said the reason it was necessary was that the royal family is racist. “Black Britons Know Why Meghan Markle Wants Out,” the New York Times headlined (Jan. 9, 2020). By dramatically stepping down, the two were sticking “two fingers up at the racism of the British establishment,” the article stated. The article triggered an avalanche. “Experts” in race and gender studies flooded the airways to explain that Harry and Meghan’s decision was a reaction to society’s racism. Good Morning Britain, This Morning, Newsnight, Question Time and many more programs hosted discussions on the nation’s sins against the part-black duchess of Sussex. Friends of the Sussexes accused the royal family of having it in for them from the start—with no evidence. “People had bent over backwards for them,” said one palace aide. “They were given the wedding they wanted, the house they wanted, the office they wanted, the staff they wanted, and had the backing of the family. What more did they want?”

It was a turning point for race relations in Britain. Never had the idea that Britain is fundamentally, institutionally racist received so much airtime. And in July 2020, Harry released a video message supporting the Black Lives Matter movement (whose stated goal is to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family”). He declared that “racism” is “endemic” in our societies. Days later he lamented the racism inherent in the Commonwealth.

The same culture wars that have fractured our universities, our politics and our media have arrived at the heart of the monarchy. Now a member of the royal family—though stripped of much of his royal status—is turning against his heritage. The royal family is shifting from a source of national strength to national weakness.

The Importance of Family

When William and Harry’s mother, Lady Diana, married Prince Charles in 1981, the world was mesmerized. In the Plain Truth magazine, Herbert W. Armstrong called their spectacular wedding “Britain’s Last Gasp of Joy and Splendor.”

Mr. Armstrong noted that Britain was a kingdom in decline. He was in Britain at the time, and he privately noted that, in the wedding ceremony, references to the wife obeying her husband—based on scriptures like Ephesians 5:22-24, Colossians 3:18 and Titus 2:5—had been removed. He commented, “Well, let’s watch and see whether it lasts or not.”

It did not last! Both Charles and Diana ended up having adulterous affairs. That wedding was the most-watched television event in history up to that point. The whole world was focused on the “fairy tale” romance and marriage. And what they got was a clear example of infidelity, immorality and treachery! Can we really pretend that their example didn’t have an effect on British society?

Family is the most important relationship that exists! If you study it in the Bible, you see that it is a God-plane relationship! It teaches us spiritual truths about God Himself. Ephesians 5, for example, reveals that marriage is a type of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church. This Christ-Church marriage inspires us to see that marriage between a man and a woman is a God-plane relationship!

How precious is a strong family, producing godly children! Anyone can recognize what a marvelous and beautiful institution family is. There is nothing else like it! (To learn more about this truth, request a free copy of Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete?)

That is why it is so tragic when we trash what God created. Just look at what happened with the very first marriage—Adam and Eve—when they rejected God’s instructions. They ended up with a son who murdered his own brother! Surely that should have woken them up to what a mistake they had made! But sadly, it did not. People too rarely look at the real fruits of their decisions.

The royal couple that many people are so enamored with today, William and Kate, lived together for quite a while before they married. And now he is championing transgender rights. They are supposed to be an example to their people!

That June 30, 2017, Newsweek article noted: “When asked about his family, Harry talks readily about the Queen … and his late mother …. He says less about William and Kate, and almost nothing about his father or his stepmother. The world now knows how unhappy that relationship made his mother, and her sons.”

What kind of family is he going to have?

The article says Prince Harry is trying to carry on his mother’s legacy. “Twenty years ago, when irrational fear of being infected with hiv/aids was at its height, Diana was photographed touching an hiv-positive man, and that one gesture altered public attitudes. (‘I’d like to be a queen of people’s hearts,’ Diana once told a tv interviewer; the moniker stuck, especially after her death.) Last December, Harry had an hiv test in Barbados before a bevy of photographers.”

What is the royal family trying to accomplish by associating with these kinds of causes? Society is embracing vile family-destroying perversions like gender-fluidity, same-sex “marriage” and transgenderism. The royal family is throwing its support behind this movement. Even a generation ago, Diana was promoting a Sodom and Gomorrah lifestyle! Is that a legacy you want to sustain? The royal family isn’t promoting God-plane marriage, but Sodom-plane immorality!

How sad to see all of this happen. Nobody in God’s Church is delighting in this. This was the throne of God—and this is what it has degenerated into in Britain! It means nothing at all to them, it seems!

The royal family of Britain is no longer royal in God’s eyes, and I don’t think they are very royal in anybody’s eyes. They are the ex-royal family of David’s throne—the very throne that Christ is about to rule from forever!

This is a universe-shaking event! Surely the angels have been shaken by this. And it is a very moving and stirring event to God the Father and Jesus Christ. This is reality—not a reality show, but reality!

The Philadelphia Church of God is now the royal family of God’s throne! That is something to ponder!

You and I, of all people, must uphold the standard of God’s throne, spiritually! If we are baptized members in God’s Church, we have the Holy Spirit, and we must show the world, as much as we possibly can, how things will soon be around God’s throne on Earth!

Christ Personally Appears!

During our court battle, the Wall Street Journal interviewed us and many people in the wcg. Jess Bravin, the journalist, said that many members of wcg dissenting churches were glued to the case. Why would they care? None of those members came to our aid. They were hoping we would fail.

How can you let yourself get to the point that so many of God’s people did—where they were so bitter they decided to fight against the truth of God that they had been taught for many years?

We were fighting for Mystery of the Ages because we love God’s truth and because we knew we couldn’t finish the work of proclaiming God’s message unless we had it! But there were people fighting against it. They were fighting against what was revealed to Herbert W. Armstrong, who then recorded it in his writings.

Amos 8 ends by talking about people who will “fall, and never rise up again.” This can only refer to Spirit-begotten people. Other prophecies show that 50 percent of the Laodiceans will never rise up again. This includes the antichrist, who fought us so vehemently in court to destroy God’s truth, plus all those who followed him.

It is one thing to leave God’s Church, but it is another to come back and fight it and try to destroy the truth of God!

Surely we can see why God is so upset!

Amos 9:1 begins the fifth vision of Amos. The number five is the biblical number for judgment. “I saw the Lord standing upon [by] the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut [wound] them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered” (Amos 9:1).

Amos does not say God showed him something. In this vision, Amos said, “I saw the Lord”! Amos didn’t say that in the other four visions. Here he actually saw God in a vision. According to the Companion Bible, in the original manuscripts the Hebrew word for “Lord” is combined with “-eth,” meaning God Himself.

The Anchor Bible says about verse 1: “[God’s] presence in the sanctuary, where normally the priest would be standing or officiating, would indicate that something out of the ordinary, something ominous, was about to happen.” Something ominous certainly did happen!

The “altar” is a symbol of the ministry in God’s Church (request my free booklet on Amos for more explanation). God struck the pillars at the top so the ceiling, posts, pillars and ministry were shaken! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

As I explain in my Amos booklet, this prophecy was fulfilled in our court battle. We know from this passage—and from the fruits of the court case—that God appeared! These people forsook God and fought against Mystery of the Ages. And look what happened to them! Jesus Christ personally came to smite them. God shook them, which means to agitate, quake or shake. He shook the posts and pillars—everything of substance in the wcg.

Of this vision, Amos said, I saw the Eternal! He was on this Earth with God’s people! We didn’t see Him, but we certainly saw the fruits of His visit! Christ personally saw to it that we received justice, getting us ready for a new stone and a new throne.

Jesus Christ had a lot to do when He came to Earth. Christ, the Stone, was crying out and warning His lukewarm people through us! If they were “glued” to the court case, then they knew what we were teaching. Christ was crying out to them, trying to get them to straighten out their lives and return to the truth of God. But they didn’t repent, and now they are in a grave spiritual condition. Only 50 percent of them will turn around. Those unrepentant and unwilling to change will lose their eternal lives and will be dust under our feet.

These prophecies are for us today! If we don’t understand them, then we are not God’s very elect! Sure, we make mistakes here and there, but God’s very elect will understand these prophecies.

We have shown before that Amos 9:1, 11-12 are about the court case. But God has revealed that it is about much more than that. It is also about a new throne and new stone.

‘I Raise Up the Tabernacle of David’

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11). The “tabernacle of David” is rarely used to refer to God’s Church, especially in the New Testament. Luke quotes James using this expression in Acts 15:15-16, quoting Amos 9:11, to show what will happen in the Millennium. But we are raising up the tabernacle of David before the Millennium!

The expression “tabernacle of David” implies that we have King David’s throne in God’s Church today! It is referring to a temporary throne within the Church. You see the same thing in Isaiah 16:5: A man in the Church is sitting on that throne in the context of the “tabernacle of David”—a temporary setting, but the throne of David nevertheless.

This is what God has revealed. God has taken the throne away from Ephraim, or Britain, and given it to His own true Church. This is a great honor for us! God is giving us an incredible opportunity. We have to raise the ruins—and not only of Mr. Armstrong’s work. We are also raising the ruins of King David’s throne! We must strive to restore King David’s godly leadership!

In the court case, we went up against a man whom the Bible indicates is Satan-possessed. It was at the very beginning of the Laodicean rebellion that he stopped publication of The United States and Britain in Prophecy, which fully explained the throne of David—the leading book in building the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong. One of the first changes he made was to destroy a book about David’s throne! That shows you how satanic that takeover was.

Amos 9:12 says God’s Church will “possess the remnant of Edom”—speaking of the Edomite Laodiceans who are going to lose their eternal lives. That is what we did! We fought for Mr. Armstrong’s writings and took possession of them—and received a double wonder in the process. Christ fought right there with us through the whole ordeal.

Notice, though, that verse 11 says, “In that day will I [God] raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I [God] will raise up his ruins, and I [God] will build it as in the days of old.” Does He also do that in person?

It does make you wonder: Did Christ come only during the court crisis, or is it more than just that? He didn’t say, I’m going to send Amos to raise up the ruins, or I’m going to do it through him. Look at Matthew 17:11, where Christ said, “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” That isn’t the way Amos 9:11 is written.

Christ came to help us in the court battle. Is He still here, operating personally in some ways? Does He come back periodically, or is He staying here? Verse 11 is very much like verse 1: He stood there by the altar—He did the job Himself. Maybe He thinks it is necessary to be appearing more often to help us out because we are in the time when Satan has been cast down, and he and his demons are confined to Earth. Maybe in this utterly mad age with Satan and the demons cast down, we require Christ’s presence more than in the past.

And now, we have the very throne of God, which makes us a more obvious target!

Habakkuk’s Version

The Prophet Habakkuk discusses these same events.

The context of Habakkuk 3 is our court case, “in the midst of the years” (verse 2)—meaning the crisis years, when we were battling over whether we could continue proclaiming Mystery of the Ages and the foundational truth.

In the middle of the crisis years, God came personally! Verse 3 says, “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.” Compare this with Deuteronomy 33:2, a prophecy of when Christ will return from the same area with 10,000 saints. But in Habakkuk 3:3, Christ doesn’t have 10,000 saints with Him. This verse is describing the same events that unfolded in Amos 9!

In Habakkuk 3:3, the verb “came” in the Hebrew is in the present tense. Christ comes from Mount Paran in the middle of the court case. He is in action! He is doing something! He comes to this Earth, He stands by the altar, and He wounds the Laodiceans in the head.

Verse 13 says the same thing: “… thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.” They were wounded in the head, just like in Amos 9:1.

Habakkuk 1 and 2 are about two men in a court battle. But in Habakkuk 3, God appears! God, Himself, appears to help the true Church of God!

It is important that we realize our need for help and protection from God will only grow in the time ahead.

War Between Two Thrones

Habakkuk 1 begins by talking about our court case, and the anxiety which that injustice caused us. It describes a Satan-possessed man inside God’s own Church, destroying God’s Family.

In a sense, there is a duality between the first four verses and the verses that follow.

Verse 5 describes the miraculous double wonder we experienced. Immediately after that, verse 6 says: “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.” This is referring to the old Babylonian system in Europe, led by Germany, that is rising to power once again right now.

The split in God’s Church occurred in December 1989, one month after the Berlin Wall came down. This passage shows that while God’s Church would rise in prominence, so too would this ungodly alliance.

There is a war between David’s throne and the throne of this great false church; the latter is a political throne guided by an evil spiritual throne. In this passage in Habakkuk 1, God is putting His Church right beside this Babylonian religion, exposing the counterfeit of David’s throne for what it is!

Notice, God says, “I raise up the Chaldeans”! Can you imagine God doing that? Is He so wrathful that He would raise up the evil Holy Roman Empire to punish the British, the Americans and the Jews—the birthright nations and the scepter nation? Would God do that, Himself? Well, Revelation 17:17 says that He put it in their minds.

Habakkuk 1:7-8 mention “evening wolves,” which sleep all day and then go out at night and eat whatever they catch, not only the meat but the bones, too—just brutal! Verses 9 and 10 describe this beast power conquering and capturing all other nations. They are a destructive people; that is how they operate. God repeats this grisly truth over and over. The destruction that these people are going to unleash will be worse than anything you can imagine, because nobody has ever seen anything so horrific!

“Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god” (verse 11). The leader of this modern-day Holy Roman Empire will be guided by a religious power that has fornicated with the kings of the Earth. He will impute his war-making power “unto his god”—Satan the devil. This man will worship Satan in a way that other people do not: directly and personally! No other church worships the devil the way the great false church does.

In his book England: The Remnant of Judah and the Israel of Ephraim, Frederick Glover used this passage to say this about the spiritual leader with whom this modern emperor will align: “[A] Christian bishop has been found to magnify himself into, and has found others to make of him, a king of kings, and lord of lords, and further dared to act, the mighty ruler of princes.” This man makes himself “king of kings and lord of lords,” trying to set himself up as Jesus Christ! This doesn’t come from the mind of a human being. This is the worst kind of evil!

Glover also referenced Jeremiah 1:10, where God told Jeremiah, “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms.” He explained, “The words thus applied by [God] to the office of the Prophet Jeremiah having been those upon which the bishops of Rome established their travesty of almighty power on Earth, over kings, emperors and states: as is clear from the Preamble to the Bull of Pope Pius v, by which that bishop of Rome thought to deprive the Queen of England of her throne and power: ‘Pius, bishop, servant of the servants of God. He, who reigneth in the highest … hath committed to me, … church … to one alone upon Earth, … the bishop of Rome, to be governed in fullness of power.’”

This religious power wanted to take over King David’s throne! It has made powerful efforts to rule this world. But its main objective is to subjugate God’s people! This is the devil incarnate!

The Catholic Church’s main goal throughout the ages has really been to destroy David’s throne. It cannot stand the thought of someone else having the preeminent throne on Earth! And it kills people who disagree with it, if it has the power. It has done this time after time after time after time, yet people still don’t understand just how dangerous that church is.

The Bull of Pius v against Queen Elizabeth was published on May 3, 1570, and declared the pope’s sovereignty: “Him alone He made prince over all people, and all kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, consume, plant and build.” This religious leader was appropriating the Jeremiah 1:10 commission. The Catholic Church believes it can uproot, build and plant David’s throne. How would you like to live under that corrupt system?

When the throne of David was in Britain, Satan was extremely busy. But now we can expect conditions to get far worse very quickly. God moving David’s throne is one of the great signs that Satan’s time is very, very short!

Glover went on to write about a time when England would have fought to its death to defend the stone of destiny or the throne of David! But that is certainly not the case today. Now, they casually send it back to Scotland. England is so degenerate today that it won’t do anything to fight for that throne. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams bowed down and kissed the pope’s ring. That is worshiping Satan’s religion! That is the kind of degeneration happening in the nations of Israel today.

Would you fight to the death for the throne that we have in God’s Church today? Our stone is far more important than the one sitting in Scotland.

God’s Church has a new stone and a new throne. We are a spiritual empire, and we have a throne that is about to start a new civilization that will last forever! We are kings and priests in embryo, serving under the true King of kings! God will have His true Church do some amazing things in the future. That should really excite us.

If we realize who we are, we can see why God will open doors for this small group of people. We are going to be doing things that will astound even us! We only have a short time to do this Work, and there is nobody else who will do it.

Satan is full of wrath because he knows Christ is about to return and sit on David’s throne! He hates us even more now because we have the throne that will replace him and his rule on Earth! You can see this in Revelation 12, where Satan goes after God’s people. Verse 1 shows that the Church wears a crown of 12 stars, which symbolize the 12 nations of Israel. This is where you find David’s throne. Verse 3 depicts the resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (verse 6). This is the history of God’s Church and its 1,260-year war with the Holy Roman Empire. (Request my free book The True History of God’s True Church to learn more.)

Do you want to know what the future will be like, and how the beast power will conduct itself? Just read Habakkuk 1:14-17—the leaders of that system will slay the nations! Like fishermen catching fish, they will enjoy it so much! Human beings, made in the likeness of God, are like mere fish and creeping things to them, having no value at all. These people are in the spirit of the devil!

Verse 17 in the Moffatt says, “Are they to go on drawing the sword, murdering peoples without pity?” People will be asking, Is there no end to this awful, satanic Holy Roman Empire? Are they going to just keep drawing the sword and murdering people?

Pick up the story flow in Habakkuk 3, right on the heels of our court battle: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls” (Habakkuk 3:17). This is about nuclear bombs decimating the Earth! There will be no grapes on the vine, no olives on the trees, no sheep in the pasture, no cattle in the stalls. Habakkuk trembled at just the vision of the destruction this rising Chaldean-Babylonian empire will inflict (verse 16).

This is a horrific picture Habakkuk is painting, but we don’t need to get depressed. Habakkuk was troubled, but he didn’t allow it to get him down. “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments” (verses 18-19).

In the face of all the current evil and approaching turmoil, we can rejoice in what God is doing! The world will finally see where the way of man leads us. It is horrifying in many ways—but this is what it takes to get people into the Family of God!

New Revelation About Samaria and Jerusalem

Micah 1:5 reads, “For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?”

Jacob was Israel’s name before his conversion. This is prophetic terminology for physical Israel—the nations of Israel—rather than spiritual Israel, the Church. And what is Jacob’s sin? “Is it not Samaria?” This is an interesting answer. It is a coded message. God is decoding it and letting us know what it means.

Samaria was the area that became the capital of the kingdom of Israel, the northern 10 tribes, after the nation divided. Jeroboam’s great sin was that he rejected the house of David, where David’s throne was (e.g., 1 Kings 12:16, 19, 26). He led the 10 tribes away from the house of David and David’s throne. (You can read much more about this in my book The Former Prophets: How to Become a King and in the first chapter of my booklet Great Again.)

“David’s son Solomon became the wisest man who ever lived (except Christ). But he taxed the people very heavily, and when he died his son Rehoboam became king,” Mr. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages. “The people sent a delegation with an ultimatum to Rehoboam. If he would reduce their taxes, they would serve him. If not, they would reject him as king. On the advice of the younger men among his councilors, Rehoboam told the people he would lay even heavier taxes on them.

“Thereupon the people decided against the royal house of David.” That is what the books of Samuel and Kings are really about: the house of David. Mr. Armstrong continued, “They named as king, Jeroboam, who had occupied the office we would today call prime minister, under King Solomon. Since Rehoboam was seated on the throne in Jerusalem, the people of Israel chose a new capital some distance north of Jerusalem. (Under a later king, Omri, they built a new northern capital at Samaria.)”

1 Kings 12:16 shows that it was against the house of David that the people were really rebelling! Verse 19 says, “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” The people were not just rebelling against Rehoboam, Judah or Jerusalem. God says they rebelled against the house of David! That is about the scepter promise that God made to David. That was the great sin of our ancestors—and is Britain’s and America’s great sin today!

God is very upset with the prophetic nations of Israel today, America and Britain. America is chief because of its superpower status. And is it not Samaria? Is it not about the sins of Jeroboam? Modern Israel is steeped in sin, and God gets very specific about what those sins are: They are the same sins that plagued Samaria anciently—and it all goes back to Jeroboam.

Anciently, Jeroboam established a religion that had a form of righteousness. He ordained priests, set up worship services, and proclaimed holy days—but it was all a deadly counterfeit.

In America today, the “religion of Jeroboam” is prominent. Evangelicals have found a strong advocate in the current president. From the beginning of his administration, a strong majority of evangelicals have approved of his job performance, most of them “strongly.” They helped elect him to the presidency, and he needs them in order to remain afloat politically.

There is a lot of talk about religion in America, but it is extremely shallow. Many religious people claim to believe the Bible, but they will not obey it! They want different holy days and a different “sabbath” from what God established. They are lawless. God could never bless that.

2 Kings 17:5-6 show how God allowed the northern kingdom of Israel to be conquered because of their evil in following Jeroboam. Verses 20-22 read, “And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them.” And “they departed not from them” even today! America the superpower and Britain have the same problem. Jeroboam is back, and people are going to have to see how depraved their religion is.

“[A]nd what are the high places of Judah?” Micah 1:5 asks. Judah is the tribe through which God promised to preserve the scepter (Genesis 49:10), which He did through the kingly line of David. Anciently, Jeroboam hated that throne. The modern nations of Israel have rejected it as well. That is why God removed that throne from Britain to God’s true Church.

We must escape the transgression of Samaria!

Punishment on Israel

The rebellion in America has become so atrocious that God is forced to send terrible correction. “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the [nuclear] fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place” (Micah 1:3-4). This is very hard correction! The Earth has never seen such destruction!

What a terrifying warning from God. Those who fail to heed will face nuclear fire!

“Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof” (verse 6).

God is talking about Samaria in this way because of the urgency of the time and how little time remains before the punishment will begin! He wants us to see that it all ends with Jeroboam. Jeroboam and Samaria date this prophecy. This is the chilling reality about time: There is a deadline! This is talking about the administration of the current American president!

Look at America today. What is wrong with this nation? We are dangerously divided. The radical left is waging an aggressive campaign to sow rebellion and chaos. People are using the language of revolution and insurrection; they are increasingly relying on violence as a political tool; they are threatening and attempting to overthrow the government. They continually accuse their political opponents of being racists; some spout dangerous conspiracy theories to incite race war! They say, for example, that policemen are deliberately targeting black men in some kind of government-sanctioned genocide!

Considering all the inflammatory rhetoric from the left, is it any wonder that more and more people are growing agitated and hateful, feeling like they are fighting for their lives? There are some really mentally disturbed people in America!

“Can a Divided America Survive?” commentator Victor Davis Hanson asked in a June 2017 column. He pointed out one of the many problems facing the nation: runaway immigration. “Currently, some 27 percent of all Californians were not born in the United States,” he wrote. “More than 40 million foreign-born immigrants currently live in the U.S.—the highest number in the nation’s history. …

“History is not very kind to multicultural chaos—as opposed to a multiracial society united by a single national culture. The fates of Rwanda, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia should remind us of our present disastrous trajectory.”

“The United States is currently the world’s oldest democracy,” he wrote. “But America is no more immune from collapse than were some of history’s most stable and impressive consensual governments. Fifth-century Athens, Republican Rome, Renaissance Florence and Venice, and many of the elected governments of early 20th-century Western European states eventually destroyed themselves, went bankrupt, or were overrun by invaders” (National Review, June 15, 2017).

This is reality! Whether or not people realize it, the survival of our republic is under threat! America is on the verge of civil war that will set our cities ablaze even before the bombs drop and our country is overrun by invaders.

The same is happening in Britain. There, an irrational faith in the glories of multiculturalism has enabled a virulent segment of radical Islamism to grow. The United Kingdom harbors thousands of suspected terrorists! It wouldn’t take nearly that many people to tear society apart if they were all strapped with bombs! God calls Britain a “silly dove” for its naivety and self-inflicted weakness (Hosea 7:11).

The Anglo-American world order created stability for over 200 years. Twice in the last century these nations rose up to stamp out violent, brutal efforts to take over the world! How different history would be if they had failed!

Today, though, we see several powerful nations recognizing the weakness in America and Britain. They are making aggressive moves and gobbling up territory. The weaker America gets, the bolder these enemies will grow. And this time, there won’t be anyone to stop them!

Micah 1:9 says, “For her wound is incurable ….” Do you recognize that Samaria’s wound is incurable? Many people still have faith in the president to turn things around. But do you really think a human being can solve these nation-destroying problems? If you do, your belief disagrees with God!

President Donald Trump has said, “My administration is under siege.” That is true—but the reality is that all of Israel is under siege! No man can solve these problems. The times of the Gentiles are upon us! Attacks on the nations of Israel are increasing in frequency and intensity. God is giving more latitude to Satan the devil, who is frothing mad because he knows how short his time is (Revelation 12:12).

We must live our daily lives fully aware of the shocking shortness of time. We must be urgent about our prayer, Bible study and spiritual endeavors. Look at how engaged emotionally and spiritually the Prophet Micah was in doing the work God gave him! (Micah 1:8). We must be aware of just how little time we have left!

Notice again, verse 5 talks about “the transgression of Jacob”—unconverted Israel—and “the sins of the house of Israel”—speaking of spiritual Israel, God’s lukewarm saints. There is duality here. The Laodiceans have fallen into the same sins as the nation! They are going to end up experiencing melting mountains and valleys turning to wax! Prophecy shows that 50 percent of them will lose their salvation altogether! God is very serious about the need to escape the transgression of Samaria!

Though our nations suffer from an incurable wound, the opportunity is still open for individuals to turn to God in repentance before it is too late.

These shocking prophecies about the nuclear destruction of America are in the same context as Micah 2:13, which discusses God bringing His people to a place of safety. The time is coming soon when we will have to flee! God is making it very clear with this prophecy just how urgent time is!

Omri

Micah 6:16 has a related prophecy that can help us see this spiritual reality more deeply: “For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.”

This prophecy is for us today. Omri was the father of Ahab, one of the most evil kings Israel ever had. And what did Omri represent?

“But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities” (1 Kings 16:25-26). Omri tried to follow Jeroboam in every way! He knew he was doing evil, and he loved it!

Omri in Micah 6:16 is just another version of Jeroboam. It is another way of expressing the sins of Jeroboam that plague Israel today. God brings Omri into the picture to help us better understand the nature of the problem. He is talking here about making all the inhabitants under Omri’s rule a desolation!

“The kingdom of Samaria or the 10 tribes, the head of which was the city of Samaria, which was established by Omri,” Gesenius’ Lexicon says about this verse in Micah. “Omri was the seventh king of Israel.” The first king of the northern kingdom of Israel was Jeroboam. Omri, the seventh, continued the Jeroboam dynasty in spirit. All these kings followed in Jeroboam’s evil footsteps. It’s like they worshiped him! You can see why God had to finally destroy them with the Assyrians.

Unger’s Bible Dictionary says: “After a civil war of four years, Omri was left undisputed master of the throne …. Having resided six years in Tirzah, he removed to the mountain Shomron (Samaria), which he bought from Shemer for two talents of silver.” And he made Samaria the capital. Micah denounces that! He speaks derisively of “the statutes of Omri,” and of his son Ahab.

The Tombs of the Kings

The Bible speaks of “the sepulchres of the kings”—tombs where the righteous kings of Judah were buried along with those of David and Solomon. We believe those tombs are located under David’s palace or close to it.

In the second century b.c., a high priest by the name of John Hyrcanus knew where these tombs were and plundered a lot of wealth out of them. Later, Herod the Great did the same thing. He found some furniture of gold and took it. Later, he decided to take more. He sent two guards in, and the story is that a flame burst out, killing both of them. Apparently, Herod was so frightened that he built an impenetrable door blocking access. From that day forward, there has been no record of anybody finding these tombs.

But there is a prophecy that says these tombs will be found.

Jeremiah 7:32-34 speak of a horrific time soon to come when dead bodies will pile so high there isn’t anywhere to bury them. All joy and mirth will cease. Then notice what happens next.

“At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves” (Jeremiah 8:1). They will have to know exactly where those graves are in order to unearth them. “And they shall spread them [those bones] before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven …” (verse 2).

The discovery of the tombs of the kings could create a world sensation very soon. The Holy Roman Empire destroys those bones because it worships the dragon (Revelation 13:4; Revelation 17). Satan hates David’s throne more than any throne on this Earth because it is about to replace his throne forever!

Jeroboam had a fierce hatred for these righteous kings. That hatred comes from Satan, the god of this world. He has contempt for the throne of David, especially now that there is a new throne! Look at what these Satan-inspired people will do just to the bones of the righteous kings of David’s throne! Can you imagine what they would like to do to God’s people who possess that throne?

You could say this will really upset God, but those kings are going to be resurrected right after this. Bones are not going to mean anything to us in the future. We will be able to visit personally with men like David and Solomon—what difference will their bones make then? Soon we will get to the point where there aren’t any more bones!

What Satan wants to blot out most of all is the scepter promise. It’s about the race of kings who sit on that throne—and about Jesus Christ sitting on that throne and bringing grace to the world. Satan is in his greatest wrath because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12), and he wants to blot out everything that has anything to do with the throne of David.

Soon we will help these people get rid of their hatred. You can see the hatred these people have if you read Psalm 83: The Holy Roman Empire and the Arabs will ally together in order to blot out the name Israel! I think they understand some of our teaching about Israel; they know who Israel is. They want to kill every descendant of Israel and erase it from history! You can see why God must deal so severely with people at times!

We need to have a strong sense of how much Satan hates this Church, and how much violence he would like to do to us! Yet God won’t let him touch us—other than for our own good at times, to build our character.

Isaiah 22:21 says that Eliakim is “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.” Eliakim is a type of my office. Our message reaches the inhabitants of Jerusalem (God’s Church) and the house of Judah (the Jewish people). We have a work to do in the Jewish state.

Bible prophecy indicates that we will have a powerful work in Jerusalem. We are proclaiming to the cities of Judah that God is coming very soon! But we expect that message to intensify (Isaiah 40:9). The Jews are experiencing severe trials—but the Messiah is coming to rule this world from David’s throne in Jerusalem! We must do all we can to get this message of hope to them.

In partnership with archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, we have done a considerable amount of archaeological work within Jerusalem. She has told us that she can name only one other archaeologist at Hebrew University who respects the Bible as a reliable source in her work. Dr. Mazar has said, “You need to have vision to do a dig in Jerusalem. You need to see the big picture of how things fit in the biblical picture.” That is the way she looks at it, archaeologically.

“Today’s archaeologists lack this vision,” she continued, “although many of the everyday people still hold it firmly in mind” (emphasis mine). This is a key statement. These are the people we must reach. We are working to exploit every tool we can to do that. The “everyday people” is a tremendous audience!

The archaeology taking place in Jerusalem is teeming with vision! The digs we have already participated in have unearthed powerful messages for the Jews about their history and even about their future!

Isaiah 22:22 says we have “the key of the house of David.” As we have written in the past, the Bible often refers to “the sepulchres of the kings,” which are probably rooms inside one large tomb. History speaks of just such a tomb existing. Bible prophecy states that these tombs of the kings will be discovered very soon. These are kings who sat on David’s throne. Because God’s Church has this “key,” I believe God would want us to be a part of that discovery.

Dr. Mazar feels that most academics have lost the right vision needed to tell the history of Jerusalem and to draw attention to the significance of the archaeological discoveries. Who on this Earth can really tell people about the vision of Jerusalem? This Church has a vision of that city beyond anything anyone in this world could ever understand!

In 2009 and 2010, our students worked alongside others who were sifting dirt from the Temple Mount that Arabs had dumped into the Kidron Valley after they had illegally built an underground mosque near the al-Aqsa Mosque. The Jewish workers had a scripture as their slogan: Psalm 102:14, which reads, “For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.”

Look at the context of this verse. Where is this focused? What is the time frame?

Verse 13 says, “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.” God will have mercy upon Zion and will favor Zion, His faithful Church, which now has David’s new throne.

Then, verses 15 and 16: “So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” First He builds up Zion—then He returns in glory. So that really dates this psalm as a prophecy for right now! It is for today!

It is in this context that verse 14 says God’s servants take pleasure in Jerusalem’s stones and “favour the dust thereof.” This is shortly before Christ’s Second Coming. After Christ returns, we won’t be digging in the dust in Jerusalem; we will have more exciting things to do. But for us today, this is exciting!

The Anchor Bible states, “We have several indications of the royal character of the psalmist.” This could have been written by a king. It could very well have been King David.

Then verse 13 says, “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.” The set time means a properly appointed season, a designated moment. Again, this is before Christ’s Second Coming!

This Church will have a part in some spectacular events! God will finish His Work, and we must build our faith and believe every word of God!

“For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.” Do you take pleasure in those stones? Do you love that dust?

This is a ruin-raising Work. God said, “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David” (Amos 9:11). God says He will raise it, and He is certainly going to be very active in that! Who’s going to stop Christ from getting this Work done? Nobody!

The Jerusalem dig is also raising up ruins! Mr. Armstrong participated in these digs, and we have continued that—and God has blessed us with even greater discoveries than what were found in Mr. Armstrong’s day! All these projects were prophesied to happen.

We really need to build our vision of Jerusalem! We must take pleasure in the stones and favor the dust! We are God’s kings and priests in embryo! When you look at what we are digging up in Jerusalem, there is a magnificent vision in those stones and in that dust! We are blessed to know that. It is a vision of the future! It is the most wonderful vision you can have before Christ returns. He will then sit on David’s throne and rule forever.

The Prophet Jeremiah had a “strange” commission. As Herbert W. Armstrong taught throughout his ministry, it centered on David’s throne.

There is a dimension to Jeremiah’s commission, however, that we had not understood, which supports the new revelation about God’s new throne. God has revealed new understanding about Jeremiah’s commission!

Notice the time frame of the prophecy in Jeremiah 1:3. It carries through right to the end of King Zedekiah’s reign, which many people erroneously believe was the end of David’s throne.

But notice God’s commission to Jeremiah in verse 10: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” This is rather muddled in the King James Version. The message here is different from what we had thought.

God said this commission included “nations” and “kingdoms.” There is a distinction between a nation and a kingdom. A kingdom is a territory ruled by a king. We haven’t put much emphasis on this, but it has significant meaning in this context.

When Jeremiah began his commission, the throne of David existed in Judah, which had a king. That was a kingdom. Then it went to Ireland, which was another kingdom, ruled by a king. From there it moved to a colonized area of Scotland that was not governed by a monarchy—thus, it was a nation. Then it went to England, which does have a king or queen.

Mr. Armstrong showed how Ezekiel 21:27 prophesied that David’s throne would be overturned three times: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”

Now that throne has been transferred to God’s Church, headquartered in Manasseh, which is a nation—the United States. Jeremiah 1:10 speaks of “nations and kingdoms”—both words are plural. It wasn’t until it came to the United States that you had, in this context, “nations,” plural!

Look again at Jeremiah 1:10: We can see that it actually refers to those three overturns from Judah to England.

The Revised Standard Version puts it this way: “See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” The Ferrar Fenton translation reads, “See! I have appointed you today over nations, and kingdoms; to pull up, and to break down, and to destroy, and to erase; as well as to build, and to plant.” That is worded very simply. “Pull up,” “break down,” “destroy”—those are the three overturns. Then what happens? That throne is erased! The Hebrew word here means to tear down, overthrow, beat down, break, destroy, pluck down, pull down, throw down, ruin utterly. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says it means ruined or destroyed utterly. When the throne is utterly destroyed, that is different from those first three overturns. That throne comes to an end, as it were. The three overturns are completed and then the throne is just erased—no more overturns.

Then after that, there is building and planting. How can you build and plant something that has been erased—utterly destroyed? You would have nothing to build and plant with—unless you have a new throne! If there are no more overturns, there must be a new throne coming.

This is a critical insight.

God wants to bury what is happening with that throne in Britain today! He doesn’t want to have anything to do with it again! These verses demand a new throne! And that is what we have!

Jeremiah 1:10 spans the whole history of Jeremiah’s commission. It describes the whole history of that throne—something we have not understood in the past. If you look at this verse as the entire history, then there must be a new throne. The question is, where is the new throne? Where will it be built and planted?

Genesis 49:10 prophesies of what will happen “until Shiloh come,” or Christ returns. We are going to be here when Christ returns, and we will be in possession of the scepter—or the throne—and the law!

‘What Do You See?’

In the verses immediately following the statement about Jeremiah’s commission, God is clearly addressing His Church. Commentaries say this is a separate vision, but it is not.

“Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it” (Jeremiah 1:11-12). God says He is going to speed up events—He will hasten to perform His Word! God emphasizes haste and no more delay. Events are going to move really fast. Receiving David’s throne shows both how close we are to going to the place of safety, and also how much God wants to empower us to get His message out faster and more forcibly! This work is about to hasten its warning as never before! If we do our part, it has to!

God says, “I will hasten.” As with other actions we have studied in this book, this suggests that God is performing this act here in person!

Now that God has given us the new throne, His Work is moving forward with a much faster speed. It is critical for God’s people to understand this. We are now in the gun lap of our race to Christ’s Second Coming. At this point, events in the world are speeding along at a breakneck pace. God is going to hasten to perform His Word. And He wants to stir us to our fastest speed in the final phase of His Work in this world. He wants us to expend all our energy to finish His Work—the last lap of the race!

Isn’t this the main reason God gave us a corporate Gulfstream G450 jet at the same time He gave us the new throne of David?

“And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah” (verses 13-15).

The “seething pot … out of the north” is a German-led Holy Roman Empire that is going to destroy the nations of Israel and Judah! You can see it building—you can see the pot seething—right now in Europe. God twice asked Jeremiah: “What do you see?” This is something you can see. Do you see what is happening in Europe? It is a seething pot of hatred and revenge toward Israel! They are looking for their strongman so they can use all that economic, political and military power to reach unparalleled heights! This is a seething pot of nuclear war!

The pot is about to boil over onto America and Britain, worse than anything you have ever seen! There are specific men who will do terrible things in our day as punishment on Israel. Think about this before you venture into that sin that seems so tantalizing! If you know the evil power that is behind that beast, you know it will inflict the worst suffering ever—as bad as God will allow Satan to make it—on Israel and Judah!

Wherever you find the king of the north, you will always find God’s people! We have to expose that evil empire! As you can see in Revelation chapters 12 and 17, there is always confrontation between God’s true Church and the great false church. We are in a war, and Satan is always trying to usurp God’s authority! In Isaiah 47, the Holy Roman Empire basically says, Our throne rules the Earth—not yours! (e.g. verses 7-8). That false church put God’s people on the run for 1,260 years! They had to flee for their lives or be killed! We must expose that empire for what it is! We must expose Satan and the unholy Roman Empire! God calls it the “great whore” (Revelation 17:1).

We have to use the Holy Spirit of God to overcome Satan. Near the end of Revelation 12, when the Church is exposing that Satan-inspired religion, God’s people once again must run for their lives. That church will be chasing us, and God will swallow up its army with an earthquake (verses 14-15). Then He will provide us a place of safety for 1,260 days. In the end, only one throne will be left standing!

Satan is always attacking the throne of David and whoever has it! Look what Satan has done to Britain. He got the archbishop of Canterbury to bow down and worship the pope—Satan’s throne. The archbishop rejected David’s throne, which is really God’s throne! What does God think of that? Something had to be done! The new throne had to be planted somewhere else!

It is phenomenal what God has given this Church! We really are the true royalty on this Earth and have David’s throne. Not a type of it—we have David’s throne and a king to sit on that throne!

God Gives Authority

“[H]ere and now I give you authority over nations and kingdoms,” God told Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:10; Moffatt). Jeremiah really did have authority in prophesying about Judah’s defeat. He had a lot of prophetic authority—and still has over us today. A lot of our guidance as we do this Work comes from Jeremiah. We need to submit to Jeremiah’s authority! Christ supports Jeremiah’s prophecy 100 percent.

God has a group of people proclaiming the truth about the king of the north. We submit to the authority of Jeremiah, and we tell the world the truth about the boiling pot. We are seeing the seventh and last resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. We are the only ones proclaiming this to the world. We need authority when going up against this power!

Never become indifferent about this truth! We have knowledge that even the great men of the Bible did not have! God has given it to us because He is going to use us to teach it with authority.

In the next chapter, we will see how Ezra, in finishing and canonizing the Old Testament, drew special attention to Jeremiah. He concluded with the book of Chronicles, and he finished that book by reminding us of how Jeremiah had prophesied about Judah’s defeat and about how Cyrus would enable the Jews to return to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:20-23). Ezra certainly recognized and respected Jeremiah’s prophetic authority.

Jeremiah still has a lot of prophetic authority over us. We have the new throne, and much of our guidance comes from Jeremiah.

‘The Branch of the Watchful Tree’

The commission in Jeremiah 1:10 flows right into the verse that follows. Verse 11 does not begin a new vision. You can see the continuity. What begins in verse 11 is tied to verse 4: “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.” Then verse 11 states: “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying ….” It is all one vision.

The context is all about the three overturns and the change in the throne of David discussed in verse 10. Verse 12 in the Ferrar Fenton reads, “When the Ever-living answered me, ‘Attend to what you see! For I am watchful over My promises to perform them.’” God is watching over this personally! He is here, and things are moving very fast in God’s Church. God is watching over this in a special way because there is a big change here. He had to impress that on my mind emphatically, or I would not have understood it! Christ is making personal appearances to make sure it is done the right way. After all, it is His throne! (sidebar: “How God Gave This New Revelation,” page 117).

God has just prophesied about three overturns. What “promises” is He discussing in verse 12? It must be the promises associated with Jeremiah’s commission—most importantly, the promise of building and planting a new throne after the old one has been erased!

“Jeremiah, what do you see?” God asks. Jeremiah responds, “I see a branch of an almond tree” (verse 11; New King James Version). “I see the branch of the Watchful tree!” (Ferrar Fenton). Jeremiah saw a branch, attached to a tree, that was budding and blossoming and producing almonds. This is very interesting imagery. We need to look at this spiritually.

Is the British royal family producing spiritual fruit? Anytime a royal family in this world has the throne, it will not bud or blossom spiritually. Before the change, this branch was bare—no green leaves, blossoms or almonds. After the change, this almond branch began to blossom with spiritual fruit. Why? It is blossoming—with a strong message, new revelation and a dynamic change in God’s Work, which is now proclaiming the message from David’s throne!

“The almond trees blossom in late January or early February, the first blossoming tree of spring,” explains the Anchor Bible. That is why I have explained before that this “almond tree” is a vigilant watchman. This meaning is still there, but it is not what this is primarily about.

If you have an almond branch, where is the tree? There must be a tree.

Look at the context. The whole passage is about Jeremiah’s commission regarding David’s throne. The tree must be Jeremiah’s commission. This is a whole tree—one vision, not two. The throne was overturned, overturned, overturned—then erased. There was a branch that was bare and, frankly, not doing what it ought to be doing, even on a carnal level. Spiritually, the royal family was not going to blossom and bear fruits. Then the throne was planted elsewhere, and now it is blossoming spiritually!

After verse 10, Jeremiah immediately gets into discussing the new throne. He had the whole picture in mind. He understood that his commission didn’t end after one overturn or three overturns—it continues down to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! Jeremiah’s book is aimed at the end time! (Jeremiah 30:1-3). This great man of God understood the new throne.

The vision then flows right into the picture of the boiling pot (Jeremiah 1:13-14). From this new throne of David, we are letting the world know the pot is about to boil over onto the United States, Britain and Judah because of their abominable sins.

We have a warning message for Britain from God. We have to warn the British that Germany is coming. Anti-British and anti-American sentiment is rising quickly in Germany! These are emotions that Satan can work with and stir up. And prophecy shows explicitly just how bad it will get! Now God is warning Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah directly from the throne of David and directly through God’s watchman. There is no Winston Churchill to warn them this time—it is a warning direct from God (Ezekiel 33:7). Now we have the throne of David to uphold and amplify the message even more.

This new revelation shows why Jeremiah’s commission regarding David’s throne leads directly into our watchman work. It is not another overturn; it’s a new stone of destiny, a new throne of David and a new king! It’s all new and different now! We just jump from the overturns right into the people who now have the throne of David!

Jeremiah 1:15 shows how this European empire’s 10 kings, “the families of the kingdoms of the north,” will attack Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. Jerusalem was the ancient capital of Israel. In the Bible, this city is often used to represent Israel. Jerusalem here is a type of the nations of America and Britain, who have been given the name Israel prophetically in this end time (Genesis 48:14-16; 49:1). These are the two birthright nations. (All this is explained in our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.)

The cities of Judah are also discussed here. Judah is the modern-day nation of Israel in the Middle East.

These three nations are going to fall together (Hosea 5:5). They will be conquered by the king of the north—the Holy Roman Empire.

“And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me [this is about God’s rebellious Church and the three nations], and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands” (Jeremiah 1:16). Most of God’s own people—His Church—have forsaken Him just before Christ returns. So spiritual Israel, God’s Church, is the greatest sinner of all. But there are three nations here that have also forsaken the God of their forefathers in a massive way. So God is punishing all of them before the whole world for their blatant rebellion. God commanded His Church and these three nations to set an example for this world. They have done just the opposite, even though they all received God’s special blessings.

Who will be protected from the boiling pot? Those who are carrying out the final phase of Jeremiah’s commission under the authority of the Father and Son—only 5 percent of God’s own Church.

There is a new throne that won’t let the great false church get away with saying it is the throne of God! If we do our job, this new throne will not submit itself to the great false church, the bloodiest in history!

God wants this throne to blossom and bear fruit! He has given us the job to do just that: to grow blossoms and produce some real almonds on this branch! Again, God’s Church has the scepter and law together now, just before Shiloh comes (Genesis 49:10)—before the Second Coming—and God is going to empower this Work as never before! There is no hope in the world, but there is endless hope in David’s throne! This world needs to see that. God will ensure that our work will be considerably more powerful. God promises to make us an iron pillar, brazen walls, a defensed city and more (Jeremiah 1:18).

If you follow Jeremiah’s example, submit to his prophetic authority, and allow God to inspire and empower you as he did, then you will do all you can to take advantage of this opportunity to help declare a powerful message to this world—and nothing will be able to hold you back!

The last American astronaut to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan, died on January 16, 2017, the same time that God transferred the throne of David to His Church. Cernan was the captain of Apollo 17, the final American mission to the moon. He also journeyed into space in May 1969 on board Apollo 10, coming within eight miles of the moon’s surface in a “dress rehearsal” for Apollo 11, the first lunar landing.

“We found some problems that, if they weren’t corrected, Neil [Armstrong] probably wouldn’t have landed,” Cernan said. “I like to tell Neil I’m the guy who painted the white line in the sky so he wouldn’t get lost.”

Cernan’s space travels served as a source of inspiration and proved the existence of God to him. “You can let your imagination wander, put yourself out there, a quarter of a million miles in space on God’s front porch,” he said. “That’s what it was like, looking back at the Earth. It is a spiritual experience.”

Cernan also said, “The Earth moves with logic and with purpose. I can tell you, there is a Creator of this universe because I saw a small part of that creation, and it’s just too beautiful to have happened by accident. … I wish I could take everybody in the world back to the moon with me and let them look back at the Earth. If I could do that, I think the world today would be a much different place. … [Space is] a very inexpensive investment in the future of this nation and more important, in the future of our kids, and those two things go hand in hand. That’s what space is all about to me.”

When we hear stories like Gene Cernan’s and view pictures of the universe, our future among the stars becomes more real to us. Right now, the universe is in a state of decay. We will soon change that.

In a co-worker letter dated July 20, 1976, Mr. Armstrong wrote:

This morning at 5:12 a.m. (Pacific Daylight Time), I sat in our Ambassador Auditorium here in Pasadena, looking in on Mission Control headquarters, located only walking distance away, as scientists manipulated at [Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory] the safe landing of Viking 1 on Mars.

The jpl scientists had cooperated with Ambassador College so that everything at Mission Control—as the scientists maneuvered the Mars landing—was shown on a large screen in our auditorium. We had opened the auditorium to the public. A thousand or more were there. …

But I had to think—it showed precisely what I had expected from what is revealed from the God of creation in the Bible. It was a dry, barren surface of decay and futility—total unproductiveness.

God created all things good (Genesis 1:31). The universe does not seem good right now, although it is still inspiring. It became “without form, and void” (verse 2). What was the cause? The archangel Lucifer rebelled against God’s law and caused confusion, chaos, waste and emptiness. He became lawless. Look at the current state of the universe. That is what happens when we sin! It wreaks havoc! Mr. Armstrong continued,

Sometimes it seems futile that many of the best minds of humans are devoted to a lifetime of vain speculation, based on erroneous hypotheses totally untrue.

I had to realize that from this scientific laboratory, right here in Pasadena, great minds are, in fact, uncovering facts actually revealed in the book they do not understand and probably do not accept—the revealed facts and truth of the eternal living God!

The Bible reveals that God will place the entire Earth and universe under the rule of man, after we become God’s spirit-born sons (Hebrews 2). God has given us tremendous potential and an incredible future!

The Apostle Paul wrote, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption [it should read birth] as sons [at the resurrection], the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23; rsv).

The rsv incorrectly uses the word adoption instead of birth. We will be born into God’s Family! The entire creation waits for us to rule with Jesus Christ on the throne of David. The end-time very elect will be at headquarters with our Husband, helping to beautify the universe and to reverse the terrible deterioration and desolation that Satan caused.

Scientists do not understand their discoveries in the universe because they scoff at the Bible, which is God’s instruction manual for man. They could understand if they would stop rebelling against God’s law. Rebellion leads to darkness and ignorance; obedience results in light and understanding. Everything works beautifully when we keep the law and follow government.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)” (1 John 1:1-2).

The creation is impressive, but far more impressive is the fact that our Savior came to Earth and dwelled among men! Christ’s disciples talked with and touched Him daily. Christ was the Word of God who had existed before creation, before the angels, the universe and mankind. Human beings interacted with this perfect God in the flesh! The Word had lived for all eternity in perfect peace and unity with God. Those who follow His example will experience the same peace and unity, which comes from keeping God’s law.

What are we a part of, that God would send His only Son to Earth to die for us?

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14). God urges the Laodiceans to go back to the beginning of creation. Better yet, go back to the time when nothing existed except God and the Word. Pray fervently to understand God’s plan for you.

All of God’s firstfruits, His very elect, will be able to walk on the moon soon. Our future is real! But first, we must learn some lessons about God’s wonderful law of love. This wonderful revelation about God’s new stone and new throne should help immensely.

The Ferrar Fenton translation of the Bible has this subtitle for the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles: “History of the House of David.” Several commentaries agree. One even says, “To understand Chronicles, you need to understand its focus on David and his throne.” That is good insight.

These people recognize that Chronicles is a history of David’s throne. However, if you really understand Chronicles spiritually, you realize that, even more than history, this book is prophecy of the house of David!

God revealed the book of Chronicles to us shortly before He gave us the new stone and the new throne, in order to prepare us to receive that throne. This understanding conditioned our minds for that great event.

Chronicles focuses on David and his throne—which is actually the throne of God, the throne that the Father is going to give to His Son to rule the world! Chapters 10 through 29 of 1 Chronicles are all about David’s throne—20 chapters! It is all about the key of David vision—the greatest vision in the Bible—and the tremendous hope God has given us. Chronicles is the last book in the Old Testament (according to the inspired order of books), and if you look at it spiritually, it is a key of David message to conclude the Old Testament. Truly, it is the most wonderful prophecy this world could ever hear!

Beyond that, Chronicles is a marvelous link to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah, which also increases its relevance and prophetic impact. Many times I thought there was more to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah than we had realized, but I didn’t know what was missing. But now, with the new throne and a better understanding of the book of Chronicles, the meaning is clear.

Chronicles brings the new throne of David into Ezra-Nehemiah. It shows that this new throne prophecy must go right into the message of that book.

The Connection to Chronicles

Consider the man Ezra. He was the author of Chronicles, and he also authored Ezra-Nehemiah. (The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible says Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one volume. The Latin Vulgate translation of the Scriptures was the first edition of the Bible to separate them. At that time they were designated “First and Second Ezra.” Nehemiah helped Ezra in writing and compiling Ezra-Nehemiah. But God mainly used Ezra to write Chronicles.) When you really study these books and begin to understand them, you can see how closely tied together they are, which proves that Ezra wrote or at least edited them both. You can also tell that by the new revelation God has given us and by what is happening in this Work.

We could really view Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah as all one work. But that only makes sense when we view it through the Holy Spirit of God.

Ezra wrote during the Persian period to carnal-minded people. But his message is dual. Though the book of Ezra-Nehemiah can be understood on a carnal level, its primary message is deeply spiritual.

Ninety percent of Old Testament prophecy is for today. That is certainly true of the books Ezra wrote. Most of the history in Chronicles is taken from the former prophets, which are prophetic. This alone illustrates how prophetic the book of Chronicles is.

And think of the personalities in Ezra-Nehemiah: Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah. These personalities all relate to important end-time prophecy. With this understanding, you know absolutely that these books are for our time.

It is particularly the conclusion of the book of Chronicles that reveals so much. When we tie this together, we understand Ezra-Nehemiah better.

2 Chronicles 36:20 reads, “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia.” This is the historical setting: Babylon taking Judah into captivity and then Persia conquering Babylon.

“To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years” (verse 21). Ezra brings the Prophet Jeremiah into this. He is referring to Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years of captivity (Jeremiah 25:11-12), which is a type of what is about to happen to the United States, Britain and the Jewish nation. This is fully explained in my booklet about Jeremiah. Anciently, Jeremiah warned Judah that captivity was coming, but he also foretold that they would return to Jerusalem to serve God again. The book of Ezra-Nehemiah shows how that prophecy was fulfilled.

Jeremiah is intricately tied to the key of David. He transplanted the throne of David to Ireland when Judah went into the captivity, of which he had prophesied. As we saw in the last chapter, he even prophesied specifically about the new throne and new stone that God has given this Church!

The final two verses of 2 Chronicles 36 read, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up” (verses 22-23).

The book of Ezra-Nehemiah begins, “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled ….” This ties Ezra-Nehemiah into the new revelation about David’s throne.

Ezra concluded Chronicles by repeating the two verses that he began Ezra-Nehemiah with, which he had written much earlier. Not one commentary in this world understands why. Lange’s, among other commentaries, says that there is “no satisfactory conclusion” to Chronicles. You cannot understand this without looking at it spiritually. It takes the Spirit of God.

Ezra wanted to link the key of David message of Chronicles in with the Jerusalem rebuilding project described in Ezra-Nehemiah. It’s all about raising up the ruins prophetically—for this end time! It is a message specifically for the Philadelphia Church of God today.

When Zerubbabel was rebuilding the temple in the time of Ezra, the builders had to have a sword in one hand and a spade in the other. They had to work and fight a battle at the same time! (Nehemiah 4:17). God’s people must build like this today. We are always having to build God’s Work. And as we build, we must have the sword, or God’s precious truth (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12), to fight attacks from Satan and from the world, just as the Jews did, only we do so on a spiritual level. We don’t have a physical sword, but a spiritual sword. We will not simply stand by and not fight! God will only give us victory when we fight spiritually. We had to fight in the court case to preserve Herbert W. Armstrong’s writings. We must continue to fight to guard God’s truth, no matter who comes against us! We will not be fearful of men who don’t love God. We will not give up the truth that God has given us!

Ezra-Nehemiah is the conclusion to the book of Chronicles. Ezra concluded the Old Testament in a way that would spiritually help us get the picture of the whole movie. He concluded on a rebuilding project—one like you have never seen or even imagined. He ended with raising up the ruins!

The connection between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah has everything to do with the vision God is putting before us. Ezra-Nehemiah is really about a building program that will continue until we have finished restoring and beautifying the entire universe! And when you bring Christ’s eternal rule on David’s throne into this book, it makes this building project even more personal to us.

The rebuilding project in Ezra-Nehemiah took place in Jerusalem—where David’s throne will be reestablished. Ezra-Nehemiah is about us sitting on David’s throne and raising the ruins on Earth and throughout the universe. God is establishing a family of builders to help Him raise those ruins. He wants us to get our minds on Jerusalem, where Christ is about to rule from that throne for eternity!

What a phenomenal vision! Having this vision in your mind makes all the difference in the world.

Chronicles’ Connection to the New Testament

You can be sure that Chronicles, being the last book of the Old Testament, must have a special message. It is like the last chapter of a book that ties everything together.

The last book of the Old Testament has a key of David message; the last book of the New Testament also has a key of David message. This is the only message mentioned in Revelation 3 that Christ gave to the Philadelphians.

As the conclusion of the Old Testament, Chronicles also leads us right into the New Testament. The last words of Chronicles are, “Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up”—meaning, go up to Jerusalem. This transitions directly into the New Testament. “Who is there …?” it asks—and the first verse in Matthew answers: “… Jesus Christ, the son of David ….” It points you directly to the King who will ultimately sit on that throne, governing from Jerusalem.

The first verse in the New Testament starts out by talking about “the son of David.” Jesus qualified to replace Satan and rule this world, and He will rule from David’s throne forever! “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33). It is all about family: the Father, the Son and many more sons!

The beginning of the book of Chronicles also points you to this King. The first word in the book is “Adam,” which directs you back to Adam and Eve and the tree of life. But if you look at this spiritually, it is really about the “last Adam”—Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:45). The first Adam rejected the tree of life, the law of God and the Holy Spirit. He wanted to do things his own way, just as mankind continues to do today. The first Adam won’t get us anywhere—the second Adam will. He ate perfectly from the tree of life. He wants to help all people understand that the only way they will ever solve their horrifying problems is to eat from the tree of life, not the tree of death. We see proof of this truth all around us, but the world is terribly deceived. This is a problem we must correct.

The New Throne in Ezra-Nehemiah

Chronicles prophesies a lot about David’s throne, which we now possess. What is missing from Ezra-Nehemiah, when you look at it spiritually, is David’s throne. But Ezra brings David’s throne into all the building going on in Jerusalem. This is a type of what we will be doing throughout the Millennium.

God gave us the revelation about Chronicles first, and now we have David’s throne. Once we understand Chronicles, we can better understand Ezra-Nehemiah. Taking David’s throne into the book of Ezra-Nehemiah makes it a totally different, and much more meaningful, book! The conclusion in Chronicles gives us this spiritual focus.

God is giving us another level of knowledge and understanding that we will soon be able to pass on to the rest of God’s resurrected firstfruit saints who have not yet been taught this!

Ezra-Nehemiah shows how Ezra brought God’s law back from captivity. After Zerubbabel built the second temple, Ezra reestablished the law in Jerusalem (e.g. Ezra 7:6-12; 10:1-4; Nehemiah 8:1-18). Nothing is going to work without the law. The Jews were experiencing many serious problems. Ezra knew that if these issues were to be corrected, the people had to learn to love God’s law like David did. Finally, after being in captivity for 70 years, they were receptive to the law! Do we have to experience the Great Tribulation like the Laodiceans will before we are willing to submit to the government and law of God?

Ezra really knew how to build a foundation for raising the ruins! He truly loved God’s government and law. This is how we should think too.

With this understanding, we see how Ezra-Nehemiah has the scepter and law combined—just as David’s throne is combined with the law in God’s Church today (Genesis 49:10). To have David’s throne, we must have God’s law. The throne and the law had been separate, but now that has changed. That makes everything related to David’s throne work very differently. Now God really expects us to rule from that throne with the royal law.

This is God’s way of getting us more qualified for our magnificent future. This is how He prepares us for our place on His eternal throne. We must know how to live by and how to teach that law! Christ is going to sit on David’s throne and rule with the law. He will show evil mankind how to be happy. People will have the opportunity to see clearly that there is no other way of life that works. It is amazing that Christ must force happiness and that abundant way of life on mankind!

Lange’s Commentary has this wonderful insight: “The author of Chronicles confines his attention to David and the kingdom founded on the promise made to him in 2 Samuel 7.” 2 Samuel is part of the former prophets, and you can read more about that promise throughout these prophetic books, which are mainly for this end time. Yet the commentaries routinely focus on the history of the throne of David, without discussing the prophecy of this throne. They don’t get it, even though 2 Samuel 7 clearly says David’s throne will last forever! (verses 13, 16). They assume God made a mistake!

The book of Chronicles revolves around the scepter promise. Ezra knew that David’s throne did not end with Zedekiah. He even referenced the “sons of David” in Ezra 8:2. Ezra was literally a “son of Zadok” (Ezra 7:1-2). I don’t think that is a coincidence. He was a physical and spiritual son of Zadok. God also gives that title to His faithful people today, which connects us to Ezra (sidebar, “Sons of Zadok,” page 106). And as you can see, both in Ezra-Nehemiah and in Chronicles, Ezra remained deeply loyal to David. David lives through Ezra-Nehemiah!

2 Samuel 7:14 reads, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son ….” Jesus Christ will rule on that family throne. Remember that there is the Father, the Head of the Family, and He will give this gift, the throne of David, to Jesus Christ. The people who are attached to this throne have a Father, and this Family will last forever! We are about to be born sons of God—in a very, very short time! This is almost too great for the human mind to comprehend!

Ezra’s Focus on David

Ezra’s great respect for King David, and for the throne of David, is evident throughout his writings. David’s presence is pervasive in Ezra’s books. In a sense, it is a strange phenomenon—almost like a paradox. Ezra wrote so much about David, king of Israel, even though they didn’t have David’s throne at that time! Yet if you look at Ezra-Nehemiah prophetically, it does have the throne of David.

In 1 Chronicles 29:29 Ezra wrote, “Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer.” We don’t have those books, but Ezra was studying them to better understand the history and prophecy about David’s throne. Ezra really wanted to give us a great history of the throne of David. (He also knew the prophecies of Ezekiel about the sons of Zadok—e.g. Ezekiel 40:46; 44:15; 48:11. These prophecies tie in perfectly.)

All that history can be brought into Ezra-Nehemiah! When we look at it spiritually with the throne of David, it really begins to be inspiring beyond anything we have seen before!

Let’s examine Ezra’s references to David in his history of the temple reconstruction.

Ezra studied how David had organized the temple service, and he restored it the best that he could as “David … had appointed” (e.g. Ezra 8:20).

While the Jews were building the wall around Jerusalem, they were aware of David’s palace and the City of David—almost as if that great king of Israel was there in spirit! One group built “the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king’s garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David” (Nehemiah 3:15). Another group repaired “unto the place over against the sepulchres of David” (verse 16). That is referring to the tombs of the kings that are prophesied to be uncovered, as we discussed in Chapter 4. This is prophetic.

Nehemiah 12:37 shows how the Jews “went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.” They were familiar with the City of David and the house of David. Ezra and his helpers were teaching them about that. Ezra and Nehemiah knew where David’s palace was—and so do we, thanks to Dr. Eilat Mazar and her archaeological activities in Jerusalem.

Ezra talked a lot about David. The people in his day may well have wondered why he focused so much on David when they didn’t even have his throne. Well, primarily it wasn’t for them. It is for us. We have the throne, so there is every reason to be talking about David. We need Ezra’s perspective. We must have David’s throne in this picture.

Praise God—Thank God!

Nehemiah 12:23 references “the book of the chronicles.” This is a reference Ezra added after he later wrote Chronicles in order to further link these two books.

Now notice the next verse: “And the chief of the Levites … with their brethren over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God …” (verse 24).

David continually praised and thanked God! He said, We must always be praising God and thanking God for everything He gives us. That reflects very spiritual thinking. The fact that David praised and thanked God so much shows strongly that he was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22).

A man after God’s own heart builds his life around praising and thanking God! When you praise and thank God continually, do you realize how converted that makes you? Just thinking normally, you won’t continually thank and praise God; it is not a natural way to think. But if we are to be men and women after God’s own heart, we must think in a way that is very unnatural! Think about how unnatural it is to do what David did. He was not a natural-minded man. He was a man after God’s own heart. He wanted to think and act like God in every way. And the better he knew God, the more he praised Him.

That is being God-centered! What problems we have when we are self-centered. If you are wrapped up in self, you just cannot be a man after God’s own heart. God is wrapped up in His Family.

David could command huge choirs of people, and he commanded praising and thanking God. That is straightforward instruction. But you cannot legislate the way people think. This is where character comes in. Each individual must make his own decisions and master his own thoughts.

Still, David used his authority to be sure that praise and thanks for God were emanating from Israel—because that is the way David believed and thought! He had thousands of people performing in choirs that just praised and thanked God! Everybody had to be involved and learning how to praise and thank God! He commanded it, and Ezra used that example over and over again. These Jews really studied into the way David did things and sought to emulate him. They wanted to replicate his example.

“And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel” (Ezra 3:10). These Jews followed David’s ordinances and his example in praising God.

They didn’t have the throne of David, yet they emphasized his example. By following David’s ordinances, the Jews of Ezra’s day were learning about God to a letter-of-the-law extent—but this is really for us today. The fact that Ezra-Nehemiah references David continually is further proof that this book, like Chronicles, is for the pcg specifically.

We are here to learn to praise and thank God as a way of life! We are not just to sing praise and give thanks occasionally. David didn’t want the choirs to just sing about it: He wanted it in their minds and in their hearts. Praising and thanking God is a God-centered way of life!

David really institutionalized praising God and giving thanks to God! This is something we need to examine more closely. We need to be thanking God for the tremendous honor of having David’s throne! This is the most precious, inspiring change we have ever had in this Church—so we must be very thankful for it.

This does not mean that you should walk around singing and spouting off all the time in song. It is about really praising and thanking God in your mind, your belief, and in your faith. David wanted us to think this way! It shows a depth of conversion we all need to work on and improve on. Do you honestly praise and thank God enough? I certainly don’t. We all need to grow in this.

David asked, Who am I to even be able to give to God? (1 Chronicles 29:14). This is the attitude God wants from us. He wants us to thank Him for the understanding and the opportunity to be a part of His Work. He wants us to thank Him that we can be His sons and daughters and He can be our Father. We in the firstfruits calling have the opportunity to sit on the throne of David at headquarters forever! What a reward! Who are we to be given such an honor and such blessings?

There are countless things we can thank God for. If you really know God, you will be thanking Him for just being called! Yes, we are tried and tested, but thank God for that, too! Those trials are more precious than gold! It is easy to carnally reason that we shouldn’t have to suffer in that way. But if we are deeply spiritual like David, we will be praising and thanking God always—even for our fiery trials! This is how you become a man or woman after God’s own heart.

These are two of the great building blocks to show how David was a man after God’s own heart. These two doctrines—praising and thanking God—are at the heart and core of being God-centered. If we all follow in David’s footsteps in this way, this thinking will fill our lives! We praise Him in our minds and in the way we think. We thank Him for every trial, test or problem because He is doing what is necessary to put us on David’s throne for all eternity! That is what this is all about! This is the love of God! God is love, so He cannot do anything but love you. David understood that. He sinned, but he really repented and turned his life around and became a man after God’s own heart. He wanted to rid himself of every speck of human nature, and fill his heart and mind with God! And God was really impressed by that! He made David king over all of Israel. What an honor for a sinful but repentant man!

We have David’s throne, and we need to fill God’s house with praising God and thanking God. Even more, we need to think this way and love God the way David did.

We must have the Spirit of God to understand this. When Solomon was crowned, he was taken to the Gihon Spring (1 Kings 1:38-39), whose waters were a type of the very Spirit of God. Like those waters, God’s Spirit must be flowing in our lives. This is how we think like David and become God-centered. There is no other way to praise and thank God except through the Spirit of God. Even Christ said He could do nothing of Himself (John 5:30). The Spirit of the Father gave Him all that power.

Faithful Priests and Levites

When the Jews dedicated the wall of Jerusalem, they celebrated with music praising God (Nehemiah 12:27-29). Verse 36 says they used “the musical instruments of David the man of God.”

Ezra also records, “And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people, and the gates, and the wall” (verse 30). We too must be purified! That means be God-centered, and cleansed of evil and sin. The ministers set the example and the people follow.

“Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks …” (verse 31). Nehemiah commanded two groups simply to give thanks to God!

“So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God …. And the singers sang loud …” (verses 40, 42). These people sang loud! The Hebrew means “made their voices to be heard”! They really wanted to give thanks to God.

The only problem was that they didn’t think this way until after 70 years of captivity. God does not want us to go through suffering like that! Over and again throughout this history, the people are called “the children of the captivity” (e.g. Ezra 4:1; 6:16, 19-20; 10:7, 16). God didn’t want them to forget their history. Captivity is a horrible way to gain motivation! God wants us to develop this love for Him and desire to praise Him without having to endure such suffering! If we will dedicate ourselves to Him and do as He commands, we can do that.

“Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off” (Nehemiah 12:43). Giving and true joy go together. These Jews had great joy because of all their praise and thanks and sacrifices to God. Men and women, even little children, were rejoicing. Everyone in the family was so happy about thanking and praising God that they could be heard afar off!

“Both the singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the purification, according to the command of David and Solomon his son” (verse 45; nkjv). We must be pure! David certainly did all he could to reach those carnal-minded people.

“For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God” (verse 46). Again, praise and thanksgiving are repeated. Those in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day only understood the letter of the law. We must remember this is for us! How relevant this is for us today! We have more to praise and thank God for than His people ever have! We can shout for joy because we have a new throne and a new stone! These are magnificent blessings for God’s royalty!

The end of verse 44 says that the people were truly glad for the priests and Levites. They loved the ministers and deacons, to put it in New Testament terminology. And why? Because these spiritual leaders “guarded the Ordinances of God, and the Ordinances of purity” (verse 45; Ferrar Fenton). These Jews loved their ministers because they guarded the truth of God! They were glad to have priests and Levites who could be trusted with God’s Word and who would not go astray and reject God’s teachings.

If you have a minister like that—somebody who will stand up and guard the purity and the ordinances of God—then you have the best you could possibly have! A minister like that is special!

Do you really love the ministers who guard the ordinances of God? We must, if we are to share David’s throne with Jesus Christ!

Look where the Laodiceans are: They followed men who didn’t guard the truth of God. They followed men who did not follow God!

The priests under Ezra collected tithes according to God’s law (verse 44). This is a doctrine the wcg did away with almost immediately after Mr. Armstrong died! They saw it as old and outdated. But anciently, those Jews learned to rejoice in giving to God. They loved to have a minister do whatever was necessary to keep them from going into captivity. They knew the value of such a minister!

We need to love God’s faithful ministers before the captivity so we can escape such captivity! We have to learn this lesson today and not go the way of those ancient Jews prior to captivity—the way the Laodiceans are going today. The modern-day nations of Israel are about to go into captivity—the worst captivity mankind has ever experienced!

This was all “according to the command of David and his son Solomon. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (verses 45-46; rsv).

Verse 47 says this refers to “all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel”—who was a type of Herbert W. Armstrong in the end time. (Our free booklet on Zechariah will prove that to you.) That is an interesting way to put it—addressing all Israel. It is really referring to spiritual Israel today.

Raise the Standard!

David’s throne was no longer in Jerusalem, yet Ezra really had his focus on David and that throne. I think you can see that bringing the throne of David into the book of Ezra-Nehemiah changes everything! Now we can really understand it! It makes Ezra-Nehemiah come alive as never before.

Ezra-Nehemiah is one of the best books—maybe the best book—in the Bible about how to raise the ruins. We must look at this spiritually: Think of the job we have and the ruins we need to raise—not only those in the Church, but now, even the ruins of the throne of David! And when we look at the bigger picture, we must also raise the ruins created long ago by Lucifer and his rebellion, wrecking the universe! We have to go out there and build it up! The universe is groaning and waiting for the liberty of the sons of God! (Romans 8:18-23).

Our Work today really gives insight into what Christ will do in the World Tomorrow and how He will do it! Having the throne and the law gives us profound insight into what is coming!

We are here to build the spiritual temple by learning to be God-centered—always trying to think like David, to think like God and to have a heart like God in every detail. That must be our spiritual standard. And now that we have the throne of David, God is telling us that we need to raise the bar! Having the throne of David requires a high standard!

We must be different. We cannot be weak like we are now and sit on David’s throne. We are kings and priests in embryo, and we are about to sit on that throne forever! Surely it is appropriate to be raising our standard! We really must get the standard to a God-plane level.

Are our marriages really on a God-plane? How about our child rearing and our children and family—are they on a God-plane? This is what God says it must be!

We must keep raising the standard! Jesus Christ Himself is the one raising that standard. If we are going to share this throne with Christ, we need Christ’s mind. If we are going to be the Bride of the almighty, powerful, brilliant God of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 1, then we must be God beings! We need a laser-like focus on building God’s character, and we will be judged on how well we do this.

The stakes are so marvelously and wonderfully high right now! We are living in a different time! We must really grasp this vision. There has been a magnificent and marvelous change in God’s Church! It will be more exciting by far than it ever has been, when we understand it all spiritually.

Let’s do everything we can to rise up to this spiritual level!

For years the Philadelphia Church of God has focused on prophecies in Ezekiel that refer to God’s faithful people in this Laodicean era as “sons of Zadok” (Ezekiel 40:46; 44:15; 48:11). We continue to draw inspiration from the biblical example of Zadok, the priest who remained loyal to David’s throne from the beginning to the end of his reign—even amid terrible treachery.

This truth becomes even more inspiring and special in the context of the new throne of David.

David was a warrior who fought evil, and he surrounded himself with warriors whom he had trained. Zadok was a courageous warrior and a mighty man of valor before he was ordained a priest. Men like Zadok surrounded David. The Bible calls these men “men of war fit for the battle” (1 Chronicles 12:8). These are the type of people God wants in His Family: warriors like Zadok and leaders like David. David truly was a leader of leaders! He went through a lot and he proved himself to be a great warrior! And it was all for God. We must be warriors for God and for the throne of David. That means we need to spend a lot of time on our knees, drawing close to God.

If you are a son of Zadok, you think like David, and you think like Zadok. He never deserted the throne of David, and his sons followed his example. No matter what David’s sins were and how many people rejected him, Zadok and his sons knew God was still behind His king. They were loyal to the God behind David.

The sons of Zadok have a special calling. God says through the Prophet Ezekiel that because of their loyalty while others betrayed Him, they will come near to Him in the World Tomorrow.

Look how God will reward the sons of Zadok who see the God behind the throne of David! That is the secret to their success and the reason they will be at headquarters forever! God is moved and stirred by how well they keep the focus on Him and His Work. It is not about looking to men—it is all about God! How moved your Father is by that loyalty. That impresses God.

In The Former Prophets, I gave seven reasons God’s faithful people are called the sons of Zadok. I will list them here and add an eighth. These will help you keep your focus on the throne of David.

1. We cling to The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Leaders in the Worldwide Church of God got rid of this book in the 1970s. Mr. Armstrong brought it back. After he died, they shelved it again, and people just followed along. But the sons of Zadok stand up for the truth of God! We are loyal to David’s throne! We fought a six-year court battle to win the copyright to that book and others.

2. We continue the dig in Jerusalem. We will do quite a bit more before it is over, I am sure. This is all related to David’s throne, on which the sons of Zadok have their minds fixed.

3. We are spiritual Jews who never lose the key of David vision. This is the only vision given to the Philadelphians (Revelation 3:7).

4. We continue to let God deepen that vision.

5. We continue to follow Mr. Armstrong, who taught us the truth about David’s family throne. His prayer rock became the symbol of David’s throne! What an honor for Mr. Armstrong—forever! He didn’t know this would happen, but I’m sure it will be a pleasant surprise for him when he is resurrected shortly.

6. We have staged performances about David’s dynasty. In Armstrong Auditorium, we have presented Jeremiah: A Musical and Step-Dancing Extravaganza, David: The Endless Throne Begins, Celtic Throne and other productions.

7. We are doing all we can to proclaim the key of David message to Israel and the whole world.

8. We have the new throne of David. Is that not a big part of why we are called the sons of Zadok? Think about this noble title! This is a tremendous honor that God has given us. Surely He did so because He knew we would have the throne of David in this end time.

What a marvelous reward for staying faithful to God and remaining loyal to the throne of David! This is the hour! This is our time to rise up and give this Work everything we have! The rewards are enormous!

In the past, when God has given me new revelation, words flowed into my mind and entered my thought process, often leading me to certain scriptures. But with the revelation about the new stone and throne, it was different. This time, I heard a strong voice. It was more powerful. I don’t think anyone else would have heard anything, but I certainly heard it. It really startled me, as I think it would anyone. That was the first time I had ever experienced anything like that.

That voice left me somewhat shaken, but in a good way. As soon as I heard it, I started studying the Bible; I wanted to prove that revelation from God’s Word. After studying, I began to see that Jesus Christ was establishing a new throne, just like that voice had said. I began to find all the scriptures and put them together. You can do the same thing: This book goes through many scriptures that prove this truth. You don’t just have to accept my word for it: You can prove that voice came from God.

I understand why some would question this if I just heard a voice and didn’t have any proof from the Bible. But when you put all this evidence together, it proves that I really did hear a voice from God! The proof is all laid out in the Bible. You don’t want to follow someone who has simply heard a voice—I certainly don’t! It requires study, prayer and meditation on your part. There are also voices coming from the devil. People talk about hearing those voices all the time, after which they do terrible things!

This is obviously extremely important to God. If He is going to vocalize that there is a new stone and a new throne, that has a lot of weight. I don’t know if Christ personally came or personally spoke, but I do know God conveyed that message to us. And when you see in Amos 9:11 where God says, “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David,” it certainly could allow for Christ to personally speak this truth to His Church. After all, it is His throne! Verse 1 says He came and appeared before God’s people sometime during the court case. He made a personal appearance. At that time we didn’t see anything, but we know He appeared because the verse says so. (You can read about this in Chapter 4 of this book, and further prove it by studying my booklet on Amos.)

I do think God will be working more directly with us as time goes on because we are preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Head of this Church. He can speak to His leader if He wants to. He is going to do a lot of that to all of us very soon, so we had better get used to it.

I have always said that God has never given me any vision outside of the Bible, and I still say that. This new revelation is in the Bible.

But there was a change. When God gave me this revelation, it was many times more emphatic than any revelation God has ever given me. People can scoff at this, but they won’t have very long to do so! We will have even more dramatic things to show them before this is over.

Why the change? Why would God, instead of just letting those thoughts come into my mind, speak this or have it spoken in such a strong way? I believe that Christ knew He had to emphasize it or I would not have realized what a radical leap this is for us spiritually! This is about the new throne of David! This is about a promise God made to David and has kept for all these thousands of years. Christ is about to return, and He has a voice in what kind of a throne will be here when He arrives!

I don’t think God could have gotten the message across to me the way He normally reaches me. This was a gigantic change that had to be made in this Church! It is about ruling the world and even the universe! I think this message could only have been conveyed by a strong voice—and then we had to start proving it to be true.

We know that Christ is the Head of this Church, but you know it more deeply when you hear a voice like that! It certainly underscores the importance of this revelation.

Most places in the Bible where God gives revelation to a prophet, it reads something like, “The word of the Lord came ….” You can see this in Zechariah 6:9, for example: “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying.” But as we will see in the next chapter, the context here is about the new throne of David. And in verse 12, it looks like there is a change here: “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying ….” That seems like a different way of expressing it than it is in verse 9. It is discussing the Branch, or Christ, who delivered that message to somebody—maybe directly to me. From the context, it appears Christ may have spoken those words Himself.

Many people will hear this and think it is a big fantasy. But they will not move a finger to try to prove whether what we say is true! Nevertheless, you can prove this. And it is your responsibility to do so if you are going to obey God!

God has revealed exciting new understanding from Zechariah 6. It shows how God is diligently preparing for the events of the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord—and for the majestic presentation of David’s throne that will follow immediately afterward!

The book of Zechariah is about our time today. Zechariah 6 has puzzled me for years. Now God has removed the mystery, and it gives us mind-staggering insight into what is about to come.

The time frame of Zechariah 6 is very sobering. It is about the urgent period of preparation right before the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord!

Despite the alarming message in this chapter, it is still inspiring in many ways because it gives a clear message about what will happen immediately after that prophesied destruction.

God has revealed to His Church that we are in the prophesied “Jeroboam end.” (Please read Great Again for more information.) The events described in Zechariah 6 follow shortly after that time began. This tells us that time is incredibly short! Just look at what has happened in the world since January 16, 2017, when God transferred David’s throne to the Philadelphia Church of God. The Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord are clearly on the horizon. We are on the countdown to that time. The United States, Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East are all about to fall together. All around us is evidence that this event is imminent. Sadly, far too many people remain blind to these signs.

God is preparing now for these events! He is taking very definite action—some of which we can already see. He will continue to do a lot of orchestrating to ensure that His plan prevails.

We can understand what God reveals in Zechariah 6. We had better take note. We must get ready for the fantastic prophecies of Zechariah 6 to be fulfilled!

Four Chariots

“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass” (Zechariah 6:1). The Bible shows us that a mountain is a symbol of government. These two mountains represent the rule of the two present members of the eternal God Family: God the Father and Jesus Christ. Everything begins to unfold from between these two mountains.

The four chariots referred to here come from the very throne of God. Anytime something flows and emanates from the throne room of God, we ought to take note. It is critical that we pay attention to what follows.

What do these chariots represent? Generally in Scripture, chariots signify war (e.g. 1 Samuel 13:5; 2 Kings 6:14-17; Psalm 68:17; Isaiah 66:15; Jeremiah 46:8-10; Daniel 11:40; Revelation 9:9). These verses are alerting us to the fact that in the very near future, this world is about to experience terrible, earth-shattering warfare!

“In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled [speckled] and bay horses” (Zechariah 6:2-3). What could all this mean?

“Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth” (verses 4-5).

It is clear that these four spirits have been standing before God and receiving commands about what they are to do. This is “of the heavens,” so they cannot be Satan and his demons, who are already confined to this Earth. Originating from God’s throne room, these four chariots are instructed to go to the four quarters of the Earth. God is talking about a global effort here during the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord. Angelic beings are being positioned now for these catastrophic events!

The red horses represent a bloody nuclear war, a war of carnage over all the Earth. This devastating war will have God’s approval, as verse 1 indicates. Remember, when God talks about the prophetic “kings of the east,” He calls them His own army (Joel 2:11, 25). A lot of blood will be flowing very soon because God is going to get mankind’s attention!

The black horses are a symbol of violence, famine and pestilence that will soon overtake the Earth. These angelic beings will see to it that this punishment is measured out precisely as God wishes—no more, no less. The speckled horses represent a variety of purposes that God is going to fulfill during the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord.

The white horses, by contrast, represent Jesus Christ and His Work directly. Remember, all these chariots come from God’s throne. They travel around the Earth. During that nightmare of global nuclear war, violence and famine, God will still be orchestrating a lot of details. He will arrange for His people to be looked after in a place of safety. He will be watching over the repentant Laodiceans as they deliver a message to the Gentiles and are martyred. He will bring the repentant great multitude of Revelation 7 out of the conflagration and spare them. This will all require a lot of angelic involvement.

God has already given these angels their instructions. This has been going on for some time. They have learned how to help God orchestrate His plan, which is no small task.

We are in the Jeroboam end. In this time frame, there is unparalleled carnage and destruction on Earth like never in history! The time is extremely urgent. The crisis of crises is at the door.

The North Country

“The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the [speckled] go forth toward the south country” (Zechariah 6:6). God is concerned about the “north country.” That is where the prophesied “king of the north” is located: Catholic Europe, led by Germany. (Request our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire to understand.) God knows there will be awful desolation. You can sense it building in Europe even today. The whole Continent is full of anxiety, especially in Germany.

The International Critical Commentary says this about verse 6: “The Hebrew word for the north indicates that it was conceived as a dark and gloomy region. Hence, it is fitting that the black horses should be assigned to the north country ….”

The speckled horses go toward the south country (verse 6). “And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth” (verse 7).

The violence, pestilence, famine and starvation of the Tribulation are already building! The terrible prophecies we have discussed for years are starting to come to pass! And God is already preparing by stationing these angels in certain locations among the nations. These spirits of God are walking to and fro over the Earth right now! They will have to deal with Satan in all his wrath to make sure God’s plan is carried out, and you can be sure they will succeed. God is active in all this.

If God is getting ready for this even now, then we certainly should be getting ready too! This is not something to take lightly!

“Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country” (verse 8). God has a special concern about the north country because there is a superpower there that worships the devil! God is intensely concerned about that. He has to keep a check on Satan the devil so that no detail of His plan is disrupted.

God is going to end up punishing the wicked Holy Roman Empire and the kings of the east the same way that they have punished others. (Read our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy.) It will be a time of unparalleled darkness and blackness!

God is ready to go to war in a way this world does not understand. Even today, God is preparing for the crisis of crises!

Yet in the midst of these prophecies of destruction on all four corners of the Earth, God gives an inspiring message. It is a clear message about His throne.

A Double Crown

“Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:11-12).

This verse is talking about the glorious rule that is about to be established on Earth! “The BRANCH” is Jesus Christ. He is the focus here.

God has two crowns made—one of silver, one of gold—and placed on the head of Joshua. This fascinating verse is unique in the entire Bible because a man is given a double crown.

We could not have understood this prophecy before we received the new revelation about the throne of David being moved to God’s Church!

I believe God made the crowns gold and silver because of the distinction between the two offices. One of these crowns represents the priestly office, and the other represents kingship. The Anchor Bible notes in reference to verse 11, that “the crowns of both priest and king in Israel were made of gold.” Anciently, the priest had a miter made of gold, and the king’s crown was also gold. Here, however, when discussing this double crown, both gold and silver are mentioned, with silver coming first. I believe the silver here represents the less prestigious office of the priesthood. God revealed this new throne, new stone understanding through the priesthood, so it comes first. But the king is the one who directs everything, so the priest performs a less important role by comparison.

This is about the scepter promise and the law of the priesthood—a king-priest! God is making it abundantly clear that within His Church, the promises of the lawgiver and scepter are now combined—as we have shown was prophesied in Genesis 49:10 to happen in this very end time. The crowns that are set upon Joshua’s head indicate the combining of the scepter and lawgiver promises.

There is actually one other place in the Bible where you see this combination, and that is with Melchizedek. The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary notes this about Zechariah 6: “The double crown is placed on Joshua’s head, symbolizing that the true priesthood and the kingdom shall be conferred on the one Messiah.” It then refers to Melchizedek, “who similarly combined the kingdom and the priesthood ….” Melchizedek was the God of the Old Testament, who became Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:20; 7:1-3).

So the only two references in the Bible where you find both crowns being combined are with Melchizedek and here in Zechariah 6 with the Joshua type. Think of what this tells you about how God is preparing the throne for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—and how close we are to the coming of the King of kings!

The throne God has placed in His Church has everything to do with the BRANCH, because Jesus Christ is about to be presented with that throne! The two crowns are all about the honor that is soon to be conferred on Jesus Christ!

God’s people are kings and priests in embryo. That is a fantastic calling. All the firstfruits are also about to be given dual crowns and share Christ’s throne as His Bride. But we cannot forget that Christ is supreme—He is the King of kings and Lord of lords! Kings are listed first (gold), and lords, or priests, are listed second (silver).

A Weighty Responsibility

Zechariah 6 shows a world in transition. It is about to experience the horrific nightmares of the Great Tribulation, but that will quickly be followed by the triumphant presenting of David’s throne to Christ, the King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek! This chapter shows how thoroughly and diligently God is preparing for these earthshaking events right now.

And God is bringing His faithful people right into the middle of it! We are receiving advance, detailed warning from God of what is going to happen all over the globe. He is making these prophecies clear, showing exactly how everything will unfold. He is getting us involved and showing us how He will use us to support His cause. And He has made His king and the other firstfruits the stewards of that double crown today! These are His “sons of Zadok” who hold fast to David’s throne. They remain loyal and faithful because they understand that it is Christ’s throne!

We are talking about a new throne. What is a throne? Oxford Dictionary defines it, “The chair of state of a king, prince, or bishop; royal power and dignity, sovereignty.” The word is also used as a verb, meaning, to invest with or to hold kingly rank or power. A throne is not just a chair. It is a king and, in this case, a stone to go with it. That is what Zechariah 6 is about.

We are the royal family of David’s throne, possessing the throne that Jesus Christ is about to sit on and rule from forever! That is mind-splitting truth!

It says here that a crown was put on Joshua’s head. That is a type of the new stone and the new throne, and it’s all a type of the very rule of Jesus Christ. After all, He is the Head of the Church, typed by that stone. It is His throne, not ours. Our job is to proclaim this to the world.

What a wonderful time to be part of God’s Work!

If we really understand the honor God is giving us with the opportunity to help Him raise the tabernacle of David, we have to ask, Who are we? What a calling God has given His people! The firstfruits will be with Christ when He is presented with the throne. We will probably present the throne to Jesus Christ, and then we will be right there with Him, sitting beside Him on His throne as His Bride!

That is a weighty responsibility! We must be qualified for that position! “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). This is our breathtaking calling: to be Christ’s Bride! But we have to make ourselves ready. It takes preparation now to rule on that throne later.

If you are not preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, you had better start now! We must be acting on these earthshaking prophecies! We must bear down to get prepared for this role. We must get ourselves out of the way now and let Christ work through us. God knows we can do this. If we couldn’t, we wouldn’t be here.

Meaning of Names

Notice Zechariah 6:10-11: “Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns ….” Who made these crowns? They were not human beings. These names represent angelic beings.

The meaning of each of these names is significant. “It is remarkable that all five names express a relation to God,” Barnes’ Commentary says. Heldai means “the Lord’s world”; Tobiah means “the Lord is my good”; Jedaiah means “God knows, or cares for”; Josiah means “the Lord supports”; Zephaniah means “the Lord hides.”

Each of these names expresses a wonderful quality of God. God is good, unlike any man. He knows what is best in our life and cares deeply for each one of us. God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice to prove that to us! Zephaniah’s book is prophecy about the coming Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord; during that period, God will hide His little remnant.

But there are those who have turned away from God who will have to suffer in the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord (Zephaniah 1:6). God makes a special appeal to them because they are His Family!

Foreshadowing the Messiah

The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary noted this about Joshua receiving the double crown: “The high priest wore a holy crown … above the miter (Zechariah 3:5; Leviticus 8:9). Messiah shall wear many crowns, one surmounting the other (Revelation 19:12). It was a thing before unknown in the Levitical priesthood that the same person should wear at once the crown of a king and that of a high priest” (emphasis mine throughout). The Levitical priesthood didn’t understand this because that dual crown is only for God—and for His firstfruits who will become God beings! We are kings and priests (Revelation 1:6), and we will be sitting on the throne with the King of kings and Lord of lords!

In Zechariah 6:12, when it introduces Christ, it says, “Behold the man.” jfb connects this with John 19:5, where “Pilate unconsciously spake God’s will concerning” Christ: “Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!” “The sense here is, ‘Behold in Joshua a remarkable shadowing forth of Messiah,’” jfb says. This is all about shadowing forth the Messiah! “It is not for his [Joshua’s] own sake that the crown is placed on him, but as type of Messiah about to be at once King and Priest” (ibid).

The end-time type of Joshua rules on David’s throne today.

Christ was made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6, 10). And in John 18:37, Christ told Pilate that He was born to be a king. Christ wasn’t to fulfill that role at His first coming, as they believed at the time. Instead, it is about to happen now! That is what we are preparing for. And no man will stop Him! He will be King of kings and Lord of lords over all the Earth, under God the Father.

“Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both” (Zechariah 6:13). The Joshua-type fulfills this reign in a limited way. God uses this transition to help us better understand Christ’s rule.

“Those who are far away shall also come and work at the rebuilding of the Eternal’s temple (so shall you know the Eternal did send me to you). If you listen carefully to the voice of the Eternal your God …” (verse 15; Moffatt). God reassures us that everything will work out if we carefully listen to Him.

‘Grow Up Out of His Place’

“… Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place …” (Zechariah 6:12). This is Jesus Christ. What does it mean that He will “grow up out of his place”?

The Moffatt version translates the last part of this verse: “He shall flourish where he is rooted ….” That is a better translation. Flourish is a more accurate translation than “grow up.” Flourish means to be at the peak of development.

When we receive Joshua’s dual crown, and the new stone and new throne, we are going to flourish! It is actually Christ ruling on that throne, if we do our job! It’s not about a man sitting on it; he is just a symbol. It’s about Jesus Christ. That means the Work is going to be greater. God will empower this Church to a higher degree!

Another translation reads, “sprout up, shoot up, spring up.” That is what Christ is doing right now in this Church. He is springing up! He is supplying us more power to counter the power that Satan has in his worst wrath. We should expect that Christ is going to “spring up” more and more in this Church the closer we get to actually handing the throne over to Him. After all, we are the forerunner of Christ ruling this Earth! He is getting us ready to rule!

What does “out of his place” mean? “Out of” literally means the lower part, that which is below, beneath or under (Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon). It means that Christ, or His throne, is going to move from a lower place to a higher place—a spiritual place.

“He shall flourish where he is rooted,” Moffatt says. This is quite a dimension we need to understand. Where is Christ rooted? Moffatt translates “The BRANCH” as Scion, which means a descendant of David. Clarke’s Commentary says that “out of his place” in Zechariah 6:12 means “out of David’s root.” This goes back to the root of David, or the throne of David. Luke 1:30-33 reveal that Christ will be given “the throne of his father David.” That throne is from Christ’s own roots. Christ came out of the degeneration of the old throne of David, located in Britain. The throne was moved to His Church, His very elect.

At the end of Zechariah 6:12, the Moffatt translation is better. It says that Christ “shall rebuild the temple of the Eternal.” The word translated “build” in the King James is the same as in Isaiah 44:28, where Cyrus discussed Jerusalem being rebuilt. Those words are interchangeable, and rebuilt is an accurate translation. Zechariah 6:15 also talks about rebuilding. That is what is happening: This Work is one of raising up the ruins, or raising up the tabernacle of David that has fallen.

The prophecy in Amos 9:11 applies in a general way to our Work, but I believe when it says “tabernacle of David,” it is mainly speaking about the new throne of David! That throne has fallen in the United Kingdom. And God says He will raise it up! Then He says He is also going to raise the ruins and build it as in the days of old—as Mr. Armstrong built it, with Mystery of the Ages.

Zechariah 6:13 says Christ shall “sit and rule upon” David’s throne. That throne is in this Church, and He is the Head of the Church. The verse concludes by saying, “the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” This is also referring to the Joshua-type, the man leading the Church. This man is “a priest upon his throne” at Christ’s right hand, and both shall hold counsel in harmony. We can only have Christ’s throne—and Him sitting on this throne, spiritually—if we are in harmony with Him.

Today, God’s very elect follow the physical king sitting on David’s throne as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

‘Diligently Obey’

Zechariah 6:15 says, “And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.” You have to know what God is doing and through whom He is working. That is your responsibility.

This verse concludes, “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.” This is before the Second Coming. And there is a big condition here!

We have to make sure we remove that “if”! God wants to know that we love His truth, His stone, His throne and His crown. Once He knows that, then He will be well pleased and will give us entrance into His Family.

The word translated “obey” also means to give undivided attention, obedience or listening; it means to understand what one has heard. The main idea of the Hebrew word, shama, is perceiving a message—understanding it. The Moffatt says, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Eternal your God.” Listen carefully and hear God’s message. You can know and prove it is God’s message. That is what God wants. We must give serious attention to this new revelation! This is not easy to grasp. It requires in-depth Bible study and prayer!

This verse gives us the whole formula we need: “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.” All you need to do is follow the formula, and you cannot fail! That is a great promise, but it is also a warning! Ninety-five percent of God’s people are not here! Fifty percent of them will never be here, and the other 50 percent are going into the Great Tribulation to remove the “if”! They are going to have to say, Go ahead, kill me. I’m all in! I’m going to obey God. I don’t care what you do to me!

We are getting very close to the time when many thousands of God’s lukewarm saints will have to take that stand. But take that stand today, and there is no reason why you should go through that! God gives you the formula. He is telling you, This is something you can do! And if you do it, you will be in my Family and rule and share the throne of Jesus Christ at headquarters forever and ever and ever!

Zechariah 6 shows that God has a clear plan of action. We must be preparing, just as God is preparing, to see to it that God’s plan prevails. That means we must listen carefully to what God is telling us. Take note of His message, and act with urgency.

We are going to help raise the ruins of a devastated Earth. We will help Jesus Christ restore paradise to this Earth! We are going to plant the heavens and aid in healing this groaning universe (Isaiah 51:16). That is the awe-inspiring future that God has in store for those who will listen to His voice! Just understanding that should motivate us to prepare in every way we can!

A Temporary Throne

“And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 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” (Acts 15:15-16). The context here is the Millennium. Even in the Millennium, the throne of David will be a “tabernacle”—it is still a temporary throne, as it is today. Only after the Millennium is completed, and a new heaven and a new Earth have arrived, and God the Father has brought new Jerusalem to Earth, will that throne be permanent.

What a mighty vision this is! It just keeps unfolding! What God is calling us to be a part of really ought to stir our lives mightily!

The understanding of this throne isn’t about exalting us; it’s about exalting God! But at the same time, if we do our part, God will exalt us in ways that are hard to even describe! This is reality!

When you think about this amazing revelation, you can see why, when the disciple Thomas asked to see the holes in Christ’s hands and side, Christ calmly said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We must build faith to really grasp this truth. How often do we not have the faith we ought to have? I certainly have found myself in that position. We can all relate to Thomas, because we have all had our faith failures. But we can change that.

Look at this millennial prophecy: “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes” (Isaiah 54:1-2). “Tent” in verse 2 means tabernacle or temporary dwelling. This movable tabernacle will keep getting greater and greater because the Family is not complete until the Father is here! At that point, Earth will not be inhabited by human beings. The vision keeps expanding!

“For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed …” (verses 3-4). We just need to trust God. We don’t have to see the “holes” in Christ’s hands and side. We must have a greater faith than that, and keep building on that faith.

“For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called” (verse 5). We serve the God of the whole Earth! This is an endless vision that just keeps unfolding! What God is doing right now in this Church ushers in the Messiah, and then the Family of God, and then the Father, and then we go out and beautify and build the universe!

Honoring Mr. Armstrong

Malachi 3:1-2 is a marvelous prophecy that Mr. Armstrong would prepare the way for Jesus Christ’s Second Coming. That is amazing! Preparing the way for Jesus Christ is a major endeavor! And look at the honor God is giving him: The rock that he used as a prayer rock ended up becoming a symbol of the throne of David! God was really paying attention when Mr. Armstrong was up there on the hill praying at that stone!

Near the end of his life, Mr. Armstrong said the “restoration of God’s government is the one great purpose uppermost in God’s mind.” The new stone and new throne really fit right into that. God has brought His royal government into His Church. And God has His own government ruling from the throne of David.

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David …” (Isaiah 9:7). This is a vision we need to get locked into.

“And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand …” (Isaiah 22:21). The government is in the Church of God. Would God give the throne of David to people who won’t submit to His government? There is no way He would do that! That would defeat God’s own purpose.

“And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (verse 22). That key of the house of David comes with a lot of power! Eliakim has the key to the house of David, and nobody can shut that door. Imagine that! We have this open door, and men would love to shut it, but they can’t! Armies would love to shut it, but they can’t! We are oftentimes berated and kicked around, but they can’t shut the door! And it drives them crazy!

“And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house” (verse 23). The father in this verse is Mr. Armstrong. This says that my office is going to be a glorious throne to his house. Mr. Armstrong was like a father to me and many others.

Eliakim is a father of the house of Judah. That throne will be returned to Judah. We are saying, “Behold your God!” to the cities of Judah and telling them the Messiah is coming! (Isaiah 40:9). He is going to come and sit on David’s throne. That throne is here in the Philadelphia Church of God!

“In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah 22:25). I have always thought this refers to the place of safety, and we have the throne of David when we get there.

Flow Into the World Tomorrow

This new throne is a direct tie to Jesus Christ’s Second Coming. His return is almost here! We are coming close to God’s rule on the throne of David forever!

Perhaps nothing can make the World Tomorrow more meaningful than David’s throne. What could be more helpful to really get a vision of the future?

Having this throne is everything! It is like a bridge right into the World Tomorrow. In a sense, it is already the beginning of the rule in the World Tomorrow. How will we rule when Jesus Christ returns? Well, Christ is going to rule from David’s throne. Today we have David’s throne and must rule from that throne. Christ will also implement the law. We too administer the law with the government of God. The Kingdom of God is going to administer the law of God to the whole world from David’s throne. We have an embryo of that now in this Church!

You might say this will make us leap into the World Tomorrow. But in reality, it won’t make us leap; it will make us flow into the World Tomorrow!

God has established a new throne that possesses a certain purity that will allow us to pass this throne on to the Savior. How special! The more I think about this, the more I realize that God would never allow it to be done any other way. He would not want the royal family of Britain today to pass that throne to Him, as long as they are behaving the way they are.

We are in a transition movement. We have the throne that will transition to God Himself! It looks like we will present the throne of God to Jesus Christ. We are in the transition stage of Christ ascending to that throne to rule the world!

Imagine the great Father giving us the new stone and the new throne! We are God’s royalty! We have David’s throne! How blessed is this Church.

This is mind-staggering revelation. We have been given a great gift and a clear vision of what God wants us to do. It is going to make God’s new civilization come alive for us! This is a preview of the World Tomorrow! Jesus Christ is about to return and marry His Bride. She will sit on David’s throne and assist Christ in ruling this Earth forever and ever. Our rulership will flow out into the universe, and there will be no end to the government and the peace that it will bring to this Earth and the universe.

And right now, God is inviting us—throughout that wonderfully productive eternity—to be right there near Him, where He will be talking to you, and you to Him. That is reality! That is where all this is leading. What could be more wonderful, beautiful and exciting than for God to give us a reward like that?