Establishing the Throne

Remember Jeremiah’s prophecy: “For thus saith the Lord; David shall never [lack] a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 33:17). That is a promise from God! That throne is on Earth today, and it’s going to continue forever!

Verse 18 shows that there will always be a man proclaiming the truth about that throne. That twofold covenant is all part of the key of David, and it is absolutely binding (verses 19-22).

Now, that covenant is interesting to consider in light of a 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, and without an ephod, and without teraphim.”

This is describing a very tragic period—the Great Tribulation—almost upon us. It is a prophecy about Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah, 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—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 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? I believe that question becomes more interesting over time.

Britain to Lose the Pillar Stone

Anciently, when Judah went into captivity, it didn’t have a king, a royal family, God’s religion or the pillar stone. What happened to the stone? Mr. Armstrong taught us the history. The stone was passed to Jeremiah. He took this stone and the king’s daughter to Ireland. (The United States and Britain in Prophecy explains this history.) Do you think this may be prophetic? Will the stone be passed on again?

We have already explained how England has given the stone to Scotland on the condition it be returned for the next coronation. But this prophecy indicates that England will eventually lose total control of the stone.

Look closely at Hosea 3:5. “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.” After the children of Israel lose their king, royal family, religion and stone, they will seek God and King David. This verse is a continuation of the thought in verse 4, which ends with a colon. It is a prophecy for the latter days.

We know England is going to lose its king and queen. The royal family will be killed or taken into captivity. What will happen to that stone in the Tribulation?

What if God worked out a way for the very elect to obtain possession of that stone just prior to the return of Jesus Christ? This is what He did in Jeremiah’s time. God never let the stone fall into the hands of the Gentiles in the time of Jeremiah.

We don’t really know the immediate future of that stone and throne. But for over 25 centuries, the kings of Israel, Ireland, Scotland and England have been crowned on that stone. And yet nearly all of the people in Britain and the United States don’t know this precious history!

Hosea’s prophecy continues with this inspiring picture: “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). Imagine the peoples of Israel going into captivity and finally coming to their senses. When that happens, and they emerge from slavery, David will be right there facing them—resurrected as a fiery God being! At last, the peoples of Israel will believe God. They will believe and understand the key of David! They will realize that David, who was just a human being, has been exalted into God’s Family. And they will recognize that they too have an avenue into the Family. They’ll see their incredible potential!

Now, let’s answer the deep and electrifying mystery presented by Hosea’s prophecy! I believe it is explained by a passage in Isaiah 16—one that has become clearer to me in light of the projects we have been undertaking in Jerusalem.

Hiding God’s Outcasts

In the Soncino commentary, Isaiah 16:1 reads, “Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land From the crags that are toward the wilderness, Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.”

“Lamb” in the King James Version is better translated lambs. It is a collective noun. Crags is translated from the Hebrew Sela, meaning rocky fortress. The equivalent word in the Greek is Petra.

Someone here is sending special tribute to the ruler. In other words, there is a group of people who are respectful to the government. And they are located in Sela, this rocky place that is toward the wilderness—unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. So the daughter of Zion is there—which is God’s very elect! This is a picture of God’s own Church in a rocky fortress, giving a gift and respect to the government of the land.

“Like fluttering birds, like scattered nestlings, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon” (verse 2; rsv). Look at the context and you can see that this chapter’s events take place during the Tribulation. So the whole region, and the world, is seized with turmoil—and it is affecting Moab, which is modern-day Jordan. “[F]ords of the Arnon” means that the Jordanian people are trying to get out of there, and they are crossing a boundary at the shallow part of a river. The Soncino commentary says, “The inhabitants of the provincial towns, uprooted from their homes and in search of a resting place.” That is Tribulation-associated imagery. The king of the south has already been conquered by the king of the north (explained in our booklet The King of the South, free upon request).

There will be violent turmoil in the Middle East. Some of it will spill over into Jordan. The Earth’s inhabitants will be experiencing World War iii!

Will the preliminary turmoil open a way for our escape to a place of protection?

“Give counsel, grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; hide the outcasts, betray not the fugitive” (verse 3; rsv). Here God is telling Moab to take care of some people who have been cast out. The Hebrew word translated “outcasts,” nadach, means to thrust forth, expel or drive away. How could Moab protect these people in a way that would make it somewhat like night, even when it was high noon? It seems that hiding them in caves would do so.

God is showing these people that they have in their midst a very special group. Don’t betray these people! He says. I want you to hide them! Though we can’t be sure, this certainly looks like the place where God’s very elect will be during the Tribulation.

“Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land” (verse 4). The context shows why most translations read “my outcasts.” God calls them my people who have been cast out—my Church. And He tells Moab to hide them while some others—extortioners and oppressors—are receiving some hard correction from God. God appears to be correcting the people of Moab, probably to make them receptive to God’s people.

Revelation 12:14 shows that God’s people will be protected from “the face of the serpent.” Here in Isaiah 16:4, God uses the Moabites to protect His very elect from “the face of the spoiler.” It is the same being and the same place of safety in both scriptures! Satan is fanatically trying to get at us! We will need protection. He is after us—he always has been and always will be until God puts him away. He will come after us head-on in order to destroy us. We must respond by using God’s power to conquer him!

Now look at verse 5—where God has revealed some new truth to me.

The Throne Shall Be Established

“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).

Here you have the same tabernacle of David you see in Amos 9:11. The Anchor Bible says these two verses are talking about the same “tent,” or “booth,” of David. The tabernacle here means a hut, or temporary dwelling. The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible says, “The most common use of the term had to do with the yearly booth made in conjunction with the Feast of the Tabernacles.” Amos 9:11 shows that this temporary dwelling has fallen, and Christ has to raise it back up through the very elect.

So there will be a tabernacle over there in the Middle East, in the midst of a lot of trouble. It is there for an important reason. In this context, it is clearly where God is. If it’s the very elect tabernacle, God is right there leading His people. You can see that by the way God is talking to Moab in Isaiah 16—and I have a strong feeling that the people of Moab are going to obey! They’ll recognize that God is in charge here. But still, it is a temporary dwelling. The Kingdom of God has not arrived yet.

Now—look again at Isaiah 16:5. There is an added expression you don’t find in Amos 9:11: “the throne.” This says that the throne will be established in addition to the tabernacle. What throne is this talking about? David’s throne! The same throne that Jeremiah 33:17 says will always be occupied!

This is the only throne on Earth that will last forever! “The throne,” indeed!

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. That chair was constructed by men rather recently—but the stone has been around for millennia! It goes all the way back to Jacob! It was at one time called God’s house—where God dwelled!

Where will that stone be during the Tribulation? Again, Ephraim is going to lose it, according to Hosea 3:4. Where will that rock be? Will God give it to the Gentiles? I don’t believe for a minute that He would. He didn’t give it to the Gentiles when Judah was taken captive. Jeremiah was in a prison in Jerusalem—and yet somehow he ended up with the stone, and he eventually took it with him to Ireland!

Wouldn’t God want us to save that marvelous stone of destiny, or to gain possession of it? I can’t see this verse as anything but a strong statement about where that rock will be.

God says the throne will be established—and it’s in the context of a tabernacle, or temporary dwelling. The word “established” comes from the Hebrew word kuwn, which is used 25 times in Scripture to refer to the establishment of a dynasty. In this passage, it must be talking about the Davidic dynasty! 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!

We must have faith to believe what the Bible says! This is an exciting prophecy!

Right now, the pieces seem to be falling into place for us to assist in uncovering the very place where David’s throne was, and where Christ will sit on His throne. Do you suppose God might also get us involved with that stone? Does it seem illogical that God would use His people, who have the key of David and are about to sit on the throne of David, to get that stone, which is a symbol of that throne and of Christ? Certainly not to me.

Who Will Sit on the Throne?

Who will sit on that throne at the time described in Isaiah 16? I don’t know—but I do know that someone will be on it, and it will be established—and it appears to be there in the Middle East during a terrible time on Earth.

At the time of Jeremiah, he had with him a queen from the royal family to sit on that throne. Maybe there will be a member of the royal family with us in the place of safety. However, considering Isaiah 16:5 says he will be “seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness,” that doesn’t seem likely.

There is much here we don’t know, but the context seems to imply that the “he” who “shall sit upon” that throne is a man from this Church.

As I point out in Who Is ‘That Prophet’?, Micah 2:13 refers to the office Christ has given me as that of “their king.” That couldn’t be referring to Christ, because the same verse separately mentions “the Lord.” The word king in that verse means the leader, or one in charge—but the word king is appropriate.

In Micah 4:8-9, God asks the Laodiceans, “[I]s there no king in thee?” They don’t have a king. (You can also read about these verses in our free booklet Micah—God’s People Rise Up as His Enemy.)

These scriptures are talking about a man who leads a breakaway from a rebellious church! It’s end-time prophecy in your Bible!

It shouldn’t be too upsetting to think of God calling a man in the Church a “king.” After the 3½-year period of the Tribulation, every converted member in God’s Church will be a king and a priest forever!

Among the jewels of the British Crown used at the coronation ceremony, there is a scepter. Genesis 49 (a prophecy for our day, as it shows in verse 1) says that the scepter will not depart from Judah, and that there will always be a lawgiver, who also descends from Judah (verse 10). God’s law is certainly not emanating from the throne of David today.

It did, however, come from Herbert W. Armstrong during his more than 50 years in the ministry. And since Mr. Armstrong died in 1986, God has given me the responsibility of continuing in that same law He established through Mr. Armstrong.

Some of you might remember how surprised Mr. Armstrong was to find that the ancestry on one side of his family could be traced back to King David. I too was shocked to discover this fact concerning my own lineage, also on one side of my family. Is there a reason why Mr. Armstrong and I both can follow our roots back to David’s kingly line—to the tribe of Judah? Does it have anything to do with this “lawgiver” coming from Judah’s feet—or Judah’s descendants—in the last days, “until Shiloh [Jesus Christ] come”?

Mr. Armstrong had to establish God’s law and government. He was the Elijah who restored all things just before Christ’s return. I have continued the same law and government that he taught. No other church can truthfully make that claim!

We must believe God’s Word. I don’t know exactly what God is going to do—but I know He made a promise to David that there would never lack a man to sit on that throne. Could that man be inside the Church of God, helping us to get ready to sit on that throne as kings and priests?

The word throne does not always refer to a literal throne, but the context here sounds very literal to me. It specifically says, “he shall sit upon it.” Someone will be sitting on something real. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon says of the word sit, “specially, to sit is used of judges, where they sit to give judgment, kings sitting on their thrones.”

In that place, there will be the tabernacle—and the throne. There is only one throne on Earth that has such meaning for God and His people. Christ discussed it specifically with the Philadelphia and Laodicean eras in Revelation 3. This is all about the key of David, including the throne of David.

“And in mercy shall the throne be established.” What mercy God will shower upon this evil world. Yes, people will suffer. But so soon, they will receive abundant mercy from that throne, and that stone, which is a symbol of Christ Himself. Truth and justice will come from that throne in Jerusalem forever.

Why would God be revealing such details now? We must be getting awfully close to the fulfillment of these prophecies!

Remember Ezekiel’s prophecy about three overturns of the throne of David, which Mr. Armstrong discussed at length in The United States and Britain in Prophecy: “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 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” (Ezekiel 21:25-27).

God used a prophet to make the first overturn of the throne—and the stone—from Jerusalem to Egypt, then Spain, then to Ireland. An old, gray-haired prophet named Jeremiah traveled to Ireland with a beautiful young queen who sat on David’s throne. So that first overturn of those three was performed by God’s people. Might God’s people again gain possession of that throne—and stone?

Ezekiel shows that, after the overturns, when Christ returns, God will give that throne to Christ, whose right it is!

The projects that God is getting us involved in today make it obvious that we are getting very close to that coronation!

Jeremiah’s Commission

Let’s look more closely at how what we studied in Isaiah ties in with Jeremiah.

Notice Jeremiah’s commission. God ordained him from the womb “a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). The only others specifically mentioned as being called from the womb were Samson, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. This commission was incredibly important to God! “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” (verse 10). Jeremiah did warn the people of Judah, and negotiated with Nebuchadnezzar on their behalf. But his commission was to get that throne, and stone, and a ruler to sit on it—and take them to another land!

Jeremiah had to build and plant—but he also had to root out, pull down, destroy and throw down. We don’t know what all he had to do to procure the stone, the harp, the queen and so on. But this verse is quite emphatic, indicating he had to do some work to get them!

God may also require some hard work from us if we are to complete the commission that Jeremiah started.

What is interesting, in view of Isaiah 16:5, is how this passage in Jeremiah chapter 1 goes directly from Jeremiah’s key of David commission to this Work right now! It flows from Jeremiah’s commission right into ours. Jeremiah 1:11-14 immediately discuss the “rod of an almond tree,” which is a prophesied vigilant watchman, and a “seething pot,” which is the rise of the European beast power. (This prophecy is thoroughly explained in Jeremiah and the Greatest Vision in the Bible.) It is prophesying of a time when Britain loses the stone.

Is this an indirect way of God saying that the first and last overturns are transported by God’s own leaders? It won’t be long until we know for sure.

God said that in this end time, there would be a watchman and a warning. Just as Mr. Armstrong warned the Sardis people, the nations of Israel and the world, today God has a vigilant watchman posted to see what is going on and explain what it all means.

God gave Jeremiah a commission about the throne of David—and then God immediately began discussing our work in this end time. Maybe we get the honor of that last turn. No more turns—until the one comes whose right it is to sit on that throne! The people who will share that throne with Him at Jerusalem could play a key role in obtaining it and then presenting it to our Husband!