New Revelation About Jeremiah’s Commission

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!

Continue Reading: The Creation Waits