l
http://www.getbackontrack.org/content/booklets/theBibleSuperstitionOrAuthority.htm
Excerpt
form the Book The Bible
Superstition or authority by HWA
*Prophecy
Concerning Judah
There is
one prophecy concerning the Jewish people, that they were to be invaded and
conquered, driven out of their own land and would be punished for a period of
2,520 years. (See Leviticus 26:14-39 and, for a full explanation, write for our
free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.) Now, put that
together with other prophecies such as Haggai 2:20-22. Exactly 2,520 years from
the time that they were invaded and the land of Palestine was given over to
King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 B.C. the very nation to whom that land was deeded by
God Almighty took possession of it.
That
nation was not the Jewish people, but birthright people who descended from
Abraham. The birthright means right of birth, and includes the possession of
the land, that is, it includes material resources and possessions. The
possession of the land that God promised to Abraham was handed on to Isaac,
Abraham's son, and then to Jacob. And then Jacob, just before he died, and when
his eyes were so dim with age that he couldn't see, reached out and conferred
that same birthright, including the possession of the land of Palestine, not
upon Judah, the father of the Jews, but upon Ephraim, and together with him his
brother Manasseh, both sons of Joseph.
Joseph was
one of the 12 sons of the ancient patriarch Jacob, who was renamed Israel.
Usually you don't hear of any tribe of Joseph because Joseph was given a double
portion. And his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each became a tribe. And so, rather,
you usually read of the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh. When the
name Joseph is occasionally used, it includes the two tribes.
How
Prophecy Was Fulfilled
Ephraim
was made the chief birthright holder. And so, 2,520 years from 604 B.C. Ephraim
was to take Palestine again counting 2,520 years from 604 B.C. brings us to
A.D. 1917.
When it
comes to translating time and getting down to an exact day of the year 2,520
years after Nebuchadnezzar came down to Jerusalem and Palestine was surrendered
to him, the Bible gives us the date in terms of the Hebrew calendar. That
calendar is set up according to the new moons, with every month being 30 or 29
days. Today we're living under what we call the Roman calendar or, as it was slightly altered by Pope Gregory, the Gregorian
calendar. Actually, it is a pagan Roman calendar. The Roman calendar is all
that most of us know because we've been born in a world that uses that calendar
and no other.
A certain
date according to the Hebrew calendar, will coincide with a certain date on the
Roman calendar one year, but the next year will be about 11 days earlier, or
maybe about 18 days later in the year, because the Hebrew calendar - sometimes
called the sacred calendar, which came from God - goes according to the moon
and runs in 19-year cycles. The Roman calendar by contrast was concocted by men
who tried to make it come out right every year, and they've never been able to
make it do that!
So, when
it comes to translating a certain prophesied date recorded in the Hebrew
calendar (in this case the 24th day of the 9th month - see Haggai 2:20-22) to a
date in 1917 according to the Roman calendar, it takes some effort to figure. I
found the Hebrew date corresponded to December 9, 1917, which was 2,520 years
from the time Nebuchadnezzar accepted the formal surrender of the Jews in 604
B.C.
I looked
and found that the Turks, who are gentiles even though they, in part, descend
from Esau, Jacob's brother, possessed Palestine in 1917. Esau, remember, anciently possessed the birthright from Abraham
through Isaac, but sold it for a bowl of red soup when he was hungry. The Turks
surrendered Palestine to the British, on, what date? I had heard, and it had
been published that the date was December 11, 1917. December 11, 1917, I found,
on further investigation, was merely the date on which General Allenby and
his army made their triumphal march into the city of Jerusalem. But it was
two days before, on December 9, that the Turks made
the surrender.
That
prophecy was fulfilled down to the very day, December 9. And it was on the
equivalent date, in 604 B.C., 2,520 years before, six centuries before the
birth of Christ, that the Jews formally surrendered Jerusalem and Palestine to
the gentiles from Babylon. God Almighty has been able to keep his prophecies.
(For the
evidence of who the birthright people are in prophecy, see our free book The
United States and Britain in Prophecy.)
******* end Mr Armstrong’s book *******
"It
can be shown conclusively that Nebuchadnezzar first ascended the Babylonian
throne in the late summer of 605 B.C.E., and that his first regnal year
began in the spring of 604 B.C.E. This has been proved by the harmonious and corroborative
testimony of astronomical tablets, the Nabonidus
Harran Stele, many thousands of dated cuneiform tablets, the supportive
testimony of ancient historians, and the unanimous witness of all modern
chronological scholars."
Judah's seven times of punishment
must be dated from the beginning of its national captivity. The house of
Judah was taken into exile in three successive stages, with the first stage of
national captivity occurring in 605 B.C. The chronological setting of
that first stage of Judah's national captivity is as follows:
605 B.C.
(May-June) Nebuchadnezzar, the crown-prince, fights Egyptians at Carchemish
605 B.C. (early August) Nebuchadnezzar's victorious troops reach
Egypt, capturing Jews, Phoenicians, and Syrians along the way
605 B.C. (August
15) Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar's father, dies
605 B.C. (late August) Nebuchadnezzar orders Jewish captives to
be conducted to Babylonia with his slower moving armoured
forces, then leaves for Babylon
605 B.C. (Sept.
7) Nebuchadnezzar crowned king at Babylon
605 B.C. (Oct. 7) Jews begin Nebuchadnezzar's 1st year, six months
earlier than by Babylonian reckoning
604 B.C. (April
2) Nebuchadnezzar's 1st year begins according to Babylonian reckoning
Because the Babylonians employed
a spring-to-spring calendar to count the regnal years
of their kings, the period from September 7, 605 B.C. until April 2, 604 B.C.
was considered Nebuchadnezzar's accession year, not his first regnal year.
The Jews, on the other
hand, employed an autumn-to-autumn calendar to count the regnal
years of foreign kings. Accordingly,
Nebuchadnezzar's 1st regnal year would have
been 605/04 B.C., fall to fall. This is also the year in which the first
Jewish captives would have arrived at Babylon, their trip having begun in late
August of 605 B.C. We know from the account of Ezra that it could take
four months to make the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:8-9).
Therefore, Judah's seven times of punishment must be dated from
the year 604 B.C. This is the year which most nearly corresponds with the
beginning of the Jewish exile. It is also the year which most nearly
corresponds with Nebuchadnezzar's 1st regnal year.
See Leviticus 26:24,
'seven times,' that is, 7 X 360, or 2520 years:
604 B.C. is the date of
Judah's captivity, beginning under Jehoiakim.
2520 from this date end
in 1917 A.D.
2520
duration of Judah's punishment
-604
B.C. punishment begins 1916 A.D.
+
1 in crossing from B.C. to A.D. 1917 A.D.
On November 2, 1917,
At the center of Jerusalem's history
for over a century (a white bed sheet from the American Colony was Jerusalem's
flag of surrender to General Allenby's approaching British forces in 1917
Anna Spafford
was Peter Ustinovs grandmother
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Allenby
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/1997/march/colony.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Colony
THE name Haggai means
"my feast"; given, according to COCCEIUS, in anticipation of the joyous
return from exile. He probably was one of the Jewish exiles (of the tribes
Judah, Benjamin, and Levi) who returned under Zerubbabel,
the civil head of the people, and Joshua, the high priest, 536 B.C., when Cyrus
(actuated by the striking prophecies as to himself, Isaiah 44:28; 45:1 and furnished them
with the necessaries for restoring the temple (2 Chronicles 36:23;
Ezra 1:1; 2:2 and his successor
Cambyses (called Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:6 of opposition
from the Samaritans, who, when their offers of help were declined, began to try
to hinder it. These at last obtained an interdict from the usurper Smerdis the Magian (called Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7-23 became so
indifferent to the work that when Darius came to the throne (521 B.C.),
virtually setting aside the prohibitions of the usurper, instead of
recommencing their labors, they pretended that as the prophecy of the
seventy years applied to the temple as well as to the captivity in Babylon
(Haggai 1:2 year of it
[HENDERSON]; so that, the proper time not having yet arrived, they might devote
themselves to building splendid mansions for themselves. Haggai and Zechariah
were commissioned by Jehovah (Haggai 1:1 B.C.,
sixteen years after the return under Zerubbabel, to
rouse them from their selfishness to resume the work which for fourteen years
had been suspended. Haggai preceded Zechariah in the work by two months.
The dates of his four distinct
prophecies are accurately given: (1) The first (Haggai 1:1-15 second
year of Darius, 520 B.C., reproved the people for their apathy in
allowing the temple to lie in ruins and reminded them of their ill success in
everything because of their not honoring God as to His house. The result was
that twenty-four days afterwards they commenced building under Zerubbabel (Haggai 1:12-15
twenty-first day of the seventh month (Haggai 2:1-9 the glory
of the new temple would be greater than that of Solomon's, so that the people
need not be discouraged by the inferiority in outward splendor of the new, as
compared with the old temple, which had so moved to tears the elders who had
remembered the old (Ezra 3:12,13 Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel had implied the same prediction, whence some had doubted whether
they ought to proceed with a building so inferior to the former one; but Haggai
shows wherein the superior glory was to consist, namely, in the presence of Him
who is the "desire of all nations" (Haggai 2:7 the ninth
month (Haggai
2:10-19 materials had been collected, and the workmen had begun to
put them together, from which time forth God promises His blessing; it begins
with removing their past error as to the efficacy of mere outward observances
to cleanse from the taint of disobedience as to the temple building. (4) The
fourth (Haggai
2:20-23 preceding, was addressed to Zerubbabel,
as the representative of the theocratic people, and as having asked as to the
national revolutions spoken of in the second prophecy (Haggai 2:7
The prophecies are all so brief as
to suggest the supposition that they are only a summary of the original
discourses. The space occupied is but three months from the first to the last.
The Jews' adversaries, on the
resumption of the work under Zerubbabel, Haggai, and
Zechariah, tried to set Darius against it; but that monarch confirmed Cyrus'
decree and ordered all help to be given to the building of the temple (Ezra 5:3 the temple was
completed in the sixth year of Darius' reign 516-515 B.C. (Ezra 6:14
The style of Haggai is consonant
with his messages: pathetic in exhortation, vehement in reproofs, elevated in
contemplating the glorious future. The repetition of the same phrases (for
example, "saith the Lord," or "the
Lord of hosts," Haggai 1:2,5,7 in one
verse, Haggai 2:4
Haggai 1:14 awaken the
solemn attention of the people, and to awaken them from their apathy, to which
also the interrogatory form, often adopted, especially tends. Chaldaisms occur (Haggai 2:3; 2:6; 2:16 been expected in a
writer who was so long in Chaldea. Parts are purely prose history; the rest is
somewhat rhythmical, and observant of poetic parallelism.
Haggai is referred to in Ezra 5:1; 6:14 (Hebrews 12:26
The stones that made up the Temple
were made far away from the Temple area so as a sound cut not be heard of them
being formed
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+building+the+Temple+%2Bsound+of+the+Axe&btnG=Search
Is
the Church the Second Temple?
The
Spiritual one! The one that Christ will fill with His Glory!
We
know from Lev. 26 that when God curses Israel, He withholds blessings for seven
times. A prophetic time equals 360 years, a year for a day (Eze.
4:6). So seven prophetic times equal 2520 years. A long time.
In
one of the most important works of this century, The United States and
Britain in Prophecy, Herbert Armstrong pointed out a few of these
blessing-withholding periods. He showed us how curses of Israel and Judah ended
with great national blessings!! 2520 years later. So pivotal are the
fulfillment of these prophecies, that on them hangs the assertion that indeed,
the English-speaking peoples are the blood descendants of Joseph, son of the
man God named Israel.
Mr Armstrong
spotlighted the two following prophetic events:
· Assyria
took the remainder of Israel captive from 721-718 BC. Exactly 2520 years later,
in 1803, America doubled in size with the Louisiana Purchase! From a loss of
territory . . . to a doubling of territory!
· Babylon
took a major part of Judah into captivity in 604 BC. Exactly 2520 years later,
in 1917, The British took control of Palestine when General Allenby marched
into Jerusalem! From slavery . . . to liberation from the Turks!
Overlooked
prophetic events
Are
there other fulfillments of this type (2520 years periods)
that Mr Armstrong either missed or opted not
to mention?
Several
things tend to show that Israel's national captivities and calamities are not
just single events. Instead they are processes made up of many events.
Consider:
An earlier part of Israel went into captivity way back in 736-8 BC, thirteen to
sixteeen years prior to the final blow cited by
Herbert Armstrong. Well, America's Constitution was born in 1787---real close
to being exactly y 2520 years later! Another fulfillment?
From slavery to freedom in 2520 years!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/738_BC
— King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria invades Israel,
forcing it to pay tribute.
Does
God deal with the House of Israel and with Judah separately.
Well, what about Jerusalem? As we're about to see, God also deals separately
with it!
If
knowing the identity of prophetic Israel is the Master Key to understanding Bible
prophecy, then knowing the identity of prophetic Jerusalem is the Master Key to
understanding God's prophecies concerning His Church! Now, at the end of the
age, the key that unlocks God's plans for His Church, and the identity of the
seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3, is (as our beloved father in the gospel
used to say) Unveiled at Last! Here is Biblical
duality at its finest!
What
about Jerusalem's siege, capture, and destruction?
Where
is the real Jerusalem today? Gal 4:26
Consider
this:
On
the tenth day of the tenth month, 587 BC (Jer. 52:4), Nebuchadnezzar and his
whole army marched to Jerusalem, camped outside of it and built siege mounds
and erected moveable towers all around it---Jerusalem, the city of Peace, the
city of the Great King, the City of David, from whence God's law, His Word, His
Truth, was intended to emanate! But God's people were failing miserably in
their commission! So God cut off their supply of food!
One
year and a half later, in 586 BC (v. 6), on the ninth day of the fourth
month, all their bread was gone! So Jerusalem's starving men of war broke
through the city wall and made a dash for it across the plain, but were caught
by Nebuchadnezzar's army. The city was now compromised, and Nebuchadnezzar's
army flooded in! They were invaded by unclean Gentiles!
Then
one month later, on the tenth day of the fifth month (v. 12), came Nebuzaradan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard.
He
set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of
Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.... The whole Babylonian
army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down all the walls around
Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard
carried into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the
city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and those who had gone over to the
King of Babylon. But Nebuzaradan left behind the
rest of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
The
Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars...and they carried all the bronze to
Babylon.... The bronze...was more than could be weighed (vv. 13-17, 20; NIV)
What
a disaster! The citizens of Jerusalem lost their home and base of worship! What
was left of the organized Work of God came to screeching halt! The curses for
the children of Israel didn't stop with the captivity of the House of Israel or
of Judah, but reached their pinnacle with the siege, plunder, and burning of
Jerusalem, and the captivity of its citizens!
Jer 19:9: "I will make them eat the flesh of their sons
and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the stress of the
siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives." This did occur
during the siege of Jerusalem (Lam 4:10).
But
did Jerusalem come out the other end of this disaster with blessings? Was this
another of God's 2520-year blessing-withholding periods? If we do the numbers
from the beginning of the siege we come to winter, 1934. What happened in
Jerusalem, Israel, then? Nothing dramatic, as far as I know.
But what happened in Spiritual Jerusalem? What happens when a siege is lifted?
Is not the supply of bread restored to the inhabitants of the city? What
happens when we look at sieges from a spiritual viewpoint?
What
did our Teacher teach us? "Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained
by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God"
(Math. 4:4; Amplified Bible). Spiritual bread is the Word of God! Christ is the
Bread from Heaven! He is the Word of God! The Logos! The Spokesman for the God
Family!
Did
Jerusalem, Israel, receive the Bread from Heaven in winter 1934? No.
Spiritually speaking, they never returned from slavery! Paul explains it:
Abraham
had two sons, one [Ishmael] by the slave woman [Hagar] and the other [Issac] by the free woman [Sarah]....
These
things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One
covenant [marriage contract] is from Mount Siani
[where the law was given], and bears children who are to be slaves: This is
Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Siani in Arabia and
corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with
her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our
mother....
Now
you, brothers, like Issac, are children of promise. At
that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the
power of the Spirit. It is the same now (Gal. 4:22, 24-26, 28-29; NIV).
Anyone
under the Old Covenant, the old marriage contract, including most Jews, never
came out of slavery! In fact, historically, the Jews at large (who, spiritually
speaking, as Paul pointed out, are Hagar's sons) have persecuted Sarah's
sons---true Christians! The Jews have consistently murdered God's prophets,
God's spiritual children, including the greatest prophet of all, the Son of God
Himself!
Jesus---Yeshua---testified of Jerusalem's fate when he cried
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murdering the prophets and stoning those who are
sent to you!... Behold, your house
is forsaken and desolate---abandoned and left destitute [of God's help]"
(Math. 23:37, 38; Amplified). And when he said "I
tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a
people who will produce its fruit" (Math. 21:43; Amplified). The
illustration of the marriage banquet shows that the Father has rejected those
Jerusalemites who reject Him, and has instead opened up citizenship in His
Kingdom to anyone who will listen! "He said to his servants, the wedding
[feast] is prepared, but those invited were not worthy. So go to the
thoroughfares where they leave the city---where the main roads and those from
the country end---and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find"
(Math. 22:8-9; Amplified).
Did
the Old Covenant Jews living in Jerusalem start eating the bread from Heaven,
the Word, Jesus Christ, in winter, 1934? No. Who did? How about these sons of
the Jerusalem that is above, Spiritual Jerusalem? Who are they? They're us! The
sons of the New Covenant, the beneficiaries of the New Marriage Contract!
You
have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire
[Mount Siani, from which the Old Marriage Contract
was issued]....
But
you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living
God. You have come to thousands upon
thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven [in the Book of Life, the registry of the
heavenly Jerusalem's citizens!]. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to
the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus [Yeshua]
the mediator of the New Covenant [the New Marriage Contract!].... (Heb.
12:18, 22-24; NIV).
Did
these citizens of heavenly Jerusalem start eating the bread from heaven, the
Truth of Jesus Christ, in winter 1934?
Yes!!
Then
where did this take place?
In
Eugene, Oregon, when Herbert Armstrong started scattering God's Truth from a
little radio station called KORE, in January, 1934!!
And
when he and his wife Loma started mailing out God's Truth in the form of a
crude little newsletter called The Plain Truth in February, 1934!!
Was
this little effort significant?
This
was nothing less than the resumption of bread to Jerusalem 2520 long years
after the Nebuchadnezzar's siege!!
Let's
keep going. What happens when we do the numbers from the sacking and burning of
Jerusalem in 586 BC? 2520 years later, we come to Summer,
1935. According to the HWA's Autobiography, this is precisely when his little
flock established their first permanent home! That's when they secured their
first church building! So now they had a new home to live in. This may be
symbolic of the rebuilding of the temple, the royal palace, and all of the
important buildings that were burned 2520 long years ago! Do you see? The Work
God did through Herbert Armstrong and the Radio/Worldwide Church of God was
nothing less than the construction of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the
Living God, in earnest! We who were part of that Work may have been
beneficiaries of the greatest Spiritual blessings ever poured out by God to any
people on Earth at any time yet in history!!
Eclipsing
even the huge national material blessings poured out to the citizens of America
and Britain, the blood descendants of Joseph and recipients of his birthright!!
What
is it worth to know the Truth of God’s great 7000 year plan? Is there anything
more important?
Where
else can we find the heavenly Jerusalem referred to in Scripture? How about
Revelation 3? "These things says He who is holy, He who is true, 'He who
has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one
opens'" (v. 7). (Jesus quotes from Isa 22:22)
What
is the key of David? Holding a key symbolizes authority
and honor. Could the key of David be the keys to the kingdom Jesus referred to
in Math. 16:19? Is the key of David the honorary
"key to the city"? To the City of David?
"See,
I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it" (v. 8). Now we
were taught that an open door is an opportunity to announce the Good News of
the Kingdom of God---and quite rightly so! But have we considered the other
facets of this allegory? What door opened up for John, the disciple whom Jesus
loved, immediately after he took dictation on these seven letters? Here's his
account of it. "After these things I looked, and behold, a door
standing open in heaven. And the first voice...saying, 'Come up
here....' Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven,
and One sat on the throne" (Rev. 4:1, 2) John was given entree right into
the very throne room of the Living God!!! Headquarters!!! The very nerve center
of the Universe!!! Does the key of David open the gates of the heavenly
Jerusalem? Is it the key to the city of David? Is it the key to the royal
household? The key to the Temple of God in heaven?
Let's
go further. "He who overcomes [is victorious], I will make him a pillar in
the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more" (v. 12). Is this a
reference to never again having to suffer the indignity of disfellowshipment---being
kicked out of the temple? Or having to leave for conscience's sake? Or being
carried captive back into the world? Just like Nebuchanezzar
carried the bronze pillars to Babylon? What are these pillars---spiritually?
Paul says they're "the household of God, which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and stay---the prop and support---of the Truth" (1 Tim.
3:15). Are they representative of individuals who make up the heavenly temple?
That's what Jesus seems to be telling us.
Here're
more promises for the victorious: "I will write on him the name of My God
and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of
heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new
name" (Rev. 3:12). New Jerusalem. City of the My God. Temple of my God.
All these references to Jerusalem are Jesus's way of
confirming to us that indeed, in its ultimate fulfillment, this letter to the
church at Philadelphia is written specifically to Herbert Armstrong and the
Radio/Worldwide Church of God. The assembly of spirits that received the spiritual
blessings due Jerusalem after the God's 2520-year blessing withholding period
had expired!!!
I
could fill a book with other references in this letter to further confirm this
point to anyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see. "He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (v.
13). I've identified to my satisfaction four other churches. Here are the two
American churches which preceded Philadelphia:
The
fourth letter, to Thyatira, is to the Seventh Day Adventists and James White,
husband of Ellen G. White, or as she's referred to in the Greek, "your
wife Jezebel." Notice that Jesus says "I will kill her children with
death, and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and
the hearts." During the Great Tribulation, the slaughter of those in this
largest organized body (millions of members worldwide) of God's people will
definitely get the attention of all the churches!
Out
of the Adventist movement came those who couldn't
stomach the Whites' use of Ellen's dubious visions as a test of fellowship, or
their attempt to gain a financial stranglehold over the movement. These saints
formed the CG7. The next letter, to Sardis, is to them, just like HWA said.
Another sticking point was that CG7 contingent wanted to retain the name
"Church of God." So Jesus clues us in on who Sardis is by saying,
"you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." One look at
the Bible Advocate will confirm that this church's zeal for doing God's Work is
seriously lacking. Note that HWA came out of this church. And
identified it correctly.
Remember
that the original 1st-century churches of Rev. 2 & 3 were on a circular
mail route. When you get to Laodicea there's only one place to go. Forward!
Complete the circuit. Back to the beginning! Back to Go! Back
to the drawing board. Back to the Instruction Manual.
When all else fails, read the instructions! The Ephesian
church is charged with Restoring the Truth. Renewing. Rebuilding the temple which lies in ruins. Those who were
rich and increased with goods, who had need of
nothing--including, evidently, God Himself---went off to Babylon. Haggai,
Zechariah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Ezekiel 40-48 have a lot to say about where we
are now in God's Church, and where we go from here.
Here
are some suggestions that I think will help us to do the best job possible for
God. If we set ourselves up in lofty offices with lofty titles, God will knock
us right out of them. We'll be acting just like the ministry we so deplore.
We'll have stooped to their level. We'll be no better than them. Even if we
know that God really has given us the keys to the kingdom, or given us special
gifts and functions, most people won't believe us when we tell them. In fact
they'll be furious with jealousy and do what they can to trip us up!
Instead
we have to prove by our works that we are who we know we are. By our fruits. By our way of life. By how we treat others. Then God will bless our work. We
serve Him, He opens the doors and supplies every need.
"This is the man to whom I will look and have
regard, he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at
my word and reveres my commands" (Isa. 66:2; Amplified).
The
letter to the Ephesian church in Rev. 2 really nails
us. It's very instructive. We've hung in there. Persevered.
We hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans
(laity-conquerors---the corrupt ministry!). But we've left our first love! The Philadelphia love. Brotherly love.
Jesus's New Commandment is to love one another. Ephesians are Philadelphians who've survived Laodicea. It's
the eighth church. Eight symbolizes new beginnings, renewal, a
fresh start! That's what we have! We're rebuilding the second Spiritual Temple.
The first (Radio/WCG) lies in ruins. In many ways this
is a Philadelphian work. But we need to realize how far we've fallen from the
Philadelphian glory days, and re-ignite our passion for God! Or He'll snatch
the candlestick away!
Finally, an observation regarding the Restoration Temple.
Son
of man, look carefully, listen closely and give attention to everything I
tell you concerning all the regulations regarding the temple of the Lord....
Say to the rebellious house of Israel,... 'You brought
foreigners uncircumcised in heart and flesh into my sanctuary, desecrating my
temple.... Instead of carrying out your duty in regard to my holy things, you
put others in charge of my sanctuary.... No foreigner uncircumcised in heart
and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites....
The
Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me
after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin.... Because they
served [the people] in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel
fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear
the consequences of their sin, declares the sovereign Lord. They are not to
come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most
holy offerings, they must bear the shame of their
detestable practices....
But
the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok
and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites
went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me.... They alone are
to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before
me and perform my service (Ezek. 44; NIV).
What
we have here are strict instructions regarding God's church from here on
out. This is how he wants the Temple built.
Stay
tuned for the comparisons of Mr Armstrong to Elijah
On
Mt Carmel did not Elijah establish true religion co the people could worship
God?
