Chapter 12: The Key of the House of David
Herbert W. Armstrong made some fascinating comments about a prophecy in Zechariah. Those comments help us understand more deeply what the key of the house of David is.
“The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first [in the latter days—now just ahead of us], that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day [now soon to come] … he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel [messenger] of the Lord before them. … And I will pour upon the house of David … the spirit of grace …” (Zechariah 12:7-10).
Mr. Armstrong wrote about this passage: “Plainly the apostle (one sent forth—or messenger of God) God would use in these perilous last days would be of the house of David. The house of David is NOT one of the tribes—but those individuals descended from David.
“I have mentioned that some years ago I was contacted by a foundation, formed for the purpose of maintaining the genealogy of a certain family. My great-grandfather Armstrong, who had a biblical name, father of my grandfather Nathan Armstrong, had married into this family. So the foundation has my genealogy back to the kings of France, and King Edward i of England. The genealogy of the royal family of Britain carries every generation back to King David of ancient Israel. Therefore, God has preserved my ancestry every generation from David, and I am of THE HOUSE OF DAVID!
“Plainly, in these tumultuous last days, God would raise up one who would know he is of the house of David, as Christ’s chosen apostle and messenger to the kings of the Earth, to carry the true message of Christ’s gospel, which was suppressed from the world from mid-century 1 to the middle of the 20th century” (Good News, May 1980; emphasis mine throughout).
I had a similar experience to what Mr. Armstrong had in tracing my genealogy back to King David. My aunt gave me what she and others had done to compile our family genealogy. It cost me $50 just to photocopy the typed material. There is one significant difference between my genealogy and Mr. Armstrong’s: My genealogy is traced back to the royal family of Ireland. The genealogy of the royal family of Ireland is one single dynasty, which also carries “every generation back to King David.”
So I can say as Mr. Armstrong said, “Therefore, God has preserved my ancestry every generation from David, and I am of the house of David!”
All of God’s new revelation for His end-time Church has come through Mr. Armstrong and me. God’s Work has been done through supporters of that revelation.
Here is another statement Mr. Armstrong made, this one in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy: “Of course it is well understood that the scepter went to Judah and was handed down through the Jews. King David was of the tribe of Judah. All succeeding kings of David’s dynasty were of the house of David, tribe of Judah. Jesus Christ was born of the house of David and the tribe of Judah.”
Christ was also a descendant of David, or of the house of David. So we can see a lot of emphasis placed on the house of David in these verses.
At an archaeological dig in Jerusalem, Herbert W. Armstrong College students helped uncover David’s palace. We are clearing debris away from that site. We believe that Christ will rule from the very spot where David did anciently. I am certain that Christ is going to place His throne exactly where David’s throne was! And it is going to be there forever. That is truly exciting. We are getting ready for the imminent return of Christ!
That is the majestic conclusion of the succession of kings that was prophesied to sit on David’s throne!
The palace adds a most royal dimension to the house of David. David’s palace was where the throne was located when David ruled. So David’s palace is a powerful symbol of David’s house, with the emphasis on the dynasty of kings from David to the Second Coming of Christ!
Jesus Christ will share that headquarters throne with the very elect—spiritual Jews (Revelation 3:9, 21). We are getting ready to rule on that throne at our Jerusalem headquarters with Christ and God the Father forever!
We can clearly see that the highest royalty in God’s Kingdom revolves around the throne of David.
The Key to the House of David
Only two places in the Bible mention the key of David: Revelation 3:7 and Isaiah 22:22. However, in Isaiah 22:22 it is called the key to the house of David.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah” (Isaiah 22:20). Two names are mentioned here. Eliakim is doing God’s Work in this prophecy. He is the son of Hilkiah.
The time frame is “in that day,” which always refers to this end time. So we are spiritually blind if we don’t understand these prophecies.
“And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah” (verse 21). The government of God was eventually passed from Mr. Armstrong, a type of Hilkiah (a Jew), to my office, typed by Eliakim (a Jew).
“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). There is an open door connected to the key of David. That means there is always a powerful work associated with that key. God has given real power to a man.
There are three personalities discussed in these verses: Hilkiah, Eliakim and the man from whom the robe, girdle and government were taken. His biblical name is Shebna (verse 15). They all appear “in that day”—or the end time.
Christ told the Jews that He personally sent prophets to them. But the Jews often persecuted them and His messengers were forced to flee. Many of them were killed.
So no matter what people think, God does send personalities through whom He does His Work. We cannot understand these prophecies unless we know who these men are. Today they are types of those historical figures. (These three men are thoroughly discussed in my free booklet Who Is ‘That Prophet’?)
Eliakim today is “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.” Eliakim could only be a spiritual father today. So these verses are primarily to be understood spiritually.
These “inhabitants of Jerusalem” are members of God’s Church.
Eliakim is also the father of “the house of Judah”—not the inhabitants of Judah. That means Eliakim is the father of a work in Judah. God says there will be inspiring open doors. And it all revolves around the scepter promises.
The Lawgiver
Look again at the prophecy in Genesis 49:10: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Remember, this entire passage is for “the last days” (verse 1), the time we are living in now. So in the last days, God said there would be a scepter, or a ruler on David’s throne, at the same time that there is a lawgiver who has a message about David’s throne. My book The New Throne of David explains how, in our day, these two offices are combined into a single office.
Verse 10 says this lawgiver is from between Judah’s feet, which means he will come from Judah’s descendants (Companion Bible).
The lawgiver is a Jew who is here when Christ returns. Traditionally, we have believed this lawgiver to be Christ. In principle, that is true. Christ always gives the law; He is the source. But notice, the scripture says this lawgiver would not depart from Judah’s feet “until Shiloh [Christ] come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” It does not make sense that Jesus would not depart from Judah’s feet until Jesus comes.
Shiloh refers to Christ, so this “lawgiver” must refer to another individual. This lawgiver is a man who is teaching God’s law—right up to when Christ comes! The people doing this Work are going to introduce Christ to the world! And this man who has the law will be teaching about the scepter and the scepter promises.
Mr. Armstrong had to establish God’s law and government. He was the Elijah who restored all things just before Christ’s return (Matthew 17:10-11). I have continued the same law and government that he taught. No other church can truthfully make that claim! So today, where is the human lawgiver descended from David and the tribe of Judah? Who administers the same law that Christ will teach when He returns to sit on the throne of David? Those are questions you must be able to answer!
Can you find that on Earth today? Can you identify a group of people that give the law to the world? There is only one. God has always worked through one man at a time. Since this prophecy about the lawgiver was revealed to me only after Mr. Armstrong died, it specifically refers to my office today.
This man will be teaching about the scepter—the kingly line, or David’s throne, and the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is the same throne that Christ will soon take over forever (Luke 1:30-33).
The Scepter Promises
Herbert W. Armstrong explained both the birthright promises and the scepter promises in The United States and Britain in Prophecy. He wrote, “Now we come to a most vital distinction, and a bit of Bible truth known to but a very few. Very few, indeed, have ever noticed that the promises to Abraham were twofold. But the Bible itself makes sharp distinction between these two phases of the promises.
“The spiritual promises—the promises of the ‘one seed,’ Christ, and of salvation through Him—the Bible calls the scepter. But the material and national promises relating to many nations, national wealth, prosperity and power, and possession of the Holy Land, the Bible calls the birthright.”
Mr. Armstrong quoted the Standard Dictionary definition of scepter: “kingly office; royal power; badge of command or sovereignty.” “The promised kingly line culminates in Christ, and involves grace to all,” he explained. “We have seen how both sets of promises, right of birth and gift of grace, were unconditionally made by God to Abraham. Both the birthright and the scepter were repromised by the Eternal to Isaac and to Jacob. But the fact that should open your eyes, as a joyous truth newly discovered, is that from that point these two sets of promises became separated! The scepter promises of the kingly line culminating in Christ, and of grace through Him, were handed on to Judah, son of Jacob and father of all Jews. But the astonishing truth is that the birthright promises were never given to the Jews!”
He then quoted Genesis 49:10: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah …” and 1 Chronicles 5:2: “[B]ut the birthright was Joseph’s.”
“Of course it is well understood that the scepter went to Judah and was handed down through the Jews,” he continued. “King David was of the tribe of Judah. All succeeding kings of David’s dynasty were of the house of David, tribe of Judah. Jesus Christ was born of the house of David and the tribe of Judah.” Christ is going to sit on David’s throne, and God’s firstfruit saints are going to share that throne with Him! (Revelation 3:21). So we are tied in to the scepter promises.
We get to tell the world about those wonderful promises! But I think God wants us to emphasize the scepter promises more than we have. I believe He particularly wants us to emphasize them to the Jews and make them see their key role.
The wonderful promises of grace were handed down through Judah! What an honor! That really ought to galvanize the Jews and electrify God’s people.
God has used the Jews to do amazing things in this world and given them, in a sense, the most exalted honor of any race on Earth. Mr. Armstrong expressed that so powerfully: “The scepter promises of the kingly line culminating in Christ, and of grace through Him, were handed on to Judah, son of Jacob and father of all Jews.” The Jews received the scepter promise. What an honor! Could any race be more honored? We must tell the Jews what it should mean to them. It’s one thing to know about the scepter promises. It’s quite another to have them handed down through your race!
To be a part of those scepter promises must be the greatest honor given to any race of people on Earth! But how much do they understand, and how much are they willing to understand?
What good is it to know about the birthright but not about the scepter promises? The birthright promises are physical, but the scepter promises are spiritual. That is what God is really concerned about. Scepter has to be one of the most illustrious words in the Bible!
God commissioned the end-time Eliakim to be “a father … to the house of Judah.” God wants us to emphasize the scepter promise that comes through the Jews. The kingly line of Jews leads us to the return of the Messiah, whose rule from David’s throne continues forever! (Isaiah 9:7).
The Jewish nation, America and Britain need to hear this most inspiring and precious message now so they can remember it when they are experiencing the holocaust of all holocausts!
Holocaust
Satan deceives in every way he possibly can. The Jewish nation calls itself Israel, but that is a horrible deception. The Jews don’t even know who they are! How can they know about the scepter promises being passed on to Judah when they don’t really know who Judah is? That blinds them to this wonderful role God has given them to play, even in this world.
When a race receives honor as God has honored the Jews, Satan hates them for that. He inspired enemies to rise up and strip them of all dignity! The Nazis often shaved their heads, took their clothes, beat them, and used them for medical experiments. God says it will be far worse the next time around. Do you believe God?
The pain of that first Holocaust was so bad, some Jews don’t want to talk about it ever again. But many said they discuss it in order to help others. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, has videos of survivors relating their horrifying experiences. One man, who was in a concentration camp with his father, said his exhausted father fell down to his knees. The Nazis would kill anyone who helped a person up; he said, I didn’t even help my own father. I’ve had to live with that the rest of my life. It is hard to even imagine how difficult that would be.
The Jews say, “Never again!” Sadly, we have to tell them they are dead wrong. It is going to happen again, and it’s going to make the Holocaust look like a dress rehearsal.
The Jews suffered horribly in World War ii. That history is a stark warning of what is about to come upon them!
They also need to know the scepter promises. They need to know what an exalted role God has given them! They need hope! This whole world needs hope.
Spiritual Jews Must Understand
Look at the opposite of how Satan persecutes physical Jews: the way God honors His spiritual Jews. God gives us so much dignity we can hardly comprehend it!
How much do you spiritual Jews understand about the scepter promises? When God addresses the house of Judah, most of all He is speaking to the elite of the house of Judah, the spiritual Jews. We must understand these scepter promises of salvation through Christ—that kingly line that culminates in the return of Jesus Christ, and then grace through Him to the whole world—promises that were handed to the Jews. These promises really have to do with royalty! That message will be taught to the whole world, and we will be right there ruling on the throne of David with Christ, teaching the world about the scepter promises.
We must deliver this message today. God says, I want you spiritual Jews to understand these scepter promises, deliver a message about them and emphasize them, especially to Judah!
We must make these promises real and practical to ourselves and to the Jews.
Ultimately, we are talking about salvation for the spiritual Jews! We need to be stirred and moved by this! It’s almost time to receive these spiritual promises and rule with Jesus Christ!
We, of all people, ought to really relate to the scepter and its kingly offices. We are the kings of the Earth—the Kingdom of God in embryo!
We need to deepen our understanding of these scepter promises. I hope our ministers will speak about this more, and that you will strive and struggle to get every crumb you possibly can—because this is worth dying for! Nobody will take it from the Bride of Jesus Christ!
Those wonderful scepter promises came through Judah. When you understand those promises, you can see how Satan hates the Jews. But he hates spiritual Jews far more. He would really love to throw you and me into a holocaust. We must use the power of God, or there is no way we can survive in this world where we are such a target! Be strong in the Lord! Understand these scepter promises and use the power of God—or Satan will destroy you!
God is creating spiritual Jews within His Church. We have the opportunity to be a part of the scepter promises spiritually. Do you realize how close we are to the fulfillment of the scepter promises? We’re not just learning about these promises—we are going to receive them! We are going to be saved and then help God save all humanity! They will never have to experience another holocaust!
Think about the whole world receiving these wonderful scepter promises!
People don’t want to listen today, but we have a message for this world. We not only have to teach the world about the scepter promises; we have to go back and again teach the Laodiceans—95 percent of God’s people—about those promises and about how God wants them to be a king and a priest! They don’t think very much of the most awesome promises in the Bible; they have turned their backs on them and chosen the holocaust instead. And that is what they are going to get. And then, thankfully, 50 percent of them will have a change of heart.
This man is father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah, which spiritually is focused on us. We need to tell the Jews about that kingly line that culminates in Jesus Christ—the one they killed, whom we all killed—and then about grace through Him. We need to tell them what their role was, and is, in this world today.
In Isaiah 22:21, God distinguishes between firstly “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” and secondly “a father to the house of Judah.” This is also the order in Isaiah 40. I believe God expressed it that way because, as we are so close to Christ’s return, He wants to emphasize the scepter promises—certainly to the Jews but also to the spiritual Jews.
We must understand why we are here: God really is going to wipe away all tears, and mankind will never have to experience another holocaust! That is what God has wanted all along, but we have chosen the holocaust.
Vessels in David’s House
“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” (Isaiah 22:22). God says He will lay the key of the house of David—the key that unlocks this palace of David—on the shoulders of this “father” to the house of Judah.
What is that key going to unlock? It will unlock a great deal more than the palace, the walls of which have already been uncovered. When God gives a rare, royal key, you know it’s going to unlock a lot!
“And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house … all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons” (verse 24). These vessels were used in the ancient temple service; today they refer to all the books and booklets, written by Mr. Armstrong and by me, filled with all the revelation God has given us.
God revealed the meaning of Isaiah 22 the very same day that the Supreme Court declined to hear our appeal in our court case to win the rights to print Mr. Armstrong’s literature—the darkest hour in that battle. When the Supreme Court refused to hear us, God quickly showed us that all the “vessels”—those wonderful pieces of literature—would come. Remember, we didn’t technically win, but the outcome was that we received way more than we thought we would or even asked for! How about that for Supreme Court justice? The real Supreme Court let us know that everything was on track. And sure enough, we got all those spiritual vessels God had given to His end-time Elijah.
I wonder, though, whether there might be another physical application of this verse as well.
The pcg has been involved in exciting archaeological excavations in Jerusalem. The late archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar discovered David’s palace and uncovered some of it, including walls that are 16 feet wide. These are huge finds! After our college students joined the dig, they discovered Nehemiah’s wall and several other significant artifacts from the time of David and Solomon.
You have to wonder, in all this digging, will we find some more physical vessels as we did spiritual vessels? This palace is physical. The vessels in the temple are physical and spiritual. We have already acquired the spiritual vessels. Will we find physical vessels as well? I will discuss this in the next chapter.
After the Holocaust, many Jews said they couldn’t wait to go to Zion, the land of David. Now we have a message for them about Zion and the land of David. We can explain to them from the Bible about the significance of the city of David and what will ultimately happen there for all humanity. We can show how they will never have to see their children experience another holocaust ever again!
The Second Coming of Christ is almost here! He will bring peace to this Earth. Looking at the terrifying problems in this world, you know our leaders cannot solve them! Christ is going to stop the madness and the suffering once and for all! God knows we need that stopped. We are digging in David’s palace and making fantastic discoveries because we are preparing—even in a physical way—for Christ’s return!
Trust the ‘Rock of Israel’
The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. That is where their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. That is where they first attained statehood.
On May 14, 1948, at the founding of their nation, the Jewish People’s Council approved a proclamation saying that Israel’s founding fathers had placed their trust in the “Rock of Israel.” Israel’s birth certificate begins with the Bible and ends with faith in God.
Most Jews do not believe that today! The Jews gave the eternal Book of books to the world. They preserved what we call the Old Testament for the world! I doubt that the leaders in Israel today understand that. They don’t believe the Bible is a Book of books or that God is the Rock of Israel! Oh, if only they believed that today!
The Oslo Accord was the death knell of Israel. That 1993 peace pact literally divided the nation into a fighting camp. But it did even more: It destroyed much of the faith the Jews did have. There was a tremendous breakdown in Judah because of that. Shimon Peres was part of that process almost from the beginning. In 1993, he tried to broker a deal to have two mayors of Jerusalem, one each from the Palestinians and from the Jews, and to let the pope rule over Jerusalem! In other words, both mayors would submit to the Vatican. Peres wrote that into the Oslo negotiations! Look what prophecy says about that in Revelation 17:13! Leaders in Israel were willing to hand the city over to whom? Read Revelation 17 and see who the beast worships! They will do anything except trust in the Rock of Israel! God is the only solution and the only salvation for the Jews—physically and spiritually!
At a conference in Jerusalem I attended in 2008, one rabbi named Yisrael Ariel described Jerusalem as a mother. Ariel means lion of God. “Where is the joy in Jerusalem, the City of God?” he asked. He must have known about those prophecies—of little children playing in the streets, and elderly people watching over them and delighting in them. What a world that will be—and it’s almost here! Where is the joy in Jerusalem, the city of God? It’s about to come, but they can’t imagine how.
He said, “Today we must ask God for peace in Jerusalem.” We have to tell them, To have peace, you have to keep the law!
‘’Angels oversee other places on Earth, but God oversees Jerusalem,” Rabbi Ariel said. Maybe he was right to some degree. God has chosen Jerusalem; He has a special interest in that city, and He watches over it much more than He does other cities. Oh, how God loves Jerusalem! Mainly He loves the Jerusalem that is going to come, but He certainly has a strong interest in that land area where He plans to establish that city.
However, that city is going to become one big cemetery! All of Ephraim, Manasseh and Judah will become one vast cemetery—a holocaust not in a museum but in reality! This is the way it will be because we don’t listen to the Rock of Israel!
Ariel said, “Two thousand years of exile and murder could not extirpate Jerusalem from being engraved in the minds of the Jews.” That’s right, and that’s wonderful. Cling to it. It’s wonderful that they love Jerusalem and keep its image in their mind. But they also need to ask themselves, Why were we exiled? Why were the Jews driven out and not allowed to come back until 1948? Think about why God, the Rock, would allow that to happen to the City of God!
Jerusalem is not the City of God today!
The same Christ whom they killed prophesied exactly what they’re seeing today.
Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
Isaiah 40:9 describes a commission of proclaiming the scepter promises to the Laodiceans and to Jerusalem, or the nations of Israel, and then lastly to the cities of Judah. The kingly line is about to culminate in the return of Jesus Christ. It’s getting close. He is about to return, and we need to put more and more emphasis on the scepter promises.
It will take another holocaust for the Jews to finally repent and accept the scepter promises and the spiritual promises—so they can understand how God loves Jerusalem and has chosen that city, and will love it forever and ever.
Verse 10 describes the reward God has for the spiritual Jews when He comes back. They will be the very Bride of Christ and share that throne and teach the whole world these magnificent scepter promises. The key of the house of David adds an exhilarating dimension to that great message.
How blessed we are, the people of God, to be a part of this and to understand the scepter promises!
Three Specific Commissions
Read Isaiah 22:22 again: “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.” God gives the key of the house of David to Eliakim. That strongly indicates that he is of the house of David, or in the lineage of King David.
That gives us a constant reminder of the kingly line that sits on David’s throne from the time of David until the return of Christ. Then the world will be filled with spiritual blessings!
That is why God opens a door for this Work. We have a universe-shaking message to deliver to all mankind!
“O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, Get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, Lift up thy voice with strength; Lift it up, be not afraid; Say unto the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” (Isaiah 40:9; Jewish Publication Society). That one scripture mentions three different jobs God has for us in this end time. First, we have a message for Zion, God’s sinning Laodicean Church. So the time frame is after the Laodicean rebellion. Then we have a message for “Jerusalem,” which is a type of all the nations of Israel, especially America, Britain and Judah. Finally, we need to go directly to the “cities of Judah,” the Jewish state in the Middle East called Israel. Judah must be warned in a special way—and notice the positive approach God tells us to take: “Behold your God! Good tidings for Jerusalem and the world! Your God is about to return!”
God has given me a commission and supporters to do a work in Judah. Our archaeological dig is a constant reminder that God is finally about to sit on David’s throne!
We are to “say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” Our archaeology project will help us deliver this message. And because the Jewish nation will not heed the warning, it will experience the Tribulation holocaust.
Hopefully, many Jews will repent.
Now the Jews must hear the scepter promises. Salvation for the whole world is on the immediate horizon. We must put more and more emphasis on the scepter promises. The kingly line has continued for about 3,000 years to its grand smashing climax—the Second Coming of Christ!
The Messiah is about to return with His reward for His loyal saints (verse 10). That illustrious, mind-stirring moment is almost here—at last!
Mr. Armstrong was given the key of David! We are honored to have been given the key of the house of David and more. We need to realize that this work in Jerusalem is tied directly to our salvation and our reward in the Kingdom of God. We can’t think of it as merely interesting or fun. Our involvement in what God is doing there has a lot to do with our salvation!
Why are those three commissions all linked in Isaiah 40:9? I believe there may be a special reason for this.
We have been working diligently to fulfill those first two commissions for many years. God may have mentioned them in this context because they are now winding down.
Now, consider how those first two commissions might lead directly into our fulfillment of the third.