Chapter 6: Ezra and the New Throne

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Connection to Chronicles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chronicles’ Connection to the New Testament

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

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

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

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

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

The New Throne in Ezra-Nehemiah

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ezra’s Focus on David

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Praise God—Thank God!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Faithful Priests and Levites

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raise the Standard!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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