Chapter 6: Hebrews and the New Throne of David
In the book of Hebrews, Paul references several Old Testament scriptures, including quotations from the minor prophets and other biblical books that God has given new revelation about in this last era of the Church. Paul also references some interesting names with end-time prophetic significance. This is still more evidence that Hebrews is for the end time just before Jesus Christ returns, specifically for the Philadelphia Church of God!
God has revealed to me that all those scriptures and names are connected to the new throne of David. Clearly God wants us to learn this subject more deeply. I continually try to add to my understanding of this subject. There is tremendous depth here, and we need to probe into it more.
Here are some examples: Hebrews 10:37-38 are taken from Habakkuk 2, a chapter that speaks about the new stone and new throne of David that God has given us and about our court battle, in which God gave us Mystery of the Ages. Hebrews 11:5 mentions Enoch; this is really about God’s people going to a place of safety where they will take that new throne. Hebrews 12:25-26 quote Haggai, who prophesied about God shaking the heavens and Earth, which also connects to that throne, as I will show you. Hebrews 1:5 quotes the covenant God made with David about his throne in 2 Samuel 7.
All these scriptures have tremendous meaning to us in the pcg. It is as if there is a hidden message to us. Not even Paul understood it—but of course, Jesus Christ and God the Father do. They knew what we would be doing in this end time.
Hebrews is the only epistle Paul wrote specifically to the Jewish converts. God’s Spirit-begotten saints are spiritual Jews—and this book really is aimed at the spiritual Jews today!
Hebrews 10:37-38
Paul wrote: “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:37-38).
He is quoting Habakkuk 2:3-4. These verses say in full, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”
Notice that Paul left out the beginning of verse 3: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie ….” This vision is going to speak right at the end! This definitely applies to God’s Church today. We reference these verses all the time.
If there is any vision in the Bible that really speaks in this end time, it is verse 11 in this passage in Habakkuk! As I explain in detail in The New Throne of David, this verse is about a double wonder that God has given this Church.
At the end, all this is going to speak! Paul is talking in these verses about a sweeping, worldwide epic! This great epic was recorded in the Bible and passed down to us, yet Paul did not fully understand most of it. God intends it to be fully understood in our day! There is no excuse for us not to hear that message today! And we have a responsibility to deliver this message to the world! It’s a message about the Laodicean rebellion, the court battle, and our receiving Mystery of the Ages and the new throne of David—the double wonder!
“[T]he just shall live by his faith,” Habakkuk 2:4 concludes. As God’s people, we must live by our faith! God takes no pleasure in people who draw back, or who don’t walk by faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please him …” (Hebrews 11:6). We must have the faith to wait on God for the Second Coming. It will come—it will not tarry—yet we have to “wait for it.” Wait for the appointed time, and it absolutely will come! Don’t lose your faith. Everything else in that prophecy which precedes it has already come—so too will the Second Coming! We can have absolute confidence in that! There is an appointed time, and that time is getting awfully close!
The Double Wonder
At the beginning of his prophecy, Habakkuk describes a temple crisis—a serious disaster in this end time in God’s Church. “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!” (Habakkuk 1:2). He could not understand it, and asked how long God would let the destruction continue. We felt the same way as we watched the Laodiceans destroy everything Herbert W. Armstrong built! It was a real spiritual struggle.
Verse 3 describes injustice leading to a legal conflict—the court clash between the Worldwide Church of God and the pcg revolving around Mystery of the Ages. (I explain this in my booklet on Habakkuk.) “Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth” (verse 4). The judges sided with the lawless Laodiceans, and justice was utterly perverted!
But amid the violence and tragedy, something wonderful happened! “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you” (verse 5). The Hebrew translated “wonder marvellously” means a double wonder! Yet when you tell most people, they won’t believe it because they lack the faith to understand.
Throughout those events, God was telling us that though we would prevail, we would have to fight for it. We needed faith to win, but we still had to stand up and fight—for six grueling years! It will always be that way if we walk by faith.
This is the theme of Habakkuk, especially the first two chapters. God wants us to understand how determined Satan is to destroy God’s truth at every possible opportunity, and how fiercely we must resist him.
Every fiery trial is preparing us for our exalted future. How else could you be ready to sit on the very throne of Jesus Christ with Him, ruling the world and the universe? Knowing how prone we are to turn away from God, of course we need fiery trials to prepare for that rule!
The double wonder of Habakkuk 1:5 is explained in Habakkuk 2:11: “For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.” The first wonder is this “stone”—the new stone of destiny, Mr. Armstrong’s prayer rock (representing Christ; Genesis 49:24)—and the new throne of David that God has given us. The second wonder is the “beam”—something that brings us together and unifies us in our understanding of the Bible. This represents Mystery of the Ages and our court battle in which God gave us that book.
I think Habakkuk 2:11 is the most inspiring verse in the Bible. What an honor it is that Christ has given us Mystery of the Ages. We are truly honored to have it—and to have that new stone and new throne!
In Hebrews 10:37-38, Paul discussed Habakkuk 2 in the context of faith. God is decoding or opening up a coded message for us. It is focused on David’s throne, and that brings us into the picture as the sons of Zadok—those who are loyal to that throne in a time of treachery against it. God wants the new throne added to the book of Hebrews! It makes Hebrews much more meaningful. This epistle discusses what Jesus Christ is doing right now, and a big part of that involves Mystery of the Ages and the new throne of David.
Mystery of the Ages
Mr. Armstrong said Mystery of the Ages was “the largest and most important book of my life. In real fact, I feel I, myself, did not write it. Rather, I believe God used me in writing it. I candidly feel it may be the most important book since the Bible.” He said it makes your Bible “come alive and understandable.” In his 94th year, he finished this magnificent, majestic book, and said it was to reach “the largest audience possible” (co-worker letter, Sept. 12, 1985).
Then, four months later, he was dead.
Who, then, does the responsibility fall on to distribute this book to the largest audience possible? It is our responsibility! In many ways, that book was for this Church era!
The leaders who took control of the church after Mr. Armstrong died soon began saying things about that book that were wildly different from what Mr. Armstrong had said. When John Amos and I were fired, they told us the book was merely a compilation of articles Mr. Armstrong had already written. Soon after, they destroyed thousands of copies. They hated that book! Joe Tkach Jr. said its contents weren’t “central to our teachings” and it was “riddled with error.” He later wrote, “We feel it is our Christian duty to keep this book out of print because we believe Mr. Armstrong’s doctrinal errors are better left out of circulation.” They didn’t want anybody to dare read it! That is the way Satan thinks. This man had the same problem Judas Iscariot had!
In the World Tomorrow, Mystery of the Ages will be the number one textbook after the Bible for the whole world. It reveals the whole Bible! First, people must understand the Bible, and they will never understand that until they understand Mystery of the Ages.
Mr. Armstrong said the truth in his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy was the strongest proof of the inspiration and authority of the Bible. It is the single greatest proof that the Bible is inspired by God! “It is, at the same time, the strongest proof of the very active existence of the living God!” he wrote in that book. Yet just a few years after Mr. Armstrong died, Joe Tkach Jr. said: “From a plan of salvation view, in light of the New Testament and the centrality of Christ in God’s plan of salvation as mentioned above, much of the relevance of our teaching on [The United States and Britain in Prophecy] is reduced to, so what?”
You must understand The United States and Britain in Prophecy or else you will never understand the new throne of David. As Mr. Armstrong’s book explains, Ezekiel 21:27 prophesies of three overturns, “and it shall be no more.” Well, what happens after that? The people who have the double wonder know the answer. The New Throne of David is a thrilling conclusion to The United States and Britain in Prophecy. It tells the rest of the story! And that revelation is for our time. “At the end it shall speak,” and is it ever speaking! We are transitioning into the return of Jesus Christ! He is about to sit on the throne that we already have in this Church!
Just three verses after Habakkuk 2:11 is this vision: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (verse 14). Within three verses of the double wonder, God describes the Earth being filled with the knowledge of God! What a world that will be!
What knowledge will fill the Earth? The knowledge and doctrines explained in Mystery of the Ages! Mr. Armstrong restored all things! Also, The United States and Britain in Prophecy will still be vital history people need. It describes many prophecies that have come to pass, and it explains how David’s throne goes on forever. That book shows you that if God makes a prophecy, it will happen! Never doubt God! Know in faith that He will never, ever mislead you in the slightest way.
And if The New Throne of David is the conclusion to The United States and Britain in Prophecy, surely that too will be taught to all the world. It’s about the very throne Christ will be sitting on, along with the firstfruits. People will need to learn about that. That knowledge is going to fill this Earth! This double wonder is going to be a double wonder forever! It’s all about understanding the Bible—Christ in print—and understanding God the Father. That new throne will be there forever. And we will be sitting on it with dual crowns on our heads!
Sons of Levi
In his epistle on what Christ is doing today, Paul talks about His priesthood. “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee’; as he says also in another place, ‘Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek’” (Hebrews 5:5-6; rsv—quoting Psalm 110:4). Hebrews 5:10 repeats the fact that Christ was made “an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
In Hebrews 7, Paul contrasts the Melchizedek priesthood with that of Levi, the priesthood God established in ancient Israel. Verse 5 talks about “the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood.” Levi is another name Paul uses that has end-time prophetic resonance.
Anciently, Levi was the father of the priests. The Prophet Malachi tells us that there was an end-time “Levi”—Herbert W. Armstrong. “And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity [lawlessness] was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from [lawlessness]” (Malachi 2:4-6). God made a covenant with this man. Mr. Armstrong feared God, so God was able to use him to “restore all things”! (Matthew 17:11). Most importantly, he restored God’s government in the Church. He was a lawgiver to us; he turned many away from lawlessness. What a blessing!
God honored that righteous man by making his prayer rock the new stone of destiny! Mr. Armstrong taught us all about our destiny: to be sons of God in the very Family of God—exactly what Paul was describing in Hebrews 1 and 2. If you follow God’s plan, that is your destiny.
God wants us to follow Levi’s example. “For the priest’s [should be priests’] lips should keep [or guard] knowledge, and they [the ministers] should seek the law at his [Levi’s] mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 2:7). Where did we learn about God’s law and government? We have to seek that at Mr. Armstrong’s mouth and guard that knowledge God gave us through him. It came from the God of the universe—not a man!
Here God is specifically speaking to the ministers. They must guard that knowledge and seek the law at Mr. Armstrong’s mouth! But the wcg ministers did not fear God as Levi did, and they threw that spiritual treasure away. “But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts” (verse 8). They had the very government of God, but they decided to “experiment” with other forms of government! What a terrible tragedy!
God says now those “sons of Levi” have to be purified. “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:2-3). Malachi shows that there is something very wrong with these “sons of Levi,” and they must be purified—all of them except the sons of Zadok. That will be the worst suffering ever on Earth!
So Paul’s reference to Levi also has prophetic relevance for our day.
Melchizedek
Hebrews 7:11 continues the comparison between the Levitical and Melchizedek priesthood: “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?” This is what Christ, our High Priest, is doing now.
Melchizedek had a dual crown. He was a priest (Psalm 110:4) and also a king (Genesis 14:18). He is the only one in the Bible who fulfilled both those offices—that is, until Zechariah 6, where Joshua is given a dual crown. “Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest” (verse 11).
God placed this crown within His own Church in this end time to show all of us more deeply our potential and what God is about to give every one of His faithful firstfruit saints! We are king-priests and will all have dual crowns very soon! If we remain loyal, we will be at headquarters for eternity, helping Christ rule the whole world, both church and state, and eventually the universe! God has given us everything to help us focus on what we are about to receive and how we will be able to serve God and serve this world.
Jesus Christ will return to Earth as “King of kings” (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). Anyone who believes the Bible recognizes that. But how many realize what that means? Christ is King, but who are these other “kings”? That is you! Those are the firstfruits who will be right there with Jesus Christ returning to this Earth!
Paul didn’t understand the depth in Hebrews. How could he, living at the time he did? But God used him to lay out this message for us to help us understand more deeply what this new throne of David is all about!
Shaking Heaven and Earth
Here is another statement Paul makes in Hebrews that relates to the new throne of David.
In Hebrews 12:25, he writes, “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.” How does God “speak from heaven”?
Paul is referencing how God spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai. Those people were held accountable for what they heard. What do you think about a voice from heaven in this end time? God’s people today are held accountable far more than the carnal Israelites were! We must get excited about and be thankful for the wonderful, miraculous truths God is giving us!
Then Paul writes, “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (verse 26). At Mount Sinai, there was thunder and lightning and an earthquake. But here Paul prophesies of our day, and says, A time is coming when He will shake the heavens as well!
The word “shake” here means to be moved or agitated, or to show the awesome power of God. It can mean to be moved, or to terrify. It can mean to do great things for God. So there is a broad spectrum of possible meanings. (Refer to the section on these verses in Chapter 1.)
Paul is quoting Haggai 2:6. This is not about shaking the nations. Paul is describing a spiritual shaking. It will happen “once again” (rsv). So when was the first time this shaking happened? When Herbert W. Armstrong was on the scene. Realize how uniquely dramatic revelation from God is. Mr. Armstrong had it poured into his mind! There was great shaking going on at that time!
There is a great deal of spiritual shaking happening today as well. All the books and booklets we have that contain new revelation have so many profound lessons we need to learn. But has anything God has ever revealed ever shaken the heavens and the Earth like the new throne and the new stone and all that they symbolize? Look at what God is showing us and revealing to us from His Word! This truth should be shaking us here on Earth, and you know that a Father who loves His Family is moved and stirred as well! In that way, it shakes the universe and the Earth!
What about the voice I heard revealing about the new stone and new throne? That shows the awesome power of God!
Zechariah 6:13 says this about The Branch (Christ) and Joshua: “[T]he counsel of peace shall be between them both.” There is a counsel of peace between the two. There is that counsel going on. Think about that—this counsel really is going on in this Church! Then it flows out into the Church and we all receive it. Viewed spiritually, doesn’t that shake the Earth and the heavens? It certainly shows the awesome power of God!
When you talk about Christ personally coming to the place of safety to receive His throne, that is going to shake people!
Haggai 2:23 shows that Mr. Armstrong is a signet. That is one of the most revealing verses in the Bible! Mr. Armstrong restored all things, he was a messenger to prepare the way for Christ’s return, and he was God’s Elijah (Matthew 17:10; Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). And we do the Elijah work today. That really shows the awesome power of God! Yet the Laodiceans trashed that! How must God feel about that? That shakes God! That upsets and agitates God the Father! He gave all this wonderful truth to His people, and they turned away from it and rejected it—and 50 percent will never return! That shakes the Earth and the universe!
“Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” (Haggai 2:3). People who compared the second temple to the first could get depressed! But that temple of Solomon, or any physical temple, doesn’t even compare to what God is doing spiritually today! The spiritual temple God is building today is far grander!
We can even look back at the work Mr. Armstrong did, and it was far greater than ours physically. But think about this: In that era there was not one son of Zadok! That is because you must qualify to be a son of Zadok! After Mr. Armstrong died, 95 percent of those people turned away! Sons of Zadok cling to the throne that Jesus Christ is about to claim as His own when everybody else is turning away.
Enoch and the 10,000 Saints
Another name Paul uses in the book of Hebrews that indicates its direct application for God’s people in this end time is Enoch. Enoch is discussed in Jude and other scriptures. It is a prophecy revealed only to the Church of God. Only we can fully understand it today.
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Translated is not a mysterious word; it just means moved from one place to another. That is what will happen when God’s people are taken to a place of safety just before the Great Tribulation: We will be moved to another place. What Paul is describing here is really a type of our going to the place of safety.
Jude 14 reads, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” This is a specific end-time prophecy about the return of Jesus Christ. That is the time frame.
“Ten thousands” here literally means 10,000. And as my booklet Jude explains, Enoch was actually the sixth generation from the physical Adam. So this does not apply to the first Adam, but to the second Adam, Jesus Christ. He made Peter the leader of the first era of God’s Church, and we are in the seventh era (you can read about these successive Church eras in Revelation 2 and 3 and in my free book The True History of God’s True Church). Jude is speaking spiritually about the seventh and last era—specifically the pcg in the Laodicean era.
Anciently, Enoch prophesied of the coming Flood, the end of the known world. Today we warn about the end of this world or this age—not by water but by fire! It will be the worst suffering this planet has ever seen!
Where it says, “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,” it literally reads “came.” God speaks as if this has already happened! He is very positive about what we are doing. He has a strong belief in your individual potential and what you are going to do—and wants you to be positive about yourself as well. He will provide everything you need to ensure you are there at Christ’s return. And He will come with that 10,000.
Consider what this tells us about how events will unfold when Jesus Christ returns. God has revealed a lot, but He has also left some gaps.
Elsewhere the Apostle Paul wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [or dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). When a loved one dies, people in this world have no hope; they moan and cry. God’s people do not. When one of God’s faithful Spirit-begotten saints dies, that individual is sealed and ready to enter God’s Family in the resurrection!
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (verse 14). Christ is going to bring these faithful saints with Him. That aligns with Jude’s prophecy. Christ is the King of kings, and those other “kings” are coming with Christ!
How will that happen, exactly? We are here on Earth, yet we will be coming back with Christ.
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep” (verse 15; New King James Version). Those who have died before that moment will be rising in the air first, before those of us who still live. I believe that is mostly because many of them will have very high, authoritative positions. But as a group, as far as I can tell, we will have the highest, greatest reward of all.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (verses 16-18). If this is real in your mind, that is comforting.
Many events will be unfolding in that span of time when the saints are rising up. The dead rise first, then we will follow. What will happen up there in the air? Quite a lot, I believe.
In God’s holy days, Pentecost comes before the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23). Pentecost pictures our marriage to Christ, and Trumpets pictures Christ’s return. This indicates that before Trumpets is fulfilled, there will be a marriage to Christ (see Revelation 19:7-16).
It seems there ought to be an official ceremony for Jesus Christ to receive the new throne of David. After all, He is coming to Earth to receive His throne! When would that take place?
New Throne in the Place of Safety
Jude 14 is quoting from Deuteronomy 33:2, where Moses says, “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.” This prophecy says that Christ will come with these saints “from Paran.” Geographically, Paran is in the area of Petra, Jordan. This is the area we have long speculated, based on biblical evidence, will be the place of safety in which God will protect His people during the Great Tribulation.
If Christ comes with these saints from Paran, this means He will first have to come personally to Paran, to what likely will be the place of safety. Why would He do that? Interesting question! 1 Thessalonians 4 says that at His Second Coming, Christ will meet everybody in the air and bring them back to Earth with Him. But in Deuteronomy 33:2 we learn that He will come from Paran with His 10,000. Why the difference with this group of people? All the other saints rise in the air. But that is not the case here, at least not in the same way. Why not just meet us in the air, too?
Well, Paran is where the new throne will be. You can see this in Isaiah 16—a fascinating passage in view of the new throne of David.
“Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth” (Isaiah 16:1-3). These “outcasts” are the faithful saints in the pcg. We will be cast out of our nations and taken to a place of protection.
Verses 4-5 reveal this: “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne [the throne—the new throne of David] be established: and he [a man] shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” When we are “translated” to the place of safety, that throne will come with us. We will have David’s throne in that place. This is a wonderful responsibility God has given us.
When will Christ begin ruling from that throne? It certainly would seem He needs to already be ruling on it when He arrives on Earth. After all, He is King of kings! A king must have a throne! Where would He take control of that throne before He arrives? The most practical place seems to be the place of safety, where the people who have the new throne are!
It seems the place of safety would be where Christ “officially” receives His throne!
What an honor it would be to present the throne of David to Christ! Who else could present it to Him? We have it, and He says numerous times that He will return to that throne. The Father gave it to Him, and He will share it with the firstfruits.
This is something God’s people have been hearing about for decades. As we get closer to it, Christ is putting together the pieces so we can understand it better.
Christ has to come to this Earth and sit on “the throne of his father David,” as prophesied (Luke 1:32). Also, Deuteronomy 33:2 shows that He will rule with a fiery law—the same law we have in this Church. He will be teaching and implementing that law. In the place of safety, we will not only have the scepter (the throne of David) but also the law. Genesis 49:10 also shows the combination of the scepter and the law. Christ will sit on His throne and talk about the fiery law that we are going to administer in this world.
Herbert W. Armstrong prepared the way for Christ, but there is now a throne that must be made ready, and a message about that throne that must be publicized. We must spread this wonderful message to the largest audience possible! That is the biggest part of preparing this throne for Jesus Christ. All we need now is for Christ to return and sit on His throne!
‘Out of His Place’
Zechariah 6:11 describes the double crown that God gives to an end-time Joshua. The very next verse may add to this picture of Christ’s coronation. It says, “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord” (verse 12). This is about Jesus Christ.
“Out of his place” is translated from a single Hebrew word. In the commentaries, the meaning is not entirely clear. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon says below or beneath, what is under one. “Out of” literally means the lower part, that which is below, beneath, under. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says it also means “under the authority of” or “the depths of the Earth.” What does that mean, and what does that have to do with us? There is good evidence it means more than we have understood.
The Moffatt translation reads, “He shall flourish where he is rooted,” or where the root is. Clarke’s Commentary says that this is “out of David’s root”—or David’s family. That throne goes all the way back to David and his roots.
God’s people are called the sons of Zadok, which means we are absolutely loyal to David’s throne, supporting that throne. In the Old Testament, you see prophets and priests and a few individuals supporting David’s throne, but not many. Yet here in this New Testament time, there is a whole Church following David! We are the only Church era to possess David’s throne! We have the new throne of David—so we must live and act like David, and look to God as he did! To the best of our being, we are trying to obey God the way David did and to follow David as he followed God.
I believe Zechariah 6:12 has this implication. We have God’s Holy Spirit, and that makes us unique. This gives a deeper meaning to “sons of Zadok.” When you think about sons of Zadok, you have to think about Christ and what He is doing in this Church.
You also have to think about Christ’s roots. Those roots go right back to David, who sat on His throne. Christ was a son of David by physical descent, and He also was the father of David. He set an example for David, and He sets an example for us today.
How happy God was with David seeking Him in every little detail: a man after His own heart! Christ was certainly that, even far more than David—and Christ is establishing all that in this Church right now! Christ is also pointing us back to David, who sat on that throne and became a man after God’s own heart!
God wants that of us. We really are sons of Zadok trying to do all we can to follow David’s example just as the original Zadok and his sons did. If we build our lives around that throne, this vision will be etched into our minds! When someone really gets it in his or her mind as David did, he or she could never give it up! David had serious trials, but he was faithful to the end. Christ had the vision so strong that He didn’t sin once!
Christ will “grow up out of his place.” It seems that throne, and what we do in getting ready, is an organic part of the Second Coming. There is organic growth from the pcg right into Christ’s return! Christ is springing up more and more in this vision, and it gets more exciting and wonderful all the time! What role do we play in the Second Coming? This should fill us with ecstasy!
“… And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God” (verse 15). It will happen if we diligently obey God—have no doubt of that! God guarantees it, so I can guarantee it too.
The word translated “obey” also means to listen, to give undivided attention and obedience. It means to understand what you have heard, perceiving the message. Let’s use the mind of Christ as much as we possibly can and give undivided attention to this message, because it will set your imagination on fire!
Right now, Christ is getting many sons ready to sit on the throne we have in this Church! There must be kings and priests to sit on that throne. Many sons are about to come to glory! How magnificent and phenomenal!
Sons of Zadok
The King of kings and Lord of lords is coming back to sit on the throne His Father promised He would give Him. It is His right—“He, whose right it is.” And we, sons of Zadok, will be there with Him through all eternity, coming close to Him and serving Him because we obeyed when 95 percent of God’s people turned away. When you consider this, it makes you think more seriously about what an honor it is to be a son of Zadok!
This has so much depth that we really must keep studying into it and trying to gain everything we can from it!
This Church has remained loyal to David’s throne and the God behind that throne when everybody else was turning away. While others scoffed at The United States and Britain in Prophecy, God gave us something even more inspiring: the throne of David.
Sadly, 95 percent of God’s people said, I don’t want that—I want to enjoy the world. You may have a little fun for a few minutes or months, but this evil world makes you miserable! And what penalties God must inflict to try to straighten people out!
But the noble sons of Zadok will hold special offices in the Ezekiel temple, working with Jesus Christ for eternity! “And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the Lord to minister unto him” (Ezekiel 40:46). There is a lot of sadness there about the sons of Levi. But these sons of Zadok will be the keepers of the charge of the altar, directing the ministry and what is done in the World Tomorrow from there in Ezekiel’s temple.
That reward shows you just how pleased and thrilled God is with the sons of Zadok! How special to have such a title! We have been hearing for years about the wonderful future we have—and God keeps magnifying it and amplifying it!
“And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the Lord, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary. And thou shalt say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you of all your abominations, In that ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to pollute it, even my house, when ye offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant because of all your abominations” (Ezekiel 44:5-7). The Laodiceans have rebelled and polluted God’s sanctuary, bringing in people who aren’t seeking God’s own heart! God calls these abominations!
Why were those strangers in the sanctuary? Why was God’s covenant broken? “And the Levites that are gone away far from me”! (verse 10). Many of them are not even attending a church! Those who are, are being deceived. They have gone far from God! Far from what Mr. Armstrong taught us—from Mystery of the Ages and The United States and Britain in Prophecy! And they know nothing about the new throne of David. They went “far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity,” or lawlessness (verse 10).
But verse 11 says about the sons of Zadok: “Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house ….” We are going to direct a lot of the activities inside the Ezekiel temple. That doesn’t mean many of those great men of the Bible won’t be over us in rank, but this is nevertheless an impressive reward! Is it worth all that we have to go through to qualify for it?
The Laodiceans “caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity” (verse 12). What a condemning statement! “But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge” (verses 15-16). The sons of Zadok will come near the table of the Son of God, who sits on David’s throne! This reward for loyalty is the most magnificent you could ever imagine!
What God has revealed in Hebrews ties directly into God’s new throne: Hebrews and the new throne of David. This is precious truth! Realize who you are! Keep that picture in your mind. Nothing compares to what God is doing with His people. This is God’s Family and it is unique in this world. Soon the whole world will be part of it, being taught by God’s firstfruits!