Chapter 7: Prophesy Again

The little book of Revelation 10 is about prophecy. And God wants that message and more to be delivered to the Church and the world. After we eat and digest Malachi’s Message, revealed to that prophet, it makes us want to prophesy again! We see there is a spectacular and crucial work yet to be done. “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (Revelation 10:11).

John did not personally deliver this message. But he prophesied about an individual God would use in the end time—now. God “said unto me, Thou must prophesy again”—addressed to a man in this end time. And since the subject is prophecy, you would expect him to be a prophet!

The Greek word translated before is better rendered about or concerning (see rsv and Lange’s Commentary). The Moffatt Bible translates it of. The point is, we don’t have to personally appear before kings as Mr. Armstrong did. God just says we must preach a message of prophecy that is about “many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”

So we have a big job to do. We must warn God’s Laodicean Church and Israel (even the world) of what is coming. However, this job could still be done in a very short amount of time. But we don’t set dates.

We have received letters from thousands of people who have read Malachi’s Message and said it brought them out of the Laodicean Church and into the Philadelphia Church of God. That little book contains a thunderous, lion-roaring message! Verse 11 mainly applies to the pcg after Mr. Armstrong’s death. (For more information on this subject, request a free copy of The Little Book.)

The Inner Court

God revealed some inspiring new truth to me in 1992. It is very profound and deserving of our most careful Bible study. This truth clearly separates God’s very elect—His eminent royalty—from the lukewarm Laodiceans.

Those saints who follow God’s new revelation are Philadelphians. Those members who do not are Laodiceans.

“And there was given me [singular] a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein” (Revelation 11:1). This word rise means resurrection. It also means to rouse, literally from sleep. This implies that the Church went to sleep—or turned away from God—after Mr. Armstrong died. It stopped prophesying!

That prophet and his followers discussed in Revelation 11 are told to rise and measure the temple. The Companion Bible says he has a measuring reed (or measuring rod). The Anchor Bible says the rod served as a “surveyor’s rule.” This church has a device like Zerubbabel’s plummet (Zechariah 4:9-10). This was a measuring device given by God to measure and establish His Word with government and authority!

This rod, or authority, had to be given to God’s prophet before the Church could be measured. There is no way to ever measure or correct God’s people without God’s government.

Here is why the Laodiceans won’t seek God’s new revelation today—they have rejected God’s government! They refuse to be measured! God won’t reveal new truth to rebels. We must be childlike, and tremble at God’s Word (Isaiah 66:2; Matthew 18:1-3).

Every single Laodicean has rejected the government God taught through Mr. Armstrong (one man), and most of them admit it!

Only the very elect cling to God’s government and allow Christ to measure them. They look to Christ and His government and are measured by it. That is the only reason God can command him to “rise.” That prophet and the Philadelphians rise as Christ commands. The Laodiceans are blind and remain asleep.

The Philadelphians go and “prophesy again.” They continue prophesying as they did in the past—with old and new revelation. They continue the same government. They know their work is connected to the work of Herbert W. Armstrong. And only they truly understand and do God’s Work today.

The word temple in Revelation 1:1 is from the Greek naos, which means inner temple or inner court. The inner court is where God dwells!

Solomon’s temple included an inner court (1 Kings 6:36). The inner court encompassed the holy place and the holy of holies, where God dwelled. God’s presence was in the inner court. Then, attached but still distinct from the rest of the temple, was an outer court (Ezekiel 10:4-5; 40:17-19).

Today the Church is the temple, and God should be dwelling most of all in His people. But notice Revelation 11:1: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple [Greek naos—the inner court] of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” The inner court, and the altar, which symbolizes the ministry, must be measured, or corrected!

“But the court which is without the temple [the outer court] leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (verse 2). When God uses that prophet to measure the inner court, many ministers and people end up in the outer court—where God does not dwell! We must remember, God is in the inner court.

In the 1970s, wcg members saw the Church measured by Mr. Armstrong. A small percentage were disfellowshiped, but most of the members remained “where God dwelled.” That is not true now. There has been a Church split. God has moved His candlestick, or lamp (Revelation 2:5), to the pcg. The Laodiceans are now in the outer court, where God does not dwell!

There is a big difference between the wcg in the 1970s and today. Most people in the wcg in the ’70s knew what God was doing when Mr. Armstrong was in control. Not so now. The wcg and other Laodicean groups don’t know what God is doing today because they are in the outer court. God is not leading their church because they have moved away from what Mr. Armstrong taught them and have refused to be “measured,” or corrected.

The Outer Court

The Prophet Malachi wrote prophecy for today. He was a type of our work today. He showed that there are sinning ministers and members in God’s own Church who have gone astray, into the outer court.

Revelation 11:2 says the Laodiceans are going into the Great Tribulation as do many other scriptures (Daniel 12:1, 7; Matthew 24:41; Revelation 12:17; 3:19). But note this: The Laodiceans exist as a separate entity from the Philadelphians before the Tribulation because they refuse to be measured by God’s government.

One group is willing to be measured while the other group refuses. The Laodiceans have their era “works” before the Tribulation (Revelation 3:15).

While the measuring is going on, the outer court exists—but it is in rebellion against God.

God says “leave out” the outer court. So it has to be something men can see! If we are told they should be left out, we must be able to observe them. After Mr. Armstrong died, did an inner court and outer court become readily apparent? Of course! If the inner and outer courts were left together, only God could see the dividing line. But now, all can see the inner and outer courts.

Here is a very important point! There is no visible outer court even mentioned in the book of Revelation until that prophet and the pcg saints get roused out of sleep! God’s Philadelphians had to get stirred up about the wcg’s rebellion against what God taught through Mr. Armstrong. This is how the split came about!

This prophecy is still in the process of being fulfilled right now! You are part of a mind-shattering prophecy that is being fulfilled this very moment! The stakes are enormous. By not getting stirred up, the Laodiceans show God He must send them into the Great Tribulation—50 percent of them will lose their salvation (Matthew 25:1-13). The Philadelphians, on the other hand, will go to a place of safety and get to share Christ’s own throne forever (Revelation 3:21).

Whatever we do, if we are God’s people, we can’t escape one of these fates! God forces us to choose. That is the only way character can be built!

God is deeply concerned about this little Philadelphian group. We are the fulfillment of major prophecies in your Bible—now!

One wcg minister closely read Malachi’s Message and then rejected the truth it contained. He then became a tyrant in his church area and to those around him.

This was related to us by one of his close family members. But it is a common story. That’s because when we reject God’s truth we pay a terrible penalty. When God’s own people reject His truth, bitterness usually develops. Then God withdraws His blessings. They become different people—far more carnal!

If people fight against God’s prophet, they end up fighting God Himself (Acts 5:38-39).

If the wcg members turn away from us, they are also warned through the book of Malachi that they are about to enter into “the times of the Gentiles”! (Luke 21:24).

God thunders to a man to “rise”—stir yourself up and stay in the inner court—where God dwells!

God is testing us to see if we as individuals will “rise” and come out of the Laodicean condition! In terms of numbers, it may be the most important test in 2,000 years!

God will never again use the wcg. He says to “leave out” that organization. He has already raised the pcg to be His lamp and do His Work.

The “rise” of that prophet and the Philadelphians caused a Church split! The prophecy says that one group goes into the Great Tribulation. That implies that the other group is protected (see Revelation 12:14).

When Mr. Armstrong was alive, there was only an inner court (at least in our eyes). There was only one Church of God. Now there are two churches of God—but God leads only one of them.

Even if we are scattered, we must be measured or corrected by God. That is what makes us Philadelphian! That is what puts us in the inner court—where God dwells!

God gave His people the measuring device through Mr. Armstrong. Today He gives it through that prophet. His supporters must cooperate with God and His government as He measures us. We must be spiritually alert to discern this spiritual process.

The outer court is “given unto the Gentiles.” As this Church split occurs, the Gentile powers are rising. The Tribulation is coming very fast!

The veil at the entrance of the holy of holies was used by God to typify the universe! In Solomon’s temple, the holy of holies was behind the incense altar. It was constructed of white marble plated with gold. All that was not covered with pure gold was the purest white—a type of the righteousness of the saints. God has promised the whole universe to His Family! (see Hebrews 1).

The veil is only opened up to the inner temple, or the Philadelphians, in this end time. Those in the outer court, the Laodiceans, must repent before the universe opens up to them.

Do we grasp what God is offering us? Do we desire this breathtaking glory? God is declaring His magnificent message through that prophet.