Before time existed

The One True God has always existed (Jn.17:3; 1Jn.5:20). He was alone and eternal. Eloah is His name in Hebrew. Elaha is His name in Chaldean. The meaning is singular or one. He knows everything and He is able to do everything. However, He cannot die. He alone is an immortal being (1Tim. 6:16). He is Alpha (which means the beginning) and He is the Omega (which means the last) (Rev. 1:8). He is always working. The creation exists because of Him. He is the centre of all things to come. Thus, God is creating Himself through extension. And God said unto Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14). God is saying here: “I will be what I will become” (from notes in The Companion Bible).

For more about God the Father see the paper Who is God? (No. CB1).

In order to create things, God first sent forth the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of God, but it did not exist separately from God until God began the creation. So this separation was the first element of the creation. The Sons of God were created after that, as the Spirit was essential for their interaction with the Father. Through the Holy Spirit the entire creation of spiritual and physical beings will become “all in all” (Eph. 4:6). The Holy Spirit is the substance that ties the entire creation together with God the Father. See the paper What is the Holy Spirit? (No. CB3).

God and His Law are:

Righteous: Ezra 9:15; Psalm 119:172;
Perfect: Matthew 5:48; Psalm 19:7;
Holy: Leviticus 19:2; Romans 7:12;
Good: Psalm 34:8; Romans 7:12;
Truth: Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 119:142.

God and His Law have always existed. It is through being baptised, receiving the Holy Spirit, and keeping the Commandants and the Lord’s Supper that we become like God.

Spiritual creation

The spiritual creation (angels) was the first part of God’s Plan and it was the basis for the physical creation (humans). Both the spiritual and physical creations work together for the glory of God.

The Sons of God are called elohim. This is a plural word, which means there is more than one son of God. God created many sons (Deut. 32:8; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:4-7) and He became God as the Father from the creation or generation of these spiritual sons (Heb. 12:9).

Scripture does not tell us the exact number of spiritual beings. But from Revelation 5:11 we learn:

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

God has a Plan. He is organised in how to complete His Plan. God’s major Plan is to teach His sons how to be perfect, as He is perfect. God is love (1Jn. 4:8). The perfect love of God involves everything, and He is sharing everything with His spiritual and physical sons.

The spiritual sons of God did not understand all that God was doing. That is why Revelation 1:1 states:

“the revelation of Jesus Christ (to John) that God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place”.

The spirit beings needed to demonstrate patience and wait until the Mysteries of God are revealed to humans (in stages), so then they too can fully understand the Plan of God. The Bible tells us “there were things that angels desired to look into” (1Pet. 1:12).

Jesus Christ was the first-born Son of God

Jesus Christ was one of the created (or generated) spiritual Sons of God. He was the beginning (i.e. ruler or first in rank) of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14), and the first- begotten or first-born physical Son of God (Col. 1:15). Christ developed the administrations of the spirit beings (Col. 1:16), but God the Father did the creating.

Messiah was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Christ was completely loyal to the Father’s Plan and fulfilled all aspects of the Plan. By his death Jesus Christ fulfilled his part in redeeming man and Host to the Father. He was anointed above his companions, or fellow spirit beings (Ps. 45:7; Heb. 1:9). Learn more about Jesus Christ from the paper Who is Jesus? (No. CB2).

Let us look at some of the aspects of God’s spiritual creation.

God’s Throne

Revelation chapters 4 and 5 give us an idea of what God’s Throne looks like. It describes God sitting on His Throne in Heaven with a rainbow around the Throne (Rev. 4:3). There are also 24 thrones with the 24 Elders sitting on these thrones, clothed in white garments and with crowns on their heads (Rev. 4:4).

Before the Throne there is a sea of glass like crystal, and in the centre, around the Throne, are the four Living Creatures (Rev. 4:6). Jesus Christ is sitting at the Father’s right hand (Mk. 16:19; Lk. 22:69; Acts 7:55; Rom. 8:34). Psalm 82:1,8 also talks about God in His congregation and describes how He judges. Other references to God’s Council are found in Psalm 86:8; 95:3; 96:4,5; 97:7,9; 135:5; 136:2; 138:1. We learn that God’s Throne is in the sides of the north from Isaiah 14:13, and 2Corinthians 12:2 tells us it is in the third Heaven.

The seven spirits in front of God’s Throne

Revelation 1:4 tells us that there are seven spirits before God’s Throne. And Revelation 4:5 informs us that there are seven lamps burning before the Throne of God, which represent the seven Spirits of God.

Zechariah 4:3 describes the two olive trees on the sides of the golden lamp stand with its seven lamps, from which the Holy Spirit flows through to the Seven Churches. Revelation 1:20 indicates that the seven lamp stands are the Seven Churches, and the 2 olive trees are the Two Witnesses (Zech. 4:11-14).

The Four Living Creatures

Ezekiel 1:5-28 gives us more information about the Throne of God. Ezekiel 1:10 describes the Living Creatures:

“for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man, all four had the face of lion on the right and face of bull on the left and all four had the face of an eagle.”

Revelation 4:7-8 also describes the Living Creatures.

Each one of the four Living Creatures is responsible for one of the four quadrants or areas of God’s creation. God the Father would be at the absolute centre, and the Living Creatures are as follows:

In the east is the lion.
In the south is the man.
In the west is the bull.
In the north is the eagle.

The 24 Elders

Revelation 4:4 tells us that there are 24 Elders, dressed in white robes with gold crowns on their heads, sitting on 24 thrones around God’s Throne. We learn that the Elders worship before God’s Throne, from Revelation 5:14 and 19:4. The Elders also monitor the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8). There are six Elders assigned to each one of the four quadrants or areas (6 x 4 = 24).

The functioning of the inner and outer wheels

The 24 Elders that surround God’s Throne form a Council. After Messiah was anointed above his partners and accepted as the Wave Sheaf offering, the organisation around God’s Throne became as follows:

(1) God is the centre of all things;
(1) Messiah is at God’s right hand;
(4) Living Creatures;
(24) Elders.

The total number here equals 30, which is the number of the beings that form the Inner Council of the God Most High.

The Outer Council includes another 40 Elders, making a total of 70 in all. The four outer groups (of 10 Elders each or 40 Elders from the Outer Council) would assist the four Living Creatures and the four inner groups (of six Elders each or 24 Elders of the Inner Council) with the administration of God’s Law in the four different quadrants or areas.

There are numerous references to the number 70 in Scripture. Historically, Moses ordained 70 (Num. 11:24-26). Even the Sanhedrin (or Council of Elders), which was Israel’s governing council, was based on the number 70 (see also Ex. 24:1,9; and Lk. 10:1,17).

This was the original design of God’s governing Council. From Scripture we see that God is expanding His Council, and we will talk more about this in detail later. God will also assign new beings to the original governing positions that have been vacated due to the rebellion of the Host.

The creation of Heaven and Earth

After Eloah created the heavenly Host He created the physical world.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1).

Job 38:4-7 talks of the greatness of God’s power and mind. It states that the Morning Stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy when Eloah created this planet.

Morning Star, Cherub and Seraphim are all different jobs and titles for the spiritual Sons of God. However, the Sons of God were not classed as angels (which means messenger) until after the creation of Adam. Until that time, there was no need for messengers. See the paper The Angelic Host (No. CB28).

With the creation of the Earth, Lucifer, (which means light bearer) and the other Sons of God were placed in charge of the planet and directed to take care of it and the people who would be placed on it.

The Earth is very old. At one time dinosaurs and other creatures lived on this planet. It appears that many years ago, a giant asteroid hit the Earth and destroyed the dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.

Lucifer and the rebellion

Lucifer was created perfect and functioned as a Covering Cherub at the Throne of God (Ezek. 28:12-15). He was in the south/man position and was given huge responsibility over God’s spiritual creation, and later the physical creation. He held the rank of Morning Star of the planet (Ezek. 28:12). Lucifer was perfect until wickedness was found in him (Ezek. 28:15).

Lucifer attempted to lead a rebellion to replace God the Father. He said: “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa. 14:13,14). Lucifer and one-third of the Host rebelled against God (Rev. 12:4). Some sources believe that half of the Inner Council joined with Lucifer in the rebellion against God the Father. Because Lucifer chose to rebel, his name was changed to Satan, which means the adversary, or accuser (of the brethren) (1Pet. 5:8; Rev. 12:10; Zech. 3:1). An adversary is someone who is always trying to hurt us. Satan’s role as Covering Cherub over God’s Throne became vacant after his rebellion.

Ezekiel 41:18-19 describes a point in the future when the “vacant positions” in God’s Inner and Outer Councils will be filled by former physical beings. These people will have died the physical death and will be resurrected or changed into spirit beings at Christ’s second coming. While they were humans they obeyed God’s Law and demonstrated the capacity to do the task asked of them. Some even chose death rather than disobey or deny the One True God.

Once Satan and the fallen Host rebelled, things were forever different. Like Lucifer, the other spiritual Sons of God were all created perfect, but they all had freedom of choice, as does all mankind.

Though the Earth was created perfect, it became formless and empty (Gen. 1:2). It is thought that this happened when Lucifer rebelled. He and the fallen Host were cast back to the Earth and it became tohu and bohu, which means chaotic and empty.

A former creation

There were human-type creatures that lived on the Earth a very long time ago, and they are referred to as humanoids. They only had limited things in common with modern man. They walked on two feet, but they thought and acted very differently from modern man. They were the creation of the fallen Host. God the Father never intended for them to be on the Earth.

Remember, the angels did not know God’s entire Plan and this was one of Satan’s many attempts to disrupt God’s Plan. The One True God never ordained the creation of these beings; therefore, they did not have access to God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us this creation will not be in the resurrection (Isa. 26:13-14).

Lucifer did not demonstrate patience and faith. Rather, he started a war in Heaven and rebelled against God and His Law. However, Satan is still in charge of the Earth today, and he and the fallen Host still have spiritual powers. Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).

Refashioning the planet and the creation of modern man

God works things out in His time-frame. God allowed about 6,000 years for the current system under Satan's rule, since Adam was created. We are nearing the end of that 6,000- year period now. Satan’s time will be cut short and the 1,000-year millennial reign of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the new Morning Star of the planet, will soon begin. This is referred to as the Period of Just Rule.

So somewhere in time, the Earth became empty and chaotic, because of the rebellion of the heavenly Host. Messiah refashioned the Earth into a place that was perfect for man, animals and the planet, and which would have remained perfect if we had lived by all of God’s Laws.

Just as there is organisation around God’s Throne, so there is organisation in everything. Each day during the re-creation, Messiah organised things to be ready to support more forms of life.

Since God knew everything from the beginning, He knew some of the spiritual Host would rebel. Therefore, the One True God, in His infinite love and wisdom, created two systems: one spiritual and one physical. Each type of being has the capacity and freedom to make choices. Each type of being has certain responsibilities. The spiritual Sons of God are to help care for humans and the planet. We, as humans, are to worship the One True God, care for our families and the planet, and help all people to understand the One True God. Both the spiritual and physical systems are tried and tested in their respective duties.

God’s Plan

Out of His wisdom, and because of His love for all His creation, God set up a Plan that would reconcile man and Host back to Him. Because God is the One True God, He can decide what is an acceptable sacrifice. During the Old Testament days people who worshiped the One True God sacrificed bulls, goats and lambs to fulfil their duties under the sacrificial system. However, all these sacrifices were fulfilled completely by Messiah, by his death on the stake.

We are no longer required to sacrifice animals, but we are required to pray, fast and assemble to worship the One True God at the appointed times. For example, this would be on weekly Sabbaths, New Moons, Holy Days and Feasts.

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16).

Jesus Christ was the perfect and complete sacrifice. Christ demonstrated faith by giving up his spiritual existence and becoming a human. He was totally dependent upon the will and power of his God for his life and resurrection to eternal life. He was totally obedient to his God.

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance (when He divided the sons of Adam), He set up boundaries for the people according to the number of the Sons of God (Deut. 32:8 RSV).

This text means that the One True God assigned jobs to the 70 Elders of the Sons of God. Jesus Christ the Messiah was responsible for caring for the nation of Israel. Israel was to learn how to follow the example of Messiah’s selfless act, and be prepared to lay down their lives for others. By his death, Messiah redeemed the Host and mankind to the One True God.

When we are called, repent and are baptised, we receive the Holy Spirit. We can then go boldly before God’s Throne in prayer (Heb. 4:16; 10:19-20). We must try to obey God’s Law all of our lives. When we make a mistake and sin, we must repent and ask God’s forgiveness, and He forgives us (see the paper What is the Holy Spirit? (No. CB3).

First Resurrection and Millennium

When Messiah returns, the saints who have already died will be resurrected first. Those of the saints alive at Christ’s second coming will rise in the air to meet the resurrected saints and all will be changed in an instant (flash) into spirit beings (1Thes. 4:16-17). The saints will all be joined to Christ on the clouds to be with him (1Cor. 15:51-52).

The Church, the bride of Christ, will be married to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, at that time. Those of the First Resurrection will become spirit beings and rule with Christ on the Earth for the 1,000 years of the Millennium.

What will happen to Satan?

At the end of the 6,000 years allotted to Satan, he will be put away from influencing mankind. During the Millennium, many people will learn to live by God's Laws. They will live wonderful, happy lives and so will their children. At the end of the 1,000 years of the Millennium, Satan will once again be released for a short time. Even though people will have been living happy lives for a long time, some will still rebel under the influence of Satan at this time.

This will be the last rebellion. At that time Satan and the fallen Host will be removed as spiritual beings and will be made human (Isa. 14:15-17).

People will say:

“Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?” (Isa. 14:16-17).

God does not want any of his creation to fail. Therefore, the fallen Host will have a second chance (now as human beings) to repent and qualify for the Kingdom of God. However, they will not regain the responsible positions they had before the rebellion. But it is better to be in God’s Kingdom in any capacity than not to have access to God’s Holy Spirit.

Second Resurrection or Great White Throne Judgment

After the final rebellion and the 7,000 years are completed, the Great White Throne Judgment will begin. By this time the Earth will have numerous Sons of God, who will be faithful spiritual Sons of God. These spiritual beings will have earned their crowns as humans. They will have been living God’s way for a long time.

Any human who did not qualify for the First Resurrection will be given an opportunity to live God’s way of life in the Second Resurrection. The Second Resurrection is a period of judgment, which appears to extend over 100 years (Isa. 65:20). Each person will have 100 years (2 Jubilees of 50 years each) to qualify to be a spiritual Son of God. The life of man was 120 years (Gen. 6:3), but under Moses it was shortened to seventy years (cf. Ps. 90:10). For the Second Resurrection the life of man will be 120 years, based on being resurrected as a complete adult, and then 100 years of judgment to correction (see also Eccl. 8:12).

Since God does not waste anything, it is likely that once negative attitudes and thoughts are removed from the planet, people will see the benefits of living under a just rule. With the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, it is likely that the rest of mankind and the fallen Host will qualify to be Sons of God in the Second Resurrection (see 1Cor. 15:28).

The planet will be much different at the end of that period of time.

Handover to the Father

The end will come when Christ hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power that were contrary to God. Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” When it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to God the Father who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all (1Cor. 15:20-28, NIV).

Then the One True God will relocate His Throne to the Earth (Rev. 21:10 ff).

Scripture does not clearly tell us what will happen after this period. But what is clear is that the One True God, whom we love, worship and obey, has set in place a wonderful Plan whereby His spiritual and physical beings can qualify to become spiritual Sons of God.

There are many responsibilities that go with God’s Plan, but the rewards and blessings are numerous.

Let us now look at how God is extending Himself.

Expansion of God’s inner and outer wheel

When Messiah returns we see that the marriage supper takes place (Rev. 19:7-10). It is likely those who have qualified will be placed in God’s governing Council in the position for which they have qualified. For example, it appears that Moses and Elijah will function in the role of the replacement of two of the Living Creatures who lost their position when they rebelled.

We also see that the 12 Apostles are assigned a position in the Council. The 12 Apostles will each be responsible for judging one of the 12 tribes of Israel (Mat. 19:28; Rev. 21:15-16).

The twelve Apostles are as follows:

1. Peter

2. Andrew

3. James

4. John

5. Phillip

6. Bartholomew

7. Thomas

8. Matthew

9. James

10. Thaddaeus

11. Simon

12. Matthias – replaced Judas Iscariot (Mat. 10:2-4; Acts 1:26)

We can assume that the 12 Judges will also be part of the governing Council.

The twelve Judges are:

1) Othniel, son of Kenaz, nephew of Caleb (Jdg. 3:7-11);

2) Ehud of Benjamin (Jdg. 3:12:20);

[After Ehud died the people were delivered into the hands of Jabin king of Canaan. In this sense Shamgar was not a direct judge as we see from Jdg. 3:31-4:4.]

3) Deborah, the prophetess wife of Lapidoth (Jdg. chaps. 4-5);

4) Gideon of Manasseh (Jdg. chs. 6-8);

[Abimelech the usurper, son of Gideon by the Shechemite, made himself a false king. That is the meaning of usurper. He was not one of the twelve Judges but a false king.]

5) Tola, son of Puah of Issachar (Jdg. 10:1-2);

6) Jair of Gilead (Jdg. 10:3-5);

7) Jepthah the Gileadite, the son of a harlot (Jdg. 11:1; 12:7);

8) Ibzan of Bethlehem (Jdg. 12:8-10);

9) Elon of Zebulun (Jdg. 12:11-12);

10) Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite of Ephraim (Jdg. 12:13-15);

11) Samson, a Danite, son of Manoah (Jdg. chs. 13-16).

12) Eli (1Sam. chaps. 12-4)

Eli and Samuel were the last Judges of Israel. Samuel was a prophet and judge in Israel who ordained Saul and served under him, but he was not technically one of the twelve Judges. On the death of Eli the kingship commenced.

Order of March

The original Order of March of the twelve tribes of Israel is seen in Numbers 2:3-31 and the change made to that order is found in Ezekiel chapter 48. Starting from the east the order is:

· Judah

· Issachar

· Zebulun

· Reuben

· Simeon

· Gad

· Benjamin

· Manasseh

· Ephraim

· Naphtali

· Asher

· Dan

We see in Ezekiel’s future Temple that the placement is changed to:

· Joseph

· Benjamin

· Dan

· Simeon

· Issachar

· Zebulun

· Gad

· Asher

· Naphtali

· Reuben

· Judah

· Levi

Each tribe would be allocated to an apostle with three tribes per quadrant. But these 12 tribes are not the only descendants of Abraham.

Abraham’s first son was of Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid of his wife Sarah (Gen. 16:1). His name was Ishmael. His mother took a wife for him from Egypt (Gen. 21:21). Ishmael is referred to in Genesis 16:11,15; 21:20; 39:1 and Judges 8:24. The everlasting Covenant that God made with Abraham and established through Isaac is mentioned in Genesis 17:20. The sons of Ishmael hold a blessing outside of the promises through Isaac, Israel and Joseph (Gen. 17:19-21).

The 12 princes of Ishmael in order of their birth are (Gen. 25:13 ff):

1) Nebaioth

2) Kedar

3) Adbeel

4) Mibsam

5) Mishma

6) Dumah

7) Massa

8) Hadad

9) Tema

10) Jetur

11) Naphish

12) Kedemah

This will create the secondary council of 24 tribes, added to God’s existing structure of 24 Elders. Over time we see God consistently uses certain numbers and patterns in expanding His system.

After the death of Sarah, Abraham also had sons with Keturah (Gen. 25:1).

The six sons of Keturah are as follows:

1) Zimran

2) Jokshan

3) Medan

4) Midian

5) Ishbak

6) Shuah

It is interesting to note that Abraham’s descendants – the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 tribes of Ishmael, and the six tribes of Keturah – give one full council of 30.

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