Sabbath 28/13/39120

Dear Friends,

Contained within the first three chapters of Revelation are instructions and admonitions that the Almighty Lord God gave to Jesus Christ to deliver to the Apostle John, who was then commanded to write to the seven churches of God in Asia. And in the following chapters of Revelation, to the end of the Book, are contained prophecies of things that are to come to pass in these Churches, particularly towards the end of this age, in the time of the Antichrist. It was written in Greek, while on the island of Patmos, where John was in banishment by order of the emperor Domitian, about sixty-four years after our Lord Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven and being seated at his Father's right hand on the throne of God.

There are two very important revelations for God's Church in the end time. Those of the Churches of God in all of its offshoots today need to pay attention to these revelations.  This message is also written for those who are new to the Faith once delivered to the Saints (Jude 1:3).

The Faith once delivered to the Saints that Jude was admonishing the Church to contend for is the faith in the salvation in the teachings brought to us from God through His anointed one, Jesus Christ. Christ gives the Church specific teachings in the Law of God and he gives revelation in the spiritual Temple that God is building through him.  Christ is anointed the High Priest of this Temple and he is the chief cornerstone (Eph.2:19-22; Heb.9:11). Those of God's Church are to be priests (Rev.1:6) under Christ and must serve God in the teaching of His Laws to the Nations. As priests of the spiritual Temple in the Melchisedek order, we must grasp the importance in understanding the Temple system and the Laws governing it.

In the first three chapters of Revelation, the Apostle John was given a vision on Patmos and was commanded to "write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Per'gamum and to Thyati'ra and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to La-odice'a" (Rev.1:11). After each message to the Churches, the message concludes with the admonishment, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches".

Of particular interest is the revelation given to the Philadelphian era of God's Church (Rev.3:7-13). The Key of David was given to this era of the Church by Jesus Christ. It is the Key of David that opens the Mysteries of God as they concern the Temple, and its ultimate construction as a spiritual edifice that is the Church of God in which God dwells in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The basis for this Sabbath Message is the Study Paper Rule of the Kings Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No.282c). It presents clear scriptural evidence that the physical Temple Solomon built was a prototype or template for the Temple God is building through Jesus Christ. Further, it is the Key of David that opens the door to the understanding of God's Temple, its priesthood and Laws, and those of the first resurrection are promised a position within the Temple as one of its pillars to serve under Christ as its High Priest. Christ states in Revelation 3:12
He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, (this is incorrect, the KJV correctly states and he shall go no more out) and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name (RSV).

The introduction of the study paper reads: "The last phase of the Plan of God as reflected in the rule of the kings of Israel is that of King Solomon. This sequence was to point towards Christ and the establishment of the Church as the Spiritual Temple of God."

Christ stated that the existing physical Temple in Jerusalem was his Father's House for which he has great zeal (Ps.69:9), and that he is to become the spiritual Temple (John 2:16-22).

Quoting from pages 7-9: ‘The Key of David: There is a specific text regarding the matter of the Key of David. It is mentioned as applying to the Church of the Philadelphians. The promise is made by Christ that he has the Key of David and that he will give it to the Church of the Philadelphians.
Revelation 3:7-8 These things saith the Holy One the True One, the One having the key of David, the [One] opening and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens; I know your works. Behold, I have given a door being opened before you and no one is able to shut it, for you have a little power and have kept my word, and have not denied my name. (KJV)

Now it is one thing to claim the name of the Church of the Philadelphians and say you have the Key of David, and quite another thing to behave as a Philadelphian and exercise the Key and explain its power and meaning. This Church actually carries the name of God and is given the open door through the power of God. No one can stop that Church from its work. It proclaims the nature of the Faith and the power of Eloah as the One True God.

In Revelation 3:7, we see that God reveals Himself as He that is Holy, He that is true, and He that has the Key of David. Thus, it is the worship of this entity that provides the basis of the Key of David. In Revelation 1:4, we see that it is from God, who was and is and is to come, and from the seven spirits of God which are before His throne, that the revelation is given. (continuing on page 8): From chapter 4 the Revelation then proceeds to declare the holiness of God with some seventeen heavenly utterances from Revelation 4:8,11; 5:9-10,12-14; 7:10,12; 11:15,17-18; 12:10-12; 14:13; 15:3-4; 19:1-8. God’s holiness is proclaimed prior to judgment in Revelation 4:8, and as we see in Psalms 93, 97, 99 and Isaiah 6:3.

So what is the Key of David? Why is it important to the work of the Church of the Last Days?
There is obviously some aspect of the life of David that contains a key to the function of the Plan of God as it relates to the Church. That Key opens the Mysteries of God to the Church in the Last Days, and the Church of the Philadelphians is given that open door to explain it, and to do the works of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Last Days.

David was the key figure in the story of the Rule of the Kings. He was born in the reign of Saul and grew up to become the Lord’s Anointed. When he was thirty he assumed the kingship and reigned forty years. He handed over the kingship to Solomon and was thus alive in all three kingships.

The major thing he did in his life was to consolidate Israel in peace, and assemble a mighty collection of materials for the construction of the Temple. He planned its construction and wrote the Psalms for its worship. The major aspect of the rule of David was the Temple. Even though he did not build the Temple himself, it is nevertheless his role in that project that forms the key to understanding the Plan of God. In understanding David’s role, and the significance of the kings in that process, we understand the Plan of God to the reign of Jesus Christ and on under the Churches of God.

The understanding of the plan and the sequence is given to the people entrusted with it by the One True God, Eloah, in time as He determines to reveal the Mysteries of God to the world. Thus the One True God, Eloah, is the central place of worship in the Church of the Philadelphians. They cannot therefore be Ditheist, or Binitarian, much less Trinitarian.

God gives His understanding of the Key of David to his servants the prophets, and we see from the prophets what exactly is entailed in this Key.

The prophet Isaiah mentions the Key of David specifically.

Isaiah 22:17-25 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. ¹⁸He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.  ¹⁹ And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. ²⁰ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: ²¹ And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.  ²² And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. ²³ And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.  ²⁴ And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.  ²⁵ In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it. (KJV)

The Key of David is thus an aspect of prophecy and of understanding the process of the Government of God.

The person here is referred to in 2Kings 18:18-26. Thus the Key of David was entrusted to Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was head of the household in Hezekiah’s reign when the Assyrians came up against Jerusalem. When they had called to Hezekiah, Eliakim came out with Shebna the scribe and Joah (the son of Asaph) the recorder as heralds. Eliakim rent his clothes when he told Hezekiah of the words of Rab-shakeh the messenger of the king of Assyria, and Hezekiah rent his clothes also and sent him Isaiah, son of Amoz, the prophet. Isaiah uttered the oracle of the Valley of the Vision in chapter 22. In this chapter he refers to (continuing on page 9) Jerusalem and the “Valley of the Vision”, which was the area where the most solemn visions had been seen firstly with Abraham (Gen. 22:2,14; cf. the name Yahovah Yireh; and also that of David in 1Chr. 21:16,28; and the many visions of Isaiah 1:1; 6:1-4; The Septuagint reads Zion). Shebna was stated to be the treasurer and he was to be sent into captivity. He may well have been an alien or heathenised Jew. He was apostate and God said that He would drive him from his station and remove him (Isa. 22:17-19). Thus the overthrow of apostasy was involved in the establishment of Eliakim in the place of the apostate Shebna. Shebna was the one who thought he was the nail in the house of the Lord with the Key of David. However, he was overthrown and removed and the true servant of God established. The prophecy deals with the system that will be established, and the true oracles of God (which will be set up as the Key of David) as were set up originally. Thus the true oracles of God are set in place at the last church phase though Dan-Ephraim (Jer. 4:15-16), before the Witnesses take their stations (see the paper The Witnesses (No. 135)). The system of the Church that was before it is replaced, and the Gospel is preached once and for all. The system of the Plan of Salvation and the Mysteries of God are delineated for the whole world as a witness, and then the end of this age shall come.

This text was to deal with the captivity and then the restoration of the Temple at Jerusalem under a prophet of sound knowledge, who was able to restore the Temple system and to deal with the Mysteries. From this text we see that there were to be two dispersions and two restorations of the Temple system. Thus the Key of David was in understanding when those dispersions and restorations occurred and how they would be carried out. It is also clear that the first Restoration was to be by Judah under an appointed priest. Hezekiah was responsible for one of the restorations but so was Josiah, and then after the dispersion there was Nehemiah and Ezra, as we see here with Hezekiah and Eliakim. The restorations down to Christ are examined in the paper The Seven Great Passovers of the Bible (No.107).

There were thus two Temples: one from Solomon to the Babylonian Captivity, and the Second Temple from the construction in the reign of Darius II through Ezra and Nehemiah to the Destruction in 70 CE (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)).

The Last Restoration is to be for the Third and final Temple. That phase is to be by the Church in the work of the Last Days. The Philadelphian system explains the process prior to Messiah’s return and then carries it out under the Messiah at His return for the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth. There will be two phases of this restoration for both the Spiritual Temple [to the First Resurrection (See the paper Heaven Hell of the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A)]  and then the physical restoration of the Physical Temple at Jerusalem, and the establishment of its religious system for the rule of the planet as prophesied by Ezekiel." (end quote)

In 1Peter 4:17 the Apostle Peter echoes a message that John was directed to give to the Churches of God found in Revelation chapter 11.

1Peter 4:17 ‎For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God? (BBE)

The Temple of God is now being measured with a measuring stick or rod and has been under measurement since 1 Abib 1987:

Revelation 11:1-3 ¹ An angel gave me a measuring stick and said: Measure around God's temple. Be sure to include the altar and everyone worshiping there. 2 But don't measure the courtyard outside the temple building. Leave it out. It has been given to those people who don't know God, and they will trample all over the holy city for forty-two months. 3 My two witnesses will wear sackcloth, while I let them preach for one thousand two hundred sixty days. (CEV)

The word "measure" in verse 1 is from the Greek word metréo (SGD #3354) which is derived from the word métron (SGD #3358) and means metaphorically to measure sin (see Matt. 23:32-33). The word "rod" is from the Greek word rhábdos (SGD # 4464) and it is used for chastising and scourging. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament © 1992 by AMG International, Inc. Revised Edition, 1993)
   
In the year 1987 prior to Passover in a letter and in composite addresses to the WCG church Joseph W. Tkach Sr. made an announcement that the measuring of the Temple had begun. Just as those of the physical Temple in Jerusalem at the time of Christ were given forty years for measurement and repentance, so too the spiritual Temple is given forty years for measurement and repentance (see the Study Paper: Measuring  the Temple, (No. 137). A forty year period from 1987 leads up to the year 2027, a very significant year. 

The number forty in Scripture is also significant (see Symbolism of Numbers (No. 7)). According to E.W. Bullinger "forty has long been universally recognized as an important number, both on the account of the frequency of its occurrence, and the uniformity of its association with a period of probation, trial, and chastisement...." (Number in Scripture, pg. 266). Bullinger references the following scriptural examples of the number forty:

Israel in the wilderness forty years
Israel from the crucifixion to the destruction of Jerusalem was forty years.
Forty days Moses was in the Mount and to receive the Law.
Forty days Moses was in the Mount after the sin of the Golden Calf.
Forty days Christ was tempted by Satan

God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). The Holy Spirit is likened to oil, and it is given to those who keep God's laws and to those who have ears tuned to hear what the Spirit says to God's end time Church of the Philadelphians who have the Key of David. In Matthew 25:1-13 the difference between the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins is obedience. The wise virgins have God's Holy Spirit and reflect a desire to be part of God's spiritual Temple through obedience to His Laws. The foolish virgins lack the oil of the Holy Spirit and lack understanding of the Temple system and obedience to see them through to the marriage supper, and Christ will shut the door on them. They have been weighed in the balance and found wanting during the measuring of the Temple because of their indolence and disobedience to the Laws of God, and essentially become quasi-antinomian through their own lack of understanding.  They do not come to grips with the full scope of the spiritual Temple that God is building through Jesus Christ and will be relegated to the Second Resurrection.

It is most important to understand that the measuring of the Temple culminates with the arrival of God's Two Witnesses who are given the power to begin the dramatic process of restoring the nexus of God's Law to this earth. They are given power over the earth for three and a half years as Moses and Aaron were given power over the Egyptians. After the three and a half year period of having power to confront the lawlessness extant on the earth, they will be killed. This is when Christ returns to this corrupt earth to begin his millennial rule and he will complete the full restoration of God's Laws and rule the nations with the rod of iron.

What specific understanding within the Churches of God does the Key of David open to the Church of the Philadelphians that the foolish virgins do not grasp? Consider what the Church of the Philadelphians will do and restore and enforce. 

According to the prophecies in Jeremiah the Church of the Philadelphians were to originate from Dan-Ephraim or the last variation of the Tribe of Joseph according to Jeremiah 4:15-16. This Church was prophesied to not deny the name of Christ (Rev. 3:8) and it was to warn the nations of the Coming of the Messiah and that of the final wars of the Last Days.  This Church was to restore the Laws of God and restore the Temple Calendar and the New Moons as Sabbaths as per Amos 8:5. They also restored the Fast for the Simple and Erroneous of 7 Abib (Ezek. 45:20). They were also to restore the Reading of the Laws of God in the Sabbath Years.  For these restorations the House of Judah would be made to bow down and do obeisance to the church in the last days.  These were to carry the last Spirit of Prophecy before the Witnesses (see the paper Warning of the Last Days (No. 044)). They replaced Sardis and Laodicea who were judged by them. This was done in on the New Moon and New Year of Abib in 1994.

When they have prepared the way for the witnesses and they have restored the Law and the Warning of the Last Days the witnesses will be sent and 1264 days later the Messiah will be sent.

The Two Witnesses will restore the nexus of the law and enforce New Moons within the Sabbath system of the Temple Calendar. New Moons will be restored throughout the world to non-working Sabbaths (Amos 8:5) as it was done in the Philadephian system above. Within the Temple system the Sabbath, New Moons, and solemn Feasts are an everlasting ordinance to Israel, both physical and spiritual Israel, and the Key of David opens the understanding of this aspect of the fourth commandment to the wise virgins who observe New Moons as Sabbaths today.

2Chron.2:4 "Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord  my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord  our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel" (KJV).

 The sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfilled the system of sacrifices but the Sabbath system itself consisting of the weekly Sabbath, the monthly New Moon Sabbaths, and the annual Holy day Sabbaths remain integral to the fourth commandment (Col.2:16), and Christ will enforce new moons (Isa.66:22-23) on this earth as it is enforced in God's spiritual Temple today by Christ as he is its High Priest.  The wise virgins hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. See the Study Paper The New Moons (No. 125).

The two Witnesses will expose and deal with the false Hillel calendar along with its postponements, They will enforce God's true Temple calendar. This will be the last warning by the two Witnesses for the foolish virgins to repent from observing the false Hillel calendar and to begin observing New Moons. Otherwise they will be locked out from the wedding supper by Jesus Christ. See the Study Paper God's Calendar, (No. 156)

The two Witnesses will enforce the Reading of the Law at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Key of David opened the understanding to the Church of Philadelphians that in every seventh year within the seven-year cycle of the 50-year Jubilee system of the Temple calendar the Law of God must be read at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut.31:7-13). The next reading of the Law according to the Temple calendar will be at the Feast of Tabernacles in 2019. See Study Paper Reading The Law (No. 250).

The Two Witnesses will confront and deal with the false gods of the sun-worship system in all of its various pagan forms. They will also deal with false concepts in the nature of God in Trinitarianism, Binitarianism, and Ditheisim that exist within the end time Church of God offshoots today. (See the Study Paper: The God We Worship (No.002).

The two Witnesses will come speaking according to the Law and Testimony of God (Isa. 8:20). There will be false witnesses speaking against God's anointed ones in the spirit of the Antichrist.  Strengthen and gird yourself in the study of God's Word. Understand what He is doing in the building of His Spiritual Temple through Jesus Christ who has the Key of David. Be obedient to God's Laws and do not allow yourself to become as a foolish Virgin who may not even recognize God's true Witnesses when they arrive in Jerusalem.   He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.

The New Moon of the First of Abib 2017 is the 40th year of the 120th Jubilee and we will deal with the final sequences of the wars and the arrival of the Witnesses and what is to transpire over the wars and that 1260 day period. The final ten year period of the 120th Jubilee will see the end of the Demonic rule and the establishment of the world under the Messiah.

Tom Schardt, Coordinator Southern California and Wade Cox Coordinator General