Measuring the Temple (No. 137)

The measurement of the Temple is referred to in Revelation 11:1-2.

Revelation 11:1-2And there was given me 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. ²But the court which is without the temple 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. (KJV)

This process of measuring the Temple is a specific activity of the Last Days prior to the activities of the two Witnesses who are referred to in Revelation 11:3f.

Revelation 11:3-4 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. (KJV)

The measurement of the Temple takes place in accordance with a sequence of activities which precede the period of 1,260 days or forty-two months. Both are the same time scale but are expressed differently. We might thus deduce that two periods are meant. It appears that we might be dealing with two varying scales of time in the texts of Revelation, one on a year-for-a-day basis, which reflects the 1,260 years of the tribulation, and the other the lesser actual period of three and one half years. The period of the Witnesses is given as 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth, and this period equals the period for which the court outside of the Temple is trodden under foot, together with the holy city, which is Jerusalem.

This period involves two prophets who cause rain to cease during the period of their prophecy and they prophesy clothed in sackcloth for the period of three and one half years.

Revelation 11:5-14 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ⁶These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. ⁷And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. ⁹And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. ¹⁰And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. ¹¹And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. ¹²And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. ¹³And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (KJV)

There are a number of propositions in this text. The first is that the Witnesses cannot be killed until they have finished their task. The Witnesses stand before the god of the Earth who is Satan (2Cor. 4:4). Thus, they are there to witness against him and this world’s system. Those seeking to kill them are killed in similar manner. This is the power of Elijah, who had the power to call fire down from Heaven against the priests of false gods (1Kgs. 18:1-46), and those who would harm him (2Kgs. 1:10-15) or indeed show him disrespect as God’s appointed messenger (2Kgs. 2:23-24) as was the case with Elisha. Elijah had power over the waters and over rain, as did Elisha (2Kgs. 2:8,19-22). Heaven is shut up because of the sin of the people evidenced in the mouth of two Witnesses (1Kg.s 8:35; cf. Lev. 26:19; Deut. 11:17).

Elijah shut the heavens according to his word.

1Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. (KJV)

The nature of the Witnesses was examined in the paper The Witnesses (No. 135). We restate the major points. Elijah was a Gileadite. Gilead was a clan or family of the territory of Gad (1Chr. 3:14) who were resident in Gilead. They were resident to the east of Jordan. They were separate residents in the midst of both Ephraim and Manasseh with whom they fought under Jephthah (Jdg. 11:4). The name Gilead is most probably derived from the name rugged country, being adjacent to the fertile plains of Bashan. Its area was understood to be bounded by the Arnon on the south, the Jordan Valley on the west, the south-north part of the Jabok and the desert to the east, and the limit of Bashan, a few miles north of the Yarmuk, on the north. The inheritance of Gad was a country more rugged than Manasseh. The inheritance of both was outside of Israel proper being beyond the Jordan.

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible holds that Gilead is evidently a tribe parallel to Reuben and Dan and equivalent to Gad. In its broadest sense, it extended further north into Bashan and even beyond the Yarmuk. As a result of this vagueness, the territory of Manasseh is sometimes mentioned as overlapping into Gilead. However, it is usually only the tribes of Reuben and Gad that were settled there. It appears that there was an independent kingdom set up in Gilead under Pekah son of Remaliah from the twenty years assigned to his reign in 2Kings 15:27. This appears to have occurred circa 750 BCE in the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II. He ruled there until 735 BCE. He killed his predecessor with the aid of the Gileadites (2Kgs. 15:25). He then attempted to unite all the surrounding regions against Assyria. The Assyrians defeated him and carried away all the Israelite population of Gilead (2Kgs. 15:29) and from that time it was no longer part of the kingdom. This concept of the dispersed birthright has application in the Last Days.

Elijah can thus be identified as a Gadite, coming from the areas of inheritance of Israel beyond the Jordan. This has significance for the Last Days if we assume that the symbolism of the inheritance outside of Israel has significance for the Witnesses and the allocation of tribes, at least four of which (Reuben, Gad, Manasseh and Dan) have inheritance outside of Israel, and in conjunction with Ephraim. Simeon is also scattered among them.

From the power we see given to Elijah over drought, fire and the elements, we can see that the Witnesses are thus in the power of Elijah as promised from Malachi 4:5-6.

Malachi 4:5-6Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: ⁶And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (KJV)

The power of this prophet is not only in the matter of the performance of miracles but also concerns the re-establishment of family relationships on the Earth so that it might be saved.

John the Baptist was a forerunner to this prophet, but he was not that prophet.

Matthew 11:12-14And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹³For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. (KJV)

Thus John was Elijah, being in the spirit of Elijah, yet there would also be another who was also of the spirit of that prophet (see also Mk. 9:11-13).

Matthew 17:10-12And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? ¹¹And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. ¹²But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. (KJV)

The restoration of all things will occur under that system of the Last Days. The Witnesses have those powers. Elijah is either one of the Witnesses and he is joined by another to stand in Jerusalem, or the Witnesses exercise the same powers in the Last Days. The empire of the Beast is allowed to kill them after they have finished their prophecy. Their bodies are left to lie in the streets for three and one half days.

These Witnesses perform the same functions as Moses did to Egypt. The plagues that Moses inflicted upon Egypt were to deal with their spiritual system on a physical plane: the Witnesses deal with the system of the Last Days. This process was also effected by Elijah who witnessed against false religion within Israel. Thus the Witnesses testify against false religion both within Israel and among the nations. The sequence of their prophecy and the scope of it will be given later. These two people exercising the power of Moses and Elijah are yet to take up their positions. From the necessity of their prophecy, it is thus evident that there will be significant false religion in Israel and the nations in those days. From Jeremiah 4:15ff., it is deduced that there is a prophet that precedes the Witnesses, who warns the nations of the coming of the Messiah. The destruction of the nations is inherent in the power of the Witnesses, but is not fully exercised until Messiah. The work of this prophet of the Last Days is carried out from Dan-Ephraim. From the non-biblical prophecies, it appears that this prophet will be referred to by the mainstream religious system as Antichrist or the Danite Antichrist. That is because this prophet condemns false Christianity and preaches the restoration of the biblical system and the coming of Messiah to rule from Jerusalem. These prophecies will be examined elsewhere.

Before that happens the sequence given in Revelation 11:1-2 has to be carried out. That sequence is developed in Old and New Testament prophecy. The measurement of the Temple precedes the measurement of the nation of Israel. The nation is represented here as the outer court which is given over to the Gentiles to be trodden under foot for three and one half years. The measurement of the Temple thus precedes the three and one half year period of the Witnesses from Revelation 11:3ff. and is listed in Zechariah.

The measurement of both Judah and Joseph occurs at this time, and the shepherds of both are troubled and incur the wrath of God.

Zechariah 10:1-12Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. ²For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. ³Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. ⁴Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. ⁵And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. ⁶And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. ⁷And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. ⁸I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. ⁹And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. ¹⁰I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. ¹¹And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. ¹²And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD. (KJV)

The affliction of the shepherds occurs over time as does the dispersal of Israel, both Ephraim and Judah. The passage is through the sea of affliction (see The Companion Bible, n. to v. 11). This process is to establish both Judah and Israel as powers among the nations in the Last Days. They shall be brought to repentance and they will turn again to the Lord among the nations, and then they will be restored to Jerusalem and their inheritance. Their numbers will be increased as they have increased. The river that is dried up is the Tigris-Euphrates system. That fact denotes the destruction of the northern system and that of Egypt. That process then makes way for the kings of the East to pass over and move on Jerusalem.

This process again deals with the northern kingdom as we saw from 2Kings 19:21-28 (esp. v. 24). This is prophesied in Revelation 16:12.

Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (KJV)

This process of drying up the river does not necessarily mean prolonged drought. The same thing was done to the Red Sea as we know from Psalm 106:9.

Psalm 106:9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. (KJV)

Thus, the way is made open for the eastern forces to move through what is now Iraq and perhaps Iran.

Before that process of bringing the nations down to judgment can happen, the nation of Israel is purged.

The three-year period of trial and salvation is also found in 2Kings 19:29-30. This also refers to the Holocaust.

2Kings 19:29-30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. ³⁰And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. (KJV)

The measurement and the affliction of the shepherds precede that of the nation. However, Judah and Israel both fight as mighty men in the Last Days. How this is accomplished will be developed later.

The measurement begins with the House of God.

Ezekiel 9:1-11 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. ²And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. ³And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; ⁴And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

The glory of the God of Israel moved from the cherub to the threshold of the House of God.

The angelic Host moves to purge the nation prior to the re-establishment of the House of God. This re-establishment or occupation occurs in stages as we might deduce from the occupation of the threshold. The Cherubim were in stages and in diverse locations (see the paper The Meaning of Ezekiel’s Vision (No. 108)).

The entry of Messiah to the threshold of the inner Temple as the Prince is prefigured by the system set down from Ezekiel 45 and 46.

The Prince has a series of requirements placed upon him from the text in Ezekiel 45:8-10.

Ezekiel 45:8-10 In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and the rest of the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes. ⁹Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD. ¹⁰Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. (KJV)

The nation is levied an approximate half-percent tithe to cater for the offerings which then become the responsibility of the administration for each Sabbath, New Moon and Holy Day. The sacrifices of reconciliation are done in the First and the Seventh months. The sacrifices are at the New Moons and the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Prince is to represent Messiah in all of the Feasts. This process is to occur in the Sabbaths and the New Moons, both of which are non-working days or Sabbaths.

Ezekiel 46:1-3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. ²And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. ³Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons. (KJV)

Thus the Sabbaths and New Moons alike are days of worship and solemn assembly under the care of the Prince, and with the people. This system extends to the feasts (Ezek. 46:9-10).

There is incumbent upon the princes and the priests a duty of charge over the people and they are judged by the manner in which they exercise that responsibility. The failure of the princes, priests and prophets of the nation in the Last Days sees their removal.

Ezekiel 22:23-31 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²⁴Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. ²⁶Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. ³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. ³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. (KJV)

Thus, false prophecy is found among the priesthood. This is the case in this century especially in American Protestantism, but everywhere generally. The Law of God is preached as removed. There is no obedience. The priesthood likewise sin and each is a false prophet. They profane the Sabbath and teach another God. They steal and rend the sheep to the hooves.

Jeremiah 7:9-12 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; ¹⁰And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? ¹¹Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. ¹²But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. (KJV)

Here we see that God did not spare Shiloh, nor did He spare Jerusalem, either with the Babylonians or later under the Romans. Look to what God does even to His own sacred places. How much more will He rebuke the dispersion? He holds the priests, prophets and princes responsible first. He removes them and then He rebukes the nation. These are the three shepherds removed in one month.

The princes have destroyed the monarchy by their sin and men have no fear of speaking evil against the crown. The evil system in the nation must be destroyed. The destruction is commenced after the marking has taken place. Ezekiel 9 continues:

Ezekiel 9:5-11And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: ⁶Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. ⁷And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. ⁸And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? ⁹Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. ¹⁰And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. ¹¹And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. (KJV)

The measurement and the marking begins at the House of God. The ancient men are the Sanhedrin of the Church, the Council of the Elders of the physical Temple. This group is reconstructed from the ordination of the seventy [two] from Luke 10:1. The spiritual Temple also has its Sanhedrin. Thus the very height of the priesthood of the Judeo-Christian system is dealt with first. They are marked for slaughter according to their repentance. The mark is the mark of the elect. Those who have the seal of God are spared. This is the reference to Revelation 7:3. The Earth cannot be harmed until these have been sealed. The reference here is not purely to Jerusalem – it refers to all Israel, both Judah and Joseph. The nations comprising Joseph include both the United States and also the British Commonwealth. Judah embraces also the nation of Israel as it now exists and the remnants in other nations. There are two harvests appointed – one for Judah and another for Ephraim, which in the generic sense includes Manasseh.

Hosea 6:1-7 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. ²After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. ³Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. ⁴O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. ⁵Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. ⁶For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. ⁷But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me. (KJV)

The two days refer to the two days after the national repentance. The nation is punished for three years.

Hosea 6:8-11Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity, and is polluted with blood. ⁹And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. ¹⁰I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. ¹¹Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people. (KJV)

The words by consent in the KJV are derived from the word Shekem (SHD 7926) which means the neck. It refers to the part of the body between the shoulders and, hence, means a place of burden. Figuratively, it is the spur of a hill which has the connotation of a burden by consent, or portion or shoulder. The place in Palestine Shechem, the ridge, is derived from this word shekem. It is assumed from the NKJV text, and others, that the place is meant. However, the KJV places the meaning as murder by consent. The real meaning is that the priesthood murder by willing consent, in that they commit sin and murder by example.

The priesthood are thus punished first because of their responsibility in the sin of the nation and the promulgation of false doctrine. The princes follow in their removal.

Judah also was harvested over three years. The punishment was carried through from the repentance as we saw in the Holocaust. The scattering among the nations was a punishment of both. The texts from Hosea deal with Ephraim over chapters 7 and 8. The captivity of Israel is stated in Hosea 8:13. Israel is brought to sin through its religious system.

Hosea 8:11-14Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. ¹²I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing. ¹³They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt. ¹⁴For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. (KJV)

The harvest of Judah was set at the Last Days, when the captivity of Israel was returned in the restoration. Both Ephraim and Judah are thus placed in fear of destruction and are restored through divine intervention. Judah was tried by fire in the Holocaust. Their conversion process is undertaken from the logic of the rebuke of the harvest. Judah and Israel are refined by fire before the nations are dealt with in the process we understand from Revelation and other prophecy.

The process of the removal and the replacement is found in a number of prophecies in both Old and New Testaments. We have seen the time-frames involved in the process being the one month referred to in Zechariah 11:8. This removal refers to the process of dealing with Israel and its leadership prior to the re-establishment of Israel.

Zechariah 11:1-17 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. ²Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. ³There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. ⁴Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; ⁵Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. ⁶For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. ⁷And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty [Grace], and the other I called Bands [Union]; and I fed the flock. ⁸Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. ⁹Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. ¹⁰And I took my staff, even Beauty [Grace], and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. ¹¹And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. ¹²And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. ¹³And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. ¹⁴Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands [Union], that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. ¹⁵And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. ¹⁷Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. (KJV)

The reference to Beauty and Bands or Grace and Union is to Messiah and to the Union of Judah and Israel. The removal of Messiah saw the removal of the priesthood and its vesting in the Church in the dispersion. The reference to the three shepherds is to the princes, priests and prophets, or the three classes of rulers in Israel. The Soncino notes that the Talmud identifies them as Moses, Aaron and Miriam. The supporters of a pre-exilic date for this process identify them as the last three kings of Judah: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah (rabbi Kimchi). The advocates of a Maccabean date think of the high priests of the period: Jason, Lysimachus and Menealus; or of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers Jonathan and Simon (rabbi Arbarbanel), who ruled the people for one month of years, that is thirty years.

Driver remarks cautiously, ‘The allusion seems to be to some incident of the time, now unknown to us.’ In one month is probably a formal term meaning a short time (cf. Hos. 5:7) (Soncino fn. to v. 8).

The identification of this period of thirty years has been the subject of rabbinical speculation over the centuries. The period from the death of Messiah in 30 CE to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, and the closure of the Temple at Heliopolis or Leontopolis in Egypt in 71 CE by order of Vespasian, saw the end of the forty-year period of the sign of Jonah (see the paper The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 13)). This period of forty years was the beginning of the period of the Last Days. It was not the end of that phase. We saw the significance of the thirty years from the end of the period in the wilderness and the mourning for Moses. The sign of Jonah and the destruction of the Temple saw the removal of the authority of the priesthood in Judah to a nation showing the fruits of it, which was in fact Israel as the ten tribes.

The period of the thirty years is marked by the end of the Time of the Gentiles which as we saw is 1914-1996 (see the paper The Fall of Egypt: The Prophecy of Pharaoh’s Broken Arms (No. 36)). The year 1997 marks the beginning of the thirty-year period which ends in 2025/6. By 2025/6 all nations will be in their allotted places and the wars of the end will have been fought.

God shows what the end objective of the process is in Zechariah 12:1-14.

Zechariah 12:1-8 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. ²Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. ³And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. ⁴In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. ⁵And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. ⁶In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. ⁷The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. ⁸In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them (emphasis added).

Judah is saved first so that the elect do not hold precedence over the tribe of Messiah. The end objective is that the elect become elohim as Messiah or the Angel of Jehovah at their head.

Zechariah 12:9-14 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. ¹⁰And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. ¹¹In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. ¹²And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; ¹³The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; ¹⁴All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. (KJV)

The sequence of that process will be examined in detail in this paper. The purification of Israel is the first phase. The process, commenced by Joshua or Jesus Christ as Messiah of Aaron, which saw the removal of the authority of Levi, will see the priesthood purified in Israel.

The princes, priests and prophets are removed in this one month. The princes are responsible for ensuring that the nation is governed according to God’s Laws. The priesthood that does not instruct the nation in the Laws of God and introduces false prophecy is eliminated, and then the kingship that allowed this process is destroyed along with the people who followed them. The nation is sent into captivity. In the Last Days the nation is refined in fire and the truth is established by prophets in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The final thirty years of the end encompass the Wars of the Restoration and this is the subject of a separate paper. The phases are thus commenced from the Temple as we saw above. The priesthood is purged first. The process of dealing with God’s chosen is thus:

1. The Four Seals or Horsemen

The elect as the Church

a) Removal of the physical Temple and priesthood

b) Establishment of the Churches

c) Satan establishes the false system

2. The Fifth Seal

Testing of the elect as the Churches

a) Removal of the priests

b) Testing of the elect according to knowledge

3. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble

Trial of the elect as the nation

a) Establishing and confirming the nation in the birthright of Israel

b) Warning of the nation

c) Removal of the false priesthood

d) Removal of the monarchy

e) Purging of the nation

The next phase then begins the complete restoration.

4. Preparation for Messiah

Preparation by phases

a) The elect

b) The nation

5. Dealing with the Gentiles

Phases of the subjugation

a) The warning of the Witnesses

b) Examples of the power of God

6. The Advent of Messiah

Intervention to save mankind from itself

a) Advent

b) The removal of the government systems and the false priests

c) The destruction of the power of the nations in the wrath of God

d) The issue of the Law from Jerusalem

e) The relocation of Israel and the nations

7. Preparation for The Millennium

Implementation

a) The land systems implemented

b) The Jubilee system enforced by the elect as the New Armies of God

c) The Messianic system established in all nations and re-education commences

d) The war of the rebellion

8. The Millennium

Millennial systems enforced

a) The administrative and judicial system developed

b) The Temple constructed and priesthood allotted duties

c) Jerusalem developed as the centre of world government under Messiah in preparation for the second resurrection and the hand over to God

d) War of the end of the Millennium c. 3001-3027

9. The Second Resurrection

Finalisation of the elect after the last war and the restoration of all flesh

a) The loyal remnant

b) The general or second resurrection of the dead

c) The judgment

(i) The demons

(ii) Mankind

(iii) Reorganisation of the Host

10. Hand over to God the Father

The preparation is completed and is ready for God to be all in all

a) Advent of God and New Jerusalem

b) God establishes the universal administration from New Jerusalem

c) The Host goes on to its greater potential as Elohim and Sons of God in the Universe.

We have seen from Ezekiel 22:17-31 that the House of Israel is measured according to its performance and, from Zechariah, we see that measurement began at the House of God.

Ezekiel 22:17-31 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ¹⁸Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. ¹⁹Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. ²¹Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. ²²As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. ²³And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²⁴Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. ²⁵There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. ²⁶Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. ²⁷Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. ²⁸And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. ²⁹The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. ³⁰And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. ³¹Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. (KJV)

The condemnation of the three classes of rulership is also found in Micah 3:1-12.

Micah 3:1-12 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? ²Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; ³Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. ⁴Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. ⁵Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. ⁶Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. ⁷Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. ⁸But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. ⁹Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. ¹⁰They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. ¹¹The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. ¹²Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. (KJV)

The problem here is that the princes pervert judgment and equity. Indeed, they abhor judgment in that they will not be judged according to the laws of God.

The priests teach for hire and the prophets speak smooth things for the security of the people in their sin. The priests and prophets will not speak the word of the Lord fearlessly, nor is the name of God important to them as we see from Malachi. Jeremiah shows that God dealt with Israel and Judah and Jerusalem itself for these same sins.

Jeremiah 32:26-44 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, ²⁷Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? ²⁸Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: ²⁹And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger. ³⁰For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD. ³¹For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face, ³²Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³³And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. ³⁴But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it. ³⁵And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. ³⁶And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; ³⁷Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: ³⁸And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: ³⁹And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: ⁴⁰And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. ⁴¹Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. ⁴²For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. ⁴³And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. ⁴⁴Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD. (KJV)

God delivered Israel to the Assyrians and Judah to the Babylonians – who were the successors to the Assyrians – so that they might be rebuked. Yet, God promised to restore them in the Last Days so that they would receive the everlasting covenant. They refused to repent and were again removed and the covenant established without the nation being in control or involved, save as individuals. They will be converted in the Last Days in spite of their traditions and their priesthood, as we will see. Jeremiah speaks of the priests and prophets and the establishment of the kingdom of the Last Days.

Jeremiah 23:1-4 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. ²Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. ³And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. (KJV)

This text refers to the priesthood of Israel and Judah who have continually mishandled the sheep. It is an ongoing rebuke until the return of the Messiah. It did not cease with his resurrection.

Jeremiah 23:5-8Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. ⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ⁷Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ⁸But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. (KJV)

This prophecy has not yet occurred. It is occurring now but there is another sequence of activities yet to be completed. Before that can happen, the priesthood has to be purified by removal.

Jeremiah 23:9-22Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness. ¹⁰For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. ¹¹For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. ¹²Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. ¹³And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. ¹⁴I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. ¹⁵Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. ¹⁶Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁷They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. ¹⁸For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? ¹⁹Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. ²⁰The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. ²¹I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. ²²But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (KJV)

This process of evil and the prophecy of peace is what is found among the people in these Last Days. The priests teach that the Law of God was eliminated with Messiah. This is the very sin that occurred under the Baal system in Israel. Indeed, it is the same system extant even now.

Jeremiah 23:23-40 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? ²⁴Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. ²⁵I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. ²⁶How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; ²⁷Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. ²⁸The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. ²⁹Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? ³⁰Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. ³¹Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. ³²Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. ³³And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. ³⁴And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house. ³⁵Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken? ³⁶And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. ³⁷Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken? ³⁸But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; ³⁹Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: ⁴⁰And I will bring an everlasting reproach

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