Seal up the Vision and Prophecy, and Anoint the Most Holy
I greet you once again in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our subject is the sixth and last instruction of Gabriel to the prophet Daniel, "To Anoint the Most Holy." We'll quickly review the six-fold purpose of Gabriel's visit, so please turn your Bibles to Daniel 9:24.
"Seventy weeks of prophetic 360 day years are determined upon your people (Israel) and upon your holy city (Jerusalem) in addition to the yet unexpired seventy year Babylonian captivity" (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10). These additional 7 x 70 or 490 prophetic weeks of years will commence "from the going forth of the Commandment or Word to restore and to build Jerusalem" (Daniel 9:25). This edict was published by Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus on Nisan 1 (March 14), 445BC in the twentieth year of his reign (Nehemiah 2:1).
At the close of the seventy years both Babylon and the people were languishing, denoting from the outset that the vision is concerned with the Messianic hopes of Israel when "Zion's warfare" shall be accomplished (Isaiah 40). Thus the sixfold purpose of Gabriel's visit to Daniel is to prepare Israel to receive Messiah and anoint the Temple for His Millennial reign.
The Shekinah departed the Temple in 594BC, seven years before it was razed. Ezekiel 10:18-19, "It departed from the entrance of the temple, and stood over the cherubim. And they lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in Ezekiel's sight: they went forth with their wheels beside them, and stood at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them".
Ezekiel 11:22-23, "Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels which were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. And the Shekinah went up from the midst of the city, and hovered over the mountain which is on the east side of the city".
Israel thought that God was inexorably bound to His city and Temple, (particularly after the relatively lenient treatment following Jerusalem's first surrender to Nebuchadnezzar in 598BC when even the Royal Davidic House was spared, and a royal prince, Zedekiah, allowed to remain on the throne). In Ezekiel 11:16, He says, ". . . I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come". But God was able to destroy them both.
God has been separated from Jerusalem's Temple since He took His abode in the Spoken Word Temple of Christ and His Bride. The departure of the Glory from the Temple was symbolic of His departure from Judah. Our concern is His return to the twelve Tribes of Israel because this will be Israel's parousia and the return of Christ with His Bride to anoint the most Holy Place—the Tabernacle that will be used during the Millennium (Revelation 19). He returns by faith through the six-fold purpose of Gabriel's instructions to Daniel. Let us review.
1. "To finish the transgression." This was Jacob's ungodly rejection of Messiah. It will be finished through the ministry of their two prophets after the close of the Gentile dispensation when they see the revelation of Messiah in the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week.
We find this in Romans 11:21-26 where Paul speaks of Israel as the cultivated oil tree and us Gentiles as the wild olive tree. "If God spared not the natural branches (Israel), take heed lest He also spare not you (Gentiles). Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell (through the transgression of unbelief in Messiah), severity; but toward you Gentiles, grace, if you continue in His grace: otherwise you too shall be cut off. And even Israel's fallen branches, if they don't persist in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree: how much more readily will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? For I want you to understand this mystery, lest you become wise in your own conceits; that a hardening has come upon Israel, until the full number of elect Gentiles is born-again. And the twelve tribes of Israel shall be saved, (all 144,000): as it is written, The Deliverer shall come from Zion, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
Israel will not recognize Messiah until the last saint predestinated to the Gentile Bride is baptized into the Body, because God deals with Israel as a nation (Isaiah 66:8).
Matthew 3:11-17, "I baptize you with water for repentance said John the Baptist, but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then Jesus came from Galilee unto John to be baptized by him at the Jordan. But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of You, yet You come to me? And Jesus answering said, Permit it to be: for it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness (the sacrifice must be washed before it is offered). Then he baptized Jesus, and after His baptism Jesus went up from the water and the heavens were opened (and John broke into a vision) and saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and resting upon Jesus: And a voice from heaven said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am pleased to dwell in."
Nobody but John saw the Shekinah above Jesus or heard these Words. God promised this Sign to John alone to identify the Messiah he was to introduce. It was not a public show. Israel must recognize Messiah through the eyes of faith, not by sight. Blinded by the traditions of men Israel cannot see Messiah. John 12:37 says, "Though Jesus had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him." Israel will not receive the revelation of God's unchanging Word until three and a half years after the close of the Gentile dispensation.
2. "To make an end of sin." Sin is unbelief; unbelief separates man from God and eternal Life to Satan and death. Israel's communion with God was maintained by virtue of a go-between in the mediation of their high priest and the temple sacrifices. Should he become unclean, Israel would be severed from God. This happened when Caiaphas prophesied, "And all the people said, His blood be on us and on our children".
Matthew 27:21-25, "Pilate said to Israel, Which of the two do you want me to release? They said, Barabbas. Pilate said, What shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ? They all said, Let Him be crucified. And he said, Why, what evil has He done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified. Pilate saw that he could not persuade them otherwise, and that chutzpah prevailed above reason, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: you see to His death. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children" And it has been from that day to this. That sin will come to its end when Israel is born-again in one day.
Today the denominational church system imagines Christ is a Mediator with God in behalf of the error and ignorance they preach. But Christ's mediation ended in 1963 when He opened and revealed the seven Seals (I Corinthians 13:10-13). The denominations are crucifying unto themselves the Son of God afresh, and like Caiaphas they have no communion with God.
3. "To make reconciliation for iniquity." Iniquity is doing what you know to be wrong. Jesus has already made reconciliation for Israel as their Kinsman Redeemer, bearing their sins to Calvary; but it was not applied to them because God blinded their eyes so that we could enter the kingdom.
Zechariah 13:1, 6-9, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." (The waters of Life shall flow from the throne to wash blindness from the spiritual vision of the 144,000).
"And one shall say to Him, What are these wounds in Your hands? Then He shall answer, those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends." (This foretells the spiritual awakening of 144,000 elect Israelites and discloses the iniquity of their race). "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My fellow, said the LORD of hosts: smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." This was a prophecy of Christ being smitten on Calvary by His own kinsmen whom He came to redeem. Even His own disciples deserted Him at the Cross. Thereafter Rome evicted the Jews, destroyed their city and razed God's temple.
Jesus quoted Zechariah's prophecy on the Mount of Olives following the Last Supper prior to His arrest. He stopped in the middle of the verse because 2,000 years would pass before He would "turn His hand upon the (144,000) little ones." Like Joseph's blood brother, Benjamin, they will all be born while God is dealing with us Gentiles). "And it shall come to pass, that in all the earth, says the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My Name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God" (Zechariah 13:7-9; 14:2; Ezekiel 5:2-4, 12).
Isaiah 66:8, "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." This will be when Israel "makes reconciliation for iniquity".
4. "To bring in everlasting righteousness." Revelation 20:1-3, "I saw an Angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in His hand. And He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season".
When Israel's transgression has come to an end and their elect martyred by the world church system, the accuser will be bound in the abyss by reason of the fact that his subjects are in the grave and he cannot influence the glorified saints. Satan is helpless until the general resurrection when he will find sinners to do his bidding. When everlasting righteousness is brought in, the Millennium will begin and we shall know the glory of the Lord in those days because we will see Him face to face, and His glory will manifest in and over all of the saints. Habakkuk 2:14, "Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
5. "To Seal up the Vision and Prophecy." This means to ratify and confirm Daniel's sealed prophecy of the Seven Trumpet mysteries which will be revealed to Israel by Moses and Elijah in "the time of Jacob's Trouble" which will be Daniel's Seventieth Week.
Daniel 12:1, "And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people (Israel) and commence His reign: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people will be delivered, every one that is found written in the Lamb's Book of Life".
The climax of Satan's ride through the Gentile dispensation conquering spiritual, political and demonic powers will be his incarnation in "that man of sin, the son of perdition" the eighth deified Caesar ruling the once Imperial Empire of NATO (II Thessalonians 2:3; Revelation 17; 13:8). Satan will ride on through the Seventieth Week to perdition (Revelation 20:10, 14-15). 144,000 elect Israelites re-born of eternal Life in Christ, then martyred (Matthew 27:25), will be resurrected for the Millennium. Daniel 12:2-10, "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" in the second or general resurrection when every non-elect will be raised and appeal before Jesus and the saints at the White Throne Judgment. Those whose names remain in the Book of Life will be granted into eternal Life. Those whose names have been blotted from, or were never on that record will be cast into the Lake of Fire. "And those who are wise (or taught by the two witnesses) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars for eternity."
The real true sealing will be the regeneration of 144,000 elect Israelites by revelation of the Message of their two witnesses. "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the Book unto the time of the end: many shall run to and fro throughout the Bible seeking revelation and understanding will be increased" (while worldly people are "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of God's Truth" – II Timothy 3:7).
"Then Daniel looked, and beheld two others; one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river." This is a variation of the vision Jesus showed to Peter, James and John on Mount Transfiguration. The two men are Moses and Elijah; Daniel is by the Euphrates which represents the River of Life; Euphrates ran through Babylon, which was patterned after New Jerusalem, and Eden, the paradise of God. The prophets stood one on either side of the River, representing the Old and New Testament saints whom John saw as Trees of Life in his record of the vision (Revelation 22:1-2). "And one said to the Man clothed in linen Who was upon the Waters of the River, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders, or hidden things? And when will the mystery of redemption be revealed to Daniel's people, Israel"?
"And I heard the Man clothed in linen (Jesus Christ), who was upon the waters of the River, when He held up His right hand and His left hand unto heaven, and swore by Him that lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half (three and a half years); and when Satan has succeeded in scattering the ministry of the holy people (Moses and Elijah), all these things shall be finished." These two prophets will fulfill their ministry before they are arrested by the Roman authorities in the middle of Daniel's Seventieth Week (Revelation 11:3-12).
"And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the result of these things? And He said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." For us Gentiles "the time of the end" was when the Seven Seals were broken. Israel's "time of the end" will be when the sixfold purpose of Gabriel's vision and prophecy (Daniel 9:24) is revealed, sealing 144,000 into the Kingdom. Daniel asked, "How long will it be to the end of these wonders" (Heb.) 'hidden things' or mysteries, and the Lord told him they will be revealed and fulfilled in the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week. In verse ten Christ answers Daniel's question of verse eight, "Many shall be purified, and made white (by the baptism of the Holy Ghost) and tried (in the great tribulation) but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand".
6. "To anoint the most Holy." The Anointing departed from the Temple at Judah's apostasy (Ezekiel 10:19). Here it returns to anoint the most Holy Place which will be the Tabernacle that is to be built on earth in the Millennium as described in Ezekiel 40 – 44.
Ezekiel 36:24-28, "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land." (That's what World Wars I, II and III are all about). "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you." (That's the waters of separation which is faith and types sanctification by the Word). "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." That's the baptism with the Holy Ghost or new birth when God comes to live in the individual. "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who dwells in you, and that you are not your own" (I Corinthians 6:19; Revelation 20:22)?
"And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God".
Revelation 11:1-3, "And a reed like a rod [representing the Absolute of the fullness of the Word] was given to John (who represents Christ's end-time Bride): and the Angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But 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. And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth."
Only a lapse into a misapprehensive literal conception could draw the conclusion that the Temple in Jerusalem will be standing in the 21st century at the close of the Gentile dispensation. The Temple has always been a symbol of the visible form of the Church or Kingdom of God; even Ezekiel's Temple constitutes a form transitional to New Jerusalem—"the tabernacle of God with men" (Revelation 21:3). The Holy of Holies became one with the Holy place following the reconciliation on Calvary and the Day of Pentecost (Ephesians 2:14-22); the outer court has become many because it must become a place for all nations (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13). John was told to measure the Temple, but not the outer court. In Ezekiel 40 the Temple was also measured but the City of New Jerusalem was described as immeasurable, being "without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. For I, says the Lord, will be a wall of Fire around Jerusalem, and I will be the glory in her midst" (Zechariah 2). The Altar of Incense is also measured, and finally, the elect worshippers (Matthew 6:27).
The measuring reed given to us is the unbending judgment rod of the Absolute of the Fullness of the Word that placed us in Christ and will judge the 144,000.
Ezekiel 43:1, "After (he was instructed how the Temple was to be built, the guiding Angel) brought Ezekiel to the gate that looks toward the east" (to show that the Temple is accepted by God, signified by the manifestation of His Glory. The glory was never mentioned in connection with the restoration by Zerubbabel as the Shekinah departed before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it in 587BC. It was next seen when it took its abode in the Temple of Christ's body at the River Jordan.
Ezekiel 43:2, "Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and His Voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with His glory." Ezekiel saw many revelations in common with John who saw the glory of the Lord returning from the East having the Seal of the living God (Revelation 7:2). In Zechariah 14 the Mount of Olives which overshadows Jerusalem and the Temple, is split. The natural types the Spiritual. Nothing will be permitted to stand between Jerusalem and the light of the sun or the Light of the Son.
The glory of the Lord or Shekinah is the Angel of the Lord described in Revelation 7:2, and "the Voice was like a noise of many waters" is the testimony of the saints of all Ages (Revelation 1:15) "in the unity of the faith"—one Voice out of many waters or anointings or baptisms of the Holy Ghost.
"And the earth shined with His glory" . . . "And the earth" shows us He is not only the God of Israel but the Light of the Gentiles. We encounter the same Angel after Rome's judgment in Revelation 17 just before her destruction (Revelation 18:1-20, 24). Armageddon follows in Revelation 19.
Ezekiel 43:3, "And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when He came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face".
The Shekinah Ezekiel saw departing the Temple in Jerusalem is returning by the way it left. "Why stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from the Mount of Olives in the Shekinah or Cloud, shall return in like manner . . ." (Acts 1:9-11). He is the unchanging God with unchanging ways, "The same, yesterday, and today, and forever." Let's read about His departure.
Ezekiel 43:4-6 describes the return of God's glory to Israel: "And the Shekinah came into the house by the way of the gate facing the east. Then the Spirit caught me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. And I heard Him speaking to me from the house; and the Man stood by me".
The anointing of the Most Holy is the return of New Jerusalem—Christ and His Bride (Revelation 19). It's first Israel's parousia of their King and Queen as they take their place in the newly "instructed" Temple of the 144,000. They anoint the Most Holy by the Joy of realization in the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles after the mourning of sadness. This Temple is dedicated by God's arrival in the Form of their King and His Queen to live in the heart of the 144,000. Then in the reality of the Millennium, signified by the abiding Shekinah, for the Name of the City from that day on shall be, "The Lord is there".
In Revelation 19, we have a preview of Israel's parousia and our return for the Millennium. But revelation precedes reality and the setting of Revelation 17, 18 and 19 is the midst of Daniel's Seventieth Week.
"And after these things (the casting out of Satan under Sixth Seal, moving to the third Woe (Communism) and Seventh Plague, Rome breaks her Agreement with the Jews in the midst of Daniel's Seventieth Week; it's time for her allies to become her executors) I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God". Israel has crowned Jesus King of Kings in their hearts by faith, and He's coming back with His Bride, "after these things".
Revelation 19:2-17, "For true and righteous are His judgments: for He has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. (This was the plea of the Fifth Seal Jews—Revelation 6:10; 18:24). And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke shall rise up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia." ("Alleluia" identifies these as Hebrews). "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all His servants, and you who reverence him, both small and great." (I believe this voice is that of Brother Branham because of what follows).
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns." ("I" is John, who represents us, Christ's end-time Bride; the "great multitude" is the 144,000 who have caught the revelation. Let's read as they give glory to their King and His Queen).
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is come (to pass), and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteous works of the saints."
"And Brother Branham, (the Voice from the throne) said to me, (John, the Bride) Write, Blessed are they which are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he said, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said, Don't do that: I am your fellowservant (just another sinner saved by grace), and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." (The angel who revealed these things to John was William Branham, the prophet messenger to the Laodicean Church Age. It could be nobody else because the Book was sealed until the time of the end. When Christ opened the Seals and revealed their mystery to the seventh angel, he preached it to the Church of his day. John, who was in the Spirit in the Lord's day, looked back through time, past the seventh Trumpet to see and hear Brother Branham preaching the revelation of the seven Seals as they were inspired. Overcome by the abundance of the Supernatural in Brother Branham's ministry, John sought to worship him, foreshadowing what some of Brother Branham's overzealous followers would do).
"And I saw heaven opened, (another vision), and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness does He judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a Name written, that no man knew, but he who has the revelation." (You can expound the Message but it will mean nothing to those without the revelation).
"And He was clothed with vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called The Word of God. ("The Word of God" is what He's called, as earlier He was called "Emmanuel," and "Wonderful Counselor," "Prince of Peace," and "Everlasting Father." These are descriptive Titles to a Name, not the Name).
"And the armies of heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: (the spoken Word defeats His enemies by manifesting the penalty for unbelief): and He shall rule them with a rod of iron (in a thousand years time, at the White Throne Judgment): and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a Name inscribed, KING OF AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God."
God commanded another prophet, Ezekiel, to summons the birds and beasts to His great supper (Ezekiel 39:4, 17). God's Word does not return to Him void.
Israel could not take the Promised Land so long as God was not among them (Deuteronomy 1:42-44), and Israel cannot enter the Millennium until filled with His glory. When the temple is anointed, the 144,000 are sealed for the Millennium and the sixfold purpose of Gabriel's instructions to Daniel is fulfilled.
"The Most Holy Place" is where the Ark of the Covenant formed not from oak or cedar, the best woods in the Holy Land, but from lowly shittim wood (acacia) that grew up out of dry ground. In the thorn of man's curse the angel of the Covenant appeared to Moses, to bless man. Not only do these spikes serve to deter certain plant-eating animals, they also provide homes for its other defenders. The sharpness of the thorns make acacia spikes formidable—but the tiny, fierce stinging acacia ants that live in the hollowed-out thorns of acacia trees charge rodents, large animals and other insects to prevent them from eating the leaves of the trees. When a creature approaches, the ants alert each other to attack and sting the intruder. In return for their services acacia trees provide shelter as well as sustenance for the ants. Acacia leaves contain vital nutrients for the ants which could not survive by feeding from any other plants, and out of its wood was formed the Ark of the Covenant, typing our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. The Ark was overlaid with gold within and without. The Mercy Seat supported the cherubim which signified Israel's two witnesses, Moses and Elijah. Crowned with a raised border; it was God's throne of Mercy and Judgment—the most important feature in the Holy of Holies, representing Christ Jesus the true Mercy Seat (Psalm 85:10) and the only meeting place between God and Man (Exodus 25:17-22; 26:34; Leviticus 16:2; John 6:44). The Ark contained God's testimony that Moses engraved on two stone tables (Exodus 34:28), held Aaron's rod that budded and a golden pot of manna. Like Moses' shining face (Exodus 34:28-35) it was veiled and never seen by anyone but the high priest, a symbol of God whom no man can see and whose likeness is only seen in Jesus Christ the true Ark and our High Priest (John 1:18; Hebrews 1:3).
Jeremiah 3:6-19, "The Lord said to Jeremiah in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree [Brother Branham said, "That's what they've done from east, west and every nation." Talmudic Jews supported the trinitarian heretic Athanasius at the First Nicaea Council with the objective of destroying Christian faith (Revelation 2:14-15)], and played the harlot (with idols). And I said after she had done all these things, Return to Me. But she returned not. And Faithless, her sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce (and transported her to Assyria and Media); yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the cry of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with (idols of) stones and (wood). Notwithstanding this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but hypocritically, said the LORD."
Before the Lord enters into detail regarding the present state, He seeks by brief and significant intimations concerning the past and future to make an impression on the hearts of His hearers:
"And the LORD said unto Jeremiah, Apostasy Israel has justified her soul before Faithless Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north (whence Israel was transported captive into Assyria in 721BC by Shalmaneser V and Sargon II, Jeremiah 3:18; 16:15; 23:8 and 31:8. Sargon re-conquered Babylon in 710BC), and say, Return, Apostasy Israel, says the LORD; and I will not frown and cause My anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, said the LORD, and I will not bear a grudge forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, said the LORD."
"Return, apostate children (referring to the twelve tribes repatriating after the close of the Gentile dispensation), said the LORD; for I am your husband: and I will take you one from a city, and two from a tribe, and I will bring you to Zion: and give you pastors according to My heart (the two witnesses of Isaiah 11:11 – 19:25; Zechariah 4:12-14; Matthew 24:31; Revelation 11:3-12), which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when you shall multiply and spread in the Land in those days, said the LORD, they shall no more say, The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: nor will they remember or esteem it; and they will not make it again. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; (as He will be there in place of the merely representative Ark so that there will be a real and therefore, extensively and intensively, an infinitely active Presence of God), and all the nation shall gather to it, to the Name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: and will no more walk after the imagination of their evil heart."
Brother Branham said, "to anoint the most Holy [Place] . . . the Tabernacle that will be used during the Millennium" . . . Described in Ezekiel 43:1-6 . . . "And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is towards the east. So the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. And I heard Him speak unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me" anointing that Temple for the millennial reign.
In Exodus 40 the Tabernacle was commanded to be reared and anointed. Aaron and his sons were sanctified and anointed as was the Tabernacle and all that was therein . . . "then a Cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the Cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle . . . the Cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys" (Exodus 40:1-38).
When Solomon dedicated the Temple in II Chronicles 5:13-14, "the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endures forever: that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the Cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God".
God came into the sanctuary that was to be anointed as the Shekinah or Pillar of Cloud, and it was given over to Him for the people to come to worship . . . but to anoint the most holy place . . . New Jerusalem is the most holy place, and the anointing will be upon the New Jerusalem that descends from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband. The anointing will be upon them . . . [Christ and His Bride] . . . But when God sets up the Millennium Tabernacle, He will anoint the most Holy [Place] . . . The most Holy Place is the sanctuary where God lived between the Cherubims. And, this time, Christ will set in the most Holy Place, with the anointing upon Him [Revelation 19:11 – 20:4] . . . to reign for one thousand years," (61-0730E, The Sixfold Purpose of Gabriel's Visit to Daniel, par. 118-127).
"Daniel's Seventieth Week extends from the going up of the Church until the coming back of the Church (as a Bride adorned for her Husband . . . Therefore, this seventy weeks . . . will reveal from that time to the end of the Jews and also to the end of Jerusalem, until there'll be a New City built . . ." (61-0730E, The Sixfold Purpose of Gabriel's Visit to Daniel, par. 35-36).
In The Sixfold Purpose of Gabriel's Visit to Daniel (61-0730E), par. 127-137 Brother Branham said, "That's when that City will be anointed. That's when the New Jerusalem will be anointed." Brother Branham was referring to John's vision in Revelation 21 where the prophet's glance penetrates to the remotest distance without distinguishing the progressive stages into which the final period is itself divided. The return of Christ and His Bride is New Jerusalem in transition to the City of Gold on the fifteen hundred mile high Mount Zion. This declaration where Jerusalem itself, and not the Ark, will be the throne of God, is covered by the declaration of that New Jerusalem will be "the Tabernacle of God with men" as earth was in the beginning when in theophany God walked in fellowship with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3), and as the glory of Melchisedek consists in His being the representative office of that original relation to God (Genesis 17; Hebrews 7; Ezekiel 48:35; Joel 4:17).
Revelation 21:1-3, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were departed; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven, made ready as a Bride adorned for her Husband" (Revelation 21:9; 22:17; 19:7; Isaiah 61:10). This is the revelation Israel's 144,000 will receive. "And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle (habitation) of God is with men, and He will tabernacle among them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be among them" (as our Lord Jesus Christ, "the Beginner and the beginning of God creating Himself a part of creation" (John 1:1-14; I John 1:1-9; Revelation 3:14).
The correspondence of the Jerusalem of this passage with the New Jerusalem is further intimated by what is said in Revelation 21:22-23, "And I saw no temple in New Jerusalem: for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its temple. (Matthew 28:18; 26:64; Daniel 7:13-14; Ephesians 1:20-23). And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it: for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb." So the analogy of this declaration with Jeremiah concerning the absence of the Ark is strikingly evident.
This analogy is finally confirmed by the declaration that all of the saved Gentiles will assemble in the Name of God at Jerusalem on the basis of Isaiah 60; 66:18-24; Zephaniah 3:8-13; Zechariah 14:16 and Revelation 21:24-27, "And all the nations of the saved non-elect (Isaiah 60:3, 5; Revelation 22:2; Psalm 72:8-20) shall walk by its Light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it (tithing of their increase). And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. Nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever enter into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life".
Jerusalem is not the object of the assembling of the nations, but the Name of the Lord, which belongs to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem only in so far as the Name of the Lord was inseparably connected with it. All the "saved" Israelites and heathen will lose their stony heart and receive a heart soft and filled with the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26), that with their whole heart they will be subject to the Lord and His Kingdom.
Brother Branham resumes, "Over in Revelations the 22nd chapter it said the gates shall not be closed by night 'cause there'll be no night there. And all the kings of the earth shall bring their honor and glory into this City. Its walls will be jasper and sardius stone, twelve manner of stones; and twelve gates shall be one solid pearl on each gate. There shall be no need of a candle in there. There won't be no more sunlight, for the Lamb that's in the midst of the City shall be the Light. And He shall lead His people into Everlasting Life. There will be two trees standing one on either side of the river, and they for the healing of the nation. That's that anointed One that'll come, the Holy City descending from God out of heaven coming to the earth."
". . . Isaiah 65, listen what will take place during that time. And just ask yourself, sinner friend, if you could afford to miss this. Isaiah 65, let's begin with about the 17th verse. Listen, everybody, close now. This is during the time of the Millennium when the most Holy is anointed.
"For, behold, I will create new heavens and . . . new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be . . . glad and rejoice . . . even in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem . . . (That's the New Jerusalem) . . . a joying, and her people a joy . . . (What is the anointing? The joy of the Lord) . . . create Jerusalem a joy, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem." The King in the throne on the royal majesty of the throne, the eternal throne and the eternal people with an eternal joy in an eternal city. Oh, my.
"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence . . . infant of days, nor an old man that has not fulfilled his day: for the child shall die a hundred years old; but a sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. And [during the Millennium] they shall build houses, and inhabit them; . . . they shall plant vineyards, and they shall eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; . . . (That is, you die, and your son take your place,) . . . build and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat thereof: for as the days of a tree shall the days of My people, and My elect long shall they enjoy the works of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offsprings with them."
And it shall come to pass, . . . before they call, I will answer; . . . (That glorious anointing in behind the Cherubim!) . . . I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together . . . the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: the dust shall be the serpent's meat. And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the LORD." (Can you miss it? No.)
Jerk right back here again, and Isaiah speaking again at the 11th chapter, the 1st verse to the 9th. Listen what he says here again when he's catches the vision after he sees the women, the way they'll be acting in the last days . . . "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, . . . a Branch that shall grow out of his roots: (Who was that? Christ.) . . . out of his roots: And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom of understanding, the spirit of counsel . . . might, the spirit of knowledge and . . . the fear of the LORD. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither . . . after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove their iniquity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" (II Thessalonians 2:8; II Peter 3:10-12; Revelation 19:15).
"The righteousness shall be the girded of the loin, and the faithful the gird of the reins. And the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; . . . the calf and the young lion and the fatling or calf, or the lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them . . . the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones and shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like an ox."
"And the suckling child shall play upon the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountains: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge . . . as the water covers the sea. That's in that New Jerusalem. That new one Branch here is referred to as the Branch of David. He is both Branch and Offspring."
After the seventy weeks, the Bride appears in Revelations the 19th chapter, the 1st and the 16th verse. She arrives with her Bridegroom, the mighty King. Oh, my. I don't know whether we're going to get it all or not. Just got it so . . . After the Millennium sets in, and then Christ comes back with the Bride. Right. One to sixteen in the 19th chapter . . . After this tribulation, after the Woes, after the Seals, after the Plagues, after the casting out of Satan, after the setting up of the Millennium. Watch.)
". . . after these things I heard a voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, . . . honour, . . . power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are Your judgments: for He had judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And again and again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and ever . . . (That's the old prostitute church.) . . . her smoke rose up."
"And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that set upon the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God—Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great. And I heard as it was the voice of a great multitude . . . (Listen. Here you are, church. After She went up in Revelation 3, See?). (The 6th verse.)
"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth".
(Hallelujah. Watch. The marriage of the Lamb comes now. Here She comes.)
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come [to pass], and His wife has made Herself ready." (Here She comes, both Bride and Bridegroom.) "And to her was granted that She should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is . . . righteous works of saints."
"And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the wedding supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me. These are . . . true sayings of God." [Brother Branham's THUS SAITH THE LORD! "And I fell down at the feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am of your fellowservant . . . your brethren and have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy."
"And I saw heaven opened, and a white horse; . . . (Oh, my.) . . . and He that set thereon was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness does He judge and make war. And his eyes was as flames of fire, and on his head was many crowns; . . . (He was crowned what? King of kings.) . . . and He had a Name written, that no man knowed but Himself. And He was clothed with white vesture dipped in blood: and His Name is called The Word of God."
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God; and the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." Who was It? Jesus.)
". . . and His Name is called The Word of God."
"And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." (Glory. Here She comes.)
"And out of His mouth will go a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and . . . shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And He had on His vesture and on His thigh a Name written, KING OF KING, AND LORD OF LORDS."
What was it? His people [144,000 elect Israelites] had just crowned Him King of king and Lord of Lord, anointed with the Presence of God to live and to reign through the Millennium with His Church. Amen. The appearing with the mighty King to take Her place at His side, the new royal anointed Temple . . . (61-0730, The Sixfold Purpose of Gabriel's Visit to Daniel, par. 134; 63-03-17M, God Hiding Himself in Simplicity, par. 76-80).
Now, the sixfold purpose of Revelations 6:1 to Revelations 19:21 is fulfilled. Listen.
"Now in closing, the Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, Seven Vials, Three Woes, woman in the sun, casting out of the devil—or the red dragon, comes between these times during the great tribulation period. Don't forget it. All these things take place during this time, but here is the sixfold purpose of His Coming. Do you believe it? What a glorious time lays in store for those who love the Lord. I tell you, friends, we can't afford to miss that. Don't miss that for whatever you do. Be sure.
Jeremiah 3:18-19, "In Daniel's Seventieth Week the house of Judah and the house of Israel will walk together out of the land of the north ("MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" ruled by Satan's incarnate Superman (Revelation 17:5). "Into the Land that I have given your fathers for an inheritance. And I put you among the children (of God, Christ and His Bride), and give you a pleasant Land, the most glorious heritage among the nations? And you will call Me, My Father; and will not turn away from Me." For the Kingdom of Israel will be restored in the Millennium ruled by King Jesus Christ and His Queen and we will be "most Holy" anointed with the joy of the Lord. Please visit The Prophecies of Saint Malachy.
This is Israel's "war" of unbelief and disobedience against the Lord God. It will continue to the end of Daniel's Seventieth Week when the sixfold purpose of Gabriel's instructions to Daniel is fulfilled (Daniel 9:24) and the joy of the martyred nation of 144,000 elect Israelites born-again in one day will "anoint the Most Holy"—Israel's King Jesus and His Wife, their Gentile Queen, the elect Church. Brother Branham said, "His people had just crowned Him King of kings and Lord of lords; [they are] coming back to His holy Temple, [their King and Queen] anointed with the Presence of God to live and to reign through the Millennium with His Church. Amen! The appearing with the mighty King to take Her place at His side, the new royal anointed Temple" (61-0730, The Sixfold Purpose of Gabriel's Visit to Daniel, par. 134; The Revelation of the Seven Seals, p. 12:76-80).
As Brother Branham explained, "The first three chapters of the Book of Revelations reveals all the happenings unto the Church. Then, from the 3rd chapter unto the 19th chapter of Revelation there is no more seen of the Church. The Church goes up at the 4th chapter of Revelations, and returns back at the 19th chapter of Revelations, the Bride and the Groom together coming to the earth. And then from the 19th chapter to the conclusive of the 22nd chapter, it's all on the Millennium and what will be in the years that is to follow it. During the 4th to the 19th, God is dealing with Israel" (64-0719M, The Feast of the Trumpets, par. 37).
In 60-1204M, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, par. 24 Brother Branham said, "From Revelation 1 to 3, is the Church; Revelation 4 to 19, is Israel, a nation; and Revelation 19 to 22 is both together." Now Revelation 14:1 – 15:2-5 describe the new birth and martyrdom of the 144,000 elect Israelites during the tribulation. The Hebrew Hallelujah in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament; it celebrates the victory over the harlot and answers the plea of the non-elect Israelites martyred under the Sacrifice Altar during the Gentile dispensation. Revelation 6:9-11, "And when Christ had opened the Fifth Seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were promised every one of them; and it was said that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, [the 144,000 elect Israelites] that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled".
Hereby we know that "The great voice of much people in heaven" include the Fifth Seal Israelite martyrs, their 144,000 elect brethren in theophany and also Christ's resurrected and translated Bride of all Ages because "no one was able to enter the Temple until . . . the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple in heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done" (Revelation 6:9-11; 15:8; 16:17)!
"To anoint the Most Holy . . ." (Daniel 9:24f). This will be the Tabernacle that'll be used during the Millennium . . . any reader knows that from Ezekiel chapter 40 until about chapter 44 is nothing in the world but the Millennium Temple being erected on earth . . . Ezekiel 43:1-6, "Afterward He brought me to the gate, even the gate that looked towards the east: and, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and the Voice was like the Voice of many waters [God's elect host (Revelation 17:15)]: and the earth shined with the glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the visions that I saw when He came to destroy the city: and the vision was like that which I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is towards the east. So the Spirit took me up [as He caught up Christ's end-time Bride in Revelation 4:1] and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I heard Him speak to me out of the house; and the Man stood by me" (Ezekiel 1:26; Exodus 33:23). Brother Branham said, "Now, the sixfold purpose—and we find out that on this sixth purpose, "to anoint the most Holy," that "most Holy" always represented the Church, the Tabernacle. And the last thing to be done was to anoint the "most Holy;" that's the Millennial Tabernacle that He'll live in during the Millennial, that we'll live in" (61-0806, The Seventieth Week of Daniel, par. 48). Through their loyalty and love for the Kingdom, the heart of our Israelite subjects is restored for the Millennium ruled by Jesus Christ and His Wife, the Christian Church.
Now, notice. That's where we seen her coming back to the Millennial temple over here at the end of the Jewish age [or Seventieth Week] the anointed. Here He come riding on a white horse; those followed Him on white horses (horse, powers), dressed in white, vesture dipped in blood, wrote on Him, "The Word of God." (Revelation 19:11-16). He cometh, the mighty Conqueror (Yes, sir.) to set up the Millennium—coming to the temple. Glory. There He meets that 144,000 after that seventieth week here" (ibid, par. 172-173).
The anointing sanctifies the Temple. Cleansing it by faith, bringing God's elect into agreement with His mind, till the saints in every Age recognize the part of God's Word He is fulfilling for their Age (II Peter 1:12), and like "the trumpeters and singers . . . make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD . . ." Or as Paul said, "all speak the same thing without division such that they are perfectly united in the common faith or judgment".
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