A Type
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The whole Church once thrilled to such powerful announcements, particularly those of the last four smaller paragraphs. By now, if you have read the books to the splinters in the suggested order, you have seen that Mr. Armstrong fulfilled the role of the final Elijah to precede Christ’s Second Coming. But have you remembered—did you not once understand?—that he also fulfilled another parallel role concerning a special prophecy, typed by Zerubbabel?
Let’s learn what he taught:
I have shown you that the book of Haggai is a PROPHECY. Zerubbabel’s temple, to which Jesus came at His first coming, was a TYPE of the SPIRITUAL TEMPLE (God’s CHURCH) to which, in its resurrected GLORIFIED state, it will be the GLORIOUS TEMPLE to which Christ will come SOON NOW IN OUR TIME.
Zerubbabel, therefore, was the typical forerunner of one Christ would use to build that GLORIFIED SPIRITUAL TEMPLE—God’s Church of this END TIME.
Zechariah 4:6 and 9, God says of this former type: ‘This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power (humanly), but by MY SPIRIT, saith the Lord of hosts.’ In Revelation 3:8, Christ says of the leader of today’s Church, ‘I know thy works; behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength (only a little strength humanly), and has kept my word, and hast not denied my name.’ This Work in our day has not been done by human strength or power, but by FAITH and the POWER OF GOD’S SPIRIT.
Further, ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house (the first temple); his hands shall also FINISH IT!’ So far as I know, GOD HAS NOT RAISED UP ANYONE ELSE TO FINISH THIS WORK HE HAS USED ME IN DOING!
God could take my life in the next breath—or He has power to keep me on the job as His instrument for as long as He deems necessary.
I have NEVER SAID I expect to live until Christ comes.
But, just in case of my disability for any reason, to prevent Satan from causing division, I feel God has inspired me to delegate power to the Advisory Council, during any such complete disability, to take full charge of the Work and all its assets and activities.”
Powerful Meaning!
This final excerpt practically explodes with meaning, and several points must be emphasized.
First, the ancient Judean governor Zerubbabel was a direct type of what Herbert W. Armstrong would be used to do with a much greater Temple to come later. Second, Mr. Armstrong would lay the foundation of the New Testament spiritual Temple at the end of the age. Third, it was foretold that Mr. Armstrong would finish what he started, meaning the Church of God would not only be built on the right foundation of the fully restored truth, but it would over time grow to be a marvelous finished SPIRITUAL PRODUCT unlike anything the world had ever seen!
The fuller context of what Zechariah wrote makes this even clearer: ;Then he [an angel] answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain [not even mountains would get in the way of what God purposed]: and he shall bring forth the headstone [the true Christ?] thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it [the House]; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you. For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet [plumb line or plumb bob] in the hand of Zerubbabel…” (Zechariah 4:6-10).
A plumb line is a carpenter’s instrument that is used in conjunction with a level for the purpose of getting the perfect right angles, necessary for building walls, roofs and floors of buildings. All construction must be straight to be correct, and observant owners will not tolerate anything less. Any contractor who forgets this basic rule will soon be in another line of business.
Christ has been no different in building His Church. He would not use—nor would he tolerate—a contractor” who could not ;get things straight.” The all-powerful Christ is a perfect MASTER BUILDER, and One Who would—and did—carefully select the right human contractor, one He personally trained and prepared. Christ also recognizes He is the most important stone within His own building—that He Himself is built in.”
Now understand. Mr. Armstrong did not just build and finish God’s Temple during the Philadelphian era, but, through God’s Spirit and power (Zechariah 4:6), he got things STRAIGHT! His work at the human level left in place a New Testament ;building” that was correctly ;trimmed” as any carpenter would do this. Under Christ’s guidance, Mr. Armstrong got STRAIGHT a host of true doctrines, Church government, the Great Commission, the Ezekiel Warning, the importance of the Second Commission, feeding the flock—and everything else necessary for the successful working of an enormous worldwide organization. An immense world headquarters complex, three colleges, numerous regional offices, summer camps, AICF, and other things were all part of this. As my book on God’s government described, the Church of God in the twentieth century was a beautiful, efficient, productive—SYMMETRICAL—structure, I repeat, simply unlike anything the world had ever seen!
But scores of thousands forgot what they witnessed!
A final ancillary point of clarification belongs here. The last portion of Mr. Armstrong’s third excerpt could seem at first glance to indicate he thought he would finish the full Work of God for this age. A closer reading makes clear that, since Mr. Armstrong was well aware he could die before the Tribulation, he had to be referring to finishing his own assignment—the work given to him personally, as described in Malachi, Haggai and especially Zechariah. Of course, his prophesied responsibility—his ;assignment” prophetically, if you will—also included the first fulfillment (of ;prophesy again”) of Revelation 10:11. This had to be completed—be a finished responsibility or ;work”—before the latter fulfillment of that prophecy could come to pass, as it is now.
Related to this, the prophecy in Zechariah could not have meant that no more ;living stones” (I Pet. 2:4) could be added to the Temple after his lifetime. Several parables, particularly Matthew 22:4-14, >Luke 14:12-24, but also Matthew 20:1-16, demonstrate that certain others would be called right up until the last minute at least in part to fill the empty seats at the Wedding Supper that, in some cases, others selected earlier had vacated. Mr. Armstrong could not possibly have equated his responsibility with who could be called to finish the final number that God desired at the Wedding Supper.
Do not let anyone with his own agenda about whether the Great Commission was completed in 1986 confuse you regarding what Mr. Armstrong simply could not have meant in this statement, if he were to remain consistent with everything else he said on this subject!
A Type—and an Analogy
Just the knowledge that has been presented to you in this chapter so far is of paramount—ABSOLUTELY SUPREME—importance to your future! Now consider the following parallels.
Solomon’s Temple has always been understood to be a type of Christ building His Temple—the New Testament Church. Zerubbabel’s Temple you have now seen is a type of Mr. Armstrong laying the foundation of, finishing and plumbing the New Testament Temple during the Philadelphian era, when ;all things” were restored to the Church.
There is another kind of parallel or helpful analogy that will aid you in understanding the remainder of the chapter.
Recall the renovation of the dismantled second temple that was in place when Christ came for the first time as Savior, and to build His Church. The Restored Church of God is truly the renovated Church—the renovated Temple!—of the Philadelphian era. While others have claimed to be the true Church, or part of it as the now ;greater Church of God,” RCG really is exactly the same as the Church that Christ led Mr. Armstrong to re-establish—to ;build,” ;finish” and ;plumb.”
Of course, it is for you the reader to prove if this is true!
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At this point, this chapter of the book becomes most fascinating, but only for those who have understood what has been covered to this point. All that comes next will be among the most sobering things you will ever read, with conclusions coming both during what follows and at the end. Therefore, open your mind. Give yourself a chance to comprehend almost unbelievably potent realities—and stunning, even stupefying, prophecies—soon to crash into place, some upon the world and others upon God’s lukewarm people.
This chapter is titled ;Measure the Temple.” However, it easily, and technically more correctly, could be titled ;Measure the Temple, the altar, and them that worship therein.” John’s instruction to Rise, and measure” involved much more than what is the starting point of God’s Temple, and there are enormous reasons for this that will become evident. Other elements of the Revelation 11:1-2 description have to also be understood for the whole passage to come together—to bring out the powerful meaning God intended.
You are now prepared to understand the instruction given to John. Before continuing, open your Bible to the passage and keep it there because we will be referring to several key words within it. You will need to continually check the context to appreciate all that you are about to learn.
Everyone is familiar with puzzles. You have probably made several, starting from childhood when only six or eight pieces formed the complete picture. In a sense, Revelation 11:1-2 forms a basic puzzle with ;pieces” of similar number. Recognize that each word or phrase to be explained is one piece of a puzzle whose picture only becomes clear when the last piece is in place. Miss a few or even a single piece and you will miss most or all of this puzzle!
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