The Coming of the Throne

THE COMING OF THE THRONE

Portions of the text are taken from the author’s book,
A Study Guide for the Book of First Corinthians.

* * *

What is man? Man is destined to be the throne of God. In the present hour the preparations for the moving of the throne of God from the heavens into the hearts of the victorious saints have begun. No more awesome occurrence than the moving of God’s throne, no event of more significance for the spirit and material realms, could be imagined.

An age of horrors is upon us. The provision God has made to save the righteous during the age of horrors is to place His throne in a holy remnant so they can serve as a hiding place for all who call upon the Lord in the dark hour.

* * *

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? (Isaiah 66:1)

The heaven is God’s throne. Nebuchadnezzar learned that the affairs of earth are governed from the heavens.

And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules. (Daniel 4:26)

When the thousand-year Kingdom Age has been concluded the holy city, the new Jerusalem, will descend from the new Heaven to reside forever upon the new earth. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be located in the new Jerusalem.

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. (Revelation 22:3)

The significance of Revelation 22:3 cannot possibly be overestimated for it tells of the coming of the Throne of God to the earth.

The concept of God being in Heaven, and of people praying to God in Heaven in order to receive relief on the earth, is one of the basic understandings of devout people.

But the Scriptures teach clearly that God’s intention is to transfer His throne from Heaven to earth. When that takes place, mankind no longer will look to God in Heaven but to God in the earth, to God in the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is the Bride of the Lamb, the Body of Christ.

“At that time Jerusalem shall be called the Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil hearts. (Jeremiah 3:17)

“They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord”!

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. (Isaiah 2:2)

The reason all nations will flow to Jerusalem, finding there the law and blessing of God, is that God and the Lamb and the Bride will be one Being in the unity that exists only in the Godhead.

“I in them, and you in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved them as you have loved Me. (John 17:23)

If it were not that the Father and Christ and the Bride are to be one in Spirit and Being the concept of Jerusalem being the throne of God would be blasphemous. God never will give His glory to another. But God indeed shall give His glory to the new Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb, and place His throne in her, because she has been made one in Christ in God.

“And the glory which you gave Me I have given them [His body], that they may be one just as we are one: (John 17:22)

The concept of Jerusalem becoming the place of God’s throne is one of the major issues of the Scriptures. The creating of the house, the tabernacle, of God, is the goal of God’s efforts. God will find His rest in the temple He is creating.

The Kingdom of God, the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles of the Jews, is God abiding forever in Christ in the Bride of the Lamb. The very throne of the almighty God is to be located eternally in her.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

The Father and the Son will make their home in the faithful disciple, in fulfillment of the old covenant feast of Tabernacles. This is the supreme goal of the Christian redemption, the rest of God of which the Scriptures speak.

Even more marvelous is the fact that the transfer of the location of the Divine throne has begun and will increase in glory throughout the coming darkness. The spiritual experience portrayed by the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles is God’s answer to the incredible pressures of the closing days of the present age.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve did not pray to God in Heaven. God was on the earth. Then God withdrew to the spirit realm becoming invisible to us. God became invisible to mankind because of sin, not because God desires to remain invisible to His children.

God will become visible once again as soon as we have entered the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles.

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. (John 14:19)

The fact that God was on the earth in the beginning does not mean His throne was on the earth. Yet it was true that when Adam and Eve communicated with God, they did so to a Person who was living among them.

Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:9,10)

God returned to earth in the Presence of Jesus of Nazareth. But we know that the throne of God remained in Heaven (although it was also in the heart of the Lord Jesus) because Jesus prayed to God in Heaven.

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify You, (John 17:1)

God will return to earth again in Christ—Head and Body. This time He will remain forever. God intends to dwell on the earth in the midst of His children. He will do so by dwelling in the Church, the new Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb—in the people whom He has chosen for His eternal dwelling place. This is the Kingdom of God and the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34).

God is moving His Presence to the remnant whom He has chosen. He is beginning the massive undertaking of transferring the seat of His power to the Church.

When the transfer occurs, when Jerusalem is the throne of the Lord and men no longer look to Heaven but to Jerusalem for communication with the Lord, there may occur a diminishing of the ability of weak Christians and unsaved people to pray to God in Heaven.

The prophets of today are speaking clearly that enormous spiritual oppression soon will cover the earth, making our environment a chamber of horrors. People no longer will be able to pray and will have to read prayers that have been printed in advance by believers who are aware of the coming spiritual darkness.

The opportunity to look to Heaven and receive the salvation of Christ may be greatly hindered along with the opportunity to receive the Spirit of God.

God’s provision for this most horrible of hours is not to remove His Church to the spirit realm but to enter the holy remnant. The remnant then will be the place of God’s feet and will be made glorious. All who come to them, calling on the name of the Lord, will be delivered from Satan.

“The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. (Isaiah 60:13)

It will be in the hour of greatest spiritual oppression that the Glory of God will arise on the elect. Those who wish to find God, to be blessed and delivered by him, will have to come to the remnant of victorious saints. There will be spiritual safety in the remnant. Access to God in Heaven may no longer be readily available, being hindered by the lords of spiritual darkness that have been permitted to occupy that area.

The transfer of God’s throne from earth to Heaven has not taken place as yet. We are not to pray to Christ in us, or to God in us but to God in Heaven. This is what Jesus did even though the fullness of God dwelled in Him, and this is what we are to do in the present hour.

In the day when the Father and the Son come to dwell in us in Their fullness we shall be the living Temple of God. How we shall pray then, whether we still shall pray to God as we do now, or whether we shall have such a complete inner Presence that prayer is more of a fellowship and communication (as in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden) than prayer to the invisible Father in Heaven, we cannot say at this time.

Let us proceed to examine the enormous spiritual darkness to be let loose upon the earth in the days in which we are living, and the moving of the throne of God to the remnant so there will be a refuge for all who desire to call upon the Lord for deliverance.

We may begin by noticing the extent of authority to be given to Antichrist.

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5)

God will give great authority and power to the Antichrist for a specific period of time. It is difficult for us to understand why the Lord God would so empower the representative of Satan. We can rest assured that God knows what He is doing, and the issuing of such authority and power to an evil person will finally result in exceedingly great glory and joy for God’s elect.

Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)

Antichrist is at war with God, with God’s tabernacle, which is the hearts of the elect, and with those who dwell in the heaven. The expression “those who dwell in heaven” may refer only to the departed saints but more likely is directed toward those who have entered the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus whether or not they are living on earth at the present time. It is the disciple whose life is hidden with Christ in God who poses a threat to Satan’s Kingdom whether he or she is on earth or in Heaven above.

For two thousand years the Christian churches have struggled against spiritual darkness, but the world is more spiritually oppressed today than at any other time of history. The reason for the Church’s ineffectiveness as the light of the world is that religious human beings have wrestled in their own wisdom and strength with the lords of darkness in the heavenlies.

It is only as we die to the world, to our adamic nature, to the lusts of our flesh, and to our self-will, and become a dwelling place for the Father and the Son, that we are a threat to the kingdom of darkness. The lords of wickedness do not fear the dust of the earth—even religious dust. But they are terrified of the Father and the Son.

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (Revelation 13:7)

The above verse is astonishing. Not only will the Lord God give Antichrist authority over all the peoples of the earth but also the ability to overcome the saints of the Lord.

Satan never will be given the authority to separate the saints from the love of God in Christ.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38,39)

Rather, Antichrist will be given the authority to overcome the ability of the saints to bear witness. He will do this by tempting them to sin, and also by economic pressure and physical violence. The testimony of Jesus will be driven from the earth in the last days.

The overcoming of the saints is the removal of the power that restrains the full revelation of Antichrist in the earth.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. (II Thessalonians 2:7)

God will permit the fullness of Satan’s personality to be revealed in the earth. Then the Lord will come and establish His Kingdom here, and judge men and angels for their wickedness.

Notice in the following passage that Antichrist, or one like him, will be given access to the heavenlies.

And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.
He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down [profaned]. (Daniel 8:10,11)

We see, in the above astonishing verse, that Antichrist will be able to reach even to the host of the heaven, interfering with the normal conduct of affairs in the spirit realm.

We believe the above title, the “prince of the host,” may be referring to the Lord Jesus.

We suspect that the ability of Antichrist to reach to the host of the heaven is the reason why the lords of darkness now are able to give the appearance of stating that Jesus is Lord and that Christ has come in the flesh, thus deceiving those who are accustomed to testing the spirits when they are listening for the Lord’s voice.

The Lord Jesus is the Lord of Hosts. The heavenly host appeared when Jesus was born.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host [soldiers of Heaven] praising God and saying: (Luke 2:13)

The prophecy that the small horn (of wickedness) will grow up to the host of the heaven, and to God’s stars, causing them to fall to the earth and trampling them down, reveals to us the total change that is upon us. We shall not be able to approach Heaven without being very careful that we are hearing from God and not from some rebellious lord who at one time had been a personage of great power and responsibility. The authority of Antichrist will reach not only to all the nations of the earth but also to the heavens.

He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down [profaned]. (Daniel 8:11)

The little horn made itself equal with the Commander of the host, took away the regular sacrifice from Him, and threw down the place of His sanctuary.

These words are filled with significance for the peoples of the earth. How shall we survive spiritually when God gives such authority and power to the lords of darkness?

Because of transgression [rebellion], an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. (Daniel 8:12)

It seems that the host of God will be given into the power of the small horn, along with the regular sacrifice. Truth will be brought to nothing. The horn will perform its will. The horn will prosper (for a season, as we saw in Revelation 13:5).

The host came under the authority of wickedness “by reason of transgression.” The Church is the sanctuary of the Lord and perhaps is the “host” that is mentioned. We know from the Scriptures that the power of the saints will be shattered in the last days.

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute [wear down] the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)

“They shall be given into his hand”!

Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered [crushed], all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7)

“When the power of the holy people has been completely shattered [crushed]”!

The “holy people” are the Lord’s saints. They are not primarily the Jews of today for many of the Jewish people are worldly. God’s saints are those who walk in holiness before Him—particularly the true Christian disciples.

But there is rebellion in the host, in the Church, in the Lord’s people. Except for a small number of worshipers, the saints, both on earth and in the heavens, have never been purged of worldliness, sin, or (especially) self-will. It is a rare Christian of today who is wholly given to the Lord in total obedience. Yet, such total obedience is the only acceptable worship to be given to God in Heaven.

And so the heavenly host will come under the power of Satan because of the transgression and rebellion of God’s people. Let us always keep in mind that we are kept safe in the power of the angel of the Lord only as long as we are walking in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. Satan is always seeking diligently to tempt us to engage in sexual lust, the love of money, the love of pleasure and comfort, or the seeking of our own prominence and glory. We must match Satan’s diligence with our own diligence in keeping before the Lord Jesus in unceasing prayer and vigilance.

There are two major aspects of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus, Chapter Sixteen). The first is the forgiveness of guilt by means of the sprinkling of the blood of a goat upon and before the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle of the Congregation.

The second major aspect is the portrayal of the removal of sin by laying the sins of Israel on the scapegoat and leading the scapegoat out of the camp.

The spiritual fulfillment of the forgiveness obtained through the blood of the first goat was accomplished on the cross of Calvary. The blood of the Lord Jesus was sprinkled upon and before the Mercy Seat in Heaven, thereby purifying God’s people and also, it appears the sanctuary in Heaven.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12)
Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (Hebrews 9:21-23)

An eternal redemption has been accomplished concerning the guilt of sin against the laws of God. But the removal of sin has been delayed until the last days. We believe that the eternal judgment, the removal of sin, has begun in the remnant to whom God is speaking in the present hour. At the same time God is permitting the authority and power of sin to increase until the entire creation, earthly and heavenly is involved.

Soon there will come a great shaking. Not only the earth will be involved but also the creatures of the heaven. Many of the “stars,” the spiritual authorities who have stood before the Lord, will be cast down.

Only that which is part of the Lord Jesus Christ will maintain its place before the throne of God.

whose voice then shook the earth [at Sinai]; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”
Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (Hebrews 12:26-28)

Here is the removal of sin, the second aspect of the Day of Atonement. The Kingdom will be established before the throne of God in Heaven as all that has participated in the rebellion is cast down and away from God’s Presence for eternity.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:10-12)

As soon as the rebellion has been overcome in the remnant of saints on the earth, Satan and the “stars” shall be cast down to the earth. Now the Kingdom is established forever in Heaven and will return with the Lord to drive all wickedness from the earth.

The saints will suffer under the hand of wickedness in the days to come until they have been purified from all rebellion against God.

The purpose of the great tribulation is to separate the true worshipers from the babylonish (manmade, man-centered, man-directed) churches”; to purify the true worshipers in spirit, soul, and body; and to teach the true worshipers to lean on the Lord instead of themselves.

Truly, we shall pass through the Valley of Achor (the place where the judgment of God was executed upon Achan and his family) until we are able to sing once more as in the days of our youth, as in the days when we first came to the Lord. The stoning of Achan and all his family and possessions is a type of the Divine judgment that comes upon us and purges from us the pride and foolishness we accumulated during our lifetime. Then we shall refer to the Lord as Ishi (my husband).

“And it shall be, in that day,” says the LORD, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ (Hosea 2:16)

The closing days of the present age will witness the removal of Satan from his place in the heavens where he continually accuses the saints in the Presence of the Father.

As we found in Daniel, Satan will hurl down to earth the stars of the heaven.

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. (Revelation 12:4)

The stars of the heaven either are the rebellious angels that followed Satan, or they are the saints of God, and possibly the same people as the “host” of Daniel, chapter eight, as we understand the Scriptures.

If the “third part of the stars of heaven” are the rebellious angels, then we have Satan casting his own army to the earth. This may be true but certainly seems strange. However, this interpretation is not at all impossible.

If the host, the stars, are the victorious saints, how is it that they are in the heaven?

Notice the force of the following passage:

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

We may have been accustomed to regarding the above verse as being a figurative expression. But if we accept it literally (and it is safer to regard the New Testament Epistles as factual rather than symbolic), it is God’s will that we who are abiding in Jesus are dead to the world and our inner, reborn life already is in Christ at the right hand of God.

We are in Heaven, far above the lords of darkness against whom we wrestle.

and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6)

In terms of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, we are already in the Holy of Holies with the Lord Jesus.

Although our reborn inner nature is in the Most Holy Place our flesh and soul are still on the earth. We are wrestling with the lords of darkness in order to bring the Life of the Most Holy Place down to the earth where our soul and body are. We are seeking to attain to the resurrection of our body (when the Lord comes), to bring the resurrection Life of Jesus into our body.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Our reborn inner nature is in Christ in the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place of the Tabernacle, which one encounters upon leaving the Holy of Holies, is the area of redemptive activity. It is in this area, the Holy Place, that the lords of darkness wage war against the saints. Perhaps it is the Holy Place that is the sanctuary that will be invaded by the little horn, of Daniel, Chapter Eight.

How can the little horn harm God’s stars if they are in the Most Holy Place? He cannot touch them there because that would be a violation of Romans 8:38,39, the passage that teaches that no power can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

To lay hold of God’s stars in order to hurl them to the earth, Satan must entice them to leave the throne where they are hidden with Christ in God.

Antichrist will use two devices to entice the victorious saints from their place of safety in the Holy of Holies.

The first device is physical terror, causing the saints to fear and lose their faith in God. The second device is to appear in the guise of a friend, loading the saints with prosperity and giving them the impression that the world is a happy, safe place in which to live and raise their children.

The first device comprises physical and spiritual abuse and terror.

“And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. (Daniel 11:33)

The second device is peace, prosperity, security.

His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power [Satan’s]; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive [following his own wishes]; he shall destroy [corrupt] the mighty, and also the holy people [the saints].
“Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity [ease]. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes [Christ, at His coming]; but he shall be broken without human means. (Daniel 8:24,25)

To those who may object that saints cannot be enticed away from their position in Christ in God, let us state we already have seen this take place. Believers who at one time were singing in Zion the songs of victory have fallen away and are now are living in the lusts of the flesh. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!”

It may be noticed that at the time of Satan’s action against the stars, the male Son, the Ruler of all the work’s of God’s hands, is being formed through the travail of the Church.

She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:5)

If we are to keep our position in Christ we must fight for it. We must be careful that someone does not take our crown of authority. Our crown of rulership will be given to another if we are not faithful in the use of our talents.

The symbolism presented in the twelfth chapter of Revelation may mean that in the last days, Satan will cast down to the earth many of the stars of God (the overcoming of the saints, mentioned in Daniel and Revelation).

At the same time, Christ, the Ruler, will be formed in the Church. The victorious saints of the last days will fight against Satan by the blood of the Lamb, by their testimony of faith in God’s Word, and they will love not their lives to the point of death.

Through God’s grace they will succeed in overcoming Satan. As soon as they do, Michael and his angels will be empowered by the Father to cast Satan and his angels to the earth. That which they have done to the host will now be done to them.

We now are entering total spiritual warfare—warfare that will climax in the Battle of Armageddon. The throne of God is about to move from its place in Heaven and be established forever in the victorious saints.

Praise will break forth in the heavenlies when the lords of darkness no longer have access to the Holy Place.

“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:12)

The Holy Place will be restored.

And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.” (Daniel 8:14)

The first half of the prophetic “week” of the last days will witness an outpouring of God’s Spirit without precedent in history. This is the promised latter rain of the Spirit. As we understand it, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation on the earth for a witness of the coming Kingdom of God. We think most people on earth will believe in Jesus as a result of the works of power prepared by the Spirit of God.

It is during the second half of the week that unprecedented horrors and unprecedented victory will take place. The enormous multitude of new Christians will become careless, as happens to believers whenever they come to a place of peace and security.

Antichrist will take advantage of their carelessness and deceive them, using prosperity to put them off guard.

Antichrist will be able to destroy the “mighty and the holy people” (not the Jews of today but the Christians who are strong in the Lord and leading a holy life) by giving them peace and prosperity (Daniel 8:24).

Because of the abundance of sin (the result of peace and prosperity), the world will become filled with merrymaking and lawlessness. Then it will be time for God to purge the heavens and the earth and bring in everlasting righteousness.

So great will be the spiritual oppression, the result of the merrymaking and lawlessness of the post-latter-rain era, the second half of the prophetic week, that even the opportunity to receive Christ and to be filled with God’s Spirit will be affected.

Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate [desolator].” (Daniel 9:27)

The new covenant will be made with numerous people throughout the entire week. During the first half of the prophetic week (the time of the latter-rain revival), there will be abundant opportunity to be saved and receive God’s Spirit. During the second half of the week, it will be difficult to enter the new covenant. The heavens will be in confusion because of the invasion by the little horn, but there will be a place of spiritual safety wherever the Father and the Son are dwelling in the saints.

For the second half of the week, Antichrist, the abomination who creates desolation, will stand in the holy place (having elevated himself to the host and the stars of God). Antichrist will continue for the second half of the prophetic week (forty-two months; three and one-half years) and then he will be utterly destroyed.

We have a picture here of God giving Antichrist, Satan’s representative, power over the nations and power in the heavenlies. This has not been true previously to such a vast extent. The result will be spiritual darkness and oppression on the earth to the point that people will be unable to pray or think clearly. They will be largely at the mercy of Satan.

This is the great tribulation; and if the period of time were not shortened no person would be left alive on the earth.

It is during the era of enormous oppression that God will begin the transfer of His throne from Heaven to the hearts of the holy remnant of saints. Then the nations of the earth will begin to look to the saints for deliverance rather than to Heaven.

Heaven is the throne of God. When the throne of God moves from Heaven to the hearts of the remnant, much of what Heaven means to us will have moved from the spirit realm to the hearts of the remnant.

Before the throne of God can move from the spiritual Heaven to our hearts, we must be cleansed.

And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion [tested Christians] and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:3)

Notice the emphasis on a holy remnant—“he that is left in Zion.” God will commence the glorifying of the Body of Christ with a holy remnant of saints.

When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, (Isaiah 4:4)

The purging of us by the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning is the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement. The members of the Body of Christ are filled with every work of the flesh: lust, murder, strife, factionalism, covetousness, gossiping, carousing, sorcery. The Holy Spirit is pointing these out to us and stands ready to deliver us.

We must not justify our sins but renounce them in the name of the Lord Jesus. As we do, the Spirit of judgment and burning will purge from us the love of the world, the love of sin, and the love of our self-will. It is time now to wash the filth from the daughters of Zion.

As soon as the Lord has washed away our filth:

then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. (Isaiah 4:5)

Antichrist will be raging throughout the earth and the heavens, seeking to destroy the people of Christ. But God will cover the assemblies of Zion. Divine Glory without precedent on the earth will be given to the holy remnant at that time, but the glory will remain concealed until the Lord returns from Heaven.

And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:6)

The Lord will enter His purified remnant and they will serve as a place of refuge for those who are seeking the Lord. There will be increasing problems as righteous people, the meek of the earth, attempt to find the Lord. They will be oppressed beyond measure because Antichrist will be reigning at a high spiritual level.

But in the remnant there will be a “covert from storm and from rain.” God will provide a hiding place from the enemy for those who call on His name in that dreadful hour.

And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion [the saints] and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:32)

We can begin to see that God’s response to the spiritual oppression of the last days is to move His throne from Heaven to the hearts of the remnant, to the personalities of the firstfruits of the Church. After that, the place of God’s rest will be enlarged until the entire Bride of the Lamb comes down from the new heaven as the new Jerusalem—the eternal Tabernacle of God among the nations of saved peoples of the earth.

God has called out many disciples from the various churches to serve Him as a holy remnant. They will be “cities of refuge” for God’s elect throughout the second half of the prophetic week, the period of the great tribulation.

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
A man [the King and His princes] will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:1,2)

The Lord Jesus rules in righteousness. As soon as He has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, they too will reign in righteousness.

There will be wind and storms, for the ancient rulers of the heavens will come down to stand against the Lord Jesus and His saints.

The ancient rulers against whom we wrestle are spiritual beings of exalted personality. At one time they had governed the universes of God’s creatures.

Dissension arose among them just as it does among the Lord’s people on earth. The Father noted the spirit of rebellion.

At the height of the discontent God spoke. He chose Jesus, the eternal Word. He exalted Jesus above all other beings. He established the throne of Jesus above all other thrones.

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. (Psalms 45:6,7)

The princes of the heavenlies resent Jesus. They are jealous of His exalted position as Lord of all of God’s creation. Yet they were created originally by the Lord Jesus.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16)

Even though they were created by Him, the Word of God, they are seeking to usurp His place as supreme Head of the Kingdom of God.

The lords of the air are not convinced that the Father is willing or able to cast them into the lake of fire for eternity.

At the present time they are content to watch the demons play with the flesh of the earth. But as soon as God’s holy remnant is brought to a place of spiritual strength and authority, the princes will come down to earth, ready to resist any change in their status.

When they do, tribulation of an intensity and scope beyond man’s ability to imagine will fill the earth. Blood will flow like water and the birds (demons) will be satiated with the flesh of humans.

Man is no match for the fallen rulers. Religious man is not equal in wisdom or strength to the lords of wickedness. Converted, tongues-speaking Christians are not able to prevail against the huge, sophisticated beings who are about to visit the earth in their fury.

Only God the Father, and Jesus, whom God has made Lord and Christ, are able to prevail against the lords of darkness.

Therefore God is prepared, in the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles, to come down and take up His eternal abode in the hearts of those who keep the commandments of Christ.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

The dwelling of the Father and Christ in the holy remnant will be the place where the devout of the earth can hide from the face of the wicked.

The King and His princes—each of them—will be a hiding place from the winds of Satan, a shelter from the storm, as rivers of water in a dry land, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4)

“The night is coming when no one can work.”

We will not have the strength or wisdom to resist Satan in the coming days, but God within us will do the work.

The LORD also will roar from Zion [body of Christ], and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. (Joel 3:16)

There were three great feasts of Israel. The first, Passover, typifies our salvation in Christ. The cross of Calvary, the crucifixion of the Passover Lamb of God, is the meaning of the Altar of Judaism.

The second, Pentecost, typifies the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our life. The Holy Spirit is the meaning of the Lampstand of Judaism.

The third feast, Tabernacles, speaks of the coming of the Father and the Son to take up Their eternal abode in us. The coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in us is the meaning of the Booth of Judaism.

The purpose of the first two platforms of redemption, salvation through the blood atonement and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, is to bring us to the third. The third, the feast of Tabernacles, the dwelling of God in us, is the climax of redemption, the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

An age of horrors is upon us. God’s provision for His people during the age of horrors is the placing of His throne in a holy remnant so they can serve as a hiding place for all who call upon the name of the Lord in the dark hour.

This may not appear to be a dark hour to the ungodly. But to those who love the Lord and hate iniquity it will be as though they are living in Hell itself.

It is time now for people who have been saved and filled with God’s Spirit to ask the Lord to bring them into the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles. The spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles makes total demands on our personality. There is no place left for the love of the world in us. There is no place left for the sins of the flesh in us. Finally, and most difficult of all to attain, there is no place left for self-will and rebellion in us.

Many today are being brought to the three areas of decision—to die to the world, to die to sin, and to die to self-will, self-love, self-preservation. The third and hardest test, that of giving over our entire personality to the Lord in unqualified consecration, making no provision to save our life, loving not our life to the point of death, must be passed to God’s perfect satisfaction.

Some believers are struggling in the valley of decision. They know that to surrender to the Lord is to give up their most cherished desires.

Others are writhing on the cross and saying an unqualified yes to the Lord. They are not justifying themselves. They are not clinging to their lives or relationships or things or experiences or hopes or dreams or accomplishments or talents or money or anything else. All they are, all they desire, and all they possess is being placed on the altar of God.

It is the overcomers who will be the rock in the parched land. It is the victorious saints who will be the Presence of God among the peoples of the earth. It is the conquerors who will provide a place of hiding for the meek of the earth. Those who receive the Lord Jesus totally will be part of the Redeemer who comes from Zion and removes sin from all Israel (Romans 11:26).

It is these overcomers who will sit with Christ in the Father’s throne—within their own personalities.

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Revelation 3:21)

God is moving His throne from Heaven to the earth. The throne eventually will reside in the Bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem.

The move is commencing with the holy remnant of saints. They are a firstfruits to God and the Lamb. The name of God will be written on them, the name of the city of God will be written on them, and the new name of Christ will be written on them.

They will inherit all things.

You can choose to be the place of God’s throne, His Presence among people. If you so choose you must call upon the Lord, asking Him to make you His dwelling place. Then, obey Him in all things.

If you are willing to participate in the power of Christ’s resurrection, and share His sufferings, God will remove King Self from the mercy seat in your heart and enthrone Himself and the Lamb. From that point forward throughout eternity you will be part of the holy Jerusalem, the throne of God, the Glory of God, the Tabernacle of God among men.

The blind, bound, nations of the earth are waiting for your decision, for they can be set free only through you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:2)

(“The Coming of the Throne”, 3243-1)