XVII. Logos Realized In the Throne of David

Of all kingly thrones that of David is the only one with which God has linked His promises. Hence it is imbedded in Logos, must therefore, when the Logos-patterns appear in flesh, appear as a reality on the earth.

In the Logos-development Christ is the only Son of David, hence the legitimate heir to the throne. Solomon represented the prefigure or pattern, through which we may be able to form an idea concerning the kingdom and the government which the evolution of Logos is to bring forth.

When the Logos-transformation into flesh was realized in the begetting of Christ the announcing angel spoke the following significant words:

"He (the first personage of the Word) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." (Luke 1: 32.)

Just this, that the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, etc., is still an unfulfilled prophecy, or an undeveloped Logos. It must and shall be personified, and when

this takes place, the throne of David will appear on the earth. A strange movement will then come in evidence, this especially in the land where the kingly formation is first manifested.

At the great apostolic meeting in Jerusalem, where the apostles and the elders were assembled for the purpose of discussing the dissemination of the gospel among the Gentiles, the apostles referred to the sayings of the prophets, showing that God would first take out a people among the Gentiles for His name, they then added:

"And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up." (Acts 15: 14-16.)

This change is now imminent, we will therefore with the guidance of the Scriptures show what we have to expect.

When, in the prefiguring work, the house of Jacob was organized into a priestly kingdom, such as it had developed under the guidance or mediatorship of Moses and Joshua, God Himself was their King. He fought for or through Israel, and they came out victorious against their enemies until they had established themselves as a mighty and feared nation. The visible governmental officials were only judges who administered justice between brother and brother.

The priests were the first to destroy God's government over Israel. Their carnal and dissolute life brought a curse upon the mediatorial office they represented. The tabernacle constituted the house of mediation through which the people were linked to their invisible King. But when the priests desecrated the tabernacle, which, for instance, the sons of Eli did through their carnal audacity, then God withdrew His kingly protection from the people. They realized immediately that the power of the heathen towards them increased, they therefore cried to Samuel, the only link still connecting them with the heavenly King, saying:

"Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." (1 Sam. 8: 5.)

Due both to their urgent request and to the indication of God, Samuel anointed them a king, namely, Saul. But during the whole of his reign the tabernacle was desecrated and was finally carried away to the camp of the Philistines. From there the actual ark was taken to a neighboring city of Israel, and later, through David, to the house of an Edomite, a descendant of Esau.

Thereafter David appointed faithful Levites, who were separated for the purpose of honestly and faithfully serving the Lord, and these later brought the ark to the city of David, where the tabernacle was re-erected and linked with the kingly throne. From that time the kingly power of God began to manifest itself in Israel by means of the tabernacle of David.

This entire work, as well as the history of David, where from an insignificant shepherd he was elevated, despite many obstacles, as king over the twelve tribes of Israel, constitutes the prophetic Logos-pattern which in the transformation of Logos into flesh will be repeated or realized through the union of Christ with the house of Jacob.

Before Christ as the Son of David places Himself as the Heaven-Anointed King on David's throne, this throne must be linked with the house of Jacob. The house of Jacob is today dispersed, all the children thereof being in bondage under the power of the Gentiles. In what manner, then, will the restoration take place? The prophet Amos shows us where the house of Jacob is and what God has decreed concerning it. He says:

"Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD: For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel (the ten tribes) among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall (ineffectually) upon the earth. . . . In that day (when the grains seeded among the nations again begin to shoot up) will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they (the dispersed house of Jacob) may possess the remnant of Edom (Esau) , and of all the heathen, which are called by my name (all of Christendom) , saith the LORD that doeth this." (Amos 9: 8-12.)

We have historical evidence that the first act designated in this prophecy has been realized. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah are eradicated from off the earth. The throne of David has disappeared entirely. As long as the ten tribes are in dispersion they constitute the working class of the nations. The two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, or the house of Judah, are also scattered over the territory of Christendom, the majority under the power of Russia.

They are like seed sown in a field before it shoots up. They are kept down under the priestly and kingly power of the nations. But eventually the time of growth arrives, and what is it then that manifests itself as a result of the prophetic word? It is the throne of David, or the tabernacle released from the camp of the enemies.

In order to comprehend the Logos-transformation into flesh, we must have it clear to our mind that all types return in Christ. (See 2 Cor. 3: 6-18.) They undergo a change from the material to living, human development. For example: The tabernacle of the New Covenant does not consist, as the prefiguring, of dead material, but of living men, "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." (Eph. 2: 18-22.)

Hence it is an evangelical movement within Christendom that will come in direct collision with both the ecclesiastical and royal power of the nations that from the first to the last will be manifested in this work.

We have already shown that the visible shepherd, appearing on the scene in the work of restoration, is of the tribe of Joseph, in descent from Ephraim. Ephraim, because Jeroboam, who led the ten tribes in their severance from the throne of David and in connection with his kinfolk effected a complete separation, was an Ephraimite, is according to Is. 11: 12-13, and other passages, representing the whole house of Israel.

We therefore expect to see the movement begin within the tribe of Ephraim, that has for its objective the restoration of the throne of David. The work of the gospel will first come in collision with the ecclesiastical power within this tribe, and that power, the same as when they erected their kingdom in Samaria, being wholly connected with the kingly throne, will endeavor by virtue of this throne to hinder the advancement of the movement. Because of the ecclesiastical power the movement will meet with the temporal sword.

But the Logos-development can no more be hindered than can the grain sown in the earth be prevented from shooting up under favorable circumstances. Saul sought with all his governmental power to prevent David from ascending the throne of Israel, but the Word which said, "To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba" (2 Sam. 3: 10), was nevertheless materialized. The little shepherd, in spite of obstacles, ascended step by step the throne of Israel.

In this we see the second advent work of Christ develop itself until all the children of Jacob are standing under His scepter and the whole earth is bowing before His throne. Glorious day! We welcome thee!

(Exo 29:43) And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and

the TABERNACLE shall be sanctified by my glory.

(Exo 29:44) And I will sanctify the TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION,

and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to

minister to me in the priest's office.

(Exo 29:45) And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will

be their God.

(Exo 29:46) And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that

brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I MAY DWELL AMONG

THEM. I am the LORD their God.

(Rev 21:3) And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,

the tabernacle of God is with men, and HE WILL DWELL WITH THEM, and

they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be

their God.

(Isa 33:20) Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes

shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a TABERNACLE THAT SHALL NOT BE

TAKEN DOWN, not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,

neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

(Amo 9:11) In that day will I raise up the TABERNACLE OF DAVID THAT

IS FALLEN, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his

ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

(Amo 9:12) That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the

heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

(Amo 9:13) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman

shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth

seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall

melt.

(Amo 9:14) And I will BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF MY PEOPLE OF

ISRAEL, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and

they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall

also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

(Amo 9:15) And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no

more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the

LORD thy God.

(Act 15:16) After this I will return, and will BUILD AGAIN THE

TABERNACLE OF DAVID, WHICH IS FALLEN DOWN, and I will build again the

ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

(Heb 8:5) Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,

as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to MAKE THE

TABERNACLE: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to

the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

(Heb 8:6) But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how

much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was

established upon better promises.

(Heb 8:7) For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should

no place have been sought for the second.

(Heb 8:8) For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days

come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house

of Israel and with the house of Judah:

(Heb 8:9) Not according to the covenant that I made with their

fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of

the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I

regarded them not, saith the Lord.

(Heb 8:10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house

of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into

their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a

God, and they shall be to me a people:

(Heb 8:11) And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and

every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me,

from the least to the greatest.

(Heb 8:12) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their

sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

(Heb 8:13) In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first

old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

(Heb 9:11) But Christ being come an high priest of good things to

come, by a greater and MORE PERFECT TABERNACLE, not made with hands,

that is to say, not of this building;

(Heb 9:12) Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own

blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal

redemption for us.

(Heb 9:13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of

an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the

flesh:

(Heb 9:14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the

eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your

conscience from dead works to serve the living God?