Two Visits, Four Commands by Jesus Christ
“…this study of Ezekiel's vision which brings to light earth's being visited by the Majesty of the Universe,…”—1Tr:5.1
We will only be using those pages of interpretation from
Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek. 1:4 – 10:6) that prove the fact that “the Majesty of
the Universe” made two visits and among those visits four commands were given.
Before we begin it is very important to acknowledge what the
“golden bowl” plainly reveals in Tract No. 1. Jesus has different garments for
different occasions and moves through His Universe better than any heads of
state or monarch on earth. “Then Jesus rose up from the throne…Then a cloudy
chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, CAME
to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to
the holiest, where the Father sat.”—Early Writings, p. 55.”
It is obvious from this revelation that cannot be
misconstrued, If Jesus can step into “a cloudy chariot” and sit on His
traveling throne (Ezek. 1:4) to fulfill a prophetic event it is safe to believe
that He is not always on it. As Jesus steps into the chariot He can also step
out of it. Thus, we have logical, reasonable grounds and the mechanism by which
the Majesty of Heaven travels back and forth from heaven to earth and back
again in Ezekiel’s vision.
FACT: Jesus has a
traveling chariot (throne).
“Though the one which Ezekiel saw is
similar to the one which Isaiah was shown, yet
they are distinct
and separate
thrones,…” (1Tr:8.3) likewise by this same principle of differentiating details
we will also acknowledge and distinguish between Jesus’ Two Visits and WHERE
and WHEN He delivers each of His Four Commands.
Two
Visits
Please read p. 10-14.1 First Visit
“Our…interest…at
this point, is to know the location and the mission of the throne which
Ezekiel saw, and concerning which he says: "...I looked, and, behold, a
whirlwind came out of the north." Ezek. 1:4. The fact that the
"whirlwind," enveloping the throne, "came," says Ezekiel,
shows that this throne, just as with the one of Isaiah 6, is a moving one, and
that it came to the banks of the river Chebar.”—1Tr:10.1
Where did it come from?
“…the throne which Ezekiel saw…CAME out of the North.…”
Where was its first destination?
“…I saw under the God of Israel [Who is ‘above the cherubims’],
by the river of Chebar…”—1Tr:10.2
Did Jesus remain?
“As the chariot’s
mounting ‘up from the earth’ shows that in this particular throne, God
visits the earth and then, when His mission is accomplished, returns to heaven.…”—1Tr:10.3
FACT: Jesus steps
into His chariot and traveled. In Ezekiel’s vision He “…CAME out of the North…”
in His throne the first time and “…visits the earth and then, when His mission
is accomplished, returns to heaven.…”
Read p. 17.3-18.3 Second Visit
“Continuing to
behold in vision the cherubim and the glory of God's throne, the prophet saw the Lord come to the threshold of the
house (church)…
Ezekiel 9:3-9 [interpreted and quoted together in context of
the Second Visit] “Revealing a complete separation of the wicked from among the
just, these
verses, therefore, prophetically
forewarn of the imminent purification of the church—her only
salvation.”—1Tr:17.3-18.3
FACT: Jesus steps into His Chariot a second time in
Ezekiel’s vision and comes to the church and fulfills Ezekiel 9:3-9 at this EVENT.
What is the revealed purpose of Jesus’ First Visit?
1.
He comes in His throne “…out of the north…”
2.
Came to Earth “…by the river Chebar…”
3.
“…to give a message to Ezekiel.”
What is the revealed purpose of Jesus’ Second Visit?
1.
He comes in His throne “…out of the north…”, “…with
the cherubim…”,
2.
Came to Earth “…to the threshold of the house
(church)…”
3.
To fulfill “…the…purification…” Ezekiel 9:3-9.
Jesus’ first and second visits are acknowledged
and confirmed throughout Tract No. 1 four times. The first visit contains the
revelation of a message delivered to Ezekiel and the second visit is the
fulfillment of that message by marking and slaying at “the threshold of the
house.”
1. 1Tr:12.2 1st Visit message
revealed
1Tr:12.3 2nd
Visit marking and slaying (p. 14.1)
2. 1Tr:19.2 1st Visit prophecy
revealed
1Tr:19.3-27.2 2nd Visit sealing
and slaughter (p. 20.1)
3. 1Tr:27.3-29 1st Visit prophecy revealed
1Tr:30.1 2nd
Visit sealing and slaughter (p. 31.1)
4. 1Tr:29-37.2 1st Visit message revealed
1tr:38-40 2nd Visit
marking and slaying (p. 38.2)
FACT: Jesus’ first visit differs from His second
visit in purpose and destination.
Four Commands
The first command is strictly associated with the First
Visit in His chariot.
1st Command:
p. 36.5-37 “…the Lord
comes to earth …He commands Ezekiel to go speak to His people…”
p. 41-42.1 “…Ezekiel
represents those whose hearts the message has reached, then to them the Lord is
speaking…”
p. 27.3-29 “Ezekiel's
prophecy revealing itself to be a message for the church today, the prophet,
himself, must necessarily, then, represent the messengers who carry the message to the church at the
time appointed. And in response to the
Lord's command,…
p. 19.2 “…Remember
that the Lord said to Ezekiel…”
p. 12.4, 14.1 “…the Lord
Himself come to give a message to Ezekiel…These mandatory words (of weighty
significance to all) reveal that the message which the prophet received is only
for God's people,…”
The last three commands
are strictly associated and are fulfilled with the Second Visit
in His Chariot.
2nd Command:
p. 17.4 “Continuing
to behold in vision the cherubim and the glory of God's throne,
the prophet saw the Lord come to the threshold of the house (church),
and as He gave charge to His angel who was "clothed with
linen" and who "had the writer's inkhorn by his side," Ezekiel
heard Him command the man:…”
p. 12.3 “…chapter
nine…” describes “the awful work which the Lord
is to do WHEN, with the cherubim, He visits the earth,…”
p. 19.3-20.2 “‘This mightiest
of angels,’ says the SOP, ‘has in his hand the seal of the living God, or of
Him who alone can give life, who can inscribe upon the foreheads the mark....’ The
sealing (Rev. 7) being the same as the marking (Ezek. 9),—the ‘purification,’… Since the purification, or the sealing, came at the commencement of the 'Loud Cry,'…”
3rd Command:
p. 18.1, 3 “‘And to the
others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through
the city, and smite…’ Revealing a complete separation of the wicked from
among the just, these verses [Ezek. 9:3-9], therefore, prophetically forewarn
of the imminent purification of the
church—her only salvation.”
p. 27.1, 2 “In the
purification of the church, ‘the angels shall...sever the wicked from among the
just’ (Matt. 13:49),…”
4th Command:
p. 6.3 “‘And it
came to pass, that when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying,
Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims;…’”
p. 38.2 “After the
sighing and crying ones were marked (which is not to be understood as being
consummated in its entirety worldwide before the slaying follows anywhere), the
slaughter completed, and the matter reported, the Lord ‘spake unto
the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels even under
the cherub,…’”
FACT: Ezekiel’s vision as
interpreted in Tract No. 1 contains four commands. One is given BEFORE, in
1929, and the other three are given starting “at the commencement of the ‘Loud
Cry.’”
Conclusion: “Ezekiel's prophecy revealing itself to be a message [with
Two Visits and Four Commands] for the church today, the prophet, himself, must
necessarily, then, represent the messengers who carry the message to the church
at the time appointed.”—1Tr:27.3
“From this
dreadful experience, recorded for our warning, and from the other grave truths
brought forth herein, we plainly see that in order for the Lord to
PREPARE His servants FOR the seal He is setting forth every necessary lesson,…”—1Tr:29.1
Clearly, by 1941 the
Lord was still preparing His servants for the seal AFTER His
First Visit. It stands to reason that any interpretation that places any
reference describing the work of the man (sealing angel) with the writer’s
inkhorn fulfilling his work since 1929 and during the still ongoing Investigative Judgment of the
Dead period without the Lord’s command during the Great and Dreadful day of the
Lord—the purification of the Church—from the threshold of the house is of
private interpretation, a foreign construction.
“These
mandatory words (of weighty significance to all) reveal that the message which
the prophet received is only for God's people, and
that therefore, by logical extension, the entire vision, of
which it [the revelation of the message upon the First Visit] is
a part, meets its fulfillment at a time in which the Lord sends forth the
warning that because His church is at a very low ebb spiritually,—‘impudent and
hard-hearted’ and ‘a rebellious house,’—He will do within it a work of marking and slaying.”—1Tr:14.1
“As seen
from Malachi 4:5, the great and dreadful day of the Lord COMES as the result of
the proclamation of the message of Elijah the prophet. Thus rather than
being Christ's second appearing, it [ the great and dreadful day
of the Lord ] is obviously on the one hand His setting
His seal upon the forehead of the righteous (Rev. 14:1; 7:9) and
bringing His judgments, "the wrath of the Lamb," upon the wicked
(Rev. 6:15-17).…—7SC7-12:19.2
“…the saints of God are
sealed with present truth in all ages, and whatever that
present truth is, that is the seal.…but the 144,000 never die. While they must
keep Sabbath and have that seal, they must sigh and cry for
the abominations that are in the church, for otherwise they can
not receive the mark by the angel with the writer's
inkhorn of Ezekiel 9, which is the seal according to Testimonies to Ministers,
page 445; Volume 5, pages 210-16; Volume 3, pages 266-7.—1SR:28.1, 2.
“…WHEN the
Lord comes forth as an avenger, He will ALSO COME as
a protector of all those who have preserved the faith in its purity
and kept themselves unspotted from the world. It is AT this
time [ the Second Visit ] that God
has promised to avenge His own elect which Cry Day and Night unto
Him, though He bear long with them.
“The [ SECOND ] command
is: ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set
a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’”—5T:210.1, 2
Who Are the Reapers? {3Tr:66.2}
"The reapers are the angels" who "shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just." Matt. 13:39, 49. These angels are not those who shall "come" with Christ at His second coming, but rather those whom He "shall send forth.'' They are like the three angels of Revelation 14:6-11. Indeed, the third angel "is to select the wheat from the tares and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner."—Early Writings, p. 118. Therefore the angels, the reapers, whom Christ sends forth, INCLUDE BOTH [[ 1. ]] him who does the sealing, or binding, and [[ 2. ]] those who follow on to do the destroying (Ezek. 9:2, 5, 6), first in the church, then in the world. Thus is the
Separation in Two Sections.—3Tr:66.2, 3
Now there is no longer
any excuse to biasedly disregard or suppress “…the position of constituted
authority…” (3Tr:101.2), “…the weight of evidence…” (9Tr:6.3) in the revealed
“light” by Bro. Houteff’s interpretation in answer to the question WHERE is
Jesus, WHAT is He wearing “WHEN” He gives the
command to the man (sealing angel)?
He is AT the
threshold of the house, wearing garments of vengeance, DURING the
silence in heaven for the space of half an hour or at the
COMMENCEMENT of the “Loud Cry.” It is Harvest TIME!
It begins with the “firstfruits,” the opening of the Seventh seal.
Researched by your servant: Bro. Neftali
Garay, 5/24/2020
See also: Who are the reapers?
Ezek. 9:4 Cannot be logically interpreted outside "THE EVENT"
Proof of marking and slaying in one Event
It is necessary that our unity today be of a character that will bear the test of
trial. . . . We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are
infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view,
never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our OWN ideas and opinions with
determined persistency, we cannot have THE unity for which Christ prayed.—TM:30.2
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