When is the Yoke broken?

When is the “yoke” removed from Judah’s (Laodicea) neck?

FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS

Emerging in 1930 from within the Seventh-day Adventist denomination (“the church of the Laodiceans”), the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association has ever been committed to the prophetic work (predicted in Isaiah 52:1) of preparing the Laodicean church, the last with “the tares” among “the wheat,” for the final proclamation of the gospel “in all the world.” Matt. 24:14.

This Association, in common with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, holds ‘‘certain fundamental beliefs, the principal features of which, together with a portion of the Scriptural references upon which they are based,” are originally summarized as follows:—Fundamental Beliefs, p. 3.1, 2

IN ADDITION to these fundamental tenets of faith held in common with the Seventh-day Adventists, the Davidian Association holds:

1. That the prophetic gift in the Seventh-day Adventist church (through the medium of which the church was brought forth in 1844 and nurtured and preserved for seven decades) ceased its manifestation in 1915 and was not remanifested until 1930, and that this cessation and this remanifestation are paralleled by the cessation of the prophetic gift in the Old Testament and the remanifestation of it in the New.

2. That the present manifestation was timed to the 430-year prophecy of Ezekiel 4, and that it is the “addition” anticipated in Early Writings, p. 277.

3. That it was manifested anew in the closing work for the church to effect the sealing of the 144,000 servants of God (Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266), and to give power and force (Early Writings, p. 277) to the Three Angel’s Messages (Rev. 14:6-11) so that the 144,000 might be empowered to accomplish the closing work for the world, and to gather all their brethren out of all nations (Isa. 66:19, 20; Rev. 18:4).

4. That the destruction of the tares from among the first fruits of the living (Matt. 13:30, 48, 49; Ezek. 9:6, 7) results in the purification of the church.

5. That immediately thereafter, the angels let loose the four winds (Rev. 7:1-3), whereupon ensues the time of trouble and Michael’s standing up to deliver from it, all whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Dan. 12:1).

6. That the angels’ letting loose the four winds to blow over the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1), does not anticipate a World war but rather a world wide decree enforced throughout Babylon by the image-beast, and that then no one may buy or sell save he who worships “the image.” Rev. 13:15-17.

7. That subsequently, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) for the 144,000, the sons of Jacob, logically develops on their way home (Gen. 32:1, 24) to the land of their fathers (Ezek. 36:28; 37:21, 25).—FB:11.2-13.2

The Bible

Jer 30:1-9—¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

  2 Thus SPEAKETH the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

  3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

  4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

  5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.

  6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

  7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

[How shall they be saved?]

  8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall NO MORE serve themselves of him:

  9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Tract No. 14

THE CHURCH’S LIBERATION FROM “ASSYRIAN” YOKE.

     Nahum 1:12, 13. “Thus saith the Lord; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.”

     This person (“thee”) whom the Lord has already chastened, obviously cannot be the Assyrian king or nation aforementioned, because the Lord is delivering this one, while He is beating the Assyrians to their knees at the hands of him “that dasheth in pieces.” Just who this third character (“thee”) here introduced may be, is immediately established by Isaiah in his correlative prophecy concerning this same Assyria:

     “And it shall come to pass in that day,” declares the prophet, “that his [Assyria’s] burden shall be taken away from off thy [Judah’s] shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” Isa. 10:27.

     Immediately we see that in the revealing light of this scripture, the one (“thee”) who, in both cases, is set free IN THE TIME of Assyria’s fall, proves to be the church (Judah) liberated from Gentile (Assyrian) rule. Conclusively, therefore, Isaiah CLARIFIES Nahum’s prophecy as referring to the church’s liberation from the last-day ASSYRIAN yoke. The fact, though, that the church, as Nahum says, is not only to be relieved from affliction AND freed from bondage but is also to be sentenced to death (Nah. 1:14), creates a paradox! Inspiration, however, quickly clears it, again through Isaiah. SPEAKING OF THE CHURCH, he declares:

     “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call His servants by another name.” Isa. 65:15.

     Plainly, therefore, IN THE TIME when Assyria crumbles, the Lord is to perform a dual work among His professed people, some of whom will be made free because of their faithfulness, and some of whom will be slain because of their wickedness. The DELIVERED ones will THEN be called by another name.

     The time of THIS “work” is termed “harvest.” Matt. 13:30. Therefore, up to this separation, the tares (those who are to be slain) and the wheat (those who are to be DELIVERED) together COMPRISE the membership of Laodicea (the last of the seven churches—Rev. 3:14-18), the church just before the “tares” are forever separated from the “wheat” (Matt. 13:30). Very obviously, then, the penitent Laodiceans are separated from the impenitent ones DURING Assyria’s fall, and THEN are liberated from her rule.

     Nah. 1:14. “And the Lord hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.”

     Thus, at this time, forever perishes the idolater and his idols.

     A detailed demonstration of this purification of the church is projected in Ezekiel’s prophecy. There the Lord commands him who records the life history, the angel with the writer’s inkhorn, to go through the city and to set a mark (seal) on those only who sigh and cry for the abominations that are therein. Then five others go after him to slay all who have not the mark. (See Ezekiel 9; Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 266, and Vol. 5, p. 211.)

     “The city” is figurative of Judah and Israel, the church in which are to be found the 144,000 servants of God (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445) those who are to be called by another name after the unworthy servants are slain. And as the 144,000 are the first fruits (Rev. 14:4) of the harvest, they are the “escaped” of the Isaiah 66:19 and of Ezekiel 9. This separation of the tares from the wheat in the church is to signalize THE BEGINNING of the final harvest of earth—the end of the world. THEN will have come the time for the denominational name to cease, for all her idols to be cut off, and for a new name (Isa. 62:2) to be given to those who escape. Then will these escaped ones proclaim God’s glory and His fame to the Gentiles, and bring out of all nations all their brethren (all that will be saved) to “the house of the Lord.” Isa. 66:16, 19, 20.—14Tr:17.2-19

…it follows that Michael is to stand up in the time of the judgment of the living and deliver His people from the anger of the nations—the time of trouble—or else it would be impossible to preserve the lives of all the 144,000; proving the fact that a change is to take place at the COMMENCEMENT of the judgment of the living—Michael IS to stand up for His people, take the “reins in His own hands” (“Testimonies to Ministers.” p. 300) and deliver “every one that shall be found written in the book.”—2SC2:4.8

     Its main object is to reveal the fact that the time has come for the Lord to manifest His power and unify, and purify the church of God—calling her to rise up from her dusty bed and put on her strength and her gift of beautiful garments, because “from henceforth” the unclean shall not come unto her. (Isa. 52:1.)…—2SC9:12.3

     Thus we see that the prophecies of Isaiah 28:21 and Isaiah 66:15, 16 transpire at the same time, and Isaiah 2:19-21 AFTER the purification of the church, and before the seven last plagues are poured out—in the TIME when God shall manifest His power and bring His judgments—when the inhabitants of the earth are to “learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9.)—2SC10:8.6

…(6) She [Assyria] exists in the time the Lord is to manifest His power and destroy all the wicked nations.…—1TG23:6.2

OBJECTION!

The fundamental beliefs are listed in strict chronological sequential order of prophetic events and

7. That subsequently, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7) for the 144,000, the sons of Jacob, logically develops on their way home (Gen. 32:1, 24) to the land of their fathers (Ezek. 36:28; 37:21, 25).

Answer:

     We are therefore not to worry about a possibility of anyone’s hurting the work of God. Neither are we to worry about how we are to get to Mount Zion, but are to make sure to be ready to board the chariot of God when the angels cry out, “All aboard!” Let us ever remember that those who once wrecked the ancient kingdom and cast out its people, shall now come to build it up and to cast out the horns of the Gentiles who now rule the land, so even our enemies of yesterday God puts working for us today.—1TG11:13.2

     We shall now devote a few moments to the study of Jacob, the type, in relation to the church in the antitype. When Jacob left his home in Palestine, while he was on his way to Padanaram, God met him and gave him his promises that He would be with him, and God fulfilled His promises. Likewise, when the church left the vineyard, God’s Promise was with her that He would not forsake her in the Gentile world. While Jacob was in Padanaram away from home, he became very rich and his household increased greatly. Then he was commanded to return home. So it will be today in the antitype. The time will come when the church is to be multiplied and then return home. But when Jacob left his father-in-law’s house, and was on the way back to Palestine, you remember that he had his great time of trouble. It happened BEFORE he reached Palestine, his homeland. He [[1.]] wrestled in anguish all night with God, and it was THEN [[2.]] that his name was changed from Jacob to Israel.

     We are NOT NOW living in the antitypical time of the changed name, Israel, but we are living in the antitypical “Jacob” time. You might say that Jacob is the fleshly name, a name that does not spell either prince or saint. Why are we still in the time portrayed by Jacob’s sin-denoting name?—Because we have not yet started for home. WHEN we start for home as did Jacob, we, too, shall meet with our time of trouble, even Jacob’s time of trouble. And at that time we shall become thoroughly converted to God forever, and our name will be changed as is foretold in Isaiah 61:6, and it will be a name that the Lord Himself will give us. When we demonstrate that we are truly converted, then this great promised blessing will come to us. And when our name has been changed it signifies that we are certain candidates for entrance into the Kingdom eternal.—12SC5:15.1, 2

     Immediately we see that in the revealing light of this scripture, the one (“thee”) who, in both cases, is set free IN THE TIME of Assyria’s fall, proves to be the church (Judah) liberated from Gentile (Assyrian) rule. Conclusively, therefore, Isaiah CLARIFIES Nahum’s prophecy as referring to the church’s liberation from the last-day ASSYRIAN yoke. The fact, though, that the church, as Nahum says, is not only to be relieved from affliction AND freed from bondage but is also to be sentenced to death (Nah. 1:14), creates a paradox! Inspiration, however, quickly clears it, again through Isaiah. SPEAKING OF THE CHURCH, he declares:—14Tr:18.1

"…Isaiah CLARIFIES Nahum’s prophecy as referring to the church’s liberation from the last-day ASSYRIAN yoke. The fact, though, that the church, as Nahum says, is not only to be relieved from affliction AND freed from bondage but is also to be sentenced to death (Nah. 1:14), creates a paradox!…"

It is obvious that being sentenced to death is the cause of the affliction which is evidence of who is ruling them before the time of harvest begins when the tares are to be separated from the wheat in the SDA Church.

No. 3. is wrtten first:

"…the church’s liberation from the last-day ASSYRIAN yoke.…

No. 2 is written second:

"…the church, as Nahum says, is…to be relieved from affliction AND freed from bondage…"

No. 1 is written thirdly:

"…is…to be sentenced to death…"

So that wherever you can find prophetically the name change must always be preceded with Jacob's TIME of trouble for the 144,000.

So now let's write it in the order all three will take place and this is the reason why sentence readers with preconceived ideas cannot not appreciate the truth designed to weed out sinners.

1. "…[the penitent in the Church: the wheat] is to be sentenced to death…"

This is the source of affliction that will not return after the Lord takes the reigns in His hands.

2. "…the church, as Nahum says, is…to be relieved from affliction AND freed from bondage…"

3. "…the church’s liberation from the last-day ASSYRIAN yoke.…

     The time of THIS "work" is termed "harvest." Matt. 13:30.  Therefore, up to this separation, the tares (those who are to be slain) and the wheat (those who are to be delivered) together comprise the membership of Laodicea (the last of the seven churches—Rev. 3:14-18), the church just BEFORE the "tares" are forever separated from the "wheat" (Matt. 13:30).  Very obviously, then, the penitent Laodiceans are separated from the impenitent ones DURING Assyria's fall, and then are liberated from her rule.—14Tr:18.4

Is there to be a Babylonian yoke placed upon the 144,000 after their name is changed and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit in the wilderness (1Tr:38.2-40.1)?