Introduction
Have you ever
considered that the events that mark
the end of the world synchronize with
special services in God’s
Heavenly Temple? The end of the world
is not a random sequence of
calamities caused by man. On the
contrary, the Bible declares that God
strategically controls the events
leading to the end of the world.
(Isaiah 45: 7-12) The apocalyptic
books of Daniel and Revelation
outline a very clear, orderly
progression of divine commands
originating in Heaven’s Temple.
Angels dispatched to earth implement
the commands that culminate in
Earth’s complete, fiery
destruction. Therefore, understanding
the process that will soon conclude
in Heaven’s Temple should be of
utmost importance for those who are
waiting and watching for God’s
salvation.
Of all the concepts in
the Bible, God’s Temple is the
most profound, intricate, sublime and
beautiful. It ties all Bible themes
together as nothing else can. Yet,
today, most Christians have never
considered this topic, nor have thy
enjoyed the vast insights it reveals
regarding God’s ways. No doubt,
this was the topic that captured the
heart and mind of the 12 year-old
boy, Jesus, many years ago as He
stood in the temple in Jerusalem.
(Luke 2:43-47) His understanding of
the temple services was so
comprehensive that He astonished the
priests who served there.
The Heaven Earth
Linkage Law
There is a direct
correlation between events in Heaven
and events on Earth. These events are
described in apocalyptic prophecy.
The concept is simple: Since the
human race cannot see the Heavenly
Temple, the Father has linked events
in Heaven with the events on Earth so
that His people may know His timely
movements in Heaven. This principle
is summarized by the acronym,
H.E.L.L., the Heaven Earth Linkage
Law. (This one acronym should be easy
to remember.) For example, when each
of the seven trumpets sound in
Heaven, a corresponding event occurs
on Earth. The same principle applies
to the seven bowls (plagues). When
the seven angels receive each of the
seven bowls in Heaven’s Temple,
a corresponding event occurs on
Earth. This synchronism will help us
determine our chronological position
within God’s strategic plan by
simply observing Earthy events. In
the days to come, a great number of
meteoric showers of burning hail will
ignite thousands of forest fires all
around the world. When we see this,
we will know the first trumpet has
sounded in Heaven! (Revelation 8:7)
Event in Heaven –
Event on Earth
The Bible clearly
demonstrates that Earthy events are
linked with Heavenly events. Notice
this text: “While I was
thinking about the horns, there
before me was another horn, a little
one, which came up among them; and
three of the first horns were
uprooted before it. This horn had
eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke
boastfully. As I looked,
“thrones were set in place, and
the ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like
wool. His throne was flaming with
fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
A river of fire was flowing, coming
out from before him. Thousands upon
thousands attended him; ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated, and the books
were opened…As I watched, this
horn was waging war against the
saints and defeating them, until the
Ancient of Days came and pronounced
judgment in favor of the saints of
the Most High, and the time came when
they possessed the kingdom… He
[the horn] will speak against the
Most High and oppress his saints and
try to change the set times and the
laws. The saints will be handed over
to him for a time, times and a half
of time.” (Daniel 7:8-10,
21, 22, 25)
Daniel 7 describes
four beasts that rise out of the sea:
A lion, bear, leopard and a terrible
monster. Daniel was told: “The
four great beasts are four kingdoms
that will rise from the earth.” (Daniel
7:17) The lion represents the ancient
kingdom of Babylon, the bear
represents the kingdom of
Medo-Persia, the leopard represents
the third kingdom of Grecia and the
terrible monster represents Rome.
According to prophecy, the homogenous
empire of Rome would eventually be
divided into ten smaller kingdoms,
the ten horns of Daniel 7:24. Then, a
new horn, little at first, would rise
up and become powerful, uprooting
three of the original ten horns.
Daniel predicted this last horn would
gain dominion over the seven
remaining horns. Further, this same
little horn would wage war against
the saints for a time, times and half
a time. These and other
specifications can only point to one
organization that grew out of ancient
Rome. That organization was known as
the Roman Christian Church and today
is called the Roman Catholic Church.
According to
Daniel 7:21, the little horn would
wage war against the saints until
the Ancient of days took his seat and
pronounced judgment in favor of the
saints. This means the ancient of
days issued a restraining order (a
judgment) against the actions of the
little horn on Earth. Then the war
against the saints ended. This
sequence of events helps to
demonstrate the importance of the
Heaven/Earth Linkage Law. Since no
human can observe this Heavenly
courtroom scene-taking place, we must
watch for predicted events on Earth
to know where we are in Heaven’s
order of events! Let us see what
happened on Earth that coincided with
this Heavenly courtroom scene.
In February 1798,
Napoleon sent his generals, Berthier
and Waller, into the Vatican City and
took the pope prisoner.
Napoleon’s “official”
action broke the dominion of the
Roman Church. Historical records may
cite various “human’
reasons for Napoleon’s triumph
over the church of Rome, but the
papacy’s fall was not a matter
of human prowess. God allowed the
Roman Church to have its authority
for 1,260 years, and at the right
moment, that power was removed.
Napoleon’s ability to inflict a
deadly wound upon the papacy came
from “On High.” Thus,
because a definite link exists
between the events in Heaven with
events on Earth, we know that the
Father took His seat and pronounced
judgment in favor of the saints in
1798.
The Temple of God
The term, “The
Temple of God” generally refers
to the dwelling place or throne of
God. King David indicated the throne
of God is in His Temple. “The
Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord
is on his heavenly throne. He
observes the sons of men; his eyes
examine them.” (Psalms 11:4
David also says: “Clouds and
thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the
foundation of his throne.” (Psalms
97:2) Isaiah also saw the throne of
God in His Temple: “In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw the
Lord seated on a throne, high and
exalted, and the train of his robe
filled the temple.” (Isaiah
6:1)
It is interesting to
note that God’s throne is
moveable. Ezekiel saw four living
creatures transporting the throne.
(See Ezekiel 1 and 10.) Daniel saw a
great courtroom scene in Heaven in
which thrones were arranged in a
special order. The Ancient of Days
(the Father) came and took His seat
to oversee a special event. (Daniel
7: 9,10) This point illustrates that
God’s Temple is not a building per
se, for what pavilion can contain
the Almighty. The Temple of God could
be considered a “campsite”
setting rather than a
“building” located at one
street address. The Bible describes
the absence of a temple
“address” in the earth made
new: “I did not see a temple
in the city [New Jerusalem],
because the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation
21:22) No doubt, John considered it
strange that there was no Temple in
the New Jerusalem, for in his day the
earthy temple and its activities were
the focus of Judaism, both
geographically and intellectually.
The absence of a
Heavenly Temple throughout eternity
indicates that even though the
purpose of the Heavenly court scene
described in Daniel 7:9,10 is highly
important, it is nevertheless,
temporary. However, the throne of God
will endure forever. Remember,
God’s Temple is not a building;
it is a temporary site He establishes
by His Presence. Consider this: The
Earthy tabernacle that Moses built
was not intended to be a physical
description of what Heaven or
God’s throne is like. Instead,
Moses’ Earthy tabernacle reveals
the issues and processes that God
addresses for man’s redemption.
Linkage Between the
Temples
Notice the linkage
between the earthy tabernacle and the
Heavenly Temple in Hebrews 8: 1-5 “The
point of what we are saying is this:
We do have a high priest, who sat
down at the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in heaven, and who
serves in the sanctuary, the true
tabernacle set up by the Lord, not
by man. Every high priest is
appointed to offer gifts and
sacrifices, and so it was necessary
for this one also to have something
to offer. If we were on Earth, he
would not be a priest, for there are
already men who offer the gifts
prescribed by the law. They
serve at a sanctuary that is a copy
and shadow of what is in heaven.
This is why Moses was warned when he
was about to build the tabernacle:
“See to it that you make
everything according to the pattern
shown you on the mountain.”
These five verses
confirm that (1) The earthy sanctuary
Moses built was a copy or shadow of
what occurs in Heaven, (2) Jesus
serves in the true (real) tabernacle
in Heaven, and (3) Moses was warned
to carefully follow the pattern God
gave him. The Earthy sanctuary was to
be an important teaching tool,
revealing the parallels between the
copy (The Earthy temple) and the true
(the Heavenly Temple). This text
describes the relationship between
the two temples: “For Christ
did not enter a man-made sanctuary
that was only a copy of the
true one; he entered
Heaven itself, now to appear for us
in God’s presence.” (Hebrews
9:24)
The essential purpose
for a parallel between the earthy and
Heavenly temples is to reveal
the issues involved with law, sin,
penalty and grace, as well as
God’s orderly process to redeem
man. In 1798, God convened a special
court session in Heaven to deal with
man’s salvation and several
Earthy tabernacle services point to
this special court. This special
court setting and this segment in the
PLAN of salvation being implemented
there are both temporary. Also
remember, the PLAN of salvation has a
beginning point in time and an
ending point in time. Even though God
prepared the PLAN before any
creatures were made, the PLAN is only
effectual during the existence of sin
– and this PLAN will be studied
and reviewed throughout eternity.
What does John say
about Heaven’s Temple?
For reasons beyond the
scope of this article, the prophet
John was zoomed forward in time to
view the “campsite” as it
would appear around 1798. (Revelation
4-6) John saw the brilliant glory of
God’s throne and saw the same
four living creatures that Ezekiel
did. John, like Daniel, saw myriads
of angels gathering around God’s
throne. John, however, mentions that
he saw 24 elders, each sitting on a
throne, arranged around God’s
throne. John also mentions several
pieces of temple furniture. This is
very important because descriptions
of the Earthy tabernacle include
similar furniture! If we understand
the function of the Earthy furniture,
we should be able to learn the
purpose of the Heavenly furniture.
John saw seven golden Lamps stands
(Revelation 1:12-20; Exodus 25:
31-37), the Alter of Incense
(Revelation 8:3; Exodus 30:1-6), the
Alter of Burnt Offering (Revelation
6:9; Exodus 29:12) and the Ark of the
Covenant (Revelation 11:19). John
does not directly mention the Table
of the Presence (Shewbread) or the
Laver.
Even though there are
many similarities, there are also
important differences between
the earthy and the Heavenly
tabernacle (a direct parallel does
not exist for every aspect). For
example, animal blood was routinely
placed on the horns of Earthy altars.
Obviously, this does not occur in
Heaven. The annual feasts associated
with the Earthy tabernacle services
have never been celebrated in Heaven.
Rather, annual feasts and animal
sacrifices that accompany them reveal
certain elements about God’s
process to save man. Obviously, the
scale and structure of the Earthy
temple is different from the Heavenly
Temple since the Earthy wilderness
tabernacle a tiny tent structure,
only 18 by 55 feet in length. Moses
did not build a tabernacle in the
likeness of Heaven’s Temple.
Rather, Moses followed the pattern
that was given to him, and the
resulting construction reflects the
details of the pattern that Moses was
shown. (Exodus 25:9)
The Earthy tabernacle
was a temporary teaching device, a
shadow of reality. Contrary to what
many people believe, the Earthy
temple and its services held no
efficacy then or now. The sacrifices
of animals and/or accompanying
rituals did not/cannot provide
atonement for sin. (Hebrews 10:4)
Instead, these services reveal the
properties of law, sin, penalty,
grace and the orderly process God
follows to restore man. The
ceremonial system of laws God gave to
Moses pointed toward the issues God
has to resolve. Sin’s presence
in God’s Universe introduced
three problems for Him. These
problems will be resolved to every
creature’s satisfaction even
though the process takes thousands of
years.
First, God must
demonstrate the righteousness of His
government to all His creatures. It
is not sufficient for God to declare
His government righteous; He must
demonstrate that it is
righteous. (This is the one reason
why God allowed Lucifer and his
angels to live after their expulsion
from Heaven.) Second, God must
demonstrate that He is a God of love
and that He really does offer each of
His creatures the power of choice. He
must prove He does not manipulate His
creatures through omnipotence or
omniscience. Last, God has to reveal
the lawful (fair) process that
determines that some creatures will
be eternally destroyed and other
creatures restored and granted
eternal life. These three issues will
be resolved when sin is removed from
God’s Universe.
Practical and
Informative
The functions of the
earthy tabernacle consisted of three
levels of operation. First, there was
the administration of some of the
practical aspects of the tabernacle
that included the livelihood of the
ministers – the Levites. Not
only did the Levites eat much of the
meat that was roasted as sacrifices,
they also received produce from
offerings people gave to the Lord. In
Addition, they received wages from
the contributions of gold and silver.
Second, the tabernacle was the center
of Israel’s economy. Issues like
public health, civil and social
governance all centered in the
tabernacle. Originally, under
God’s direct leadership, Israel
was to be a “church/state,”
but God modified that plan when they
rejected Him as their King. (1 Samuel
8:7) Last, the highest function for
the Earthy tabernacle was to reveal
divine law, sin, penalty, grace and
salvation. This third level of
operation explains why god
established a linkage between the
Earthy and Heavenly Temples. He wants
us to understand the properties, even
the price of our salvation.
The subject of
God’s temple is expansive (as
the wonders of God always are). It is
not difficult to grasp the essential
lessons of the Earthy tabernacle and
its services. Wonderfully, God has
placed the basic issues of life and
death just beneath the surface of the
Bible. Why does God put such
important information beneath the
surface? He does it simple to
separate “surface readers”
from “Bible students.”
There is a significant difference
between Bible reading and Bible
study. Six thousand years of recorded
history proves that God is very
cautious about revealing Himself. If
He revealed too much at one time, the
truth would be more than we could
bear. (John 16:12; Daniel 10:7) If
God were too aggressive, His created
beings would regard Him as a cosmic
bully. Instead, God chooses either to
cloak Himself in brilliant
unapproachable light or dense
darkness. Truth can be obtained if a
person sincerely wants to see the
wisdom of God (John 16:13) and God
only reveals His wonders to people
who seek diligently. God told
Jeremiah, “You will seek me
and find me when you seek me with all
your heart.” (Jeremiah
29:13)
Heaven and Earth
Parallel is Necessary
Before we examine the
contents of the Earthy tabernacle
– en route to understanding the
actual processes of the Heavenly
Temple – there are a few points
that need to be clarified so you can
quickly grasp why certain things are
the way they are. When studying this
subject, it is important to remember
that a Heavenly Temple/Earthy temple
parallel is necessary because sin
entered into and affected both
realms. The following series of ten
statements are basic concepts that
will help you see the perspective of
salvation from God’s point of
view:
1. When God created
Lucifer, he was perfect in every way.
In time, Lucifer became jealous of
the archangel, Michael (Jesus).
Lucifer wanted to take Michael’s
place on the throne as the Archangel.
The more Lucifer brooded, the more
determined he became. To gather
followers, he mounted a very
intelligent assault against God. The
assault was so effective that
one-third of the angels rebelled
against God. Here are some issues
that Lucifer distorted to mislead the
angels:
a. God is purposeful and deliberate
in all He does; however, sometimes it
takes His
creatures several thousand years to
understand His actions. Therefore,
during the interval between creation
and understanding, God’s
creatures must choose to
“blindly” trust that
God’s actions are righteous (not
evil or harmful to existing
creatures)
b. God is Sovereign
King of His universe. Heaven is not a
democracy. God declares
that He is
righteous. God claims that He does
not use His great powers of
omnipresence (being everywhere
simultaneously), omnipotence (having
the power to do anything) or
omniscience (knowing everything about
everything) to manipulate His
creatures. God claims that all
creatures have the power of choice.
They can choose to serve Him or they
can choose to rebel. God claims to
always act in the best interest of
His subjects.
c. God’s ways are
not the ways of His creatures. He is
infinite, but they are finite.
2. Lucifer distorted
the truth and cleverly misrepresented
God’s character and government,
causing doubt to fill the hearts of
influential angels. Lucifer preyed
upon other angels in Heaven, asking
questions which seemed to have no
solid answers at the time.
(Sometimes, God’s plans require
7,000 or more years to clearly
understand – as in the PLAN of
salvation.) Using the advantage of
doubt against Michael, Lucifer
eventually led one-third of the
angels to believe he was more
deserving of the position of
archangel than Michael. When the
Father informed Lucifer that Michael
was a member of the Godhead, in the
form of an angel (Jesus), Lucifer and
his angels defiantly rebelled against
God. This resulted in Lucifer and his
angels being cast out of Heaven.
3. God foreknew the
actions of Lucifer – even before
Lucifer was created. Foreknowing the
rise of sin and the allegations
Lucifer would make against His
character and principles governing
the universe, God prerecorded the
whole story of sin before Lucifer or
any angel was created. He wrote a
book called the Book of Life and
perfectly sealed it with seven seals
so no creature could know the
contents until a specific, future
moment in time arrived.
4. Then Jesus created
Earth. He gave Adam and Eve access to
the Tree of Life that would keep them
alive indefinitely. They could sty in
the Garden as long as they believed
and obeyed God. (Genesis 3:22-24)
Jesus placed them under the
obligation of law on their first day
of life. Jesus commanded them not to
eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil or they would die.
(Genesis 2:16, 17)
5. Lucifer entered the
Garden and lied about God’s
command. Eve believed the
devil’s lie and followed him in
rebelling against God. Before they
rebelled, Adam and Eve were naturally
predisposed to live righteously,
believe and obey God. After they
sinned, they became prone, by nature,
to disbelieve and disobey God. Today,
human beings are born with a sinful
nature in rebellion against God.
(Romans 8:7) The devil’s
greatest deception is to make people
believe they are in a “born
again” state when in reality;
they remain in their “natural
state” of rebellion. (John 8:39)
The devil remains the Father of lies.
(John 8:44)
6. Jesus warned Adam
and Eve they would be executed the
day they ate the fruit of the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil. However,
Adam and Eve’s execution was
stayed because Jesus agreed to be
executed in their place. The covenant
between the Son and the Father (the
Plan of salvation) offers release
from execution for those who put
their faith in Christ as their
substitute. However, the stay of
execution for those in rebellion is
not indefinite. It will take place at
the end of the 1,000-year millennium.
(Revelation 20:14)
7. God implemented the
PLAN of salvation for Adam, Eve, and
their offspring because their sin was
not in open defiance of God. When
Lucifer deceived Eve,
Adam’s love for Eve proved to be
stronger than his love for his Maker
that prompted his willful
disobedience. Lucifer’s
rebellion, on the other hand,
defiantly challenged God and His
principles of government.
8. The PLAN of
salvation stipulates the following:
- The penalty
for sin is death by
execution.
- The result of
sin is death through
degeneration.
- Atonement
requires restitution.
Any violation of law
is sin.
- A
sinner’s execution can
be transferred to a perfect
substitute provided the
guilty party submits to a
life of faith in the perfect
substitute.
- The essence of
living by faith in Christ is
a GOBEDO attitude. This means
a person is willing to go, be
and do all that God requires.
- The actions of
every creature are accurately
recorded in Heaven’s
book of deeds.
- The judgment
of mankind requires three
prerequisites: First, the
judge must be worthy to judge
man. Second, the substitute
for man must be perfect;
otherwise, the substitute is
condemned for his own sins.
Last, man is saved on the
basis of whether or not he or
she submitted to the
authority of Christ in faith.
- The character
of God must be fully
exonerated from having any
selfish or evil traits.
9. At the end of the
1,000-year millennium, God will
resurrect wicked people for three
reasons: First, God will reveal to
each rebellious person why he or she
cannot be saved. Second, He will
review the PLAN of salvation with
each person and show him or her
everything He did to help him or her
obtain eternal life. At that moment,
every knee will bow before God
admitting that He is fair and His
judgment righteous. (Isaiah 45:23-25)
Last, God’s law requires people
to provide restitution for any wrongs
committed and any unconfessed or
unforgiven sins. The saints will
determine the amount of restitution
justice requires while they reign
with Christ during the 1,000 years.
The restitution will be accomplished
through suffering by fire. Some
wicked people will vanish quickly,
while others will suffer for days.
Lucifer and his angels will perhaps,
burn for years.
10. Just before God
destroys the wicked with fire from
Heaven, Jesus breaks open the last
seal on the Book of Life. This final
act will clear God’s Holy Name
of any wrongdoing. Of course, by the
time the book is opened, everyone
(including Lucifer and His angels)
will have admitted that God is fair
and His judgment righteous. The
opened Book of Life will reveal and
confirm to all created beings that
God knew from the beginning –
even before sin originated. The truth
about three things will be confirmed:
First, God did not use His
foreknowledge to prevent sin. Thus,
His creatures do have the power of
choice. Second, God did not use His
powers to manipulate the choices of
any creature. Every creature is in
the eternal condition that he or she
chooses to be in. Third, every
creature, including Lucifer and the
angels that followed him, voluntarily
agrees that there is no evil in God.
