May,09, 2026 Sabbath-School Review

  Derek West

Source material: Seven Trumpet Luminescence, Book, 5.2; Dec, 2019

This week we covered pages 185 to 198 inclusive. Therein the book describes the world’s conditions at the end of the Sixth Trumpet.  Additional information is given to shape our interpretation that we may forge a well orbed view of salvation before the Seventh Trumpet is sounded.  Several points of focus are highlighted by this blog: The measuring of the temple, the olive trees, the Two Witnesses, the sackcloth ministry, and the killing of the Two Witnesses.  As background, I quote the following pertinent Texts, found on page 185:

“ ¹ And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein … ³And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.  ⁵And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ⁶These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy…⁷And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them”–Rev 11: 1-7.

Two Witnesses are prophets and are also defined as two olive trees.  And if that is not enough mystery, the symbolism expands making them to be two candlesticks.  We have understood these trees to prefigure the Old and New Testament Church.  But clarity is now required because the validity of this point surpasses yesterday’s presumption of merely being the two houses of Israel.  Olive trees infer the source of our oil, our light, and our light comes from both the Old and New Testament dispensations.  From those sources all Christian prophecy is based.  Jacob being the source of the world’s light and being that both testaments have been handed to us through his posterity, gives us validity to integrate into our understanding the pertinence of both houses of Israel as well.  After all, the New Testament Church gave occasion to integrate the gentiles into the Gospel; much was done by the Apostle Paul, a self-defined Benjamite, and their commission was orchestrated by Jesus’s commission.  He, Jesus then is relegated to be the Two Witnesses.  Before establishing that point, I point you to Paul’s summarization.

He says that Israel was broken off to bring reconciliation to the gentiles: Such is world Salvation.  He further admonishes the gentile church to anticipate the ultimate return of the Gospel to the Hebrews affording both the natural and the grafted branches to be made holy.  This neatly coalesces the concept of the two houses and the two dispensations as one holy vehicle to yield world salvation.  To quote him directly,

“ ¹⁶ For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches… ²³ And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graff them in again … ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved:…” —Rom 11: 16, 23, 26

A major point of emphasis ignored by Christianity historically is that the lump is called holy.  The lump is not the branch nor the root; it is the point whereby the wild olive branch is grafted into the old tree of Abraham —in other words, the merging of two into one. 

There is much oil for consumption and transformation into light as this publication reveals; however, it is distributed slowly during the time of the gentiles.  To illustrate, today, at the closure of this formula of slow light distribution, nearly 2000 years have expired.  All of this is done by the gentile ministry: the locusts that ascended from the bottomless pit defined in the Fifth Trumpet.  So lingering confusion abounds, and the impulse to condemn Christianity has been an age-old vexation for the righteous locust advocates and even for the Two Witnesses.  To hurt the two olive trees is to violate or resist and counterattack the Lord’s provisions for salvation as the light is gradually released during the stages of maturation or child development.  The point being that to hurt the Two Witnesses and the two olive trees, is to become maliciously at variance to the Gospel call.  This yields the prospective assignment to damnation, the eternal-death penalty given by Jesus.  He as a double metaphor, defines the Two Witnesses.  It is a double dimension of His Gospel as clarified below.  An example in point to show antagonism or “hurt” to Jesus is manifested by the hostile early Jewish church and then the hostile Roman church.  In other words, Jesus defined the terms of damnation, or, as the Text so describes, the devouring fire that cometh out of the mouth of the Two Witnesses: a prognosis of judgmental retribution upon His historic enemies.   

To this effect, the mustard seed defines the Two witnesses aka, the two olive trees as Moses and Jesus.  It says, they stood before the God of the whole earth.  To so stand before Him construes the concept of a curtain which blocks our view of Christ, He who created the earth as defined in Genesis.  Such is confirmed by Christ’s closing prayer whereby He petitioned the Father to honor Jesus, His son, by saying,

“Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: ² As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” —John 17: 1-2

As is common now in mustard seed analysis, the Two Witnesses of salvation take our mind back to the covenant of Deut 18.  Therein, it was commissioned to both Moses and Jesus.   Even more validation to this conclusion is revealed by virtue that a man can never become a true Christian so long as he denies either of the Two Witnesses vested in Jesus’s gospel.  This is expressed by Father’s well articulated affirmation.  He instructed Christ, while hidden upon Jesus to say as much.  He tells us the following,

“⁴⁶ For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” —John 5: 46-47

Therefore, to teach of Jesus, you must teach of Moses.  This component to faith makes a man a whole Christian. 

Speaking of the covenant of Deut 18, it should be noted that it pertained to both houses of Israel, all 12 tribes.  In this fact we find a special intricacy: 2000 years ago, during the ministry of Christ hidden upon Jesus, His ministerial outreach was directed to only the Jews aka, two Tribe Judah.  Ten-tribe Israel was 700 years beforehand long since scattered.  But the covenant was made to all of Israel: Christ promised to speak to them by a prophet like unto Moses.  Now is the time when He fulfills the second leg of that covenant of communication to the other house: It occurs through the ministry of David.  This is the reason for the interim aspect that falls between the Sixth and Seventh Trumpet.  It shows the restoration or resuscitation of Israel.  This facet of ministry by Christ is made evident in Matt 23 when He promised that Jerusalem would eventually see and celebrate His ministry to them: 

“ ³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! ³⁸ Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. ³⁹ For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” —Matt 23: 37-39

By this pronouncement, the Lord gives added dimension to the prophecy of Moses: He speaks of the future date, now at hand, when antitypical Moses devotes his ministry to them and elicits their celebration.  This visitation of this symbolic Moses —not to Judah but— to Israel is also made in prophecy of Jeremiah.  It shows Bible distinction between the two houses and also a favoritism for one over the other.  Chapter three says the following:

“ ⁶ The LORD said also unto me … Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she … hath played the harlot. ⁷ And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. ⁸ And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also….¹¹ And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. ¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.” —Jer 3: 6-12

Therefore, as the book, Seven Trumpet Luminescence expresses, Revelation 11 makes a special point to define the Lord’s ministry to 10-tribe Israel.  But the point gets even more complicated —a strong chew of mastication indeed!  Revelation defines the holy city that is to be measured.   That holy city speaks to a deeper dimension beyond the call to restore all of Israel, it represents Jerusalem as it makes a reference —not to a geographic place but— to a people as she was originally inaugurated.  To measure it is to define the saints who are to rule the world’s theology —the actual concept of God’s Temple on earth.  The double designation of Jerusalem as the holy city is shown in Isa 52 amongst other Texts.  It says,

“ ​¹ Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. ² Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” —Isa 52: 1-2

 Jerusalem represents a heretofore unrecognized political division of the Lord’s Hebrew people.  There was Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.  Judah is the most renown because, in Israel’s history she remained the most faithful until Calvary: a period of nearly 1500 years.  Ask yourself, how many other countries can cite a similar span of history that has been ruled by a successful and honorable theocratic government or any government for that matter?  But, as the case with all governments, there is a rise and then a fall.  The Jews were no different; they became corrupt.  Jerusalem, a separate distinction of the two houses is warranted by her unique status: She was a congressional delegation of Hebrews who were extracted from all 12 tribes.  They were relocated to the capital city of that ancient culture so that they may represent their individual districts from every far-reaching geography of that diaspora. Therefore, when listing the 144,000, it contains all 12 tribes —Judah and Israel inclusive— they are to be the holy city of world government today.  Can it get more intricate? —it sure can but for this chew, it is complex enough that we may understand the message of the interim period between the Sixth and Seventh Trumpet.  Except to say, historically, as revealed by Matt 23, these dignitaries sinned more egregiously and were consequently scheduled to be punished more severely above and beyond the members of their homeland brethren whom they represented.  Paul says more:

 “ ¹⁸ … Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy …²⁵ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” —Rom 11: 9-11, 25-26.

So, in final analysis for this blog, the holy city represents a portion of Israel that ruled all 12 tribes under Israel’s king.  The house of David is to do that which the book and this blog so does: It defines all the aspect of the temple that are to become our focus —the actual meaning of measuring the temple. 

It also says more about the two olive trees that requires elaboration.  They prophesy in sorrow and frustration: called sackcloth and ashes.  This simply manifests that much of the convicting evidence to buttress their ministry is withheld: For it says, they have power to hold back the rain.  Jesus alluded to this, the restraint upon His wisdom, when He said, “¹² I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. ¹³ Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…” John 16: 12-13.  It speaks of the withholding of the rain also.  This means meager distribution of light for rain signifies doctrine, that which makes the Lord’s harvest field to grow.  The distress comes because they, the Two Witnesses, cannot reveal the full spectrum of truth harnessed by their knowledge.  This is due, in part, to the slow advancing aptitude of the gentile ministry: The saints are dull of hearing.  They cannot bear the full gospel, and this leads them to be fed by the slow release of doctrine —often premature and unrefined—at least when compared to the vast level of the understanding of the Two Witnesses.  Therefore, its adherents of highest devotion, Adventists, are mocked, jeered, and belittled theologically by a people of lesser spiritual aptitude.  And this comes even though the Two Witnesses have knowledge of greater substantiation.  Therefore, for the mockers, the Two Witnesses have their fire awaiting them should they not relent from their hostilities. 

Yet, following Father’s patient path of purveyance, it becomes more accelerated by Elijah, He brings the crop resuscitating rain.   Then the molasses metaphor of slow release is ended.  It occurs after the Two Witnesses are killed by their own, by the beast that ascended from the bottomless pit —killed, not just by locusts but locusts who have congealed into a government, a beast.  They do not literally kill Jesus; they kill His ministerial gravity and reputation by clandestinely substituting their government by Masonry, the enemy of man’s salvation.  Thus, it appears that the human spiritual growth is stunted, and this frustration remains until the release of the Latter Rain.  It is the mission of David, aka, Elijah: to end the age of spiritual drought.  He brings the former rain and the latter rain in the first month.

We look forward to our next study from the book.

Derek