By Eldon McNabb

At the request of the twelve Apostles, Jesus briefly told them the things around which their prayers should be centered. In Matt. 6:9-13, Matthew gave us the account of how Jesus began with the importance of our need to approach "our Father which art in Heaven" with praises and accolades. The first thing which He placed on our requests list was "Thy kingdom come."

This passage of Holy Scriptures is quoted billions of times per day, around the world, but I suspect that there are very few who actually pray for God to set up His kingdom on Earth. However, some of us are praying in this manner, and Jesus will come, at the appointed time, to "execute judgment upon all," and rule upon the Throne of David until "He shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power." (1 Cor. 15:24,25) Two prominent prophecies on the subject are Rev. 20:4, and Isa. 9:6,7.

I was born an American, the son of a long line of Americans, at least as far back as my great, great-grandfather Lorenzo George Washington McNabb, who was born in 1823. But when I was ten years of age, something wonderful happened to me. I was born again, and am now a fellow citizen with the saints of God.

America is not "The Kingdom of God" as Israel was in the days of King David and others. America is not even a Christian nation, although it was partially founded upon Biblical principles. What I began to realize, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, is that I am only a pilgrim and a stranger in this great land. All of the great men and women of faith who are mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews had the same testimony. In Hebrews 11:13-16, He said, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God."

It has been easy, and somewhat misleading to live in America up until now. The matter of the citizenship of those of us who are "new creatures in Christ Jesus" has been clouded by America's tolerance for religion. The fact is, America is the same as all other countries, insomuch as they follow the guidance of our adversary, the Devil, which Jesus called, "The Prince of this world." In 1962-1963, the federal government of this country began to show which side it is really on, when they officially outlawed participation in Christian prayers and the reading of the words of our creator in the public domain. Oh, it is still done to some "acceptable degree," but that prohibition is the official stance of this country. During the last four decades, the U.S. Government has gradually become more and more anti-Christian. That trend will rapidly increase in this decade, and has already begun to do so with the "war on terrorism."

On 9/22/2000, an Israeli official "violated" an Islamic religious area in Jerusalem, and in so doing, Israel once again became a sign, especially to Christianity, by marking the beginning of the last ten years before the "marriage of The Lamb." Then, on 9/11/2001, God gave another special sign to those of us who have eyes to see, and are seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The calamity of 9/11 was, in reality, a 9-1-1 call. It is emergency time for the redeemed in Christ Jesus who live in the West. The whole prophecy of Zephaniah shows that the destruction of the twin towers in New York City and of the Pentagon was an alarm against Christianity first, and ultimately against the secular world. (See 1 Pet. 4:17)

The general Christian conception of 1 Thess. 4:13-18, has clouded the truth concerning those things which accompany the return of our Lord. One of those things is "the trump of God." If we are to understand that trumpet we must go to Exodus chapter nineteen for our enlightenment. God said in Isa. 8:20, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

Exodus nineteen shows us that the trumpet which accompanies Jesus' return sounds long and gradually "waxes louder and louder." And in Zephaniah 1:10-16, we are told that the events of Sept. 11^th of this year was a sign to us that we are now in "A day of the trumpet." God has announced the beginning of the judgment of Christianity, and He will finish it before the year of Jubilee. (1 Pet. 4:17) Thus shall be fulfilled the words of Jesus, "They shall be beaten with many stripes, . . . or few," depending upon the extent of their knowledge of the will of God. (Luke 12:47,48) That judgment will come by way of the U. S. government, and ultimately by the U.N., (Rev. 17:1-18) as this country, for the next several years, having now received the heart of a beast, speaks "with the voice the dragon."

The Year of Jubilee is the last year of the first six-thousand years from the creation of Adam. It is also the year of the resurrection and of our change. Further, it is the year of the "Marriage of the Lamb." The bride will have made herself ready before that year by clothing herself "in fine linen, which is the righteousness of the saints."

In Romans 2:1-16, The Apostle to the Gentiles told us about this "day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God."

God raised up the nation of Israel and blessed them with "the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises," and the Kingdom. As King David said, it was not Israel with which Goliath fought, but "the armies of the Living God." The nation of Israel did "not obey the truth," though a remnant did, therefore Jesus told them, "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matt. 21:43) For almost thirty years now, God has been making promises to the Gentiles, and covenants as well.

Between now and the year of Jubilee, God will raise up a nation, similar to the way in which He raised up the nation of Israel. (He brought them up in a strange country and then led them out with a mighty hand.) Then, in due time, God will give to that nation The Kingdom of God on Earth. The shadow of that is given to us in the exodus of the nation of Israel from the land of Egypt. Moses spoke of it in this fashion in Deut 4:34. "Hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?"

God must give birth to a Gentile Christian nation within another nation, for which cause God has raised up the United States of America. In Daniel 2:31-36,41-45, God used the stone which was hewn out of the mountain to reveal that a small group of Christians must break away from a larger group. That "stone" shall smite the United Nations in the days of the Group of Ten and shall become a great nation and fill the whole Earth. He said, "In the days of these (ten) kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

In order to accomplish this, God shall raise up a mighty prophet foreshadowed by Moses, and two mighty prophets foreshadowed by Moses and Aaron. By these two or three witnesses, God shall deliver that new, holy nation out from under the host nation just about the time that the edict shall go forth to persecute them unto death.

The Holy Scriptures are clear concerning the rulership of Jesus Christ upon the Earth. "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." (Isa. 9:6,7) Where is this "Throne of David?" We know it is not Jewish, because Jesus said He would take it away from the Jews, and give it to another nation.

When God said "David," we tend to forget that King David was the shadow, not the true. The Throne of David was the shadow of the good thing to come. (Heb. 10:1) Whoever prepares that throne for Jesus to sit upon to rule the world when He returns is the person who is implied by the prophetic use of the term "David." Isn't that what we are meant to hear from the words of the Ethiopian eunuch? "The eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."

Where shall we look for this "Throne of David?" Jesus "ordered" it when He was here the first time, and we must "establish it" for Him to sit upon when He shall return. (Isa. 9:6,7) Isaiah spoke of it on this fashion, in Isa. 16:1-5. "Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land . . ., unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. . . . Take counsel, execute judgment. . . And in mercy shall the throne be established: and He shall sit upon it in truth in The Tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness." Isaiah gave us the prophecy, but it was King David himself, who gave us the shadow when he prepared a tent for the Ark of the Covenant, with the "Mercy Seat" upon it. David pitched a natural tabernacle for the natural Mercy Seat (2 Sam. 6:17), but Paul told the Corinthian Church that in this era we are supposed to look for a spiritual one. (1 Cor. 15:46) When Jesus built the Church among the Jews, He did it in such a way that it would be a tabernacle for His throne, but it went down. (Jude 4)

This becomes even clearer as we read about the council in Acts fifteen. James declared that the Gentiles should not be burdened with unnecessary things such as circumcision, because of the prophecy in Amos 9:11. He said, "Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. 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: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."

God had been prophesying, from the beginning of the world of the day when He would call forth a group of Gentiles in the United States of America, and with them prepare a nation and a throne upon which Jesus will sit and rule the world for a thousand years. We have now come to the time when these things must take place. The United States of America must soon cast us out or crush us, but God has ordained that He should raise up unto us a prophet who shall deliver us from their hand. We are now in the days of the voice of the seventh angel in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, during which he shall sound his trumpet and "the mystery of God should be finished" and great voices in heaven proclaim, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever." The voice of that trumpet is sounding now, and shall sound long and grow louder and louder until Christ Jesus shall appear, and that great year of Jubilee shall come and the dead shall be raised and we shall be changed.

In that great year of Jubilee it shall be heard "as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." "And (the messenger) saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."