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The rise of the house of David, part 11

When we moved from Seattle to Minneapolis in August 1996, God was building the house of David in a remarkable way.

The Snake River conference at Clarkston, WA ended on Sunday, July 21, 1996. The next day I flew to Minneapolis to search for a house. I discovered that there were very few 4-bedroom houses available to rent, because the state taxes on rental houses were triple if people did not own their own home. I applied at one place but was refused because I did not have sufficient credit to rent the house.

I spent most of the week teaching and fellowshipping with friends, because it was virtually impossible to find a rental house. Then on July 26 God spoke to me, saying, “Because you have sought to build My house, I will even build yours.”

This was a reference to 2 Samuel 7:11, where Nathan the prophet gave a word to King David, saying, “The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.” David had expressed his desire to build a house for God, but God would not let him do it. His son, Solomon, was the one appointed to build God’s house. Yet God promised to build the house of David. 2 Samuel 7:16 adds,

¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.

David then prayed in 2 Samuel 7:25-29,

²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken, ²⁶ that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, “The Lord of hosts is God over Israel”; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel have made a revelation to Your servant, saying, “I will build you a house”; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.

Even as God had promised to build a house for David, so also God promised to build my house. I knew immediately that God would find a house for us and that I did not need to find it myself. Two days later, on July 28, 1996, I returned to Seattle, and we began preparing to move to Minneapolis, not knowing where we would live.

The Move

Our final house meeting was on August 4, 1996. Our meeting room held only about 25 people, but the house was crammed with about 60 people. During those three years in Seattle, we had built up a sizable fellowship, people who had desired to learn the law of God and to know the divine plan in prophecy. But our work had been completed there after two cycles of 490 days. From the Jubilee Prayer Campaign (November 29, 1993) until the day we left Seattle on August 5, 1996, was precisely 980 days.

We arrived in Minneapolis on August 10, not knowing where we would live. In a small way, we identified with Abraham who too “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), and we both knew that we had heard the call of God.

The moving van carrying our household furniture arrived on August 13, and we had no choice but to put it all into storage until we found a house.

The Gates of Edinburgh

A family in Minneapolis had gone on vacation, traveling west for a few weeks. They arrived in Seattle just in time to help us pack our belongings. They also gave us the key to their house in Minneapolis, telling us that we could stay there. We did so, until they returned home two weeks later.

As I said earlier, we did not have sufficient credit to rent a house, so we looked for a house to buy. We settled on a nice house, and the owners accepted our offer of $120,000. We asked them for a date that we could occupy the house, and they told us it would be three months, since they were building a house for themselves. So what were we to do in the meantime?

Our friends suggested that we look for corporate housing. These were rentals that were furnished for corporate executives when they would need a place to stay for some weeks or months at a time.

There were six companies that had corporate housing for rent. Five of them had nothing available. The sixth had two apartments available. We chose one and immediately went there to look at it. When we got there, someone else was already moving into the apartment. So we took the other one—the only available unit in the city—and signed the papers on August 20 for a three-month lease until the end of November.

We then moved to this temporary location on August 22. The Apartment was located on a golf course that was called The Gates of Edinburgh. The game of golf was invented centuries ago in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then, the name of the place has been changed at least twice.

The Coronation Stone

Once we had moved into The Gates of Edinburgh, I began to contemplate the significance of Edinburgh in light of recent news events.

On July 3, 1996 Prime Minister John Major announced that the Coronation Stone, along with the public records and the Sacred Sword, was to be returned to Scotland. These had been taken in 1296 A.D. and brought to London. The Coronation Stone had been under a special chair in Westminster Abbey, where the monarchs of England had been crowned since that time.

In the Treaty of Northampton (1328), the British had agreed to return these items by 1330, but the nobles had prevented this from happening. Hence, the Stone remained in London for 700 years until 1996. It was returned 666 years late (1330-1996).

When the Prime Minister made his announcement, he would not say where the stone was to be relocated. It had originally been at an abbey in the small town of Scone in Scotland, so obviously, they wanted it to be returned to its original location. The Irish also wanted it, because it had been moved to Scotland from Tara in 838 A.D. The Israelis also wanted it, because it came originally from Bethel, where Jacob anointed the stone after his famous dream in Genesis 28:18.

Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, had brought it to Ireland in 583 B.C. Jeremiah was known in Irish history as Ollamh Fodhla, “wonderful seer,” and the Stone was called Lia Fail, “precious stone.”

After we moved into The Gates of Edinburgh, I discerned that the Coronation Stone would be moved to Edinburgh. I remembered an old revelation from 1985, saying, “you are to occupy the gates until I come.” At the time, this word applies to the spiritual gates on the prayer wall around America. But in 1996 I came to see that it also applied to The Gates of Edinburgh.

The Coronation Stone symbolized the divine right to rule. That is why the monarchs were crowned on that stone, even in biblical times. Joash was crowned king, “standing by [on] the pillar” (2 Kings 11:12, 13, 14). When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, Jeremiah salvaged the Coronation Stone and went to Ireland, bringing the daughters of King Zedekiah with him, as he was their guardian (Jeremiah 41:10; 43:6).

For a brief history of the Stone, see here:

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Stone-of-Destiny/

Because the Stone had been anointed by Jacob, it became a type of Christ, who is “our Rock” (Deuteronomy 32:31). Paul says that in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that the Israelites “were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ” (i.e., anointed by Jacob).

When God said in 1985 that we were to occupy the gates until He comes, it became clear that “He” was represented by this anointed Rock, a type of Christ. Furthermore, because it was a Coronation Stone, the move also indicated a transfer of authority, particularly in reference to the rising house of David.

The point is that the Coronation Stone was going to be returned to Scotland, and one of its possible destinations was at Edinburgh Castle. Since we had moved to The Gates of Edinburgh, I discerned that the Stone would be moved to Edinburgh Castle and that we were to occupy The Gates of Edinburgh until the Stone was moved.

The Transfer of Authority

On November 15, 1996 the procession carrying the Coronation Stone began moving from London to Edinburgh, and it arrived on November 30. We began moving into our new house on November 29 but could not finish until the next afternoon. Our move was complete about two hours after the Coronation Stone was placed on the oak table at Edinburgh Castle. We had literally occupied the Gates until He came on November 30, 1996.

Prince Andrew presided over the transfer of the Coronation Stone from November 15-30. It was brought to Scotland, whose patron saint is Saint Andrew. The name Andrew means manly. We took this as a sign that the kingdoms of men were being transferred to “the saints of the Most High” (Daniel 7:22 KJV).

But this was also the manner in which the spiritual house of David was being built. Though Saul was crowned on Pentecost, David was crowned king over all Israel in the 59^th Jubilee from Adam. (See Secrets of Time.) The timing of biblical events tells us the mind of God so that we not only know His acts but also His ways.

November 30, 1996 became a precursor to what was to transpire four years later at the end of the 7½ year transition from Saul to David.