I. 5. The Crown Prince Is Coming

...And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king's son. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king... 2 Kings 11:1-4, 12

We are in 96 AD. The last alive apostle of Christ is in exile for his faith on the isle of Patmos by the cruel Diocletian. Before that the emperor's subjects tried to kill John dropping him in a vessel full of burning pitch, but for an unexplainable reason John remained alive. Now, since John was carried to that island especially chosen for criminals in the Aegean Sea, the emperor is sure, that he had managed to finally get rid of this christian leader's influence. Hardly anyone imagined, even John himself, that at this place isolated from the civilization and native home, Christ gave John visions about the future of God's people:

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:1-11

John was carried in a vision to what we can call the Capital of the Universe, where the throne of the Father was, so that he may see what happened to his dear Lord after His ascension to heaven. What he will see now had to help him better realize the events of the future. Obviously the glorious figure sitting on the throne was that of God the Father. As we saw in the previous chapter, the twenty-four elders presiding around the throne are the risen believers during Christs' death; they lived in the past and now are taken as a trophy of His victory and as first fruits of the dead. Along with Christ, they warrant the future resurrection of believers from the whole history of humanity. Their number (24) reminds about the priestly groups, conducting on the Lord's command, the annual cycle of worship in the Temple¹. They are already joint-heirs of the Son of God's kingly and priestly power and represent the people of God there along with the four supreme representatives of angelic host. John continues his story about the vision that was given to him:

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. Rev. 5:1-14

Events before the final fulfillment of the Legacy

The book which the Father holds into His hand contains the future events that would happen before the ultimate application of the Legacy toward His Son and His joint-heirs through the sequential opening of the Lamb's seven seals. The believers have part in that inheritance as the Heir's brothers and sisters.² It is true, that, nobody else but the One who verified the Legacy with His own blood, has the right to open that book of the future events. The twenty-four elders have the privilege to represent God's people in heaven as “the first fruits” of the righteous dead. After the unsealing of the six seals, the one hundred and forty-four thousand are also shown, who are going to pass through the great trouble in the time of the end, and they will meet the Savior at His glorious return without tasting death.³Their number is also found in the construction and sizes of the New Jerusalem:

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. Revelation 21:14-17

Therefore the time of the passed over 2000 years, which for human point could seem like a long and unnecessary delay, in the plan of God it was exactly the time needed for all of the heirs of the kingdom to be gathered from the earth:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8,9

Truly, the Lord is able to do things for a day and for thousand years, but when He does in the second way it is because the fulfillment of His intentions depends on the free choice of the coming generations in the distant future. Nevertheless, God's purpose will be achieved completely, and those who exclude themselves from His heritage make their voluntary decision – it is their own decision not God's. At the opening of the seventh seal, there comes the culmination – the receiving the inheritance of the Legacy.

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. Rev. 8:1

After the passing of all the events in the opening of the six seals, the Heir, together with His own heavenly escort, comes on the earth to take His legal property which He had been waiting for so long time.

The Stone

There had been always standing a dilemma before us the human beings, notwithstanding if we talk about those expecting Christ at His first coming on earth, or the once living after His ascension. This dilemma is spoken of very appropriately by Christ Himself in the 21-st chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It is told there, how several days before Christ was handed over to the Roman authorities, He commanded His disciples to bring Him a donkey, which was not straddled by anyone, which also the would find I a certain man's house, described by their Master. Christ entered in Jerusalem riding the donkey as the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy of Zachariah⁴. The people welcomed Him with standing ovation, but the religious leaders wanted Him dead. Then Christ told a parable about a vineyard owner. He cared well for his property but he had to travel to foreign country so he gave it husbandmen. When the time of the fruit drew near he sent his servants to gather the production, but the husbandmen were cruel to them – „and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another“. The owner of the vineyard sent other and more servants, but the husbanmen related to them even more brutally. Then the owner sent his own son, saying, at least "they will reverence my son"⁵. The husbanmen recognizing the heir decided to kill him and to misappropriate his inheritance. Of course the owner would justly square accounts with the husbandmen. Obviously, the owner of Christ's parable was God-the Father, the vineyard represented God's people, and the husbandmen were the leaders of the nation. The servants sent by the Owner were the prophets, who invited the leaders with their heavenly messages to rule over thew people so that the precious fruit of righteousness may be expected. The attitude to the servants shows the general trend of prophets to be despised and rejected by the rulers. At last, the Father really sent His Son on the earth and those jealous and malicious religious leaders who were now listening to the parable, were the main perpetrators for His crucifixion on the cross. Then Christ added:

Did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Matthew 11:42-44

Here Christ uses another analogy, describing the rejected Heir – the stone. The religious leaders of Israel in reality rejected the One Who had been the very foundation of the temple they were trying to build. And here is the point when Christ presented a dilemma which stands before every human being living on the earth:

And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Matthew 11:44

It is important to realize the meaning of this symbol, just because the dilemma concerns each one of us. In order for us to achieve this goal we will explore through other bible passages, where Christ's kingdom is represented as a stone. Christ declared for those who were willing to live according to His teaching that they were actually accepted the only secure foundation for the work of their life:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:24-27

The acceptance of Christ as the Son of God is that fundamental teaching whereupon He is building His church:

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:13-18

There is indeed no other foundation whereupon one can build successfully, and Christ Himself is the cornerstone of God's temple. Apostle Paul wrote about that in his epistle to the believers in Ephesus:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

When the Stone falls

Then what do these words of Christ mean:

... but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Matthew 21:44

In 606 BC a ruler of Babylon dreamed an embarrassing dream. He sent for his subjects who dealt with occult sciences and practices to reveal the meaning of his dream. They said "tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.“⁶However, the king, who was not willing to be manipulated, declared that they had to tell him what he had dreamed so that he may know for sure they were able to interpret its meaning. The wise men answered that no king had ever asked a fortune teller such a thing. However, the king was unbending and that is why He issued a deadly sentence against all soothers in the kingdom. Among them there was a Jewish captive – a worshiper of the true God. His name was Daniel and the Book in the Old Testament that bears the same name was written by the same man. When they sought Daniel to share the punishment together with the others wise men he asked the king for postponement, and God revealed to him the dream and its interpretation in a night vision:

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these 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. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Daniel 2:31-45

Can you see the similarity between the cornerstone of the temple from Jesus' parable, and the stone from the dream of the ruler of Babylon? Yes, it is again about the Heir of God who even at His generation (cutting out of the mountain) had been appointed to receive the whole universe as His inheritance, and more specifically – our world. The whole history from Babylon to present time is shown here, through the different parts of this image. The topic we are exploring now does not suppose a detailed interpretation of this prophecy because our purpose now is to discover the historical phases of God's kingdom and to understand what is our dilemma in regard to the stone (Christ). Therefore, without taking a detailed study we may see that history reveals to us plainly what the presented kingdoms are, through the parts of the image. The golden head represents Babylon (605-539) as Daniel himself affirmed it, the silver arms are Medes and Persians (539-331), the belly of brass represents Greece (331-168), the iron legs – Rome (168-476), the divided kingdom consisting of iron and clay represents Europe. We see that not until "in the dasys of those kings" namely modern Europe "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed⁷. This kingdom will be established with Christ's Second Coming in glory and majesty⁸. The Second Coming of the Son of Gos is a final phase, (but not the last), in the establishment of God's kingdom on our planet. There is one more aspect of the relation between Christ's parable of the temple's cornerstone the statue from the king's dream. The dream of the ruler of Babylon shows us, that the included world empires had claimed the right to build a kingdom on the earth, but they did it on the wrong foundation because they did it without God. Their structure is like the temple of human pride and power. By the way, some time after the king of Babylon had known his kingdom would be defeated of another "inferior" kingdom, he built a similar image like that he saw I his dream, but he made it whole of Gold and forced all his subject nations to bow down before this image threatening them to deadly punishment.⁹ It is clear where he was going, wasn't he? We saw that according to the dream the stone would really destroy all earthly kingdoms through its falling. The same is spoken to in Psalm 2 which was the beginning of our series:

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Psalm 2:9

When we fall over the Stone

And now, let us see what means the other part of Christ's saying:

...And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken... Matthew 11:44

Although this part does not look pleasantly either, it is the right way to salvation. For one to decide to fall upon the stone means to be willing to follow Christ fully denying himself/herself. So our dilemma reduces to the choice of being killed by a stone falling upon us or by death as a result of self denying. The essential difference between the two choices is that the first death consists of the eternal separation from the Source of life, and the second is that it leads to life eternal. However, is it possible for death to bring life and even life eternal. Christ explained it this way:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25

The secret of eternal life is to be made completely free from the ruling power of self, and to give way to the power of God in our lives. This radical change within ourselves may accomplish the power of God's love alone as it is revealed in the mightiest through the sacrifice of the life of God's Son for us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The more we meditate upon what God had made for us, the more the power of self steps back before the love of God. If we choose to open our hearts for it, it will put to death our sinful self, giving place to Christ in us¹⁰:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. 2:20

This process Jesus compared to a daily bearing of the cross:

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24

People think of the caring of a cross as unbearable weight and this would really be the case if we had to bear it on ourselves, but God never asked something like this of us:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

The bearing of the cross of self-denial through the power of God's love is a "easy yoke". And still our sinful self must die. Do you remember what Satan's lie was? That's right: "Ye shall not surely die"¹¹. Satan agrees if we do the variety of "christian" and "noble" things, but without denying the self every day, giving way to the will of God I our lives. He attempted to do the same with the Son of God Himself. Just a little while after He announced to Peter that the true rock for the church is the Son of God, Christ revealed the second significant aspect of His work:

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Matthew 16:21-23

Did you see it? The same satanic spirit displayed through Peter who was seeking to lead away Christ from His self-sacrifice. The Devil's lie is a broadly spectrum and in its essence it denies the divine principles to sustenance of full value life. If Christ would not made His life sacrifice for humanity there would not be chance anymore for it to return to God and have everlasting life. If Christ would have chosen the other way, and not the one His Father was leading Him into, the battle for humanity would be lost. We are also invited to live by complete trust in God's promises, including the ones touching our bare necessities. Here there is one such promise of Christ, that everyone of us could lean with full trust. It is something I have experienced in my own life:

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:24-34

If we make a priority the interests of God's kingdom in our daily life, we will be able to step firmly on the tried Rock of Ages without the fear of material and financial dependency.

We are now going to explore one more figure in Scriptures, that could help us see some important facets of the present application of the Legacy toward the joint-heirs.