2000-4-12 10:07:00
Chapter Sixteen - The Gathering of Light and Love in Power
Thus we continue the exegesis on the BRANCH with its nine extensions. Concerning a representative of the BRANCH we are told: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (the overshadowing), the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his lions, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Isaiah 11:2-5
Here we have a clear description of the characteristics of the BRANCH or a member thereof. His most outstanding trait is that he will not judge by appearances, but his judgment will always be fair because of communion with Christ that will be the heritage of all.
Members of the BRANCH will lead us into the millennial conditions which are the hope of all religions. The BRANCH actually has more than one correspondence. We mentioned one which is a group of nine people which will shortly surface. The other correspondence will be in the appearance of nine Avatars over an extended period of time that will bring the golden age into fruition. It will take several hundred years to bring in what we may term the Lesser Golden Age and thousands of years to bring in the Greater Golden Age. Over these two periods will be two correspondences to the BRANCH, in addition to the group of nine, who will work fairly simultaneously. These nine may even have successors.
Eventually, there will be several inspired groups in several different locations on the earth forming a righteous BRANCH through whom the Masters may work. "By their fruits you may know them." [Matthew 7:20] The Branch is also a symbol of molecular members connected to their source, who is Christ. From this aspect the Branch represents an unlimited number.
One of the main missions of the BRANCH will be to gather Israel (Lights) and give them true knowledge which they are not getting from the churches: "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. AND I WILL GATHER THE REMNANT OF MY FLOCK OUT OF ALL COUNTRIES WHITHER I HAVE DRIVEN THEM, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will. set shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a King (The Christ) shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:1-6
Here we see/that the Lord is fed up with shepherds (ministers) who do not feed his people knowledge and that he will gather the Israelites out of their flocks. Around this time will come the BRANCH and shortly after that, the Christ himself. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS is more correctly rendered: "The Lord who sets things right".
The Scripture continues and speaks of the gathering of Israel as a greater event than that done through Moses: "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." Jeremiah 23:7-8
We are told that the BRANCH will be a king (the soul will reign over the lower nature) and he will be like David and perhaps bear his name. He may quite possibly be a reincarnation of David:
"The time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and bring them back to the land which I gave to their forefathers... they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them." Jeremiah 30:3, 9 New English [links are to KJV]
All scripture has at least three levels of interpretation. The name David means "beloved" or "loving." Thus when the scripture talks about David reigning over Israel one possible fulfillment would be that love will reign in the hearts of the Lights who will gather. The days of regular kings are over, but the days of love becoming enthroned in the hearts of men are just beginning.
This David is also linked with the gathering of Israel. Since no such David has been linked with the present gathering of the Jews in Jerusalem it makes it obvious that the scripture is referring to some other gathering of Israel: "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the dark and cloudy day. AND I WILL BRING THEM OUT FROM THE PEOPLE, AND GATHER THEM FROM THE COUNTRIES, and will bring them into their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel...And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it."
Ezekiel 34:12-13,23-24
An interesting prophecy concerning the rebirth of David (or the love principle) is given by Amos with a play upon the word "tabernacle." Its secondary meaning is the physical body: "In that day (when Israel is scattered among the nations - see verse 9) will I raise up the tabernacle (body) of David that is fallen (is dead), and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and will build it as in days of old." Amos 9:11
In other words, a spiritual leader, or the embodiment of love in a group, will again be with us here on the earth and lead mankind to establish the true Kingdom of God, of which the kingdom in ancient Israel was a pale foreshadowing.
The next verse is also interesting: "That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen (nations) which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this." Amos 9:12
"Heathen" here is a very misleading translation. It is from the Hebrew GOY which literally means "foreign nation" In this case it is plural indicating that there are numerous nations which will be called by the name of the Lord, or belong to Israel.
"Edom" means red, indicating that there will be a remnant of the Red Man or the North (and probably South) American Indian take place in the gathering.
David strongly desired to build the temple of God in his day but was refused. The calling was passed to his son Solomon, but in the future those with the love of God in their hearts will get their desire: "Here is a man named the BRANCH; he will shoot up from the ground where he is and will build the temple of the Lord. It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he who will assume royal dignity, will be seated on his throne and govern, with a priest at his right side, and concord shall prevail between them." Zechariah 6:12-13 New English [links are to KJV]
The BRANCH which is David (love) will have a chance to build the temple and he will have a priest at his right side with whom he will have great "concord" or harmony. This priest represents those who embrace the principle of love and teach it to others through example and service.
This will be a different kind of king (it may or may not be a symbol of the Christ or an overshadowing), for he will not wear a crown, but "the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord." Zechariah 6:14 This passage makes no sense at all unless one deciphers the message hidden in the Hebrew which implied meaning is as follows: "And the crowns shall go to those who have vision and dream, and to those who show forth the goodness of God, and the knowledge of God; these shall receive the favor, or crowns of glory which the Master has hidden from the world and the only ones to be honored in the temple of God."
It is quite fitting that in the New Age the ones that will be honored are those who dream dreams and pave the way to greater knowledge, for in ages past these have been the ones who have been laughed at and scorned by society.
Finally, we come to the last verse in the chapter: "And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord..." Zechariah 6:15
The temple here has several correspondences.
In ancient days the temple was a place where the presence of God was supposed to come and reside. In the new age the true temple will not be one built with hands, but by people with the pure love of God in their hearts coming together in molecular relationship.
The word temple can refer to a physical body, the Spirit in man, a building, a city, a nation, kingdom, or a worldwide network. The BRANCH will attempt to build them all and reveal the glory of God through mankind.
David and the rest of the BRANCH, then, will build the temple and lay the foundation for the New Age, but there will come after them the age of Solomon when the people will enjoy the fullness of the fruits of the Kingdom.
All of this shall eventually lead to the long sought millennial conditions: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:6-9
This scripture shall see some fulfillment in the coming age, but not reach a fullness until the Greater Golden Age. Even so, if we all play our part, the coming age will hold all the possibilities for creative activity and joy that the hearts of men and women are prepared to receive.
Copyright 2000 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved