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And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make
it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Habakkuk 2:2
To be true to God's Word, the proclamation of the Gospel must shine as the
noontime sun in a cloudless sky. The
purity of the Gospel Truth is unlike anything seen in the history of the world.
Nothing compares to the Work wrought by Christ upon the Cross.
Precisely the same truth applies to the Holy Bible that bears the imprint of
His Divine Seal.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He is
the Author and the Finisher of our Faith. He is the Foundation Stone upon which our Salvation and
all Reality rests, the Capstone that completes the Work of God, and Keystone that
holds all things together.
He is the Mighty God manifest in the flesh, the Creator of All, the great I AM and the Prince of
Peace. He is the Author of the Holy Bible which He sealed with a prophetic Capstone
engraved with His Own Signet Ring of Twenty-two Hebrew Letters and Sevenfold Symmetric Perfection
which is itself sealed with the Cross -  -
the very Sign and Seal of Almighty God. And all of this was given in a vision to the Prophet Zechariah
over five hundred years before Christ was born.
In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee,
O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make
thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
Haggai 2.3
Throughout history,
kings and other governing authorities have made signet rings to proclaim their
identity, signify their authority, and
validate the content of their official documents declaring their
laws, judgments, and commandments.
The seals were typically set in a signet ring that would be pressed in soft clay or wax.
When the clay or wax hardened, the signet's impression could not be changed.
The various uses of seals and signets are exemplified in many Scriptures, such
as Esther 8.8, which emphasizes three fundamental aspects of the King's Seal: 1)
Identity, 2) Authority, and 3) Immutability:
Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name,
and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in
the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.
The Royal Signet is the King's signature and symbolizes his authority. It
is no surprise therefore that the
King of kings has done the same thing in His design of His Holy Word, though the way
He has done it surpasses every human effort
as the light of the Sun surpasses that of a flickering candle.
The Seal of God is embedded in the
unchangeable structure of His everlasting Word.
It is not like a seal that is merely impressed on a
document, which could be forged. God's Seal is different. He designed the entire Bible
in the form of the Divine Seal that validates it. The impression can be neither
changed nor removed. It is fully integrated with the document itself.
Any attempt to tamper with God's Bible by adding a Book,
deleting a Book, or even changing the order of the Books immediately destroys the Divine Seal and is
thereby exposed as a fraud.
Yet this is but the beginning. God designed the Seal itself upon
the fundamental Biblical Seals He revealed in the plain text of Scripture. I'm talking about the
Cross, the
Number Seven, the Doctrine of the Trinity,
and God's self-revelation as the Alpha and Omega (expressed
thought the Aleph and Tav of the Hebrew Alphabet). These are fundamental Christian symbols
designed by God and embedded as a Divine Seal in the very structure of His everlasting Word.
For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one
stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof,
saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Zechariah 3.9
 From
the Seven Days of Genesis to the Seven Seals of Revelation, God has used the Number
Seven as a kind of Seal upon His Word. This is a symbolic way of simultaneously declaring
a whole set of integrated ideas such as Fullness, Perfection, Completion on the one hand, and
fidelity to an Oath, Promise, or Vow on the other hand (cf.
Seven and Scripture for an in-depth analysis).
The phrase "seven eyes" is often translated as "seven facets" suggesting a precious engraved
gem. They naturally correspond to the seven canonical divisions of the
Canon Wheel.
Traditionally, they have been seen as symbolic of God's Omniscience. Indeed, they are identified
as the "eyes of the Lord" in the next chapter, discussed below.
It should be noted that this was revealed on Spoke 16, corresponding to the Letter Ayin,
which denotes the Eye (cf. The Eyes of the Lord). The
Number Seven is explicitly associated with the idea of a Seal in Revelation 5.1:
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.
The language required to describe the Seal of the Living God is
necessarily maximal. The Divine Seal is perfection built upon perfection, grace placed upon grace.
It begins with infinite symmetry of the perfect Circle, which is
unique amongst all two-dimensional objects. Simply stated, the Circle is the only form
suitable for an eternal book. Note also that most seals are circular, as seen for example in
the Great Seal of the United States.
It then divides this eternal form into
seven symmetric sections, with the line of bilateral symmetry dividing between the Aleph and Tav,
the First and Last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, corresponding to the Greek
Alpha and Omega with which
the Author of Scripture identified Himself, saying (Revelation 1.8):
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
The phrase "Aleph and Tav" spells the word  (Oath, Sign).
The division between Aleph and Tav
is itself the Sign and Seal of Almighty God.
This is "rightly dividing the Word of truth." Note also that the
numerical value of the letters Alpha and Omega is 801, the same as
that of Ho Ktisas (The Creator), and Peristera (Dove). The whole idea of the Alpha and Omega
is circular in the sense that everything begins and ends in God.
The Divine Seal therefore specifically identifies its Creator and is
sealed with the Number Seven that He used as a watermark throughout Scripture. The Seal is strongly
reiterative - the
patterns appear again and again and in perfect harmony with their use in the text of Scripture.
Yet there is so much more! The sevenfold symmetric perfection of the Divine Seal is arranged
to proclaim the Cross of Christ and the Doctrine of the Trinity!
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I Corinthians 2.1f
Ancient seals were typically engraved
with images that identified the owner and proclaimed his
greatest achievements. This is exactly what we see in the Divine Seal of Holy Scripture.
The Name of God is implied in the structure based on the Aleph and Tav,
and His Great Work on the Cross is forever memorialized in the cruciform structure of the whole.
It is truly a work worthy of its Creator.
The Cross symbolizes the essence of the Gospel which is the
central message of all Scripture.
It is the true symbol of the New Covenant sealed when Christ shed His blood upon the Cross.
Indeed the Cross is the perfect symbol of a Covenant, and just as Christ sealed His Bride the Church for
eternal marriage with the Cross, so my covenant with my wife is symbolized by a Circle and Cross,
as seen in the image of my wedding ring.
Oh the depth of both the wisdom and knowledge of God!
The form of the Cross seals God's Word on multiple reiterative levels. The pattern begins
in the structure of the Hebrew Alphabet which ends in Tav
- - which signifies a Cross and is
uniformly recognized as the Seal of Truth and the Seal of Creation
in the Rabbinic tradition. They also say that Tav "makes an impression" like a seal on the
Ancient of Days.
The Bible Wheel is sealed on Spoke 22 with the Sign of the Cross.
This then manifests in the distribution
of the word Seal throughout Scripture, which is maximized on Spoke 22. Most of the
references to seals in the Bible are in the last book
- Revelation - where we read about the Book sealed with seven seals and the
144,000 sealed with the Seal of the living God. It, and the whole Bible, ends
with the command "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book:
for the time is at hand" followed by the
warning not to alter the content of the book in any way.
Tri-radiant Cruciform Halo
All of this integrates with the words of Christ from the Cross declaring the
complete culmination of History and the
final victory over sin "IT IS FINISHED" is therefore reflected with divine perfection in the Hebrew
Alphabet which is finished in Tav -
- the Cross, and this is the basis of
the 22 Spokes of the Bible Wheel (cf.
Psalm 22, the Psalm of the Cross, and
Genesis 22, the Genesis of the Cross).
The Cross is the basis of the large-scale structure of the whole
Bible, which looks like the tri-radiant cruciform halo that has been used in Christian Iconography for
over fourteen hundred years. This means that the traditional halo of Christ, "whose name is called the
Word of God" is itself an image of the God's Word!
All of this coheres, of course, with the fact that the Cross is itself the archetype of a Seal.
Yet this is but the smallest hint of the ten thousand glorious Gospel Truths shining from
the Divine Seal of the Ever Living God.
And the angel that talked with me came again,
and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold
a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it,
and his seven lamps thereon, and
seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl,
and the other upon the left side thereof.
So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying,
What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me,
Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zechariah 4.1f
The Bible as Menorah
A great and awesome Work of God appears when the sevenfold symmetric perfection of the Holy Bible is
displayed in the form of the Menorah.
The Divine Word conforms perfectly to the pattern of the sevenfold lamp designed by God in
Exodus as a symbol of the Eternal Light
of His self-revelation. This is the light that shines through His Holy Word.
The number of books associated with each pair of arms alphanumerically proclaims
the word 
(Tehilah), which means PRAISE! God's Word declares His Praise with upraised arms (cf.
The Bible as Menorah for a detailed explanation).
Truly, God's Word is "a Lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path" (Psalm 119.105).
That such a representation is even possible should be sufficient to convince any
unbiased person of the reality of God's supernatural design of the Holy Bible. These
ramifications are then amplified beyond measure when it is recognized that the link between
the Divine Seal of God's Word and the Menorah was prophesied in the Book of Zechariah.
When the angel showed Zechariah a Menorah, and asked if he understood what he was seeing. He answered no,
which seems a little odd since he was surely familiar with the Temple Menorah.
In response to his stated ignorance of the meaning of the vision,
the angel then gave him the Word of the Lord for Zerubbabel which contains the revelation
of the Divine Seal and Capstone of Scripture, as discussed below. The important point is that the
revelation of the Capstone is given as an explanation of the meaning of the Menorah.
This point has been well understood by many commentators.
For example, here is what Dr. James Coffman says in the chapter on
Zechariah 4  from his commentary on the whole Bible.
Fortunately, we do not need to rely upon the subjective guesses of liberal
commentators for the interpretation of this vision, which in the light of
related passages of the Bible appears simple and easily understood.
The golden
candlestick from the very first appearance of it in the ancient tabernacle
typified the word of God by virtue of its being the only light in the sanctuary
representing both Israels of God.
Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD
unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the
LORD of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt
become a plain: and he shall bring
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Zechariah 4.6f
Jerusalem Cross on keystone over chapel door at Golgotha
The Prophetic Headstone
revealed in Zechariah was the final stone needed to complete
the Temple reconstruction overseen by Zerubbabel.
In Hebrew, it is called
 (HaEven HaRoshah)
which literally means the top, first, head, or chief stone.
Rabbinic tradition calls it the "rock of creation" and
says it is the stone upon which Abraham placed Isaac for sacrifice which we
recognize as the Genesis of the Cross
(cf. Genesis 22).
When a Capstone is the top stone in an arch, it is called a Keystone. This makes an excellent metaphor for Christ since
the Keystone bears the weight and holds the arch together as all the other stones lean on it.
Christ bore the weight of all our sin on the Cross at Golgotha. It is the Keystone of that
holds the whole Bible together, revealed in the Letter Tav (cf.
Golgotha: The Axis of the Wheel).
We do not know if God was describing a Capstone
or a Keystone because the text does not specify that architectural detail. It would be a Keystone if
placed in an arch, which is certainly a possibility since the oldest brick archway, (ca. 3000 BC)
ever discovered was excavated at the biblical city of
Dan , and an
arch gateway from about 1600 BC is still standing in the biblical city of
Ur , the homeland
of Abraham. In either case, God's main intent is perfectly clear. He declared that
Zerubbabel would bring forth the finishing touch to the "Temple" - the Beyt of God, which is
symbolic of the Word, as discussed in great detail in a host of articles exploring Spoke 2 of
the Wheel (cf. The Dividing Line
and The Word).
The Capstone revealed is the final touch to the Holy Word, revealing
its divine perfection. Note that the word is sealed with the Cross in two independent ways:
- The large scale structure is built on the pattern of the
tri-radiant cruciform halo (see above)
- The Bible Wheel is completed (consummated) on Spoke 22,
governed by the Letter Tav, the Cross: .
We now can discern some of the answer to Zechariah's question "What are these?"
that he asked concerning the Menorah, the Bowl, and the Two Olive Trees. God is giving us
three different views of a single object,
which is none other than the Divine Seal and Capstone of God's Word, that is,
the Holy Bible itself. This also is the most literal interpretation of
the answer to Zechariah's question.
When he asked, "What are these, my lord?" he meant,
"what does this vision signify?" to which the angel answered, "This is the Word of the Lord
to Zerubbabel." The Vision itself is a vision of the Holy Bible! I am not the first to
understand this vision this way. For example, here is what Dr. James Coffman says in
the chapter on
Zechariah 4 from his commentary on the whole Bible.
The first six words of the angel's explanation contain the whole explanation:
THIS IS THE WORD OF JEHOVAH! As Unger observed: "Zechariah's vision was THE WORD OF THE LORD, vitally
real and effective for the pressing problems of the hour in which it was initially revealed."
The emphasis in all caps is Coffman's. He was also careful to
clarify
that the vision "stands for all the word of the Lord in the
whole Bible; and, as such, it is a fantastically accurate and instructive type
of it."
It is important to meditate on the fact
the Seal of Scripture is Scripture
itself. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Seal of God was not added to the Bible as an after thought. It is the template of all Scripture
and is profoundly integrated with the vision of the Whole Bible as explained below.
As discussed above, the Bible can be represented
either as a Menorah or as a Wheel with
Seven Eyes (Facets), which could, in fact, be easily be engraved
on a literal Stone. The prophecies from both Zechariah 3.9 and Zechariah 4.1-5 apply
naturally and directly to the structure of God's Word. Yet there is one more stone to be
revealed through the Prophet Zechariah.
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands
shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me
unto you.
For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice,
and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are
the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Zechariah 4.8-9
These words add another dimension to the answer to Zechariah's question "What are these?" that he asked
concerning the Menorah, the Bowl, and the Two Olive Trees.
We have here yet another prophetic Stone revealed through
Zechariah, though it is not evident in the English translation.
The Hebrew phrase translated as "plummet" is 
(HaEven HaBadeel). The assumption typically made is that the word Badeel means tin, so this
stone is taken as a "stone of tin" that was used as a plummet, to determine vertical or
true lines. But the phrase does not have to be limited to this assumption.
Badeel comes from the root Badal, meaning "to divide." This word first occurs in Genesis
1.4 when God "divided the light from the darkness."
The most literal rendering of the phrase HaEven HaBadeel then would be the Stone of Division,
or as the Jewish Publication Society translates it, the Stone of Distinction.
We now have three stones revealed in Zechariah which, by the way, is profoundly integrated with
the structure of the Holy Word, there being many KeyLinks based on the idea of Stone between
Zechariah and I Peter on Spoke 16.
These Three Stones now appear as One Stone, and with the vision of the Menorah
we now have four images revealed in Zechariah that give us four fundamental views
of God's Holy Word
prophetically given in God's Holy Word:
| Four Prophecies of the Bible Wheel in Zechariah |
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- Zechariah 3.9 reveals the Bible as the One Stone with Seven Eyes (Facets
= Canonical Divisions)
engraved by God and sealed with the Cross (by which he removed the iniquity of the land in one day).
- Zechariah 4.2 reveals the Bible in the form of the Menorah.
- Zechariah 4.7 reveals the Bible in the form of the Wheel as the Capstone that completes the supernatural
structure of Scripture.
- Zechariah 4.10 reveals the Bible as the Plummet, the Stone of Division, the Word of God that
"is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrew
4.12 -
cf. the Logos Holograph).
The Divine Seal and Capstone of God's Word is now fully revealed, enabling
all believers to discern true lines in the House of God.
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Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two
olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And
I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two
golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not
what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones,
that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Zecahriah 4.12f
These words complete the answer to Zechariah's question
"What are these?" that he repeatedly asked concerning the Menorah, the Bowl, and the Two Olive Trees.
Coffman asserts that they "undoubtedly stand for
the Old and the New Testaments." He was not alone in this perception. It is
very ancient. For example, this view was taught in the
Explanatio Apocalypsis
(Explanation of the Apocalypse) authored by the
Venerable Bede around the year 710 AD:
Olive Trees: The Church is irradiated by
the light of the two Testaments,
and ever waits upon the commands of the Lord. So also the prophet Zechariah saw one
candlestick with seven branches, and these two olive-trees, that is, testaments, pouring
oil into the candlestick. This is the Church with its oil, which never fails, which
makes it shine for the light of the world.
The Candlestick can be understood as representing both the Bible and the Church. These are
closely related symbols in this context, since both bear witness of God in the world.
But as we shall see below,
the full set of symbols consisting of the Menorah, the Two Olive Trees, the Golden Bowl, the Seven Pipes,
the One Stone with Seven Eyes, the Capstone, and the Plummet all combine to form one grand image of the
whole Bible, which must therefore be understood as the primary meaning God intended when
He gave the Vision.
There are just a few more details to cover before we are able to see how
the visions connect to form a complete revelation of the Holy Bible, given
500 years before Christ was born. Returning to the initial vision
given in Zechariah 4.1f, we read:
And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold
a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it,
and his seven lamps thereon, and
seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl,
and the other upon the left side thereof.
The word translated as "bowl" is Gulah from the root Galal. It primarily means "a round thing."
God reveals this as the etymological root of the word Gilgal in Joshua 5.9
(Golgotha: The Axis of the Wheel):
And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have
I rolled away [galal] the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the
place is called Gilgal unto this day.
Gilgal differs from Galgal (Wheel) only in a single vowel point. The consonants are the same. When
suffixed with a Tav and Aleph, it forms the word Golgotha, the name of the place where Christ
rolled away the reproach of our sin in a single day (cf. Zechariah 3.9).
Without the vowel points, Gulah is identical to Galah which means to reveal, discover, or make naked.
This root is used, for example, in the following Scriptures. As an aside, the verses in Deuteronomy
and Daniel are strongly linked with many KeyLinks
(cf. The Secret Revealed):
- Deuteronomy 29.29: The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we
may do all the words of this law.
- Daniel 2.17: The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is,
that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer [Galeh] of secrets,
seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. [Note: the word translated as "and a revealer" (v'galeh), is
identical in consonants to the word translated as "and a bowl" in Zechariah 4.2.]
- Isaiah 40.5: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
In the Hebrew translation of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation is called the Hitgalut, from the
root Galah.
This all shows how the words Galah (Bowl, Revealer) and Galgal (Wheel) are intimately connected
with each other and the idea of Revelation.
Note also that we have the alphanumeric
identity Galgal = 66, the number
of Books in the Bible. This is an example of the divine integration of
Thread 1 (The Bible Wheel) with Thread 3 (Gematria).
Putting these ideas together, we have this amplified version of what Zechariah saw:
And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold
a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl [a round thing, a revealer] upon the top of it,
and his seven lamps thereon, and
seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl,
and the other upon the left side thereof.
We are now able to see with great simplicity and clarity the prophecy of the Whole Bible
given to Zechariah over 500 years before Christ.
Here is a brief explanation of the Vision of the Whole Bible, and its
integration with His Seal:
- The Two Olive Trees are the Two Testaments (Old and New) that
testify (bear witness) to the Lord of all the earth.
- The Two Testaments pour their Golden Oil (Books) through two Golden Pipes into the
Golden Bowl (= the Bible Wheel = the One Stone with Seven Eyes = the
Capstone = the Plummet).
- The Golden Bowl distributes the Books from each of the Seven Divisions of the Canon Wheel
to the Seven Lamps of the Golden Menorah, to
enlighten the whole world with the Light of God's Word through the
power of the Holy Spirit.
This Vision is a prophecy of God's completed Word - the Holy Bible - composed of the
Old and New Testaments and sealed in the form the Bible Wheel. Remember, this was
given hundreds of years before Christ
came in the flesh. It is a perpetual blazing miracle. We now have a complete
self-description of God's Word revealed within God's Word. The prophecy of the
full structure of the Bible and its integration with the Seal of God is embedded within the
text itself!
All of this conspires to declare the Glory of God.
The number of Books symmetrically placed on the arms of the Menorah alpha-numerically
spell the word (Tehilah, PRAISE), as it is written in Psalm
145.10
All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall
bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
The word Tehilah is the Tav KeyWord used in the last verse of the alphabetic Psalm 145
(vs. 22):
My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless
his holy name for ever and ever.
In closing, lets us always remember that the Bible is but a Book, albeit divine in origin. And let
us turn our hearts always to the Living Stone, Jesus Christ our Lord, as so boldly declared by
our beloved brother, the Apostle Peter (Acts 4.9):
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom
God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The Lord Jesus Christ possesses the most exalted and all-encompassing names that can
be uttered. He is
the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. He is the Living Word,
the Resurrection, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the Living Stone,
at once the Cornerstone and the Capstone of God's Temple the Church composed of all believers.
To Him be honor, praise and glory, now and forever, AMEN AMEN AMEN.
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Bible Wheel Forum
Divine Seal and Capstone of the Holy Bible
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