Chapter 15: 1996: The Coronation Stone

In chapter 9 I explained some of the early revelation regarding the prayer campaign in 1995 called “Occupy Till I Come.” We showed that this campaign was to establish the overcomers as God’s judges in the earth, called to decree righteous judgment for the purpose of saving the world—not condemning it to destruction.

We also explained the time cycle involved in this. The prayer campaign itself was 490 days after “His Fullness” prayer campaign (Jan. 30, 1994). Another 490 days after “Occupy Till I Come” brought us to the 8^th day of Tabernacles, October 5, 1996.

We expected to see some sort of sign in the next 490 days that would be a double witness establishing the overcomers as judges in the earth. What actually happened was so astounding to us that it defied all imagination. The series of events took place in 1996, beginning the last day in June.

The Decision to Move the Coronation Stone

On July 3, 1996 British Prime Minister John Major announced in public that the government had decided to give the Coronation Stone and other important artifacts and documents back to Scotland, which had been taken 700 years earlier in 1296 AD. The Coronation Stone signifies the divine right to rule, and all the British monarchs from that time to the present (except Mary I, called “Bloody Mary”) have been crowned over this stone.

At any rate, just a few days before John Major’s public announcement, God had spoken to us and told us to move from Lynnwood, Washington to Minneapolis, Minnesota. This Word was given to us on June 30, 1996. I suspect that it coincided in some way with the time they actually decided to move the Coronation Stone.

God showed us that we were to leave Washington on Aug. 5, 1996, barely a month after we learned that we were to move. Aug. 5 was precisely 980 days (2 x 490) after the Jubilee prayer campaign of Nov. 29, 1993. Our final work in Washington was completed with a prayer campaign called “These Stones II” on Aug. 3, 1996, but in the interest of space, we will not write about that prayer campaign.

The Move to Minnesota

We left Seattle on Aug. 5 and arrived in Minneapolis August 10, 1996. Our furniture arrived a few days later, and we put it into storage, because we had no house or apartment of our own. In this move we were required to go somewhat like Abram who left Ur of the Chaldees not knowing where he was going. I myself had actually flown to Minneapolis in late July to look for a house, but I ended up ministering and teaching most of the time, rather than looking for a house. At the end of the time, God spoke to me:

“Because you have sought to build My house, I will even build yours.”

I knew from this that I would not have to worry about finding a house. God would work it out in His way. So we came to Minneapolis purely by blind faith, not knowing where we would be living.

We soon discovered that there were almost no four-bedroom houses available for rent in Minneapolis. So we looked for a house to buy. We found one that was perfect and made an offer of $120,000. We were accepted. However, the current owners had to build a house before we could close on the sale, so that meant we had to find temporary housing for three months.

On August 20, 1996 we found a temporary apartment at a complex called “The Gates of Edinburgh.” A few days later, as I flew to North Carolina to teach at a Bible conference, I had time to contemplate these events and see their significance.

Occupying “The Gates”

It just seemed too coincidental that the apartments were called “The Gates of Edinburgh.” A year earlier we had prayed to “occupy these gates in My Name until I come to set up My Kingdom in your midst.” Now we were occupying The Gates of Edinburgh.

The Coronation Stone was now moving back to Scotland after being in London 700 years, and Edinburgh, Scotland was one of the places being considered for the stone’s placement. The town of Scone wanted it, of course, because the stone had been there before being taken to London in 1296. But the Irish wanted it as well, because it had been in Ireland prior to 838 A.D.

I even read in a Canadian newspaper that the Israelis wanted it, claiming that it had originally been theirs. (They were referring to Jacob’s pillar stone from Bethel.)

Yet the fact that we had moved to an apartment in the Gates of Edinburgh told me that the Coronation Stone would ultimately be placed in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The prophetic Word from 1985 was that we were to occupy the gates until He comes. This told us that we were to occupy “The Gates of Edinburgh” until the Coronation Stone moved to Scotland. Only then would we be able to move into our new house.

This is precisely what occurred. A friend was led to give us $3,000 on November 13, 1996 to cover the down payment on the house. The next day, Prince Charles’ birthday, the Stone left Westminster Abbey in London.

We closed on our house November 27, and the previous owners had the house cleaned the next day. We took the first load of furniture to the new house on November 29. We completed the move late morning of November 30, which was St. Andrews Day.

We learned later that the Coronation Stone had been placed in Edinburgh Castle two hours before we completed our move to the new house. So we had indeed “occupied The Gates” until the Coronation Stone moved to Edinburgh, reaching its final destination Nov. 30, 1996.

This Stone was symbolic of Christ (“Our Rock”), and its move to Edinburgh foreshadowed the coming of Christ, which would give us a new “house.”

The Coronation Stone’s History

The Coronation Stone was taken from Ireland to Scotland in the time of Kenneth MacAlpin, the first Scottish King to be crowned on the Stone. He had united the Picts and the Scots. He brought it to the Scone Abbey Perthshire, which had been newly built in 838 A.D. Yet before Kenneth MacAlpin brought the Stone to Scotland, it had been in Ireland for over a thousand years and had been used as a Coronation Stone there.

The origin of the Stone is disputed. Well-established traditions from ancient times said that it was Jacob’s pillow at Bethel, the stone Jacob anointed in Genesis 28:18 and that it was brought to Ireland around 580 B.C. by an old prophet known by the title, Ollamh Fodhla, “wonderful seer.” The Stone was called the Lia Fail, or “precious stone.” He was said to have a scribe named Bruch (or Baruch). He also brought David’s Harp, which then became part of the national heraldry of Ireland. The old prophet also brought with him a princess from the East, said to have come from Egypt, who later married the newly crowned king of Ireland named Eochaudh II.

We know from the Bible that the prophet Jeremiah lived to see the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. We know that he was the custodian of the King’s daughters (Jer. 41:10; 43:6) and that Jeremiah may have been the girls’ great-grandfather (Jer. 52:1; 2 Kings 24:18). We know that they were in Egypt just before leaving the Middle East (Jer. 43). We know that he had a scribe named Baruch (Jer. 32:12; 36:4; 43:6, etc.), who is mentioned 23 times in the book of Jeremiah. We know that these people all disappeared from Judah’s history. Traditions tell us that he hid the Ark of the Covenant and may have taken it with him when he left the land of Judah.

The problem in verifying Jeremiah’s move to Ireland is in the fact that Ireland has some huge libraries with thousands of books in the old language, and no one wants to begin sorting through them. Some years ago a British historian was sent to Ireland to write a history of that country. He took one look at all the books and gave it up as a lost cause. The task was just too massive.

Nonetheless, we know that since the year 543 A.D. the Stone has been called by 88 different names (such as “Jacob’s pillow,” “the Stone of Israel,” and “Bethel”) by 64 different writers. The princess married the new king Eochaudh II, who had just become king of all Ireland in 583 BC. The two were the first in Ireland to be crowned king and queen of Tara upon this Stone. “Tara” is derived from the Hebrew word, Torah, which is The Law. Crowning the kings on the Stone signified ruling according to the laws of God and by His authority.

So the question is, where did the Stone come from prior to its coming to Ireland? If we piece the history together, it becomes quite obvious that Jeremiah brought it to Ireland, along with one of the daughters of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C., Jeremiah took custody of Zedekiah’s daughters.

When the Babylonians took Jerusalem, they set Jeremiah free from prison (38:28). The captain of the guard told the prophet that he was free to do whatever he wished and to go wherever he wished (40:4). He remained for a while, but ultimately, he disappeared from Biblical history with no record of his death.

It seems likely that he took the Coronation Stone and David’s Harp and brought them to Ireland, for just three years later the Irish histories record the coming of an old prophet from the East with a princess, a Stone, and a Harp. There is no question that Ireland was populated by Hebrews, because the old Gaelic language is simply a dialect of Hebrew. Furthermore, ancient Ireland was called Hibernia, which, like Iberia, means “land of the Hebrews.”

Historians are agreed that Spain, which was called “Iberia,” had many Hebrew-Phoenician colonies that mined silver for Solomon. In fact, Solomon’s tax collector, Adoram, died there and was buried. A stone was discovered a century ago that was probably his grave stone, saying he died there after King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, had sent him there to collect taxes.

Spain (Iberia) was the main supply station on the way through the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) to Ireland (Hibernia) and Britain, where tin was mined. One of the main Irish tribes was known as the Tuatha de Danaans, or the “Tribe of Dan.”

Knowing this, it is highly probable that Jeremiah knew of this far-off Hebrew colony and was led by God to bring the king’s daughters with him to preserve the royal lineage of King David. This was the only way to fulfill the promise of God to David that his seed and his throne would be established forever (2 Sam. 7:8-16; Psalm 89:3, 4). These promises find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, of course; but if there was no throne from the destruction of Jerusalem to the birth of Jesus, then the promises would have failed for nearly 600 years. I do not consider this to be a feasible view, nor does it do justice to the promises of God.

Once we link the Coronation Stone to Palestine, we can trace it in Biblical history and see its significance. Jacob anointed the stone in Genesis 28, making it a type of Christ, “the Anointed One.” Before Jacob died, he made Joseph the Stone’s custodian, saying to him in Gen. 49:24, “from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.”

This Stone was apparently sacred to the Israelites, for it represented the divine presence, or “the anointing.” The Great Shepherd is Jesus Christ, the Anointed One (Heb. 13:20). Jacob prophetically called this Stone, “the Shepherd,” for it represented Christ, the Rock and the Good Shepherd, around whom the people would be gathered. They took it with them when they left Egypt, for Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 10:1-4,

{1 Corinthians 10:1} ¹ For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; {1 Corinthians 10:2} ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; {1 Corinthians 10:3} ³ and all ate the same spiritual food; {1 Corinthians 10:4} ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ [christos, “anointed”].

Paul says the Rock which gave them water to drink actually “followed them.” The Greek term he uses is akoloutheo, which means “to follow one who precedes, or to accompany.” The word is found 92 times in the New Testament. It is translated “follow” 91 times.

We conclude, then, that the Rock accompanied them when they came out of Egypt. It was the Rock that Moses struck to give the people water. This Rock was obviously a type of Christ, whose death on the Cross gave us the water of the Spirit to drink. Moses was supposed to speak to that same Rock the second time, but he struck it twice. This disqualified Moses from entering the Kingdom. The second work of Christ is a preaching work, for Christ did not have to die a second time. The second work of Christ will bring revival (water) to the world.

When Paul talked about this Stone in the passage above, it could have been translated, “and that Rock was the anointed one.” In other words, it is possible Paul was identifying the Rock specifically as the one that Jacob had anointed at Bethel.

In the time of the kings of Israel and Judah, we find that the kings of Judah were crowned while standing by (or “on”) a pillar “as the manner was” (2 Kings 11:12-14). In other words it was customary, or traditional, to crown their kings in conjunction with a pillar. Was this just any old pillar? I think not. A coronation has always been a very solemn and sacred ceremony, and anything customary would use specific objects or words considered sacred or stately.

In another passage, 2 Kings 23:3, the godly King Josiah “stood by [or “on”] a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord.” It is hardly likely that he would do so with just any old pillar. It is obvious that the pillar represented something divine, and it was important that this covenant be made at that location. It has been assumed that these kings stood next to a tall pillar (or column) on these occasions, but the wording in the Hebrew text could just as easily have read that the king was standing upon the pillar.

Many years ago I watched a movie about Macbeth, a king who reigned in Scotland from 1040-1057 A.D., during the time that the Coronation Stone was in Scone. In the movie, they portrayed Macbeth being crowned while standing upon a stone. While the producers did not attempt to connect this stone with the Coronation Stone itself, they did portray him as standing upon the Stone. I suggest that this is what they did in ancient Israel, and that this is how the above passages should be read and understood.

When the Stone was brought to London in 1296 A.D., a special Coronation Chair was built to house the Stone. It then became customary for the monarchs to sit upon that chair over the Stone when they were crowned.

God Did It All

With this historical background in mind, we can now see the greater prophetic significance of the events that took place in 1996. About the time it was decided to give the Coronation Stone back to Scotland, God told us to move to Minneapolis. Our decision to move was made even before we heard the announcement from the British Prime Minister.

We had already planned the prayer campaign a month later called, “These Stones II,” which was the second part of the 1988 prayer campaign by that name. God led us to a specific house, which we could not occupy until the previous owners had built another house. They set the closing date for November 27, and they asked to have an extra day in which to clean the house on the 28^th. This allowed us to begin moving on Nov. 29, precisely three years after the Jubilee Prayer Campaign of 1993.

We finished moving just hours after the Coronation Stone arrived at Edinburgh Castle on Nov. 30.

I have lived long enough to know that when God gets ready to reveal His plans, He teaches us by revelation, but He also makes us live the revelation. Things happen which are beyond our control or understanding, so that we know these things are truly of Him, and not merely our own thoughts and plans. This is how He confirms His Word to me, and I share these things with you in hope that your awareness might be increased as well.

The Meaning of the Sign

On Sept. 23, 1996 the overcomers declared the Jubilee. This was done, as usual, in a representative fashion that was on behalf of all overcomers worldwide from the beginning of time. This event formed the background for the events surrounding the Coronation Stone and our stay at the Gates of Edinburgh. The Jubilee was decreed by faith, and though most people know nothing about it, nor would they give it any credence even if they did hear of it, to us it was of prime importance. We did as we were led, and, as usual, God confirmed His Word with signs following.

The Word which God gave to me years ago on May 15, 1985 was this:

“You are to occupy these gates in My name until I come to set up My Kingdom in your midst. As at Mount Sinai on the first Pentecost, when the mount was filled with fire and smoke, and the people were fearful and quaked at the sight, so also have I come THIS DAY.”

The Lord said to hold a prayer campaign to establish this. We did not do so for another ten years—June 4, 1995, which was Pentecost that year. This set the stage for the Jubilee Declaration in 1996, at which time also, we were occupying an apartment at “The Gates of Edinburgh.”

There was no way to know either in 1985 or even in 1995 that the Coronation Stone would be moved in 1996. But as the events began to unfold, we began to see that the Coronation Stone was “the Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” This was obviously what God meant in 1985 when He spoke the Word above, “until I come to set up My Kingdom in your midst.”

For years we held a different understanding of what He meant by this. But when the events unfolded, we saw that He was speaking of the Rock, the Coronation Stone, which was to come to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. God worked it so that we were occupying the Gates of Edinburgh at the same time, in order to show us that the divine right to rule was being passed to the overcomers.”

The historical event was a sign of a hidden work that God was doing in the earth. God was in the process of empowering the overcomers in an unprecedented way. This was done to prepare the overcomers for rulership, or to be judges in the coming Age of Tabernacles.

Nov. 30 was the selected date, because it was St. Andrews Day. The ceremony was presided over by Prince Andrew. Scotland’s patron saint is St. Andrew. Why? Because Andrew means “manly” or “of man.” Prince Andrew did not realize it, but he was fulfilling prophecy from Daniel 7.

In Daniel 7 the prophet tells of four great empires that were to arise. These “beasts” (lion, bear, leopard, and the beast with iron teeth) were given dominion over the earth for a season, along with the “little horn” that would make war with the saints and overcome them. The Concordant Version of Daniel 7 says,

{Daniel 7:17} ¹⁷ These monstrous animals, the four of them, are four kingdoms which will perish from the earth. {Daniel 7:18} ¹⁸ Yet the saints of the supremacies shall receive the kingdom, and they will safeguard the kingdom unto the eon, even unto the eon of the eons. . . .{Daniel 7:21} ²¹ Perceiving am I and the same horn is making an attack on the saints and is prevailing against them, {Daniel 7:22} ²² Till the Transferrer of Days arrives, and adjudication is granted to the saints of the supremacies, and the stated time is reached, and the kingdom is safe-guarded by the saints.

The Concordant Version brings out the fact that the whole chapter is about the transfer of authority (adjudication) from the beast empires of men to the saints of the Most High.

What God did in 1996 was to give us a very dramatic and historic sign in which the princes of men (Prince Andrew) gave the divine right to rule to the saints of the Most High (Saint Andrews).

The declaration of the Jubilee on Sept. 23, 1996 was, in effect, a declaration proclaiming Jesus Christ as King. This is the legal and historical point where the saints of the Most High were caught up to the throne, as prophesied in Revelation 12. About the same time the saints entered into the 1,260-day spiritual warfare described in that same chapter of the book of Revelation.

The ways of God can be long and tedious at times, because the plan of God seems to move ever so slowly throughout history. It was our hope in 1996 that the full manifestation of Tabernacles would be fulfilled at that time, but we discovered that it was only a LEGAL beginning. There was still more to be fulfilled. God was not going to just give us the Kingdom. We had to go into spiritual warfare to lay claim to what God had given us.

It would take 1,260 days to wrest Babylon's assets (people) from the Red Dragon, as prophesied in Revelation 12:6 and 14. But the end is sure, for we read in verse 11,

11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.

In our next chapter we will tell you more about these “Red Dragon Battles,” as we call them. They began on the night of July 16, 1996, but there are actually many starting points, the latest being Oct. 5, 1996. If we trace these dates forward 1260 days, we come to Jan. 1, 2000 to March 18, 2000. One year later (because of the redemption law) the war was completed, where we took the Red Dragon captive March 24, 2001.