NO. 800: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM - PART TWO

No. 800

“And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Micah 4:2)

This is a continuation from our February 2024 paper on the establishment of the Kingdom.

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The Law of the Lord will go forth from Mount Zion, the Spiritual Kingdom, and be made known to all the people from Jerusalem, the world’s new capital, as the Word of the Lord by His “princes.” Moral reforms will at once be instituted along all lines; financial, social and religious questions will all be recast in harmony with both justice and love. Judgment will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. (Isa. 28:17) All of earth’s affairs will be squared and plumbed with righteousness and will be brought into strict conformity with it.

This will greatly suppress all lines of business which tempt and seduce humanity through the mental and moral weaknesses of their fallen natures. The distillery, the brewery, the saloon, the brothel, the poolroom, and all other time-killing and character-depraving businesses will be stopped, and their servants will be given something to do that will be beneficial to themselves and others.

Similarly, the building of war-vessels and the manufacture of munitions of war and defense will cease, and armies will be disbanded. The new Kingdom will have no need of these, but will have abundant power to execute summary justice against those who would do evil before they do injury to others – for none shall injure or destroy in all the holy Kingdom. (Isa. 11:9) Only the competent and righteous judges (the Saints) will cause the Second death to come upon the incorrigible. (Isa. 32:1-8; Isa. 65:20-25); Psa. 149:9; 1 Cor. 6:2)

When the great King purchased Adam and his race at Calvary, He also purchased Adam’s dominion, the earth. (Eph. 1:14) He will not apportion it to the selfish, avaricious, and grasping. It will be given to “the meek,” according to His promise in the sermon on the mount. (Matt. 5:5) It is of this great King and Judge (head and body), typified by Moses, that the Lord declares:

“And the spirit of the Lord [Jehovah, Yaweh] shall rest upon him, 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 loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” (Isa. 11:2-5)

To some it might appear that this divine program will make the earth a Paradise for the poor, but a place of anguish to those now accustomed to luxury and advantage, either because of good fortune, superior talents and opportunities, or by dishonest practices. Remember the words of the Judge: “But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full [satisfied]! for ye shall hunger [be dissat­isfied].” (Luke 6:24-25) At first, the rich will be disposed to lament the loss of their advantages, and those previously accustomed to riches will encounter difficulties not experienced by those previously disciplined in the school of adversity.

But the inevitable leveling of society to be accomplished by the anarchy of the Day of Vengeance must be accepted, and eventually all will recognize and accept the advantages of the reign of love (some slowly, others more quickly). All will realize that under the divine arrangement they may, if they are willing, be blessed, be truly happy, and go “up” on the highway of holiness to grand human perfection (in God’s image), and to everlasting life. (Isa. 35:8)

When Satan is bound (evil restrained), and outward temptations removed, the hours of release from labor resulting from present inventions and conveniences will be spent, under the guidance of the glorified Church, in studies which will become more and more attractive and interesting – studies of nature and of nature’s God, and of His glorious attributes of wisdom, justice, love and power. The new government will be a “paternal government” in the fullest sense of that term, caring for all the affairs and interests, great and small, of its subjects.

Mankind might contemplate with serious apprehension the establishment of the most auto­cratic government the world has ever known. Under that government the lives, property and every interest of all will rest absolutely in the hands of the King, but we have the most absolute and convincing proofs that every regulation and arrangement of the Kingdom is designed for the benefit of its subjects. The King of that Mediatorial Kingdom so loved those over whom He is to reign that He gave His own human life as their ransom price to secure for them the right of an individual trial for everlasting life, and the very object of His Millennial reign is to assist them in that trial. As the Redeemer, He has the right to control absolutely that which He purchased with His own blood.

But can the Saints who are to be His joint-heirs and associate judges be safely trusted with absolute, autocratic power? Yes! Just as Christ Jesus proved that He had the Heavenly Father’s spirit, so all who will be of that “little flock” will have been proved to have “the spirit of Christ” – the holy spirit of love. One of the terms of their “call” was that they become copies of God’s “dear Son.” They have been selected from among the weak and imperfect, in order that they may be able to sympathize with those who will then be under their care and instruction.

The nations will be ruled by irresistible force, until righteous order is established; every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess divine power and glory, and outward obedience will be compulsory. As it is written, “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers.” (Rev. 2:27) Although the power and rod will still remain throughout the Millennial Age, their use will probably be unnecessary, as all open opposition will be thoroughly rebuked in the great time of trouble. God will be saying, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen [the peoples], I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psa. 46:10) It will, however, be the work of the entire Millennial Age to “lay justice to the line and righteousness to the plummet” in all the affairs of each individual of the race, all of whom will thus be “taught of God” through His great Prophet, Priest and King (head and body). (Heb. 7:17; Zech. 6:13; Acts 3:22; Deut. 18:15)

As the personification of wisdom, the new King will declare: “For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.” (Prov. 8:35-36)

THE GLORIOUS PROSPECT

The world will be given time to see in Israel the operation of divine government and its practical benefits, in contrast with the then prevalent anarchy, so that the majority of all nations will “desire” the Kingdom rule. (Hag. 2:7) This is forcibly pictured in the prophetic words addressed to Israel: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isa. 60:1-3) This will apply to spiritual Israel, the Sun of Righteousness, but also to its earthly represen­tatives – fleshly Israel restored to favor.

Truly, that will be a glorious day of opening blinded eyes and turning many to righteousness! It will be the time mentioned by the Prophet when a nation shall be born “at once” (during the Millennial Day). (Isa. 66:8) Israel will be that nation: (1) Spiritual Israel, the “holy nation”; (2) Fleshly Israel, its earthly representative. And from Israel the light will shine out which will bring the chastened world to its knees; and usher in the promised pouring out of the Lord’s spirit of holiness “upon all flesh” after those days, as it has been poured out upon His true servants and handmaids “in those days” (during the Gospel Age). (Joel 2:28-29)

This is the salvation day whereof the Prophet David sang: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psa. 118:24) The educational reforms and instructions of the future will begin with the hearts of men. They will start with the lesson, “The fear [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov. 9:10) One of the great difficulties of present-day education, which tends to promote pride, arrogance and discontent, is its lack of this elementary wisdom. Every work of grace under the regulations of the Kingdom will be properly begun and thoroughly accomplished.

No creature of the redeemed race will be too low for divine grace to reach, through the all-powerful and blessed agency of the Kingdom. No degradation of sin will be too deep for the hand of mercy to fathom, to rescue the blood-bought soul; no darkness of ignorance and superstition will be so dense in any heart that the light of divine truth and love will not penetrate its gloom and bring to it a knowledge of the joy and gladness of the new day, and an opportunity to share the same by obedience. No disease that can attack, pollute, or disfigure the physical body will be beyond the prompt control of the Great Physician.

The grand work of restitution, thus begun among the living will then extend to all the sleeping families of the earth. The resurrection of the Ancient Worthies, along with the ongoing restor­ation of the sick to health in answer to prayers of faith, will suggest to the living the possibility of the resurrection of others – friends and kindred – from death and the grave, in fulfilment of the promise of Christ that all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth. (John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:13)

It is reasonable to think that this great work may begin and progress in answer to prayers of faith for the restoration of the departed. Such a method would recall the dead gradually, and in the reverse order of that in which they died. Those who would make such requests would be required to make proper preparations for the return of the risen and for their advancement on the “highway of holiness.” Such restorations would thus be rewards for the faithfulness of the living, and would also secure favorable conditions for the awakened ones. All prayers for the restoration of departed friends are not likely to be promptly answered, however. Some such requests might not be in harmony with the Lord’s plans; His order will probably be in order of fitness, as clearly indicated in the resurrection of the Church and of the Ancient Worthies.

What a glorious prospect the new dispen­sation will present! The thought of a whole race returning to God with songs of praise and ever­lasting joy upon their heads seems almost too good to believe; but He who has promised is able also to perform all His good pleasure. (Isa. 46:10; Heb. 10:23) Sorrow and sighing now seem almost inseparable from our being, yet sorrow and sighing shall then flee away; though weeping in sackcloth and ashes has endured throughout the long night of the dominion of sin and death, yet joy awaits the Millennial morning, and all tears shall be wiped from off all faces, and beauty shall be given for ashes, and the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness. (Isa. 35:10; Psa. 30:5; Isa. 25:8; Isa. 61:3)

The Kingdom of God will increase until it becomes “a great mountain” (Kingdom) which will fill the whole earth. (Dan. 2:35) It will be primarily the Kingdom of the Father, ruling over all (Matt. 13:43; Matt. 26:29), but the Father will voluntarily place the dominion of earth for a thousand years under the full charge of a Vicegerent – Christ and His bride exalted to the divine nature. Christ, head and body, will subjugate and destroy evil and lift up all the willing to full harmony with the Father under the gracious conditions of the New Covenant.

In a secondary sense, the Kingdom will include the earthly ministers or “princes,” who will be its visible representatives among men. In a still wider sense, it will include all those who recognize its establishment and render loyal submission and devotion to it – both Jews and Gentiles. In the widest sense it will gradually include all subjects who obey its laws, while all others will be destroyed. (Acts 3:23; Rev. 11:18)

The status of the vice-royal Kingdom of God at the close of its appointed thousand years’ reign will be a conquered peace and an enforced reign of righteousness under the rule of the iron rod. (Rev. 2:27) But such a conquered and enforced peace and obedience is far from God’s ideal. God’s ideal Kingdom is one in which each individual is free to do His own will because he has a will that is in strict conformity to the divine standard of love for righteousness and hatred of iniquity. That standard must ultimately prevail throughout the universe, and it will be introduced at the close of the Millennial Kingdom.

Accordingly, we are shown (Rev. 20:7-10) that at the close of the Millennial Age there will be a “harvest” time for sifting and separating the billions of human beings then living, each having enjoyed a full opportunity of attaining perfection. This will be similar to the sifting of Babylon (Christendom) in the harvest time of the Gospel Age, and similar also to the sifting work in the harvest of the Jewish Age. The harvest of the Millennial Age will witness the complete sepa­ration of the “goats” from the Lord’s “sheep,” as represented in our Lord’s parable. (Matt. 25:31-46)

Because Satan deceived and blinded the masses of mankind, the results of the Jewish and Gospel harvests each resulted in only a “little flock” gathered, with the great masses proving unworthy. However, we may reasonably expect the results of the Millennial Age “harvest” to be reversed – the masses will be loyal “sheep” and be ushered into life-everlasting, and the “goats” will be a minority and will be destroyed. But quality, not numbers, is the Lord’s test. His guarantee is that sin and those who sympathize with evil will not go beyond the Millennium to endanger the happiness, peace, and blessedness of the great eternity: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)

Thus, God’s Kingdom will come, and His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Thus will the Christ reign as the Father’s vicegerent until He has put down all antagonistic authority and power, and caused every knee to bow and every tongue to confess the wisdom, justice, love and power of God the Father. The last crucial test at the close of the Millennium will manifest all who have even the slightest sympathy for sin (though outwardly obedient). These having been destroyed from among the people (Rev. 20:9), He will surrender the vice-royal dominion to the Father. The Apostle expresses the matter thus:

“Then cometh the end [of Christ’s reign], when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is [Adamic] death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [the Father] that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:24-28)

Will God’s will cease to be done in earth as in heaven at the termination of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom? Oh no! Quite to the contrary, that condition will only then be attained, as the result of Christ’s reign. By that time all men will not only be perfect, as Adam was when created (willful sinners having been destroyed), but additionally they will know the goodness of righteousness and the exceeding sinfulness and injuriousness of sin; and they will have successfully passed their trial and demonstrated that they have fully and definitely formed characters in fullest harmony with and likeness to the divine character. The Kingdom of God will then be among men as it is now in heaven among the angels. The special features of Christ’s Mediatorial Kingdom under the New Covenant, with its provisions of mercy for the weaknesses of sinners, will be at an end. Those provisions will no longer be needed because there will no longer be weak and imperfect beings to profit by them.

We can readily suppose, however, that even when all are perfect and in God’s image, order will still be maintained. This will imply righteous principalities and powers, resulting in the first thoroughly successful Republic. Present attempts to recognize every man as a sovereign and the equal of every other man, and the elected leader as a servant rather than a lord, have all proven failures because men are not equally endowed mentally, physically and morally, nor in financial and other respects. None are really fit to be sovereigns, but on account of weaknesses all now need to be under laws and restraints. When mankind has attained perfection through the Mediatorial Kingdom, all will be kings as was Adam before he sinned. The post-Millennial Kingdom of God will be delivered collectively to these kings, and all will reign harmoniously under the law of love. O Lord, we pray, Thy Kingdom Come!

GOD’S FOOTSTOOL MADE GLORIOUS

“Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool . . . and I will make the place of my feet glorious.” (Isa. 66:1; Isa. 60:13) The work of the Millennium will consist of reordering and making glorious God’s footstool. Paradise was but a “garden” in a corner of the earth when it was lost through sin. But the race of Adam has multiplied to fill the earth, in accordance with the divine intention (Gen. 1:28), and as the entire race has been redeemed, it will be necessary to provide a Paradise sufficiently large to accom­modate all. This implies that the entire earth will become as the Garden of Eden in fruitfulness, beauty, and perfection. All this is promised as the grand future consummation of the divine plan. (Acts 3:20-21; Rev. 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:4)

The period of the reign of sin and death is the time when God “remembered not His footstool in the day of his anger” (Lam. 2:1), but in the Millennium, the people are prophetically exhorted: “Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.” (Psa. 99:5) The Prophet Zechariah clearly sets forth the thought that the establishment of the New Jerusalem, the Church of God glorified as the new government in the earth, will mean the beginning of the restoration of divine favor to Jehovah’s footstool. (Zech. 14:4-5)

This prophecy, which refers to Jehovah’s feet standing on the Mount of Olives, is generally misunderstood and applied to the feet of our Lord Jesus at His second advent. Some go farther and assert that it will be His feet of flesh, pierced with the nails of Calvary, not realizing that our Lord gave up His human nature, completely and forever, as our ransom price. However, the preceding verse shows that it is the return of Jehovah’s feet that is referred to: “Then [referring to the trouble by which the Kingdom will be established] shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle [in olden times for Israel]. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” (Zech. 14:3-4)

As soon as we recognize that the feet mentioned are Jehovah’s feet, we cannot dispute that this language is symbolic, and refers to the Lord’s reestablishment of His dominion in the earth, which has long been comparatively abandoned to Satan, the “god of this world.” If the placing and resting of Jehovah’s “feet” is symbolic, we may be sure other features of the same prophecy are symbolic. The Mount of Olives, its peculiar division, its valley, the flight of the people, the waters of life from Jerusalem (Zech. 14:8 – compare Ezek. 47:1-9), etc. are all symbolic statements – pictures of grand spiritual truths.

The olive is a symbol full of meaning. In Hebrew the olive tree was called shemen or oil tree. In olden times it was the source of artificial light, its oil being generally used for this purpose. (Exod. 27:20) Olive oil was also used as the basis of many of the precious ointments of olden time – such as that used in anointing the priests and kings, typifying the Holy Spirit upon the antitypical “royal priesthood.” (Exod. 30:24) And from time immemorial the olive branch has been used as a symbol of peace. (Gen. 8:11; Neh. 8:15) If a mountain is considered the symbol for a kingdom, as it is elsewhere, the term Mount of Olives is easily seen to represent the Kingdom of light, peace, and divine blessing, and the standing of Jehovah’s “feet” upon it signifies that the divine favor and law will be re-established in the earth by and through the holy Kingdom.

This application of the term Mount of Olives, is in full accord with the Apostle’s statement (Rom. 11:17, 24) in which he compares fleshly Israel with the original cultivated olive tree, and Gentile converts to wild olive branches grafted in where the natural branches had been broken off. (Compare Jer. 11:16-17) He explains that the root of the tree is in the promise of God – the Abrahamic promise that the seed of Abraham should eventually bless all the families of the earth. Eventually the same root or promise will bear two kinds of branches – the ingrafted wild olive branches, and the re-ingrafted natural branches, when fleshly Israel has its blindness turned away and looks with the eye of faith upon the Savior crucified and pierced as a sacrifice for sin.

We remember also that fleshly Israel was God’s typical Kingdom or mountain for a long time, and that spiritual Israel of the Gospel Age is called to be the real Kingdom of God, as our Lord declared, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

From these two Kingdoms has proceeded all “the light of the world” during all the darkness of the past, for are they not the representatives of the Old and the New Testaments, the old and the new Covenants? Do they not correspond to the Lord’s “two witnesses” – the two olive trees of Zechariah? (Zech. 4:3, 11-12, see also Rev. 11:4) Do not these two parts of the mountain symbolize the outcome of those covenants, the results of the witnessing – the Kingdom in its heavenly and its earthly phases? We see that the two halves of the Mount of Olives signify the two parts of the Kingdom of God, distinctly separated according to a divine order or arrangement, The separation indicates no oppo­sition between the two parts, but is for the purpose of producing the “Valley of Blessing” between them.

It is to Israel only that it is said, “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains.” (Zech. 14:5) Yet as a name, Israel signified “The people blessed of the Lord” – “The people of God” – “The Lord’s people.” (2 Chron. 7:14) As we have seen, the first or spiritual blessing of the Kingdom will come to spiritual Israel, and the second or earthly blessing will begin with fleshly Israel, yet it will not stop there. Whosoever is willing may become an “Israelite indeed” by exercising the faith and obedience of Abraham. Hence, the Prophet Isaiah declares that Israel will include: “Even every one that is called by my [Jehovah’s] name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” The name Israel will then apply to all who are God’s people. (Isa. 43:7; Rom. 9:26, 33; Rom. 10:13)

When God’s time fully comes, and the sacrificing of the great Day of Atonement (the Gospel Age) has ceased and the high priest comes forth to bless all the people, then Jehovah’s curse, or sentence of death, will be lifted from the earth. His footstool tabernacle will again be recognized, and its beautifying in righteousness and truth and in the holy spirit of love will progress until, at the end of the Millennium, all the willingly righteous will have reached perfection and been reunited with Jehovah, and all the unwilling will have been destroyed. (Acts 3:23; Rev. 20:9)

Carrying the picture further, the Prophet declares: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not [full] day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be [clear] light.” (Zech. 14:6-7) The day here referred to as only partially bright is the Millennial Day, although in it the Sun of Righteousness will arise and shine, to scatter earth’s miasma of sin and superstition and death. It will nevertheless be only partially bright, because throughout it will be dealing with generation after generation of the fallen race in various stages of restitution toward perfection. But how refreshing it is to be assured that in that day of the reestablishment of Jehovah’s feet upon His footstool, there will be no more thick darkness, and that at the close of that Millennial Day the world will have reached the high noon of its knowledge of the glory of God, and its sun will never set.

The Prophet Zechariah refers to “living waters” flowing from Jerusalem during this Millennial Day when Jehovah’s feet are reestablished upon His footstool (Zech. 14:8-9), reminding us of the corresponding testimony of the Prophet Ezekiel. (Ezek.47:1-12) John’s revelation also shows restitution blessings under the symbol of water to which whosoever will may come and drink of freely, and also of fruitful trees of life everlasting, whose leaves will heal the repentant of all imperfections. (Rev. 22:1-2)

“And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.” (Zech. 14:9) Ah yes! His Kingdom will have come and His will be done as His faithful have long prayed. God’s footstool will then be glorious indeed, as it is written: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” (Num. 14:21; Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14)

(Excerpt from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapters XIII and XIV, pages 632-656, condensed and edited.)

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NO. 799: THE COMING ANNIVERSARY SUPPER

No. 799

Some Thoughts for the Memorial

“And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show [proclaim] the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Cor. 11:24-26)

The date for celebrating the Memorial to our Lord in 2024 is Friday, March 22, 2024 after 6:00 p.m. The calculation is based on the new moon (in Jerusalem) nearest the spring equinox (March 20, 5:06 a.m.) which is March 10, 2024, 11:00 a.m. Thus Nisan 1 commences on March 9 at 6:00 p.m. Counting forward from Nisan 1, Nisan 14 commences on March 22 at 6:00 p.m.

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The supper which our Lord instituted “in remembrance” of His great sacrifice for our sins and “for the sins of the whole world,” (1 John 2:2) is striking in its appropriateness and its simplicity. Throughout history great men have sought to perpetuate their memories by very different means, by reminding their followers of their great deeds and qualities rather than by a reminder and commem­oration of their death, especially if, as in our Lord’s case, it was a shameful death as a criminal. Jesus did not, as others might have, leave instructions to His followers to strike medals commemorating His mighty works such as the awakening of Lazarus, or the stilling of the tempest on the sea, or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem while the multitude strewed the way with palm branches crying “Hosanna!” (John 12:13)

No, our Lord chose to be remembered by His mightiest work – His sin-offering on our behalf – the work which His real followers, and they alone, would appreciate more than any other of His works. His followers, as well as the world in general, would have appreciated something commemorative of His wonderful words or works, but the value of His death as our ransom-sacrifice, the basis of our reconciliation and atonement, has never yet been fully appreciated by any but the Elect. It was for those that the Memorial, the remembrancer, was arranged and instituted. And although a Judas was present, he was given a “sop” and went out from the others before the supper was ended. This no doubt represents that in the close of the Gospel Age, before the Little Flock will have finished their part of having fellowship with their Lord in His suffering, the “sop” of truth will have become so strong as to drive forth from the company and communion of the faithful all who do not rightly appreciate and value the ransom accomplished by the Lamb of God for the taking away of the sins of the world. (John 1:29)

THE PROPER DATE

The Paschal Supper, the first feature of the Law given to Israel as a typical people, commemorated their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and the sparing of their first-born. The date of that memorial was of course calculated by the Jewish method of reckoning time; viz., lunar time. (Exod. 12:2-14) Instead of dividing the months as we do, they allowed the new moon to mark the beginning of a new month; and the difference between the sun time (solar time) and moon time (lunar time) was equalized every year by always beginning the new year with the appearing of the new moon about the spring equinox. The Jews still maintain this method of reckoning in celebrating their religious festivals. And since our Lord, the Apostles, and the early Church followed this same rule for determining the date for the annual celebration of our Lord’s Last Supper, we also follow it.

The Hebrews began counting with the first of Nisan, and on the tenth day the Paschal lamb was selected from the flock. On the fourteenth day (the full of the moon) the lamb was to be killed and eaten. As the sun symbolizes Christ’s Kingdom, so the moon symbolizes Israel as a nation. (Rev. 12:1) The twelve (sometimes thirteen) lunations symbolize the tribes of Israel. The symbolic moon was at its full at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. There it immediately began to wane and waned for as long as it had previously increased. Christ’s death was thus the turning point between the two equal parts of Israel’s history. (See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume II, Chapter VII, p. 218)

Note that those Jews who were unclean, and hence could not keep the Passover properly in its proper season, were permitted to do so on the fourteenth of the second month (at the full of the next moon – Num. 9:8-13). The lesson taught seems to be that all prevented (by ignorance) from accepting Messiah as their Redeemer when He is offered to them will have an opportunity of doing so when the “times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) comes and their nation (moon) shall again be “full” of blessings in the latter harvest.

Their Passover Feast began on the fifteenth day and lasted seven days, the first and the seventh days being observed as especially holy, as Sabbath days. (Exod. 12:16) On the sixteenth day the omer of the first-fruits of the barley harvest was offered to the Lord, typifying the resurrection of Christ our Lord, “the firstfruits of them that slept.” (1 Cor. 15:20) Fifty days after (Pentecost Day), they offered before the Lord two wave loaves, typifying the presenting of the Church before God and their acceptance through the merit of the great High Priest, indicated by the anointing of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. (Lev. 23:17)

All these things done by the Jews every year were types of greater and grander occurrences. The choosing of the lamb on the tenth day typified that Israel must accept Jesus then, five days before that Passover Feast – and four days before His crucifixion – in order to be blessed and recognized as first-born in the antitypical Passover. And it evidently was on that very date that our Lord offered Himself finally to that nation – when, as their King, He rode into the city on the colt. (Compare John 12:1, 14-15 and Zech. 9:9) However, they did not receive the Lamb of God, were rejected at once, and ceased from being the typical first-born.

The fourteenth day was the day in which the Paschal lamb was to be killed and eaten, and the Hebrew counting of time (doubtless divinely arranged for this very purpose) permitted the eating of the “Last Supper” upon the same day that the Lord was crucified. (1 Cor. 11:23) The Passover supper of lamb and herbs and unleavened bread (fulfilling the Law, which was not ended until the cross) was eaten shortly after 6 p.m. The institution of the Memorial Supper of bread and wine then followed, representative of the body and blood of the antitypical lamb. This thereafter, as often as the occasion returned (yearly), was to be observed by His followers instead of the eating of the literal lamb, as the commemoration of the antitypical lamb and the greater passing over of the antitypical first-born.

The method of calculating the date for Good Friday and Easter Sunday in vogue in Christendom differs from the foregoing in this: the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox is celebrated as Easter Sunday, and the preceding Friday is recognized as Good Friday. This method of counting was instituted by the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, instead of the Jewish method which we recognize, although the name “Passover” (rather than Easter Sunday) continued to be used for a long time afterward. The name “Easter” was substituted for “Passover” after Papacy had become established in political influence and ignorant pagans began to flock to the system which enjoyed the favor of the government. The pagans had been in the habit of celebrating, at about the same time as the Passover, the festival of their goddess whose name is thought to be derived from the ancient word for spring, eastre. The adoption of the name “Easter” was one of the many methods used by an ambitious clergy for gaining numbers and influence. Sometimes the two methods of counting, Jewish and Roman Catholic, indicate the same days, but not often, and occasionally their results are nearly a month apart.

We do not celebrate the feast-week but the day previous, the 14th of Nisan, beginning on the evening of the 13th. This was the proper date for killing and eating the Paschal lamb and consequently is the anniversary of the death of our Lord Jesus, the true Lamb of God, because of whose sacrifice the Church of the firstborn is “passed over” from death unto life (by faith while still in the flesh, but actually in “the first resurrection”). The antitype of the Passover Feast week is found in the rejoicing of heart of all the firstborn of true Israel, the seven days signifying the perfection or completeness of the joy and the salvation.

While we have given the details as to the calculation of the date, we attach no importance or bondage to the exact anniversary day. We recognize no such bondage upon those made free by Christ. We wish to observe the Memorial Supper properly, upon its proper anniversary, as intended by our Lord when He said, “This do [every time you celebrate this yearly memorial] in remembrance [lit., for commemoration] of me.” However, we esteem it more as a privilege than as a duty. If we should err in calculating the date, through ignorance or misunderstanding, we believe the Lord would accept our good intentions, and forgive the error and grant His blessing. Indeed, we believe that the Lord owns and accepts the good intentions of many of His children who, because of erroneous teachings and human traditions, select various other times and seasons for celebrating this memorial of His death, instead of its anniversary which He designated. Similarly, we would sympathize with the patriotic intentions of any who would celebrate the independence of the United States three, four, or fifty times a year, forgetful of the date, or ignorant of the fact that the Fourth of July is the anniversary of the event, and was appointed as the appropriate date for celebrating it.

Like other truths long buried under the rubbish of the Dark Ages, God is now making this clear to His people. All who are truly His are anxious for the truth on this, as upon all other subjects revealed in God’s Word.

“YE DO SHOW THE LORD’S DEATH”

There is no necessity for discussing with honest minds what is and what is not meant by the expression “the Lord’s death.” Some who are anxious to get away from the doctrine of the Ransom, and the logical deductions associated with it, claim that our Lord Jesus had two deaths – regardless of all Scripture to the contrary – one when He came into the world, and the other at Calvary. They claim that the death of the “man Christ Jesus” as a ransom for all at Calvary (1 Tim. 2:5-6) was of small importance as compared with the other. They seem willingly ignorant of the fact that the Scriptures declare, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once.” (Rom. 6:10) This one death, the only one ever referred to by our Lord or His Apostles, was the death at Calvary. This one and only death of our Redeemer is what is symbolized by this Memorial (this remembrancer). His body, His flesh, was broken for us, and all who would have life everlasting must partake of its merits and life. On this important question, “Let no man deceive you by any means.” (2 Thess. 2:3)

But as water baptism is not the important baptism, but only the symbol representing the real baptism, so partaking of the emblematic bread and wine is only the symbol of the more important feast – our appropriation of the merit of Christ, which secures to us eternal life through His broken body and shed blood. By faith we accept His finished sacrifice, and by similar faith, as instructed by Him, we appropriate to ourselves all the merits, perfections, and rights which the man Christ Jesus possessed and laid down in death for us. We feed our hearts upon the bread of everlasting life – the bread God sent to us from heaven. (John 6:33)

This is the true bread – the flesh which He gave for the life of the world, that all the dead and dying race may have life. If men will eat of this bread they will never die. This is what the literal bread primarily symbolizes and signifies to all who partake of it rightly and intelligently. It is a Memorial of the ransom of Adam and His family from the bondage of sin and death.

THE BREAD AND THE CUP

Note that the bread was unleavened. Leaven is corruption, an element of decay, hence a type of sin and the decay and death which sin works in mankind. So then, this symbol declares that our Lord Jesus was free from sin, a lamb without spot or blemish – “holy, harmless, undefiled.” (Heb. 7:26) Had He been of Adamic stock, had He received His life in the usual way from any earthly father, He too would have been leavened with Adamic sin, as are all other men; but His life came unblemished from a higher, heavenly nature, changed to earthly conditions; hence He is called the bread from heaven. (John 6:41) Let us then appreciate the pure, unleavened, undefiled bread which God has provided, and so let us eat of Him – by eating and digesting the truth, and especially His truth – appropriating His righteousness to ourselves by faith. Let us recognize Him as “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

The Apostle, by divine revelation, shows us a further meaning in this remembrancer. Not only did the loaf represent our Lord Jesus individually, but by consecration the Church has become associated with Him as part of the one broken loaf – food for the world. (1 Cor. 10:16) It has been the privilege of the Church as justified believers to share in the sufferings and death of Christ, the condition upon which they could become joint-heirs with Him of future glories, and associates in the great work of blessing and giving life to all the families of the earth.

This same thought is expressed by the Apostle repeatedly and in various figures of speech, but none of them more forceful than this, that the Church, as a whole, is the “one loaf” being broken. It is a striking illustration of the union and fellowship of the Church with its Head. We quote: “The loaf which we break, is it not a participation of the body of the anointed one? Because there is one loaf, we, the many [persons] are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1 Cor. 10:16-17, Diaglott)

The “fruit of the vine” represents the sacrificed life given by our Lord: “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood [symbol of life given up in death] of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28) It was by the giving up of His life as a ransom for the life of the Adamic race, which had been forfeited through sin, that a right to life may come to men through faith and obedience under the New Covenant. (Rom. 5:18-19) The shed blood was the “ransom for all,” which was paid for all by our Redeemer Himself. His act of handing the cup to the disciples, and asking them to drink of it, was an invitation to them to become partakers of His sufferings, or as Paul expresses it, to “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ.” (Col. 1:24)

It was the offer to the Church that if they, after being justified by faith, voluntarily partook of the sufferings of Christ by espousing His cause, it would be reckoned to them as though they had part in His sacrifice. “The cup of blessing, for which we bless God, – is it not a participation of the blood [shed blood – death] of the Anointed one?” (1 Cor. 10:16, Diaglott) Would that we all might realize the value of the “cup,” and could bless God for the opportunity of the Church to share with Christ His “cup” of sufferings and shame that they might be assured that they will be glorified together with Him. (Rom. 8:17)

Our Lord also attached this significance to the “cup,” indicating that it signified the participation of the Church in His dishonor, their share in His sacrifice – the death of their humanity. For instance, when asked by two of His disciples for a promise of future glory in His throne, He answered them: “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” On their hearty avowal He answered, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup.” (Matt. 20:22-23)

“TILL HE COME”

What is the full significance of this expression? Since our Lord, who instituted the Memorial Supper, placed no limit upon its observance, this expression by the Apostle is not to be understood as limiting the length of time in which it will be appropriate to commemorate the death of our Lord Jesus, our ransom sacrifice, and our consecration with Him. Rather, He is showing that it was not to be considered a limited arrangement, for a few years, but was to be continually observed until the Lord’s second coming. When speaking of the second coming of our Lord, the Apostle includes in his expression the gathering and exaltation with Christ of His Church or Kingdom to rule and bless the world. The Christ, Head and body, is coming to rule the world in power and great glory. Even though the Kingdom may be considered as begun from the time the King began the exercise of His great power (Rev. 11:17) in 1878, it is the coming of Christ as including the full exaltation of His Church or Kingdom that the Apostle evidently meant.

The same thought of the Kingdom glory being the end of the symbol may be gathered from our Lord’s own words on the occasion of the institution of the memorial – “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” (Matt. 26:29)

Surely if it were ever proper and expedient for those who believe that our Lord’s death was the ransom-price for sinners to confess it – to show it forth as the basis of all their hopes – it is now, when this foundation doctrine of God’s Word is being slandered and misrepresented. Let all who hold fast the confidence of faith in His precious blood (His sacrificed life) as the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world, be more zealous and fervent than ever before in confessing this great truth.

WHO MAY PARTAKE?

We must all decide for ourselves whether we have or have not the right to partake of this bread and this cup. If anyone professes to be a disciple, his fellow disciples may not attempt to judge his heart – God alone can positively read the heart. And though the Master knew beforehand who would betray Him, nevertheless one who had “a devil” was with the twelve. (John 6:70-71)

Because the Memorial Supper symbolizes the death of Christ, let all beware of partaking of it ignorantly, un­worthily, improperly – “not discerning the Lord’s body” as our ransom. To do so would be as though we were one of those who murdered the Lord: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” (1 Cor. 11:27-29) Let all who partake of the emblems realize that they represent the ransom price for our life and privileges.

The primary participants in the Lord’s Supper were to be the Saints, the Little Flock, but we believe the command would apply also to those faithful ones here in the end of the age, before the Kingdom is fully set up. We refer to these as “Youthful Worthies.” We believe this class, who consecrate after the closing of the high calling, is similar to the Ancient Worthies, those faithful ones who preceded the Gospel Age (see Reprint 5761). While they are not a part of the spirit-begotten Church of the Firstborn, the merit of our Lamb has been tentatively imputed to them such that the New Covenant cannot begin to operate toward the world until that embargo against Christ’s merit has been removed. We believe they will be rewarded in the earthly phase of the Kingdom in honor and in service with the Ancient Worthies of Hebrews Chapter 11.

Youthful Worthies are thankful and appreciative of what the Savior has done for them. They do not “suffer with Christ,” nor will they “reign with Christ,” therefore they partake of the bread and cup as symbolizing their tentative justifica­tion and our Lord’s death as the Lamb of God. Their trial is for faith and obedience and not for life as was the Saints’ trial, although they make the same kind of consecration as did the spirit-begotten: “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger [the unbegotten], as for one of your own country [the spirit-begotten]: for I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 24:22)

HOW TO PARTAKE

If there are others of God’s consecrated people with whom you can have communion and fellowship, invite them to join you in the Memorial, but not if you know them to be deniers of the Ransom, lest you assist in bringing additional condemnation upon them. Meet with few or many, as circumstances will permit, but better far with a few who can enter with you into the spirit of the Memorial, than with a throng devoid of that spirit of fellowship and union in Christ.

Provide for the occasion, if possible, unleavened bread (or crackers), such as the Lord used, and such as Jews now use; because the pure, sweet, unleavened bread best symbolizes the sinless flesh of the Lamb of God, who knew no sin (of which leaven is a symbol), being holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from the race of sinners. Provide some drink from “the fruit of the vine” as the Lord directed. Undoubtedly, He and the disciples used light wines, and we regard wine as unquestionably the more appropriate symbol; but since our Lord did not stipulate wine, but merely the “fruit of the vine,” we can conceive of no objection that can be urged against unfermented grape juice. And surely this would be “the fruit of the vine” as much as wine is.

The Memorial service should be very simple – it is chiefly a season of communion. Have a table in the midst of the assembly for the bread and wine. After the singing of a hymn one of the brethren should, in a few chosen words, express the object of the service and read a few verses from the Scriptures on the subject. Another might then give thanks for the bread of life, the broken body of our Lord, after which the unleavened bread should be passed to all the communicants. An opportunity for remarks on the bread of life might here be given. Then a prayer of thanks should be offered for the cup and for the precious blood symbolized in it, and the cup passed. Here an opportunity might be given for remarks on the precious blood. But avoid discussions at this meeting; however appropriate it may be to contend earnestly for the faith on other occasions, this is not such an occasion. This is a meeting for fellowship and communion with the Lord, our Redeemer and present King. If any seem contentious, let him have his say, and let the others refrain from discussion, that the holy moments of special communion, which the Master appointed for our blessing, be not marred.

Of the first Supper it is written that after singing a hymn they simply “went out” and we should do the same. (Matt. 26:30) Let each go to his home with his heart full. We suggest the omission on this occasion of the usual, general and proper after-meeting greetings, and all commonplace remarks and thoughts, that we may thus prolong our communion and fellowship with the Master. Keep within sight of Him throughout the next day. Hear the clamor of the people against the guileless one; see them incited by the clergy of Jerusalem; see Him before Herod and his soldiers; see Him arrayed in robes of mock-royalty and crowned with thorns, then buffeted and spat upon.

See Him crucified as a criminal, and taunted with the very gracious deeds which He had performed – “He saved others; himself he cannot save.” (Matt: 27:42) Remember that He could have saved Himself as He said: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt: 26:53) Remember that He could have destroyed His enemies and villifiers, instead of dying for them. But our hope of a resurrection and everlasting life depended upon His willing offering of Himself as our ransom-price. Considering His love for us and for all it will surely strengthen us as His followers.

It is our prayer that this year’s remem­brancer may be profitable to all who partake in sincerity and Truth. We suggest reading the Passover chapter in Volume VI; and we pray a rich blessing upon all who partake. We are living in wonderful times, and we know not what a day may bring; but we have the strong assurance that we can firmly trust Him who left us an example that we should follow in His steps. (1 Pet. 2:21)

(Based on Pastor Russell Reprint No. 2270 with pertinent additions.)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

NO. 798: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM - PART ONE

No. 798

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” (Micah 4:1)

In our studies of the divine plan, we have seen the trouble of the great “Day of Vengeance” and how divine indignation will burn against sin and selfishness. We now turn to a more pleasant subject – the establishment of the Kingdom of God, which will result in a new and permanent order of things that will bless all the families of the earth. Those who look from “the secret place of the most High” see a silver lining to the clouds of trouble already causing fear and trepidation in the world. They can lift their heads and rejoice that their deliverance is near and that relief is near for all who were bought with the precious blood of Christ. “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” (Mal. 4:2)

Let us now examine, in the light of the prophetic lamp (Psa. 119:105; 2 Pet. 1:19), some of the details connected with the setting up of God’s Kingdom. It is to be the fifth universal empire of earth, and will have no end. It will bring blessings to all its subjects, while all other kingdoms have in great measure brought disappointment and oppression to the “groaning creation.” It is no wonder that it is declared to be symbolically ushered in with a Jubilee trumpet. (Lev. 25:9) It is no wonder that the Prophet assures us that eventually it will be recognized as the “desire of all nations.” (Hag. 2:7)

When we look at the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven, we should keep in mind what we have already learned from the Scriptures about its royalty and those who will constitute it:

(1) It is the Kingdom of God in the sense that the Heavenly Father is the Great King and has arranged the plan of salvation of which the Millennial Kingdom will be a part. It is His Kingdom also in the sense that it will be established and perpetuated by His power. (1 Cor. 15:24-26) It is His Kingdom further, in that it will represent Him as the great chief ruler, and His laws and His love and mercy through the Mediator whom He has appointed.

(2) It is also the Kingdom of Christ – the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, in that Christ as the Mediator of the New Covenant will be the active ruler of this Millennial Kingdom, as the Father’s representative, for the purpose of subduing evil, destroying sin, and bringing into full, hearty obedience to the Father and His laws all of the redeemed race willing to be fully restored to the divine likeness and favor and everlasting life.

(3) It will be the Kingdom of the Saints, in that they as “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10) will reign, judge, and bless the world in conjunction with their Lord Jesus. (Rom. 8:17-18) But these, be it remembered, will all be “changed” in their resurrection (the first resurrection – Rev. 20:4, 6; 1 Cor. 15:42-46, 50-54; John 3:5, 8) and thereafter will no longer be human beings, but “partakers of the divine nature,” and as invisible to mankind as are God and the heavenly angels.

There will consequently be necessity for some means of communication between this glorious Church and those whom it will be judging and lifting up out of the degradation of sin and death. We find that God has made provision that a certain class of humanity, already tried (during the period before the Gospel Age) and found worthy of perfection and everlasting life, shall throughout the Millennial Age serve as the intermediaries between the spiritual Kingdom, the Saints, and their subjects, mankind.

(4) These intermediaries, while not the Kingdom in the proper sense of the word, will be so fully the representatives of it amongst men that they will be recognized as the Kingdom by men: they will represent the Kingdom before men and be the only visible representatives of it. Hence, we have termed these “the earthly phase of the Kingdom,” visible among men. (Luke 13:28) These, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the Prophets are the Ancient Worthies referred to by our Lord and by the Apostles. (Matt. 8:11; Heb. 11:4-40) Having passed their trial, they will be awakened from death perfect – fully restored to human perfection; they will not require a “resurrection by judgment” a thousand years long, as will the residue of mankind. This perfection will enable them to communicate with the spiritual Kings and Priests directly, for the purpose of communicating the laws, etc., for the world. But the earthly rulers will not be the “Kings and Priests,” but under the King’s appointment they shall be “princes in all the earth” – prominent or chief rulers and instructors. (Psa. 45:16)

SETTING UP THE KINGDOM

The earthly phase of the Kingdom and the Kingdom proper, the spiritual rulers, will be related to each other as father and children, and as cooperative departments of the same heavenly government: the heavenly being the legislative or law-giving department, and the earthly the executive or law-enforcing department. As it is written: “For out of Zion [the spiritual Kingdom] shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord [the divine messages through the “princes”] from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3)

During the Gospel Age, the elect overcomers have awaited the Father’s time for their setting up or exaltation to power, as His Kings and Priests, to rule and to teach the redeemed people of the earth, and thus bring to them the opportunity of everlasting life through faith and obedience. Yet during all this time this Kingdom class has suffered violence at the hands of the Ishmael and Esau class (fleshly Israel), and at the hands of Satan, the prince of this world, and his blinded servants. As our Lord expressed it: “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12) Our Lord, the head of the Kingdom, suffered to the extent of death; and all of His followers have suffered something of earthly loss as a consequence of being translated out of the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. (Col. 1:13)

This submission to the violence of dominant evil has not been because of lack of power on the part of our risen, ascended and glorified Lord. After His resurrection He declared: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matt. 28:18) The exercise of that power has been delayed for a purpose. In the Father’s plan there was a “due time” for the great sacrifice for sins to be given, and another due time for the Kingdom to be set up in power and great glory to rule and bless the world. These times were far enough apart to permit the calling and preparing of the elect Church to be joint-heirs of the Kingdom with Christ. The evil influences and opposition of sinners have been permitted for the purifying, testing and polishing of those “called” to be members of the Kingdom class. As with the head, so with the body, it was God’s design that each member as a new creature be made perfect through suffering. (Heb. 5:8-9)

But now we are in the end of this Gospel Age, and the Kingdom is being established or set up and our Lord, the appointed King, is now present (since 1874 – See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume II, Chapter II for a detailed study of Bible Chronology) and the first work of the Kingdom, as shown by our Lord in His parables and prophecy, was to be the gathering of His elect. “The dead in Christ shall rise first,” explained the Lord through the Apostle. (1 Thess. 4:16)

All this is in harmony with the Scriptural declaration that the Kingdom of God must first be set up before its influence and work will result in the complete destruction of “the powers that be” of “this present evil world” – political, financial, ecclesiastical – about the close of the “Times of the Gentiles,” October A.D. 1914.[1] Let us note some scriptures to this effect.

The events under the Seventh Trumpet are described in this order: (1) the power is taken by the Lord as King of Earth, and His reign begun; (2) as a consequence, the great judgment-trouble comes upon the world. We are told, prophetically, that the reign begins before the time of trouble, and before the resurrection of the Saints and Prophets; but that it will continue long after these (for a thousand years), until it shall have “judged” all mankind, rewarding those who reverence the Lord, and destroying those whose influence is corrupting. Note these points in the following quotation:

“We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” (Rev. 11:17) The Lord God Almighty is represented in Christ, His honored representative: “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things.” (1 Cor. 8:6) These things then happen as a consequence of that reign: “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy [corrupt] the earth.” (Rev. 11:18)

The Kingdom reign will begin before “Babylon” falls, which will fall as a result of Kingdom judgments: “For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” (Rev. 19:2-7; Rev. 18)

The Prophet Daniel was divinely inspired to explain to King Nebuchadnezzar his vision of Gentile power, represented by a great image. “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.” (Dan. 2:44-45) The kings are the last of gentile power, represented in the toes of the image. God’s Kingdom was present representatively through­out the Gospel Age but not recognized as a Kingdom. Unlike the gentile kingdoms, it will have no successors and will never be destroyed.

Our Lord assured His faithful, that at the time of the establishment of His Kingdom and the overthrow of Gentile power, the overcoming Church would be with Him, and have a share in that work. His own words are:

“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” (Rev. 2:26-27) (Compare Psa. 149:8-9)

We may not be able to judge accurately what features of the great work are now being carried on by the Lord and His glorified Saints beyond the veil; but we may be sure that they are active participants in the work assigned to the Kingdom class on this side the veil: (1) gathering the living elect; (2) saying unto Zion “Thy God reigneth!” (the Kingdom is being set up); and (3) declaring the “day of vengeance of our God.” (Isa. 52:7; Isa. 61:2)

SETTING UP THE EARTHLY GOVERNMENT

We should not expect the earthly phase of God’s Kingdom until the full end of the Gentile Times, because God made no mistake in giving a lease of dominion to the Gentiles until that date. The earthly phase of the Kingdom of God will be Israelitish, according to God’s covenant with Abraham and his natural seed. Even the chief favor, the spiritual Kingdom, was offered first to fleshly Israel, and would have been given to them if they had been ready at heart to receive it on the conditions attached to it – to suffer with Christ and afterward to be glorified with Him. (Rom. 8:17) Israel indeed desired and sought the best God had to give; but, “Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election [the “little flock” selected from both Jews and Gentiles] hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” (Rom. 11:7, 23, 25-32; Rom. 9:31-33)

While Israelites in various stages of unbelief will be gathered back to Palestine under divine favor and according to promise, none of them will be in any degree reckoned as a part, or even as supporters of, or associated with the earthly phase of the Kingdom, unless they first recognize Christ Jesus as the Son of God, the only Redeemer and Deliverer for Israel and the world.

We understand that the beginning of the earthly phase of the Kingdom will consist wholly of the resurrected holy ones of olden time – from John the Baptizer back to Abel – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the holy Prophets. (Compare Matt. 11:11; Luke 13:28; Heb. 11:39-40) These Ancient Worthies will have no part in the spiritual Kingdom, because that high or “heavenly calling” was not possible until after the ransom had been paid by our Lord Jesus. Yet they will occupy a preferred position above the world, having attested their faith and love during the reign of evil, in a manner approved of God. They were thus prepared and proved worthy to be the earthly ministers and representatives of the spiritual Kingdom. Addressed to the Christ, it is written in the Psalms: “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) Instead of being considered Christ’s progenitors, they will be His offspring and the chief ones in the earthly Kingdom.

These Ancient Worthies will be unlike the remainder of mankind, because their trial is finished while the trial of the world in general will just be beginning. They will be unlike them also in the fact that they will have attained the reward of their faithfulness – they will be perfect men, having completely restored to them all that was lost in Adam of human perfection – the mental and moral likeness to God, and perfection of physical powers. Thus, they will not only be the earthly repre­sentatives of the Heavenly Kingdom – Christ and His Church, but they will individually represent what all the willingly obedient may attain under the New Covenant.

When Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Ancient Worthies have been resurrected and appear among the regathered Israelites, about the time of the close of Jacob’s final trouble with Gog and Magog, their superior mental powers will speedily distinguish them from others. Moreover, their perfect minds will quickly grasp present-day knowledge and inventions. They will be peculiar in many ways, as was the man Christ Jesus, of whom the people said, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15)

Just as Jesus taught the people positively, definitely, and clearly, not in the doubtful and confused way of the scribes, so it will be with the perfected Ancient Worthies when they appear among men. These “princes,” will also have direct communion with the spiritual Kingdom (Christ and the Church) as our Lord had with the angels, and as Adam enjoyed before he came under divine sentence as a transgressor. These “princes” of the new earth (the new order of society) will be fully qualified for the honorable position assigned to them.

Thus, we see that when God’s time for the inauguration of His Kingdom among mankind arrives, His agents will all be amply ready for the service. Their master-strokes of wise policy, their moderation and dignified self-control, and their personal exemplification of every grace and virtue will attract those chastened under the great tribulation and will quickly enlist them in active cooperation. Even before the disclosure of their identity, doubtless the people of Israel will have remarked their pre-eminence over other men.

Furthermore, let us remember that the very design of the great time of trouble, now nearing a culmination, is to break the stony hearts of the whole world, to bow down into the dust the proud, and break up the fallow ground with deep furrows of pain, trouble, sorrow, thus to make the world ready for the great blessings of the Millennial Kingdom. And it will serve its intended purpose: as the Prophet declares, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) By that time all will have learned that all schemes devised and carried out by fallen men are defective, and lead only to various degrees of trouble and confusion. By that time all will be longing for, but despairing of, a reign of righteousness – little realizing how near at hand it is.

Israel’s long cherished hopes of the Kingdom will in the meantime be revived among those who have gathered in Palestine. When the Ancient Worthies announce to them their resurrection and the form of righteous government to be established, the plan will undoubtedly be promptly recognized as being of the Lord. Then mentally their eyes will be opened and they will learn that the real Kingdom over them is spiritual, and that Jesus the crucified is the King:

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” (Zech. 12:10-11)

The news of the defeat of the hosts of Gog and Magog (the merciless plunderers of regathered Israel), and of the wonderful deliverance of Israel from their enemies, will be followed by the news of the appearance of their renowned “fathers,” resurrected, and the establishment of a government with these at its head, and of the general conversion of Israel to the long-rejected Messiah. No doubt much of this will be seen as a fraud among Gentiles: the Jews will be laughed at for being gullible, and the Ancient Worthies will be classed as shrewd impostors.

The blessings accompanying the reorgan­ization of government under the new auspices in Palestine will work wonderful and rapid changes in Israel’s welfare, astonishing the then anarchistic and discouraged world. Many will be led to think and say that – whether they are impostors or not – the work of these men who claim to be the resurrected Prophets is exactly what the world needs! Would to God they would take control of the whole world, and bring order and peace out of our universal disorder. They will seek to have these wonderful “princes” extend everywhere their government, their yoke of righteousness, seen to be so beneficial to Israel. This is stated by the Prophet in the following words:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills [as an overruling Kingdom above all others]; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion [the spiritual Kingdom – the glorified Christ, head and body] shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the seat of the earthly representative government]. And he shall judge among the nations [previously – in the great time of trouble], and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4)

THE KINGDOM AND ITS EARTHLY “PRINCES”

As we should expect, the communication between the two phases or parts of the Kingdom will be easy and direct; and thereby the supervision and instruction of mankind will be complete – the “princes” being the channels of divine commu­nication. This seems to be the intimation of our Lord’s words to Nathanael: “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God [the messengers of God, the “princes” of the new dispensation] ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” (John 1:51) We believe that Jacob’s dream of the ladder between heaven and earth, and the ascending and descending of messengers, was intended to be a prophecy foreshowing the coming close communication between the Heavenly Kingdom and the world. Jacob himself, as one of the communicating messengers, is to have a share in the blessing of the world. (Gen. 28:10-12)

That Moses, the mediator of the Law Covenant, was a type of Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant, is clearly taught in the Scriptures and generally recognized by Bible students. But not all have recognized that Moses was a type of the entire Christ – head and body – and that in this sense the entire Gospel Age has been the period of Christ’s raising up. This, however, is the only application of the type which will fit in a number of cases (for instance, see Acts 3:22-23).

At the institution of the Law Covenant, at Mount Sinai, Moses seems to have been a type of the complete Christ (head and body) at the introduction of the Millennial Age, when the New Covenant will be introduced to the world. This will be after the sound of the “great [seventh] trumpet,” and the black darkness and “great earthquake,” etc., of the Day of Vengeance have appalled mankind and made them ready to hear the voice of the Great Teacher, and glad to accept His New Covenant.

This is distinctly pointed out by the Apostle (Heb. 12:18-22) who seems to mark every step of the parallelism. Israel had been approaching and had finally reached Mount Sinai, the mount “that might be touched” and from which such fearful sights and sounds emanated that all feared and quaked. (Exod. 19) We are approaching Mount Zion and its wondrous glories and blessings far superior to those at Sinai, but accompanying these greater blessings will be the more terrible trumpet, blackness and earthquake shaking – the final shaking of all that can be shaken (all that is sinful and contrary to the divine will), that only that which is true and enduring may remain. The solution of the whole matter is in the words: “Wherefore we [who anticipate thus] receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” (Heb. 12:28)

Continuing the examination of this illustration, we note that afterward Moses went up into the Mount (Kingdom) and was glorified, the skin of his face shone so that Israel could not look at him. (Exod. 34:29-35) This would seem to typify the completion of the Church (Christ, head and body) in glory. And the veil which Moses afterward wore before the people, but laid off when with the Lord in the Mount, would seem to typify the earthly phase of His Kingdom, the “princes in all the earth” through whom the Christ will speak to the people and be represented, the glory being hidden.

This seems to be a striking illustration of the intimate relationship which will exist between the earthly “princes” and the heavenly Kings and Priests. Moses went up into the mount to commune with God while the mountain was clothed in clouds flashing with lightning, and the earth quaked as the thunder rolled. This represented the fact that the body of Christ will be completed, the last members “changed” and received into the Kingdom at the time when the present order of things is being changed, in the midst of a great time of trouble such as earth has never yet experienced.

As the first tables of the Law that were broken represented the failure of the Law Covenant by reason of being “weak through the flesh,” so the second tables represent the New Covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator, and which will not fail. (Exod. 32:19; Rom. 8:3) This New Covenant will become operative toward the world after the completion of the “body of Christ,” the members of the Great Prophet like unto Moses. (Acts 3:22) Now note the fact that it was when the second tables of the Law (representing the New Covenant) were delivered, that Moses was changed so that thereafter he wore a veil before the people, because his face shone.

The inauguration of the Kingdom will be accompanied with such awe-inspiring scenes as will cause the whole world to tremble with fear, and to gladly recognize the Anointed of the Lord as King of the whole earth. As Israel entreated that the Lord would not speak to them any more – by the terrible sights and sounds witnessed at Sinai – so here, all peoples will desire to have the Lord Jehovah cease speaking to them in His wrath, and vexing them in His hot and just displeasure, and will be glad to hear instead the great Mediator, to recognize Him as the King whom Jehovah sets over them – Immanuel; the great antitype of Moses – the veiled (hidden) Prophet, Priest and King. (Compare Heb. 12:19 and Psa. 2:5-6)

Israel will be willing, anxious for the new Kingdom; as it is written, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” (Psa. 110:3) It will be just what Israel has waited for (blinded to the higher spiritual call of the Gospel Age): only it will be much grander and more enduring than anything they ever conceived of. Then a vast number of sadly misinformed partial-believers in Christ will say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:21-22) These will not be recognized as the bride of Christ, but will be left to have part in the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the great time of trouble. But they will doubtless also become willing in the day of His power and will become God’s people instead of sectarians. And indeed, very shortly, as our text declares, God’s Kingdom will be recognized as “the desire of all nations.” (Hag. 2:7)

To be continued in a future paper.

(Excerpt from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapter XIII, pages 615-632, condensed and edited.)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

[1] Pastor Russell wrote this in the foreword to the second edition of Volume II of Studies in the Scriptures: “We could not, of course, know in 1889, whether the date 1914, so clearly marked in the Bible as the end of the Gentile lease of power or permission to rule the world, would mean that they would be fully out of power at that time, or whether, their lease expiring, their eviction would begin. The latter we perceive to be the Lord’s program . . .”

NO. 797: JACOB’S TROUBLE

No. 797

“Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.” (Ezek. 38:19)

Given recent events, we find this excerpt from Parousia Volume IV, written in 1897, to be very pertinent. Although we cannot know how future events will unfold, this writing has proven to be remarkably prescient concerning Israel (referred to as Palestine when this was written).

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While the trouble and distress of this day of the Lord will be first and specially upon Christendom, and eventually upon all nations, the final blast, we are informed by the Prophet (Ezek. 38:8-12), will be upon the people of Israel regathered in Palestine. The Prophet seems to indicate a much larger gathering of Israel to Palestine within this harvest period than has yet taken place. He represents them as gathered there out of the nations in great numbers, and, with considerable wealth, inhabiting the formerly desolate places; and all of them dwelling safely at the time when the rest of the world is in its wildest commotion. (Ezek. 38:11-12)

All men are witnesses to the fact that such a gathering of Israel to Palestine is begun, but it is quite manifest that their exodus from other lands will have to receive some great and sudden impulse in order to accomplish this prophecy within the appointed time. Just what that impulse will be remains yet to be seen; but that it will surely come is further indicated by the words of the Prophet Jeremiah. (Jer. 16:14-17, 21)

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north [Russia?], and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes . . . Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The Lord [Jehovah, Yahweh].”

That the Lord is abundantly able to accomplish this we have no doubt. In every nation the question, “What shall be done with the Jew?” is a perplexing one, which, in some crisis of the near future brought about suddenly by the Lord’s overruling providence, will doubtless lead, as indicated by the Prophet, to some concerted action on the part of the nations for promptly conveying them to the land of promise. And, as they went out of Egypt in haste, with their cattle and goods, and aided by the Egyptians who said, “Rise up and get you forth from among my people . . . Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone.” And as the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them whatsoever they required, of silver and gold and raiment (Exod. 12:31-36), so in the next exodus, foretold by the Prophets, they will not be sent away empty, but apparently some pressure will suddenly be brought to bear upon the nations which will result thus favorably to Israel, so fulfilling the above prophecy of Ezekiel.

This enterprising race, once re-established in the land of promise, and thus separated, for a time at least, from the distress of nations so prevalent everywhere else, will quickly adapt itself to the new situation, and the hitherto desolate places will again be inhabited.

But yet one more wave of anguish must pass over that chastened people; for, according to the Prophet, the final conflict of the battle of the great day will be in the land of Palestine. The comparative quiet and prosperity of regathered Israel near the end of this day of trouble, as well as their apparent defenseless condition, will by and by stimulate the jealousies of and invite their plunder by other peoples. And when law and order are swept away Israel will finally be besieged by hosts of merciless plunderers, designated by the Prophet as the hosts of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38), and great will be the distress of defenseless Israel. As the Prophet Jeremiah foretold: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer. 30:7)

As one man the hosts of Gog and Magog are represented as saying, “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” (Ezek. 38:11-13) The Prophet foretelling these events as though addressing these hosts, says, “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts [Europe and Asia are north of Palestine], thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days [apparently the closing scene of the day of trouble], and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee [set apart, distinguished as thy conqueror], O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezek. 38:15-16)

In the midst of the trouble God will reveal Himself as Israel’s defender as in ancient times, when His favor was with them nationally. Their extremity will be His opportunity; and there their blindness will be removed. We read, “For I will gather all nations [as represented in the hosts of Gog and Magog] against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zech. 14:2-3) The Prophet Isaiah, referring to the same thing, instances the Lord’s deliverance of Israel from the Philistines at Perazim, and from the Amorites at Gibeon, saying, “For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon.” (Isa. 28:21; see also 2 Sam. 5:19-25; 1 Chron. 14:10-17; Josh. 10:10-15) In those times, God was not dependent upon human skill or generalship, but fought His battles in His own way. So in this great battle God will bring deliverance in His own time and way.

In Ezekiel’s prophecy (Ezek. 38:1-13), the Lord names the chief actors in the struggle in Palestine; but we may not be too positive in our identifications. Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomar, Togarmah, Javan and Tarshish were names of children of Noah’s son Japheth – supposed to be the original settlers of Europe. Sheba and Dedan were descendants of Noah’s son Ham – supposed to be the original settlers of northern Africa. Abraham and his posterity (Israel) were descendants of Noah’s son Shem, and are supposed to have settled Armenia – Western Asia. (See Gen. 10:2-7) This would seem to indicate in a general way that the attack will come from Europe – the “north quarters” – with allied mixed peoples.

The overwhelming destruction of these enemies of Israel (bringing the end of the time of trouble and the time for the establishment of God’s Kingdom) is graphically described by the Prophet Ezekiel. (Ezek. 38:18 to 39:20) It can be compared only to the terrible overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts, when essaying to repossess themselves of Israel, whom God was delivering. Israel’s deliverance will be in like manner: “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him [regathered Israel] marvellous things.” (Micah 7:15)

The coming of this army from the north quarters against Israel (regathered to Palestine “in the latter days,” having much goods and dwelling peaceably) will be sudden, and “like a cloud to cover the land.” The message to the invaders is, “Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?” (Ezek. 38:1-17) The Lord then declares His purposed destruction of the wicked host; and the description seems to indicate that it will be accomplished by an outbreak of jealousy, revolution and anarchy amongst the various elements composing the great mixed army: a revolution and strife which will involve whatever may still remain of the home governments of the various peoples, and complete the universal insurrection and anarchy – the great earthquake of Revelation. (Ezek. 38:18-23; Rev. 16:18-21)

The testimony of all the Prophets is to the effect that the power of God will be so marvelously manifested in Israel’s deliverance, by His fighting for them (incidentally for all), with weapons which no human power can control – including pestilence and various calamities – poured upon the wicked (Israel’s enemies and God’s opponents) until speedily all the world will know that the Lord has accepted Israel again to His favor, and become their King, as in olden times; and soon they as well as Israel will learn to appreciate God’s Kingdom, which shall speedily become the desire of all nations.

The Prophet Ezekiel, as the Lord’s mouthpiece, tells of the glorious outcome of this victory, and the results to Israel and to all the world, saying:

“And I will set my glory among the heathen [the nations], and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know [acknowledge] that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity [exile] for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me [in rejecting Christ – Rom. 9:29-33], therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies [during the centuries of the Christian dispensation]: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” (Ezek. 39:21-29) Now that this punishment is completed, God will have mercy on the “whole house of Israel” – both the living and the dead – the “times of restitution” having come. (Acts 3:19-21)

“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord [throughout the Gospel Age – at the hands of Spiritual Israel] shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion [the Church, “the body of Christ”], and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” (Isa. 59:19-20; compare Rom. 11:25-32)

“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” But: “Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? . . . he will make an utter end [of inquity]: affliction [oppression] shall not rise up the second time.” (Nah. 1:7, 6, 9)

Thus, by the battle of the great day of God Almighty the whole world will be prepared for the new day and its great work of restitution. Though the waking hour be one of clouds and thick darkness, thanks be to God for His blessed assurance that the work of destruction will be “a short work” (Rom. 9:28; Matt. 24:22), and that immediately after it the glorious Sun of Righteousness will begin to shine forth. “The earth [the present social order] shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage.” (Isa. 24:19-20) The way will be cleared for the new building of God, the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 65:17)

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(Excerpt from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume IV, Chapter XI, pages 552-558 with minor editing.)

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CORRESPONDENCE OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brothers,

Could you send me please, by email, a document with your statement of beliefs as an introduction of the Epiphany Bible Students?

Thank you,

Yours in Christ…………UK

****

Dear Brother …….,

We teach by Scripture authority that:

(1) Man does not possess an immortal soul, but rather he is a soul and is mortal. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Cor. 15:45) (See also 1 Cor. 15:53-54)

(2) The penalty for sin is death, not eternal torment. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4, 20) (See also; Rom. 5:12; Jas. 1:15)

(3) Death came upon man as the just penalty for the violation of God’s law. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

(4) Death means the destruction of the soul – the destruction of man. “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23) “He spared not their soul from death.” (Psa.78:50); “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28 – the Greek Gehenna is improperly translated as “hell” in this verse. Gehenna was a place of utter destruction and symbolizes the second death.)

(5) God in His goodness offered His Son to be our Redeemer, and by His death and resurrection, Christ Jesus provided and produced the ransom price for man’s deliverance and restoration. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb. 2:9) “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Tim. 2:6) (See also Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Rom. 5:6; 1 Cor. 15:22)

(6) God’s beloved Son, Jesus, became a perfect man, grew to manhood’s estate, was put to death as a man, and was raised again from the dead, a spirit being, possessing the divine nature. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins . . . being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) (See also Phil. 2:8-9; Heb. 7:26; 1 Tim. 6:16; 2 Pet. 1:3)

(7) The ransom price having been paid, every person must be brought to a knowledge of the Truth and have a fair trial for life in God’s due time. “And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” (Heb. 8:11) “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” (Jer. 31:29-30) (See also Dan. 12:2-3; Matt. 25:31-46)

(8) To this end, all the dead shall be awakened during the thousand-year reign of Christ. “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29, ASV) “And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” (Acts 24:15) “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan. 12:2-3) “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” (1 Thess. 4:14) (See also Acts 23:6; 1 Cor. 15:12-13)

(9) Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and must come the second time. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30) “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin [not to bear sin] unto salvation.” (Heb. 9:28) (See also John 14:2-3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16)

(10) The period of time elapsing between the first and second comings of the Lord is devoted to the election of the members of the Body of Christ, taken from among men. “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.” (Acts 15:14-16) “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (1 Cor. 12:27) (See also 1 Pet. 2:9)

(11) The requirements for election to that exalted position was full faith in the shed blood of Jesus as the ransom price, a full consecration to do the Father’s will, and a faithful continuance in obedience to the Father’s will even unto death. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom. 12:1) “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Rom. 3:25) (See also Col. 1:23; 1 Pet. 1:2, 18-19; Rev. 1:5)

(12) All who are thus consecrated and begotten of the Holy Spirit and are overcomers shall have part in the chief resurrection, and be exalted to positions in the heavenly Kingdom of God and participate with Christ Jesus in His Millennial reign for the blessing of all the families of the earth. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God . . . This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:4-6) “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham . . . And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:8-9, 29) “For the earnest expectation of the creature [the creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:19) “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (Jas. 4:10) (See also 1 Pet. 5:6, 10)

(13) Under that reign the willfully disobedient shall be everlastingly destroyed, while those obedient to the righteous rule of Christ shall be fully restored to human perfection of body, mind, and character. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive [retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began . . . And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:19-23) “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore­mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:7-8) (See also Eph. 1:10)

(14) During this Millennial reign the earth shall be brought to a state of Edenic paradise and made fit as a place of habitation for perfect man. Fully restored to perfection, man will inhabit the earth forever. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose . . . And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isa. 35:1, 10) “I will make the place of my feet glorious . . . Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” (Isa. 60:13; Isa. 66:1)

We are also attaching two papers, What is the Soul? and Where Are the Dead? We hope you will find this information helpful.

Best wishes and Christian love,

Epiphany Bible Students

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The following questions were received in two emails and have been translated from Italian:

(1) When did the Presence of Christ begin (his coming in spirit, parousia) and the saints, the faithful disciples of Christ who died have already been resurrected? And the saints who now die do not remain in death but are instantly transformed and elegant in heaven? While waiting for your contact, I greet you affectionately.

(2) I wish to join your Association of Bible Students. What should I do? I was baptized many years ago by immersion in water at an Evangelical Christian Community. Is this baptism valid? That is, is it scriptural? …………Rome, Italy

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Dear Brother …….,

Thank you for your emails. You asked when the Parousia or second presence of Christ began. You will find the answer to this in Volume II of Studies in the Scriptures, Chapter VI, beginning on page 173. Here it is shown that the Lord’s Parousia began in 1874. You will need to read the entire chapter. You can read this on line by following this link: The Time is at Hand, Chapter VI.

On your second question, the transformation of the Saints is discussed in Volume III of Studies in the Scriptures, Chapter VII, beginning on page 227. Again, you will need to read the whole chapter, which you can find by following this link: Thy Kingdom Come, Chapter VII.

We appreciate your inquiry about joining our Association, but we are not a sect or denomination. We do not have membership rolls and there is no organization to join. We merely invite people to join our list of persons who wish to receive our articles for the purpose of learning about God’s plan of salvation as taught by Pastor Russell. You are on that list, so in that sense you have joined our group.

As to your Baptism being valid, Pastor Russell answered a series of questions concerning Baptism which are compiled in a book called What Pastor Russell Said, also referred to as the Question Book. These questions are on pages 31-36 and here is a link to that section: What Pastor Russell Said About Baptism. Scroll down until you get to the subject of Baptism. We will quote one question and answer:

Question: What are the questions usually put by Brother Russell when receiving candidates for water immersion?

Answer: You will notice that they are on broad lines – questions which any Christian, whatever his confession, should be able to answer in the affirmative without hesitation if he is suitable to be acknowledged as a member of the Church of Christ:

(1) Have you repented of sin with such restitution as you are able, and are you trusting in the merit of Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins and the basis of your justification?

(2) Have you made a full consecration of yourself with all the powers that you possess – talent, money, time, influence – all to the Lord, to be used faithfully in His service, even unto death?

(3) On the basis of these confessions, we acknowledge you as a member of the Household of Faith, and give to you as such the right hand of fellowship, not in the name of any sect or party or creed, but in the name of the Redeemer, our glorified Lord, and His faithful followers.

Based on Pastor Russell’s view of the matter, if you can answer yes to the first two questions, then your Baptism is acceptable regardless of what group you may have associated with at that time.

We hope you find this information helpful.

In our Redeemer’s name,

Epiphany Bible Students

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ANNOUNCEMENT

The date of our Lord’s Memorial is March 22, 2024 after six p.m.

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

NO. 796: CHRISTMAS HOPES AND JOYS

No. 796

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13-14)

Christmas (or Christ’s festival) is generally celebrated on December 25th; and since its commemoration is merely voluntary and not commanded in the Scriptures, we may well celebrate it on this date, although we believe evidence shows that our Lord was born about October 1st, and that December 25th, nine months previous, was probably around the date of the annunciation.[1] (Luke 1:30-31)

Our confidence that Jesus was sent of God to be the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Deliverer of His people, does not rest merely upon the testimony of the Apostles in the New Testament records. Wonderful and convincing as these testimonies are, they gain most of their weight and importance from the fact that they prove the fulfilment of Old Testament promises, types and prophecies given more or less explicitly throughout the preceding 4,000 years.

He who does not discern at least something of the divine plan of the ages in connection with our Savior – His birth, His ministry of three and a half years, His sacrificial death, His resurrection, His ascension, etc. – fails to get the real strength of the divine revelation, designed by God to be the firm foundation for His people’s confidence in Him and in all the glorious things He has promised to yet accomplish through this great Savior.

OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES

Note the original veiled promise of a Savior, given shortly after sin brought our first parents under divine sentence: “And I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed [the Messiah]; it shall bruise thy head [a fatal blow], and thou shalt bruise his heel [not a vital injury].” (Gen. 3:15) The promise was that God had not forsaken man, but will ultimately recover him through a Redeemer born of a woman.

Note also the promise made to Abraham that the Messiah would be of his posterity: “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:18) The same promise was made to Jacob: “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth . . . and in thee and in thy seed shall all the fami­lies of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) Now coming forward to Moses, 430 years after the Abra­hamic Covenant, note the types and figures of the Mosaic arrangement. Moses himself was declared to be like unto the greater one to come after him. (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37)

Much later, after King David began his reign 536 years after the giving of the Law to Moses, God said to him, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall pro­ceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom . . . And thine house and thy kingdom shall be es­tab­lished for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2 Sam. 7:12-16)

The Messiah’s coming and His greatness were foretold through the Prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 9:6-7; Isa. 11:1-9) The Prophet Daniel also refers to the importance of the Messiah’s work of making an end of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness, and thus sealing the visions and prophecies which the Lord had just given respecting the Messiah and the favor to come through Him. (Dan. 9:24) We recall also how He was typified in Isaac who was not only the heir of the promises made to Abraham, but who was also in a figure put to death and received again from the dead.

Had the hopes of Israel been merely concoctions designed to deceive the people, those concocting the deception would have surely documented an ancestry for the coming Messiah that was free of blights and scandal, but the moral failings among our Lord’s ancestors were instead fearlessly noted. Judah, head of the tribe from which our Lord sprang, was not above reproach and his character was truthfully portrayed. His son Pharez, through whom our Lord’s lineage runs, was born of an unlawful union. Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, and Ruth, a Moabite, were both foreigners adopted as Israelites and were among our Lord’s progenitors. Even through David the line is compromised by coming through Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah, the Hittite.

NEW TESTAMENT IN AGREEMENT

The New Testament writers are similarly candid and make no hesitation in recording the genealogy. All of this is in full accordance with the scriptural presentation of the matter – namely, that our Lord’s virtue, His sinlessness, His separate­ness from sinners, was not through the flesh, not through His mother, but through His Father, God.[2]

As the Apostle Paul explains, Jesus Christ “took on him the seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16), but as we have already seen, He was also indirectly related to the outside world through various circumstances. All of this is interesting to us, but nothing to be compared to our still greater interest in the fact that our Lord Jesus, although born a Jew under the Law, and redeeming those who were under the Law, did more than this: His death, as planned by the Father and accepted by Himself, was a propitiation “for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) He died as the ransom price for Adam and his sin, and thus purchased from condemnation not only Adam, but his entire posterity. “Wherefore he is able also to save [deliver] them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” (Heb. 7:25)

Not only is this true, but the humble circumstances of our Lord’s birth, and His early experiences in comparative poverty as a working man, impress us with the thought that He is indeed able to sympathize with mankind in every station of life; having passed from the glory of the Father to the lowest condition of humanity and back again, He is surely able to appreciate and to sympathize with all conditions and classes.

“FEAR NOT!”

When the angel came to the shepherds with the announce­ment of the Savior’s birth, the light of the glory of the Lord shone about them and they were frightened: “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not!” (Luke 2:9-10) As the angel understood, through sin and degra­dation a fearful apprehension comes over man when he finds himself in contact with spirit beings; he fears further condemnation or punishment. His bad experiences with men of influence, authority, and power lead him to dread the still greater authority and power of the Almighty.

Only true Christians, having the eyes of their understanding opened to appreciate the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God, can have that perfect love toward the heavenly Father which is built upon an intimate knowledge of His Word, and which casts out all fear. (Eph. 3:18-19; 1 John 4:18) We are reminded of the Prophet’s words, which are applicable to many professing Christians of today: “Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” (Isa. 29:13) The Lord would have us free from this fear, though not free from a proper reverence toward Him.

The message of the angel continued, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” How slow the Lord’s people have been to believe this message and to accept the Savior at His full worth! How prone they seem to be to suppose first of all that He was to be a Savior merely for the Jews; or secondly, a Savior merely for a special elect class; or thirdly, a Savior only for those, who under present darkness, ignorance, prejudice, superstition and devilish influences, manifest a special love for righteousness! But how broad is the statement – great joy – for all people!

Our faith that these good tidings will be to all people, that all families of the earth will be blessed, is based on the positive declaration of the Scriptures, which promise that our God has graciously arranged that every member of the human race will yet be blessed with a clear understanding of the great redemption price paid by the Savior: “And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” (Heb. 8:11) All members of the human race will share in the glorious opportunities thus secured to return, if they will, back to full harmony with God and to full blessings and everlasting life. (Rev. 22:17)

Note however, that the angel did not declare that our Lord came to bring universal and everlasting salvation to all people; the angel instead declared that the good message of joy, of privilege, love, hope, shall extend to all people. The explanation of this is that a Savior had been born – a deliverer of the weak, the helpless, the dying, able to succor to the utmost all who would come to the Father through Him; able to open the blind eyes and to unstop the deaf ears that all may come to an appreciation of the goodness of God shining toward them in the face of the Lord Jesus.

In the Syriac language, which was likely spoken by Jesus and others living in the region at the time, the word Savior signifies literally “Life-giver.” What a wonderful thought is conveyed by that word! What is it that our poor, dying race needs? It needs deliverance from death and the sentence of death, and restoration to complete, abundant, and everlasting life.

Our Lord has already become our Deliverer in the sense that He has bought us with His precious blood and has settled our account with Justice. As a result of this work already done (the Church having followed in the footsteps of our Lord and “fill[ed] up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” – Col. 1:24), very shortly now the mystery of God will be finished – completed – and atonement for the sins of the world shall be proclaimed with a full emancipation procla­mation to all people. It will surely be good tidings of great joy! It will be full of gracious opportunities for restitution – and for a full return to all that was lost by father Adam, including perfect everlasting life!

A HALLELUJAH CHORUS

It is no wonder that after this message was delivered the Lord permitted the heavenly host to serenade the proclamation, prophesying the grand results yet to flow from the great work of redemption, only then beginning in the birth of the Redeemer. The anthem properly begins with praise to He who sits upon the throne, to He who devised the great and wonderful plan of redemption and who sent His Son, our willing Redeemer: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14) We are told the consequences that will come on earth – namely, peace. This is not the kind of peace men might patch up between themselves and between nations and parties, and that under present conditions would be sure very soon to be scattered to the winds. It is instead peace with God, a peace which comes from the restoration of the divine good will to the human race.

Because divine justice could not spare the guilty, the sentence of death has borne down upon our race. Under that divine sentence the dying race has become impoverished, not only physically but mentally and morally, and selfishness has become the rule. In its wake have come all our selfish ambitions, pride, strife and love of money, causing so much of the trouble that mankind has experienced.

But now, glory to God in the highest, because peace has been established upon a firm foundation – the lifting of the curse of death through the payment of our penalty by the Lord’s own arrangement! As soon as the body of Christ has suffered with the Head, the great antitypical Day of Atonement will be complete. Peace between God and man will be renewed, and as a consequence the Redeemer will take to Himself His great power and reign for the purpose of blessing and uplifting those He purchased with His own precious blood.

The great peace must be introduced by the breaking in pieces of present institutions with the iron rod of the new Kingdom. They will be crushed as the vessel of a potter because henceforth they will be useless. (Psa. 2:9) In their stead will come the grand and perfect institutions of the Lord’s Kingdom. He will wound to heal, to bless, to bring in peace on the basis of everlasting righteousness.

He will ultimately destroy all those who, after being brought to a knowledge of the Truth, will still love unrighteousness and lean toward corruption: “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23; Psa. 37:9-11; 2 Thess. 1:9) He will destroy them, not in anger but in justice, in love, that an everlasting peace in full accord with that which is in heaven may prevail upon earth.

Wherever the story of God’s redeeming love has gone, even though confused by various falsities, it has carried a measure of blessing with it. It has brought blessing even to hearers who are neglectful of the Word of God. It has brought still more blessing to others who hear partly and obey partly. Its greatest blessing, however, has been to the Little Flock, the Royal Priesthood who, entering into the spirit of the divine arrangement, have realized themselves justified through faith in the precious blood. In harmony with the invitation of the Lord, these have gone forward, presenting themselves living sacrifices that they might have fellowship with Christ in the sufferings of the Gospel Age, and the glories that shall follow in the Kingdom.

It is chiefly this class who have rejoiced in a still fuller opening up of the divine Word so long beclouded by the false doctrines coming down from the Dark Ages. It is this class that has chiefly rejoiced in the discernment of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the divine love and of the divine plan which has purchased the whole world and will eventually recover from present degradation all who under the favorable conditions of the Millennial Kingdom will develop the character which God demands of all who shall have eternal life – a love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity.

(Based on Reprint 3114.)

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THE LOGOS MADE FLESH

“And the Word [Logos] was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We continue our Christmas study in the first chapter of John (John 1:1-18), which is one of the most beautiful lessons in the whole Bible. Genesis goes back to the beginning of earthly things, but this lesson goes back to the beginning of all beginnings, when God was alone. The Logos was the very beginning of divine operation – “the beginning of the creation of God” and “the firstborn of every creature.” (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15)

Logos, translated “Word” in most English versions of the Bible, signifies mouthpiece, or special messenger. Logos was the proper name of Jesus before He became flesh and should be left untranslated, just as the names “Jesus” and “Christ” are left untranslated. Not only was the Logos the beginning of the divine creation, or the Alpha – but He was also the last, the Omega, as He Himself informs us: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Rev. 21:6; Rev. 1:11) The first and only begotten Son of God was given an exclusive place: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) Thus the Father highly honored Him as His agent in all the creative work.

The Greek text of the first two verses of the chapter is not fully represented in any of our common translations. When accurately translated, it reads, “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with the God (τὸν θεόν) and the Logos was a god (θεὸς); the same was in the beginning with the God (τὸν θεόν).” Here the majesty of our Redeemer in His pre-human condition is fully set forth, and yet He is distinctly shown to be the Son and not the Father – to be a god and not the God.

The word god signifies “mighty one,” but there is only one God whose name is the Almighty. St. Paul affirms this great truth, saying, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Cor. 8:6) Jesus did not claim that He was the Father, the Almighty God, but that He was the Son of God, who came to do the will of His Father in Heaven. (John 5:30) The so-called doctrine of the Trinity, put into the Nicene Creed by a council of bishops con­vened by the Emperor Constantine in 325 A.D., has been the cause of much of our confusion when studying the Bible. The Bible contains neither the word “trinity” nor any suggestion of it, except in the one passage acknowledged by all scholars to be spurious, namely 1 John 5:7. This passage is not found in any Greek manuscript written earlier than the fifteenth century.

The Redeemer was not being deceitful when He prayed to the Father with loud cries and tears, “My God! My God!” (Matt. 27:46) He was not being deceitful when He declared to Mary after His resurrection, “I am not yet ascended to my Father   . . . and your Father, and to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) He declared His oneness with the Father, and desired that a similar oneness should prevail among His followers – a oneness of spirit, of purpose. Therefore, He prayed for His Church, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us     . . . that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:21-23)

St. Paul corroborates what our lesson tells us: For our sakes, He who was rich on the spirit plane left the Heavenly comforts for this world darkened by sin and death. (2 Cor. 8:9) He tells how our Lord stooped from His high position, took the bondman’s form and was found in fashion as a man, of the seed of Abraham. (Phil. 2:7-8; Heb. 2:16) However, we are assured that He did not become a sinful man, but that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 7:26) We are also assured that His body was especially prepared, separate and different from others of our race, all of whom were of Adamic stock and all tainted with sin and the seeds of death. (Heb. 10:5-9)

On the other hand, we are to guard ourselves against the unscriptural thought, held by many, that the Logos remained a spirit being at His First Advent and merely materialized, or appeared in human form – what is referred to as incarnation. The Old Testament Scriptures describe how the angels incarnated or materialized, assuming fleshly forms, when they appeared from time to time. Before He actually came in the flesh, our Lord Himself incarnated along with other spirit beings, appearing to be flesh to Abraham. He talked with Abraham, who did not know that he was entertaining Heavenly beings, mistaking them for human travelers.

As He was before He was made flesh, Jesus was a spirit being after His resurrection. He then ap­peared in various forms of flesh, that is He materialized or incarnated, for the purpose of teaching certain lessons to His disciples. As a spirit being, He appeared and disappeared, the doors being shut. In so doing, He taught His disciples a double lesson: (1) That He was no longer dead, but risen; (2) That He was no longer a human being, but a spirit being. (1 Pet. 3:18)

A RANSOM, OR CORRESPONDING-PRICE

As Bible students, we are learning that more than ever we must strive earnestly to keep close to the Word of God. It was the perfect man Adam who sinned and was sentenced to death, and under the divine Law he could be redeemed only by the sacrifice of a perfect man. The Law declares, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a man’s life for a man’s life.” Hence the blood of bulls and goats could never make atonement for Adam’s sin, for they did not correspond: it was not a bullock nor a goat that had sinned and was to be redeemed, but a perfect man. (Heb. 10:4)

All of the human family are children of Adam and sharers in his death sentence. Consequently, “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psa. 49:7) God so shut up the matter that Adam and his race could not have been redeemed except by the finding of a perfect man who would be willing voluntarily to die on their behalf. It was because there was no such man that God arranged with the Logos, His only begotten, that He would become a man and be the Redeemer of the human race – Adam and all his posterity.

But even this could not be demanded of the Logos. Therefore, the Heavenly Father set before His Son, the Logos, a great proposition: If He would demonstrate His faith and loyalty to the extent of becoming man’s Redeemer, the Father would still more highly exalt Him and make Him a partaker of the divine nature, far above angels and every name that is named. (Heb. 12:2; Phil. 2:5-11) The Logos, full of faith and obedience, heartily accepted the proposition, was made flesh, consecrated His life, kept nothing back, finished the work at Calvary, and was raised from the dead by the Father to the divine nature and glory and honor.

“THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

The Logos was made Jesus. The work of Jesus in the flesh, however, is not the completion of the divine plan, but merely the beginning of it. His death constitutes the basis of all future blessings to the Church and to the world. According to the Father’s plan, an elect class was to be gathered out of Israel and out of every nation to be the Church of Christ, His Bride, associates with Him in His Throne, glory and work. (1 Pet. 2:9-10)

With the completion of the Elect, the Kingdom for which we pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” is to be established. Satan is to be bound; all evil is to be brought to an end; every good influence and enlightenment is to be shed; and He who died for the world is thus to become the Light of the world. He has not yet been the Light of the world, but merely a light to His people. As St. John declared, His light shined in darkness, and was not appreciated. (John 1:5) Similarly the light of Truth upheld by His consecrated Church will not be appreciated, because the powers of the Prince of Darkness are so strong in influencing the minds of the world, which as yet lies under “the evil one.” (1 John 5:19, ASV)

But the Prince of Life and His Kingdom will cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of God to fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep (Hab. 2:14), so that none will need to say to his brother, know the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest. (Jer. 31:34) Thus according to His promise, in the coming Kingdom Jesus will be “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) The great mass of humanity, the civilized as well as the uncivilized, have as yet never seen nor even heard of this true Light.

The resurrection of the just will be necessary to bring the Church to glory and joint-heirship with her Lord. But the resurrection of the unjustified, which includes practically all humanity, will be for the very purpose of permitting them to see the true Light, which God has provided in His Son and which will be shed abroad during His Millennial Kingdom. Only those who refuse the light, preferring the darkness, will die the Second Death. (Rev. 21:8)

“POWER TO BECOME SONS”

John the Baptist was a messenger sent to call attention to the Light, but he was not the Light. He was not even one of the Church class, of whom Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), for John the Baptist died before the time of the begetting of the Spirit, after our Lord’s sacrifice.

The world did not recognize the great One, the Logos, by whom it was made. His own nation did not recognize Him, but instead crucified Him. Yet some then and some since have received Him, and to such He has given the power, the right, the liberty, the privilege, to become children of God. No such privilege was given to the Jews, nor to any of the fallen race, until Pentecost, after Jesus had appeared in the presence of God to make atonement for our sins.

These sons are all begotten of the Holy Spirit – theirs is not a fleshly sonship. Their birth of the Spirit will be the resurrection change, when they shall be made like their Master, see Him as He is, and share His glory.

(Based on Reprint 5351.)

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Our best wishes to all our readers for the Lord’s blessing during the holiday season and for a blessed New Year. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psa. 107:31)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

[1] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume II, Chapter II, page 54.

[2] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume V, Chapter IV.