No. 484
“Whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22:17)
Ezekiel 47:1‑12 – “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house: and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
“Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
“And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
“Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
“Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
“And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
“Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
“Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
“And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
“And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
“But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
“And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.”
Ezekiel’s prophecy is full of symbolism, and has appropriately been termed the apocalypse of the Old Testament. It was written in Babylonia in the Chaldaic language.
Many of the particulars connected with this vision described by Ezekiel are so circumstantial to the land of Israel as to give considerable ground for belief that it will have a literal fulfillment in the future; and in connection with the vision is shown a new division of the land of Canaan amongst the twelve tribes. But whatever literal fulfillment the vision may have, we may be positive that it is to have a grand fulfillment as a symbol, for the life‑giving river here brought to our attention is undoubtedly the same one described six hundred years later, by John the Revelator, and referred to in our text.
Ezekiel was one of the captives of Judah taken to Babylonia by King Nebuchadnezzar on the occasion of his first invasion, when he placed Zedekiah on the throne, eleven years before his later invasion when the city was destroyed. The captives taken at that time included many of the chief men of the Jewish nation, princes and nobles, the brightest and the best. His object in taking these seems to have been to strengthen his own empire, for the captives were not treated as slaves, but were granted great liberty, some of them, as in the case of Daniel, rising to positions of very high honor in the kingdom. Ezekiel had great liberty, and his prophesying was done for the Jews of the Babylonian captivity – exiles. The Lord’s testimony through this prophet was undoubtedly intended to cheer and comfort those of his people who were Israelites indeed, and to fan the spark of faith which still remained in their hearts – to lead them, as in the case of Daniel, to hope for the return of God’s favor and the end of their captivity with the end of the appointed seventy years’ desolation of the land.
The matter as heard by the Jews in exile undoubtedly was pictured as referring to earthly Jerusalem, and the blessings as appertaining to the Jews as a nation. The restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple are clearly and explicitly foretold, and no doubt the hearts of the captives leaped with joy as they thought of the future blessings, and no doubt, also their faith and hope were encouraged. But so surely as Ezekiel’s prophecy was the Word of the Lord, so surely the prophecy did not relate to blessings to be conferred upon that people at the time of their restoration from the land of Babylon, for the predictions of Ezekiel’s prophecy were never fulfilled. Just so surely they belong to the future. Spiritual Israelites may realize that the prophecy not only related to natural Israel but also to spiritual Israel, not only to a deliverance from literal Babylon but also a deliverance from mystic Babylon, “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots,” whose power is soon to be completely overthrown as precedent to a full deliverance of all who are Israelites indeed and the establishment of the Kingdom. (Rev. 18)
River of Life: Our lesson deals with one of Ezekiel’s visions, which predicted the springing into existence of a wonderful river whose waters would bring to the land of Palestine and to the Dead Sea verdure and life instead of drought, desolation and death. The ordinary interpretation of this lesson is that the Gospel is represented in this river, which now for a considerable time has been flowing onward and bringing life. We cannot accept this interpretation, for several reasons: First, the description is in such close agreement with the Millennial Age blessing of Revelation 21 and 22 as to leave no doubt that the same thing is referred to. In Revelation we see that the Church is the Bride, and the Church glorified is symbolized by the heavenly Jerusalem and the river of the water of life, and whose leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations and whose fruit is for their sustenance and whose water is the water of life, living water. There can be no doubt that the two rivers are identical.
A Refreshing Picture: Thus seen God has rich blessings in store for mankind in general in the day when His Kingdom shall be established amongst men, in Immanuel’s day. The restitution of that time is pictured in the leaves of the trees; the abundance of instruction and nourishment, mental, moral and physical, is represented in the fruit of the trees. More than this, wherever the water of this river went life resulted, until finally it emptied itself into the Dead Sea with the effect that the waters of the latter were healed. Fishes thrive well in sea water, but the water of the Dead Sea is about nine times as strongly pregnated with salts, and as a consequence fish taken from the Mediterranean and put into the Dead Sea die in a few minutes – hence the name, Dead Sea.
There is no outlet to the Dead Sea, and its low level and warm climate have tended to make this sea the saltiest water on earth. Its main supply of water comes from the Jordan River, which empties into it an average of 6,000,000 gallons of water every 24 hours. The sea is about 47 miles long. It reaches about 1,300 feet depth, so that its own surface level is almost exactly half way between its bottom and the level of the ocean. Like the Jordan River, this sea is also one of the most remarkable bodies of water on earth. No other is known to occupy so deep a hollow on the surface of the globe.
It would not at all surprise us if in the beginning of the Millennial Age, not only the nation of Israel would receive the blessing of the Lord lost at the beginning of this Gospel Age and become His representative people in the world – the Church having been taken from the world, glorified spirit‑beings – but neither would it surprise us if, in the Lord’s providence, some miracle were wrought by which the Dead Sea would become connected with the Mediterranean, possibly refreshed also by some such river as is here described by Ezekiel, a picture of the symbolical river of life flowing from the New Jerusalem. But however interested we might be in the thought of such a literal fulfillment of this prophecy, our interest is still greater in the fulfillment of it as a symbol in accord with the river of Revelation. From this symbolical standpoint the Dead Sea represents the dead world, and the coming of life‑giving waters would represent the resurrection power of the Lord and the Church exercised amongst men during the Millennial Age. As the apostle expressed it, it would mean, for the Gentiles, life from the dead.
Returning to the Prophets’s vision, we note that the waters flowed out from the House of the Lord, from the Temple, and that wherever they went they brought vitality and refreshment, healing, restitution, life – even to the Dead Sea. This to our understanding is a picture of the grace of God during the Millennial Age, when from the Church, the House of God, the Temple, “the habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22), the stream of the water of life, healing, restoring, rejuvenating, shall flow to all the families of the earth, whose condition is represented by the wilderness eastward of Jerusalem. The result will be the blessing and restitution of all the living families of the earth willing to receive the blessing. And it means more: for the Dead Sea fitly represents the vast multitude of mankind which has gone into the tomb, and the water of life shall reach even these, and bring to them also awakening from death, opportunities of restitution.
Jerusalem being twice sea‑level height above the Dead Sea’s surface represents that Jesus and the Church as God’s Kingdom are not simply one nature, i.e., spiritual or angelic nature, higher than human nature, but are two natures higher than it, i.e., are of the Divine nature. It will be recalled (Rev. 22:1‑3) that out of God’s and Christ’s Throne and out of Christ and the Church as God’s Temple and Altar the stream of Millennial Truth will come and will flow into the symbolic Dead Sea, the Adamic death state, bringing forth from the grave all the Adamically dead, and restoring to human perfection all of them, except those who will not reform (Isa. 65:20; Ezek. 47:11), who are represented by the Dead Sea’s miry and marshy places, and who will die again, the Second Death.
Turning to the description of the same symbolic river furnished us in the Book of Revelation (chapter 22), we find abundant evidence that it does not refer to the present time, but to the Millennial Age. For instance, it is symbolically pictured as having trees of life on either side, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations — not for the healing of the Church, which at this time is the glorified temple from which this river proceeds – and the healing of the nations signifies, as plainly as a symbolic picture could indicate it, restitution, the healing of the woes of the groaning creation, its sin and sickness and imperfection.
We notice also that the proclamation which will then be made will not be restricted, as at the present time, to “even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:39) It will not be to an “elect” class; it will no longer be said, “No man can came unto me, except the Father draw him.” The call at that time will be general – to every creature – “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” We notice further that that broad invitation is extended by God through the Holy Spirit and the glorified Church, as it is written, “The spirit and the bride say, Come!” We notice further that this expression, “the bride,” unquestionably places the call in the future, because, although the elect Church of the Gospel Age is called out from the world to become the bride of Christ, she does not become such, does not enter that exalted station, until in the end of the age she is perfected in glory and in the likeness of her Lord. Then will come “the marriage of the Lamb”; and not until after the marriage will there be a Bride; and not until after the Bride has thus been accepted as such can “the spirit and the bride say, Come!” to the nations.
In other words, there is a measure of selection or election as respects the class invited to constitute “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” “No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called.”
But with the end of the age will come the end of the elective process; then the Divine message will be free grace, an offering and opportunity to every creature of Adam’s race. All blind eyes will be opened that all may see; all deaf ears will be unstopped that all may hear; and the knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth; none will need to say to his neighbor, “Know the Lord, for all shall know him from the least unto the greatest of them.” (Jer. 31:34)
Here is that glorious city (government), prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2), and early in the dawn of the Millennium the nations will begin to walk in the light of it (v. 24). These may bring their glory and honor into it, but “there shall in no wise enter into it [or become a part of it] anything that defileth,” etc (v. 27). Here, from the midst of the throne proceeds a pure river of water of life (truth unmixed with error), and the Spirit and Bride say, Come and take it freely (Rev. 22:17). Here begins the worlds probation, the world’s great judgment day – a thousand years.
This same glorious city (kingdom), the glorified New Jerusalem, the Church and the river of the water of life gushing forth therefrom, are brought to our attention in Psalms 46: “There is a river, the rivulets of which shall spring from the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God shall help her early in the morning.” The connections here also show that these rivulets are not to be expected to flow out as a river until the Millennial morning, and the context refers particularly to the Time of Trouble with which the present age shall end and the Millennial morning shall be introduced.
The Outflowing Stream: “Out of the body shall flow a stream of living waters.” (John 7:38) This verse was not fulfilled at Pentecost, where the Lord’s followers merely began to drink of the spiritual truths, and by them to be united into one body of many members, of which Jesus is the head. It is from this one body that ultimately the stream of the water of life shall flow during the Millennial Age for the blessing of the whole world. Our Lord referred to this saying “My word shall judge you in the last day” (John 12:48) – in the great day, the Millennial Day; the world shall be judged by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The water of life represents the truth, and the amount of the water of life or truth that shall proceed from the mouth of the Lord, from the mouth of the glorified Church, shall be such a stream, such a flow, as will reach to every part of the earth. “The knowledge of the glory of God shall fill the whole earth.” (Hab. 2:14)
A river of water of life is seen and trees of life whose fruit sustains life, and whose foliage heals the people. How this calls our minds back to the paradise from whence Adam was driven on account of sin, and to the tree of life in the midst of Eden, from which he was debarred, and from the lack of whose fruit Adam and his race died.
Oh, what a picture of the “restitution of all things which God hath spoken” — the healing of all the curse, the blotting out of sin, and with it misery, pain, and death, because a ransom has been paid and He who ransomed is the one who gloriously restores.
The water of life which will there flow from the throne is a picture of the future; for not yet has the throne been established on the earth. We still pray “Thy kingdom come,” and not until that prayer is answered, can that river of water of life flow. The water of life is knowledge – truth – for which mankind famishes now. It will flow out bountifully when the tabernacle of God is with men (Rev. 21:3). Then thirsty humanity, groaning in painful bondage to sin and death, will be refreshed and restored.
This river of the water of life represents the blessed influence that will proceed to humanity from the glorified Christ, Head and Body – from the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. When the blessed opportunities of that time are thoroughly open to the world, when the Sun of righteousness shall have scattered all the darkness of ignorance and sin, when Satan shall have been bound (Rev. 20:2), when the river of the water of life shall flow freely, then the invitation that will go forth will no longer be a call of the elect, but an invitation to every creature, every member of the human race, to partake of the blessings and privileges which God has provided in Christ, that they may have the everlasting life and everlasting joy which is to be the portion of those who love righteousness and hate iniquity, and who avail themselves of the gracious provisions in Christ.
It should not be overlooked that the healing and refreshment mentioned in this symbolization does not pertain to the “little flock,” the Church, but to the world, the nations. The Little Flock will have been glorified, perfected in the first resurrection, before this offer of healing and restitution of the world is made. Israel will be the first to be blessed, but subsequently all the families of the earth, as God’s Oath‑bound covenant has promised.
“And there shall be no more curse” (Rev. 22:3) — the curse will be gradually removed and man gradually released under the blessing of that glorious Age.
ANOTHER PICTURE
Realizing their deliverance from bondage, and the Divine Power exercised in their behalf in the overthrow of the Egyptian army, the Israelites were joyful. The journey toward the land of promise began. At length, fatigued and thirsty, they came to a fertile spot, where there was an abundance of water, but alas, it was bitter, or brackish! The disappointment was great. The song of reverence was forgotten; the mighty Power of Jehovah in bringing them through the Red Sea was forgotten; even the taskmasters of Egypt were forgotten. The people murmured against Moses for bringing them away from the fertile fields of Egypt and its abundance of good water. They declared that it would have been better if they had remained in Egypt or even if they had died there. They declared that Moses and Aaron had misled them into leaving the land of plenty, and had brought them into the wilderness, to die there of hunger and thirst (Ex. 16:2,3).
As we consider God’s dealings with Israel, and the instructions given them in the wilderness, we see that these were evidently intended to prepare a nation for self-government – a nation which for nearly two hundred years had been in bondage, almost slavery. The first of this series of wilderness lessons may be designated a lesson of trust; and as we note Israel’s experiences and the Lord’s guidance of their affairs, doubtless we will all find lessons that will be helpful to us.
Three routes led from Egypt toward Canaan, and the Lord chose for His people the most roundabout way of the three. He had in view from the first their need of training. Their long bondage had made them servile and weak, lacking in self‑reliance in the new way and fearful that their leader, in whom they trusted remarkably, might yet prove incompetent for their deliverance. What a resemblance to all this we find in ourselves when first leaving the world and its rudiments – although trusting in Christ, our fully accepted Leader, how apt we are to feel fearful of our ability, even under His guidance, to gain the promised glorious deliverance from sin and its slavery!
The first disappointment in the journey was when the supply of water which they were carrying became exhausted and they had reached the waters of Marah (bitter) and found them brackish and unfit to drink; their disappointment was intense and they murmured against Moses. He in turn cried unto the Lord for help, and in response was shown a tree which being cast into the waters purified them. This was the first lesson of trust, and the Lord impressed it upon them as such (Ex. 15:25,26).
HEALING THE BRACKISH WATERS
Moses, the mediator of the Law Covenant, typified the Christ (Head and Body), the mediator of the New Covenant, and the tree that Moses cast into the waters for their sweetening represented another tree – the one referred to in the statement, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” (Gal. 3:13) The tree represented the cross of Christ, the agency through which the water of truth and Divine Law become waters of grace and blessing for the world of mankind in general when, in the Millennial Age, they shall be delivered from the bondage of Satan and sin, represented by the slavery of Egypt. As the Apostle points out, it will not be possible for God to make a new law under which to bless mankind for the Law given to Israel was good, was perfect, as the Law of God must always be. The Divine promises represented by the water were poisoned by sin – by Adam’s disobedience – and hence were unsuitable and could not give the desired blessing. The cross of Christ, by canceling Adamic sin, canceled also the condemnation of the Divine Law against mankind, and eventually will permit the great antitypical Mediator to make the gracious promises of God good, refreshing, applicable to all who seek to walk in the ways of the Lord. The New Covenant between God and Israel, in which all the families of the earth are to share the benefit, will shortly be sealed with the precious blood – be confirmed, made operative.
But the Lord’s wisdom guided Moses to a certain kind of tree, which, put into the water, made it sweet and palatable. Moses explained to the people that in murmuring against him they were really murmuring against God, for he was merely God’s agent in the matter. A further journey for a season, and they were far from the bitter waters – at Elim, a delightful spot, where they rested and were refreshed.
STILL ANOTHER PICTURE
A certain stream carried brackish water through an otherwise favored district. Elisha took a handful of salt, went to the head of the brook and poured it there, commanding in the name of the Lord that it should henceforth be pure water. Looking for a typical significance of this in the Millennium, we remember that a stream of water represents a stream of truth, and that brackish water would represent impure doctrines. A purification of the stream at its foundation would well represent what the Lord has promised through the Prophet respecting Messiah’s day. “Then will I turn unto the people a pure message, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9)
The salt cast into the spring reminds us of the Master’s words respecting His true followers, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” (Matt. 5:13) It will be in and through the glorified salt of the earth that the blessing will come, the streams of truth for human refreshment for a thousand years. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God will be made to fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep. (Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14)
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ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 1O JUST HOW DEAD IS IT
The Dead Sea is so dead, it may take a canal from the Red Sea to save it.
It could be the most morally uplifting but environmentally heavy‑handed construction project in the Holy Land since Noah’s Ark: a $5 billion canal through the desert from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.
As its apostles see it, the 120‑mile canal would be a grand peace project forever linking Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. It would use hydropower to desalinate water, reduce the squabbling over that precious resource – and revive the Dead Sea.
For, alas, the Dead Sea is dying. Already the lowest body of water on Earth (1,344 feet below the mean level of the world’s oceans), the surface of the Dead Sea is steadily dropping as the supersalty water evaporates in the Middle Eastern sun. Since the mid-1950s, it has fallen 60 feet. In the 1970s, waves lapped against the Lido, a popular seaside restaurant just half an hour from Jerusalem. Today, the Lido is an abandoned shell 500 feet from the shoreline. Busloads of tourists on their way to the sea can read the writing on the restaurant wall, courtesy of existentialist graffitist: “Being\Nothingness.”
At current rates of inflow and evaporation, scientists calculate, the Dead Sea will reach equilibrium and stop shrinking in 90 to 150 years. But by that time, it may be 100 to 400 feet lower than it is today. Instead of a great salt lake, it’ll be a glorified salt lick.
Better red than dead: Generations of visionaries have been drawn to the idea of a Dead Sea canal. Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, described a hydropower canal from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea in his 1902 novel Altneuland (“Old New Land”). Israel seriously considered building Herzl’s dream project in the 1980s – and spent millions of dollars on research before deciding that it was economically unsound.
But a new study, completed in September by Harza Engineering of Chicago for the Jordanian and Israeli governments, suggests that the route would be better Red‑Dead. Water would have to be pumped from the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba up 410 vertical feet to the top of the coastal ridge. But from there, it would rush downhill through the Jordan Rift Valley to the Dead Sea, plunging 1,750 vertical feet. Instead of generating electricity, the main purpose would be to desalinate water with the latest reverse osmosis technology: Sea water under pressure would pass through an artificial membrane and fresh water would be left behind.
Harza says the project could deliver 850 million cubic meters of drinking water per year to be shared by Israelis, Jordanians and the Palestinians. That’s roughly 50 percent of Israel’s entire current usage and could immeasurably improve the quality of life in the parched Jordanian capital of Amman, where trucks now deliver water each summer. At the same time, the canal’s salty runoff could create artificial lakes, spur construction of hotels and gradually raise the Dead Sea by about 50 feet, to its 1964 level.
That was the year Israel inaugurated its National Water Carrier and Jordan began building the Ghor Canal, both of which divert water from the Jordan River for drinking and irrigation. Those projects, coupled with Syrian and Jordanian dams on northern tributaries, have reduced the Jordan River to a trickle and are the main reason why the Dead Sea, home of ancient scrolls and pricey mud‑packs, is shriveling so fast. Chemical factories that pump the Dead Sea’s waters into evaporation pods to extract minerals, have accelerated the shrinkage.
Dyeing the sea: The canal project would reverse the drop in sea levels, but at a cost that makes environmentalists nervous. One fear is that salt water could leak from the canal in an earthquake and contaminate underground aquifers before reaching the Dead Sea. Funny things also could happen when two very different types of salt water mix. Some scientist believe that gypsum crystals would form and hang in suspension, turning the Dead Sea from its clear blue to an unappealing (though harmless) milky white. Aharon Oren, professor of microbiology of Hebrew University in Jerusalem says another possibility is that a dilution of the salt content would allow a sudden profusion of the only two life forms known to survive in the Dead Sea: algae and red bacteria, turning the sea first green, then a rather shocking (though also harmless) pink. That actually happened twice in recent memory, in 1980 and 1992, after heavy rains.
More fundamentally, critics say the projects goals are wrongheaded. The Jordanian side, which is pushing hard for the canal, sees it as a backbone for development. “We are looking at the associated projects. The tourist areas in Wadi Araba, hotels, small lakes, agriculture. It is a desert now. The idea is to make the desert bloom,” says Zafer Alem, coordinator of the Jordan Rift Valley steering committee.
But “the notion of making the desert bloom is not sustainable,” counters Gidon Bromberg, executive director of Ecopeace, a consortium of Israeli, Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian environmental groups. “About 70 percent of the water in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian areas goes into agriculture, most of which is exported. What that means is that the Middle East is really a water exporter. Now can anyone explain that to me?”
The canal would hardly make that water any cheaper. The $5 billion project would produce water at an estimated cost of $1.10 to $1.30 per cubic meter, compared with 80 cents per cubic meter for a seaside desalination plant.
Israel and Jordan have agreed to take two months to evaluate the Harza study before deciding whether to proceed. Philip Warburg, director of the Middle East Program at the Environmental Institute in Washington, believes the project is receiving serious consideration only because it follows a political as well as geological fault line. “If you looked rationally at how to spend $5 billion, you could come up with a lot better projects,” he says.
And anyone who thinks that concern for the Dead Sea’s ecological health is the real impetus for the canal ought to take a hike up Kidron Canyon on the sea’s northwest shore. The waterfall you hear from afar sounds beautiful, but as you get up close there’s an odd pungency in the air. It’s a river of raw sewage that begins in East Jerusalem and flows all the way to the sea. “We’ve been screaming about it for years, but [health officials] say the salt concentration in the Dead Sea instantly kills all the bacteria,” says Yossy Cadan, a conservationist with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. So the Dead Sea, in its death throes, also faces the indignity of being the world’s biggest chemical toilet.
(By Alan Cooperman in Jerusalem and Amman, US News & World Report, December 9, 1996)
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LETTER OF INTEREST
Dear Sister Emily and the brethren there:
I’m sorry for not writing long before this, but we had you in our heart as well as the many brethren all over this nation and elsewhere. Our brethren are dear to us even as they are to the Lord who purchased them.
We have this evidence that we are the Lord’s elect because we love his dear children. The Lord loves us dearly, and in this we rejoice greatly and our cup runneth over. “God so loved the world.” Yes, our hearts go out even to the lost world for one day He shall judge them in mercy and compassion.
We came into the Truth in 1940 and joined the class in Detroit known as the Dawn Brethren, but we are no longer with them. We attended many conventions over the years, but our travel is now limited since about four years back.
Yes, we do read your “Epiphany” papers which is in harmony with the Harvest message. We try to keep in touch with our brethren by letter as much as possible to encourage them and exhort one another as the Word tells us to do.
We assure you of our prayers, and please do the same on our behalf to the brethren.
Brother and Sister ------- (MICHIGAN)
P.S. If you would like to print this testimony in your issue we would be very thankful as other brethren would hear of our name.
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