No. 821
“His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.” (Psa. 97:4)
God’s holy Prophets of the Old and New Testaments give us numerous pictures of our day and the events now taking place in the world. Taking a prophetic view of the future, the Psalmist David, declared, “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof!” (Psa. 97:1) This began to be true when our Lord Jesus, having returned to earth to set up His Kingdom, took unto Himself His great power (see Studies in the Scriptures, Volume III, Study IX). Yet, not until His Kingdom has been fully established in the earth will His glorious reign be clearly recognized.
That the Prophet David is referring especially to the present time, from 1878 down to the full inauguration of the Kingdom, is clear from his succeeding statement: “Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.” (Psa. 97:2-3) How true it is that the storm clouds are all about us in this day of the Kingly presence of Jehovah’s great representative, the executor of His great purposes! Daily the darkness of gloom and perplexity deepens on every side for those not acquainted with Jehovah’s purposes.
This day of His presence is such a Time of Trouble and distress of nations because He is judging the nations and weighing them in the balance. Judgment is being laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet (Isa. 28:17), so that before long the equitable principles of His government may be established in all the earth. Not only will all unrighteousness be made manifest, but all the willful and persistent opposers of His righteous course will be “cut off,” “destroyed,” “burned up,” and “devoured with the fire” of His jealousy. (Zeph. 3:8)
This work of judgment and the consequent Time of Trouble is a necessary preparation for the glorious Reign of Righteousness to immediately succeed it. It is being wisely directed by the High and Holy One, who is “too wise to err, too good to be unkind.” The Prophet urges us to discern in it an abundant cause for rejoicing and gladness. (See Psa. 96:9-13; Psa. 98:1-9) Indeed, there is great cause for rejoicing, not only among those of the Household of Faith, but in the whole earth; and it is the privilege of believers to tell the glad tidings to all who will hear.
But whether or not anyone heeds the message, let us tell it out. When the great afflictions of this judgment hour begin to seal the instruction upon the hearts of men, then the blessed testimony will be as healing balm. They will see that He who rebuked them in His wrath, and chastened them in His hot displeasure, is also merciful, gracious, and unwilling that they perish, but rather desires that they turn to Him, obey His counsels, and live.
“THE EARTH SAW, AND TREMBLED”
It is in the midst of the clouds and darkness of this Day of Trouble incident to the setting up of Messiah’s Kingdom that the statement of the Prophet is verified: “His lightnings enlightened the world; the earth saw, and trembled.” How apt is this figure! The remarkable glimpses of the great principles of Truth and Righteousness are truly like lightning flashes in the midst of the gloom and perplexity of this cloudy day, in contrast with the world’s present manifest disorder! A flash of lightning from the obscured Throne discloses here one error, and there another, and another.
Soon the whole world will be aroused, and it is already largely so. Every day adds to the intensity of the trouble, and the whole world trembles for fear, not knowing what the outcome will be, but dreading the worst. How truly are the Master’s words concerning this time being fulfilled: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:26)
It is remarkable that these lightning flashes are continually calling attention to the Word of God, to the Golden Rule, to the equal rights and privileges of human brotherhood, to the faultless character and loving and self-sacrificing disposition of Jesus Christ, to the Law of Love in contrast with the law of selfishness everywhere prevailing. It seems remarkable, too, how often in these days of war and stress worldly men are drawing attention to the prophecies of the Scriptures, and wondering whether present conditions, and the troubles which all intelligent people see just ahead, are not fulfilments of these Bible prophecies. All this is leading men to reason of righteousness and of coming judgments (Acts 24:25), when they hope and believe that in some way present wrongs will be righted and righteousness established.
By the sudden, and increasingly frequent, flashes of light from the storm clouds that surround the invisible, spiritual presence of our glorious King, these principles of the Word of God are being illuminated and brought to the forefront. Even heathen nations are discussing them, and are contrasting both the daily lives of professed Christians and the present course of the professed Christian nations with the character and the teachings of the great Founder of the Christian religion. The lightning flashes are revealing the corruption in the world, the dishonesty in high places, and showing men that they are living far below the dignity of manhood. But how to right things they are not able to see; and the conflicting ideas, voices, theories and threats, reveal the facts which the Prophets foretold; for “the nations are angry,” “the heathen [Gentiles, peoples] rage,” and the whole earth trembles
“ZION HEARD, AND WAS GLAD”
Is the Household of Faith in dismay and distress in the midst of all this trouble and tumult in the world, as the judgments of the Lord fall heavily upon the wayward and disobedient so that the whole earth reels and staggers as a drunken man? (Psa. 107:27) No, for it is written, “Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord!” (Psa. 97:8) It is the “sinners in Zion” that are “afraid.” In Psalms we are shown why the faithful rejoice and are restful of heart while others weep and lament: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” (Psa. 91:1-2) “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psa. 46:1) “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” (Psa. 25:14) The “secret place” is represented by the Holy of the typical Tabernacle, while the “shadow of the Almighty” pictures how the typical Tabernacle was covered by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
These dwellers in the secret place of the Most High are provided in these perilous times with a clear knowledge of the Divine Plan, with its times and seasons. This enables them to see both the necessity for the present method of divine discipline upon the world and also the peaceable fruits of righteousness that are to result. In the midst of the storm and battle of this great Day of the Lord, they hear the commanding voice of the Lord of armies, and their hearts rejoice; for they have full confidence in His ability to bring order out of all the confusion. They realize that in the judgments of this Day it is the Lord that speaks from Heaven – from the high place of authority and control; therefore they give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness (Psa. 30:4) – of His Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power, which ensure His doing all things well.
THE HEEDLESS WHO WILL NOT HEAR
While the world at large is ignorant of the real significance of present events, and therefore in fear and dread, and while the Household of Faith is rejoicing and lifting up their heads because they see the outcome with clear knowledge, the Psalmist implied that some, heedless both of the world’s distress and the rejoicing of the faithful, will still serve idols: “Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols.” (Psa. 97:7) These words call to mind the warning of the Apostle Paul: “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth [Moses], much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.” (Heb. 12:25) St. Paul addresses these words to those who know the Lord’s voice and recognize it, warning them against at any time refusing to heed it.
Sadly, there are some who, although they recognize the voice of the Lord, refuse to obey it. They turn away from He who speaks from Heaven, and turn toward the idols their wayward hearts have set up in place of God. These “graven images” are indeed the works of their own hands – the human philosophies, and “science falsely so called” (false knowledge) of this evil day. And those who reject the testimony of God, when once they have heard it, invariably fall into one of the many forms of idolatrous worship now so prevalent; or else they drift restlessly from one to another of them.
They will surely be put to shame and confusion and their idols will be destroyed. The willful sinner, once enlightened and blessed with the hallowed influences of the Holy Spirit and the Truth, will not, as the Apostle declared, escape the just punishment for his deeds. The Apostle points out this danger to the children of God, and warns them of the fearful penalties of turning away from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (Heb. 12:14-19) Here he shows the scenes accompanying the inauguration of the old Law Covenant to be a picture of events which will accompany the establishment of the New Law Covenant, at the close of this present age, under the greater than Moses – our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Mountain (Kingdom) of the Lord’s House is now being established (since 1878) in the top of the mountains, superseding the great kingdoms of this world, and is being exalted above the hills – the smaller governments. (Isa. 2:2) Clouds and darkness, trouble and perplexity and distress of nations are all around, and the thunderings and lightnings are making all the earth to tremble as did Israel at Mt. Sinai. (Exod. 19:1-25) “Yet have I [Jehovah] set my king [our Lord Jesus] upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psa. 2:6) If those who refused to obey Moses and disgraced the ceremonies at Sinai met with instant death, how can we escape if we disregard the voice of the great Mediator of the New Covenant and the remarkable events which now accompany its establishment?
ONLY THE UNSHAKABLE TO REMAIN
We see the deepening clouds of trouble. We hear the thunder tones of judgment: “The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof [from the east to the west].” (Psa. 50:1) We see the lightning flashes of truth and righteousness, and observe how the whole earth is now in the shaking process which will result in the complete overthrow of all existing institutions, systems and governments. Present events indeed speak in trumpet tones.
Surely, dear brethren, we must regard these things with thoughtful and reverent hearts! Watching and praying, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Heb. 4:1)
In this eventful period everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that only the unshakable things of truth and righteousness may remain. (Heb. 12:25-29)
(Excerpts from Reprint 5989 with editing.)
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POLITICIANS AND FALSE RELIGION
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (Exod. 20:4-5)
Jeroboam was not a bad man in the sense of sympathizing with viciousness and crime, nor in the sense of wishing to bring his people into slavery. On the contrary, he was a man of courage and love of liberty, who desired to deliver his people from what he considered to be oppression in connection with the new king Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor. Under his leadership, the ten tribes of Israel revolted from the House of David and established themselves as a separate kingdom, with the avowed object of being free from the oppressions of the kings. (1 Kings 12:25-33)
In many respects this would seem to have been a noble procedure; but it was a great mistake, as is every move which ignores God and His arrangements. The divine arrangement for the nation was that its affairs were all to be under God’s care as God’s kingdom, with the family of David as God’s representatives. Under these conditions the religious interests had gradually gathered more and more about the vicinity of the Temple at Jerusalem. The more religious of the people liked to be near it, especially as it was obligatory under the Law that they should go up there to worship at least once or twice a year.
Whatever were the good thoughts of Jeroboam respecting the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, he quickly manifested the spirit of a politician. He reasoned that the going of the people to Jerusalem to worship yearly would mean that sooner or later they would again be drawn back to the kings of the line of David; and that in order to preserve his own power he must break off the religious connections with Jerusalem by establishing a new religious cult.
Two golden calves were prepared, the one located in the northern part of the territory, and the other towards the southern part, that thus the people might have the general thought that worship and sacrifice could be performed at one place as well as at another. Moreover, he arranged for religious festivals, at times different by about a month from the times of celebrations at Jerusalem. This was skillful political wisdom of the kind which would appeal to the majority of rulers not deeply imbued with faith in God. Sadly, it seems that much of the religion of the masses is but a “form of godliness.” (2 Tim. 3:5) King Jeroboam was not very different from the people he ruled, as they readily fell in with his plan and it was successful.
GOD’S PLANS WERE NOT DEFEATED
Many might be inclined to say that God’s plans were thus defeated by an ordinary man; but the Scriptures show us that the very opposite was the case – that God’s plans were forwarded by this opposition of Jeroboam.
God accepted Israel as the typical people of His favor. He had made the Promise to Abraham that through his posterity ultimately all the world would be blessed, which implied great exaltation to Abraham’s posterity of the line of Isaac. Four hundred years elapsed before any movement was made in this direction. By that time Israel was numerous and in bondage in Egypt, and God sent word to them through Moses that if they were willing, He was ready to fulfil to them the Promise made to Abraham.
They rejoiced greatly and followed Moses to Mount Sinai, where the Lord entered into a covenant with them, that if they would keep His Law perfectly, He would give them everlasting life and qualify them to be the Seed of Abraham who would inherit the promise of being the instruments for the blessing of the world. They entered the covenant, but like all imperfect men were unable to keep the Law – unworthy therefore of everlasting life, and of being the favored Seed of Abraham to bless others.
Later on, when they were discouraged, God promised to send them Messiah, whose Kingdom would bless them and afford them an opportunity of sharing in the Promise made to Abraham. God’s dealings with Israel, therefore, were of a typical character. Their Atonement Day, their Law, their mediator, their sacrifices, all typified better sacrifices, etc., under a better Mediator, Christ. The entire dealing of God with Israel was with a view to raising them up out of their fallen condition to as high a standard as possible for them, that thus they might be prepared, when Messiah would come, to be associated with Him in His Kingdom, as His Bride class.
The deflection of Jeroboam and the majority of the nation had the effect of separating the most faithful and loyal of the Israelites from the ten tribes, and driving them into the territory of the two tribes. To these the idolatries established by Jeroboam were properly repulsive. They were willing to forsake their earthly interests. They refused the opportunities of the politician, remained loyal to God and His institutions, and were thus at a disadvantage. This continued for years, until in God’s providence the ten tribes went into captivity to Babylon, at which time more and more of the people gravitated towards the territory of Judah and Benjamin, known as the kingdom of Judah. Later on, God overthrew the kingdom of Judah, and allowed those people also to go into Babylonian captivity; but they preserved in large measure their religious sentiments and interests while in the land of Babylon.
THE RETURN FROM BABYLON
Later, when the Lord delivered the people from Babylon through the instrumentality of King Cyrus, matters had so changed that there were only a few who considered it advantageous to return to Palestine. The great mass of the ten-tribe kingdom had become thoroughly incorporated with the Gentiles, and no longer professed the religion of their fathers or had faith in the Promise made to Abraham. Many of the Judean captivity similarly lost faith and became Gentiles. Those who returned to Palestine were the faithful who trusted in God, sacrificing Babylonian advantages and privileges to return to a desolate land and the city of Jerusalem.
These became the nucleus of a new people, who, in the days of Jesus, were in wonderful readiness for Him, as compared with the remainder of mankind. The remainder of the nation being then cast off from special favor, the door was opened to the Gentiles, that they might hear the Gospel Message and become fellow-heirs of the same Body, or company. If we lacked evidence of the value of the divine dealing with the nation of Israel in preparing them to accept Messiah, we see it in the fact that so many were ready to receive Him in so comparatively short a time; whereas it has required nearly two centuries to gather from all other nations the remainder of the elect company.
Our lesson indicates no failure on God’s part, but wisdom, in permitting the rebellion of Jeroboam and the ten tribes of Israel. Surely it will eventually be seen, as the Bible declares, that all of God’s good purposes will be accomplished; and that the word which has gone forth out of His mouth shall not return unto Him void, but shall accomplish that which He pleases and shall prosper in the thing whereunto He sent it. (Isa. 55:10-11) Soon with the spiritual Seed of Abraham completed, God’s Promise to Abraham will begin to be fulfilled. (Gal. 3:8, 16, 29) All the families of the earth will be blessed by the Kingdom of Christ and His Church.
“WAIT UPON THE LORD”
Modern Jeroboams may be found throughout history. Under the guise of respect for religion, they are really politicians, willing to sell the people to any religious system which would work to their benefit. Every one familiar with history must realize that religion has been made a cloak for all kinds of political intrigue, and always, as in the case of Jeroboam, under pretense of giving the people greater liberties.
The proper thought for the people today is the one which would have been the safe one for the ten tribes of old – namely, to wait for the Lord to overrule their affairs and to deliver them from the bondage of kings in His own way. This is the Lord’s message to us now. God’s people are forewarned not to use carnal weapons, and not to trust in such weapons in the hands of others. The trust of God’s people is to be in God. They are to realize His faithfulness and the truth of His promises, which assure them that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to the called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28)
To these God is now saying, as in olden times, “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” (Zeph. 3:8) This will not be literal fire devouring the literal earth, but a symbolic fire of trouble devouring the political, financial, social and religious structure of the world, and preparing them for the great blessings of Messiah’s Kingdom. These are referred to in the next verse, in which the Lord declares, “For then [following the fire of trouble] will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9)
That pure message is what the Bible elsewhere speaks of as the “still small voice” of God, which will be heard among the people during the thousand years of Messiah’s Reign and which will accomplish their full deliverance from ignorance, superstition, and sin back to harmony with God. Whosoever will not obey that voice of God through the great Messiah will be utterly destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:19-23)
(Excepts from Reprint 5732 with editing.)
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FURTHER THOUGHTS
To reflect further on the topics of this paper, we offer this quote from Pastor Russell’s writings:
“And though the faithful children of God have often pointed out that union between the Church and the civil power is out of order, being in the Scriptures termed harlotry (Rev. 17:5), and though in a great measure the world has withdrawn from the churches, the union still exists, and the Scriptures seem to point out that, in the time of trouble approaching, the nominal churches, professedly virgins of Christ, will be on the side of the kings of the earth, and united to them . . .
“Not only does prophecy point out a closer union between these than at present exists, but any close observer can see that the principal lever by which the royal aristocracy rules the masses is the superstition that God appointed these ‘great men,’ though often both weak and vicious, to rule over them; and that to rebel against tyranny and injustice, and to claim justice, liberty and equal rights, is to oppose God’s will. Hence the tendency of governments and churches is toward open or secret union for their mutual welfare in the coming storm.
“Not only so, but the coming struggle between the aristocracy and the masses of every civilized land will be so peculiar, so unlike any former experience, that moderate, conservative, religiously-inclined people, fearing the utter wreck of society in chaos and anarchy, will naturally prefer monarchy, oppression and bondage to anything certain to be worse . . .
“When repressive, restrictive and coercive measures are thought to be necessary, such measures will probably include not only labor organizations and the publications which advocate their rights and wrongs, but also such others as point out the plan of God, and the real cause and only remedy for the great distress of the nations. Yes, the time is probably not many years distant, when repressive measures may be brought to bear against every effort of the saints to spread the good news of the coming kingdom, all on the plea that the general interests and the public welfare demand such a course . . .
“The same necessity for restricting liberty on political and social questions will probably be supposed to apply equally to freedom of expression on religious questions, which really lie at the foundation of all liberty. It would not be surprising if a ‘strong government,’ a monarchy, would someday replace this present Great Republic; and it is entirely probable that one common standard of religious belief will be deemed expedient and will be promulgated, to teach outside of which will be treated and punished as a political offense. Such a persecution would not only furnish, in the end or harvest of this age, another parallel to the harvest of the Jewish Age (Acts 4:10-13, 23-30; Acts 5:29-41; Acts 11:19), but would also give a wider and deeper significance to the words of the Apostles Paul and John (2 Tim. 4:3; Rev. 13:17), and to the typical illustrations of the close of the earthly career of the true Church, as represented in Elijah’s whirlwind departure and John the Baptist’s imprisonment and beheading.”
(Excerpt from Studies in the Scriptures, Volume II, pages 261-264.)
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ANNOUNCEMENT
The date of our Lord’s Memorial is March 31, 2026 after six p.m.
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