NO. 551 THE BIBLE

The request has come to us that we offer a treatise on the Bible, and it is our fond hope that all our readers may benefit from the effort.  We have acted upon the suggestion because we believe a clear understanding about the Bible is perhaps as confused and misleading with the majority in Christendom as an understanding of the things taught in the Bible.  The word Bible is from the Greek biblia, meaning little books, of which there are 66 in the Protestant Bible - and 80 in the Catholic Bible, which includes the 14 Apocryphal books.  Thus, when it states in Revelations 20:12 “The books were opened,” it may just as properly be said, “The Bible was opened” - that is, the Bible was explained, made clear.

The most popular work among English-speaking people of Christendom is what is commonly designated the King James Version, which is an elegant piece of work from a literary standpoint, but is admitted by scholars to have about 20,000 mistakes in it.  Therefore, it is not the Bible, but a translation of the Bible; and this conclusion may be recorded of every other translation, although some translations show much less defect than others.  It was about 1610 that King James of England (whose name attaches to the King James Version) selected 56 outstanding scholars in England, divided them into seven or eight groups, and assigned to each group a certain section of the Bible for translation.  Before they had finished seven or eight of them had died, but the work was finally completed.  And, considering the material at hand, the difficulties of the times, the deep-rooted errors in the minds of the men involved in the work (such as eternal torment as the wages of sin, the immortality of the soul, etc.), we would conclude that they did a commendable piece of work.  The King James version of the Bible is yet today the world’s best seller of all publications.

The decree of King James was probably instigated by the effort of the Roman Catholics to introduce a Bible of their own - known as the Douay (France) Version - the first edition of which appeared in 1582, reprinted at Antwerp in 1600, and again in 1621, with a fourth edition coming off the press in 1633 at Rouen.  The fifth edition - much the same as the previous four - appeared in 1728; but a sweeping revision was attempted by Bishop Challoner in 1749-52.  His purpose was “to meet the  practical want felt by the Catholics of his day of a Bible with notes more suitable to the time.”  His changes were so many and so much different than the original Douay attempt, that Cardinal Newman declared it to be almost a new edition entirely - no longer sensible to refer to it as the Douay Version.  Said he: “It has been altered and modified until scarcely any verse is as it was when originally published.”  And in all of their editions there are copious footnotes to give the Catholic interpretation of the Scripture involved; but these, too, have had to be revised along with their translation of the text itself.

Akin to the foregoing is the course of Jehovah’s Witnesses with their Bible, which they have translated to fit their own ideas of what they wish the text to say.  A classic example of this is their book copyrighted in 1963, and titled All Scripture Is Inspired of God And Beneficial - a pseudo-translation of 2 Timothy 3:16,17.  Even the veriest novice should know that the word is is not in the original text at all - because the word is is in italics, indicating no corresponding word in the original.  Furthermore, Webster’s first definition of scripture is “anything written”; and in later detail he says “Any sacred writing; as Buddhist scripture.”  We assume the Witnesses would in no sense consider the Buddhist scripture as “inspired of God and beneficial,” yet their caption on the 1963 book would indicate they do believe it.  A proper translation of 2 Timothy 3:16,17 is this: “All Scripture that is God-inbreathed is beneficial.”  That is, inspired Scripture - that which results from the Holy Spirit in the sense given by St. Peter, “Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” is profitable.  This leaves no doubt about the real meaning and purpose of St. Paul’s words.

There are very many translations of the Bible, some much better than others.  Many of them have fewer mistakes than the King James Version, but none of them equal the King James in literary style and fluency of reading.  The best of modern translations for both the Old and the New Testament is probably the one by Dr. Joseph Bryant Rotherham.  The honesty and humility of the learned Doctor are revealed beautifully in his prefaced statement:  “It must be obvious to all, that just in proportion to the importance of these documents must be the obligation to translate them as accurately and adequately as possible; and since in the very nature of things no translation can be perfect, improvement is always possible… It remains only to render in hearty thanks to the scholars whose labors have made this work possible… but first and last - especially in view of preserved life and eyesight and mental freshness - to Him from whom all blessings flow.”

As an example of Doctor Rotherham’s intention to be scrupulously honest in his work, we cite his translation of the word Hell.  This word occurs 31 times in the Old Testament of the King James Version.  Each time it is translated from the Hebrew Sheol; but this same word Sheol is also translated 31 times by the word Grave, and three times by the word Pit.  Thus, Sheol occurs 65 times in all in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament the word Hell occurs 23 times - eleven times from the Greek Hades, eleven times from the Greek Gehenna, and once from the Greek Tartaroo.  The Hebrew Sheol is the exact equivalent of the Greek Hades; and recognizing the prevailing confusion about the meaning of the subject of Hell (his translation was copyrighted in 1897, after about twenty years of work in its preparation), he did not attempt to provide and English word for it in his Bible.  Thus, in the 65 times that Sheol occurs in the Old Testament the Doctor simply uses the Greek word Hades, which is exactly the same in meaning as the Hebrew Sheol; it means oblivion, or the death state.  In the New Testament he leaves the eleven occurrences of Hades just as it is in the original, as he also does with Gehenna; although he does give some English words for the Greek Tartaroo: “pits of gloom in the lowest Hades.” (2 Peter 2:4)  From this example it will be noted that he did not attempt to read his own beliefs into his translation, and this tends to make it a superior piece of work.  

THE BIBLE WRITERS — OLD TESTAMENT

For the 39 books of the Old Testament (not counting the 14 apocryphal books, which are not in the King James, but are included in the Douay version) there are 24 writers, the same being styled the “24 elders” in Rev. 4:4, etc.  St. Peter says of them that they were “holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)  It should be noted that all of them were Jews, and some of them were among the finest intellects ever to appear among the entire human race.  We shall consider only a few of them:

MOSES - Just a little reflection should convince us that he was one of the greatest intellects of all time.  He spent forty days in Mount Sinai with God, receiving instructions of a wide variety.  He could be counted remarkable if we consider only the tabernacle construction, the dimensions, style, construction and material with which the different items of furniture were to be made; and all of these Moses remembered in finest detail — did all exactly according to "the pattern showed him in the Mount."  We need but to read those instructions in Exodus, Leviti­cus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; then reflect how long it might require of us to fix those things clearly in mind after having them before us on the written page.  But Moses remembered all without anything written out for him.  As an executive, a law‑giver, and administrator he was also among the foremost of all time.  And even in his death he was phenomenal.  "Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died:  his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." (Deut. 34:7)  And the poet gives sublime expression to that final event in his life:

By Nebo’s lonely mountain, 

On this side Jordan’s wave, 

In a vale in the land of Moab

There lies a lonely grave; 

And no man knows that sepulcher,

And no man saw it e’er; 

For angels of God upturned the sod 

And laid the dead man there. 

That was the grandest funeral

That ever passed on earth;

But no man heard the trampling 

Or saw the train go forth; 

Noiselessly as the daylight

Comes when the night is done,

And the crimson streak on ocean’s cheek

Grows into the great sun.

This was the truest warrior

That ever buckled sword;

This the most gifted poet 

That ever breathed a word; 

And never earth’s philosopher traced,

With his golden pen,

On the deathless page, truths half so sage

As he wrote down for man.

God hath His mysteries to grace,

Ways that we cannot tell,

He hides them deep like the hidden sleep

Of him He loved so well.

He may well be regarded as perhaps the grandest character that ever lived, and the Jews have a saying that God kissed him there that final night.

DAVID - He is the greatest religious poet ever to be found in Israel and probably in the entire world.  The Psalms which he wrote are in poetry in the Hebrew.  Next to Moses, he is probably the greatest intellect among the Jewish race - a great general, a gifted ruler and administrator - a very versatile man.  And this is all the more remark­able when we consider his humble boyhood and his phenomenal rise to power.  "I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel... and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth." (2 Sam. 7:8,9)  Unlike Moses, who was reared in the palatial surroundings of the Egyptian court, David's early life was spent in the peaceful hills of Israel as a lowly sheep boy.  To arise from such surroundings to the pinnacle of his nation would self evidently place him head and shoulders above his fellows, many of whom had greatly supe­rior advantages of physique, birth, family, wealth, etc.  He is one not to be easily dis­counted from whatever angle we view him.

SOLOMON - Solomon is familiarly known as “The wise man,” and for good cause.  “God said, Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.  God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much… Solomon’s wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.  For he was wiser than all men… his fame was in all the nations round about.  And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.  And he spake of trees… of beasts, and of fowl, of creeping things, of fishes.  And there came all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.” (1 Kings 3:12; 4:29-34)  While the Proverbs of Solomon are most familiar to the general public, his masterpiece of expression is to be found in the Book of Job, which many scholars regard as the finest piece of poetry in existence.  Even Gibbon, an unbeliever, ascribes the supreme place of all literature to the book of Job.  It is so superb in the Hebrew that it cannot be properly translated into English; therefore, the poetic force of Job is lost to the English reader.  Thus, in some respects Solomon outshone his illustrious father David.

 ISAIAH - He is regarded by many as the gentleman of the Old Testament, which is reflected in his scholarly writings.  According to tradition, he was of royal blood - at least of noble descent, but there is no certainty about this.  However, the quality of his writings reflects a finely tuned intellect.  Some of his statements offer proof apparent that he was indeed one of those “holy men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” as evidence Isaiah 44:28: “Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”  This Scripture was written about 200 years before King Cyrus was born; therefore, it can only be attributed to inspiration.  And the same may be said about the 53rd chapter of the book, which offers the very minute details of Jesus’ experiences when He was on earth - even forecasting that he would die in company with criminals.  “He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors.”  This was written about 800 years before Jesus’ appearance on earth, and could have been predicted only through inspiration, as the writer was “moved by the Holy Spirit.”  Isaiah, too, must be counted with the great intellects of all time.

THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS

As stated, the 39 books of the Old Testament were all written by Jews; and all of the 27 books of the New Testament were also written by Jews - excepting only the Gospel by Luke.  And when we consider that St. Paul dictated that book to Luke, then we may say with assurance that all 27 of the books were written by Jews.  Thus, the entire Bible of 66 books has come to us through Jewish writers.  And this poses an intriguing theory:  Either the New Testament writers also "spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit," or they were rank frauds.  As we examine the record, it is not too difficult to determine which supposi­tion is the correct one.  While it is true, that most of the Apostles were "ignorant and unlearned men" (Acts 4:13), there is no evidence of this at all in their writings.  Thus, their coarse exterior must have received a speedy overhaul, or they wrote what they did by inspiration.  But the question logically arises, if they were frauds, what benefit did they receive from their knavery?  We know that all of them suffered much privation, and most of them came to a violent end - extremely so in the case of Peter, who is reported to have been crucified head down; Paul who had his head chopped off in Rome; and James was killed with a sword in Jerusalem.  It is also rumored that John was thrown into a kettle of boiling oil.  However, we shall offer detail on only two of the Apostles:

ST. PAUL - This Apostle was a master logician, a lawyer, a Pharisee, from a wealthy and influential family in Israel - a man who had everything according to the standards of this world.  Hear, then, his own statement of his estimation of it:  "I esteem all things to be a loss, an account of the excellency of the knowledge of the Anointed Jesus my Lord; on whose account I suffered the loss of all things, and consider them to be vile refuse, so that I may gain Christ." (Phil. 3:8, Dia.)  If this statement be true - and even his critics do not dispute it - then his sincerity is not to be doubted.  It is contrary to all human logic and thinking that a man should perpetrate fraud to bring great loss upon him­self; so we are forced to the evident conclusion that Paul must be classed with those "holy men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

ST. JOHN - He is described as “that disciple whom Jesus loved” because of his warm affability and open sincerity.  Next to St. Paul, he is the most copious writer of the New Testament - although the Gospel that bears his name, and the Revelation are presumed to have been written during the last ten years of the first century A.D.  That would be about sixty years after Jesus had died and would put John close to 100 years of age.  Yes, even at that advanced age he has given us in minute and fluent detail the happenings of the last night before Jesus died - chapters 13 through 19 of the Gospel bearing his name; and he provides in those chapters an exact reproduction of the prayer given by Jesus that night, along with some of the most sublime and appealing of all Scripture.  This, too, we conclude would have been impossible at his advanced age had he not written by inspiration.

CONCLUSION - With this sort of evidence to guide us, we ask in wonder why the Jews have not raised the same questions.  With the many keen and brilliant men in their nation since the dispersion in A.D. 70, it is one of the marvels of the Age that such overwhelming logic should not have persuaded them to inquire into the matter.  St. Paul did recognize this situation, and he offers the proper answer: “Brethren [addressed to the Gentiles], that you may not be conceited with yourselves, I wish you not to be ignorant of this secret, that blindness in part is happened to Israel." (Rom. 11:25)  In Psalms 107:17 David has offered a proper appraisal of their situation: “Fools because of their transgression [they crucified the Lord of Glory], and because of their iniquities [sins against the Mosaic Law Covenant], are afflicted.”  All plainly in evidence during this entire Age since A.D. 70.

THE BIBLE’S AUTHENTICITY

There is no original text of the Hebrew Old Testament.  The originals had been scrupu­lously preserved by the Jewish priests, so much so that they would have given their lives to preserve them; but Nebuchadnezzar and his army were more than the priests could with­stand.  Therefore, when he overcame Jerusalem in the Fall of 607 B.C., the sacred writings suffered at his hands, as did also the sacred vessels of the temple.  "He broke down the walls of Jerusalem... And took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door, and the principal scribe... and three‑score men of the people... and slew them at Riblah." (2 Kings. 25:9‑21)  This account tells what was done with the sacred vessels: they were demolished and carried away to Babylon for their in­trinsic value.  But nothing at all is said about the sacred writings.

However, it would seem reasonable that some zealous keeper of those writings did suc­ceed in preserving them, because the Massoretes, who were Hebrew scholars during the years A.D. 450 to 900, worked on the writings then in existence and produced what is commonly known as the Massoretic text.  After they completed their work, they destroyed all other texts, leaving only the product of their own minds.  But it seems they did a commendable job, so much so that Dr. C. D. Ginsberg used their work in his recension of the Hebrew Bible, the latter being one of the foremost of Old Testament translations.

Then there is also the Septuagint, which is a Greek version of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew.  It is so‑called because 70 (actually 72) learned Hebrews at Alexandria, Egypt, undertook in 285 B.C. to produce the Greek copy.  All things consid­ered, it is the most valuable of all translations of the Old Testament - with many margi­nal notes, some of which are valuable, but some self‑evidently wrong, in view of informa­tion now available.  Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the Septuagint, but they cor­rected it when necessary - when it contradicted well‑established teachings.

As for the New Testament, the three oldest manuscripts are the Vatican, the Sina­itic and the Alexandrian.  The Vatican (dating about A.D. 250) is in the Vatican Library in Rome and considered the Roman Church's richest treasure.  The other two (about 100 years later than the Vatican) are both in England.  There is also the Vulgate (about A.D. 400), which is the Latin translation, by Jerome.  Another very influential translation is the one by Martin Luther.  There are many others, of course, but we shall not now detail them.

THE BIBLE’S VERACITY

In view of the foregoing, the question properly arises, What are we to believe?  Admitting that the originals were by inspiration, they are now lost, so we know not def­initely what the originals contained.  Some atheists, scoffers, etc., attempt to make capital of this, which offers the conclusion that men usually believe what they want to believe.  Jesus gave us the "Golden Rule":  "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." (Matt. 7:12)  Today we find this high ideal so little practiced that the scoffers attempt to discount it because of human frailty; but the fact still stands:  A universal practice of this teaching would make immeasurable improvement in hu­man relations.  It would indeed end all wars, all violence, robbery, rapine, etc.  Thus, the critics must admit the sound philosophy and the general good that it contains.

This Rule by Jesus is the only all‑embracing teaching of known religions.  Confu­cius offered a negative in the same direction:  Whatsoever ye would not that men do to you, do not to them.  But a little analysis reveals the weakness of the statement.  In Luke 10:25‑37 is given the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which it will be noted that the Priest and the Levite passed by the man that had been beaten and robbed.  The rule of Confucius would absolve them; they did not attempt further abuse upon the victim, which was a negative attitude.  But the Rule by Jesus demands a positive response when distress is in evidence, which the Samaritan indeed did proffer.

As presently composed, the normal man is possessed of four appetites: (1) The ali­mentive, the desire for food and drink; (2) The procreative, the desire for the opposite sex; (3) The acquisitive, the desire to accumulate, to add house to house and field to field; (4) The religious, the desire to worship something higher than himself.  All of the brute creation possess the first two of these appetites, some of them possess the third, but none of them possess the fourth.  All normal men have an inherent desire to some form of religion, and this is apparent even among the lowest forms of heathen.  It has been so since the dawn of history, but without the Bible we would have nothing more to guide us than what our five senses might reveal.  Thus, the need for our Bible, which gives us much of the past, foretells much of the future, and offers elaborate laws for man's physical, mental, moral and religious guidance.  Its inherent strength is apparent by its gripping force upon any who come within its influence.  This is noticeable even among the lowly and unlearned, who gain some uplift of heart and mind merely from reading it, which demonstrates its inherent magnetic force.  It is the product of the Holy Spirit, operating through the finest minds in history, and its Divine origin is evident in that it inspires and enables men to rise above themselves, an attribute not apparent among the heathen.

One of the outstanding reasons for Christendom's superiority over the heathen is the help received from the Bible.  The laws of Moses were far superior to anything then in existence anywhere else on earth, and can logically be said to have been far ahead of their time.  In the case of Jesus Himself, He arose far beyond His natural ability after He received the Holy Spirit at Jordan when He was thirty years of age.  Before that time He could not heal the sick, raise the dead, turn water into wine, etc., all of which He did after He received the Holy Spirit.  And the same may be said for the Apostles.  They, too, arose far above their inherited strength and ability after they were "endowed with power from on high."  Viewed from this standpoint, the words of David are given added force:  "The entrance of thy word giveth light"! (Psa. 119:130)  Thus, in addition to forecasting events many years in advance of their occurrence, we have here a second reason for believing the Bible to be of Divine inspiration — a superhuman revelation.  Its immediate effect upon those who accept it is far beyond the influence of any other religious or secular writing.

THE BIBLE PLAN

A third proof of the Bible's Divine inspiration is the "plan of the ages," which it has contained since the year A.D. 100, which plan has been working according to outline before and since that date.  In Eph. 3:9‑11 St. Paul offers a clear reference to this:  "To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God... according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."  This is much clearer in the Emphatic Diaglott:  "To enlighten all as to what is the administration of that secret, which has been concealed from the ages... ac­cording to a plan of the ages, which He formed for the Anointed Jesus our Lord."

It should be noted that St. Paul says this “plan” has been a “secret” during the ages, and none can dispute this statement.  The Bible itself is a book of very moderate size, as small or smaller than most textbooks in any university.  Yet the brightest minds have been unable to master it until the “due time” arrived for it to be understood.  That is because it is “here a little, and there a little” (Isa. 28:10), with the “secret” expertly kept until it should be made plain.  Without offering great detail, we notice that the “plan” embraces three “worlds” (from the Greek Kosmos, meaning order of affairs), the first one described in 2 Peter 3:6 as “the world that was” - that Kosmos, or order of affairs, that existed from creation until it “being overflowed with water, perished.”  The world that was lasted for 1656 years.

The second world, or order of affairs ("this present evil world" - Gal. 1:4), began with Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives (a total of eight persons), who emerged from the great deluge, and has been continuing to the present time.  Accord­ing to 2 Peter 3:7, Dia., "the present heavens and the earth [this Kosmos, or order of affairs], by the same word [The Bible], are treasured up, being kept for fire [destruction] to a day of judgment and destruction of impious men" - this "destruction" being now in prog­ress, as is evidenced on every hand.

Then 2 Pet. 3:13, Dia.: "We, according to His promise, are looking for new heavens and a new earth [a new Kosmos, or order of affairs, the third world - the Kingdom] in which dwells righteousness" - just the opposite of "this present evil world."   Of that third world it is written (Rev. 21:4, Dia.): "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor mourning, nor crying; neither will there be any more pain; because the former things passed away."  This third world we now "see dimly, as through a dark glass"; and it is beyond belief except by those who now have the faith to believe it.  The forecast is clear enough:  If there be no more death or pain, then there must be perpetual youth, with ideal food, water and climate.  "And there shall be no more curse... no night [ignorance, error, superstition] there." (Rev. 22:3‑5)  In this "present evil world" it is easier to do wrong than right; in the world to come it will be easier to do right than wrong.  It is well to keep in mind that all of the Bible was written at some time during "this present evil world"; yet it is the only book that gives a clear and logical record of the happenings of the "world that was" before the flood - ­just one more proof of its Divine inspiration.   Also, skeptics may declare the "plan" briefly discussed herein is too good to be true; but we answer that it is too good not to be true.  No secular fiction writer has ever imagined anything half so good; such a plan could result only from Divine inspiration.

SUMMARY:  The Plan of the Ages mentioned aforegoing has its introduction in the first three chapters of the Bible, and its conclusion is given in the last three chapters.  In the first three chapters of Genesis we are told what man was, what he had, and why and how he lost it.  In the last three chapters of Revelation we are given man’s ultimate destiny, and how that is to be accomplished - the grand finale being the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19-23), restoration of what was lost in Eden.

In between the introduction and conclusion of the Plan we find seven lines of thought: doctrines, precepts, promises, exhortations, prophecies, histories and types.  And St. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:15 that these teachings properly understood “are able to make thee wise unto salvation.”  He continues in verse 16 to state that these seven lines of thought serve four teaching purposes: “Doctrine, reproof [refuting], correction and instruction in righteousness.”  When clearly understood, it becomes apparent that the Apostle has itemized all the essentials in teaching and character development that man needs for his religious welfare.  Doctrine is what we believe; refuting (of error) reveals what we should not believe; correction, when properly received, rids the faults from our character (tells us what we should not do); and instruction (training) in righteousness informs us of the good things we should build into our character (what we should do).  And all of this is “profitable… that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  It is elemental that religion should make us better; otherwise it fails in purpose and becomes merely a ritualistic waste of time.

Of the foregoing Bible subjects, some of them are relatively easy to understand in certain of their parts, while others are intensely difficult of comprehension.  In this respect the Bible allows excellent comparison with the ocean, which is deep enough for a whale to swim in it, and shallow enough for a child to wade in it.  It is also pertinent that the Bible is not a textbook; it is rather a book of texts.  Thus, no subject of importance finds complete clarification in any one section; but it is rather “here a little, there a little.” (Isa. 28:10)  This has resulted in the apparent confusion evident in the different Christian organizations - a situation akin to the poem:

 It was six men of Hinduston,

To learning much inclined,

Went to see the elephant

Though all of them were blind.

Therefore, they had to rely upon their sense of touch; one touched the leg, on the side, one the tail, etc., which resulted in six vastly different opinions of what the elephant was really like, which produced the result:

They argued loud and long,

Though each was partly in the right,

But all of them were wrong.

A safe rule to proper understanding of the Bible is that it cannot contradict itself.  It speaks of itself as “the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15); and, if this be correct, then it must be truth, and not falsehood.  If our opinion of any Scripture is contradicted by other Scripture, then one of three things is wrong: We do not have the right interpretation; or we may have a mistranslation; or the text may even be spurious.  It is certain that ambitious men have attempted to impose their own opinions in some places, which has resulted in much mischief and erroneous beliefs.  It is well also to note that manifold schemes of mice and men have tried in vain to destroy the Bible, or to distort its meaning; but all of them have failed.  The Bible is still a living book, and as sturdy in its application today as it has been over the past.  There is very good reason for this: Its Author, who is perfect in Justice, Wisdom and Power, has been its Preserver; and the promise to those who rely upon it, and who have full faith in it, applies with equal force to the book itself: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” (Isa. 54:17)

It might be well here to note how foolish some of the scoffers of this Sacred Book have been, while those who had faith in its Divine inspiration and truthfulness were not so foolish.  Sir Isaac Newton, the celebrated astronomer of the seventeenth century, was greatly interested in the words of Daniel: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Dan. 12:4)  He declared his belief that in fulfillment of it, human knowledge would so increase that men would possibly travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour.  When Voltaire, the noted French infidel, got hold of this statement he scornfully remarked:

“Now look at the mighty mind of Newton, the great philosopher who discovered the law of gravitation; when he became an old man and got in his dotage, he began to study the book called the Bible, and in order to credit its fabulous nonsense he would have us believe that the knowledge of mankind will yet be so increased that we shall by-and-by be able to travel fifty miles an hour!  Poor dotard.”

Both of these men died long before the “Time of the End” had brought its wonderful increase of knowledge, which more than fulfils the prediction of the Christian philosopher, based upon the Divine revelation.  Fifty miles per hour is merely snail’s pace today.

The subject matter herein has been treated very briefly, perhaps too much so, yet it is our hope that enough has been said to generate interest by our readers; and to such we would quote the words of St. Paul: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

(By John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 433, June 1992) 

NO. 550 THE FOUR ELECT CLASSES

“It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28,29)

The order of this blessing is reversed in the prophetic statement probably in order to obscure the matter until the proper time, and thus to hide some of the length and breadth and height and depth of God’s plan, until the “due time” for it to be known and appreciated.  Consequently v. 29 refers to the Gospel Age and v. 28 to the Millennial Age.

THE LITTLE FLOCK

First we will describe the class referred to as “the servants.”  We notice that the time of their development is limited to the Gospel Age.  “In those days” I will pour out my Spirit upon “the servants.”  These like the rest of mankind were born under the curse (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:21,22; Eph. 2:3); but unlike the rest of mankind they have hearts that trust the Lord even when they cannot trace Him (2 Cor. 5:7).  They accept Jesus as their Savior, thereby attaining to justification through faith (Rom. 3:21-26; 4:1-12), and then seek to grow in Truth and Righteousness.  They respond to His drawings until they are ready to take a second step - consecration - when God invites them to yield themselves to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).  He then gives them His Holy Spirit; begets them of His Spirit (John 3:3; James 1:18; Acts 5:32).  He helps them to overcome self, sin, error and the world (Rev. 3:21), and to work out their own salvation by self-denial, and world-denial, by watchfulness and prayer, by the study, practice and spread of His word, and by suffering for loyalty to His Word (Phil. 2:12,13; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:5-11).  They are His witnesses for Truth and Righteousness in the world (Acts 1:8).  They are the “called and chosen and faithful.” (Rev. 17:14)  They “shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6)

The hope that He gives them is the attainment of the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ (2 Peter 1:4; Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:11,12).  These blessings they will attain in the First Resurrection, if faithful until death (Rev. 2:10; 20:4,6).  They will also judge the world in the Kingdom (1 Cor. 6:2).

 There is much Scriptural evidence that this class has already been selected the “fullness of the Gentiles come in.”  The first of these that we will present is John 9:4 - “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; night is coming when no man can work.”  The work that Jesus and the Apostles then were doing was a reaping work.  Hence the work referred to in this text is a reaping work, which could no more be done when the night would come.  The night is the Time of Trouble (Isa. 21:11,12), which began with each country of Christendom as it became involved in the First World War.  This occurred before the Fall of 1916.  Hence no more reaping work could be performed thereafter.  Therefore, the reaping and gleaning work ended before the Fall of 1916.

The Elect in each country were all to be sealed in the forehead, reaped (be intellectually in the Truth), before the Tribulation, which began with the First World War, when it involved their country (Rev. 7:1-3).  Every country of Christendom was involved in the War before the Fall of 1916.  Therefore, all of the Elect were sealed in the forehead, reaped, before the Fall of 1916.

This is corroborated by Amos 9:13 - the plowman and grape-treader overtook the reaper and the sower and put an end to their work.  This occurred everywhere as soon as all Christendom was involved in the First World War.  Hence, all reaping and gleaning was finished before the Fall of 1916.

According to Rev. 6:9-11, all the saints were to be “slain under the Altar,” consecrated under Christ, their Head, before vengeance was to come upon Christendom.  Vengeance started with trench warfare, September 21, 1914.  Therefore, before that date, all the Christ class had been consecrated and spirit-begotten, but not yet sealed in the forehead.

THE GREAT COMPANY

Closely related to the Little Flock is another class, called in our text “the handmaids,” and elsewhere in the Bible called a Great Multitude (Rev. 7:9; 19:6).  The individuals of this class were originally invited through the High Calling (Phil. 3:14) to the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ (2 Peter 1:4; Rom. 8:17; Eph. 4:4); but, alas, they fail to keep faithfully their consecration vows, and therefore, had to be remanded to a secondary class.  As we said, the Little Flock are “called and chosen and faithful.”  The Great Company are called, but not chosen or faithful (Matt. 20:16).  They were not called to be of the Great Company.  The Lord provided a secondary place for them because, even though they were only “measurably faithful,” they still loved the Lord, and had not become unfaithful enough to be utterly cast off into Second Death.  They were the only ones of the elect classes to be remanded, but they will finally escape with their lives, after losing the prize of the High Calling (1 Cor. 3:15; Heb. 2:15; Jude 22,23).  However, they will still be included in the “church of the firstborn” of the Gospel Age (Heb. 12:23) and will serve before the throne in the Kingdom instead of on the throne as do the Little Flock (Rev. 7:14).  This class and the Little Flock, it will be noticed, are developed during the Gospel Age - “in those days” in which Jesus and the Apostles labored, in which the great Apostasy developed, and in which, at the end, the Lord restored the primitive teachings and practices of Christianity under the supervision and leadership of That Servant.

THE ANCIENT WORTHIES

We now turn to those of verse 28 who are called “your old men.”  This same class is called “Ancients” in Isaiah 24:23, this being from the same Hebrew word that is translated “old men” in our text.  In Psalms 107:32 and Hebrews 11:2 this class is referred to as “elders,” i.e., the “Ancients.”  In Hebrews 11:38 they are spoken of as those of whom “the world was not worthy,” therefore, we call them Ancient Worthies.  By the “old men” of our text we understand the faithful of the Old Testament are meant.  A long list of the ancient and prominent ones in their persons and works is given in Hebrews 11:4-32.  They were the heroes of faith before Christ came in His First Advent.  God used them as His representatives, servants and witnesses in their times, and through some of them gave us Old Testament Scriptures.  He also, unknown to them, used them in the events of their lives to enact many typical pictures of certain future persons, classes and events in His plan.  Living before Christ’s death they, of course, could not receive the actual cancellation of the death sentence that they, as well as the rest of the race, inherited from Adam; yet God gave them a tentative justification through their faith in His Promises (Rom. 4:3-9,17-23; Heb. 11:7).

Since they lived before Christ’s death they could not become sons of God and joint-heirs with Him (John 1:12,13; Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:3-5), though they were privileged through their faith-justification to be servants and friends of God (Heb. 3:5; James 2:23).  Accordingly, God did not offer them the privilege of becoming Kings with Jesus and partakers with Him of the Divine nature; for such promises were not given until the beginning of the Gospel Age (1 Peter 1:10-12; Heb. 2:3,4; 11:39; 2 Tim. 1:10; Luke 16:16).  Jesus was the forerunner of these Kings (Heb. 6:20; 12:1,2) and the Ancient Worthies, who preceded Him, could not share in this high, holy and heavenly calling.  John the Baptizer, who died before Jesus’ death, was the last one of this class of Ancient Worthies; and Jesus assures us that John will not be of the Heavenly class; for He says, the least one of the Kingdom of Heaven will be greater than John (Matt. 11:11).

These faithful Ancient Worthies will not attain to the First Resurrection as the Little Flock do, but will be privileged to share in a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) than that of the world.  They will attain perfection immediately upon awakening from the grave (“just men made perfect” - Heb. 12:22,23), whereas the world will be raised in the same condition as when they went into the grave.  It will require the entire thousand years to bring the world back to perfection.

The honor to which these Ancient Worthies will attain will be that of princeship throughout the earth during the Millennium, and their work will be that of rulership as judges and teachers (Psa. 45:16: Isa. 1:26)

THE YOUTHFUL WORTHIES

The next class shown in our text are “your young men.”  It will be noticed that they are linked in standing and in work with the “old men.”  Since we call the “old men” the Ancient Worthies, we call the “young men” the Youthful Worthies.  These contrasting names are applicable because, as the Ancient Worthies came into action in God’s Plan before opportunity was opened for anyone to enter the High Calling, so the Youthful Worthies come into action in God’s Plan after the opportunity to enter the High Calling is closed.

According to the Bible, the opportunity of entering the High Calling was to be closed after “the fulness of the Gentiles” - the full number of the Elect from among the Gentiles - should come in (Rom. 11:25).  This synchronizes with the end of the reaping of the Harvest from 1874 to 1914.  But, as before the opportunity to enter the High Calling was opened, many - the Ancients Worthies - desired to and did serve God faithfully, so since the opportunity to enter the High Calling has closed many desire to and do serve God faithfully.  Since they show the same spirit of devotion to God as the Ancient Worthies, God purposes to associate them with the Ancient Worthies in Millennial and Post-Millennial rewards and service.  Hence the similar and contrasted names of these two classes.  An entrance to this class will be available in the end of the Age for all who come to the Lord in full consecration, and will continue until “restitution sets in,” i.e., the raising of the dead, and a way is opened for the world of mankind.

“Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country.” (Lev. 24:22)  This stranger would represent those consecrating between the Gospel and Millennial Ages, and it tells us that they are “strangers” because they are strangers to the Little Flock, having consecrated themselves too late to be of that select company.  However, there is “one manner of law” for the Jews and the strangers - the same kind of consecration for the Little Flock and for the Youthful Worthies - a complete desire to do God’s will.

It is because they have the faith of Abraham that they will be blessed with him and have the privilege of blessing all nations (Gal. 3:6-9).  Having this faith quality, they heed the Lord’s invitation to consecrate, they give Him their hearts (Prov. 23:26).  There being no opportunity for them to win a crown with Christ, He does not beget them of His Spirit, but gives them a new human heart to love Truth and Righteousness, and to serve Him.  They, too, like the Little Flock, become dead to self and the world and alive to God, practicing watchfulness and prayer, studying and spreading the Word.  Thus the Youthful Worthies, too, must become faithful to the Lord - even unto death, if He deems it necessary.  Such faithful ones are under the same law as have been the Saints, and they have been similarly blessed with a clear understanding of Present Truth.

That Servant’s comment on these two classes: “Now notice the expression ‘Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions.’  We prefer a different translation, which we believe gives the intended thought, namely, ‘Your young men shall see the glorious visions [of Restitution blessings, etc., in process of fulfillment] of which your ancient men dreamed [the things respecting which they vaguely hoped and dimly understood and greatly longed for].’” (Reprint 4467, col. 2, par. 1)

The fullness of reward for the Ancient and Youthful Worthies comes after the Millennium, when they will be changed from human to spirit beings.  Reprint 5182 proves that by their being of the antitypical Millennial Firstborn and Levites without inheritance in the land, that the Ancient Worthies will be made spirit beings after their Millennial work.  Some of these arguments prove this of the Youthful Worthies, as much as of the Ancient Worthies.

That the Ancient Worthies will become spiritual is manifest from the following: (1) Job, one of them (James 5:11), by inspiration tells us that apart from his flesh, and after it will have been dissolved into dust, he would personally see God, which can be done by spirit beings alone (Job 11:25,26 A.R.V.).  (2) If the Ancient Worthies were to be princes forever on earth, seeing that the restitution class will be kings here eternally after the Little Season, the former would eternally be the latter’s inferiors.  (3) If they were to remain on earth even as kings, they would have to be degraded from their Millennial superiority to equality with restitutionists eternally, which the Divine attributes would not effect nor permit.  (4) As Millennial and post-Millennial Levites they will have no inheritance in the earth - their inheritance will be heavenly; even as the Priests will not have an earthly inheritance, this being typed by Israel’s Priest and Levites having no inheritance in the land (Num. 18:20,23,24).  (5) As antitypical Levites they will be of the Millennial firstborn.  All first born having their names written in heaven will become spirit beings (Heb. 12:23 compare with Ex. 12:11-13, 21-23,37; 13:1,2,11-15).  (6) All of the Levites with the Priests located about the Tabernacle at the same relative distance therefrom and nearer to the tabernacle than the other Israelites, separate and distinct from the latter, thereby type the eternal spirituality of the entire tribe of antitypical Levi.  (7) Israel giving tithes to both priests and Levites types the eternal inferiority and subjection of the restitution class to all of antitypical Levi; hence all the antitypical Levites will be spiritual eventually.  (8) The fact that the Little Flock and the Great Company as antitypical Levites will be spiritual, implies that all the rest of antitypical Levi will be spiritual.  These reasons substantiate That Servant’s thought in Reprint 5182, cited above.

These four elect classes, The Little Flock, Great Company, Ancient and Youthful Worthies, are the only consecrated classes of the Jewish and Gospel Ages.  They are the only saved classes for elect purposes.  God is not specially dealing with the world of mankind during these Ages, which includes the last special period of the Gospel Age, the Epiphany.  The “due time” for the non-elect, Restitutionists, is when the Highway of Holiness is opened up for them (Isa. 35:8).

Here are other Scriptures which show that there are four elect classes:

2 Timothy 2:20:  “But in a great house [the Household of faith] there are not only vessels of gold [Little Flock, Mal 3:3], and of silver [Great Company, Mal. 3:3, see Berean comments], but also of wood [Ancient Worthies] and of earth [Youthful Worthies], and [additionally] some to honor, and some to dishonor.”  Those in this text called vessels to honor are the converted Jews of the Millennial Age, and those to dishonor [less honor, see concordance] are converted Gentiles of the Millennial Age.  They correspond to the “sons” and “daughters” of Joel 2:28,29.

Psalms 72:3:  “The mountains shall bring peace to the people; and the little hills by righteousness.”  This entire Psalm describes the Millennial reign of Christ, implying that symbolic Jerusalem will be the seat of Government (v. 16).  Literal Jerusalem was built upon two mountains, Zion and Moriah, and upon two hills, Akra and Bezetha.  Zion and Moriah represent the heavenly and the earthly phases of the Kingdom respectively - i.e., The Christ and the Ancient Worthies as the two higher powers of the Kingdom.  Akra and Bezetha represent the tributary (subordinate) powers of the Kingdom, i.e., the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies.  Therefore, the four elect classes are represented in this text.

Isaiah 60:13:  “The glory of Lebanon [Lebanon means white, and its evergreen trees, the glory of Lebanon, represent the righteous as antitypical Levites (Psa. 92:12,13)] shall come unto Thee [the antitypical Levites will be brought to Christ and the Church, Num. 3:6-9] the fir tree [Ancient Worthies], the pine [the Great Company] and the box [Youthful Worthies] together [rendering a cooperative service], to beautify the place of my sanctuary.”  It is a Levitical work  to beautify the sanctuary of the Lord.  All mankind’s blessings will result from the establishment of God’s residence or sanctuary among men (Rev. 21:3-5).  “The earth is my footstool.” (Isa. 66:1)  At about this time we are to expect wonderful contortions of nature and some radical changes in earth’s conditions to make it more adapted to the wants of man during the Millennial Age and throughout eternity.

The Scriptures tell us that “out of Zion [the heavenly phase of the Kingdom] shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the earthly phase of the Kingdom]” (Isa. 2:3; Micah 4:2)  When the Ancient Worthies are made “princes in all the earth” they will have as their associates the Youthful Worthies.  This arrangement will appeal first and primarily to the Jew, who would naturally be the first to come under the new regulations.  We may not say that all the Jews will do so, but that this will be true of at least a considerable number of them.  In time others of the world will join.  There are many well-meaning people who have not taken the vow of consecration to the Lord, but who would like to help rather than hinder.  Such in due time will attach themselves to the Kingdom, which is the “desire of all nations.” (Haggai 2:7)

The freedom from imperfection of these earthly “princes” will make them conspicuous amongst mankind.  As the world comes to know about these, they will say,  “Are not these God’s people?”  Mankind will perceive that God has rewarded the Worthies by giving them an instantaneous resurrection to perfect life, and will learn that their “better resurrection” was given because of faithfulness in the past.

It should be noted that in all of the passages given above there are only four elect classes.  These four will make up the Millennial Age Household of Faith, and any attempt to “make” more classes is adding to the Scripture and is a thing forbidden (Prov. 30:5,6; Rev. 22:18).  The two non-elect classes of converted Jews and Gentiles make up the Six Saved classes from among mankind.

E’en through harsh noises of our day,

A low, sweet prelude finds its way;

Through clouds of doubts and creeds of fear, 

A light is breaking calm and clear.

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 A JAPANESE PERSPECTIVE ON THE PALESTINIANS:  Yashiko Safamoni, a Japanese national, has written some interesting questions concerning the validity of the Palestinian claims to their ancient homeland.  Here is what he says:

“If you are so sure that ‘Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history,’ then I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine:

 When was it founded and by whom?

 What were its borders?

 What was its capital?

 What were its major cities?

 What constituted the basis of its economy?

 What was its form of government?

 Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?

Was a sovereign Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?

What was the language of the country of Palestine?

What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?

What was the name of its currency?  Choose any date in history and tell us what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the U.S. dollar, German mark, British pound, Japanese yen or Chinese Yuan on that date.

And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise, and when did it occur?

“You are lamenting the ‘low sinking’ of ‘a once proud’ nation.  Please tell me, when exactly was that ‘nation’ proud and what was it so proud of?

“And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call ‘Palestinians’ are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over - or thrown out of - the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?

“I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day ‘Palestinians’ to the Biblical Phillistines; substituting etymology for history won’t work here.

“The truth should be obvious to every one who wants to know it.  Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today.  Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy.

“In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East.  Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel, and as the losing side, should pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it.  The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organizations from the land of Israel and accepting Israel’s ancient sovereignty over Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

“I pray the United States and Israel lead the world to victory in this war.  Come to think of it, there is no choice, be you Christian, a Jew, or even, believe it or not a Muslim.”

(Bridges For Peace, February 22, 2003)

“AFFRONT:  Jewish and Mormon representatives have met to discuss allegations that church members are persisting in the practice of baptizing deceased Jews, including Holocaust victims.

“Seven years after the Salt Lake City-based church signed an agreement to curtail the practice, evidence is emerging that its International Genealogical Index still list at least 20,000 Holocaust victims, as well as notable Jews such as Rashi, Maimonides, Menachem Begin, Irving Berlin and Marc Chagall, who were evidently baptized posthumously by proxy.”

 (World Jewry, January 2003)

“SHORT SHIRT:  Members of Montreal, Canada’s Jewish community are angered over a newly-produced T-shirt that lists the locations of YMCAs around the world, but omits those in Israel.

“The shirts, meant to promote world peace and handed out at YMCAs throughout the country to mark World Peace Week, include the non-existent country of Palestine on the list.”

(World Jewry, January 2003)

“U.S. JEWS FEAR ANTI-SEMITISM:  Though intermarriage and assimilation rates are sky-high and the first Orthodox Jew has just announced his bid for president, the American Jewish Committee’s 2002 Survey of Jewish Opinion reports that anti-Semitism is the community’s No. 1 concern.

“The AJC’s annual survey, which polled 1,008 self-identified Jewish respondents between December 16, 2002 and January 5, 2003, found that 96 percent of respondents think anti-Semitism in the U.S. is a very serious or somewhat serious problem, and 44 percent think the problem will only get worse with time.

“By a margin of two to one, respondents picked anti-Semitism over intermarriage as the ‘greatest threat to Jewish life in the U.S.’” 

(The Jerusalem Post, February 7, 2003)

“THE U.N. RECORD ON ISRAEL:  Is the U.N. biased?  Considering there is only one Israel and twenty-one Arab states that are part of a long conflict in the Middle East, it is hard to believe that Israel is totally responsible.  Yet, to look at U.N. figures on the conflict and in relation to Israel would bring you to that erroneous conclusion.

“The General Assembly of the U.N. condemned or deplored Israel 49 times and 0 times the Arabs and the PLO.

“The Security Council passed 131 resolutions in its history.  Of those, 88 criticized or opposed Israel, none deplored or even criticized the PLO or Arab states.

“Is it any wonder Israel finds directives from the U.N. far from fair?  A balanced approach is certainly not the U.N. agenda.” 

(By Clarence Wagner, January 30, 2003)        

___________________________________________________________________

COMMENT ON THE WAR

Everyone hates war and deplores the inevitable injuries and fatalities.  That is what war does.  However, we know that God uses war at times to further certain aspects of His Plan, or to keep some evil ruler from thwarting that Plan.  Two examples are Napoleon and Hitler.  Napoleon was used to break the power of Papacy and Hitler’s attempt to annihilate the Jews caused many to go to their homeland and establish a state there.  Of course we cannot be sure that the current war is one of those times.  Only the passing of time will reveal that.

But we do know that we are in the Day of Preparation (Nahum 2:3; Psa. 77:18) for the establishment of the Kingdom.  Jesus says: “Or else how can one enter a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?  And then he will spoil his house.” (Matt. 12:29)  Of course the strong man is Satan, but evil rulers who suppress their people and keep them in ignorance and poverty are the agents of Satan and under his direction.  In order that “nothing shall hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isa. 11:9) the wicked must be destroyed or shorn of their power.  We are not making a case for or against the war.  We are merely making some comments.

At this writing it seems that much has been accomplished in the war, in spite of the fact that the fighting has intensified and there are many casualties on both sides.  We still hope that this will be a short war, but we will wait, watch and pray.  We pray for all the brave men and women of the armed forces whose lives are in danger, and for their families.

NO. 549 CONSECRATION FROM 1881 UNTIL RESTITUTION SETS IN

All who are familiar with Harvest Truth know that the general call for entrance into the High Calling ended in 1881 - that thereafter entrance into that select company could occur only as one dropped out.  All who accept this great truth agree also that a time would come when the door to the High Calling would eventually be forever shut (Luke 13:25) - that the 144,000 would be fully and fixedly complete.  However, there is divergence of views as to when that time would occur; and it is not our wish at this time to discuss when that would be.

But when that time would come - from then until Restitution sets in, as That Servant taught - there would almost certainly be those among the human family who would wish to do God’s will to the extent of their understanding and ability just as there were those who wished to do God’s will before the High Calling was available.  (See Hebrews, Chapter 11)  Such consecrators between the Ages will have to walk a “narrow way” while we are yet in “the evil day” (Eph. 6:13) - and, if faithful, they will bring upon themselves the adversities that all have experienced who have chosen to “follow in His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)  And to such the attributes of God would prompt bestowal of a reward higher than that which will come to the world in general - something higher than Restitution.

That Servant recognized this fact - that there would be such a class of consecrators between the Ages. Even though he gave us no precise Scripture, he did give us 2 Timothy 2:20 (Reprint 5493), which shows that there are four elect, classes.  We believe this is another proof that he was made “ruler over all his goods” (Matt. 24:47); and that he could say, with the Apostle Paul, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)  He also gave no name for the fourth class except he wrote of them as an “unbegotten class.”

We offer now some quotations from Brother Russell’s writings to substantiate these statements.  The first one of these is to be found in Reprint 3418, the year being 1904: “We would be sure that Divine love and care would be over them just as surely, and that failing a place in the elect church through no fault of theirs, these would be given some good portion which would much more than reward and satisfy them.”  

In that same year 1904, Reprint 3445, the teaching is presented that the Ancient Worthies would be a higher class than the Great Company, because they were a fully faithful class.  He further stated that, being a higher class, they would precede the Great Company in the resurrection - that the Ancient Worthies would be first to be resurrected after the Little Flock.  That this is a wrong conclusion is apparent from the fact that the Great Company is a part of the Gospel-Age “church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23); whereas, the Ancient Worthies are the “church of the firstborn” of the Millennial Age - and Brother Russell eventually came to see the matter in this way.

Coming down to 1911 (Reprint 4836) there is this: “But suppose that some should present themselves after the close of the acceptable time; what would be their status and God’s dealing with them:  Since God is unchangeable, we must assume that He would always be pleased to have His creatures devote their lives wholly and unreservedly to the doing of His will, as He was pleased with the faithfulness of the Ancient Worthies to lay down their lives before a covenant of sacrifice was in force.  We may reason that as God has promised human perfection to those Ancient Worthies who laid down their lives, He would be willing similarly to reward any who might follow the same course after the completion of the Church - after the ending of the acceptable time of sacrifice.  [God’s character forbids accepting sacrifice from any one without giving suitable reward for such service.]

“Quite likely, therefore, there will be some in the end of this Age who, although faithful unto death, will not have been begotten of the Holy Spirit and not attain the spirit plane of being in the resurrection, but who will come forth members of the same class as the Ancient Worthies, who were developed before this Age began.

“In view of these facts, our advice to all who love the Lord and who desire to be in complete fellowship with Him is the same message that has gone forth throughout this Age - ‘We beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies living sacrifices’… We can tell them, too, that, to our understanding the Scriptures teach that the Ancient Worthy Class (of which they may be a part if they fail to be accepted to the new nature) will be highly honored of God, perfect on the human plane and made ‘princes in all the earth.’ (Psa. 45:16)”

In the February 15, 1913 Tower (Reprint 5182) it is stated that the Ancient Worthies are of the Tribe of Levi, and therefore would have no inheritance in the land (as would the Restitutionists).  And, as Brother Russell has said before, the unbegotten class of consecrators would receive the reward and honor that will be given the Ancient Worthies; which means a higher reward than will come to the Restitutionists.  These would be typed by the Gershonites, of which more later on.  In this same Tower, top of column 2, we are told that the eventual glorious reward of the Ancient Worthies - after the Millennium has come to a close - would be on the spirit plane.

Coming now to September 1, 1915 Tower (Reprint 5761) there is the following, under the caption, “The Two Parts of the Harvest Work” and under the sub-heading, “Those Consecrating Between the Ages”:

“It is our thought that with the closing of the door of this Gospel Age there will be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature.  Any afterward coming to God through consecration, before the inauguration of the restitution work, will be accepted by Him, not to the spirit plane of being, but to the earthly plane.  Such would come in under the same conditions as the Ancient Worthies who were accepted of God.  The Ancient Worthies came in, no call being opened to them - the High Calling not being yet open, and the restitution opportunities not open.  But they freely gave themselves up to God without knowing what blessings their consecration would bring, except that they had the intimation that they would, in the future life, have a ‘better resurrection’ than would the remainder of the world.

“Our thought is that whoever under such conditions as these will make a full consecration to the Lord, to leave all to follow in His ways, and will live up faithfully, loyally, to that consecration, may be privileged to be counted as a similar class to those who preceded this Gospel Age.  We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive those who make a consecration after the close of the Gospel Age High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennium.”

Inasmuch as the Time of Trouble had broken upon the world in 1914 - as predicted by Brother Russell - there existed the general conviction among Truth people that the Kingdom would be established within a matter of but a few years.  “The stone” (Dan. 2:45) had already begun its smiting, and was increasing in severity with each passing month.  But none of the Truth people had the slightest notion that things would be as they are now, many years later.  Had that thought then been entertained, we may safely conclude that Brother Russell would have been much more positive and voluble than he was about the class that “would consecrate between the Ages.”

However, even with the small amount that he did say, the Harvest group generally was so inoculated with the idea, that the Society under J. F. Rutherford came out emphatically that the High Calling would definitely be closed at Passover 1918 - after which time a new class of consecrators would appear whom they labeled as “Modern Worthies” - to emphasize their grouping with the Ancient Worthies.  This was maintained for a number of years until JFR openly rejected tentative justification.  Once that was done, it was impossible to harmonize Modern Worthies without which they could have no standing before God.  Eventually they invented a class of their own - the Jonadabs - which was later fused with their present “Great Crowd,” of which more later.

Other Truth groups mostly ignored the expressions of Brother Russell as we have them aforegoing; and prior to 1950 the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement was the only Truth organization - so far as we know - that championed such a class.  But failing to do this, these others are now left in a very awkward and vulnerable position.  The Society eventually had to re-open the High Calling, changing the dates for its close on several occasions, as the “penny” became too hot for them to hold, and too important to drop.  In some of their 1975 editions of the Watchtower they are forced to the conclusion that the High Calling may not even yet be closed.  And other Truth groups are forced to the same conclusion.

But embracing such a view is now making their position ridiculously untenable.  So far as we know, all Truth groups accept the position that there can be only 144,000 in the Christ Body.  Yet, if we reflect upon the number of persons in all the groups who consider themselves in that select company, there would almost certainly be more than 144,000 that have had that conviction since 1914.  And, if there are more than that many since 1914, what shall we say of the entire Gospel Age?  Most Truth groups think there was a “Harvest” following 1874.  A Harvest of what?  Why, of the last members of the 144,000, of course!  Manifestly, these various conclusions produce such a bedlam that no one of sound mind can bring himself to believe them all.  And, even if they reject some of them, yet “the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.” (Isa. 28:20)

SCRIPTURAL PROOF

As stated aforegoing, Brother Russell offered no Scripture to prove his conclusions - nor did he attempt to give a name to such persons.  It was the Society after his death that produced the name Modern Worthies.  Nor do we now offer too much criticism for their selection of the name.  Up to that time no Scripture had been produced which might suggest a Biblical name.  It remained for the Epiphany Messenger to offer a name more suited to our place on the stream of time.  However, we would emphasize here that the term Ancient Worthy is not in the Bible either; but they are referred to as Ancients a number of times in the Old Testament, and St. Paul tells us in the 11th chapter of Hebrews that the world was not “worthy” of them.  Consequently, the name Ancient Worthies comes easily enough.  We believe the same will apply to the Youthful Worthies, as we now examine some Scriptures to this end.

The clearest of such Scriptures is found in Joel 2:28,29.  In Joel 2:29 the reference is to the Little Flock and Great Company: “And also upon the servants [the Little Flock] and upon the handmaids [the Great Company] in those days [the Gospel Age] will I pour out my spirit.”  Thus far, Brother Russell saw the truth on the text as expressed here: but the remainder he could not see because it was not the “due time.”  (See Berean Comments)  Then Joel 2:28: “And it shall come to pass afterward [after the Gospel Age, during which the Lord pours out His spirit for His servants, the Little Flock, and handmaidens, the Great Company - compare Joel 2:29 with 2 Cor. 6:17,18] that I will pour out My Spirit for all flesh; and your [the Christ’s] sons [converted fleshly Israel and the persevering, but unconsecrated believers of the Gospel Age] and your daughters [converted Gentiles of the Millennial Age, Isaiah 60:4, and all the repentant heathen] shall prophesy [teach the Truth to those of mankind who then will not know it, Matthew 25:35,37,40], your old men [Ancient Worthies] shall dream dreams [will be given new and inspired deeper revelations] and your young men [Youthful Worthies] shall see visions [will be given inspired less deep representations, clarifying and elaborating for themselves and the people the teachings of the Old and New Testaments.  In so doing they will have their names written in another “book of life” which will be a record of their works, just as the first “book of life” is a record of the Heavenly classes of the Gospel Age. (Rev. 20:12)]”

All classes from among mankind savingly associated with the Plan of God are thus treated of in Joel 2:28,29 - six in all.  These and the repentant fallen angels will constitute the seven (perfect Divine number) classes of those whom Christ delivers from sin and condemnation unto perfection and everlasting life in His work as Savior.  We would direct attention here to the Hebrew zaqen from which old men is translated.  This word is translated ancients thirteen times in the Old Testament, and once as ancient men.  We offer just two of these - Psalms 119:100: “I understand more than the ancients [zaqen].”  Also, Isaiah 24:23: “The Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion [through the Christ Company], and in Jerusalem [through the Worthies], and before His ancients [zaqen] gloriously.”  And “your young men” would be better translated “young, choice, unmarried men - youthfuls.”  This Joel text is clear enough that there are two classes of men who would be especially inspired for the benefit of the remainder of Restitutionists - Ancients and Youthfuls - Ancient Worthies and Youthful Worthies.

Next we consider 2 Timothy 2:20: “In a great House [the great House of the typical Aaron, Lev. 16:6; Num. 17:2,3; 3:6-9, 17-20, consisted of his sons and the three typical classes of Levites - the Kohathites, Merarites and the Gershonites; accordingly, in the great House of our Great High Priest there are four classes antitypical of these] there are not only vessels of gold [the Little Flock - Mal. 3:3], and of silver [the Great Company, Mal. 3:3, see Berean Comments on Mal. 3:3 and 2 Tim. 2:20], but also of wood [the Ancient Worthies] and earth [the Youthful Worthies, who with the Ancient Worthies will be, during the Millennium, the human members of antitypical Aaron’s House, as they were or are also human before the Millennium], and [additionally] vessels of honor [the converted Jews of the next Age] and some to dishonor [less honor, see concordance - the converted Gentiles of the next Age].”

Thirdly, Psalms 72:3: “The mountains shall bring peace to the people; and the little hills by righteousness.”  This entire Psalm describes the Millennial reign of Christ, implying that symbolic Jerusalem will be the seat of Government (v. 16).  Literal Jerusalem was built upon two mountains, Zion and Moriah, and upon two hills, Akra and Bezetha.  Zion and Moriah represent the heavenly and the earthly phases of the Kingdom respectively - i.e., The Christ and the Ancient Worthies as the two higher powers of the Kingdom.  (See v. 16, “top of the mountains,” etc.)  Akra and Bezetha represent the tributary (subordinate) powers of the Kingdom, i.e., the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies.  (See Berean Comments on the “hills.”)  And as the hill Bezetha was the fourth and last height of Jerusalem to be built by the Israelites, so the Youthful Worthies are the last one of the powers (the other subordinate power) of the Kingdom to be developed.

The world of mankind is symbolized by the valley sections of literal Jerusalem.  The thought of this passage seems to be that the two phases of the kingdom, receiving cooperation from the subordinate powers of the Kingdom (the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies), will be used by Jehovah to bless the world of mankind with peace and prosperity through righteousness during the Millennium.

The fourth text is Isaiah 60:13: “The Glory of Lebanon [Lebanon means white, and its evergreen trees, the glory of Lebanon, represent the righteous as antitypical Levites - Psa. 92:12,13] shall come to thee [the antitypical Levites will be brought to Christ and the Church - Num. 3:6-9], the fir tree [Ancient Worthies], the pine tree [the Great Company] and the box [Youthful Worthies] together [rendering a cooperative service], to beautify the place of my sanctuary.”  It was a Levitical work (Num. 3:6-9) to beautify the sanctuary of the Lord.

In this connection, Isaiah 35:2 tells us that “the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it… they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellence of our God.”  The cedars of Lebanon are tall and stately, the timber was much prized for the construction of palaces and temples; pillars, beams and planks were cut from it, and masts were made for ships.  The timber of these trees was aromatic, impervious to rot, decay and infestation by termites.  The roof for the Temple of Diana (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) was made from cedar planks, and continued for 400 years without apparent wear from the elements.  To this day these trees are reverently described by the Arabs as “the cedars of the Lord.”

ANTITYPICAL ELEAZAR

The logical picture here shows that the Gershonites typified the Youthful Worthies, who would share in honor and service and reward with the Ancient Worthies.  This picture is well set forth in the Jews crossing Jordan to inherit Canaan.  It will be recalled that because the Jews refused to enter Canaan - believing the evil report of the ten spies instead of the good report of Caleb and Joshua - that the Lord pronounced this sentence upon them: “Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness… according to your whole number from twenty years old and upward… ye shall not come into the land… save Caleb… and Joshua.” (Num. 14:29,30)  It is well to note that all the males who entered Canaan were young men.  Joshua, of the Tribe of Ephraim, could not be a priest (only those of the Tribe of Levi were eligible to be priests), was given the honor of leading the Jews over Jordan and possessing goodly Canaan land.  Joshua in that picture typed the Lord Jesus, and Caleb typed the true Church; but they were supported by an entirely new generation that had grown up in the wilderness wanderings; and that group would well represent an unbegotten class here in the end of this Age who are fully loyal to antitypical Joshua (Jesus).  Once we see this picture clearly, all obstacles are removed.  This gives us four elect classes, with two non-elect classes - as explained aforegoing - and the picture becomes harmonious with all parts of the Bible.

Those who are familiar with Parousia Truth, and who hold to the truth that Brother Russell was That Servant, whom “the Lord made ruler over His Household” (Matt. 24:45), recognize that the “household” is much the same as the Gospel-Age Tabernacle (the true church).  He occupied much the same position here in the end of the Age as did the twelve Apostles at the beginning of the Age.  As such, they then, and he here in the end of the Age, antityped Eleazar, son of Aaron, of whom it is recorded:  “And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.” (Num. 4:16)

Therefore, it is only logical that he should write Tabernacle Shadows, which book is the foundation for the Six Volumes of Parousia Studies in the Scriptures.  When writing Tabernacle Shadows in 1879 he set forth the antitypical designation of the Levities: The Amran Levites to the east of the Tabernacle typified the Gospel-Age Royal Priesthood; the Kohathietes to the south the Ancient Worthies; the Merarites to the north the Great Company; and the Gershonites to the west the saved world of mankind.  But he was quite emphatic that the Levites were not to have any inheritance in the Land of Canaan; thus, the antitypical Levites would have no inheritance in the Millennial Canaan.  This produced the question: If the Restitutionists were to have no inheritance in the Millennial Canaan, then they would all eventually become spirit beings - a thing Brother Russell realized just could not be.  He wrestled with the question, but could not provide any satisfactory answer because it was not the “due time” for the truth to become known.

ANTITYPICAL ITHAMAR

It will be recalled that Aaron had four sons - Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar - the first two of whom were destroyed in their rebellion.  (See Leviticus 10:1-7)  Eleazar and Ithamar, the third and fourth sons of Aaron, then became eligible for the priesthood, Eleazar being the one who succeeded his father Aaron to that office, being the oldest son living when his father died at Mount Hor.  Thus, he would fittingly typify the twelve Apostles (the Lord’s mouthpieces during the first epoch of the Gospel-Age Church), and That Servant in the seventh epoch of the Gospel-Age Church.

But in the interim the Lord also had prominent mouthpieces such as Marin Luther, John Wesley, Thomas Cranmer, etc. - 35 in all.  These would be well depicted by Eleazar’s younger brother Ithamar.  And after the departure of the Parousia Eleazar (That Servant) we should logically expect to see an antitypical Ithamar, and this we find in the person of Brother Johnson.  Numbers 4:28 is definitely pertinent: “This is the service of the families of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation: and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.”  And just as Brother Russell clearly and correctly gave details about the Gospel-Age Little Flock, so Brother Johnson gave similar description of the antitypical Gershonites - the Youthful Worthies.  To him came the privilege of interpreting the Scriptures concerning this Class, and the Youthful Worthies occupied a large place in his writings.

It is well to remember here that Brother Johnson did not set aside any of Brother Russell’s teachings about an unbegotten class here in the end of the Age.  He simply interpreted the pertinent Scriptures to prove what Brother Russell had taught but did not offer any Scripture to prove his thought.

“If Truth people generally knew that this method was being used [of setting aside the truth on Tentative Justification] by at least two of the Tower editors, they would be more on their guard against various errors that JFR and some of his associates have been holding, and are ‘privily’ bringing in among the unsuspecting sheep.  If our dear readers will keep in mind that the Tower’s denial of Tentative Justification during this Age is the foundation of its rejecting the Scriptural doctrine that those faithful consecrators from 1881 until Restitution sets in, for whom there are no crowns available, and hence no spirit-begetting for Gospel-Age purposes possible, will be the Millennial associates of the Ancient Worthies in reward and service, they will be able by Scriptural, reasonable and factual thinking completely to overthrow every argument that the article under review presents to defend its thesis; for through Tentative Justification alone can God now deal with this class in preparing them for association with the Ancient Worthies.”

(By Brother Johnson)

And we say the same of others who have perverted Tentative Justification and have set aside the teaching of both Messengers as given above on the faithful consecrators from 1881 until Restitution sets in.  To reverse himself on his “Modern Worthies,” JFR was logically forced to reject Tentative Justification; and eventually to discard the entire book on Tabernacle Shadows, which book had been basic for a large part of the Parousia Truth.  This accounts for much of the flood of error that subsequently appeared in the Towers.  In the Tabernacle picture the Levites type the tentatively justified during the Gospel Age, as well as in this last special period of the Gospel Age - the Epiphany.  In the type the Levites were the teachers of the people (see Ezek. 44:9-14), and eliminating them from the Tabernacle picture makes the book a lopsided and unintelligible presentation.  This readily accounts for JFR’s rejection of the book after he had rejected Tentative Justification.

ANOTHER PERVERSION

In the March 15, 1913 Tower (Reprint 5207), column 2, par. 7, we find this:  “Tentative Justification, then, is for the purpose of giving a standing with God [“being justified by faith, we have peace with God” - Rom. 5:1], from which a believer in our Lord’s ransom-sacrifice as his only hope of salvation may ascertain whether he has that spirit of sacrifice which will lead him to full consecration.  The believer is at liberty to choose which course he will take.  He may offer himself in consecration, or he may decide not to do so.  But should he decide to wait for restitution, he thereby proves that he has not appreciated God’s offer.”

Certainly the above would now apply to Youthful Worthies - and to no other class - if we accept our Pastor’s teaching that “those consecrating and proving faithful in the interval between the close of the General Call in 1881 and the inauguration of the earthly phase of the Kingdom (for whom no crowns are available) will become associated in reward and honor with the Ancient Worthies in the Kingdom.” (F-156; Z’11, 181; Z’15, 269; Question Book pp. 151-152.  See also E-4-337)

It is reasonable and Scriptural to expect for the Youthful Worthies, as well as for the Ancient Worthies, that they will receive ultimately a higher reward than they could have on this earth.  If the Ancient and Youthful Worthies would remain on the earth, they would not be everlastingly rewarded for their Millennial service, post-Millennial service and their suffering for righteousness in the Little Season at the hands of the Second-Death class.  For since all Restitutionists found worthy of everlasting life will henceforth be equal (Matt. 25:34; Rev. 21:24), it would follow that the Ancient and Worthies, instead of being the Millennial superiors, would be the eternal equals of the world of mankind.  The Worthies would be demoted instead of rewarded.  During the Kingdom the Worthies will be “Princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16)  The Divine Attributes will not fail to reward such faithfulness.

  The Lord will make the earth beautiful as it was in the Garden of Eden.  The earth is God’s footstool.  The Restitutionists are not required to “suffer for righteousness,” as were the faithful consecrators during the ascendancy of sin and evil.  If the Restitutionists during the Kingdom learn to love righteousness and hate iniquity, they will gain eternal life on earth.  But those who “suffer for righteousness” will be rewarded above restitution blessings.

But the matter of a Mediator makes transparent nonsense of a justification of any kind except a gradual works justification, which will only be completed by the end of the Mediatorial reign.  Justification during the Gospel Age does not make one right, it merely reckons him right.  And when one is reckoned right, this gives him a standing before God, which eliminates the necessity for a Mediator.  Thus, those in the 1908-1911 sifting who claimed the Church is under the New Covenant revealed a foolish foundation.  If they were under the New Covenant, then they would also be under the Mediator - as the Restitutionists will be when the Kingdom reign begins.  None of the Tentatively Justified during this Age has needed a mediator; they stood before God in reckoned perfection.

In view of the faithful teachings of both Messengers, we reiterate that Youthful Worthiship is available as long as Tentative Justification is available between the Ages until restitution sets in.  And we would qualify this statement by saying there will come a time when sound doctrine will not be endured by any one not already established in Present Truth, and when that time arrives it is doubtful that any one would be able to receive “sound doctrine” sufficiently enough to make an acceptable consecration.  However, Tentative Justification will continue for the faithful consecrators.  That Servant corroborates this thought:  “The question is, May not this statement of the Revelator [Rev. 13:17] mean more than is now experienced?  Like the Apostle Paul’s statement, may it not imply a time will come, in the last days, when sound doctrine will not be endured at all?” (Parousia Vol.  2, p. 259, bottom)

If Restitutionists want to consecrate for Restitution purposes now, that is their privilege, just as it was the privilege of Cornelius before his consecration was accepted; and if such consecrators are sincere it will doubtless make them more amendable for the Highway of Holiness when the “way” is opened up for them. (Isa. 35:8)  Their standing will be before The Christ until their works justification is completed at the end of the Millennium.  A Restitution Class walking a “narrow way” in this last special period of the Gospel Age is an absurdity, but “Every absurdity has a champion to defend it, for error is always talkative.”

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.  And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:3,13,14)

(By John J. Hoefle, Reprint 420, April 1991)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION:  While Brother Russell teaches (Our Lord’s Return, 44-46) that there has been an epiphanizing work going on during our Lord’s Parousia, does he not also teach in the same booklet (17, par. 1) that the Epiphany as a period does not set in until after the wheat and the tares have been dealt with - the former gathered into the garner by the resurrection, and the latter destroyed as such?

ANSWER:    We will quote the paragraph on which the question is based.  “The separation [italics ours] of the tares from the wheat, and the gathering [italics ours] of the wheat into the garner of heavenly conditions precedes the work of cleansing the wheat field of its symbolic tares by symbolic ‘fire’; and this entire Harvest work is to take place during the Parousia (presence) of the Lord, before His Epiphaneia (manifestation).  He is the chief Reaper, and all the under reapers will work under His direction and eye; and every kernel of true symbolic wheat will be gathered into the glorious symbolic garner by resurrection and ‘change’ [italics ours].”  In answering the question we will call attention to several particulars: (1) The word Harvest is used [1] sometimes to represent the work of reaping and gleaning the symbolic wheat; [2] sometimes to represent all seven processes to which the symbolic wheat is subjected, culminating in its garnering; and [3] sometimes to represent all the work done on the ripe wheat and on the tares, including the burning of the latter.  When this quotation tells us that the “entire Harvest work” is to take place during the Parousia, it uses the words “Harvest work” in the second sense of the term as given above, and not in its third sense.  It does not refer to harvesting tares.  This is evident from our italicized parts of the first sentence, and more especially from the sentence that we have in entirety italicized; for the reapers of whom it treats are the wheat, not the tare, reapers.  Hence this quotation does not teach that the tares would be destroyed before the Epiphany.  (2) At the time - 1902 (Z’02, 87, par. 7) - our Pastor wrote the paragraph above quoted, he believed the Church would be delivered sometime before October 1914.  Indeed, it was not until late in 1913 that he first intimated to the Church his doubts of the Church leaving the earth by the following Fall. (Z’13, 343, par. 7,12)  In the May 1, 1914, Tower, 132, last par.; 135, par. 1, he clearly showed that he no longer expected the Church’s deliverance by the following Fall.  He also explicitly stated in 1914 (What Pastor Russell Said, 97,98) that the Epiphany would begin immediately after October 1914, while the Tower references just given prove that he then expected some of the Church to remain here some time after October 1914.  Hence his later thought is in harmony with the view that some of the Church will be in the world for a while during the early stages of the Epiphany, but that the entire Bride will be with the Lord before the Epiphany is over (Col. 3:4).  (3) The beginning of the Epiphany could not be delayed until after the tares have been dealt with, because the Epiphany is the Trouble time (Luke 17:28-30; Rev. 1:7), during which, of course, the tares are dealt with (Matt. 13:30,41,42).  Our Pastor’s course on the subject matter of this question is another example of his growth in knowledge - the Truth unfolding more and more to him as he progressed toward the perfect day.

(The Present Truth, January 1, 1921, p. 14)       

NO. 548 EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH

In Jude, verse 3, Diaglott, the Apostle admonishes, “I had a necessity to write you, exhorting you to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.”  In this time, when Combinationism is rampant on all hands, here is some Scripture that receives little or no attention - even from some who claim to understand its real import.  At the outset it is well that we remember that faith has three meanings in the Bible - first, it is what we believe (the Truth), second, it is the quality by which we believe (mental appreciation and heart’s reliance upon God and Christ), and, third, it is faithfulness.  When St. Jude tells us to “contend for the faith,” he is referring to the first meaning of the word; namely, contend for the Truth.  This is in keeping with the Manna comment for September 23: “Our good fight of faith consists in a considerable measure in our defense of the Word of God… This will mean our willingness to stand for the Truth at any cost and against any number of assailants… As the Apostle again says, ‘I am set for the defense of the Gospel.’  We can do no less than defend the Truth.  The Truth is God’s representative, Christ’s representative, and hence our standard, and as true soldiers we must defend our standard, even unto death.”

There is a slogan common among men, He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day; but this certainly can have no embrace from those who “earnestly contend for the faith.”  This is confirmed by the Apostle Paul in Phil. 1:17, Dia., “I am placed for the defense of the glad tidings” - in much the same manner as “God has placed the members each one of them in the Body.” (1 Cor. 12:18)  Both of these texts draw good comparison to a sentinel on guard in an army - he is set there to admit all the eligibles, just as he is also set to intercept all the ineligibles.  Once this matter is clearly discerned, it will then become readily apparent how wrong are those who have decided they will have no controversy.  Certainly, their stand has no support whatever in the Scripture; in fact, it is a direct contradiction of Scripture.

Sometime back, one who would be a teacher in the Lord’s House made the foolish observation that only error needs defense; the Truth can defend itself.  From the foregoing, it is clear enough that the two Apostles and That Servant held just the reverse position.  Those of us who are acquainted with the facts know that Brother Russell was inherently a gentle man - a man of peace; yet a large part of his ministry was spent in controversy - just as the Prince of Peace spent most of His earthly sojourn in warring for the Truth and the principles it embraced.  Eventually, when His Kingdom is established, He will in all truth be the Prince of Peace.  He will then establish a peace among men the likes of which they do not now comprehend.  Thus, if we become involved in controversy, we, too, may contemplate a better day when there “will be no night there” - no error to cause controversy.  But that time is not yet.  David in his wars typed Brother Russell in his wars; and the Scriptures tell us definitely that David was a man of war - so much so that the Lord would not allow him to build the temple (the Lord’s house), but that honor was reserved for Solomon, whose name is the Hebrew for peace.  So also, the Greater Solomon will eventually speak “peace” to the people, but that day is still future.

In 2 Tim. 4:6-8, Dia., St. Paul is in effect giving his own burial eulogy: “The time for my dissolution has come near.  I have maintained the good contest.  I have finished the race, I have guarded the faith” - the Truth, that which had motivated him during the years of his Apostleship.  He had been well imbued with the understanding that God had placed him in the Body for that very purpose; and he had practiced what he preached, “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58)

STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED

Before one can teach others - defend the Truth - he must himself first be taught.  It is well given that the big difference between the professors and the students is that the professors have read the books first.  Thus, St. Paul counsels, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” (2 Tim. 2:15)  Brother Russell also recognized the force of this counsel, as shown by the December 20 Manna comments: “Only the studious find the narrow way to the Divine approval and acceptance… study the doctrine [the Truth]; study your course of conduct to keep it in harmony with the doctrine…Study to perform the duties of a faithful soldier of the cross.”

It is a sage observation that the average man is as lazy as he can afford to be; and this is more pointedly true of the mind than of the body.  Like trees, human beings die in the top first; we often see people whose bodies still have some semblance of life, but whose minds have flitted off into space.  And we see Christians on every hand whose faith (mental appreciation) has been considerably blurred by the ravages of time.  Thus, we have St. Peter’s statement, “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” (2 Peter 1:12)

According to the information that comes to us, Bible studies are conducted among some Truth groups where a half dozen different answers are given to the same question, at least five of which may be wrong.  Yet there is no correction by the leader; each is permitted to believe any answer that suits him.  Viewed from any standpoint, this is certainly Babylon, and comes well within the scope of St. Paul’s statement, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim. 3:7)  At the other extreme, we find some leaders who are ever striving to produce some new and different answers to those furnished by Brother Russell - just to be different.  And of such Brother Russell makes some pointed comment:

“The church has been responsible in considerable measure for the stumbling of those whom it has recognized as elder-brothers and teachers.  While they should not think evil, or surmise arrogance, they should be so wakeful to their own duties toward these brethren that they would not unduly flatter them, nor unduly encourage them, nor stimulate them to manufacture new light [such as justification in the Camp].

“On the contrary, all who are spiritual should be helpful to those elder-brothers; should compliment them on their loyalty to the Lord, and to the old, old story, rather than commend them for fanciful fictions, or encourage them further along such lines.  The Gospel of Grace has not changed [nor have the fundamentals of Harvest Present Truth]; it is still the old, old story; it still includes the thought of our calling and election by faithfulness to the terms laid down in the Scriptures.  The Brethren should be encouraged along these lines rather than along the lines of manufacturing types by guesswork without any authority of the Word of God.”

ERROR AND TRUTH AS TESTS

The question logically arises, Why should the Lord allow such vagaries among His people?  Many are perplexed by this question, yet the answer is conveniently simple, when seen in the proper light.  It is well stated in Micah 5:5,6: “When the Assyrian [the errorists] shall come into our land [the sphere of the Truth and its spirit]: and when he shall tread in our palaces [by attempting to overthrow fundamental doctrines, such as justification outside the Court in this faith Age], then shall we raise against him seven shepherds [competent teachers who shall watch over your souls as they that must give an account].”  And such faithful teachers “shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword [bring against the errorists sharp cutting truths - “the word of God, quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12)]… thus shall He deliver us from the Assyrian [the errorists], when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.”  Here is one more pointed Scripture that approves of controversy on various occasions.  Jesus Himself established the law for us for this Gospel Age: “Think not that I am come to send forth Peace on this land; I am come not to send Peace, but War.  For my coming will set a Man against his Father, and a Daughter against her Mother, and a Daughter-in law against her Mother-in-law; so that a man’s enemies will be found in his own family.” (Matt. 10:34-36, Dia.)  It is an inescapable duty of those who would be “faithful to the Lord, the Truth and the Brethren.”  And to such the Lord’s promise is sure: “And it will turn out to you for a Testimony… for I will give you Eloquence and Wisdom, which all your opponents will not be able to gainsay, or resist… And you will be hated by all on account of my name.” (Luke 21:13-17, Dia.)

Especially has this promise been evident in both Harvests.  Certainly, the Apostles and other teachers in the Jewish Harvest put to flight all opponents.  And in the Gospel-Age Harvest the same was also definitely true.  This has been in keeping with the prophecy: “I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.” (Isa. 41:15,16)  A threshing instrument is only for harvest purposes; and those familiar with the facts know that the Harvest Truth did have “teeth” in it.  “Thou shalt thresh the mountains [kingdoms by exposing the error of the Divine right of kings, etc.] and beat them small [the Harvest message revealed how ridiculous were such claims, made them truly look “small”]… thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” The teaching is clear that the elect, especially their teachers, will be victorious in the Harvest conflicts with error.  “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” (Isa. 54:17) Therefore, when leaders do not “prosper” in “contending for the faith” we may know that they are contending for error.

Upon receiving the Truth, which is in “the mouth sweet as honey” (Rev. 10:9,10), many reach the mistaken conclusion that they have come to the end of all controversy, and have entered the Beulah land of rest and peace, never again to be disturbed.  But not so!  “Good soldiers” must ever be ready to do battle whenever and wherever occasion arises; and it is an experience common to all who have borne any part of the burden and heat of the day that “when the sons of God present themselves before the Lord, Satan comes also.” (Job. 1:6)  And he is not one to promote the peace and prosperity of Zion in any measure - although he often appears to be so with “words smoother than butter.”  Rather, against the Kingdom and its establishment, and against any and all of the Elect, he is the avowed enemy ready to cast a stone among them at every opportunity.  Thus, they are his special targets always pitting the “wheat” class against the “buckwheat” class; “the peace of God which passeth understanding” is anathema to him.  Therefore, as soon as any of the Elect escape from the kingdom of darkness - from “the veil that is spread over all nations [the veil of ignorance and superstition]” (Isa. 25:7) they should logically expect to be the special target of the Prince of Darkness; and experience has taught us all that this is certainly true.  We need only consider the experience of Jesus Himself in Matthew 4:1-11, after His forty-day fast in the wilderness for confirmation of this conclusion.

It is well, however, to keep in mind that Satan is a master of deception, which is clearly illustrated in his trickery with Eve in the Garden.  “The woman was deceived.” (1 Tim. 2:14)  Hence, he does not blow a trumpet before him when he leads God’s people astray, even though war is in his heart.  “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (Psa. 55:21)  He is indeed the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” - the “angel of light” - the proclaimer of “advancing truth,” which always does away with the Truth already established.  This is the clear record for the entire Gospel Age to those of us who are “established in the Present Truth.”  And he readily downgrades those who oppose his errors.  Jesus was grossly slandered by the “preachers” of His time, as “a glutton and a winebibber”; Martin Luther was the “heretic,” the renegade who got drunk (also a winebibber), the “sifter” who caused divisions, etc., by the words of the Man of Sin; the loving and lovable John Wesley was the “dissenter,” the nomadic preacher without a pulpit (to which he replied, “The world is my pulpit”); and Brother Russell was the “illiterate haberdasher,” the braying Balaam’s ass, etc.

But sad to say, many who would rest at ease upon their creed beds fell into the snare of the fowler, which is one of the evidences now, one of the “signs of the times,” that we are in “the evil day.”  The Harvest siftings abundantly confirm this; and the sixth slaughter weapon of Revolutionism is everywhere rampant.  One of the chief weapons of this sifting work is the cry, No more controversy; let us have peace!  Instead of “spoiling” the Assyrian (the sifting errorists), they allow the Assyrian to spoil them.

THE PATH OF THE JUST

Those who continue to “fight the good fight” along the lines prescribed in the Bible continue to progress; whereas, “those who sleep” retrogress.  Without activity in the study, practice and spread of “the good Word of God” there will not only be no progress, but there will be just the reverse.  Thus, St. Peter (2 Peter 3:18) exhorts us, “Grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”; and Brother Russell states that it is impossible to do one without the other.  And it follows, too, that when we see others introducing “strong delusions” in the Truth movement, it is our bounden duty to “raise up a standard against such.”

Often we hear the text quoted, “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18)  Today many contend that this is an individual matter, with sufficient knowledge in the Six Volumes of Scripture Studies and other Parousia writings to accomplish this.  This is only a half truth, and half truths are more misleading than whole errors.  Accepting such a position makes it easy to go to sleep.  But note the direct contradiction to such a position in Parousia Volume 1, p. 20: “Those who will turn away from the mere speculations of men, and devote time to searching the Scriptures, not excluding reason, which God invites us to use (Isa. 1:18), will find that a blessed bow of promise spans the heavens… For the child of God a lamp is provided whose light dispels from his pathway much of the darkness… But it is only ‘the path of the just’ that ‘is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day’… The class referred to is ‘justified by faith’… While it is true that the path of each individual believer is a shining one, yet the special application of this statement is to the just (justified) as a class… The light will continue to increase beyond the present - ‘unto the perfect day’… illuminating as it becomes due.”

And to emphasize this statement we offer another comment from the 1912 Watch Tower Reprint 5055, under the caption, Light Shining More and More Unto The Perfect Day:

“It would not be becoming on our part to speak with positiveness of how much our Lord knew during His earthly ministry.  For how could we know except as it was declared.  He said that the times and seasons were not at that time known by any but ‘the Father only.’  We cannot doubt that He knows all on that subject now.  And if our surmises are correct, we know more on that subject now than our Lord did then.”

And by the same process of “reason” we can now say, we know more on some things today than did Brother Russell during his lifetime.  Surely, none would dispute this self-evident truth, although this offers no occasion at all for “boasting” over present possessions of Truth - nor was Brother Russell boasting when he stated, as quoted above, “we know more on that subject now than our Lord did then.”

STRONG DELUSIONS

Nevertheless, it is a fair and reasonable question, Why does the Lord permit the strong delusions and trials of this evil day, when they actually do overthrow the faith of many and severely test all?  The Apostle Paul answers this question in 2 Thessalonians 2:11,12: “For this cause God shall send them [those who received not the love of the Truth that they might be saved] strong delusion, that they should believe a lie [such as no more controversy, the world on trial now before Armageddon - the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teaching]: that they might be condemned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  Note the added force to this text as it is given in the Diaglott: “God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood; in order that all those may be judged who believed not the Truth, but approved the iniquity.”  Plainly, then, we are told that God not only permits, but also desires, that the faith of His professed people should be severely tried.  And if the thousands fall by these fiery darts of the enemy, it is because they are unworthy of the Truth - not having received it in the love of it, much the same as “The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” (1 Sam. 16:14)

Many indeed receive the Truth very much as a child receives a new toy.  It is a curiosity, something new (like Grimm’s Fairy Tales when read for the first time), to be enjoyed for a season and then laid aside to be superseded by something else that temporarily pleases the fancy - some “sleight-of-hand” that may be produced by an aspiring leader.  Then there are some who grasp the Truth as a cudgel wherewith to gain the honors of victory in arguments with opponents - they are overcome by the “knowledge that puffeth up.”  It is a sound teaching that the Truth brings to its recipients “the peace of God which passeth understanding” (Phil. 4:7); and such peace comes to one and all so long as they “receive the Truth in the love of it”; but such peace is not the peace of indifference, not the peace at any price, not the peace of cowardice when controversy appears.

The Truth does indeed make strange bedfellows - widely separated by race, nationality, education and other providential circumstances.  Thus, we find some who are too aggressive; just as we find some that are not aggressive enough; but a proper application of the Truth and its spirit will eventually give to all “the spirit of a sound mind.”  It will calm down the warmongers and energize to battle those that would calmly permit the Truth stream to be polluted.  St. James has properly stated the matter: “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.” (James 3:17)  To those who would ignore this plain Scripture the Prophet Amos has some critical words: “Woe to them that are at ease [at peace with all men] in Zion… that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches [in languid indifference when errorists - the Assyrian - would muddy the clear pure Harvest Truth-stream].” (Amos 6:1-4)  Our Lord Himself says, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26)

In this connection, That Servant has some more to say in the September 1, 1916 Watch Tower, Reprint 5949:

“Let us remember, too, that God has promised to keep and guide the minds of those whose hearts are loyal and true to Him.  We should therefore conclude that if the Lord is thrusting any one out of the light as unworthy of it, into the outer darkness of the world, if He is permitting unfaithful ones to be seduced by the great enemy, it is not our mission to follow them into the outer darkness by reading, conversation, etc.  We are to remain with the Lord and those who are walking in the light, and to seek others to take the places of those who now deny or ignore the precious blood of the covenant wherewith they were once sanctified.  Neither are we to waste sympathy upon those who depart.”

Although we are not heart-examiners, God is; and, when He manifests one by permitting him to go into outer darkness - as is true of the “unprofitable servant” of Matthew 25:30 (see Berean Comment), then we can know of a surety that there was something wrong with the heart, with the character, of which we may have been unaware.  But, when this does become apparent, then we have the indisputable evidence of the loss of God’s favor - gauged by the depth of his departure into “outer darkness.”

Such conclusion would also be strengthened by the depth of the Holy Spirit in those observing the deflection.  St. Peter clearly revealed that he had read the heart of Ananias - “Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?” (Acts. 5:4) - and St. Paul corroborates this opinion: “The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12)  The word “discerner” in this text is from the Greek kritikis, meaning critic or judge.  It is found only once in the New Testament, and is derived from the Greek krino: it is closely related to the Greek krisis, which is translated damnation in John 5:29, the real meaning of which is judgment.  Jesus Himself substantiates this meaning in Matthew 7:15-16, Dia.: “Beware of false teachers… By their fruits you will discover them.”  These words would be empty indeed were we unable to penetrate any deeper than the skin, although it is common fallacy among men to “look on the outward appearance,” which offers the warning that we should ever proceed very cautiously when attempting to “discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  We are not to judge according to the faults and blemishes of the fallen man, but we are to judge (recognize) them according to their faithfulness to the Truth - or by their revolutionisms against the Truth and departure from the Truth they once received.  It is the “Word of God” that manifests such people to us.

However, it is here timely to stress that all of the Lord’s followers have more or less faults and blemishes, but these failings are not to determine our opinion of them - their heart condition.  There can be only one touchstone, and that is the Truth itself.  Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word [the Truth] which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3); and this offers the ready conclusion that those who cast away the Word that once sanctified them are now become self-evidently unclean - not on the surface merely, but in the heart.  Usually blemishes are apparent on the surface, and some are quick to conclude that such appearance is a gauge of the hearts, but this is a mistake, and should certainly be avoided.  “Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” (1 Cor. 1:26)  So it has always been easy to see the faults of the called ones; but it is definitely not the privilege of the called ones to parade the faults of other called ones - and this should hold true even if we see them losing the Truth - even though we may realize that there was something unworthy in their characters that caused them to lose the Truth that once sanctified them, something that caused the Lord to manifest them as such.  All of us know that Brother Russell declined to attack the morals of the Roman priesthood; he allowed the Truth to manifest them and their errors.

Knowledge is not the primary gauge of Christian character, because all of the saints after Apostolic times had more or less of error; yet they made their calling and election sure.  However, That Servant taught that we should esteem most highly those whose zeal for the Truth actuated them to systematic and energetic study of the Word; especially so, those elders “who toil in word and teaching.” (1 Tim. 5:17, Dia.)  St Paul says such should be “esteemed worthy of double honor,” because they are those who come within the scope of Psalms 42:1: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”  Conversely, those who esteem the Truth lightly, merely to minister to their selfishness, or their ego, or for present advantage (“through covetousness shall they with feigned words making merchandise of you” - 2 Peter 2:3), are unworthy of it; and it is God’s will that they should lose it.  Therefore, “strong delusions” are sent, which “if it were possible, would deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24:24) - to separate the true from the false.  In this Age of faith the Truth was not designed for the “slothful in business” (Rom 12:11), or for the wicked or avaricious.

St Peter describes this latter evil very well in Acts 8:20-23: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God… Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.”  Indeed, “Light [Truth] is sown for the righteous [those who receive it in a good and honest heart], and joy [the joys of the Truth and its spirit] for the upright in heart.” (Psa. 97:11)  Some of us have wondered why our relatives or close fiends did not receive the Truth gladly; but, when they did not receive it thus, we should conclude that they are not “of the Truth,”  and should direct our efforts toward more responsive minds.  The veil that is spread over all nations” (Isa. 25:7) has fostered many superstitions of wide variety; and over the centuries these vagaries have gripped the minds of many with compelling force.  We are very well acquainted with a multi-millionaire who would not think of undertaking any kind of voyage on Friday; but no one would suspect him of such weakness unless they had become intimately acquainted with him.  It is very unlikely that such a mind would be responsive to sound sober truth, nor would he be in favor of engaging in any controversy that would challenge his ludicrous flummery.  Such a man would not be inclined to “earnestly contend for the faith.” (Jude 3)

The faithful children of God embrace the Truth because they have a warm affinity for it; and they are most happy when they can minister it to other receptive hearts and minds.  “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jer. 20:9), which instantly prompts such to “earnestly contend for the faith” - to “preach the word in season and out of season” - in winsome presentation, or in sharp controversy whenever occasion demands.  All such realize the unspeakable value of the Truth; they always give “thanks unto God for His unspeakable gift” - His “inexpressible gift.” (2 Cor. 9:15, Dia.)  Such “buy the Truth, and sell it not” - they sell it not for money or for “the praise of men.”  This is what is meant by receiving the Truth into a good and honest heart.  And to all such the promise is sure, “He shall give His angels [Messengers - competent teachers well established in “the present truth”] charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psa. 91:11)

During this faith Age, the “angels” are usually well-instructed brethren who have studied to show themselves workmen approved of God, who rightly divide the Truth (2 Tim. 2:15), ever joyfully willing to feed the flock of God - or even some sister well established in present truth, who takes a motherly interest in the lambs of the flock.  We may be certain that the Lord always provides for His own; and “great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend [stumble] them.” (Psa. 119:165)  Thus, the one thing to which all the elect should first look is what they have received - and still hold - the Truth in the love of it.  All who do this have, for Gospel-Age purposes, inherited goodly Canaan land, which means that they have acquired the Truth and the spirit of the Truth.  This is what is meant by “continuing in My Word” - and “you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.”  Such belief of the Truth comes only through a real sanctification of the spirit, a complete setting apart to the Divine will and service.  This will sometimes put us on the mountain top, as it also will often place us “in the valley of the shadow,” sometimes “sons of peace,” sometimes “good soldiers” able and willing “earnestly to contend for the faith.”  The sufferings of our Lord were directly or indirectly caused from advocating unpopular truth and exposing popular errors - and if we would be faithful we “ought also so to walk, even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6)

We should not expect to see all in any ecclesia thus fortified, and we must make due allowance for “growth in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus”; but God has provided His angels (messengers) to accomplish this in all whose “mind is stayed on thee.”  The faithful student of the Word should be able always to give a reason for his hope.  The Word of God alone is able to make wise, and is profitable for doctrine, instruction, etc., “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished.” (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Tim. 3:15-17)  Only this one storehouse contains an exhaustless supply of things both new and old - meat in due season for the household.  God’s Word is a great storehouse of food for hungry pilgrims.  There is milk for babes and strong meat for those more developed (1 Peter 2:2; Heb. 5:14); and not only so, but it contains food adapted to the different seasons and conditions.  “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” (Jer. 6:16)  Only a comparatively few are seeking the “old paths” and “the faith once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3)

(John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 196, October 1971)

NO. 547 THE MEMORIAL

       “When He seeth the blood the Lord will pass over the door and not suffer the destroyer to smite you.” (Exodus 12:23)

       The Passover of The First-Born:  A memorial of first rank with the Israelites is the Passover.  It celebrates one of the most momentous chapters in their history.  It stands at the beginning of their ecclesiastical year, as the Day of Atonement stands near the beginning of their civil year.  It is associated with their civil year.  It is associated with their national birth.  The Scriptures declare that God at that particular time had brought to the throne of Egypt a Pharaoh of indomitable will.  The Scriptures declare that whereas other persons might have been in line for the throne, God specially favored this man’s attaining it in order that through his natural stiff-neckedness and obstinacy Divine power might be manifested in one after another of the plagues which his course would make necessary and proper.  We read, “For this very purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show forth my power in thee.” (Ex. 9:16)  The ten plagues sent upon the Egyptians were manifestations of Divine Justice in opposition to their unjust treatment of God’s Chosen People.  The last of these ten stands related to our subject, The Passover.

       The edict sent forth was that all of the firstborn of the Egyptians should die, and that the firstborn of the Israelites should not die.  And the Chosen People residing in Egypt were directed to take special steps whereby to mark themselves as separate and distinct from the Egyptians.  They were to take for each family a lamb without blemish and bring it into the house on the tenth day the first month.  They were to cherish it and care for it until the fourteenth, and then slay it.  Its blood was to be sprinkled on the outside doorpost and lintels while its flesh was to be roasted in the fire without a bone of it being broken.  It was to be eaten in the night of the fourteenth with bitter herbs and with unleavened bread.  On the morrow, in the strength of the food, they were to march forth out of Egypt to go to the Land of Promise for an inheritance under the Covenant made with Abraham.

       The Destroying Angel Passed Over:  The results were as the Lord by the mouth of Moses had foretold.  The first-born of the Egyptians died in that night, but the firstborn of the Chosen People were passed over or spared.  This notable miracle was memorialized by Divine direction, and every year at the appropriate season a lamb was taken on the tenth day into each of the houses of the Israelites, one for each family or group.  All leaven was put away from their dwellings.  Everything representing corruption was burned, and unleavened bread alone was eaten with the lamb.  The annual celebration of the Passover was for eight days, the first and eight day being high days, or to be especially commemorated.  The Passover is not only the oldest Jewish institution, but also the most joyous festival of the Chosen People.  It celebrates one of the earliest manifestations of Divine favor toward them, and reminds them of the prophecies which declare that at some future time God will manifest Himself in their favor still more markedly; as it is written, “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, and from all the lands whither he had driven them.” (Jer. 16:14,15)  Again, “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my Covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 31:31,32)  The intimation here again is that this deliverance from Egypt at the Passover time, the most notable event in the past history of the Chosen People, will be cast entirely into the shade when the due time shall come for establishing with Israel the New Covenant - old in respect to Law and the Divine requirements, but new in the sense that it will be based upon better sacrifices and have a better Mediator, able to do for Israel exceedingly better things than Moses, the Mediator of the Sinai Covenant  was able to accomplish - noble as he was in his every endeavor to serve the people as their Mediator.  It is of the better Mediator and better Covenant which He would accomplish for them that Moses spoke, saying, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me [but greater - antitypical of me]; him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you.  And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people (Acts 3:22,23; Deut. 18:15).

       The Meaning and Interpretation:  For thirty five centuries God’s Chosen People, obedient to the Divine Direction, have celebrated the memorial “Passover,” seeing merely its outward significance and not for a moment realizing the true significance of the grand fact which they celebrated - that it typified a grand feature of the Divine Program of great value to them and to all mankind.  The lamb they slew typified “the Lamb of God,” Jesus, whose death constitutes the Ransom Price for the sins of the whole world.  His death was necessary before the promise to Abraham and through him to the Chosen People could possibly have fulfillment.  A redemption from sin, to be everlastingly efficacious, must be based upon a better sacrifice than the literal lamb repeated annually.  It was not only necessary that Jesus become a man in order to give His life a sacrifice for mankind (Adam and his race), but it was necessary, additionally, that having finished the sacrificing work He should ascend up on High to Jehovah’s right hand, to be the Spiritual Messiah, who in due time will accomplish for the Chosen People all the gracious promises made to them in the Covenant with Abraham, in which they trust, and in harmony with which they will be used of the Lord in conveying His blessings to all nations, peoples and tongues.  A sin condemnation was on the world - “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23)  Man’s penalty must be met before this condemnation of death could be fully and forever set aside - before man could be entirely and forever lifted out of death conditions back to eternal life and into harmony with his Creator.

       In harmony with Divine arrangement, Jesus first offered himself to Israel as their King.  But Israel saw not how He could be their Messiah, because He had neither wealth nor armies nor influential friends; they disdained Him as a deceiver.  When He declared Himself the Son of God and their Deliverer, they thought Him an impostor and blasphemer, and worthy of death.  After sentencing Him in their own Sanhedrin Court, not having the authority to execute Him themselves, they charged Him with the only crime which the Roman Governor would hear - treason to the Roman Emperor.  By threatening Pilate that they would associate him with Jesus in treason, they finally effected the crucifixion of the antitypical Passover Lamb.  He was stretched upon the cross much after the manner in which they impaled their Passover lamb for its roasting.

       “On The Tenth Day of The First Month”:  Additionally, let us note the fact that just at the appropriate time, namely the tenth day of the first month, when the Chosen People were taking up their lambs for the Passover, Jesus presented Himself as the Lamb of God, and was rejected.  His presentation was on the exact day and in exactly the manner prescribed by the Prophet Zechariah, “Behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass…He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth.” (Zech. 9:9,10)  This was fulfilled to the very letter, as we have already seen.  It was fulfilled as the Prophet foretold, on the very day that Israel’s “double” of experiences began.  The Chosen People were blinded with self-satisfaction and repudiated the lowly King and refused to accept Him as their Lamb and receive Him into their hearts and homes.  Nevertheless, He proceeded to fulfill this wonderful type.  As the antitypical Passover Lamb, He died on the fourteenth day, exactly in accord with the type.

       The Antitypical Passover Lamb:  The Israelites were commanded to celebrate this Passover as the first feature of the Jewish law and as one of their greatest memorials as a nation.  As a matter of fact, we find that in some degree the Passover is celebrated by Jews in all parts of the world - even by those who claim to be agnostics and infidels.  They have a measure of respect for it as an ancient custom.  But is it not strange that, with the bright minds which many of them possess, our Jewish friends have never thought it worthwhile to inquire into the meaning of this celebration?  Why was the lamb slain and eaten?  Why was its blood sprinkled upon the doorposts and lintels?  Because God so commanded, of course, but what reason, motive, object or lesson was there behind the Divine command?  Truly a reasonable God gives reasonable commands, and in due time will be willing that His faithful people should understand the significance of every requirement.  Why are the Hebrews indifferent to this subject?  Why does prejudice hold their minds?

       Although Christianity has the answer to this question we regret that the majority of Christians, because of carelessness, are unable to give a reason and ground for any hope in connection with this matter.  If the Jew can realize that his Sabbath day is a type or foreshadowing of a coming Epoch of rest and blessing and release from toil, sorrow and death, why can he not see that similarly all the features of the Mosaic law institution were designed by the Lord to be foreshadowings of various blessings, to be bestowed in due time?  Why can it not be discerned by all that the Passover lamb typified, represented, the Lamb of God, that its death represented the death of Jesus, the Messiah; and that the sprinkling of its blood symbolizes, represents, the imputation of the merit of the death of Jesus to the entire household of faith, the passed-over class?

       Blessed are those whose eyes of faith see that Jesus was indeed “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) - that the cancellation of the world’s sin is effected by the payment of Adam’s penalty - that as the whole world lost the favor of God and came under the Divine sentence of death, with its concomitants of sorrow and pain, it was necessary before the sentence could be removed that a satisfaction of justice should be made; and that therefore, as the Apostle declares, Christ died for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us back to God.  Thus He opened up “a new and living way” - a way to life everlasting.

       Let us notice also that there were two Passovers.  There was a great one, when the whole nation by Divine Power was miraculously delivered by the Lord and led by a sandbar across the channel of the Red Sea especially prepared for them by the accentuation of winds and tides.  That picture, or type, shows the ultimate deliverance from the power of sin and Satan of every creature who will ultimately come into accord with the Lord and desire to render Him worship - not an Israelite was left behind.

       But that Passover at the Red Sea is not the one we are discussing particularly on this occasion - not the one whose antitype we are about to celebrate.  No; the event which we celebrate is the antitype of passing over, or sparing of the firstborn of Israel.  Only the firstborn were endangered, though the deliverance of all depended upon the salvation of the firstborn.  Applying this in harmony with all the Scriptures, we see that the firstfruits unto God of His creatures, the Church of the firstborn, have been spared during the Gospel Age - being passed over.  We see that the remainder of mankind who may desire to enlist and to follow the great antitypical Moses when He shall ultimately lead the people forth from the bondage of sin and death are not now endangered - merely the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.

       By and by the night will have passed, the glorious morn of deliverance will have come, and The Christ, the antitypical Moses, Head and Body, will lead forth, will deliver all Israel - all the people of God - all who when they shall know will be glad to reverence, honor and obey the will of God.  That day of deliverance will be the entire Millennial Age, at the close of which all evil and evil-doers, symbolized by the hosts of Egypt will be utterly cut off in the Second Death.

       “As Oft As Ye Do This”:  The Apostle clearly and positively identifies the Passover Lamb with our Lord Jesus, saying, “Christ our Passover is slain for us: therefore let us keep the feast.” (1 Cor. 5:7,8)  He informs us that we all need “the blood of sprinkling,” not upon our houses, but upon our hearts. (Heb. 12:24; 1 Peter 1:2)  We are also to eat the unleavened (unfermented, pure) bread of truth, if we would be strong and prepared for the deliverance in the morning of the new dispensation.  We also must eat the Lamb, must appropriate Christ, His merit, the value that was in Him, to ourselves.  Thus we put on Christ not merely by faith, but more and more to the extent of our ability we put on His character, and are transformed day by day into His glorious image in our hearts.

       Our Lord Jesus also fully identified Himself with the Passover Lamb.  On the same night that He was betrayed, and just preceding His crucifixion, He gathered His disciples into the upper room, saying, “With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15)  It was necessary that as Jews that they should celebrate the Passover supper on that night - the saving of the typical firstborn from the typical “prince of this world.”  But as soon as the requirements of the type had been fulfilled, our Lord instituted a new Memorial upon the old foundation, saying, “As often as ye do this [celebrate the Memorial of the Passover season - annually] do it in remembrance of me”! (1 Cor. 11:24,25)  Your Jewish neighbors, whose eyes of understanding have not been opened will not appreciate the matter in its true antitypical sense, but you who recognize Me as the Lamb of God, who in God’s purpose has been slain from the foundation of the world, who recognize that I am about to give my life as the world’s redemption price, will note this Passover season with peculiar and sacred significance that other cannot appreciate.  Henceforth you will not celebrate any longer the type, but memorialize the antitype, for I am about to die as the Lamb of God, and thus to provide the blood of sprinkling for the Church of firstborn, and meat indeed for the entire household of faith.

       “This Is My Body Broken For You”:  That the Lord’s followers should no longer gather as the Jews had done previously to eat the literal Passover supper of lamb, in commemoration of the deliverance in Egypt our Lord shows by choosing new emblems - “unleavened bread” and “the fruit of the vine” - to represent Him as the Lamb.  Thenceforth His followers, in accord with His injunction, celebrated every year His death as their Passover Lamb, until after the Apostles had fallen asleep in death, and a great falling away had confused the faith of nominal Christendom, producing the epoch known as the Dark Ages.  Even during the Dark Ages the teaching that Christ was the antitypical Passover Lamb persisted, though the celebration of His death in the Passover Supper that Jesus instituted fell into disuse.  It was crowded out by that most terrible blasphemy which has deceived and confused so many millions of Christendom, the Mass, introduced by Roman Catholicism.  This in the Scriptures is called “the abomination of desolation,” because of the disastrous influence it has had upon the faith and practice of the Lord’s people.  Although Protestants in general have repudiated the Mass, as being wholly contrary to the teaching of Christ and the Apostles, nevertheless the practice of Protestants are largely influenced yet by the terrible error, from which they have only partially escaped.

       The Mass Is Not The Eucharist:  Many Protestants will innocently ask, Is not the Mass merely the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, under another name?  Oh, no: we answer - its wholly different!  The Lord’s Supper celebrates the death of Christ accomplished at Calvary.  The Mass represents a new sacrifice for sins made every time the Mass is performed.  Our Roman Catholic friends believe that when the priest blesses the wafer it becomes the actual body of Christ in his hands, for the very purpose of sacrificing Him afresh.  High Mass is a particular sacrifice of Christ for a particular sin of a particular individual.  Low Mass is a sacrifice of Christ for the general sins of a congregation.  Roman Catholics claim to believe in the merit of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary - that it covered the original sin, general sins that are past; but they claim also that daily sins, shortcomings, blemishes of every individual require to be cleansed by fresh sacrifices of Christ from time to time.  Thus, from their standpoint, as represented in the Mass, and as practiced by the Roman and Greek Catholics, and High Church Episcopalians, Christ is being sacrificed afresh all the world over every day.  This in the Scriptures is called an “abomination” in God’s sight, because it disregards, sets at naught, the fact as stated in the Bible that Christ dieth no more, “that by one sacrifice he hath perfected forever all who come unto the Father through him.” (Rom. 6:9; Heb. 10:14)

       It will be readily seen that the repeated sacrifices represented in the Mass would have the effect of nullifying or minimizing the value of the great Sacrifice at Calvary, represented in the Passover and in the Memorial Supper.  How could those who had come to look especially to the Mass for the cancellation of their sins be expected to look with as deep concern and as high an appreciation as otherwise back to the antitypical Passover?  While, therefore, the celebration of Good Friday has continued, the celebration of the Memorial Supper preceding it fell into disuse long ago.

       As for Protestants, repudiating the dogma of the Mass as wholly unscriptural, they have abandoned it and returned to a celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  Meantime, however, accustomed to the frequency of the Mass, they have considered it merely a matter of expedience how often the Lord’s Supper should be celebrated.  Hence we find some celebrating it every four months, some every three months, some every month, and some every Sunday.  This general laxity and failure to reach a common ground of conformity is due to two things: (1) Christian people generally have overlooked the fact that our Lord’s death was the antitypical Passover Lamb, and that its celebration is the antitypical Passover; (2) They have misunderstood our Lord’s words, “as oft as ye do this,” to mean, Do this as often as you please, whereas the words really signify, As often as you, my disciples (all of whom are Jews and accustomed to keeping the Passover), celebrated this occasion, do it in remembrance of Me - not in remembrance of the literal lamb and typical deliverance from typical Egypt and its bondage through the passing over of the typical firstborn.

       It would be a great blessing, doubtless, to many Christians if they could see this subject in its true light, could lay more weight upon the value of the death of Christ, and join more heartily in its celebration - on its anniversary, instead of at various other times and seasons, irregularly and without  special significance.  We believe that such a celebration brings special blessings to both heart and head.  The nearer we come to the Divine requirements the greater is the measure of our blessing, the more closely are we drawn to our Master and Head.

       The Cup Of Joy In The Kingdom:  On the occasion of the institution of the Memorial of His death, the Master in His conversation with Apostles, said: “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt. 26:29)  Our Lord was here contrasting two great days - the day of suffering and the day of glory.  The Gospel Age has been the day of suffering.  The Millennial Age will be the day of glory and is especially spoken of as “the day of Christ.”

       The fruit of the vine, the literal cup represents two thoughts.  The cup of wine is produced at the cost of the life of the grape.  The grape loses its own individuality.  The juice is pressed out, and thus the fruit of the vine is made ready for use.  The cup of wine - the juice of the grape - represents, however, not only the crushing of the grape, but also the exhilaration that comes as the result.  So it is in drinking of this literal cup.  To us it symbolizes our Savior’s sufferings and death.  But wine also represents joy, gladness, and is thus used in the Scriptures.  So in the sense in which the Lord used the words “fruit of the vine” in the text just quoted, it represented the joys of the Kingdom.

       The Father marked out for our Lord Jesus in His earthly experience a certain specific course.  This course constituted His cup of suffering and death.  But the Father promised Him that after He had drunk the cup faithfully, He should be given a different cup, a different experience - glory, honor, and immortality.

       At this Memorial season all of the consecrated should manifest their love, loyalty, obedience, faithfulness, by symbolizing the Redeemer’s death.

       As always, we suggest reading of the chapter on the Passover in Volume Six of the Scripture Studies.  The proper date of the Memorial this year is the 14th day of April after 6 p.m.  We here at 2501 Morningside Drive, Mount Dora, Florida invite all in the vicinity who are of this mind to join us at 7 p.m. on that date.

       “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.” (Heb. 13:20,21)

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       “BISHOP ACCUSED OF VIOLATING CHURCH TEACHING:  CHICAGO - A group of United Methodist clergy and lay people have accused Chicago Bishop Joseph Sprague of violating church teaching on salvation and the virgin birth of Jesus.

       “The complaint, filed January 7 with Bishop Bruce Ough, head of the College of Bishops for the North Central Jurisdiction, starts a complex church discipline process that carries a range of punishments and could force Sprague from ministry. Sprague declined to comment, saying the complaint process is supposed to be confidential.

       “The Rev. Thomas Lambrecht of Greenville, Wis., spokesman for the 28 people who signed the complaint, said Sprague denied the virgin birth of Jesus and rejected church teaching that Christ is the only way to salvation.  The statements allegedly came in a speech last year and in his writings.

       “The group says Sprague’s comments violated the Methodist’s Book of Discipline prohibition against disseminating teaching contrary to church doctrine.”

(The Associated Press, January 18, 2003)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

God’s Supervision of the Nations

       “The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Dan. 4:17)

       “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God.  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.” (Rom. 13:1,2)

QUESTION:  Should we understand from the above Scriptures that God guides the affairs of nations, and chooses their rulers?

ANSWER:      These Scriptures are in harmony with other statements of Scripture.  In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, for instance, after he had been seven years insane, lying amongst the beasts of the field, his reason returned to him and he extolled the God of heaven, acknowledging that God setteth up those whom he will and putteth down those whom he will.  We understand that God’s dealing with King Nebuchadnezzar was prophetic.

       In the case of Israel God had very particular oversight of their affairs, and dealt with their rulers.  David was anointed when he was a youth, to be king in due time instead of Saul.  So with several others of their kings the Lord had them anointed in advance.  It might be said of Israel, that whoever sat upon the throne was there as the Lord’s representative.  We remember also that on one occasion the Prophet of God was sent to anoint one of the kings of Syria and to give him a prophecy respecting himself, that he should take the throne.

       Looking back, we see that in the case of Pharaoh, the perverse king of Egypt, God declared, “For this very purpose I raised thee up, that I might show forth my power in thee.”  God did not approve of Pharaoh, but used him to show forth His own glory.  God also used King Cyrus of Persia as a servant to perform His bidding.

God’s Supervision of Current Events

       All of these recorded instances show a vital interest on God’s part as to who shall come forward and who shall be retarded when matters would affect His own plan.  We are not to understand that these different kings [rulers] represented God’s choice as respects their loyalty to Him, but that these were the ones through whom the Divine Plan in operation could be signally manifested and outworked.  And so it is today.  The Lord knew which of the men running for the office of President of the United States would be the most suitable - the one who would most fully cooperate in the carrying out of the very conditions which He is pleased to permit to come to pass.

       The Lord guides in the affairs of nations now, only in so far as such oversight will promote the fulfillment of His own purposes.  When the monarchs of various countries declare themselves “King by the grace of God,” we do not agree to the thought they have in mind in making such claim.  They are expressing the thought which has prevailed throughout Christendom for centuries - that they reign as representatives of the Kingdom of God, and by His special favor.  And like-wise the Catholic church: When the pope claims that he is the head of the church of Christ, claims that he is Christ’s Vicegerent, he thus claims that Christ has set up His Kingdom, and that the pope reigns in His stead.

Overrule To Outworking of God’s Plan

       After the Papal power waned in Europe, and the Protestants came into power, the Protestant rulers claimed the same right that the Catholics had claimed - to rule as the Lord’s special representatives.  And it is from this standpoint that kings [rulers] maintain that they reign “by the grace of God,” that the Kingdom of God is set up, and that they are reigning in God’s kingdoms.  We do not understand this to be the right thought, but that in God’s providence He permits these to occupy the thrones of the world for the time being.  We understand that God does exercise a supervisory oversight in respect to them - not that He has authorized them to represent Him, or that He is responsible for their deeds and acts, but that He is so controlling matters as to cause them to outwork His own arrangements.

       God will not convert a king [ruler] in order to do this; He will not make him a saint.  But He can allow or hinder events without interfering with the free will of any individual, and without becoming responsible for his government.

       We may assume that this supervision of Divine Power is for the ultimate interest of mankind.  We remember that there is a prince of darkness, who is seeking to do violence to humanity.  Our thought is that the Divine Power hinders or restrains, so that the worst things cannot come to pass until His due time, and He overrules to bring those into power who will have the disposition to do what He purposes to permit when His due time has arrived.  However, since the Lord does not explain to us just how He does this, it would be wise for us not to be too emphatic in our statements.

(By Pastor Russell, Reprint 5466,5467, May 15, 1914) 

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily and All,

       We do want to send our warm greetings to you from Galilee once again.  Hope this finds you feeling better, Emily.  How wonderfully we have been created, and only with problems in our bodies do we realize how much all works together without our thinking about it, commanding it to happen, and even without a computer programming it.  Even the small member of our body the eye has so many facets that just do their task daily for years.  So we do pray that you are doing better in all ways, Emily!

       Since we last wrote our dear Sister Eva Merrill left us all having enriched all the lives she touched.  We know she is missed in Arizona so much, but she was so faithful and loving to us with her letters, prayers and love.  I am sure you also miss her encouragement as well.

       Well we are rejoicing here in Israel with the first rains last week after a long, hot and very dry summer.  Those first rains are always so special as they wash off the dust, and the air has such a wonderful smell!  We hear you also are in need of rains there in Florida, as is so many areas of the U.S.A.  What a strange weather year it has been with droughts in the U.S. as some parts of Europe were drowning in floods.  We do pray for another rainy winter here to again help our water shortage.

       They have said for sometime that the next war in this area will be over water!  So the makings for such are now set-up on the northern border of Israel as the Lebanese (urged on by the Hisbullah) have started pumping water from one of the sources for the water of the Sea of Galilee.  They know Israel has trouble reacting just now as the U.S. does not want a third front to emerge along with the Palestinian problem and the Iraq problem.  Hisbullah is pushing, pushing Israel like a big bully just wanting to pick a fight.  How long can Israel not react to this provocation in the north?  Water is too precious in this area to lose it.

       Then we have the Arafat comedy of trying to look “democratic” with his new council lined with pro-Iraq and other terrorists now “in suits and ties” for the world media to applaud.  If it was not so tragic it would be laughable.  Sadly most of the world, especially Europe, swallow it all and tip their hats to Arafat “pulling another rabbit out of his hat” or Kaffia in his case.

       The bombings are still a daily threat and the last one was on the bus that would take us from Tiberias to TelAviv.  This has been about the sixth bombing on this bus line which also goes through an Arab area (just south of where Emek ha Shalom was).  So we try to avoid this direct bus route, but that means a longer way if we need to go to TelAviv.  It is easier not to travel much these days.      We did make the effort over Succoth to go to Jerusalem for the gathering there by the Christian Embassy of Christians from many different nations to support Israel and bring comfort in these difficult days.  Some 3,000 came, and also participated in the Jerusalem March despite the threat of a terrorist attack.  The security was very tight this year, and thankfully there were no attacks.  So these Christian tourists were about the only ones in the last months (some also came to stay in our Bed/Breakfast rooms as well), and now the hotels stand sadly empty again.

       The economic situation for the average Israeli is getting harder and harder.  If the husband or wife or both are not out of work, the shekels they get each month buy less and less.  You can watch the prices rise almost weekly of food, clothing, etc.  Now there are strikes, but where will the money come from as the government has a heavy load of expenses brought on by this two year intifata that the poor Palestinian people are losing more from than we.  It does mean that people see the “Peace Process,” the “Oslo Accords,” this plan or that one are not the answer.  We pray they cry out to their only source of help - their God!

       Now we have all dusted off our gas masks again awaiting what the next moves of the U.S. and England will be against Iraq.  There is not fear here about it all, but an expectation that Israel will not have a picnic if this all goes forward.  There is no “war front” for Israel these days, as we all feel we are on the frontlines of the madness of terror.

       It seems other parts of the world are getting a taste of that terror spawned by Islam.  Australians see even a vacation in Bali is not safe, and Russians see an evening at the theatre can mean life or death due to terror.  So Israel knows too well and lives with day by day.

       So a time to keep our eyes above to see there is a hope and a plan that transcends all this crazy madness!  How do those without that hope and without God manage to keep going?

       Keep Israel in your prayers as we have new elections.  Please take care and give love to all.

Love, Lev and Hava Bausch           (ISRAEL)