NO. 555 THE PARADISE OF GOD

Revelation 21:1-7, 22-27

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Paradise, the garden of God, was applicable as a name to the garden of Eden, in which our first parents resided while they were still in harmony with God, before their disobedience; and the same term is Scripturally applied as a name to the new earth when restitution blessings shall, during our Lord’s second presence (the Millennium), be brought to perfection as the fit abode of those who, under Divine favor, shall then prove worthy of life everlasting.  It was to this paradise that the Apostle Paul was in vision “caught away” when given a glimpse of various features of the Divine Plan, not then due to be understood by the Church in general - “things not lawful to be uttered.” (2 Cor. 12:4)  John the Revelator was similarly caught away in vision, and shows some of these wonders of the paradise epoch; but only in symbols, which he was permitted to report, and which have been comparatively misapprehended until now, in the Lord’s due time, the Holy Spirit guiding His people into the truth on this subject, as well as others, because it is now nigh at hand, and “meat in due season” for the “household.”

Our Lord refers to this paradise in language which identifies it with the first paradise of Eden, saying, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Rev. 2:7)  It will be remembered that all the trees in Eden were trees of life, but that the one in the midst of the garden was then a forbidden tree, the disobedient eating of which brought death on Adam and his race.  That tree in the midst of paradise was called the tree of knowledge, and our Lord’s promise is that the overcomers of this present Age shall have full liberty to partake of that tree of knowledge, and under most blessed and satisfactory conditions, when the knowledge will be of benefit to them under Divine approval, and not bring a curse.  It is this same paradise of the future on this earth that our Lord referred to when addressing the penitent thief, he said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in paradise.”

This paradise, we recall, is elsewhere referred to by the Apostles as “the third heaven” - “a new heavens and a new earth.” (2 Cor. 12:2; 2 Peter 3:13)  They are not referring to new worlds, not to heavens ranged one above another, as many have supposed, but, as already shown, what is termed the first heavens and earth or order of things, passed away at the flood; and that the heavens and earth “which are now,” the present order of things are reserved of God to pass away with a great fire of trouble, revolution, etc, which shall utterly destroy them - the present spiritual powers and the present earthly or social arrangements.  “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13)  This will be the third heavens, and third earth, or the new heavens, and new earth, which will differ from the present condition of things in that it will be righteous, whereas the present is unrighteous, imperfect.  The “new heavens” will consist of the new spiritual ruling powers of the future, Christ and the glorified Church, as the present heavens consist of the nominal religious systems, which, claiming Christ for their Head, in a very large degree bow to the Antichrist system, which is the main instrument used by Satan, the god of this world, the prince of this world, “who now worketh in [through] the children of disobedience,” and who is captivating and blinding the whole world with the exception of the few, the eyes of whose understanding have been opened, who are under special blessings and leading, and are taught of God, the “Little Flock,” “heirs of the Kingdom.” (Eph. 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:4, 2 Thes. 2:9)

It is to this new heavens and new earth condition, this paradise, that our lesson introduces us.  As the “new heavens” does not mean a new place of God’s throne, and a new throne of God, but new conditions, and signify the spiritual power and control of Christ and His Church in glory, so the “new earth” does not mean another planet, but a new social order on this planet.  The declaration is that the former heavens and former earth (which are now) will then have passed away and be no more.  All present institutions are to utterly perish in the great Time of Trouble with which this Age is very shortly to end.  “And there shall be no more sea.” (Rev. 21:1)  As we have already seen, the sea is a symbol of the masses of people in a restless and unstable anarchistic condition, just as the land represents the social order, and as the mountains represent the kingdoms of the present time.  As there is no reference to the physical earth and physical heavens being destroyed, so there is no reference to the physical sea being obliterated.  The symbol signifies that under the new arrangement, under the control of the new heavens or spiritual powers, the reconstructed social order will be so satisfactory, so complete, so thorough, that there will be no more sea-class, no more restless people, no more dissatisfaction, no more anarchists; everything will be reduced to law and order; and law and order will under the new regime secure justice to every creature, obliterating the differences of wealth and power as they now exist.

THE NEW JERUSALEM

In the symbolism of Scripture a city represents a government; as for instance, symbolic Babylon is denominated “that great city [government] which ruleth over the kings of the earth.”  The New Jerusalem, as a symbol, represents the new spiritual government of the Millennial Age.  It is not earthborn, it is not reared by men, but, as here pictured, it descends from God out of heaven - it is spiritual in every sense of the word - of God and not of men.  It is for this kingdom, this government that our Lord taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come - thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”  The declaration that the city is adorned as a bride for her husband implies its grandeur and beauty and perfection, as a bride’s adornment on such an occasion is particular and elaborate to the last degree.  But additionally to this it reminds us that in the government of the future, the judges of the world are the Saints, selected during the Gospel Age, through faithfulness in trial and tribulation, and that these are frequently called the Bride, the Lamb’s wife and joint-heir in the Kingdom.  The Revelator elsewhere strikingly brings this thought to our attention: the angel calls to him, “Come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.” (Verses 9-11)

We are not to think of this holy city as being composed of literal stones, coming down through the air; we are to remember, on the contrary, that the Saints of this present time are “living stones,” as the Apostle Peter explains. (1 Peter 2:4-7)  This glorious city will not be visible to the natural eye - neither Christ nor the Saints in glory can be seen of men; only those “changed” from human to spiritual nature see these matters in the full; but the whole world will be quickly made aware of the fact that a new government has been instituted, a government of righteousness, and with all power, and that thereafter whosoever doeth righteousness shall be blessed, and whosoever doeth evil shall be punished.

THE GLORIFIED TEMPLE

The third verse of our lesson associates this city with the other figure of a symbolic Temple, which the Lord is now preparing, of which the Saints will constitute the “living stones” and “pillars,” for it is declared that the tabernacle (dwelling) of God shall be with men in this city (government or kingdom).  God will dwell in this glorious city or government - it will be His Temple, and the world of mankind will approach God in it to receive the Divine blessings, as Israel approached the typical Tabernacle and the Temple in their typical religious services.  Thus God, represented in His Church (the Christ, Head and Body) will dwell with men (the world of mankind during the Millennial Age) and they shall be His people - all mankind will be treated from the standpoint of reconciliation, the propitiation price for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) having been paid at Calvary, and the due time having then come for the manifestation of Divine favor, all peoples shall be treated as the Lord’s people; none of them shall be treated as aliens, strangers, foreigners from God and His promises and His blessings.

While the Millennial Kingdom will be the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, it will also be the Kingdom of God, because God’s dear Son and His joint-heir, the Church, will be in absolute accord with the Father, and all that shall be done under their control will fully and completely represent the Divine will respecting men.  Nevertheless, it will be a separate Kingdom from that of the remainder of the universe, as the Apostle Paul indicates. (1 Cor. 15:24,25,28)  “He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet… And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also be subject to him that put all things under him… Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father,” at the close of the Millennial reign.

Since God is the Author of all the blessings of redemption and restitution, and since every good and every perfect gift cometh down from our Father in heaven, it is with appropriateness that the record declares that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” - from the eyes of mankind.  Though it will be Christ and the Church who will be doing it, nevertheless, the heavenly Father will be recognized as the first cause, the fountain of every blessing.  The wiping away of tears implies a gradual work, such as we see will be the process of that glorious time.  Man will not be exempt from every weakness and trial and difficulty at the beginning, but if he will conform to the laws of the Kingdom, all cause for distress will gradually pass away, as restitution blessings will lift him out of death into perfect life.  “They that hear [obey] that prophet [teacher, the Christ, Head and Body] shall live; but it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hear that prophet [not render hearty obedience to His requirements] will be cut off from amongst the people [in the Second Death].” (Acts 3:23)

Other Scriptures show us that the work of the Kingdom will begin with those who remain over at the time of its establishment, and that these, under condemnation of death, will at once be blessed with the knowledge and opportunities provided through the ransom, and if they accept these they will immediately be released from condemnation, that they may at once go on and upward on the way of holiness, toward perfection; and subsequently those who “sleep in the dust of the earth” shall come forth to more or less of shame and lasting contempt, as they begin to realize their mental and physical decrepitude, the results of their depravity.  Nevertheless, these also, under the blessings of the Kingdom, may make progress up to perfection, losing their sin-blights, and simultaneously losing the “shame and contempt,” whose lasting will be only so long as their cause continues.  Thus these may progress in the way of righteousness, so that only those who sin willfully shall die, and then each for his own sins only, and not the father for the son’s sins, nor the son for the father’s sins. (Jer. 31:29,30; Dan. 12:2)

The whole work of the Millennial Age is summed up in few words, and we are brought to its culmination in the declaration, “There shall be no more death; neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)  What a glorious sunburst of blessing is in these words!  What a grand fulfillment will be there of the Apostle’s declaration respecting “times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began!” (Acts 3:21)  This declaration, however, applies to the very end of the Millennial Age, and not in full to any previous time in that Age, for other accounts show us unmistakably that there will be imperfections and chastisements and stripes throughout the Age, while mankind is being lifted up; or as our Lord expressed it, the raising up of mankind throughout the Millennial Age, step by step, will be a “resurrection by judgment,” chastisements, disciplines. (John 5:28,29)  And even at the close of that Age we are shown, in another pen-picture of that time, that there will be a severe trial and testing to demonstrate to what extent the enforced obedience of the Age shall have rightly affected the hearts of those who experience its blessings, so that their love will be for righteousness, and that they will hate iniquity. (Rev. 20:7,8)  All who in that final test shall manifest that his heart contains anything aside from full loyalty to the Lord and the principles of righteousness will have his part in the Second Death.

“BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW”

The fifth verse of our lesson comprehensively grasps the entire Millennial Age; our Lord Jesus, then in the throne of earth’s dominion, declaring, “Behold, I make all things new.”  This expression does not relate merely to rocks and trees, etc., but to the great work which our Lord undertook; viz., the regeneration of humanity - of so many of Adam’s race as would, under favorable conditions of knowledge, experience and assistance, develop characters in full accord with the Divine will.  The end of the Millennial Age will see the work completed; all the wicked destroyed, all who will not hear the voice of that prophet, teacher, governor, cut off from amongst the people in the Second Death, and all the willing and obedient made new, brought to the complete perfection contemplated in the original Divine Plan.

John was to write this matter, because the testimony is true, is faithful, as is the One who has promised.  This asseveration of faithfulness and truthfulness implies what we see to be the case; viz., that present conditions seem so contrary to all this grand restitution outcome that it cannot be fully believed and trusted by any except those who have learned to walk with the Lord, and in their weakness to lean upon His might, to trust to His Power to accomplish all the exceeding great and precious things which He has promised.  To all others these things will appear untrue, and God will appear unfaithful, and the matters which we are here discussing will seem “idle tales,” as fables and golden fancies: but to us who believe these promises are precious, and He from whom we receive them is precious, correspondingly as we know Him and trust Him (1 Peter 2:7).

The One enthroned (the Christ) declares at the conclusion of the Millennial Age, “It is done”; my great contract is accomplished; “I am the Alpha and the Omega [the A and the Z], the beginning and the end.”  It was the Father’s good pleasure that the blessed One, the Only Begotten of the Father, should accomplish the entire program of redemption and restitution; and that incidentally, by His obedience in the things which He suffered that He should prove Himself worthy to be forever the associate and representative of the Father, through whom and by whom all things should continue, as He was the one through whom all things were made that were made.  It is this One who, during the Millennial Age, will extend to all the willing and obedient the water of life, everlasting life - the privilege of perpetual existence.  But they must thirst for it; must desire it; and this desire must be manifest in obedience to the terms, the laws, upon which it will be supplied freely.  Our Lord declared to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and that anyone believing Him, trusting Him, though he were dead, yet should he live, attain to perfect life, escaping from death conditions, until at the close of the Millennium he shall have life in the full, unrestricted sense.  And he who thus liveth (attains to life) and still believeth, trusteth in the Life-giver, and is obedient to His directions, shall never die.

Our Lord adds, “He that overcometh shall inherit these things, and I will be to him a God, and he shall be to me a son.”  Those addressed are not the Bride Class, selected during the Gospel Age, but the sheep class of Matthew 25, such of mankind as during the Millennial Age become the Lord’s sheep and obey His voice.  To these at the end of the Millennial Age, in harmony with the Father’s plan, He says, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”  They are not invited to inherit the Kingdom prepared for the Church, in joint-heirship with the Lord, the heavenly Kingdom.  But they shall inherit the earth, the purchased possession - they shall come back into all the good estate of father Adam, which he lost for himself and his children through disobedience, but which Jesus redeemed with His own precious blood, and will restore at the close of the Millennium to all the children of Adam who shall have accepted His gracious favors and been regenerated by Him, and thus become His sons, and He their God - their “Father.” (Isa. 9:6)

THE HEAVENLY CITY RESPLENDENT

Here our lesson turns to a consideration of the City, the glorified Church, the Kingdom Class, who, during the Millennial Age, will be “kings and priests unto God, and reign upon the earth,” “a thousand years.” (Rev. 5:10; 20:4)  This City, Class, the glorified Church, it is declared will have no need of the sun or the moon.  Nothing in this statement indicates that the world will not have and need both sunlight and moonlight during the Millennial Age, and subsequently, “as long as the sun and moon endure.” (Psa. 72:5)  And while it will be true that the Church, as spirit beings, will not have need of literal sunlight and literal moonlight, nevertheless, this is not the thought.   The sun and the moon here are symbolical, as in Revelation 12:1; the sun signifies the light of this Gospel Age; the moon signifies the typically reflected light of the Gospel in the law and the prophets of the previous dispensation.  The glorified Church will have no need of the light which in the present time She so much enjoys through the Word and Spirit, and the law and the prophets.  She will have, instead of these, a much more excellent glory to which the Apostle refers when he says, “Now [with all the light, privileges and opportunities which we enjoy, both as respects the representations of God through the law and the prophets, and through the instructions and leadings of the Spirit in the present] we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part; then we shall know even as we are known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)

The Church, the Temple of God, will be so filled with all the fullness of God, when made like unto the glorious Lord, that nothing could add to their blessing of knowledge and Divine favor; will be so filled with the glory of God that from Her, as from the Sun of Righteousness, shall proceed the light of the glory of God, which shall heal and bless the world during the Millennial Age.  This is the Sun of Righteousness to which our Lord referred in Matthew 13:43, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” - our Lord Jesus, the Head of the Church, of course being included.  The same Sun of Righteousness is mentioned by the Prophet, saying, “The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his beams.” (Mal. 4:2)  Nevertheless, while so filled with the Lord’s glory we are not to lose sight of the fact which the Apostle impresses upon us saying that Christ is the Head of the Church, even as the Father is the Head of Christ Jesus.  Hence the Lord Almighty and the Lamb will always be an inner Temple in this great Temple, which God has provided for the world’s blessing during restitution times. (Verse 22)

When this Sun of Righteousness shall shine forth, its blessings of healing, refreshment and life, mental, moral and physical, upon the world of mankind, the nations shall walk in the light of it.  (The words “of them that are saved” are not in old MSS.  Indeed, it is because they are not saved they need this special light during the Millennial Age, in order to their enlightenment, their salvation, their restitution.)  “And the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it.”  (The words, “and honor,” are not found in old MSS.)  The expressions “nations” and “kings” are not to be understood as signifying that the world of mankind during the Millennial Age will be divided into nationalities and kingdoms as at present: the word “nations” here signifies peoples, and is intended to show that all peoples, and not merely the people of Israel, will be thus favored under God’s Kingdom.  The word “kings” represents those princes or chief ones of the earth who, during the Millennial Age, will be the chief representatives of the heavenly, spiritual, invisible Kingdom of Christ.  These princes, as we have already seen, will be Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the faithful prophets of the previous dispensation, who, loving God before the call to the Kingdom and to the Bride Class, cannot be of it, but because of their faithfulness will be the princes whom the Lord will establish in all the earth - first making them perfect individuals, and qualifying them for their office, as a reward for their faithfulness to God in the dark times in which they lived - their manifestation of love for righteousness and trust in the Omnipotent One.

The bringing of their glory into the City, the Kingdom, signifies their acknowledgment of the heavenly Kingdom, their rendering of tribute of praise, thanks, worship and obedience to it as God’s agency.  And this rendering of glory to the Kingdom will continue throughout the entire Millennial Age, as the princes throughout the earth will make known to the people that not in their own names or authority do they rule and execute judgment and establish righteousness, but in the name and as the ministers and representatives of the glorified Christ.  The result will be that all the people will ascribe honor and praise and majesty and glory to the Lord’s Anointed, through whom their redemption and restitution was and is being accomplished; and this is indicated in Verse 26.

Then, in consideration of the fact that this book of symbols, while relating to the future, is addressed to God’s consecrated elect Church in the present time, and in view of the fact that this message would be communicated to and more or less understood by those who would seek to make their calling and election sure to a part in the glorious City, the 27th verse is added, declaring that “In nowise shall there enter into it anything common, of he that doeth abomination and falsehood - but only they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”  The Lamb’s book of life we must understand to include those, and only those, who attain to position of joint-heirship with Christ, whose names are written in heaven during this age, and who are faithful to their covenant.  What a glorious incentive they have here to faithfulness!  What a warning against the slightest sympathy with anything unclean, untrue, or in anywise contrary to the Divine standard of holiness!

(Pastor Russell, Reprints 2832-2834, June 15, 1901)

___________________________________________________________________

QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION - In Acts 1:7, Diaglott, Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father appointed by His own authority,” but in 1 Thessalonians 5:1, Diaglott, St. Paul said,” Concerning the times and the seasons, Brethren, you do not need to be written to; for yourselves know accurately.”  How do we harmonize these seeming contradictions, and what is meant by “the times and seasons”?

ANSWER   - The statement by Jesus must be read in like manner as His statement in Matthew 24:36, Diaglott: “No one knows concerning that day and hour [when Jesus would return again, and the Kingdom be set up]; no, not the angels of the Heavens, nor the Son, but the Father only.”  At the time Jesus was speaking He truthfully declared that He did not know, but He does not say that He would never know; and subsequent Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus eventually did know, and that His faithful followers would also know.  There is no point at all in giving prophecy if it is never to be understood; and even when it is understood by some, there is no indication that it would be understood by all, “Only the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10)

The word “times” in both texts is from the Greek chronos, and forms the root of our English word chronology, which word means the science of assigning to dates their proper events. The word “seasons” means a season, or due time.  To gain a clear understanding of these expressions it is well to remember That Servant’s teaching that prophecy cannot be understood in detail until it has been fulfilled, or is in course of fulfillment.  That being true, we come to the logical conclusion that God’s people can “know accurately” only those times and seasons that apply to their particular day.  As instance, at the First Advent the Apostles and a very small select group recognized that Jesus was the Christ although the great majority did not.  Therefore, Jesus said of that majority, “Thou didst not know the season [kairos] of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:44, Dia.)  And, while the Apostles and others did then know the “season of visitation,” they did not know clearly the times and seasons of the generations that followed them.  Therefore, St. Paul said the Ransom for all would be “testified in due time.” (1 Tim. 2:6)

In Noah’s day the times and seasons of due Truth predicted the coming flood, but the great majority understood not.  And in the destruction of this “present evil world” Jesus said there would be a similar condition, “They understood not till the deluge came, and swept them all away.” (Matt. 24:39, Dia.)  However, those in the Parousia Truth Movement understood very clearly, many years before 1914, what was coming.  They knew the times and seasons pertinent to their own welfare.  That Servant was acutely aware of this situation, as note his comments in Parousia Volume 3, page 124:

“While each of the time prophecies accomplishes a separate and distinct purpose, the central object of their united and harmonious testimony has been to mark, with definiteness and precision, by either direct or indirect evidence, or corroborative testimony, the date of our Lord’s Second Advent, and of the establishment of His Kingdom in the earth; and also to mark the various stages [the times and seasons] and means of its establishment, during the harvest period.”

Brother Russell also realized that a specific work would be due to be performed at each proper time and season: “The present is the time [written in 1890] for the sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads, before the storm of trouble bursts (Rev. 7:2,3)… before the night cometh and the door of opportunity to labor is shut.” (Volume 3, page 211)

But he also saw “through a glass darkly” a future “time and season.”  “After this (reaping) period the dark night of the world’s great tribulation must find place…Observe that, when this night cometh, when the reapers must cease their labors; it will prove that this final work of the Gospel Age is accomplished.” (Volume 3, page 211)

The Prophet tells us that this period is broadly divided into two periods: “The day of His coming” and “when He appeareth [maketh manifest].”  The day of His coming was the forty-year period from 1874 to 1914, during which time the world in general knew almost nothing at all of what was going on.  At that time “The Messenger” did not “appear” to them.

But the situation changed acutely in 1914, when the great trouble started.  The Messenger not only then proved His presence to the “Watchers,” but He began to be revealed to the world in general in the fires of that day.  In July 1916 That Servant discussed this text, and we quote some of what he said:

“The Scriptures call this day ‘the day of the Lord,’ ‘the day of Jehovah,’ ‘that great and notable day,’ etc… This prophecy of our text is still in process of fulfillment.  Those who have been teaching errors will soon be ashamed, while the fire of this day will only manifest the Truth to all… The Apostle Paul in his writings lays special emphasis upon the fundamental importance of correct doctrinal teaching… This day means the shaking of society in a manner and to an extent never before known [as is now in process], and as thoroughly that another shaking will never be necessary… The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies [hail, hard cutting truths]… and only God’s truly consecrated Church would be in the light [the Present Truth] and not be taken unawares.”

From this it should be clear enough that the leaders among God’s people should “earnestly contend for the faith [the Truth]” to the full extent of their ability and providential circumstances; and should be fully informed as to “the times and seasons” and to “know accurately” the times and seasons in which we now are.

That That Servant could not foresee the length of this day is not to his disparagement.  He clearly understood the times and seasons of his own lifetime, and spoke in generalities of what has followed since his death; but the details and the length of time he could not see.  However, this does not mean that we who now live cannot see them; in fact, it is our special privilege to see them very clearly.  Yet here again we do well not to attempt to speak too emphatically about the years ahead - when the special times and seasons of future years will speak for themselves - just as clearly as we see present happenings.

There is no dispute at all among the various Truth groups that the basileia (kingdom) is a period of time, though many of them declare that the epiphaneia is not a period of time.  However, by analogous reasoning, if the basileia is a period, it would self-evidently follow that the epiphaneia must also be a period of time; and St. Paul says that in the epiphaneia judgment day the “quick” would be judged.  These “quick” would be the fallen angels, who have never been under the death sentence, plus the New Creatures in Christ - “you hath He quickened.” (Eph. 2:1)

Another feature of the “times and seasons” of this Epiphany period is to be the destruction of the Man of Sin “Whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of His mouth, and annihilate by the appearing [epiphaneia] of His presence [parousia].” (2 Thes. 2:8, Dia.)  So long as the Man of Sin continues to flourish we may be certain that the Epiphany is still with us, because he is to be annihilated during that period; he is to be annihilated by the epiphaneia of His parousia.  This judgment of the destruction of the Man of Sin during these epiphany “times and seasons” seem to attract little notice from many of the Truth groups; and even those who once claimed to be informed on these “times and seasons” have now lost a considerable part of their understanding of them.  Some of them claim the Epiphany is already completely behind us, while others say that it ended in a “restricted sense” in 1954 despite the clear fact that the Man of Sin is still with us, and despite the fact that two, if not three of the major phases of the Time of Trouble are still future.

The emphasized teaching of That Servant is that the epiphany and the apocalypse, as an act and as a period of time, are synonymous; and they are also synonymous with the Time of Trouble.  Thus, to declare that the Epiphany in any sense at all ended in 1954 is a direct contradiction of that teaching, as it forces us to conclude that the Time of Trouble also ended in a “restricted sense” at that time; whereas, “the nations as the vessels of a potter shall be broken to shivers” (Rev. 2:27) is an act still future.  Never before has the Apostle’s counsel been more timely - “rightly dividing the word of Truth.”  But if we follow his advice, then “you yourselves know accurately… When they may say, Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction impends over them… and they shall by no means escape.” (1 Thes. 5:1-3, Dia.)

(By John J. Hoefle, September 1, 1971)

___________________________________________________________________

“An international conference in Paris on intolerance opened with a stern warning that acts of hatred against Jews, particularly in Europe, have reached their highest level since World War II.  ‘A new generation of haters has been brought up and are ready to act,’ said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  In a statement, the center said it recorded 1,300 anti-Semitic acts in France since 2001 - the highest level since World War II.

(Associated Press, May 13, 2003)

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Bible Society workers across the globe, the Bible - in full or partial form - is now available in 2,303 languages, an increase of 16 from a year ago.  The complete Bible can now be read in 405 languages worldwide, compared with 392 last year.             

(American Bible Society, Spring 2003 Newsletter)

NO. 554 IN MEMORIAM

(Life of Pastor Russell)

Pastor Charles Taze Russell was born February 16, 1852, and died October 31, 1916, age 64 years 8 months and 15 days.  Thus in years, months and days, we measure the duration of his life; but measuring the duration of a life is not measuring the life.

“We live in deeds not years;

In thoughts, not breaths.”

We can count the number of his years, but many a man has lived longer to whom mankind owes no debt of gratitude.  We can count the number of his days, but the value of a day depends upon what is put into it.  One day may be worth a thousand other days, and how much he accomplished in those 64 years we can only begin to know when we learn the intensity with which he lived them.

In testimony meetings, thousands all over our land and in every land under the sun, bear witness to their gratitude to God that He has raised up a man who has been the instrument in His hand of snatching them from the very brink of doubt and infidelity, placing their feet on the solid rock of Christ’s “ransom for all.”  Some of these men simply could not believe the Bible as interpreted by their religious teachers.  They would not say they believed when they did not.  They did not wish to be infidels, and they bewailed their lack of faith and hope.  You need not tell me that normally constituted men are infidels from choice.  You need not tell me that normally constituted men deliberately choose to believe and are glad to believe that they die as brutes, with no hope of a future life.  Many of these men are infidels not so much from their own fault as from the fault of their religious teachers who gave them an interpretation of the Bible contrary to reason and impossible for them to believe.  Many a man in this attitude has gone to hear Pastor Russell.  They have gone to the service infidels and came back rejoicing Christians.

Their religious teachers kept saying: “Don’t go to hear that man Russell; he preaches dangerous doctrine.”  But, by the Grace of God, they went and received the spiritual food they had been starving for, the spiritual food their religious teachers did not know how to give.  It is no wonder that men would sometimes stand in a crowded aisle and listen to his inspiring words for two hours at a time without moving from their places - no wonder, when those words were bringing hope instead of despair, faith in the place of doubt, peace in the place of agitation and unrest, joy in the place of sadness.

When men with a heart full of gratitude would tell him of the blessings they had received, he would simply say something like this: “Brother, I am glad you received blessings from God’s Word; His truth is very precious.”  He simply ignored his part in the matter.  In proof that this was his attitude, hear his own words, as found on page ten of his celebrated book, The Divine Plan of the Ages.

“Though in this work we shall endeavor, and we trust with success, to set before the interested and unbiased reader the plan of God as it relates to and explains the past, the present and the future of His dealings, in a way more harmonious, beautiful and reasonable than is generally understood, yet that this is the result of extraordinary wisdom or ability on the part of the writer, is positively disclaimed.  It is the light from the Sun of Righteousness in this dawning of the Millennial Day that reveals these things as present truth, etc.”

He believed that the time was due for these truths to be made known, and if he had not written them, God would have found some one else to do so.

One of the great objects of his life was to show that the Bible, when correctly translated and rightly understood, is harmonious throughout, and gives the most exalted and uplifting conception of our Creator and our duties to Him that is possible for a human being to attain.  To show this complete harmony of the Bible, of all its parts, was no easy task.  It meant labor.  At that time there was great indifference on the part of the people.  Most of them did not seem to care whether the various texts of the Bible were in harmony with one another or not.  Each seemed more interested in seeking such texts as prove or seemed to prove his particular creed, and ignored such texts as opposed it.  Even ministers, when texts were brought to their attention that contradicted their creed, would make such remarks as: “Oh, don’t trouble yourself about such matters as that.  There is enough in the fifth chapter of Matthew to save anybody.”

They were merely seeking such knowledge as they thought would save them and their friends, and seemed utterly indifferent as to what truth honors God most.  In 1 Samuel 2:30 the Lord says, “Them that honor me, I will honor.”  This promise is not to those who carry on some great work of charity or make an attempt to convert the world, for these things are often done in such a way as to dishonor God.  Many are engaged in these things; few make it the chief object of their lives to do these things and to preach those doctrines that bring most honor to God’s Name.  Most men seem utterly indifferent on this matter.  [They ignore the Scripture: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” - 2 Tim. 2:15]

At a time when such indifference was widely prevalent, Pastor Russell began his work of showing the harmony of the Bible with itself and with the character of its Divine Author.  He saw that there is no way to bring permanent blessing to the human race except through faith in God and faith in the Bible.  He, therefore, sought to show how worthy the Bible is of all our faith and love.  That was the great motive of his life.  We know that this was his motive, not because he has told us so, but because the motive rings through every article that he wrote and every sermon that he preached.  A motive like that could not live in a narrow life.  It could not find room in a little heart.

Therefore it is natural for us, as thoughtful men and women, to inquire, “What were the events of his life and the various circumstances leading up to such a motive?  What must his childhood, his boyhood and his early manhood have been?”

Charles T. Russell was the second son of Joseph L. and Ann Eliza Russell, and was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.  His father was a well-to-do merchant, and the son, when not engaged in study, spent much of his time helping his father in the store.  By so doing, he rendered himself liable to the awful charge that certain ministers in various parts of the country have brought against him that in his early life he was “a seller of shirts.”  In this work, however, he developed the qualities of industry, perseverance and earnestness of purpose, qualities that have been such prominent characteristics of his mature years.  As the father was a very successful businessman, it was only natural for the son also to begin business as a merchant.  In this work the young man manifested such business acumen that, in a few years, he was the owner of five clothing stores.  In all this work he was so thoroughly honest and his goods so thoroughly reliable that his success was marvelous, so marvelous that some who then knew him believe that if he had continued in the mercantile business he might have rivaled in the accumulation of wealth some of the richest money kings of his day.  But his great desire was not to be rich, but to be useful.  We need not tell you this, you may know it for yourself when you consider the following facts:

At one time in his life, while he was yet a young man, the valuation of his real and personal property is said to have reached over $200,000.  Of this $40,000 were spent in the publication and circulation of his first book, Food for Thinking Christians.  At various times he contributed large amounts to the Society of which he was president.  In fact at the time of his death he had but $200 left of his own private fortune.  Not withstanding this fact, there have been men so ignorant of the facts in this case, or had so little regard for truth and veracity as to say: “Russell has just started this religious movement as a money-making scheme.”  The utter foolishness of such a statement could not be fully manifest to persons unacquainted with the manner in which the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is operated.  The very idea of a company of men getting rich preaching the gospel without money and without price, while their friends at various appointments advertised the meetings “Seats free; no collection.”  The truth of the matter is that those ministers who have done this talking about “money-making scheme” concerning Pastor Russell have simply been “measuring his corn in their own half-bushel.”  A man whose own life is actuated by low motives cannot appreciate a higher motive in another man.

In all of Pastor Russell’s work, and in all the work of the Society including missionary work, translation of the books into all the important modern languages, exhibition of the Photo Drama of Creation, etc., not one penny was ever solicited and no collection was ever taken.  That, of course, does not mean that money has not been liberally contributed, but every contribution is and must be absolutely voluntary and unsolicited.  Two years ago last summer in the northern part of Pennsylvania, a little girl eight years old came to me after the service and said: “Here is five cents to help other little boys and girls to see the Photo Drama.” [However, there was no admission fee to see the Photo Drama.]  The five cents were forwarded to the Watch Tower office, along with larger contributions, and in the course of a few days the proper officer of the Society sent her a receipt with just the same care that a $50 contribution in a neighboring town was receipted for.

Pastor Russell was a man of great faith, and he always had perfect confidence that money would be forthcoming for every work that the Lord wanted done.  On one occasion, after he had spoken to a large audience, he was shaking hands with the people as they passed out, when a man handed him an envelope.  He put it in his pocket and went on shaking hands.  After a few minutes some of the brethren were consulting with him concerning some work that all agreed would be good to have done; “but where was the money to come from?”  Brother Russell said: “If it is a work the Lord wants done, He will see that the money will be provided.”  He opened the envelope.  It contained a check for one thousand dollars, and the work went on.

Men have sometimes come to him and said: “Brother Russell, I have been greatly blessed by your explanation of the Scriptures, and I feel that this is a great work.  How can I get some money into it?”  This may sound strange to men who all their lives have been dunned for money “to pay the preacher,” but “Truth is stranger than fiction.”  “The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.  The cattle on a thousand hills are His,” and He does not need money that must be begged for or raffled for at box socials or church fairs.

His Divine Plan of the Ages has a circulation several times that of any other book ever published in the English language except the Bible.  He is the author of five other principal books [The Studies in the Scripture] and of numerous booklets and tracts.  He is also the Author of the Photo Drama of Creation, which has been seen and heard by over nine millions of people.  His sermons of recent years have appeared regularly every week in over a thousand newspapers, and are read by millions of people.

While Pastor Russell had his friends and admirers he also had his enemies and persecutors.  “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”  So if any one does not suffer persecution he is not living godly in Christ Jesus.  When you read that a certain man did not have an enemy in the world, you have found a man that never steadfastly and earnestly opposed the wrong.  On the other hand, every man that has done anything earnestly to free the race from wrong and error and superstition has had his opposers and persecutors.  Christ and all His Apostles save one suffered martyrdom for the truth they preached, and from that day to this, every man who stood for unpopular truth and against popular error has had his persecutors.  So Pastor Russell has likewise had his persecutors who tried to minimize his work, burned his books and attempted to destroy his good name.

Yes, they sometimes burned his books, and they did so for the very same reason that they used to burn the Bibles; they were afraid of the truth that was in them.  But the more they burned the books, the more the truth spread.  I had the pleasure a few months ago of speaking in a town where, not long before, some of the religionists had gotten together and agreed to advise the people to burn Pastor Russell’s books.  In a few weeks colporteurs came into the town and sold far more books than had been burned.  The bigots who had burned the books had merely aroused the curiosity of the people.  In the Dark Ages they sometimes sought to terrify the people by burning the Bibles in the streets, and thus compel them to submit to the prescribed forms of religion, the “Orthodox” forms.  There is too much of the spirit of liberty and tolerance in free America for such an indignity to be perpetrated today without arousing a sense of justice in the minds of those who hate tyranny.

It is interesting to note how the books have found their way through the hands of those who did not appreciate them into the hands of those who did.  It often happens that one man buys and does not appreciate them, then loans them to another man who enjoys them with all his heart.  At one of the conventions, a lady tells us that a friend sent her The Divine Plan of the Ages and she burned it.  Another friend sent her a second book of the same kind, and she burned it.  A third friend sent her a third book, and she stopped and thought.  It is sometimes a good thing to stop and think.  “Finally,” says she, “I read this book and it burned me.”  By this, I suppose, she means that it burned away all her prejudice and left her ready for the heart-glow of joy that comes to those who see what beautiful truth God has in store for those who are ready to enjoy it.

The parents of Charles T. Russell were of the “orthodox” faith, and up to the age of fifteen he believed all and only such doctrines as his sectarian ministers took the trouble to teach him.  To fully understand doctrines at that time was very difficult.  The clergy as a rule discouraged questions.  So he simply believed the doctrines of the church he attended, especially the doctrine of the eternal torment of all except the saints.  His favorite teacher was Spurgeon, because, as he said, “he peppered it hot,” his claim being that if one believed a thing he should tell it with all his might.  So at the age of fifteen he used to go about the city of Pittsburg on Saturday evenings with a piece of chalk writing on the fence boards and telling the people not to fail to attend church on Sunday, so that they might escape that terrible hell in which he so firmly believed.  At about this time it seems that Providence had decreed that he should attempt to reclaim an infidel friend to Christianly.  By skillful question that neither layman or minister could answer and hold to the accepted creed, the infidel completely routed young Russell, and he became a skeptic.  He saw, for instance, that with the doctrine of eternal torment in it he could not believe the Bible; though he still held to a belief in God and the hope of a future life.

As he desired to learn the truth in regard to the hereafter, the next few years were devoted to the investigation of the claims of the leading Oriental religious, all of which he found unworthy of credence.  At the age of twenty he was possessed of much knowledge and voluminous data in regard to “religion” as believed and practiced in all parts of the world, but his mind was unsatisfied and unsettled.

At length he decided to search the Scriptures for their own answer on hell-fire and brimstone.  Here was the turning point in his life.  Picture to yourself a young man in the early twenties with large business responsibilities upon him, and with little time for research, and yet longing to know the truth in regard to the great hereafter.  He believed that the Creator of all things must be a loving God, and in harmony with this he read in the Bible, ”God is love.”  He also read, “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.”  That too was in harmony with what he believed the character of the Creator must be.  But how could he harmonize this with what his creed taught?  How could God’s tender mercies be over all His works when some of His works, some of His creatures, were to be roasted eternally in an abyss of fire and terrors?  How could there by any “tender mercies” in a course like that?  How could our loving Creator be a God like that?  Then the question came, Does the Bible really teach the eternal torture of the unsaved?

As he searched the Scriptures for the answer, the answer came.  Not one text, merely, but texts by the hundreds showing the foolishness and unreasonableness of the doctrine of eternal torment.  We do not know the order in which these texts came to his mind, but we know they came.  He read, ”The Lord preserveth all them that love him.”  (Yes, He preserveth them, to all eternity - “but all the wicked will be destroyed.”  It does not say “All the wicked will be roasted eternally.”)  Again he reads, “He that converteth the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death,” not from eternal torment.  Again he reads, “The soul that sinneth it shall die,” not live in torment eternally.  In fact, he saw that all the comparisons and contrasts in the Bible are never between life in happiness and life in misery, but always between life and death, eternal life or eternal death, all the wicked utterly destroyed in what the Scriptures call “the second death,” so completely destroyed that “they shall be as though they had not been,” and even “the remembrance of the wicked shall rot,” utterly pass from the memory of all forever.

Then this young man saw God finally triumphant over all evil, when “at his name every knee shall bow,” when “at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.”  So he saw the whole glad universe uniting in one grand hymn of praise to the Creator, no room in that happy universe for men or demons who choose to remain in rebellion against the Creator, but all ready to join in a hymn of praise.

Then this young man saw a loving God looking down upon a sin-cursed earth with an eye of pity and love, and in order to make it possible for us to have eternal life, He must give what was dearest to Him in the whole universe.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not die eternally but live eternally.”  When, as a young man, Charles T. Russell saw all this and far more, his great heart was thrilled to its very depths.  He was ready to do anything for the God he had found to be so wise, so loving, so wonderful.  It was then that he gave his heart to the Lord in full consecration, ready to do or say or be whatever the Lord might show him.  Little did he care for wealth, or fame, or worldly pleasure.  He had found a better God than he before had known, and he must tell it, and he did tell it out with a shout, hallelujah!  Praise God’s holy name, that He has found a man strong enough, true enough, brave enough to vindicate His character from the unscriptural and unreasonable doctrine of eternal torment.

To the very ends of the earth he has told the Bible truth that “the wages of sin is death,” and not eternal torment.  Yes, and his words have been heard, heard by many who will not admit that they have heard, believed by many who will not admit they believe.

A few years ago a minister who was then preaching in this country was asked by one of his parishioners if he believed the doctrine of eternal torment.  He admitted that he did not.  “Then why do you preach it?” asked the parishioner.  “Oh, there has to be some kind of whip to bring them in,” was the reply.  A minister who used to preach in Waynesbury made the same admission to one of his parishioners.  “Then why don’t you tell your congregation so?” said the parishioner.  “If I did that, I could not hold this pastorate,” was his reply.  A minister of Washington, Pa., made the same admission.  The young man said to the minister: “Then why don’t you tell your congregation?”  He replied: “Young man, my bread isn’t buttered on that side.”  That is the very class of men that are circulating false reports about Pastor Russell and other men who are opposing their false doctrines.

“Yes, but in regard to Pastor Russell’s character, the people say___.”  Yes, “the people say” and “the people said” are the cudgels with which Satan has destroyed the reputation of many an innocent man.  A few years ago, W. W. Giles, a leading financier of Brown Summit, N.C., made the following offer and published it broadcast wherever the English language is spoken:

“I have deposited $1,000 in the American Exchange National Bank of Greensboro, N.C., and $500 in the First National Bank of Miami, Florida, to be paid to the first person who proves through any court of justice in the United States that Pastor Russell is guilty of immorality such as is the gossip of those ministers who preach ‘for pay.’”  No one ever responded.  The editor of the Evening Journal of Wilmington, Del., about two years ago, published a statement that his columns were open to the publication of anything that might be published against Pastor Russell’s character, provided the whole truth was stated with all the related circumstances and accompanied by the writer’s name.  Why did none of Pastor Russell’s defamers respond to this fair offer?

The people say!  The people said!  Satan’s weapon now; Satan’s weapon always.  The people said that Jesus was a blasphemer.  [They also said He was a wine bibber.]  His friends on one occasion “went out to lay hold on Him, for they said, He is beside Himself.”  The people said that the Apostles were unfit to live, and put them to death.  The people said that the noble John Huss was unfit to live, and when they burned him at the stake, they confined a ball of brass in his mouth, in order, as the historian states, “that the people might not understand his just defense against their unjust condemnation.”  The people said that the brave Savonarola was a heretic and they hanged him and afterwards burned his body in reproach.

The people said that the noble Alexander Campbell was a “heretic.”  “He is not orthodox.  He is little better than an infidel.”  The people said that the brave and true John Wesley was a “falsifier,” “a fomenter of strife,” “a breeder of contention.”  They talked about the jealousy of his wife against Sarah Ryan, the jealousy against him of the husband of Sophia Christiana Williamson and how his wife finally deserted him.  Does what the people say weaken our confidence in the purity of John Wesley’s life?  By no means!  The only difficulty was that he was so pure-minded himself that he forgot to guard himself well against impure minds who were watching to find a charge against him.  John Wesley, Alexander Campbell, Charles T. Russell, three of the bravest, purest men of modern times and the three most severely persecuted and slandered.  Do we believe those slanders?  Not if we are charitable, thoughtful and wise.  Their names will go down in history together as the three greatest and truest reformers of the last two hundred years. 

(By E. D. Stewart, from the postscript of What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 435-441)

___________________________________________________________________

THE PAROUSIA AND EPIPHANY MESSENGERS

It has been eighty-seven years since the death of That Servant, but his memory is still fragrant with us - especially so with those who have been blessed with the Truth that he gave to us, and who are faithful to that Truth.  “They may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)  His “works” continue to be a blessing to all who receive the Truth.  Thousands of zealous and faithful brethren continue to distribute his Studies in the Scriptures.  God bless his memory!

We can say much the same for the Epiphany Messenger, although we elaborate more on That Servant’s ministry because his work and office in the Lord’s Household was much superior to that of the Epiphany Messenger, which the Epiphany Messenger often said.  Just as there were no successors to the twelve Apostles, there is no successor to That Servant.  Since his death, however, there have been faithful mouthpieces, of which the Epiphany Messenger was the foremost.

___________________________________________________________________

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily and all there:  Our loving greetings in the Lord from Galilee!

We do hope this finds you well, and rejoicing in the Lord’s strength on a daily basis.  Thank you for remembering my birthday with the nice card.  It was a big one this year as I turned 60 years - a Senior Citizen now!  Also we celebrated our 35th Wedding Anniversary on April 6th with so much to thank the Lord for in His overruling and care in our lives!

Well, God has indeed been merciful to His people Israel in this year so far.  First we had a miracle Winter with so much rain that the Sea of Galilee went from it’s lowest of lows to near maximum from January through April.  God is indeed working in impossibilities as all the experts said it was not predicted or possible.  So this should strengthen our faith that God can do the impossible in our lives as well.

Also God was so merciful during the Iraq War as not one missile was sent our way by Saddam through it all.  So unlike the Gulf War in 1991 when 39 scud missiles landed in the heart of Israel.  So it was with much relief that we could again put away our gas masks just before Passover.  It was like another escape from the enemies of Israel as in the time of the exodus from Egypt.  Again God spared His people!

It was also an extra blessing for us as on March 16th (the day before the war started) Lev’s sister came from Nebraska for a two-week visit.  So without the threats of missiles we could travel easily and have a nice visit!  This was her second visit to Israel having been here first in 1994!

This month Lev is down at the Dead Sea for sun treatments for his psoriasis problem.  He was able to go due to a gift from a friend, and please pray with us that it will be a big help this time (last year he didn’t go).  The psoriasis had gotten quite bad during the Winter and was very painful as well as itching a lot.  So we are thankful to be this close to the Dead Sea, which should be called the Healing Sea as it brings healing to people with so many things by the water, mud, salt and sun at that lowest level on earth!! God’s blessing!

Well, I am here alone, but there are no guests most of this month, so it is a good time for me to read, study and write letters.

Thank you for the May-June issue of Epiphany Newsletter.  It was very good to have the various classes clarified so well. Also the Japanese Perspective on the Palestinians was so good!  We are so glad the Lord took us out of the YMCA when we hear the direction they are going, like the T-shirt! 

Now Israel faces “The Road Map,” but what the world forgets is that God already gave Israel a Road Map called the Bible with no dangerous detours!

Do take care and much love to all.           Shalom and love, Lev and Hava            (ISRAEL)

……………………

Dear Emily and Marjorie,

Your lovely card you sent me for our Passover holiday still waits for a response:  Surely, you understand that nowadays, with the daily horrible events, the ongoing bloodshed, the unrelenting tension wherever you go or turn, the ever increasing grieving for the slain and the injured, even maimed, it is anything but easy to keep up a normal routine and life, including correspondence with dear people, who understand and care.

We are up against primitive, incited, brutal and bloodthirsty people.  How this will end nobody knows.  President Bush is doing what he can and understands.  We here, on our part, find it difficult to understand that America has embarked on all-out war against terror, including leaders like Bin-Laden while when Israel tries to get terror-leaders, it is blamed and condemned.

This last Pentecost I thought of you and your associates!  It is good and reassuring that we both, Christians and Jews, have our faith to hold on to and to sustain us, and that we can lean on our Scriptures for hope!

With every good wish, health and peace!

    Shalom, come what may!                                      Michael Pragai     (JERUSALEM)         

NO. 553 THE BIBLE - BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS

One of the Nation’s most popular magazines produced eight pages of comment on the Bible, with opinions of quite a variety of learned men, a number of whom revealed how unlearned they are on the Sacred Writings of Jew and Christian.  It occurs to us that it will profit our readers if we analyze these various expressions.

Even among those who claim to be true believers in the Bible, there is a wide variety of thought, based in large part upon faulty translations, which go completely unnoticed by those who would offer comment.  As an example, let us consider first the translation most commonly used in Christendom, known as the King James Version, which was translated about A.D. 1610 at the instigation of King James of England.  His motives were undoubtedly of the highest; he wished his subjects to have something in English that all the people could read.  And, while the translation itself is grievously faulty, the work is in fine literary style, having been produced by some of the best minds then residing in England.  However, when the King James Version is referred to as The Bible, we should ever be mindful that it is not the Bible but a translation, which must necessarily carry with it the limitations of the men who did the translating.

Some would-be full believers often delight themselves with the expression: I believe the Bible from “kiver to kiver”; and they have the King James Version in mind when they say that.  They ignore completely more than 20,000 mistakes that are contained in that book, none of which are inspired.  These mistakes are not the good “Word of God” (Heb. 6:5) at all.  Therefore, if they believe the book as it appears in the King James Version, it is not the Bible they believe but the fallacies of man.

In the opening statements of the article the advent of Jesus is discussed with the misleading observation: “God became man.”  They are justified in this conclusion if they rely upon the King James Version of the Apostle John’s opening statement in his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.”  Consider now an exact translation of that text: “In a beginning was the Logos [Greek for Word], and the Logos was with the God, and the Logos was a God.  This was in a beginning with the God.”  This latter reveals an entirely different meaning than does the erroneous King James translation.

Then the magazine article proceeds: “Faced with mounting scientific evidence for evolution, many biblical critics long ago moved away from belief in the ‘six days’ of creation in Genesis.”  The “science” that attempts to substantiate Evolution is described by St. Paul as “oppositions of science falsely so called.” (1 Tim. 6:20)  Many of our leading scientists are now emphatic in their denial of the evolution theory.  We are told that one of the Universities in the United States is offering a course that exposes the error of evolution.  It is not our purpose to give details against evolution here, other than to say that the science of Mathematics proves evolution to be an impossible piece of nonsense as it pertains to man.  We agree that the first life on this earth appeared in the water and that a certain specialized evolution is admitted in the Genesis account when it states, “Let the earth bring forth grass.” (Gen. 1:11)

Further, the Genesis account offers direct contradiction to the belief that the six creative days are twenty-four-hour days.  In Genesis 1:16-19 we are told that the sun and the moon did not appear at all until the fourth day.  Consequently, the three preceding days were not regulated by the sun and the moon at all; and must be construed as periods of time.  Even with the present favorable conditions for producing grass, it is not possible to bring forth one blade of it in twenty-four hours.  And this divergence would be even more pronounced if we consider bushes, flowers, and trees.

The article continues: “Nor was Jonah actually swallowed by a ‘great fish.’”  In Matthew 12:40 Jesus said, “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  The word whale in this text is from the Greek ketos, and actually means a “great sea monster.”  It is a matter of record that such monsters have been found during this century; and, if we wish to attack the truth of what Jesus said, we must logically denounce Him as an unreliable and untrustworthy teacher in all His other sayings.  If the Bible is wrong on any one point, it cannot be “the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

Some of these people are also rejecting the belief that Christ was born of a virgin; yet they are now forced to admit that “in 100 licensed sites in Israel archaeological digging continues to turn up new evidence that the Bible is often surprisingly accurate in historical particulars, more so than earlier generations of scholars ever suspected.  By establishing physical settings of Scriptural accounts and certain details of corroboration (finding horned altars like those mentioned in 1 Kings 1:50, for example) recent archaeology has enhanced the credibility of the Bible.”

As stated above, many of the Bible’s most ardent believers and supporters exhibit much unreasonable confusion by accepting wrong translations; but their confusion becomes even more apparent when they attempt to take figurative statements and give them a literal interpretation.  One outstanding example of such folly in the distant past - one which all now recognize to have been errant nonsense - was the belief that the earth was flat.  This conclusion was based upon the statement in Isaiah 11:12: “The Lord shall gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”  How could the earth have four corners if it were not flat, they argued.

One outstanding antagonist of this foolish belief was Galileo, who lived from 1564 to 1642.  His controversy with the Roman Catholic Church became so heated, and aroused so much public fanaticism that Galileo was eventually tried for heresy and was sentenced to be hanged.  One writer records it something like this: As they were placing the noose around Galileo’s neck a friend said to him: Galileo, all you need to do is say the earth is flat, and you can go on living.  Whereupon, Galileo said, Yes, the world is flat, and the hanging was abandoned.  The Roman Church itself is now so humiliated by that episode that they prefer not to mention it at all; and, if they do, they say it was all the result of the stupidity of the churchmen at that time.

But other “dark sayings” of the Bible are not so easily settled.  Science has indeed proven that the earth is substantially round, but it has been unable to unravel the many parables spoken by Jesus; and there is sound reason for this.  In Mark 4:11,12 He said to the Disciples: “To them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand.”  We would stress here that in a parable the thing said is never the thing meant.  This is apparent enough to the general public in such parables as The Wheat and The Tares (Matt. 13:24-30); and in The Sheep and The Goats (Matt. 25:31-46).  And, while it is universally conceded that Jesus did not mean literal Sheep and Goats, they still insist that the “everlasting fire” of v. 41 must be taken literally.  Many who accept this position claim to be the Bible’s best friends, when in fact they are among its worst enemies, because science itself can pretty well explain away “everlasting fire” as unsupported myth - which indeed is true if a literal application is made of the text.

In v. 46 it is stated: “These [the goats] shall go away into everlasting punishment.”  In one of the more exact translations it is given this way:  “These shall go forth to the aionian [age-lasting] cutting-off,” and the footnote has the following to say about it: “That is, in the fire mentioned in verse 41.  The Common Version, and many modern ones, render kolasin aionioon, everlasting punishment, conveying the idea, as generally interpreted, of basinos, torment.  Kolassin in its various form only occurs in three other places in the New Testament - Acts 4:21; 2 Peter 2:9; 1 John 4:18.  It is derived from kolazoo, which signifies, (1) To cut off, as lopping off branches of trees, to prune.  (2) To restrain, to repress.  The Greeks write - ‘The charioteer (kalazei) restrains his fiery steeds.’  (3) To chastise, to punish.  To cut off an individual from life, or society, or even to restrain, is esteemed as ‘punishment’; hence has arisen this third metaphorical use of the word.  The primary signification has been adopted, because it agrees better with the second member of the sentence, thus preserving the force and beauty of the antithesis.  The righteous go to life, the wicked to the cutting off from life, or death.”  (See 2 Thes. 1:9.)  The foregoing is in exact keeping with Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death [a severance of life]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Further from the article under review: “How do you preserve faith in the Bible in a world that seems increasingly faithless?  For Protestants it is an especially poignant question.  Besides the Scriptures, the Roman Catholics have the authority of tradition [it requires a good imagination to accept tradition as authority.  “Ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” - Matt. 15:6], the Jews the guidance of the Talmud.  But Protestantism bases its faith on the Bible alone.  Its truth is essential; if the Bible falls, faith topples.”

Yes, the Bible is essential to a true faith; but let us be sure we are taking the Bible, and not the fallacious versions of erring men.  All of this is in true keeping with the query of Jesus: “When the Son of Man cometh, will He find faith in the earth?” (Luke 18:8)  The magazine writer says further: “An occasionally fallible Bible, therefore is a Bible that paradoxically seems more authentic.”  When they say, “It seems more authentic,” they are coming a little closer to the truth!

In a later issue of this same magazine there is this statement: “All religions are equally valid; the choice among them is not a matter of conviction about truth but only of personal preference or life-style.”  According to their position, believe anything you want to believe; it really doesn’t make any difference.  This is quite a sharp difference from what St. Paul teaches in Eph. 4:5: “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

More now from the first article of the magazine: “In the 17th century the Dutch Philosopher Baruch (“Benedict”) Spinoza, an excommunicated Jew, used a method that would be widely emulated by rationalist critics during the Enlightenment: he treated the Bible as a human rather than a divine work and thus subject to investigation of its books according to date, authorship, composition and setting.”  Here we are forcefully reminded of St. Paul’s words in 1 Cor. 3:19: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.”  A few points of proof: The Law given through Moses is eminently superior to anything that existed in the heathen world at that time.  Also, some of the prophecies in the Bible were indisputably written hundreds of years before their fulfillment, which would be impossible if they were strictly of human origin.  The 53rd Chapter of Isaiah is a prime example.

Jesus Himself prophesied: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14)  The Bible has now been translated into more than 1,500 languages - despite the determined efforts of men and devils to destroy it, and it is presently being bought by or sent to more people than ever before.  In the U.S., seven noteworthy new versions have come out since 1966; and all have sold well.  One of the largest publishing houses reports that sales of all editions in 1974 are five times as great as they were four years ago.  This is in keeping with a recent Gallup Poll: “A far smaller proportion of Americans today than in 1957 believe religion can answer all or most of the problems of the day, with the change in attitudes most pronounced among young persons and Catholics… Bible reading shows no evidence of decreasing.”

HISTORICAL CORROBORATION

Some vehement critics of the Bible’s inspiration contend that history does not give sufficient evidence for conclusive opinion in the case.  “We cannot write a biography of Jesus,” they say; “there are too few facts in the New Testament.  All we can say about Jesus is what Christians believed.”  Let us now quote from Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Section 3, Paragraph 3: “Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works - a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.  He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles.  He was (the) Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

Flavius Josephus was born in A.D. 37 or 38, died in A.D. 100.  Thus he was contemporary with all the Apostles - probably knew some of them very well.  He writes of himself in this manner: “The family from which I am derived is not an ignoble one, but hath descended all along from the priests… I am not only sprung from a sacerdotal family in general, but from the first of the twenty-four courses… of the chief family of the first course; nay, further, by my mother I am of the royal blood… When I was a child, and about fourteen years of age, I was commended by all for the love I had to learning, on account of which the high priests and principal men of the city came then frequently together, in order to know my opinion about the accurate understanding of points of the law; and when I was about sixteen years old, I had a mind to make trial of the several sects that were among us… the Pharisees… the Saducees… the Essenes… When I was twenty-six years of age I took a voyage to Rome.”

Commenting upon this intellectual Jew, Bishop Porteus says this: “This history is spoken of in the highest terms by men of the greatest learning and the soundest judgment, from its first publication to the present time.

“The fidelity, the veracity, and the probity of Josephus, are universally allowed; and Scaliger in particular declares that, not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even of foreign nations, he deserves more credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put together.  Certain at least it is, that he had the most essential qualification for a historian - a perfect and accurate knowledge of all the transactions which he relates; and had no prejudices to mislead him in the representation of them; and that, above all, he meant no favor to the Christian cause.  For even allowing the so much controverted passage, in which he is supposed to bear testimony to Christ, to be genuine, it does not appear that he ever became a convert to His religion, but continued probably a zealous Jew to the end of his life.”

While the foregoing from, and about, Josephus would not furnish sufficient information to write a biography of Jesus, it would seem it should be sufficient to place Him definitely on earth at the time claimed in the New Testament.  Furthermore, the Book of Acts is more or less a historical recitation of events after Jesus’ resurrection to the end of the Jewish nation in A.D. 70.  And, while the Book of Acts has been accused of historical errors for certain details, it has since been proved by archaeologists and historians to be correct.

It is now generally admitted, too, that believers and non-believers alike have today a purer, more accurate text, for example, closer to the original than scholars or laymen have enjoyed since antiquity.  We have a more accurate understanding of its meaning, made possible by the abundance of excellent translations.  We have given a few of such instances aforegoing.  The article under review ends with this commendable statement: “Both in the Jewish and Christian Bibles it is irreducible, some time, some where, God intervened in history to help man.  Whether it was at the time of the Exodus, the giving of the Law, the Incarnation or the Resurrection, or any of those many smaller interventions that are still so cherished, ordinary human history was interrupted, and has never since been the same.”

In keeping with the confusion in some of the aforegoing, we would mention a prominent evangelist who offered the statement that “we were created spiritual beings.”  Nowhere does the Bible even hint at such a condition.  While it is true that phrenologists are in agreement that man is inherently a religious creature, that his religious qualities are found in the highest part of his mind, this in no way warrants the conclusion that he is spiritual.  Digressing just a little here, we would say that the religious qualities have been badly warped by the centuries of sin in man’s background.  Thus, with some of them the top of the head is too high for normal thinking.  These are caricatured as the “egg heads” - something just tells such people that man is spiritual.  At the other extreme we find the flat heads - caricatured as the “roof tops” - and something tells them that man is only animal.  Sound thinking finds a balance between these two extremes.

As stated, nowhere does the Bible teach that man is spirit; and, when such people as the evangelist mentioned above offer such teaching, declaring that they believe the Bible, it produces the logical conclusion in thinking people that the Bible is not reliable. Thus, some of its would-be friends are in truth some of its worst enemies, unwittingly so, of course.  There are many Scriptures that directly contradict that man is a spirit, but we quote just one by Solomon, wisest of men: “That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast… all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward [Where do you find such an unreasonable teaching?], and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (Ecc. 3:19-21)

There now exists one outstanding difference between man and beast: Man is promised a resurrection from the dead. “God hath appointed a day, in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained [Jesus]; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)  The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead offers assurance that “all men” shall also be raised from the dead; but, until that time arrives, the dead “sleep in the dust of the earth” (Dan. 12:2) - just as do the beasts.  But until that time of resurrection: “The dead know not anything.” (Ecc. 9:5)

PRESENT-DAY THINKING

Anent the skepticism that is now so prevalent regarding the Bible’s authenticity, we quote the following from one of the more prominent columnists: “If there should be, on Christmas night, a second coming, would there not soon be a second crucifixion?  And this time, not by the Romans or the Jews, but those who proudly call themselves Christians?

“I WONDER!  I wonder how we today would regard and treat this man with His strange and frightening and ‘impractical’ doctrines of human behavior and relationships.  Would we believe and follow any more than the masses of people in His day believed and followed?

“Would not the militarists among us assail Him as a cowardly pacifist because He urges us not to resist evil?  Would not the nationalists among us attack Him as a dangerous inter-nationalist because He tells us we are all of one flesh?  Would not the wealthy among us castigate Him as a troublemaking radical because He bars the rich from entering the kingdom of heaven?

“Would not the liberals among us dismiss Him as a dreamy vagabond because He advises us to take no thought for the morrow, to lay up no treasures upon earth?  Would not the ecclesiastics among us denounce Him as a ranting heretic because he cuts through the cords of ritual and commands us only to love God and our neighbors?

“Would not the sentimentalists among us deride Him as a cynic because He warns us that the way to salvation is narrow and difficult?  Would not the Puritans among us despise and reject Him because He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners, preferring the company of winebibbers and harlots to that of ‘respectable,’ church members?

“Would not the sensual among us scorn Him because he fasts for forty days in the desert, neglecting the needs of the body?  Would not the proud and important among us laugh at Him when He instructs the twelve disciples that he who would be ‘first’ should be the one to take the role of the least and serve all?

“Would not the worldly-wise and educated among us be aghast to hear that we cannot be saved except as we become as children, and that a little child shall lead us?  Would not each of us in his own way find some part of this man’s saying and doing to be so threatening to our ways of life, so much at odds with our rooted beliefs, that we could not tolerate Him for long?  I wonder!”

Several of the above questions carry an inference that is definitely wrong, but that is due to the poor interpretation that the writer makes, rather than any fault with the Bible itself.

THE BIBLE’S INSPIRATION

Many of the Bible’s critics regard it as a superior book - if not all, at least certain parts.  Gibbon, himself an unbeliever, declares the book of Job to be the finest piece of literature in existence.  And all men agree that the Golden Rule - “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt. 7:12) - spoken by Jesus, is a lofty altruistic ideal, the best that has ever been spoken by men; but they counter with the observation that so very few even try to keep it, that it is pretty well lost in everyday life.

Also, we gladly admit that some of the Bible critics are people of considerable intellect and learning; and many of these agree that there is a natural revelation which reveals man’s undone condition, the sinfulness and depravity of the human race.  The Bible also very pointedly declares the same thoughts; it also praises the order, beauty, harmony, utility and sublimity in the various features of the heavens and of the earth.

As stated previously, the critics come to conclusions about the Bible which are totally wrong, erroneous, because some of the Bible’s friends attribute to it many things which are not taught there.  One of the most deadly of these errors is that man is a dual being - that is, that he has a body and a soul which are separated at death, the body returning to the earth whence it came, with the soul floating off into space as a spirit.  But the scientific fraternity has been unable to produce one scintilla of evidence to substantiate this belief; in fact, science is forced to contradict it - as the Bible also does.  The Bible stresses a resurrection of the dead.  This word resurrection is from the Greek anastasis, which means a raising up to life again.  But if man does not die at death, what need have we for a resurrection?  And St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:19: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” 

Whence comes this misleading belief?  It is to be found in Genesis 3:4: “The serpent [Satan] said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die”; and this original falsehood has become solidly implanted in all the religions of the heathen and Christian world.  Concerning the devil, Jesus said this: “He was a murderer from the beginning [in the Garden of Eden]… he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)  “Because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not [the truth being that the dead are dead, that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, that through Him “All that are in their graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” - John 5:28,29].”

The Bible in its Old Testament, as it was increasingly given, has been accepted by the Jewish people generally for more than 3,500 years as a Divine revelation and cherished as such - just as the New Testament has been equally regarded by the Christian world for almost 1,900 years.  And it is in order here to state that the minds that have accepted the Bible as a Divine revelation have been decidedly superior to the minds of the people that have rejected it.  We would mention the Apostle Paul (died A.D. 67); Augustine (A.D. 430), regarded by eminent scholars as the greatest intellect of the entire human race; Thomas Aquinas (the poor little “rich man” - who disposed of his great wealth, and ministered to the poor because he thought the Bible so required him to do); Martin Luther; Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of gravity; Alfred the Great, King of England; and John Wesley, probably the greatest evangelist that ever lived.

AN IDEAL PLAN OF SALVATION

The Bible reveals the only “ideal plan of salvation” for all mankind.  This great Plan of Salvation revealed therein commends itself most strongly as of Divine origin, and not the design of man.  It is the embodiment of God’s four great attributes: Justice, Wisdom, Love and Power.  No one else could come up with anything so sublime.  “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and “He is faithful that promised.” (Heb. 10:23)  “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3,4)  This does not mean that all men will be saved eternally.  Some believe that not only all men will be saved, but even the Devil also will be saved.  Those of us who have the “spirit of truth” also know the “spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)  We know that the Devil, as well as all evil-doers who do not turn from their “path of error” will be destroyed.  “That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.” (Heb. 2:14)  All those who will not obey when they “come to a knowledge of the Truth” in the Kingdom will be “destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23)

So when God tells us He will have “all men to be saved,” we need to “rightly divide the word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) in order to understand that from which “all men” will be saved.  All men will be saved from the curse that came upon all through the disobedience of Father Adam; and He will save all men from ignorance of the Divine Plan.  “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Cor. 4:4) during this Faith Age - but during the next Age, the World to come - when “thy judgments [correct instructions - the knowledge of the Truth] are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9)

There are many who do not know there are Two Distinct Salvations - one for the elect during this Faith Age, and one for the non-elect (all others - the Restitutionists) during the next Age, the World to come.  God’s Plan is in evidence in the various Dispensations and Ages.  In the first world (Kosmos), from the fall to the flood, the intention evidently was not to “save all men.”  Had God attempted to save all men, He would have done so, because God never fails of any of His purposes. (Isa. 55:10,11)  There are two worlds thus far, but there are three Ages in this second world: (1) the Patriarchal Age, (2) the Jewish Age,  and (3) the Gospel Age - in the Age in which we are now.

God’s purposes in all of these Ages have been elective, but in each Age along different lines from those of the others.  Instead of dealing on covenant basis with all men during these Ages, He selected out of the world certain ones with whom He has so dealt.  This selection or election was not done arbitrarily, as Calvinism teaches, for God never acts arbitrarily, but always in harmony with His character - the blending of Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power.  Broadly speaking, the human family consists of two classes: those who trust Him (by faith), even when they cannot trace Him, and those who will not trust Him out of sight - that is, a faith class and an unbelief class.  This faith class can stand the trialsome training necessary to qualify them for their work of uplifting the non-elect in “the world to come.” (Eph. 1:21)  The non-elect who lack sufficient faith to be put on trial under present unfavorable conditions, will then have their trial in the “World to come” (Heb. 6:5) under most advantageous conditions.  There are some of the non-elect who have faith in God, but not sufficient faith to do the Lord’s will during the time when sin and evil are in the ascendancy.  We all know such noble worldlings, and we know that God is not unmindful of their good qualities.  “The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.  From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.  Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.” (Psa. 33:13,14,18)  So He has “appointed a Day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)  We believe we are nearer that Day than when we first believed - so we continue to pray: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

The third world will be the order of affairs that God will establish after the destruction of the present order of affairs in this second world.  Thus there will be in the World to come new heavens (new ecclesiastical ruling powers) and a new earth (new social order) in which righteousness will be established. (2 Peter 3:7,13)  Thus the completed Plan of Salvation for all men - the elect and the non-elect - will result to God’s glory, and the blessing of eternal life for all mankind who love righteousness.  They will have full opportunity - an “accurate knowledge of the truth,” and the ability to walk in the paths of righteousness, if they so desire.

“And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (Gal. 3:8)  This “plan” is so ideal and sublime that it is beyond the realm of human imagination.  Some say it is too good to be true; we say, It is too good not to be true!  Thus it is conceived as a Divine inspiration.

(By John J. Hoefle, Reprint 443, May 1993)

___________________________________________________________________

“THE BIBLE AS PEACE PLAN:  As the Bush administration put pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to begin implementing the road map, several Jewish and Christian groups in the U.S. are launching grassroots campaign to have the peace plan dropped in favor of the Bible.

“In more than a dozen cities across the country, a coalition of Jewish and Christian groups called ‘The Committee for a One-State Solution’ recently initiated a billboard campaign urging the public to contact the White House to reaffirm their support for Israel and pray that U.S. President George W. Bush supports the Jewish state.

“The black-and-white billboards, currently featured in eight states, quote a verse from Genesis in which God pledged to give Israel to Jacob’s descendants.  ‘Pray that President Bush honors God’s covenant with Israel.’ reads the billboard.

“‘We’re doing what we can to tell the State Department, George Bush, the UN, Arafat and Colin Powell that every grain of sand on that piece of geography between the Mediterranean and Dead Sea belongs to the Jewish people.’  Said the founder and president of the Religious Roundtable, Ed McAteer, who is a member of the coalition, headed by Gary Bauer, the Apostolic Congress and Americans for Safe Israel (AFSI). ‘Bush is absolutely, 100% wrong on supporting and even talking about an idea called the road map,’ said McAteer.

“According to one campaign planner the billboard locations, which currently include 60 three-month slots in Colorado, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, were chosen based on their large Evangelical populations and close 2000 presidential election results.

“In addition to posting billboards, the coalition has also sent out 12,000 blue-and-white bumper stickers urging Christian Zionist to pray for Bush to support Israel.

“‘We’re hoping this will be something that will turn the president away from the road map, turn away from a Palestinian state,” said AFSI executive-director Helen Freedman.

“The Zionist Organization of America has also launched an anti-road map initiative with full-page ads arguing that the Palestinian leadership hasn’t renounced terrorism and the creation of a Palestinian state would jeopardize Israel’s security.”

(The Jerusalem Post, May 16, 2003)  

NO. 552 "THERE SHALL BE NO MORE CURSE"

The various writings that have been presented during this Laodicean period have carried copious references and explanations concerning the curse.  No doubt this is due to the fact that “the time is at hand” (Rev. 22:10) to make the subject crystal clear.  In Genesis 3:17 we find the sentence against Adam: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake”; and in Revelation 22:3 is the statement, “There shall be no more curse.”  The Diaglott states it thus, “There will be no more any accursed thing.”  The “accursed thing” in this text refers to “death and hell” which would be cast into the lake of fire.  Here are the Berean Comments: Death - including aches, pains, mental and moral imperfections of every sort; and Hell - Hades, oblivion, the great prison house of the tomb in which mankind awaits a resurrection.”  Thus, Hell is the actual death state of man, with death referring to all the infirmities which have afflicted the human race for the past six thousand years.  Therefore, the eradication of the curse includes not only the elimination of the death state, but also those things that have been incidental to producing death - including persons and things.

Pertinent to the foregoing is this quotation from Parousia Volume 5, p. 193: “Thus shall the great Jehovah and His Spirit of Holiness and all who ally themselves thereto finally triumph, and sin and Satan and the spirit of evil shall be forever extinguished and there shall be no more curse. (Isa. 28:17; 1 Cor. 4:5; 6:2; Acts 3:23; 2 Thes. 1:9; Rev. 22:3)”

All the present evils are the gradual result of the disobedience in Eden, Adam bearing the direct responsibility.  And in direct contrast, the second Adam (the Lord from Heaven) will be directly responsible for the complete elimination of these evils.  This is very clearly related in Heb. 2:14: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Jesus] likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”  Clearly enough, if the devil has the power over death, death itself cannot possibly be forever eliminated until the one responsible for death - that is the devil - is also eliminated.

It is stated that he (an angel from Heaven) “laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” (Rev. 20:1-3)  Self-evidently if he who “has the power over death” is not destroyed at the beginning of the “little season,” then death also will not be destroyed at the beginning of the “little season.”  This leaves but one logical conclusion - namely, death (the dying process) will not be completely eliminated until “that old serpent” is likewise eliminated - and this will not take place until the full end of the “little season.”  “Then cometh the end [the end of the “little season”] when He [Jesus] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:24-26)  It should be emphasized here that “Hell” (the Adamic death state) will have been cast into “the lake of fire” many years before the Little Season even begins, when the last one of Adam’s race has been awakened, so “Hell” cannot possibly be the “last enemy.”  Therefore, the “last enemy” has to be the Adamic death process.

All during the thousand years that Satan is bound the foregoing evils will be gradually destroyed.  As each one comes forth from the tomb, Hades (the actual death state) will be instantaneously destroyed for that particular individual; and inasmuch as each person will be allowed at least one hundred years (Isa. 65:20) to make some progress up the “highway of holiness” (Isa. 35:8), it follows that the actual death state that has been inherited by all from Father Adam must be completely eliminated at least one hundred years before the “little season” begins.

But with the dying process (all the evils - aches, pains, mental, moral and religious imperfections) it will be considerably different.  The release from the tomb for each one is brought about without any assistance or foreknowledge from such persons; it is a gift from God through Jesus.  This is well described in Psalms 103:2,3: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases.”  Jesus made His soul an offering for sin, which guarantees to every man release from that iniquity that was inherited through Father Adam.  “He will destroy in this mountain [the Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem] the face of the covering cast over all people [Hades, the death state], and the vail [of superstition and ignorance] that is spread over all nations.  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people [sin and error] shall He take away from off all the earth.” (Isa. 25:7,8)  The forgiveness of iniquities and the healing of diseases will be a free gift from God to every one as he emerges from the tomb; but the elimination of the various defects now inherent in man will only be eliminated by the cooperation of each individual himself - and those who do not wish to cooperate will, after one hundred years, die the second death - will be cast into the figurative “lake of fire, which is the second death.” (Rev. 20:14 - also see Acts 3:23)

As the “little season” arrives, all who reach that time will have been freed from all physical imperfection - their physical diseases will all have been healed.  But with some their mental and moral diseases will yet be present (the Adamic Death Process will yet be present with them in their unholy hearts’ condition); and thus will come the division of the sheep and the goats of Matthew 25:31-46: “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand [the sheep], Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34)  “Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire [the second death], prepared for the devil and his angels.” (v. 41)  This clear separation, rewarding and sentencing to the “lake of fire” can occur only at the full end of the “little season”; the sheep could not receive a free, clear and unencumbered title to the Kingdom until all evil persons and things have been fully obliterated.  Then will be fulfilled the promise, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain [the microbes of disease and pestilence will be fully restrained]; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)  “There shall be no night [error] there… for the Lord God giveth them light [the pure truth].” (Rev. 22:5)  “They shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer. 31:34)

Following is a statement from E-12-260: “In the Millennium He will actually heal all the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious faculties and their contents of the unbelief class as from the heart they accept His medicines and other healing helps.  The following Scriptures prove this: Jer. 3:22; 30:17; 33:6; Hosea 6:1; 14:4; Psa. 107:20; 67:2; Ezek. 47 1,8,9,12; Rev. 22:1-3; Mal. 4:2.  Thus our Lord as the Good Physician heals the faith class now, and will heal the unbelief class in the Millennium from the physical, mental, artistic, moral and religious diseases that sin and the curse [the Adamic death process] have brought upon them.”

And continuing from E-12-310: “The ransom price guarantees that there will be gradually given to the whole world what it lost in Adam, if and as it obeys in the next Age (Luke 19:10; 1 Cor. 15:21-26; 1 John 3:8; Heb. 1:8; 10:12,13; Rev. 20:4-9; Heb. 9:23).  And through the ransom-price Jesus and the Church as the tree of life will actually give to the obedient world all that Adam lost for it - perfect humanity and life, the right to life and its life-rights (Rev. 21:3-5; 22:1-3; Acts 3:19-21).”

Follows now Hosea 13:14: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.”  In the sense of rescuing from the power of the grave, the Elect Church will also have part in the restitution process; and, just as various plagues, injuries, violence in various forms now send men to that great abode “where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest,” so just the reverse is promised under the Kingdom.  Then, instead of the people being plagued with diseases, it is the diseases that will be “plagued” out of the people.  Also, the Adamic death process (the evils inherited and acquired under the curse) will be “plagued” out of the people - the willing and obedient.

Complementing the above is this from E-17-428: “We have now studied Millennial testimonies all the way from Genesis up to and including the last chapter of Revelation: from the time, after the curse of sin and death came upon the human family through Adam’s sin, that God promised Abraham that through him and his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed, until the time that the great Seed of Abraham, the Christ, Head and Body, developed during the Gospel Age, will have reigned over the earth as kings and priests for a thousand years and blessed all the families of the earth, living and dead, with the opportunity of obtaining everlasting life on a perfected earth; until the Adamic death state and the Adamic dying process (1 Cor. 15:26) will have been destroyed, and there will be no more curse; until Satan (Ezek. 28:19; Heb. 2:14), the unrepentant fallen angels (Matt. 25:41) and the ‘goat’ class - all the wicked (Psa. 145:20) - will have been utterly, completely and eternally annihilated in the Second Death, symbolized by the lake of fire [and by the Red Sea destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts] - ‘they shall be as though they had not been’ (Obad. 16).  Then ‘the righteous shall see it and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.’ (Psa. 107:42)  Sin shall never rise again.  God will be glorified forever and ever by perfect creatures, both in heaven and on earth.  ‘And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that setteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.’”

GRADUAL WORKINGS OF THE CURSE

The question would seem in order here: Did Adam immediately realize the workings of the curse in him after the disobedience?  We would say he felt no physical discomfort.  Genesis 3:22,23 would seem to confirm this: “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, least he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden.”  Here is a clear statement that the man could have continued living forever - even after the transgression - had he been allowed to remain in his ideal home.

However, there is no doubt that he had great mental disturbance because of what he had done.  “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid.” (Gen. 3:10)  Here then appears the first human weakness to afflict man, which became greatly magnified in the human race as the years ticked on; and it is probably true that today it is present in varying degrees in every member of the human family.  Shakespeare disputes this conclusion: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant only taste of death but once.  Of all the things I yet have heard it seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”  Of course this statement is the contention of the fatalist; and it finds no support whatever in the Bible.  Nevertheless, some are much less oppressed by fear than others.  We find some people afraid of the dark; others imagine that some one is always chasing them.  Of the Jews it is written that if they would “despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then ye shall flee when none pursueth you.” (Lev. 26:15-17)  About like the boy that ran from his own shadow.

A second defect - now universally common among men - immediately showed itself in Adam - that of blaming some one else for his mistakes.  “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Gen. 3:12)  The impudence of this remark is readily apparent: It was God’s fault that Adam disobeyed; had He not given Adam the woman, none of this would have happened.  This second failing also has been greatly expanded during the years that have followed.

Even so, these two things would not have been sufficient to inflict the death penalty upon the disobedient man; he could have continued to live forever had he been allowed to remain in Eden.  Therefore, “He drove the man out, and placed… a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Gen. 3:24)  And it was only after he was faced with the trialsome task of keeping alive under very unfavorable circumstances (“cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee… till thou return unto the ground” - Gen. 3:17-19), that the aches, pains, mental and moral imperfections of every sort made their appearance, and have pyramided over the years.  Such things are now accepted as a way of our life even by the finest minds, because none are able to escape the ravages of decay to be seen on every hand.  And, while some eat their bread with a minimum of “sweat of the brow,” yet all do eat it with plenty of sorrow.  All are now resigned to the fact that “The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (Jer. 31:29)  As Adam had to learn by experience what he could not learn by instruction, so all his descendants are being similarly educated.  “Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” (Gen. 3:17)

Outside of Eden the earth was not prepared to perpetuate life in keeping with the ideal conditions that had prevailed in the Garden.  This condition of the earth outside of Eden was not the result of the transgression; it had been that way all along - and was simply then used as a convenience to exact the sentence “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17)  This would be better expressed “dying thou shalt die”; the execution of the sentence was a gradual one - eroding process, which was fully completed when Adam entered the tomb.  “Adam lived 930 years: and he died.” (Gen. 5:5)  After the great deluge the dying process was greatly accelerated, the evidence of which is clearly apparent to this day.

However, for more than one hundred years now we have been “In the day of His preparation” (Nahum 2:3) - the preparation for the new order which will “wipe the tears from off all faces.”  This has been easing many of the backbreaking burdens of the past; but the span of life has not been greatly increased thereby.  While it is true that the “average” age of life has been raised considerably, this is mostly due to fewer dying in infancy; there is yet no comparison to Moses, for instance: “Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Duet. 34:7)  Also, much of the earth itself has been improved, although none of it is yet perfect and is very untamed, very imperfect.

THE WRATH - THE CURSE

These two expressions are often used interchangeably, as can be seen from the following in Parousia Volume 5, p, 439: “The ‘wrath,’ the ‘curse’ will be lifted from all who come into harmony with God through Jesus the Savior, and all who do not avail themselves of this grace will be swallowed up of the Second Death - for ‘the wrath of God abideth on them’ (Acts 3:23; John 3:36; Rev. 22:3).”

However, though the “curse” has but one application, applying to both man and the earth, yet the “wrath” has a broad and a specific definition.  When Job exclaimed, “O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave till thy wrath be past” (Job 14:13), he was using its general meaning.  But other Scriptures speak of a specific time - a “day of wrath.”  “The Lord shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath.” (Psa. 110:5)  And Zeph. 1:14,15: “The great day of the Lord is near… That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress,” of which we see plenty all about us now.  Also Revelation 6:17: “The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”  This “day of wrath” began in its broad sense in 1874; but in its narrow sense it began in 1914, when the violent features of the Time of Trouble broke forth.  Since that date we have been living in that period of time known as the Epiphany, and which will continue for some years yet - until the end of Jacob’s Trouble - after Anarchy has leveled all existing institutions.

This “day of wrath” in its limited sense has been designed for the world in general, and for a specific class in particular - “the great multitude, which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14)  But this day is decidedly not for God’s faithful people: “We are not of the night, nor of darkness… For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:5-9)  However, some sections of the earth, and some people in particular, may experience much less of the “overflowing scourge,” the day of wrath (Isa. 28:18) - than will others.  Thus Zephaniah 2:3 offers the counsel, “Seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

Complementing the foregoing is the following from Parousia Volume 5, p. 410: “Hence, this Day of Vengeance and of special wrath, additional to what has prevailed previously, it is declared, will be ‘A time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation.’  God’s saints are assured that they shall be accounted worthy to escape all those things coming upon the world, and to stand before the Son of Man.  They shall escape this special wrath, but they do not escape the general wrath which is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness.  They share this with the world, in many respects, and yet there is this finely drawn distinction, which the Scriptures clearly point out:

“Those who accept Christ during this Age and who make a full consecration of themselves to him, are reckoned as having passed from death unto life; as having escaped the wrath, the curse, ‘escaped the corruption that is on the world.’ (2 Peter 1:4; 2:18,20)  True, they are still in the world, still subject to death, and may still share with the world the sickness, pain, sorrow and trouble incidental to the curse, and from the worldly standpoint there is no difference; but from God’s standpoint, which is to be the believer’s standpoint, there is a wide difference.  Such are not reckoned any longer as dying because of Divine ‘curse’ or wrath, but in view of their justification and subsequent presentation as living sacrifices their death is reckoned as part of Christ’s sacrifice… ‘If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.’ (Rom. 6:8)”

A GLARING ERROR

In recent years the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been loud in their claim that they are now separating the sheep and the goats of the great parable spoken by our Lord in Matthew 25:31-46.  Concerning that time, when the true separation will be proceeding, there is this prophetic statement: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.” (Isa. 28:17)  Properly interpreted, this text can mean only that earth’s affairs in that day will be squared and plumbed with righteousness and brought into strict conformity thereto.  Manifestly, this could be accomplished only through perfection of administration.  We doubt that even the Witnesses would claim perfection for themselves; thus, their present attempt to do something perfectly through imperfect agents can be described only as glaring error - a spiritual mirage.  Since they have taken over there has been no relief whatever from the curse; rather, just the reverse has occurred - “the evil day” is becoming daily more apparent and distressing.

In previous papers we have detailed the striking similarity of the Witnesses to the Roman Catholic Church; and on this particular aberration concerning the sheep and the goats they offer almost identical deception.  When the Roman Church was in its hey-day, they also were separating the sheep and the goats, except that they consigned their goats (the heretics) to eternal torment, as they promised their sheep eternal bliss in heaven.  Today the Witnesses predict eternal extinction in Armageddon to the goats (all outside their organization), as they promise their sheep eternal life here on earth.  Very few people want to die; thus, the promise of eternal life with unbroken bliss - either in heaven or on earth - is a very appealing enticement.  They are telling them something they want to hear.

But the facts of the case belie their claims.  During the thousand-year counterfeit of the Roman Church from 799 to 1799 the curse probably exceeded all previous exhibition - a time known as The Dark Ages.  And now, since the counterfeit reign of the Witnesses - from 1914 up to the present - the curse once more is exceeding all previous experiences - “iniquity shall abound” (Matt. 24:12) - “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time” (Dan. 12:1) - a clear statement that the curse would be worse than at any previous time.  Instead of “no more curse,” there is curse more abundant; instead of “no more death,” death is everywhere rampant, and it is taking its toll with the Witnesses along with others of the human race.  Even though we are living in the Epiphany - the bright shining - insofar as the curse is concerned we are living in the “little Dark Ages,” which will continue through Anarchy until the Kingdom is established.  But to the errorists, “God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.” (2 Thes. 2:11, Dia.)  Instead of “every man knowing the Lord,” many of those living today know little or nothing of the real God.

But when the real Kingdom is established, the truth will be clear and convincing - there will be no error there - physical, mental and moral diseases will be gradually healed, as the individual cooperates with the Kingdom rules.  A far cry from these two counterfeit reigns!  Real Bible students have been taught what to expect in that glorious Kingdom.  Isaiah Chapter 35 gives a beautiful picture of the Kingdom - and we have seen none of this in the two counterfeit kingdoms.

THE DOUBLE CURSE

While the curse has been passed on from generation to generation, including all nations, there has been a double curse upon a small segment of the human family; namely, upon the Jews.  A hint of this is given by St. Paul in Rom. 7:9: “I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”  Here the Apostle is speaking not only for himself, but for the whole Jewish race.  Just what is he trying to tell us?  Simply this - all men, including the Jews, were promised relief from the curse through the promise given to Abraham: “In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18); but, when they agreed to keep the Law given to them through Moses at Sinai, they promised more than they could perform, which placed a double liability upon them - one inherited from Father Adam, and one from their broken agreement to keep the law.  That perfect law was far beyond the reach of the imperfect Jews.  St. Paul confirms this conclusion in Rom. 7:10,11: “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.”

Then the words of Jesus in John 3:14: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”  Referring to this same situation, St. Paul says in Gal. 3:13: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us [which relieved the Jews of the double curse resting on them through their inability to keep the law]: for it is written [Duet. 21:22,23], Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

However, although the Jews have been under a double curse, they will also be the recipients of a double blessing when that double curse is lifted from them.  This is well stated by That Servant as follows: “At the inauguration of the new Age of blessing, natural Israel will be granted a special place and privilege; ‘for the gifts and calling of God are not things to be repented of.’  We see how in another way, also, this special privilege will come to them; namely, in that the law has been more or less of restraint upon them in their daily lives as a people.  They have had more or less of loyalty to God, which had kept them separate from other nations.  This special privilege of pre-eminence in the Messianic Kingdom, however, will not be granted to all who are Jews by blood; but only to those who prove loyal to the law and the prophets - those who are Jews at heart, and not merely outwardly.  All others are merely Gentiles. (Rom. 2:28,29)

“The earthly phase of the Kingdom will be composed of the Ancient Worthies of the Ages preceding the First Advent of our Lord.  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, and the Hebrew prophets and other faithful ones will be in power as ‘princes in all the earth.’ (Psa. 45:16 - also see Hebrews Chapter 11)  The orthodox Jews will be more ready to receive the blessing of the new dispensation promptly than will any other people.  Therefore, they will have the first blessing [a double blessing for their double curse] - not by reason of partiality on God’s part in showing favor to these people, but by virtue of the fact that He made a covenant with them as the posterity of faithful Abraham.”  (Reprint 5964, col. 1, October 1, 1916)

  Commenting further on this same thing, there is this on pp. 204, 205 of the Book of Covenants: “Since the Mediatorial work of the Millennial Kingdom is to be accomplished through Natural Israel, and since all the families of the earth are to be blessed through them, it follows that nothing can be done until Israel shall have been recovered from their present outcast condition.  Then the blessing of the Lord will go forth… will be accomplished through Natural Israel…

“Then, as the people of the various nations shall gather themselves to the Lord and seek to come into harmony with Him, the way of approach will be by coming into accord with the Holy Nation - God’s representative Kingdom in the world… The New Covenant is not to be made with any others than the Jews, for no others were in Covenant relationship with God.  The words ‘New Covenant’ seem, therefore, to indicate the repetition of God’s favor to Israel under the better Mediator, who will bring the glorious blessings that they had expected under Moses, but failed to obtain because of the inability of Moses to make satisfaction for their sins; for the blood of bulls and goats could never actually take away their sins.  The antitypes of these, the sacrifice of the Lord and members of His Body, must first be accomplished before this New Covenant with Israel could supersede the old or Law Covenant, which it then will do.”

While the New Covenant will have its initial working at the beginning of the Mediatorial reign, the full effects of the promise “There shall be no more curse” will not be realized until the full end of the Little Season - when the curse (all the evils which now afflict the human race), and all those afflicted with it in any manner, will be forever obliterated.  Then will come “the end” of 1 Corinthians15:24 - “when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” - when He shall have destroyed him that has power over death, that is to say the Devil. Let us not forget, “Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24)

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.” (Prov. 3:13,14)

(By John J. Hoefle, Reprint 347, May 1984)  

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)