NO. 575: COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD ESSENTIAL TO LIFE EVERLASTING

No. 575

God is not in covenant relationship with the brute creation; for to them He has made no promises, although He has made a general provision for their needs.  But we may understand that with all His intelligent creation He has a covenant, or agreement, to the effect that so long as they will do His will they shall possess life.  Because of violation of that arrangement, the fallen angels were cast off, “reserved in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6), to receive their final punishment.  When Adam and Eve were disobedient, they violated this covenant, and came under the sentence of death.  “They like men [Hebrew Adam], have transgressed the covenant; there have they dealt treacherously against me.” (Hosea 6:7, margin)

Because of Adam’s transgression, the world is not in covenant relationship with God in any sense of the word.  On the contrary, they are aliens, strangers, foreigners (Eph. 2:11-13).  To some extent God brought Abraham back into covenant relationship, but not fully so.  To the nation of Israel He made certain promises in the form of a Law Covenant, to the effect that whoever kept that covenant would thereby demonstrate his worthiness to receive God’s blessing promised to Abraham - that through him should all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:3).

The Law Covenant was given to the Jewish nation; Moses was the mediator, for it was impossible to make the covenant with Israel directly.  Although they were unable to keep that covenant because of inherited weaknesses of the flesh, yet it brought them a measure of blessing, as St. Paul points out (Rom. 7:7).  While it lifted Israel above the degradation into which the Gentiles were falling, nevertheless it did not bring the blessing for which they longed.  It did not remove the death penalty - it did not give them life.

In the clear light now shining for the people of God, we see that the Law Covenant was only a type of a better covenant to be made with Israel after the Church of Christ has been glorified; that Moses himself was only a type of a better Mediator; that the sacrifices of the Law were only types of the “better sacrifices” mentioned in Hebrews 9:23, and that their priesthood was a type of the Royal Priesthood of the Gospel Age (Heb. 7:27).

In the Scriptures, the words covenant and promise are used synonymously.  The children of Israel were under the Abrahamic Covenant long before they entered into the Law Covenant.  They are still under those covenants.  St. Paul says, “God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew.” (Rom 11:2)  Then He proceeds to say that after the elect Church has been gathered from among the Gentiles, the favor of God will return to Israel; for they are still beloved for the fathers’ sake.  The fathers of Israel are the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The Jews are, therefore, under the Abraham Covenant (Rom. 11:25-28).

ISRAEL’S COVENANT RELATIONSHIP ACTUAL

An actual covenant relationship is one that is fully established - not merely suggested, or proposed, but accomplished.  As Israel approached Mt. Sinai, God proposed to make a covenant with them.  When all was in readiness, the covenant was made through Moses as the mediator.  The work of mediation was twofold; the first part was the sprinkling of the law, representing the satisfaction of Justice; the second part was the sprinkling of the people, representing the bringing of the people into covenant relationship with God.  That covenant was then fully made, and has remained in operation ever since (Ex. 24:3-8).

With the Israelites, God was making a covenant which was to last for centuries.  It was good for only one year at a time, however.  For the first year the people were in harmony with God, but at the end of that time the cancellation of sins ceased; for the blood of bulls and of goats cannot take away sin.  The whole arrangement was only a type.  At the end of that first year, the Day of Atonement was inaugurated, and sacrifices were made for another year.  The fact that the atonement day sacrifices were repeated year by year shows that they were efficacious for only a year at a time, and so never really took away sin (Heb. 10:1-4).

After the Day of Atonement, the people made various kinds of offerings.  Some of these seem to typify the presentation of the worshiper himself to God, as an indication that he wished to do the will of Jehovah.  Others were for sin-offerings, indicating that the worshiper realized that there has been a measure of willfulness in his conduct.  So rigid are the requirements of the Law Covenant that only one Jew, the Lord Jesus Christ, was able to keep them.  This He could do because He was perfect, and the Law is the measure of a perfect man’s full ability.

That the Israelites were in covenant relationship with God through Moses, the mediator of their covenant, is demonstrated by the fact that Moses said, “He hath declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments.” (Deut. 4:13)  Therefore the Jew is bound by the law as long as he lives (Rom. 7:1).  Although the Law Covenant is not intended to be an everlasting arrangement with the Jew, yet the only ones who have been able to get from under it are those who have come into Christ; the remainder cannot rid themselves of it.  But the days draw nigh when the Lord God will make a New Covenant with them through a new mediator, The Christ, who will assist them to keep the Law satisfactorily and thus to be delivered from the evil features of their covenant.

At the close of the Babylonish captivity, the Prophet Daniel asked the Lord for an explanation of the prophecies relating to His people.  The answer to his prayer is given in detail.  “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” (Dan 9:24-27)

For an elucidation of this prophecy, the reader is referred to Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II, Study III.  All these things were to be done in those seventy weeks.  Of this period of time, we find that the seventieth week was the most critical, for it was the week during which Messiah was to confirm the covenant.  In our Study III, we show that this week began October, A.D. 29 and closed October, A.D. 36 - from the beginning of our Lord’s ministry until the conversion of Cornelius, the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit.

THE COVENANT CONFIRMED FOR ONE WEEK

During that period of seven years, God bestowed special favor upon the Jews.  At the beginning of that week of years, our Lord, who was then thirty years of age, presented Himself to God as a sacrifice.  This presentation was the first feature of the antitypical Atonement Day work, and corresponded to the sacrifice of the bullock in the type.  Our Lord began the antitypical sacrifices; as St. Paul says, “Then said he, ‘Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.’  He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” (Heb. 10:9)  Our Lord there began to take away the type and to establish the antitype.  It was necessary not only to begin the work with the antitypical bullock, but to complete it and take His place as the antitypical Moses, so to speak.  This He did not accomplish until after His death on the cross.

Many other features of that antitypical Atonement Day work are not yet completed.  It was a part of the atonement for the High Priest to offer the Lord’s goat and to take its blood into the Most Holy and to sprinkle it there.  It was also a part of the Atonement Day work for him to come out and confess the sins of the people on the scape-goat, and a still further part for him to bless the people.  During our Lord’s ministry, He fulfilled various features of the types.  At Calvary His work of sacrificing Himself was finished, and the Divine acceptance of that sacrifice was manifested.

The Prophet’s statement that in the midst of the week Messiah would cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease implies that our Lord would there terminate the efficacy of the typical work for Israel as a people, and that they were rejected from Divine favor at the time that they crucified Him.  A few days before His death, our Lord had said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23:38)  This rejection seems to have been symbolized when the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, an indication of a breaking down, rather than of an opening up.

This rejection of the Jewish nation does not indicate the end of their Law Covenant.  To the Church of Christ, who have been given the privilege of understanding the deep things of the Spirit of God, it appears that the efficacy of the typical sacrifices, which were offered year by year continually ceased at the death of our Lord; and that since that time, as a nation they have had no Divine favor; but that the only ones who have had favor since then are those who have come out of Moses into Christ.  The typical sacrifices continued until the time when Christ died, for the reason that Jesus Himself was under the Law, a part of which He fulfilled, and no feature of which can pass away until all has been fulfilled (Matt. 5:17,18).

After our Lord’s ascension, it was possible for greater work to be done than ever before.  Under the Lord’s blessing, thousands of Jews were gathered into the Gospel garner within comparatively a few days.  The work of our Lord was cut short nationally, but it increased the opportunity of the Jews individually.  There were only five hundred Jews who believed on Jesus until after His death, when there were thousands added to the number (1 Cor. 15:6; Acts 2:41).  During the three and a half years following our Lord’s death, God did not recognize the Gentiles, for He had said that He would give seventy weeks to the Jews, and therefore He allowed no favor to go to the Gentiles until that period had expired.

After the expiration of the seventy weeks of years set apart for Israel, the Gospel began to go to the Gentiles, to gather from among them “a people for his name.” (Acts 15:13-18)  During this Gospel Age, the antitypical Atonement work has been progressing.  Our Lord has already offered the antitypical bullock in the sacrifice of Himself.  Since Pentecost, He has been offering the antitypical goat - the Church class.  This work has been in progress for more than eighteen hundred years.  As soon as it shall have been finished, the blood will be taken into the Most Holy, to sprinkle the Mercy-Seat and to “make atonement for all the people,” as in the type.

THE COVENANT OF SACRIFICE

The Abrahamic Covenant, as it was given to Abraham, is a complete covenant, whose provisions include all mankind; for it reads, “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3; 28:14)  Its promise is to the seed: (1) Jesus; (2) The Christ, Head and Body; (3) the earthly seed through them.  Its provisions extend to all who have the faith of Abraham.  The promise of God was that a blessing shall come to all the families of the earth.  This promise was confirmed by an oath on the part of God, so that by two immutable things - the oath and the promise of God - the heirs of the promise may be sure of its fulfillment (Heb. 6:13-18).

The seed of Abraham, which is to bless all the families of the earth, was intended to be a spiritual seed.  Since Abraham and his posterity were natural men, the only way by which they could become the spiritual seed was by the sacrifice of the earthly nature and the attaining of the spirit nature.  The opportunity for making this sacrifice was first given to our Lord Jesus.  By carrying out His covenant of sacrifice, He became the Head of the seed which is to bring the blessing (Psa. 50:5; 40:7-10).

During the Gospel Age, Jehovah has been selecting the members of this spiritual seed, that they may lay down their human life and earthly interests in order to attain to the spirit nature.  The selection of this seed has been the work of the Gospel Age.  Soon the seed will be all gathered; then the work of blessing the natural seed will begin, and through them the blessing will subsequently spread to all nations, as these shall accept the Divine favor.

The Church will always be in covenant relationship with the Father.  The fact that He calls them sons implies that they are bound to Him (John 1:12).  Every father is in covenant relationship with his children, and they with him.  Every child has a responsibility to its father, and the father to the child.  The fact that God has received the Lord Jesus and the Church as sons (Heb. 3:6) signifies that they are in covenant relationship with Him.  St. Paul says, “We are the children of God; and if children, then heirs.” (Rom. 8:16,17)  His statement not only implies that relationship, but proves it; for the sons have a right to the things which the father has provided for his children.

All who hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt. 5:6), all whose souls long for God ”as the hart pants after the water brook” (Psa. 42:1), and who, have found Him, have consecrated themselves to Him - these have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, witnessing with their spirit that they are sons of God (Rom. 8:14-16).  As anointed sons these can discover in themselves the worthy traits of true sons - loyalty, zeal, energy, discretion, faithfulness, obedience.

There are, however, conditions attached to this covenant of sacrifice; there are certain requirements which must be fulfilled.  All must become partakers of the sufferings of Christ, if they would participate with Him in the glories to follow.  But the arrangements for keeping our contract are complete in Christ.  Therefore if we put ourselves under His care, this covenant will be everlasting with us, and we shall have “the sure mercies of David.” (Isa. 55:3)

COVENANT RELATIONSHIP TO BE RE-ESTABLISHED WITH HUMANITY

In Jeremiah 31:31-33, we read, “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah… after those days.”  The expression, “those days,” we understand to refer to Israel’s “seven times” of punishment, promised by the Lord for the violation of their Law Covenant.  This New Covenant is to be made with Israel alone; for God never purposed to make a covenant with the Gentiles.  The New Covenant will properly be so called because it will take the place of the old Law Covenant, which God made with Israel and which was broken by them.  After Israel shall have been fully established under their New Covenant, all other nations will be privileged to come into this relationship after the manner set forth in the Law.  All the world will eventually be blessed thereby.

The New Covenant, then, is to be made with such of Abraham’s descendants as are able to receive it.  Since the people are not worthy to enter directly into relationship with God, that covenant must have a mediator.  The Mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Church, His Body.  The Scriptures indicate that the Mediator is nearly completed.

The Word of God distinguishes between a covenant and its mediator.  A covenant does not go into operation until after it has been fully mediated.  When Moses mediated the Law Covenant, he first offered sacrifices; then he took the blood of the animals and, dividing it into two parts, sprinkled both the Book of the Law and the people (Ex. 24:4-8; Heb. 9:9-24).  After he had done this, the Law Covenant was in force; and it will continue until superseded by its antitype, the New Covenant.

The Mediator of the New Covenant will be The Christ.  For more than eighteen hundred years, our Lord has been offering the great antitypical sacrifices of Himself and His Church.  As soon as He will have finished making application of the blood, he will have made satisfaction for the sins of the world.  This act will correspond to the sprinkling of the book by Moses.  Divine Justice having accepted this arrangement, the Mediator will antitypically sprinkle the people; that is, He will show them how to come back into full accord with God.

The New covenant will begin to swallow up the old Law Covenant as soon as the Kingdom is established.  The Scriptures indicate that the first to receive it will be the Ancient Worthies.  Raised from the dead to human perfection, they will form the nucleus of the new arrangement in the earth.  Next in order will be those who have been known as Christians, but who have not been consecrated to death, and Jews who have been consecrated to the Law, but who have been blinded.  Gradually the light will come to all who love righteousness and hate iniquity.  Sprinkled from all sympathy with evil, they will make their declaration of full loyalty to God.  In due time this light will spread to all kindreds and tongues and nations.

CHANGE OF HEART IN THE MILLENNIUM

The Prophet Jeremiah, speaking of the New Covenant (31:34), says, “They shall 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.”  The sins and iniquities of Israel will no longer be remembered against them.  Christ will have appeared on their behalf and made satisfaction for their sins.  They will then be as free from original sin as the Gospel Church is.  The atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is the sufficiency for all (1 John 2:2).

The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that during the next Age the hearts of mankind will be changed.  He says, “Thus saith the Lord God… A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezek. 36:22-27)  This change of heart is entirely aside from the making of the New Covenant.  It will take a thousand years to remove the stoniness out of the hearts of mankind and to make them stand without a mediator.  Those who receive everlasting life must attain this condition; for all of God’s creatures who would live forever must keep His Law perfectly.

During the Millennium, God will not recognize the people, because of their imperfection, their weakness; but all of their dealings will be through the Mediator, until they shall have been brought up to perfection.  At the end of the thousand years, they will be delivered up to the Father, unblamable before Him (1 Cor. 15:24).  God will then receive them as sons, heirs of the earthly blessings which He has provided for mankind - the things given to Adam.  The very moment when the merit of Christ is applied for the world is the same moment when they will be turned over to the Mediator.  Then they will be in covenant relationship with God, but only through the Mediator, until they shall have reached human perfection and shall enter into His relationship directly with the Father.

The New Covenant will continue everlastingly; and as it is proper to say that Moses mediated the Law Covenant, so we may say that Christ will mediate the New Covenant.  But it would not be proper to say that Moses is now the mediator of the Law Covenant; for a covenant does not need a mediator after it has been mediated.  So the New Covenant will need no Mediator after the thousand years.  But the title “Mediator” may belong to Christ to all eternity, just as one who has been a judge, ever after receives the title of “Judge.”

At the end of the thousand years, when the Messiah will have accomplished His work of Restitution, He will cease to act as Mediator.  But the covenant will continue to stand; for if that relationship with God were to be removed from the people, they would have no blessing of everlasting life.  That blessing depends upon covenant relationship with God.  Under the favorable conditions of the New Covenant, whosoever will may have an opportunity to become the children of The Christ, the seed of Abraham.

At the conclusion of the thousand years, the willing and the obedient receive the commendation, “Well done,” and will be accepted as fit for the condition of everlasting life on the human plane.  Those who prove to be unworthy of life will be destroyed in the Second Death.

(Pastor Russell, Reprints 5162-5164, January 15, 1913)

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NINE HAPPY HEADLINES

“Good news in our region remains annoyingly slim, which underscores just how amazing the finale to 2004 is turning out to be, as I write.

“We have been inundated with a flood of nonstop headlines that cannot fail to bring smiles to the faces of even our most hard-boiled Jeremiahs.

“A tour d’horizon reveals no less than nine most uncommon rays of sunshine, all coming rapid-fire.

“Ding dong the witch is dead: Clearly, his lingering obstructionist presence spelled doom for anything remotely connected to ending violence or reopening the peace process.  The minute he headed south, however, new windows of opportunity opened.

“I don’t know if it will happen overnight; communism evaporated after the Berlin Wall fell.  But both parties are seriously expecting a scenario fueled more by talking than by suicide bomb attacks.

“More President Bush: The vast majority of Israelis reflectively welcome four more years of Bush, Condi, Cheney, the whole neocon crew.  Ironically, the only scar from November’s elections was the incongruity of American Jews voting overwhelmingly against the candidate whom most of us view as the best friend Israel has had in the White House for decades.

“The fact that Israel is apparently not such a priority for American Jewish voters is frankly troubling.  Thank God for 50 million Evangelical voters, who see things a little more clearly than our own folks.

 “Egypt: Suddenly, after all these years, a huge warming of relations.  Mubarak apparently wants to play a role again in defining the peace.

“He is pressuring the Palestinians to behave, lobbying moderate Arab regimes and suddenly he sent Israeli Druse prisoner Azzam Azzam home to Israel after eight years in a Cairo prison on trumped-up charges.

“Iraq: Saddam’s fall has been followed by a can of worms, which may obscure the benefits in many American eyes, but Israelis enjoy a different perspective: No more Saddam means no more Scuds, no more strategic threat, and with no price paid by IDF engagement or losses, if one is permitted to say the indelicate.

“Whatever ultimately happens there, we have a well-deserved respite, be it short-range or more permanent.

“Syria: Washington’s guardians of shock and awe are keeping a trained eye on Syria, and that is a very good thing.  Damascus knows that ‘regime change’ is not simply a hollow threat under a Bush White House.

“Syria has made cooing noises these 60 days about rekindling bilateral peace negotiations with Israel.  Serious or not, they are on the ropes and under scrutiny.  The U.S. and France have even joined to press the regime to withdraw from Lebanon.  The increasing isolation of Damascus can’t be bad for us.

“Libya: Our old nemesis Muammar Gaddafi’s transmogrification into a kinder gentler nutcase dictator began earlier in 2004, but it continues.  He is now reaching out to Libyan Jewish expatriates.  Though Gaddafi is not a serious player, we do sleep just a little more soundly knowing all this ice-breaking is underway.

“Iran: We have one sole implacable existential threat these days, and it’s the prospect of a nuclear Iran.  This issue is by far the most urgent potentially volatile challenge of all those mentioned herein - yet even here, there’s a tad of sunshine at the end of the tunnel.  Serious folks in Washington and Europe claim that the combination of mullahs with nukes is unacceptable.

“Longer range, the people are clearly moving seriously toward throwing the regime out and restoring some kind of democracy, which would automatically ameliorate the problem.  My bet: it may take five years, and it is a race in time, but I believe regime change will happen even in Iran.

“Icing on the cake: What better, more profoundly uplifting way to conclude 2004 than yet another chartered flight of North American newcomers on December 28, courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh, with the Jewish Agency for Israel?

“More Americans and Canadians (about 3,000) came on aliya in 2004 than during any year since 1983!

“Did I promise nine happy headlines?  Almost forgot.  It’s raining…hard…outside my window at this very minute.

“The Water level in the Kinneret, the country’s main reservoir, is looking just fine, and its still 2004!”

(Charley I. Levine, a Jerusalem-based public affairs consultant, The Jerusalem Post, January 7, 2005)

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WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES CALLS FOR “BOYCOTT” OF ISRAEL

“PARIS - The world Council of Churches, the main body uniting non-Catholic Christians, encouraged members on February 22nd to sell off investments in companies profiting from Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  The Council’s Central Committee, meeting in Geneva, praised the United States Presbyterian Church for examining the possibility of divestment in Israel similar to the financial boycott it used against the apartheid regime in South Africa two decades ago.

“The Presbyterian threat, which echoes divestment debates at some U.S. universities, has set off a wave of dissent in the church and angered American Jewish leaders.

“But the Central Committee, in a document approved at a weeklong meeting at WCC headquarters that ended on February 22nd, highlighted the divestment push and encouraged other member churches to consider doing the same.

“It was not clear how many of the WCCs 342 Protestant and Orthodox member churches would heed the call.  ‘Multinational corporations have been involved in the demolition of Palestinian homes,’ the WCC statement said.  Human rights groups have urged Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest maker of construction machinery, to stop selling bulldozers to the Israel Defense Forces, saying they are used to wreck innocent Palestinians’ homes in Gaza and the West Bank.

“Jewish groups are clearly upset.  ‘Instead of talking about peace, we’re talking about Presbyterians,’ David Elcott, director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said this month.  ‘They have deflected conversation in a very negative way.’”

(By Haaretz and Rueters Services, February 22, 2005, reported by Bridges For Peace)

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ACRE CRUSADER CITY UNCOVERED

“In a major historical find, sections of an 800-year old Crusader city have been uncovered beneath the Old City of Acre.  They will be opened to the public in June.  The 12th-13th century quarter, which housed the compound of the Knights of St. John, was discovered virtually intact underneath the Ottoman citadel, which was later used by the British as a prison.

“The areas includes a large chapel, streets and shops from the Crusader period, and further on, a dining hall and an immense courtyard, which had been previously uncovered.  Some of the original plaster on the wall in the quarter still has the engravings that the Crusaders made when they came to the Holy Land, including drawings of the boats they sailed on from Europe.

“Only 5% of the total Crusader city has been uncovered so far, with excavations still ongoing.  Tens of thousands of people lived in the Crusader city for nearly 200 years before it was conquered by the Mamelukes in 1291, who left it forlorn for a couple of centuries.

“A total of NIS 40 million [U.S. 9.2 million] has been invested in the four-year excavation and renewal project.”

(By Etgar Leikovits, Jerusalem Post, February 25, 2005)

BACKING THE BIBLE

“Just published evidence from a U.S.-directed archeological dig in Jordan further authenticates the Bible’s descriptions of the existence of the ancient nation of Edom during the eras of King David and his son, King Solomon.

“The full results of the 2002 excavation by a team of international scholars at the site of Khirbet en-Nahas (‘ruins of copper’ in Arabic), are reported in the current issue of the British journal, Antiquity, published last week.

“The new study, headed by the archeology Prof. Thomas Levy of University of California, San Diego, contradicts much contemporary scholarship claiming - on the basis of no physical evidence - that no Edomite state existed before the eighth century BCE.  Until the new discovery, many scholars said the Bible’s numerous references to ancient Israel’s interactions with Edom could not be valid.

“While previous investigations in Edom had been carried out in the Jordanian highland zone and put the rise of the Edomite kingdom during the eighth to sixth centuries BCE, the new archeological data from modern-day Jordan presents strong evidence for the involvement of Edom with neighboring ancient Israel as described in the Bible and indicates the existence of the biblical nation of Edom at least as early as the 10th century BCE when David and Solomon lived.

“The Edomite lowlands, home to a large copper ore zone, had been ignored by archeologist because of the logistical difficulties of working in the extremely dry and hot region.  But with an anthropological perspective and using high precision and radio carbon dating, the team showed evidence of two major phases of copper production - during the 12th to 11th centuries BCE and the 10th to ninth centuries BCE.

“The archeologists dug up evidence of construction of massive fortifications and industrial scale metal production activities, as well as more than 100 building complexes, Egyptian scarabs of a ‘walking sphinx’ and a hunting scene provide additional evidence of metal-working activities at the site in the period around 1200 to 900 BCE.  The researchers note in the journal article that these results ‘push back the beginnings of Edom 300 hundred years earlier than the current scholarly consensus and show the presence of complex societies, perhaps a kingdom, much earlier than previously assumed.’

“Excavations at Khirbet en-Nahas were part of the Jabal Hamrat Fidan Project and carried out under the auspices of the UC-San Diego and Jordan’s antiquities department.  Working under Levy, the international team included Russell Adams (of McMaster University of Canada): Mohammed Najjar (of Jordan) and Prof. Andreas Hauptmann (of the German Mining Museum).  The digs were funded by grants from the C. Paul Johnson Family Charitable Foundation and the university.”

(The Jerusalem Post, March 4, 2005)   

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 THAT SERVANT

For Him whom we truly adore

 Upon that lonely bed

A saint hath found his conflicts o’er,

And laid his dying head!

No gloom of fear hath glazed his eye,

For though loud noises roll

The Aurora of Eternity

Was rising on his soul.

And who so humbly walked as he,

A conqueror in the field,

Wreathing the rose of victory

Around his radiant shield?

Champion of Jesus! on that breast

From whence thy fervor flowed,

Thou hast obtained eternal rest -

The bosom of thy God!

NO. 574 ZIONISM - PART TWO

In our previous paper on this subject we stated that the Bible Students (meaning especially Pastor Russell) were actively interested in the Zionism question.  It is probable that that interest reached its pinnacle in the New York Hippodrome meeting on October 9, 1910; and we quote the following from Reprints 4700-4701 of the October 15, 1910 Watch Tower:

“Pastor Russell, of the Brooklyn Tabernacle… is considered one of the most eloquent Protestant preachers, and has gained a wide audience among the Hebrews by his sympathetic treatment of Jewish questions.  His sermon will be on ‘Zionism in Prophecy.’  His appearance before a representative mass meeting of Jews will be the first time that a well-known Protestant minister has been asked to deliver an address to such an assembly.

“Prominent Jewish citizens are arranging to make the meeting one of the largest gatherings ever held in this city.  The Yiddish newspapers and Jewish societies are represented on the committees in charge of arrangements.  Counselor Leo Wolfson, president of the Federated Roumanian Jews of America and Vice Grand Master of the I.W.S.O., when seen at his office, said:  ‘As one who is interested in the Jewish question and an old worker for the Zionistic movement, my attention was called to Pastor Russell’s interest in the Jews.

“‘I feel that an address by him on Zionism and Jewish prophets will present the question from a new point of view, and a point of view that I will be very willing to learn.  I am sure that Pastor Russell’s treatment of the question will be sympathetic, and will doubtless create wide-spread discussion of Zionism, its aims and ideals.’

“The committee in charge of the next Sunday’s meeting in the Hippodrome includes:  A. B. Landau, editor of The Warheit; Louis Lipsky, editor of the Maccabean; J. Pfeffer, editor of the Jewish Weekly; Abraham Goldberg, editor of the Yiddish Volk, and Leo Wolkson, editor of the Yiddish Spirit.

“A more interesting audience the Hippodrome never held, perhaps.  From all parts of the city came serious-minded Hebrews to hear what it was an alien, a Gentile, might have to say to them at a service, held during their week of feasting, Rosh Hoshana.  They were quiet, well-dressed, thinking men and women.

“Among them were many prominent figures of the Hebrew literary world.  Some of these escorted Pastor Russell to the Hippodrome in a motor car and then took places in the auditorium.  The literary men recognized the pastor as a writer and investigator of international fame on the subject of Judaism and Zionism.  Some of those present were Dr. Jacobs, editor of the American Hebrew; W. J. Solomon, of the Hebrew Standard; J. Brosky, associate editor of the same; Louis Lipsky, editor of the Maccabean; A. B. Landau, editor of the Warheit; Leo Wolfson, president of the Federation of Roumanian Societies; J. Pfeffer, of the Jewish Weekly; S. Daimont, editor of the Jewish Spirit; S. Goldberg, editor of the American Hebrew: J. Barrondess, of the Jewish Big Stick, and Goldman, editor of H’Yom, the only Jewish Daily.”

NO RELIGIOUS SYMOBLS THERE

  “No Symbol of any religion at all greeted them when they gazed at the Hippodrome stage.  It was entirely empty save for a small lectern and three peace flags hanging from silken cords above.  One was the familiar white silk banner with the Stars and Stripes in its center, together with the words ‘Peace Among Nations’ in letters of gold.  Another bore a rainbow and the word ‘Pax.’  The third was a silken strip bearing miniature representations of all the nations’ flags.

“There were no preliminaries.  Pastor Russell, tall, erect and white-bearded, walked across the stage without introduction, raised his hand, and his double quartet from the Brooklyn Tabernacle sang the hymn, ‘Zion’s Glad Day.’  The members of this organization are Mrs. E. W. Brenneisen, Mrs. E. N. Detweiler, Miss Blance Raymond and Mrs. Raymond, Emil Hirscher, C. Myers, J. P. McPherson and W. J. Mockridge.  Their voices blended perfectly, and the hymn, without any instrumental accompaniment, was impressive.

“But still there seemed an air of aloofness about the audience.  They did not applaud, but sat silently watching the stalwart figure of the pastor.  When he began to talk, however, they gave him respectful attention.

“With a powerful, yet charming voice, that filled the great playhouse, the unconventional clergyman made his every word audible to the hearer.  His tone pleased their ears, his graceful gestures soon captivated their eyes, and in a few moments his apparently thorough knowledge of his subject appealed to their minds.  Though still silent, the 4,000 were ‘warming up’ to him.”

RESERVE AND DOUBT VANISH

“It was not long before all reserve, and all possible doubt of Pastor Russell’s entire sincerity and friendliness were worn away.  Then the mention of the name of a great Jew leader – who, the speaker declared, had been raised by God for the cause – brought a burst of applause.

“From that moment on the audience was his.  The Jews became as enthusiastic over him as though he had been a great rabbi or famous orator of their own religion.  He hailed them as one of the bravest races of the earth – having kept their faith through the persecutions and cruelties of all other people for thousands of years.  And he predicted that before very long they would be the greatest on earth – not merely a people, any longer, but a nation.  By a system of deductions based upon the prophecies of old, the pastor declared that the return of the kingdom of the Jews might occur at so near a period as the year 1914.  Persecutions would be over and peace and universal happiness would triumph. [After the Old Order has passed away.]

“As he brought his address to a conclusion the pastor raised his hand again to his choir.  This time they raised the quaint, foreign sounding strains of the Zion hymn, ‘Our Hope,’ one of the masterpieces of the eccentric East Side poet, Imber.

“The unprecedented incident of Christian voices singing the Jewish anthem came as a tremendous surprise.  For a moment the Hebrew auditors could scarcely believe their ears.  Then, making sure it was their own hymn, they first cheered and clapped with such ardor that the music was drowned out, and then, with the second verse, joined in by hundreds.  The discourse has already been reported in the newspapers which publish the sermons weekly.”

The foregoing is from That Servant’s pen published in the October 15, 1910, Watch Tower, and is not only for the benefit of those who are not familiar with these details, but also for those who are, just as we do with many doctrines; We quote from the two Messengers to “stir up your pure minds.”  (2 Peter 3:1)  “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth.” (2 Peter 1:12)

It should be apparent, however, that our Pastor had a high regard for Zionism; and what he read about it in the prophecies has already seen much fulfillment, and will yet see more.  To quote the texts of Scripture bearing on the different phases of the subject would require much space; but whoever will take a copy of Strong’s Concordance, turn to page 528, noting the various cases in which the word Israel is used in the New Testament, will have what seems to be overwhelming evidence that the house of Israel was no longer regarded by Jesus and the Apostles as the ‘ten tribes’ merely, but, as it is expressed, ‘all Israel.’  Note especially the following texts:  Matt. 8:10; 10:6; 15:24,31; 27:9,42; Mark 12:29; 15:32; Luke 1:54,68; and especially v. 80; also 2:25,32,34; 24:21; also note carefully John 1:31,49; 3:10; 12:13; also Acts 2:22,36; 3:12; 4:10,27; 5:21,31,35; 13:16,24; 21:28; Rom. 9:6,31; 10:19; 11:25,26; 1 Cor. 10:18; Gal. 6:16; Eph. 2:12; Phil. 3:5; Heb. 8:8.

ZIONISM IN PROPHECY

“Many of our readers are aware that on the Editor’s return from Palestine last June he delivered a discourse entitled ‘Jerusalem.’  Many Jews were attracted by the theme and considerable interest amongst them was aroused.  That sermon and several others were published in Jewish papers.  Then came interviews with editors, etc., and, finally, an invitation to address a Jewish mass meeting at the New York Hippodrome, with signatures on three sheets of paper.

“Accordingly on Sunday, October 9, the Editor was met by a committee of five prominent Hebrews; Brother Rutherford also accompanied us.  The party went in automobiles.  The meeting was an enthusiastic one.  The number present was estimated at four thousand, and we were told that no finer representative class of Hebrews had ever before come together in one assemblage in New York.

“The address was well received, but apparently it was unfortunate that some of the pamphlets, entitled ‘Jewish Hopes and Prospects,’ were given away at the conclusion of the meeting.  Some of the Jews, without recognizing that the pamphlet was gotten out for our Christian readers, considered that by it we were endeavoring to entrap the Jews into Christianity.  And Christianity to the Jews, especially Catholicism, means many persecutions which have come against their people for many centuries.  Some understood the matter aright.  Others felt offended, and during the Editor’s absence in Europe last Fall he was attacked as a ‘missionary’ – which, in the Jewish mind, means everything mean, underhanded.

“On our return from Europe in November we corrected the misunderstanding, so far as possible, through the Jewish newspapers.  We informed them that we were not trying to ‘mission’ the Jews, nor make them members of either Catholic or Protestant Christian bodies.  We were not even preaching Jesus to them.  Our message was to the Jews as Jews, from Isa. 40:1,2: ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem; cry unto her that her appointed time is accomplished; that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double.’  We declared that it was not our expectation that the Jews would return to Palestine as Christians.  On the contrary, God’s call and promises as respects Jerusalem are earthly promises to natural Israel.

“To a few who asked quite deeply we explained that our understanding is that the Messiah of prophecy is a great spirit company composed of many members, including English, French, German, Jews, etc.; that God is gathering this Messianic company to heavenly glory from every nation, people, kindred and tongue, and that only the saintly will be in and of it.  We explained:  We do not understand that Christians in general, any more than Jews in general, will have part in the Messianic body and that it would be the furthest from our thought to have the Jews get as mixed up on different matters as are the majority of Christian people.

“Since then several Jewish papers continue to publish our writings and we have had two more Jewish mass meetings.  One of these was in Chicago.  It was somewhat of a disappointment as to numbers, until we noticed that the Saturday on which it was held was a particularly unfavorable time.  Many Jews expressed their disappointment in not being able to attend, because it would deprive them of their principal business day.  Nevertheless the audience was estimated at fifteen hundred and we had excellent attention.

“Our last meeting with the Jews was held in Philadelphia.  It was not at all advertised in the secular press.  In other words, it was a Jewish meeting.  Garrick Theater was full to the limit, with about three hundred standing, when the police, following the fire ordinance, forbade others to enter, and several hundred were turned away disappointed.  That meeting was the most enthusiastic held thus far with the Jewish people.  Their confidence in the Editor seems to be growing.  Zionism from a prophetic standpoint seems to stir the Jewish heart as the subject never did politically.” (Reprint 4764, February 15, 1911)

It should now be clear enough to our readers that Brother Russell spent much time in research of the Jewish question – past and future – because the time had come for this work; and we adopt much the same attitude, although we do not attempt to classify ourselves with him in our writings on the matter.  But we would emphasize here that those who attempt to make a distinction between the prophecies concerning the ten tribes and the two tribes make a mistake when they do this.  Jer. 31:31 stresses “both the houses of Israel,” meaning the ten tribes and the two tribes, who had become separated from each other in the revolt after the death of Solomon.  Time itself had made quite ludicrous the claims of the Anglo-Israel organization that claimed the English people are the ten “lost” tribes.

There is just no foundation in fact or Scripture for such a conclusion.  Julius Caesar discovered – or invaded – England in 55 B.C., but there is no evidence at all that any of the twelve Apostles ever went there; and, since 1914, before which the British were the money lords of the world, the British money has been taking quite a beating.  This would have been much more pronounced had not the United States been so generous in helping them.  This has probably been a compensation from the Lord for the help they have given Zionism and the Jews in their present occupation of Palestine. And it should be apparent that we do not wish to create any quarrel when we say what we have said herein.

Some years back we attended an International Monetary Seminar in New York for three days, at which the speakers were prominent bankers, financial men and economists from England, France, Switzerland, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, etc.; and one of the economists ventured the statement that the United States is now in the same relative position as was England in 1914 – that we should now become the financial center of the globe.  So we presented the question to him: Today a steel worker in the United States earns as much money in one day as does the steel worker in Germany in one week for the same work.  That condition did not prevail in 1914.  How do you reconcile the two conditions?  He said he had not thought of that.

While some of the statements herein are our own, much of it is from the Watch Tower, and this will be our position in the remainder of this article.  Thus, we now go back to the Feb. 1, 1898, Reprint 2256:  “Some years ago, being curious to know how learned Hebrews view the Old Testament reference to Christ – as ‘a lamb for the slaughter,’ etc., we visited a friendly rabbi, and asked him the question.  He replied that Hebrews apply these prophecies to the Hebrew people and their centuries of bitter experiences under more or less persecution.  We are forcibly reminded of this false method of interpretation by the statement of Dr. Herzl at the Basel Congress, held August 29, last – to the effect that that Congress was the ‘birth’ of their Messiah – that the Messiah class which they hope will fulfill all the good promises of Scripture concerning Abraham’s seed was there organized.  It appears, too, that the date (Aug. 29) was selected in harmony with a tradition prevalent among the Bulgarian Jews to the effect that Messiah would be born on that date.

“This is quoted with some assurance of endorsement by Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf in a recent discourse from which we quote the following comment on the Zionist movement and congress.  He said:  ‘The boldness of that dream startled the world.  As for me, when the full report reached me and I read the fearful story of the Judennoth, that was submitted to the congress, I could not wonder at the statement made by Dr. Herzl, the president of the congress, during the first day’s session:  The Bulgarian Jews have long believed that the messiah should be born on a 29th of August.  They were right, THE MESSIAH HAS BEEN BORN TODAY IN THE ZIONIST CONGRESS.’

“It was a magnificent assemblage of Israelites that had gathered there in congress.  Two hundred delegates, representing many hundreds of thousands of people had come with a most sacred purpose, that of putting an end to the persecutions and miseries of millions of Jews by re-acquiring for them of their own native Palestine and reestablishing them there in peaceful and honorable industries.

“It was beyond doubt the most remarkable gathering in the whole history of Israel.  The venerable Dr. Lippe opened the congress and Dr. Herzl gave the keynote of the movement, comparing the inflictions of the modern anti-Semite with the Jew baiter of former centuries.  A similar tale of woe was told by Max Nordau.  It was the same refrain by all, and the congress concluded that the settlement of Palestine was the only solution of the Jewish question.

“Upon research, I found that Palestine, with the adjacent countries stretching between the Euphrates and the Tigris, that are now almost deserted, could amply support millions of agriculturists.  The soil is luxuriantly fertile, the climate salubrious, the water pure and abundant, the irrigation canals of the ancients still available. The winters are short and mild, the summers long enough to ripen two harvests.  The products of all the land can be laid down in the capitals of Europe within five days after their shipment and in price and excellence they can drive from the market those of other competing countries.  Because of these conclusions I have been proclaimed a Zionist and have been asked to attend the second congress at Jerusalem next summer.”

Some of our readers probably know that for many years some of the Jews, some of them leaders, have contended that the United States is the promised land.  Here they can own real estate, engage in lawful business.  Many of them have become prominent doctors and lawyers; many have become prosperous businessmen, and have amassed great fortunes.  Some forty years ago we often went to New York; and we were told at that time that Kuhn, Loeb & Co., Wall Street members, had an estimated wealth of fifteen billion dollars.  We visited their offices a few times, and have no reason to doubt what we were told.

This same outfit, with some others, had at that time formed a charitable organization to establish incoming Jews in business by lending them the necessary funds.  If they failed, the same thing was repeated.  However, if they failed two times in a row, no more help was given them; they would then be on their own – although it seems this seldom happened.  We knew a Gentile lady who worked in that office; and she said she was very happy in her job, that those Jews never discharged any one except for disloyalty.

THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

Chapter VIII of Parousia Vol. 3, pages 243-300, treat of this subject in some detail; and we now present some excerpts from those pages, having in mind that this is quite familiar to some of our readers, but not nearly to all of them.  This offers Scriptural proof of their phenomenal rise under the reign of David and Solomon; their fall under Zedekiah in the Fall of 607 B.C.; their dispersion in A.D. 70; and predictions of their rise again.  As we read, let us keep in mind that this book was begun in 1889 and put on the press in 1891 – a few years before the first Zionist congress was held in Basel.  And when we consider the progress the Jews have made since that time, we can but offer grateful respect to the writer of Volume III.

“Among the relics of antiquity that have come down to our day, there is no other object of so great interest as the Jewish people.  The searchers after ancient lore have untiringly questioned every inanimate object that could give a mite of historic or scientific information.   Monuments, altars, tombs, relics of public and private edifices, paintings, sculptures, hieroglyphics and dead languages have all been appealed to; and some have even tried patiently to discover the line of actual truth that probably inspired the many fanciful traditions, legends, songs, etc., that have come floating down the centuries, in order to learn all that is possible to know of human origin, history and destiny.  But a most interesting relic, and the one whose history can be most easily deciphered and understood, is the Jewish people. In them we have a monument of antiquity of inestimable value, upon which are recorded, in clearly legible characters, the origin, progress and final destiny of the whole human race – a living and intelligent witness of the gradual outworking of a wonderful purpose in human affairs, in exact conformity with the predictions of their Divinely inspired prophets and seers. (pp. 243-244)

“As a people they still have faith in God, though in their blindness and pride of heart they have stumbled over the humility of God’s appointed messenger for the world’s salvation; so that, instead of receiving Him, they crucified the Savior, the Lord of glory.  And yet the Apostles and prophets show us that even this flagrant crime, to which their pride and self-will drove them, was not one which could never be forgiven them.  Because of it, they have been punished, and that severely.  When they condemned the just One and said, “His blood be upon us and upon our children,’ they little expected the fearful recompense which followed.

“Since then Israel has been a nation scattered and peeled.  Driven as exiles from country to country, and from province to province, they have been deprived of almost every right and privilege which other men enjoyed.  Rejecting Christianity, as well in its corrupted as in its pure form, they became the objects of the contempt and relentless persecution of the Church of Rome. (p. 246)

“Since the destruction of their temple and their dispersion, the sacrifices have been discontinued; but in most other respects the Mosaic requirements are yet observed among the Orthodox Jews.  Their worship, as of old, consists in the reading of Scripture, prayer and praise.  The second day of their feast of trumpets they read the account of Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac and God’s blessing to him and his seed.  Then they blow the trumpet and pray that God would bring them to Jerusalem. (p. 249)

“Nor will the coming favor to Israel be exclusive.  All believers in the covenant promises may share those returning favors with the natural seed, as during this Age any Jew who accepted Christ was eligible to the spiritual blessings and advantages offered during the Age.  As only a small remnant believed in and accepted the gospel favors at the beginning, so, aside from the Jews, only a small number of mankind will be ready for the new laws and conditions of the Millennial Age, under the just administration of the glorified Lord and His glorified Church; hence, at first, few but Jews will be blessed under it.

“The Jew, long used to striving to do, and of trusting to works of obedience to the Law to secure for him God’s blessing, stumbled over the first feature of the Gospel Age, the remission of sins, without works, to every one that believeth in Jesus’ perfect work and all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.  But the Jew’s respect for the Law will turn to his advantage in the dawn of the Millennial Age, and none will be more ready for the strict requirements and laws of that Age then he, after his blindness as to Christ and the value of His sacrifice for sins shall have passed away; for works are required after faith in Christ, though not accepted before.  And the Jew, in accepting the love and favor of God and Christ, will not be so inclined to lose sight of God’s justice as many others of today.  Others, on the contrary, will be blinded for a time and unready to recognize the rules of the Kingdom, in which justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet.  (pp. 253-254)

TO THE JEW FIRST

“We see, then, that God’s prediction, that Israel (except the faithful few) would be blinded by their Law (Rom. 11:9), was fulfilled in a natural way; and also that His further prediction, that the favors and conditions of the Millennial Age will bless many of them more quickly than others, is also to come about in a perfectly natural way and to result from reasonable causes.

“So the Millennial favors will be to the Jew first, even as by reason of the covenants, etc., the Gospel favors were offered to them first.  And so it shall be finally as Simeon prophesied: ‘This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel.’ (Luke 2:34)  And the time for raising up that nation, so long fallen from favor, is at hand. (p. 256)

“But let us guard against a too common mistake, made by many who see something of these promises, of supposing that the statements should be taken literally, which say: ‘After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle [house] of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.’  ‘And the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David.’  ‘And David, my servant, shall be king over them.’ (Acts 15:16; Luke 1:32; Ezek. 37:24)  While the literalness of the promised return of Israel to their own land, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem upon her own heaps, cannot be questioned, we may be equally confident that by the house and throne of David, not the literal stones, timbers, etc., are meant.  The reestablishment of the house of David refers to the reestablishment of royalty and dominion in the hand of David’s posterity.  Christ Jesus is the promised scion of David’s house, the heir of his throne; and when His authority begins to be established, that will be the beginning of raising up (permanent establishment) of the formerly temporary house or tabernacle of David, that was overthrown, and that for many centuries has lain in the dust.  So, likewise, the ‘throne of David,’ upon which Messiah will sit, refers not to the wood, gold and ivory bench upon which David sat, but to the dignity, power and authority of office which he exercised.  That authority, office or throne, which David occupied for some years, is to be filled on a much grander scale by Jehovah’s Anointed, our Lord Jesus.” (pp. 256-257)

SOME EVIL REVOLUTIONISMS

From the above quotations, it should be clear to any child that our beloved Pastor thoroughly believed and was in full accord with the teaching of St. Paul in Rom. 1:16 – “salvation is to the Jew first” – not only in the Great Salvation but also in the Common Salvation (Heb. 2:3 and Jude 3); and also with the Apostle John in John 4:22:  “Salvation is of the Jews.”  Thus, it becomes doubly noxious and pernicious to note that two organizations that were taught of him, and at one time believed what he taught, should now be substituting their own concocted errors for the Truth they learned of him.

In Isa. 2:3 we are told that “Out of Zion [the Christ Company in heaven – “Do ye know not the saints shall judge the world.” – 1 Cor. 6:2] shall go forth the law; and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the resurrected Worthies who will be the visible government here on earth – “princes in all the earth” – Psa. 45:16]” – who will be assisted by the faithful Orthodox Jews as missionaries, the “first” to receive the blessings of the New Covenant. (Jer. 31:31)

The two organizations mentioned above are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement.  The Witnesses now teach that the “great multitude” of Rev. 7:9 refers to their large crowd that is now working for them; that the Jews who do not accept them now will be destroyed forever in the approaching Armageddon.  The context of Rev. 7 clearly shows that the great multitude will be a spiritual class – as Pastor Russell taught it.  At one time the Witnesses believed this, too, so they are now revolutionizing against a truth they once taught.  They now teach that their present devotees will not only be the earthly rulers, but will also be used to generate a new earthly population free from sin.

The LHMM does not go to the extreme of the Witnesses.  They merely contend that their new converts will supersede the Jews; that instead of being “to the Jew first” it will be to their “Consecrated Epiphany Campers first,” which are now being added to their following.  This is also in direct contradiction to the teaching of our Pastor, as well as to the teachings of Brother Paul S. L. Johnson, who was the founder and head of the LHMM.  The LHMM, as well as the Witnesses, can find Scripture to “prove” their errors; but all teachers of error, past and present, have been able to pervert Scriptures to “prove” their false teachings.

Much more could be written on this subject, but we hope we have given sufficient to convince our readers of the truth on the matter.  Thus we close with Amos 9:11,14,15:

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.  And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.  And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” (Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint 424, August 1991)

NO. 573 ZIONISM - PART ONE

Zionism as an active organized movement has been in existence only about a hundred years, although, since the dispersion in the year A.D. 70 the Jews made many efforts to regain their homeland.  Although it is now an accomplished fact, their position there is very volatile.  Without the favor of the United States it is very doubtful that they could remain.  However, the promise of God is sure that they will never be removed again.  Here is a statement in Genesis 48:4: “I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.”  Also, Jeremiah 24:6,7: “I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.  And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.”

A HISTORICAL RECORD

The following is quoted from one commentator on this subject: “ZIONISM, a Jewish nationalist movement that has had as its goal the creation and support of a Jewish national state in Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jews (Hebrew Eretz Yisra’el).  Though Zionism originated in Eastern and Central Europe in the latter part of the 19th century, it is in many ways a continuation of the ancient and deep-felt nationalist attachment to the Jews and of the Jewish religion to Palestine, the promised land where one of the hills of ancient Jerusalem was called Zion.

“In the 16th and 17th centuries a number of ‘messiahs’ came forward to lead the Jews back to Palestine.  The Haskala (‘Enlightenment’) movement of the late 18th century, however, urged Jews to assimilate into Western secular culture.  In the early 19th century interest in a return of the Jews to Palestine was kept alive mostly by Christian millennarians.  [We know the Bible Students under Pastor Russell were quite active in this respect.]  Despite the Haskala Eastern European Jews did not assimilate and in reaction tsarist pogroms formed the Hoveve Zion (‘Lovers of Zion’) to promote the settlement of Jewish farmers and artisans in Palestine.

“A political turn was given to Zionism by Theodore Herzl, an Austrian journalist who regarded assimilation as most desirable, but in view of anti-Semitism, impossible to realize.  Thus, he argued, if Jews were forced by external pressure to form a nation, they could lead a normal existence only through concentration in one territory.  In 1897 Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland, which drew up the Basel program of the movement, stating that ‘Zionism strives to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law.’  The center of the movement was established in Vienna, where Herzl published the official weekly Die Velt (‘The World’).  Zionist congresses met yearly until 1901 and then every two years.  When the Ottoman government refused Herzl’s request for Palestine autonomy, he found support in Great Britain.  In 1903 the British Government offered 6,000 square miles of uninhabited Uganda for settlement, but the Zionists held out for Palestine.

“With the death of Herzl in 1904, the leadership moved from Vienna to Cologne, then to Berlin.  Prior to World War One Zionism represented only a minority of Jews, mostly from Russia, but led by Austrian and German Jews.  It was, however, the only world-wide democratically organized part of Jewry; it developed an active propaganda through orators and pamphlets, created its own newspapers in many languages, and gave an impetus to what was called a ‘Jewish renaissance’ in letters and arts.  The development of the Modern Hebrew language largely took place during this period.

“The failure of the Russian revolution of 1905 and the wave of pogroms and repressions that followed caused growing numbers of Russian Jewish youth to emigrate to Palestine as pioneer settlers.  By 1914 there were about 90,000 Jews in Palestine; 13,000 settlers lived in 43 Jewish agricultural settlements, many of them supported by the French Jewish philanthropist Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

“With the outbreak of World War One political Zionism reasserted itself, with its leadership passing to Russian Jews living in England.  Two such Zionists, Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow, were instrumental in obtaining the Balfour Declaration from Great Britain (November 2, 1917), which promised British support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine.  When the declaration was included in Britain’s League of Nations mandate over Palestine (1911), Zionist hopes soared.

“In the following years the Zionists built up the Jewish urban and rural settlements in Palestine, perfecting autonomous organizations and solidifying Jewish cultural life and Hebrew education.  In March 1915 the Jewish population in Palestine was officially estimated at 108,000 and had risen to about 238,000 (20 percent of the population) in 1933.  Jewish immigration remained relatively small, however, until the rise of Hitlerism in Europe.  [“I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them.” - Jer. 16:16] Nevertheless, the Arab population feared Palestine would eventually become a Jewish state and bitterly resisted Zionism and the British policy supporting it.  Several Arab revolts, especially in 1929 and 1936-39, caused the British to devise schemes to reconcile the Arab and Zionists demands.

“Hitlerism and the large-scale extermination of European Jews caused them to seek refuge in Palestine and many others, especially in the United States, to embrace Zionism.  As Arab-Zionist tensions grew, Britain submitted the Palestine problem first to Anglo-U.S. discussion for solution and later to the United Nations, which proposed on November 29, 1947, partition of the country into separate Arab and Jewish states and the internationalization of Jerusalem.  The creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, brought about the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-49, with the result that Israel obtained more land than had been provided by the UN resolution.  Thus 50 years after the first Zionist congress and 30 years after the Balfour Declaration, Zionism achieved its aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine.

“During the next two decades Zionist organizations in many countries continued to raise financial support for Israel and to encourage Jews to immigrate there.”

It is quite a coincidence that just fifty years after the first Zionist Congress the Jewish State was established.  Our readers will recall the Jubilee cycle of the Law, which came every fifty years.  That Jubilee proclaimed freedom for all slaves who wished to be free; and the establishment of a Jewish State did much the same for persecuted Jews in all parts of the world.

MOUNT ZION

The same publication makes this comment about Mount Zion: “Zion, in the Old Testament, is the easternmost of the two hills of ancient Jerusalem, the site of the Jebusite city captured by David, King of Israel and Judah, in the 10th century B.C. (2 Samuel 5:6-9) and established as his royal capital.  Some scholars believe that the name also belonged to the ‘stronghold of Zion’ taken by David (2 Samuel 5:7), which may have been the fortress of the city.  The Jewish historian Josephus, in the first century A.D., identified Zion with the western hill of Jerusalem, where most of the city lay in his day.  This incorrect identification of the site was retained until the late 19th or early 20th century when the site of Zion was identified as the eastern hill (modern Ophel).  It was not included in the walls of the 16th-century fortifications and is still covered with fields and vineyards.”

Here we insert a few thoughts from 2 Samuel 5:6-9: At that time there was no heavy military artillery in Israel, which deceived the Jebusites into believing that their fortress was impregnable: they sneered at David, much the same as the moguls of Christendom attempted to belittle “that haberdasher.”  But David and his men took the citadel, from which time Jerusalem was known as “The City of David.”  The Jebusites in that picture were a type of the errorists here in the end of the Age, and David typed Pastor Russell.  When he arrived on the scene shortly after 1870, the errorists were so firmly entrenched that their position seemed impregnable -eternal torment, the immortality of the soul, no opportunity for salvation after this life, evolution, etc. - all these, and many others, presented a most disheartening front to antitypical David.  But he entered the fray in the strength of the Lord, as David had done; and he administered crushing defeats to the errorists, as David had done with Goliath, the Jebusites, et al.

  As we contemplate these typical details, it is little wonder that the Jews have such a pronounced affinity to Mount Sinai, etc., because it was there that they received the foundation for their religion from God through Moses - the Law, the Tabernacle services, etc.  When we contemplate all this, we can then appreciate the sentimental value of the entire Palestinian domain.

Continuing now with the quotation: “Zion appears in the Old Testament 152 times as a title of Jerusalem; over half of these occurrences appear in two books, the Book of Isaiah (46 times) and that of Psalms (38 times).  It appears seven times in the New Testament, five times in quotations from the Old Testament.  The name is overwhelmingly a poetic and prophetic designation and is infrequently used in ordinary prose.  It usually has emotional and religious overtones, but it is not clear why the name Zion rather than the name Jerusalem should carry these overtones.  [It is our understanding that the reason the Bible stresses Zion is because Zion is a type of the Glorified Christ that will “bless all the families of the earth” during the Kingdom reign - beginning with natural Israel first.]

“The city of Jerusalem is personified as a woman and addressed or spoken of as the ‘daughter of Zion,’ always in a context charged with feeling aroused by either of two ideas that stand in opposition to each other: the destruction of Jerusalem or its deliverance.  After Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in the Fall of 607 B.C., the Israelites could not forget Zion (Psalms 137), and, in the prophecy after the Babylonian Exile of the Jews, Zion is the scene of Yahweh’s messianic salvation.  It is to Zion that exiles will be restored (Jer. 3:14), and there they will find Yahweh (Jer. 29:13).  Bearing all these connotations, Zion came to mean the Jewish homeland, symbolic of Judaism or Jewish national aspirations (whence the name Zionism for the 19th-20th-century movement to establish a Jewish national centre of state in Palestine).

“While the name of Zion is rare in the New Testament, it has been very frequently used in Christian literature and hymns as a designation for the heavenly city or for the earthly city of Christian faith and fraternity.”

THE JERUSALEM TOPOGRAPHY

As we have stated aforegoing, Zion types the Christ Company; and this is corroborated by Psalms 72:3:  “The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.”  We understand the “mountains” in this text to refer to Mount Moriah and Mount Zion; and the “little hills” to be Acra and Bezetha, all of which type the four elect classes, which will eventually “bring peace to the people.”

As stated, it is our understanding that Zion types the Christ Company, Moriah the Ancient Worthies, Acra the Great Company, and Bezetha the Youthful Worthies.  The following is from the Bible Atlas on these four promontories in the City of Jerusalem: “Moriah, on the eastern side of the city, the place once occupied by the temple - 2,432 feet high.”  It was here that Abraham prepared to offer Isaac as a sacrifice at God’s command.  But the angel of the Lord stayed Abraham’s hand; and this is the record of it in Genesis 22:15-17: “The angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven [those of the human race who receive the spirit nature as a reward for their services during this “present evil world”], and as the sand which is upon the sea shore [those who inherit special earthly natures for their service during the reign of evil].”

Here is recorded the oathbound covenant emphasized by Paul in Hebrews 6:13: “When God made Promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.”

“Mount Zion - the largest and highest - lies in the southwestern section.  Its crown is 2,540 feet high.”  It will be noted that Moriah is mentioned first, although it is not so lofty as Zion.  This is in conformity with the type, because the Ancient Worthies - a lower class than the Christ Company - appeared on the scene first.

“Acra - a little northeast of Mount Zion, irregularly-shaped eminence.  Now 2,490 feet high - but anciently higher, as its crest was cut down by the Maccabean princes in order to bring it nearer the level of the Temple Hill.  On this may have stood the castle, or Millo (2 Sam. 5:9).

“Bezetha - a little west of north from Mount Moriah - separated from it by a slight depression.  Only in the later age of New Testament history was it within the walls of the city.  Its height is a little over 2,500 feet.  These four mountains are all that are named as within the ancient walls.”

The above four elevations type the four elect classes that will dominate the Kingdom government and arrangements.

THE DOUBLE

As stated aforegoing, the Jews have been established in Palestine; but that could be accomplished only after Jeremiah 16:18 had been fulfilled: “First I will recompense their iniquity and their sins double.”  The Hebrew word rendered here “double” is mishneh, and signifies a second portion, a repetition.  When we fold a sheet of paper exactly in the middle, then we have created a “mishneh,” the top part being an exact duplicate of the bottom half.  Thus understood, the Prophet’s declaration is, that from the time of their being cast off from all favor until the time of their return to favor would be a repetition, or duplication in time, of their previous history, during which time they had enjoyed Divine favor.

Their favor extended from the death of Jacob in 1812 B.C., when Jacob’s twelve sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.  And this favor extended to the year A.D. 33 - a period of 1845 years.  Five days before His crucifixion Jesus had said to them, “Your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23:38)  Thus, they were destined to have 1845 years of disfavor.  When Masada fell to the Roman army in the year A.D. 73, the Jews were then dispersed among the nations of the Gentiles - persecuted and harassed, driven from city to city, with no home they could call their own.  Thus, whereas they had been an agricultural nation during their time of favor, they were forced to become a company of businessmen.  They could carry their money and valuables with them, which they could not do with land; and it has been a rarity over the years to see a Jewish farmer in the United States.

And, while the Jews could not understand this reversal of affairs, most Gentiles did not understand it either.  The Catholics persecuted them even as much as they did the faithful saints; and even Martin Luther who protested the evils of the Catholic system, brilliant as he was, also held the Jews in contempt when his efforts toward them did not convert them to Christ: he said it was useless to waste more effort on them, since they had shown no change of heart or mind over the 1500 years past.

However, when their “double” was completed in 1878 we find some things that clearly mark return of favor to them.  In that year the Berlin Congress of Nations was presided over by Disraeli - the first Jew ever to be Prime Minister of England; and he secured certain privileges for the Jews in Palestine that they had not enjoyed since they had been scattered among the nations.  The land of Palestine had been dominated by the “terrible Turk”; but at that Congress in 1878 the condition of the Jews was ameliorated and it partially opened the door for others to locate there, with the privilege of holding real estate.  Previously the Jew was just a dog, to be kicked, cuffed and abused by his Muslim ruler, was denied the most ordinary privileges of existence in a land sacred to him with memories of the past, and with promises touching the future.

About the same time the door was reopened to them in Palestine, a fierce persecution arose in Rumania and Galicia, and especially in Russia.  While conditions there have eased somewhat over the years, they still are not a free people in those countries; and large numbers of them have returned to their beloved homeland.  But even this must be regarded a return of favor to them because it is forcing many of them to return to Palestine.  And with customary Jewish ambition, they are developing the country in a very remarkable manner.  The fruits and vegetables they produce are among the finest in the world, and the country is developing a look of prosperity.

The question properly arises, If favor was due to return to them in 1878, why do we not see some evidence of it?  We must bear in mind that there are other Scriptures that must be fulfilled also, one of which is Luke 21:24: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”  The times of the Gentiles did not expire until 1914, at which time their eviction began; but the eviction process is still going on, requiring much more time than had been calculated before 1914 arrived.  And even at that time no Truth person expected the time to be so extended.

   As the Jewish nation passed completely into oblivion in the years A.D. 70-73, and the Gentile nations became more prominent, the situation has been just the reverse since 1914.  Now, the Gentiles are getting into deeper trouble all the time, whereas the Jews have been steadily improving, so that in 1948 they were recognized and accepted as a nation - not by all nations, but by some of the most prominent ones, such as the United States, Great Britain, etc.  It should be recognized that it took 36½ years from A.D. 33 to dislodge them from Jerusalem, and it was exactly 36½ years from 1878 to 1914 when the Gentile eviction began.  It was in the Fall of 1917 that the Turks were dislodged from Jerusalem, and the Jews have been making progress ever since; but we should consider that their present difficulties - whatever they may be – are nothing more than what is common to all nations at this time: although their “double” is finished, they will suffer in the “great tribulation” the same as others.  Isaiah 63:4 describes this situation: “The day of vengeance is in mine heart.”  So the Jews have their individual sins the same as the rest of the nations.  The day of vengeance has not yet accomplished its purpose, nor will it do so for some years yet, but the “sure word of prophecy” is our strong assurance that it will be finished “in due time.”

When Jesus was stating His prophecy concerning these matters, none of the “wicked” understood; even the Apostles, who had been with Jesus, only vaguely understood.  Even after Pentecost, when they were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they did not understand as clearly as we now do.  And our knowledge on this subject will increase as the months pass by.

Here we do well to consider the overall situation: Ishmael was half brother to Isaac, both having Abraham as their father; but Ishmael was fourteen years older than Isaac.  In Genesis 21:9-14 is recorded the strife that arose between Ishmael and Isaac, as a result of which Abraham expelled Ishmael and his mother Hagar from his house.  That was about 4,000 years ago; and there has been intense hatred between the Arabs and the Jews ever since.  Therefore, we need not expect any quick solution to this feud.  It is more likely to increase in the immediate future.  Just recently, in the spring of 1979, eighteen Arab nations have openly and harshly condemned Egypt for attempting reconciliation with Israel; and we may safely assume that this step was taken by Egypt only because of economic necessity.  They will receive about five billion American dollars, which they could not easily refuse.  There is no air conditioning in Egypt; no screens on the windows; and their economy is in wretched condition.  Dire necessity prodded Egypt to enter negotiations with Israel - prompted, of course, by United States money.

THE BARREN FIG TREE

In Mark 11:12-25 is recorded Jesus cursing the barren fig tree; and we accept this as a picture of Israel in its time of favor, then its double of disfavor.  Jesus referred to this matter in Mark 13:28,29: “When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near.”  Thus, when we see the barren fig tree (the Jewish nation) begin to revive, then we may conclude that the promised Kingdom is at our very door.  Certainly, the “barren fig tree” has made considerable progress since 1878; and especially so since 1948.

On the previous day Jesus had said to the Jewish nation, “Ye shall see me no more until that day.”  And thus he spake of the fig tree which should be blighted until the end of the Age; but, when that tree would begin to put forth its leaves, we may know the Kingdom is at the door - a new dispensation is sprouting, indicating life, hope, promise amongst the Jews, as well as among enlightened Christians.

This is emphasized by the progress of Zionism, giving hope and faith to the Jews respecting their beloved homeland and the Divine promises relating thereto.  Note here Isaiah 60:1,2: “Arise and shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee… the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.”  And further, the 40th Chapter of Isaiah points significantly to recent years.  Verse 2 has direct bearing upon our subject: “She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

In the 37th Chapter of Ezekiel is described the “valley of dry bones,” which is a description of Israel during her double of disfavor - just as does the dead fig tree.  “These bones are the whole house of Israel.” (v. 11)  Then verse 21: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen… and will bring them into their own land.”  However, during their double of disfavor the Jews are well represented by Ishmael, who was cast off, during which time the Jewish hopes of God’s favor had almost died; but Zionism has revived the prophetic promises.  The Jews will shortly receive great blessings in their established homeland; and the promise is sure that they will never again be cast out of there - although they are having their present difficulties; and will have yet more, culminating in Jacob’s last Trouble, at the end of which they “will look upon Him whom they pierced, and mourn because of it.” (Zech. 12:10)

AFTER THE DISPERSION

It is probably impossible for us to fully evaluate the terrible distress of the Jews after they were evicted from Jerusalem.  The worst of agonies seized them; and being the type of people that they were, they would not accept their situation in a calm manner.  Thus, they tried every trick in the book to regain Palestine.  They tried to buy it - after their fortunes began to rise; but first of all they tried to retake it by force.  But before any of that they resorted to rebellion again.  Of course, the Romans were strong enough to handle that; and to be sure it would not happen again, they scattered the Jews throughout the empire.  The name Judea was eliminated from all maps - after which the land was known as Syria Palestina, so selected because the Philistines were the most detested enemies of the Jews at the time they came into Palestine from Egypt.  And Palestine became more and more a dead and barren wilderness.

It was invaded in A.D. 636 by the Arabs; by the crusaders in 1099; by the Tartars in 1244; and by the Turks in 1517.  But it still remained with them a homeland tied to prophecy, vision and hope.  It remained so for the homeless Jews.  Three times a day in the many countries of their exile they prayed, “Sound the great horn for our freedom; lift up the banner, to gather our exiles from the four corners of the earth to our homeland.”  But it was to be a long wait - almost 2,000 years - before the ancient dream would become reality.

SHIMON BAR KOKBA

With such intense avidity for the beloved homeland, they would become an easy prey for swindlers, and for some leaders as aroused as they were.  Perhaps the outstanding leader of this latter class was Bar Kokba.  The Talmud represents him as a man of great strength, autocratic and irascible; and this seems to be borne out by some of his own letters that were found at Wadi Murabast in 1952, and in the Bar Kokba Cave near the Dead Sea in 1960-61, which confirm this description of their harsh tones.

In A.D. 132 he organized a half million Jews in his attempt to regain Palestine from the Romans.  But the Romans were not easily intimidated in those days.  They came with a superior force in numbers and military skill; and many Jewish soldiers and civilians were killed; and the Jews were finally defeated in a last stand at Betar, a fortified hill not far from Jerusalem.  This time the Romans made sure that rebellion would not break out again.  Almost all surviving Jews were scattered throughout the empire.

Bar Kokba’s birth name was Simeon Bar Kosibe; then dubbed Bar Kokba, i.e., “the sun of a Star.”  He was then proclaimed Messiah by the leading Pharisee of the period Rabbi Akiva.  Most of the people in Judea (though not in Galilee) followed Bar Kokba.  The war lasted about four years (A.D. 132-35); and ended with the destruction of the rebellion forces, and the expulsion of the Jewish population from most of Judea.  It was also followed by a religious persecution, which did not, however, last very long.  Bar Kokba was killed in the last great battle in A.D. 135.

About A.D. 140 the surviving members of the Sanhedrin met at Usha in Galilee and voted a supreme national authority.  They elected Simeon Bem Gamalaliel II as patriarch, and he succeeded in dominating the Sanhedrin.  During the 132-35 rebellion Bar Kokba had attracted to himself Eleazar the priest; and for more than three years he divided Rome; but the Romans led by Julius Severus forced him to withdraw to the stronghold of Betar, at which place he was killed.

During his leadership Bar Kokba took the title of Prince of Israel; and struck coins in his name and in the name of Priest Eleazar.  After the fall of Betar, the remainder of his followers took refuge in the desert by the Dead Sea.  In 1960 the Israeli archaeologist Y. Yakim discovered dispatches by Bar Kokba in a bundle of papyri in a cave in the desert.  From these he appears to have been a dominating commander, prompt to enforce obedience.

The Jews terrible “double” of disfavor is now a matter of history, and what a double it has been!  When they had yelled, “Crucify him, crucify him; his blood be upon us, and upon our children,” God had taken them at their word; and we may rejoice with them now that those agonizing years are in the past, and with better things ahead as we look forward to the blessings they will receive in the Kingdom when they “look upon Him whom they pierced, and shall mourn because of it.”

In Part Two we will elaborate more on Zionism and how it has affected the Jewish people since her “Double” is completed.  But for now we will close with an encouraging message from God’s Word: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins… The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isa. 40:1-5)

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint 423, July 1991)   

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AN ARAB DEFENDS ISRAEL

Terrorism feeds on fear and intimidation, which is why few Arabs dare to stand up and speak the truth.  Lebanese Christian Brigitte Gabrielle is the exception.  The following text is taken from her remarks at Duke University’s “Counter-Terrorism Speak Out.”

“I’m proud to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.  As someone who was raised in an Arab country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arab world.

“In 1975, when the Moslems declared holy war on Christians, they went from town to town, massacring people.  From the age 10 to 17, I lived in an underground bomb shelter, without electricity, eating grass to survive and crawling under sniper bullets to get water from a spring for my elderly parents.

“It was Israel that came to help the Christians in Lebanon.  When my mother was wounded by a grenade thrown by a Moslem, she was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

“When we entered the emergency room, I was shocked to see hundreds of wounded - Moslems, Palestinians, Christian Lebanese and Israeli soldiers - lying on the floor.  The doctors treated everyone according to the severity of their injury.  They treated my mother before an Israeli soldier lying next to her.  They didn’t care about religion or political beliefs.  They only saw people in need.

“For the first time in my life, I became aware of human kindness that our culture would never show our enemies.  I had heard about Israeli values, people capable of loving their enemies, even in the worst moments.

“The 22 days in that hospital changed my life, the way I believed information, the way I listen to the radio or to television.  I realized I’d been sold a lie by my government about the Jews and Israel that was so far from reality.  I knew that if I were a Jewish girl in an Arab hospital, I’d be lynched to joyful shouts of Allahu Akhar (Allah is great).

“Once upon a time, there was a special place in the lowest depths of hell for anyone who would murder a child.  Now, the intentional murder of Israeli children is legitimized as Palestinian armed struggle.  But once such behavior is legitimized against Israel, it’s legitimized everywhere in the world, constrained by nothing more than the subjective belief of people who would wrap themselves in dynamite and nails for the purpose of killing children in the name of god.

“Because the Palestinians have been encouraged to believe that murdering innocent Israeli civilians is a legitimate tactic for advancing their cause, the whole world now suffers from a plague of terrorism, from Nairobi to New York, from Moscow to Madrid, from Bali to Beslan.

“They blame suicide bombing on the ‘desperation of occupation.’  Let me tell you the truth.  The first major terror bombing committed by Arabs against the Jewish state occurred 10 weeks before Israel even became independent.  On Sunday morning, February 22, 1948, in anticipation of Israel’s independence, a triple truck bomb was detonated by Arab terrorists on Ben Yehuda Street in what was then the Jewish part of Jerusalem.  Fifty-four people were killed, and hundreds wounded.

“Arab terrorism is not caused by the desperation of occupation, but by THE VERY THOUGHT of a Jewish state.

“So many times in the past 100 years, citizens have stood by and done nothing, allowing evil to prevail.  As America stood up and defeated communism, it’s time now to stand up against the terror of religious bigotry and intolerance.  It’s time for everyone to support and defend the state of Israel, which is the front line of the war against terrorism.”

(Israel Today, January 2005)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Epiphany Bible Students:

May I say how much I appreciate reading the article “When Christ is King - What Then?” in the December 1, 2004 Epiphany Bible Students Association.  The most appreciated and understanding part of the article is on the page regarding Jer. 31:34.

I just received from a friend of mine the latest publication from the WT Bible and Tract Society article “Draw Close To Jehovah.”  No scriptures were cited in the publication such as John 14:6 or John 6:44.  How can we get close to God with not going through Jesus.

I reason that they, Jehovah’s Witnesses have no understanding of Jer. 31:34.  They are completely oblivious to these truths and the New Covenant God will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

From 1952 to 1976 I was a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I was disfellowshipped in 1977 because of studying and teaching others of the writings of Pastor Russell.

During the years as a JW I never once read in their publication anything regarding Jer. 31:34.

May I thank you in advance for reading my letter.  I remain your brother in Christ.

Respectfully,             (LOUISIANA)

NO. 572 KETURAH'S SIX SONS

We present what we believe to be the correct interpretation of antitypical Keturah’s six sons.  First of all we direct attention to the fact that there will be three distinct classes blessed by the New Covenant: No. 1, the Worthies, who will receive the “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35).  No. 2, the Jews, and No. 3, the Gentiles.  These three classes each have two divisions - somewhat after the manner of the four elect classes pictured in Noah’s Ark: Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, the same depicting the leaders and the lesser lights respectively of The Christ, the Ancient Worthies, the Youthful Worthies and the Great Company.

1 - ZIMRAN (Celebrated): The 70 outstanding Ancient and Youthful Worthies - the leaders of their class.

2 - JOKSHAN (Fowler, or bird catchers - overcomers of the fallen angels, in that Satan and his demons had no dominion over them): These will comprise all the lesser lights of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies.  Inasmuch as Zimram and Jokshan were the eldest and second eldest of Keturah’s sons, it is logical enough to determine them as the Millennial-Age firstborns - just as the Seed of Promise (antitypical Isaac) have been the firstborns of this Gospel Age.  Among these Gospel-Age firstborns the Great Company would be included inasmuch as they at one time were a part of the Very Elect; therefore, among the first begotten.  Thus, those of them who retained their class standing as Great Company, having been begotten must evidently come to birth as spirit beings.  “The church of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23 - See comments in Gems From the Mine.) will include all the first begotten.  All the Worthies will be children of The Christ.

3 - MEDAN (Judgment): The quasi-elect Jew.  “Judgment” sometimes has the meaning of “true instruction,” as in Proverbs 21:3, “To do justice [righteousness] and judgment [true instruction] is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”  This class would be those Jews who earnestly endeavored to teach and defend “true instructions,” as they received it from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44).  St. Paul says of such that they had “much advantage… chiefly, because unto them were committed the Oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:2)  Those sincere ones among them who were entrusted with the care and preservation of the inspired writings of the Old Testament would have sacrificed their lives in defense of them.  Thus, “judgment” is most fitting for their typical name, Medan.  This would apply to the chief or first of the quasi-elect - “to the Jew first.”

4 - MIDIAN (Strife or contention): Midian consists of all Jews not included in the elect or quasi-elect.  This class of Jews has been a bone of contention since their first appearance in human history - always warlike and assertive people who were not sufficiently persuaded by the Mosaic Law and did not have faith enough to adhere to its principles.

5 - ISHBAK (Free): The quasi-elect Gentiles.  They are “free” in the sense of being free from the Mosaic Law and in the fact that most of them are to be found in Protestant countries.  “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17)  And there is little question that the liberty that prevails in Protestant countries has been a dominant factor in their tremendous progress in art, literature and invention.

6 - SHUAH (Depression, or low place): An allusion to all Gentiles not included in the elect or the quasi-elect (all Gentile nations, including all the heathen pictured outside the camp) who have never heard the “only Name,” or who have given little or no heed to it (that “seed that fell by the road, or on rocky ground” - Matt. 13:4,5), and whose characters have suffered greater mental and moral degradation because of it.  To use a vernacular expression, most of them are indeed “low-down,” given “over to a reprobate mind, to do improper things… not only are doing them, but are even approving those who practice them.” (Rom. 1:28-32, Dia.)

The May-June 1985 Present Truth, pp. 43 and 44, gives the following on KETURAH’S SIX SONS:

“(1) Zimram: the 70 most prominent of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies (the ancients and youthfuls of Joel 2:28), who will be given the most prominent positions in the earthly phase of the Kingdom during the making, sealing, of the New Covenant (Ex. 24:1,9).

“(2) Jokshan: the Worthies in general.

“(3) Medan: the Consecrated Epiphany Campers - those who consecrate to God and are faithful in their consecration during the Epiphany - the very end of the Gospel Age - after the four elect classes have been fully made up in their membership; the four elect classes of Abraham’s seed are pictured as serving in the Court of the Tabernacle as it was set up for Israel in the wilderness, and these consecrators are pictured as being among those in the Camp - hence the name. ‘Campers.’

“(4) Midian: those Fleshly Israelites who during the Jewish and Gospel Ages have in faith and practice come into harmony with the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, and remained faithful, though not consecrating.

“(5) Ishbak: those Gentiles (and some Jews) who throughout the Gospel Age, including our day, while not consecrating, or dedicating, their lives to God, have repented of their sins and accepted Jesus as their Savior and remained faithful to the Ransom and to righteousness.

“(6) Shuah (low place, depression): the non-elect, unbelieving world of mankind, consisting of unbelieving Gentiles and those Fleshly Israelites who have forsaken the covenant promises; these are the ‘daughters’ of Joel 2:28 and Isa. 60:4, the quasi-elect believers being referred to as ‘sons’—the stronger ones.”

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The above errors are a repeat of the errors inherited, as given in Present Truths ’57,22;  ’58,3 ’63,29,77; ’69,46; ’72,38 and 73,27.  The LHMM cannot produce anything but types to support the false doctrine (“strange fire”) of Consecrated Epiphany Campers.  “A type must not be used to teach a doctrine, but to illustrate one that is taught in plain terms.” (Berean Comment, p. 25 of the Topical Index)

We are told in Jude 3 “to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints,” but in no place in God’s Word are we told to “contend for the faith once delivered unto crown-lost leaders” as the LHMM is doing.  The devotees of the Jehovah’s Witnesses follow their leaders, who have set aside many basic doctrines of That Servant - the blind leading the blind.

All those who have set aside the Truth taught by That Servant are “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth.” (2 Tim. 3:7)  We especially refer to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement who have set aside God’s promise to the natural Jew when they concocted their false doctrines of non-existent classes.

The LHMM tell us that their Consecrated Epiphany Campers will supersede the Jews in the Kingdom, setting aside God’s Word as well as the teaching of That Servant and the Epiphany Messenger, knowing that these faithful Messengers consistently taught “to the Jew first.”  They did this with Scriptures in “plain terms.”

Of course, the “repentant and believing” of the Epiphany Camp in the finished picture will share with the Jews in their great missionary work after they become Jews.  The Jews will not have to become Consecrated Epiphany Campers and walk a narrow way to receive God’s promise to natural Jews.  It is the earthly promise to the Jews.  And none of the Restitutionists have to walk a narrow way.  The Consecrated Epiphany Campers will have to become Jews in the Kingdom before they can receive the blessings of the New Covenant.  The New Covenant is Israelitish and will be made with the natural Jew first.  Our Lord says, “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22)

The Word will first be given by the Worthies from the Christ to the Jews; and it will heal them, as it is written, “He sent His Word and healed them.” (Psa. 107:20)

The Kingdom will, of course, begin to work on the Worthies, and then through them upon the Restitutionists who will survive the Time of Trouble, and that starting with the Jews in Jerusalem.

Fleshly Israel, as the secondary earthly seed of Abraham, under the lead of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies, as the primary earthly seed of Abraham, will be privileged to cooperate with the Kingdom in converting the Gentile world (Gen. 22:17; 28:14; Isa. 19:24; Ezek. 16:60,61; Psa. 107:22).

“Naturally enough, Israel will then in a natural way come first into harmony with the Divine arrangement and be the first to get the blessings.” (Reprint 5810, top)  All the above, and much more, will have to be thrown out if we accept the LHMM’s teaching that the Consecrated Epiphany Campers are to be first after the Worthies.

“St. Paul was an outspoken, uncompromising teacher.  When he knew that he had the truth, he spoke it with confidence, and boldly declared that everything contrary to it is false doctrine.  He also taught believers that it was not only their privilege, but their duty to be established in the faith, to know on the evidence of God’s Word, why they believed, and to be able to give to every man that inquires a reason for the hope that was in them.” (Reprint 5045, col. 2, par. 4)

“The Lord purposed to take away all sins - the sins of Israel, the sins of those who were to constitute the Gospel-Church, and the sins of the whole world.  For this cause Christ was manifested, for this cause He died.  This cancellation, of doing away with the sins of the whole world, will progress as each shall recognize the Heavenly gift of forgiveness and obey the Government.

“The orthodox Jews, those who still hold to the teachings of the Law and the Prophets, and have faith in God, will be the first to receive the blessings of the New Age.  ‘As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your [the Church’s] sakes; but as touching the election [the natural election], they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.’ (Rom. 11:28)  So, then, this condition of affliction in which the Jews have been throughout the Gospel Age, in addition to the overthrow of their nation in the year A.D. 70, has really been a favor from God.  All the tribulation through which this people have passed during the entire ‘Seven Times’ of chastisement will be finally found to have been to their advantage, preparing them for the blessings of Messiah’s Kingdom.  The Church will be the first in the Kingdom, natural Israel with the Ancient Worthies at the head will be the second.  Subsequently all nations will come into Divine favor and blessing, becoming members of Israel.  All will be blessed through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (Question Book, pp. 357,358)

“Each consecrated believer should ask himself, How carefully have I studied that which I clearly recognize as Divine Truth?  And how fully capable am I, therefore, of handling the sword of the spirit?  Few indeed are those who can say they have fully digested and assimilated all they have received… that they have a ready answer - a ‘thus saith the Lord’ - for every man that asks them a reason for the hope that is in them, concerning any point of doctrine.”

(Reprint 3199, col. 1, bottom, and col. 2, top)

“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)  So long as we “contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints” we need not be ashamed.

(Excerpts from our paper No. 361, September 1985, pages 5,6 and 7)

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We had hoped there would be no need for further refutation of the LHMM on their non-existent class of Consecrated Epiphany Campers after our refutation of Keturah’s Six Sons in our September 1992 paper.  We are pleased to note that their magazines have been generally good with very little mention of Consecrated Epiphany Campers; and so far as we know, they have not published anything about their Consecrated Epiphany Campers superseding the Jews, until now.  It has been reported that the LHMM is still teaching this error to their devotees, but we do not refute hearsay.

It is no pleasure to refute errors of the LHMM, as we have fond memories of this movement when Brother Johnson was with us.  We do so because we believe there are good brethren who have been caught by the “snare of the fowler.”  “The watchmen of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of God.” (Hosea 9:8)  “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.” (Psa. 124:7)  But the Lord will surely deliver His people from the “snare of the fowler.” (Psa. 91:3)

We quote from the Bible Standard of March 1992, p. 22, col. 1, under TWO EARTHLY CLASSES:  “The fifth order of Abraham’s seed is the quasi-elect, who for the most part are the faith-justified Gentiles and the Covenant-believing and justice-practicing Jews.  The highest class among them is the Consecrated Epiphany Campers, as pictured by Keturah’s third son, Medan (many of them being pictured also in the Queen of Sheba).”

Since their May-June 1985 Present Truth they have added to Medan “the faith-justified Gentiles and the Covenant-believing and justice-practicing Jews.”  But this addition doesn’t change their teaching that their Consecrated Epiphany Campers are first in the Kingdom after the Worthies and before the Jews, contrary to God’s promise “to the Jew first.”

In the LHMM’s efforts to prove that the Consecrated Epiphany Campers will supersede the Jews in the Kingdom, they are attempting to refute the teachings of That Servant, the Epiphany Messenger and the Apostle Paul.  The Truth cannot be refuted.  God’s Word is infallible.  God’s Word tells us that we should “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3)  We have no Scripture that tells us to “contend for the faith [what they teach] once delivered unto crown-losers.”  That is what the LHMM is doing - contending for the teachings of a crown-loser; and this teaching disputes the “faith once delivered unto the saints” - the teaching of the Apostle Paul, That Servant, and the Epiphany Messenger who taught, “To the Jew first.” 

It is our understanding that in their Special Effort toward the Jew, especially in Israel, they use Brother Russell’s teaching, “To the Jew first.”  The Scriptures tell us to “comfort the Jew.”  Brother Russell always gave a comforting message to the Jews, and reminded them of God’s promises to them that they would be first in the Kingdom; that when the New Covenant is inaugurated that all would have to become Israelites to get the blessings of the New Covenant.  The Kingdom will be Israelitish, he said.  We can find nothing in the Messengers’ writings that conflict with the Apostle Paul’s statement, “To the Jew first” - or even hints at such a preposterous thing.  Of course, we know that faithful Gentiles, such as the quasi-elect, will join with the Jews in their missionary work after they become Israelites in the Kingdom under the New Covenant.

In the Kingdom The Christ will give the Law: “Out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3)  The Worthies will receive the Law from Zion and will give the “word of the Lord” to the Jew first.  Does it comfort the Jews to tell them that God’s promises will go “to the Consecrated Epiphany Campers first?”  We know the Jehovah’s Witnesses have cast out all God’s promises to the Jews and relegated them to themselves.  Certainly, the LHMM hasn’t gone that far!  Their message to the world about the coming Kingdom is to be commended, as it will be a solace to those who have an “ear to hear.”  However, the LHMM’s Consecrated Epiphany Campers is a non-existent class the same as the Witnesses’ Great Crowd.  Brother Johnson called the Great Crowd a non-existent class, and if he were here today he would call any consecrated class in the Camp non-existent.  The only place one can consecrate is in the Court - the only place Christ’s merit can be obtained, just as both Messengers taught.  But we should mention that a place in the tabernacle is a condition in antitype.  Some who have made a consecration, supposedly in the Camp, and that consecration is accepted by our Lord, may already be in the Court condition if their hearts are pure.

As we have often pointed out: “A type must not be used to teach a doctrine, but merely to illustrate one that is already taught in plain terms.” (p. 25 of Berean Topical Index)  There are no plain terms in the Bible for Consecrated Epiphany Campers, because it is a fractured type.  No type can dispute the Apostle’s plain language, “To the Jew first.”     

The LHMM is double-minded when they teach one thing to their devotees and another thing to the Jews.  They teach their devotees that the Consecrated Epiphany Campers will be first in the Kingdom; and when speaking to the Jews they use Brother Russell’s teachings that they will be first in the Kingdom just as God promised, “To the Jew first.”  “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8)  Berean Comments on this text: “The Great Company class.”  However, it applies to all who are unfaithful to their covenant.  “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands ye, sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” (James 4:8)

Another error that the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement teach is that there is no longer - since 1954 - an opportunity to be of the Youthful Worthy class.  Both Messengers taught there would be opportunity for this unbegotten class to be rewarded in honor and service with the Ancient Worthies “until restitution sets in.”  This is another teaching whereby the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement denies the “faith once delivered unto the saints.”  The LHMM also teach we are in the “finished picture” of the Epiphany Age, and are now in the overlapping of the Epiphany into the Basileia since 1954.  This is supposed to be a parallel of the Parousia over-lapping into the Epiphany for two and a half years.  If they still teach that we are in the over-lapping, it is now in 2005, a period of 51 years, a longer period than the Epiphany proper of 40 years from 1914 to 1954.  The Epiphany and the Time of Trouble are one and the same.  When the Time of Trouble ends the Epiphany ends.  But we are not yet in the severest events of the Time of Trouble.

If we would be faithful to the Lord, the Truth and the brethren, necessity is laid upon us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16)  That Servant’s comments on Rom. 1:16, “To the Jew first” are: “God’s blessings of every kind begin with the Jew.  He gave the Jew the first opportunity under the Abrahamic Covenant.  And when it comes to the blessings of the New Covenant, the opportunity will come to the Jew first.” (Question Book, p. 165:2)

“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)  We earnestly hope and pray the LHMM will seek to be “approved unto God” by being faithful to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

“NEW LIGHT” SINCE 1914

After That Servant’s demise in 1916 there was an epidemic of “New Light” emanating from the brethren of the Parousia Truth - primarily from the Society, who now call themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses.

At first J. F. Rutherford taught there would be a class of unbegotten consecrators to be won between the Ages - after the door to the High Calling closed, and “until restitution sets in.”  He did this in harmony with Brother Russell’s teaching.  He called this class Modern Worthies and we have no objection to that, but we call this class Youthful Worthies.  We still believe and teach that this unbegotten class will be won “until restitution sets in.”

However, shortly thereafter JFR rejected this class and substituted a class of his own making - Jonadabs.  But now we hear no more of the Jonadabs for it is replaced with a class known as the “Great Multitude,” their claim being that it is the call mentioned in Rev. 7:9 and 19:16.  Prior to 1914 That Servant taught that this class is a spiritual class consecrated under the High Calling but not faithful enough to retain their standing with this Select Group.  As they were not completely unfaithful, they did not merit the Second Death, so God provided a place for them to serve “before the throne” rather than on the throne as do the 144,000.  The JWs have now discarded Brother Russell’s teaching on this as well as much more of his basic teaching, all the time still boasting that Brother Russell was the founder of their movement.

MORE “NEW LIGHT” SINCE 1954

 It seems the LHMM is following the example of the JWs instead of “contending for the faith once delivered to the Saints.  Shortly after the demise of the Epiphany Messenger in October 1950, the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement which was founded by Brother Johnson began to teach a “new” class who were to be won from 1954 “until restitution sets in.”  This manufactured class would be in place of the Youthful Worthies who are to be won between the Ages from 1881 “until restitution sets in” as taught by That Servant and the Epiphany Messenger.  The LHMM still present a non-existent class, called Consecrated Epiphany Campers, teaching that this class will supersede the Jews in the Kingdom arrangement.  On page 37, col. 1 of their Summer 2004 Present Truth they cite E-12, page 185 as applying to their “new class.”  However, if one reads it carefully it will be seen that Brother Johnson is here talking about the Jews as the “fifth order of the seed of Abraham.”  The Epiphany Messenger often said, “The advancing Truth does not set aside the Truth formerly received as some deceivers teach.

Brother Johnson did not “see” a new class not already taught by That Servant.  He just elaborated on the classes already set out in the Parousia teaching.  None of the teaching of the two Messengers teach a consecrated class in the Epiphany Camp.

In their Summer 2004 issue of The Present Truth, page 37, col. 2, the LHMM repeats their assessment of the antitypes of Keturah’s sons, which is the same as what they had said in the May-June 1985 Present Truth, pp. 43,44.  They set out Medan as the Consecrated Epiphany Campers - those who consecrate to God and are faithful in their consecration during the Epiphany and have the name “Campers.”  But there cannot be any consecration in the Camp until the Basileia Camp is set up.  They cite many quotations from The Epiphany Messenger, but in all of them, he says that the quasi-elect are the non-consecrated but faithful tentatively justified in the Epiphany camp.  It would seem that they deliberately misuse or misinterpret their citations, but we prefer to think that they just do not understand what they read.

If we are faithful to the Truth, it is some times a lonely way but it is indeed a good way!  All those who do so have the sure promise of God: “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.” (Luke 21:15)  So with the Apostle Paul, “I am set for the defence of the gospel” (Phil: 1:17) as we seek to deliver our brethren from the “snare of the fowler” (Psa. 91:3, 124:7; Hosea 9:8).  “Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.” (Isa. 62:10)  Berean Comments: “‘Cast out the stones’ - the stumbling blocks, errors, etc.; ‘Lift up a standard’ - The standard of absolute holiness of heart, and as far as possible of conduct.”

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint 436, September 1992, with additions)

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GOD’S ECONOMICAL PLAN

Man has for six thousand years borne the penalty, “Dying thou shalt die” - the penalty which the Bible declares to be the wages of sin - death and all the weaknesses and depravities of mind and of body which are its accompaniments.  But God purposes that all shall have a full opportunity of recovery from this condition of sin and death; and the provision for man’s recovery has been made in Christ.  This provision is the most economical one that could have been arranged.  If a thousand perfect men had sinned, it would have required a thousand perfect men to redeem them - one redeemer for each sinner.  “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” a man’s life for a man’s life, is the requirement of God’s law (Ex. 21:23-25; Deut. 19:21).

Before the creation of our first parents God had arranged that only one man should have the opportunity to fall and to be sentenced to death, that thus only one man would be required as a Redeemer.  This Divine arrangement was most economical because it will bring all the masses of humanity back to life at the cost of but one human life as the redemption-price.  No fallen man could be a ransom, a corresponding price, for the perfect man Adam.  Therefore God purposed from the very beginning that His only begotten Son, the firstborn of all creation, should become man’s Redeemer and that in order to become the Redeemer He should become a man.

The death of an angel could not have redeemed man.  Divine justice required that a perfect human life must be given for a perfect human life.  And God, knowing all this, sent His Son to carry out His great plan of human redemption and restitution.  Neither was there anything unkind or unjust to His Son in this, although for the Almighty to have forced the matter upon His Son would have been an injustice; and God could not be guilty of injustice.

Thus the Scriptures inform us that the coming of the Logos into the world was a voluntary matter.  He did this “for the joy that was set before him,” by the Almighty.  The Father set before the Son that if He would suffer the ignominy of the transference of His being from the higher plane to a lower, a human plane, in order that He might redeem the lost race of Adam, He should be highly exalted, next to Jehovah; He should be made a partaker of Jehovah’s nature - the Divine nature.  All this was the inspiration of our Lord’s course - the joy of doing the Father’s will and of having His approval; the joy of restoring mankind and of being exalted to His Father’s glorious nature.  He who thus humbled himself to become a man and die the ignominious death of the cross, has indeed been highly exalted as promised, and has sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:3).

(Pastor Russell, Reprint 5429, 5430, April 1, 1914) 

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We’ve been watching, we’ve been waiting,

For the star that brings the day;

For the night of sin to vanish,

And the mists to roll away.

We’ve been watching, we’ve been waiting,

For the beauteous King of day,

For the chiefest of ten thousand,

For the Light, the Truth, the Way.

We begin to see the dawning

Of the bright Millennial day;

Soon the shadows, weary shadows,

Shall forever pass away.

………………..

The beam that shines from Zion’s hill

Shall lighten every land;

The King who reigns in Salem’s tow’rs

Shall all the world command.

NO. 571 SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE MEMORIAL

The Memorial of our Lord’s crucifixion comes again, the correct time this year 2005 being after 6 p.m. March 22.  The date is determined after this manner: The moon nearest the Vernal Equinox comes new at the Thirtieth Meridian East, Jerusalem time, at 11:31 a.m. March 10, thus establishing 6 p.m. March 9 as Nisan 1, Bible reckoning.  Counting to Nisan 14, we arrive at 6 p.m. March 22; and any time that evening after 6 p.m. would be proper for the celebration.  We here at Mount Dora shall start the service at 7:30 p.m.; and we issue a cordial invitation to any one in this vicinity to join with us if they be of one mind on the matter.

THE MEMORIAL’S MEANINGS

In this Memorial, commonly known throughout Christendom as the Lord’s Supper, we have one of the sacraments.  The Roman Catholic and some eastern churches recognize seven different services as sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony.  Protestants hold to only two: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  The word “sacrament” is from the Latin sacramentum, and in early ecclesiastical usage was used in a wide sense to denote any ritual observance or sacred thing.  In every day usage it had been applied in two ways: (1) as a pledge deposited in public keeping by the parties in a lawsuit and forfeited to a sacred purpose; (2) as the oath taken by a Roman soldier to the emperor, and thence to any oath.  These ideas later combined to produce the concept of a sacred rite which was a pledge or token - an oath of loyalty - which in time led to limiting the word to baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

While the Roman Church observes seven sacraments, we believe the Protestant concept to be more in harmony with the Scriptures, because the Lord’s Supper and baptism are the antitypes of the two Old Testament sacraments; namely, the Passover and circumcism.  In Matthew 28:19,20, the risen Jesus specifically gave the disciples “the great commission” - to “baptize into [according to the Diaglott] the name of the Father, and of the Son, and by the Holy Spirit”; and in His last words to these same disciples on the night before He died He commanded them to “do this in remembrance of Me.”  This latter is stressed by St. Paul in the 11th chapter of 1 Corinthians as obligatory upon all who clearly recognize that “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,” which sacrifice is declared every time we partake of the bread and the wine in the Lord’s Supper.

When the sacraments mentioned foregoing are rightly and sincerely observed, they bring rich spiritual blessing to those who participate.  The elements themselves - the bread and wine - in the Lord’s Supper are of themselves only dead material; thus, it is only their faithful and sincere use that have any efficacy at all for the participants.  The same would be true of the water used in baptism.  It is only when we are “buried with Him in baptism”  (Col. 2:12) that the water takes on an added significance not discernible to the ordinary onlooker.

THE SPECIFIC SYMBOLS

In the Lord’s Supper there are especially three thoughts symbolized, and they prove to be the three most important things to the Lord’s people in this life: (1) by our breaking the bread we symbolize our dear Lord’s Ransom-sacrificial death on behalf of the Church and the World; (2) by our partaking of the bread and wine we in the first place symbolize faith-appropriating justification through the death of Jesus; and (3) by partaking of the bread and wine in the second place we symbolize our consecrated humanity and our pledge to “walk as He walked.”  It is readily self-evident that these three things are the main things to us in this life; and these three things should be kept acutely in mind in our preparation for and participation in the service - just as did the Jews in their scrupulous preparation to observe the Passover.  In this latter, the day before the Passover the head of each house took a feather brush and a napkin and very carefully swept every evidence of leaven from the corners and remote places of the residence, which, when completed, he then burned the napkin and its contents - to be sure there would be no leaven remaining anywhere.  With us, we do not scrutinize our home; rather, we adhere to St. Paul’s counsel, “Let a man examine himself,” rather than the structure in which we abide.

St. Paul stresses the first of the above points when he tells us, “As oft as ye eat of that bread and drink of that cup ye shew the Lord’s death till He come.”  The words “as oft as ye eat” do not obligate us to do this often, as some mistakenly think, any more than observance of a birthday should be celebrated every day, or week, or month, even though we might say of such an occasion that we also show forth our birth as often as we perform a celebration of the event.  Any memorial should be kept on its anniversary - once a year.  [It has been reported in the news recently that several denominations are contemplating changing the observance of the Passover Memorial to once a week.  Some already observe once a month, or more, so, if it is changed to once a week, it will only magnify their error on this matter.]  Nowhere does the Bible tell us to celebrate the Lord’s birthday (which would occur but once each year), but we are directly commanded to observe the date of His death - which also can occur but once each year.  By our participation in the Memorial of our Lord’s death we declare, or preach His sacrifice, which is one meaning of the word shew in the text.  However, it is in order here to mention that we shew the Lord’s death in the Memorial by act rather than by words, because we maintain a silence during the sharing of the loaf and the cup.

 And by what act do we shew His death?  After blessing of the bread, it is stated that it was broken; and, since all of the accounts make mention of this, it must be an essential part of the performance.  Indeed, the breaking of the bread is the very act that declares the breaking of our Lord in death; “He hath poured out His soul unto death.”  Once this is clearly seen, we can immediately recognize that the giving of the individual wafers to the participants, or the breaking of the bread before it is passed about by the one conducting the service, must be contrary to the underlying spirit of the service.  The breaking of the bread by each individual says by that act that he is willing to be broken with Him in like manner as He was.  “As He was, so are we in the world.”  And as often as we engage in the services, just that often do we shew forth the Lord’s death till He come - shew His Ransom-sacrifice for us, which is truly the rock foundation of our faith.  Without it we would be as the heathen - without God and without hope in the world.

When St. Paul told the Corinthians (1 Cor. 2:2), “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” he in effect was saying that the two things uppermost in his mind were Jesus the Christ - who gave Himself a ransom for all - and Him crucified.  His narrow way began at Jordan and ended in fullness on the cross.  “Leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21) 

In Matthew 26:28 Jesus said His blood was shed “for many for the remission of sins.”  Therefore, when we partake of the bread, and especially of the cup (His blood), in clear understanding of their import, we may rest secure that we have forgiveness of sins.  “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7,9)  And this is our strong assurance regardless of what other men may think of us.  It is sound doctrine that “Man looketh on the outward appearance” (1 Sam. 16:7); and quite often what men see is colored by their prejudices, their selfishness, or their evil minds.

We are justified by faith in His blood; and, as such, we receive His righteousness - vitalizedly in some, reckonedly in others.  “Abraham believed God, and it was counted [reckoned] to him for righteousness.” (Gen. 15:6)  Thus, we no longer have the Adamic condemnation (the disobedience by which many were made sinners), but we are participants of His obedience whereby many are made righteous.  Speaking specifically to the saints at Rome - and through them to the entire Christ Company during the Gospel Age - St. Paul declares, “We are buried with Him by baptism into death… in the likeness of His death.” (Rom. 6:4,5)  These words some attempt to accept literally, and this causes them to adopt very foolish customs and beliefs.  They say, What was the likeness of His death?  And they proceed to reason that He was nailed to the cross; and, with the cross at the back of His head, He could not allow His head to fall backwards, it necessarily must fall upon His chest, as practically all pictures of the crucifixion show Him.  Therefore, if they are to be “baptized in the likeness of His death,” they must be baptized face down in the water.  Of course, this presents a very contrary view to what baptism should really give.

The third feature relative to drinking of the cup has to do with participation in the sin-offering, a privilege reserved exclusively for the Christ Company.  During the Age many have offered themselves thus, only eventually to fall by the wayside, losing their part in that offering.  But to all who partake of the cup in sincerity and in truth we may be certain that the fiery trials of the Great Example will be passed on to them, each according to his ability to bear.  During the Dark Ages, when the Roman Church was in its heyday, the participation of the cup was much more severe and brutal than it is today - although much the same spirit still prevails in the world, and may yet touch those who would follow in His steps.  But in this we may accept the axiom, We know not what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future; and a few lines from the poet tends to emphasize this:

Serene, I fold my hands and wait,

Nor care for wind nor tide nor sea;

I rave no more ‘gainst time or fate,

For lo! my own shall come to me.

What matter if I stand alone?

I wait with joy the coming years;

My heart shall reap where it has sown,

And garner up its fruit of tears.

The stars come nightly to the sky;

The tidal wave unto the sea;

Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,

Can keep my own away from me.

Let us keep in mind that those who despised our Lord the most were the “good” people of His time.  It was because He had such perfect answers to their criticisms that the Scribes and Pharisees came to despise Him so badly.  He proved Himself to be their Master at every controversy, they who were putting themselves forth as the teachers of Jewry - who claim to sit in Moses’ seat.  And having pampered their pride for so many years, they were sadly lacking in the humility which was necessary for them to receive Him.  In addition, He was ever ready to give fellowship to the “untouchables” - the publicans and sinners; and this, too, was anathema to the religious leaders of the nation.  They were angry because He taught the people, which caused them to ask embarrassing questions of those who had been teaching them previously.  And similar conditions exist today in Big and Little Babylon, which should not surprise us.  “All  that  walk  godly  in   Christ  Jesus  shall suffer persecution.”  If this is not a part of our own experience, then we should begin to question whether or not we actually are following “in His steps.”

However, this matter probably needs some clarification -the spirit of a sound mind.  It is quite possible to bring disrepute upon ourselves through our own foolish acts - things that appear right at the time, but which are motivated by poor judgment.  Perhaps none of us are without some of these experiences - some more, some less.  Often such situations are the manipulations of Satan.  We know he tried that on Jesus Himself, when he told Him to jump from the temple and that God would bear Him up.  Had He heeded this unsound suggestion, and found Himself disadvantaged physically because of it, His suffering would not have been “for righteousness,” but for foolishness, an act of sheer presumption.  The years should teach us all something; the chastenings of the past should sober us for the present - and they will to those who are rightly exercised thereby.  Such stabilizing influences usually keep pace with our growth in knowledge and in grace.

THIS IS MY BODY - IS MY BLOOD

In Matthew 26 and in Mark 14 we find the recording of the institution of the Lord’s Supper.  Among Christians - many of them sincere and honest - there has been conducted the sharpest controversy about the meaning of the words that head this section of our article.  Satan has spread error on almost all Scripture, but especially has this been true of the words given above.  The worst of all these errors has been the one concerning the Mass, being the basis of the doctrine of transubstantiation, the same being the central feature of the “abomination that maketh desolate.”  In a broad sense there are two general views on the meaning of these words: (1) Those who teach the real presence of the body and the blood in the loaf and the cup; and (2) those who hold to the representative meaning of those expressions.  Much ingenuity has been displayed in the defense of both positions; some of the ablest of Christian minds have been on both sides of the controversy.  As most of our readers know, our own view is that there is no actual presence of His Body and Blood in the bread and the wine; we regard them merely as representations of the same.

TRANSUBSTANTIATION

Let us consider first of all, that view which holds to the real presence - namely, that the words, This is My Body, This is My blood, teach that the actual body and blood of Jesus are present in the bread and wine, and are imbibed by the communicants.  There are three main views on this feature of our subject, the first of which is that of the Roman Catholic Church.  That system holds to what is commonly known as transubstantiation, which means the actual body and blood of Jesus are substituted, or changed into what before was merely bread and wine.  This transformation is produced by the priest performing what is commonly known as the Mass.  To make this position at all tenable, Roman teachers admit that the emblems retain what it termed “the accidents” - that is, they still look the same to the human eye, they taste the same (that is, no difference whatever can be noticed after the so-called change), have the same form, color, weight, etc., of bread and wine.  But, despite the “accidents,” they contend the bread and the wine are actually lost and take on the essence of the body and blood of the crucified Lord.  And this substitution, this transubstantiation, the priest proceeds in the Mass to sacrifice afresh for the sins of the living and the dead.  Thus, “the daily sacrifice was taken away” (Dan. 8:11), and “it cast down the truth to the ground.” 

By the way of refutation, we would say of the foregoing view, if it were correct, the wording should be changed to, This has been changed into My Body; this has been changed into My blood.  To teach a doctrine which would require a change in wording to make good sense is of itself an admission of something badly wrong with the teaching.  Furthermore, the Bible contradicts their view.  If they were right, they should no longer speak of the bread and the wine - now changed into the body and the blood - but should then speak of those emblems in new phrase - as the body and blood.  But five different times does the Bible itself refer to “bread” after its consecration and during it’s eating.  (See 1 Corinthians 10:16,17; 11:26-28.)  And in these same verses, using the container for the thing contained, the reference is to the “cup,” describing the cup as “the fruit of the vine” - wine, and not blood.  Therefore, by calling the elements bread and wine during their appropriation the Bible itself directly contradicts transubstantiation.

The physical condition of the bread and wine after consecration also contradicts transubstantiation.  Both still taste exactly the same; and enough of the wine will still intoxicate the drinker, which blood will not do.  It is generally known that priests often do become tipsy, or even intoxicated, if they must perform several masses in one morning, drinking a full glass of wine on each occasion.  One of the vilifications that the Roman Catholics hurl at Martin Luther is that he got drunk - which is probably true, and it is probably true of very many other priests for the reason just stated concerning multiple masses in one morning.  In that service the priest does not minister any of the wine to the communicants, but drinks it all himself.  Chemical analysis also confirms this - not only of the wine, but also of the bread.  They are both exactly the same as they were before consecration - and this leaves a wide spread between the chemical contents of a human body and the sacramental wafer that is given the communicant.  In lesser degree, the same may be said of different kinds of bread - rye bread, white and whole wheat bread, black bread, etc.

CONSUBSTANTIATION   – INSTRUMENTALIZATION

Some sections of Christendom teach consubstantiation, which carries the thought of a mingling of the bread and wine with the body and the blood; that is, both are present in the emblems.  The Lutherans and Episcopalians teach what may be termed instrumentalization, although they do not use that term itself.  Their thought is that by means of the bread and wine – which remain bread and wine during the service - the actual body and blood of Jesus are communicated to those who partake.  Thus, it may be properly stated that transubstantiation, consubstantiation and instrumentalization all teach that the real body and the real blood are conveyed to those who partake during the service.

Therefore, the arguments that apply against one of the foregoing would apply against all three, and is our thought that the Bible directly contradicts all three of them.  (1) The Bible account of the original institution of the Lord’s Supper on the night before His death is certainly contrary to these views.  The body and blood of Jesus could not possibly have been in the bread and the wine He gave the Disciples because He was not yet dead; He was still very much alive.  Thus, when he held in His hand unleavened bread He had taken from the table, it was self-evidently quite a different thing from His body.  Nor did He give any indication in the words He used that any significant change had taken place in that loaf.

With the exception of the two disciples on His right hand and on His left, none of the Disciples even touched Him in that service; nor is here the slightest hint in the wording that His body and His blood were being fused into the bread and wine.  Thus, such an assumption is based solely upon pure imagination.  There is not the slightest suggestion in the whole event that would indicate that Jesus or the Disciples thought there was actual presence of body and blood in the bread and the wine.  Also, the Mosaic Law expressly forbade the Jews from drinking even the blood of animals; and Jesus had told them He had come not to nullify the Law but to fulfill it.  We may be certain some of the Disciples would have raised that question immediately, as they were all very scrupulous in their dietetic habits.  Therefore, to claim that subsequent observance of the Lord’s Supper should be different from its original would in itself declare that they are not the same thing; that is, they are not the Lord’s Supper at all.

Jesus had told His followers, “My flesh I give for the life of the World.” (John 6:51)  That being true, the implication would be that He has now taken His flesh to Himself again for this new purpose, and such a procedure would be a contradiction of the Ransom; He would be taking back the Ransom price.  The Scriptures also tell us that The Lord is that spirit, which, being true, He is no longer human; that is, He does not now have His human body and blood with Him to disperse in the services mentioned above.

This teaching also has unreasonable implications, one of which is that we must believe that the body and blood of Jesus must be in many places at the same time.  On certain occasions, such as Easter, etc., practically the whole Christian world celebrates the Lord’s Supper; and He would have to be present in every one of them if we are to accept the three teachings set out foregoing.  Also, when we consider the millions of persons who have observed the Lord’s Supper over the centuries, and even today, we must conclude that His body and His blood are inexhaustible elements if we are to believe these elements are present in every such service.  This immediately reveals the absurdity of the teaching.  There is nothing at all reasonable about it; we must accept it as one of the great unexplainable “mysteries.”  This also is contrary to Scripture which tells us, “Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord.” (Isa. 1:18)  And, whenever we are asked to accept with blind belief what is contrary to our reason, we may certainly conclude that the Father of Lies must be its author; and not the great Teacher of Truth.  Such an attitude always encourages superstition, ignorance and credulity with accompanying degrading results.

THE UNDERLYING ERROR

The chief reason for these errors is that their propounders accept the position that there is but one meaning to the word is.  But, like many words in our language, it has more than one meaning.  However, as noted above, those who hold to but one meaning of the word, have come up with three varying views of it.  There are especially two literal meanings of the verb “to be”: (1) it is the predicate to denote actual existence; (2) it is the predicate to denote actual representation; but the meaning is literal in both instances.  Thus, if we should say, A dog is an animal, we express actual existence; but, if we should say, as is so often done, of a picture on the wall, This is my father, my mother, brother, or what not, we would then mean an actual representation.  And this would be true even if the picture represented one long ago dead.

The question now properly arises; Do other Scriptures substantiate this view?  Take for example, some of the parables.  Before giving specific examples, we would stress that in a parable the thing said is never the thing actually meant: In Matthew 13 Jesus gave the parable of the wheat and the tares, which He explained in response to the disciples’ questions.  There He repeatedly used the verb “to be” in various of its forms, saying that he who sowed is (represents) the devil, and the reapers are (represents) angels.

The same may be said of types in the Bible, which are also representative things, presenting hidden meanings.  For example, “This is [John the Baptist - represents] Elias [the Church] that is to come.” (Matt. 11:14)  “That rock was Christ [represented Christ].” (1 Cor. 10:4)  “These women [Sarah and Hagar] are [represents] two covenants.” (Gal. 4:24)  In each of these examples the verb is means represents because a representative thing is interpreted.

Some Biblical institutions are representative things; and, whenever the Bible explains them and uses the verb to be to predicate the interpretation, it always means to represent.  “He [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision” (Rom. 4:11); and Gen. 17:10 says “This [circumcision] is [represents] My Covenant.”  Clearly enough here, circumcision could be nothing more than a representation when it used the word is; and much the same may be said of the Passover.  When the Jews in subsequent years would be asked by their children what mean these things, the head of the house was to tell them, “It is [represents] the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover.”

Another consideration proves that the word is in these texts is used to predicate actual representation and not actual existence: It is the language that Jesus uses in connection with the cup, “This is the New testament.” (1 Cor. 11:25; Luke 22:20)  Certainly in this expression the word is cannot be the predicate of actual existence; the New Testament, or Covenant, is not a cup at all - it will be a contract between God and man, and mediated by The Christ during the Millennium.  Hence, the word is here means representation, and not actual existence.  It would follow, then, that the same meaning is carried in all the places where Jesus discusses the subject of the bread and the wine.

There is yet another point in proof: It is St. Paul’s direct explanation of the meaning of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Cor. 11:26.  Immediately after quoting our Lord’s language in explanation of the bread and the wine, he explains it and the Church’s participation in it by these words: “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew [preach, reveal] the Lord’s death.”  Preaching, revealing are done in two ways - in words and in acts.  When we keep the feast we do not speak; therefore, the announcement must be in acts, not words - in pantomime; and this is done in the breaking of the bread, and in the drinking of the wine.  Thus, these acts are a representation of something else.  Since the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine represent Jesus’ death, the bread and wine must then self-evidently represent His body and His blood.  Therefore, all of the foregoing is clear proof that the word is does not mean existence, but actual representation.

STILL DEEPER THOUGHT

The Lord in Luke 22:20, and St. Paul in 1 Cor. 10:16,17; 11:25 teach a still deeper meaning to these words.  By the language, “We, being many, are one bread, one body,” the Apostle shows that the one bread to be broken represents the Church as well as Jesus, for the Church is the body of Christ (Rom. 12:4; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:24).  In 1 Cor. 10:17 the Apostle calls the Church both the one bread and the one Body of Christ, which in the preceding verse he says is represented by the bread of blessing.  Hence, the bread, in addition to representing the body of Jesus, represents the Church also as Christ’s body.  That being true, it would be equally correct to say the bread and wine represent the actual body and blood of the Church, the participants in the service, if that statement were true of our Lord.  But no one with the spirit of a sound mind would think to suggest such a meaning to the Apostle’s words.

It is well here to stress the words of Jesus in Luke 22:20, Diaglott: “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, that in your behalf being poured out.”  As the Authorized Version translates this, the average reader would conclude that the clause, “which is shed for you,’ modifies and explains the word blood; but the Greek grammar forbids such a construction.  The participle translated poured out and its governing article do not modify the Greek word for blood.  The participle translated poured out with its governing article sustains the same grammatical relation to the word is as the Greek words translated New Covenant.  Therefore, our Lord’s statement means that the cup by His blood (merit) represents two things: the New Covenant, and that being poured out for us.  What is meant by the latter?  Since a cup in Biblical symbols represents experiences that the Lord pours out for His people, we would understand that the cup in this connection also represents the sufferings unto death of the Church with Him.

Much of what has been presented herein has been gleaned from the writings of others, with some of our own thoughts interspersed; and it is our hope that our effort will prove a blessing to all who endeavor to “walk in newness of life.”  Also, we would stress that it is not our intention to supplant the Passover article in Volume 6, the reading of which we heartily recommend to all.  Thus, we pray for all a special blessing in the preparation for, and participation in this 2005 service, as we “do this in remembrance.”  The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace!

“This is my body,” the Master said,

“Which is broken for you this day;

And this is my blood, which is being shed

To open for you the way.”

Oh, the pain that the Savior bore,

And the grief that the Pure One knew!

By men depraved He was bruised sore—

Though not for Himself, but you.

Man could not grasp His wondrous thought,

Nor the matchless love that was shown.

He suffered and died alone.

And now comes the call to His faithful few:

“You may share what is left behind

Of the grief and suffering the Loved One knew

For the blessing of all mankind.”

It was an unfriendly race He sought;

So may each to the table worthily come--

Nor earthly loss bemoan

Till he finally hear that sweet “Well done!

                                             Sit down in my Father’s throne.”

(Brother John J. Hoefle, Reprint 386, March 1988)

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THEY KNEW NOT THE TIME OF THEIR VISITATION - LUKE 19:44

Our Lord reproved the teachers of Israel because they did not discern the signs of the  times; because they “knew not the time of their visitation.”  His words imply that their ignorance was a mark of carelessness and unworthiness, and of Divine disfavor.  He said “Ye can discern the face of the sky: but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”  There was a reason, and the realization of that reason might have meant, to some at least, a correction of it - a drawing near to God to be taught of Him.  So now in the time of our Lord’s second presence we find the world largely increasing in wisdom along various lines, and many hearts in perplexity and wonderment looking for those things which are coming upon the world, their hearts failing them for fear of the impending dissolution of the social structure in anarchy, and yet none are so blind respecting the times in which we live and the great changes impending, as the leaders of religious thought.

They are blinded by their false theories.  They have declared that the Lord’s commission to His church is that she should convert the world into a Kingdom of God, and thus bring about the reign of righteousness; and they are so determined that their theories must not fail that they cannot see what is rapidly becoming apparent even to the worldly; namely, that the numbers even nominally converted every year are increasing far less, proportionately, than the natural increase of the world’s population: so that if they had millions of years before them, the conversion could never be hoped for; but at the end of millions of years, true Christianity could not expect to claim as large a percentage as at present.  Their theory also blinds them to the fact that much of the increase of church membership in civilized lands is merely for popularity’s sake, and for the sake of worldly prosperity, social standing, etc., and not the result of love for God and righteousness, nor significant of a consecration to walk in the “narrow way” of self-denial, self-sacrifice, etc.

The worldly, therefore, are really in a better condition to discern the signs of the times than many prejudiced nominal Christians.  But none can see these things from the true standpoint except as they take that standpoint, and it is only granted to those who are fully consecrated to the Lord and who hearken to His Word.  These shall not be in darkness, the Lord will not hide from them either His good purposes as respects the blessing of The Church and, subsequently, of the world, or His purposes respecting the chastisement of the world in a great Time of Trouble, preparatory to its blessing, which will come after it has been humbled.

(Pastor Russell, Reprint 2981, March 15, 1902)