NO. 702: WHY DOES GOD PERMIT EVIL?

No. 702

 “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” (Psa. 25:14)

Why did the Almighty originally permit evil – sin? And why has He permitted Satan to continue his reign of sin and death? When we consider the suffering of humanity during the present life (ignoring the unscriptural ideas of centuries of purgatory and an eternity of torment), how can we account for its permission by an All-Powerful Creator, who knew the end from the beginning?

Why does He permit pain, injustice, unrighteousness, and all manner of heartaches? Why does He not deal with humanity graciously, kindly, lovingly, as a Father? Is it just or loving on the part of our Creator to bring forth billions of His creatures under such unfavorable conditions, beset by weakness and sin from birth and surrounded by others similarly afflicted? Is it just that we should be subjected to weaknesses, and dying and imperfect conditions through no sin of our own but through the sin of our first parents? Is it just that we should at the same time be in danger of an eternity of torture, as most denominations of Christendom teach, when ignorance and sin have stacked the odds over­whelmingly against us?

Our question is surely too deep for any human philosophy, and those who reject the Bible as of Divine inspiration may as well abandon all hope of an answer. Only God Himself can tell us of His secrets, why He did as He did. Truly, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear [reverence] him; and he will show them his covenant.” (Psa. 25:14)

The light now shining upon the Word of God shows us that the Divine purpose in connection with mankind is a progressive one, embracing Ages and Dispensations. It is the privilege of Bible students today to see the light in God’s Word, to see matters from the Divine standpoint, to understand the mystery of God, hidden for ages but now made known: namely, that in the ages to come all the trials and difficulties, all the sorrows and tears of the past, will be more than compensated for, and proven to be part of the great Divine Plan which will work to the glory of God and the enlightenment and blessing of men as well as angels. (Eph. 3:9-11)

GOD’S GREAT LESSON

God not only created man perfect in mind and body, but He gave to him a free will, the power of choice, the liberty to choose one course or another. God foresaw that giving man this liberty of will would lead to the disobedience of Father Adam. Although Adam and the angels were perfect, they did not have perfect knowledge of their Creator, of His Love, His Wisdom, His Justice, His Power.

God, therefore, without interfering with Adam’s liberty, permitted the great calamity of death to come upon him and his posterity. God premeditated the entire Plan of Salvation and has since been working it out; and He will ultimately completely accomplish it through Messiah’s Kingdom. The great lesson which will eventually come both to angels and men will show forth Divine Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power, fully coordinated. In no other way that we can imagine could this great Revelation of the Divine character be so well made. However, in order to comprehend this great Program, it is necessary that we follow strictly the Scriptural teachings, and avoid wholly the nonsense of creeds manufactured during the Dark Ages. We must see that “the wages of sin” is not eternal torment, nor purgatory, but death.

God allowed this reign of sin and death from Adam until Moses without so much as making an offer of terms for reconciliation and peace. Then an offer was made to the nation of Israel, and to no other nation. The offer of Israel’s Law Covenant was that he who kept it would live. (Lev. 18:5) God, of course, knew that Israel could not keep perfectly the conditions of that great and wonderful Law. The offer served as a lesson to that nation on the impossibility of any man keeping the perfect Law; and the same lesson comes to us of this Gospel Dispensation. We see that what the Jew could not do we cannot do; where he failed we would fail.

God will ultimately teach the same lesson to the world and to angels (“which things the angels desire to look into” – 1 Pet. 1:12), proving that by the deeds of the Law no fallen flesh could be recovered and restored to Divine favor. Four thousand years passed from man’s creation, and death reigned from Moses to Christ as thoroughly as it had previously reigned from Adam to Moses. The Law Covenant did not stop the reign of sin and death. Something more than a Law is necessary. The Divine Program demands recovery from sin and death and provides a plan for this recovery.

Twenty centuries after the first advent of our Lord, the reign of sin and death continues more than ever. The increase of knowledge has brought increase of sin and increase of population has brought increase of death. Today the world is in a terrible condition of mental, moral and physical dilapidation, and it is estimated that more than 150,000 people die each day.

But a remedy is in sight. It was foretold through the Prophets, but it began to operate in Jesus. His miraculous birth, His faithfulness and consecration unto death, His reward of resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of the Majesty on High, are all essential to man’s recovery, essential to the overthrow of this reign of sin and death.

We see still further developments and preparations. The Scriptures inform us that it is the Divine purpose to have a many member Messiah, with the glorious Jesus the Head and the Church the Body. We see that during the Gospel Age God has been calling and drawing a special class of mankind to constitute His Elect, the Bride Class, to be joint-heirs with His Son in the Kingdom of Glory which will finally vanquish sin and Satan, delivering the willing and obedient of mankind into the full liberty of the children of God, free from sin and death, enjoying life everlasting and Divine favor. (Rom. 8:17-21)

THE DARK AND NARROW PATH

This special class has been required to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, to walk by faith and not by sight in the “narrow way” (Matt. 7:14) of self-denial and opposition to the world, the flesh and the Adversary. They have demonstrated their full loyalty and obedience to the will of God, even unto death, by walking this narrow way amid the world’s deplorable conditions of ignorance, selfishness, sin, and death. No such narrow way could have existed had God not permitted evil, sin; therefore, this Elect class could not be developed and tested except by the Divine permission of sin. The very essence of their character development is associated with the Divine promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

It seemed wise to our Heavenly Father that our Lord Jesus should learn obedience through sufferings and be tested in respect to His willingness to endure suffering for righteousness’ sake. How appropriate it is that the same Father should make similar arrangements for all of the Church, received from among mankind to be members of the Royal Priesthood under Jesus, the High Priest of our order! (Heb. 3:1)

We see wisdom on God’s part in thus preparing a priesthood of the future. A priest, as recognized among the Jews, was not merely one who offered sacrifices, although every priest was of necessity a sacrificer. The special mission of the priestly tribe among the other tribes was that of instructing, helping, healing, and teaching. And so God has been preparing a Royal Priesthood for the Messianic Age to bless, to heal, to teach, to uplift all the willing and obedient. The Priesthood will then no longer be a sacrificing class, for all sacrificing will be at an end. It will be a glorious royal class, of the divine nature; with our Lord Jesus they will be representatives of the Divine power. (Rom. 8:18; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 5:10)

SIN’S LESSON TO HUMANITY AND ANGELS

Humanity is learning a great lesson through the permission of sin. Present experiences teach the lesson that “The way of transgressors is hard,” “The wages of sin is death,” “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Prov. 13:15; Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:20) The exceeding sinfulness of sin is thus being demonstrated to humanity. Few profit by the lesson in the present life; the great majority of mankind learn to know sin, evil, only. Even God’s provision for the future of mankind is obscured from the masses. “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4)

But with the dawning of Messiah’s Kingdom the knowledge of the glory of God’s character will shine everywhere. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5) Messiah’s gracious reign, the manifestation of Divine mercy, will be for the very purpose of uplifting the poor, fallen masses of the human race. During the thousand years of Messiah’s Kingdom, the whole world will have full opportunity for learning the great desirability of righteousness, as now, for a few years, they have the opportunity of learning the undesirability of sin.

By the close of the Mediatorial reign mankind will have learned wonderful lessons respecting good and evil! Then will come their final testing. After full knowledge of both good and evil, which will they choose? God urges all to choose the right and its reward of life eternal. Nevertheless, He will not coerce; He will allow each individual to make his choice, to mark out his own course. Those who ultimately choose to love righteousness and hate iniquity shall be accounted worthy of a place in the glorious Kingdom of Messiah.

God’s dealings with humanity also constitute a great object lesson to the angels, who perceive the inflexibility of Divine Justice – the decree of God. “Dying thou shalt die” (Gen. 2:17, KJV margin) has been unflinchingly executed against Adam and his posterity for six thousand years. They perceive the love of God, which passes all understanding. They perceive the Divine provision that the Son of God should die, the Just for the unjust, to bring mankind back to full harmony with the Creator. They see the breadth of the Divine character exemplified in the great reward given to our Lord Jesus Christ for His obedience to the Father’s will even unto death, an exaltation to the divine nature, honor and immortality.

They perceive, too, a still greater manifestation of Divine goodness in God’s invitation to the Church to walk in the Master’s footsteps, becoming joint-heirs with Christ in His glory, honor and immortality. Who could have dreamed of such Divine love which stooped down, not only to redeem the human race, but also to invite some of its members to these exceeding great and precious promises? (2 Pet. 1:4) “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)

Finally they will see Divine mercy extended to the world through Jesus. By the Father’s arrangement every member of the human race, no matter how degraded, no matter how fallen, no matter how mean, will have opportunity for everlasting life. The redeeming blood has been shed, “the just for the unjust,” for the sins of the whole world. (1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 2:2)

GOD’S POWER AND WISDOM MANIFESTED

While Divine Power is manifested in all the realm of nature and creation, a still greater Divine Power was manifested in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead, after He had been deceased three days. But even the power manifested in our Lord’s resurrection seems small in comparison to the further works of resurrection which the Scriptures assure us our dear Lord’s death ensures. It will be a still more miraculous work to resurrect the Church to glory, honor and immortality, after many of them have been in the power of death for centuries.

The resurrection work God plans for the world of mankind is still more stupendous. Billions will be awakened to essentially the same conditions they were in before death.[1] Then through the work of the Messiah they will be gradually released and uplifted from this condition of imperfection. This resurrection work for the world, gradually carried forward during that thousand years, will all be accomplished by the Father’s power, through the Messiah, the Mediator of the New Covenant. It will be a continuous miracle of awakening and uplifting of the human race.

The Wisdom of God will not be manifested in its full, clear light until the close of the reign of Messiah, when all willing to return to Divine favor will be completely uplifted from sin and death. Some may now partially see some of God’s Wisdom, but the majority still inquire: Why was evil permitted? Ultimately the Divine Wisdom of the permission of evil will be clearly seen by the saints, by the angels and by the world of mankind. Well does the Revelator exclaim: “Who shall not fear [reverence] thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? ... for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments [righteous acts] are made manifest!” (Rev. 15:4)

We now see God’s Power exhibited in creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” (Psa. 19:1-3) As the voice of nature acclaims God so, eventually, “Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth…heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13) All this will be the result of God’s permission of the reign of evil, sin, death. The key is found in the Plan of the Ages showing the work which each Age is to accomplish, and the eventual grand overthrow of evil.

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(Based on a writing by Pastor Russell originally published under the series title People’s Pulpit. Reproduced in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3)

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GOD’S JUSTICE AND LOVE PERFECTLY POISED

“Mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” (Jas. 2:13)

This text shows that Love gains a victory over Justice, mercy being an outward expression of Love. Considering the way Divine Love gains the victory over Divine Justice, we learn something about our proper attitude; for we should copy God’s character, studying His methods and ways that we may become more like Him. Since His perfect Love and perfect Justice are inherent, invisible qualities of the Divine Nature, we could not study them unless they were manifested, although thus far they have been manifested only to a faithful few.

We see that God’s Love operated in the very beginning, when He created His Son to be His Logos. His Love was afterwards seen in His creation of angels and men, in His own image. Then we see that the fall of our race brought into operation Divine Justice; for it was Justice which decreed that man, because of his disobedience, should not live.

When Justice decreed that death must result from transgression, Divine Love agreed the sentence was altogether proper, not only because it is right for God to be just and in harmony with His own Law, but also because it would not be good for men to live everlastingly in a fallen condition. If God had permitted men to live on in imperfection, we can scarcely imagine the tremendous power some would have by this time. As it is, we see that some of the human race within a limited lifespan are able to cultivate such qualities of mind and character as to give them dominance over their fellow men; and were they allowed to live on indefinitely in sin, they would undoubtedly bring all others into subjection to themselves. Unless man exercises the attributes of his character in harmony with the Divine character, he should not be permitted to live, because of the great injury which he would do to others. Thus, in the Divine arrangement, we see Love agreeing with Justice that sinful man should die.

When our race came under the death sentence, God might have cut us off more quickly than He did had He not had His great plan – the Divine Plan of the Ages. (Eph. 3:11, Diaglott) Man was to learn certain lessons during the present life in order that he might profit by them in the future life. We see that God has arranged a very reasonable and loving way of dealing with the sinner race. In His wonderful Purpose He planned to redeem man from this death condition, and to restore the race in due time.

All the experiences of the present life will have a bearing upon all of the fallen race during the period of their restoration, in the incoming Age. God planned that mankind should have experiences of pain and death, thus to learn the needful lessons. For six thousand years the world has been getting its education as to what a terrible thing sin is: how hard it is to control, how ruinous are its effects, and how death will inevitably result from its continued practice. Thus billions of our race have had a great schooling during the past six thousand years.

LOVE PLANS MAN’S REDEMPTION

As we study the matter, we can see great wisdom in God’s course. Love was not indifferent, though for a time God could not show man His interest. Love had beforehand arranged a Plan whereby redemption would come, whereby Love would triumph over Justice. In God’s due time a purchase price for man would be given. Then after Justice should reign for six thousand years, during which the world would learn its needed lesson with respect to the heinousness of sin in all its manifold forms, Redeeming Love should become Restoring Love calling mankind forth from the tomb, during the thousand years’ Reign of the One who purchased them.

So ultimately, when death and hell (the grave) shall have delivered all that are in them, and when the curse of death shall be no more, Love will have triumphed over Justice. Thus we read, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:55,57)

This is one of the most wonderful things that we see in the Bible – the more wonderful as we understand it the more. God always maintains His Justice and He always maintains His Love; and we are blessed by both. Justice, having triumphed over the world for six thousand years, has brought our race down to Sheol, Hades – the tomb. Love, in the meantime, began to operate in harmony with Justice, and it has given the great sacrifice of Jesus, and has arranged that at the time of the Second Advent of Christ, and through His Reign of a thousand years, He shall awaken all humanity from the sleep of death.

HOW ONE PAID FOR ALL

We can thus see in the Bible what a great balance God has arranged. Since billions of souls have sinned, any other way than God’s way would have required billions of redeemers. But when we see how God is operating, we marvel at His arrangement. He provided that only one man should be condemned to death, and that through this one man condemnation should come upon all men while still in his loins. Thus one man could pay the penalty for all. “For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Cor. 15:21) One man was a sinner; one Man was the Redeemer.

Beautiful! We have never heard of anything like this except in God’s Plan. Think of a great Plan, covering six thousand years, in which the salvation of billions of human creatures is involved, and yet all so easily and perfectly poised! Justice will never be cheated out of its dues; yet Love gains the victory and provides the way, and does this at the expense of the One through whom the whole Plan is consummated – our blessed Lord Jesus.

The penalty resting upon mankind was met by the sacrifice of Jesus’ life. But was not that unjust? No! The Bible assures us that God stated the proposition beforehand to the Son, and that the Son was in full agreement with it – not the Man Jesus, but the Logos, the Word, the Messenger – Michael, the Godlike One. The proposition was made to Him that by the purchase of the whole race of man through His sacrifice He might obtain the honor and glory of Messiah – the opportunity of delivering and blessing the billions of humanity who had been condemned to death in Adam. And then, what more? Oh, much more! That He should be supremely exalted, even to the Divine Nature, for all eternity – far above angels, principalities, powers and every name that is named. (Phil. 2:5-11) All this is the great triumph of Love over Justice. While Justice remains forever inviolate, yet Love is the victor.

GOD’S WONDERFUL PLAN OF THE AGES

When we see the Bible teaching concerning the Divine Plan, it gives us a confidence in the Bible that we can get from no other source. It is the study of the Bible from the outside by those who try to tear it into shreds, using their brains against the Bible, that prove the professors of our day the worst of all times. Only when we perceive from the inside can we see the strength of the Bible. No human mind ever originated such a Plan. It is surely Divine, surely Biblical. We did not discover it, but it has been shown to the faithful “in due time.”

We know that this great Plan is of God; and the Book that contains such a wonderful Message is surely the Word of God. It must be that “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21) The Spirit of God dictated this wonderful Message. The many men who in various times and places uttered the words did not know what they meant. The understanding was not then due. But their words constitute a harmonious whole, and “they are written for our admonition [instruction], upon whom the ends of the world [ages] are come.” (1 Cor. 10:11; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; Rom. 15:4)

Nor could the Church understand their words until they received the begetting of the Holy Spirit with its consequent enlightenment. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church, “ye were illuminated.” (Heb. 10:32) Thus these things were brought to light in God’s due time. This illumination of the Church had its beginning at Pentecost. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given. (John 7:39)

The Church is a special class, called out in advance of the world. The early Church had to wait until Jesus had finished His sacrifice for sin, had ascended up on High as the great High Priest, to appear in the presence of God for the Church (not yet for the world), to sprinkle the blood of His sacrifice upon the Mercy-Seat on behalf of the Church, and had become the Advocate of those who would follow in His steps. (Heb. 9:24) Having made satisfaction for the sins of the consecrated, He imputed His own merit to them, thereby making them acceptable to the Father. Not until then could they receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit. Ever since that time the Holy Spirit has been with the Church, begetting each one who entered this class.

With this begetting comes the illumination. This illumination enables the consecrated one to understand things previously hidden. Thereafter all the Word of God becomes food to us, that thereby we may grow in grace, in knowledge, in justice, in love, in all qualities of the Divine character, that thus we may become more like our Father who is in Heaven.

DELIVERANCE OF THE WORLD NOW DUE

Having seen how Divine Justice has operated until now for the future blessing of mankind, we look further, and see that Divine Mercy (Love) is now about to gain a great victory for the whole world. As soon as the Church is glorified, the merit of the Redeemer is to be applied for all the human race. But it will require the entire thousand years of Messiah’s Reign before Mercy shall have fully triumphed over Justice. We now perceive what Love will be doing for the world throughout those thousand years. It will be awakening mankind from death and lifting them up from degradation to holiness and life.

This will all come through the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be God’s Agent, the Agent of Justice and of Love. The faithful Church, born of the Spirit in the First Resurrection, will be associated with Him in all His Kingdom glory and honor. At the conclusion of the Millennial Reign this glorious work of Divine Love will have been accomplished. Through all the out-workings of this wonderful Plan, the principles of absolute Justice and absolute Love will be observed, operating in full harmony.

In what manner will God’s Justice operate during the next Age toward mankind? Some have difficulty seeing how the world in the future will have their sins forgiven. Will the murderer have the same opportunity as those who have been nobler in their lives? How will Justice then be represented?

We believe that God’s dealings will be in full harmony with Justice. While Love will be especially operative or manifest during the Millennial Age, Justice will nonetheless never be violated. Will mankind in the future Age be punished for their sins committed in the present life? Yes, and no. They will not be punished in the sense of being held legally accountable for sins of the past – for this would nullify the work which Christ accomplished in His death in providing satisfaction for Adamic sin. Christ having made satisfaction for the sins of believers in this Age, they are no longer legally responsible for them. The same principle will operate with the world in the future Age.

HOW JUSTICE OPERATES

Consider the experiences of the Church of Christ. Suppose one had lived in such a way as to have gotten himself into a bad condition of body, mind or morals. These thing will be more or less a penalty upon him after he has become a Christian. Although God has forgiven his sin and cleans him from all unrighteousness, nevertheless he will have in his body or in his mind certain natural penalties resulting from his previous sinful course. If he had lived a sinful life for many years, the evil would be so much the more deeply entrenched; and he will have all the greater fight to overcome these deeply imbedded tendencies to sin. One who has lived a conscientious, moral life has just that much less to overcome.

If through evil thoughts or evil deeds the mind of that person has become poisoned, he may have to battle all his life against the seeds of sin, not in the way of direct punishment for his wrong doing, but through natural law. It is like a piece of land which has long been given over to weeds, in which case the roots would have become deeply entrenched in the soil. This land may afterward be changed into a wheat-field; but we know from experience that the weeds will be there also, and that the wheat will not flourish so readily, because of this fact.

It is even so with the heart and body of the consecrated one. After having given them to the Lord the fleshly tendencies are still there. God has accepted him and His grace covers his sins, which are no longer chargeable to him. But whoever has had a larger planting of sin in his former life may have to his dying day a great battle against these poisonous weeds; and that will be a proper and natural punishment for his past course. So it will be in the future. The world will get retribution for their sins, and it will take many years to get entirely free from the effects of sin.

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(Based on an article by Pastor Russell originally published in the Overland Monthly)

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THE WORD OF GOD

Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!

True wisdom its pages unfold;

And though we may read them a thousand times o’er,

They never, no never, grow old!

Each line hath a pleasure, each promise a pearl,

That all if they will may secure;

And we know that when time and the world pass away,

God’s Word shall forever endure.

Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!

The lamp that our Father above

So kindly hath lighted to teach us the way

That leads to the arms of His love!

Its warnings, its counsels, are faithful and just;

Its judgments are perfect and pure;

And we know that when time and the world pass away,

God’s Word shall forever endure.

Oh, wonderful, wonderful Word of the Lord!

Our only salvation is there;

It carries conviction down deep in the heart,

And shows us ourselves as we are.

It tells of a Savior, and points to the cross,

Where pardon we now may secure;

And we know that when time and the world pass away

God’s Word shall forever endure.

[1] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 6, page 714.

NO. 701: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

No. 701

 “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.” (Psa. 75:1)

At the beginning of the New Year, we again express our gratitude and thanks to God for all His benefits to us. In the words of David, “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” (Psa. 65:11) “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Prov. 30:5)

We are not unmindful of the many tragedies and atrocities of the past year which have caused much suffering and sorrow. We grieve and sorrow with all who have suffered. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Rom. 12:15) “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” – the morning of the Kingdom. (Psa. 30:5) “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) We are assured that “he is faithful that promised.” (Heb. 10:23)

MAJOR EVENTS IN 2015

Terrorism: Occurrences of terrorism in 2015 are too numerous to list individually. It is estimated there were nearly 300 incidences through November, killing and injuring many thousands of people. In Europe, France seemed to be hit particularly hard, perhaps because it has the largest Muslim population in Europe and has been criticized for failing to integrate this population into its society. France also has a long history of colonization in North Africa, which has caused resentment in the Islamic world. France has become a breeding ground for ISIS fighters.

In Paris, twelve people were killed in January in a terrorist attack at the Charlie Hebdo magazine, which is known for publishing satirical cartoons of Muhammad. The attackers appeared to have ties to Al-Qaeda. A few days later, an attacker took hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris. Four hostages were killed and the attacker was killed by police. In November, a series of coordinated attacks at six different locations in Paris killed 130 and wounded over 300. ISIS claimed responsibility. Terrorism experts were surprised that ISIS was able to carry out an attack of this scale.

France had recently joined other Western powers in bombing ISIS in Syria, targeting the group’s oil infrastructure. French President Francois Hollande vowed a “merciless response” to the attacks. On November 15, French war planes delivered 20 bombs to Raqqa, in northern Syria, considered by ISIS to be its capital.

In Denmark, two people were killed in terrorist attacks in February, one targeting a cartoonist who caricatured Muhammad and another outside a synagogue.

In Nigeria, Boko Haram continued its terror, taking over the town of Baga in January, burning it to the ground, massacring hundreds, possibly thousands. This terrorist group has declared a caliphate that covers one-fifth of Nigeria. Violence has displaced more than one million Nigerians, creating a wave of refugees fleeing to the neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger. In February, Boko Haram reportedly killed at least 91 and injured over 500 by shooting and burning in Cameroon. Boko Haram has increasingly used women and children as human bombs, with a number of attacks involving girls as young as 10. The girls, strapped with explosives, blew themselves up in public places. In March, Boko Haram formally pledged allegiance to ISIS, further extending the reach of that group.

In Libya, 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians were beheaded in February by a militant group aligned with ISIS. In the northern Africa nation of Tunisia, at least 20 people were killed in March when gunmen opened fire at a museum. Also in Tunisia, a gunman opened fire at a beach resort, killing 38 tourists. ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks.

In Yemen, about 140 were killed in March at two Shiite mosques in attacks attributed to affiliates of ISIS (who are of the Sunni sect). Yemen has been in a state of rebellion and revolution since 2004, with rival groups battling for control. Yemen is considered a terrorist training ground. In Kenya, Somalian militants targeted non-Muslims in a daylong siege in April at a University. The non-Muslims were taken hostage and more than 140 were killed. The Al-Qaeda aligned militants termed the attack an “operation against the infidels.”

In Turkey, a bomb attack in July in the town of Surac killed at least 30 and wounded hundreds. Officials think the attack was the work of ISIS. In October, multiple bombings killed nearly 100 during a peace rally in Turkey’s capital of Ankara. Hundreds more were wounded. The Turkish government had recently agreed to let U.S. fighter aircraft use a Turkish air base to launch bombing raids on ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

On October 31, a Russian passenger jet crashed 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. The crash was determined to be the result of a terrorist bomb. ISIS claimed responsibility, citing retaliation for Russia’s bombing of ISIS in Syria. In a video, ISIS threatened further attacks against Russia.

In Beirut, a pair of suicide bombings in November killed 43 and injured at least 128. ISIS claimed responsibility. The blasts occurred in an area where Hezbollah and Iran-backed Shite militia have a presence (both are enemies of ISIS). Also in November, terrorists stormed a hotel in Bamako, Mali killing 27. An Al-Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility.

“‘I wish I could also have died’: Boko Haram haunts kids: Memories of Boko Haram’s murderous spree in his Nigerian hometown haunt Tom Gowon, 9, as he sits on a patch of grass at a refugee camp, sipping steaming porridge from a plastic mug. ‘I was lucky because I was not killed,’ said Gowon, recalling the assault on Baga, Nigeria, in early January. ‘But they shot and killed my father. My mother was kidnapped by the militants…’ The child is shellshocked, his life changed forever. ‘I don’t know where my future lies,’ he said. ‘I wish I could also have died...’ (USA Today, March 11, 2015)

Comment: Truly, the groaning creation is travailing in pain, waiting to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21,22)

Syrian Civil War: Terrorism is deeply intertwined with the ongoing civil war in Syria. More than 250,000 Syrians have died since March 2011 when pro-democracy protests turned violent, ultimately escalating into civil war. War crimes have been committed by both sides with the government carrying out chemical attacks against rebels. Over half the country’s population has been displaced, with more than four million people fleeing Syria and more than seven million others internally displaced. A huge humanitarian crisis has resulted.

Regional and world powers have been drawn into the conflict, with Russia and Iran supporting the Assad government and western countries backing the rebels who are labeled as “terrorists” by the Syrian government. The Assad government is believed to be heavily subsidized by Iran and is also supported by Hezbollah. Diplomatic attempts to stop the conflict have failed.

In addition to the rebels, ISIS militants are also fighting against al-Assad, capitalizing on the chaos by taking control of huge swathes of territory. ISIS has waged a campaign of terror and is also accused of using homemade chemical weapons. A U.S.-led coalition has been conducting air strikes against ISIS since 2014, while attempting to avoid any attack that would benefit Assad. In September 2015, Russia began an air campaign against Assad’s opponents, ostensibly only targeting terrorists (primarily ISIS) but many of the strikes hit western backed rebels and civilians. Tensions in the region escalated in late November when Turkey shot down a Russian war plane it claimed had violated its airspace.

As the opposition to Assad has become increasingly extremist, the Western backing for the rebels has cooled. Ironically, this may be leading to even more extremism. One civil society activist was quoted as saying: “The disappointment caused by the West’s inaction created a fertile recruiting ground for extremists, who told those who had lost their loved ones that they were their only hope.” (BBC.com, “Syria: The story of the conflict,” October 9, 2015)

Refugee Crisis: The vast majority of Syrian refugees have fled to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Turkey is sheltering more Syrian refugees than all of Europe and the U.S. combined. However, a large number have made their way to Europe. It is not only Syria that is contributing to the crisis. Violence, abuse and poverty in other countries such as Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Albania has also led large numbers to flee. This influx of migrants has set off tensions among the countries of the European Union as they struggle to cope with the surge of people arriving. More than 700,000 migrants have sought asylum in EU countries so far (through October) in 2015. The EU is pressing Turkey to keep migrants there. However, Turkey will not allow migrants to apply for asylum, leaving those migrants with an uncertain future. They face harsh conditions and are unable to legally work. Their access to healthcare is limited and most refugee children are not enrolled in school. As of late October an estimated 3,100 refugees have drowned in 2015 trying to cross the Mediterranean to the Greek Islands.

In the U.S., the acceptance of Syrian refugees has become a political issue, with most Republican lawmakers opposed to allowing these refugees to enter the country, particularly after it was disclosed that one of the perpetrators in the November Paris attacks entered Europe among Syrians fleeing the civil war.

The continued rise of ISIS: This extremist group continued to dominate headlines in 2015, terrorizing large areas of Syria and Iraq, executing captives, forcing women and girls into sexual slavery, and brutalizing minority populations as well as other Muslims who do not ascribe to their extreme religious views. In late 2014 the CIA estimated the group to be up to 30,000 fighters and growing. A large number of foreign fighters have reportedly left their homes to travel to join the terror group. With the continued bombing of ISIS targets by the U.S. and other Western countries, the group has called on its followers in Western nations to conduct attacks in their home countries. Their aim seems to be to attack ordinary people doing ordinary things, making it appear that no one is safe. If people think their governments cannot protect them, it will lead to a breakdown in order. Another aim seems to be to make Westerners less sympathetic to refugees fleeing ISIS from the Middle East.

“Islamic State’s sophisticated recruiting campaign poses persistent threat in U.S.: The arrests of six Minnesota men accused earlier this month [April] of attempting to join the Islamic State group, highlights an unprecedented marketing effort being waged by the militant group in Iraq and Syria, U.S. law enforcement officials and terror analysts said. ‘This is not so much a recruitment effort as it is a global marketing campaign, beyond anything that al-Qaeda has ever done,’ said a senior law enforcement official…While officials believe that the U.S. will never produce the volume of recruits being drawn from Western Europe, where a disaffected Muslim population and a lack of integration has helped contribute thousands of foreign fighters to the Islamic State, … the U.S. nevertheless remains an important focus.” (USA Today, April 27, 2015)

“4 ways ISIS grounds its actions in religion, and why it should matter (COMMENTARY): The terrorist group affirmed, in a statement issued in Arabic, French and English, that it chose the targets ‘accurately,’ identifying Paris as the ‘capital of prostitution’ and France, because of its participation in the war against ISIS, as the Crusader… There are four critical observations on the ISIS-issued statement, and one general conclusion.

“1. ISIS based its actions on a literal reading of the Quran… It views itself as truly Islamic and claims its actions are supported by the Quran. Contrary to common wisdom, ISIS maintains that the Paris attacks reflect the compassion and mercy of Allah through the destruction of French infidels…2. For ISIS followers, France is at war with Islam. The statement portrays France (and its allies) as Crusaders, literally ‘the holders of the Cross,’ portraying the war in purely religious terms… France is one of the leaders of ‘the Crusader campaign,’ which cursed Muhammad, and struck ‘Muslims in the land of the Caliphate.’ 3. The attacks were meant to imitate seventh-century raids led by the Prophet Muhammad. The statement identified the Paris attacks using the Arabic term ‘ghazwa.’ This term is primarily used in the biography of Muhammad to refer to his raids and expeditions against the non-Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century. By using this unique Arabic term, ISIS signifies its claimed noble religious cause, imitating the military campaigns in the earliest Islamic period…4. The terrorists viewed themselves as martyrs for Islam. The Islamic State’s statement refers to the attackers as martyrs for the sake of Islam, identifying them as young men who ‘divorced the worldly life’ to die in the path of Allah and for his cause… One cannot erase the effects of such horrible attacks executed under the banner of religion. To claim that all Muslims are terrorists is far from correct, but to deny or underestimate the significant power and influence of some Islamic texts and specific interpretations of them is not prudent, either.” (Religion News Service on-line, November 16, 2015)

Israel: In March, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Congress at the invitation of House Speaker Boehner. This was an attempt to sway the Obama administration against a nuclear deal with Iran, but was seen by many as an attempt to undermine Obama’s foreign policy. In his speech, Netanyahu insisted that the deal could threaten the existence of Israel, all but guaranteeing nuclear arms in Iran. When the deal was in fact reached later in July, Netanyahu called it an “historic mistake.”

“Iran deal debate devolves into clash over Jewish stereotypes and survival: Supporters of the agreement find themselves compared to Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who went down in history as the man who tried to appease Hitler. Their critics ask how they can endorse a deal – which would lift Iranian economic sanctions and allow it to pursue a limited nuclear program – when its leaders threaten to destroy the world’s only Jewish state. The Holocaust looms over the nuclear deal debate. Obama doesn’t seem to understand that fear, said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the pro-Israel International Fellowship of Christians and Jews...‘When there’s rhetoric saying “we’re going to destroy you” and they have the power to do so, we’ve learned “never again,”’ said Eckstein. ‘Take them at their word and don’t let it happen.’

“‘What makes this a little tough for Jews is that it’s very hard to forget that there was another country out there and another leader who used this kind of language in the 1930s, and a lot of people refused to take it seriously,’ said Jonathan Sarna, professor of Jewish history at Brandeis University. ‘We all know how that turned out.’” (Religion News Service on-line, August 13, 2015)

“UN nuclear agency report: Iran’s uranium stockpile has grown: Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium has increased in the past three months even though Tehran is supposed to reduce it significantly under a deal with major powers, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday [November 18] in a confidential report seen by Reuters.

“Iran had also moved centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, at its Natanz and Fordow sites, the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. Under the deal with major powers reached in July, Iran is supposed to reduce the number of centrifuges it has in operation.” (Jerusalem Post on-line, November 18, 2015)

In October, the worst violence in years broke out between Israelis and Palestinians, with 32 Palestinians and 7 Israelis killed. The unrest began because of what Palestinians perceived as encroachment by Israelis on the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. However, the violence quickly spread beyond Jerusalem. Palestinian groups called for a “Day of Rage.”

“With secret prayers, Jews challenge ‘status quo’ at Jerusalem holy site: In a region full of complexity, the Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount status quo occupies a special place. It upholds a rule that has effectively existed since 1187, when Muslim warrior Saladin defeated the Christian crusaders and held on to Jerusalem: non-Muslims may enter the sacred compound, but only Muslims can pray.

“Before Muslims built the Dome of the Rock and the Aqsa mosque in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, two Jewish temples, the second destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, stood at the site, which is both the holiest place in Islam outside Saudi Arabia and the most sacred place in Judaism.

“After Israel seized the Old City and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, it agreed to continue the status quo, recognizing the risks of igniting a religious war if anything were changed. It gave Jordan special responsibility for overseeing the Muslim holy sites via the Waqf, an Islamic trust….the Waqf says Israel has been slowly chipping away at the rules, with increasing numbers of religious Jews visiting the area and many of them surreptitiously praying.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those suggestions, saying repeatedly that the government has not changed the rules and has no intention of doing so….The Israeli government points out that only about 12,000 Jews visit the site each year, as against four million Muslims.

“Figures from the Israeli police show a steady increase in Israeli Jewish visitors. Combined with that, groups that advocate more Jewish access to the site, and the rebuilding of a Jewish temple there, have become more organized in their efforts, casting it as an issue of religious freedom….While no one prays openly – they are warned and ejected by police if they do – the groups usually drift off into a grove of olive trees at the eastern edge of the compound where more secretive prayer is possible. Some have written on blogs about worshipping there, proud to have violated the rules.

“‘If they say prayers in their heads, how can we know?’ said Nader Shaheen, a Waqf guard, who says he frequently sees Jews praying and is frustrated when the police do nothing.” (Reuters, October 26, 2015)

“Candidly Speaking: The global jihadist onslaught and European Jews: In the midst of this turbulent, massive migration and ongoing fears of new terror attacks, the future for European Jews appears bleaker than ever.

“Jews in most of Europe were considered pariahs for many years. Today, the level of anti-Israelism has reached record levels. The majority of Europeans believe Israel represents a greater threat to global security than Iran and North Korea. Most are convinced that Israelis have genocidal intentions in relation to the Arabs, make no distinction between Palestinian terrorists and Jewish victims of terrorism and frequently condemn Israelis for defending themselves against knife-wielding religious fanatics…

“While millions of Syrians have been displaced and butchered, European leaders seem more concerned about labeling products produced by Israelis over the Green Line [the 1949 armistice lines established between Israel and its Arab neighbors] than identifying terrorists. Ironically, the EU does not consider the political wing of Hezbollah to be a terrorist body. There remains a refusal to recognize that the frenzied killers of Israeli Jews and IS terrorists murdering civilians in Paris, are all components of the same global Islamic terrorist enterprise.

“Despite the greater concern about Islamic terrorism in the wake of the shocking attacks in Paris, even now it is highly unlikely that the negative French attitudes toward Israel, designed to appease the Arabs, will be diminished.

“Although many Western parliamen­tarians and heads of state pay lip service to the contrary, popular anti-Semitism appears to be washing over the continent like a tsunami with increasing incitement and violence in most European cities.” (Isi Leibler, Jerusalem Post on-line, November 18, 2015)

Race relations in U.S.: In the year following the 2014 shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, racial unrest seems to have increased and relations between police and minority communities are at a low point.

A mass shooting in June at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. once again brought racial tensions to the surface. After photos surfaced of the shooter displaying a Confederate flag, protesters called for the flag’s removal from the South Carolina State House grounds as well as from other displays in the South.

At the University of Missouri, a series of protests claiming bigotry on campus resulted in the resignation of the president of the university system and the chancellor of the campus. These protests spread to a number of other campuses.

“Poll Finds Most in U.S. Hold Dim View of Race Relations: Seven years ago, in the gauzy afterglow of a stirring election night in Chicago, commentators dared ask whether the United States had finally begun to heal its divisions over race and atone for the original sin of slavery by electing its first black president. It has not. Not even close.

“A New York Times/CBS News poll… reveals that nearly six in 10 Americans, including heavy majorities of both whites and blacks, think race relations are generally bad, and that nearly four in 10 think the situation is getting worse. By comparison, two-thirds of Americans surveyed shortly after President Obama took office said they believed that race relations were generally good.” (New York Times on-line, July 23, 2015)

Comment: Pastor Russell wrote, “Mankind is one family: God ‘hath made of one blood all nations of men.’ (Acts 17:26) Each member of the human family is a human brother to every other human being. All are children of the one father, Adam, a son of God (Luke 3:38)…” (Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 4, page 310)

Gun violence: According to CDC statistics, more than 32,000 people are killed by guns each year in the U.S. Nothing seems to be done about it, mainly because politicians fear the consequences of taking on the powerful gun lobby. Reports of mass shootings are so common that we scarcely pay attention to them, yet there are many more shootings we do not hear about. According to the website Mass Shooting Tracker, there were 338 mass shootings in 2015 through November 20, an average of more than one a day. A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot in one incident.

In addition to the Charleston, S.C. shooting, we mention a few of the shootings during 2015: nine killed at a biker shootout in Waco, Texas (May); nine killed at a community college in Oregon (October); a total of seven killed in two incidents in Colorado Springs (three at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in November and four downtown in October). The deadliest shooting of the year thus far was on December 2, when 14 were killed in a bloodbath at a holiday party in San Bernardino, California. In addition to those killed, many more were injured, including 17 at San Bernardino.

“American deaths in terrorism vs. gun violence…: Using numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we found that from 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil. (2013 is the most recent year CDC data for deaths by firearms is available.) This data covered all manners of death, including homicide, accident and suicide…According to the U.S. State Department, the number of U.S. citizens killed overseas as a result of incidents of terrorism from 2001 to 2013 was 350. In addition, we compiled all terrorism incidents inside the U.S. and found that between 2001 and 2013, there were 3,030 people killed in domestic acts of terrorism [nearly 3,000 were as a result of the 9/11 attacks]. This brings the total to 3,380.” (CNN.com, October 2, 2015)

“More Young Americans Now Die From Guns Than Cars: The United States is one of the greatest nations in the world. But compared to our peers, we’re one of the worst when it comes to gun violence. In America, you can be shot at an elementary school. You can be murdered at a church or movie theatre. You can even be executed on live TV – and yet there’s no real expectation of gun reform...Gun related deaths in America wildly outpace our peer nations…” (Forbes.com, August 26, 2015)

Comment: We continue to look forward to the Kingdom when “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

RELIGION IN 2015

“Study: Americans becoming less Chris­tian, more secular: The number of Americans who don’t affiliate with a particular religion has grown to 56 million in recent years, making the faith group researchers call ‘nones’ the second-largest in total numbers behind evangelicals, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday [May 11]... Between 2007 and 2014, when Pew conducted two major surveys of U.S. religious life, Americans who described themselves as atheist, agnostic or of no particular faith grew from 16 percent to nearly 23 percent. At the same time, Christians dropped from about 78 percent to just under 71 percent of the population.” (Associated Press, May 12, 2015)

Comment: Even among those who identify themselves as Christians, few have faith in Jesus as the ransom. Jesus prophesized of this condition saying, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) Writing about this prophecy, Pastor Russell said, “Thus the sunlight of the Gospel is daily becoming more and more obscure… The Scriptures variously forewarn us of this great falling away, as well as of this darkening of the faith of the Church at this time; so that the Son of Man when he cometh will find the faith very scarce on the earth.” (Volume 4, page 592)

Pope’s visit to the U.S.: The Pope’s visit to the U.S. in September drew much attention. This Pope is intent on improving the Catholic Church’s image, choosing to ride in a Ford Focus rather than a chauffeured limousine. He is popular among Catholics and Protestants alike and his speeches sound like those of a politician running for office. He champions such causes as income inequality and climate change and promotes unity among Christian denominations.

“U.S. Church, in Pope Francis’ Afterglow, Sees Chance to Win Back Faithful: Over six days, throngs of Roman Catholics and non-Catholics in three cities swooned over Francis, the ‘People’s Pope,’ who asked the downtrodden and the mighty alike to pray for him. The crowds have gone home. But a papal afterglow remains, injecting the American church with new energy in small but unmistakable ways… While it could easily be short-lived, Catholic officials at every level, from parish priests to archdiocesan officials, are now praying – and strategizing – over how to sustain a Francis bounce.” (New York Times on-line, October 2, 2015)

“From Antichrist to Brother in Christ: How Protestant Pastors View the Pope: More than half of evangelical pastors say Pope Francis is their brother in Christ. More than one-third say they value the pope’s view on theology, and 3 in 10 say he has improved their view of the Catholic Church. Those are among the findings of a new study of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors, released this week from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

“Overall, the survey found that many Protestant pastors have taken a liking to Pope Francis… ‘Our sample itself – Protestant pastors – is named after the Protestant Reformation, so they are particularly interesting to survey,’ said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research.” (Christianity Today on-line, September 25, 2015)

“Atheists rap Congress for letting pope preach: Members of Congress from both parties may be welcoming Pope Francis to the Capitol on Thursday (Sept. 24), but the Freedom From Religion Foundation? Not so much. The Wisconsin-based advocacy group took out full-page ads in The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and The Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘Why is the pope preaching to Congress?’ asks the ad in The Washington Post that includes quotes and the visage of President John F. Kennedy. The nation’s only Catholic president spoke of the importance of ‘absolute’ church-state separation and said he believed in a country ‘where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope.’ ‘Unfortunately, Congressional leaders John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, both Roman Catholics, appear not to share JFK’s vision of a secular America,’ the ad reads.” (Religion News Service on-line, September 25, 2015)

“Irish priests to hear confessions in shopping malls over Christmas period: Irish priests are hoping to take advantage of Irish shopping mania in the lead up to Christmas--by hearing confessions in shopping centers… The priests will be available to shoppers inspired by Pope Francis’s words to seek out those in need wherever they are. Shannon’s Parish Priest Fr Tom Ryan told The Irish Catholic [newspaper] the initiative ‘was in response to Pope Francis’ call to priests to go out to the market place and proclaim the Gospel.’” (Irish Central on-line, November 27, 2015)

“Pope Francis ‘prepared to battle’ on Vatican reform: Despite intense opposition from some conservatives and new revelations of financial scandals in the Vatican, Pope Francis is at peace with the reformist course he has set for the Catholic Church, according to a cardinal who is a leading adviser to the pontiff….Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga also said that the latest reports of excessive spending and political maneuvering by officials of the Roman Curia only confirm the need to press ahead with an overhaul of the papal bureaucracy…. ‘It’s a revolution going on (in the Vatican). But a revolution of love, and hope,’ said Rodriguez…” (Religion News Service on-line, November 4, 2015)

“European Catholic bishops call for regional action ahead of Paris climate talks: On Monday [October 26], Catholic leaders from five continents issued a 10-point appeal for climate negotiators to come to a just and ‘truly transformational’ climate agreement in Paris …European church officials have also organized a series of activities leading up to the climate conference, including fasts, marches, conferences and seminars that will also include Jewish, Buddhist and Protestant leaders, among others… [Cardinal Reinhard Marx] acknowledged the church had been slow in forging a climate action plan. ‘The church can learn from the world,’ he said, in ‘understanding the signs of the times.’” (Religion News Service on-line, October 30, 2015)

One reader of the above article posted this comment on line: “The Pope has spoken to the world on the morality of the issue but the Church has no responsibility to lead the world in this secular pursuit.”

Comment: The Bible foretells of the coming together of Protestantism and Catholicism. Pastor Russell wrote of this saying, “…the ‘sure word of prophecy’ indicates very clearly that the various Protestant sects will form a cooperative union or federacy, and that Catholicism and Protestantism will affiliate, neither losing its identity. These are the two ends of the ecclesiastical heavens which, as their confusion increases, shall roll together as a scroll (Isa. 34:4; Rev. 6:14) for self-protection – as distinct and separate rolls, yet in close proximity to each other.” (Volume 4, page 258)

Not everyone is enthralled with the Pope’s efforts to change the image of the Catholic Church. Columnist George Will had these caustic words:

“Pope Francis’s fact-free flamboyance: Pope Francis embodies sanctity but comes trailing clouds of sanctimony. With a convert’s indiscriminate zeal, he embraces ideas impeccably fashionable, demonstrably false and deeply reactionary. They would devastate the poor on whose behalf he purports to speak…This man who says ‘the Church does not presume to settle scientific questions’ proceeds as though everything about which he declaims is settled, from imperiled plankton to air conditioning being among humanity’s ‘harmful habits.’ The church that thought it was settled science that Galileo was heretical should be attentive to all evidence.

“Francis deplores ‘compulsive consum­erism,’ a sin to which the 1.3 billion persons with­out even electricity can only aspire. He leaves the Vatican to jet around praising subsistence farming, a romance best enjoyed from 30,000 feet above the realities that such farmers yearn to escape.

“As the world spurns his church’s teachings about abortion, contraception, divorce, same-sex marriage and other matters, Francis jauntily makes his church congruent with the secular religion of ‘sustainability’… Francis’s fact-free flamboyance reduces him to a shepherd whose selectively reverent flock, genuflecting only at green altars, is tiny relative to the publicity it receives from media otherwise disdainful of his church.” (The Washington Post on-line, September 18, 2015)

“How religion is roiling the GOP race: After the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the mass killings that shocked France, Republican White House hopefuls pounced, leveling harsh rhetoric about Islam and calling for a much more aggressive strategy to fight the radical group known as ISIS. Ted Cruz said the United States should deny entry to Muslim refugees from Syria, but leave the door open to fleeing Christians… Jeb Bush echoed that view, saying U.S. efforts to assist refugees should focus on Christians. ‘I do think there is a special important need to make sure that Christians from Syria are being protected because they are being slaughtered in the country…’ Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s months-long front-runner, declared that he would strongly consider closing down mosques …These comments come as a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates are fighting to win the support of Christian conservatives in early voting states like Iowa and across the South, in part by vowing to fiercely protect religious liberties.” (CNN.com, November 17, 2015)

Comment: It is hard to see how these sentiments promote protection of religious liberties.

“After Paris: Remembering Christians who have killed in God’s name: To visit the grand old Christian cathedrals of Europe is to be reminded of the close alliance between church and state for centuries in waging all kinds of wars in the name of Christ and Christendom. Just look up at the stained glass windows integrating cross, sword, and crown. These wars claimed the lives of Muslims, Jews, and fellow Christians.” (David Gushee, Religion News Service on-line, November 17, 2015)

____________________________________________________

ANNOUNCEMENT

The date of our Lord’s Memorial is March 21, 2016 after six p.m.

NO. 700: THE LOGOS MADE FLESH

No. 700

 “And the Logos became Flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14, Diaglott)

The basis of our Christmas study, contained in John 1:1-18, is one of the most beautiful in the whole Bible. Genesis goes back to the beginning of earthly things; but this lesson goes back to the beginning of all beginnings, when God was alone. The very beginning of Divine operation was the Logos – “the beginning of the creation of God” – “the firstborn of every creature.” (Rev. 3:14; Col. 1:15)

Logos, translated “Word” in most English translations of the Bible, signifies mouthpiece, or special messenger. Logos was the name of Jesus before He became flesh and should properly be left untranslated, just as the names “Jesus” and “Christ” are left untranslated. Not only was the Logos the beginning of the Divine creation, or the Alpha – but He was also the last, the Omega, as He Himself informs us. (Rev. 1:11; 21:6) The first and only begotten Son of God was given an exclusive place, so that “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3) Thus the Father highly honored Him as His Agent in all the creative work.

The Greek text of John 1:1,2 is not fully represented in any of our common translations. Accurately translated it reads, “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with the God (τὸν θεόν) and the Logos was a god (θεὸς); the same was in the beginning with the God (τὸν θεόν).” Here the majesty of our Redeemer in His pre-human condition is fully set forth, and yet He is distinctly shown to be the Son and not the Father – to be a god and not the God.

The word god signifies “mighty one;” but there is only one God whose name is the Almighty. St. Paul affirms this great truth, saying, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” (1 Cor. 8:6) Again, the Apostle writes, “The head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Cor. 11:3) This is the claim that Jesus made for Himself – not that He was the Father, the Almighty God, but that He was the Son of God, who came to do the will of His Father in Heaven.

The so-called doctrine of the Trinity, put into the Nicene Creed by a council of bishops con­vened by the Emperor Constantine in A.D. 325, has been the cause of much of our confusion when studying the Bible. The Bible contains neither the word trinity nor any suggestion of it, except in the one passage acknowledged by all scholars to be spurious, namely 1 John 5:7. This passage is not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century.

The Redeemer was not deceitful when He prayed to the Father with loud cries and tears, “My God! My God!” (Matt. 27:46) Neither was He deceitful when He declared to Mary after His resurrection, “I am not yet ascended to my Father…and your Father, and to my God and your God.” (John 20:17) He declared His oneness with the Father, and desired that a similar oneness should prevail among His followers – oneness of spirit, of purpose. Therefore He prayed for His Church, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:21-23)

“THE LOGOS BECAME FLESH”

St. Paul tells us of how He who was rich on the spirit plane for our sakes became poor, leaving the Heavenly comforts for the scenes of this world, darkened by sin and death. (2 Cor. 8:9) This our lesson tells us also: “And the Logos became Flesh, and dwelt among us, – and we beheld His glory, a glory as of an Only-begotten from a Father, – full of favor and truth.” (John 1:14, Diaglott) St. Paul also corroborates this, declaring that our Lord stooped from His high position, took the bondman’s form and was found in fashion as a man, of the seed of Abraham. (Phil. 2:7,8; Heb. 2:16) But lest we should get the wrong thought, that He had become a sinful man, we are guarded by the assurance that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 7:26) We are also assured that His body was especially prepared, separate and different from others of our race, all of whom were of Adamic stock and all tainted with sin and the seeds of death. (Heb. 10:5-9)

But, on the other hand, we are to guard ourselves against the thought that the Logos remained a spirit being and merely materialized, or appeared in human form. This unscriptural thought is the one held by many, and styled incarnation. The angels incarnated, or got into flesh, when they materialized from time to time, as described in the Old Testament Scriptures. Our Lord Himself incarnated, or appeared in the flesh, to Abraham in company with others; and He talked with Abraham, who knew not that he was entertaining Heavenly beings, mistaking them for human travelers.

Similarly, after His resurrection Jesus ap­peared in various forms of flesh. That is to say, He materialized, or incarnated, for the purpose of teaching certain lessons to His disciples, because after His resurrection He was a spirit being, as He was before He was made flesh. As a spirit being, He appeared and disappeared, the doors being shut. Thus He taught His disciples a double lesson:

(1) That He was no longer dead, but risen;

(2) That He was no longer a human, but a spirit being – “being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by [made alive in] the Spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18)

A RANSOM, OR CORRESPONDING-PRICE

As Bible students we are learning that more than ever we must strive earnestly to keep close to the Word of God. It was the perfect man Adam who sinned and was sentenced to death, and under the Divine Law he could be redeemed only by the sacrifice of a perfect man. The Law declares, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a man’s life for a man’s life.” Hence the blood of bulls and goats could never make atonement for Adam’s sin; for they did not correspond: it was not a bullock nor a goat that had sinned and was to be redeemed, but a perfect man. (Heb. 10:4)

All of the human family are children of Adam and sharers in his death sentence; therefore, “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psalm 49:7) God so shut up the matter that Adam and his race could not have been redeemed except by the finding of a perfect man who would be willing voluntarily to die on their behalf. It was because there was no such man that God arranged with the Logos, His only begotten, that He should become a man and be the Redeemer of the human race – Adam and all his posterity.

But even this could not be demanded of the Logos. The Heavenly Father, therefore, as St. Paul points out, set before His Son, the Logos, a great proposition; namely, that if He would demonstrate His faith and loyalty to the extent of becoming man’s Redeemer, the Father would still more highly exalt Him and make Him partaker of the Divine nature, far above angels and every name that is named. (Heb. 12:2; Phil. 2:5-11) The Logos, full of faith and obedience, heartily entered into the proposition, was made flesh, consecrated His life, kept nothing back, finished the work at Calvary, and was raised from the dead by the Father to the Divine nature and glory and honor.

“THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

The Logos was made Jesus. The work of Jesus in the flesh, however, is not the completion of the Divine Plan, but merely the beginning of it. His death constitutes the basis of all future blessings to the Church and to the world. According to the Father’s Plan, an elect class was to be gathered out of Israel and out of every nation to be the Church of Christ, His Bride, associates with Him in His Throne, glory and work. (1 Pet. 2:9,10)

With the completion of the Elect, the Kingdom for which we pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” is to be established. Satan is to be bound; all evil is to be brought to an end; every good influence and enlightenment is to be shed; and He who died for the world is thus to become the Light of the world. He has not yet been the Light of the world, but merely a light to His people. As St. John declared, His light shined in darkness, and was not appreciated. (John 1:5) Similarly the light of Truth upheld by His consecrated Church will not be appreciated, so strong are the powers of the Prince of Darkness influencing the minds of the world, which, as yet, lies under the evil one. (1 John 5:19, Diaglott)

But the Prince of Life and His Kingdom will cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of God to fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep (Hab. 2:14), so that none shall need to say to his brother, know the Lord, for all shall know Him, from the least to the greatest. (Jer. 31:34) Thus according to His promise, in the coming Kingdom Jesus will be “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) The great mass of humanity, the civilized as well as the uncivilized, have as yet never seen nor even heard of this true Light.

The resurrection of the just will be necessary to bring the Church to glory and joint-heirship with her Lord. But the resurrection of the unjustified, which includes practically all humanity, will be for the very purpose of permitting them to see the true Light, which God has provided in His Son and which will be shed abroad during His Millennial Kingdom. Only those who refuse the light, preferring the darkness, will die the Second Death. (Rev. 21:8)

“POWER TO BECOME SONS”

John the Baptist was a messenger sent to call attention to the Light, but he was not the Light. He was not even one of the Church class, of whom Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), for John the Baptist died before the time of the begetting of the Spirit, after our Lord’s sacrifice.

The world did not recognize the great One, the Logos, by whom it was made. His own nation did not recognize Him, but instead crucified Him. Yet some then and some since have received Him, and to such He has given the power, the right, the liberty, the privilege, to become children of God. No such privilege was given to the Jews, nor to any of the fallen race, until Pentecost, after Jesus had appeared in the presence of God to make atonement for our sins.

These sons are all begotten of the Holy Spirit. Theirs is not a fleshly sonship. Their birth of the Spirit will be the resurrection change, when they shall be made like their Master, see Him as He is and share His glory.

(Adapted from Reprint 5351, with some updating of language, etc.)

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CHRISTMAS HOPES AND JOYS

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”(Luke 2:10,11)

Christmas (or Christ’s festival) is generally celebrated on December 25th; and since its commemoration is merely voluntary and not commanded in the Scriptures, we may well celebrate it on this date, although we believe evidence shows that our Lord was born about October 1st, and that December 25th, nine months previous, was probably around the date of the annunciation.[1] (Luke 1:30,31)

Our confidence that Jesus was sent of God to be the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Deliverer of His people, rests not merely upon the testimony of the Apostles in the New Testament records. Wonderful and convincing as these testimonies are, they gain most of their weight and importance from the fact that they prove the fulfilment of Old Testament promises, types and prophecies given more or less explicitly throughout the preceding 4,000 years. He who does not discern something, at least, of the divine plan of the ages in connection with our Savior, His birth, His three and one-half years’ ministry, His sacrificial death, His resurrection, His ascension, etc., fails to get the real strength of the divine revelation, designed by God to be the firm foundation for His people’s confidence in Him and in all the glorious things which He has promised He would yet accomplish through this great Savior.

OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES

Recall the original veiled promise of a Savior, given in the Garden of Eden and directed at the Serpent (Satan), shortly after the sin of our first parents brought us under divine sentence: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed [Satan’s seed of evil] and her seed [the Messiah]; it shall bruise thy head, [a fatal blow, crushing out all evil in due time] and thou shalt bruise his heel [He will not be injured vitally].” (Gen. 3:15) The promise was that God had not forsaken man, but will ultimately recover him through a Redeemer born of a woman.

Recall also the promise made to Abraham (2,083 years after the promise in the Garden of Eden) that the Messiah would be of his posterity: “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:18) It was repeated to Jacob: “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the fami­lies of the earth be blessed.”(Gen. 28:14)

Now coming forward to Moses, 430 years after the Abra­hamic Covenant, note the types and figures of the Mosaic arrangement. Moses himself was declared to be like unto the greater one to come after him. (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22, 7:37)

Much later, after King David began his reign 536 years after the giving of the Law to Moses, God said to him, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall pro­ceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom…And thine house and thy kingdom shall be es­tab­lished for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2 Sam. 7:12-16)

The Messiah’s coming and His greatness were foretold through the Prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 9:6,7; 11:1-9) The Prophet Daniel also refers to the importance of His work of making an end of sin and bringing in everlasting righteousness, and thus sealing the visions and prophecies which the Lord had just given respecting the Messiah and the favor to come through Him. (Dan. 9:24)

We recall also how He was typified in Isaac, who was not only the heir of the promises made to Abraham, but who was also figuratively put to death and received again from the dead.

Had the hopes of Israel been merely concoctions to deceive the people, we may be sure that the deceiver would have carefully set out some remarkable line of parentage for the coming Messiah – free from blights, scandals, etc.; but this was not done. Instead, the weaknesses of the flesh among our Lord’s ancestors are fearlessly documented.

Judah, the son of Jacob, and head of the tribe from which our Lord sprang, was not above reproach and his general character was truthfully portrayed. His son, Phares (or Pharez), through whom our Lord’s lineage runs, was born of an unlawful union. Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, a foreigner who became an “Israelite indeed,” was among our Lord’s progenitors; so was Ruth, the Moabitess, another foreigner adopted as an Israelite. Even through David the line is compromised by coming through Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah, the Hittite.

NEW TESTAMENT IN AGREEMENT

The New Testament writers are similarly candid and make no hesitation in recording the genealogy. All of this is in full accord with the scriptural presentation of the matter; namely, that our Lord’s virtue, His sinlessness, His separate­ness from sinners, was not through the flesh, not through His mother, but through His Father, God.[2]

There are those who say that the writers of the New Testament knew the promises, types and prophe­cies of the Old Testament and told their stories of Christ to fit these. If this be the case, there had to be a motive, an ad­van­tage to them. We can find no such motive or worldly ad­van­tage gained, but rather, just the reverse is true. They were vilified, ostracized, persecuted, and some even put to death, as had been their Master.

As the Apostle Paul explains, Jesus Christ “took on him the seed of Abraham” (Heb. 2:16), but as we have already seen, through various circumstances He was indirectly related also to the outside world. All of this is interesting to us, but nothing to be compared to our still greater interest in the fact that our Lord Jesus, although born a Jew under the Law, and redeeming those who were under the Law, did more than this, in that His death, as planned by the Father and accepted by Himself, was a propitiation “for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

He died as the ransom price for Adam and his sin, and thus purchased from condemnation not only Adam, but his entire posterity; hence, as the Apostle points out, “He is able also to save [deliver] them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” (Heb. 7:25)

Not only is this true, but our Lord’s circumstances of birth and early experiences in comparative poverty as a working man impress us with the thought that He is indeed able to sympathize with mankind in every station of life; having passed from the glory of the Father to the lowest condition of humanity and back again, He is surely able to appreciate and to sympathize with all conditions and classes.

THE GLORIOUS MESSAGE

When the angel came to the shepherds with the announce­ment of the Savior’s birth, the light of the Glory of the Lord shone about them and they were frightened. The message of our heavenly Father through the angel was this: “Fear not.” (Luke 2:9,10) The angel understood well that through sin and degradation a fearful apprehension comes over man when he finds himself in contact with spirit beings; he is apprehensive of certain further condemnation or punishment. His experiences with men of influence, authority and power lead him to dread the still greater authority and power of the Almighty, for fear it should be injurious to him.

Only the true Christian, having the eyes of his understanding opened to appreciate the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God, can have that perfect love toward the heavenly Father which is built upon an intimate knowledge of His Word, and which casts out all fear. (Eph. 3:18-19; 1 John 4:18) We are reminded of the Prophet’s words, which are applicable to many professing Christians of today: “Their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” (Isa. 29:13) The Lord would have His people free from this fear, though not free from a proper reverence toward Him.

The message of the angel continued, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” How slow the Lord’s people have been to believe this message and to accept the Savior at His full worth! How prone they seem to be to suppose first of all that He was to be a Savior merely for the Jews; or secondly, a Savior merely for a special elect class; or thirdly, a Savior only for those who under present darkness, ignorance, prejudice, superstition and devilish influences, manifest a special love for righteousness! But how broad is the statement – great joy – for all people!

Our faith that these good tidings will be to all people, that all families of the earth will be blessed, is based on the positive declaration of the Scriptures, which promise that our God has graciously arranged that every member of the human race will yet be blessed with a clear understanding of the great redemption price paid by the Savior. (Heb. 8:11) Every member of the human race will share in the glorious opportunities thus secured to return, if he will, back to full harmony with God and to full blessings and everlasting life. (Rev. 22:17)

Note however, that the angel did not declare that our Lord came to bring universal and everlasting salvation to all people; instead the angel declared that the good message of joy, of privilege, love, hope, shall extend to all people. The explanation of this is that a Savior had been born – a deliverer of the weak, the helpless, the dying, able to succor to the utmost all who would come to the Father through Him; able to open the blind eyes and to unstop the deaf ears that all may come to an appreciation of the goodness of God shining toward them in the face of the Lord Jesus.

In the Syriac language, which was likely spoken by Jesus and others living in the region at the time, the word Savior signifies literally “Life-giver.” What a wonderful thought is conveyed by that word! What is it that our poor, dying race needs? It needs deliverance from death and the sentence of death, and restoration to complete, abundant, and everlasting life.

Our Lord has already become our Deliverer in the sense that He has bought us with His precious blood, that He has settled our account with Justice. As a result of this work already done (since the Church which is the body of Christ has followed in the footsteps of our Lord and has about “fill[ed] up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” (Col. 1:24), very shortly now, under the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished – completed – and atonement for the sins of the world shall be proclaimed with a full emancipation procla­mation to all people. It will surely be good tidings of great joy! It will be full of gracious opportunities for enlightenment, restitution and obedience, and for a full return to all that was lost by father Adam, including life in perfect degree – lasting life!

A HALLELUJAH CHORUS

No wonder that after this message had been delivered, the Lord permitted an angel host to serenade the proclamation, prophesying the grand results yet to flow from the great work of redemption, only then beginning in the birth of the Redeemer: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:13,14)

The anthem properly begins with praise to He who sits upon the throne, to He who devised the great and wonderful plan of redemption and who sent His Son, our willing Redeemer. Glory to Him in the highest – in the highest strain of heart and voice, with fullest appreciation of Him as a Savior! Next come the consequences on earth – namely, peace. This is not the kind of peace men might patch up between themselves and between nations and parties, and that under present conditions would be sure very soon to be scattered to the winds. Rather, it is peace with God, a peace which comes from the restoration of the divine good will to the human race.

Because divine justice could not spare the guilty, the sentence of death has borne down upon our race. Under that divine sentence the dying race has become impoverished, not only physically but mentally and morally, and selfishness has become the rule. In its wake have come all our selfish ambitions, pride, strife and love of money, causing so much of the trouble that mankind has experienced.

But now, glory to God in the highest, because peace has been established upon a firm foundation – the lifting of the curse of death through the payment of our penalty by the Lord’s own arrangement! As soon as the body of Christ has suffered with the Head, the great antitypical Day of Atonement will be complete. Peace between God and man will be established, will be renewed, and as a consequence the Redeemer shall take to Himself His great power and reign for the purpose of blessing and uplifting those whom He purchased with His own precious blood.

The great peace must be introduced by the breaking in pieces of present institutions with the iron rod of the new Kingdom. They will be crushed as the vessel of a potter because henceforth they will be useless. In their stead will come the grand and perfect institutions of the Lord’s Kingdom. He will wound to heal, to bless, to bring in peace on the basis of everlasting righteousness.

He will ultimately destroy all those who, after being brought to a knowledge of the truth, will still love unrighteousness and lean toward corruption. (Psa. 37:9-11; Acts 3:23; 2 Thes. 1:9) He will destroy them, not in anger but in justice, in love, that an everlasting peace in full accord with that which is in heaven may prevail upon earth.

Wherever the story of God’s redeeming love has gone, even though confused by various falsities, it has carried a measure of blessing with it. It has brought blessing even to hearers who are neglectful of the Word of God. It has brought still more blessing to others who hear partly and obey partly. Its greatest blessing, however, has been to the Little Flock, the Royal Priesthood who, entering into the spirit of the divine arrangement, have realized themselves justified through faith in the precious blood. In harmony with the invitation of the Lord, these have gone forward, presenting themselves living sacrifices that they might have fellowship with Christ in the sufferings of the Gospel Age, and the glories that shall follow in the Kingdom.

It is chiefly this class who have rejoiced in a still fuller opening up of the divine Word so long beclouded by the false doctrines coming down from the Dark Ages. It is this class that has chiefly rejoiced in the discernment of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the divine love and of the divine plan which has purchased the whole world and will eventually recover from present degradation all who under the favorable conditions of the Millennial Kingdom will develop the character which God demands of all who shall have eternal life – a love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity.

(Adapted from Reprint 3114, with some updating of language, etc.)

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“IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW”

Marjorie Horn Williams

With much sadness it is our duty to report the death of our beloved Sister in the Truth, Marjorie Williams. She was born May 27, 1931 and entered into the “sleep in Jesus” on September 15, 2015. Her love of the Lord guided the steps of her life and she was instrumental in the work of the Bible House for many years, devoting countless hours to sharing the wonderful promises of God with others. We will miss her very much and pray God bless her memory.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” (1 Thes. 4:13,14)

TO OUR BELOVED ONE

To our dear one we bid farewell.

We’ll miss you more than words can tell.

Weariness of mind and body at last

Behind you has been forever cast.

Though entered in that dreamless sleep,

The Lord will surely your remembrance keep.

He will wake you in that wonderful day,

Pain and tears all wiped away.

We pray that morn not tarry long

When you return with joyous song.

Though we say goodbye with so much sorrow,

We rejoice to know we’ll meet tomorrow.

By Delta Clinard

[1] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2, page 54.

[2] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 5, Chapter 4.

NO. 699: A CHOSEN PEOPLE

No. 699

“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deut. 7:6)

So long as the natural Children of Israel kept the Law to the best of their ability, the Lord prospered them. But they didn’t do this. They not only were contaminated by the sins of the nations around them, but they rejected the Messiah: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11) It has been much the same with Gentiles who made a Covenant with God. They, too, have failed to keep their Covenant of sacrifice, and the majority has fallen into disfavor. None of them, natural Israel or Spiritual Israel, have been able to keep a perfect Law; but all those who have done so to the best of their ability have been blessed and protected from many evils of the nations around them.

But we are now discussing natural Israel: they were chosen because of their forefathers – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we see that there were individuals who had God’s favor before He chose Israel as a nation: Abel, Enoch and Noah, as well as Abraham, are mentioned as faithful. This chapter mentions some of the faithful Ancient Worthies, but not nearly all of them. The reason we call them “Ancient Worthies,” is because they were the “Ancients,” and verse 38 tells us, “Of whom the world was not worthy.” So Ancient Worthies is a Biblical expression. These Ancient Worthies not only kept the Mosaic Law to the best of their ability, they lived above the Law ‑ sacrificed to do God’s will amidst very adverse conditions. “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tor­mented.” (Heb. 11:37) For doing God’s will they underwent such sufferings, the same as the faithful footstep followers of our Lord have suffered. Natural Israel, however, was blessed and favored of the Lord when they made an honest attempt to keep the Law.

Deuteronomy 7:6‑18 tells us: “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people. [And that is true of Spiritual Israel in the Gospel Age – they have been the fewest of all people.] But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt.”

But with all these promises they didn’t hearken unto the Lord. They did this despite Joshua’s encouragement: “Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right or to the left.” (Josh. 23:6) And “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.” (Josh. 23:10) And also this assurance, “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” (Josh. 23:14)

Not only did God choose Israel as a nation but He specially used certain ones among them – such as the Prophets, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, et al. David is called Beloved of God – and God was pleased that Solomon asked for “an understanding heart to judge thy people.” (1 Kings 3:9) “And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast thou asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee... riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.” (1 Kings 3:11‑13) But Solomon loved many strange women – and when he was old “his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11:4)

Here are some pertinent quotes from That Servant:

“Nevertheless, the Scriptures most clearly declare that the natural seed of Abraham, the Jews, are still heirs of a certain promise of God, which in due time will come to them. To their nation will come the great privilege of being the foremost nation amongst men during Messiah’s glorious reign, when the church glorified, spiritualized, will be with Him in His throne, invisible to men. St. Paul thus explains that the full number, to complete the elect Kingdom class, must be first found amongst the Gentiles, and then, these being glorified in the first resurrection, natural Israel will obtain the great earthly blessings which are still theirs and which were promised to their fathers. Natural Israel will receive blessings from Spiritual Israel. ‘They shall obtain mercy through your mercy.’ – Rom. 11:25‑34.” (Excerpt from Reprint 5101, September 15, 1912)

From this we can see that it will be the Church Glorified who will convert the Jewish nation, through the Worthies. Then the Jews will help convert the world of mankind.

You might ask why Israel was specially chosen. Let That Servant answer:

“‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.’ (Matt. 6:33) At the beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry the Jewish nation was invited to become the Kingdom of God. The offer of God’s chief blessing was ‘to the Jew first.’ For many centuries they had been God’s special people. They had been called to be unto God ‘a kingdom of priests and an holy nation’ – a peculiar treasure unto God, composed of a priestly class and a chosen, holy people. (Ex. 19:5,6) We do not understand that all Israel from the time of the giving of the Law could have been of the Heavenly Kingdom, however faithful they have been. None could be of this Kingdom class before Jesus came to earth; for He was the Forerunner of this class. The offer was made to the Jews of His day. But those of the nation who lived previously, and who had been faithful to God, true to their covenant, shall be greatly blessed of the Lord on the human plane. They shall be used to bless all nations under Spiritual Israel – the Kingdom of God now being set up.

“God’s special favor to the people of natural Israel in choosing them above any other nation was especially because they were the seed of His faith­ful friend, Abraham. God had promised Abraham that because of his faith and obedience his seed should be blessed. It was not because they were of themselves holier or better than other peoples. (See Ex. 32:9‑13; Deut. 9:4‑8) But for their fathers’ sakes God chose them to be His people.

“At our Lord’s First Advent the time had come for the offer of membership in the Kingdom, for the testing of the whole nation of Israel, to prove whether they were ready for this choice blessing. Jesus was the One to offer this Kingdom; for He had consecrated Himself a sacrifice for sin, which would constitute a basis for the establishment of the Kingdom on earth.

TRUE AND FALSE IDEAS OF THE KINGDOM

“The sermon on the Mount, from which our text is taken, points out the earnestness and singleness of heart necessary in those who would become members of the Kingdom class. The Master intimates that not all of this favored nation who heard His message would be ready to accept it. Many were absorbed in the things of this life – in what they would eat, what they would drink, what they would wear. But in order to be ready to receive the proffered blessing, in order to be acceptable to God, they must make the Kingdom their first interest. ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,’ enjoined the Savior, not the earthly things. If the Kingdom was made first, all their earthly needs would be supplied; ‘All things shall be added unto you,’ was His promise.

“Not many of the Jews were ready for so drastic a Teacher. They had their own plans – business plans, political plans, social functions. Hence this invitation of Jesus to leave all to obtain a Kingdom of which they knew nothing and which seemed so intangible did not find a very ready response. The twelve Apostles were among the first to accept His offer. At the time of Jesus’ death, something over five hundred had joined themselves to Him as His disciples. Of these we are told that one hundred and twenty were gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, where they received the begetting of the Holy Spirit. After Pentecost some thousands of Jews came to the point of decision to make the Kingdom of God their first business. These, however, were but a small minority of the nation of Israel.” (Excerpt from Reprint 5917-18, July 1, 1916)

Nevertheless, there is still that promise of God to natural Israel that they will become the foremost nation on earth. Pastor Russell gives a very beautiful picture in Volume 4:

“JEHOVAH’S FEET ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES”

“This prophecy [Zech. 14:4,5] is generally misunderstood, and applied to the feet of our Lord Jesus, at His Second Advent. Indeed, those who thus err generally go farther and assert that it will be the feet of flesh, pierced with the nails of Calvary – not realizing that our Lord gave His human nature, complete and forever, as our ransom; and that He was raised from the dead, by the Father’s power, a glorious spirit‑being, the express image of the Father’s person. (See Volume 2, Chapter 5)

“But a glance at the preceding verse (3) shows that the Prophet speaks of the return of Jehovah’s feet; for the verse (referring to the trouble by which the Kingdom will be established) is: ‘Then shall Jehovah go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle [anciently for Israel]. And his feet will stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be divided in its center, from east to west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove northward and half southward.’

“As soon as any see the fact that the feet mentioned are Jehovah’s feet, they will not dispute that this language is symbolic, and refers to the Lord’s re-establishment of His dominion in the earth, that has long been comparatively abandoned to the ‘god of this world’ Satan, except as the Lord was represented first by the typical Tabernacle, secondly by the Temple at Jerusalem, and lastly by the present tabernacle condition of the Church of Christ, during this Gospel Age. Surely, no one will err and get the thought that Jehovah literally rests His feet upon this earth as a ‘footstool.’

“And if the placing and resting of Jehovah’s feet is symbolic, and signifies the return of Divine favor and dominion to earth, so, we may be sure, other features connected in the same prophecy are symbolic: the Mount of Olives, its peculiar division, its valley, the flight of the people, the waters of life from Jerusalem (Compare v. 8 with Ezek. 47:1‑9), etc., are all symbolic statements, pictures of grand spiritual truths.

“The olive is a meaningful symbol: in olden times it was the source of artificial light, its oil being generally used for this purpose. (Ex. 27:20) Indeed, in the Hebrew the olive tree was called shemen or oil tree. Olive oil was also used as the basis of many of the precious ointments of olden time – such as that used in anointing the priests and kings, typing the holy spirit upon the antitypical ‘royal priesthood.’ (Ex. 30:25) And from time immemorial the olive branch has been used as a symbol of peace. (Gen. 8:11; Neh. 8:15)

“If then the olive be the symbol of light, peace and divine blessing through the holy spirit, and if mountain be considered as elsewhere the symbol for a Kingdom, the significance here of the term Mount of Olives is easily seen to be the Kingdom of Light, Peace and Divine Blessing. And the standing or establishment or fixing of Jehovah’s ‘feet’ upon it, signifies that the Divine favor and law will be re-established in the earth by and through the holy Kingdom.

“This application of the term Mount of Olives, is in full accord with Paul’s statement (Rom. 11:17,24) in which he compares fleshly Israel with the original cultivated olive tree, and Gentile converts to wild olive branches grafted in where the natural branches had been broken off. (Compare Jer. 11:16,17) He explains that the root of the tree is in the promise of God, the Abrahamic promise, that the seed of Abraham should finally bless all the families of the earth, etc. Finally the same root or promise will bear two kinds of branches, the engrafted wild olive branches, and the re‑engrafted natural branches: when Israel shall have his blindness turned away, and shall look with the eye of faith on the Savior crucified and pierced eighteen centuries ago, a sacrifice for sin. We remember also that fleshly Israel was God’s typical Kingdom or mountain for a long time, and that spiritual Israel of this age is called to be the real Kingdom of God, as Jesus said ‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ (Luke 12:32)

“Further, from these two Kingdoms (even before Jehovah’s glory rests on them to make them His channels of blessings to all mankind) has proceeded all ‘the light of the world’ during all the darkness of the past: for are not these the representatives of the Old and the New Testaments, the two parts of the oath‑bound Covenant? Are not these related to the Lord’s two witnesses and to the two olive trees of Zech. 4:3,11,12, distinctly mentioned also in Rev. 11:4? – in that these two parts of the mountain symbolize the outcome of that covenant, the results of the witnessing – the Kingdom in its heavenly and its earthly phases?

“Here we see, then, that the two halves of the Mount of Olives mean the two parts of the Kingdom of God, distinctly separated according to a Divine order or arrangement. The separation indicates no opposition between the two parts of the Kingdom. It is, on the contrary, for the purpose of making the ‘Valley of Blessing’ between – to which all who desire Divine aid may flee and find succor under the blessed protection of both the heavenly and the earthly phases of the Kingdom.

“The Prophet David (Psa. 84) seems to have been given a foreview of this great ‘Valley of Blessings,’ close to Jehovah’s ‘feet,’ when he sings first of the saints of the Gospel Age and then of those blessed in the next Age, saying:

‘How lovely are thy dwelling places

O Jehovah of Hosts!

My soul desired, yea, it even fainted

For the courts of Jehovah.

My heart and my flesh shout with joy

Unto the living God.

Even as the sparrow hath found a house,

And the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young: (so

I have found) thine altars, O Lord of Hosts,

My God, my King.

Happy are they that dwell in thy house:

They shall be continually praising Thee. Selah.

Happy is the man whose strong confidence is in thee,

Whose heart reflecteth (wholly)

On the paths of righteousness.

Passing through the valley of mourning,

They change it into a place of (joy) springs

[Valley of Blessings].

The Autumn rain brings them blessings

[Joel 2:28]:

They go from strength to strength

That each of them may be presented (perfect)

Before God in Zion.’

“The 85th Psalm also pictures the return of divine clemency and blessing under the Millennial Kingdom, the Olive Mountain (Kingdom) of two parts.

“The removal of one part of the mountain to the north and the other to the south is significant; the North is the direction of the Pleiades, the celestial center of the universe, the supposed seat of divine empire. (See Vol. 3, p. 321) This would seem to indicate the ‘change’ of the Gospel Church at this time, from human to spirit conditions as ‘partakers of the divine nature’; and the removal of the other half of the mountain would seem to signify the complete restitution, to perfect human conditions, of those ancient worthies accounted worthy to constitute the earthly representatives of God’s Kingdom.

“The valley thus produced would be one full of light – free from shadows: for the sun would stream through it from east to west. This speaks pictorially of the Sun of Righteousness and its full light of divine truth and blessing scattering the shadows of sin, ignorance, superstition and death, and healing and restoring the willingly obedient of men who will flee to this valley of blessings, the valley of mercy. The valley of mercy, between and under the care of the spiritual and human phases of the Kingdom of Light and Peace (the standing of Jehovah’s feet) will surely be a ‘Valley of Blessings’ to all who enter it with broken and contrite hearts.

“We must recall, further, that while it is said to Israel only, ‘Ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains,’ yet as a name Israel meant ‘The people blessed of the Lord,’ ‘The people of God,’ ‘The Lord’s people.’ (2 Chron. 7:14) While, as we have seen, the first or spiritual blessing of the Kingdom shall come to spiritual Israel, and the second or earthly blessing shall begin with Israel according to the flesh, yet it will not stop there; for whosoever will may become an Israelite: by exercising the faith and obedience of Abraham, all mankind may become Israelites indeed, ‘the people of God.’ Hence the Prophet Isaiah declares that when Israel is called back to divine favor, at the establishment of the Kingdom, it will include ‘Every one that is called by my [Jehovah’s] name: for I have created him for my glory; I have formed him, yea, I have made him.’ (The name Israel will then apply to all who are God’s people.) – Is. 43:7; Rom. 9:26,33; 10:13.” (Volume 4, pages 649‑654)

“Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” (Matt. 24:46,47)

(Written by Brother John J. Hoefle in 1978. Reprint of No. 520, September 1, 2000, with minor editing.)

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REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY

Replacement Theology is a misguided systematic approach to the Bible that has not only led millions of Christians astray over the years but it has in addition birthed evil of the most horrific proportions, i.e., it played a role in the persecution of Jews by the church through the centuries, including the Holocaust and it was the theological thinking behind the nightmare of apartheid.

Definition: Concisely put, Replacement Theology states that Israel, having failed God, has been replaced with the Church. As a consequence all the Biblical promises made to Israel are transferred to the Church. The Church is now the real Israel of God and Israel’s national destiny in God is forever forfeited. The restoration of the modern state of Israel is thus an accident enjoying no Biblical credential – and Christians who believe that it is an act of God, in faithfulness to His covenant cut with Abraham some 4,000 years ago, are considered misguided. This is the basic position of those subscribing to Replacement Theology.

ERRORS OF THINKING

The Allegorical Method of Inter­pretation: Replacement Theology effectively undermines the authority of God’s Word in that it rests on the allegorical method of interpretation. That is, the reader of God’s Word decides to spiritualize the text even if its context is literal. This effectively robs the Word of God of its own authority and the meaning of the text is entirely dependent on the reader’s decision to spiritualize it or not. The problem with this approach is this: Man alone decides what he will spiritualize and what he won’t. The Word of God can thus be manipulated to say anything. So, Replacement Theology rests on a false basis of Biblical interpretation.

Inadequate Understanding of Covenant: Replacement Theology is only held by those who have not properly understood the nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant, first mentioned in Gen 12:1-4 and thereafter repeatedly asserted and confirmed to the patriarchs, is in fact the covenant of grace in Scripture, for it underlines God’s intention to bless the world with redemption. Such blessing however, is through the nation of Israel. God says to Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So the Abrahamic covenant is one covenant having three vital elements:

1.      It declares a strategy – to reach the world through the nation of Israel.

2.      It bequeaths a land – as an everlasting possession to Israel... and –

3.      It gives a promise – those who bless Israel will be blessed, those who curse her will be cursed.

It is important for us to note here that if one element of the covenant fails then all fails. The covenant is like a coin having three elements, e.g., a rim, a head side, a tail side. However, it remains one coin and one cannot retain one element of the coin and give away another. The Abrahamic Covenant is just the same, it is one covenant. If one element of the covenant fails then all the elements fail. Thus if God’s promises to Israel have now failed then equally His promises to bless the world have also failed.

In short if Israel’s national destiny has been forfeited, through her disobedience, then the Church is also finished. It must be remembered that the Church’s disobedience has been as great as that of Israel over the last two thousand years. No one can deny this! So if Israel is finished because of failure then the Church is as well! There is no way that we can get around this. Moreover, Paul underlines this very point in Galatians 3 where he writes, years after Israel’s rejection of Jesus the Messiah, that the Abrahamic Covenant cannot be annulled.

“What I am saying is this; the Law which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.” (Gal. 3:17,18)

According to Replacement theologians this Covenant has been annulled. Only a superficial, inadequate grasp of a covenant can lead to such a misguided conclusion.

THE PROPHETIC TESTIMONY

God’s promises to national Israel are constantly reaffirmed by the prophets. In this way He underlines the nature of His character and confirms the Abrahamic Covenant. An example of this is Jeremiah 31:35-38:

“Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night; Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the Lord, then the offspring of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus says the Lord, if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”

So again the fact that the sun, moon and stars are still with us confirms the ongoing validity of the Abrahamic Covenant and as a result, Israel’s national destiny. For Replacement Theology to be valid the sun and moon must also be vanquished. There is no way that Replacement thinkers can get around this!

Moreover, Replacement Theology makes a mockery of God’s character for it rests upon the premise that if you fail God in any way He will discard you... even though initially He asserted that His commitment to you is everlasting. This sounds like a typical human response to the world and not like the God of the Bible which, of course, it is since Replacement Theology is but the thinking of men!

According to the writer of the book of Hebrews, we know that God will be faithful to us because in spite of Israel’s disobedience He has kept faith with her. Speaking of the Abrahamic Covenant, he says:

“In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchange­ableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb. 6:17-20)

Note again that we know God to be faithful because He has been faithful to Israel in all that He promised her through Abraham. In fact this knowledge, says the writer, is the anchor of our soul (v.19). According to Replacement Theology this is not true!

THE TRUTH

In the final analysis Replacement Theology is but the mere thinking of men unable to stand up to the test of Scripture. It contradicts Scripture everywhere and by so doing robs thousands of Christians from understanding God’s redemptive purposes. The truth is:

1.      God has not cast off national Israel.

2.      Canaan to this present day is Israel’s national homeland.

3.      The Church has not replaced Israel, she has only enlarged her. (Eph 2:11-13; Rom 11:17-18)

4.      The modern restoration of Israel is evidence of God’s faithfulness to His Word and promise and strong encourage­ment to the Church.

5.      The restoration of Israel will culminate in the coming of the Messiah. Therefore the Church in the world is able to make herself ready and bless Israel as much as she can.

6.      The restoration of Israel to her homeland in Canaan – including the West Bank – is the first step towards Israel’s national redemption. (Rom 11:25-27)

In closing, it would be good for us to note a quote that came from the pen of the now famous and very godly Bishop of Liverpool, the Right. Reverend J. C. Ryle. He said:

“I warn you, that unless you interpret the prophetical portion of the Old Testament in a simple literal meaning of its words, you will find no easy matter to carry on an argument with a Jew. Will you dare tell him that Zion, Jerusalem, Jacob, Judah, Ephraim, Israel do not mean what they seem to mean, but mean the church of Christ?”

(By Malcolm Hedding; published in Christian Action for Israel Newsletter, Second Quarter 1992)

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QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST

The following questions were recently submitted to a newspaper column on religion. Here we present the columnist’s answers along with our answers:

Question: “My dad died recently without being a Christian. Where did he go?”

Columnist’s answer: “Your concern prob­ably comes from the history of Christianity, which has insisted that it is the only way to salvation. That seems to be a rather myopic view of life and is dismissive of all other faiths. Christians regard Jesus as the clearest window through which we are given a glimpse of the nature of God. If this is true, we must conclude that God is pure love. Love is accepting and inclusive, not rejecting and exclusive. It is impossible to imagine a loving Father God ever rejecting one of His children. Jesus did claim to be the way, but He is not talking about intellectual consent to some doctrine. His way is the way of love. I believe the life within each of us is God-life. It cannot die and can only grow. Think of your father in the loving acceptance of The Father.”

Our answer: The views of traditional Christianity are based on the assumption that death does not mean death, that to die means a continuation of life, either in heavenly bliss or in a hell of torment. While evading a direct answer to the question, the columnist supports this view by saying the life within each of us cannot die. This view is not scriptural. In the Genesis account it was God who declared to Adam and Eve, “Thou shalt surely die” and the serpent (Satan) who said, “Ye shall not surely die.” Do we believe God or do we believe Satan, the father of lies? (John 8:44)

The Scriptures teach that the dead know nothing (Eccl. 9:5,10; Job 14:21; Psa. 146:4; Isa. 38:18) In both the Old Testament and the New Testament it is written of both the good and bad that they “fell asleep” in death. This likening of death to sleep tells us that there is hope of an awakening, a resurrection. In the Apostle Paul’s wonderful treatise on resurrection, he says that those who have “fallen asleep in Christ” are perished if there be no resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor.15th chapter)

So the proper, Biblical answer to the question “Where did he go?” is: He is “asleep in Jesus,” awaiting the resurrection.

Question: “If God is all loving and accepting, why did Jesus have to die?”

Columnist’s answer: “Throughout the history of Christianity, there have been conflicting answers to the question about Jesus’ sacrificial death.

“The oldest explanation is referred to as the Ransom Theory. It hypothesizes that all humans had fallen under the control of Satan and that God gave His Son as a ransom payment to Satan to secure humanity’s release. This concept is crudely economic and questions the omnipotence of God. It suggests that God was not able to save humanity without capitulating to Satan’s demands.

“A second theory was taught by Anslem, Archbishop of Canterbury. In a book titled “Why God Became Man,” he declares that God’s justice demanded payment for sin and that Jesus’ death was a sacrificial payment, not to Satan, but to God the Father, in order to satisfy his demands for justice. Since Jesus sacrificed his life in our place, this is sometimes referred to as the Doctrine [of] Sub­sti­tutionary Atonement. This explanation is also crudely economic and suggests that God could not lovingly forgive without his justice being satisfied.

“The third theory was advanced by Abelard, a philosopher in Paris who taught at the cathedral school of Notre-Dame de Paris. Abelard understood Jesus’ death as a sacrifice but not as a payment. Jesus sacrificed his life rather than compromise what he believed to be God’s will for his life. As such, the death of Jesus becomes an example and the inspiration for his followers to also live lives of sacrificial love.

“Although Anselm’s doctrine became the most widely accepted, I find many modern Christians gravitating toward Abelard’s doctrine of inspiring Christians to accept sacrificial love for their lives. The three theories are doctrines based on the interpretations of Biblical Scripture by individuals and can be confusing.

“Christians should read and study in order to understand. Another point about the death of Jesus was the fear of political rulers and synagogue leaders of the time period who believed that Jesus was becoming too influential and needed to be stopped. In their eyes he was crucified for political and social reasons. Their plan backfired in a way, since it became apparent that his crucifixion gave strength to the Christian movement.

“We must also note that the theories of Christ’s death serve followers as they seek their personal salvation, which is important, but I would like to note that God’s plan enabled Jesus to live a life as a human being before his death. Why? Perhaps the message is that living a life following the words and actions of Jesus is important because Jesus demonstrated the way as being loving, accepting and living peacefully.

“Living in this manner could mean that salvation is the natural outcome overshadowing the theories of human beings.”

Our answer: Scriptural testimony shows that God did not require Jesus to die but rather Jesus offered Himself voluntarily: “No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.” (John 10:18) He voluntarily laid his life in the Father’s hands saying, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

1 Tim. 2:6 says He “gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.” This verse shows that of the three theories presented in the column, the second one is Biblical: The ransom price was paid to satisfy the demands of God’s justice because justice is the foundation of His throne. (Psa. 89:14)

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Please direct all correspondence to:

P.O. Box 2246, Kernersville, NC 27285-2246

epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com.

NO. 698: IN MEMORIAM

No. 698

It has been our custom for many years to pay tribute at this time of year to Pastor Russell, That Wise and Faithful Servant, to commemorate his death on October 31, 1916. We believe his stewardship doctrine was a correct understanding of the Atonement, the central teaching of which is Restitution. It has been said that once Brother Russell received the Truth on this doctrine, he never delivered a public discourse in which Restitution did not have a prominent place. In keeping with this, we present this treatise taken from one of his public discourses.

RANSOM IMPLIES RESTITUTION

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”(1 Tim. 2:5-6)

The Apostle Paul’s words are my text. At another time we may consider the forepart of this text, but on this occasion I invite your attention to the last clause, which explains that our Lord’s sacrifice was a sacrifice for all mankind, and that in due time this great matter will be made known to all mankind with a view to their blessing.

Perhaps I should take a moment here to answer a question which I understand is frequently raised in respect to my preaching, namely: Why does Pastor Russell give so much more attention to doctrinal questions than do other ministers? Why does he not give more attention to scientific matters, political, moral reforms and practical living? My reply is, in the words of our Savior, “After all these things do the Gentiles seek.” (Matt. 6:32) All these are worldly matters, while the doctrines of Christ and the Apostles are peculiar to Christians. Hindus, Confucians and Mohammedans have a common interest in the affairs of the world and its moral, physical and political welfare, but the Christian minister is divinely directed to “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:2), and the word ignores worldly science, politics, reforms, etc., and especially deals with doctrines. I am, therefore, merely following the example of Christ and His Apostles, and the reason why this seems peculiar is that the majority of ministers largely neglect to heed the scriptural injunction and the apostolic models. When they do occasionally touch upon doctrine, they are, alas, too frequently “teaching for doc­trines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7), teaching from the creeds of the past five centuries rather than from the inspired word of the Lord.

It may be well here briefly to notice the value of doctrines – the value of those teachings which differentiate true Christians from the remainder of mankind. The ignoring of the doctrines of Scripture and the substitution of the doctrines of men during the Dark Ages have brought the world to the place where all doctrines are tabooed and distasteful, because those false doctrines from the Dark Ages are unreasonable and repulsive to the growing intelligence of the world. Instead of ignoring doctrine however, God’s people should seek and find the proper interpretation of the Bible, which is everywhere reasonable, logical and harmonious with itself and with sanctified common sense. This then, is my apology for so frequently discussing the doctrines of Christ and of the Prophets and of the Apostles.

NOT A LIMITED ATONEMENT

Our text declares a great fact, which Christian people generally ignore if they do not deny it, the fact that our Lord Jesus’ death was a ransom price whose scope covers and includes the entire family of Adam. The fact is that the Scriptures do speak of a special elect class which is being gathered out of the world during this Gospel Age, and which is promised joint heirship with Christ in His coming Millennial Kingdom. The fact is also that the great mass of mankind at the present time and throughout the 6,000 years of the past have been without “hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12), because they have been without knowledge of the only “name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) These facts have led many to the erroneous conclusion that our Lord’s death has not been and never will be a ransom price or offset price for the cancellation of the sins of mankind in general.

Their reasoning has indeed certain logical features. If the world in general has not received and never will receive a blessing at the Lord’s hands, the logical conclusion must be that justice was not and never will be satisfied by a ransom price for the world’s share in original sin. In seeming harmony with this erroneous thought is the fact that only a comparatively small proportion of humanity has been specially favored of the Lord with an opening of the eyes of their understanding, and the privilege, through faith, of coming back into harmony with their Creator. Seeming to support this view also are the scriptural statements respecting the present narrow way and straight gate, which few find, and the references to the elect as constituting only a “little flock.” (Matt. 7:14; Luke 12:32)

Building upon this erroneous foundation of a limited atonement for original sin, the fathers of the Dark Ages and since have proceeded to give various explanations of the eternal torture of the world of mankind, the non-elect, those not favored by the Almighty with a knowledge of the only name given whereby they might be saved. These false doctrines, built upon the “tradition of the elders” (Matt. 15:2), have had a nauseating effect upon intelligent minds; they contradict the scriptural declaration that God is just, loving, wise and all powerful. (Psa. 89:14; 1 John 4:8; Jer. 10:12) What we need to correct the nausea, to refresh the hearts, to re-inspire love and zeal for the Lord and His word, is to see with clearness the true doctrines of the Scriptures.

The Scriptures declare that our Lord Jesus “by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb. 2:9) They show conclusively that His death was a “propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins [the Church’s sins]: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) But to appreciate these statements, to see how they can be and are true, it is necessary to know that the Scriptures nowhere declare that the present Gospel Age is the only period of divine favor, the only period for the forgiveness of sins, the only period of reconciliation with God, the only period of opportunity for being taught of God and of obtaining His blessing and favor, lost through original sin in Eden.

As soon as we grasp this great fact our eyes begin to open to other facts, namely that: (1) Prior to this Gospel Age, during the Jewish Age and previously, all the world except that one little nation of Israel, were aliens, strangers, and foreigners from God and His promises. (Amos 3:2) (2) The Scriptures clearly indicate a “world to come” (Heb. 2:5), a future epoch under new and better conditions than now prevail. (3) That future epoch is called “the day of Christ,” “the day of the Lord.” (Phil. 1:10; 1 Thes. 5:2) It is indeed the Millennial Day, the thousand years of Christ’s reign for the very pur­pose of blessing and uplifting the world of mankind, for whose sins His death was the atone­ment price and who are to be healed by His stripes. (4) Every invitation and injunction of the Gospel Age are with a view to the selection of an elect class, who shall be joint heirs with Christ during that Millennial Age, to share with Him in the great work of general human uplift.

A COMMON ERROR CORRECTED

At this point many good people laboring under a degree of blindness, the smoke of the Dark Ages, feel disposed to object and to insist that there can be no future probation. Ask them why, their reply is that the entire Scriptural teaching contradicts the thought of a future hope beyond the tomb. We reply: this is an error; the very reverse is true, as we shall show. We ask them for a single Scripture on their side of this subject. To their amazement they find none, but as a last resort quote from Ecclesiastes (11:3) the words: “In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” But is not this a very slim text, indeed, to raise up as a barrier against the entire voice of the Scriptures, and against all the demands of reason and logic as well? And this very Scripture is in full accord with what we claim, namely, that as a tree when it has fallen is lifeless and powerless and cannot raise itself up, so is man in death under the sentence and wage of original sin. The Scriptural argument is that the whole race of Adam was thus dead – without life, without power to raise itself out of its fallen condition, without any claim upon eternal life or divine favor in any sense. But our text declares that our Lord Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all,” for Adam the transgressor in particular, and for all of his race who shared in his penalty, to rescue us from that dead condition by resurrection. (1 Cor. 15:21)

It is because man is in this helpless condition, dead, powerless to revivify himself, that God has gone to his relief through Christ. He caused the great ransom sacrifice to be made and paid to justice nearly 19 [now 20] centuries ago, and in our text assures us that the ransom sacrifice finished at Calvary was on behalf of all mankind and is consequently to bring a blessing to all mankind – “in due time.”

We are not arguing that all who have died have gone to heaven; quite the contrary. We stick to the book, the Bible, in its declaration that “the dead know not any thing” (Ecc. 9:5), that a resurrection is necessary to any future living. We hold with the Scriptures that at the end of this age, the First Resurrection will take place, the resur­rection of the “blessed and holy,” those who have pleased God both by faith and obedience. These, the Scriptures declare, will be “kings and priests unto God” and shall “reign on the earth.” (Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6) The object of this reign will be to bring blessings of knowledge and opportunity to all. The participants in the First Resurrection are the “seed of Abraham,” our Lord Jesus the Head, and His Church the members of His body, as the Apostle declares: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Gal. 3:29)

The promise to which Christ and His Church are heirs is that they shall be God’s instrumentality for the blessing, instruction and uplifting of the world of mankind. When will they do this unless there be a future Millennial Age? To be heirs of this promise made to Abraham, that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3), would be a meaningless farce and jest on the Almighty’s part had He not purchased us, and provided a time and means by which this blessing could accrue to the world. We perceive that He has arranged a time for granting the world a trial for life, a trial respecting their willingness to abandon the ways of sin and death, and to walk in the ways of righteousness under the enlightenment of the truth, which we are assured shall shine forth as the sun, whose beams shall heal humanity. (Mal. 4:2)

FEW HAVE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE

The means for the blessing we see provided in Christ and His Bride, the elect Church of the Gospel Age. It is guaranteed in the fact that Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted death for every man, or, as our text declares, became the Mediator between God and man by giving Himself a ransom for all. A point I desire to emphasize here is that the giving of this ransom price and the acceptance of it by justice imply divine intention for the blessing of all mankind, in full accord with the various testimonies of the entire Scriptures. Why should “a ransom for all” be given if it were not intended of God that all should benefit from it, or, at least, have an opportunity of benefiting from it, which would be virtually the same thing? We hold that it is beyond dispute that the giving of the ransom for all and the divine acceptance of it, in harmony with the divine promise, are the sure guarantee that ultimately a blessing must come to every member of Adam’s race as a result.

This knowledge has not yet reached all mankind; on the contrary it has reached only a small minority. Yet, knowledge of God’s favor and an intelligent acceptance of it on faith and a reasonable obedience in harmony with that faith are the demands of the divine word. Proof could be given on almost every page of the Scriptures that faith, and endeavor to obedience in harmony with that faith, are necessary to salvation, but we will content ourselves by referring to a few citations. The Apostle Paul says: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:17,14) “Without faith it is impossible to please him [God].” (Heb. 11:6) “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice [the voice of the Son of God],” and “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (John 5:28; Isa. 11:9) “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be un­stopped.” (Isa. 35:5) “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” (Jer. 31:34)

All these Scripture statements showing the necessity for knowledge are in full accord with our text which declares that our Lord Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified “in due time.” The present then is the due time for the Church, the household of faith, to hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who now hear, pass from death unto life, to the begetting to a new nature. By and by, when the present class of called elect ones shall have been glorified with their Lord, all the remainder of mankind shall hear for the very purpose: that they may understand, may appreciate, and may be assisted to obey the voice of Him that speaks from heaven, the great Ransomer, who in that day will be King over all the earth and will bind Satan and will put down every opposing influence, to the intent that all may be judged worthy or unworthy of everlasting life, by their appreciation of God and His righteous laws and their full obedience thereto.

In Acts 3:22-23, the Apostle Peter points us to the fact that Moses was a type of Christ Jesus, the head, and the Church, His body. As the seed of Abraham, this great Messiah shall bless all the families of the earth with knowledge and every opportunity for return to the divine favor and blessing that was lost in Eden. And what of those who will refuse to hear that great Prophet, Priest and King during the Millennial Age, what of them? The Apostle answers, “It shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear [obey] that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” They will be cut off in the Second Death, from which there will be no hope of recovery, no resurrection.

“TIMES OF RESTITUTION”

In full accord with all this is the Apostle’s statement respecting the blessings that are to come to mankind during the Millennial Age, following our Lord’s Second Advent and the glorification of His Church to joint heirship with Him. He calls that period “times of refreshing … from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ” at His Second Advent. He declares that in the meantime the heavens must receive Him, must retain Him, “until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21) In other words, he assures us that these Restitution Times will follow as a result of our Lord’s second coming and the establishment of His Kingdom in glory and power.

“Times of Restitution” means years of restitution; it refers to the one thousand years of Christ’s reign. (Rev. 20:6) The word restitution signifies to put back or bring back something to an original or primary condition. The Apostle is speaking of humanity, and hence the suggestion is that the work of Christ and His Church in glory during the Millennium will be to restore mankind to the condition and privileges and blessings and favors enjoyed before sin entered the world, before the curse passed upon all by one man’s disobedience. (Rom. 5:12)

Evolutionists would have little sympathy with the Apostle’s statement here, for, according to their erroneous theory, restitution to the original condition would be the last thing for humanity to desire or hope for or for God to promise as a blessing. But we are not consulting evolutionists in this matter, we are taking “the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (1 Pet. 1:23)

The world of mankind has been in a fallen and falling condition with ups and downs, especially downs, for six thousand years. When the Lord’s time shall come and Times of Restitution shall begin, the present downward or fallen conditions will give place to upward conditions, to Restitution Times, for the general uplifting of all mankind.

We have just seen that the great ransom sacrifice finished at Calvary is the basis upon which God can be just and yet be the justifier of those who believe in Jesus, and release them from the sentence of endless death which was justly upon them as the imperfect posterity of the fallen Adam, unworthy of life eternal under divine conditions. The more we look into this matter the more logical, reasonable and satisfactory we see the divine plan to be. The first man perfect, the image of God, sinned with deliberation, and received as a penalty a death sentence. After waiting more than 4,000 years God sent a Redeemer in the person of His Son. Since man was not a spirit being but a human being, therefore the Apostle declares that Christ took not hold upon the stature of angels, but humbled Himself and came to the still lower plane of humanity and became the man Christ Jesus – “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 2:16; 7:26) Then as the man Christ Jesus He gave Himself a ransom for all, as our text declares, “to be testified in due time.” The testimony has already been in the world for 19 centuries [now 20], and it has selected the very class which God foreknew and foretold, a “little flock” of footstep followers who are to be joint heirs with their Redeemer and Lord. Next in order will come the testimony to the remainder of mankind, first those who have not yet gone into the tomb, and secondly to those who have already gone there, and who will be awakened for the very purpose of receiving this testimony and of being tested by it.

DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT SALVATIONS

Here note the difference between the blessing God designed for the elect Church and the one He purposes for the world of mankind. The Church’s blessing is not “restitution,” and in harmony with this we can see no evidence of restitution anywhere about us. The restitution work waits for the Restitution Time, which begins with the estab­lishment of the Kingdom. Believers of this present time receive, indeed, a faith equivalent to restitution, in that they are recognized as having their sins covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness, reckoned as having passed from the sentence of death in Adam to a share of life in Christ, reckoned as having received again the fellowship and communion with God, lost by Adam through his disobedience in Eden. All this in a sense serves as an equivalent to the “restitution” which is to come to the world in its “due time.”

But the world will not attain these things by faith, but will attain them actually, gradually during the thousand years. At its close all who shall have appreciated God’s favors and obeyed the voice of the great Prophet, Priest and King, will be actually perfect, as perfect as was Adam in every talent, quality, and power, but with increased capacity through increased knowledge.

The Church of this Gospel Age gets none of these restitution blessings actually. She merely has them by faith, for the special purpose of sacrificing those restitution blessings in order to present her body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, her reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1) She participates in the sufferings of Christ that she may be accounted worthy to participate in His glories, the Millennial glories. The gospel invitation to the Church is to lay down her life, to exchange these earthly privileges and blessings bought by the precious blood of Christ, for heavenly privileges offered to her as a reward of obedience. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Rev. 3:21)

Glory, honor and immortality – the divine nature – will be the great change from present earthly conditions to heavenly conditions far beyond anything possible for the natural mind to appreciate. This great change, which is to come to the Lord’s faithful Bride in her participation in His resurrection, the First Resurrection, the resurrection to spirit perfection, is the great hope and ambition set before us, dear brethren and sisters. It is for this that we are exhorted to lay aside every weight and every besetting sin and to run with patience, sacrificing earthly things and treasures that we may have this better treasure, this pearl of great price, this participation in the Kingdom with our dear Redeemer.

The Apostle declares that these Times of Restitution were spoken of “by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”(Acts 3:21) Suffice it now that we take the Apostle’s words, calling to mind merely the various statements and promises of the law and the Prophets, pointing out these glorious good things for the world of mankind, that are delayed only until the completion of the elect Church. The Prophets speak of the restoration of Israel to divine favor, of how their blind eyes shall be opened, that they shall see in very truth that He whom they have pierced is the Messiah indeed, who gave His life for their ransom, and that God will pour upon them the spirit of prayer and supplication to this end.

The Apostle Paul most clearly points out in Romans, chapters 9, 10, and 11, that not only the falling away of Israel was foretold in the Prophets, but also their regathering, their restoration to divine favor; but this he points out to us will be after the completion of the gospel Church, spiritual Israel. Again he declares that, “Through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” (Rom. 11:31) The glorified Church, with Christ at her head as the great King, is to dispense the mercies of God to the Jew first, but also to “all the families of the earth.” (Rom. 11:12, 25-33; Acts 15:16,17)

Let us, dear brethren and sisters, hold fast to these doctrines of Christ, set forth not only in His own teachings that He came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10); that He beheld mankind as a treasure in a field and bought the whole field that He might develop the treasure (Matt. 13:44); but as set forth also in the decla­rations of the Apostles and of all the holy Prophets since the world began.

While the doctrines of men would be inclined to lead us away from God, to make us think of the Almighty as unjust and cruel, heartless, loveless or powerless, the doctrines of the Scriptures open the blind eyes and give us to see the King in His beauty, the glorious majesty of the God of love, the God of wisdom, the God of justice, the God of power. They give us to see, as declared by the Prophet, that “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my [God’s] ways higher than your [man’s] ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:9)

With this greater enlightenment on the divine character, we will have greater desire to serve and to please Him, esteeming it a great privilege to lay down our very lives in His service, counting all things as but loss and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, that we might win Him and be found in Him and be made sharers in His resurrection. (Phil. 3:8-11)

Our dear friends and relatives and the heathen who have died out of Christ are “safe in the arms of Jesus.” They are safe in the care of Him who died for all. God will not torture any of His enemies to all eternity as once we feared. We now find this fear to be unscriptural. But let us see that while the Scriptures teach that the worst that can befall any of His enemies will be “everlasting destruction” without hope of a future life, there is a grand hope taught for the ignorant, that all such shall be brought to an accurate knowledge of the truth that they may be saved in God’s due time. (1 Tim. 2:4) Let us recognize the truth of the statement: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not [everlasting] life.” (1 John 5:12; John 8:36) God’s salvation is by knowledge and not by ignorance, through faith in the precious blood of Christ and not in ignorance of it; by a resurrection and Millennial Kingdom

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(From an oral address given by Pastor Russell in 1904, with minor editing. It was published in Harvest Gleanings, Volume 3. The list of Scriptures and comments following were derived from Harvest Gleanings Volume 1, beginning on page 335.)

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PARTIAL LIST OF SCRIPTURES TEACHING RESTITUTION

In Acts 3:19-24 the inspired Apostle applies the words of Moses (Deut. 18:15,18,19) to the Times of Restitution, declaring that all God’s holy Prophets spoke of these times; therefore we expect to find something concerning Restitution in the writings of each Old Testament Prophet. The following is a partial list of Scriptures which we understand to teach Restitution and future probation:

Gen. 12:2,3; Gen. 18:18; Gen. 22:17,18; Gal. 3:16,29; 1 Cor. 12:12,27; Eph. 1:22,23;[1] Lev. 25:10; Heb. 10:1;[2] 1 Kings 17:22; 2 Kings 4:33-36;[3] Psa. 46:9,10; Psa. 72:1-15; Psa. 96:10-13; Psa. 98:4-9; Isa. 2:2-4; Isa. 25:6-9; Isa. 35:1-10;[4] Isa. 49:8-10; Isa. 52:7; Jer. 30:18;[5] Jer. 31:8,9,29,30,34;[6] Ezek.16:44-63;[7] Dan. 2:44; Dan. 7:13,14,27;[8] Hosea 6:1-3; Joel 2:32; Joel 3:1,2,17,18; Amos 9:11-13;[9] Oba. 17,21; Jon. 3:10; Jon. 4:11;[10] Mic. 4:1-4;[11] Na. 1:15;[12] Hab. 2:14; Zeph. 3:9; Hag. 2:6,7; Zech. 8:20-23; Mal. 4:2;[13] Matt. 25:31-46;[14] Luke 2:10, 30-32; John 3:17; John 5:25,30;[15] John 17:9, 20,21,23;[16] Acts 3:19-24; Rom. 5:18,19; Rom. 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 15:21-23;[17] 2 Cor. 5:19-6:2;[18] Gal. 3:8; Eph. 1:10; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:20; Titus 2:13;[19] Heb. 6:13,14; Heb. 8:11; 1 Pet. 2:9;[20] Jude 14,15;[21] Rev. 20:11-12; Rev. 22:1,17.[22]

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[1] The Genesis verses show that all families of the earth will be blessed. St. Paul explains that the Seed that will confer the blessing is Christ and His Church (the mystical body of which Jesus is the Head).

[2] Israel’s Jubilee was a type or shadow of the world-wide Restitution which will follow the estab­lishment of God’s Kingdom at the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus.

[3] The restoration of life described in Kings fore­shadows the Times of Restitution.

[4] By comparing the words, “ransomed of the Lord” in verse 10 with “a ransom for all” in 1 Tim. 2:6, we see positively that all the families of the earth will be blessed.

[5] See Rom. 11:12,15 for comments.

[6] Compare Rom. 5:12, John 1:9 and 1 Tim. 2:4.

[7] Although God saw fit (verse 50) to take away the Sodomites, our Lord Jesus said (Matt. 11:23) that they would have repented under such a ministry as had been granted to Capernaum, which did not repent. Since God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and since it is His will that all shall come to a knowledge of the truth, this indicates that the death imprisoned Sodomites shall be brought forth (John 5:29) to their “former estate” (Ezek. 16:55), and “in that day” be given an opportunity to believe in the only name given under heaven or among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) Our Lord declared it would be more tolerable for Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for some who heard and rejected Him, implying that it will be tolerable for all in proportion as their sins had been sins of ignorance. (Matt. 11:24; Luke 12:47,48) In fore­telling of the restitution of the Sodomites, an extreme example of clemency, our Lord evidently intended us to see that the sacrifice which He gave was unquestionably “a ransom for all.”

[8] Any prophecy of the Kingdom of Christ and His saints is a prophecy of Restitution; for the Kingdom is to be set up at the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus, “whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things.”

[9] See Acts 15:13-18 for comments.

[10] Compare Matt. 12:41.

[11] Compare Isa. 2:2-4.

[12] Compare Isa. 52:7.

[13] Compare also Psa. 30:5 and Matt. 13:43.

[14] It should be noted that when the Lord occupies His throne, the Church reigns with Him. (Col. 3:4) Christ will not reign over His glorified Church, nor will the members of His glorified Church reign over each other, but the Church complete will reign over all nations, dead and living (Rom. 14:9), else their title “Seed of Abraham” (Gal. 3:29) is a misnomer.

[15] Our Lord’s words in verse 30 indicate that the destiny of those who come up to judgment (vs. 29, R.V.) is not fixed beforehand. Testimony is to be taken, and “as I hear, I judge.” This therefore refers to the “Times of Restitution.”

[16] Our Lord’s last prayer was not on behalf of the world, but on behalf of His disciples and those who should believe through their word, and His prayer for the whole Church was made that the whole world might afterward have the opportunity to “believe that thou hast sent me” in the Times of Restitution.

[17] Note here that the expression “they who are Christ’s at his coming [parousia, presence]” evidently does not refer to the Church, for they are Christ’s before His Second Advent, and with Him constitute the first-fruits. (Note also Jas. 1:18) The expression evidently refers to “all them that believe in that day;” the Day of Christ, the Times of Restitution. (2 Thes. 1:10)

[18] Some think that 2 Cor. 6:2 teaches that there will be no opportunity to exercise faith and repentance in the Millennial Age, but a careful reading of Isa. 49:8-10, from which it is quoted, indicates that the Body of Christ is helped and succored in its day of salvation, in order that it may be the instrument of God for the blessing and releasing of those who are in the prison house of death. Here also Restitution is taught.

[19] “The blessed hope” is to usher in the “Times of Restitution.”

[20] Since the Church is to be a Royal Priesthood, there must be some for whom they will perform the priestly offices; and for whom, if not for the world of mankind, ransomed by the great High Priest and His “better sacrifices?”

[21] A prophecy of Restitution, by Enoch, who “pleased God.”

[22] All the events in these Revelation verses, including the invitation to “whosoever will,” are to be fulfilled after the Second Advent of Christ, after the Church has become the “Bride, the Lamb’s wife,” after the establishment of His Kingdom. Observe also, that the invitation is to be extended to all the dead, before the throne.