NO. 725: THE KINGDOM OF GOD - PART ONE

No. 725

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isa. 52:7)

The following is from Chapter V of Epiphany Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 17, written by Brother Paul S.L. Johnson. It has been condensed and edited to fit the space and the paper format. Readers are encouraged to read the original in its entirety if it is available to them.

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The establishment of God’s Kingdom throughout the earth is one of the main purposes of our Lord’s Return. The Kingdom of God is a subject of unusual prominence in the Scriptures, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The expressions “Kingdom of God” and “Kingdom of Heaven,” occur nearly 150 times in the New Testament alone. Its prominence in the Scriptures is a proof of its importance in God’s Plan.

THE EMBRYO KINGDOM

When our Lord Jesus commissioned the Apostles to preach, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 10:7), He evidently did not mean that they were to announce that He and the Church were about to reign over the earth; for over 19 centuries have passed since the charge was given, and the Kingdom is not yet fully established in the earth in the sense of their reigning over the earth. Surely His thought was that the disciples should preach that the embryo Kingdom, the Church, which was about to undergo preparation to become rulers in the next Age, was about to step upon the stage of human history, and there perform in this life the earlier Acts of her part in the drama of the Ages.

Thus He instructed them to preach that a change of dispensation had come, that instead of preaching Moses and the Prophets any longer, they were to preach the Kingdom of God, the embryonic Church. And it was at hand; it was begun by Jesus in His ministry; it was continued by the Apostles at Pentecost; it was advanced further at the home of Cornelius as it went forth to the Gentiles; and throughout the Jewish Harvest it was advanced still more. It was now open to anyone, whether Jew or Gentile; and all through the Gospel Age the star-members, their helpers, and those who looked upon them as such, have preached, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and have thus given those who desired to enter this embryo Kingdom an opportunity to do so, and, on entering, to have God’s special favor and to rejoice in it.

Similarly, when Jesus assures us that from the time of John the Baptist the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and that the violent forcibly seize it (Matt. 11:12), He would not have us understand Him as referring to the Kingdom class while reigning in the earth; for then they will be clothed with almighty power, and none will be able to resist them, much less cause them to suffer, and, least of all, violently seize them! Rather, as the experience of the Kingdom class from the beginning proves, Jesus here refers to the embryo Kingdom, the Faithful in their earthly lifetime, the Church Militant, as suffering while they through obedience to the Word and Spirit of God amid trials and tribulations are being fitted to reign with Jesus as the glorified Kingdom in the next Age. (Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12)

It was a fact that John the Baptist, who proclaimed that the Kingdom was coming, suffered violence, being beheaded by Herod for the sake of Herodias and Salome. The Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence in the person of our Lord Jesus; for certainly He was fearfully persecuted by the Scribes and Pharisees, while He was in the flesh; and the Sanhedrin added to that persecution, when it condemned Him, the Innocent One, to death, under the alleged charge that He was a blasphemer. They brought Him to Pilate and had Pilate enforce, as it were, their sentence against Him. He was first terribly scourged, then crowned with thorns and mocked; on Him was laid the heavy cross, under whose weight He fainted; He was nailed to that cross and suffered violence; and the most terrible imprecations and curses and threats and blas­phemies and evil accusations were hurled into His teeth; He, the Innocent One, bore it all in the spirit of meekness, in the spirit of love, in the spirit of loyalty to God; and though the violent took Him by force and shamefully mistreated Him, He never­theless maintained His loyalty to the end.

The same treatment was given to His followers. The Apostles suffered similarly, beginning at Pentecost and continuing in the work toward Cornelius and his family and throughout the whole Harvest of the Jewish Age. Violence was offered to these holy men and they endured it, being forcibly, violently and vilely treated and cruelly misjudged and misrepresented and in every possible way given injustice. The same is true of the brethren all through the Age.

When the Apostle spoke of God’s translating the saints out of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Col. 1:13), surely none would think that he meant that during their earthly lifetime they would be the Kingdom of Glory; for the context, as well as the verse itself, shows that the passage refers to the suffering condition of their earthly pilgrimage, hence St. Paul here refers to the embryo Kingdom.

The Bible is very explicit on the point that the earthly career of the faithful members of the Kingdom of God would not be one of reigning, but one of labor, toil, suffering, trial and persecution, culminating in death; the experiences of the faithful also attest to this; and only as any of these proved faithful amid these experiences unto death could they inherit Kingship as their portion, and actually reign in the earth in the future. St. Paul’s statement is clear: “I endure all things for the elect’s sakes … It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” (2 Tim. 2:10-12) To die with Him means to lay down life as He did, as a sacrifice on behalf of God’s plan, in the same form, for the same causes, from the same spirit; it results in attaining the same glorious end. To suffer with Him means to endure similar physical exhaustion, mental sorrow and physical violence for similar reasons. Thus, according to the Scriptures, only those who would faithfully suffer unto death with our Lord would have the privilege of reigning with Him. Hence none could reign with Him in their earthly lifetime.

Again, the promise of the crown of life, the Divine nature and joint-heirship with Christ, is expressly stated in Rev. 2:10 as being conditional on one’s faithfulness unto death as a member of the Body of Christ. It reads: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The Lord Jesus is here in the book of Revelation addressing the second phase, the Smyrna phase, of the Church. He tells the brethren that the Roman empire, which He here calls the devil, would cast some of them into prison – would greatly restrain them in their work and persecute them most fiendishly and most outrageously; for the Smyrna Church and the Philadelphia Church were the two most persecuted by violence of any of the seven churches of the Gospel Age. Their tribulation of ten symbolic days was especially the ten years’ persecution they endured under Diocletian. The Lord exhorted them to be faithful unto death in spite of those terrible persecutions and He would give them a crown of life – immortality, the Divine nature.

Some of the Corinthian brethren, losing sight of this fact, acted as though the time of reigning had already come; therefore with irony the Apostle reproves them, saying: “Ye have reigned as kings without us.” (1 Cor. 4:8) This irony was used to bring them the more quickly to their senses, in harmony with what he had taught as to the Church suffering throughout this life before it could reign in harmony with the Divine Plan. Then, realizing how desirable the reigning time was in contrast with the suffering of the earthly life for the Church, he cried out, “I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.” Accordingly, in this verse the Apostle shows that the time for the Kingdom of God to reign in the earth is not during the Gospel Age. It will be during the Millennium, when the sufferings of the earthly lifetime are swallowed up in the glories then attained. (Rom. 8:17-19; Rev. 20:4, 6)

This fact, that the Kingdom class during the Gospel Age would be in a suffering and humiliated condition, undergoing untoward experiences to train her in fitness to reign with the Lord in the next Age, is an all-important one, and must ever be kept in mind by all of the Elect classes, to help them to keep from falling from their steadfastness. It is because early in this Age many forgot this that they in the great Apostasy fell from the primitive truths and practices of the Church and developed the great Antichrist, which claimed that the earthly life is the time for the Church to convert the world and to reign over the earth. And through this fundamental error the gates were thrown wide open for a thousand false doctrines and wrong practices to enter the Church, resulting in that perversion of truth and righteousness which we now see in great papacy. (2 Thess. 2:3-12) The true hope of the Kingdom to come into power at our Lord’s Return always kept the Church pure in faith and practice, as the loss of that hope and the adoption of the false hope of converting the world and reigning over the race before our Lord’s Return occasioned the loss of that purity of faith and practice, and the introduction of almost every evil word and work that became current during the Dark Ages.

THE REIGNING KINGDOM

If the Kingdom had been set up in royal power at Pentecost, as some of our dear Heavenly Father’s children mistakenly affirm, often with great self-confidence, it would no longer be appropriate to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” (Matt 6:10) Amid such circumstances we should cease to pray for the Kingdom to come, and instead thank God that the Kingdom has already come and that, as a result, His will is being done in earth as in Heaven – a thing that all know is not now being done. Hence this passage refers to Christ and the Church entering into their reign at His Second Advent.

Luke 21:31 uses the expression, “the Kingdom of God,” in the same sense. Jesus there tells us that when we see the signs of the times connected with His Second Advent enacting before our eyes, we should recognize that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand – that He and His faithful ones shortly will enter into their office as Kings in the earth. Certainly this passage could not refer to the embryo Kingdom, for that has been here ever since Pentecost. When the Lord assured the Apostles (Luke 22:29-30) that they would share with Him in His Heavenly privileges – eating and drinking at His table in His Kingdom – and would occupy thrones, ruling over Israel, He thereby certainly did not mean an activity that the Apostles would exercise in this life while still part of the embryo Kingdom; for instead of ruling over Israel in this life they were by Jews and Gentiles greatly persecuted, even unto death. Nor have they yet ruled over Israel. Hence this passage refers to the Millennial Kingdom. (Matt. 19:28)

Again, in Rev. 2:26-27; Rev. 3:21; Rev. 5:10 we hear Jesus through the Apostle John speak of the Kingdom in the sense of its reigning in this earth after all the Faithful have left the world; for all of these passages show that those who would reign with the Lord would first have to prove overcomers – a thing not completed in any case until death. (Rev. 2:10) Hence these passages refer to the reigning time as following the deliverance of the last member of the Church. Indisputably clear is Rev. 20:4, 6 as proving that this reign is yet future; for it shows that it is the privilege of those only who share in the First Resurrection – a thing that follows our Lord’s Second Advent. (1 Cor. 15:23-26, 42-44, 51-54; 1 Thess. 4:16-17)

The Old Testament has much to say on this point and abundantly proves that the Kingdom of God comes after our Lord’s Return. Hence these passages cannot refer to the embryo Kingdom. They must refer to the Kingdom in power and glory reigning in the earth. On this point we suggest that our readers look up the following references: Dan. 7:13-14, 18, 22, 26-27; Dan. 2:44; Psa. 22:27-29; Psa. 72:1-20; Isa. 2:2-4; Mic. 4:1-4; Isa. 11:1-11; Isa. 25:6-9; Isa. 35:1-10; Isa. 60:2-22; Isa. 61:4-11; Isa. 62:1-12; Isa. 65:17-25; Jer. 23:5-6; Jer. 33:14-16; Ezek. 37:23-25; Joel 2:28, 32; Ob. 21; Zeph. 3:8-9; Hag. 2:6-9; Zech. 8:20-23; Mal. 4:1-3.

From the Scriptures discussed above we see that the Bible treats of the Kingdom class from two standpoints: (1) the embryo Kingdom – the Church in the flesh, being fitted to reign in the next Age; and (2) the born Kingdom – the Church in great power and glory reigning in the earth after Christ’s Return.

It would also be in order to mention the fact that the expression, “Kingdom of God,” is sometimes used of the typical Kingdom of God (Fleshly Israel), because Fleshly Israel was typical of the Church, the real Kingdom of God. (Matt. 8:12; 1 Chron. 17:14; 1 Chron. 28:5; 2 Chron. 13:8) So, too, this expression is used of nominal Spiritual Israel as God’s nominal Kingdom. (Matt. 13:31-33)

THE CREATION OF THE KINGDOM

The Scriptures mention seven steps in the creation of the Kingdom class:

(1) The begettal of the Spirit in its individual members made them embryo New Creatures. (John 1:12-13[1]; John 3:31; 1 Cor. 4:15; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3, 231; 1 John 5:11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10)

(2) Each was quickened (made alive) as an embryo. (Eph. 2:1, 5; Col. 2:13)

(3) They began to grow in grace and knowledge in their embryo condition. (2 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:2)

(4) They strengthened in every good word and work and in grace and knowledge. (Eph. 3:16; Eph. 6:10-17; Col. 1:11; 2 Tim. 2:1)

(5) They developed by balancing the various parts of a Christ-like character with one another. (2 Thess. 2:17; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Thess. 3:12-13; Jas. 5:8; 2 Pet. 1:12)

(6) Their full development as embryos was completed by perfecting their characters, truly conforming them unto Christ’s image. (Rom. 8:29; Luke 6:40; Eph. 4:12; Heb. 13:20, 21; 1 Pet. 5:10)

(7) They were then ready to experience Spirit birth in the First Resurrection, by which they were to obtain the Divine nature, through obtaining immortality. (John 3:5-8; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5; 1 Cor. 15:20, 23; Jas. 1:18; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Cor. 15:50, 52-54)

All who proved faithful as such underwent these seven processes which, beginning with the begettal of the Spirit and ending in the birth of the Spirit, constitute the creative Acts whereby God brings to completion the creation of a new order of beings on the Divine plane of existence. This New Creation consists of Jesus and all His Body members.

The means which God uses to produce this New Creation are His Spirit (1 Pet. 1:22; 1 Cor. 6:11), His Word (1 Pet. 1: 22-24; 1 Pet. 2:2; John 17:17) and His providences. (Rom. 8:28, 35-39; Heb. 12:5-13) The Scriptures teach that each member of the Kingdom class would have his part in this creative process by consecrating himself to God, becoming dead to self and the world and alive to God, that he might receive the begettal. (Rom. 12:1; Col. 3:3) Then in his various experiences he was to remain dead to self and the world and alive to God. (Rom. 12:2; Rom. 6:2-11; Col. 3:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:11; 1 Pet. 4:1-3) By the grace of God this resulted, in the case of those who proved faithful as members of His Body, in the birth of the Spirit in the First Resurrection.

The subject of bringing the New Creation into existence is Scripturally set forth under the figure of the generation of a human being; hence in harmony with this figure God is set forth as the Father who would beget the New Creation as His children. (Jas. 1:18) The Sarah Covenant is set forth in this figure as their mother, in whose womb (representing the promises) their begetting, quickening, growth, strengthening, balancing and perfecting as embryo New Creatures would take place (Rom. 9:7-9; Gal. 4:22-31); and finally, they are set forth in this figure as born from this mother in the First Resurrection. (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5; John 3:5-8)

The birth of the Spirit made those who experienced it spirit beings. Jesus states this in John 3:6: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” St. Paul likewise assures us that human beings – flesh and blood – as such cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 15:50) Hence he teaches that the saints are changed from the human nature, which was inherited from Adam (Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:45-49) to the Divine nature, which God and our Lord Jesus have, by receiving Divine, immortal bodies. (1 Cor. 15:42-54; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 4:16-5:4; Phil. 3:20-21; Col. 3:4; 1 John 3:2) Thus they are born of the Spirit in the First Resurrection, no longer with human bodies, but with spirit bodies, and that of the highest nature in existence – the Divine nature! Accord­ingly, when the Faithful reign in the earth they will be Divine beings, like our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

This great salvation to the Divine nature had not been made known until our Lord came and brought it to light. (2 Tim. 1:9-10; Heb. 2:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; Luke 16:16) It was an entirely new and unheard of thing to Nicodemus, who failed to understand it. (John 3:1-13) However, it is the glorious hope that during the Gospel Age God has offered “the called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28; Rom. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:9-10; Col. 1:25-27; 2 Pet. 1:3-4)

THE INVISIBILITY OF THE KINGDOM

The fact that the Kingdom class become spirit beings, spirit beings of the highest of spirit natures (the Divine nature), proves that they will be invisible while reigning over the earth. We know that angels are spirits (Heb. 1:7), and that as such they are invisible; for our guardian angels are about us, but we cannot see their bodies with our natural eyes. (Heb. 1:14; Matt. 18:10; Psa. 34:7; Psa. 91:11-12) The only way that they could manifest themselves to our physical eyes would be by their creating for themselves natural bodies and showing these to us, as they did to various ones during the time that God’s Word was in process of revelation. (Gen. 18:1-8; Gen. 19:1-3; Heb. 13:2; Josh. 5:13-15; Judg. 6:11-22; Judg. 13:3-21; Luke 1:11-20, 26-38; Luke 2:9-15; Matt. 28:2-7; Acts 12:7-10, etc.) But in every case the bodies which were seen were not the spirit bodies of the angels, but those which they materialized. We may be sure that if the bodies of the lower orders of spirit beings, like those of the angels, are invisible to us, the bodies of the highest order of spirit beings (Divine beings) must be invisible. Hence no human being ever saw God’s body. (John 1:18; John 5:37; 1 Tim. 1:17; Col. 1:15) Nor can any man see Christ’s present body which is a Divine body. (1 Tim. 6:16)

Jesus, by comparing them to the wind, told Nicodemus that those who would be born of the Spirit would be invisible. He said that as the wind comes and goes invisibly to us, we know of its presence not by our sight but by other senses and by its visible effects; so also, He said, are all those born of the Spirit. (John 3:8) He told the Pharisees that the Kingdom class would be invisible when they come to reign over the earth, for He said that the Kingdom would come “not with observation” – not with outward show or visibly. Nor would anyone be able to point out these Rulers to the sight of others, saying, “Lo, here! or, lo, there!” (Luke 17:20-21) They would be invisible, “within you,” (literally “in your midst,” see Luke 17:21, NIV).

Thus no human being will ever be able to see the Kingdom class who, glorified as spirit beings of the Divine nature, are thoroughly invisible, just as the angels of God are invisible. But someone may ask concerning this Kingdom, How can there be such things as invisible rulers? We answer: There is now an invisible kingdom ruling over this world – Satan and his angels. (Matt. 12:24-28; Luke 4:5-7; John 14:30; John 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Eph. 6:11-12) We know, not only from the Bible, but also from the works of the World-Empire that Satan and his angels are now the kingdom over this present evil world. (Col. 1:13; Gal. 1:4) As subjects he has mankind in general, whom he controls politically through the political rulers, socially through the rulers in society, and financially through the trusts, corporations, mergers, etc. He despotically rules over them as a tyrant, as the executioner of God’s sentence, not that God has appointed him to be the ruler, but he has taken this rulership by usurpation and he uses this rulership invisibly.

We can only see from the effects of his reign what he is doing; for we know that he ruthlessly destroys the political, the social, the financial rulers, the trusts, the corporations, the mergers and the like, when they no longer serve his purpose. He does this, not by making himself seen visibly, but by acts that are seen among the children of men. For that reason Satan’s invisible empire, usurped over the children of men during the time of the curse and particularly in the second evil world (from the flood until Christ’s Second Advent) illustrates in its invisibility what the Kingdom of God will be like when it rules over the earth.

The Christ, Head and Body, will be present, but invisible in the Divine nature, as such having immortality and incorruptibility. They will not be seen by the children of men, either before the Millennium or during the Millennium or forever afterwards, even as Jesus says of Himself: “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” (John 14:19) So it is not an impossible or an improbable thing that God’s Kingdom – Jesus and the Church – should be invisible while reigning over the earth.

As assistants of Jesus and the Little Flock, the Lamb’s Wife, in the spiritual or invisible phase of the Kingdom, will be the Great Multitude des­cribed in Rev. 7:9-17 and Rev. 19:1-9. This class consists of those who were called to be members of Christ’s Bride, but who more or less came short of the prize of the high calling. They are nevertheless rewarded for their measurable faithfulness by being invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. (Rev. 19:9) They are not of the world of mankind to be given life as children of the Second Adam and the Second Eve in the thousand-year Day of Judgment, the Restitution time, the Day of Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory (Matt. 19:28), for they will be present at the Marriage Supper, prior to the begetting and birth of the world of mankind in their regeneration unto life. They are of the Gospel-Age salvation, justified by faith, the imperfections of their flesh being covered by Christ’s robe of righteousness, which through carelessness they allowed to become soiled or spotted by contami­nation with the world, etc., and which they wash as a class during the great tribulation. (Rev. 7:14)

They are not given a place in the throne, but before it (Rev. 7:15), as antitypical Levites (who have no inheritance in the land – Deut. 18:1-2) and Noblemen, hence not of the Restitution class, typified by the twelve tribes of Israel exclusive of the Levites. The Great Multitude as antitypical Levites are “before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” (Rev. 7:15) They are included in Abraham’s seed among “the stars of heaven” for multitude (Gen. 15:5; Gen. 22:17), as a part of the spiritual phase of the Kingdom, which will be invisible to mankind.

THE KINGDOM’S EARTHLY REPRESENTATIVES

While the Kingdom class proper – Jesus and the Church – will during their reign be invisible to mankind, they will be visibly represented through­out the earth by certain human beings – the Ancient Worthies and the Youthful Worthies – even as Satan and his angels have during their reign been visibly represented by certain human beings, such as oppressive rulers, false religious teachers and predatory aristocrats, who through Satanic decep­tion have more or less claimed to exercise their authority by Divine Right. Satan manipulated such persons through their selfish and sinful desires and through their errors and ignorance to do what he wished accomplished, by making it profitable for them to do so, and hindered them from doing what he did not want done by making it disastrous for them to do it. Hence he controlled them through selfishness, ignorance, error and wrong. Accord­ingly, they have been fitting representatives of his empire.

But the Ancient and Youthful Worthies, before being made the visible representatives of the reigning Kingdom of Heaven in this earth (Gen. 13:14-15; Acts 7:5; Heb. 11:39-40), will have dem­onstrated, through their faithfulness while on trial in this life, their loyalty to truth and right­eousness. Hence they will be suitable and dependable representatives of the invisible Rulers in the next Age. The Ancient Worthies will be the princes (not kings) throughout the earth that will rule in judgment – truth and righteousness. (Isa. 32:1; Psa. 45:16) They will have as their associates the Youthful Worthies. (Joel 2:28) They will exper­ience a better resurrection than the world (Heb. 11:35) – better because they will be awakened perfect at the beginning of Christ’s Reign.

These Ancient and Youthful Worthies will be the subordinate rulers under Christ; the world will then be subject to these Worthies, and will become perfect gradually during the Millennium and will attain perfection completely only at its end. The Ancient and Youthful Worthies will stand before the world as the latter’s visible rulers, and as such will be recognized and obeyed by the world. All these things make their resurrection better than the world’s.

To be continued in our February 2018 paper.

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ANNOUNCEMENT

The date of our Lord’s Memorial is March 29, 2018 after six p.m.

 [1] The subject of the begettal and birth of the Spirit has been somewhat darkened by the incorrect translation of the Greek word gennao, which means to beget when a male is the active agent, and to bear or give birth when a female is the active agent. See Matt. 1:16 where this word appears twice and is correctly translated in the first instance as “begat” and in the second instance as “was born.” God is always regarded as masculine; hence gennao, when used in connection with God as in these instances, should be rendered as some form of the word “beget” and not as “born.”

NO. 724: "UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN"

No. 724

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6, NKJV)

Even though Christmas day is not the real anniversary of our Lord’s birth, but more likely closer to the annunciation day or the date of His human begetting (Luke 1:28), nevertheless, since the celebration of our Lord’s birth is not a matter of Divine appointment or injunction, but merely a tribute of respect to Him, it is not necessary to quibble about the date. We join with the civilized world in celebrating the grand event on the day which the majority celebrate – “Christmas day.”

In Isaiah 9:2-7[1], we find a lesson appro­priate to the Christmas season – a prophecy of our Savior and the great salvation, the gift of God, provided through Him. The prophecy begins: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isa. 9:2) This statement pertains to the future although it reads as if it relates to something in the past. (Similarly we read “unto us a Child is born,” whereas Jesus was not born until several centuries later.) The promised great Light is not yet shining upon the people. Mankind still dwells in the land of the shadow of death. The shadows of the demoralized, sinful, dying condition of Adam’s race affect all of life’s interests for the whole world of mankind. As the Apostle Paul subsequently explained, “For we know the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” (Rom. 8:22)

We are still in the time when darkness covers the earth (civilized society) and gross darkness the people (unbelievers). (Isa. 60:2) It is true that there is a measure of light in the world and that it emanated from our dear Redeemer, His words and His works. It still shines forth from all who are truly His, all whose hearts are illuminated by His promises and His Spirit. But this is not the light which is to scatter all of earth’s darkness and to cause all mankind to appreciate the glory of God. It is merely the light of faith, hope, and love that exists in believers.

Our Lord’s light shone into a little corner of the world called Israel and from His lamp many followers have lit their lamps. To these the Master pointed out, “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” He instructed them, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” He added, however, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (Matt. 5:15-16; John 3:20;  2 Cor. 4:4)

THE TRUE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

That the True Light is not now shining, that the Sun of Righteousness has not yet arisen with “healing in his wings” (Mal. 4:2) is fully evidenced by the gross darkness of the non-Christian world and by the comparatively lesser darkness of Christendom. Some light has spread throughout the world to the degree that Jesus’ true followers have kept their lights trimmed and burning. But all this is merely the shining of light in the midst of darkness and at the present time and under present conditions a light wholly inadequate to dispel the night and to bring in the glorious Day for which the whole creation groans and waits. That glorious Day cannot come until all the members of the Lord’s Body are found; together with Him they will constitute the Sun of Righteousness. (Matt. 13:43)

Soon the Church of Christ will be completed; soon the Sun of Righteousness will shine; soon its rays will light the farthest reaches of the earth. Then every child of Adam, all who shared in his curse, will share in Messiah’s great work of blessing. They will be brought under the influence of that great Light which will make the Millennial Age a Day of glory and of knowledge of the Lord as foretold by prophecy: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14)

This prophecy goes beyond those living at the time and assures us that the Light will shine to those who are in the shadow of death – those already in the darkness of the death state – sheol, hades. The light must shine upon every member of Adam’s race, for Christ tasted death for all. (Heb. 2:9) Just as all of Adam’s children were condemned before their birth, so Christ died for all, before the majority were even born. Just as they shared in the curse that came upon Father Adam, so surely they will receive a blessing from the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:17-18)

MULTIPLICATION BY RESURRECTION

The prophecy continues: “Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” (Isa. 9:3, RSV) This, the Revised Standard Version rendering, is evidently more accurate than the King James Version and is consistent with many other translations. This pictures the world of mankind during the Millennial Age, brought forth from the bondage of death, released from the Adamic curse, rejoicing as those who are dividing a spoil – sharing in something which is not theirs, something which has fallen to them. This is how it will be. The blessings of the Millennium will be distributed as Divine bounty; the curse will be rolled away; the Sun of Righteousness will shine for all, bringing Restitution to all. None will forfeit the blessings except those who willfully refuse them and disregard God’s favor.

The same is true for those who receive Divine mercy now. It is a gift; they can do nothing for it; they are merely assured that they are forgiven. The difference is that now only a very few have the eye to see, the ear to hear and the heart to appreciate God’s mercy as it is told us in the Good Tidings which can only be understood by the hearing of faith. In the next age sight and knowledge will largely take the place of faith. The world will then realize the grace of God in Christ Jesus, forgiving their sins and providing them with life everlasting if they will accept it; and they will rejoice to divide the great spoil, the great gift of God. (Rom. 6:23)

The next verse describes the cause for this rejoicing: “For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.” (Isa. 9:4) It will be because the great oppressor, Satan, will no longer have control. His yoke of sin, sorrow, pain and death, his rod and his staff of affliction and slavery, will be broken forever, as the Lord explains. (Rev. 20:1-3) The victory over the Adversary is not to be a slow and gradual one, not to be accomplished by missions or any human power; but the Lord Himself will interpose His Power, “as in the day of Midian.”

GIDEON’S ARMY

The day of Midian was the day when Gideon and his little band, armed with trumpets and pitchers with lights in them, delivered Israel from the hosts of Midian. (Judges 7:15-22) By the blowing of the trumpets, the breaking of the pitchers and the shining of the lights, they confused the Midianites, so that they killed one another with a great slaughter. The Lord overwhelmed the powerful enemies of His people, granting them a miraculous deliverance.

Our Lord Jesus is the antitypical Gideon, and His “little flock” (Luke 12:32), the Church of this Gospel Age, are the antitype of Gideon’s little army. It will be through their intervention (on the other side of the vail) that the hosts of sin and the present weapons of evil will be utterly defeated and will self-destruct in the great Time of Trouble drawing near. The great victory for truth and righteousness will result in the binding of Satan and the release of all the oppressed.

In the next verse we read of the grand conclusion, the end of sin and trouble: “For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” (Isa. 9:5, RSV) The interpretation of this figurative statement is that everything pertaining to this great conflict between right­eousness and unrighteousness, all of the weapons of Satan, all the accessories of sin and death which have prevailed in the world for centuries, shall be utterly destroyed. The picture shows us the world cleansed from every evidence of opposition to the Divine Government and the Law of Righteousness, and harmonizes well with the statement of Revelation: “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Rev. 5:13)

HOW WILL IT BE BROUGHT ABOUT?

Next the Lord gives the explanation of the process by which this prophecy of blessing and release will be accomplished, drawing attention to the fact that no such blessing and enlightenment would be possible until Messiah has come. He also shows that Messiah was to be born after the manner of mankind, but would nevertheless be the Son of the Living God: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . . “ (Isa. 9:6, NKJV)

How beautiful, how simple, is the entire statement from the standpoint of faith! Yet the wisdom of this world still may stumble over even such simple statements as these, claiming, as Higher Critics do, that this prophecy was wholly to the Israelites of Isaiah’s day, and that the promised one was King Hezekiah! Blessed are our eyes if they see and our ears if they hear the true meaning of this prophecy and thus permit us to recognize in it the Messiah, Immanuel – meaning “God with us” – the one sent of God to be the great Deliverer and to accomplish for us all the wonderful things which God has promised by all the holy Prophets since the world began, confirming His promise made to Abraham: “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Acts 3:19-21; Gen. 28:14; Gal. 3:8,16,29)

The prophecy continues, picturing the Child grown to manhood, and the government placed upon His shoulders: “. . . . And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6, NKJV) The respon­sibility falls upon Him as a royal mantle from the Heavenly Emperor, God the Father. Skipping over the earthly trials and sufferings of our Redeemer and the Church during the Gospel Age, the prophecy points to the complete and glorified Messiah at His Second Advent, viewed from God’s standpoint, the standpoint from which the whole world will ultimately recognize Him.

THE TITLES GIVEN TO JESUS

All the titles given to our Lord – “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” – represent His majesty, dignity, power and glory. Our Lord is already recognized by His true followers, who know Him as the most wonderful Counselor. No other counsel, no other teaching is like His. The world in general has yet to learn this fact about Him; but before the close of the Millennium it will be generally known: “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10-11) If after confessing Him any willfully and deliberately ignore and reject His teachings, sinning willfully and intentionally, such will die the Second Death. (Acts 3:23)

Our Lord Jesus is recognized now by His true followers as the Mighty Lord, the Mighty God, but not as God the Father. (1 Cor. 8:6) He is the Father’s representative, voice, mouthpiece, the well-beloved Son whom the Father has clothed with glory, honor and immortality, and given all power in Heaven and in earth necessary to the accomplishment of the great work entrusted to Him. (Matt. 3:17; Matt. 28:18) He demonstrated His fitness for this office by His love and His loyalty even unto the death of the Cross.

Our Lord Jesus will be the Everlasting Father of the human race in the sense that, while their father Adam failed to give them life, our Lord redeemed Adam and all his posterity, thus becoming the Author of everlasting life to all who will obey Him. This will include all of the human family that will attain to everlasting life, except the Church class of this Gospel Age, who are chosen out of the world and begotten of the Heavenly Father to a new, spiritual nature. (1 Pet. 1:3-4) These spirit-begotten ones are separate and distinct from the world, and are Scripturally designated the New Creation. (2 Cor. 5:17) They are spoken of as the brethren of Christ in one figure, and as His Bride and Joint-heirs in another, but never as His children. (Heb. 2:11; Rev. 21:2) To the world, however, He will be the Everlasting Father, or Life-giver through whom they may have everlasting life – life to all eternity – if they will become obedient to God’s arrangements.

Another of our Lord’s titles will be Prince of Peace. While His Kingdom will be introduced by the great Time of Trouble such as never before was, the trouble will not be of His producing. (Dan. 12:1) It will be the result of the wrong course of sin and selfishness fostered by the great oppressor, Satan. The Prince of Peace will subdue all enemies, all sin, all unrighteousness, all insubordination to the Divine will. He will neither fail nor be discouraged. Nothing will hinder the accomplishment of this great mission entrusted to Him by the Father. His love of peace will not hinder Him from dashing the nations to pieces as a potter’s vessel, in order that righteousness be established upon a firm and sure foundation. (Psa. 2:9; Rev. 2:26-27)

“UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID”

Our lesson concludes: “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:7)

The word David signifies “beloved;” and the kingdom entrusted to King David was God’s Kingdom in a typical form, which was never to pass away. (1 Chron. 29:23; 2 Sam. 7:16) It was maintained by the Lord down to the time of Zedekiah, when we are told that the crown and the scepter of authority and power were removed to be overturned until He would come whose right it is. (Ezek. 21:27).

Our Lord in the flesh, as a descendant of King David, was the legitimate Heir to that Kingdom of David which was to have no end. But instead of establishing His Kingdom at His First Advent, He declared, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) That is to say, His Kingdom was not of that age, that dispensation. He then began the selection of the Little Flock who in the world to come, the Millennial Age, will be His joint-heirs and associates in the Millennial Kingdom. This work of selecting the Church – the kings, rulers, priests – has since been in progress, and we have the assurance of God’s Word that it will reach a final and glorious consummation worthy of our God.

When Christ and the glorified Church reign over the earth, their rule will be the continuation or exaltation of the Kingdom of God which was begun in King David and Natural Israel. This greater David, this greater Beloved of the Father, full of grace and truth, will establish righteousness in the earth with judgment – with punishments for wrong-doing and rewards for right-doing.

Although the Millennial Kingdom will be under the direct supervision of our glorious Lord and His associated Church, yet behind it will be the Father’s delegated power. As the Apostle assures us, when it is said that all things will be put under subjection to Christ, it is manifest that the Father is excepted, for it is He that puts all things under Christ. “Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God [the Father] may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:27,28)

Immanuel’s government, from the time of its beginning to the time it will be transferred to the Father, will be one continuous success; there will be no breaks or changes of course. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” The discipline and order which He will establish will be on such a firm basis that day by day will see it more secure, until finally the consummation having been reached, the trials all being complete, the willfully incorrigible having been destroyed, the dominion without end will be passed to the Father.

It was the Father’s Kingdom from the time of David; it will be the Father’s Kingdom under the control of Messiah during the period of subjugation and Restitution, the Millennial Age; and it will be the Father’s Kingdom without end after “he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.” (1 Cor. 15:24) The assurance given is that the work of reconstruction will be so thoroughly carried out that never again will sin bring a curse upon the earth. (Rev. 21:4)

CALL HIS NAME JESUS

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)

This text sums up the entire work of our Lord Jesus, indicating that it is all implied in the meaning of the name Jesus, Savior. We sometimes refer to our Lord as the Savior of sinners, and properly so, because we are all sinners through our share in the Adamic fall. We sometimes speak of Him as the Savior of the world, and properly so, because the whole world was lost through Adam’s disobe­dience, and the whole world was redeemed and is to have the glorious opportunity of reconciliation to the Father through their Redeemer. But it is also appropriate that we note the statement of this text that He will save His people from their sins.

This statement, that only the Lord’s people are to be saved from their sins, is in full agreement with the other statements that He is the Savior of sinners and the Savior of the world. Although His salvation (from the Adamic death) extends to and embraces every member of Adam’s race, yet only those who accept the great salvation and the opportunities accorded them once they learn of them, thus becoming His people, only they and no others will get the full salvation and be delivered completely from death, and attain to the life everlasting, which is the gift of God to all those who obey Him. (Rom. 6:23)

(Derived from several writings of Pastor Russell, primarily Reprints 3685-3687)

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THE SCOPE OF THE ANGELS’ SONG

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

The song which the angels sang at the birth of the Savior has been seized upon and misapplied by some who do not see the plan of God for the salvation of the world. Be­coming discouraged by the seemingly poor prospect for the world’s conversion, these have put forth a version of this passage more in harmony with their own doubts and misconcep­tions. To these the prayer which our Master taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” has lost its meaning; for they see no hope of its fulfillment except in a very limited sense. Hence they prefer to translate the latter part of the verse, “And on earth peace, among men of good will.” Were this the proper rendering, our hopes for the ultimate good of all, as far as this passage is concerned, would surely be eclipsed; for very few thus far in the history of the race have been “men of good will,” men who have unselfishly endeavored to any appreci­able degree to bring about the good of their fellows.

But we do not believe this to be the thought of the original. It is not in harmony with what we have clearly seen to be the plan of God for mankind. Such a translation eliminates the thought of God’s eventual good will toward all the world, and greatly minimizes the scope of this glorious song. It implies merely that men who have a feeling of good will are, or will be, at peace among themselves. How utterly barren of hope for all men would such an expression be! And how little the song of the angels would signify if this were its meaning!

On the contrary, this song was a prophecy of God’s purpose to bring about through the newly born Child the overturning of the curse and the establishment of peace and sin­lessness among mankind, in which God and man would become at-one. It was an expression of God’s good will, His good purpose, to bring man back to the image and likeness of Himself in which Adam was created. When this shall have been accomplished, then peace will dwell in all the earth; for the causes of discord will have been eliminated.

The world of mankind came under the curse, or sentence, of death because of the sin in Eden – because our first parents disobeyed God’s righteous command. All humanity, therefore, are members of an accursed race – under penal servitude, which ends in the tomb. The race has been learning the lesson of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and its terrible effects. But God has promised to take away the curse and to bring a permanent blessing in its place. This will mean a return to His favor, to full harmony with Himself.

PROGRESSION OF GOD’S GREAT PLAN

We speak of this song as a prophecy because the peace has not yet come, nor the good will, in the sense that God’s face is not yet turned toward man. It is a declaration of what God purposes to do. He does not have good will toward the present sinful, re­bellious attitude of the race. He has never had good will toward sin. We are not to understand that God was expressing His good will toward man when He pronounced the sentence of death upon him. God’s curse indicated His ill will toward man – in other words, His displeasure because of man’s sin. He wished man to suffer ill as a just punishment for his willful disobedience. God cut him off from fellowship with Himself. He was not bound in justice to do anything more for the race. But in His infinite mercy He provided a deliverance for mankind. He foreknew man’s fall, and planned his redemption from before the foundation of the world. (1 Pet. 1:18-20)

Through all the ages since the fall of Adam God’s plan has been slowly, steadily progressing. While men have been learning in pain and tears and trouble the nature and results of sin, God has been selecting His saintly ones, His elect – first, the elect who are to be the earthly princes in His Kingdom of blessing; then, the elect who are to reign over all as kings and priests of God on the highest plane of existence. The chief of all the elect is His well-beloved Son, the Savior of the world, whose birth the angels proclaimed to the shepherds watching on the plains of Judea, some twenty centuries ago. (Isa. 42:1) When all the elect ones are chosen the blessing of the world at large will be inaugurated. “For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God [the Church]. For the creature was made subject to vanity [futility], not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:19-21)

The coming of the Son of God to earth was only preliminary to His offering of Himself as a ransom for the forfeited life of Adam, the father of the race, in whom all his posterity fell. But even when our Lord had died as man’s ransom-price, God’s favor did not come to the world. Jesus was next raised from the dead a glorious, Divine being. Then He ascended up on high, and appeared in the presence of God for those who were to be of the spiritual elect. Thus the last became first in God’s plan. The merit of Jesus’ death was utilized first on behalf of these. It has not yet been applied for any others. The Church of Christ now has this promised peace and good will. It is granted only to those who have come into vital relationship with God through Christ – the fully consecrated ones.

The Scriptures show that after these are all selected, prepared and glorified, the next step will be the application to all men of the merit which has been imputed to these elect, and through whom it is to go to the Worthies of old and to the entire world of mankind. This spiritual class has been chosen to be members of the body of Christ, ­joint-associates with Him in the Messianic Kingdom. All of these who prove entirely faithful are to attain this exalted position. As soon as all the spiritual class have been glorified, the sins of all the world, those living and the dead as well, will be legally canceled by the application of the virtue, the merit, of the sacrificial death of Jesus. Then they will be freed from the condemnation of the sentence of death. The death penalty will be lifted. They will be turned over to The Christ, Head and Body, the Great Mediator. The curse will be removed.

The great work of the Millennial Age will then begin. It will be a work of gradual uplift during the entire thousand years of the reign of The Christ. The dead will be gradually awakened and brought to a clear knowledge of the salvation of God in Christ.  All will then have the opportunity of coming into the blessed condition of peace and good will proclaimed by the angels. By degrees they will be brought, if they will, to where they will be ready to be received by the Father, to be introduced to Him. This will be the blessed experience of all who will be obedient to the rules and requirements of the Kingdom. If they prove unwilling and disobedient, after being brought to a clear understanding, they will be “cut off,” destroyed, as not worthy of further effort on God’s part for their reclamation. (Acts 3:23)

(Excerpt from Reprint 5576, with minor editing)

[1] The first verse of this chapter properly belongs with the previous chapter; accordingly, in the Hebrew text it is numbered 8:23. Therefore our topic begins with the second verse.

NO. 723: THE JUBILEE OF RESTORATION

No. 723

“And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.” (Lev 25:10)

God gave His chosen people two distinct sets of Sabbaths or rests. The seventh day of the week was appointed for rest from labor for the benefit of their physical well-being; that Sabbath day was a type which foreshadowed a future time of rest of heart and mind.

There was also a special Sabbath day once a year, falling early in the ecclesiastical year after the Passover and the priest’s waving of the sheaf of first fruits (typifying our Lord’s resurrection to the heavenly plane). At the beginning of their religious year a cycle of seven times seven days began. Following this cycle of 49 days, came the fiftieth day, Pentecost, a special Sabbath day, the Jubilee Day. On this day there came a great blessing to all of the Children of Israel who were in the proper condition of heart.

The Jubilee Day foreshadowed the beginning of the real rest of heart and mind which was to come to those who were in heart readiness and who accepted Jesus as Messiah. This rest of mind and heart, typified in the Pentecostal day and its blessings, was but the earnest or foretaste of a still greater blessing and rest to be entered into by the faithful at the end of the race set before them. (Eph. 1:14; Heb. 12:1)

But Israel not only had day Sabbaths, it also had year Sabbaths, for every seventh year was a Sabbath year. Just as the Sabbath days could be observed by the chosen people anywhere and everywhere, the rest typified by their Sabbath days may be enjoyed by the consecrated everywhere under all conditions. But the Sabbath years were different. They could only be observed while the people were in their own land, because they only related to that land. In the Sabbath years, the land was allowed to rest and no crops were to be planted. (Lev. 25:4)

These Sabbath years had a cycle similar to that of the Sabbath days. The cycle of seven times seven years brought them to the fiftieth year, which was a special Sabbath year, just as the fiftieth day was a special Sabbath day. It was the Jubilee Year.

The Jubilee Year was undoubtedly a wise and beneficial arrangement made for the chosen people by God, their great King. It was first an economic arrangement; it prevented the accumulation of property in the hands of the few. It was a social and financial safety arrangement for the preservation of the rights and interests of the less successful of the people of Israel. Every fiftieth year was a Jubilee Year in which property under mortgage or lien for debt would revert to its original owner free from all encumbrance. Similarly, if a family had gotten into financial difficulty, losing its homestead and perhaps even being forced into servitude, in the fiftieth year not only the estate would be free, but all obligations of servitude would terminate.

In the Jubilee Year every man returned to his original rights and possessions. This was not unjust to anyone. Everyone knew in advance that a loan or debt or contract for the property of another could last only to the fiftieth year. Hence all valuation of property and of service rendered was based upon this arrangement. The valuation was greater when the Jubilee Year was far off and became less as it drew near. Thus under Divine arrangement it was impossible for the land of Israel to get into the hands of great landlords, trusts, etc. because the property right inhered in the family.

TIMES OF RESTITUTION THE ANTITYPE

Israel did not particularly care for this arrangement, and it gradually fell into disuse. The Almighty did not insist upon its continuance. Its chief value was that of a type pointing forward to greater “Times of Restitution” (Acts 3:21), the antitypical Jubilee Year when Adam and all of his posterity will be permitted to come back from the “land of the enemy.” (Jer. 31:16) They will be released from the power of the grave and from the dominion of sin and death. They will be brought back to harmony with God, to perfection of human nature, to inheritance of the land and all the blessings and rights and privileges which originally belonged to Father Adam.

When the great Messiah comes in power and great glory to establish in the earth His Millennial Kingdom, the human family will come into all these rights and privileges lost in Eden and redeemed at Calvary. The first to be blessed under that Kingdom arrangement will be God’s chosen people, Israel; and subsequently, all nations will receive a similar share by coming under the same conditions and participating in Israel’s New Law Covenant. (Isa. 2:3-4; Zech. 14:16-17; Rom. 2:10)

The Restitution blessings outlined by the Prophets include the restoration of Israel to Divine favor, their repossession and control of the land of Israel, and the sending forth of the Abrahamic blessings through them to all people. Restitution will include bringing the earth to full perfection, as was symbolically represented in the Garden of Eden. (Isa. 60:13, Isa. 66:1) It will include the lifting of humanity out of mental, moral and physical imperfection up to the grand heights of human perfection in the image and likeness of the Creator, to the original estate lost by Father Adam.

The Millennial Age, the reign of Messiah, will be the anti-typical Jubilee time, in which gladness and rejoicing will come to earth, and come to stay; for all who refuse the gracious privileges and opportunities of that time and reject the favor of God knowingly, willingly, intentionally, will be cut off from life in the Second Death, from which there will be no recovery. (Acts 3:23)

BLOWING SILVER TRUMPETS

At the opening of Israel’s Jubilee Year it was the priests’ duty to blow the silver trumpets pro­claiming “liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” (Lev. 25:9-10) The bugle note sounded by the priests was repeated every­where upon ram’s horns and upon anything that would make a joyful sound proclaiming liberty. Doubtless some who heard the sound may have been ready to dispute the correctness of the message, claiming there was a mistake.

Some who heard the proclamation of liberty were probably boisterous and rowdy in their jubilation and behaved unwisely. The beginning of the Jubilee Year must have been a time of general tumult and disruption. The current holders of the land may have been slow to surrender it; and the beneficiaries of human servitude were probably unwilling to give it up. Likewise those to whom land and freedom belonged by Divine right may have been impatient with any delay, thus becoming unreasonable in their demands for immediate restitution.

The Divine Word teaches that the great anti-typical Jubilee period of one thousand years is already upon us. We are now in the time when the priests are blowing the silver trumpets – the Truth of God’s Word – and when the common people everywhere are waking up and loudly demanding their rights and freedom, sometimes violently.

All the blessings of this Jubilee period have been Divinely provided, so it is right that humanity should receive them; however, Divine Providence should be noted and its leadings should be followed. It is God’s arrangement that the Jubilee Restitution be ushered in, so surely it will come to pass; for all of God’s purposes will be accom­plished. “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11)

There should be no breathless haste, but a quiet, patient, faithful waiting on the Almighty. He tells us, however, that many will be impatient; as a result, there will come upon the world “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1) The trouble time will serve as the opening of the door to the Jubilee of Restitution. Hear the exhortation of the Prophet:

“Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy” (the fire of His zeal, anger). (Zeph. 3:8)

We know this will not be a literal fire, but terrible trouble causing great distress, for the next verse shows that the people will survive the trouble. There we read, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language [the Gospel of the Love and Justice of God], that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9)

The Holy Scriptures warn all who have an ear to hear this message not to attempt to bring in the great Jubilee too hastily. The great leveling of humanity, rich and poor, is coming, and coming speedily, because “the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:4) The great Jubilee with its restoration of human rights to every child of Adam is already upon us. Blessed will those be who, recognizing the fact, shall most speedily and most heartily join in and cooperate with the Divine arrangement.

Let the rich exercise benevolence of heart and rejoice to turn their millions into channels of usefulness for the people, and let them do it speedily. They should not think that all things will continue as they have been in the past – the anti-typical Jubilee has come. Its silver trumpet is now sounding in our ears. Already the masses are clamoring and restless, unable to wait for Divine Providence to give them the promised blessings. They do not know God; they do not discern that this Jubilee is coming and is of His making.

The people vainly think they are transforming society themselves. They think they must force the issue and grasp the coveted prize of equal rights, prosperity and leisure. The peculiar condition of things we now see can only be understood or appreciated in the light of the Scriptures. God’s Word gives the soundest of advice; however, the great intellects of the world have discarded the Bible and have gathered other teachers, whose doctrines credit worldly wisdom and evolution for the wonderful progress of the human race.

The Bible tells us that these doctrines will speedily come to naught: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (1 Cor. 1:19; Isa. 29:14-15; Prov. 14:8)

The Bible’s message regarding the present time is profitable to both rich and poor: “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment [done His will]; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:3) Few of either the rich or the poor are in the attitude of mind to hear.

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings [including the financial kings]: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son [salute, recognize the great King of Glory], lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psa. 2:10-12) This is God’s last warning to Christendom to now or never (as nations) recognize their new King by abandoning oppression and establishing justice. Now is the time for nations to concede to all men their natural rights. The Scriptures show that all nations will be found in violent opposition to the heavenly Kingdom and hence will be crushed as the vessels of a potter. (Rev. 2:27)

THE ANTI-TYPICAL JUBILLEE BEGUN

Harmonious prophecies based upon the Jubilee type show that the Jubilee chronologically began in 1875 A.D. Since then the masses have been struggling for their rights by various methods, some wise, some unwise. Everywhere the anti-typical ram’s horns are being blown and the watch-word is “rights!”

Those who own capital and have vested interests, not realizing that the Jubilee “Times of Restitution” are at hand, are perplexed at the situation and even alarmed. They have summoned the best legal talent and worldly wisdom in the endeavor to hold fast to everything they have gained and to relinquish and restore nothing! If the vested interests can possibly bar the way, the Times of Restitution will not come. Elated at their success, they believe themselves stronger, more thoroughly entrenched than ever in the control of the money and power. They hold that everything can be purchased with money – “every man has his price.”

The great struggle, the Time of Trouble, will be precipitated as a result of the extreme confidence of both sides. Organized labor and organized capital, each self-confident, will precipitate the most terrible disaster that has ever befallen Christendom – world-wide anarchy. Neither will hear; neither will understand the situation. It remains for those who have the hearing ear to heed the message of God’s word: “Seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:3)

THE MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION UNDER THE LAW

The Divine key to the date for the ushering in of the anti-typical Jubilee lies in the system of day Sabbaths and year Sabbaths, culminating in a fiftieth or Jubilee Year. The multiplying of the Sabbath or seventh day by seven (7 x 7 = 49) pointed out Pentecost, the Jubilee Day which followed; and the multiplying of the seventh year by seven (7 x 7 = 49) made the cycle which pointed out and led to the fiftieth or Jubilee Year. The same system would indicate that to reach the great antitype which we seek we should in like manner square the Jubilee – i.e., multiply the fiftieth year by fifty. The anti-typical Jubilee will be the great Jubilee of Jubilees, reached by the same method of counting, 50 x 50 years, or 2,500 years in all.

The question is: When should we begin the counting of this cycle? The answer is: Where the type ceased to be observed the great cycle began. In other words, God preserved the type until the proper time for the anti-typical cycle to begin to count.

We know that the Hebrew people maintained their Jubilee system very imperfectly and with more or less dissatisfaction until the overthrow of their government. After Zedekiah’s government was over­thrown and the people taken into captivity for seventy years by Nebuchadnezzar, the typical Jubilee must have ceased during this period, because it could be observed only while in their own land. Prior to that time, although repeatedly taken into captivity by their enemies, they were never out of their land long enough to prevent the celebration of the Jubilee. And so far as any record shows, the Israelites have never observed a Jubilee Year since their return from the Babylonian captivity.

Moreover, through the Prophet Jeremiah the Lord distinctly tells us that Israel’s observance of the Jubilee Sabbath years was unsatisfactory, and that He made desolate their land during those seventy years in order that it might have the full number of Sabbaths which He had designed, and which the people had selfishly neglected to observe. All of those seventy years of captivity were Jubilee Years and the land had rest – none being observed subsequently:

“And them that had escaped from the sword carried he [Nebuchadnezzar] away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill three score and ten years.” (2 Chron. 36:20-21)

Thus we know when the seventy years desolation began; namely, 606 B.C.[1] But how may we determine just when Israel observed their last Jubilee? To answer this question, we must reckon from the time when the Jubilee system of counting began down to 606 B.C., the beginning of the captivity, and then divide that total of years by 50. This would show us how many Jubilees Israel had already kept unsatisfactorily; and the remainder would represent the number of years which had elapsed between the last unsatisfactory Jubilee and the carrying into captivity.

The Scriptures distinctly inform us that the counting of the years of Jubilee began when Israel entered Canaan under the leadership of Joshua. (Lev. 25:2-4) There were six years from the crossing of Jordan until the division of the land; then a period of judges of 450 years; and a period of kings, 513 years, totaling 969 years to the desolation of the land at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. This number, divided by 50, would show that 19 Jubilees had passed, and that the last one occurred 19 years before the captivity.

Understanding that the anti-typical cycle began to count where the type ceased, we arrive at the 2,500 years for the great antitypical Jubilee thus: from the 19th Jubilee to the beginning of the desolation = 19 years; the period of desolation = 70 years; from the end of the desolation until A.D. 1 = 536 years; from A.D. 1 to A.D. 1874 = 1874 years. The total would be the sum of 19, 70, 536 and 1874, namely 2,499 years. As the Jubilee of Jubilees would come in the 2500th year, it follows that the year 1875 would correspond to that year. Since the anti-type, however, was not to be one year, but a thousand years, we understand that it was the thousand-year Jubilee which began in 1875 (that year beginning in October 1874 according to Jewish civil time).

This seems comparatively strong and clear as a Scriptural argument, and certainly seems to be in accordance with the facts of history. It is just what we should expect in this day of blowing the anti-typical trumpets and general commotion on the part of those desiring to quickly get their Jubilee rights.

THE JUBILEES ACCORDING TO PROPHECY

The Law sets things forth exactly as they should occur. As we have just seen, the great cycle of 50 x 50 = 2,500 years should begin exactly where the typical Jubilee ceased. Prophecy, however, shows matters from another standpoint; it foretells matters exactly as they will occur. Thus, through the Prophet Jeremiah, the Lord informs us that the total number of Jubilees would be seventy. (2 Chron. 36:20-21)

The total number may thus be counted in two different ways. We have seen that nineteen Jubilees were actually observed, although unsatisfactorily. These, deducted from 70, would leave 51 of the 7 x 7 cycles to be fulfilled. But since the Jubilees were not observed but the cycles only without the 50th year, the cycles only should be counted, and these were 49 years each. Thus, 51 cycles without Jubilees would be 51 x 49, or 2,499 years. The 19 cycles with Jubilees would be 19 x 50, or 950 years.

Thus we have the full 70 cycles shown; and 2,499 plus 950 is 3,449, which is the number of years from their first Jubilee on entering Canaan, to the close of the year 1874 A.D., which would be October, 1874. So we reach the same date as by the Law method of counting.

The whole world, as well as Israel, has an interest in the Jubilee and its “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:21) But the Restitution blessings will come first to Israel, after the stress of the great Time of Trouble, in which the chosen people will have their share, “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” (Jer. 30:7) The Millennial blessings will begin with Israel. Their law-givers will be restored as at the first, and their judges as at the beginning. (Isa 1:26) The Lord will assume the guidance, control, blessing and uplifting – the Restitution – of all the willing and obedient, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. (Rom. 11:25-31; Rom. 1:16)

(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 84-88)

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THE GREATEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE

“That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:7)

That Christendom has erred in its assessment of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of God’s love is evidenced by its conflicting creeds. Not one of these creeds is rational enough to be defended by one in a hundred of its own clergy, who profess to believe and teach it.

This is driving many noble people away from the Bible, which has been misinterpreted by us all. We have looked at the unfinished parts of the Divine Plan without properly using the telescope of God’s Word to see the future features of it.

None of us would judge a new building merely by the first story of the structure, incomplete and surrounded by scaffolding. On the contrary, we would ask for the architect’s drawings and consider them prophecies of the building to be built. The Jewish Age with its people, law, mediator, priesthood, and Jubilee were only rough outline sketches of the Divine Plan, which had not then even begun.

To judge God’s character we must see the Truth, the entire Divine Plan, and not merely a primary section of it. The Redeemer is the foundation for the great structure as St. Paul said, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 3:11)

God’s Plan first calls for the development of the Church as a “new creation” on the spirit plane, higher than the angels, “partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; 2 Pet. 1:4) They are “the church of the living God; the pillar and ground of the truth,” (1 Tim. 3:15) and “a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (Jas. 1:18)

By declaring the Church to be the “firstfruits,” and the “firstborn” (Heb. 12:23), God positively declares there is a secondary part of His great plan of salvation in which free grace and fullest opportunity for reconciliation to God will be granted to the whole world, the non-elect. (Rom. 5:15-19; 2 Cor. 5:19)

The world’s salvation will not be heavenly, but earthly; their resurrection will not mean a change from human nature to spiritual nature. For all the willing and obedient, it will mean a raising up to the perfection of human nature to be enjoyed in a world-wide paradise. The unwilling and disobedient will not be tortured to all eternity, but, as the Scriptures declare: “The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.” (Psa. 145:20) The wicked will perish like brute beasts in the second death, returning to sheol, the death state. (2 Pet. 2:12; Psa. 9:17, RSV)

A God of justice, wisdom and power devoid of love would be as cold and unsympathetic as a marble statue. The greatest thing among men is love. Neither palace nor cottage could be a real home and a place of joy and peace and refreshment without love. We cannot even suppose a heart devoid of love without supposing it under the control of selfishness, and selfishness is merely another name for sin.

The greatest men and women who have lived and done the most to bless the human race have been men and women of heart, of love. Love is the principal thing in all this world. Without it none can be truly happy under any condition, but with it happiness is possible under almost any condition. How did man get this quality of love unless from the Creator?

God’s love will be most wonderfully displayed in His gracious kindness in the resurrection of the Church to glory, honor and immortality. Then will come a further display of “love Divine, all love excelling,” when mankind in general shall be blessed under the thousand year Messianic Kingdom.

Astronomers tell us that our galaxy, The Milky Way, contains hundreds of billions of stars and likely a hundred billion planets. It was once thought that the Milky Way contained all the stars in the Universe, but we now know it is just one of many galaxies. How little we feel ourselves to be, and proportionately how amazing seems the love of God toward us in Christ Jesus!

We are not informed respecting the work of the Church beyond their thousand year reign; the Bible merely assures us that Divine Love is unlimited, and that those who have proven themselves loyal, even unto death, will have blessing upon blessing through future ages. (Rom. 2:7) The future work of the Church after the Millennial Age could relate to these other billions of worlds.

Our verse shows that a limitless eternity is provided for the showing forth of God’s love toward us. There is no doubt that the lessons taught through the permission of sin among humanity on our earth were designed by the Creator to furnish a great lesson throughout ages to come.

(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 174-175)

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HE WILL MAKE IT PLAIN

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence

He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,

Unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste,

But sweet will be the flower.

[1] See Studies in the Scriptures, Volume II, Chapter II for a detailed discussion of Bible chronology.

NO. 722: WHO GAVE THEE THIS AUTHORITY? - PART TWO

No. 722

We continue from our last paper with Pastor Russell’s response to the San Francisco Monitor. That publication challenged Pastor Russell’s credentials and authority and defended the doctrine of eternal torment. The Monitor presented three texts which supposedly proved eternal torment.

After establishing his authority to expound God’s word, Pastor Russell began to explain the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, pointing out that the rich man represents the Jewish nation and Lazarus, the poor man, represents Gentiles. We now continue with Pastor Russell’s rebuttal:

THE RICH MAN IN HADES

All scholars are aware that in the Bible the Greek word hades[1] in the New Testament is the equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol in the Old Testament. All are aware that these words signify the tomb, the state of death, and not a place of suffering or torture, at all. The word that is rendered hell fire in our English Bibles is a different word, namely, gehenna, which we will consider later.

If hades signifies the state of death, the tomb, how could the “rich man” suffer there? We reply that the rich man is to be viewed from two different standpoints – national and individual. Nationally the Jew went into hades – their kingdom and nation­ality have been buried for eighteen centuries; but individually the Jews are very much alive, and for all of these eighteen centuries that their nationality has been buried, they have been suffering injustices and tortures, and, alas, chiefly from those calling themselves Christians, but denying both the power and the spirit of Christianity.

There is an impassable gulf between the saintly Lazarus class (represented by the beggar) and the Jews. God has not wished that the Jewish nation should amalgamate with other nations nor with Christendom. He has a special work for the Jews to do in the near future, and for this very purpose He has preserved them as a people for now thirty-five hundred years. In his sufferings the Jew at times has made an appeal, desiring that the Lazarus class might give a symbolical drop of water – of comfort and refreshment; but this has been denied. As an illustration of such an appeal, many of us remember the Jewish protest against Russian persecutions and their request of Mr. (Theodore) Roosevelt, when President, that he intervene. President Roosevelt expressed sym­pathy, but declared compliance with the request impossible, as it would be a violation of the comity of nations.

The Jewish nation consisted of twelve tribes. Some of all were at Jerusalem in Palestine, the center of their national life. But two tribes, mainly, were represented there – Judah and Benjamin. These two, therefore, may be specially considered as the “rich man” in the parable. His five brethren mentioned would correspond to the remaining ten tribes residing in the countries around. The parable shows that no special favor would be shown to those brethren – “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” (Luke 16:29) These words clearly identify the rich man and his brethren as the twelve tribes of Israel to whom God’s favors and blessings came through Moses and the Prophets.

Cannot all see clearly that this parable, which is the mainstay of all the eternal torment doctrines and teachings, has been misunderstood? Its teachings are beautiful and in entire accord with the facts of history and revelation.

2. THE GOATS IN EVERLASTING FIRE – Matt. 25:31-46

This, also, is a parable, and not a literal statement. Besides, it applies not to people now living, but to people who will be living in the world during the thousand years of Christ’s reign follow­ing His second advent. The context tells us this. We read, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations.” (Matt. 25:31-32)

The Son of Man has not yet come in His glory. He is waiting for the development of the Church, His saintly Bride class, which is to sit with Him in His Throne and share His glory, and participate with Him, in the judging of the world – “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6:2) This parable, then, belongs not to the Church, nor to this Gospel Age, but to the world’s Judgment Day or trial time in the coming Age, the thousand years of Messiah’s reign. Mankind is represented by sheep and goats. Surely these are symbolical. Surely mankind will not turn into sheep and goats! We must interpret it symbolically.

Like a shepherd the great Messiah will, during the thousand years, instruct, uplift and enlighten humanity. Such as receive the instruc­tions and come into full accord with Him are styled sheep, symbolically, of course. And they are placed at His right hand, symbolically, of course, signifying a place of favor. The others, the way­ward, not developing the graces of character under these instructions, will be goats, in a symbolical sense, of course, and will be gathered to Messiah’s left hand of disfavor. At the conclusion of that glorious thousand years of Divine favor, uplifting, restitution (Acts 3:19-21), the consum­mation of the matter will have been reached. The sheep class, perfect, glorious, will be ushered into life everlasting. The goat class, willful rejecters of Divine favor on the Divine terms, will receive death everlasting, their everlasting punish­ment.

But what kind of punishment will it be? St. Paul answers, they “shall be punished with everlasting destruction.” (2 Thess. 1:9) Destruction will be their punishment. St. Peter says they “shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23) Again, he tells us that they will perish like natural brute beasts. (2 Pet. 2:12) What could be plainer or simpler than this? The word used by our Lord, in the Greek rendered punishment (Matt. 25:46), is kolasis. It signifies restraint, cutting off. It has no thought of torment connected with it.

The question may arise: Why did our Lord use the words, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt: 25:41)? Fire is here used as a symbol of destruction, and the word everlasting gives its full significance, as St. Paul expressed it, “ever­lasting destruction.” Is not fire as good a symbol of destruction as a sheep is a symbol of a child of God, or a goat a symbol of a follower of Satan? We can think of no better symbol of destruction than fire – nothing more destructive.

But the Monitor raises the suggestion that matter is indestructible. Very true. The burning of a human body in a literal flame or the burning of the same body by the chemical action of the atmos­phere, more slowly, would reduce it to dust and gases. Nothing would be lost. But man is more than a body. The intelligent will, thought, etc., which constitutes a human soul or human being, is some­thing more than a body, and is not subject to the same conditions. The soul can be destroyed. Intelligence can be blotted out. The human will perishes when the spark of animal life quits the body. And it is the soul that the Bible declares is responsible for sin, and not the body. It was Adam, a soul, that was condemned to death. It was Adam and the souls of all his children that were redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice: “Who redeemeth thy life [soul, being] from destruction.” (Psa. 103:4)

The death or destruction of Adam’s soul would have meant annihilation had not the Almighty provided the redemption. The redemption price was the death of Jesus’ soul; as we read, “He hath poured out his soul unto death;” He “shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” (Isa. 53:12,10) Likewise it was Jesus’ soul that was raised from the dead; as we read, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell” (hades, sheol, the grave). (Acts 2:27) This is St. Peter’s explanation not ours.

Because Adam, a soul, and all his children’s souls have thus been redeemed (not from torment, but from sheol, hades, the tomb, the state of death), therefore we have the Master’s own words, “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth.” (John 5:28) The First Resurrection will consist only of the holy, the saintly, whose trial is in the present time, and who will be awakened to their reward to sit with Messiah in His Throne. During the thousand years all the remainder of the dead will be awakened and given the opportunity of resurrection or raising up out of sin and death. That will be a resurrection of judgment, or trial, or testing for them, because only those who will conform to the tests of that time will ever be fully raised up. The others, the goat class, will be destroyed in the Second Death.

3. LOOKING UPON THE CARCASSES – Mark 9:42-48

The Monitor’s third proof-text of eternal torment is found in St. Mark 9:42-48. The Lord advised all to cut off their right hand or pluck out their eye rather than to go into gehenna fire “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

We read recently of a poor man in Sweden who took the Monitor’s literal view of this step and chopped off his right hand. He thought the statement literal and acted according to his faith. We doubt if the Monitor’s editor has done the same, or would be likely to take this passage literally if the conditions were ever so favorable.

It is worthy of note that the word here rendered hell fire, is not the same Greek word that is generally rendered hell and which signifies the tomb. The word here is gehenna. It refers not to some place beyond the bounds of time and space, but to a valley just outside of the walls of Jerusalem. As Jerusalem typically represented the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God, and harmony with God, so this Valley of Hinnom, called in the Greek gehenna, symbolized the utter destruction of all finally unrepentant and willfully disobedient sinners in the Second Death – “everlasting des­truction.” This is acknowledged by the Monitor, which says:

“Gehenna originally stood for ‘the valley of the sons of Hinnom.’ It was notorious as the scene in earlier days of the horrible worship of Moloch. Later, when the Jews fell away from the true worship of God, they even went so far as to burn their own children to the demons of that region. It was a place that had been defiled by Josiah, cursed by Jeremias, and for these associations held in abomination by the Jews, who according to the course of time, used it to signify also the fiery and cursed abode of the damned. This is the very usage of the term that Christ Himself adopted.”

The Monitor styles it the abode of the damned. But what is the real meaning of the word damned? All will agree that it signifies condemned. So we say that gehenna will be the abode of all condemned to the Second Death as the filth and offscouring of the earth, unfit for the Divine favor and blessing of life everlasting.

The Valley of Hinnom (gehenna), in our Lord’s day, was deep and was used as a garbage place for the destruction of valueless things. No living things were ever cast into it – only dead carcasses, rats, mice, dogs, etc. Many of these, falling along the sides of the Valley would gradually decompose. Maggots would breed in them and speedily reduce them to dust. These are the worms mentioned by Jesus, that “dieth not.” These worms are not alive now; they were like any other worms. Jesus meant that, as the worms surely accomplished the destruction of the refuse cast therein, complete destruction so awaits the willfully wicked. No one thought of killing those worms or stopping their ravages. They were doing good work.

When Jesus spoke of the fire that was not quenched, He referred to the burning of brimstone in the bottom of this gehenna. Its use was intended to destroy bacteria, the germs of disease, and help to preserve the health of the city. Those who heard Jesus had no thought that He meant for them to cut off their hands or their feet, or pluck out their eyes. Neither did they understand Him to mean that the wicked would be literally cast into that or any similar gehenna. They interpreted the parable properly to mean that any sin we may cherish, be it as precious to us as a right hand, a right foot, or a right eye, would be too costly to continue if it were to lose for us the everlasting life and harmony with God symbolized by the New Jerusalem – if it would win for us the Second Death, symbolized by gehenna and its worms and fire.

The Monitor evidently knew about the prophecy which corresponds exactly to Jesus’ words, but it does not cite it. We will do so. It is found in Isaiah 66:24. The context shows us that the prophecy relates to the future – to the period of Messiah’s Kingdom, when all will be expected to worship God and to obey, under the assistance of the great Mediator between God and men. Then, however, transgressors will perish, and the righteous will look (figuratively) upon the carcasses of them that transgressed against God, whose worms shall not die, whose fire shall not be quenched. It will be the carcasses that will be in evidence, and the worms and the fire, and the people will see these. (All shall see the justice, as well as the wisdom of the utter destruction of the incorrigible, willful enemies of right.) It will not be a roasting of souls by devils with pitchforks to all eternity! A little Scripture helps to dissolve much of the confusion of the “dark ages.”

THE MONITOR AGREES

The Monitor agrees that the literal meaning of the word sheol, the only word translated hell in the Old Testament, is the grave. It says:

“Pastor Russell thinks to do away with the Biblical reason for a hereafter of punishment by calling attention to the fact that the word sheol, the Hebrew term for hell, literally means, the grave. It is to be remarked first that the origin of this word is doubtful. The general agreement among Hebrew scholars is that it comes from another Hebrew word meaning to be sunk in or to be hollow; accordingly signifying a cave or place under the earth, and hence a grave. But as in all other tongues, so in Hebrew, words have several significations related or connected with their original meaning.”

Very good. No scholar would think of ques­tioning that the primary meaning of sheol is the grave, and that the word sheol in the Common Version of the Old Testament is translated grave and pit more times than it is translated hell, but means grave or pit every time. The Monitor thinks, however, that it sees an objection, and that sheol does not always signify the grave. It cites us to Jacob’s lament over the supposed death of Joseph. Jacob said, “I will go down into the grave [sheol] unto my son mourning.” (Gen. 37:35) The Monitor argues that, since he thought his son had been devoured by wild beasts, he could not refer to going to the grave. The Monitor must take a broader view of the word grave and consider it the tomb, the death state. Otherwise he would be forced to the supposition that Jacob expected the same wild beast to devour him, so that he could go to his son.

In order to understand the Bible we must approach it with free minds, unbiased, and seek to be taught by it instead of seeking to make it support our own theory or irrational theories of the past. In old English literature the word hell was freely used as signifying grave or pit or any covered state or condition. Thus a man might speak of the helling of his house and mean the thatching of it with straw, the one-storied buildings of olden times being buried under the thatch. Farmers in olden times wrote, telling how many bushels of potatoes they helled in the fall – buried in pits to keep them from sprouting that they might be dug up for use in the spring.

Whoever will take the trouble to look up every one of the sixty-five occurrences of the word sheol in the Old Testament may satisfy himself without a doubt respecting the meaning of the word, that it refers to the death state, the tomb. Hades in the New Testament corresponds to this, and is used to translate sheol in Acts 2:27 (a quotation of Psa. 16:10), “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” and in 1 Cor. 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” As before stated, the only word translated hell which has fire connected with it in any sense is gehenna, which is a metaphor.

Whatever sheol is, it is to be destroyed. It is not to last forever, for the Lord so declares, “O grave [sheol], I will be thy destruction.” (Hos. 13:14) The grave, the tomb, the state of death is to be destroyed. The death penalty which came upon the race through our Father Adam’s disobedience is to be cancelled, obliterated, as a result of Jesus’ sacrificial death, the Just for the unjust. The thousand years of Messiah’s reign will be devoted to this very work of destroying Adamic death – the death which has come upon the human family because of Father Adam’s disobedience. From the Bible standpoint, the whole human family are dead, in the sense that they have no right to life because imperfect.

Thus Jesus speaks of them, saying, “Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60) During Messiah’s reign, the knowledge of the Lord will fill the whole earth. Every creature will be enlightened. All the blind eyes shall be opened. All the deaf ears shall be unstopped. All that have gone down into sheol (the tomb) will come up; thus sheol will be destroyed, to be no more. (Isa. 11:9; Isa. 35:5; John 5:28-29)

St. Paul confirms this, declaring that ultimately a great shout will go up, “O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55) Hades now is having a great victory; its captives number ninety thousand every day. But soon Emanuel’s Kingdom will be established, and instead of the reign of sin and death will come in the reign of righteousness unto life – the turning back of the tide – the recovery of the race. By the close of Messiah’s reign He will have accomplished a great victory over sin and all opposition, including death, the last enemy to be fully destroyed. (1 Cor. 15:25-26) “Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:54; Isa. 25:8)

The Monitor closes with an appeal to believe in eternal torment based on its final text on the subject, St. Luke 12:4-5:

“And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.”

Strange to say, the Monitor does not perceive that this, its last thunderbolt, shatters its own argument! The argument is that the Lord’s disciples should not fear men in their loyalty to principle, because men could merely kill the body, could merely take away the present life and could do no more. Men could have no power to vitiate or render inoperative that privilege of everlasting life which God has provided for all mankind through Jesus. On the contrary, all should know that God is able to destroy the soul, the future life, in gehenna.

He, and He alone, is to be feared. The present life is of minor consequence, anyway. It can last but a few years at most. The life we are most interested in is the eternal one, which Jesus has secured for all who will accept it on His terms, but which will be missed by all those who fear and obey men rather than God. Compare Matthew 10:28, remembering the Monitor’s definition of gehenna, to which we agree, with supplemental explanation respecting the future, antitypical gehenna (the Second Death).

THE MONITOR’S IMPASSIONED APPEAL

The Monitor closes with the following old-fashioned appeal, which many erroneously suppose to be Scriptural – “To doubt is to be damned.” It says:

“What a mad act it is to close one’s eyes on the edge of an abyss, only to fall into it the more surely! Better hard truth than false security.”

The difficulty with the Monitor and with many others of us in the past has been that we kept our mental eyes closed and imagined hobgoblins and dreamed nightmares respecting fireproof devils with horns and forked tails and cloven feet, etc., which are not only unknown to the Scriptures, but thoroughly contrary thereto. If the Monitor is still blind, notwithstanding the eye-salve of exposition which we have endeavored to apply as gently as possible, we shall consider its case hopeless and leave it with the masses of the world for that blessed future time declared through the Prophet when all the blind eyes shall be opened.

Then they will see the hitherto undiscovered length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God. Then they will see that Satan and his fallen angels, instead of being afar off stoking fires, have been right here with humanity, posing as angels of light and doctoring our theology to make it picture the Almighty God as the most horrible and monstrous Being of the Universe, and His Plan of dealing with humanity the most diabolical and unjust possible for the human mind to conceive.

These “doctrines of devils,” as St. Paul calls them, have had a good, long trial, and the result is, that those who believe these things most thoroughly are very generally the worst people in the world. Rarely do we hear of a murderer being executed who has not professed faith in these monstrous theories of the past, still advocated by the Monitor.

If preaching bad tidings of misery to nearly all the people has brought so little good fruitage in so long a time, would it not be well for the Monitor and all who claim to be ambassadors and mouth­pieces for God and for Christ, to preach for a while the blessed Gospel first announced to Abraham?: “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) The same message was heralded by the angel who proclaimed Jesus’ birth, saying: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” – all people from thenceforth and all people who had died during the four thousand years prior to Jesus’ birth. (Luke 2:10)

It was the full belief in these “doctrines of devils” which led our forefathers, as Catholics and Protestants, to burn each other at the stake. And it is partly because these doctrines are less believed today than then that we have a better, safer, saner religion, more in accord with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. It is the Gospel of God’s love and mercy that is proving now a blessing to the saintly few who have ears to hear and hearts to fully respond. And it will be the Gospel of Divine mercy toward mankind in general, throughout Messiah’s Kingdom, which will bless, uplift and captivate the hearts of mankind in general during the Millennium.

Whether the majority of these thousands of millions will become sheep at the right hand of Messiah and gain eternal life, or whether the majority will be of the “goat” class, who will fail to get that eternal life, and instead get everlasting destruction, is not for us to determine. We can, however, declare with the eye of faith, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” (Rev. 15:3-4)

The righteous dealings of God will bring a sure penalty to everyone in proportion to his degree of knowledge and willfulness, but it will bring a just and not an unjust penalty, and it will be remedial – with a view to the recovery of the penitent and his everlasting blessing. Otherwise it will terminate in his everlasting destruction. (2 Thess. 1:8-9)

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From What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 164-170, with minor editing.

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SEVEN AXIOMS FOR BIBLE STUDY

Many Christians take symbols, parables and types literally, but they are not literal statements. There are many texts in the Bible that are literal, however. Our Bibles are only the translation of God’s inspired Word – the real Bible. We believe that most of our translators were sincere in their efforts. But all of them were prejudiced because of their belief as to how it should be translated.

The Emphasized translation by Dr. Rotherham is one of the best. The King James Version is one of the most beautiful, although it contains many mistakes. Most all of the translations contain some of God’s inspired Word – enough that we will find God has a Plan of Salvation for all mankind, as pointed out in Eph. 3:11. The Diaglott translation of this verse renders the text “Plan of the Ages,” while the King James translation renders it “eternal purpose.”

When a text does not harmonize with God’s character of Wisdom, Love, Justice and Power, it is either misinterpreted or spurious. The mistakes are not inspired. Only God’s Word is inspired.

There are seven axioms we should follow in Bible study:

A doctrine must harmonize (1) With itself; (2) With all Truth; (3) With all Scriptural doctrine; (4) With God’s character; (5) With the Ransom; (6) With facts; (7) With the purposes of God.

There is much confusion on the interpretation of the Bible. God is not the Author of confusion – man is. He is a God of Truth and harmony. We are thankful for these texts:

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 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. 2:3-6) These texts are literal. God is faithful that promised. (Heb. 10:23)

[1] Hades is translated hell in the King James Version except for one instance where it is translated grave:

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory.” (1 Cor. 15:55)

NO. 721: WHO GAVE THEE THIS AUTHORITY? - PART ONE

No. 721

“He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.” (Jer. 23:28)

It has long been our custom to pay tribute to Pastor Russell at this time of year. We do not do this with the idea of man-worship nor do we wish to exaggerate his talent and character. Pastor Russell himself did not want homage or reverence for himself or his writings. He did not want to be called Reverend or Rabbi, nor did he want any followers to call themselves by his name, insisting that the name of He who died for all – the name Christian – is sufficient to designate the followers of Christ. He urged each reader of his writings to study what he presented in the light of the Scriptures and to “prove all things.” (1 Thess. 5:21)

Although little is known about him today (what little is published about him is mostly incorrect), Pastor Russell and his writings were widely known during his lifetime and they aroused almost universal opposition from all branches of nominal Christianity. As most of our readers know, it was the doctrine of eternal torment that led Pastor Russell to question his own faith at a very young age. He believed that the Bible taught this doctrine and, recognizing it to be inconsistent with the character of a loving God, he almost rejected the Bible altogether because of it. When he finally decided to put aside what he had been taught from a child and study the Bible on his own, he found that God was indeed a God of Love, Wisdom, Justice and Power.

An attack on Pastor Russell appeared in the San Francisco Monitor, a Catholic publication in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Monitor challenged Pastor Russell’s authority to repudiate the doctrine of eternal torment. Sadly, this doctrine is still an official doctrine of most denominations today, both Catholic and Protestant, causing many people to reject not only the particular church or denomination, but the Bible itself. Nominal Christendom also still believes that only its religious leaders have doctrinal authority. For these reasons, we should make sure we are prepared to refute “doctrines of devils” and the “tradition of men.” (1 Tim. 4:1; Mark 7:8; Col. 2:8)

Pastor Russell’s response to the Monitor’s attack was published in the Overland Monthly and is presented below.

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Amongst my warm friends the world over are many most zealous Catholics and Protestants, and others of no earthly church affiliation. I strive to offend none, but to serve my God, His Truth and all who are truly His people. The Monitor (San Francisco), exercising its proper liberty, has sought to counteract the influence of my presentations on “What Say the Scriptures Respecting the Here­after.” No doubt the Monitor’s editor is conscien­tious, and many of its readers as well, and no doubt they will all accredit me with similar honesty. The subject, approached from this stand­point of respect for each other’s beliefs, is bound to do good – to stimulate thought. Figuratively, God is Light; in Him is no darkness. In proportion as we turn on the true light of His Word and order our minds and conduct in harmony therewith, we shall be blessed. The turning on of the light can never damage the Truth – only the darkness suffers and flees.

In its opening paragraph the Monitor introduces its side of the discussion by asking me the same question that the scribes and Pharisees of old asked of Jesus: “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” (Matt. 21:23) We quote as follows:

“As the Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle speaks with a show of authority, and asserts that the belief of Christians in general about eternal punishment is all wrong, we would politely ask him for his credentials and his documents. In whose name do you teach, Pastor Russell? Who sent you? Who made you the interpreter of God’s Word? When was it said to you, mediately or immediately by Christ, ‘Go teach?’ Or when was given you the assurance, ‘I am with you alway, even to the consummation of the world?’ Can you trace back your pedigree in unbroken line to the Apostles? Where are your letters patent? Where are your documents? The burden of the proof, you know, lies on the accuser. You have accused Christians in general of being wrong on the point of everlasting punishment. Give us a real argument to sustain your accusation. Your teaching would be, O, so soothing to the sinner, Pastor Russell, were it only true. But it is not true, Pastor Russell.”

PASTOR RUSSELL ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS

All authority to speak in the name of God must come from Him, and He says, “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.” (Jer. 23:28) This statement is made by way of showing that many are teaching and preaching their own dreams, imaginings, or the dreams of their forefathers, in neglect of the Word of God – the Holy Scriptures. Jesus charged the religious rulers of His day, saying, “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.” (Matt. 15:6,8,9) – teaching as com­mandments of God what are really the traditions of men. Similarly, I claim that both Catholics and Protestants, with good intentions, have gradually left the Word of God – the teachings of Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets – and that, commingled with certain truths, they are now teaching traditions of the “Dark Ages” violently antagonistic to the teachings of the Bible.

The questions touching my authority, my right, to interpret the Bible and to speak in the name of the Lord are so nearly the same questions which the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees asked of Jesus and the Apostles, that I may without impropriety, I hope, follow the same line of answer which they gave. The authority of our Lord Jesus, standing amongst those ecclesiastics of the Jewish Age, consisted in the fact that He had received the anointing of the Holy Spirit at the time of His baptism. In consequence, “the heavens were opened unto him” – the higher things, the heavenly things, were clear to Him. (Matt. 3:16)

This was the secret of His teaching power, because of which we read, “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22); “For he taught them as one having authority [as One knowing what He was talking about], and not as the scribes” – the Doctors of the Law. (Matt. 7:29) In a word, our Redeemer’s ability to teach came to Him through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But so far as the public were concerned, they knew not of this; His right to teach consisted in the fact that He could teach – that He could make plain the Word of God, so that the common people heard Him gladly and said, “Never man spake like this man.” (John 7:46)

Similarly the Apostles were commanded not to teach and told that they had no authority to teach – that all the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees condemned the Message they bore. But their answer was: Whether it be right to obey God or to obey man may be a question in your minds, but as for us, we cannot refrain from speaking the things which we have seen and heard and know. (Acts 4:19-20)

We have seen that Jesus obtained Divine sanction and authority to speak in the Heavenly Father’s name when He received the Holy Spirit. We note the same thing respecting the Apostles. Jesus told them not to preach the Gospel Message until they should be endued with power from on High. He bade them wait at Jerusalem for the Divine benediction of the Holy Spirit. This anointing or authority to preach came to them at Pentecost – and thenceforth they preached and taught, not human traditions, but the Word of God, the Holy Spirit enlightening them as to the proper interpretation of its symbols and prophecies.

Nothing in the Bible sanctions the view held by our Catholic brethren, to the effect that apostolic authority and power have been handed down through the Bishops of the Catholic Church or any other. On the contrary, the Bible repeatedly speaks of “the twelve Apostles of the Lamb” – St. Paul taking the place of Judas. This is pictured also by the Master Himself. He symbolically represents the true Church as a woman clothed with the Sun – the light of Divine favor and Truth and grace – and on her head was a crown of twelve stars, repre­senting the twelve Apostles – no more. (Rev. 12:1) The Lord pictures His Church in her future glory – at the close of this Gospel Age – when she will be complete and experience the First Resurrection and become God’s holy Kingdom, the Messianic Kingdom. The picture is that of the New Jerusalem, whose dominion is to bring Divine blessing and uplifting to all the families of the earth. The New Jerusalem is declared to be a symbolical picture of the elect, saintly Church after her marriage with the Lord at His second coming. That symbolical City is represented as having twelve glorious foundation stones – and no more – and in those twelve foun­dation stones were the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb – and no more. (Rev. 21:14)

It is thus seen that the authority to teach possessed by our Lord and by His twelve Apostles has not descended to any others by human ordination. Of these twelve alone it is true that whatsoever they declared was binding in the sight of heaven, would be binding; and whatsoever they declared to be loosed, or not binding, would be so from the Divine standpoint. We are thus assured of the infallibility of the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. (Matt. 18:18)

But the Apostle Paul declares that although all are not Apostles, all are not Prophets, yet there are teachers, ministers, servants, in the Church, placed there, not by apostolic power, not by apostolic laying on of hands; he says, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him”– including teachers, evangelists and prophets or orators. (1 Cor. 12:18) But could these teach without an anointing somewhat similar to that received by Jesus at His baptism and by the Apostles at Pentecost? No; God’s seal or mark which He places upon those whom He appoints to be special teachers is the same Holy Spirit.

St. John tells us of this, saying, “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things [you all know it]” – that is, whoever has the unction or anointing of the Holy Spirit of God is aware of the fact (1 John 2:20), and this unction or anointing of the Holy Spirit gives more or less ability to understand the deep things of God – in proportion to the measure of the Holy Spirit received and in proportion also to the natural talents of the person thus blessed. Every one thus anointed is commis­sioned or authorized to speak as a mouthpiece of the Lord in proportion to his talents and opportunities and privileges. He may speak only what he may understand, and not speak of himself nor expound the theories of others, but merely God’s Word, the utterances of Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets.

We may thus see who have the right and ability to teach God’s Word. Sects and systems, Catholic and Protestant, claim this right, but without Scriptural authority. The Catholics, Epis­co­palians, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans and other ecclesiastical systems each claim the right (the Divine right) to set apart, to authorize, to qualify, to empower, teachers of the Divine Word, mouth­pieces and oracles of God. But none of them can show any scriptural authority. Their strongest claim is custom; but the very oldest wrong custom and misconception is without weight and without force when investigated. How many of the clergy of all denominations demonstrate that whatever came to them at their ordination has done them no good, but rather harm, in connection with ability to expound the Word of God! The attitude of all is described by the Lord and the Prophets. (Isa. 29:11-14)

On the contrary, let us note the beautiful simplicity of the Divine ordination through the baptism of the Holy Spirit: St. Peter declares, in harmony with all the Apostles, that it is not a clerical class which constitutes the Church of Christ, but a saintly class. And all those saintly ones are Spirit-begotten, Spirit-anointed. They all, therefore, have the authority to preach and to teach as messengers from God to the extent of their opportunities. St. Peter, addressing all saints regardless of sectarian lines and names, regardless of sects, and ignoring any clergy class, says to the Spirit-begotten children of God, “Ye are . . . a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9) The introduction of his Epistle shows that these words are addressed to the saints in general and not to the clergy, for he recognized no clerical orders, but, like the Master, said, “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.” (Matt: 23:8)

The Church of Christ is pictured as a human Body of which Christ is the Head. This Body as a whole, from Pentecost until the end of the Age, has the supervision of the Head. Although absent from us in person, He is present with His people by His Spirit and power. This relationship between Christ and the Church was typified in Aaron, the Jewish high priest. The anointing of Aaron to his office typified the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and the bringing of all the members of His Body under the influence of that same anointing – the Holy Spirit. Thus the Psalmist pictures the anointing of the Church, as symbolized in Aaron; as upon Aaron’s head the oil was poured which ran down his beard and even unto the skirts of his garments, and as this constituted him the anointed priest of the Lord, so the Holy Spirit upon our Lord, the Apostles and their saintly footstep followers constitute these the Lord’s representative members and mouth­pieces of Jehovah. Thus it is written prophetically of the Christ, Head and Body, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken­hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” (Isa. 61:1)

Claiming this Divine authority to expound God’s Word to the extent of my ability, let me proceed; for I am one of those specially mentioned in His prayer saying, “Neither pray I for these [the Apostles] alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” (John 17:20)

THE BURDEN OF PROOF

The Monitor claims that the burden of furnishing proof that there is no purgatory, no eternal torture, rests upon me. This is strange! If the Monitor or anybody else had ever been to purgatory or eternal torment and could, therefore, testify to their claims as a matter of knowledge, those disputing their statements would not even then be called upon for proofs that there are no such places. It would still remain for those claiming to have seen purgatory and hell and to have suffered there to give proofs of what they had seen and experienced. We are not accusing Christians, Catholic or Protestant, with being intentionally wrong. They are doubtless as honest as we were when we believed and taught the same heathenish doctrines, which St. Paul styles “doctrines of devils.” (1 Tim. 4:1) We are merely urging that all Christians, Catholic and Protestant, awake from the stupor of the dark past and go back to the simple and beautiful teachings of the Savior and His inspired twelve. We urge them to do this before they fall into the great gulf of modern infidelity which is rapidly swallowing up all the intelligent people of the world under the name of Higher Criticism, Evolution, Theosophy, New Theology, etc. The Bible is being discarded because it is misunderstood – because it is supposed to be in accord with and the real foun­dation for the horrible misconceptions of the Divine Character and the Divine Plan most thoroughly believed by our forefathers for centuries past.

THE MONITOR’S PROOFS

The Monitor proceeds to give proofs (?) of a hell of fire and torture, but it says not a word respecting purgatory – the very place which it, as a Catholic mouthpiece, claims will receive the great mass of humanity for roasting, sizzling and freezing its saints. Why this oversight? Ah! We think now! It may have been because the Monitor knows that nobody knows anything more about purgatory than does itself, which is – nothing. It knows that there is not a word of Scripture teaching that there is such a place as purgatory. It knows that it is merely human tradition concocted long after the death of the inspired Apostles – tending greatly to make void the Word of God.

Since the Monitor ignores purgatory we must assume that it takes the Protestant view of hell as being the only alternative – the eternal-torturous abode of nearly all of Adam’s posterity. We protest that the fiction of purgatory has helped to make the Catholic view of the future a little more rational, saner, than the Protestant view. Neither view is tolerable in our estimation. Both suggestions are travesties upon Divine Justice calculated to repel every reasonable mind, every lover of justice, every person of heart or sympathy. Endorsing literal fire and everlasting torture, here are the Monitor’s words:

“And with your leave, I now shall tell there is, and why there is, a hell.

“The gentlest heart that ever beat, the kindest lips that ever spoke, have clearly told us for our warning that there is a place where those who will not glorify God’s mercy here and hereafter shall glorify His justice by the double pain of loss and sense forever.”

With these words, the editor produces his weighty arguments and his proof that Jesus taught such a hell:

1.      St. Luke 16:19-31 – the account of the “Rich Man and Lazarus.”

2.      St. Matthew 25:31-46 – the parable of the “Sheep and the Goats.”

3.      St. Mark 9:42-48 – the Master’s words respecting the cutting off of a displeasing hand or of a foot, rather than be cast into hell fire, where their worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched.

The Monitor then says:

“That these and similar passages of Scripture touching the existence of hell and its two-fold everlasting pain of loss and sense are to be taken literally, there can be no doubt. For it is a rule of criticism, and of Biblical criticism in particular, always to take words in their literal meaning unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise. Now, there is no such reason in the present case. The only reason with any show of force about it that might be advanced is the difficulty of understanding with absolute clearness and certainty how material fire acts on immaterial or spiritual being like the angelic nature or the human soul.”

We agree with the Monitor and all sensible people in the above statement, and we want to point to some reasons why this method of interpretation overthrows the Monitor’s contention that these Scriptures are to be taken literally – as teaching that all except followers of Christ will suffer tortures everlastingly. We are not claiming that sinners will escape a just penalty for sin. We are claiming that eternal torture or purgatorial tortures for sinners would not be just, rational, sane punishments, but, on the contrary, would exemplify a brutality and devilishness which has no parallel in the most degraded of our fallen race.

JESUS TAUGHT IN PARABLES

The Apostle records, as the Prophets had foretold, that Jesus opened His mouth in parables and in dark sayings and “without a parable spake he not” unto the people. (Matt. 13:34,35; Psa. 78:2) We have taken the words of Jesus literally when their very form should have shown us that they could not have been meant literally. Do we not use figures of speech today? For instance, if in conversation someone said to us, “When John Smith heard that, he burst into tears,” would we understand literally that John Smith burst and became a shower of tears? A certain judge, addressing a woman who spoke of her husband’s ill-treatment, asked her if she had tried the Apostle’s remedy of heaping coals of fire on his head. She replied, “No,” but that she had tried hot water without avail.

Thus an ignorant person might perhaps misunderstand the Apostle’s figurative language. But is that an excuse for us, who claim to be more intelligent, to misunderstand it? Do we not remember St. Peter’s words, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you?” (1 Pet. 4:12) Who is foolish enough to suppose that St. Peter meant literal fire? Hear the Apostle Paul telling about the trials of faith to be expected in the end of this Age: He says, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest . . . the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” Those who have built with “gold, silver, precious stones” will have their work approved. Those who have filled their ears with false doctrine – “wood, hay, stubble” – will find their work disapproved. The fire of that day will consume it. (1 Cor. 3:12-15)

St. Paul tells us that some will pass through that fire unscathed, and others will have their work destroyed, but will themselves be saved so as by fire. His intention clearly is that this Age will end with a great time of sifting along doctrinal lines. The false doctrines represented by wood, hay and stubble, are now taking fire and will be entirely consumed, whereas all the truths of God’s Word symbolically represented by the Apostle as jewels of gold and silver and precious stones – these will stand the test and abide. Let us build our faith, then, with the proper materials which God’s Word supplies. And let us remember the Apostle’s words, to the effect that the Word of God is sufficient that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) And the implication of this is that the decisions of the councils of the “dark ages” are not only unnecessary for God’s people of today, but are injurious in proportion as they are out of alignment with the words of Jesus and the Apostles.

Let us examine the proof texts now in turn:

1. THE RICH MAN IN HELL – Luke 16:19-31

Many of us in the past, like the Monitor, have viewed this as a literal account without noting the absurdity of so doing. According to the account, that rich man went to hell because he was rich, had plenty to eat every day, lived in a good house, wore some purple clothing and some fine linen. Not a word is said about his being profane or wicked. If these be grounds for going to eternal torment we should all begin to discard all purple-colored garments, to wear no fine linen, to fast and generally to get poor. Evidently the majority of people have not this view of matters, but are living as nearly like that rich man as they know how. Does such an interpretation seem rational? Or should we seek an interpretation that would not take these statements so literally as they read and as the Monitor advocates?

Look at the other side of the parable – the poor beggar, foul, ulcerated, hungry, licked by dogs, was carried to Abraham’s bosom – not a word about his saint-ship or any other qualification. Do the editors or any of the employees of the Monitor office hope ever to get to the future heavenly bliss, and are they striving to be just like that beggar in all particulars? And if they should reach Abraham’s bosom, might it not be that the old gentleman’s arms would be full of beggars after eighteen hundred years? This is the literal interpretation of our Lord’s words which the Monitor advocates as so reasonable as not to require interpretation symbolically. Well, the Monitor has its right to its opinion, and it may be that we are obtuse. For the sake of other obtuse people, we will proceed to give an interpretation of our Lord’s words as we believe they were meant to be understood – as a parable:

The rich man represents the Jewish nation. His favor with God is represented as riches. The rich man’s bountiful table represents the Divine promises given, up to that time, exclusively to the Jew. Thus St. Paul interprets the Jewish “table” of blessing in Romans 11:9. The rich man’s purple represents the royalty which belonged to the Jews under the Divine promise that Messiah’s Kingdom should be established through the Seed of King David. The rich man’s fine linen symbolizes righteousness or justification imputed to the Jewish nation year by year through their atonement- sacrifices.

The beggar at the rich man’s gate represents the reverent and devout of the Gentiles and the outcasts of the Jews who hungered and thirsted for a share in the Divine promises given to the Jews. They got only occasionally crumbs of comfort. The beggar’s sores and nakedness represent his unworthy condition – sin-sick. The dogs, his com­panions, represent fellow-Gentiles; for all Gentiles were styled “dogs” by the Jews. As samples of the “crumbs” which fell from the rich man’s table we note the healing of the centurion’s servant and the healing of the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman. To the latter, when first she asked, Jesus said: “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” The woman recognized the metaphor immediately – the Jew occupied a place of favor represented by children. She, as a Gentile, was in disfavor as a Gentile dog. Her reply was: “Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” Jesus rewarded her faith by giving her a crumb of favor, the healing of her daughter. (Mark 7:25-30)

If, now, we have located the rich man and the beggar of this parable, let us see how they died and what was accomplished for them:

The poor man represents a class who died to their estrangement from God and His promises and favors (that is, their estrangement ended). This occurred three and a half years after the cross when Cornelius the Centurion, the first Gentile received into the Church, received his blessing, and when the door of opportunity opened before all honest and sincere Gentiles just as widely as to the Jew. There “the middle wall of partition” was broken down. (Eph. 2:14) The humble and faithful, hungering and thirsting, were carried by the angels, the ministers of God, not literally to Abraham’s bosom, but to that which the expression symbolizes. Abraham is styled the father of the faithful. (Rom. 4:11) All the faithful in Christ Jesus are recognized as Abraham’s children, and as such are received figuratively to his bosom. Thus the Apostle writes to the Gentiles: “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:12,13) They have become children of God through faith – the children of Abraham, who typified the Heavenly Father, even as Isaac typified the Redeemer. See Galatians 3:29.

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From What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 158-164 with minor editing.

To be continued in our October 2017 paper.