NO. 770: THE RIGHTEOUS IN REMEMBRANCE

No. 770

“The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” (Psa. 112:6)

It has been our custom for many years to pay tribute at this time of year to Pastor Russell, That Wise and Faithful Servant, to commemorate his death on October 31, 1916. Among other promises that the Lord has given the righteous, is one pledging that they shall be in everlasting remem­brance, i.e., that they will be held in sacred, hallowed and loving memory for their faithfulness. While this promise especially pertains to the Ancient Worthies, it is applicable in a general way to all of the righteous.

Certain righteous ones are mentioned by name in the Bible, guaranteeing that they will be everlastingly remembered. As long as the eternal Word lasts, such persons as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, etc., will be held in hallowed, sacred, and loving memory. In addition, certain righteous ones are specified by name in Church history as antitypes of certain figures in the Scriptures, thus guaranteeing that they will be held in everlasting remembrance also. As long as the eternal Word is understood by its pertinent antitypes, such persons as Marsiglio, Wycliffe, Huss, Wessel, and That Servant will be held in hallowed, sacred, and loving memory.

Thus we need not be ashamed to esteem, love, and honor one whom the Almighty has so signally esteemed, loved, and honored. (1 Sam. 2:30) Such honor is proper, because the memory of such persons is worthy of being kept alive. It does those good who keep it alive, and it continues the good influence of such persons. St. Paul had this thought in mind when telling us we should look “unto Jesus.” (Heb. 12:2)

That Servant was faithful in great and small things. He was wise in his words, methods, plans, arrangements and works. He was full of the faith, hope and knowledge that makes one wise. He was an example of the self‑control and patience that makes one strong. He practiced the piety and brotherly love that makes one just. He was a living expression of the charity that makes one loving. He beautifully exemplified humility, meekness, long­suffering, and forbearance. His courage, industry, self-forgetfulness, liberality, amiability, and frugality were most striking. He was as nearly a model Christian as any of Adam’s fallen children are capable of being – a true “example of the believers.” (1 Tim. 4:12) The Lord Himself vouches for the faithfulness and wisdom of That Servant’s character. (Matt. 24:45‑47; Luke 12:42‑44) Holding such a character in remembrance honors God and helps God’s Household.

The office that he held as That Servant made him the Lord’s special representative at a most remarkable time in history. As such, he was Christ’s special eye, mouth, and hand. As the Lord’s special eye, he saw first all that the Lord desired the Church to see. As the Lord’s special mouth, it was his responsibility to declare the Lord’s message to the Church. As Christ’s special hand, it was his duty to superintend and do whatever work the Lord called on him to superintend and do toward the Church, Great Company, Youthful Worthies, Israel, and Christendom.

How can we cooperate with the Lord in furthering the blessed influence of the Pastor’s memory? We can do so by esteeming his office and his work and by helping others to esteem them. Rightly esteeming his work implies that we take God’s view of it. How honorable, effective, faithful, and wise was his work as a teacher, pastor, advisor, lecturer, author, preacher, editor, theo­logian, and executive! Esteeming him in these capacities implies that we continue to regard him as our helper by faithfully studying and practicing his teachings, spirit, and works and commending them to others for their study and practice. This implies that we cherish and live in harmony with these teachings and practices, defend them against all attacks, and do our part in spreading them as well as encouraging others to do likewise. Our so doing will enable us to co‑operate with God in preaching the “good Word.”

We are sure that all who have prayed to God to bless his memory have received a blessing from their prayers, for they have served to keep fresh in their minds his memory, teachings, and office. Those who have placed little value on his teachings and office have accordingly been open to ignoring and repudiating his teachings.

THAT SERVANT

Even today there is more or less confusion among some Truth people as to who or what is meant by the expression “That Servant.” According to several views, the expression refers to a class, with some claiming that it means the teachers in the Church and others claiming it means the Little Flock. Still others claim that it means the Society’s directors, agents, shareholders or some combi­nation thereof. Our dear Pastor modestly gave the proofs (in Reprint 1946 and Volume 4, page 613) that the expression “That Servant” refers to an individual, i.e., to himself. All well instructed Truth people agreed with this view until the Society leaders, to make their usurped powers more secure, spread the opinion that the Society, a business corporation, is “That Servant.”

The Scriptures clearly refute such claims, teaching that the expression “That Servant” means an individual. (Matt. 24:45‑47; Luke 12:42‑44) In both passages “That Servant” is clearly distinguished from the Church, because he is spoken of as being made “ruler over his [the Lord’s] household.” Hence “That Servant” cannot be the “household” (the Church). Again, the fact that he is spoken of as giving them “meat in due season” distinguishes him from the “household,” the Church. Furthermore, his being called the “steward” proves that all of the servants of the household cannot be meant, for the steward is the special representative of the householder, having under his charge all the householder’s goods and all his other servants. (In our Lord’s time, individuals, not classes, were stewards.)

Moreover, “That Servant” is expressly distinguished from all the other servants in that he is forbidden “to beat the menservants and maidens,” i.e., all the other servants of the Church. (Luke 12:45) Hence the expression “That Servant” cannot mean the servants of the Church as a class, because in this passage he is clearly distinguished from them. In view of the fact that these two Scriptures distinguish him from the Church as a whole and from all of the other servants of the Truth, we should conclude that he must be an individual.

Furthermore, the facts of the Harvest history prove that an individual, our Pastor, is meant by that expression. The Harvest (understood as the reaping and gleaning period) is past. During that time no class – not the Church, not all servants of the Truth, not the Society – had the entire storehouse of Truth in its charge. No class dispensed the “meat in due season” or ruled over the Harvest work. “That Servant” alone did these things. Hence, he alone fulfilled the prophecy.

It could not have been reasonably done otherwise. The entire Church could not have had the entire storehouse of Truth in its charge, nor could it have given itself the “meat in due season” or ruled over the work. All of the servants of the Truth could not have had these privileges. The division in the Church, caused by various power‑grasping leaders, proves it unreasonable that the Church could be ruled by all the leaders. Moreover, a business corporation could not have ruled the “household,” given the “meat in due season,” and had charge of all the goods. From these considerations we see the absurdity of the teaching of those who claim that the expression “That Servant” means a class.

Truly, our Pastor had charge of all the goods during the reaping and gleaning time, and gave the meat in due season. Practically every feature of the Harvest message was first seen by him, and was then first taught by him to the Church. So, too, every branch of the Harvest work was in its general aspects under his charge.

True to the passages cited, he was appointed to this office after our Lord’s return as a reward for being found faithfully administering the food to the Household when the Lord came. He was both faithful and wise in the work of his office; and therefore he was blessed by the Lord according to these Scriptures with a continuance in his office. In calling him faithful, our Lord prophesied that he would be loyal to the end. Through his very faithfulness he was privileged to fulfill official obligations and privileges that gave him a wider and more fruitful field of service than any other servant of God ever had on this earth, our Lord alone excepted.

Time and sign prophecies prove that our Lord returned in 1874.[1] After His return, He found our Pastor faithfully ministering as much Truth as he had; and after certain tests He honored him with executive charge of the work and soon after made him a special mouthpiece through whom He gave the Parousia Truth. Thus the fulfillment in him of the prophecies of the two above noted passages, and his exercise of the official functions of “That Servant” during the Parousia, proves that he was That Servant.

HIS STEWARDSHIP DOCTRINE

We believe his stewardship doctrine was a correct understanding of the Atonement, the central teaching of which is Restitution. Leviticus, Chapter 16 reveals the offerings for sin, which in turn effects atonement, which in due time will accomplish the “restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:19‑23) After clearly understanding this great Truth, Brother Russell repeatedly preached it in his public lectures, and he urged all the pilgrims to do likewise. This in turn aroused the vicious antagonism of the Hell‑fire preachers throughout Christendom, but the more they opposed, the more the message prospered. By the time Brother Russell died in 1916, it was considered by many in Christendom as a reflection upon the intelligence of anyone who still believed in eternal torment as the wages of sin.

Surely no one will dispute that receiving the Truth on the doctrine of Restitution sparked Brother Russell’s entire ministry. It is probable he never delivered a public discourse thereafter in which Restitution did not have a large and prominent place. Restitution was the mainspring of his favorite Scripture quotation: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

THE PAROUSIA MESSENGER

Because Pastor Russell made crystal clear the meaning of the Lord’s Parousia in its various stages over the thousand years, he began to be referred to as the “Parousia Messenger.” This title is not directly stated in the Bible, but it is easily conceived by considering that the word “angel” in Scripture means “messenger.” For example: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Psa. 91:11-12) The Pastor explained that these “angels” would be human messengers provided for the special oversight and welfare of the Church (see Reprint 3440). Thus, “Parousia Messenger” could also be appropriately stated “Parousia Angel,” but “Messenger” makes the thought a little clearer to the average reader.

While directing the Harvest work, Pastor Russell disseminated Truth on the creation, the fall of man, the Ransom, the High Calling, the Resurrection, the Kingdom of God and other doctrinal topics. He refuted errors on eternal torment, evolution, the trinity and human immortality. He detailed and charted the Plan of the Ages, outlining the Biblical teaching of three worlds (2 Peter 3:6-7, 13) and their ages (1 Cor. 10:11, See Diaglott). His writings on the restoration of Israel have brought him recognition, notably in the book, Pastor Charles Taze Russell An Early American Christian Zionist, by Jewish author David Horowitz.

In his day That Servant never sought to draw attention to himself, nor did he claim any special revelation from God. The “gathering saints” focused not on him but on the spiritual food which they saw as coming forth from the Lord in “due time.” Since his death, the Adversary has done all in his power to distort the Truth in every way possible – by setting it aside for “new light,” by perverting the Truth, by revolutionizing against the Truth. All those who have continued in the Truth “once delivered unto the Saints” (Jude 3) are much saddened to witness such distortions. Some have gone from one group to another, hoping to find the pure faith – and some have come to the conclusion that they would separate themselves from all groups. We believe that is a mistake, because there are yet others of like mind who seek to abide in His Word, and who are keeping up the “good fight,” in upholding and defending the faith. (1 Tim. 6:12) Such a course is the only way we can be faithful to the Lord, the Truth, and the brethren.

We are to “lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16) We cannot do that if we isolate ourselves and refuse to hold up the standard because we do not want to stand the “heat of the day.” The Truth received into good and honest hearts makes us good soldiers; it does not make cowards of us. If we have a cowardly spirit, the Lord did not give it to us: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear [cowardice]; but of power [courage], and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7) And the Apostle Paul tells us: “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes [false teachers who arose in the Church of Ephesus].” (2 Tim. 1:13‑16)

We can best keep That Servant’s memory by faithfully using the Truth that he ministered to us, and by loyally copying his holy example. If we do so, his memory will be a continual blessing to us and to others.

(Edited excerpts from writings of John J. Hoefle, principally No. 197, November, 1971, and No. 220, October 1973, with additions.)

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 “EVERY IDLE WORD”

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37)

The term “day of judgment” has been seriously misconstrued. It is generally understood to mean a day of sentencing or a day of doom – “doomsday” – but the proper meaning from the Bible standpoint is a time of trial or testing.

God created our first parents innocent and perfect, and then placed them on trial. Their day of judgment was in Eden. As soon as they disobeyed the divine command, their day of trial or judgment ended, and the sentence, “Dying thou shalt die,” began to take effect. Since all of Adam’s posterity share his imperfections, they are equally unworthy of life, and the death sentence rests upon every member of the race, just as though each individual had been on trial in Eden and had failed the trial along with Father Adam. St. Paul clearly enunciates this matter: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12)

This being true, why do the Scriptures mention another judgment day? If all mankind are already judged unworthy of eternal life and worthy of everlasting death, why should there be any further judgment? The Bible gives the answer: God provided a Redeemer, Christ Jesus, by whose merit the first penalty against our race through Adam will eventually be set aside, and a second trial or judgment will be opened to every member of the race. The first trial or judgment was of one man (Adam) for all of his race. A second trial or judgment, secured by the Redeemer, will treat Adam and all of his race individually, granting them each an individual or personal trial. This second trial has not yet been provided for our race, except in the sense that it has been prepared for and promised: “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) That day will be the thousand year Millennial Day, and it will be the world’s time of individual testing.

Given that God has provided a future opportunity of obtaining eternal life, every intelligent act in the present life will have a bearing on one’s prospect for eternal life in the future. If one uses wisely the opportunities of the present life, he may build up for himself a measure of character, self-control, etc., which will prepare him for a more honorable place during the Millennial Kingdom and make his progress there faster and easier. Conversely, by degrading himself in the present life he may undermine his character and find himself lower on the human scale. He will have much further to advance out of the condition of sin and death into the condition of perfection and everlasting life.

The Church has had her judgment day in the present life, during this Gospel Age. Begotten of the Holy Spirit, they have been on trial as new creatures for everlasting life in Christ Jesus or for everlasting death. (2 Cor. 5:17) For any who have not complied with the conditions of their consecration, but have drawn back to sin, their trial will be in one sense useless and the sentence of utter destruction will rest upon them – the Second Death.

The context of our opening text shows that our Lord was not addressing His disciples, but rather the worldly, the Pharisees. The same principle doubtless applies, however, to all consecrated believers. Every thoughtless or hurtful word of ours has its weight, has its influence with ourselves and with others. Those who are rightly informed respecting the Lord’s will in such matters, the Lord’s consecrated people, have a great responsibility because our words, whether written or spoken, exercise an influence upon the minds and thoughts of others. Words frequently spread from one person to another and an evil word once uttered cannot be recalled. To quote Mark Twain, “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

Oh, the power of slanderous words, vile insinuations, or even malign gestures! These things are the common practice of the world, and unfortunately, the practice also of many professing Christians! The bitter word of sarcasm or insinuation is shot out often unthinkingly, but the terrible poison goes from heart to heart and roots of bitterness are scattered abroad, which a lifetime of holy living cannot fully counteract. On the other hand, what power words have for good! What speaker or writer has ever done more to help poor humanity than the Prophet David in his inspired Psalms? Truly, as Solomon has said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” (Prov. 25:11)

The Lord has indeed agreed that He will not judge the consecrated entirely according to their words and deeds, but according to their spirit, intention, will, energy, and zeal for Him and His Truth. Nevertheless, He assures us: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good . . . for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45) If our hearts are right – full of love for God, for the brethren, for mankind, and even for our enemies, we will speak accordingly, manifesting love and kindness in words as well as in deeds. The good heart out of its good treasure will shower words of blessing while the evil heart will send forth bitter injurious words.

The heart that is not full of goodness, kindness, generosity, and love will likely not control the tongue properly. It is not enough that we do not wish our neighbors harm. We must reach the place where we sincerely wish to do them good. Then our good heart, out of its treasure of goodness, will speak words of kindness and love.

“THEY SHALL GIVE AN ACCOUNT”

How will the world be held to account in the Millennium for the words of the present life? Surely the whole world will not be lined up and each individual called upon to give an account of his every evil word and act. The account will instead be a mark left on the individual’s own character. The wrongs done in this life not only injure others, but especially injure the wrong-doer himself and mark his character. The Scriptures assure us that in the resurrection time many will come forth to shame and lasting contempt. (Dan. 12:2) It will be a time when characters will be revealed and how terribly ashamed some will be! Some who now appear honorable and rank highly among men will then be seen in their true colors. Their shame and the contempt in which they will be held by mankind in general will be a part of their punishment for their wrong course. The shame will last until they gradually are able to demonstrate a more noble character. The contempt will continue until they attain the way of the Lord more perfectly as a result of the blessed, uplifting influences of the Millennial Kingdom.

We are not to think that this text implies that anyone’s words will justify him from the Adamic death condemnation, nor are we to think that anyone might come under a second condemnation because of his words, until first freed (through Christ) from the condemnation of original sin. Nothing but the blood of Christ can justify those who come to God by faith in this age, or those who will assure him of their loyalty for righteousness by works, in the next age. Our Lord’s words here do not contradict the general testimony of the Scriptures; they are in harmony with the Apostle’s declaration: “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.” (Rom. 14:22) In other words, the ungenerous and unkind are very likely to accuse others of transgressions of which they themselves are guilty. The person whose criticism of others is so kind and merciful as to not involve self-condemnation is certainly an exceptional man or woman.

Remember our Lord’s words: “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matt. 7:2) If our words are generous, kind, loving, and benevolent, we will receive similarly kind treatment from the Lord. If our language towards others is harsh, cynical, critical, and unkind, we may expect reproofs from the Lord. The person who sees the faults of others and fails to see his own, needs the correcting chastisements of the Lord in order to make progress toward the divine standards of character.

The kind, sympathetic, and forgiving person who is disposed to make allowances for others, shows that he has learned an important lesson already and that his heart is right to a considerable degree. The flaws of such a generous soul are unintentional; they are entrenched in his flesh, but his heart is not in accordance with them. His kindly words respecting others mark him, indicating his character as the kind of which God can approve. If he loves his neighbor as himself, it implies also that he loves God. As the Apostle points out, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20) One who loves his neighbor, speaks generously of him, and is merciful and compassionate toward him, would undoubtedly greatly respect and love the divine character.

“BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL”

Consider another Scripture of similar import: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matt. 5:7) God gave natural Israel a code of laws consisting of “Thou shalt not” do this and that. That Law was primarily intended to show Israel and the world that it was impossible for an imperfect man or woman to keep perfectly the divine requirements. The Lord stated the Law from the opposite standpoint – “Thou shalt” instead of “Thou shalt not.” He summed up the Law in a few words: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” (Luke 10:27)

Mercy is the expression of love, so he who is merciful comes closer than others to the standard of the divine Law, which is love. Thus we see that the divine promise that he who is merciful to his neighbor will receive mercy from the Lord is in harmony with the principles and essence of the divine government. If this principle could be rightly seen by Christian people, it would work an almost instantaneous revolution in the hearts and conduct of all who desire divine approval and favor. Instead of condemning one another to eternal torment, Christians would be seeking to bless one another, to think and feel kindly of one another, and disposed to pray God’s blessing upon those who despitefully use them and persecute them. Instead of slander, misrepresentations, and envious insinuations, the spirit of love, kindness, mercy, and godlikeness would more and more prevail among those who have named the name of Christ.

The world, seeing such an example of love and kindness, would be ready to learn from the followers of Jesus, recognizing them as they did in the days of the Apostles by their love for one another. (John 13:35) It sometimes seems as though some who profess relationship to Christ do even more petty evil-speaking, slandering, and busy-bodying than do the worldly who make no such profession. Those of the world having the quality of mercy in their hearts will evidently be more pleasing to God than those who make much profession, but neglect to cultivate the Master’s spirit of love and mercy.

(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 207-211.)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

[1] See our January and February 2021 papers for a detailed discussion.

NO. 769: THE LAST ONE OF THE DAYS

No. 769

“And it shall come to pass in the last [one of the] days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains . . . and all nations shall flow unto it.” (Isa. 2:2)

It is a mistake to suppose these words imply the end of time, or the end of the world in the ordinary sense. The Bible declares: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” (Eccl. 1:4) The Bible tells of the wonderful blessings of Restitution, when the Lord’s footstool will “blossom as the rose” – paradise restored. (Isa. 35:1) We suggest the translation “the last one of the days” for what is translated “the last days” in the King James Version, because the Hebrew word for “last” is singular in number, and therefore does not modify the Hebrew plural noun for “days.”

The last one of the days is the seventh day, because there are seven days in a week. While we use the decimal system, counting by tens, God uses the septenary system, counting by sevens. Hence seven is the divine number of completeness, while ten is the number of completeness for natures lower than the divine. This accounts for the frequency of the number seven in the Bible – seven days in a week, seven years in a Sabbath cycle, seven of these Sabbath cycles leading up to the Jubilee Year, seven churches, seven angels of the seven churches, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lights, seven spirits of God, seven eyes, seven horns, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, etc. This proves that the “last one of the days” means the seventh day; however, since a thousand of our years make a day of God’s time (2 Pet. 3:8), the expression “the last one of the days” means the seventh thousand-year day, and not a seventh day of twenty-four hours.

The Jews rightly understood that the seven days of the week, six of labor and the seventh of rest, were typical of seven greater days of a thousand years each. (Col. 2:16-17) The New Testament writers seem to have had the same thought. Thus our Lord declared that those who reject Him will be judged by His words “in the last day.” (John 12:48) Similarly, Martha declared her faith in the resurrection of her brother, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) That great day – the Millennial Day, the Day of Christ – will witness the overthrow of Satan, sin, death and all unrighteous­ness and the uplifting of humanity. It is during this day that Messiah will put down all things opposed to righteousness: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26) The resurrection process will be in operation throughout that glorious day; mankind will rise out of its meanness, sin, sickness and death, back to all that was lost in Eden and redeemed on the Cross.

The last one of the days is referred to as being “after those days.” That is, it is after the days when sin and death are allowed to reign. God promises to make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah “after those days.” Through it, they will be uplifted and the blessings will flow from them to all nations. (Jer. 31:31-34; Isa. 2:2) It will be “after those days” also when God promises: “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) Our opening text is to be viewed from this standpoint: in the last one of these days, in the promised Day of Messiah, the Mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established, fixed, in the very top of the mountains – above all other kingdoms. This is in full accord with the entire tenor of the Scriptures. A mountain symbolizes a kingdom; and, as the Prophet declares, God’s Kingdom will be the highest mountain, overtopping all other kingdoms, established or fixed permanently above all others.

Messiah the King, along with His Elect Bride and Associate, will exercise His divine power. Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and sin will no longer be permitted. Justice will be executed upon the earth from the invisible plane of glory and majesty. Every good word, thought and deed will be rewarded, and every evil thought, word and deed will be punished swiftly and surely. As the Lord declared through the Prophet: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” (Isa. 11:9)

The world will then speedily learn righteousness: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” (Isa. 29:18) “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9) Now the world doubts the very existence of God, and declares that if He exists He pays little or no heed to wrongdoers. “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” (Mal. 3:15) But the new day will change all this: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:17)

The present tendency of the world is to gravitate downward, but there will be a reversal of this order. All nations will then flow or gravitate upward – toward the righteous Kingdom of Messiah: The Jews will begin to recognize the fulfillment of the prophecies of old, and other nationalities will slowly begin to see the Restitution blessings coming to Israel in harmony with the divine arrangements of the Kingdom: “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3) Both spiritual and natural Israel are in this picture. Mt. Zion is the higher, spiritual phase while Jerusalem is the lower, earthly phase. The law will go forth from the Messiah, head and body, while the directing and instructing will go forth from the patriarchal princes, who will represent the Kingdom. (Psa. 45:16)

The new King, Messiah, will judge the nations – the people. It will be a general judgment at first and an individual one subsequently. The national judgments will mean calamities upon the nations. Great armies and navies have proven that they cannot bring peace to earth, and those trusting in them suffer most severely. All must learn the lesson that Messiah’s Kingdom will not come by human might nor power. It is the Lord’s institution and it will come in His own appointed time.

The lesson will be so thoroughly learned in that day of trouble that war will forever cease: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4) The Prophet David tells us that the mighty army of the Lord, through Messiah’s Kingdom, will work havoc upon present institutions with this result: “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” (Psa. 46:8-9) Human energy and activity will be better employed in conquering self, sin, sickness and death.

Idolatry to gold and silver will end, and the great trouble of that day will cause many to hide: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. . . . And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. 2:9-11, 18-21)

The above description given by the Prophet Isaiah agrees very closely with a description given in the book of Revelation: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17) The idea here is that the powerful of earth will call upon the “mountains” and “rocks” to fall on them and hide them from the presence of the Lord.

Let us suppose that the vast oceans, constituting three-fourths of the earth’s surface, represent the masses of mankind who have unlimited longings, but no power to satisfy them. They lack property and have few prospects, “having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12) Let us suppose the land mass represents society, established and stable, and desiring to maintain peace. It is fearful that the “sea” class will wash away the status quo. As in the sea we find shallows and mighty depths, so on the land we find low places, higher places, and mountain peaks, and each of these represents a certain degree of prosperity or adversity. The mountain heights would represent the captains of society – the powerful in politics, business, etc.

As from time immemorial there has been a conflict between the land and the sea, the sea violently attacking and overtaking the land in storms, so it is with the two classes represented by the sea and the land. The “sea” class, helpless and without property, is envious of the “land” class, those who, under the present order, seize and possess the chief blessings. The mountains and rocks of society – its institutions (social, financial, political, etc.) – will all fall in that great day of trial and judging and testing; the shaking or overthrow of every human institution is in full accord with the divine requirements of justice and righteousness.

WHO SHALL STAND?

The Prophet Malachi asks, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” (Mal. 3:2) Where is our treasure? Where is our security? The long-foretold day of the Lord is here and the great time of trouble is now upon us. (Dan. 12:1). If our treasures are upon the earth and our confidence rests in human organizations, the time is near when we may be crawling into these holes – these social and financial protective arrangements – calling upon them to cover us and protect us, but there will be no protection possible.

The Apostle declares that in that day everything that can be shaken will be shaken – everything that is not in full alignment with the divine standards will go down. In the language of the Scripture, we should set our affections on things above, not on earthly things. (Heb. 12:26-28) The Master counsels further: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:20-21) Blessed are they who so do.

If we have been careless in this matter in the past, it is high time for us to invest what little we have of time, influence, talent and money in the service of the King of kings – in laying up treasure in heaven, in promoting the interests of the great Kingdom wherein we trust, and of which we hope soon to be members. We are not counseling foolishness – the throwing away of money, of time and influence. On the contrary, we counsel the spirit of a sound mind, that every hour, every talent, every penny be used, not as our own, but as the Lord’s; not according to our own or others’ selfish desires, but according to the divine will, so far as we are able to understand it. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20)

The talents we possess, including our time and resources, are part of our stewardship and we must eventually give an account of them. The Lord’s consecrated people will be called to account before that great day of trouble upon the world. Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36)

We are to watch to see that we are faithful in the use of our time and talents. There will, indeed, be some of God’s people who will experience the trouble along with the world. Those who are too fearful of the weight of the cross will hide their talent in the earth, as illustrated by the Parable of the Talents. (Matt. 25:14-30) They will fail to have their portion with the Lord in the Kingdom, and, instead, will have their portion with the hypocrites, in the great trouble of that day.

It is impossible for us or for anyone to avert the great catastrophe surely bearing down upon the world. We are to have nothing whatever to do with bringing about the great catastrophe, any more than had the Prophets, whose words we are using. It is for us to remain faithful, availing ourselves of every opportunity to convey the divine message to all God’s people, or as the Apostle says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:16) Our day witnesses the world gone pleasure-mad: “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” (2 Tim. 3:4) The spirit of the world surrounds us, threatens to engulf us and destroy our spirituality. There never was a greater need than now for the soldiers of the cross to “put on the whole armour of God,” to “watch and pray,” and to fight a good fight against their own weaknesses and against the darts and snares of the Adversary. (Mark 13:33; Eph. 6:11)

Many dear Christians realize that we are living in strange times, but they do not realize that we are in the transition period between the reign of sin, sickness and death, and the reign of Messiah’s Kingdom of righteousness and light. Let all whose eyes of understanding have opened to a better appreciation of God’s great Book be ready to “show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)

(Based on The Herald of the Epiphany #16, January 15, 1923.)

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LOOSING THE FOUR WINDS

“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1)

There is something peculiarly forceful about this statement. We have known some to lay stress upon the word “such” in this verse of Daniel’s prophecy, and to suggest that this might mean that the trouble will not be greater, but that it will be of a different character than any previous trouble. We do not share that view. Our thought is that it will be the most intense, as well as the most widely diffused trouble, the most general trouble ever known. We see a great many things which corroborate this thought.

We can readily see that anarchy at this time would affect mankind more than at any previous time of the world’s history. In the past, cities were supported by a large farming element, with farmers selling more directly to consumers. Today cities are large, and populations are more concentrated than ever before. Food is transported and distributed through large networks and people have become accustomed to larger quantities and varieties of foods than ever before. We would feel starved by what people ate in former times. If our current food distribution system was disrupted, we can see how whole cities could be put into confusion, with everyone going hungry. The population would soon starve if supplies were cut off.

Our Lord fed the five thousand with bread and small fishes. Now people would not be satisfied, as they were then, to sit down on the grass, with a piece of bread in one hand and a piece of fish in the other. Now they would want five dishes, at least – and knives and forks, etc. They would think that they were starved if they had only a piece of fish and a piece of dry bread. And now, instead of gathering up the fragments, they would merely throw the fragments away.

We have reason to believe that this trouble in some respects will be accompanied by a ferocity never seen in the past. True, there have been atrocities committed in every age of the world’s history. And it is true that we now have a veneer that goes by the name of Christianity, but there is nothing Christian about it. We see more and more clearly how easy it would be to scratch off this veneer and get to the savage nature below it. This being so, we can see how the rendering of assistance by one part of the world to another part would be at an end. We also see how the evil spirits will be stirred up. We have every reason to believe our Lord’s words to be literally true – that the severity of the coming trouble will be such as never before has been known. (Matt. 24:21)

We also understand that the trouble at the end of the Jewish dispensation was a type, or foreshadowing, a parallel, of the great trouble coming at the end of this dispensation. The trouble that then came upon the Jewish nation was reckoned as having been the most severe in the world’s history. The trouble at the close of this age will be on a vastly larger scale – it will be world-wide.

ATTEMPTS TO AVERT THE CRISIS FUTILE

Whether it will be the socialistic, the anarchistic or the capitalistic elements of society that will bring about the anarchy, will depend upon which obstacle will be the most difficult to move. As to the socialism movement, it is our thought that the socialists will fail entirely in their attempt to carry out their ideas. While some of their ideas are good, some are medium, and some are bad, they can never carry out the best of their ideas because those who are controlling capital and managing the world’s affairs will never give them the opportunity.

All parties are very earnest, very intense, and very obstinate. The capitalists fear that the whole country and the world would “go to the dogs” if socialism prevailed. Therefore, they are ready to put the country into the ditch rather than give it a trial. And so we do not expect that socialists will get sufficient power to take the reins of government. We think the attempt would result in anarchy prevailing until divine power sets up the promised Kingdom.

In making these observations, we are not accusing any party in particular. We believe that if faced with the prospect of failure, either side would be ready to see the streets run with blood rather than see the other side win – they would be ready to go to any length to maintain their purpose and ideas. Each party is sure that it knows what it is doing, and there can be no possible compromise. All are sure that they are right and are sure that they will succeed. When the crisis is reached, which seems nearing, the great “whirlwind” will come, sweeping away all civilization. Thank God that the Kingdom of God’s dear Son will end the crisis when men will finally realize they are powerless!

THE FOUR GREAT WINDS

St. John mentions this whirlwind in Revelation: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” (Rev. 7:1) Of course, the winds referred to here are symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four quarters – North, East, South and West – are being held back, and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, resulting in a whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. (Jer. 23:19; Jer. 25:32-33; Jer. 30:23-24) We do not understand this to be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic expression is used to convey the thought of a great whirlwind of trouble.

These “winds” are not powers of natural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of Satan as “the Prince of the power of the air.” (Eph. 2:2) Those spirits who have been under the control of Satan – the fallen angels – were to be restrained in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day of the Lord. (2 Pet. 2:4) Although these fallen spirits have been restrained for many centuries, they have nevertheless exercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If they had been allowed unlimited power, they would have wrecked the world long ago. The letting loose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God will remove the restraints and permit the terrible trouble to come upon the world as a great cataclysm, resulting in the complete overthrow of the social order in anarchy.

St. John’s account seems to imply that when this outside influence is loosed it will exercise a destructive effect upon mankind. (Rev. 7:2-3) Apparently God will soon completely cease to restrain the fallen angels, and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon humanity, so that the whole earth will be full of violence, the same as in the days of Noah. “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” (Luke 17:26) In the days of Noah God beheld the thoughts of men, that man’s heart was evil and only evil continually – a very desperate condition. (Gen. 6:5)

The teachings of the Savior implied that at His Second Advent He would be present, unknown to the world, doing a work of gathering the Church – of making up His “jewels” – and that the world would not know of His presence until the Time of Trouble was upon them. (Luke 17:27-30) All of this is true today. The world is going about its business quite unaware of how near we are to the new arrangement, the incoming Kingdom, but we believe that the very near future will be a time of great crime and angry passions. Already we find that in spite of the many advantages of our day and the blessings showered upon the world, people are unthankful and ungrateful. Discontent is growing and the result will be great strife and the complete fall of present institutions.

Our thought is that the loosing of these “four winds” is still future. We believe the power manifested by the loosed demons will strive to injure mankind, and perhaps some of our readers will have a share in that injury. We have every reason to suppose these loosed fallen angels will first vent their anger upon the Lord’s people. We should not fear this, but rather take whatever the Lord’s providence permits, knowing that everything will work for our good. (Rom. 8:28) “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil [difficulty] thereof.” (Matt. 6:34) Let us leave the whole matter in the Lord’s hands and trust in Him.

(Based on Reprint 5469.)

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WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE

Those who oppose our beliefs tend to misrepresent them. They desire to hinder our work, failing to recognize it as the Lord’s work. It is difficult to answer their arguments in a few words, when they have misunderstood thousands of pages we have presented. If they cannot understand a detailed explanation, we have no hope of making a brief one that will be satisfactory to them. Nevertheless, we present here a synopsis of our teachings:

I. We affirm the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Christ.

II. We acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and the Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and in turn from all who are begotten by it.

III. We affirm the resurrection of Christ – that He was “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) We deny that He was raised in the flesh and any statement to that effect is unscriptural.

IV. We affirm, as the Scriptures teach, that in the beginning God alone possessed immortality. This divine quality has already been granted to the Lord Jesus (John 5:26) and will be the destiny of His elect Bride, His Body. The divine provision for mankind and angels is everlasting life for the obedient. While many mischaracterize this as immortality, we strictly follow the Scriptures.

V. We affirm that the entire human race lost life as a result of Father Adam’s failure in Eden. Christ died to secure a second chance for Adam and an individual chance for all of his race, who lost their first chance in Adam when he sinned. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:21-22) A comparative few, having eyes of faith and ears of understanding, have had this second chance in the present life. Adam and the great remainder of his posterity will get their second chance after being awakened from the tomb. No one is to get a third chance!

VI. We believe that the human soul was condemned to death. “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4) We believe that this death would have meant everlasting destruction, had it not been for God’s mercy in and through our Lord’s redemptive work. By reason of His death our souls are scripturally said to “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14), and will be awakened in the resurrection morning. The interim will be a period of unconsciousness, beautifully symbolized by a restful sleep.

VII. We believe the “hell” of the Bible means “grave.” Sheol is the only Hebrew word translated “hell” in the Old Testament. The King James Version translates this word as “grave” more than one-half the time, and it should always be thus translated. The Greek hades in the New Testament, is its equivalent. Gehenna in the New Testament, also translated “hell,” is a symbol of the Second Death.

VIII. We believe that God is able to destroy “both soul and body” in Gehenna – the Second Death. (Matt. 10:28) This belief is saner and more Scriptural than the belief that God created man but cannot destroy him. It is unreasonable to believe that He prefers to preserve the incorrigible so that they may suffer eternally, when their sufferings would be of no benefit to themselves or others.

IX. We believe that, like the Father and the holy angels, our Lord is a spirit being. We are convinced that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 15:50) We do not believe that our Lord has a flesh and blood body, a “little lower than the angels,” and has thus been out of harmony with His heavenly environment for nearly two thousand years. We believe the Apostle’s statement, “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:17) We believe He will “so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” – quietly and unknown to the world. (Acts 1:11) Our Lord warned us not to expect Him in the flesh; that men might say “Lo here! or, lo there!” (Luke 17:21)

(Based on Reprint 4955.)

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

NO. 768: THE BIBLE IN THE LIGHT OF REASON

No. 768

“Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, ASV)

In our July 2021 paper, we established that there is a supreme Creator who is intelligent, wise, just, powerful, and good. We further established that our Creator had special reasons for keeping certain features of His program secret, only gradually revealing these mysteries to those in fellowship with Him. We now consider whether the Bible furnishes reasonable evidence that it is a divine revelation worthy of acceptance by those in heart harmony with the Creator.

The Bible is the only book in the world that sets forth the order of earth’s creation in a logical and rational manner, giving an account of the processes of the creative epochs. It shows man to be earth’s lord and ruler. (Gen. 1:28) The Bible alone gives man a proper standing as the Son of God, made in His image and likeness with respect to mental and moral qualities. The Bible clearly explains the current condition of mankind: “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” (Job 5:7) “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psa. 51:5) The Bible alone explains how and why sin and death prevail among mankind and not among the angels.

The Bible alone explains the relief God has provided for the human race and how and when we will receive it. The Bible alone gives an orderly record of the first man and his descendants up until the flood. The Bible alone gives an explanation why the flood came and what purposes it served in the divine program. The Bible alone gives a record of the epoch immediately following the flood and carries a genealogical line from Adam to Noah, to Abraham, to the nation of Israel.

It is true that other so-called sacred books to some degree purport to give an account of creation, but the stories they tell are so wildly absurd as to be unworthy of the slightest credence. We grant that the account in Genesis is not as full and complete as we could have wished for, yet we find a perfect harmony between its brief, epitomized framework and deductions of modern science.

In studying the Bible, we should remember that it was not written to the world or for the world. Further, it does not yet concern the world, except as the world relates to the divine program. From the time of Abraham, the divine program has been attached to him and his posterity – natural Israel and spiritual Israel. The divine program proposes to bless Abraham and his seed by a recovery from the conditions of sin and death, and through Abraham’s seed these blessings will in due course extend to and bless “all the families of the earth.” The Bible can only be rightly viewed or judged from this standpoint.

Although the Bible does not claim that the world’s history from creation to Moses was divinely inspired, divine supervision of that history is clearly implied. God’s dealings with the human race through Abraham and Moses were necessary for man’s recovery from the dominion of sin and death. The Bible claims divine interaction with and revelation to Abraham and the reason for it is explicitly stated: God’s time had come for Him to begin the work of rescuing the race and Abraham’s faith identified him as the appropriate channel for making known the Gospel or “good news” of divine mercy.

God made a promise to Abraham: “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 28:14) That promise became the basis of hope and faith and the inspiration for righteousness to the typical people who foreshadowed the blessings to come through this Abrahamic Covenant. The Prophets foretold certain details connected with the fulfilling of the promise made to Abraham and his seed, and encouraged the favored nation to whom these promises were made to stand firmly for the Lord and continue to be His typical people.

We refer to this Covenant as the Oath-Bound Covenant, the divine promise of a future blessing to mankind through Abraham’s seed. As St. Paul says, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath.” (Heb. 6:17) God’s oath gives strength to those seeking to be affiliated with Him and accounted worthy of association with Messiah in the blessing of the world. It aids believers in fleeing from sin and resisting its allurements, in denying self and in taking up the cross. (Heb. 6:10-14) The Apostle assures us that the twelve tribes of Israel were inspired by it to continually serve God, staying loyal to Him and separating themselves from the nations surrounding them: “Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come.” (Acts 26:7)

BIBLE ACCOUNT IGNORED

Evolutionists and Higher Critics ignore the Bible account and claim man’s origin to have been by evolutionary processes, from an ape-like condition to a condition of superior intelligence. They find it difficult to account for the intelligence displayed by Moses and the Egyptians of his time, and so in defense of their theory they surmise millions of years from man’s creation to Moses, regardless of the fact that in so long a period the world would be vastly over-populated. Moreover, they have another problem in that the intelligence and wisdom displayed by Moses and recorded in the Bible is far beyond the intelligence and wisdom of the masses today. The words and laws of Moses and Israel are cited as standards of wisdom and justice in the most learned circles and courts of justice of today. It is safe to say that the laws of the most civilized nations of the world today have either been constructed out of the Mosaic Law or have been diligently patterned after them.

Pause for a moment to consider some of the features of the Mosaic Law. Some of its commonly accepted provisions are greatly improved modifications of Latin laws. Some of its other features have been neglected in our modern laws, but are being demanded by today’s social movements. If these demands are not met, many expect that our present civilization is in danger of anarchy. Consider, for instance, the Law of Moses respecting debtors and creditors under which a debt could not extend beyond fifty years. In the fiftieth or Jubilee year, every responsibility, personal and financial, was wiped out and each estate was permitted to come back to its original possessors, allowing each family to recover from its disasters and financial difficulties. This neglected provision has been recognized to some extent by bankruptcy laws adopted by all civilized nations. The limiting of debt has prevented it from crushing out hope and ambition.

A MODEL GOVERNMENT

Unlike all other governments, the one instituted by Moses recognized God Himself as the ruler, and the nation as His people. The “holy of holies” of their tabernacle was the divine meeting place, and the various tribes circled around it. Personal responsibility to God was the overriding sentiment in all of their laws, and the spirit of the Decalogue is today recognized as the very best statement of human obligation. Jesus summed it up as follows: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” (Luke 10:27; Deut. 6:4-5) More than thirty centuries have failed to improve upon this statement. The government instituted by Moses was in many respects a model of fairness and justice, and not just for the Israelites. The rights of the stranger – the foreigner – were also stipulated.

For over four hundred years, Israel was in many respects a republic whose judges acted under divine commission and law, but it was then changed to a monarchy at the request of its elders. The Lord permitted this although He did not approve it. The Prophet Samuel was the last to hold the office of judge, acting as the representative of the people. The Lord said to him: “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (1 Sam. 8:7) Under divine direction, the Prophet explained to the people in great detail how their divine rights would be disregarded by a king and how their liberty would be greatly diminished, but they refused to listen. (1 Sam. 8:10-22)

Considering the inclination of the people to desire a king, it is evident that Moses might have taken that position himself without the slightest opposition. The judges were representatives of the various families and tribes, and Moses said of them, “And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.” (Deut. 1:16-17)

No civilized nation of today provides more carefully for the equitable treatment of the rich and the poor before the civil law than did Israel. The Jubilee arrangement was an example of this, as we have seen. Further, all the laws were made public, so that even the poorest individuals knew their rights. Following are examples of some of the laws of fairness and justice given to Israel by divine edict:

(1) Laws regarding the rights of foreigners and strangers: “Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 24:22) “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 19:33-34) “Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exod. 23:9)

(2) Laws protecting the weak and vulnerable: “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” (Exod. 22:22-24)

(3) Laws protecting workers and the poor and needy: “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.” (Deut. 24:14-15) “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” (Exod. 22:25)

(4) Laws protecting the handicapped and elderly: “Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:14) “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:32)

(5) Laws regarding the equitable treatment of others: “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.” (Exod. 23:4-5)

(6) Laws providing for the humane treatment of animals: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.” (Deut. 25:4) “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.” (Deut. 22:10) “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.” (Exod. 23:12) The ox must not be muzzled while threshing the grain, because any laborer is worthy of his food. Hitching an ox and an ass together would be cruel because they are so unequal in size and strength. Rest for animals was provided for just as it was for humans.

NO POLITICAL POWER TO THE PRIESTHOOD

Despite all of these laws protecting others, there was not one word of special entitlement for the priesthood. While a priestly tribe was indeed indicated under the Mosaic Law, it was given no political power – in fact the opposite was true. The priests were to teach the people and minister holy things to them, but they were not to rule over them. Moreover, the priestly tribe had no inheritance in the land as did the other tribes, and were dependent upon the voluntary offerings of their brethren. However, there were no threats of present or future penalties to the people if they were negligent in giving to their teachers. The simple exhortation was: “And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.” (Deut. 14:27)

To say that this arrangement was selfish or concocted by unscrupulous priests is to declare oneself ignorant of the institutions of Israel. On the contrary, if more people carefully studied the Bible, many would be lead to inquire, “Where did Moses get that Law?” It would be clear to them that this highly intelligent, humble, patriotic, and noble instrument was not the product of a primitive ape-like intellect. Even more than that, its divine authorship would be evident.

We leave the typical features of Moses’ Law for consideration elsewhere. We merely point out what the Apostle declares – that these types are “a shadow of things to come.” (Col. 2:17) Thus an accurate understanding of them serves an important function in instructing spiritual Israel concerning spiritual things. The typical cleansings were made with the blood of bulls and goats, prefiguring the antitypical cleansings made “with better sacrifices than these.” (Heb. 9:23)

Who can reasonably or truthfully say that these laws and regulations were the work of crafty, designing men animated by selfish desires? The same principle applies to the historical books and to the prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures. Throughout these writings, the sincerity of the writers and their loyalty to God were tested. The messages they delivered often brought disfavor upon them and sometimes even cost them their lives. (Heb. 11:30-40)

The very fact that the sins and weaknesses of prophets, kings and priests are laid bare in the Scriptures, yet without any apparent animosity or any desire to color or whitewash them, indicates fairness and a loyalty to Truth beyond anything we are accustomed to today. Indeed, although many influential men are criticized in the Scriptures, there is no evidence whatsoever of any attempt to tamper with the records. The sacred writings were apparently greatly revered.

Much the same can be said for the New Testament writings. They are simply told and unfavorable facts are not ignored. It is plainly stated that Jesus died between two thieves; that He was betrayed by one of His own disciples; that all of His disciples abandoned Him and fled; that one of them even denied Him with cursing. The humble origins of the disciples are clearly documented. Even when the Apostles Peter and John preached under the power of the Holy Spirit, their more educated listeners “perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.” (Acts 4:13) What biographies or other writings of today display as much candor as we see when we open the Bible?

HARMONY FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

When we consider the fact that the Bible is composed of sixty-six books written by thirty-eight different authors over a period of nearly two thousand years, it is surely a miracle that these writers tell one story in full agreement. This cannot be explained unless, as the Scriptures themselves assert, these various writers were supernaturally guided. In order to appreciate how stupendous this miracle is, consider that today an equal volume of writing from any thirty-eight persons who are members of one denomination, influenced by one general view point, would be found widely conflicting and contradictory – even if they were the most educated persons in the denomination and picked for the very purpose of this demonstration.

Among those who revere the Bible as being a divine revelation, we find that great differences of thought have resulted in hundreds of denom­inational creeds, contradicting and opposing one another in a most violent manner. As a result, those today who love peace are constrained to avoid discussing doctrine as much as possible in the interest of unity and harmony. Moreover, we find that the various creeds of Christendom not only contradict each other and contradict reason, they violently contradict the Scriptures themselves. The Scriptures alone are harmonious with themselves and with reason. This demonstrates that the Bible is the most wonderful book in the world. Assaulted both by friends and foes, it still stands as the great divine record of the purposes which God purposed in Himself before the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4, 9)

TEN CARDINAL DOCTRINES

It is clear that the Bible is not, as is generally supposed, merely a collection of rules, regulations, statements, etc., whether wise and beneficial or otherwise. From its opening statement to its closing one, the theme of the Bible is God’s program for mankind. Among the many doctrines of Scripture there are ten primary doctrines, interrelated, so that considered together they embody the entire Plan of Salvation. When properly understood, these ten doctrines are harmonious, just as the ten strings of a harp, properly tuned, produce harmonious chords: “Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.” (Psa. 33:2; Psa. 92:2-3) The ten cardinal doctrines are:

(1) Creation: The Bible begins with a doctrinal statement: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) Expanding on this, the Bible continues: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2) The earth was in a waste condition, lacking order, and it received no light from any heavenly body. From this state God began to order the earth, preparing it to support life. He then began the process of bringing forth life: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit . . . And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth . . . And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.” (Gen. 1:11, 20, 24)

This is consistent with the idea that life evolved from the sea and the land. But then there is a different statement: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26) Man being given dominion over the animals proves that man was not evolved from animals or part of any evolutionary chain.

(2) The Fall: Often referred to as “original sin,” this doctrine is found in Genesis Chapter three. Satan beguiled Eve into disobeying God’s command and Adam knowingly followed suit. The blight of sin thereby entered the human race and has been passed down by heredity. The Apostle Paul plainly states this doctrine: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Rom. 5:12)

(3) The Law: God established the Law Covenant with Israel to demonstrate man’s fallen condition. If Israel could keep the perfect Law it would be redeemed from the death sentence: “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them.” (Lev. 18:5) The Law was also a schoolmaster preparing Israel for the coming Messiah: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:23-24) In addition, the entire experience of Israel under the Law provided a set of types foreshadowing the experience of the Church in the Gospel Age: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [ages] are come.” (1 Cor. 10:11)

(4) The Ransom: This is the central doctrine of Scripture, to which all other doctrines must conform. It is most clearly stated by the Apostle: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price] for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6) No perfect man could be found to be a corresponding price. No angel or spirit being could be a corresponding price since on a higher plane than man, and no animal could be a corresponding price since on a lower plane. Therefore, the prospect of being man’s redeemer was set before God’s Son, the Logos. If He could successfully carry out a covenant of sacrifice (which He did) and if that sacrifice would be acceptable to God (which it was), that sacrifice would then release Adam from the death sentence and consequently release all condemned to death through Adam. Stated another way, “For since by man [Adam] came death, by man [Jesus] came also the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Cor. 15:21)

(5) Resurrection: Resurrection is a reversal of the death process. The word resurrection is from the Greek anastasis signifying to stand up or rise up. It is not merely an awakening from death but the process of overcoming the death sentence and all of its effects of disease, etc. The Scriptures show that there are two resurrections. The world’s resurrection is described as the resurrection of the “unjust” or the resurrection of judgement (mis­translated “damnation”). The world’s resurrection in the fullest sense will take many years. The other is called the resurrection of the “just,” “the resurrection of life,” or the “first resurrection.” It is for the justified elect classes of this age and of times past – the Little Flock, the Great Company, the Ancient Worthies and the Youthful Worthies. (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:5-6)

(6) The High Calling: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14; Heb. 3:1) Those of this “heavenly calling” (the Little Flock, the Body of Christ) have sacrificed throughout the Gospel Age. They have been tried and tested while doing a witnessing work to the world. Those accepted to the High Calling are begotten of the spirit - begotten to a new nature - the spiritual nature, and if faithful unto death will receive that new nature fully by being born again, or resurrected as spirit beings in the First Resurrection. They have gathered out of the world and the nominal church others to be of this same class. During the Millennial Age they, along with their Head, will constitute the Royal Priesthood (the Mediator between God and man) and will judge, bless, and uplift the world of mankind during the coming thousand year Millennial Age.

(7) Justification: How are the elect deemed acceptable to God since all are sinners through Adam? “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) They are reckoned perfect because they are justified by faith in the merit or virtue of their Redeemer’s sacrificial life and death. By faith they are covered by the robe of Christ’s righteousness, giving them a standing before God. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1) The Ancient and Youthful Worthies could also be included in this category, because they are justified by faith.

(8) Sanctification: The justified are then called to consecrate, offering their justified humanity as a sacrifice: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Rom. 12:1) “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psa. 50:5) If accepted by God, they are then sanctified, that is, they are set apart for God’s service.

(9) Restitution: This doctrine is succinctly stated by the Apostle Peter: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive [retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21) These Restitution Times will follow as a result of our Lord’s second advent and the establishment of His Kingdom in glory and power. The word “restitution” means to restore something back to its original or primary condition. The work of Christ and His Church in glory during the Millennium will be to restore mankind to the condition, privileges, and blessings it enjoyed before sin and death entered the world.

(10) Second Death: The Apostle Peter’s discourse continues and gives us our final cardinal doctrine: “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22-23) All who willfully refuse the offer of restitution and life after being brought to a knowledge of the Truth in the coming age will die the Second Death, eternal death, as symbolized by the lake of fire. (Rev. 21:8)

The book which teaches these ten cardinal doctrines reveals the mind of God and His Plan of Salvation for the world. It is certainly worthy of universal acknowledgment and acceptance as the divine message. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33)

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Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 8-13, with additions.

Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com

NO. 767: “THE LIVING AND TRUE GOD”

No. 767

“I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. . . . Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psa. 145:1, 3)

Humans instinctively desire to praise and worship a higher being. However depraved some of the human race may have become, this element of veneration and appreciation of a God constitutes a foundation upon which the depraved elements of the human character may be rebuilt. Without this instinct for worship, missionaries and philan­thropists might well lose all hope for the moral and social uplift of the masses. Anyone seeking to promote human well-being must seek to maintain this instinctive state of mind, and anyone who undermines it is surely doing a destructive work.

Unfortunately, some of the most intelligent of our time are rapidly drifting away from the fundamental truth that there is a “living and true God.” (1 Thess. 1:9; Jer. 10:10) While these intellectuals may accept the idea of an impersonal God, we maintain that this is tantamount to saying there is no living and true God. They rarely attempt to define this impersonal God, but rather use the term “God” merely as a concession to the popular sentiments of the less learned. They often use the word “nature” as a synonym for God, their thought being that there is no intelligent creator and that the universe is merely governed by natural laws. In their view, the human race can prosper and progress only by learning how these laws operate.

Christian Science adherents attempt to explain that the word “God” simply signifies “good.” With something of a play on words that confounds the reasonable mind, they tell us that whatever is useful is good, and therefore is God. They declare, for example, that trees and rocks have goodness or usefulness in them, and so to that extent, they have God in them. Elaborating further, they say that God is in the air, because of its vitalizing effect; He is in the flower because it is good and useful for beauty and fragrance; He is in the tea-kettle, because of its usefulness and likewise in the chair, the table, the floor, the ceiling – everything. Such views destroy faith in a personal God and faith in the Bible as His revelation.

As the Apostle says, faith in a personal God is essential: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6) How could an impersonal God have a purpose, a will, a plan, a program? How could He give a revelation of that purpose or program in the Bible or anywhere else? Those with faith in Him as a personal being will find Him, and He will reveal His true character to them: “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth.” (Matt. 7:8)

Christian Scientists counter our objection by asserting that a large proportion of the human family holds the same views that they do, including Buddhists and Theosophists. Further­more, they claim that all the principal creeds of Christendom teach the thought of an impersonal God by declaring that God is omnipresent. Their claim is well founded – the seed of error on this subject was planted in our minds and confessions of faith long ago. This inconsistency cannot be attributed to the Bible, however. Although our confessions of faith were ostensibly made to be in harmony with the Scriptures, there is not one word in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, declaring divine omni­presence.

GOD IS A PERSONAL BEING

Every statement on the subject affirms the personhood of the Father, and that our Lord Jesus is the “express image of his person.” (Heb. 1:3) “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), but He is a being, a person. The Scriptures tell us that a spirit does not have a fleshly body as we have, but they also distinctly inform us of the divine personhood of God. They use the features and qualities of the human body to represent the Creator’s qualities in ways that we can understand. The “hand” of the Lord represents His divine power and the “eye” of the Lord represents His divine wisdom. The “ear” of the Lord is bowed down to hear the groaning of the creation. The “heart” of the Lord represents His thoughts and feelings and, in the words of the hymn, His heart “is most wonderfully kind.” Heaven is described as His throne and the earth as His footstool. While it is true that these expressions are figurative, they present a picture of a personal Creator who feels, thinks, and intelligently exercises His power. They picture a Creator who is displeased by the sinful and who loves those who seek righteousness and strive to do His will.

Cultivating this thought of a righteous, personal God will assist us in establishing corresponding character traits in our own hearts. By seeking to further know such a Creator and seeking His compassion and protecting care, we learn to love Him as we could never appreciate or love nature or an impersonal concept of an omnipresent non-entity. If our minds and hearts grasp the Scriptural personhood and personality of the Heavenly Father, we will understand the significance of our Savior’s words when He said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:29-31)

We worship the Almighty “in spirit and in truth” to the degree that we know Him as a personal being. We are directed to address Him as, “Our Father, which art in heaven.” Thinking of God as being present everywhere contradicts our comprehension of a God whose throne is in heaven. This was the thought that our Savior impressed upon Mary after His resurrection: “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 20:17)

Thus the weight of Scriptural testimony not only confirms our instinct to worship, but intensifies and expands it by giving our Creator a location, power, and qualities of heart and mind. The Bible presentation is surely the view most helpful to humanity. The belief that there is no personal God must signify that there is no law-giver, no judge, no justice, no love, no mercy, and no personal relationship, as between father and child. Such belief would destroy the very basis of Christian faith and doctrine.

GOD IS INFINITELY SUPERIOR

The Scriptures present the Almighty as a great God, infinite in wisdom, justice, love, and power. Heaven is His locality, but His influence and powers pervade the universe. We can only imperfectly imagine the channels and agencies through which He exercises His Almighty power, but the light of present day inventions gives us at least some suggestions of it. Man can send communications around the world and beyond and can transmit power thousands of miles, all instantly and invisibly. He can scan previously unseen expanses of the universe with telescopes and discern previously indiscernible things with microscopes.

Man is in a weak, imperfect condition, born in sin and “shapen in iniquity.” He is “of few days, and full of trouble.” (Psa. 51:5; Job 14:1) If man can enlarge his natural powers to such an extent, what limitations can there be upon the intelligence and power of his Creator? “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?” (Psa. 94:9) He who gave us our sense of justice must be the very embodiment of justice. He who gave us the power of sympathy, compassion, and love must be infinitely superior to the very highest of our human ideals.

We do not necessarily even need to believe in the Bible in order to conceive in our minds something of the glorious character and attributes of our Creator. It is true that the Scriptures, if properly understood, will certainly aid us in our conceptions, but we now address not merely those who believe in the Scriptures, but also those who do not. Rational thought alone forces us to conclude that man is the highest and most intelligent form of earthly creature, and this forces us to the further conclusion that there must be an intelligent Creator as much superior to us as we are to the lowest worm. Moreover, He who gave us our superior qualities must be separated from us by an even wider gulf than that which separates us from the worm, because we cannot even create a worm. We must logically conclude that the greatest and noblest of our talents and powers are but feeble reflections of the same qualities in our Creator.

How great is the God that our intelligent reason reveals to us! How worthy is He of our reverence, our devotion, our love, our service! The Scriptures assist us by showing that the blemishes we find in ourselves and others result from disobedience to the divine instruction; they are the results of man’s fall from the image and likeness of our Creator.

MISCONCEPTIONS FROM A DARK PAST

We should all be inspired to worship and pay homage to such a noble and superior God, but many are hindered from doing so by errors from the Dark Ages. These false doctrines misrepresent God’s character, implying that He is not the embodiment of wisdom, justice, love, and power. These voices from the distant past tell us that we are commanded to love our enemies and do good to them that hate us and persecute us, while at the same time telling us that the Almighty who gave these commands does not love or forgive His enemies and does them good only sparingly. We are told, in fact, that He has instead prepared for them to be tortured eternally.

These voices from the past are wholly inconsistent with the voice of our reason. Many claim that the Bible substantiates the creeds of the Dark Ages, but we hold that this is a mistake. The errors are partly attributable to poor translations and partly attributable to misunderstood parables. The reasoning mind must surely rebel against the theories prevailing during the Dark Ages – theories that led to the horrors of the Inquisition. We are glad that we have gotten rid of such a gross misconception of the “Father of Lights.” A sane and reverent intellect will rejoice to recognize a God worthy of our reverence and worship, who is infinite in the attributes of wisdom, justice, love, and power.

The Bible, God’s Word, has been greatly misrepresented in the past and deserves reconsideration. Our forefathers read the Bible with smoking lamps and blurred vision, and nevertheless got some blessing from it. In the bright light of the present day, it would be a tribute to the power of God if we were to find it to be the store-house of divine grace and truth, perfectly harmonious and surpassing our highest ideals!

A BOOK OF MYSTERIES

Having seen in the light of reason that we have a personal Creator who is infinite in wisdom, justice, love, and power, and having claimed that the Bible is the revelation of His divine purpose, the question properly arises: Why is it largely filled with parables, symbolisms and dark sayings? Why is it not so open and clear that anyone might read it and not misunderstand it? Why is it that even learned Doctors of Divinity find it perplexing, mysterious, and incomprehensible? Why should a subject of interest to all be such a mystery?

The answers to these questions open the outer door to the temple of truth, to a proper appreciation of the Bible as the Word of God. The Bible distinctly declares itself to be a book of mysteries. The four Gospels of the New Testament are considered to be the simplest and plainest portion of the Bible, mainly being a record of our Lord’s deeds and words. Yet they declare, in harmony with Old Testament prophecies, that the great teacher Himself delivered His message in parables and dark sayings: “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 13:34-35; Psa. 78:2) When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, He replied, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive.” (Matt. 13:13-14; Isa. 6:9-10)

Wherever we go in the world, whether in civilized or uncivilized places, we find that many intelligent people associate in various secret societies. While these societies may prominently display the stated objectives for their existence, the public is not allowed to know more about their methods and operations. Their secrets are carefully guarded, for fear that those not in sympathy with them might seek to impede them.

For similar reasons, our Creator has kept many of His purposes secret from human beings who are alienated from Him. Consequently, it would not be surprising to find that those in fullest harmony with their Maker are granted knowledge of the divine purposes hidden from others, and the Bible declares this to be the case.

THE SECRET OF THE LORD

From the Scriptural standpoint, God was the organizer of the most remarkable secret society ever known to mankind! The Jewish Church served as a subordinate order and prepared the way for the Gospel Church, which has constituted the great divine secret society. Many nominally associated with the Church have been hypocrites and therefore have had no part in its privileges, its blessings and its secrets. There have been others who have taken the first step toward membership and are thus privileged to know some rudiments of the divine purpose. Those who have taken still further steps have grown in grace and knowledge, and become wise with “the wisdom that is from above.” (Jas. 3:17)

We can prove from the Bible that there are secrets of the divine purpose that are revealed to some but not possible to be understood by others. The Scriptures declare, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear [reverence] him; and he will show them his covenant.” (Psa. 25:14) St. Paul speaks of this secret: “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” (Col. 1:26) This mystery is not made known to the world, but to the saints, and it is made known to them in proportion to their saintliness.

Our Redeemer prayed aloud to the Father, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” (Matt. 11:25-26) He told His disciples, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.” (Mark 4:11) In other words, the mystery is intentionally hidden from those who are not His disciples.

There is a prominent difference between the Lord’s secret society and the world’s secret societies. The latter have great difficulty keeping their secrets, while the former has no difficulty. The Lord advised His people: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matt. 7:6) That is, the Lord’s people should not share the deep and precious jewels of divine truth with the brutish and swinish of the world. It is not because the latter might understand and thwart the divine purposes or reveal the divine secret. Rather, it is because they would not appreciate the truths and might use the good intention to injure the Lord’s people.

Otherwise, God’s people may tell anything and everything respecting the divine mysteries to the extent of their knowledge, but they should know that only those with the right condition of heart can understand these mysteries. Mark the Apostle’s clear expression on this subject: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory . . . But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. . . . But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:7, 10, 14)

The Apostle proceeds to show the necessity for this secretiveness about the divine purpose, saying that if the divine program were generally known among men, they would at times interfere with it: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Cor. 2:8) As was previously foretold by the Prophet, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:9-10; Isa. 64:4)

A GRADUAL REVELATION

We have established our point that there are mysteries connected with the divine purpose, and that they can be understood only to the degree that one is in harmony with God. Only the spirit-begotten and fully developed saints of God have understood them completely. Additionally, the Bible shows that the revelation of these mysteries, even to the saints, was to occur gradually as the mysteries became due to be known, as “meat in due season” for the Household of Faith. (Matt. 24:45) For example, at His first advent our Lord declared to His followers: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12) He promised that in the future these still hidden things would be gradually revealed, according to the needs of His followers. Full knowledge of the mystery of the Lord was not promised until the end of this Gospel Age: “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7)

Our Lord pointed out this future culmination of knowledge: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” (John 16:13) In full harmony with this, special visions and revelations were given to St. Paul, not for the benefit of himself alone, but for the blessing and encouragement and assistance of all the members of the Church of Christ, God’s “secret society.” Although the Apostle tells us that he was forbidden to make known the secret things revealed to him (2 Cor. 12:2-4), nevertheless by divine intent the knowledge given to him greatly illuminated his writings and made them especially helpful to the saints throughout the age.

Note that St. Paul’s writings constitute more than one-half of the New Testament. Thus God provided a storehouse of spiritual food, to be gradually dispensed by the Holy Spirit to the Household of Faith throughout the age. Furthermore, the understanding of the Law and the prophecies, given to typical Israel in types and symbols, was gradually given to the spirit begotten by the Holy Spirit and also constituted “meat” for the Household of Faith, so that they could understand “the deep things of God.” The writings of St. Paul constitute a key to the understanding of the many features of the typical Law Covenant.

This principle of keeping secret the divine purpose, yet providing a key to its understanding that will unlock it in due time, reminds us of the time-locks invented to secure bank vaults. The combination will not operate until the appointed time has arrived, and then it will yield only to those who have the combination, thus assuring the treasure inside is accessed only at the proper time and by the proper persons.

The Prophet Daniel’s experience illustrates this point well. He was given a vision that was partly interpreted for him, but the remainder left him perplexed. After weeks of pleading with the Lord with fasting and prayer, he received another partial interpretation. Of the remainder of the vision, however, he was told, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:4, 9-10) Only those with heavenly wisdom will understand and they will understand only at the proper time – at the end of the present order of affairs.

A further illustration is provided in our Redeemer’s last conversation with the disciples prior to His ascension: “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Acts 1:6-7) He had previously warned them: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matt. 24:36) There is nothing in these words to suggest that the Son would never know the time, that the angels in heaven would never know the time, nor that men would never know the time. They merely state that it was not then the time for that knowledge. It was still in the Father’s hands, unrevealed even to the Son.

The book of Revelation gives another illustration of the fact that there are great secrets connected with the divine program. The book itself is full of signs and symbols, evidently designed to barricade its mysteries from all except a certain class, and even from them until the due time for the secrets to be revealed. Note the words, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear [understand] the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Rev. 1:3) The very reading of the book will bring a blessing; as its mysteries gradually unfold, the understanding of them will bring still greater blessings.

The name of the book itself, Revelation, signifies the uncovering of something hidden. The opening sentence reads, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it [revealed it in signs and symbols] by his angel unto his servant John.” (Rev. 1:1)

THE DIVINE SCROLL

Revelation, Chapter Five gives a beautiful symbolic picture of God the Father upon His throne of glory, holding a scroll with writing on the inside and on the outside, and sealed with seven seals. That scroll contained the divine purpose or plan for the human race. This picture confirms our Redeemer’s statement that the Father has kept all things pertaining to His divine purpose in His own hands or power. Note the proclamation that followed: “Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” (Rev. 5:2) That is, who is worthy to open its seals, know its mysteries, and be entrusted with the honor of carrying them to completion?

None was found worthy and John the Revelator was greatly grieved that the wise and gracious program of the Almighty must remain sealed and unfulfilled because no competent agent was to be found. The scene changed, however, when an angel said, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.” (Rev. 5:5) Looking again, St. John saw another symbolic picture – a lamb looking as if it had been slaughtered. The lamb took the scroll from God’s hand and then a new song was sung by the heavenly host: “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” (Rev. 5:9)

Our Redeemer was great and honorable before He left the glory He had with the Father “before the world was.” (John 17:5) He had not yet, however, proven Himself worthy of taking the scroll of the divine purpose, with authority and power to carry out that purpose. Nor did He prove Himself worthy during His earthly ministry. He was found worthy only after He finished His sacrifice by dying on Calvary as the Lamb of God and then ascending to heaven. In the Apostle’s words, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 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. 2:9-11)

Then all the heavenly host hailed Him, “Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” (Rev. 5:12) He had not yet executed the divine purpose, which was still undeveloped and immature, although He had begun the execution of it in the organization of His Church. At Pentecost He sent forth the begetting spirit, and through it He has begotten to newness of nature the faithful, consecrated believers throughout the Gospel Age. Called the “mystery of God,” the completed Church will be the Lamb’s Bride and joint-heirs with Him in the Kingdom. That Kingdom will, by the grace of God, bless all the families of the earth, by releasing them from the powers of sin and death, which now hold the human race in slavery.

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Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 1-7.

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NO. 766: MESSIAH’S FAST APPROACHING KINGDOM

No. 766

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” (Isa. 32:1)

A great change in the affairs of men is indicated and acknowledged by all thoughtful, intelligent people. The world’s pace during the past 150 years astonishes everyone. The majority of scientific books written a century ago are considered worthless today. Rules, customs and theories of the past have been abandoned as worthless – in science, manufacturing, commun­ications, art, finance and commerce. All these changes necessitate a new view of social conditions and a reexamination of the relationship of religion and the Bible to man and his conditions.

The business and social world have been compelled to keep pace with the steps of progress, whether gladly or reluctantly, but those professing to be the religious faithful have been placed in a most awkward position. Religion and morality constitute the backbone and fiber of the best progress in civilization, but the inability of religious thought to adjust itself to the changed conditions is causing a serious disadvantage to those who look to the Almighty for guidance in life’s affairs.

The increase in worldly wisdom, the improved human conditions, the advancement along scientific lines, and the increase of material prosperity, have turned many of the world’s brightest intellects away from God and from the Bible. Many of these, still professing Christianity in an outward, formal manner, have really abandoned it in favor of other theories. They have wandered from the divine revelation, the Bible, into paths of speculation. They have pondered that the reverse of what the Bible states is true: that instead of man falling from the image of God into sin and death, he is gradually rising upward from an ape-like condition to divine heights. Instead of looking for a great Deliverer, Messiah, Savior, Life-Giver, they hope to be left alone by any outside influence so that certain supposed laws of evolution may help them upward and onward to glory, honor and immortality.

As a result, religious thought today is chaotic and the whole of Christendom has become practically agnostic. They admit that they do not know the Truth nor how to adjust their reasoning to present conditions. They are in an attitude of expectation, seeking light, yet fearing the light because it might expose their cherished errors and force them to abandon their selfish hopes and ambitions. All the while they still pretend to know many things which we and they know that they do not know. The strain is becoming more intense and gradually everyone is recognizing that there is an impending crisis because the people are awakening and thinking, and will no longer accept errors as before.

CONVERTING THE WORLD TO GOD

In times past, Christian people had full faith in the Bible, although they seriously misunderstood it and read it through various sectarian lenses. They were fully agreed that God had given His Church the commission to convert the whole world and to establish Messiah’s Kingdom. They believed the nations would then learn war no more and would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Zealous Christians warned that the heathen were going to a hell of eternal torment at the rate of many thousands every day.

Men and women of noble character sacrificed their earthly interests to assist the heathen – to prevent that awful catastrophe which some other Christian people of an earlier day had declared was predestined and unalterable. They certainly attempted to do good work and we trust that some good was accomplished. However, we know that harm was also done in promoting fallacious conceptions about the character and plan of the Creator.

Eventually people with inquisitive minds began to realize that the number of heathen in the world was increasing rather than decreasing, when compared to a century before. Of course, there are those who refuse knowledge and zealously claim that large contributions of money would enable them to bring the whole world to God. Nevertheless, the masses can no longer be swayed to the same extent. Thinking people refuse to believe that for centuries God has been calmly viewing the situation and allowing untold millions to go to eternal torment. They refuse to believe that they themselves are more compassionate and sympathetic than their Creator!

Even the non-Christian world is awakening to the inconsistency of what has been presented to them under the label of the Gospel. They are learning that the word Gospel signifies “good news” and that what has been preached to them is the most awful news imaginable – namely, that they and the majority of the world have been sentenced to eternal torture because of ignorance or because they followed other creeds in which they honestly believed. The missionaries are perplexed, not knowing what to preach since the message of eternal damnation does not appeal to those they are trying to convert.

The majority of ministers and professors at theological colleges have become Higher Critics and no longer accept the Bible as the Word of God. They do not believe the Gospel the missionary societies were organized to proclaim. Being perplexed, many are prepared to abandon the former purpose of the missions, and to continue their work merely along humanitarian lines. Missionary effort has turned gradually to secular education and medical care with little religious doctrine – and so much the better.

Most people realize that the Kingdom of Messiah cannot be brought about by the conversion of the world. Informed people recognize that more people in the so-called Christian world have been lost to Christianity in recent years than have been converted in the non-Christian world. We say lost to Christianity, because why should anyone be called a Christian who has lost all faith in the Bible and its teachings? To join hands against these ominous conditions, the clergy of all denominations favor church union or federation. While the people feel comparatively little interest in that proposition, they do not oppose it.

The problem is that we have blundered in ignorantly misreading the Bible, twisting what we have read and taking certain texts out of context to support our various creeds. We have neglected the honest, truthful study which we should have given to the Father’s Word and the confusion of Christendom is the result. The Scriptures tell us that we are in the midst of a great falling away from faith in God and the Bible. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Psalmist: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand.” (Psa. 91:7) Only the “Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” will be kept from stumbling in this evil day. (John 1:47) The chaos already seen everywhere is only the beginning.

HELP IS NEAR

Christendom failed by rejecting God’s plan and accepting a human plan. It declared that the Church was going to “conquer the world for Jesus” and present it to Him as a trophy, but Christendom has not even been able to convert itself, which is the specific work the Master gave the Church to do. Greater humility would have shown them their folly long ago.

Bible students do not need to be reminded of God’s promises about the glorious reign of Messiah – how every knee will bow and every tongue confess and how the blind will see and the deaf will hear. (Rom. 14:11; Isa. 35:5) Bible students know that the blessing of the Lord will be with Israel, restored to His favor, and will operate through Israel for the blessing of all peoples. They remember the prophecies showing earthly governments destroyed and the Kingdom of Heaven established on their ruins. They remember the Jubilee picture repeated by the Israelites every fiftieth year, proclaiming liberty for the people, and typifying restitution of all that was lost through sin, and which is to be restored through Messiah’s Kingdom.

Bible students also know that nearly all of our Lord’s parables illustrated something connected with the Kingdom or the Kingdom class. They know that the Master proclaimed the Kingdom and taught His followers to pray for it to come. They know that all of the Apostles referred to the Kingdom and taught that it would be the realization of the hopes of the Church. They know it will be the time when God’s New Covenant with Israel will go into effect, the time when Israel will be regathered and the Law will go forth from Zion, the Spiritual Kingdom, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, the capital of the earthly Kingdom. (Isa. 2:3) Humanity is beginning to realize it needs God’s remedy; its establishment will be “the desire of all nations.” (Hag. 2:7)

Bible students have come to see that the Gospel Age has been the time when Messiah has been selecting a saintly class from among Jews and Gentiles, testing and proving their loyalty to God and to righteousness. These are to be Messiah’s assistants – the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. As Abraham typified the heavenly Father, so the Messiah was typified by Isaac, and Messiah’s Bride – His joint-heir and co-laborer in His Kingdom – was typified by Rebekah.

Our neglect of the Word of God and the wrong influence of the creeds of the Dark Ages have been our undoing. We have failed to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit – meekness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, brotherly kindness, and love. Instead, we have cultivated pride, ambition, and selfishness. We have done things we ought not to have done, and we have left undone things we ought to have done. The bad example set by Christian people has been thoroughly appropriated by the world. Our help must come from God and that help is near.

THE GREAT DAY OF WRATH

Because faith in the Bible and respect for God and His Word is waning, we should expect what the Scriptures declare to be at hand at the beginning of Messiah’s reign: “And at that time shall Michael stand up . . . and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:18) The selfishness cultivated among both the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, will result in the bond of human sympathy and brotherhood being utterly snapped in riotous selfishness. (Isa. 19:2) The Scriptures suggest that the conflict will be short, but it must last long enough to teach humanity a lesson never to be forgotten – that God’s arrangements must stand and be obeyed before blessings can come to the world.

Messiah’s Kingdom will not only bless those then living, but it will also gradually awaken the dead and give the entire human race a full opportunity to attain either everlasting life or everlasting death. When we understand this, we see that the Kingdom must be a spiritual one, just as Satan’s kingdom, which it supersedes, is spiritual.

Our opening text is in full harmony with this thought: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” (Isa. 32:1) Messiah, Head and Body will be that Great King, and the Princes who will execute judgment will be the Ancient Worthies, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets. This is the meaning of the Lord’s promise to Israel, “And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning.” (Isa. 1:26)

These Ancient Worthies, great in faith and obedience to God, will be known to the Jews as the “fathers.” The prophecy concerning them declares: “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou [Messiah] mayest make princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) They will be the “children” of Messiah in the sense that they will derive their resurrection life from Him. The Scriptures assure us that eventually the whole world will receive new life from Messiah, replacing the life received from Adam that was forfeited through sin. Among the various titles given to Messiah by the Prophets are “everlasting Father,” as well as “Prince of Peace.” “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” (Isa. 9:6-7)

(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 318-321.)

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“I WILL SEND YOU ELIJAH”

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:5-6)

Since Christ’s Millennial Kingdom cannot be established until God first sends Elijah the Prophet, where should we look for the promised Elijah? No human being fulfills the requirements of the prophecy of Elijah; the fulfillment must be something on a much larger, grander scale.

Jesus said of John the Baptist, “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” (Matt. 11:14) That is to say, John the Baptist was acting among the Jewish household of faith in the power and spirit of Elijah, introducing Jesus in the flesh. The work of John the Baptist at our Lord’s First Advent was merely a foreshadowing, or illustration, of the greater work of the greater Elijah, whose ministry is to introduce the Second Advent of Christ and the Church in glory.

The relationship of John the Baptist to the future Elijah, the greater Elijah, was very similar to the relationship of our Lord Jesus at His First Advent to the greater Christ. That is to say, Jesus presented Himself to the Jews knowing in advance that He would be rejected by them. He knew He would be crucified and raised from the dead on the third day; He knew He would appear in the presence of God on behalf of the Church; He knew He would be absent from the world for more than eighteen centuries while a “little flock” was selected to be His Bride; He knew that at His Second Advent, the Christ would be glorified and the Kingdom of God would be established. He knew that then all the families of the earth would be blessed.

John the Baptist served the purpose of Elijah to those Jews who received Jesus as the Messiah, but the work of John was far from accomplishing the great things predicted of “Elijah the Prophet.” Nevertheless, in every detail there was some likeness between John and the true antitypical Elijah. For instance, he failed to establish unity and harmony in Israel’s relationship to their God; he failed to do this mediatorial work except for a few. The masses were unprepared for his message; consequently, that typical nation experienced a judgment from the Lord, a time of trouble such as they had never before experienced. This foreshadows the fact that the antitypical Elijah will similarly fail to establish peace, harmony, righteousness, and relationship between God and man on earth. Consequently, the Gospel Age will end as did the Jewish Age, with a time of trouble.

THE CHURCH IN THE FLESH IS ELIJAH

The Church in the flesh on this side the veil is the great Elijah mentioned in our opening text, while the Church in glory on the other side of the veil is the Christ, Head and Body. The Lord Jesus in the flesh, the Apostles in the flesh and all the faithful of the Lord’s people, while in the flesh throughout the Gospel Age, have been fulfilling the work ascribed to Elijah, seeking to bring about harmony, reconciliation and fellowship between God and His people. God laid the foundation for the reconciliation in the sacrifice of His Son. He has made His people “able ministers” of His Word, as if beseeching men to be reconciled to Him through them. (2 Cor. 3:6) Our Lord Jesus began this work while in the flesh, as the Head of this great Elijah, and during the Gospel Age the Church in the flesh has been laboring under His supervision to reconcile as many of the world as have been willing to hear and follow.

It was not prophesied that Elijah would be successful. On the contrary, the prophecy stated that a “curse” would follow if his efforts were unsuccessful, implying that this was the expected outcome. Other Scriptures show that the Lord foreknew and foretold through the Prophets that the great time of trouble would surely come. For example, the words of Zephaniah, 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.” (Zeph. 3:8)

That the fiery trouble of that day will be effective and will yield blessed results is then distinctly shown: “For then will I turn to the people a pure language [a pure message], that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9) The scourging, the curse, the time of trouble, the symbolic fire, will accomplish for mankind in a short time what the message of Elijah failed to accomplish.

The Prophet Daniel refers to this time of trouble as does Revelation. (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:15-18) The Apostle Paul also notes the certain coming of this “curse” and declares that our Lord, at His Second Advent, will be revealed “in flaming fire taking vengeance.” (2 Thess. 1:8) The fire is a symbol of the destructive force which will be exercised against everything that will oppose the laws of Messiah’s Kingdom. Of that day he tells us: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” (1 Cor. 3:13)

The Apostle James, also guided by the Holy Spirit, foreknew that the Elijah class would not be successful in its endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and that the result would be a time of “miseries” – particularly upon Christendom and the wealthy classes. (James, Chapter 5) The Apostle Peter likewise tells us of this fiery trouble to come upon the world in the end of this Gospel Age because of the failure of antitypical Elijah, the Church in the flesh, to establish righteousness, love, and reconciliation with God. (2 Pet. 3:10)

A COMPARISON OF ELIJAH AND THE CHURCH

Elijah is indirectly, shown in the New Testament to have been a type of the Gospel Church, his experiences typifying its experiences. The comparison of the features and incidents of the life of Elijah to the history of the Church is astonishing. Here are some of the remarkable parallels:

(1) Elijah was persecuted because of his fidelity to the Truth. The Church has also experienced such persecution.

(2) Elijah’s principal persecutor was Jezebel, the wicked queen of Israel, who is mentioned by name as the type of the enemy of the saints. (Rev. 2:20) The principal persecutor of the Church was the papacy, the apostate church which claims to be a queen. (Rev. 18:7)

(3) Jezebel’s power of persecution was accomplished through her husband, Ahab the king. Papacy’s power of persecution was accomplished through the Roman Empire to which it was joined.

(4) Elijah fled from Jezebel into the wilderness, where he was miraculously nourished by the Lord. (1 Kings 17:5-9) The true Church fled symbolically into the wilderness of isolation, but was miraculously sustained by God. (Rev. 12:6, 16)

(5) Elijah was three and one-half years in the wilderness, and during that time there was no rain, and a great famine prevailed. (Jas. 5:17; 1 Kings 17:7; 1 Kings 18:2) The Church was three and one-half symbolic years, or 1,260 literal years, in the wilderness condition, during which time there was a spiritual famine and thirst because of lack of Truth, the Living Water, the Bread of Life. (Rev. 12:6; Rev. 11:3; Amos 8:11)

(6) Elijah returned from the wilderness at the close of the three and a half years and manifested the errors of Jezebel’s priests. The true God was then honored and copious rains fell. (1 Kings 18:21-45) At the close of the 1,260 years (1799 A.D.), the power of the Truth and its witnesses was manifested and the true Church again came into prominence. Since that time a great blessing of refreshment has come to the world and millions of copies of Bibles have been distributed every year.

(7) King Ahab and his people at first rejoiced that Elijah and his God were honored, but the spirit of Jezebel remained unchanged; she again sought Elijah’s life, and he again was compelled to flee into the wilderness. (1 Kings 19:1-4) After the initial joy at the blessings brought by the flood of Bibles, the Jezebel principle and spirit continued, not only in Papacy, but also in Protestantism. The Lord’s true followers had to again flee into the wilderness, as did Elijah, their type.

(8) Elijah’s career ended by his being taken from the earth. (2 Kings 2:11) The saints will likewise be taken from the earth and be changed to heavenly conditions. This will be the end of the Elijah class.

THE CONDITION OF THE WORLD

Despite the failure of antitypical Elijah to convert the world, we do see a spread of humanitarian sentiment throughout the world. We are glad to note that a larger number of people than ever before possess some measure of sympathy for one another. While benevolent efforts by both governments and private persons and entities abound, we cannot credit them primarily to Christian sentiment. On the contrary, those professing non-Christian religions are just as likely to be benevolent as those who profess Christianity.

It is easy to see that a measure of selfishness runs through all these various benevolent efforts. Politicians who fund programs for the public good are influenced in large measure by a desire to curry favor among their constituents and those whose financial interests are benefited. Many philan­thropists hope to obtain for themselves positions of influence or advantage as a result of their benevolences. We live in a time when many wealthy people have more money than they can spend. While the natural man has a propensity for benevolence, he also has an innate desire for approval. It is a natural thing for men to use their money to bring honor upon themselves while giving comfort or advantage to others.

The Gospel, mixed more or less with error, has been preached for nearly twenty centuries. Yet as we look at the world, we see that it has still not been converted to Christianity. What is still more discouraging is that the portion of the human family credited with being Christian is responsible for a large part of the world’s crime and corruption of every type.

We are not claiming that this is the result of Christianity. We are not claiming that the false teachings of the sects promote these conditions. What we do claim is that these facts prove that the knowledge of “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Gal. 5:1) affects favorably only a small proportion of those who come in contact with it. Among those favorably affected, few have been saints who in their earthly lives have been members of the great antitypical Elijah, devoted to promoting the Gospel and doing their all to turn men from sin and to harmony with the Lord.

IS THE WORLD’S CONVERSION HOPELESS?

Some tell us that the world is rapidly being converted and that soon we will see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven, in fulfillment of the Lord’s Prayer. These dear friends are surely closing their eyes to the plain facts of the case. Even in the most moral and law-abiding places in the world, the condition is still far from the condition described in the Lord’s Prayer. Is God’s will done anywhere on earth as it is done in Heaven? Surely not!

If the Elijah class, the Church in the flesh, could accomplish such a conversion of the whole world as would bring all to the condition of the most moral places on earth, the world would still be in the very condition which would require the time of trouble to usher in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

As proof, look back to where the Gospel was first preached. Look at Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Rome, and the cities of Asia Minor. The Gospel was first successfully planted there, but what do we see? We see that almost every spark of true religion, true Christianity, has died out in all these places. What could we then hope for in respect to the world in general? If we could establish Christianity in every quarter of the globe, in every city and town and village and hamlet, not only would they still be far from the condition mentioned in our Lord’s Prayer, but we have no assurance of their remaining even in that moderate condition for any length of time.

What we need is the Second Advent of our Master and the establishment of His Kingdom, not only in great Glory, but also in great power – the forcible establishment of righteousness in the earth. The world will need what the Lord has promised for that glorious Millennial Reign, namely, that full assistance will be granted to all who will then desire it. The world will need the power of the “times of restitution” to lift up all who are willing out of degradation, bringing them back to man’s original perfection. (Acts 3:19-23)

The work of the Elijah class has consisted only of gathering its members and witnessing to the rest of the world. We may be surprised by how little has been accomplished by the Lord’s faithful followers, but this was all the work that the Lord intended for this age. He foreknew that the efforts of the Elijah class would yield meagre results. As for what its work will be as the Body of Christ on the other side of the veil, we will leave that for consideration at a later time.

(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 322-326.)

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