NO. 331: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

No. 331

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Once again we stress the scientific achievements with great admiration. If all other human virtues could be equally praised, the conditions in the world would appear greatly different. As No. 1 we cite the following:

Two Teens Get Back Arms Cut Off On Hayride – “Doctors have reattached the arms of two teen‑agers whose limbs were sliced off while they rode in a church‑sponsored hayride. The girl 13 lost her left arm, and boy 13 his right arm. The arms were cut off by a metal rack protruding from a passing cattle truck. The arms of both patients were successfully reattached with bones re­aligned, blood flow re‑established and nerves reconnected,” said a spokesman for St. John’s Hospital and Southern Illinois University School of medicine.

A team of thirteen plastic and ortho­pedic surgeons and fifteen nurses, anesthesia logistics and technicians began operating on the two simultaneously at 10:30 p.m. The operation was completed at 1:30 p.m. the next day. The girl was taken back into surgery the following day so that the doctors could “re‑explore blood vessels” in her arm. The doctors were reassured that everything was functioning properly. But it was stated that it would be at least a week Before the doctors can determine whether the youngsters will regain full use of their arms. Two days after the accident they were reported in fair condition.

The Colombia Space Shuttle – About mid November this instrument made another of its phenomenal trips around the earth – this time for five days, covering about one million miles a day. It ended in California in what appeared to be a perfect landing. Without our present computers such a performance would have been impossible.

Scientific Discovery – Early in 1982 it was reported in the news that scientists had discovered a treasure of animal fossils in Antarctica, including the first bones of a land mammal ever found on the frozen continent. The National Scientific Foundation, which sponsored the research, said that finding the mammalian fossils “ranks as one of the most significant scientific discoveries in recent years.” Also found in the same area were fossils of a rare land lizard, skeletons of giant sea reptiles called plesiosaurs and the bones of man‑sized penguins.

An American research team made the discoveries on Seymour Island, located off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic peninsula. The team was sponsored by Ohio State University. “The confirmed presence of land mammals in Antarctica clearly shows that Antarctica and South America were attached during the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary periods.” Antarctica most likely was connected to South America by a land bridge – about 800 miles from the tip of South America. At one time Antarctica was a warm continent covered with forests and surrounded by tropical waters.

Agriculture – It is reported that here in the United States one agriculture worker produces enough food to feed 76 people. In earlier times major calamities were caused by wars or famines. Now one of the major problems is too much food – here, that is; it is not true in many countries of the world.

Construction – It is reported that in one locality a three‑bedroom home was completely built in seven hours.

In Finance – Many of the foremost financial advisers are advancing a most gloomy picture for our nation’s finances. The annual interest on our national debt is 110 billion dollars a year. The figure surpasses our understanding. It is reported that the overall debt here is now about five trillion dollars, Says one of these advisers: “Let there be no mistake, we are in a world‑wide depression, The only question is the ultimate outcome. Will we continue on a deflationary course or, will the government resort to the printing presses with a massive infusion of paper? The commodity prices and real property values are already down 75‑50%; they can still fall further.”

According to our understanding of the prophecies, the Bible Chronology, and other informative sources, there is no painless cure for this situation. That is, no human mind can suc­cessfully cope with what we now see. Thus, we try to be very moderate of criticism of the present heads of governments. Even, if any one of them – or a group of them – could come up with some plausible solution, the temperament of the people is such that they would not allow enough time to prove the efficacy of the cure. And with the quotations we offer herein, we would stress that we take pertinent exception to some parts of them; but we quote them for what benefit our readers may derive from them,

Now follows some comment from another source: “The following information was received from a confidential source: A reason­able chance exists that all Banks in West Germany, except the Deutsch Bank may have to close. Black Friday (an occurrence that came in October 1929) is threatening the country. A new currency may have to be issued. That is Germany’s confidentially kept secret. Chancel­lor Helmut Schmidt predicts that Germany will experience the hardest political winter since 1945.

“The reason: Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union have notified Bonn that they are unable to meet payments. The German Bank had to borrow for the 1981 budget forty billion marks ($18 billion). When additional money was requested, back in October, to meet payments of Social Services; the Banks for the first time in the history of Germany had liquidated all assets. That means the banks are empty! Chancellor Schmidt described the situation as extremely dangerous.

“Because of the inability to meet payments of the East Bloc countries, many observers interpret this situation as ‘growing dangerous for war.’ Experts sent to investigate banks and industries in the East Bloc countries returned with the report, ‘Economic conditions in the East Bloc are hopeless. War seems to be the only way out!’

“Strange as it may sound, this is connected with Jerusalem. Because of the extreme political and economical difficulties, West Germany is being trained to willingly accept the establishment of the world empire led by the Antichrist. They... ‘received power as kings, one hour with the beast (Antichrist). These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast’ (Rev. 17:12. 13

“We know that there is a great economic crisis in Poland. Romania is rationing food, Czechoslovakia is suffering under a severe energy shortage, and Bulgaria has closed its borders to avoid foreign purchase because its own population is already suffering food shortages, Summarizing, the socialist economy is unable to feed its own people. Even Russia is unable to help because they are in the deepest economic crisis at this time; and those expressing criticism are put away to shield the rest of Society from them and their foolish ideas. They are put into mental institutions and are forgotten.

“Even more frightening is the law concerning the children of religious parents. Soviet courts take the children away from their parents and ship them to another part of the country where they can receive a proper education and where their duties will not be neglected. One such duty is to teach the children that Communism is the only rule of life and proper way to live.

“The amazing thing about the Kremlin’s crackdown is the evidence it gives that Children of God still survive after sixty years of official repression. The regime’s fury is a tribute to the courage and devotions of the saints deter­minedly practicing their faith in keeping the Commandments of Cod rather than the inter­fering laws of man. It is a story unmatched since the days of the Roman persecution and the Spanish inquisition,”

And Now This: “Economic Outlook – Is Your Bank Failing? (Although Washington continues to see economic recovery waiting for us at the end of each season, many of the real indications of our nation’s poor fiscal health are being ignored. Consider, if you will, the implications in the following material, adopted from the excellent Newsletter, Personal Finance).

“More than a third of the nation’s 50 of the largest saving and loan associations are ‘failing’ by government standards, according to a computer generated report commissioned by Personal Finance.

“A companion survey of the top 50 commercial banks reveals that more than half do not meet the minimum equity capital requirements set by the federal banking agencies. Normally, a bank’s reserves of equity capital provide a ‘safety cushion’ for depositors in case the bank suffers unforeseen losses. These findings are based on the latest financial statements (Dec. 31, 1981) submitted to the federal banking agencies by more than 18,000 banks and S&Ls nationwide. Large commercial banks report quarterly to the Federal Reserve; S&Ls semiannually to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. ....

“An enterprising Massachusetts‑based team of computer software analysts called Veribanc, has discovered a way to pinpoint trouble banks and S&Ls. Periodically, the federal banking authorities issue a series of little‑known computer tapes. These tapes contain detailed financial statements submitted by every federally supervised bank and S&Ls to maintain certain minimum financial ratios. By analyzing the raw data on the tapes, Veribanc states that it can determine whether an insti­tution is meeting the government stan­dards.”

Now from another source: “They Print It – We Borrow It And Pay Them Interest. We shall start with the need for money. The Federal Government, having spent more than it has taken from its citizens in taxes, needs, for the sake of illustration, one billion dollars. Since it does not have the money, and Congress has given away its authority to ‘create’ it, the Government must go to the ‘creators’ for the one billion. But, the Federal Reserve, a private corporation, doesn’t just give its money away’ The Bankers are willing to deliver one billion in money or credit to the Federal Government in exchange for the Government’s agreement to pay it Back – with interest!  So Congress authorizes the Treasury Department to print one billion in US bonds, which are then delivered to the Federal Reserve Bankers. ....

“By 1968 the Federal debt was $347,578,406,426 ‑ or $1,717.82 per citizen, and in only ten more years it doubled to $763,400,000,000 ‑ or $3,491.04 per citizen. That is a debt of $17,500 for every family of five in America, and it is still climbing. (It would be more if divided against only the working or taxpaying families’) These figures do not include State, Municipal, School District, Business, or personal debts, which total an additional $60,000 for every working family, or approximately $5 trillion, which is more than twice the total assessed value of all land and buildings in America. Of course, it is to their advantage not to take actual title to all of the property, so we will not know we do not own the country. Instead, they leave us with ‘ownership,’ so we will be willing to continue to work and pay ever higher tribute to the bankers.”

IN POLITICS

In all nations the politics is closely bound to the financial situation, as the foregoing clearly indicates. Thus, our comments on the political standards will be very limited. With the wonderful country we have here – never anything like it in the past – we would simply conclude that the politicians are responsible for its present undone condition. “Easy come, easy go,” is an expression as old as the money itself; and the ease with which the politicians have been able to borrow at will has permitted them to bring us to our present condition; and it brings vividly to mind the statement of the Apostle Paul in Heb. 1:11, 12: “They shall wax old as cloth as does a garment, And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.” This text applies directly to the present order of things; and it is not at all difficult to see the “change” that has been going on since 1914.

IN RELIGION

The Jews – In view of the extensive publicity that was given to them in 1982, we shall start the discussion with the Jews. First of all, we consider God’s promise to Abraham: “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” (Gen.12:3) History offers concrete proof of the truth of this promise. First, when Egypt cursed the Jews, they were indeed cursed. Perhaps the most prominent and powerful nation of that time, they were reduced to a third‑rate country. Note the sweeping statement of Exod. 14:28:

 “The waters returned and covered the chariots (of the Egyptians), and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, there remained not so much as: one of them.”

The Mohammedan – The Moham­medan were sired by Ishmael, half brother to Isaac. The Prophet Mohammed is recorded as a direct descendant of Ishmael. The people have despised the Jews from the time Ishmael was nineteen years old; and they have dwelled on that pile of sand in the Middle East for several thousands of years, eking out a bare existence. Certainly they have been “cursed.” Of course, in recent years American capital has developed their oil reserves, and that has relieved their existence very much, although it has kindled their desire to “curse” Israel; and they will eventually come to the same grief – or worse – than did the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

Spain – The Spanish Inquisition began in the latter part of the 15th century – at the instigation of the Popes, and aimed primarily at the Jews. It is estimated that about 2,000 Jews were Burned at the stake. On March 31, 1492 the Jews were given the choice of exile or baptism into the Christian religion. This terrible “cursing” continued off and on until 1834, when it was finally suppressed. However, at its beginning Spain was one of the major powers of the earth. The Spanish Main was a byword with all seagoing people. But from that time their decline began. The Invincible Armada was so crippled by the English that the remnants of that adventure returned to Spain a hopeless wreck. Then other adversities followed – until the Spanish American War, when the Spanish Navy was decimated by the American Navy Today they are a helpless cripple. Surely, those that “cursed” the Jew have been severely cursed,

And in our time Germany, Russia, Poland and other European countries that have been anti‑Jewish have been greatly crippled. Prior to 1914, when President Roosevelt visited Germany, he told the Kaiser that he had an army that could lick the world. Today its military might and inventive genius have been brought to a very low point.

And the PLO – rabidly anti‑Jewish – received a devastating defeat from the Jews in 1982. In this Russia also suffered great loss, because the Jews captured most of the war material they had furnished the PLO to help destroy the Jews.

We have gone into perhaps overmuch detail in the foregoing to help our readers reach a proper appraisal of what is going on in the world, and especially so regarding the Jews. If their situation presently seems desperate, we may all rest in the assurance of prophecy of Zech. 14:2,3: “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle ... Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” We have enum­erated quite a few of past incidents, where the Jews gained miraculous victories under Joshua, Gideon, David, et al, so we shall not repeat them here.

However, it is worthy of note that quite a few good intellects among the Gentiles are presently elaborating upon Jewish prophecy and stressing the Divine writings concerning them. We shall now quote from one of them:

“There are those who believe textually in the Holy Bibles, which states (and repeats more than once) that Abraham and his descendants are to receive the whole land of Canaan as an everlasting possession… The betrayal of the Gentiles should strengthen the Jewish purpose, not weaken it... Far from being intransigent – the accusation commonly leveled at the Israelis – they are excessively accommodating, they appease too much, they fail to stand up for their God‑given historic rights. There are those Jews of little faith who are willing to barter their territorial heritage to placate the enemy. People like that damage our work. ......

“Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren said that his visit (to Palestine) was a fulfillment of Zech. 14:16: ‘We looked up the passage, and found the following prophecy: ‘And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem (that is, conquered the city and sent its population into captivity, but afterwards smitten by God’s hand) shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”

We digress here to quote Isa. 2:3: “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.” Also Ezek. 33:19,20: “But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.” And so it shall be in that glorious Kingdom!

Now we continue with quotations from “Christians for Jews”: “The Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has twenty staff members working full time. plus three part‑time, from nine different countries. They get no salaries, though some help is given where necessary for board and lodging. Timothy King is the treasurer. He left his business in Canada to learn about Israel at the Institute of Holy Land Studies, The Institute was founded by the late G. Douglas Young, one of Israel’s most devoted supporters.

“The world chooses to brand Israel as aggressive. They don’t see that this nation is desperate for peace, and will make any sacrifice; only their own land they want to retain.

“Sadat declared he would not give up an inch of Arab territory, though he has no claim to Sinai remotely comparable to the Jewish claim on Eretz Yisrael. Nevertheless the world sees him as the great guy – Sadat with his pipe …This calls attention to the sins of the Christian world, whom he whips more severely than he does the Jews. ... In March the embassy put out a communiqué, released to all the press, slamming the Vatican for allowing its Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli, to meet PLO representative Farouk Kadumi – even worse, allowing Archbishop Capucci to welcome Kadumi at Rome airport.

“Don’t forget, we are not a Jewish organization that could be presumed to follow its own interest. We speak to them from within our own faith. And many of them truly want to receive our message.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses – In off­ering something about the witnesses, we would stress that they are very antagonistic to the Jews – because the Jews will not accept them. Of course, they are against all others who do not accept them, too. The following offers just a little something about these people and their Christian (?) conduct:

“Couple Leaves Witnesses – Schuylkill, Pa. – It was only a beard, neat and trim, but it has led Todd Ellis and his wife Betty to renounce their faith and the past dozen years of their lives. In notarized letters to sect elders in Pottsville, the couple has officially resigned as members of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society – the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“And to even the closest friends they made during their twelve years as Witnesses, the Ellis’s became non‑entities. After today, no one in the organization will be allowed to talk to us, said Mrs. Ellis, 39. They ostracize you. They totally cut you off. It’s like you’re dead. Once we’ve Been disfellowshiped our closest friends can’t even say hello to us. They can’t associate with us, added her husband, 40, If they did, they could Be disfellowshiped, too. They’re afraid to.

“Sect elders announced last October the couple would no longer be allowed to pray with the Pottsville congregation because Ellis grew a beard during a summer trip to Florida. Ellis was also barred from weekly sessions of the Witnesses’ theocratic school. He said the beard was viewed as a violation of the Society’s teachings on ‘modesty and soundness of mind’ because it drew ‘undue attention’ to himself.”

Note now the sharp contrast to the foregoing in the teaching of Brother Russell in Vol. 6, p. 416: “Concerning Matt. 18:17, regarding treatment of disfellowshipped members of the Church – ‘Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.’ ‘The object (of disfellowshipment – JJH) is not to cast the brother off utterly; But merely to show disfavor toward his wrong course with a view to assisting him to its correction. To treat such an one ‘as an heathen man and publican’ would not mean to slander or dishonor him even after he had been cast off. The Lord’s people are not to be slanderers or backbiters under any circumstances... We are neither to speak ill of, nor to look cross at, publicans and sinners, nor to refuse to do business with them; But we are to withhold from them the special fellowship and courtesy appropriate to the brethren of the New Creation and possessed of the Holy Spirit.”

Then further from Vol. 6, p. 303: “If the brother does not consent to the form of sound words ... he should be considered as so out of accord as to make it no longer proper that he should have the fellowship of the brethren until he would consent to these reasonable require­ments. He should not be passed by on the street unnoticed by the brethren, but treated courteously. The exclusion should be merely from the privileges of the assembly and from any special brotherly associations peculiar to the faithful.”

If we compare the action against the Ellis couple with the teaching of That Wise and Faithful Servant, there is not even a remote similarity. Therefore, when the Witnesses at­tempt to attach themselves to his coattail, they offer him a direct insult and degrade the high standing he had before the Lord and in the Church. They have replaced much of the Truth he taught with their “new light” (actually mud splashes) that he would be unable to recognize their magazine as Watchtower as it is today. They also forbid their followers to read the Six Volumes of The Studies in the Scriptures from which we have quoted on his teaching of disfellowshipment.

There follows now another of their Christian atrocities: ‘For forty years Raymond Franz devoted his whole being to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The religion responded by raising him to its worldwide Governing Body. But it was a difficult period for the leadership. In 1975 the sect faced a debacle. The present world did not vanish, as Witness publications had all but guaranteed. In a faith in which doubt is not tolerated Franz began to question teachings. Now, in a downfall as dramatic as an excommunication within the College of Cardinals, he has been ostracized, or, as the Witnesses say, ‘disfellowshipped.’ The former leader is being shunned by almost every one he has ever worked with, cut off from all relatives except his wife, and denied any hope of eternal life. Officials of the Watchtower Society, as the religious organization of 2,257,000 followers is formally known, refused all comment on the unprecedented case. But Franz, 59, reluctantly agreed to break his silence and explained to Time the accusation against him.

“Franz is a third‑generation Witness. His Uncle, Frederick W. Franz, 88, has been the religions top ideologue for decades; and since 1977 its head. Raymond Franz began full‑time work for the sect as soon as he finished high school. He suffered penury during twenty years as a missionary in the Caribbean, became a trusted writer of official publications, joined the 17‑member Governing Body in 1971.

“Known to outsiders for their persistent door‑to‑door proselytizing, Jehovah’s Witnesses exist within what Franz calls a ‘hermetically sealed’ community. Every doctrinal blip or scintilla of sin is closely monitored. Nowhere is this more true than at Bethel, the sect’s Brooklyn headquarters. By Franz’s account, reading or studying of the Bible is considered ‘evil’ unless conducted in authorized discussions following Watch Tower doctrinal guides, lest staffers veer into error.

“Because of his own work as an author of an official volume about the Bible and a growing feeling that the WatchTower discipline was too harsh, Franz privately concluded that the religion emphasized human organization rather than Biblical teachings. Says he, ‘While producing people who were outwardly moral, they subverted the essential qualities of humility, compassion and mercy.”

There is considerably more of this in the paper from which we quoted, but we think sufficient has been reported here to satisfy our readers that the Witnesses in their present teachings bear no real ties at all to the magnanimous and brilliant intellect of Pastor Charles Taze Russell. Apparently he had some intuitive hunch that the present situation in the Witnesses could develop as it has, so he drew up a will naming seven of his close associates to act as Editors of the Watch Tower, with at least a majority of them to be in full agreement with any articles the paper contained. Rutherford speedily changed that in a very few years after he became President in 1917; and one autocratic act led to another until now there is just no similarity at all to what the Pastor had willed.

It should be emphasized here that Brother Russell taught there are only two reasons for disfellowshipping any one: Gross immorality and gross doctrinal deflection; and both of these doctrines are eminently and emphatically taught in various Scriptures. While he counseled against new fads, etc., in clothing or outlandish physical appearance, he never – to our knowledge – disfellowshipped any one for personal peculiarities; and we have studied closely his various writings; and have discussed them with some brilliant minds that knew Brother Russell personally. Gross doctrinal deflection does not mean that any one could not have a different opinion on subjects that are not basic teaching – such as the Ransom, Sin Offering, etc.

Hard Times Boosting Bible Sales – There was an article in the press with this heading telling us that Bible sales are on the upswing as more people turn to religion.

“I would imagine a lot of it has to do with the economy, at least indirectly,” said owner of Bible Store. “Harold Carroll, owner of the Bible Shop, reported a 50 percent increase in Bible sales over the past two months. I think a lot of it is Because people are seeing the times in which we are living, and they want to find out more about what will happen. Most Bible dealers I know say their sales are up.”

The above reminds us of what our Lord said: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven (civil and ecclesiastical ruling powers) shall be shaken,” (Luke 21:26)

Another Religious Atrocity – A news item November 23, 1982: “A federal judge Monday declared unconstitutional the only law in the nation that requires teaching the Biblical account of creation in public schools. US District Judge Adrian Deplantier ruled favorably on a motion by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to throw out Louisiana’s creation science law. The Act, passed by the legislature in 1980, required the teaching of the Biblical version of creation in schools that taught the evolutionary version.”

Evolution itself is a religion, built upon a number of unfounded theories. In fact, today some of our finest scientific minds are emphatically opposed to the Evolution theory; and one of our colleges now conducts a special course exposing the vagaries of the idea.

In concluding, we are most grateful to our many readers for their cheerful Holiday wishes for our health and spiritual prosperity. Having lost another valuable aide here in the Bible House in 1982, we cannot give the individual acknowledgment we once did to the messages we received, but we repeat the good message of St. John (3 John 1:2):

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle Pilgrim

=======================

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: Greetings in His dear Name!

Trusting that in health, and otherwise, you and Sr. Hoefle are enjoying the best as is permitted providentially at this time.

I acknowledge receipt of the most appreciated gift to be sent me in some years. ....May I once more thank you for your handsome gift, and ask that you pray that I may make the best use of it in my humble limitations.

Sr. John joins me in sending you all on that side warm brotherly love, and the assurance of the fervent prayers of the brethren over here on your behalf.

May the Lord make His face to shine on you and yours evermore.

Your brother, …..(TRINIDAD)

..............................................

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle: Grace and peace and blessing in Jesus’ Name!

Thank you for your good letter, and also for the tracts. I hope this finds you both in comparatively good health. I am quite well, all considered. Thank you for your words about dear Sister ------- I hope D.v. she may be better and feel more comfortable. But I realize our times are in God’s hands. .......

It was good of David Horowitz to speak of Pastor Russell, and to bring out some of your words as to the manifesting of persons, things and principles – also the words of other Bible Students.

It will be good to have the papers on the prophets. Today I was reading in the Reprints about Nehemiah. He was wise, faithful, tactful and loved God and the people of Israel. He will be happy in the Kingdom! I hope we will all meet each other there.

Take care! With Christian love from ------- (CALIFORNIA)

...................................................

Dear John and Emily :

Thank you very much for your kind letter and donation which we greatly appreciate. We hope you are receiving our news and we look forward to yours.

God is greatly blessing us. We have a National Conference next week. We went to the Feast of Tabernacles in October – 80 of us and we are expecting 120 for the next feast. We might also go back for a week in March.

With all blessings in Jesus Christ: Ruth 2:12 – “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Yours in Him, ……(AFRICA)

========================

“IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW”

BROTHER WILLIAM ATKINS finished his course October 5, 1982. He was 90 years old April 21, 1982. He came into the Truth when a young man and had been a “good soldier” in the Lord’s Army for many years. He was loved by all who knew him well and was our good and loyal friend for 40 years – a faithful yoke‑fellow. When such good brethren as he leave us, it leaves a void that we cannot replace. With his family and friends we mourn his passing, as we hold him in fond memory and respect. We recline in the firm assurance that he will experience the resurrection of the Just. (Acts 24:15)

SISTER AUGUSTA HORN WELLS was a member of the Mount Dora Bible House, finished her course September 14, was buried September 17 in Winston‑Salem, N.C. beside her husband, Dr. C. H. Wells. She had been ill for four years. Her love of the Truth and her faithfulness thereto was an inspiration to all who knew her; and we will miss her loving contribution. Her passing also leaves a very noticeable void in our work force. Thus, we say of her, “She hath done what she could.”

It would have taken us three days to make the 1200‑mile round trip to North Carolina on a commercial plane, but our nephew provided a private Turbo Jet airplane, which accommodates seven passengers. Six of us left at ten a.m. September 17, arrived in Winston‑Salem at noon; held the funeral service at two p.m., and left at four p.m., arriving back in Mount Dora at six p.m. – a distance of twelve hundred miles in eight hours. This is a vivid illustration of Dan. 12:4: “Seal up the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

Had we only this proof, it would be sufficient to convince us that we are “in the time of the end.” We are thankful to the Lord for His providence; and we are most grateful for the many expressions of love and sympathy that have come to us as we mourn her loss

====================

ANNOUNCEMENT ‑ Our Memorial in 1983 will be after six p.m., March 27.

NO. 330: THE PRINCE OF PEACE

No. 330

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Even though Christmas day is not the real anniversary of our Lord’s birth, but more properly an annunciation day or date of His human begetting (Luke 1:28), nevertheless, since the celebration of our Lord’s birth is not a matter of Divine appointment or injunction, but merely a tribute of respect to Him, it is not necessary for us to quibble particularly about the date. We can join with the civilized world in celebrating the grand event on the day which the majority celebrate “Christmas Day.” The lesson for the occasion is a most happy choice, fitting well to the series of lessons it follows.

 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” (Isa. 9:6,7)

The standpoint of the Prophet in Isa. 9:2‑7 is the dawn of the Millennial Age, and in v. 2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The reference here is to the world of mankind, all of whom will at that time recognize the presence of the Lord and His kingdom established; for it is written that “every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7) The world that has walked in the darkness of ignorance and superstition for six thousand years will then begin to see the glorious light of truth and righteousness, and in the earthly phase of the kingdom they will see the grand illustrations and rewards of righteousness.

They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death (i.e., fleshly Israel under the condemnation of their Law Covenant), “a light shineth brightly over them.” Yes, the light will shine with special brilliancy upon fleshly Israel: then their blindness will be turned away and the favors of the new dispensation will again be – “to the Jew first, and also (afterward) to the Gentile;” and through the secondary instrumentality of the fleshly seed of Abraham shall all the nations of the world be blessed. The Ancient Worthies of that nation will be the visible rulers of the world, and their new work will begin at Jerusalem, bringing order out of confusion, peace out of discord and making Jerusalem a praise in the whole world. It was with reference to this that the Prophet wrote again, saying: “Arise, give light, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is shining forth over thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but over thee the Lord will shine forth, and his glory will be seen over thee. And nations shall walk by thy light, and kings by the brightness of thy shining… And the sons of the stranger shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee.” (Isa. 60:1‑3,10)

“Thou hast multiplied the nation (Israel – a reference to their gathering together again as a nation after the long dispersion of nearly two thousand years as fugitives among all the nations; and also to their reinforcement by the resurrection of their Ancient Worthies and heroes), made great their joy: they rejoice before thee as with joy in harvest, as men are glad when they divide the spoil.” (Isa. 9:3) Such, indeed, will be the joy of Israel when the blessings of their restoration to Divine favor begin to be realized.

“For the yoke of their burden, and the staff on their shoulder, the rod of their oppressor (the heavy burdens of oppression imposed upon them and the persecutions inflicted by their Gentile enemies during the long period of their blindness and exile), hast thou broken, as on the day of Midian – when a great victory was won for them by Gideon’s little band of 300 under the Lord’s direction, without bloodshed and without strife. (Judges 7:1‑23) Even so shall it be when the Lord shall again fight for Israel; it will not be by their own power that the victory of the final battle will be secured. (See Ezek. 38:11, 15, 23 – also compare verse 4 with Ezek. 39:8‑15)

Isa, 9:6: Why is all this return of Divine favor to Israel? Is it because of worthiness in them? Surely not; for to this day they are a stiff‑necked people, and their blindness and hardness of heart continue, although we are within only a few more years of the time all these things shall be fulfilled. The reason for it is that the Lord hath remembered His Covenant with their fathers (Lev. 26:42,45; Jer. 31:34), and that in fulfillment of that Covenant a child has been born unto them who was destined to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Israel; and now (at the time indicated in the prophecy) “the government is placed upon his shoulders.” Dimly this light of the world shone upon Israel at the First Advent of Messiah; but when “the light shined in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:5) “He came unto his own, but his own received him not.” (verse 11) It is only at the Second Advent that they recognize Him as the promised seed of Abraham and their long‑looked for Messiah. They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him. (Zech. 12:10)

“And his name is called Wonderful (What a wonder indeed to Israel specially, that the despised Nazarene, the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, whom they hated and crucified and reviled, even to this day, was indeed their Messiah, and they knew Him not. What a wonder, too, to them specially, will be the forgiving love that so meekly bore their reproaches and sacrificed even unto death to redeem them from the curse of the Law, and that now returns to restore and bless them’ Wonderful, wonderful love, wonderful condes­cension and grace, and wonderful exaltation and glory and power!) Counselor (not counselor of the mighty God, as some translators rendered it; for Paul significantly inquires concerning Jehovah, “Who hath been his counselor?” (Rom. 11:34) He needed no counselor, but poor fallen humanity does need such a wise counselor, and He will teach them and they shall walk in His ways. (Isa. 2:3) The mighty God (“a Savior and a great one” – Isa. 19:20), The Everlasting Father (the new life‑giver to our dead race – the second Adam – 1 Cor. 15:46). The Prince of Peace (whose glorious reign shall be one of righteousness, bringing with it all the blessed fruits of righteousness – peace and joy and satisfaction and everlasting rest).

And in verse 7 of Isaiah Chapter 9: His dominion shall increase until all things are subdued under Him. It shall extend, not only to the ends of the earth, but eventually all things in heaven and in earth are to be united under His headship as the representative of Jehovah, who would have all men honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. (Psa. 72:7; Eph. 1:10; John 5:23)

“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 37:32) Such is Jehovah’s purpose, and thus He declares that it shall be accomplished; and our hearts leap for joy as we realize, not only the glorious import of this prophecy, but also the fact that the time is at hand, and that a score or so of years future will see the kingdom established and its blessings beginning.

The common interpretation of this prophecy regards it as fulfilled upon Israel at the First Advent, and the Kingdom of God as established then in the Gospel Church; and the great increase in the numbers and powers of the nominal church of all denominations, Papal and Protestant, as the predicted increase of Christ’s government. (v.7)

Such a fulfillment would not be worthy of the record. Christ does not reign in Christendom; its general character is anti‑ Christian. The only sense in which Christ’s kingdom was begun at the First Advent was in its embryo condition; and this, the only true kingdom of Christ in the world, has, like the Lord, been unrecognized in the world, except, like Him, to be despised and forsaken and to suffer violence. Its numbers have always been small and its circumstances humble; for not many rich and great, etc., are called. (1 Cor. 1:26‑29; Jas. 2:5)

Nor did the nation of Israel at the First Advent see or comprehend the light of Christ, nor did He at that time break their yoke or deliver them from the rod of their oppressor; for in consequence of their failure to recognize the light when it began to shine upon them, they were blinded, the rod of the oppressor came upon them with increased force and they have never yet been relieved, nor will they be until their Messiah is recognized as having come again, a Second Time; this time without a sin‑offering unto salvation. (Heb. 9:28)

Let us rejoice for them and for all mankind that the blessed day is nigh, even at the door. Rightly viewed, this prophecy is full of rapturous inspiration.

JACOB’S RESCUE NEAR

But evidently the Prophet’s vision, while it glanced upon the preaching of our Lord and the apostles in Galilee, and glanced down through the Gospel Age and noted how this light glinted here and there as a wonderful “lamp,” never­theless rested not until it reached the very end of this Age. There in prophetic vision Isaiah seems to see the end of Jacob’s trouble – Israel’s deliverance from the blindness that has been upon her, her acceptance of the Lord as the Messiah the time mentioned by another prophet, when the Lord would pour upon them the spirit of prayer and supplication and they should look upon Him whom they had pierced and mourn for Him – at the time mentioned by the Apostle Paul, when the fullness of the Gentiles having come in (the full number of the Gentiles to complete the elect number of the church), Divine mercy shall go forth from the church to bless the world and shall first of all rest upon Israel according to the flesh, “They shall obtain mercy through your mercy.” (Rom. 11:3)

The third and fourth verses of Isaiah Chapter 9, we believe, are near fulfillment. In the Revised Version it reads, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased her joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken in the day of Midian.” The nation of Israel is very much increased today, but their joy is not yet accomplished because this great deliverance here mentioned has not yet been accomplished. It is to be accomplished in the “Day of Trouble” which began in 1914, and is now recognized by many.

The fifth verse of Isaiah, Chapter 9 seems to be more intelligently rendered in the Revised version: “For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire.” The thought seems to be that at that time will come the end of warfare, as the Scriptures have declared. The Time of Trouble with which the Millennium will be introduced is the means by which the Lord will overthrow all the powers of evil, as it is written, “He shall cause wars to cease unto the ends of the earth.” Under the righteous reign which will then follow, men will learn war no more, but will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. At the present time the reverse of all this is in operation, nor can we hope for a change such as the Lord’s Word here and elsewhere predicts by any other power than from above. Hence our prayer as our Lord instructed and in harmony with our hopes, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”

THE GOVERNMENT UPON HIS SHOULDERS

As the verses through five indicate the coming joys and blessings and cessation of war, verse six points out how this would be accomplished. This is shown by its introduction with the word “for.” This verse goes back of the promised blessings to point out how they will be introduced. (1) A child will be born – a son will be given – a gift from God. (2) Passing over his earthly ministry and faithfulness, whereby the Lord Jesus was tested and proven worthy of the favors here prophetically assured Him as the overcomer, we have the declaration that the government will be upon His shoulders. This is an old‑style figurative way of declaring that the authority and honor will be laid upon the Lord Jesus. The same thought is still carried out in the armies of the world, whose generals have upon their shoulders epaulets in which the dignity of their rank is noted, is indicated. So upon our Lord Jesus the heavenly Father has placed the dignity and responsibility of being the great King who in due time, as the Father’s representative, as the great glorified Mediator, shall reign for a thousand years to restore order in the world, to put down all insubordination, to destroy every enemy of righteousness and truth and to exalt every one who is the friend of these Divine principles.

It is worthy to note that this authority or government is conferred upon our Lord before He assumes the various offices subsequently made: remarkably few recognize the authority of this great Captain of our Salvation whom God has set forth. Only comparatively few recognize Him truly and render Him obedience and refuse not Him who speaketh from heaven. These few have the eyes of their understanding opened and see what the others do not see; and the ears of their understanding opened that they hear and comprehend what others do not comprehend. To them the Master is the Father’s representative and all in all even now – even before the time has come for Him to take His great power and reign, even before He has established truth and righteousness in the world. By the eye of faith they see Him, worship, adore, obey and follow Him.

KNOWLEDGE OF HIS GLORY WORLD‑WIDE

But it implies much more than such an acknowledgment of our Lord Jesus by the Church. It implies a world‑wide knowledge, as it is written, “Unto him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9‑11) The government or authority is not laid upon His shoulders in vain, and the fact that He has not exercised this authority in now nearly two thousand years’ triumph and ascension up on high is merely in accord with the Scriptural declaration that the Father has a “due time” (1 Tim. 2:3‑6) set at which the Son shall take unto Himself His great power and reign, and in association with Himself the Church, the Little Flock, gathered out from the world during this Gospel Age.

The time when the Lord shall manifest to the world His government, His authority, His rule, is represented in Daniel 12:1, 2 by the words, “stand up.” “At that time shall Michael (another name for our glorious Lord) will stand up, and there shall be a Time of Trouble such as was not since there was a nation; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one found written in the book.” Our Lord will not only have the authority He will use it, and one of the first works, we are assured, will be the suppression of evil – not only the suppression of Satan, the prince of this world, who now worketh in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and who, we are assured, will be bound at the beginning of that Millennial reign, but additionally all the works of the devil, all institutions of evil, moral, social, financial, that are now injuring the world of mankind and co‑operating in effecting the groaning and travailing of the whole creation. All these will be suppressed as soon as the proper time shall come, and He upon whose shoulders the power and authority have been placed shall take unto Himself His great power and shall begin to reign. No longer, we may be sure, will any evil be licensed; no longer will the making of spirituous liquors be permitted, authorized and licensed, nor the sale of these nor any other harmful thing be allowed to do injury in God’s holy kingdom. (Isa. 11:9)

It will be then, at that time, that the whole world shall begin to recognize the great King whom God will thus set in the throne of the world’s dominion to rule it, to order it, to subdue it, to lift it up out of sin and degradation and to bring it into harmony again with God as it was before sin entered.

“COUNSELOR,” MIGHTY ONE, FATHER

The great Mediator, the Christ, “Prophet, Priest and King,” Judge, the Seed of Abraham in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed, shall have various names; His character and work shall be recognized from various standpoints. He will be the Wonderful One that in Himself He will manifest more than others the Father’s character and likeness and nature. He will be Counselor, Teacher, Instructor, Helper, Guide, for the whole world of mankind. He will be the Mighty God – the One with all power and authority to deal with mankind throughout the Millennial Age.

There will be no appeal from His righteous laws, regulations and decisions, because the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son: the whole matter will be left in His hands. From another standpoint He will be “Everlasting Father.” Having purchased the life of Adam and His race with the sacrifice of His own Human life, our Lord having been granted a new life in His resurrection, will have at His disposal the life which He bought in the sacrificing of His own in such measure as will be sufficient to apply to every member of Adam’s race. Each member of our race as he shall respond to the knowledge that shall then be filling the whole earth, may receive life more and more abundantly from the glorified Christ – everlasting life, the life that was lost in Adam’s disobedience and that was redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice of Himself.

The one from whom all life for the world must proceed is fitly called the father of the world, since the word father signifies life‑giver; and since this father gives life everlasting, it is eminently proper that He should be called the father of everlasting life or the everlasting father. Prince of Peace is another of His titles, but this one evidently will not be appropriate to Him until, toward the close of the Millennial Age, He shall have accomplished the putting down of everything obnoxious to Divine righteousness, the subju­gation of all things to Himself – until He shall have finished the use of the iron rod in smiting the nations, in dashing them to pieces as a potter’s vessel. Then it will be seen that the motive beyond all this activity against unright­eousness was the bringing in of everlasting righteousness, the bringing in of everlasting peace, and it will be seen that the title well fits our great King, Prince of Peace.

THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION OPERATIVE

But, some inquire, what about the sins of the world? Will there be no chastisement, no punishment, for these? We answer that it will be equally as just for God to forgive the sins of the world for Christ’s sake as it has been just for Him to forgive the sins of the Church for Christ’s sake. If the one is just, so will be the other; for “God is no respecter of persons,” and is equally willing to forgive the sins of the world as the sins of the Church (the Little Flock), when to forgive the sins of the world, repenting of sin, will turn from it, accepting Christ as their Redeemer.

This does not mean, however, that justice is to be ignored. In the case of the Church, note how the sins of youth may leave their scar and sting to the end of life. And so we may reasonably assume that certain stripes, or punishments, will be permitted to follow the world in just the same manner. It will be from these weaknesses and frailties that they will be gradually raised up to perfection during those blessed thousand years of Christ’s kingdom, when Satan will be bound and not be permitted to deceive any during that period.

But what about the heart condition? If conformity to the Divine law in an outward way will bring blessings to all, will there not still be a difference between the people – some coming heartily into accord with the Father, and others merely outwardly into harmony, because this outward harmony will be the way to restitution, perfection?

Undoubtedly this is correct reasoning. It is along this line that the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25:31‑46) teaches; namely, that outwardly the “sheep” and “goats” will have much the same appearance and demeanor, except to the Judge, the King, who will read the heart and ultimately will manifest to all that there has been a real heart‑difference between the two classes, all of whom will have been on trial for a thousand years, receiving blessings from the kingdom.

BASIS OF THE JUDGMENT

All the while each individual will be making character. This character will be fully appreciated by the great Judge, and the individual will be rated either as a “sheep” or as a “goat.” Not until the conclusion of the Millennium will the decision of the Judge be manifested. To the “sheep” at His right hand He will say, “Come ye blessed of my Father (the kind that my Father is pleased to bless and to grant everlasting life’), inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Then the other class, the goats of the parable will be sentenced: “Depart, ye accursed ones (doomed ones) into everlasting punish­ment.”

Some think that those who live unrighteous lives, and are very wicked, should not receive a resurrection. But our Lord tells us there will be a resurrection of the good and the evil – the evil to a resurrection of judgment (mistranslated damnation) – John 5:28,29; and He is faithful that promised’ (Heb. 10:23) “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow.. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” (Isa. 1:18, 19) “When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. ...For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Ezek. 18:27, 32)

Just as the Millennial Age is for the world, the Gospel Age is for those who consecrate and are seeking to “walk in His steps” during the time when sin is in the ascension. They are being judged daily, and if some apparently are breaking their vows in their daily walk, but have not denied the Ransom, we are not to judge them as unfit for the Kingdom, even though we know what is right and what is wrong. “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” (Rom. 14:10) So we should be content to await the unerring and righteous judgment of Christ. Let us “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 13:14) “For if we would judge (examine) ourselves, we shall not be judged (condemned – corrected and punished of the Lord) (1 Cor 11:31)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHEEP CLASS

With the establishment of the kingdom all who come into harmony with it will have the great privilege of doing something to help others. While the Millennial blessings will be showered upon those who accept the Lord’s terms, there will be others who will need assistance. Those who have the spirit of God, the spirit of love, will be glad to carry the heavenly message of reconciliation to all humanity, glad to apply the eye‑salve to the blind, glad to unstop the ears of the deaf, glad to help the sin‑sick back into harmony with God.

All who will take pleasure in this work will thus be manifesting that they have God’s spirit and are co‑laborers with Him. All these will be the sheep. On the other hand, those who will be careless in respect to their vow, and merely enjoy the Millennial blessings them­selves, will be of the goat‑class and will thus be marking themselves as “goat,” and correspond­ingly will be out of favor with the great Ring of kings, their Judge, the Lord of Glory.

NO END OF RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT

The seventh verse of our lesson gives another precious assurance, and that is that this kingdom once being attained by our Lord will never be surrendered to another, never pass into other hands. Of His government and of His peace which He will establish there will be no end. (Luke 1:33) Not only Israel, but all mankind will have been witnesses that the best of kings as well as the worst of kings have at times surrendered their dominion, and that the best of kings might be followed by the worst. How appropriate then the suggestion that when the kingdom of this great King of kings and Lord of lords shall have conquered the world and have subdued all things into harmony with the Divine will, it shall never again be overturned by evil.

The expression “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with judgment and righteousness from henceforth even forever; the zeal of the Lord shall perform this,” signifies that this great kingdom which our Lord Jesus at His Second Advent will establish – His Church as members of His body, members of His kingdom class, His bride associated with Him – will be the outcome, the antitype of that which was typically presented to Israel in the kingdom, the government of David. As previously seen, the name David signifies “Beloved,” and the David who was the first king on Israel’s throne, and of whom it was said that he sat upon the throne of the Lord, was merely a type, a figure of the greater David, the Anointed, the Messiah. Jesus Christ, the first Lord of all, and the Church His body associated with him, constitute the antipycal David, the antitypical Beloved of the Lord, whose kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, “henceforth even forevermore.”

UNENDING KINGDOM TRANSFERRED

The Apostle points out (1 Cor. 15:28) that, at the close of His thousand‑year reign, our Lord (His Church associated with Him) will abdicate the throne of earth. Having accomplished the work which the Father has set apart to be accomplished by the Anointed in this Millennial reign, at its close the entire authority, with the world in complete subjection to the Divine law and fully restored to the Divine likeness and all willful transgressors cut off, will be surrendered to the Father’s hands, and in accordance with His pre‑arrangement will be redelivered to mankind, that the perfect human family, in the image and likeness of God, may rule the world in harmony with the Divine regulations. But the government will never cease, because the government with Christ will be even more particularly associated with the Father in His throne in the general government of the universe, it will be in that particular sense under the supervision of the glorified Christ.

The zeal of the Lord shall perform this. It will not be the arm of man nor the zeal of man, however good or well meaning, which could bring to pass such wonderful changes as those which the Lord has pointed out. Thee Lord Himself will accomplish it, He will put all things into subjection to the Son ‑ all things, the Apostle explains, except Himself, for He is excepted who thus puts all things under the Son. (1 Cor. 15:27)

From this standpoint, looking back over the history of the world, we get a grand view of the Divine Power and Wisdom, Justice and Love, We see how God has been continually overruling in respect to the efforts of man, to the intent that ultimately without interfering with the free moral agency of any, every man of the whole race of Adam shall be fully and thoroughly tested and proven respecting his loyalty to the Lord, and thus respecting his worthiness of life eternal. How glorious is the Divine Plan! What wonder is there that with its accomp­lishment every voice in heaven and in earth shall be heard expressing praise end thank­fulness, glory, honor, dominion and might to Him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb!

It is our hope and prayer that what is given herein will increase the love and appreciation of our great Redeemer – and will give us pleasure in the contemplation of the prayer, Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Hallelujah, what a Savior! He is mighty to save! Our best wishes to all our readers for a peaceful and blessed Holiday Season.

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

======================

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle and Brethren: Greetings in our Lord’s name’

Thank you for the September‑October articles, full of wisdom and truth as usual. I constantly remind myself of how blessed and privileged I am to have found truth people and especially those who are staying in line with the Truth as revealed through That Servant. We are all greatly blessed of our lovely Lord to be of the Truth as it is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Redeemer and King. May His Kingdom soon be set up is my prayer each day’

Just in case your local paper didn’t carry this article of the PLO, I’m sending it to you, thinking it may be of interest to you. It speaks to me that the Army to be used to fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy of the end time of this present evil world, may now be being readied for its part in the fulfillment of this prophecy. What do you think?

I received a copy of “The Finished Mystery” or Seventh volume. No one seems to appreciate it because of the errors in it. My question is, why doesn’t some one rewrite it and update it? The copy I received has many corrections in it, but even without those corrections I’d find it very helpful as a beginning student. I wish some one would update and reprint it. But then, this is just me. I’ve a lot to learn. I hope you will pardon me if I’m wrong in my thinking.

May God add His blessing to all who work with you, along with you in your labor of love preparatory to the coming Kingdom of God.

I wish to continue to be a part of the work of Truth in Jesus’ name. So please find enclosed a gift in the love of Christ. Sincerely Your brother in Christ, ------- (OKLAHOMA)

.....................................................

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle:

Your letter of April 24 at hand. Your kind statements have indeed “refreshed our hearts in the Lord.”

Because of your understanding and sympathy for our efforts to serve Him in the way that He has given us a burden to do, we will from time to time send you items of information and exposition which we think that you will be interested in reading.

Also, because of our mutual under­standing of the fullness of God’s provisions for salvation as expressed in your article, “Two Distinct Salvations” we have a fuller fellowship than is the case with most of our correspondents and associates.

We are enclosing a copy of one of our articles which was published in Christian Life, one of the better known Evangelical publications, entitled “Why Jews Fear Christians.” Gradually the sins and short­comings of the nominal church systems are being brought to light. We see this as fulfillment of the statement in Isaiah 28:17 “and the hail (of truth) shall sweep away the refuge of lies.”

We are also enclosing a copy of a publication being put out by the Embassy program here in the states – the Review. This will be published periodically and I am sure that they would put you on their mailing list if you requested.

As the result of our activities on behalf of Israel, and our residence in Jerusalem, we have direct contact with many of the leading Christian teachers and expositors today – and we note a great seeking and a change taking place. The Truth is gradually coming through to many – not all at once but a little here and a little there. We are very grateful to the Lord for having an opportunity to share in this opening of eyes and ears – for both the Jew and Gentile. Again, our thanks for your sympathy and your prayers.

Yours by His grace, ……… (WASHINGTON)

...........................................

Dear Brother Hoefle:

It’s been a long time since I have sent you a letter. My eyes are getting so bad, so my daughter‑in‑law Betty will write for me.

Hope this note finds you and your wife in good health. Enclosed is a check to help you with your expense.

Soon I will be 98 years old, and in good health except for my eyes and my shaky legs. Still do read a lot but with much effort, using a magnifying glass for reading. My spirits are good, and the Lord sure has been good to me.

I stay with my son and daughter‑in‑law in Buffalo Grove. We have a very fine relationship – happy and healthy in God’s blessings.

With Christian love and greetings, I am your brother -------   (ILLINOIS)

...................................................

Dear Sir:

I am happy to receive your reply along with your monthly paper, and I indeed thank you for your lovely brotherly letter.

I am a subscriber of The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom and a seeker of the Divine Truth through the help of His beloved ones. Through a friend of mine I was informed about your Association, and I decided to write you a personal letter asking for your assistance in understanding the “present system of things” according to God’s teaching. Furthermore, I would like to receive the following eleven books. Enclosed you will find a money order for the amount of ….. Please expedite this order as soon as possible.

Sincerely, ------- (NEW YORK)

NO. 329: TAKE, MY BRETHREN, THE PROPHETS - PART THREE

No. 329

Ezekiel – A member of a priestly family, contemporary with Jeremiah, whose sayings and writings undoubtedly had great influence on him. And, although he offered much sharp criticism of the Jewish rulers, priests, Levites and false prophets, he did not offer the objectionable predictions that were the substance of Jeremiah’s teachings, and he also held out some future hope for the Jewish people. He probably reached manhood in Jerusalem in the environment of the Temple during Jeremiah’s ministry. He was taken captive from Judah eight years after Daniel’s deportation. Josephus says he was a youth at the time. He was not a child but under the age when Levites assumed their duties and were reckoned in the census as men. He lived with the Jewish exiles on the Chebar, a canal in Babylonia.

His prophetic ministry began in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity on the Chebar. He was then in his thirtieth year (Ezek. 1:1,2). Though an exile in a foreign country, Ezekiel had freedom to utter his prophecies, and his advice was sought by the elders of the people (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1), although those elders did not follow his advice faithfully. He takes brief doctrinal remarks, suggestive allegories, or short speeches of Jeremiah, and often gives them a literary finish. His prophetic activity seems to have extended over a period of at least 22 years. The time and manner of his death are not recorded.

The Book of Ezekiel is regarded by analysts as more simple in its arrangement than any other of the great prophetical books; and probably was wrote late in the prophet’s life, not piecemeal, but issued all at once. The prophecies are pretty much in chronological order, but it is questionable whether any of his prophecies are recorded exactly as he spoke them – practical, designed to influence the minds of the people in general. Two great themes dominate: the destruction of the city and nation; and the reconstruction of the people, and their eternal peace – two equal divisions of 24 chapters each.

The first 24 chapters prophesy the destruction of the city and nation; and the second 24 chapters the restoration of the people and their eternal peace as people of the Lord. Over the years the Jews have greatly erred in applying this promise to people as they are today, and not the overall grand application to “all people” under the beneficent reign of the Christ in the eternal establishment of the Kingdom for which Jesus taught us to pray.

The book contains little that is historical, but rather is a summation of sound general principles. Thus, he somewhat resembles Isaiah, but lacks the breadth of sympathy and the grand glow of emotion that distinguishes the “gentle‑man” of the Old Testament. Chapter One tells of his vision of Jehovah, who calls and sends him. Then follows his mission to Israel and his inspiration by Jehovah. In subsequent chapters he tells of the restitution of the people, as Jehovah sanctifies them and dwells among them. This thought is given with much greater force and clarity by the Apostle John in Rev. 11:3: “I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them – their God.” This promise is not exclusively to the Jews, but “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Here we have quite a wide difference of fact from what is taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses’

Presently, there are still people throughout the earth who have never heard Jehovah’s name nor seen His glory. The real “glory of God” is His marvelous character perfectly balanced with Wisdom, Justice, Love and Power; and of this sublime condition God has declared, “My glory will I not give to another.” (Isa. 42:8) While He is recorded as “the God of Israel,” yet it is through Israel that “all shall know me, from the least to the greatest,” (Jer. 31:34) As the far‑off nations come to and touch Israel, the Lord’s glory shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. History as Ezekiel conceives it, whether of Israel or of all nations, is Jehovah’s revelation of Himself to all mankind; every movement of it carries this sobering thought: “Ye shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezek. 6:7)

Ezekiel offers a very lustrous picture of the future for the Jews, probably not realizing himself that that day would come when God’s Kingdom is fully established in the earth, when there “shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pains, for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) And he summarizes his thoughts with these words: “I will hide my face from them no more; for I have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” (Ezek. 39:29) The people are all righteous, led by the spirit of the Lord, and knowing that Jehovah is their God. Ezekiel does not explain how salvation is to be attained, for the salvation is realized and enjoyed; it describes the state and life of the people that their redemption is come now. The fact that the prophet details the final blessedness of the people accounts for the supernatural features of the people’s condition are to be understood literally. The Temple, the services, etc., are meant in a real sense, just as the supernatural presence of Jehovah is meant in a literal sense. At that time the desert will be turned into a garden, along with the sweetening of the waters of the dead sea. (Isa. 25:1,2)

Perhaps it is in order here to describe the present condition of the Dead Sea. Its surface is about 1,300 feet below sea level; its waters are about 27% salt; and no creature is able to live in it. A human being cannot sink in that water. In view of all these extreme conditions, we may readily understand why the scoffers are loud in their ridicule of the Bible in general, and especially so concerning the predictions of Ezekiel.

When the prophecy is fulfilled, the boundaries of the Holy Land will be changed considerably, with a new disposition of the twelve tribes within it. A life‑giving stream will issue from the Temple and the Temple is described in very dark and symbolic terms, with the gates of the Holy City occupying special attention.

MORE ABOUT EZEKIEL

Here we pause to offer further facts about the prophet himself. He was the son of Buzi, of whom nothing further is known. Like so many of the Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel had a very humble beginning, which would tend to keep him, along with others, in a keen understanding of the condition of the common people, with great sympathy for their problems. The name Ezekiel bears some resemblance to the work “to despise,” and a rabbinical fancy interprets it of Jeremiah, “the despised,” making Ezekiel the lineal descendant of this prophet, as he is his child in thought and faith. Ezekiel is styled the priest, and in all probability he was of the family of Zadak. At that time the priests had already attained great influence; they were the aristocracy, standing next to the royal family. It is not certain whether Ezekiel had actually been engaged in priestly duties before his captivity, though it is not unlikely, both from the name priest applied to him and from the minute acquaintance which he shows with the Temple, its dimensions and furniture, and with the sacerdotal rites. Much of the conclusion concerning the prophet is merely sound considered opinion, with absolute proof lacking. The age at which the priests undertook their duties is not clearly stated in the Law; but we have good assurance that Jesus began His ministry at the age of thirty; and it was Jewish custom then to consider the males as reaching manhood when they arrived at thirty years of age. According to Ezek. 24:18, he was married and had a home, to which the elders often came for consultation.

Ezekiel’s Youth ‑ The period at which the prophet’s youth was passed was rich in influences that must have powerfully affected him. Though too young to take part in the reform of Josiah – or perhaps to remember it – he grew up in the midst of the changes which it had introduced, and probably learned to estimate previous history from the point of view which it gave him. The tragic events which followed one another closely at this epoch, such as the death of Josiah, the exile of Jehoahaz to Egypt and of Johoiachin to Babylon, made a lasting impression on his mind. The last event formed the chief landmark of his life, and that not solely because his own history was so closely connected with it; and how deeply the fate of the two young princes touched him, and how well he could sympathize with the country’s sorrow over it, a sorrow recorded also by Jeremiah, is seen in his elegy on the princes of Israel. He has a fondness for historical study, and no history is to him without a moral; and silently the events of this time were writing principles upon his mind to which in after years he was to give forcible enough expression.

It was not, however, merely the silent teaching of events from which Ezekiel learned. He had a master interpreting events to him to whose influence every page of his prophecies bears witness. Jeremiah, indeed, may not have been Ezekiel’s only master; there were other prophets of the time like-minded with him, such as that Urijah whom Jehoiakim dragged from his hiding‑place in Egypt and slew with the sword. (Jer. Chap. 26) And perhaps others of whose names no record has been kept, for it is almost an accident, and only because his fate cast light on the history of Jeremiah in a moment of peril, that the name of Urijah has been preserved. There were also priests who cherished the same aspirations as these prophets, and pursued in their own province the same ends. It is not without significance that Jeremiah no less than Ezekiel was of a priestly family ‑ and that, too, a rural one ‑ for it was not in the capital alone that true religion had its representatives. Like Micah, Urijah was a prophet of the country, being of Kirjeth‑Jearim. And among Ezekiel’s predecessors in the priesthood, and also among his contemporaries, there were some who, if they had spoken to the world, would have spoken in the same manner as he did, for the favorable judgment which he passes on the Zadokite priests is not altogether due to mere caste prejudice.

Still the teaching and life of Jeremiah was probably the most powerful influence under which the young priest grew up. It would, no doubt, be a mistake to ascribe every idea in Ezekiel which coincides with Jeremiah’s teaching to the influence of that prophet. There is a common circle of thoughts and feelings which even the greatest minds share with those of their own age. Striking out some new conceptions, and opening up some lines of advancement which mark an epoch, the chief elements of their faith and life are common to them with others of their day, and have been inherited from the past. The surprise with which we read Jeremiah might be lessened if the means of comparing him with others were not so narrow as the paucity of writers in the century before the exile causes it to be. At any rate, his influence upon the language and thoughts of Ezekiel can be readily observed. It could hardly have been otherwise. For thirty years before Ezekiel’s captivity Jeremiah had been a prophet, speaking in the courts and chambers of the Temple and in the streets of Jerusalem, and having such a history as made him the most prominent figure of the day.

Ezekiel was familiar with his history and had listened to his words from his infancy. Many of his prophecies had circulated in writing for a number of years previous to the captivity of Jehoiachin which Ezekiel shared, and the constant intercourse between Jerusalem and the exiles kept the prophet of the Chebar well informed regarding the course of events at home, and the views which prominent persons there took of them.

However, with all this conjecture, we stress again that “Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21) Thus, the fundamental source of all Old Testament prophecy – as well as of the New Testament – was the Holy Spirit; so we should expect a very strong similarity in all that was written by inspiration of God.

It is clearly stated by Daniel that “I heard, but understood not ... the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Dan. 12:8,9) And in the New Testament some of the things written were not understood by those who wrote them; but this is more so in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. It is generally conceded that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible – all of which is identified by Jesus as “the Law.” But Moses lived more than 2500 years after Adam was created, so he could only give us the Genesis account through inspiration of God. There are seven clear divisions in the Bible: The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms in the Old Testament; and the gospels, the Acts, the epistles and Revelation in the New Testament. And Jesus stated of the Old Testament: “They (the Old Testament Scriptures) are they which testify of me.”(John 5:39)

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON EZEKIEL

When Nebuchadnessar took Jerusalem he carried into captivity the young king Jehoiachin, the flower of the population including many priests, Ezekiel among them, as well as a multitude of other citizens, particularly craftsmen. Ezekiel, with a community of other exiles, was settled at Tel‑Abib by the river Chebar ‑ not to be identified with the Chabor which falls into the Euphrates near Carshemish, but some stream or canal in Babylonia proper; and five years later he was called to occupy among them the place of a “watchman.” How large the community was is not known – nor what kind of place Tel‑Abib was – for the reference of the prophet to walls hardly justify the conclusion that it was a walled town.

The community appears to have been left, as was usually the case, to regulate its internal affairs and govern itself according to its own mind. The prophet repeatedly mentions the “elders”; and though he calls them elders of Judah, or Israel, he identifies them with the captivity, of which they must have been the heads and representatives. The lot of the exiles in some cases may have been hard, but there is no evidence that they were harshly treated by their conquerors or suffered want. When the prophet speaks of famine he refers to Canaan; and the phrase “made servants of them” has more a national than an individual reference, like such expressions as “prison houses” in the second part of Isaiah (42:22). The exiles possessed houses, and there is no illusion to persecution from their heathen neighbors.

The picture – if it may be called such – which the prophet gives of the life of the exiles and their circumstances is singularly colorless. His interests were exclusively religious, and any insight which he affords us is into the religious condition of his fellow‑captives, from whose mouth he occasionally quotes an expression very suggestive as to their state of mind. His own mind was occupied with the largest conceptions, and the exiles were to his eye representatives of a larger subject. When bidden go to “them of the captivity” he felt sent to the “house of Israel”; and while addressing his fellow exiles he fancies before him the people of Canaan or the nation scattered abroad throughout the world. This identification of the exiles with the people as a whole, and this occupation of the prophet’s mind with great national interests, makes it difficult to know how far is his apparent addresses to the exiles he is touching upon their actual practices. Nothing is more likely than that the captives continued the evil courses in which they had grown up at home, so far as this was possible in a foreign land. They certainly shared in the fanaticism or optimism of those left in the country, and heard with incredulity the prophet’s predictions of the speedy downfall of the city.

It is known from Jeremiah (Jer. 29:8) that there were false prophets among the exiles who confirmed them in their delusive hopes; and Ezekiel may be referring to these prophets in such passages as Chapters 13 & 14. But such language as “ye have not gone up into the breach” (13:5), “I sought for a man that should stand in the gap before me for the land” (22:30), shows that it is the circumstances of the nation as a whole and not those of the exiles that occupy the prophet’s attention. The same appears from such expressions as those in 14:7: “every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that layeth his idols on his heart.” In one passage (20:32) the people are represented as resolving to adopt the religion of the nations. “We will be as the nations, to serve wood and stone”; and such a spirit might very naturally reveal itself among the exiles surrounded by heathen neighbors.

But probable as this is, the chapter is a review of the nation’s history, and the language may be little more than the prophet’s interpretations of the spirit shown by the people all through its history. It is only on rare occasions that Ezekiel draws any distinction between the exiles and those remaining in the land, When he does so he shares the feeling of Jeremiah (chaps. 24,29) that the flower of the people had been carried into captivity with Jehoiachin, and that the hope of the nation lay in them (11: 14‑21) But usually the exiles are regarded as the representatives of the house of Israel; the “elders” are the elders of Judah or Israel; and, when addressing them, the prophet desires to speak in the ears of all his countrymen – just as it is the fate of Jerusalem, the history of the nation, and its future destinies, that form the theme of his discourse. The idea that Ezekiel’s office was limited to the exiles, among whom he was a sort of pastor, with a cure of souls, is supported by nothing in the Book.

It would be a mistake, however, to press this general bearing of his mission, and his preoccupation with the destinies of the house of Israel as a whole, so far as to infer from it that he had no actual prophetic ministry among the exiles; that he was a writer simply, unused to the life of men ‑ a solitary theorist whose “stuff for removing” (12:4), if he had brought it forth, would have been little more than an “inkhorn”; and that the form of oral address which he gives his words is a mere literary artifice.

It may not be allowable to assume that his operations among the exiles were literally altogether such as he describes them; but, apart from his own representations, several things afford evidence indirectly that he did exercise a ministry of some kind, and of some duration. When commanded to prophecy of the great conflagration which the Lord would kindle in the field of the south, he exclaims, “Ah, Lord God’ they say of me, is he not a speaker of parables?” And in 33:30 he is represented as being the subject of conversation among the people: “The children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, saying, Come, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.”

These incidental allusions imply that the prophet had a manner which the people had learned to recognize and to discount, and that they were in the habit of meeting to consult him. The frequent assembling of the elders before him implies the same thing. It is true that those elders were very subordinate figures; they are merely mentioned and then the discourse passes on to the “house of Israel,” or even to the strangers that sojourn in Israel. However, Promises of restitution are evidence that Ezekiel was merely writing what God had revealed to him. Also, the actual occurrence of what he had predicted; he had clearly foreseen the downfall of the state, so the Jews could not accuse him of just talking; he had spoken “in the name of the Lord.”

And he was then just as emphatic in his predictions of reconstitution of the Kingdom of God on a better basis. But it is well to keep in mind here that what he foresaw was not at all clear to him. His ideas of restitution of Israel were a far gap from what the actual restitution will be – a new arrangement “wherein dwelleth righteousness,” with no evil or physical affliction as is promised by the Apostle John in Revelation. His public reproof of the nation in the earlier parts of his book are to be taken literally as applying to that time; but the elevating promises of the future are of much grander viewpoint than Ezekiel himself recognized at that time. Because of the severe opposition of his predictions about the fall of Jerusalem, he had been comparatively silent; but when the city fell he could then speak with the authority and voice of a true prophet. And he frequently warns Israel that “ye shall know that I am Jehovah.” (Psa. 83:18)

It is the opinion of some writers that the Apostle John was motivated in much of his style by what Ezekiel had written, although the Apostle has improved on what he learned from Ezekiel. Ezekiel had a wide knowledge of designing and architecture, and an excellent familiarity with foreign lands and their natural and industrial products. Although the ten tribes of Israel had been “lost” for more than a hundred years before Ezekiel’s time, yet he forecast the reunion of the twelve tribes in the distant future (37:15‑17); and we know this will be an accomplished fact in the near future. Then will be fulfilled the vision of “the dry bones” (Ezek. 37:1‑8 and their resurrection, along with a new Temple, partially, if not totally, “made without hands.”

The following observation of two Old Testament prophets is made by one capable writer: “The difference between Isaiah’s knowledge of God and that of Ezekiel, and consequently the greater detail of the latter in chapter one compared with Isaiah six, is very prettily expressed by Abarbanel, who says that Ezekiel was a villager who saw the divine Majesty but rarely and therefore minutely described it, while Isaiah dwelt in the capital and was familiar with the great King.”

Foregoing we stressed that both those prophets spoke by inspiration of God; but God always allowed His mouthpieces to be “themselves” while speaking the Truth. This is also true of the New Testament, where St. Paul’s superior education and mentality overshadow some of his fellow Apostles who were “ignorant and unlearned men.” (Acts 4:13)

Nothing is known of Ezekiel after 570 BC; but tradition asserts that he met his death in Babylonia at the hands of a prince of his people whom he had upbraided for his idolatrous practices.

Generalities – Ezekiel’s general doctrine of God does not differ materially from that of other prophets of the same age, such as Jeremiah and Isaiah, though the character of his mind causes him to bring some Divine attributes into more prominence than others; and his education as a priest leads him to a way of thinking or at least to the use of a kind of phraseology not observed in other prophets.

His conception of Jehovah appears in “the visions of God” which he describes. These visions were all alike, and they reveal his general impression of that which Jehovah is. The fourfold nature of the cherubim, of their faces and wings and of the wheels, all forming a chariot moving in every direction alike, and with the velocity suggested by the wings and wheels, symbolizes the omnipresence of Jehovah, while the eyes of which the whole was full are a token of His omniscience. The throne above the firmament on which He sat indicates that He is king in heaven, God over all, omnipotent. The Divine being Himself appeared as of human form, while His nature was light, of such brightness that fire fitly represented Him only from the loins downward; from the loins upwards the effulgence was something purer and more dazzling, and He was surrounded by a brightness like that of the rainbow in the day of rain. This “glory,” which contains Himself within it, is that which is manifested to men.

At the sight of His glory the prophet fell upon his face, but it is not Jehovah’s will that His servants should be overborne by His majesty (Job 9:32‑35; 13:21); and He says to the prophet “stand upon thy feet that I may speak with thee” (Ezek. 2:1). He is the living God – “a likeness as the appearance of a man” (1:26) – “a mighty hand and a stretched out arm.” These representations in Ezekiel mean neither more nor less than they do in other prophetical writings; all taken together they express the idea of a living personality possessing all the powers of personal being. The Lord brings Himself near and dwells by His spirit in men’s hearts – even tabernacling in a visible form among them forever, so that the name of the new Jerusalem to all generations is, “The Lord is there.” The prophet says he ate the roll which the Lord had given him, “and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” (Ezek. 3:3) The same joy in God’s service – even amidst persecutions – was felt by Jeremiah: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” (Jer. 15:16)

The prophet states that God is Lord over all; and the self‑exaltation of peoples or their rulers in any place is an offence against the majesty of Him who is alone exalted. The moral forces are also subject to Him, as well as the physical. Indeed, the prophet represents God as the Author of all that occurs, whether on the stage of history or in the minds of men. The laws given to the people were “good” – statutes of life; but the people neglected and disobeyed them. But, “I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezek. 38:23)

THE PEOPLE: The Book contains much condemnation of the people, but we shall offer just passing comment: He asserts that Jerusalem has outbidden Samaria in wickedness, and that both peoples have been more perverse than the heathen. The degeneracy had infected all classes and persons; and it was in vain to look for a “man” in the streets of Jerusalem. “I sought for a man among them to stand in the gap before me for the land, but I found none.” (Ezek. 22:30)

However, Ezekiel saw a future for Israel – especially in Ezek. 36:24‑38 – of which we shall quote brief exerps, but we first offer the opinion of one brilliant commentator as introduction: “This remarkable passage has no parallel in the Old Testament, and reads like a fragment of a Pauline epistle. The doctrine of the spirit of God receives fuller development in it than anywhere else in the Old Testament.” “I will take you from among the heathen, saith the Lord, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land ... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit, and I will take away the stony heart, and I will give you an heart of flesh. ... And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers ... I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and increase it ... I will multiply the fruit of the tree ... Then ye shall remember your own evil ways ... and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities ... Then I will also cause you to dwell in the cities ... And the desolate land shall be tilled ... And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden ... the ruined cities are become fenced ... Then the heathen shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.” (Ez. 36:24‑38)

The above prophecy is now being fulfilled in this our own day; and believing Jew and Gentile alike may take strong assurance from those promises that the Jews are now in goodly Canaan land to stay there. No more will they be the “wandering Jew”; and all the uproar about them being pushed out of Palestine is nothing more than just loud talk; and time will eventually prove it so. It is with much pleasure and strong assurance of faith that we present this paper on the Prophet Ezekiel.

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

====================

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother:

I’m returning the studies on Zionism, which I believe to be part of godless communism in the world today. I believe the Jewish religion to be the synagogue of Satan Rev. 2:9, 3:9. The Christian (sheep) nations in the world today are Israel. I would like you to read the two enclosed studies by a man of God, students of the Word. Truth ever increases unto the end of this age. In Christ’s name, ------- (NORTH CAROLINA)

Our Answer:

Dear Brother---------: Grace and peace!

This is in answer to your letter of August 21. I have read Pastor Emry’s views some time back; but I read what you sent very carefully. I now enclose two articles ‑ Nos. 238 and 277, which I trust you will also read.

The Jews in Jerusalem crucified the Lord of Glory. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not’ Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Matt. 23:37‑39) They(the Jews) will indeed recognize Him as their Messiah, and will then say, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” “And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” (Acts 3: 17) They did not recognize that they were crucifying their Messiah.

After their 1845 years of favor, which ended when they crucified Jesus, their 1845 years of disfavor began. The pinnacle of their favor was when Jesus offered Himself to them. However, the first Christians in Jerusalem were all Jews. All the Apostles were Jews, and all others who accepted Him were Jews until the door was opened to the Gentiles. (Acts 10:19‑48) It was “to the Jew first” when our Lord came to establish His spiritual house; and it will be “to the Jew first” when He makes up His fleshly house in His glorious Kingdom. In 1877 that Wise and Faithful Servant (Matt. 24:46,47) predicted that the Lord would begin to bless the Jews in 1878, which He did at the Berlin Congress of nations, when Lord Beaconsfield – a Jew, the first ever to be Prime Minister of England – took the leading part. There England assumed a general protectorate over the Asiatic provinces of Turkey, among which is Palestine. The condition of the Jews in Palestine was then alleviated, and the door was opened for others to locate there with the privilege of owning real estate. Previously, the Jew was cuffed, kicked and abused and was denied the most ordinary privileges of existence, in the land so sacred to him.

“Blindness in part happened to Israel.” (Rom. 11:25) If Israel is not the Jews, when did “blindness in part” happen to the Israel that Pastor Emry teaches? The Apostle Paul ‑ who was a Jew – said, “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.” That means that God does not consider the Jew according to the flesh – only those are Jews who faithfully try to keep the Mosaic Law. The others are considered no more than heathen. That Wise and Faithful Servant also predicted that Jews would return in great numbers after 1914, and we are witnesses to this truth. If Pastor Emry’s Israel is God’s chosen people, why are they not in Jerusalem to receive God’s favor “in due time”? And they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews.” And when Pilate asked Him if He was King of the Jews, He did not deny it: “Thou sayest it.” (Luke 23:3) Jesus Himself also said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22) The Adversary and his blinded dupes have sought to destroy the Bible, as well as the Jews; but they cannot do it, as God is their preserver.

We know “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ... should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4), but we seize every opportunity to bear witness to the Truth; and “in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.” (2 Tim. 2:25) However, I know full well that the world now lies in darkness, error and sin; but the majority will have their eyes opened in the Kingdom when “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

With this comes my good wishes for your good health, spiritual and physical. The Lord bless and guide you as you seek to serve Him in sincerity and in Truth.

Sincerely your brother and servant, John J. Hoefle

...............................................

Dear John and Emily: Shalom!

Yes, beloved friends, the Israelis “simply beat them to the punch,” as you noted in your welcome communication of August 15, for which many thanks.

Indeed, the “real culprits are the leaders of Lebanon” who tolerated the PLO‑Russian inroad into their country. “They allowed those vermin into their country, gave them protection and encouragement.” How well you see the situation’

Moses routed Amalek and Joshua routed Israel’s enemies of his day, and Deborah in her day; Gideon in his time, etc. ... And YHVH was with them, and He is with Israel deserving or not – today’

The Everliving One has sworn with an oath that He would fulfill His word (Zechariah 12‑14;. Ezekiel 38‑39, etc.). Apparently, we are in the destined latter‑day period now.

Not a word of criticism of what you stated. I agree fully, and Jeane Kirkpatrick must be alerted. I am sure she must have read Morris B. Abram’s article as it appeared in today’s Times (copy enclosed).

Corresponding with a number of brethren who, like you, are fully familiar with the late Pastor Russell’s prophetic writing, I note that their views on the current situation in Lebanon are similar to yours. ....

Pastor Russell thus prepared the ground for the present generation by sowing seeds of Truth. In a sense, he “prepared a highway” for the “Day of the Lord”; removed the stumbling blocks. Yes, let us thank and praise Yah Yehovah for him and for having brought us into this path of Truth. There are but a few more steps to take, and we stand ready’

With love from both of us. Faithfully your brother, -------- (NEW YORK)

.............................................

Dear Sir:

Please send to us your price list. We are ministering to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and would like to update our library. Yours truly, Rev. ------- (CANADA)

NO. 328: HISTORY OF THAT SERVANT IN HIS STRUGGLE FOR THE TRUTH

No. 328

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Following our course of a year ago, we now present further history of That Servant in his struggle for the Truth about the time of our Lord’s return. We had described Mr. Barbour’s denial of the Ransom; and we now give more detail about that.

“I was astonished, believing Mr. Barbour had a clearer understanding of the work of Christ, as our sin offering, our willing Redeemer, who gladly cooperating in the Divine Plan, gave Himself as the Ransom or corresponding price to meet the penalty of Adam, in order that Adam and all his posterity might in due time go free from sin and death. A totally different thing indeed was the willing, intelligent, loving offering of our Redeemer, according to the plan devised and revealed by the infinite wisdom, from the miserable caricature of it offered in the above illustration. I had either given Mr. Barbour credit for clearer views than he had ever had, or else he was deliberately taking off and casting away the ‘wedding garment’ of Christ’s righteousness; the latter was the only conclusion left, for he afterward stated that he had previously recognized the death of Christ as man’s ransom price.”

Here it may be well to elaborate that the Ransom controversy was the first evil error at the beginning of the Harvest; and it is now being repeated by the Jehovah’s Witnesses – although not in the same flagrant fashion as did Mr. Barbour. Their present denial is an indirect perversion of the Ransom doctrine. Christ is now not a “ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6); He is now the destroyer of all who do not accept the errors of the Witnesses, no longer a Ransom for Adam, no longer a Ransom for those who crucified Him. In Luke 23:34 there are these words in the King James version: “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.” This is a spurious passage, not found in any of the oldest manuscripts; but JFR gave this spurious text a real twist to “prove” his error: “Father forgive them not, for they know what they do.”

Continuing with Brother Russell’s analysis: “Immediately I wrote an article for the Herald in contradiction of the error, showing the necessity that one die for all – the just for the unjust; that Christ fulfilled all this as it has been written; and that consequently God could be just and forgive and release the sinner from the penalty He had justly imposed. I also wrote to Mr. Paton, calling attention to the fundamental character of the doctrine assailed, and pointing out how the time and circumstances all correspond with the parable of the one who took off the wedding garment when just about to partake of the wedding supper. He replied that he had not seen the ransom feature in so strong a light before that Mr. Barbour had a strong, dogmatic way of putting things, which had for the time overbalanced him. I urged that, seeing now the importance of the doctrine of the Ransom he also write an article for the Herald, which, in no uncertain tone, would give also his witness for the precious blood of Christ. This he did. These articles appeared in the issues of the Herald for July to December 1878.

“It now became clear to me that the Lord would no longer have me assist financially, or to be in any way identified with, anything which cast any influence in opposition to the fundamental principle of our holy Christian religion; and I, therefore, after a more careful though unavailing effort to reclaim the erring, withdrew entirely from the Herald of the Morning, and from further fellowship with Mr. Barbour. But a mere withdrawal I felt was not sufficient to show my continued loyalty to our Lord and Redeemer, whose cause had thus been violently assailed by one in a position to lead the sheep astray and in that position, too, very largely by my individual assistance and encouragement when I believed him to be, in all sincerity, true to the Lord. I, therefore, understood it to be the Lord’s will that I should start another journal in which the standard of the cross should be lifted high, the doctrine of the Ransom defended, and the good tidings of great joy should be proclaimed as extensively as possible.

ZION’S WATCH TOWER, FIRST ISSUE,  JULY 1879

“Acting upon this leading of the Lord, I gave up traveling, and in July 1879 the first number of Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence made its appearance. From the first it has been a special advocate of the ‘Ransom for all’ and by the grace of God, we hope this will ever be so.

“For a time we had a most painful experience: The readers of the Tower and of the Herald were the same, and from the time the former started and the supply of funds from this quarter for the Herald ceased, Mr. Barbour not only withdrew from the bank the money deposited by me and treated all he had in his possession as his own, but poured upon the Editor of the Tower the vilest of personal abuse in order to prevent the Tower and the doctrine of the Ransom from having due influence upon its readers. This, of course, caused a division, as such things always do. The personal abuse being regarded by some as true, had its intended effect of biasing the judgments of many on the subject of the Ransom; and many turned from us.

“But the Lord continued His favor, which I esteem of more value than the favor of the whole world. It was at this time that Mr. Adams espoused the views of Mr. Barbour, and likewise forsook the doctrine of the Ransom. And true to our interpretation of the parable of the Wedding Garment, as given at the time, Mr. Barbour and Mr. Adams, having cast off the wedding garment of Christ’s righteousness, went out of the light into the outer darkness of the world on the subject once so clearly seen – namely, the time and manner of our Lord’s presence, and since then they have been expecting Christ in the flesh every Spring or Fall, and twisting the prophecies accordingly.

“During part of this ordeal, or we might truly call it, battle, we had the earnest cooperation of Mr. Paton, who, up to the Summer of 1881 was an appreciated co‑laborer and defendant of the doctrine of coming blessings through Christ, based upon the ‘Ransom for all’ given at Calvary. The book, The Three Worlds, having been for sometime out of print, it seemed as if another edition of that, or else a new book covering the same features, should be gotten out. Mr. Paton agreed to get it ready for the press, and Mr. Jones offered to pay all the expenses incident to its printing and binding and to give Mr. Paton as many copies of the book as he could sell, as remuneration for his time spent in preparing the matter, provided I would agree to advertise it liberally and gratuitously in The Tower – well knowing that there would be demand for it if I should recommend it, and that his outlay would be sure to return with a profit. I not only agreed to do this, but contributed to Mr. Paton’s personal expense in connection with the publishing, as well as paid part of the printer’s bill at his solicitation.

THE DAY DAWN

“In the end, I alone was at any financial loss in connection with the book called Day Dawn; the writer and publisher both being gainers financially, while I did all the introducing by repeated advertisements. We need to give these particulars because of certain one‑sided and only partial statements of facts and misrepresentations, which have recently been published and circulated in tract form by Mr. Paton, who is also now an advocate of that ‘other gospel’ of which the cross of Christ is not the center, and which denies that He ‘bought us with His own precious blood.’ Mr. Paton has since published another book, which though called by the same name, as the one we introduced, being on another false foundation, I cannot recommend, but which I consider misleading sophistry, tending to undermine the whole structure of the Christian system, yet retaining a sufficiency of Truths which we once held in common to make it palatable and dangerous to all not rooted and grounded upon the Ransom rock.

“The false foundation which it presents is the old heathen doctrine of evolution revamped, which not only denies the fall of man, but as a consequence, all necessity for a redeemer. It claims, on the contrary, that not by redemption and restitution to a lost estate, but by progressive evolution or development man has risen and is still to rise from the lower condition in which he was created until, by his own good works, he ulti­mately reaches the Divine Nature. It claims that our Lord Himself was a degraded and imperfect man, whose work on earth was to crucify a carnal nature, which, it claims He possessed; and thus to show all men how to crucify their carnal or sinful propensities.

“And here, we remark, that the darkness and degradation which came upon the world in its fallen, cast‑off condition, and which was only intensified by Papacy’s priest‑craft during the Dark Ages, when contrasted with the light of intelligence, which God is now letting in on the world, have gradually led men to esteem present intelligence as merely a part of a process of evolution. This view, though quite incorrect, is, nevertheless, the occasion of the predicted great falling away from the faith of the Bible during the Harvest period. And few Christian people seem to be well enough grounded in the truth to be able to withstand this trial of the evil day, in which many will fall away, while only the few will stand. For this cause we use plainness of speech.

“The little history of the way in which Mr. Paton came to turn from us and from the Ransom, to oppose that which he once clearly saw and advocated, is important, as it became the occasion for another sifting or testing of the Watch Tower readers, by that time a greater number; because Mr. Paton had been a respected brother and co‑worker with us, and because as a traveling representative of the Watch Tower and its doctrines, his expenses being met in part by subscriptions and renewals, as well as by money from me, he was personally known to a larger number of the readers than was the Editor of the Tower

“In the year 1881, Mr. Barbour still publishing the Herald and still endeavoring to overthrow the Doctrine of the Ransom, finding that on a preaching tour I had used the diagram of the Tabernacle to illustrate how Christ’s sacrifice was typified in the sacrifices of the typical Israels, wrote an article on the Atonement, in which he undertook to show that the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement typified almost anything else than what they do typify. I could readily see through the fallacy of his presentations, which made of the bullock a type of one thing in one verse and of another thing in each verse in which it was mentioned; and so, too, with the goat. But I well knew that the people in general are not close reasoners and that, with the cares of life upon them, they are too apt to accept a seeming interpretation without a critical examination of the words of the Scripture and the context.

Struggling For Light – “I thought the matter over. I examined the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus, but while seeing the inconsistency and error of Mr. Barbour’s interpretation, I could only confess that I did not understand it and could not give a connected interpretation, which fit all the details so plainly stated, and all of which must have a particular meaning. What could I do? Those reading the Herald as well as: the Tower would probably be misled, if not helped out of the difficulty; and to merely say that the Herald’s interpretation was inconsistent with itself and, therefore, a misinterpretation, would be misunderstood. Many would suppose I opposed that view from a spirit of rivalry; for there are always people with whom everything resolves itself into personality, rivalry and party spirit; and such cannot understand others who take a higher and nobler view and who think always and only of the truth, regardless of persons.

“I went to the Lord with this, as with every trial, and told Him just how it seemed to me, how anxious I felt for His dear sheep, who, having their appetites sharpened by some truth, were by their very hunger exposed to Satan’s deceptions. I told Him I realized that He is the Shepherd, and not I, but that I knew also that He would be pleased at my interest in the sheep and my desire to be His mouthpiece to declare the truth, the way and the life to them; that I felt deeply impressed that if the time had come for the permission of false views to deceive the unworthy, it must also be His due time to have the truth on the subject made clear, that the worthy ones might be enabled to stand and not fall from the truth. Believing that the due time had come for the correct understanding of the Jewish sacrifices, which, in a general way all Christians concede were typical of ‘better sacrifices’; and that the Lord, therefore, would grant the insight as soon as I got into the attitude of heart and mind best suited to receive the light. I prayed with confidence that if His due time had come, and if He were willing to use me as His instrument to declare the message to His dear family, that I might be able to rid my heart and mind of any prejudice that might stand in the way and be led of His spirit into the proper understanding of the truth.

SHADOWS OF THE TABERNACLE REVEALED

“Believing that the Lord would answer my prayer affirmatively, I went into my study the next morning prepared to study and to write. The forenoon I spent in scrutinizing the text and every other Scripture likely to shed light upon it, especially the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in looking to the Lord for wisdom and guidance; but no solution of the difficult passages. The afternoon and evening were similarly spent, and all the next day. Everything else was neglected, and I wondered why the Lord had kept me so long; but on the third day, near noon, the whole matter came to me as clear as the noonday sun, so clear and convincing and so harmonious with the whole tenor of the Scriptures that I could not question its correctness; and no one has ever yet been able to find a flaw in it. This has been published in several editions in booklet form under the title, Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. (Some able brethren have described this booklet as “the biggest little book they have ever seen – JJH)

“Then I knew why the Lord had led me so slowly and cautiously. I needed a special preparation of heart for the full appreciation of all it contained; and I was all the more sure it was not of my own wisdom; for if of my own, why had it not come at once.

“I found that the understanding of that subject was bound to have a wide influence upon all our hopes and views of all truth, not that it overlooked old truths or contradicted them, but, on the contrary, set them all in order and harmony and straightened out little knots and twists. For instance, the doctrine of Justification by Faith had always been more or less confused in my mind, as it is in every mind, with the doctrine of Sanctification, which calls for sacrifice and works. This was all made clear and plain at once; for the types showed that we all, as sinners, needed first of all, Christ’s ransom sacrifice, that we appropriate its merits (justification which God grants) to ourselves by faith, that thus we are justified – reckoned free from sin. The type showed, too, that it is only after being thus cleansed in God’s sight – by an acceptance of Christ’s finished work as our ransom‑sacrifice – that God is willing to accept us as joint‑sacrificers with Christ, so that if faithful unto death, we should be granted the favor of joint heirship with Him. (Here is given us a clear proof of “tentative justification”– JJH)

“Here I first saw that the great privilege of becoming joint‑heirs with Christ and partakers with Him of the Divine Nature was confined exclusively to those who would share with Him in self‑sacrifice in the service of the Truth. And here, too, I saw for the first time that our Lord was the first of these sacrifices in the sin‑offering, consequently, that none of God’s servants, the prophets, who lived and died before Christ, were priests after this order, nor sharers in sacrifice with Him, even though some of them were stoned, others sawn asunder, and others slain with the sword, for the cause of God; that though they would receive a good and great reward, they would belong to a separate class and order from those called to sacrifice and joint‑heirship with Christ on and since Pentecost.

“Here, too, I saw that the ‘acceptable day of the Lord’ signifies this Gospel Age the time during which He will accept the sacrifice of any who come unto God through Christ, the Great Sin‑Offering; that when this ‘acceptable day’ ends, the reward of joint‑heirship with Christ and prospect of change to the Divine nature ends. And when this great day of sacrifice, the Gospel Age, the real Day of Atonement, has closed, when all the members of the Body of Christ have participated with Him in the sacrifice of their rights as justified men, and been glorified, then the blessings will begin to come to the world – the Millennial blessings purchased for men by their Redeemer, according to the grace of God.

DISTINCTIONS IN NATURE RECOGNIZED

“This first brought a clear recognition of the distinction in natures: of what constitutes human nature; what constitutes the Divine Nature. (See Vol. 1, Chapter 10) And whereas we formerly used the term Restitution in a general way to mean some sort of blessed change; but now, under the clearer light, we began to see that the great work of restitution could only mean what the word implies, a restoration of that which was lost, a restoration of the original condition from which man fell.

“Then I saw that God’s plan, when carried out, would NOT bring all His creatures to the one level of the Divine Nature, but that He purposed to have an order of creatures called angels, who, though perfect, would always be of a different order, or nature, from the Divine nature; and He likewise purposed to have a race of beings of the human nature, of whom Adam was a sample or pattern, and whose future earthly home, Paradise, Eden, was a sample or pattern. I also saw that God purposed that Christ and His joint‑sacrificers and joint‑heirs are to be God’s instrument for blessing the fallen race and restoring them to the condition of perfection enjoyed by Adam, a condition which God said was ‘very good,’ and an image of Himself.

“And these joint‑heirs with Christ, I saw were to be highly exalted to a nature higher than restored and perfected mankind, higher, too, than the angelic nature; even to be partakers of the Divine Nature. When all these things so unexpectedly shone out so brightly and clearly, I did not wonder that the Lord gave me several days of waiting and preparation for the blessing, and to Him I rendered praise and thanks. All my faintness of heart and fear of the bad effects of the wrong view fled before this evidence of the Lord’s leadings in the pathway that ‘shines more and more unto the perfect day.’ I saw at once that these new developments would probably prove a stumbling‑block to some, as well as a great blessing to others who were ready for them. Instead, therefore, of publishing this in the next Tower, I determined to present the matter privately to the more prominent brethren, remembering Saint Paul’s course in a similar matter as recorded in Galatians 2:2.

“Accordingly, I sent invitations and the money necessary for traveling expenses to four of the more prominent brethren, requesting a conference. Mr. Paton, of Michigan, was one of the four, and the only one who rejected the first rays of light. Nor could he find any flaw with the exegesis, though urged, as all were, to state anything which might seem inconsistent, or quote any passages of Scripture thought to be in conflict. But there was none; and every question more fully demonstrated the strength of the position.

ADVANCING LIGHT REJECTED

“I, therefore, urged that that which was beyond the criticism of those most familiar with the Plan of God, must be the truth, and ought to be confessed and taught at any cost, and especially when it arranged and ordered all the other features of the truth so beautifully, I pointed out, too, how necessary it is to a logical holding of the Ransom, to see first what this showed; namely, the distinction of natures; that our Lord left a higher nature and took a lower nature, when He was made flesh, and that the object in that change of nature was, that He might, as a man, a perfect man give Himself as a Ransom for the first perfect man, Adam, and thus redeem Adam, and all lost in him.

“I also showed how, as a reward for this great work, He was given the Divine Nature in His resurrection, a nature that is still higher than the glorious one He had left, when He became a man. But either Mr. Paton’s mental vision or heart was weak, for he never took the step; and before long he, too, forsook the doctrine of the Ransom. Yet he still used the word Ransom, while denying the idea conveyed by the word; nor can he give the word any other definition, or otherwise dispute the correctness of the meaning which I attach to it, and which may be found in any English dictionary, and it is true to the significance of the Greek word which it translates, anti‑lutron, a price to correspond.

“Notwithstanding our best endeavors to save him, he drifted further and further away, until I was obliged to refuse his articles for the Tower, for the same reason that obliged me to longer refuse to spend the Lord’s money entrusted to me to assist Mr. Barbour, to spread the same pernicious theory.

“It was about this time that Mr. Jones informed me that the copies of the book, Day Dawn, which I had purchased, were all that were left; and, announcing it so that no more orders might come in for it to the Tower office, I took occasion to promise Millen­nial Dawn, which should present the Plan of the Ages in the clearer, more orderly way made possible by the new light shed upon every feature of it by the lessons from the Tabernacle. About this time Mr. Paton decided to publish another book under the name Day‑Dawn, revised to harmonize with his changed views, which ignored the Ransom, ignored Justification, and the need of either, and taught that all men will be everlastingly saved; not in any sense as a result of any sacrifice for their sins by Christ, but as the result of each one’s crucifying sin in himself – the law under which the Jews tried to commend themselves to God, but which justified none. Many and severe were the calumnies heaped upon me, because I exposed this change, told that the original book was out of print and the new‑book was on a different foundation from the book of the same name, which I had commended.

“During this time I was busied by an immense work known to many of you: the issue and circulation of over 1,400,000 copies of the two booklets, entitled Food For Thinking Christians and Tabernacle Teachings, whose united matter was about the same as that of Dawn, Volume 1. Besides this I was flooded with thousands of joyous and joy‑giving letters, from those who had received and were reading the booklets thus distributed, and asking questions, and for more reading matter. To add to our throng, financial complications came; and thus for four years I was hindered from fulfilling my promise of Millennial Dawn.

SEVENTH VOLUME PROMISED

“Nor is our promise of the complete set yet fulfilled; for although six volumes are now (1910) issued, a Seventh on Revelation and Ezekiel is still future – delayed by the growth of the general work, doubtless in accord with the Lord’s “due time.” But during those four years I struggled through an immense amount of labor and many drawbacks; but all cheerfully undergone for the sake of the Lord and His Saints, each year hoping to be able to gather the necessary hours to complete the first volume of Millennial Dawn.

“Some who may have the Three Worlds or the old edition of Day Dawn would perhaps like to know my present view of them, whether I still think them suitable books to loan to truth‑seekers. To this I reply, Certainly not! Because of the very immature views of God’s truth therein presented fall far short of what we now see to be God’s wonderful plan. Things which are now as clear as noonday, were then cloudy and mixed. The distinctions between the perfect human nature, to which the obedient of the world will be restored during the Millennial Age, and the Divine Nature to which the Little Flock, the sacrificing elect of the Gospel Age, are soon to be exalted, were then unnoticed. All that is now so clear, was then blurred, mixed and indistinct. Neither had we then seen the steps of planes now shown upon the Chart of the Ages, which have assisted so many to distinguish between Justification and Sanctification and to determine their present standing and relationship to God.

“Once I was much less careful about what I circulated or commended, but I am now learning every day to be more careful as to what sort of food I put before any of the Lord’s hungry sheep. The Lord has taught me that it is a responsible matter to be a teacher. Even Food For Thinking Christians, now also out of print, I no longer commend, because it is less systematic and therefore less clear than later publications.”

Much more could be added, but we believe it is sufficient for all who are “of the Truth” to realize Brother Russell was indeed That Wise and Faithful Servant of Matthew 24:45‑47 whom the Lord gave the honor of presenting the Plan of the Ages in all its purity, as a Key to the correct understanding of the Bible. As we wrote the foregoing concerning That Servant we were vividly reminded of the account of St. Paul: “In perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness.” (2 Cor. 11:26,27) In the beginning of his ministry he was confronted with a mountain of the most pernicious error, which he successfully met through much exhaustion and prayer. It is probably impossible for us now to appreciate fully the great work that this man of God accomplished; and we say once more with enthusiasm: God bless his memory.

Sincerely your brother, John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

=========================

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Friends: Greetings to you!

Would you oblige me by answering a few questions: Are there any surviving members of the Body; and how do you see the “Great Crowd,” and other believers?

Do you have any magazines available, tracts, etc.? I have all the Reprint Towers up to 1919, the Six Volumes, Tabernacle Shadows, Question Book, Berean Bible Manual, 1916 Convention Report, and What Pastor Russell wrote re his sermons.

I am an ex‑JW since 1968 – baptized in 1961. Do you ascribe to Israel’s return? The Concordant Publishing Concern had Robison from the JW’s or Pastor Russell? These say Jehovah created Satan as he is, using the latter half of Isa. 54:16.

What is your view of the second death, unpardonable sin, Judas’ future, and those who are said to have gone into second death – into the “lake of fire” means what?

Do you say the book of Revelation is literal ‑ e.g., the “two witnesses, the locusts” and is it only for Israel, as the Concordant interprets it as such?

Bible Chronology has been put aside by groups which have forsaken the Jubilees and parallels.

Did Paul take Judas’ place; and, if so, what of the twelve? justification by faith, also James 2:21,24?

I could be moving late in July, so could you Just reply by air letter, and hold any surface literature, as that mail is so very slow? Since 1968 I have made no move to be a member of any religious denomination. The best to you under the circumstances.

Brother ‑‑‑‑‑‑, AUSTRALIA

OUR REPLY:

Dear Brother ‑‑‑‑: Grace and peace be multiplied!

Your undated letter has just been received with much appreciation and thanks. However, from the post mark it took eight days to get here, so I suppose that this one may take that long. It seems that you have a very good religious library with all those writings of Brother Russell; and that is probably the reason you now have had enough of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. ........

Now for your questions: (1) Yes, it is our conviction that the door to the High Calling is closed; but it is our opinion that some of the saints are still with us.

(2) Regarding the “great crowd” (Rev. 7:9), Brother Russell wrote quite a lot on this class, and he emphasized that they are a spiritual group, with which we agree. Verse 15 tells us they are to be “before the throne;” therefore in their resurrection they must be in Heaven. However, they will be less in honor and standing than the Ancient Worthies, who come next to the Little Flock in honor and service. The present­ day Youthful Worthies share in this honor and service with the Ancient Worthies; and we hold to Brother Johnson’s teaching that Youthful Worthies will be won after Babylon is destroyed, or to the beginning of the Kingdom, as Brother Russell puts it.

(3) Regarding Israel’s return to Palestine, we certainly do hold to God’s promises, as did Brother Russell; and we hope to send you back articles that attest to our continued efforts to “Comfort the Jews.”

(4) As to God creating Satan as he is, that is just nonsense, Gen. 1: 31 says “all the works God made were very good.” But Satan is very bad, so God did not create him as he now is. He was the “son of the morning” (Light Bearer) before he sinned – Lucifer – and was a perfect spirit being then, just as Adam was a perfect human being before he sinned. (See Isa. 14:12)

(5) The second Death is the death penalty for the willfully disobedient – from which there is no recovery, after they have been saved from the Adamic death, either reckonedly in this Age, or definitely so in the next Age. We believe Judas went into the Second Death, as Brother Russell taught. Jesus said, “It had been good for that man if he had never been born,” (Matt. 26:24) And Acts 1:25 says he “went to his place.”

(6) The lake of fire is the second death. It is merely a highly figurative expression for total annihilation – “brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed.” (2 Pet, 2:12; Jude 10)

(7) No, the book of Revelation is certainly not literal – although the numerals are literal: Revelation 1:1 says “He signified (that is, sign ‑ i ‑ fied) it to his servant John.” I understand parts of Revelation sufficiently to recognize the many errors that are presented regarding Revelation.

(8) The Witnesses have rejected the Chronology as given us by Brother Russell; and they are now floating about in space – they do not know where they are. We have prepared a paper on Chronology which will go out in a few months.

(9) Paul took Judas’ place as one of the twelve. However, Jesus told the seventy to “rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.” (Luke 10:20) Thus, at that time there were seventy and twelve (including Judas) on trial for life, even though they had not received the Pentecostal blessing of the Holy Spirit (spirit‑begettal). Thus Judas could go into the Second Death.

(10) Frederick Robison was with Pastor Russell, named as one of the seven editors in his will, served in Atlanta Penitentiary in 1918 with seven other Society brethren, but later deflected to Concordant‑Versionism. We understand he then said he never believed that Brother Russell was that Servant. If that is the truth, then he was a rank hypocrite while he was serving in the Bethel Home under Brother Russell. We knew him personally. He was reasonably well versed in Greek and Hebrew.

We send out a monthly paper; and we have quite a few tracts for general distribution. These are free for the asking; and I now‑enclose Herald No. 130 and two of our monthly papers – Nos. 278 and 314, to give you some idea of our teaching. It will be our pleasure to place you on our mailing list for future papers and for pertinent back issues.

It is my hope that I have answered your questions satisfactorily. It would be interesting to us to know how you received our name, and from whom – also something about your family, whether they are with you in your pursuit of Truth.

With this comes my warm brotherly love and the assurance of my prayers, in which Sister Hoefle joins. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.

Sincerely your brother and servant, John J. Hoefle

……………………………….

Dear Sir:

I am a student at the University of Texas at Austin. I am presently researching a thesis topic and was recently given your name as a resource, by Isaac Rottenberg. My topic is American Christian Interest in Israel. I have had a difficult time finding current articles and information on this topic, and have had a poor response from most churches. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

I am trying to identify Christian groups which are actively supporting the nation of Israel. I would like to research the theological justifications for Christian support, as well as other reasons such as political, humanitarian or moral reasons for Christian interest. I will also include current action being taken such as interfaith dialogue, conferences, rallies, missions, broadcasts, political lobbies, etc., and draw comparisons between Protestants, Catholics and Evangelicals.

I am on a very short deadline and need information, articles, or publications quickly. I would be more than happy to pay for postage of any material you send me via Federal Express. I look forward to hearing from you soon and sharing my findings with you.

Thank you for your help. Sincerely, ------- (TEXAS)

..........................................

Dear Sir:

I am interesting to know about your “Epiphany Bible Students Association.” Your reply will be appreciated.

In addition I would like to obtain a catalog along with a price list of your publications.

Enclosed you will find a self‑addressed and stamped envelope for your convenience. I thank you in advance. Sincerely, ------- (NEW YORK)

NO. 327: THE BIBLE CHRONOLOGY

No. 327

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Some of our readers – a few not actively associated with us – have requested that we present a brief analysis of the Bible Chronology. This controversial subject has attracted the attention of some outstanding theological minds, a few of whom we shall discuss herein.

Bishop James Ussher – (b. Jan. 4, 1581, Dublin ‑ d. March 21, 1656, Reigate, Surrey) scholar and Archbishop of Armagh. He devised the system of chronology that became the source for the dates printed in the margin of many Bible editions, including the later‑criticized placing of the date of creation at 4004 BC. Became professor of theological controversies and twice vice chancellor of his alma mater, Trinity College, Dublin. From 1640 to the time of his death he resided in England. From 1647 to 1654 he was preacher at Lincoln’s Inn, a London Law Academy. An expert in Semitic languages – collected manuscripts both from the Orient and from Irish history.”

There are a number of bad air holes in his chronology calculations, which we shall discuss briefly later on. He lived during the time King James had the Bible translated into English (1610). Quite a few intellectuals have made comment on Ussher’s chronology; and, of those we have read, almost all of them say he has made important mistakes. Follows the comment from one of them:

“There is more or less uncertainty about all dates earlier than David and Solomon. Ussher’s dates in the margins of most of our Bibles, are not authoritative, but are convenient for keeping the order and succession of events. He finds the date of Adam, the first man, by a computation from the list of ages of the patriarchs given in Gen. 5, and they would be correct, if he had interpreted the record rightly. But it may be – as even conservatives think – that many links have been omitted, and only the more marked ones enumerated ... The chronology of the United Kingdom has been tested and modified by the Assyrian Eponym cannon found on slabs discovered in the ruins of Nineveh.”

However, some of Ussher’s critics, in attempting to correct him, make a worse mess of it than he did. As most of our readers know, Josephus gives us very good information about the Jews, and contemporary occurrences in neigh­boring nations; but his dates are very unreliable. And, where the cold figures of mathematics are involved, it cannot be almost, it must be exact. If the foundation is fragile, the whole structure will also be fragile. Similar confusion exists on the life, work and time of Jesus; but here Josephus is very emphatic that Jesus was the Messiah. The historian was contemporary with Jesus; and had first‑hand information of many of His miracles, which works convinced him that Jesus was the Christ.

This from another source: “The nations of antiquity did not have a uniform system of chronology; nor did they entertain the same notions and feel the same need of an exact and unvarying chronological method as does the modern world. The Assyrians and Babylonians appear to have been confident of their ability to date events of remote antiquity; but, as far as known, they did not have an era serving as a fixed standard from which to reckon all occurrences, but named each year after a public official (eponym or limmu). A list of these annual eponyms was kept.... In Babylonia, Palestine and Egypt documents were frequently dated by the regnal year of the reigning monarch. Unfortunately the scribes did not always reckon uniformly; but under the same king some reckoned the accession year on the first regnal year, while others considered the civil twelve‑month which followed the accession as the first year of the reign. Furthermore, the son was not infrequently associated with his father on the throne, and some scribes treated the first year of association with the father, and others the first of the sole reign, as the first regnal year.”

From this it is readily apparent that ancient history is not at all reliable in its dates; and this is undoubtedly the reason we are given very exact dates in the Bible. “On the selfsame day” (Ex. 12:17) the Jews left Egypt for Canaan.

And further from the same author: “Dates were placed in the margin of the Authorized Version in 1701. They represent the chronological scheme of Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, which he published in his “Annales Veteria et Novi Testamenti” in 1650‑1654. His work was careful and scholarly, and served a useful purpose for 2½ centuries. It gives only one of several possible arrangements. It is based in crucial points on Ussher’s private interpretation of disputed passages, in some of which he clearly erred, as has been proved in recent years. His system was worked out from the standpoint of modern chronological conceptions, and fails to do justice to the different notions which prevailed in antiquity. It was constructed without the invaluable aid of data which have been brought to light by modern research.... A few dates are fixed, and the chronology of certain periods is established... Much is tentative and is useful only for observing the sequence of events.”

William Miller – “(1782‑1849), American religious enthusiast who began preaching in 1831 that the present world would end approximately in 1843 with the bodily arrival (“advent”) of Christ. The Millerite movement declined after 1845, but elements of the group later organized the present Advent Christian Church (1860) and the larger Society of Seventh‑Day Adventists (1863).”

It is our opinion that William Miller had an excellent mathematical mind, a man of high scruples and great sincerity in what he believed. He received much ridicule and persecution from other religious groups; but we ourselves are persuaded that his dates were mostly quite sound, but his expectations for those dates were wrong. We may sometime give detail and our own comments on some of his calculations.

“Russell, Charles Taze, popularly called Pastor Russell. (b. Feb. 16, 1852, Pittsburgh, Pa. – d. Oct. 31, 1916, Pampa, Texas), founder of the International Bible Students Association, forerunner of Jehovah’s Witnesses (q.v.). Of Presbyterian and Congregational background, Russell renounced the creeds of orthodox Christian denominations and in 1872 organized an independent Bible study class in Pittsburgh. From 1877 he preached that Christ’s second advent would be invisible, that the end of the Gentile times would come in 1914, followed by war between capitalism and communism or socialism, after which God’s Kingdom by Christ would rule the whole earth. Russell (who was never ordained) dedicated his life and his considerable fortune to preaching Christ’s millennial reign. In 1879 he started a Bible journal later called the Watchtower, and in 1884 founded the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, which became a flourishing publishing business. His own books and booklets (notably six Volumes of Studies in the Scriptures) reached a circulation of sixteen million copies in 35 languages, and 2,000 newspapers published his weekly sermons.” (From Encyclopedia Brittannica)

It is our opinion that Pastor Russell gave us the correct chronology in the second volume of his Studies in the Scriptures – “The Time Is At Hand” – and we shall offer brief comments and figures from that book, with perhaps some of our own comments added. Therefore, we shall omit quotation marks; but we would emphasize that we are not attempting to palm any of his conclusions off as our own.

In this chapter we present the Bible evidence which indicates that six thousand years from the creation of Adam were complete with AD 1872; and hence that, since 1872 AD, we are chronologically entered upon the seventh thousand, or the Millennium, the forepart of which, the Day of the Lord, the day of trouble, is to witness the breaking into pieces of the kingdoms of this world and the establishment of the Kingdom of God under the whole heavens. While an understanding of chronology ‑is not essential to salvation (some of the very best of Christians throughout the Age did not have a clear understanding of it), yet a correct knowledge of it is of tremendous assistance to understanding the present “signs of the times,” the parallel dispensations, and many prophecies that apply especially to our time. We must ascertain first of all where we are on the stream of time. At present there are all sorts of “strong delusions” being bandied about – talking about a hundred thousand or a million years back in the history of man; but a proper understanding of chronology will quickly demonstrate the nonsense of such wild ideas. Chronology as it pertains to man must of necessity reveal to us a date for the beginning of man.

It should be readily apparent from what we have written thus far that we place little confidence in the efforts of the “smart boys” to give us this knowledge; but we are persuaded that the Bible does just that, so we shall confine ourselves to the Bible. Jesus said the Bible is “the word of Truth”; also, it is very much void of flippant talk or window‑dressing in what it contains. Therefore, the dates given us in Genesis 5 must be there for a purpose; and the first line in that chapter states it this way: “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” Also, the Bible tells us in Acts 17:26, “God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth.” This being true, then we all have a common ancestry, even though we may appear vastly different from our fellows, which has been caused by privations, climactic conditions, variation of diet, etc. The extremes of heat and cold have in themselves made great difference in appearance, habits of life, diet, etc., which we shall not detail here. However, there is one outstanding feature of being which separates man from beast: None of the beasts have any chin; whereas, we do not find a man anywhere‑without one, although the size and shape of the chin reveal much to the experts on physiognomy.

While there is much difference of opinion among those who accept the Bible record, the difference is limited to hundreds of years only; and not to millions, or even thousands of years among evolutionists, atheists, et al. Of course, there can be but one true answer to the years from Adam’s creation; and it is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate the truth of that conviction – not about the number of those years, but the exact number of years from creation to where we now are.

There is much sound logic in the theory that the great flood of Noah’s day was caused by the breaking of a great water ring about the earth, breaking at the outstart at the North and South Poles, and immediately putting into deep freeze all plant and animal life there. Just in recent years animals such as the deer, moose, etc., have been found near the North Pole with undigested grass in their stomachs, which is surely clear evidence that that part of the world was at one time verdant and sustained the life of herbivorous animals. There is no guesswork about this piece of knowledge, no necessity to “estimate” its import.

If we examine the records of the Gentile nations, there is just no reliability for more than about three thousand years; the first date in history on which the Gentile “experts” can agree is 536 BC It was in that year that Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to Palestine from their Babylonian captivity. That was about 2500 years back. Thus we can readily see how empty are the guesses of the evolutionists, etc., when they talk about a hundred thousand or a million years back. They are relying merely on untrustworthy tradition – loud talk which impresses some people who do not stop to examine it. The great Roman empire dates back only about 2800 years to its beginning, and even the first centuries of that are wrapped in uncertain records for three thousand years ago. If we consider Greece – at one time the intellectual center of the world – their dates are very sketchy prior to about 600 BC.

Thus, we are left with the Bible record, which is very positive in its statements about the origin of man a little more than six thousand years ago, of which more detail later on. The statement is very clear that the men who wrote that book wrote “as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:21)

As with history, so with chronology, the world has no reliable means of tracing back‑more than about twenty‑eight hundred years. Says Prof. Fisher, of Yale University: “An exact method of establishing dates was slowly reached. The invention of eras was indispensable to this end. The earliest definite time for the dating of events was established by Babylon, the era of Nabonassar, 747 B. C. The Greeks (from about 300 BC) dated events from the first recorded victory at the Olympic games, 776 B. C. These games occurred every fourth year. Each Olympiad was thus a period of four years. The Romans, though not for some centuries after the founding of Rome, dated from that event; i. e., from 753 BC”

The history of the remote past is so filled with vagaries and mythical traditions as to make them valueless for chronological data and unworthy of consideration. Says the American Cyclopedia: “The history of ancient nations, unless we make an exception in the case of the Hebrews, goes back for mythical periods of thousands or millions of years; and even after the records begin to assume a historical aspect, the discrepancies are very great... The Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian inscriptions are in extinct languages, and in characters long obsolete... Greek and Roman dates are authenticated to the first Olympiad, BC 776, and the establishment of the Consulate, BC 510, previous to which they are legendary. Herodotus is valuable only as to events of his own time, about 450 BC, and those of a century or two earlier.”

There are many other reliable writings, but we consider the foregoing to be sufficient. However, we add this comment from Clinton: “The history contained in the Hebrew Scriptures presents a contrast to the early accounts of the Greeks. In the latter we trace with difficulty a few obscure facts preserved to us by the poets, who transmitted, with all the embellishments of poetry and fable, what they had received from oral tradition. In the annals of the Hebrew nation, we have authentic narratives written by contemporaries under the guidance of inspiration. What they have delivered to us comes accordingly under a double sanction. They were aided by divine inspiration, in recording facts upon which, as mere human witnesses, their evidence would be valid.”

The Bible, our God‑provided history of the first three thousand years, is the only work in the world which, beginning with Adam, the first man mentioned in history, monument or inscription, whose name, the time of his creation and death are recorded, and from whom his descendants can be traced by name and age in successive links for nearly four thousand years, furnishes us a clear and connected history down to a period where secular history can be accepted as reliable. As we have often stated, this date is 536 BC, which is a well accepted and established date. From that date the Bible is pretty well silent, God undoubtedly realizing no further need for it; we may accept secular records from that date on. Thus we have a clear and connected record down to the present time. However, if we accept the prophecies in the Bible, we are carried on through the next thousand years from now, not in a detailed way, but generally clear enough to give us a good idea of what lies ahead of us. Taken together, the true history and prophecies of the Bible provide us with an overall picture of the whole course of events from creation to the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19‑23) and is thus a chart of all history.

From this record we have the evidence that from the creation of Adam to AD 1873 is six thousand years. The seventh thousand‑year day began then, so that we are now already over one hundred years in that seventh day. And before this day is completed, we may expect the great healing of the human race that is so vividly shown in John 5:1‑9, where the cripple was healed on the “sabbath day.”

The immense growth of Socialism, Nihilism and Communism since 1873 are unmistakable evidences that we are now in that time when “the God of Heaven is setting up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed ... it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms (the present social order), and it shall stand for ever.” (Dan. 2:44) And it is from the chronology that we are enabled to construct this reliable statement, of which we now present a factual framework:

FROM THE CREATION OF ADAM

To the end of the flood - 1656 years

Thence to the covenant with Abraham - 427 years

Thence to the Exodus from Egypt and giving the Law - 430 years

Thence to the division of Canaan - 46 years

Thee period of the Judges (the last one being Samuel) - 450 years

The period of the Kings (the last one being Zedekiah) - 513 years

Thee period of the desolation (Babylonian captivity) - 70 years

Thence to A. D. 1  - 536 years

Thence to 1873 - 1872 years

Total                        6000 years

As we analyze each of these periods, our readers will have little difficulty in confirming our figures from the Divine Record. While there are two breaks in the Old Testament record, these are clarified by the New Testament. Adam lived 130 years and begat a son called Seth (Gen. 5:3); Seth 105 years and begat Enos (5:6); Enos 90 years and begat Cainan C5:9), Cainan 70 years and begat Mahalaleel (5:12); Mahalaleel 65 years and begat Jared (5:15); Jared 162 years and begat Enoch (5:18); Enoch 65 years and begat Methuselah (5:21); Methuselah 187 and begat Lamech; Lamech 182 years and begat Noah (5:28); Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth (Gen. 7:6), In passing, we mention here that “Noah lived after the flood” three hundred and fifty years, and he died.” (Gen. 9:28) “And all the days of Noah were 950 years.” Thus he lived 600 years “in the world that was,” and 350 years‑ in “this present evil world.” A very remarkable career!

After The Flood ‑ “Shem begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood (Gen. 11:10); Arphaxed lived 35 years and begat Salah (11:12) Salah lived 30 years and begat Eber (11:14); Eber lived 34 years and begat Peleg (11:16); Peleg lived 30 years and begat Reu (11:22); Reu lived 32 years and begat Serug (11:20); Serug lived 30 years and begat Nahor (11:22) Nahor lived 29 years and begat Terah (11:24); the days of Terah were 205 years and he died (11:32) ‑ TOTAL 427 years.

While the above is also simple and exact, the next period is not so easily grasped; the direct line of chronology is broken until after the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. This figure could not be obtained at all were it not for the help given us by Paul and Stephen, who wrote and spoke by inspiration, Paul says this period was 430 years (Gal. 3:17). As shown by a comparison of Gen. 12:1‑5, 7 and Acts 7:2‑5, the covenant was made as soon as Abraham had fully complied with the conditions on which he was to receive it as soon as he had entered Canaan, which he did immediately after his father died, who died in Haran, on the way to Canaan. Having the date of the Covenant thus established by Stephen, and Paul’s statement that the law was 430 years after the Covenant, the break in the Old Testament chronology is thus bridged by the New Testament, The Covenant was made just after he entered the land. (Gen. 12:5‑7). Thus we have the date of the Covenant, and the beginning of the 430 years as immediately following Terah’s death, which completes the chain of the chronology to the giving of the Law. The first feature of the Law was the Passover – which was instituted the same day that Israel left Egypt. (Ex, 12:41‑43, 47, 50, 51), This then establishes the third period.

From Exodus To Division Of Canaan Among The Tribes – Israel’s forty years of wander­ing in the Wilderness of Sin (Heb. 3: 8, 9) was followed by six years of war in Canaan, and dividing the land among the tribes.

The Period Of The Judges – This is the most difficult portion of the chronology from the division of the land to the anointing of Saul as king. It is usually termed the period of the Judges, though judges did not fill that office continuously. The record given in the book of Judges and Samuel gives nineteen periods, approximating a total of 450 years; but they are disconnected, broken, lapped and tangled so much that we can arrive at no definite conclusion from them, and should be obliged to conclude, as others have done, that nothing positive could be known on the subject, were it not that the New Testament supplies the lack. Paul stated that after God divided their land to them by lot “He gave unto them judges about (during) the space of 450 years, until Samuel the Prophet. Afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul,” (Acts 13:19‑21)

The Period Of The Kings – From Saul to Zedekiah the record is as follows: Saul 40 years (Acts 13:21); David 40 years (1 Chr. 29:27); Solomon 40 years (2 Chr. 9:30; Rehoboam 17 years (12:13); Abijah 3 years (13:2); Asa 41 years (16:13); Jehoshapat 25 years (20:31); Jehoram 8 years (21:20); Ahaziah one year (22:2); Athaliah 6 years (22:12); Jehoash 40 years (24:1); Amaziah 29 years (25:1); Ussiah 52 years (26:3); Jotham 16 years (27:1); Ahaz 16 years (28:1); Hezekiah 29 years (29:1); Manasseh 55 years (33:1) Amon 2 years (33:21); Josiah 31 years (34:1); Jehoiakim 11 years (36:5); Zedekiah 11 years (36:11) ‑ Total 513 years.

The Seventy Years Of Desolation – “That the land had enjoyed her sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.” (2 Chr. 36:20‑23) From 536 BC to AD 1 is not covered by the Bible record; but is well established by secular history. Ptolemy, a learned Greek‑Egyptian, a geometer and astronomer, has well established these figures; they are generally accepted by scholars, and known as Ptolemy’s Canon. Combining the foregoing figures, we have from the creation of Adam to the year AD 1 a total of 4128 years; and adding 1872 years of the Christian era, we have an even 6,000 years from the creation of Adam.

Ussher’s Chronology Again ‑ This chron­ology compared with the foregoing is 124 years off – four errors of 18, 4, 2 and 100 years. Ussher dates the beginning of desolation of the land eighteen years earlier – due to the capture of a number of the best Jews (probably including Daniel) before Zedekiah was overthrown. But that event did not start the desolation of the land; that did not come until Zedekiah was dethroned and carried away to Babylon.

Also, he gives the reign of Jehoram as four years; whereas the Bible gives it as eight years. (2 Chr. 21:5; 2 Kgs. 8:17) Of the two years, Ussher makes a mistake of one year in the reign of Ahaz –­ 15 years, but the Bible gives it as 16 years. All these mistakes are the result of Ussher going elsewhere for his information, instead of accepting the Bible for his authority. He makes another similar mistake of one year in the reign of Jehoash – 39 years, but the Bible gives it as 40 years. Then he makes a mistake of 100 years in the period of the Judges. 1 Kgs. 6:1 says the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was 480 years from the Exodus from Egypt; but it should read 580 years; due probably to a copyist’s mistake, because the New Testament clearly gives this period as 450 years.

Here we digress a little to say the Jehovah’s Witnesses had the correct computation of the chronology as given in our figures above; but they have now gone back to Ussher’s error, and count the period as 550 years, as he did. Thus:, they are now so badly confused they do not know where they are. Using these erroneous figures, they came up with 1975 for the beginning of Armageddon; but not a thing happened in 1975 – just as nothing happened in 1925, when they made their first real bad blunder in their figures on the Jubilee cycles. Ussher has 4005 years from the creation of Adam to the year AD 1; whereas, the Bible gives that time as 4128 years; and we accept the Bible above all other secular writings.

Here we offer one more digression: The Jewish lunar year is 360 days; and that would make quite a difference with the solar year over a long period of time; but they now follow the Metonic cycle, a calculation which the pagan philosopher Met on produced in 360 AD, where he adds seven intercalated years to every nineteen years. The last month of the Jewish year is Adar; and in those seven years he adds Ve‑Adar, or the second Adar. Thus from the year AD 1 to 1982 there is only a few weeks difference in the solar and lunar calculations.

Since 1916 there has been much tampering with the chronology as given us through That Servant, the main offenders being the Jehovah’s Witnesses, although it should be said that some sixty years ago, when they still held to Brother Russell’s chronology, their leaders offered an excellent defense of that chronology against other groups that were contending that Brother Russell had made a 19‑year mistake in his reckoning of the Gentile Times. Since that time, however, the Witnesses have rejected their own teachings on many time features; and now they are badly confused with their own reckoning in various ways. But in this paper we have discussed only the chronology as we understand it.

As just stated, other groups were vigorously contending about that 19‑year mistake (?). But, when those nineteen years had come and gone in 1933 without the slightest hint anywhere that there was anything special about that date, they have simply dropped the subject without a word of further discussion of it. They had latched on to their error by accepting the figures of a certain “foolish virgin” (a Doctor H. Gratham Guiness), who had influenced many prominent minds with his error; and we are often impressed with this as we read the comments of some of them, and the dates they give – over a hundred years ago. Thus, it is very easy to become confused on some of their conclusions if we read them lightly ­– without stopping to determine if they are right or wrong.

Summary ‑ The Chronology as we have herein presented it is thoroughly Scriptural, and is proven so by the Bible’s chronological data, the Jubilee cycles, the times of the Gentiles (2520 years), the 2520 and 1845‑year parallels, the pyramid and other time features presented by the Edgar Brothers’ time charts. It has stood the test of time, and is impregnable to any assaults that may be made upon it. It is reasonable and mathematically sound.

YEARS BEFORE AND AFTER THE GREAT FLOOD

Many people have questioned the length of the years before and after the flood due to the long years of life of many living before the flood; but it is our opinion that the years before and after the flood were solar years – of the same length then that they are now. However, we would stress that there was no fermentation before the flood because there had been no rain: “The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth... But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” (Gen. 2:5, 6) Thus it is probable that the air itself was much different after the flood. The air before the flood was probably 80% oxygen and 20% nitrogen; whereas, it now is about 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen.

One gifted writer offers this comment about it: “The immense duration of life assigned to these ten Patriarchs (before the flood) has always been the occasion of difficulty. Attempts have been made to explain away the figures. (a) It has been suggested that the names of the Patriarchs represent dynasties. But the mention of the first‑born and of other children obviously refers to personal history. Nor does the transference of these enormous figures to the duration of dynasties greatly diminish the improbability, of their literal historicity. (b) It has been suggested that the Hebrew word for ‘year’ (shanah) is used in this chapter (Gen. 5) to denote a shorter period of time. But this arbitrary solution is devoid of any evidence in its favor. Familiar Hebrew words, like “years” in this chapter, must not be supposed, because of our difficulties in interpretation, to require new meanings,

“There is no reason not to interpret the statements respecting the longevity of the ten Antediluvian Patriarchs quite literally. The account of them belongs to the domain of primitive tradition. It would be strange, if the primitive unverifiable tradition were not accompanied by the exaggerations which popular legend weaves around prehistoric names.”

Many of our readers are quite familiar with the chronology as given herein, because we have taken the correct Bible chronology from the Second Volume of Studies in the Scriptures as compiled by That Servant; but we believe the words of St. Peter (2 Pet. 1:12, 13) are very timely here: “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the Present Truth.”

=======================

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: Warmest Christian greetings!

The paper I received for May 1982, No. 323, has a question of general interest in the back about the ransom. In your reply to the question you state that there is an embargo against the ransom by or for the tentatively Justified; and that embargo must be lifted before any application can be made for the‑world in general.

Compare this statement with Brother Johnson’s words in E Vol. 15, pages 250 and 251. As I read it here at home, it seems to say that only the consecrated spirit‑begotten during the Gospel Age, had any embargo against the merit of the ransom.

Could you please help me to a clear understanding of this matter? Also, I was wondering about the quasi‑elect, the loyal Justified, and the believing Jews. Would we consider these two classes to be unconsecrated? I would welcome any thoughts on these matters. Your brother by His Grace, ------- (CALIFORNIA)                         

Note: On top of page 252 of E‑15 Brother Johnson says that “Godward the application (for the world – JJH) will be made instantaneously after the complete death of the Great Company and Youthful Worthies, who are covered, the former vitalizedly, the latter tentatively, by the imputed merit.” The quasi‑elect and the faithful Jews are not in the court – they are of the “repentant and believing,” but unconsecrated, as is taught by Brother Johnson.

…………………..................

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle; Christian love ant greetings in the name of our Lord!

I must apologize for the delay in writing to you, but I assure you that you both have been in my thoughts and prayers. Please give Sr. Augusta our Christian love and greetings – and hope that her back problems are much improved.

Sister and I enjoyed very much the dear fellowship we experienced with you and all the brethren of the Mount Dora Bible class at the Memorial – and look forward to seeing all of you again soon.

And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you as you serve Him daily.

Your brother, ------- (FLORIDA)

……………………............

Dear John and Emily:

Thank you for your kind letter and most generous contribution to Bridges for Peace. I have sent word to Jerusalem to send us more books, and when they arrive, we will forward them to the friends you listed in your letter. It will probably take a couple of months to get the books over here, but it will be done.

Pat and I will be returning to Jerusalem next month and are looking forward to getting back. Keep us in prayer as we do you. I hope to get to see you again when I get back to Florida.

Shalom in Jesus, ------- (OKLAHOMA)

……………………….................

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle: greetings in Jesus:’ loving Name!

I received your latest articles, Nos. 323 and 324. Thank you so much! May God add His blessing – Wisdom and health to all. Brother Hoefle, your treatise of Isaiah is in my opinion the start of something great! I feel someone, if not you, will be inspired of God to bring Truths not yet realized from the lives and teaching of the Prophets. I feel that God through the Prophets showed a certain measure of His ways for man, not only in their day but also in our day, and the coming days: prior to the bringing back to the Light of Life the Ancient Worthies and ushering in His Kingdom.

I, along with many others, do not have the ability to glean from all these Truths correct or accurate understanding. I’m very humbly thankful that God is able to raise up willing and able Servants to bring to our attention “meat in due season.” I will be looking forward to many more articles on the subject of these two articles,

May God guide you in wisdom and understanding and the best health to you and yours.

Your brother in the hope of the Kingdom, with love and prayers ------- (Oklahoma)