NO. 341: MORE ON THE JEWS FROM THAT SERVANT - PART ONE

No. 341

Since our past articles do not nearly cover the prolific writing of Pastor Russell, we are reproducing more from his pen, which is as up‑to‑date today as is the Bible from which he gained his knowledge. We are quoting excerpts from Volume One and Two of the Studies in the Scriptures, as well as some from the Reprints and Question Book, with which some of our readers are acquainted. However, we do this not only to stir up their pure minds, but also for those that have no knowledge of his writings.

We begin with Volume 2, first published in 1889: “In previous chapters the fact has been referred to, that God’s dealings with the nation of Israel were of a typical character; yet few have any adequate conception of how fully this was the case. It has doubtless been observed by many that the apostles, particularly Paul, in instructing the Christian Church, frequently refer to some striking features of type and antitype in the Jewish and Christian dispensation. But a closer attention to the Apostle’s teachings will show that he does not only make use of a few illustrations drawn from the Jewish economy, but that in his close reasoning he calls up the whole Jewish system, but that as Divinely instituted (ignoring entirely the ‘traditions of the elders’ which were no part of that system), and shows that in all its features it was typical of the then dawning Christian dispensation, mapping out most clearly the course of the Christian Church in the Gospel Age, as well as pointing out its glorious work in the Millennial Age. (p. 201)

“Paul says that God has cast off the fleshly house from favor, during the time of the selection of the spiritual house; and that when the spiritual house has been selected, God’s favor will return to the fleshly house. He says: ‘I would not, brethren (the Church, or spiritual Israel), that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened fleshly Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. As it is written: ‘There shall come out of Zion the (promised) Deliverer (the Christ, our Lord, the head, and the remnants or faithful few, of both the nominal houses of Israel, which shall compose His body, the Church) and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And so all Israel shall be saved (for this is my covenant unto them) when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel (the High Calling), they are enemies (cast off) for your sakes (that you may have the preference and inherit the choice, the spiritual parts of the promises); but as touching the election (by which they were chosen to receive special earthly favors from God, promised to father Abraham and his natural seed), they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes; for the gifts and calling of God are not things to be repented of.’ What God has promised is sure of fulfillment. Knowing the end from the beginning, Jehovah never made a covenant which He would need or wish to break. (pp. 210 and 211)

“All these prophetic points in the past are clearly marked, and we should expect some evidence of God’s returning favor to Fleshly Israel, Jacob, in or about AD 1878. This we do find, in the fact that the Jew is now permitted privileges in Palestine denied for centuries past. And it was in that very year, 1878, when their double was full, and God’s favor was due to return to that people – that the Berlin Congress of Nations was held, in which Lord Beaconsfield, a Jew, then Prime Minister of England, was the central figure and took the leading part. There England assumed a general protectorate over the Asiatic provinces of Turkey, among which is Palestine; and the Turkish government amended its laws relating to aliens, which ameliorated the condition of the Jews then residing in Palestine, as well as partially opened the door for others to locate there, with the privilege of holding real estate. Previously, the Jew was but a dog, to be cuffed, kicked and abused by his Mohammedan ruler, and was denied the most ordinary privileges of existence, in the land sacred to him with memories of the past, and with promises touching the future. (pp. 218, 221)

“But we must remember that the year 1878 was but the turning point of returning favor to Fleshly Israel. We have already learned, from our study of The Times of the Gentiles, that Jerusalem and its people will continue to be trodden down, controlled and oppressed by the Gentiles, until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and hence, though favor was due and began in 1878, the Jew will not be received back into full favor until after 1914. (Not until the Gentile governments are “trodden down” in this “Time of Trouble” – and not fully until the inauguration of the New Covenant, after the Gentile rule is destroyed – JJH) Their rise again to favor will be gradual, as was their fall from it. (p. 221)

“As none but our Lord Jesus knew the import of the end of the Law Age and the beginning of the Gospel Age (the apostles know only in part  …. until after Pentecost), so we can expect only the Body of Christ, anointed with the same spirit, to clearly see the end of the Gospel Age and its weighty import. (Quite a few of the consecrated of both Jews and Gentiles, who are not of the Body of Christ, can now see the grand “steppings of Jehovah.” Too, there are quite a few of the nominal Christians who realize that this is the “Time of Trouble,” and are predicting Armageddon. Since they are ignorant of the grand Plan of the Ages, their predictions are erroneous – JJH) The poor Jews and many pro­fessed Christians do not yet know of the great dispensational change which occurred at the First Advent, the end of the Jewish Age and the start of the Gospel Age, and that 1878 marked so important a point as it did. Nor was it intended others than the faithful few should know, and not be in darkness with the world. To you it is given to know, said our Lord.” (p. 224 – published in 1889)

The following is from Volume One of the Studies in the Scriptures: ‘The time of trouble, as it will affect the world (since 1914, and most particularly during the past few years – JJH), will be after Babylon has begun to fall and disintegrate. It will be an overturning of all human society and governments. During the time of trouble, fleshly Israel, which was cast off until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, will be restored to God’s favor, and the Gospel Church, or spiritual Israel, will be completed and glorified. During the Millennial Age Israel will be the chief nation of earth, at the head of all on the earthly plane of being, into oneness and harmony with which all the obedient will be gradually drawn.

 “Their restoration to perfect human nature, as well as that of the world in general, will be a gradual work, requiring all of the Millennial Age for its full accomplishment. During that thousand years’ reign of Christ, the results of Adamic death will be gradually swallowed up or destroyed. Its various stages – sickness, pain and weakness, as well as the tomb – will yield obedience to the Great Restorer’s power, until at the end of the Age... will be complete... Israel after the flesh, including only Israelites indeed will be at the head of earthly nations; then the world of men, restored to perfection of being, like the head of the human race, Adam, before he sinned. This restoration will be accomplished gradually during the Millennial Age – the ‘times of restitution.’ (Acts 3:21)” (p. 241, published in 1886)

This will finish the quotations from Volumes 1 and 2 of the Studies in the Scriptures, although it is a small part of Pastor Russell’s teaching in the six volumes. But it is enough to prove that our dear Pastor taught these things, with Scriptural support, long before the world began to see that we are now in the “Time of Trouble’“ and many who realize it have a very imperfect view of the holocaust we are facing, and the Kingdom blessings that will follow.

We will now take up some of his voluminous teaching as given in the Watch Towers before his demise:

HATRED OF THE JEWS

“Benjamin Disraeli, better known as Lord Beaconsfield, wrote a political biography which is attracting considerable attention. Goldwin Smith thus refers to it: ‘It is natural that in the course of this political biography Disraeli, who had witnessed the exclusion of Jews from the House of Commons and who had found and was still finding his own Israelite descent an almost insuperable bar to advancement, should diverge for a moment from the main current of his narration to consider the grounds of the disabilities to which the Hebrew race had been so long subjected in Christian Europe. He begins by reminding us that the Saxon, the Slav and the Celt have adopted most of the laws and many of the customs of the Jews, together with all the latter’s literature and all their religion. The former are, therefore, indebted to the Israelites for much that regulates, much that charms and much that solaces existence. The toiling multitude rest every seventh day by virtue of a Jewish law; they are perpetually reading, that they may be taught by example, the records of Jewish history; they are continually singing the odes and elegies of Jewish poets; and they daily acknowledge on their knees with reverent gratitude that the only medium of com­munication between the Creator and themselves is the Jewish religion. Yet, at the hour when Disraeli wrote, the Saxon, the Slav and the Celt were accustomed to treat that race as the vilest of generations; and, instead of looking upon them logically as the channel of human happiness, they were accustomed to inflict upon them every term of obloquy and every form of persecution. Had it not been for the Jews of Palestine the good tidings of our Lord would have been unknown forever to the northern and western races.

“‘The first preachers of the Gospel were Jews, no others; the historians of the Gospel were Jews, no others. No human being has ever been permitted to write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit except a Jew. They nursed the sacred flame of which they were consecrated and hereditary depositories. When the time was ripe to diffuse the truth among the Gentiles it was not a senator of Rome nor a philosopher of Athens who was personally appointed by our Lord for that office, but a Jew of Tarsus, who founded the seven churches of Asia. That greater church, great even amid its terrible corruptions, that has avenged the victory of Titus by subjugating the capital of the Caesars and has changed every one of the Olympian temples into altars of the God of Sinai and of Calvary, was founded by another Jew, a Jew of Galilee. From all which Disraeli concludes that the dispersion of the Jewish race, preceding as it did for ages the advent of our Lord, could not be for conduct which occurred subsequent to his nativity, and that they are also guiltless of that subsequent conduct which has been imputed to them as a crime, since for him and his blessed name they preached and wrote and shed their blood, as witnesses.

“‘Disraeli says: The creative genius of Israel, on the contrary, never shone so bright; and when the Russian, the Frenchman and the Anglo‑Saxon, amid applauding theaters or the choral voices of solemn temples, yield themselves to the full spell of a Mozart or a Mendelssohn, it seems difficult to comprehend how these races can reconcile it to their hearts to persecute a Jew. In the course of the same remarkable chapter Disraeli refers to the futility of persecution in the case of the Jew. Egyptian Pharaohs, Assyrian kings, Roman emperors, Scandinavian crusaders, Gothic princes and holy inquisitors have alike devoted their energies to the fulfillment of this common purpose. Expatriation, exile, captivity, confiscation, torture on the most ingenious and massacre on the most extensive scale, and a curious system of degrading customs and debasing laws which would have broken the heart of any other people have been tried, and in vain “

“‘The Jews, after all this havoc, are probably more numerous at this late date than they were during the reign of Solomon the Wise, are found in all lands, and prospering in most. All which proves that it is in vain for men to attempt to baffle the inexorable law of nature, which has decreed that a superior race shall never be destroyed or absorbed by an inferior. Disraeli adds that all the tendencies of the Jewish race are conservative. The bias of the Jews is toward religion, property and natural aristocracy. For which reason Disraeli pronounces it got the interest of statesmen that this bias of a great race should be encouraged and their energies and creative powers enlisted in the cause of the existing social orders – Watchword.”’ (Reprints 3881, 3882 – October 15, 1906.

It is an appropriate supplement to the above to quote from the Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 3, p. 270:

“Lord Shaftesbury of England said recently: ‘There is a great jealousy of that wonderful people who are now coming to the front. And what a sign of the times it is, that, wherever the Jews are, they are either the most prominent people to be persecuted, or the most prominent people to take a lead in all the various professions!’ A prominent citizen of Berlin was asked, ‘What is the history of this strong anti‑Jewish feeling which you have in Berlin and throughout Germany?’ He replied, ‘I will tell you: These Jews, if they go into commerce, become the first merchants; if they go into the banking line, they become the first bankers; if they go into law, they become the first lawyers; or if they go into literature, they beat us all, Whatever career they undertake, they drive out the Gentiles; and I tell you, sir, we won’t stand it.”’

Alas, Disraeli’s efforts didn’t stop a Hitler, et al, although the Jewish Hopes still continue; and will continue until the fruition of their hopes is accomplished after this “Time of Trouble” upon all Gentile governments, which affects Palestine, and Jews in general. But God’s promises are sure, when they are replanted on their land they will NEVER be uprooted – even though it takes Jacob’s last trouble to bring them to the understanding of what God will do for them.

“The attempt of the Law Covenant to bring forth the natural seed first was abortive – a failure. First must come the spiritual Christ, Head and Body, partaker of the Divine nature, heir of all things. Then God’s favor will return to natural Israel. But since the Law Covenant completed its purpose and was demonstrated to be unavailable for them, because of the weakness of the flesh, God purposes to make with that nation, and with that nation alone, a New Covenant. Not a single statement of Scripture identified the New Covenant with the Gentiles. (This eliminates the Campers Consecrated of the LHMM, as well as the Great Multitude of dedicated Jehovah’s Witnesses – JJH) On the contrary, it is Israel’s New Covenant given to displace the Old or Law Covenant. Let us note well that the great mass of the early church were Hebrews and that the Apostle’s references to the New Covenant are almost exclusively in his epistle to the Hebrews. One exception is in Rom. 11:27, where the Apostle, although addressing Christians of Gentile birth, tells them that natural Israel was cast off for their sakes, but is still beloved for the fathers’ sake, and is again to have Divine favor, under a special covenant. The other (2 Cor. 3:6) refers to the royal priesthood as able (qualified) servants of the New Covenant – dying with Christ for its sealing. (Mal. 3:1)

“The more closely we investigate the New Covenant, the more we must be convinced of this fact – that it belongs to Israel alone, including the two nations into which they have divided at the death of Solomon – Israel and Judah. Note the statement of the Prophet, ‘Behold the days will come, saith the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant (the Law Covenant) which I made with them when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt.’ The Apostle, endeavoring to prove to the Jews that they could gain nothing under the Law Covenant, points out this prophecy, and tells them that the fact that God speaks of this as a New Covenant implies that a preceding (Law) Covenant had become old, valueless, and was preparing to pass away – ‘In that he saith, a New Covenant, he hath made the first old; now that which decayeth an waxeth old is ready to vanish away.’ (Heb. 8:13)

“The Oath‑bound Covenant Sure – Heb. 6:17‑20: The New Covenant is to take the place of the old and unsatisfactory one. There were two old Covenants, the Grace, or Sarah Covenant, and the Law, or Hagar Covenant, Which did the Apostle mean had grown old, valueless, and would pass away and give place to the New Covenant? Surely there can be no doubt for misunderstanding on this point. He meant the Law Covenant, for he says so. He did not mean the original Grace or Sarah Covenant, for he points out that our claim to relationship to God is under the original covenant, as members of the Body of Christ, members of the bride of Christ, joint‑heirs with Him...They did not need to wait for the New Covenant, the provisions of which apply only to those on the earthly plane...

“We come now to the other part of the question. What provision has God made for those Jews who bound themselves under the Law Covenant, from Moses’ day down to the First Advent; and for those who since then have not discerned the death of the Law Covenant and who will not be made aware of it until after the spiritual seed shall have been completed and glorified? If they have NOT LOST ALL SHARE AND PRIVILEGES IN CONNECTION with God’s special mercies, where do they come in? We answer that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others before the Law Covenant were not bound by it, yet were not in the fullest sense justified to life until the Abrahamic Covenant had been established at Calvary. Their faith, then, entitled them to a share in the merits of that sacrifice. Likewise throughout the period of the Law Covenant, before it was annulled at the cross, there were Ancient Worthies who lived above the masses of their time, and who, although bound by the law, had above it a living faith in the original Oath‑bound (Sarah) Covenant of Grace... Although they lived while the Law Covenant was alive, they foresaw its death and trusted not in it, but in the superior Covenant of Grace....

“Thus the Scriptures account for the faithful ones of the past under the Covenant of Grace. But what now shall we say respecting those earthly Israelites, who lived not on that higher plane of faith, but of whom the Apostle says, ‘Our twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come’ into this promise. (Acts 26:7) Were they all deceived? Will they get those special blessings?

“God’s Gifts and Callings Sure – Rom. 11:29‑32: Nay, we answer, the gifts and callings of God are things not to be repented of. He knew the end from the beginning – knew exactly what Israel would be and do, and was not disappointed, and all of the plans and promises to that nation were made from the standpoint of this knowledge. Although the chief feature of the Sarah Covenant was secured by our Lord Jesus as a trophy of His victory over sin and death, and although He laid down His human nature completely to this end, nevertheless, the Divine arrangement is such that the blood of Christ, the merit of His sacrifice of earthly things, must accrue to the benefit of the natural seed of Abraham, because it all goes to seal the New Covenant, which belongs exclusively to fleshly Israel...

“Thus while natural Israel had been counted enemies for our sakes, for the Gospel’s sake, our only opportunity for gaining the great prize is in connection with the sealing of a New Covenant between God and Israel. How beautifully the features of the Divine program balance! Their loss was our gain, and our gain through sacrifice becomes their gain; and, altogether, the Lord will be glorified!...

“The New Covenant will be the Law Covenant over again, only that it will have a better Mediator – The Christ, Head and Body, who will be able to make allowances for the imperfections of Israel’s heredity. The sins of the past will all be forgiven’ their physical blemishes waiting for restitution. They will be dealt with according to what they are, allowances being made in each individual case, and each will be required to heed the voice of antitypical Moses. ‘And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not heed that Prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from amongst the people!’ (Acts 3:23)

“Since God’s favors are thus marked out for the heavenly and earthly Seeds of Abraham, it follows that the blessings of other nations will come about through their affiliation with these. In other words, we may understand that the Divine government established in Israel in the hands of the Ancient Worthies will be the center of Divine favor, and the people of other nationalities must come to this center for their supplies of truth and grace. Thus the Prophet represents the matter, saying, ‘Many nations shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain (kingdom) of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth from Mount Zion (the spiritual kingdom) and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem (the center of the earthly kingdom).’ (Micah 4:2)

“‘For this is my Covenant to them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the elect, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake.’ (Rom. 11:27, 28) There is no room to doubt that the Apostle here is referring to Israel’s covenant, the New Covenant, which Cod will make with them after this Gospel Day.” (Excerpts from Reprints 4319, 4320, 4321 and 4322, January 15, 1909)

“This expression, New Covenant, is not used in connection with any others of mankind than the Jews, because it is not true that God will make a New Covenant with the remainder of mankind. As the Apostle suggests, the word ‘New’ here implies a precious covenant which was counted Old, and this Old Covenant was not made with other nations or peoples than the Jews, of whom God declared that He ‘took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, which my covenant they brake.’ (Jer. 31:32) Hence, we should understand that all references to the New Covenant are references to God’s arrangement under Moses, under the conditions of which they are still condemned and bound. By this new, substitutionary covenant, God will shortly release the Jews from the condemnation of the Old Covenant.

“It will be in an incidental way that other nations will be granted the privilege of coming under the same laws and arrangements with natural Israel in the blotting out of sin and in being restored to the Divine image and thus to full harmony and fellowship and covenant relationship with God, which relationship all may maintain, if they will, throughout eternity. ....

“We are not necessarily to understand the blotting out of sin to signify the blotting out of the recognition of sin. We may rather assume that through all eternity this great insurrection or rebellion – the reign of sin and death for over 6,000 years upon this earth – will be a standing lesson to all of God’s creatures throughout His universe. True, it is said of Israel, ‘Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more,’ but this should be understood as signifying that their sins will be remembered no more against them in a condemnatory sense.” (Reprints 4659, August 1, 1910, excerpts from top, cols. 1 and 2)

“The Jewish Question: Some one may say, We do not see the Jews back in Jerusalem yet. Is Jerusalem still trodden down of the Gentiles? (Written in 1914 – JJH) In reply, we ask, What do you think our Lord meant when He said that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled? Do you think that the walking over the stones and streets in Jerusalem was what the Lord meant by the treading down of Jerusalem? If so, you were very foolish in your thought. Jerusalem represents the Jewish polity, government, institution, people. The Jews had already been trodden down for centuries before our Lord’s remark – in fact, they were under the heel of the Romans at the time Jesus uttered those words; and they would continue to be under the dominion of those Gentile governments ‘until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’ (more about the Gentile Times later in this article – JJH)

“Gradually the Jewish people have been emerging from their down‑trodden condition – persecuted for eighteen censures. The time is here when the message has been and is still being delivered to them, as recorded in Isa. 40:1, 2: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.’

“This prophecy was fulfilled, as pointed out in the Studies in the Scriptures, in the year 1878; and ever since that time, the star of Judaism has been rising; the Jews have become more prosperous ever since, as they themselves realize. Nowhere have they been so prosperous as in the United States, where they have received their greatest blessings.” ... (Reprints 5568, col. 1. Nov. 1, 1914)

One might say, even though they now have their own polity, government, etc., that they are still in much difficulty with the Gentile governments. And so they are, but it is not due to the fact that her “warfare” is not accomplished – as Israel is not now suffering because of her past sins. However, we are now in that great “Time of Trouble” in which the Gentile governments are being trodden down; and Israel is suffering the same as the rest of mankind during the process. But Jerusalem will never be completely trodden down by Gentile governments, although she will have one last trouble during Anarchy, in which she will call upon the Lord, and He will fight her battles like in the days of yore. The Lord will hear their cry, and deliver her – and praise be to God, that will be the last of the great “Time of Trouble.” The next will be the inauguration of the New Covenant, in which the Jews will be the chief nation; in fact, by the end of the Kingdom, all will be part of that Jewish polity and will receive the blessings of the New Covenant, first made with the natural Jews. (Jer. 31:31 – also see Psa. 107:17‑20)

Now we will quote some from Pastor Russell’s Question Book:

“Question (1909): Kindly give us some idea regarding the Jews returning to Palestine, and in what numbers are they returning, and is the land more produc­tive than it used to be?

“Answer: The Jews are not going back very rapidly, but they are making ready to go back, and the land is becoming more productive. The prospects are that the new Turkish government, which has a kind of control over Palestine, will be more favor­ able to the Jews than the former Turkish government was, and so we look for something in that line before long.

“You remember when we pointed out in the Dawns about the return of the Jews to Palestine, they themselves had not found it out. It is not coming as fast as we might have been inclined to expect. The Jews are to be re‑established in Palestine, not that all Jews that are in this country are going back, for many are better satisfied here. Those likely to go there are the ones called ‘orthodox’; and their hearts are turning toward Jerusalem. No doubt but that when the land shall be open to them, then Russia will thrust them out of their country, and they will go back in large numbers.” (Bottom of p. 354, and top of p. 355)

“‘Before I was Afflicted I went Astray’ (Psa. 119:67): During the ‘Seven Times,’ then, the Jews have had severe tribulations and discipline. All of God’s people, of every Age, have needed chastisements for their correction and development, some more and some less. God says to Spiritual Israel, ‘For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? If ye be without chastisement, then are ye bastards (spurious) and not sons.’ (Heb. 12:8) And so it has been with the House of Servants, Natural Israel. Because they were God’s Covenant people, therefore He dealt with them; and He has really given them, during these 2,520 years, experiences which will prove favorable to such of them as will incline to do right. Those bitter experiences proved so favorable that when Jesus came, they as a people, were the holiest in the world; and at that time they had suffered only a small portion of these ‘Seven Times.’

“So we find that the preaching of the Gospel by our Lord and His Apostles found about five hundred of the Jews ready to believe and accept Jesus as Messiah. And soon afterwards, just after Pentecost, there were quite a number of thousands who believed. These, we are told, were Israelites indeed in whom there was no guile. It is very remarkable that there was so large a number in Israel ready to receive the Messiah. This would not have been the case had they not been passing through disciplinary experiences. These experiences were all such as would tend to keep them separate from the Gentiles, keep them from mixing with any of the peoples of the earth,

“If the Jews had prospered under the various governments – Babylon, Medo‑Persia, Greece and Rome – they might have intermingled with these other peoples and have ceased to be Jews altogether. And the same is true of their prosperity since their national overthrow under Titus, AD 70. In God’s providence the Jews have continued to have such tribulations throughout this Gospel Age as to have kept them separate from the rest of the world; and thus their minds have been kept in that condition of humility in which they will be best prepared for the Lord’s service when the time of their complete restoration to favor shall come.

“Our thought is that when the proper time arrives the Israelites will be more ready for the Kingdom than any other nation. The afflictions through which they have passed, their obedience to the Law, etc., will have prepared them for the Kingdom. We are not, therefore, to consider this long period of their suffering and affliction merely as tribulation, as punishment. For their ultimate good the Jews were to be trodden down of the Gentiles until the full Gentile dominion.” (pp. 356,357)

Israel’s Double – This article would not be complete without giving some explanation about Israel’s ‘double.’ Four times in the Old Testament there is emphasis placed upon Israel’s double. One of these is Isa. 40:2: “She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The double in this text is from the Hebrew ‘kephel,’ and means a thing folded in the middle, as when we fold a piece of paper exactly into two pieces, each half is exactly the same. This same double is given three other times in Isa. 61:7; Jer. 16:18 and Zech. 9:2. It is translated from the Hebrew Mishneh; and means “a second portion, a repetition.” The words kephel and mishneh are not synonymous, although they are almost identical in meaning.

Thus the question properly arises, What do these words mean in relation to Israel? They tell us Israel is to receive this ‘double’ “for all her sins.” Thus, the double of punishment must apply to the double of favor which came to Israel. In Amos 3:2 we are told, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” When Moses read the Law to Israel at Sinai he gave them something no nation before or since ever received directly from the Lord God. However, the Jews did not actually become a nation until the death of Jacob in 1812 BC, at which time they were banded together – the twelve tribes – as a unit; and God dealt with them as such. His blessing was with them so long as they tried to keep the Law Covenant, and they were punished when they failed to do so. But even those punishments were a blessing to them because they brought them to repentance and an earnest desire to have God’s favor once more.

During all those years God dealt with them much as a father deals with his children. It should be stressed here that during all that time they never persecuted any of their heathen neighbors because of their religion; their wars were never because of that. But they shamefully mistreated their own prophets. Why? Because those prophets gave them stern reproof for their transgressions – truths which they would not hear. And Jesus reminded them of this in Matt. 23:31; Luke 11:49, 50; 13:34. Then He told them God had finally sent them His own son – surely, they would hear Him! But what did they do? They crucified “the Lord of Glory.” Adding 1812 B.C to 33 AD (their final and most shameful act) was a favorable period of 1845 years; and the texts we have given say they would receive punishment of the same length of time; namely, 1845 years; and adding this 33 (the year of the crucifixion) would bring us to 1878 – when their ‘double’ of disfavor would cease,

And do we find this true? Most certainly, as we have pointed out, Disraeli gained for them concessions at the Berlin Congress of Nations which they had not previously enjoyed, although they had used their wealth, their keen intellects, even their armies, to secure such rights for 1845 years, but had been unable to so do. And since 1878 favor has been visibly returning to them; thus, they are now established as a nation once more in their beloved Canaan land, offering to our minds indisputable proof that “her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.” (Isa. 40:2) And may our reader be strengthened and encouraged by this “Present Truth.” (2 Pet. 1:12)

Our Pastor has treated on the Jewish promises and prospects voluminously, and he was consistent in all he presented, as he gained his knowledge from God’s Word, and continued therein until his demise. It is little wonder that many Jews have fondly called him their Pastor, as no other man since the days of the Apostles has done more for the Jews than he. It is our purpose to renew and revive as many of our brethren as we can reach, by reproducing the teachings of this wonderful man of God.

“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” (Psa. 89:34) “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. “ (Psa. 34:8)

NO. 340: IN MEMORIAM OF THAT SERVANT

No. 340

In Eph. 4:10‑13 the Apostle Paul gives a terse outline of the Gospel‑Age Church in its organizational nature; and we offer some of this Scripture from the Diaglott: “He (Jesus) is the one having ascended far above all of the Heavens, so that He may fulfil all things. And He gave indeed the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and shepherds and teachers... for the work of service... to the building up of the body of  the Anointed One.” The Apostles in this text refer exclusively to the Twelve, who wrote by inspiration, and were given plenipotentiary powers by Jesus. “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matt. 16:19)

Next in order, and in rank in the Church are the “prophets.” These cannot be the Old Testament prophets because they are not a part of the Church; therefore, they must be men of rank in the Gospel Age, and we understand them to be included in the “seven stars” of Rev. 1:16: “He (Jesus) had in his right hand seven stars.” On page 345 of the 1916 Watch Tower, there is this comment about them:

“This One whom we thus know, thus recognize, as the instructor and Caretaker of the candlesticks, we are also to recognize as having in His right hand – in His favor as well as His power – seven stars, the angels, the messengers, of the seven churches. That they are in His right hand seems to teach us that these should be considered as in some special sense under the Master’s guidance, protection and care in the interest of the Churches which they represented.”

So far as we know, That Servant never named seven individuals as these “seven stars”; however, immediately after Brother Russell’s demise, J.F. Rutherford named St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther and Brother Russell as the “seven stars.” While we agree that the above seven are a part of the “seven stars,” we believe there were others. This list omits Claudius of Turin, the first Protestant Reformer, John Wesley, Servetus, Hubmaier, and many other saintly reformers of the Gospel Age. We believe the “seven stars” are a composite group of forty-nine ‑ 7 X 7 = 49 – just as The Mystery of God, The Christ, is a composite group of 144,001 members. “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand... The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches...” (`Rev. 1:20) “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7)

It is not our purpose here to elaborate upon the “evangelists” (lesser lights in the general church than the “prophets”) or the “shepherds and teachers” (local elders), other than to note that these four classes of leaders constitute the full and complete organization of the Church ‑ and is not an organization made by man. This organization should not be added to nor taken from. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” (Rev. 22:7,18) And, since St. Paul wrote by inspiration, we may accept his outline as being infallible. He further defines these two classes of Church leaders in Eph. 2:19, 20, Dia.: “You are fellow-citizens with the saints ... having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.” During the Age many have attempted to add to, or take from this organization, or arrangement, for the Church, which has brought them the condemnation of Rev. 22:18, 19. They are the class described in Psa. 107:11: “They rebelled against the words of God (the true Bible doctrines) and contemned the counsel of the Most High (the organization of the Church as given by St. Paul).”

The same Apostle gives the Church organization in slightly different words in 1 Cor. 12:27-29, Dia.: “Now you are a body of Christ, and members in part. And those whom God placed in the congregation, are first Apostles; second, Prophets; third, Teachers... All are not Apostles; all are not Prophets; all are not Teachers.” Here again St. Paul says the Prophets are second to the Apostles, and given their place in the congregation for the work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the saints. And, since God has so placed them, woe be to any who attempt to place themselves into such positions, or to ignore those that God has so placed. When the great apostasy developed, after the demise of the Apostles, the Church of Rome tossed aside completely the organization of the Church – just as they did with all the important teachings of the Bible – they “rebelled (revolutionized) against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High.” And in like manner, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done much the same thing since Brother Russell’s demise. “And on this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood (such as Millions Now Living Will Never Die; and more recently, their establishment of the Kingdom in this “present evil world,” etc.); in order that all those may be judged who believed not the truth, but approved the iniquity.” (2 Thes. 2:11, 12, Dia.)

“Them that honour Me I will honour” (1 Sam. 2:30); and we do well also to honor those that the Lord honors – not as ‘angel’ worshipers, but in sound and proper appraisal of their position in the Household, their service in the Household, and as examples of the believers in the Household. Actuated by this text, we now offer some observations concerning Brother Russell in memory of his passing beyond the vail Oct. 31, 1916.

Some of the Gospel‑Age prophets had a special doctrine that they emphasized above all others, and which acted somewhat as the foundation of all their teachings; and we believe this was true of Brother Russell, which we would briefly describe as – A correct understanding of the Atonement as portrayed in Leviticus 16, the central teaching of which is Restitution.

THE PATH OF THE JUST

“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18) This truth has applied all during the Age to the course of the individual believers, and to the Church as a body; and it was pointedly true of Brother Russell in his own endeavors to arrive at the truth on various subjects, some of which we now describe. First, however, we would commend the courage of the man for casting aside the vast accumulation of error that existed in the early days of his ministry. Many of those errors were firmly entrenched as the truth by the powerful leaders of Christendom; and it required not only courage, but unusual brilliance of mind to separate the wheat from the chaff. Even those truths that were held by the various systems, such as justification by faith, baptism, etc., much polishing was necessary to bring them to the clarity with which we now understand them, and which we accept as fact, often not considering the great amount of work that was required to hand them to us as we now accept them in commonplace fashion. And one of these great truths was the doctrine of Restitution, which had been completely lost during the Dark Ages.

Some detail on the subject will clarify this. Brother Russell had been closely associated with Messrs. Barbour and Paton as co‑editor of the Herald of the Morning; but in 1878 Mr. Barbour began to develop his errors in denial of the Ransom; and he cunningly stressed Leviticus 16 as proof of his contention. This distressed Brother Russell greatly. He knew the arguments were wrong, but he did not understand the truth clearly enough to refute them. Knowing they had come into the Harvest of the Gospel Age, he logically concluded that any error that appeared would be clearly refuted by the Truth, because the time had come for “the hail (hard sharp Truth) to sweep away the refuge of lies. Therefore, he sent word to the foreman of his Pittsburgh store that he would not come that day, and for him to conduct the business as usual in his absence. Knowing that Hebrews discusses more than any other Biblical book the tabernacle types, and that St. Paul pos­sessed a very clear understanding of those types, he spent that whole day in study and prayer in a strenuous effort to learn the truth about them. By evening he was still completely in the dark, so he spent the next day in the same manner, and with the same results. He went to his task the third day, and about noon came to Heb. 13:10‑16, wherein the Apostle contrasts the sacrifices of the Jewish ritual with those of the Gospel Age – first of all the sacrifice of Jesus as the antitype of the Atonement Day bullock. Realizing that his prayers and efforts had finally been rewarded, he jubilantly exclaimed to his wife: “I have it! I have it!” To which she answered, “Do not be too sure.” However, going over the verses again with her, he reassured himself that he had the truth, and that Restitution was the logical answer to the types in Leviticus 16.

However, he then became measurably afraid of his own findings, so that, instead of rushing into print with this phenomenal truth, he called a conference of leading brethren, and discussed the subject with them for eight days, making notes there that he later published as Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. Excepting Mr. Paton, those leaders were convinced of the truth, and began to preach it to the Allegheny Ecclesia; but they, too, were hesitant about accepting it. But once finally convinced, they heartily began to preach it to others; thus, the light on this great doctrine shone more and more unto the perfect day. The “perfect day” in our text would be better rendered “median day,” meaning the position of the sun at high noon, when it is brightest and when it seems to stand still in the heavens.

The great truth contained in Tabernacle Shadows immediately swept away the refuge of lies on eternal torment, the consciousness of the dead, confusion on the establishment of the Kingdom, etc. However, almost always during the Harvest there was primarily a hesitance on the part of those hearing it for the first time to believe it; but persuasion and detailed explanation usually convinced them, after which they, too, accepted it with enthusiasm and then began to preach it to others.

Perhaps a little digression should be injected here. In Ex. 34:29‑35 we are told that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai his face shone, “and the children of Israel were afraid to come nigh to him... Moses gave the children of Israel all that the Lord had spoken with him... Till he had done speaking he put a vail on his face.” St. Paul also tells us in Hebrews that those things that occurred at Sinai were typical of the establishment of the Kingdom here in the end of the Age. And the brethren, inoculated as they all were, with the colossal errors of the past, at first feared to receive the Truth. Of course, the first to respond fully to the Tabernacle truths was Brother Russell himself, although even he was overwhelmed by its brilliance for a time; but the Lord then used him as the vail between Him and the brethren to buffer the dazzling effect at first experienced. From this standpoint, Brother Russell was the antitypical vail that the Lord used to convey new and radical truths to the Harvest workers.

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

BELOVED OF GOD

Those who knew him well loved Brother Russell as a father – probably loved him more than they did any other human being. And this affection shown toward him was never abused, nor did it mar his humility. He was also greatly beloved of God. We understand he was the antitype of Daniel in certain of his activities; and three different times (Dan. 9:23; 10:11; 10:19) we are told he was greatly beloved. “O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened.” (10:19) He was also the antitype of Eldad in Num. 11:26,27; and Eldad means Beloved of God.

His demise in 1916 greatly saddened the entire Truth movement, although it was not long after 1916 before sundry and subtle errors beclouded the minds of many, as the errorists endeavored to take from Brother Russell what God had given him. The following from E‑9:319 is a glowing tribute still nourished by many who knew him well:

“He will ever occupy in our hearts the large place that his holy character, unselfish service and faithful sufferings have won for him. That his memory may still continue fragrant and blest to us, let us together briefly review the activities, achievements and attainments of this eminent saint of God. He certainly was a SCHOLAR in the true sense of that term. Those who require a university diploma as indispensable evidence of learning will deny him the merit of scholarship. However, there are not a few cases of scholars that were self‑made, gaining their knowledge apart from the schools of the learned world. Among such our Pastor won a high place. Apart from English he was not a linguist, though he learned how to use well for his Biblical work the gains of the best scholarship in Greek and Hebrew. He was deeply versed in history, as his writings attest. So thoroughly did he understand business that able financiers eagerly sought his advice. His writings show that he was at home in the perplexing questions of industry, economics, sociology, capital and labor. The realms of philosophy were deeply explored by him, and he was an expert in theoretical and practical psychology and phrenology. Few have understood the workings of the human intellect and heart so well as he. Human anatomy and physiology were open books to him. His knowledge of these sciences, combined with that of medicine, made him a physician; and though he had no medical diploma, he attained better results in healing art than the average physician. However, his real eminence in learning was in the domain of theology, in which he was without a peer since the days of the Apostles. His knowledge of the Bible was phenomenal; and when other theologians will have been discarded, he will be recognized as a standing authority in this greatest of all sciences.

“Naturally such a scholar would be a writer. Very few human beings have written more than he. His correspondence alone was sufficient for the life work of an industrious and talented man. When it is remembered that some years over 300,000 letters and postals were written to him, and that he supervised the answers to this huge mail, we can realize something of the amount of his correspondence and the time and labor involved. As an author he produced six unrivaled books on the Bible whose combined circulation during his life aggregated 10,000,000 copies. As a bookleteer he published a number of booklets of great value, one of which, on Hell, has been circulated more widely than any other booklet ever written. He produced over 200 tracts, some of which attained a circulation of over 50,000,000 copies. His sermons, appearing regularly every week for thirteen years, were published part of that time simultaneously in over 2,000 newspapers, having a combined circulation of over 15,000,000 copies. He edited a semimonthly religious magazine with a circulation of about 45,000 copies.”

The foregoing is the comment of an eminent scholar, a scholar who had the advantage of higher institutional learning; yet his superiority of schooling did not deter him in giving to Brother Russell the glowing tribute reproduced above. He freely admitted that Brother Russell was his intellectual superior, and gladly rendered honor to whom honor was due. And, as respects Brother Russell’s executive ability, we were told that a prominent industrialist once said of Brother Russell that he would be worth two million dollars a year to any corporation large enough to afford such help.

THE PAROUSIA MESSENGER

It is our opinion that the opening words of the Jeremiah prophecy are well adapted to describing Brother Russell: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying... I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee. Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer. 1:4‑10) In his youth Brother Russell was acutely conscious of his lack of higher learning; thus, he considered other prominent religious leaders more qualified than he to declare the truths that had been given him. But he soon recognized that the task was his – that the Lord had indeed put His words into his mouth.

With the great advances that had come since 1874 in inventions, in learning, and in the professions, Christendom was basking in the security that no evil could befall them. This was truly a strong deterrent to the preaching of a great world war breaking forth in 1914; and it required exceptional courage and faith to continue to announce it. In fact, we are told that the Gideons (the group that place the Bibles in Hotels) had a convention in Toronto in 1913, and there made the proclamation that it was nonsense to expect a great war in a year, that Christendom was much too advanced for any such folly. With everything so calm on the surface, the casual observer was inclined to agree with them. It was causing Brother Russell some concern, too, so he made careful recheck of the chronology, but could find nothing wrong with it.

When the war did start right on time in 1914 it was like a bolt of lightning from a sunny sky. With the assassination of the Austrian Archduke and his wife, as they were taking a carriage drive through a part of Serbia, the world became a holocaust in twenty‑four hours’ time; and it gave loud testimony to the world that Brother Russell had been “ordained a prophet unto the nations.” Inasmuch as he had made crystal clear the meaning of the Lord’s Parousia – over the thousand years, and in its various stages – Brother Johnson began to refer to him as the Parousia Messenger. This title is not to be found in the Bible by direct statement, but it is easily conceived by considering a few texts. In Psa. 91:11 it is stated, “He will give his angels a charge concerning thee”; and the Manna comment for November 17 explains that these angels would be human messengers provided for the special oversight and welfare of the church. Thus, Parousia Messenger could aptly be stated Parousia Angel, but Parousia Messenger makes the thought a little clearer to the average reader.

He was not only the Parousia Messenger, but he was That Servant (Matt. 24:45‑47), he was the prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5), he was “that faithful and wise steward” (Luke 12:42), he was one of the stars (Rev. 1:16), he was one of the prophets in the Gospel‑Age Church, and those who knew him intimately would readily testify that he was one of the foundation stones in the Parousia Church (Eph. 2:20), he was a pilgrim, he was a warrior and, as such, he was the antitypical Parousia David. He was also the antitypical Eleazar of the Gospel‑Age Harvest. As such he had full charge of the antitypical Tabernacle, the Church: “He shall make him ruler over all His goods.” (Matt. 24:47) In this he was the parallel of the twelve Apostles in the Jewish Harvest. He was a genteel man, but most of his adult years were spent in fighting – set for the defense of the Truth. In Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, under biographical names, it lists Charles Taze Russell (1852‑1916) “American Pastor.” And the same dictionary lists Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869‑1942) “Judge” – American Leader of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is our hearty recommendation that wherever two or more brethren may meet together that they hold a memorial service the last week in October, which meeting could include testimonies, and perhaps a reading of some sort pertinent to his life, work and character, as we all join in saying, God bless his memory’

THE EPIPHANY MESSENGER

As Pilgrim, Brother Paul S. L Johnson was Brother Russell’s special helper during the final years of his life. The title Epiphany Messenger is likewise not found in the Bible; but, using Psa. 91:11, there is no difficulty in coining the expression. He did for the Epiphany what the Parousia Messenger did for the Parousia, although his ministry was not nearly so extensive or compelling. At the death of the Parousia Messenger we believe it could truthfully be said that all the living saints had come into his organization, leaving none to be found elsewhere; but this was definitely not the case with the Epiphany Messenger. He often said that there were more saints in the other Truth groups than he had with him – which means it was not necessary for them to come under his direction to retain their saintly standing, although those who did so received special blessings, particularly in service, that did not come to those in the other groups.

He was one of the stars – one of the prophets, but much less important than the Parousia Messenger had been. He was certainly the son of the Parousia David; and this is the record in 1 Chron. 22:5: “David said, Solomon my son, is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceedingly magnifical, of fame and glory throughout all countries: I will now therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.” Indeed, the Parousia David left a goodly heritage not only to his son Solomon, but to the entire Household, in the clear and logical structure of the Parousia Truth; although many of the former pilgrims began to tamper with that Truth, and it then fell to the lot of the Epiphany Messenger to defend almost every important tenet of Parousia Truth. And now it has become so vitiated by some that it is no longer recognizable for what it once was.

Recognizing the colossal task which faced him, the Epiphany Messenger made special prayer for wisdom and strength sufficient for the job to be done, and this is what 1 Kgs. 4:29‑31 has to say about it: “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men.” Very often did various religious organizations write to him for his analysis on extremely difficult Bible texts; and those of us who were close to him know the skill with which he answered them.

As a young man, before he joined the Harvest Movement, he had gained extensive recognition as a Lutheran minister in Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. By intensive study for about three months in 1903 he had been able clearly to see the Truth on the unity of God, human mortality, death as the wages of sin, Papacy as the Beast, identity of the Millennium and the Judgment Day, and 1914 as the end of the Age. Thereafter he made no progress toward understanding Present Truth until he came into the Harvest movement. He was a true scholar of Greek and Hebrew, spoke German fluently; and in his earlier years he was able to give an oration in Latin – a feat which very few College professors of Latin are able to do. He graduated from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, with the highest honors of any one who ever attended that institution up to that time. We knew a prominent Lutheran minister in Dayton, Ohio, who had been his classmate, and he said Paul Johnson was known throughout the campus as the mental giant. All this is simply a statement of fact, and in no sense intended to give undue praise, in like manner as he wrote about the Parousia Messenger after his death. Thus, we conclude this present appraisal the same as we did that of the Parousia Messenger – God bless his memory’

We invite all of like mind to join with us in giving honor to whom honor is due, and in honoring those whom the lord honors. Our Lord Himself said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” (John 12:26)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – Will you please give us your analysis of the Scapegoat as found in (Lev. 16:8)?

ANSWER: – Scapegoat is a contraction of the word ‘escape goat.’ It is rather a street expression to the goat over which Aaron confessed the sins of the children of Israel, and sent it away into the wilderness. “The goat for the Lord” was kept in the Court of the Tabernacle, where it was sacrificed on the brazen altar in the Court. But the scape goat avoided such sacrifice; and it was easy to come to the conclusion that it had escaped. The word is a coined expression, found only in the sixteen Chapter of Leviticus. In a sense it is an interpolation, because there is no word in the Hebrew that justifies such a translation. The Hebrew word so translated in the Authorized Version is Azazel, which is amenable to several interpretations. As one writer explains Azazel: “A phrase of unusual difficulty; the subject is one of great doubt and difficulty. It has been generally considered that the goat was dismissed to signify the carrying away of the sins of the people, as it were, out of sight of Jehovah.”

The Atonement Day service was held annually on the tenth day of the month Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish religious year, and corresponds to our month of October. Thus, it is a Fall festival – just as the Passover is a Spring festival. There is no disputing that the goat for Azazel was an important part of that Atonement Day service and highly typical. We shall not here discuss its typical explanation; but in the past the Jews generally regarded Azazel’s Goat as the embodiment of the “Evil one,” the mischief maker in the affairs of men and women, who taught both sexes about all their bad habits. To a limited extent, we agree with this, but we now quote something from Reprints 4034‑4037, August 1, 1907, with which we are in full agreement:

“We shall not go into all the details of this Day of Atonement, surmising that all of our readers possess the little pamphlet, “Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices,” in which the matter is treated in considerable detail. In harmony with the arrangement of the lesson we are giving special prominence to the two goats.

“In the Hebrew, when the lot had been cast upon the goats, one was declared to be for Jehovah and the other for Azazel. The significance of the word Azazel is not very clear, but according to the majority of modern scholars it stood for the prince of darkness; and in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ Azazel is represented as the standard‑bearer of the infernal hosts – the prince of devils. We agree with this interpretation because it corresponds well with the expression of the Apostle, who – when referring to one class of the consecrated members of the Body of Christ who had not been living up to their privileges – declares “Absent in body but present with you in mind, I have delivered over such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (1 Cor. 5:3‑5). Similarly we understand that the Great Company, those who have consecrated but failed to sacrifice voluntarily, will be delivered over to Satan for his buffetings, and pass through a great tribulation, with a view to effecting in them by this means a proper penitence for sin and a proper appreciation of the Divine standard of truth and righteousness. The majority of this neglected class the Scriptures seem to intimate will be found in the end of this Age – though doubtless there have been some of the same class throughout the Age.

“The scape‑goat does not represent a sin‑loving class, but a class of consecrated believers overcharged with the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, and not sufficiently loyal to the Lord and their covenant to forsake all and walk in the footsteps of the Master in self‑sacrifice. This class, particularly large in the present day, will be delivered over to the adversary – to suffer in a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation – the great time of trouble with which this Age will end. Such of them as fail to respond to those tribulation. and to seek the Lord will die in the Second Death, but such as respond faithfully and loyally will be counted as overcomers, and be granted the palms of victory shown in Revelation 7, and be privileged to a share at the marriage supper of the Lamb and the glories and honors of that occasion. It is only their failure to appreciate their present privileges in voluntary sacrificing that will deter them from gaining membership in the bride class, and their highest position of honor will be as the ‘virgins, her companions, who follow her (the bride).’ (Psa. 45:14).”

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle:

Thank you for your letter, as well as for your monthly papers, including some of the back ones.

You said you knew Rutherford personally, as well as some of the officers, including Frederick Franz. I am aware of the doctrinal and in practices, changes made after 1917. I have read Merariism (E‑6), and I think that is the only book in the world that gives the whole Truth about the changes made. Other books, such as Schnell’s Thirty Years Slave, etc., are published under a Protestant point of view, not under a Truth point of view.

But the purpose of this letter is to ask you, why? Why do they change the Truth to create a sect out of the Little Flock? Perhaps you have some information not published yet, because of your former close association with them.

On the other hand, how do we do about them? For example, there are some 42,000 publishers in Argentina, and growing. (All speak Spanish only) There are some 11,000,000 people in great Buenos Aires, and a very hard, despairing, economical situation. For example, the Dawn booklet, Grace of Jehovah is very opportune and timely. But they still teach that the High Calling is open. I feel the need of newly special literature for them. It must be appealing to them, specially on the destruction of all the human race (more than 4 billion people) in Armageddon. Some evangelical organizations, like the Missionary Crusader, and the ex‑JW’s, of Canada, are doing more in this direction than the Epiphany brethren. But the Missionary Crusader teaches that all JW’s along with nearly all mankind, will go to eternal torment in hell.

The following words may be appealing to them: “Yea, many of those who are now God’s children (the WTS remnant) will be confounded and amazed when they see how God so loved THE WORLD, and how much His thoughts and Plans were above their own. (A‑115)

But in this connection it will be, perhaps, a very special work to do. Perhaps in the future there will be more literature in Spanish or some new, appealing literature.

Of course, take all the time you need before answering me. Thank you for your kind answer to the present letter. I understand you have only little, or limited time.

Your brother because of Jehovah and Jesus.. (ARGENTINA)

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Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle: Grace and peace’

Many thanks for Sister’s letter of May 14 with the sad news of Brother’s bad fall, which has caused us all much concern. We appreciate the details you have given us, and we do pray for the Lord’s overruling Providence and providential care in these untoward experiences to be your happy portion. His will be done! Brother Hoefle will have to take extra care in the future.

We have just returned from a few days holiday in Kendal, staying with friends. Hence the enclosed contribution in appreciation of the good work being done by Brother in ministering to the brethren with such good, uplifting and instructive articles. The contribution is from the same brother who wishes to remain Brother X.

We called at Darlington to see Brother ------- on our way back from Kendal, and found him enjoying a glorious day sitting in the garden.......

We do look forward to your next – we hope favorable – report on Brother’s health and, in the meantime we are sending you our Christian love and prayers, to you and yours.

Yours by His Grace, ------- (ENGLAND)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Shalom in Jesus’ Name’

Please, by all means, send me all of your literature, and put my name on your mailing list. ......

I am a Jewish believer in Jesus. I do not wish to be associated with denominations as such. I am married to a Gentile wife ‑ have four children, two boys and two girls. I have been a believer for 11 years. Please send me Brother Russell’s books (the six volumes of the Studies in the Scriptures).

Yours in Jesus, ------- (PENNSYLVAN IA)

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Dear Bible Students:

Please send me some free publications and literature about your religious society. I’m very much interested in your literature. Please send me some of it.

Thank you already now for sending literature. Very sincerely ------- (AUSTRIA)

NO. 339: TAKE, MY BRETHREN, THE PROPHETS - PART SIX

No. 339

Joel – Since almost nothing is known about Joel except the little he says about himself, we simply make inference from his own statements. In his first verse he tells us he is “the son of Pethuel”; but the Septuagint has it Bethuel. We are not even certain about the period in which he lived. His prophecy is concerned wholly with Judah; thus it may be assumed that his home was in that country. He speaks repeatedly of Zion, the children of Zion, Judah and Jerusalem; and he shows a close familiarity with the Temple and the ministrations of the priests.

The Book is one of the shortest in the Old Testament, containing only three chapters; but it may properly be said those three chapters contain some of the most potent and difficult parts of the Bible. He comes right to the point in v. 4: “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.” It seems the visitation of locusts was of unusual severity (of which more later in this paper), accompanied with a devastating drought. (v.20)

Desolation prevailed thruout the land; the corn, grapevines, and fruit trees were all destroyed together; man and beast were alike in despair. The means were gone not merely for providing the banquets of the wealthy or dissolute, but even for maintaining the daily services of the Temple, or for that matter the sustenance of life generally. While the Jews are the main targets of all this, it reaches out and touches also their heathen neighbors. Joel emphasizes “the Day of Jehovah” and the subsequent revival of Judah, and the gathering of all nations to “the valley of Jehoshaphat,” and contends with them there in judgment. Inasmuch as we are fully persuaded that we are now in “the Day of Jehovah,” we may conclude that the entire prophecy is definitely applicable to the time in which we are living. There is strong difference of opinion among scholars about the date of Joel, as well as the real meaning of his writing; but these differences we shall presently pass over, as we stress some of them later on. As was the case with Daniel, Joel apparently “wrote, but understood not.” And the Apostle Peter tells us, “Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you... which things the angels desire to look into.” (1 Pet. 1:12)

The Locusts – While some writers think the pest of locusts mentioned by Joel is figurative in meaning, yet the actual experiences with that contagion are described by others; thus, we need not write off the actuality of the pests, as some comments by the following writers readily verify:

“Modern travelers speak often of the literally incalculable numbers in which locusts came. An observer to South Africa writes; ‘For the space of ten miles on each side of the sea‑cow river, and 80‑ 90 miles in breadth, an area of 16 ‑ 1800 square miles, the whole surface might literally be said to be covered with them; the water of the river was scarcely visible on account of the dead carcasses which floated on the surface, drowned in the attempt to come at the weeds which grew in it.’

“Again in Cyprus, the locusts lay swarming above a foot deep in several parts of the high road, and thousands were destroyed by the wheels of the carriage driving over them. A writer in Nature states that a flight of locusts that passed over the Red Sea in November 1889, was 2,000 square miles in extent; and on the assumption that the flight was 48 miles square, half a mile deep, and contained 144 locusts, each weighing 1/16 ounce, to a cubic foot, he calculated that it contained 14,420 billions of insects, and weighed 42,850 millions of tons. A second similar, perhaps even larger flight, was seen passing in the same direction the next day. In Cyprus in 1881, up to the end of October, 1,600,000,000 egg‑cases had that season been collected and destroyed, each case containing a considerable number of eggs. By the end of the season over 1300 tons of eggs had been collected; and yet not less than 5,076,000,000 egg‑cases were, it is believed, deposited in the island two years afterwards.

“The locust’s teeth are edged like a saw, and very powerful; hence, though infinitely smaller, they may for destructiveness be compared to those of a lion. Locusts first attack plants and vegetables; when these have all been consumed, they attack trees, consuming first the leaves, then the bark. The effects of such ravages are felt sometimes for many years – ‘the wine of Algiers, before the locusts in 1723 wasted the vineyards, was in flavor not inferior to the best Hermitage. Since that time the wine has much degenerated, and has not yet (1731) recovered its usual qualities.’ Joel 1:7 undoubtedly refers partly to the fragments of bark and wood which have been bitten off by the locusts; but being uneatable by them, have fallen to the ground and partly to the barked branches and trunks themselves, which the insects have ‘cast away.’ After they have passed, nothing remains but the large branches, and the roots, which, being underground, have escaped their voracity. The bushes were eaten quite bare, though the animals could not have been long on the spot. They sat by hundreds on a bush gnawing the rind and the woody fibers.

“‘The corn, the wine, the oil’ (Deut. 7:13) – apparently the three principal products of the soil of Palestine, are often mentioned together as a triad of blessings, bestowed by Jehovah upon His people; or, it withheld in the event of their unfaithfulness – at which time the locusts moved in with their devastating gluttony. The oil from the olive was almost a necessity of life in Palestine; used in cooking and for food, as we use butter. Olive oil was burnt in lamps; and used for anointing the person; it has medicinal virtues; was used in ancient times in sacrifice and was prized as a gift. It was a valuable commodity, subject to tithe. (Deut. 12:23)”

“Joel 1:9: ‘The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord’ – the means of providing them having been destroyed by the locusts. The cessation of the daily sacrifices would be regarded as a national misfortune: even during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, they were maintained as long as possible; and when ultimately they had to be suspended, the people, we are told, ‘were terribly despondent.”’ (Josephus)

The Day Of The Lord – While the foregoing certainly leaves no doubt about the literal visitation of the locusts, yet the prophet speaks of a far greater calamity that will come upon the people – Joel 1:13,14: “Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests, as ministers of the altar... the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God ... Gather the elders into the house of the Lord, and cry unto the Lord... For the day of the Lord is at hand.” Clearly enough, “the day of the Lord” was not then immediately at hand. That statement refers to the day in which we are now living when “all faces shall gather blackness.”

Let us consider now the fate of Great Babylon (Christendom) as compared with the devastation of the locusts in Joel’s time: “A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea (the anarchistic‑masses of men, the antitypical locusts), saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” (Rev. 18:21) As the vegetation was so completely consumed by the locusts, so shall Great Babylon be destroyed by the lawless elements here in the end of the Gospel Age. Joel 3:1‑3 elaborates some on this situation (although it is clearly evident that the prophet did not clearly grasp what he was saying): “In those days (the present day), when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah (as they are now gathered in Palestine), I will also gather all‑nations, and will bring them down to the valley of Jehosphaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations... they have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine.” Certainly the prophet was here speaking of a future time – a time of far greater calamity to come, even the great “Day of Jehovah” itself; and he sounds the alarm which that prospect should create – a destruction from the Almighty. Joel 1:15 quotes verbatim from Isa 13:6: “The day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” In the original Hebrew this is even more emphatic: “an overpowering from the over‑power shall come.”

Joel 2:1‑11 offers greater detail, and the people are invited most earnestly to repent – if perchance Jehovah may be induced to stay the threatened judgment; and the “day” as depicted is borrowed from the recent visitation of locusts. Note the striking similarity of this with Rev. 9:3‑11, of which we quote just a small part: “There shall come upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power... to hurt those men which have not the seal of God (the Truth) in their foreheads... And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle... teeth as the teeth of lions.”

Here we offer a quotation from another writer: “A column of locusts which appeared in India was so compact that, like an eclipse, it completely hid the sun, so that no shadow was cast by any object; and some lofty tombs, not more than 200 yards distant, were rendered quite invisible. Our attention has often been attracted by the sudden darkening of the sun in a summer sky, accompanied by the peculiar noise which a swarm of locusts always makes moving through the air... The day before the locusts arrived, we were certain that they were approaching from a yellow reflection produced by their yellow wings in the heavens. As soon as this was observed, no one doubted that a vast swarm of locusts was at hand. Of a flight of locusts in the Sinai peninsula, it is related that they soon increased in number; and as a people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after them, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Many settled on the ground, which was soon in many places quite yellow with them, and every blade of grass soon disappeared. Their flight may be likened to an immense snowstorm, extending from the ground to a height at which our visual organs perceive them only as minute, darting scintillations... a vast cloud of animated specks, glittering against the sun. On the horizon they often appear as a dust tornado, riding upon the wind like an ominous hail‑storm, eddying and whirling about and finally sweeping up to and past you, with a power that is irresistible – as blackness on the mountains.

“‘A fire devoureth before them’ (2:3: A hyperbolical description of the destructive march of a swam of locusts: The country which they have passed over is left as bare as if it had been wasted by fire; and Joel imagines poetically a fire as preceding and following them on their course. Many travelers have used the same comparison: one says, for instance, ‘Wherever they come, the ground seems burned, as it were with fire.’ Another: ‘They covered a square mile so completely, that it appeared, at a little distance, to have been burned and strewed over with brown ashes,’ And a third: ‘Wherever they settled, it looked as if fire had devoured and burned up everything. Palestine was invaded by locusts in 1865; from June 18 and 15 they poured into Nazareth. The trees an eyewitness wrote are as bare as in England in winter, but it looks as if the country had been burned by fire.’

“‘None hath escaped them.’ The prophet’s words are literally true. On whatever spot they fall, the whole vegetable produce disappears. Nothing escapes them, from the leaves on the forest to the herbs on the plain. In one instance they had – for a space of eighty to ninety miles in length – devoured every green herb, and every blade of grass. Not a shrub or blade of grass was visible. An Arabic poet writes of them: ‘They have the thigh of a camel, the legs of an ostrich, the wings of an eagle, the breast of a lion, a tail like a viper’s; and the appearance of a horse adorns them about the head and mouth. When I was in the midst of them, it was as loud as the dashing of waters occasioned by the mill‑wheel. While passing over our heads, their sound was as of a great cataract. In flying they made a rushing, rustling noise, as when a strong wind blows through trees.

“‘Like the noise of a flame of fire.’ This noise they make while feeding, like the crackling of a prairie fire or a strong wind, as the rushing of flames driven by the strong wind. They prepare for the attack like a mighty nation – arrayed in order for the fray. The people are distressed – like a woman in travail. The panic terror produced by an invasion of locusts can be readily imagined if we remember not only the immense loss of property, of which they are the cause, but also the terrible destitution, which follows in their train. In Algiers, after an invasion of locusts in 1866, 200,000 persons are said to have perished from famine. The destruction wrought frequently by the Rocky Mountain locust, over a large area of the United States, is almost incalculable. The onward movement of the locusts is compared to that of a well‑appointed army, nothing impedes their advance; there is no disorder to their ranks; they climb the highest walls, and penetrate into the strongest cities.

“It is practically impossible to arrest or divert the advance of a body of locusts. The guard of the Red Tower attempted to stop their irruption into Pennsylvania by firing at them; but when the balls and shot swept through the swarm, they gave way and divided; but having filled up their ranks in a moment, they proceeded on their journey. When locusts on the march approach a village, the inhabitants endeavor often to stop their advance by kindling fires, or digging trenches and filling them with water, but to little effect; but a flight of locusts is sometimes deferred from alighting by the noise of pots and pans, kettles, drums, etc. But no sooner have they gained an entrance than they make the city their own and take possession of the walls. They are likened to a roaring lion, a raging bear, and of chariots charging the suburbs of a city.”

The Day Of Jehovah – From the foregoing it is clear enough that there have been literal pests of locusts, although some superficial readers have concluded that the prophet was merely giving us a play on words when he says in 1:19: “O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.” His statement here is not nearly so clear and decisive as that given us in Psa. 21:8,9: “Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in time of thine anger (in the Day of Jehovah now upon us); the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.” Even more to the point is Mal. 4:1: “Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up ... that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

Joel elaborates upon this day of “fire,” and one writer has this to say about it: “The fate here predicated of the locusts must in reality be emblematical of the fate of the human invader – is identical of the scourge which he describes, but is far beyond any plague of locusts.” And with this we would agree. And this from another writer: “What then may be said of the prophecy of Joel? The prophecy springs out of the circumstances of the time (the degradation of the people – JJH). Its central thought is the idea of the Day of Jehovah, which is suggested to the prophet by the drought and the visitation of locusts from which at the time the land of Judah was suffering. Joel sees in the locusts more than a mere swarm of insects, however vast: they are Jehovah’s army. Note v. 2:11: “The Lord shall utter his voice before his army... the day of the Lord is great and very terrible.”

We have given much detail on the locusts, and the devastating effect they have had upon the areas in which they operated. We did this because the locusts described by Joel are typical of a more far‑reaching devastation in the antitype. We refer to the “Day of Jehovah” – the Time of Trouble which we are now experiencing. The antitype is always greater than its type; and this is emphatically true of the antitypical locusts. As Jesus foretold, we have had “wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 24:6) thruout the Gospel Age, but World War I (in 1914) was the world’s greatest calamity up to that time. It affected all nations – even those not directly involved in it. That was the beginning of the real “Time of Trouble,” which trouble accelerated with the great depression of 1929‑32; then World War II (1939‑1945), with other major calamities since that time.

Our Lord warned us what to expect in this great day: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” – for the last clause of which we are most grateful. Jesus said this trouble would be the one prophesied by Daniel 12:1: “At that time shall Michael stand up ... there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” Michael is another name for our Lord Jesus, who is now “standing up.”

But we are not pessimistic about this situation, because we know these things must occur to remove the existing evils now so prevalent – after which the Lord will establish that Kingdom for which He taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” – which is the essence of all our prayers. Thus, we have a picture of this time in the locusts described by Joel; and we are certainly not out of order when we explain the meaning of his writings. The surgeon wounds to heal and this is a portrayal of what we are now witnessing.

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

As most of our readers know, the word gospel is from the Greek meaning “good news.” Thus, “Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the Kingdom” – the good news of the Kingdom. And most of the prophets offered limited comment on that great subject. Jesus had specifically told his disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth.” Thus we have some statements in Joel that promise relief from present troubles – “in due time.” Many learned scholars hold the opinion that the Kingdom – complete suppression of evil, and full triumph of righteousness will never be realized on this planet; but Jesus was certainly not tantalizing His followers when He told them to pray for that condition. His instruction clearly teaches that it will some day be realized; and it is our opinion that the full realization of the Kingdom is in the very near future. The present distress is the firm assurance of that fact. “When ye see these things begin to come to pass, lift up your heads and rejoice.” (Luke 21:28)

Of the afflictions now present Job offers some consolation: “Despise not the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” (5:17,18) And the Psalmist puts it this way: “The people stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end (“The earth – Society as presently organized shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage” – Isa. 24:20). “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm. Then are they glad because they be quiet... Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.” (Psa. 107:27‑32) And Joel 2:25 tells us: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.”

Joel 3:1, 2: – “In those days (when the Kingdom has been established) ... when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” This prophecy is now being fulfilled in a limited way, but it will become very much more apparent when the Kingdom is fully set up.

Noah’s Ark – This picture presents one of the strongest types concerning this “present evil world” and the Kingdom just ahead. Here are the Berean Comments on Gen. 7:7: “Noah and his family, with the ark, represent the Church, lifted up above the whole earth during the time of trouble, preserved from the terror of the trouble, and afterward coming down from heaven to bless and replenish the earth.” All classes of mankind are represented in the Ark and its contents: The four elect classes of men are represented in Noah and his three sons and their wives – The Christ Company, the Ancient Worthies, the Great Company and the Youthful Worthies.

Noah undoubtedly types our Lord, who is the Heir of the righteousness which comes to us by faith (Heb. 11:7). These classes very well represent in the order stated: Noah and his wife, Shem and his wife, Japheth and his wife, Ham and his wife, the males apart from Noah representing all the leaders of their respective classes, and the females the rest of these classes. The animals in the Ark fittingly represent the non‑elect who will ultimately be saved. The clean animals represent the Jews as typically clean and the believing Gentiles who will be saved.

One of the outstanding features of the clean animals is their split hoof. Feet in the Bible represent character: “Make straight paths for your feet.” (Heb. 12:13) Therefore, the clean animals having the split hoof would typify those believers in Jesus who have a character acceptable to God and man; whereas, the unclean animals – such as the hog, dog, etc. – would represent the Heathen world and unbelievers in the Christian world. Thus the people and animals in the Ark would represent substantially all people who will eventually be blessed through the sacrifice of Christ and His faithful followers.

Summing Up: – The Ark and its contents were all that survived in the world that was. “The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” – was completely annihilated. (2 Pet. 3:6) Thus, Noah and his family began a new world – the world that now is. While “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4) is slated for destruction, we have the sure record that it will not be destroyed by water: “Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth” – the present social order – (Gen. 9:11). “The earth (the planet) abideth forever.” (Eccl. 1:4)

Joel 2:28‑31 – Much of the foregoing is corroborated by Joel, although in such veiled language that it will not be noticed by the casual reader. “It shall come to pass afterward (after ‘those days’ – the Gospel Age) that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” This would be better translated “for all flesh.” This is simply a promise of one of the blessings that will come to the human race when the “Kingdom” is set up. “Your sons (the ‘clean’) and your daughters (the ‘unclean’) shall prophecy (teach the Truth to others who have not yet learned it), your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” The “old men” here are the “Ancients” – the Ancient Worthies, who will dream dreams – for another book of the Bible (Rev. 20:12) – much the same as Joel and others wrote as they “were moved by the Holy Spirit” in Old Testament times. “And your young men – your “Youthful” – shall see visions. The distinction here is much the same as the four Major and twelve Minor prophets of the Old Testament. “And also upon the servants (the Christ Company) and upon the handmaids in those days (the Gospel Age – the New Testament days) will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth.”

In the days of the approaching Kingdom we shall see the fulfillment of Ezek. 36:34, 35: “The desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate shall become like the Garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.” Thus far in our study of “the prophets” we observe emphatic justification for the statement in Acts 3:21: “The times of restitution (restoration, as was Eden) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

Much in the foregoing part of this article has stressed a very gloomy picture; but it is no different than what the Prophet Isaiah says in Isa. 24:20 – although the “Gentleman of the Old Testament” offers a more refined explanation of the picture: “The earth (the present social order) shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again.” Giving this a practical everyday explanation, we would state it about like this: If a man has an expensive piece of land upon which he wishes to construct a magnificent building, but that land had a decaying shack, the first thing he would do would be to remove that shack. And that is exactly what the Lord is now doing. This is abundantly corroborated by the Prophet Daniel (2:44): “In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ... it shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms (the ones now existing), and it shall stand forever.”

Some of the brilliant commentators of our day present a glowing picture of the coming Kingdom, but they then water it down with their own conclusions. We now present just one of them, including his doubts about the accomplishment of the Biblical statements: “The prophets, in their visions of the future, throw out great and ennobling ideals, but ideals which, in many cases, are not destined to be realized literally in fact. That is the case with Joel. The contrast between Israel and the nations is typical of the great contrast between good and evil, between truth and falsehood, which is ever being exemplified in the history of the world, which has already resulted often in partial triumph of right over wrong, and which, we may be sure, will in the end result in its complete triumph: but this triumph, we may be not less sure, can never be gained in the form in which Joel’s imagination pictured it.”

Of course, some of the above statement smacks of Higher Criticism, and thus makes the Word of God of no effect. Joel was not giving his own thoughts when he wrote what he did; he was writing by inspiration; and we may be sure he wrote correctly. He says further: “Joel draws a magnificent picture of Jehovah’s coming to judgment... The Day of Jehovah can never come precisely in the form in which Joel pictured it; nevertheless, it is a day which comes constantly to nations... and often in ways which they do not expect.”

To the above we would quote the words of Jesus, which He gave to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus – after His resurrection: “O Fools, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written.” Here Jesus was emphasizing that we should believe what the prophets have written; and He further emphasizes this in John 5:39: “You search the Scriptures (the Old Testament writings), because you think by them to obtain eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.”

“Be strong and of a good courage: be not afraid neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Josh. 1:9) “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.” (Psa. 25:14)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – Is it proper for Youthful Worthies to indulge in worldly pleasures?

ANSWER: – A similar question is in E‑4, pp. 458‑460, which please see. However, we will give some excerpts from that answer: “Those who consecrate while sin is in ascendancy in the world cannot carry out their consecration apart from renouncing selfishness and worldliness, because Satan sets against a consecrated course the allurements of sin, selfishness, worldliness and error; and one cannot proceed faithfully in consecration without denying himself of these, therefore of selfishness and worldliness.” (E‑4:458)

We would add to that, that in our self‑denial, it is from our natural rights – the things that a worldly man could enjoy without being sinful. We do not deny ourselves of sin: We should have renounced sin before our consecration – that is, when we were “repentant and believing.” Sin in any form will not help us serve Truth and righteousness.

“We properly satisfy our desire for food, drink, rest, etc., every day and these are human, selfish and worldly propensities. We may make use of any of these propensities, if we employ them to help us serve Truth and righteousness.” (E‑4:458)

“If it is merely a selfish and worldly purpose, apart from better qualifying us for the Lord’s service, the indulgence is to be abstained from. Let us remember the Apostle Paul tells us to use the world, but not to abuse it; and let us not take the monastic view of sacrifice. Jesus is our example in sacrifice; and He participated in the festivities of the Jewish wedding at Cana, where worldly pleasure ran to the very climax; and we are sure that Jesus’ course there was not one that chilled and squelched the pleasures of the participants.” (E‑4:459)

“The principle contained in this answer applies to all the consecrated alike – the Little Flock, the Great Company and the Youthful worthies,” (E‑4:459, Bottom and p. 460 top)

“And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the Lord; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof? so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.” (Num. 9:14) We understand the ‘stranger’ to be the Youthful Worthies, and those born in the land to be the spirit‑Begotten.

Also, “And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him; as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.” (Lev. 24:16)

However, in the case of the spirit‑begotten, they are on trial for life? while the unbegotten are on trial for faith and obedience. If the spirit‑begotten commit the sin unto death, there will be no other trial for him: it means the second Death for him. But it means the death of their standing in the Youthful Worthy class when the “stranger who commits the sin unto death.” It means they are remanded to the restitution class.

This is well described by the Epiphany Messenger in another question on pp. 461‑462 regarding the Youthful Worthies having to develop perfect love: “The Youthful Worthies must now develop disinterested love in some measure, though not necessarily unto perfection; for to carry out a consecration unto death, which is not a demand of justice, duty love, but is a matter of privilege, disinterested love, it is inevitable, if one is faithful, that he develop a measure of disinterested love, though not necessarily unto perfection, i.e., crystallization.

“In the case of the Little Flock and the Great Company, their trial being fog life? they must develop disinterested love unto crystallization, otherwise they could not get life. .... We would not even say that they (the Youthful Worthies – JJH) must develop perfect untested love, i.e., gain the mark, though some of them do it, which will bring them a higher reward in the Millennium than those of them who do not develop it,

“Apparently God does not now permit to come upon them such trials as would be necessary to develop disinterested love unto perfection, crystallization. But He does have come upon them such trials as will test their faith and devotion to righteousness sufficiently to quality them for Millennial princeship, as well as such as will measurably test their disinterested love.” (E‑4, p. 461 bottom and p. 462)

It could not be said better than the above quotations, although we add that all who are capable of developing disinterested love to the mark, though not to crystallization, should certainly do it. If we retain our standing as Youthful Worthies, we will have to develop disinterested love to crystallization in the Little Season if we get eternal life, which will mean our heavenly reward, as we will be spirit‑begotten in the Little Season. The Restitutionists will not have to develop disinterested love to that degree.

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear loved Ones: Loving greetings in Jesus precious name!

Thank you both for your kindness to us while with you. Trust you are improving daily, John. It was good to see you both. Our trip down and back was tiring but very interesting and rewarding.

Our time spent with our son was good for him and their study of Volume One. We met a Korean minister and gave him Vol. 1 in Korean which he asked for. Trust it will prove fruitful. Oh for the Kingdom! How long, Oh Lord!

The Lord bless and keep you in His loving care. As always, ------- (MASSACHUSETTS)

NO. 338: PSALM 107

No. 338

This Psalm is in effect a prophecy, which has special application to this our time. We say this because it has never been even remotely understood until the Harvest; and, as has been so well stated by That Servant, prophecy cannot be clearly understood until it has been fulfilled, or is in course of fulfillment. A potent illustration of this truth is to be found in Rev. 12:6, where the 1260 days of Papal persecution of the saints is set forth. It is conceded by most people that Martin Luther is one of the 25 greatest intellects among the entire human race; yet, with all his brilliance, and his intense effort to understand Revelation, he could not possibly produce the right interpretation of Rev. 12:6 – because those days did not end until 1799, more than 200 years after he died. Therefore, it was left for the bright shining of Harvest truth to give the prophecy its proper interpretation. Although not so pointedly true as Rev. 12:6, the 107th Psalm may be given the same general comment; it, too, could not be understood until the “due time.”

“O give thanks unto the LORD.” The Psalm treats of four general classes of the human race, each of which we shall treat in due course; but we first offer some comment on the introduction. Rotherham’s translation, which we shall use in much of our explanation, says, “O give thanks to Yahweh.” This Yahweh – or Yahveh – is translated from the tetragrammaton, the same being from the Greek word used to denote four letters. The four Hebrew letters – or consonants – are Yod, He, Vav, He, and they are the counterparts of our English consonants J‑H‑V‑H, which some have used to form the word Jehovah – although such construction is based almost exclusively on imagination. The Tetragrammaton occurs about 7,000 times in the Old Testament; and it has become known as the ineffable name because there are no vowels in it, which makes it unpronounceable. At the first Advent, the Jews had come to regard that combination of letters with such awesome reverence that none of them would even attempt to state it. It is usually translated LORD in the King James version; and, whenever Lord appears in all capital letters – as it does in the opening of this Psalm, we may know it is from the tetragrammaton.

It is probably for the general good to offer some quotation here from Doctor Rotherham’s Introduction: “As it might appear premature, at the outset of this chapter, to spell out that Divine Name which some regard as not only incommunicable but unpronounceable, it will be considerate to begin the present investigation by the aid of abbreviation... The Tetragrammaton, or name of four letters, is a technical term frequently employed by scholars, and will here serve a useful purpose... We can reverently speak of The Name, or can set down the first letter only, Y, in the same way as Hebrew critics are wont to use the letter Yod as the initial of the Divine Name intended ....

“It is willingly admitted that the suppression has not been absolute... To those who can note the difference between LORD and Lord, and can remember that the former do while the latter do not stand for The Name... an intimation of the difference is conveyed… Yet the mere reader remains completely in the dark respecting it, because in nearly all the occurrences of The Name the special Name of God is withheld. ‘nearly All,’ for there are about a half dozen instances in the A.V., in which this concealment does not take place... Is it too much to assume that The Name has about it something very grand or gracious, or at least something very mysterious? Whichever conclusion is accepted, is there not something essentially presumptuous in substituting for it one of the commonest of titles, seeing that there are on earth ‘lords many,’ and the master of the humblest slave is his ‘lord’? Therefore, it is the most natural presumption that suppression of The Name has entailed on the reader irreparable loss.

“The motive was good – let that be assumed... The motive is respected; but the reference is regarded as misapplied, the reason given to be invalid. A plausible argument in favor of leaving The Name veiled, as it is now, may be based upon its concealment by the Septuagint, which conceals the Tetragrammaton under the common title ‘Kurios’ – Lord. Jesus used that version as it stood. (Matt. 22:41‑45) Therefore what was good enough for Him should be good enough for us. However, Jesus had to plead His Messiahship with the Scriptures then current; and any criticism of the nation’s Sacred Documents might have placed a needless obstacle in the people’s path.

“Why not then translate The Name as Jehovah? Is that not euphonious? It is, without question. Is it not widely used? (Especially since 1931 by the Jehovah’s Witnesses – JJH) The reason it is not used here is that it is too heavily burdened with merited critical condemnation – as modern, as a compromise, as a ‘mongrel’ word. What are the facts? First, as to age ‘Jehovah’ was unknown before 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but was contested by others as against grammatical and historical propriety. Next as to formation: Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah – which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowels in the Hebrew word for Lord, substituted by the Jews for JHVH, because they shrank from pronouncing the name... But to give the name JHVH, the vowels of the word for Lord, and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal – namely, Gormuna. The monstrous combination Jehovah is not older than about 1520 AD, so the Jews are not responsible for it. Therefore, the form Yahweh is here adopted as practically the best.”

Later writers than Doctor Rotherham – adept in Hebrew and Greek – say Yahveh is better still, so we go along with that. We assume many of our readers do not have access to what we have quoted aforegoing, which is one of the reasons we have gone into such detail about it. A second reason is to alert our readers to the fact that the name “Jehovah’s” Witnesses has no Scriptural foundation whatever; and the great flare they try to give the name is simply a “profusion of words to no purpose.” Of course, this is to get away from the name “Bible Students,” as the Truth people under Brother Russell was known.

Now, as to the Psalm itself, there are seven (divine completeness) distinct divisions in it, the last of which is the summation in v, 43: “Who is wise? Let him observe these things! And diligently consider the loving kindness of Yahweh.” In its overall purport the “loving kindness of Yahweh” is His great Plan of Salvation for the human race; and who is wise to understand this Psalm here in the end of the Age will have a clear understanding of the entire Plan. But, “none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12: 10) It is our understanding that (1) vs. 1‑9 treat of the Little Flock (the wise); (2) vs. 10‑16 of the Great Company; (3) vs. 17‑22 of fleshly Israel during the Gospel Age, with special emphasis here in the end of the Age; (4) vs. 23‑32 of the world in general during and at the end of the great tribulation; (5) vs. 33‑38 of the Millennial conditions and people; (6) vs. 39‑42 of the good and evil in the Little Season – “Satan must be loosed for a little season” (Rev. 20:3); then (7) v. 43 as already stated.

THE LITTLE FLOCK

Vs. 1‑9 – “Let the redeemed of Yahveh say, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the Adversary.” Rev. 5:9 tells us “Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” These “redeemed of the Lord’’ have indeed been a conglomerate lot – a cross‑section of the human race, as to color, residence, intellectual achievement and providential circumstances. “And hast made us unto God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (v. 10) This Little Flock is the “us‑we‑ye” of this and many other Scriptures. “These were redeemed from men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Rev. 14:4) These are they who ever “give thanks to Yahveh... whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary.” And they have come “from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south” (107:3), the “quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins... walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience “ (Eph. 2:1‑2) Psalms 107:4 and 5: “they wandered about in the desert – in a waste – a city to dwell in found they none” (“We have here no continuing city” – Heb 13:14) Their soul within them fainted.” (v 5)

Continuing with Psalms 107: Amidst all of the foregoing “they made outcry to Jahveh in their peril, and out of their distresses He rescued them.” (v 6) The sentiments stated in v 6 are repeated in vs. 13, 19, and 28, the underlying thought in all these verses being that when the various classes call upon Yahveh in true penitence He is ever ready and willing to hear and give them the relief they seek. It should be noted that in the first nine verses of this psalm, which have to do with the Little Flock, there is no adverse criticism; whereas, there is sharp denunciation of the next three classes that are discussed in vs. 10 through 32. However, the prayer of thanksgiving is identical from all four classes – after He has heard their petitions and given them the needed relief: “Let them give thanks to Yahveh for His loving kindness, and for His wonderful dealings with the sons of men.” The footnote of this last clause says it should read, “For His wonderful dealings with the sons of Adam.”

In response to their petitions, the Psalm proceeds to tell us that Yahveh “led them by a straight road.” He gave them the instruction and the ability to “make straight paths for their feet.” (Heb. 12:13) “That they might journey to a city to dwell in” – in New Jerusalem – Zion, “the perfection of beauty.” (Psa 50:2) Theirs is the promise, The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.” (Psa 128:5)

THE GREAT COMPANY

Psa 107:10‑16 – “Such as sit in darkness” – error. The contrast here is between the Little Flock and the Great Company on the Truth. “Ye (the Little Flock) are all the children of light: we are not of the night (of sin), nor of darkness.” “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness.” (1 Thes. 5:4,5) Note the Berean Comment on these texts: “Even to the last solitary one, no matter where he may be located... The spirit will show you things to come.” Here, then, is the clear contrast between the Little Flock and the Great Company – especially now in the end of the Age, when the Truth has shone with special brightness, even making “manifest the counsels of hearts.”

And in their darkness (error), their groping about in confusion, they “sit in the shadow of death” – that is, the second death constantly casts a shadow in their direction, leading them into devious and sundry activities, to which their unholy ambition prods them. While the Great Company did not appear as a class all during the Age, there were many individuals of them – many times more than the Little Flock all during the Gospel Age, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Their confused views on “the straight road” prompted them to build Great Babylon; and here they have repeated the performance. Especially while in Azazel’s clutches do they become ambitious in works of false propaganda, of building false religious sects, and in indulging in slander against their more faithful brethren. Thus they are deceived into believing they will accomplish great works, win great numbers (such as filling the Epiphany Camp with consecrated ones outside the linen curtain of Christ, and deceiving them into believing they will have the preeminence in the Kingdom in superiority to the Jews), gain great favor. So often are we reminded of some at the first Advent: “They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43) But in this day, “when He maketh manifest,” they will learn by sad experience that “the praise of men” is a very transitory and unprofitable possession.

Also, they are “bound with oppression (humiliation) and iron.” (v 10) “Because they had rebelled (revolutionized against the sayings of God.” Among the oppressions (humiliations) that come to them their defeat in controversy is probably at the head of the list. Of those who have rebelled against the sayings of God, St, Paul says, “On this account God will send to them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood (various errors which bring them severe humiliation); in order that all those may be judged who believed not the Truth, but approved the iniquity.” (2 Thes. 2:11, Dia.)

“The counsel of the Most High they had spurned.” (v, 11) Yahveh has given definite instructions for the conduct of His people and their ministry of the Truth – such as congregationalism (each ecclesia is mistress in her own locality), the settlement of differences between brethren, ranking officials in the Church, how to carry on the study and spread of the Truth, etc. To set aside any of these things would be to “spurn the counsel of the Most High” – consider His instructions of little worth by such as think they see a better way to do things. Some of the Lord’s people during this Epiphany have replaced the Berean method of study for textbookism, which is also “spurning” the counsel of the Most High. During the Age this has led to the erection of autocratic systems in some sects, and in loose and irresponsible conduct in others. Most of these perversions have been traceable directly to the crown‑losers, who often have been held in higher esteem by the general public than their Little Flock brethren. John Calvin, for instance, is considered to be one of the sharpest intellects of the entire Age, and he readily attracted a following – so much so that he persuaded his supporters to burn Little Flock member Miletus Servetus at the stake because he could not meet the truth that Servetus presented.

Here in the end of the Age, when we have arrived at the time when “He maketh manifest,” we may definitely conclude that those are of the Great Company who “Rebel against the sayings of God, or spurn the counsel of the Most High.” This is the only way we have of knowing those who “received not the love (the motivating conduct) of the Truth”; but such a conclusion would not be proper for any slight departure, or even some gross departure, from the Truth or God’s arrangements, unless – after the offense is clearly directed to their attention, they then persist therein. This would mean their conduct is not a safe guide for reaching such a conclusion, because we cannot know what degree of Adamic depravity afflicts the individual. It is “God that looketh on the heart.” There are some who believe that Brother Russell was the last saint; thus, by the death of a man they relegate by one broad judgment all others out of the Little Flock. Such a decision is in itself a rebelling, revolutionizing, “against the sayings of God,” because there is no Scriptural support for such a thought.

There was a time, up to about 1910 or 1912, that Brother Russell was firmly convinced that the entire Christ Company would leave the earth by the Fall of 1914. Some one, for reasons unknown to us, once asked him if 1914 came and went, and he was still on earth, would he then conclude that he, too, was of the Great Company. To this he answered an emphatic, No! It was the same with the Epiphany Messenger, who thought all the saints would be glorified by the end of 1956. If some one had asked him if he would think he was of the Great Company if he were still living after 1956, his answer also would have been an emphatic, No!

But to those who have actually fallen from the Little Flock, and have been delivered to the ‘fit man’ for buffeting experiences in the wilderness of adversity, verse 12 tells us “He brought down their heart with labor” until “they made outcry to Yahveh in their peril”; after which “He brought them out of darkness (erroneous and sinful ways) and death‑shade, and their fetters He tare off.” This means identically the same thing – although stated in slightly different fashion – as Rev. 7:14: “These are those coming out of the great affliction, and they washed their robes, and whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.” “That Lamb which is in the midst of the throne will tend them (after bringing down their heart with labor), and will lead them to fountains of waters (clear unadulterated Truth) of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev. 7:17, Dia.) “The bars of iron (enslaving erroneous practices) He hewed asunder.” (Psa. 107:16)

THE JEWS

Psalms 107:17‑22 – “The perverse by reason of their transgression, and on account of their iniquities are afflicted.” The “transgression” for which the Jews have been afflicted is their treatment of the Messiah, when “He came to His own, but His own received Him not.” The “iniquities” are their many violations of the Mosaic Law, which they repeatedly did against one another and against the prophets that Yahveh sent them. “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears... Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the former prophets: Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hosts.” (Zech. 7:11,12) For 1845 years the Jews had enjoyed the special blessings from Yahveh. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.”

The land of Canaan, which the Lord had given them, was a goodly land, with an excellent climate – a place in which it was easy to live. Their abuses of their blessings reached a climax when they rejected the Lord of Glory; and He pronounced upon them the penalty: “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; 23:38.39) That day their religious house was left to them desolate; then began the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee.” (Zech. 9:12) The word ‘double’ is from the Hebrew ‘mishneh,’ which means repetition, that is, they would receive a repetition of disfavor for the same length of time they had received the favor – namely, 1845 years. And so completely was this carried out that, after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD., the entire Jewish religious ritual of the Aaronic priesthood was so completely demolished – desolated – that the Tribe of Levi was lost in the dispersion. This prevents them from now having a high priest; and any attempt to carry on as did Aaron and his successors is now an empty performance.

“All manner of food their soul abhorreth, and so they draw near unto the gates of death.” (v. 18) The scourgings they have received during their “double” in this Gospel Age have indeed been horrible – enough to take away their appetites, and bring them to the brink of the grave. During their stay in Palestine they had been very much an agricultural people; but that was no longer practical for them, because they were often forced to flee to another city or country, and they could not take their farms with them. Consequently, they were forced into becoming businessmen, and to keep their assets as liquid as possible – to be carried with them if they were forced to leave on short notice. On numerous occasions, during their dispersion, they employed all the ingenuity at their disposal to regain the land of their fathers. They attempted to buy it; they attempted to regain it by force; they used all the tricks of diplomacy; but to no avail. The sentence of ‘desolation’ against them by Jesus was not lightly spoken; they were to learn by the bitter dregs of experience that “the word that goeth forth out of My mouth shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.” (Isa. 55:11)

The sentence of desolation was pronounced upon them in the year 33 AD.; and, if they were to have 1845 years of disfavor – a double of their time of favor – it would bring us to the year 1878, at which time the Berlin Congress of Nations decreed for them certain rights in Palestine, which were the opening wedge in their efforts to regain their homeland, Since that time they have been in what the Bible terms “Jacob’s trouble,” “That day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it... and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him.” (Jer. 30:7, 8)

The trouble is to have two phases, the first part a rather mild experience. “I will send for many fishers, and they shall fish them” – offer enticing bait to bring them back to Palestine; then “will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them... they are not hid from My face, neither is their iniquity (the violations of the Mosaic Law) hid from Mine eyes. First will I recompense their iniquity and their sin double,” (Jer. 16:16‑18) There was good evidence of rapacious hunters in Germany during the last great war; and those atrocities tended to sharpen the desire of Jews everywhere to once more have a land of their own – which was eventually realized in 1948.

Although they are now established as a nation, they are yet to experience the second phase of “Jacob’s Trouble,” the same being contained in the prophecy of Zech. 14:1‑3: “The day of Yahweh... I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall Yahveh go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.” Then will be fulfilled the words of Psa. 107:19: “Then make they outcry to Yahveh in their peril, and out of their distresses He saved them. He sendeth His word (the truth about their Scriptural past, present and future), and healeth them, and delivereth them from their graves.” After that, “they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced” – they will then “give thanks to Yahveh for His loving kindness” – they will “sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and recount His works with a shout.” (v.22)

THE WORLD

The world of mankind during and at the end of the great tribulation – (Psa. 107: 23‑32: “Men who go down to the sea in ships, doing business through mighty waters.” All know that the Capitalistic system has been the dominating economic force during this “present evil world” – doing business through mighty waters. But, “Yahveh speaketh, and there ariseth a tempestuous wind (the world war in 1414, “The wind” of Rev. 7:1), which lifteth on high its rolling waves; They mount the heavens; They descend the roaring deeps (vs. 25‑26), their soul by trouble dissolveth.” On the literal ocean it is wind that produces roaring waves, which roll high, thus making huge deep clefts in between them. This is indeed a vivid illustration of what the symbolic wind (the World War) did in 1914. Although the United States was not involved then, the New York stock market received such a jolt that it was closed for three months after August 1, 1914. That trouble did truly dissolve the souls of the market traders, who had no way to buy or sell on that Exchange.

The World War in 1914 was the greatest calamity in history up to that time; but the “rolling waves” have continued to make “roaring deeps” – each “deep” being lower and more severe than the previous ones. When the market smash came in 1929, it brought on the depression of 1930‑32; and the “roaring deep” of those years probably caused more distress than did the years 1914‑1918, because it was wider in scope, and brought distress upon more people – although probably not as many deaths as did the war.

Came next the “rolling waves and the roaring deep” of 1939‑1945, which was a much deeper calamity than the 1914‑1918 or the 1930‑1932 distresses. The waves rolled higher, and the clefts were much deeper than any previous episode. One man from England, who had been there during 1914‑1918, and who still had relatives in that country, told us at the outbreak of the conflict in 1939 that he felt like lying down in the gutter and weeping. When the German army overran Belgium in 1940 they defeated an opposing army of two million men – described by writers at that time as the most destructive battle in all history – the roaring waves, caused by the tempestuous wind, rolled higher and deeper than ever before.

Just ahead is the next “rolling waves and the roaring deep” – Armageddon, which will prove even more severe than any of the previous happenings since 1914; and this will shortly be followed by Anarchy, which will be worst of all, ending in Jacob’s Trouble, and the destruction of all existing institutions. As previously written, we witnessed the riot in Detroit in 1967, with the immense destruction it produced; and we made comment then that once Armageddon topples over these present governments, it will not be very long until Anarchy will follow, because it will not be possible to assemble any sort of sound order from that wreckage. Detroit is not yet even substantially recovered from that debacle, although they have had the help of the Government and other communities, which they will not have in Armageddon.

At that time “make they outcry to Yahveh in their peril, and out of their distresses He bringeth them forth.” For, “He calmeth the storm to a whisper, and silent are their rolling waves” – after the great tribulation has accomplished to the full the dissolution of present elements. Then, “Let them extol Yahveh in the convocation of the people, and in the seated company of elders let them praise Him.” (v. 32) The word ‘elders’ in this text is from the Hebrew ‘zaqen,’ which is the same word that is translated ‘old men’ in Joel 2:28. Thus, the “company of elders” here means the Ancient Worthies who will be sending forth the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem – after the tribulation be passed. (See Isa. 2:3) The World will then have learned through excruciating experience what they could not learn by instruction.

MILLENNIAL CONDITIONS – AND PEOPLE

Psalms 107:33‑38 – When the benign Kingdom reign is established “Yahveh turned rivers into desert, and springs of water into thirsty ground” – “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.” (Isa. 35:1) This section of Psalm 107 is in exact keeping with the 35th Chapter of Isaiah, a beautiful companion text for this Psalm. “Thus hath Yahvey blessed the people, and they have multiplied greatly (as one generation after another returns from the tomb the total population will amount to something around thirty to fifty billion – “multiplied greatly” by present standards)” – and their labors will be greatly blessed – “Their cattle He maketh not a few.”

The Little Season – Vs. 39‑42: “Yahveh poureth contempt upon nobles, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste” – typed by Pharaoh and his armies engulfed in the pathless waste of the Red Sea – the “goats’ of the parable in Matt. 25: 31‑46. “But Yahveh hath set the needy on high from affliction, and made families like a flock.” (v. 41) Here the “sheep” of the parable are described; they will be “set on high from affliction” – typed by the Jews passing through the Red Sea on dry land, and eventually to the opposite shore in full safety. “The upright (sheep) seeth and is glad” (v. 42 – typed so markedly in Ex. 15:20, 21: “Miriam, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to Yahveh, for He hath triumphed gloriously; and the horse and his rider (the ‘nobles’ of v. 40) hath He thrown into the sea” – into the Second Death at the full end of the Little Season. The world of mankind will be under the ‘‘resurrection by judgment” – krisis, or trial time – (John 5:28,29) all during the Mediatorial reign; but the real and final test that will make clear separation between the sheep and the goats will not occur until the Little Season has come to a complete end. All Restitutionists will enter the Little Season with perfect minds and bodies, but all will not have perfect heart condition – perfect characters. Those goats who don’t have perfect hearts will not be able to stand the tests of the Little Season.

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,” (1  Cor. 15:24) And this will be the “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world Began,” (Acts 3:21) Not until then – the end of the Little Season – can this “restitution of all things” be accomplished.

It is only then that the Restitutionists will be made kings, as was Adam in the Garden of Eden. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psa. 107:31) That Servant expresses it beautifully in Reprint 5636, Feb. 15, 1915:

“God created Father Adam the king of earth. Had he remained loyal to his God, he would have retained not only his life and health and happiness, but also his kingly authority over the beasts, the fish and the fowl – ruling them with telepathic powers. The breaking of the covenant with God by Adam not only brought death and separation from God, but impaired his ruling powers as respects the lower creatures. The redemption accomplished by the death of Jesus is eventually to reach every member of Adam’s race, and not merely will be applicable to their restoration to human perfection of mind and body, but will include a restoration of kingly powers.

“Surely the Divine program for humanity is beautiful, simple, and sublimely grand! As the Bible declares, it will be ‘the desire of all nations.’ Those whose eyes and ears of understanding are open to appreciate this message of the Bible have much advantage in every way over the average man at the present time. ‘Who is wise? then let him observe these things.’ (Psa. 107:43). This knowledge is very assistful to them as they come to realize that the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon them is with a view to preparing them to be the royal priesthood of the future and, with Jesus to bring to mankind the blessings of Jehovah, lost by sin, redeemed at Calvary.”

“The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of Yahveh.” (Psa. 107:43) “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly” wait for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lam. 3:26)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: Welcome to you all!

And I hurry to put things straight. When I received the latest numbers – the Truth of the matter concerning Campers Epiphany Consecrated, it “struck me fair and square.” Please understand me when I say that there is order in your explanation of the Youthful Worthies only being consecrated up to Restitution. I am glad that Jehovah has allowed me to persevere along this line, as it is so very important not to presume over the Epiphany Messenger’s thorough explanation re the Camp. So “breathe easy,” John, but also pray that I continue taking hold of real “Present Truth,” for what ability I am allowed.

Please send me some of the various tracts, each – especially the “Two Salvations” in large number – also Nos. 108, 255, 130.

Do you have the Improved Version of the Bible for purchase, as in No. 130 mention is made of it? I agree with the view that Christ rules until all enemies are put under His feet. Satan is surely “The enemy of enemies” (6:319), even as death is an enemy. The Second Death covers all enemies, death and hades included. Nobody attains life until all death is gone, even as Christ attained immortality by His faith, and those of like faith, before Restitutionists, as in God’s Plan before the world began. (E8:218‑19)

“Satan” was never given life before his fall.

Send the three following names your papers: .......

I am concerned about Jolly’s magazines as to what happened between you and him, Can you supply your own details, as it is fair? Love to you all, ------- (AUSTRALIA)

………….............……….

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle:

What a Beautiful morning! Especially so following days of rain which has caused flooding and evacuations in various parts of the State. This situation brought in various memories of the 1913 flood, and pictures of Dayton, Ohio which, of course reminded us of Brother Hoefle, an experience he will never forget. The dams that were then built have really protected that area well. Of course, our area is only 16 miles from the highest point in Ohio – just east of Bellefontaine, so we had no worries except that harsh rains washed away the top soil. ....So we are not planting corn this year, which reminds me of the programs of the Israelites giving the land a rest.

It is so interesting to watch each day as prophecy develops – wars, disasters, earthquakes, etc., coming it seems more rapidly. I heard yesterday on the radio, there are 41 wars going on right now.

We are anxiously awaiting for news of war equipment being made into pruning hooks and plowshares.

Many thanks for the good articles you send us. Every one is priceless in the messages they contain.

With very best for your health and Christian love, ------- (OHIO)

NO. 337: TAKE, MY BRETHREN, THE PROPHETS - PART FIVE

No. 337

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

In four previous papers we have offered analysis of the MAJOR PROPHETS: and we shall now consider the twelve Minor Prophets, the first of which is:

Hoseah – However, before commentating on any individual among them, we shall offer some thoughts from a qualified writer concerning all the prophets:

The Hebrew word for prophet, nabi, means “one who announces or brings a message from God.” Our word prophet has essentially the same meaning – one who speaks by divine inspiration as the interpreter or spokesman of God. In Eph. 4:11 it is written: “He gave some apostles (who wrote by inspiration and plenipotentiary powers in the early Church, a privilege not accorded to any other members of the Christian Church), some prophets,” etc. These prophets stood in rank second to the Apostles who were specially enlightened to explain what had already been written by inspiration – men such as John Wesley, Thomas Cranmer, William Miller, Charles Russell, and some forty‑five others. None of these wrote or spoke by inspiration, thus they all made mistakes, yet they were the special mouthpieces of the Lord for the day in which they lived; and quite a few of them received from their fellow men the same brutal treatment that had been accorded to the Old Testament prophets; and they stand high in the development of the Gospel Age Christian Church. Their messages were of duty and warning, or a prediction of future events based upon the truly inspired contents of the Old and New Testaments.

The Jewish prophets were raised up from the people – as were also the prophets of the Gospel Age – many of them men of low degree, but of fine intellectual qualities. What Jesus said of the entire Christian Church would be markedly true of them: “Ye are the salt of the earth... Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” (Matt. 5:13, 14) And it may be noted here that those countries that contained the best of these people – and especially so of the “prophets” are now the most enlightened among the nations. “The entrance of thy word giveth light. It giveth understanding to the simple.” (Psa. 119:130)

The prophets were called by God for some particular purpose or need, as the Judges were called up for special crises. They were not a class or a guild, inheriting the office. Prophecy was not an institution like the priesthood, and monarchy, but each one had a personal call to his work. This is true of most of the great men who have influenced the world’s history.

The Work Of The Prophets: The prophets were the moral and religious teachers of their nation, authoritative preachers of righteousness. Statesmen who guided the religious life which lay at the foundation of the nation’s welfare, the counselors of kings, revivalists and reformers who awakened the religious life of the people, forewarners of the certainty of the Divine judgment on sin, proclaimers of the Divine ideals, the golden age toward which the nation was to move.

“The prophet was not only the bearer, he was the embodiment of the idea of the theocracy. This idea, which is that of the communion of the living God with mankind, was realized in him, and through him in Israel. Though he could be distinguished from Israel, he was in truth Israel at its highest” – (Hastings Bible Dictionary)

The Methods Of The Prophets – The prophets received their message in various ways: by visions, dreams, “thought images,” angels, and direct action of God upon the mind, inspiring them (“holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” – 2 Pet, 1:21), and revealing to them the needed truths. It is probable the mind of the prophet was not passive but intensely active during the revelation. The assurance on the part of the prophets that they were messengers of God, and were speaking His truth, gave power to their words. They spoke with authority.

Schools Of The Prophets – Samuel planned and set up an institution, so to call it, that has made far more mark on the world than anything else that survives to us out of Israel or Greece or Rome. In his ripe and far‑seeing years Samuel devised and founded and presided over a great prophetical school in his old age; an estate of learned and earnest‑minded men, who were to watch over the religion and the morals of the people, in the prophetical spirit and in the prophetical name. And thus it came about that at Naioth in Ramah the first school of the prophets was set up.

THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS

No. 1 – Hosea – This prophet is considered first because the Bible Index places him first. Just why is not clear to us; but it may be because he immediately follows Daniel, the last of the four Major Prophets. The Bible comment says this about him: “A native of the Northern Kingdom where he prophesied under Jeroboam II and succeeding kings. He was a younger contemporary of Amos, whose book he seems to have known. He warned Israel of their infidelity towards God, rebuked them for their sins, and threatened them with punishment if they would not renounce their evil ways.”

The sentiment of all twelve of the Minors is pretty well summarized by the Prophet Zechariah (7:11, 12): “They refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears... Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: Therefore, came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.”

Follows now some comment from another writer: “Hosea’s prophecy came in very evil times, when luxury and vice, oppression, drunkenness and every law of God was habitually broken. Just before him Amos had tried to stem the tide. His message was one of denunciation of sin, of ‘Woe unto you,’ of punishment, of warning. It was of Divine justice. He enforced his message by pointing out the disasters that had come upon the people for their sins, – famine, blasting, locusts, pestilence, war.

“Hosea follows him with a new motive, the mightiest that can be brought to bear upon the heart of man, – the love of God, the deepest, tenderest, strongest love possible. To Amos’ proposition God is Justice, Hosea adds, ‘God is love.’ Not as if Hosea were any less severe in his judgment of the evils of his people; on the contrary, he shows himself even more deeply affected by them... But God is a kind Father, who punishes his child with a bleeding heart, for its own good, so that afterwards he may enfold it all the more warmly in his arms.”

Probably Part I, chaps. 1‑3, record a prophetic appeal growing out of the prophet’s own experience with a beloved wife, who has been unfaithful to him, as the Israelites had been unfaithful to their God. But Hosea appeals to her, and receives her back into his home, a perfect picture of God’s forgiving love.

From Another Writer: The Book of Hosea stands first among the writings of the Minor Prophets, not because it was thought to be the earliest (for of this there is no proof), but because it follows immediately after Daniel, one of the great major Prophets. It is much more difficult to date exactly the time of Hosea’s activities. General opinion places Amos and Joel prior to Hosea; and they should be very carefully compared with Hosea:

Hosea is indeed throughout enigmatical and obscure compared with Amos, partly from the peculiarities of his style, partly from the want of such illustrative details as those with which we have been supplied by Amos (Amos 7:10‑17). The prophet’s name is one specially characteristic of Northern Israel; it was borne by the last king of the Ten Tribes (2 Kg 15:30), and also originally by Joshua (Num. 13:8, 16). True, the prophet appears in Authorized Versions as Hosea, but there is no difference between the names of the three persons in the Hebrew. St. Jerome bears witness that even in his time there was no distinction between the letters Sin and Shin. (We merely mention this detail to show our readers the intricate difficulties under which some of the Bible’s commentators had to work). That Hosea was a native of the Northern Kingdom needs no proof to any one who has studied his book; but we have taken some pains to prove his Israelitish origin, because it is this which gives his book such a high historical importance. There is very much to interest us in that northern people of which we have for the most part such fragmentary and indirect notices.

Here we believe it is opportune to recite some of the tradition which is quite rampant in England and here in America. The Northern Kingdom (Israel) was carried captive into Babylon in 739 BC by Shalmanezer – 133 years before Judah came to the same fate. But, whereas Judah clearly maintained its identity while in Babylon, and after its return to Palestine in 536 BC, the ten tribes became “lost.” There is no reliable historical record that tells us what became of them. Some contend they became the North American Indians, having crossed the bearing strait into Alaska, and down the western coast of the United States and South America. Others believe they migrated west and into England, and were the ancestors of the English people. They use the words of Jesus in Matt. 10:5, 6: “Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” These people contend that the word British comes from two Hebrew words ‑ Brith and Ish ‑ which mean “chosen man,” and that the English people have indeed been the chosen of God over the years. Before the 1914 war there is no argument that London was the financial center of the world. Any one who wanted money went to London to get it – the British Navy controlled the sea, and “England’s sun never sets.”

However, this conclusion withers under careful analysis: England was not generally known to the Western European world until 55 BC, when Julius Caesar invaded it with his Roman army. And, if Jesus told His disciples to go there, none of them ever did it – a very unlikely thing if Jesus had told them specifically to go there. In fact, there was no Christian Church established in England until about 500 years AD.

Further about Hosea: As Stanley has said, he was the Jeremiah of Israel; no wonder therefore that he met Jeremiah’s fate of opposition and contempt. Therefore, he was the prophet of the decline and fall of Israel; so much indeed is clear from a glance at his book. He received Divine revelations in the days of Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. The natural inference would be that these two historical periods synchronized. But if anything is certain in Biblical history, it is that Jeroboam II, of Israel, died before his contemporary Uzziah or Azariah of Judah.

Many of the illustrative details that we have in the case of Amos are lacking in the life of Hosea. We have no information as to his outward circumstances, or as to his intercourse with the various classes in the state. But we do know a series of domestic events which Hosea himself viewed as interpretative of God’s purposes for him, and as conveying to him a clearly defined mission. The prophet himself has lifted the veil from his home life, and the sad story is briefly this. In the reign of Jeroboah II, when the nation was already on the down‑hill road to moral ruin, Hosea married a wife named Gomer – because God had told him to do so, which in a sense puts him in a class of all the faithful Old Testament prophets. They all did what God told them to do – even though it seemed to them repulsive at the time. He hoped the best of her, and there is no reason to think otherwise; but she proved unworthy of his trust. Whether her profligacy showed itself in simple adultery, or in her following the licentious rites of the consort of the Canaanitish Baal (Asherah), we do not know.

But we inject here the opinion of another writer: “The two sins of idolatry and sensual license were closely intertwined. It would be hardly too much to say that every harlot in Israel was probably a votary of the goddess. Ashera was, as most think, the name of a Canaanitish goddess, though some scholars prefer to regard the word as a noun meaning ‘pole,’ the sacred tree being represented by a pole on or near the altar. In any case the goddess had such an artificial tree or symbol of a tree erected near her altar. Those who take Asherah to be the name of a goddess refer to the Assysian ‘asir,’ whence also probably the name Asher came (a Divine name, like God). They also quote passages in which an image of Asherah is spoken of (1 Kgs. 15:13), and others in which vessels and tents for the Asherahare mentioned in 2 Kgs. 23:14; also the famous phrase in 1 Kgs. 18:19, the prophets of Baal and the prophets of the Asherah. This is quite consistent with the occasional use of the word for the material symbol of the goddess. It is right to add that Hosea does not mention Asherah by name; he only alludes to the worship of her (Hos. 4:13). But Amos does not mention either Asherah or Baal.”

But such was Hosea’s love for his wife, and such perhaps his hope of reclaiming her, that he took no legal steps against her, and acknowledged her three children for his own. At last, however, Gomer fled away to her paramour, but even Hosea’s love followed her. He found her, it would seem, already despised and shamed; perhaps her paramour had grown weary of her, and brutally sold her for a slave. At any rate, Hosea had to buy her back for the price of a slave.

Such is the story told us in the first and third chapters. There is no attempt to soften the coloring by half tints; ‘rough fresco‑strokes’ to adopt Ewald’s phrase, seemed perhaps more effective. Besides, it would have led some to accuse Hosea of egotism, a fault from which a prophetic writer must be conspicuously free, if he had lavished his artistic power on his own tragic history.

Hosea’s poetic imagination was marked by spontaneity and originality. At a later period of Hebrew literature, a fictitious narrative of this kind might be conceivable, but not in the still youthful bloom of lyric poetry – especially in the case of so fresh and original a poet as Hosea. Says one writer: “There is no ground to justify our taking as a parable what Holy Scripture relates as a fact. There must be some plausible ground for it, or the opinion would not have commended itself to the majority of modern commentators. It is not all a necessary inference from the inspiration of the Scriptures that the events described by Hosea should be historical; it is rather an intuition which comes of itself to the unbiased reader who has any poetic insight. The only plausible argument on the other side is that Hosea “seems” when understood literally, to confess to an act which offends our moral consciousness. But Hosea really meant this, he could have said at once that the bride of his choice had been ‘a harlot.’ He simply says that she was a woman of whoredom, which according to Hebrew idiom, need only mean a woman of an unchaste disposition; we must suppose that he afterwards found out Gomer to be a woman of the character described. (See 1:2)

“Indeed, we must conclude that Hosea, after selecting, as he had thought, a bride like the Shulamite of his favorite poem, discovered to his unutterable grief that instead of ‘A lily of the valley, he had unawares enfolded in his arms a lily torn and trampled in the mire.”’

Hosea was jolted by the grim experience with Gomer what he was to record of Israel – that so many of the women were devotees of Asherah, while the men fell captive to the wiles of Baal; and the prophet is cut to the quick by this tragic apostasy; he spares no detail of the abominations that are committed. With a kind of grieved surprise he puts before the people the inevitable punishment; but when he realizes the awful nature of the doom, he melts with pity, and recalls the woe (Chapters 13 & 14). His feelings are those which are natural to a pure‑minded worshiper of Jehovah, trained in the high thoughts of prophetic religion, as an inner voice assures him that his own experience with Gomer offers intimate comparison to the feelings of Jehovah with Israel. God had indeed prepared the prophet to think in unison with Himself concerning His experiences with Israel. Undoubtedly – for that particular time – a more fit person than Hosea could not be found to be Israel’s prophet in the gathering storm. Knowing God’s secret, he could be faithful to Him without being untrue to Israel. Next to God, he loves his country and his wife with a clinging, inextinguishable love. But the Prophet is ever mindful of his intimate relationship to God; and that both the people of Israel, and each individual Israelite, are before everything else ideally God’s children. Therefore, if we cannot strictly call him a ‘patriot,’ we may freely say that he has something higher even than patriotism – an enthusiasm for ‘the pearl of great price’ – the Divine sonship of Israel.

Summary ‑ The gist of his ministry may be summed up tersely thus: Immorality of the northern kingdom; sinfulness of the idolatrous fusion of Jehovah with Baal; sinfulness of Israel’s foreign policy; sinfulness of the separate kingdom of Israel; the conception of love as the bond between God and Israel, and between the individual Israelites. To clarify all of this is no easy task, Hosea probably being more unsystematic than any other prophet. Like Jeremiah, a large part of his book contains lamentations over the general immorality of the Israelites, which seems to have been more glaring than that which prevailed at any time in Judah. Thus, iniquity came to an end in the northern kingdom 133 years before Judah also was removed from the land ‘flowing with milk and honey.’ The northern kingdom was much more intimate with Canaanites than were those of Judah. Israel had received greater infusion of Arab blood.

Here we may profitably consider somewhat the “Arab”: They are the descendants of Ishmael; and Ishmael and Isaac were half brothers, both having Abraham as their father. Because of the friction that arose in their boyhood, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael (her son) away from his house; and the enmity that had developed between the two Boys has continued unto this day. It is now preeminently evident in the events in Lebanon. However, Gen. 25:5 tells us “Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.” Ishmael is not even mentioned in Abraham’s estate; and the years have vividly revealed Abraham’s good judgment in that affair. Surely, there can be no argument but that the children of Isaac are a vastly superior race to the children of Ishmael. The Arabs have continued upon that pile of sand for 2,000 years, but did nothing to improve their condition until the U.S. financiers came there and developed their present wealth of oil. However, in the short time since 1948 the children of Isaac have made tremendous improvement in the general uplift of many angles; now the Arabs want it.

While Hosea is very profuse in his condemnation of Israel, he does not completely overlook Judah. They were traveling in the same direction Israel had trod, but had not yet reached that same degree of degradation. However, he does register some strong complaints against Judah – complaints which emanate from a loving heart. Thus, Hosea, like most of the other prophets, is a preacher of morality. His ideals are pointedly expressed in v 6:6: “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea emphasized it was the duty of the priests to teach a morality based upon pure religion, but they promoted a worship which tended to promote immorality; and this same doctrine was stressed by some of the other prophets. Their teachings tended to spread iniquity because the consequent sin offerings brought financial gain to them. (See v 5:1) At times they even took the lead in disobedience to the Law – “make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.” (7:3) How similar is this to the charge of Jeremiah 5:31: “The prophets prophecy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so; and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Jeremiah and Hosea both saw with painful certainty that destruction lay immediately ahead for the nation, as their protests were falling upon deaf ears’

Clearly enough, the prophet was telling Israel that they and he were following two different versions of Jehovah God. Israel had by that time degraded Jehovah to the level of the iniquitous Baal. It is well to emphasize here that all the gods of the heathen that were immoral were also cruel gods. Thus the heathen of Canaan made their children to pass through fire to Moloch ‑ a clear violation of Lev. 20:2: “Whosoever he be of the children of Israel... that giveth any of his seed to Moloch, he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.” The great military success of the Assyrians – who worshiped the heathen gods – prompted the Jews to distrust their God. And this corrupt religious diversion brought rapid national decline. Hosea could see it, and he emphatically condemned it, which brought upon him the wrath of his own countrymen. But the prophet was adamant that the pure religion of Jehovah God was the safeguard of national existence. There could be no compromise between Jehovah and Baal; and he used all his persuasive power to have Israel see this, but to no avail. He emphasizes a harvest of retribution!

But in all this, Hosea stresses that ‘love’ is the highest attribute of God; and men, from love to Him keep all His commandments, because God first loved man, and that man in like manner should love his fellowman. Thus, a true Israelite would love both his brother Israelites as well as God – of his own accord – just as Jehovah of His own accord loved Israel. Thus, St. Paul exclaims, “Jacob (Israel) have I loved.” It is this primal love that permeates Hosea’s prophecies, and his highest aim is to impress this upon all Israel. Israel should love God, not as a morning cloud which passes rapidly away, but must be enduring and from the heart. But he states that God would not punish the entire nation for the sins of individuals; but, if the nation persists in forsaking His law, then the nation must pass through a hurricane of cleansing judgment.

God Himself only knows the love of God, and Hosea’s declaration of it simply reveals the truthful condition of the Divine heart. This love has a threefold application: God to man; man to God; and man to his neighbor. And – we should love God because God loves us! We recall here that when the Jews left Egypt, they were told specifically that when they came into the “land of milk and honey,” they should not forget that they were once slaves in Egypt, and should refrain from imposing such servitude upon other men. Thus the giver and the receiver are united by a bond of moral obligation; and the idea of a covenant or contract is implied.

The prophet was well alerted to the moral bond that existed between Jehovah and Israel – a bond vividly comparable to the bond between husband and wife, or of a father to a son – although Jehovah is God and not man, a personality free from all earthly taint. And sharp criticism against Israel is stressed in ch. 4:1,2: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.” This criticism becomes sharper with each chapter of his book; and he stresses the fact that Jehovah’s love to Israel (beloved for the fathers’ sakes – Rom. 11:28) – keen as it is – yet has a moral foundation. David expresses this well to the pious Jews of his time: “those that have made a covenant with me (Jehovah) by sacrifice.” (Psa. 50:5)

As we read the expressions of this “holy man of God,” we may easily pass over the thought that we owe a precious truth to Hosea, giving us a fresh stage in the slow progress of revelation, and of the rise and fall of the Jewish nation. It had a sublime beginning in the unselfish and magnanimous leadership of Moses and Aaron; and in Hosea’s time had sunk close to the bottom of the dirty barrel; and they left no other prospect of a cure than to deliver them into the hands of the heathen Assyrians. As Isaiah so tersely expresses it: “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.” (Isa. 10:5) And Isaiah’s statement now in our day offers gruesome forecast of the destiny of Christendom’ Yet with all of Hosea’s condemnation he reveals a milder side of the Divine nature not found in other prophetical writings of his time. Other prophets portray Jehovah as king and judge of Israel; Hosea pictures Him as her Husband and her Father. He magnifies the moral attributes of the Almighty.

In comparison with some of the other prophets we may dissect Hosea’s writings somewhat after this manner: He may equal Jeremiah in tenderness, but he is inferior to him in moral depth; no clear conception of a New Covenant (See Jer. 31:31). He does not succeed like Isaiah and Jeremiah in expressing his latent consciousness of the unity of God, although he does say that recovered Israel shall be celled ‘sons of the living God.’ He tells us that the family of David, then shorn of so much of its glory, shall yet stand at the head of a reunited and victorious nation. (See chap. 1:10, which contains a forecast of the future Divine Kingdom which shall eventually prevail on earth.) This will occur, of course, when the One greater than David occupies the throne of His earthly Kingdom. THY KINGDOM COME.

Jesus told His followers to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” And St. Peter tells us, using much different words: “God will send Christ Jesus... whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution (restoration)... which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets.” (Acts 3:19‑21) Since Hosea was one of the “holy prophets” we should expect to read of such confirmation in his writings, and so we do: “I will sow her (Israel) unto me in the earth (“Thy kingdom come on earth”); and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say Thou art my God.” (Host 2:23)

Also further confirmation from Chapter 13: “l will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.” (v. 14) And from Chapter 14: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. (v. 4) I will Be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. (v. 5) His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. (v. 6) They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. (v. 7) Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” (v.9)

We have further confirmation of “the transgressors shall fall therein” by the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:23: “And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear (obey) that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”

And may our readers all come to a more intimate knowledge of that “Kingdom” through their study of the writings of the Prophet Hosea. “So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I shall please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa. 55:11)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – In Rev. 10:6 there is this statement: “There should be time no longer.” Is this a proper statement, or proper translation?

ANSWER: – No! it is not. As it occurs in the King James version this is certainly a wrong translation – a most ridiculous statement. There will always be time, regardless of what we may think about the continuance of our earth. However, even as respects our earth, it is clearly stated in Eccl. 1:4: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.” The Emphatic Diaglott gives the proper translation for the text: “The time shall be no longer delayed.” Verse 7 speaks of the days of the “Seventh Trumpet”; and it refers to the time in which we are living; and part of the message of the Seventh Trumpet is what is stated in verse 6. It has been properly stated in Acts 3:21 that there would be a “restitution of all things,” which has been postponed for such a long time that few people now pay any attention to the words of St. Peter. But verse 6 says we have come to that time in history that the great Plan of the Ages is now to see important parts of it fulfilled, – we have now come to that time in earth’s history that the time should be no longer delayed; the great procession of the Plan is now to be fulfilled.

The book of Revelation is a very complex part of the Bible – so much so that in the early church some members would not accept it as a part of the Bible; it was not capable of explanation. However, we have now come to understand much of it; and there is no question in good scholarly minds that it is a genuine part of Holy Writ, although verse 1, of Chapter 1 says it was given to the Apostle John in sign language “He sent and ‘sign’‑ i ‑ fied by his angel unto his servant John.” When properly read, Rev. 10:6 is a very enlightening statement.

In our discussion of the various prophets we have stressed the overall import of this statement: “The time should be no longer delayed.” While we can recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy in a limited manner now, it will be much more pronounced in the years immediately ahead. Once these present institutions are removed, and the new order is firmly established, it will be in the daily news: “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) Then, as the Apostle John expresses it, “I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. ... Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Rev. 21:2,3) – after the close of the “little season.” (Rev. 20:3)

Here we offer just a few of the prophecies of that time: “His (man’s) flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.” (Job 33:25) “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction.” (Hosea 13:14) Then, according to the promise to Abraham: “In thee, and thy seed, shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18)

Next we offer 1 Tim. 2:4‑6: “God will have all men to be saved, and come into the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” Especially do we stress “in due time.” No prophecy can be fully understood until it has been fulfilled, or in course of fulfillment. And even with Jesus Himself, He told the disciples with some of the last words He spoke to them: ‘‘No one knows concerning that day and hour (when the Kingdom would be established); no, not the angels of the heavens. nor the son, but the Father only.” (Matt. 24:36, Diaglott) But here we should recognize that the Son “in due time” did know “the day and hour,” although He did not know it when speaking to His disciples. As for ourselves, we do not pretend to know the day or the hour; but we do know from certain prophecies, by the chronology, the parallel dispen­sations, and the signs of the times that we have come to that day when “The time shall be no longer delayed.”

Jesus has provided us with a very strong picture of the Kingdom in Luke 20:27‑36: The Sadducees, one of the leading cults of that time, who did not believe in any resurrection, came to Jesus with a hypothetical question concerning a woman who married one of seven brothers. The man died leaving no children. At that time it was the custom for his brother to marry the woman in an effort to carry on the family name. In due course, she married all of the seven men, leaving no children, so the Sadducees asked Him: “In the resurrection whose wife will she be?” And His answer: “Those that attain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, or are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more” (“There shall be no more death.” – Rev. 21:4).

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother and Sister Hoefle: Grace and peace!

Thank you very much for your telephone call and also for your comforting letter. I enjoyed your letter to Brother ‑‑‑‑-‑‑. I think you answered him with plain Scriptures to cover all points. I just received a letter with more bad news. My daughter whose husband had cancer of the colon a year or so ago, now has kidney trouble due to it – and is suffering something awful... My daughter is 61 now, so it never rains unless is pours, they say.

So keep on praying for us, that I might be able to bear up. Hope you can read my writing. I can think better by hand than to type. Sure hope you both are better now; and may God bless you both.

As always, with much Christian love, Your brother in Him, ------- (MICHIGAN)