NO. 491 JESUS THE CHRIST

It is rather a sad commentary that many earnest and sincere Church members do not know the clear meaning of the name Jesus Christ, the One they desire to worship. This is not only true of lay members, but is also true of quite a few of their ministers who are attempting to “preach Christ and Him Crucified.” “Thou shalt call His name Jesus,” was the command of the angel to Joseph, His stepfather. Jesus is the equivalent of the Hebrew Jeshua, or Joshua, and means Savior – “for he will save His people from their sins,” said the angel. He continued with the given name Jesus all during His boyhood and His family and neighbors knew Him by this name. However, when He presented Himself to John at Jordan for Baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him from on High; and from that time onward He was known as Jesus Christ. The word Christ means anointed; and the clear indication is that from Jordan on, from the time the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Him, He was then known as Jesus the Christ – or the Anointed Savior. Thus, the name Jesus Christ and Anointed Savior mean exactly the same thing.

In a broad sense there are four offices He would hold in the saving process for the human family – that of Prophet, Priest, King and Judge. Be it noted there are also four attributes of the Divine character – Wisdom, Love, Power and Justice; and each one of these attributes finds its full application individually in the four offices just named.

First – The work of a prophet is to teach the people the truth: “I will send you Elijah the Prophet... and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:5,6) And such a ministry is founded upon the attribute of Wisdom.

Second – The purpose of a Priest is to forgive and bless. “We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities... Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy [forgiveness], and find grace [favor, blessing] to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15,16) Surely, such forgiveness and blessing are primarily a work of the attribute of Love.

Third – As a King (Ruler), Jesus will use particularly the attribute of Power. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth... that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [the Anointed Savior] is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10,11) It needs no argument that such a rulership, regal authority, is the direct result of the attribute of Power.

Fourth – And as a Judge He will use specifically the attribute of Justice. “God hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained [the Anointed Savior]; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) As Judge, the risen Lord will use specifically the attribute of Justice – strict, impartial and perfect Justice. “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him... shall make Him of quick understanding... He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears [as must now be done in our courts, thus often resulting in the conviction of the innocent, and more often resulting in the freeing of the guilty]: with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth... Righteous­ness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.” (Isa. 11:2-5)

A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS

While the foregoing gives an overall summary of the Anointed Savior and His work toward men, there are various details of each of these that may be itemized under 21 subheadings; and some of these we shall now consider:

(1) OUR RANSOMER – “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28); and this is further emphasized and clarified in 1 Tim. 2:4-6: “Will have all men to be saved... The man Christ Jesus [the Anointed Savior] Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” In this latter text the word ransom is from the Greek antilutron, and means a corresponding price – an exact equivalent. This word ransom finds a fairly good illustration in our present-day kidnapping crimes, where a ransom is demanded for the release of the victim. When demands are met, the victim is released; and it is much the same in the case of Jesus as Ransomer, one great difference being that Jesus Himself provides the ransom price. In 1 Cor. 7:23 it is stated: “Ye are bought with a price”; and we are further informed in Rom. 5:12: “By one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin: so death passed upon all men.” From the fall in Eden the great enemy has held the human race as in a gigantic vise, from which none could escape. “None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psa. 49:7)

But Christ Jesus (the Anointed Savior) was well able to provide the ransom price; and He did this by “pouring out His soul unto death,” giving His human life and life rights as the exact equivalent of the man Adam in Eden. “Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book... thou wast slain, and hast redeemed [ransomed] us to God by Thy blood... Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” (Rev. 5:5-12) As such He substituted His perfect human body for the perfect human body that Adam lost in Eden; His perfect life rights for those lost by Adam in Eden. “The Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matt 18:11) Thus, the question properly arises, What was lost? We answer, Four things were lost. First, Adam lost in Eden his peaceful fellowship with God; second, he lost his perfect home in Eden; third, he lost his dominion over the brute creation; fourth, he lost his right to life. The dying process lasted 930 years, at which time Adam returned to the dust whence he was originally taken.

The doctrine of the Ransom is the foundation stone of all Biblical teachings; it is the touchstone by which we may gauge the truth or error of every other attempted Scriptural interpretation. If such teachings impinge in any way against this touchstone, we may be sure there is something wrong with that teaching. Thus, a proper understanding of the Ransom immediately annihilates the idea that man is a dual being; that is, that he has a soul and body separate and distinct from each other. “In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” was the clear edict to the man Adam (Gen. 2:17). There are those that contend that Adam died spiritually on that day. But, if he died physically 930 years later, he must then have been both spiritually and physically dead; so just what else would be left of him? However, the record is clear enough, “Man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7) Thus, when Christ Jesus (the Anointed Savior) “poured out His soul unto death,” He provided an exact equivalent for what the man Adam lost in Eden – He became the Ransom, the corresponding price, by which He could “redeem them from death; ransom them from the power of the grave.” (Hosea 13:14)

(2) MEDIATOR – In Hebrews 12:24 it is stated “Jesus the mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” In the verses immediately preceding, there is minutely detailed the Covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai, with Moses as Mediator, and compared with Jesus as the proposed Mediator of the New Covenant; so it is in order first of all to define the meaning of mediator. He is a go-between for two parties, much the same as a broker in the stock market. When we buy stock on the New York Stock Exchange, the broker who transacts the action not only represents the buyer, but he represents the seller also, and he is legally and ethically bound to give to each a fair and impartial representation. While money is the medium of exchange in a stock deal, the buyer paying and the seller receiving the amount involved, Jesus as Mediator of the New Covenant provides not money, but His blood, His human life and human life rights, to bring the opposing parties into accord. It should be noted also that the parties to a stock transaction need not be enemies – but actually good friends; but the mediation of Jesus will be between two parties actually at variance with each other. The Jews at Sinai were also out of accord with God – because of inherited and acquired sin; thus, in no position to have any direct dealings with God. But, with Moses as the go-between, the Law Covenant was completed, through the sprinkling of animals’ blood. So also with the New Covenant, the Christ – Anointed Savior – shall “make His soul an offering for sin.” (Isa. 53:10), as He mediates the New Covenant.

That this New Covenant is not yet in operation should be readily apparent. If it were, man would be unable to continue in his sinful course as he has been doing for the past six thousand years. But during this reign of sin there have been some who have done the Lord’s will. For instance, see Hebrews chapter 11 for those who were faithful and obedient, and also, at Jesus’ first Advent there began the High Calling for the Bride class, the Little Flock. There are four elect classes to bless the world in the Kingdom, the chief class being the Little Flock of the High Calling. There is now no command to the Gentile world to forsake sin and follow righteousness. But, as stated in the opening paragraphs, when the New Covenant and the Mediator (better than Moses) are established, then it will be a command for “every knee to bow, and every tongue to confess that Christ is Lord.” Certainly, all will agree that this condition does not prevail at this time.

The purpose of the New Covenant is to give life to all who will accept it under the terms of that Covenant. “God will have all men to be saved” from the various evils that now afflict the human race; but, once that salvation is accomplished, then it will be a matter of each individual’s choice whether or not he wishes to avail himself of further benefits that will then be available. That will be the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29, Dia.), the word “judgment” here being from the Greek krisis, which actually means a trial time – a trial time with sufficient knowledge available to permit those tried to make an intelligent choice between good and evil.

(3) FATHER – In Isaiah 9:6 we have the prophecy, “unto us a son is given... His name shall be called Wonderful... The everlasting father.” St. Paul states, “As by Adam all die, so by the Anointed [Savior] also, will all be restored to life.” (1 Cor. 15:22, Dia.) The first Adam did not give us life; he gave us a sentence of death, which is slowly executed upon each individual until he is finally placed in the tomb. It is a common expression for men to say, I am living in New York, St. Louis, Los Angeles, etc.; but the fact is that they are all dying in those places, of which every funeral procession gives mute evidence.

But the life that will come from the second Adam (the Anointed Savior) will be just the reverse; it will bring to the race life in perfection – “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will be no more, nor mourning nor crying; neither will there be any more pain... These words are faithful and true.” (Rev. 21:4,5) Instead of the aging process we now see on all hands, there will be just the reverse at the hand of the “Everlasting Father”: “Man’s flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.” (Job 33:25) At the present we see men going from youth to old age and faltering steps; under the Mediator, the Anointed Savior, the Everlasting Father, just the reverse will occur – man shall return to the days of his youth.

(4) LAW-GIVER – “The Government shall be upon His shoulder.” (Isa. 9:6) And, since all God’s works are perfect, we may expect a perfect Government when the Anointed Savior takes unto Himself His great power to reign. Under present unfavorable conditions all governments are far from perfect; in fact, most of them have been miserably imperfect – due to the vicious, corrupt and selfish men who have been at the heads of the various governments. “To the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Dan 4:17) Even with the few noble rulers of history, their efforts were much impeded and negated by corrupt and ambitious underlings. As the perfect Law-giver, the Anointed Savior will have no selfish motives. “With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” (Isa. 11:4) – class distinctions will not enter into the administration of justice under the Perfect Law-Giver.

(5) THE GREAT PHYSICIAN – That the human race is in dire need of better doctors to cure their diseases is apparent on every hand. It is our conviction that many of our better physicians are men and women of high ideals, who work conscientiously and altruistically to ease the ills of the human race; yet they are forced to admit their limitations against the ailments that afflict the race. Not long back a very good and personal friend of ours dropped dead of a heart attack in just a few minutes. He had been a brilliant physician, with a very lucrative practice. We were discussing his sudden demise with perhaps ten fellow members of the Medical Association, when one of them sadly remarked that in instances such as that one they were forced to admit their limitations in their treatment of bodily ills.

The human afflictions are not only physical, they are also mental, artistic, moral and religious. “When I would do good, evil is present with me,” is the open confession of the Great Apostle (Rom. 7:21); and it needs no argument that that noble “example of the believers” exerted all his indomitable will to combat the weaknesses which had come to him through heredity. Said the Prophet Isaiah (1:5,6); “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointments.” Further on the subject by David (Psa. 51:2-5): “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity... Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Doctors have listed about 2,000 diseases that afflict humanity — many times more than can be found in any of the brute creation. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” is a further statement by David (Psa. 139:14); but man’s great physique and sensitive nervous system have also subjected him to more numerous and more intricate bodily disorders than can be found in any of the lower animals.

And for all of this the Great Physician (the Anointed Savoir) will in due time produce the remedies that will effect a complete and permanent cure. “The Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” (Mal. 4:2) “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities [through the work of the Great High Priest]; who healeth all thy diseases [by the hand of the Great Physician].” (Psa. 103:2,3) This healing has been partially extended to those who have had faith in the Gospel Age and past ages.

(6) THE GREAT AND JUST JUDGE – Previously we touched lightly the Anointed Savior’s office of Judge, but we now offer some elaboration because of the confused and extensive misunderstanding that prevails on the subject throughout Christendom. In previous centuries the belief was general throughout Christendom that the Great Judge would eventually put in an appearance in a 24-hour day, sentence all the sinners to eternal torment, and take His faithful with Him into the heavenly abode. It is a tribute to the increase in knowledge (Dan 12:4) here in the end of the Age that many Christian believers no longer accept such an erroneous view; but many of them still have only a hazy conception of any different view on the subject. However, if we consider the Judges in Israel, after the entrance into Canaan, we find their most important work was to deliver their fellow Israelites from their enemies; and in this they were but a type of the Anointed Savior who will deliver mankind in general from their enemies of heart and mind — namely, sin, error and selfishness. “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son [the Anointed Savior].” (John 5:22)

Such judgment to be successful will involve several things: First, the human race will be put under providential conditions conducive to accepting the harsh, yet merciful, conditions applicable to such judgment. Such conditions do not now prevail, because all will agree that it now is as easy for man to sin as for the smoke and sparks to fly skyward. Even with the faith class, who have resolutely attempted a better way, a certain margin of failure has accompanied their efforts to keep the perfect law of God. Secondly, it will be necessary to teach the unbelief class just what the law actually is – what is required of them – before they can even make the attempt to keep the law. All will agree that the conflicting teachings of the numerous sects today must carry with them a considerable amount of error. It has been well stated that behind every argument lies someone’s ignorance. And this has been especially true of religious arguments. But the promise is sure to all, “I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” (Psa. 32:8) And, “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) The people will first be told clearly and certainly what they must do before they will be judged for what they do. It is established law in the courts of our land that “Ignorance of the law excuses no one”; and this may continue measurably true during the reign of the Christ – the Anointed Savior. But the ignorance will surely and completely first be eliminated before judgment will be meted out. Then, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)

Such a situation would require, thirdly, that the necessary help be given for the success of the willing, and suitable punishments for willful violations – punishments not too severe, nor yet too lenient for each individual case. Then, finally, the judgment must be pronounced – innocence for the innocent, and guilt for the guilty. “Then will the King say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed ones of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the formation of the world.’ He will then also say to those at His left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into that aionian fire [annihilation], which is prepared for the Adversary and his messengers.’” (Matt. 25:34,41, Dia.)

From the foregoing it should be clear that the judgment process and the salvation process are companion accomplishments. As the one occurs, so does the other. Thus, instead of the judgment being a fearful thing, the world is admonished to “Sing unto the Lord, all the earth... show forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen.” (Psa. 96:1-3) He will “judge the world in righteousness”; and none will be asked to perform more than he is able to do. Such a situation today is impossible – even though the judge may have the most noble intentions. We still are faced with the indisputable truth, “Man looketh on the outward appearance,” and must judge accordingly; but in the judgment process of the Anointed Savior all will know that “The Lord looketh on the heart.”

(7) THE GOOD PROVIDER – Despite man’s best intentions to improve his condition, the result has been mostly dismal failure. Since the great increase of knowledge in the time of the end – from 1799 onward – almost all the great inventions have been produced, resulting in great freedom from the burdens of the curse. But, “A morning cometh, and a night also.” In the more advanced countries today we find much the same evils as were charged to Sodom: “Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her... they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore, I took them away as I saw good.” (Ezek. 16:49,50) Jesus compared the world in His first Advent to sheep that have lost their way – without a shepherd; but St. Paul writes of The Anointed Savior as “That great shepherd of the sheep, who will make you perfect in every good work.” (Heb. 13:20,21) “Our God shall supply all your needs through Christ Jesus, our Lord.” This He has done for the faith class during this Age, and will perform it for all mankind in the Age just ahead, supplying the things needful for them to gain the salvation then available.

At the outset we stated that there are 21 offices, or titles, which apply to the Anointed Savior; but we have offered detail on only about a dozen of them. Some of those we have not discussed, and which have Biblical labels are the Advocate, the Bridegroom, the Deliverer, the Captain (of our Salvation), the Head (of all things), the Prince of Peace, the Revealer, the Purifier and the Refiner. Some of these operate only during this Age, while others operate now, and will also operate in the next Age. The 21 evils that are rampant among men all find their cure through the person, offices and work of the Anointed Savior; nor are they to be found elsewhere. Once this is clearly discerned, we may join heartily and with increased fervor in offering the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth.” That alone will produce “The desire of all nations”; and, as we consider those things already accomplished in that direction, we may have increased confidence in the performance of the remainder, for “He is faithful that promised.” (Heb. 10:23)

All of the foregoing may be summarized in the words of St. Peter (Acts 3:19-23) – “The restitution of all things.” The general premise, and the ultimate consummation are also contained in these texts: “A prophet [the Anointed Savior] shall the Lord your God raise up unto you... Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear [obey] that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” We are told further that when That Prophet occupies His office of Teacher of the people that Satan will be bound – “that he should deceive the nations no more.” (Rev. 20:3) But after that he will be “loosed for a Little Season.” That “Little Season” will be the Time of Trouble at the end of the Millennial Age, just as the present Time of Trouble now marks the end of this Age. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it.” (1 Cor. 3:13)

However, when the trial time of the Little Season shall arrive – in the eventual separation of the Sheep and the Goats – most of the 21 evils mentioned herein will have been eliminated; thus, there will be no more any need for their corrective offices to be operative. But there are several of them that will find their real prominence during that Little Season. The Anointed Savior will then act in delivering the Sheep (as Deliverer), even as He destroys the Goats; He will still be their King, because man will not obtain “restitution” of his kingly domain that was lost in Eden until after the full end of the Little Season, when the Lord’s words will apply, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom.” Also, at the end of that Little Season the Judge will pronounce His final judgment upon “the just and the unjust” – after which “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. For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:24-26) This “last enemy” cannot possibly mean the tomb, as we understand it today; because, once the resurrection from the death state occurs, in that instant the bonds of the grave are broken, and the healing, instructing, and reviving processes begin to work – all of which must be completed by the beginning of the Little Season.

Both the sheep and the goats will have been perfected physically by the time the Little Season begins, and to all outward appearances they will all be the same. But it will require the trial time – the graduating process – of the Little Season to determine which of them are also perfected mentally, morally and religiously. These may be classed as the concealed vestiges of the dying process – the evils they willfully refused to forsake – even though they were outwardly obedient during the Mediatorial Kingdom. All who enter the Little Season will be perfect physical specimens; most of the 21 offices of the Anointed Savior will have accomplished their full purpose, and will have passed forever out of existence as such. But a few of these titles and their works will carry right on through the Little Season to its full end. “Then cometh the end,” when all of the 21 offices will cease to operate, as the sheep “inherit the Kingdom” – have had all restored to them that was lost in Father Adam.

Briefly we would recap the 21 offices of the Anointed Savior as described by the Epiphany Messenger:

(1) The Ransomer – “Who gave himself a ransom for all.” (1 Tim. 2:6)

(2) The Advocate – for the Church. (1 John 2:1)

(3) Our Righteousness – “righteousness of the law... fulfilled in us.” (Rom. 8:4)

(4) Bridegroom – of the Bride, the Church, which is His Body. (Eph. 1:22,23)

(5) High Priest – who forgives and blesses. (Heb. 4:15,16)

(6) Teacher – In the Kingdom the people will learn righteousness. (Isa. 26:9)

(7) Deliverer – from sin, error, pain and death. (Rom. 11:26)

(8) Captain – of our salvation. (Heb. 2:10)

(9) Head – of the Church and of all things. (Eph. 1:22,23)

(10) Mediator – He will stand between God’s justice and man during the Kingdom. (See Heb. 12:24)

(11) Father – “The everlasting Father.” (Isa. 9:6)

(12) Perfect Law-giver – (Isa. 2:3)

(13) Prince of Peace – during the Kingdom (Isa. 9:6), but not during this Age. (Matt. 10:34)

(14) King – “King of kings” (kings, the Little Flock – Rev. 19:16, and King during the Kingdom).

(15) Revealer – to make manifest. (Mal. 3:2)

(16) Executive for God – (Isa. 11:4)

(17) Physician – who healeth all our diseases. (Psa. 103:3)

(18) Lord of Lords – (Lords, the Little Flock). (Rev. 19:16)

(19) Judge – together with the Little Flock – “know ye not the saints shall judge the world.” (1 Cor. 6:2)

(20) Purifier and Refiner – (Mal. 3:3)

(21) Provider – provides life, perfect home, etc., in restored paradise. (Psa. 103:4)

As said, some of these offices are operative now for the Faith Classes – for the elect classes, and many of them will continue to operate for all mankind during the Kingdom proper. Also, quite a few of these offices will terminate at the beginning of the Little Season – such as Mediator, Ransomer, Physician, etc. But all who have received Present Truth must know that the Christ will continue all through the Little Season until the end in the offices of King, Judge, Revealer, Deliverer and Provider of the Sheep – until the “end” of the Little Season when He shall have “delivered up the kingdom to God” (1 Cor. 15:24) by transferring Kingship to the Sheep, to those who entered the Little Season with perfect characters. Those who enter the Little Season with an unholy heart condition, who have failed to perfect moral and religious qualities – who have failed to rid themselves of Adamic defilements (the dying process) – will be destroyed in the Second Death at the end of the Little Season. Then the Restitution work will be finished, and Acts 3:19-23 will be fulfilled. At that time He will have “put all enemies under his feet,” and 1 Cor. 15:24-26 will be fulfilled.

“Then cometh the end [the end of the Little Season, when He shall have ruled over all the earth and given every man the opportunity to gain eternal life, which His Ransom-sacrifice, a corresponding price, enables Him to give], when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father [for God will be the final judge over the earth and will exercise His judgment through Christ, the Head, primarily, and secondarily, the Church, His Body, as His Vicegerent]; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and [all] power [every vestige of the governorship and of the pretended authority and pretended might of Satan, all of this will be put down by the almighty hand of Christ, the Head, and the Church, the Body, using God’s power as that almighty power in their hand]. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death [thus we see that not only persons are these enemies, but also things. The Adamic death in the sense of the dying process is this last great enemy; and because of His faithfulness, Jesus became the One who will after the close of the Millennium finally destroy it].” The sad tragedy of sin will forever have ceased to be enacted. The ages to come will witness the realization of the angels’ song of Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will to men. (Luke 2:14)

The foregoing is beautifully summarized in the words of the angel at the time of Jesus’ birth: “Behold, I bring you glad tidings, which will be a great joy to all people; because today was born for you, in David’s City, a Savior, who is the Lord Messiah.” (Luke 2:10,11,Dia.) This is clearly emphasized by the Apostle Paul: “Now according to a plan of the ages, which He formed for the anointed Jesus our Lord.” (Eph. 3:10,11, Dia.) Thus, the “plan of the ages” is assured of accomplishment through the Anointed Savior.

“Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men... 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 lovingkindness of the Lord” (Psa. 107:31-43) – through the ministration of the Anointed Savior.

(By John J. Hoefle, No 364, December 1, 1985)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Sister Hoefle: Greetings in our Messiah’s blessed Name!

It is with sadness that I write this letter to you this evening. Our dear Brother Hashem Sefarim has died of “natural causes.” I am not yet sure of the date of his death at this time. We will surely miss our brother who was full of so much wisdom and understanding. We do however take comfort in the resurrection hope of all.

I wish to also take this opportunity to make some comments and questions regarding your letter. In it you mentioned the Youthful Worthies. We, too, believe in such a class. However, we may differ on the identification of that class. We believe that the Door to the High Calling was closed in 1881. Our class found this information in Vol. 2, p. 235. [The High Calling closed but the door was open. Some lost their crowns and others took their places.] The edition of Volume 2 as published by the Dawn differs somewhat in the text. The changes deal mostly with chronology. Who made these changes? [We believe the chronology that Brother Russell gave us.] Were these changes made after Brother Russell’s death?

How far back do the reprints of the Epiphany papers go? Is Number 1 available? Also, do you have any literature that discusses our Brothers Joseph Rabinowitsch and Avraham ben Chaim Kohn? As you know, Brother Joseph was the founder of the National Jewish Congregation of the New Covenant and was spoken of often in the writings of Pastor Russell. Brother Avraham was the founder of our congregation. He died a year ago on February 2 at the age of 118. The notice of his death appeared in the May 1996 issue of the Dawn magazine.

Our Passover/Memorial Observance is on the evening of April 20. This is the actual date of 14 Nisan. How is it that some others celebrate this on other dates? If we are wrong, we should surely be set straight. Please advise us of this. I would like to pass along some helpful information to your classes. If anyone is in need of the Divine Plan book in the Hebrew language we can supply these. We also publish the Bible in various Hebrew editions as well as tracts and other literature. We also have several copies of the Emphatic Diaglott in stock. These are new. Anyone interested should write to the attention of Brother …………….

Enclosed is a list of persons that you may wish to send your papers to. …………. is an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness. She publishes a newsletter concerning the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

May G-d bless you richly!! Your brother, …………….

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NO. 490 HAS GOD CHANGED HIS PLAN REGARDING HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE?

A question may arise: Since God selected Israel as his “Chosen People” to be the light-bearer of truth and righteousness to the world, and since Israel has been unfaithful, “stiff-necked and rebellious,” has God changed his plan and purpose concerning them?

We answer, No, thank God. God emphatically affirms the fixedness of His purpose: “Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it be... The Lord of hosts hath purposed and who shall disannul it.” “I am God and there is none else; I am God and there is none like me... my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure... yea I have spoken it, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed it, and I will also do it.” (Isa. 14:24-27; 46:9-11) However unfaithful, stiff-necked and rebellious Israel has been, and however unfavorable, hard and drastic God’s dealings with them may appear, His original and unalterable purpose of making His Chosen People the light-bearer of righteousness to the world is destined to progress gradually to completion. When the temporary permission of affliction shall have served its Divine purpose, God will restrain it. When Israel shall have humbly acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, and shall have accepted His Atonement-sacrifice for sin, they will then understand that their punishment was a wise feature in the Divine plan and policy of their education for the dispensing of His blessings to all the other families of the earth.

It is a mistake to regard the punishment meted out to Israel as merely punitive; it was corrective and educative as well, and intended to fit them for their Divine calling and destiny. Thus God intends that His Kingdom rule on earth shall yet be the ultimate constitution of Israel’s government. But Israel must first be purified by a complete severance from the association of Gentile rulership. They must regain spiritual freedom, in their own land, and amid welcome surroundings they must revert to the love of truth and righteousness, and to the practice of faith and godliness. We must therefore view the exodus today as a great forward step in the development of Israel’s religion. Their special mission as a nation to bless other nations could never be accomplished as long as they remained scattered throughout Gentile lands. It is time therefore that all pious and serious-thinking Jews studied the history of their national experience with an intent of going back to Israel and righting themselves with their God; for the sooner they return to their homeland and become reinstated to Divine favor, the sooner God will bless them, and the sooner His predestinated and unalterable purpose of blessing “all the families of the earth” through them will come.

Glancing backward we notice God’s special selection of Abraham and certain of his offspring as the channels through which the promised blessing of all the families of the earth should come. God chose Abraham because of His faith. He is styled “The Father of the Faithful,” not because certain individuals, Noah, Enoch and Abel before Him had not been faithful, but because with Abraham God started a faith family. That family became known as a nation – the nation of Israel. The reason Abraham was called the “Father of the Faithful” was because those faithful ones that preceded him exercised faith more along abstract lines, whereas Abraham was head of a faith family – his wife, Sarah; his son, Isaac; a grandson, Jacob; and then came the great grandsons, the twelve sons of Jacob, all of whom, though, as we have seen, not always faithful by any means, nevertheless, belonged to the faith family and were members of the “Chosen People.”

The Divine promise and revelation to Abraham was, “In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 22:18) This promise was made with an oath and it meant a definite and permanent selection of Israel, of the family of Abraham, from among all nations, as the one in whom the great work of blessing the world should be accomplished, and any blessing coming to any Gentile is destined to come as a fruitage of that oath-bound promise. God, speaking to Israel, declared, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” (Amos 3:2) Israel alone was recognized and honored of God, and when His Son came, His ministry was confined exclusively to the Chosen People, and He would not permit His disciples to go to others, saying, as He sent them out, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.” We might ask, Why, Jesus? Because, He explains, “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 10:5,6; 15:24)

Israel was permanently selected of God to be His special people, a treasure unto Him above all other people. Separated from the Gentile world, they were the recipients of special favor from God for over eighteen hundred years. This national favor began with the beginning of their national life when they were first recognized and called, “The Twelve Tribes of Israel” – a national name (Gen. 49:28; 46:3; Deut. 26:5). The long years of national life and Divine favor temporarily ended with their tragic rejection of their Messiah when, five days before His crucifixion, He presented Himself to them as their King, and, not being accepted, he declared, “Your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23:38) This, the temporary end of their national favor, was the point of their fall from Divine favor, which fall continued for years, ending in the total destruction of their national polity, as well as their city, Temple, priesthood and Atonement Day.

During the period of God’s favor to Israel, during which time Gentile nations were ignored, Israel had chastisements and blessings combined. But even their chastisements for willful sins were evidences and elements of God’s concern and His Fatherly care over them. He permitted trouble to come upon them, and frequently allowed them to be carried away into captivity when they became indifferent and disobeyed Him; yet when they repented and cried unto Him He always heard them and delivered them. The entire his­tory of Israel, as recorded in Exodus, Joshua, Chronicles and Samuel, attests the fact that God did not long hide His face from them, and that His ear was ever open unto their repentant cry, down to the very day their “house was left desolate.” Even on that day, God had sent them the long-promised Messiah in the person of Jesus, His Son. The unfitness of Israel to, in any meas­ure, represent God and His Kingdom on earth, was evidenced in their rejection of the “holy, harmless, and undefiled One,” and their desire for Pilate to deliver unto them Barabbas, a murderer, in His stead.

Thus, because of Israel’s unfitness to represent God and His Kingdom, the day of their greatest favor became the day of their greatest fall from favor. Blinded, as a people, by national pride and prejudice, the great opportunity to be the first to recognize and herald the Messiah was taken away from them, and it went to Gentiles, a people whom, in the Jews’ arrogant pride, they despised as “dogs.” We note that in Israel’s conception of things, God was not concerned about the Gentiles. They were deeply conscious of the age-long promise of Jehovah to their father Abraham: “Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,” but they were quite unconscious of the meaning of the rest of the promise, “and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” (Gen. 18:17-18) They knew that this promise had been reaffirmed to Isaac: “I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father”; but, again, the rest of the reaffirmation, “and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” was not comprehended (Gen. 26:3-4). They knew that the promise and reaffirmation had been repeated to Jacob: “I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed,” but the rest of the promise, “and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:13-14) was lost upon them. Thus God’s favor was not to return to Israel as a nation, to remove their blindness, and to lead them as a firstfruit of the nations into earthly blessings “until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in [be finished].” (Rom. 11:25)

Thus, as Paul declared (Rom. 11:7), “Israel [in their national pride] did not obtain that for which they sought [expected]” – the first people to recognize and herald the Messiah. In their pride of heart, expecting and claiming the chief blessing as their natural birthright as God’s Chosen People, and as further merited by their keeping the Law of Moses, they rejected the bless­ing as simply a favor of God. As David prophetically foretold, their table, so bountifully spread with rich promises of God, became a “stumbling block, and a recompense unto them” (Psa. 69:22; Rom. 11:9-10) because of their hardness of heart. Jesus, who humbly came as an Atonement-sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and who would have exalted Israel to a position of glory above other nations of earth and beyond their expectation or their ability to desire or to hope, was to their pride a “stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” (Rom. 9:32, 33; Isa. 8:14) Yet the blindness of Israel was only a blindness “in part” and not a total loss of sight (Rom. 11:25); and any Jew who, at any time, would resolutely brush away the films of prejudice and national pride, and humbly and thankfully accept the favor of God through Jesus Christ, was privileged to do so (John 1:11-12).

As previously stated, after Israel rejected and crucified the Messiah, they had no marks whatever of God’s favor. Their house was “left desolate.” Jews must honestly admit that they have been “fed with the bread of tears, and given tears to drink in large measure” (Psa. 80:5) and their groans and prayers have, for centuries, gone unanswered; and as foretold by their prophets, their name has been a “byword and a hissing unto all nations.” (Deut. 28:37; Jer. 29:18) Though formerly God heard their prayers, marked their tears and returned them to their own land, and continually favored them, since the rejection of the Messiah, He has heeded them not and shown them no favor whatever. Since they said, “His blood be upon us and upon our children,” theirs has been one long continuous chastisement; they have been scattered and persecuted among all nations. These are physical facts as all may read them on the pages of history. We turn to the prophets and see how particularly these facts were foretold and what the same prophets have to say concerning Israel’s future.

Through the prophet Jeremiah (Chapter 16:13), after telling Israel how they had forsaken Him, the Lord declares: “Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods [rulers] day and night, where I will not show you favor.” (Verses 9‑13) These days came when they rejected the Messiah and declared, “We have no king but Caesar.” How literally this threat has been fulfilled all the world may judge, and Jews themselves must honestly admit. This prophecy cannot refer to any of their previous captivities to surrounding nations — Syria, Babylon, etc.; such an inference is guarded against in the expression, “into a land which ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers.” Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees – Babylonia (Gen. 15:7), and Jacob from Syria. Israel’s dispersion among all nations since the end of their time of Divine favor, and no other of their captivities, fits this pointed expression – “a land which ye and your fathers have not known.” So then this, together with the “no favor,” positively marks this prophecy as relating to Israel’s present dispersion among all nations.

As previously stated, though God cast them off from all favor for a long time, it was never His intention to leave them cast off forever. He declares, “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north [Russia, Germany] and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.” This is being fulfilled today. The great regathering of Israel to the land of promise, which shall, by and by, include their awakened dead as well as the living, has already begun in the remarkable exodus thither of their living representatives which is attracting the attention of the whole civilized world. And God’s express purpose of driving and gathering them out of all the lands whither He has scattered them is being accomplished in this, our day.

It was on this promise of the receiving of Israel back again into Divine favor that Paul based an argument for the resurrection of the dead, saying, “If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them [back to Divine favor] be but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15) The “receiving of them” will imply that the whole world, of which Israel is the first-fruit, is shortly to receive the gracious opportunity of Resurrection and Restoration which the death of Jesus secured, and which His glorious reign shall accomplish.

Among the very pointed references in the New Testament to the favor which is to be restored to Israel, is that by James (Acts 15:14-­16) and by Paul (Rom. 11:26). But first it was necessary for Israel to drink the very last dregs of their chastisement; and thus it is expressed in this remarkable prophecy (Jer. 16:18): “And first [before I return my favor] I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double.” This double of punishment was to be the measure by which Israel should be brought back to their true position as the Chosen People of God. During their cast-off condition, Jews have been but “dogs” to be cuffed, kicked and abused by Gentile rulers, and even denied, by Mohammedan rulers, the most ordinary privileges of existence in the land sacred to them with memories of the past, and with promises touching the future.

At the same time that the door of Palestine was beginning to open before them, a fierce persecution arose in Germany and in Russia, where it still continues. By one regulation after another, they have been despoiled of rights and privileges by Gentile governments, as well as mobbed, robbed and slain, until they are being compelled to leave in large numbers. But this persecution is a disguised favor, as it will tend, and has already tended, to cause them to look toward Israel and the covenants, and to remind them that they are still heirs of certain rich promises in the land of their fathers.

But we must remember that this is only the turning point of returning favor to Israel. Jerusalem and its people will continue to be “trodden down” – controlled and oppressed by Gentiles “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” and hence, though Divine favor has begun, Jews will not be considered back into full favor until no part of Jerusalem is longer in the hands of Gentiles. Israel’s rise again to favor will be gradual, as was their fall from it.

For a moment let us turn back to Zechariah’s prophecy (9:9-12). In prophetic vision the prophet walks beside Jesus as He rides into Jerusalem on an ass and offers Himself as Israel’s King five days before His crucifixion. To the people the prophet cries, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee! He is just, and hav­ing salvation; lowly; and riding upon an ass.” Mark the clear fulfillment of these words as recorded in Matthew 21:4-9, John 12:12-15 and Luke 19: 30-42. Every item was fulfilled even to the shouting. When Jesus came to the people, riding upon an ass, the common people shouted “Hosanna!” The Pharisees and other leaders of Israel asked Jesus to rebuke the people, but He refused. Why? Because it had been prophesied that there would be a shout, and every item of prophecy must be fulfilled.

After briefly noting the evil and bitter con­sequences to follow the religious leaders’ rejection of their national King, the prophet, speaking for God, addresses the people again, saying, (verse 12): “Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will ren­der double unto thee.” Israel had, for years, been under the Roman yoke, but they were “prisoners of hope,” hoping for a coming King who would deliver them from their oppressors and exalt them to the promised dominion of earth. Now their King — their “Stronghold,” had come, riding to them on an ass, so meek and so lowly that they, in their ignorance of the prophecies and pride of heart, could not recognize Him as such a Deliverer. And much more, they were sin’s prisoners, and this Deliverer not only proposed to release them from Roman bondage, but, by His Atonement-sac­rifice, purposed the greater release also. Jesus had been with them for three and a half years, performing miracles and fulfilling prophecy in their very midst, and now came the last and final test – would they accept Him as King? The foreknowledge of God, that they would reject their Messiah, is shown by the prophet, who, taking an assumed position in Jesus’ day, declared, “Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee” (Zech. 9:12) This prophecy not only leaves no doubt about there being a double – a duplication – of chastisement added to Israel’s experience because of their rejection of their Messiah, but it also marks the exact day when it began, and makes the conclusion drawn from Jeremiah’s prophecy, and fixed by Jesus’ words – “Your house is left unto you desolate” – doubly strong, exact and clear.

Call to mind Jesus’ words at that time, and in that connection He said, “O Jerusalem, Jeru­salem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not. Behold! your house is left unto you desolate; for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Matt. 23: 37-39) Also we read that on the very last day of Israel’s favor, “When Jesus was come near [riding on an ass], he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace...” Here Jesus paused and left unsaid what would have been the condition of Jerusalem if she had accepted Him as her Messiah and King. If Jerusalem had known what things belonged to her peaceful existence as a nation, if she had heeded the light which God had sent her, she would have stood forth in the pride of prosperity, the queen of the kingdoms of earth, free in the strength of her God‑given power. Had she accepted her “Passover Lamb,” she would have been “passed-over,” and there would have been no armed soldiers standing at her gates, no Roman banners waving from her walls, no siege of Jerusalem; there would have been no Hitler’s concentration camps, no “Times of the Gentiles.” The glorious reward which would have blessed Jerusalem, had she accepted her King and Redeemer, rose before the vision of her Messiah, and He saw that she would, through Him, have been healed of her grievous malady, liberated from Roman bondage, and established as the mighty metropolis of the earth. From her walls the dove of Peace would have gone forth to “all the families of the earth.” She would have been the world’s diadem of glory.

But the bright picture of what Jerusalem would have been, had she known the “things that belonged unto her peace,” fades from the Mes­siah’s sight. He realizes that she must stay under the Roman yoke; she must stay with the king she had chosen, bearing the disfavor of God, not “passed-over” but “smitten” and doomed to be “left desolate.” In His grief, He takes up the broken thread of His lamentation: “But now [henceforth] they are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy [Messiah’s] visitation.” (Luke 19:42-44)

Jesus knew the terrible retribution which would be visited upon the doomed city. He saw Jerusalem encompassed with armies, the besieged inhabitants driven to starvation and death, mothers feeding upon the dead bodies of their own children, and both parents and children snatching the last morsel of food from one another, natural affection being destroyed by the gnawing pangs of hunger. He saw that the stubbornness of Israel, as evinced in their rejection of His Atonement, would also lead them to refuse submission to the invading armies, and He beheld Calvary, on which He was to be crucified, set with crosses as thickly as forest trees. He saw Israel suffering torture on racks, her beautiful palaces destroyed, the Temple in ruins, and of its massive walls not one stone left upon another, the city plowed like a field. Well might the Messiah weep in view of that tragic scene. Jerusalem had been the child of His love and care, and as a tender father mourns over a wayward son, so Jesus wept over His beloved city (Luke 19:41-42).

But we thank God, now that their “double” of chastisement is complete, we can see that their blindness is beginning to be turned away, and the things which “belong” unto their “peace” are no longer “hid” from their eyes. God, who evidently wished to settle all inquiring minds beyond doubt, has given further information concerning Israel’s “double” by another of His most honored servants – the Prophet Isaiah. This prophet takes a prophetic stand down here in our day when Israel’s punishment has been fulfilled, and, addressing us who now live and understand these things, he gives us God’s message, saying, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her appointed time [of punishment] is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isa. 40:1-2)

The prophets vary their standpoints of utterances, sometimes speaking of future things as future, and sometimes assuming a position future, and speaking from the assumed standpoint; as, for instance, Isaiah, speaking of Messiah’s birth, assumes to stand beside the manger where the babe, Jesus, lay, when he says, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder” etc. (Isa. 9:6) The book of Psalms cannot be read intelligently unless this principle be recognized.

No better illustration of this principle of dif­ferent prophetic standpoints can be given than the three prophecies relating to Israel’s “double” of punishment already noticed. Jeremiah foretold that the days would come when God would scatter Israel among all nations, and that, when they had received their “double” of punishment, He would gather them again by a more mighty display of power on their behalf than when they came out of Egyptian bondage, saying, “They shall no more say the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel... from all the lands whither he had driven them...” (Jer. 16:14-15) Zechariah speaks as though living at the time of Jesus’ offering Himself to Israel as their King, and he tells us that there, in that very day, their “double” of punishment began to count. Isaiah stands beside us in this, our day, and calls our attention to the fact that God had a fixed or appointed time for returning His favor to Israel, and he admonishes us that we who understand this message should now give to Israel the comforting testimony that her double of punishment is complete, her “iniquity pardoned”; her appointed time of disfavor accomplished. Each of these three prophecies is strong and important, but combined, they are a threefold cord of wonderful strength to the humble, trustful Israel of God.

Be it remembered that Israel, regardless of their “stiff-necked rebelliousness,” and the disgrace which they have repeatedly brought upon their name, are, nevertheless, a Chosen People. It was God who chose them, and God makes no mistakes. The mistakes have been on the part of Israel for which they have suffered. God is still Israel’s God, and He has separated them from other people. Let us notice for a moment the Divine decree that Israel shall be separate from all others: “I am the Lord, your God which have separated you from other people... I have severed you from them.” (Lev. 20:24-26) “...[it] shall not be at all, that ye say we will be as the heathen, as the families of the country...” And Moses declared, “So shall we be separated from all other people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Exodus 33:16)

Ever since the people of Israel have borne the name Israel – Prince of God – they have been set apart from others, a separate people – a Chosen People – and have occupied a special position, enjoyed special favors, experienced special punishments and have played a special part in the Divine arrangement. Israel, as a Chosen People, did not come under the general head of all mankind during Jesus’ first presence on earth; He was sent to them only – “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And now, during the time of His second presence, Israel, as a separate and Chosen People, are destined to pick up again the thread of their national polity and play a special and leading role in the Divine program. This is evidenced by the Scripture which, speaking for the Messiah, declares, “I will return and build again the tabernacle of David [the Jewish polity] that has fallen down.” (Acts 15:16) It fell down because of their unfaithfulness. Although Jesus said, “Your house is left desolate,” He has not utterly and permanently cast them away. After they have sufficiently experienced desolation and ruin, he will “return and build again the ruins thereof and set it up.” (Acts 15:16) This is in contrast with the fact that no “ruins” of any Gentile polity will ever be rebuilt; no “fallen” Gentile government will ever be “set up” again. All Gentile peoples are promised a general restoration to what they lost through Adam’s transgression. Jews, as a separate people – a Chosen People, are promised the same restoration, and more; God has promised that their “house” that was “left desolate” shall be “set up” again, the “ruins” shall be rebuilt. Moreover, He declares “And I will restore thy judges as at the first and thy counselors as at the beginning! Afterward thou shalt be called the City of Righteous­ness, The Faithful City.” (Isa. 1:26)

Thus Israel, who, at Jesus’ first presence, was given first consideration, will again, during His second presence, have a priority of consideration, for “he will save the tents of Judah first.” (Zech. 12:7)

(Chapter Six of THIS IS THE MILLENNIUM, by Shelah Ben-Hanan)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION – You quote from Pastor Russell as though he was infallible. Do you think he was infallible?

ANSWER – No, we do not think he was infallible. However, our Lord appointed Brother Russell as That Servant at His Second Advent: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” (Matt. 24:45) We believe That Servant gave the household more truth than was given by any of the Reformers of the Gospel Age. The Reformers gave the truth to the household of faith due in their time. That Servant was the last Reformer of the Gospel Age, therefore had a clearer understanding of the due truth at the Second Advent. That Servant gave us the Plan of God as no man has done since the days of the Apostles. His writings were not inspired as were the Apostles, but he gave us Scriptural proof for what he taught. It is not because of his wisdom that our Lord appointed him as That Servant, although he was wise, but the truth was given to him because of his faithfulness to the inspired Word. The Lord found him “so doing” – searching the Scriptures. (v. 46) The whole Plan of God was due at our Lord’s Second Advent, and Brother Russell made it clear to those who were “of the truth.” (John 18:47) He did not fail to give “all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) He taught the four elect classes: the High Calling, the Great Company (crown-losers) as the two Heavenly classes; the Ancient Worthies and the unbegotten class as given in Reprint 5761 as the earthly elect classes.

The Apostle Paul gives us 2 Tim. 2:20: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor and some to dishonor.” Here the Apostle Paul also gave four elect classes: gold (the Saints) and silver (Great Company – crown-losers), the Heavenly elect; the wood (Ancient Worthies), earth (the unbegotten class we call Youthful Worthies); and also two classes of the world, the sheep (those to honor) and the goats (those to dishonor).

Whether the Apostle Paul knew the interpretation of this text or not does not matter. The understanding of this text for the Lord’s people was not due until His Second Advent. The teaching of most of the Prophets of the Old Testament was not understood by them. But the Old Testament Prophets and the inspired writings of the Apostles make the Plan of God one harmonious whole. But the Old Testament Prophets did look forward to a Kingdom of Peace on Earth as their teachings reveal. Abraham looked forward to Jesus’ day and was glad (John 8:56). If Abraham looked forward to Jesus’ day the Prophets surely did (Isa. 11:9; 26:9).

The faithful are in the School of Christ and will learn more and more of the Grace and Knowledge of the Lord until they finish their course. Brother Russell, too, was in the School of Christ and learned more and more until his death as is attested by the articles in the Watch Towers. “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Prov. 4:18)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily,

It has been a very long time since I took the time to write. I am truly sorry. Between the email and faxes, I have been neglecting the old fashioned practice of just writing personal letters to friends.

Last month I had the honor of addressing a large group of Christians in Jerusalem under the auspices of the Christian Friends of Israel, by invitation of Ray Sanders, its president. I am enclosing an audio tape of the address which I hope you enjoy hearing.

Certainly you must be very concerned with all the news coming from Hebron in the past several weeks. The television makes it look like a war zone, and sometimes it really seems like one. Most secular people probably never knew of Hebron before the infamous Oslo accords were signed. Now we are world famous even among people who know nothing of the Bible. So, even in this strange and negative way, Israel and her holy cities are being projected into center stage all over the world. Clearly this is just preparation for great things that are about to happen.

I still go down to Machpela every morning to pray and find it a quiet and pleasant atmosphere. The brave souls who choose to live in the city are truly modern Jewish heroes who deserve much praise. The future is with us, but the present is a very difficult challenge.

Andrea is still fairly terrorized every time we travel to Jerusalem. She has a double fear. One is of the possibility of a terror attack, and the other is of the crazy drivers, both Jew and Arab. The cellular phone is still a source of comfort for her, and makes the trips more bearable, but the fear is not so easy to dispel.

Our little ones are no longer little. Rachel the “baby,” will be fourteen on January 1. She is already as big as her mother and able to exchange clothing with her. Avi, our “little” boy, will be sixteen in October, and towers over me. He is a brilliant young man and an excellent student. His English never fails to amaze me. He speaks without an accent as well. He is a whiz with the computer and probably understands how to use it better than I do.

Dina, who just turned 19, is doing her national service at a Kibbutz working with youngsters. She is so involved with her work that we seldom get to see her. Even on Shabbat she is usually with her kids on the Kibbutz. She is a very sweet young lady.

Carol, 26, is working in a child care center in a small community between Kiryat Arba and Jerusalem. She is presently living with another young lady in Jerusalem. We usually see her on Shabbat.

And Susie, our eldest at 28, is just finishing up advance courses in special education while working part time as a secretary in a lawyers office. She worked very hard to get a drivers license and now is saving up her money to buy a used car. She also comes home frequently for Shabbat.

We are very lucky to have succeeded in raising our children in Israel. That, in and of itself, is a tremendous miracle. We get much joy from watching them grow, and feel a special pride to realize that we have succeeded in completing the link in our family of Jewish return home after two thousand years of wandering.

Despite the fact that we have no leadership in our government, it is clear that the Living G-d of Israel is directing things. Their twisted ideas of “peace” cannot and will not see the light of day. True peace can only result from recognition of our Divine obligations and living up to them. By rejecting those obligation, it is we who put off genuine peace. We will never accomplish anything by sitting with our enemies and compromising on those obligations.

It is hard to know what we can do to promote a return to true Jewish values. The best we can do is simply to live our lives by them. I still have hopes to implement “Project Shofar” as a tool to help get things going in a positive way without direct involvement in politics. Most American Jews are totally lost to their people. But there are still many who can be saved. It is to these whom I feel the need to reach out and offer hope. It may be that I will need to travel to the states should the project take off. If that does happen, I will try to find the time to visit with you again. In any event, I am happy that I did have that opportunity in the past.

I do think of you often, Emily, and hold our friendship very dearly. Please give my very best to Leonard and Marjorie.

With Blessings from Hebron, …………..

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NO. 489: IN MEMORIAM

No. 489

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

Comes again the time of year that we are vividly reminded of the demise of the Parousia and Epiphany Messengers, and it is our fond hope that our readers will obtain some good information and uplift from what we now present.

Up to his death on October 31, 1916, almost every one in “present truth” was fully persuaded that Brother Russell was “that servant” of Matt. 24:46; and quite a few still hold that opinion – among whom we include ourselves. During the Dark Ages the doctrine of “restitution” (Acts 3:19-21) had become completely lost, and this lapse injected utter confusion into the Christian fraternity. Without understanding restitution, it was impossible to produce any harmonious understanding of the general Bible structure; the “plan of the Ages” (Eph. 3:11, Dia.) was a meaningless expression. The woman having ten pieces of silver of Luke 15:8 corroborates the fact that the doctrine of restitution was lost. (See Berean Comments on Luke 15:8, 9)

This problem gave extreme difficulty to That Servant, so much so that he on a certain occasion betook himself to three days of intense prayer and study, at the end of which he was rewarded with a clear understanding of the Atonement Day sacrifices as they are outlined in the 16th Chapter of Leviticus. This enlightenment caused him to realize that God was during this Gospel Age merely laying the foundation for the full at-one-ment of the entire human race with Himself “in due time” – the delay being caused by God now taking from among the Gentiles “a people for His name” (Acts 15:14), the same to be associated with His Son Jesus as His Heavenly Bride to give the human family a rebirth under a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13) – in direct contrast to the degradation now prevailing in “this present evil world.” (Gal. 1:4)

However, the radical revelation of this understanding actually frightened him; it was actually difficult for him to believe this Scripture which seemed so logical and with which he could find no fault. He needed to be doubly persuaded that it was actually the truth, so instead of broadcasting his findings immediately or telling the general Household of Faith about it, he summoned leading brethren to discuss this revelation – which he and they did during a period of eight days. When none of them could find any flaws in the picture, he eventually wrote a small book called Tabernacle Shadows, which some of his ardent admirers have characterized as the biggest “little book” that has ever been written. No one with a clear understanding of that book will ever be confused on the “plan of the ages.”

THE PAROUSIA ELEAZAR

Eleazar was Aaron’s eldest son and in line to become high priest in Israel at his father’s death. But while serving as underpriest with his father, he was given very prominent service, as can be seen from Num. 4:16: “And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.” From certain standpoints the Tabernacle typified the Gospel-Age Church. Therefore, those people who officiated in connection with it would also typify certain people in the Gospel Age. Considering the sweeping powers that Eleazar possessed – “the oversight of all the tabernacle” – it puts no strain upon the imagination to recognize that he typified the twelve Apostles at the First Advent. “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)

Similar language is used concerning Brother Russell: “Shall make him ruler over all His goods.” (Matt. 24:47) And in Luke 12:42: “That faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over His household, to give them their portion of meat in due season.” From this we do not wish to convey the thought that Brother Russell was infallible, or spoke by inspiration, as did the Apostles; but it is a self-evident fact that his power over the Harvest work and the Harvest Church was well nigh absolute. In course of time he recognized this; he appointed and dismissed Pilgrims as his judgment dictated; he was final authority on all Bible House matters, and made all appointments of brethren to important executive positions. And being fully aware of this, he attempted to arrange things in such a manner that after his death would prevent any other individual from “stepping into his shoes,” as it were, by appointing an editorial committee of seven brethren to supervise the Watch Tower publication. Those familiar with the situation know that his wishes were speedily ignored; in little more than a year, J. F. Rutherford had already enthroned himself “in Moses’ seat.”

However, it is not our wish to offer detail on the above statement; rather, we shall treat of the Gospel Harvest Eleazar from the standpoint of the type. In Numbers 4:16 seven executive and teaching functions are set forth, of which the first “pertaineth to the oil for the light” – the lampstand. Among other things, oil represents the spirit of understanding (Matt. 25:3 – “the spirit of the Truth” – Berean Comment). For Eleazar, therefore, to have charge of the oil for the lampstand would typify the privilege Brother Russell had of understanding the Truth as Pastor and Teacher – not only for himself, but also for the brethren as enlighteners of one another, as he conveyed his Biblical interpretations to them, giving them helps to learn and to teach the Truth. He did this orally and in writing. He gave clear and specific instructions for organizing classes, and for organizing distribution of the Truth literature to the general public.

Eleazar’s second duty had to do with “the sweet incense.” The unburnt sweet incense represented the actually perfect choice human powers of Jesus and the reckonedly perfect choice human powers of the Church – “much incense with the prayers of all saints” (Rev. 8:3,4). Brother Russell offered deep and truthful detail on such activities of Jesus from Jordan to Calvary, and on the Church in general in their earthly pilgrimage all during the Gospel Age. As to the Church of his day, he acted directly both as the teacher and executive with respect to the sweet incense. He clearly explained Justification by faith through Jesus’ merit, which justification once fully obtained enabled such brethren to make their own offering of “the sweet incense” according to the providential circumstances of each one. We have been told that on one occasion, when Brother Russell was visiting a city, that a brother asked him to give his talk that morning on justification – which he proceeded to do, giving lucid analysis of the subject for an entire hour.

Thirdly, Eleazar had charge of “the daily meat offering” – or, more properly, the meal offering. When the drink offering is not mentioned (and it is omitted in Num. 4:16) it is understood as being included in the meal offering. This offering represents that part of the sacrifice with which the offerer occupies himself – such as setting forth the Truth – lecturing and preaching on the Truth by Pilgrims, Auxiliary Pilgrims, elders, colporteurs and unofficial persons of lesser ability. It also included oral conversation in testimony of the Truth, serving in the Photo-drama work, serving as laborers of the Bible House and Bethel, doing office and home work in connection with spread of the Truth, and encouraging and supporting others in these various works orally, with the printed page, by lectures, sermons, question meetings, conversation and letter writing. As executive he discharged this phase of his office by arranging for the various forms of service mentioned herein for spreading the Truth, as well as appointing specific persons to their pertinent positions – pilgrims, colporteurs, department supervisors, etc., at Bethel and the Bible House. The fulfilled facts attest that he exercised his authority in all of these features.

Fourthly, Eleazar had the care of the anointing oil. This oil types the Holy Spirit from the standpoint of its qualifying the elect Church to serve each other. The ingredients of this oil are succinctly stated in Isa. 11:2, the contents of which may be stated thusly: the qualities of wisdom, justice, love and power each developed individually, developed in balance with others, with all of them controlling all our other qualities (2 Pet. 1:5-8), thus qualifying the various members of the Church for the “work of the ministry” (Eph. 4:12) – to the extent of their ability and providential circumstances.

As antitypical Eleazar of the Gospel Harvest, his charge as teacher was to instruct the Church as to the nature of the anointing, of the anointed class, of their duties, privileges in knowledge, service, development, endurance as “good soldiers,” etc. This he did in great detail in the Volumes, the Towers, and by his oral ministry. Especially did he stress the development of the graces, the quickening, development, and balancing of the Holy Spirit. It logically followed that he would appoint qualified persons to the respective forms of service – pilgrims, colporteurs, photo‑drama workers, Bible House and Bethel personnel, managers of the foreign branches and newspaper workers. Inasmuch as the great majority of classes had elected him as their pastor, he had supervisory capacity in their affairs – sometimes acting directly and sometimes indirectly in electing or unseating the officers of those classes – endorsing those qualified, and rejecting those he considered unqualified. All of this he did in efficient and impressive manner.

Fifth, Eleazar had charge of the Tabernacle itself – the whole structure, while it was standing, was under his supervision. The Tabernacle proper in the Holy types the Church in its earthly ministry, and in the Most Holy in its heavenly inheritance. The humanity of such is typed in the Court, specifically with respect to the brazen altar. This typed the Harvest Eleazar’s capacity as Pastor and Teacher, with executive supervision of the Church during the reaping and gleaning time – up to the time of his death. He also had similar authority over the antitypical Court, which contained the tentatively justified. Thus, he was the eye, hand and mouth of Jesus during his entire office as That Servant. While it is true that he did not produce all the advancing Truth during his ministry, he did produce much more of it than any other person. And, in that which others saw, they were obligated to secure his approval of it before he presented it to the general Church through the Towers. His authority in this respect was also well nigh absolute.

Sixth, he had full charge of the holy furniture of the Court, Holy and Most Holy – “the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is.” This would include the two altars, the laver, the lampstand, the table and the ark, all of which was in the charge of antitypical Eleazar. The antitypical brazen altar in the Court represented the Church’s humanity in sacrifice; and Brother Russell gave great detail concerning this – the privileges of the brethren in using their human all whenever and wherever opportunity afforded. This he did orally and in writing, and by his “example of the believers.” (1 Tim. 4:12) Thus he encouraged and directed the general Church as a “good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Tim. 2:3)

His teaching charge to the Church concerning the golden altar in the Holy had to do with encouraging, comforting, strengthening, correcting, warning, and restraining the sacrificing and suffering Church – which he did by explaining, proving, and illustrating the privileges of the Church toward one another. His executive charge toward the Church was accomplished by his encouraging and directing the Church in such work.

As our readers know, the laver in the Court types the Bible – the base the Old Testament, and the upper part containing the water the New Testament, the upper part built upon and growing out of the lower part. The water in the upper part types the cleansing features of Bible truths. The Harvest Eleazar’s executive charge of the antitypical laver means that the Bible was placed in his care – to preserve it, to commend it, and make it influential in its use for its Divinely intended purpose of furnishing the proper doctrinal, refutative, correctional and ethical teachings, and to direct the use of pertinent Scriptures to his purpose (2 Tim. 3:15-17). His teaching charge of the antitypical Laver implied that he was to declare the doctrine of the Scripture, as well as its teachings in doctrinal, refutational, correctional and ethical respects. Certainly those of us who are familiar with his work know that he harmonized the Bible in a manner equaled by none other since the days of the Apostles.

Here we may properly apply this statement to an error that has circulated among some of the Lord’s people to the effect that there are other books – Pseudepigraphs, like the book of Enoch, the Old Testament Apocrypha, etc. – that are inspired writings; thus, a part of the Bible. If they were, Brother Russell would have accepted them as a part of the Bible; and he would wisely and faithfully have shown his teaching and executive functions toward them. But he resolutely rejected them, and it is not difficult for any one who reads them carefully to note their inferiority when compared with the 66 genuine books of the Bible.

The lampstand represents the Church as enlighteners of each other; it teaches them the Truth. Brother Russell acted out his office as teacher with respect to the antitypical lampstand in that he explained the nature, the character, privileges, duties, etc., of the Church as enlighteners of each other, and how to go about this good work. He also encouraged them to enlighten each other by providing the means whereby they could do this, and the best method to use in doing it. The table of shewbread types the Church in its capacity of strengthening its members with the bread of life unto every good word and work; especially so, with respect to the Sarah features of the Abrahamic Covenant, this being the promises that mother the Church in its earthly pilgrimage toward the Heavenly Cannan, their entrance into the Most Holy when their work on earth is finished. Having charge of this table and bread means he taught the brethren the best means of strengthening each other to “fight the good fight,” and to gain eternal life. He also arranged for conventions and organized meetings in the var­ious classes for this purpose.

Much more could be said about the foregoing, but we would not wish our readers to conclude that we be overmuch given to ‘angel worship.’ However, we consider it pertinent to stress here that certain members of the Gospel-Age Church occupied positions which could apply to them alone. For instance, there were twelve Apostles – and only twelve; thus, they had no successors; as some of the sects contend – prominent among such is the Roman Catholic Church. And with Brother Russell it may be stated with equal emphasis that his office as That Servant and as the Steward was unique to him alone; and the words which Jesus spoke concerning Himself may well be repeated for him: “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” (John 17:4) Therefore, he had no successor; he supervised with full authority and finished the reaping feature of the Gospel-Age Harvest, which provided everlasting tribute to him as antitypical Eleazar here in the end of the Age. We would qualify this, however, by noting that God did provide other faithful “stars” after the Apostles died; and continued to do this all during the Age, as He also did after the demise of antitypical Eleazar.

SOME SECULAR TESTIMONY

It has just recently come to our attention that one authority offers the follow­ing comment: “RUSSELL, CHARLES TAZE, popularly called Pastor Russell (born Feb. 16, 1852, Pittsburgh, Pa. – died Oct. 31, 1916, Pampa, Texas), founder of the International Bible Students Association, forerunner of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Of Presbyterian and Congregational background, Russell renounced the creed of orthodox Christian denominations and in 1872 organized an independent Bible study class in Pittsburgh. From 1877 he preached that Christ’s second advent would be invisible, and that the end of the Gentile times would come in 1914, followed by war between capitalism and communism or socialism, after which God’s Kingdom by Christ would rule the whole earth. Russell (who was never ordained) dedicated his life and his considerable fortune to preaching Christ’s Millennial reign. In 1879 he started a Bible journal later called the Watchtower, and in 1884 founded the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, which became a flourishing publishing business. His own books and booklets (notably six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures) reached a circulation of 16,000,000 copies in 35 languages, and 2,000 newspapers published his weekly sermons.”

By way of comparison and marked contrast, this same publication says this regarding JFR: “RUTHERFORD, JOSEPH FRANKLIN, nicknamed Judge (1869-1942), religious leader and author, president of Jehovah’s Witnesses (also called the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society), 1916-42.”

The above statement concerning Brother Russell is so strikingly accurate that it sounds as though he himself had written it. From a purely secular standpoint, we would say it is an excellent testimonial; and, as more of his prophetic interpretations are fulfilled, we are fully persuaded that even better tributes will be forthcoming from similar writers. As Brother Johnson has so aptly written of him, Brother Russell will yet appear in the records of men as one of the greatest of reformers and Biblical logicians.

The same publication states further of “Joseph Franklin Rutherford that he was a lawyer who had been closely associated with Russell since about 1910. But he possessed little of the personal magic that Russell had wielded with such success, and, in addition, challenged some of Russell’s views... A number of small schisms resulted, but Rutherford eventually was successful in organizing the work of the Society so that the transition to his successor in 1942 was made without difficulty. Almost nothing is known about the life of J.F. Rutherford. He shunned publicity and toward the end of his life met with members of the Society only at their annual conventions. Russell had written a good deal, and his seven-volume [?] Studies in the Scriptures was widely sold; but it was under Rutherford that the Society work took on its present character of a publishing house rather than a church. Rutherford claimed to have written 99 books and pamphlets, which appeared in more than 300,000,000 copies.”

When the above publication states that Rutherford “challenged some of Russell’s views,” it is making a major understatement; and the same may be said about the “number of small schisms that resulted.” Those of us familiar with the truth on the subject know that Rutherford challenged the majority of important doctrines in the truth structure taught by Brother Russell, so that at this time there is little resemblance between the teachings of the two men.

The publication states further that Jehovah’s Witnesses, along with Christian Science and Mormonism, constitute the three largest and most significant variants of the l9th-century American Protestantism. The Witnesses now have in excess of 1,000,000 in their world membership. However, when we consider that Rutherford is catalogued in the same group with Brigham Young and Mary Baker Eddy it presents some considerable light on why he “possessed little of the personal magic that Russell had wielded with such success.” We have been told that Rutherford on one occasion went to a woman photographer, one who had made photographs of Brother Russell, to have a photograph of himself. When he was shown the finished product he remarked that his picture was not as impressive as that of Brother Russell; the woman answered, “That’s because the man isn’t there.”

Just one more quotation from the article: “The Witnesses believe that the Kingdom of God began in 1914. Apparently they expected (as did the Millerite Adventists in 1844) some historical and worldly event to take place at that time, but have since taken the position that in 1914 Jehovah inaugurated the Kingdom in a manner apprehensible only to a believer.” Yes, this last clause is emphatically true; and it is just the extreme opposite of the teaching of Brother Russell, who based his belief upon the true Gospel of Jesus, St. Paul and others: “God desires all men to be saved, and to come to an accurate knowledge of the truth... Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all.” (See 1 Tim. 2:4-6, Dia.) Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all – not just for those who become members of the Witnesses’ sect.

In keeping with this, Brother Russell also stressed the words of Isaiah 35:5-10: “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped [those that are now unable to “hear” and understand the Truth]... wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein... and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Instead of “sorrow and sighing” diminishing and disappearing, it has been pyramided out of all proportion to what was the case prior to 1914. And being in full accord with Brother Russell’s clear and sober interpretation of this Scripture, we can enthusiastically exclaim, God bless his memory!

ANOTHER SECULAR EXPRESSION

Last Spring an item was brought to our attention that appeared in the Sunday feature section of a prominent Florida newspaper – the same written by a professor of one of the nation’s outstanding universities. Some of his contentions were so distorted that we were moved to write him the following letter:

My dear Professor: Christian greetings!

The general content of your “Poster Evangelism” treatise in the March 10 paper is read with considerable appreciation – very well written, I would say.

However, some of your statements regarding Russellism are very much askew; and I am persuaded that a man of your erudition and candor would not intentionally put false statements into your writings. For instance, you say “Russellism employed the surefire device of prophesying the imminent arrival of Christ (MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE).” At no time did Pastor Russell ever preach “the imminent arrival of Christ,” or use words that would convey such an impression. He did, however, offer elaborate and consummate analysis of such texts as Matt. 24:3: “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” He contended that this was a very poor and misleading translation (the King James translation is replete with such mistakes). Present-day Greek scholars give it this way: “What shall be the sign of Thy presence, and of the consummation of the Age?” The word world in the text is from the Greek “aion,” and it means Age or Dispensation.

Furthermore, the “Millions Now Living” idea was never even mentioned during Pastor Russell’s life. He died October 31, 1916; was succeeded in the Presidency of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society by J. F. Rutherford, who invented the “Millions” idea; and time has clearly proven that it was simply an odious vagary – hallucination with no foundation in fact or prophecy.

You also say Pastor Russell wrote seven volumes; whereas, he wrote only six vol­umes of Studies in the Scriptures. The seventh one, The Finished Mystery, is also a figment of Rutherford’s mind. He audaciously declared that it was the “posthumous work” of Charles T. Russell – and the book does contain many quotations from his writings; but the errors injected into it by Judge Rutherford and his assistants offer insult to the clear and sober statements of Pastor Russell.

In Luke 21:24 Jesus said, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Some thirty years before 1914 Pastor Russell did forecast that the times of the Gentiles would end in 1914, the evidence of which would be a great world war. Even as late as 1913 he was scornfully ridiculed by his critics; but time has clearly proven that he was right, and they were wrong; the war came as predicted – almost to the day.

As a general statement, the Russellites were “moderately educated,” so you say; but they also did have among them a few brilliant Greek and Hebrew scholars – enough to reveal the erroneous translations of the Bible; and this made the Movement generally basically sound in exegetical deductions. The most brilliant of these was Professor Paul S. L. Johnson, who was a master of Greek and Hebrew. He soon voiced emphatic protest against the perversions that the Judge and his companions in error were attempting to inject into the harmonious truth structure that Pastor Russell had left. It was my privilege to be a very close friend of Professor Johnson, and I gave him very substantial support after he left the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society in 1917 – which I continued to do until his death in 1950.

A pertinent analogy to the Russell Movement may be found among the Apostles, of whom it is written “they were unlearned and ignorant men.” (Acts 4:13) But they also had a man named Paul among them, who was brilliant and highly educated. As respects Professor Johnson, I might add that he graduated from Capital University of Columbus, Ohio, with the highest honors ever attained by any student up to his time.

It is my hope that you will find the copies of my papers, Nos. 194‑223 and Special Edition No. 7, interesting and informative; and I send with this letter my cordial good wishes for your health and prosperity. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.

Sincerely, John J. Hoefle

In due course we received a courteous reply to the above letter, thanking us for the information we gave him. He also said, “What I wrote was based on intimate contact with Russellism when I was in High School in the 20’s... My uncle could talk of nothing else. He was a fervent follower, first of Russell, then of Judge Rutherford. Of course, my uncle never knew of Paul Johnson’s protests, and I was too young to have been aware of the division of thought at the Brooklyn headquarters.”

From the foregoing we may readily discern how easy it has been to ‘make’ history; and that much of what is in the books today may be far from the truth. But when the record is written in full truth, then we shall have full appreciation of Jesus’s words, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:43) And this will be especially true of those faithful Pastors and Teachers, such as That Servant, the Epiphany Messenger, and others of the Gospel Age, including all the fully faithful.

(John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 362, October 1, 1985)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

To all co-watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem:

Israel is in an unspeakable severe test. The international pressure on Israel is steadily increasing. Threats of a non-conventional war of annihilation are more and more openly expressed. Under this extreme pressure even politicians who said they were believing lose courage – break their promises and give in to the murderous claims. Therefore it depends very much on us not to leave Israel alone. It is now of highest importance to comfort the Jews that this ordeal during the torment of Jacob are the last tests before God’s rescue and His salvation. We still have the possibility to fight for Israel in prayer and it was never more important and necessary than it is right now.

Under this pressure many of the hard hearts are getting tender and the Lord can pour out pure waters on His people (Ezekiel 36). We can see the spiritual progress among many of the visitors that come in big numbers. The Lord is opening their understanding and they take the message with deep interest. A visitor coming from Switzerland who had been here when we gave the testimony said to us: “I am thankful for seeing this. I can’t put this wonderful impression into words, how deeply the message is taken even by kids.”

Last Sabbath we had more than 300 visitors. We had to give one speech after the other. And also during the week many groups came. A group of high air-force officers came for a seminar day. Another big group came from Jerusalem. After Hermann’s speech they played some music for us. We thanked them for those heavenly songs, but they answered: “No, but we listened to heavenly words. Hermann is for us just as one of our great prophets become resurrected.” More and more visitors say that they can feel here a Paradise atmosphere which they had never felt before.

On weekdays almost every group finds Hermann in hard physical work. And then most of the Israelis are rejoicing and full of admiration to see with what forces and energy Brother Hermann does the various works (field work, cutting grass with the scythe, planting little trees etc.).

On Hermann’s 96th birthday a group of officials from Jerusalem came. They expressed exceptional appreciation for the ministry Emek ha Shalom does. Another group of officials decided after a meeting with us to start with educational programs at Emek ha Shalom as soon as possible.

Dear friends, brothers and sisters, we ask you very much, please pray that the Lord gives mercy that the seed that is sown at Emek ha Shalom will not be picked by the birds of the sky (Matt. 13), the demons, but that it will sprout and bring plenty of fruit, that the comfort and the encouragement will take root in the hearts and be spread among the people until the promised change will come. And please also pray for us. Next to the big blessings we have to fight extreme attacks of Satan. Yesterday on Sabbath there was a big people’s walking tour next to Emek ha Shalom with more than 10,000 people joining. But we could not speak to them although we were asked to, because we have been exhausted and near collapse. Therefore also we need your spiritual support without which we could not do our ministries any more.

We are thankful for your prayers and your help until now. We hope that we will stand in the future in a better unity on the walls of Jerusalem during this time of such spiritual opposition against the Lord’s plan, against the beginning of the Lord’s Kingdom.

Your brothers from Israel, Hermann and Josef(ISRAEL)

P.S. Friends are urging Brother Josef to go into a sanatorium quickly. But nobody would be here to help Brother Hermann. Therefore Brother Josef decided to continue with the ministry even at the cost of his life. We decided also in praying and fasting because this is the last way to overcome Satan and his forces of darkness (Matt. 17,21). Please help us to do it and join us in praying and fasting.

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Dear Emily:

I promised you, in my postcard from Ben Gurion Airport on my way home from Emek ha Shalom, to write you a summary about my visit with Herman and Joseph at Emek ha Shalom. So here is my letter:

A few days before my trip, Carmela Luke phoned me at my office telling me that a donation to Herman and Joseph had not been received. So I was worried that something had happened to Herman and Joseph since my latest visit.

I arrived at Emek ha Shalom in the evening April 3. There was no light in the farm. When I stepped on the veranda Joseph called my name. He was resting in the guest-house waiting for me. He was very weak. He told me a little about the time at Emek ha Shalom after my latest visit. They had been in a very difficult situation earlier. For three weeks they didn’t leave the farm. That’s why the donation had not been received. My first reaction was that the situation in Emek ha Shalom was more critical than it was when I left in November 1996.

During my visit Joseph did everything he could to eat and to rest. But it is impossible to reestablish his body in a short time. As usual Herman got up early in the morning, doing different things on the farm. For his age, 96 years, he is very powerful. He and Joseph took care of the visitors as usual. In the beginning of my visit there were not so many visitors probably due to the weather. It rained a lot during the first days and it was very cold. We made fires in the stoves to keep us warm. But after a week when the weather was better, the visitors came and Herman and Joseph addressed them.

In Emek ha Shalom there are five dwellings. Today there is hot water in four of them. A young Israeli man, a student at the university of Haifa, has moved into one of them. The house without water is the oldest house at Emek ha Shalom made by Herman. It is now being prepared for a young Israeli man who works as a teacher. The guest-house I stayed in has three living-rooms, one kitchen and a bathroom.

During my visit a very nice couple from Holland, Ans and Theo, came to Emek ha Shalom. They will stay in one of the houses for at least six months, helping Herman and Joseph in their work. Ans is a very good cook and she and Theo did a very good work in the garden.

One day Joseph told me that he and Herman were going to make some booklets, among others God’s Plan in Brief. Joseph and a friend have made a new Hebrew translation of it. So the day I left for home, April 15, Joseph was to visit the printer-house.

Dear Emily, the situation is still critical at Emek ha Shalom. But I can assure you that Ans and Theo from Holland will do everything they can to help Herman and Joseph in all their needs.

The day before I left Emek ha Shalom Joseph told me that the only thing we can do now is to pray. And the friends in Sweden totally agreed with Joseph. We pray “Thy Kingdom Come.”

All the best and many kind regards from your friend, Leif Malmkvist (SWEDEN)

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NO. 488: THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF THE “TIME OF THE END” – Part Three

No. 488

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

In our August 1997 paper, Part Two, we were discussing the High Calling, and we will now give

MORE ON THE HIGH CALLING

“And I saw [mentally and physically] another angel [God’s people in their capac­ity of ministering the Truth to their brethren not yet in the Truth (C 303; Rev. 7:3 – “until we have sealed” – Ezek. 9:2‑5,11), and not Jesus alone, as Vol. VII teaches] as­cending from the east [Jesus and the Church (The Christ) are the Sun, Light, of the world, John 9:5; Matt. 5:14] and having the seal [the Truth as due], of the Living God [given in the Scriptures], and he cried with a loud voice to [as the Salt of the earth, the Light of the world, and the City set upon a hill (Matt. 5:13‑16), the faithful have with a great message, reproved the world for sin, righteousness and judg­ment to come (John 16:8‑11), this work having had a wholesome effect upon the world and having inculcated such principles as, measurably imbibed, have measurably restrained the selfishness of mankind from giving way to the full will of the fallen angels and thus arrested these unholy beings, who if unchecked by] the four angels [the four groups of mankind, as above, would long ago have brought the ruin of the Time of Trouble upon the race] to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea [evidently from this clause it can be seen that these four angels do not, as Vol. VII teaches represent the Little Flock, whose work in the flesh is not to injure organized society, nor the lawless, rebellious people, nor themselves, nor the earth’s great ones, the symbolic trees of v. 3. The symbolic “great trees” are the Lord’s faithful people].”

The Bible teaches that all of the saints, the entire 144,000, would be given the honor of executing (spiritual) vengeance upon the nations, and (spiritual) punishment upon the people, of binding the kings and princes, and executing upon them the judgment written (Psa. 149:5‑9). This was done from the Fall of 1914 to that of 1916.

“That Servant” was made Steward of all the Lord’s goods for the whole of the reaping time following his appointment, and ruler over the whole household, according to Matt. 24:45-­47 and Luke 12:42‑44. Therefore, he must have set forth on the table all the meat for the reaping time, and controlled the entire work for the whole household during the reaping time following his appointment. Consequently, before his death every one of the Elect was working in harmony with his teachings and under his direction of the work. Hence, before his death, October 31, 1916, all of the Elect had been reaped, sealed in the forehead, and were engaged in serving others under that Servant’s general direc­tion.

According to the Bible (Rev. 7:1‑3) the Elect of each country must all be sealed before the war would strike that country. Therefore there could be no unsealed Elect in any war‑involved country after the war involved that country. This refutes the assumed, but unfactual, view that the Lord abruptly ended the war, and that in order to seal the war‑involved countries’ supposedly unsealed Elect whose sealing could ostensibly not be done during the war. To escape this conclusion the article under review, contradicting our Pastor’s known definitions of the winds and the wind of v. 1 (see Berean Com­ments),confuses a number of things: (a) the winds of v. 1, which are the fallen angels, with its wind, which is the World War (1 Kings 19:11; Psa. 48:7; 107:25; (b) the winds, which are the fallen angels, but which are in the article falsely defined as destructive power, with the whirlwind, which is the revolution and anarchy of the Time of Trouble (Jer. 25:30‑38); and (c) the four winds of Jer. 49:32‑36; Ezek. 5:10‑12; 17:21; Dan. 11:4, which stand for the four points of the compass with its falsely defined symbolic winds, wind and whirlwind. (3) The Bible also teaches that the reaping would end shortly before the war would reach the reaper. See Studies, Vol. III, 387‑404.

MORE FROM THAT SERVANT

In Reprint 5631, col. 2, Feb. 15, 1915, there is a subheading KINGDOM WORK THIS SIDE THE VEIL: “What time, then is signified by the expression ‘in the days of these kings,’ when the kingdom of God was to be set up in power? To our understanding the first step in the setting up of this kingdom was the raising of the sleeping saints of the Gospel Age, which we believe was in the Spring of 1878. Then began the glorification of the church. The work of setting up the kingdom has, we understand, been progressing from that date, and is now lacking the last members of the church class. When these shall have taken their places as members of the church in glory, the kingdom will be fully set up.”

Regarding the foregoing, it is our understanding that as each one of the Christ completed his earthly journey, that person then joined the Lord in glory – and which was the “marriage of the Lamb.” Then was fulfilled the words of Rev. 19:7, Dia.: “The marriage of the Lamb came, and his wife prepared herself.” Then was completed “a stone cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet.” (Dan. 2:34) That stone could not begin its work until complete. While those still on earth could have fallen out, yet the foreknowledge of God recognized that they would not do so – just as was true of the twelve Apostles after being spirit‑begotten could have fallen from their position in the Body, yet none of them did.

“This does not signify, that there may not be a part of the kingdom work begun while some of the members of Christ are still in the flesh. Indeed some Scriptures seem to imply that there will be a kingdom work done this side of the veil. We read, ‘Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds.’ This seems to imply, as we have mentioned before, that there is a special work to be done while these saints still have beds, while they are in a condition of repose — not ‘tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine’ (Eph. 4:14), but fully at rest in God’s great plan. The Scripture goes on to say that they have a two‑edged sword in their hands – this is the Word of God... This would not be true of them on the other side of the veil.” (Reprint 5631, col. 2, par. 5, Feb. 15, 1915)

“Our thought is that we should look for still further evidences day by day that the Gentiles Times have ended, and that God’s Kingdom has begun its work... The present step is the war of the nations. The next step will be Socialism – an attempted Socialism [after Revolution] – among the people. Then the third step, anarchy, will gradually come on. When this symbolic fire shall prevail, then the world will realize what we are trying to tell them now; namely, that God’s Kingdom is taking control, and that these various demonstrations are evidences that our Lord is taking His great power. But the many will not begin to see until the flaming fire is revealed.

“Now the time has come for God’s Kingdom to displace them; but they will not willingly resign their crowns and scepters; they are in defiance. Therefore force is required to destroy them. Their 2520 years of rule are in the past, and they must now submit to a complete overthrow.” (Reprint 5632, col. 1, Feb. 15, 1915)

“We believe that the Times of the Gentiles ended just on time, as shown in Vol. 2... The hand of justice is now doing the breaking – the nations shall be broken as ‘a potter’s vessel.’ The whole cataclysm of trouble may be upon the world during the next ten months or it may be longer deferred. We believe that the time for the setting up of the kingdom was on September 21, 1914. At that time, when it was due for our Lord to take up His great power and reign, the nations were already angry. They were at war over a month in advance of the time, because so angry.

“The due time for the ‘wrath’ [the “great tribulation”] was September 21, 1914. We are expecting to see this wrath still more manifest. The nations have been in just this same unloving spirit one toward another for a number of years, but apparently they have been under some forcible restraint. We believe that God’s time has not yet come.” (Reprint 5632, col. 2, pars. 4 and 5, Feb. 15, 1915)

Yes, the ‘wrath’ is still more manifest today, but God’s time has not yet come for the second phase of the trouble – Armageddon. The Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted Armageddon for 1975, but self‑evidently, that was not God’s time. But we may be sure that it will come in God’s due time. God’s faithful people need not be disturbed as they see these things coming to pass. However, we do indeed pity the ‘groaning creation’ as we see these things coming on them, but we “lift up our heads and rejoice,” knowing our deliverance is near – not only ours but that of all mankind.

We see no reason to depart from the Truth on the Time of Trouble, or the Epiphany, that Brother Russell taught us. If we cast his teaching aside, we might as well say he was far from knowing the Plan of the Ages.

We now will quote and expound passages that prove that the Epiphany will end with the Anarchy and Jacob’s trouble, i.e., will end with the end of the trouble. A passage that proves this with reference to Anarchy, though it also refers to the War, Revolution, Famine and Pestilence, is 2 Thes.1:7, 8: ‘The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels [the agents whereby He will pour out vengeance] in flaming fire [destructive troubles – War, Revolution, Famine, Pestilence and Anarchy], taking vengeance on them [the Second Deathers in the Nominal Church] that know not God and [on them, the Second Deathers in the Truth] that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Accordingly, this passage proves that the Epiphany will be completed by the Anarchy.

A passage that proves this with reference to Jacob’s trouble, so far as the Lord’s revelation of Himself to Israel is concerned, is Zech. 12:9,10: “It shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem [in the time of Jacob’s trouble, Zech. 12:1‑8; Ezek. 38; 39]; and I will pour upon the House of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced [Rev. 1:7]; and they shall mourn for it [the piercing, I.V.],” etc. All Truth people recognize at once that this passage refers to the end of Jacob’s trouble, and that it proves our Lord’s revelation of Himself to Israel as their long rejected Messiah. Hence these two verses prove that the Time of Trouble and the Epiphany are identical.

JUDGMENT FOR ALL THE ELECT

In 1 Pet. 4:17,18, Dia., there is this: “The season is coming for the judgment to begin from the house of God. (Berean Comment: “Krisma, final decision”)... And if the righteous person scarcely is safe, where will the impious and the sinner appear?” Three classes are mentioned in this text: “the righteous” – the Little Flock; “the impious” – the Second Deathers; “the sinner” – the Great Company. Note the Berean Comment on James 5:20: “He that was once a member of the Royal Priesthood.” We are now in “the evil day,” the day in which we should expect to see the fulfillment of Mal. 3:3: “The sons of Levi” – typical of all believers (see Berean Comment); “gold” – the Little Flock; “silver” – the Great Company. All of this was much emphasized by That Servant as occurring in the Time of Trouble – this Epiphany day.

Malachi 3:2 raises the question, “Who may abide the day of his coming? [the Parousia day from 1874 to 1914] and who shall stand when he appeareth [when he maketh manifest by the bright shining of the Epiphany day].” The Epiphany is called a period of time in the Bible: “This know also that in the last days [the Parousia and the Epiphany days] perilous times shall come.” (2 Tim. 3:1,8,9) Psa. 91:6 speaks of “the pestilence [destructive error] that walketh in darkness.” The Epiphany is also described as a night; and the pestilence that is so rampant in so many quarters is visible evidence that we are in that dark time. Recently a paper came to us, which has a sub‑heading “False Prophets” – then it describes Brother Russell as follows:

“He was particularly interested in the second coming of Christ, as were a few others at that time. He had aligned the prophecies pertaining to the Lord’s coming fairly accurately; but made the mistake of applying them prematurely. His error of assuming that Christ had arrived in 1874 was the basis for all his false claims relative to the Lord’s coming.”

It will be recalled that, shortly after Brother Russell’s death, the claim came forth that he had made a 19‑year mistake in the Chronology – that the Gentile Times would not end until 1933. Of course time itself made clearly manifest the error of that claim; nothing at all happened in 1933 to give any semblance of Truth to that figure.

As may be expected, that contention created a great furor; and J. F. Rutherford entered into the controversy. And it is our opinion that he offered a very good defense of the true chronology – just as Pastor Russell had given it to us. However, at that very time he presented some rank error on the Jubilee cycles and the time involved there, during which he came up with the prediction that Millions Now Living Will Never Die – after 1925. Of course, he was one hundred per cent wrong on that. He also produced the error that the door to the High Calling closed at Passover 1918, which he later changed two or three times; and as of this writing it would seem that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not certain about it yet. Also, in view of other statements they have made – such as Armageddon beginning in 1975 – they don’t know where they are with the chronology; they are simply floating around in space.

In its wide sense the Time of Trouble began in 1874. After that date the radical elements of society became much more radical. And it was during the time after 1874 that the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente were formed – each glaring at the other, and was one of the principal causes for the outbreak of the great war in 1914. At this date the Time of Trouble began in its real violent stage; and the war in 1914 was up to that time the world’s greatest calamity. It put all involved nations into financial insolvency; and this has continued to grow worse each year since 1933. Just before this last great war began the national debt of the United States was about forty billion dollars; and one leading Washington publication made the statement then that no one with any real financial judgment believes this will ever be paid. At this writing it is now about twenty times that amount – with the situation growing alarmingly worse each year.

The 1914 war broke out in one day that year, with the assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Servia; and it brought sharply to mind the great prophecy of Jesus in Luke 17:26,27: “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” It will be noted that this text refers to “days” (plural), indicating more than one day. It is our understanding that there are two days in the end of the Age – the Parousia day that commenced in 1874 and ended in 1914, at which time the great tribulation began, corresponding to the flood that burst upon the world immediately after Noah entered into the ark. However, Luke 17:30 speaks of only one day: “Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed [uncovered, from the Greek apok­alupto, having the same root as the apocalypse, or the book of Revelation].”

This “revelation” is still in process, and we do not now know how long it will continue; but its presence is apparent to those in the Lord’s Household who have been enlightened to perceive it. However, it is also apparent to some in the world ­– in a rather foggy way, of course. One speaker at a conclave we attended a few years back made the statement that the world’s money situation has never been the same since the outbreak of the great war in 1914 – “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things coming on the earth [the present social order].” (Luke 21:26)

Says the Apostle Paul in 1 Thes. 5:1,2: “Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night [quietly, stealthily, and after it has come many will not know they are in it].” This statement is as true now as it was when Paul wrote it. The first of these seasons was the small Parousia, which began in 1874 and continued during the Harvest to 1914; the second, the Epiphaneia; and the third the Basileia (Kingdom). All of these are a part of, and run concurrently with the large Parousia day (1874‑2874); but none of them run concurrently with each other; and there is good reason for this. In each of those periods there is a main, though not exclusive, objective. The small Parousia was for the purpose of reaping; and that day and that work ended at exactly the same time — September 1914. “Thrust in thy sickle, and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap.” (Rev. 14:15) Second is the Epiphaneia (the revealment “in flaming fire”); and third the Basileia (the Kingdom).

When the small Parousia ended, the Epiphany immediately began, although there was a small overlapping of around two years. There was a threefold main objective: (1) “To execute upon them [the kings, nobles and people in general] the judgment written” (Psa. 149:9); (2) to judge “the quick”(2 Tim. 4:1); and (3) “devour all the earth [the present social order] with the fire of my jealousy” (Zeph. 3:8) – in the time of violence which began in 1914, and which will continue to the end of Jacob’s Trouble, just preceding the end of Anarchy. As soon as the Epiphany arrived all three of these objectives began to operate: Jordan was smitten in 1914‑16 (“bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron” – Psa. 149:8); the “manifestation” (epiphanizing) of the “quick” in their various classes began to appear; and “the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come.” (Rev. 11:18)

The Basileia (the Kingdom) will have as its main objective Restitution (Acts 3:19­23); and it will appear also as soon as “the word of the Lord goes forth from Jerusalem.” (Isa. 2:3) There was a 25‑month overlapping of the Parousia into the Epiphany (Sept. 1914 to Oct. 1916); but that did not deter in the least the beginning of the Epiphany work exactly on time. However, it is well to note here that of all the erstwhile Truth groups only two contend that the Basileia is already with us; namely, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement. But instead of observing any of the benign influences of the Kingdom, worse things are coming upon the world – crime and misery worse than at any time in history, but the Word of the Lord tells us that the Kingdom is to “wipe away all tears.” It seems unbelievable that brethren who were once blessed with the logical and sober teachings of That Servant could swallow such errors; and it simply proves that “they received not the truth in the love of it, and on this account God will send them an energy of delusion, to their believing the falsehood.” (2 Thes. 2:10,11, Dia.)

THE WIND, FOUR WINDS, WHIRLWIND

In Rev. 7:1‑3 we are told that the four angels should “hold the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth... till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” The four winds in this text are the fallen angels (see also Dan. 7:2); the wind is the great war that started in 1914; and the forehead sealing refers to the administration of the Truth to those who came into the Truth before that war began in each country. It should be noted here that all the saints were spirit‑begot­ten by 1914, but all of them had not been sealed in their foreheads with present Truth. They were saints (wheat) that had not come out of Babylon, just as most of the saints were in Babylon during the Parousia. But all of them were “sealed in the forehead” in time to take part in the first “Smiting of Jordan” during the time of 1914­-1916. (Psa. 149:8)

Some have the mistaken idea that the above is Epiphany Truth; but the Berean Comments show this view was held as far back as 1898: “The four winds” – Which are to constitute the whirlwind of the time of trouble [Anarchy]; “That the wind” – The great wars between nations which are to be expected shortly; “Blow on the earth” – Society; “Nor on the sea” – The restless, anarchistic masses of men; “Hurt not the earth” – The present favored time, with its liberties and advantages, divinely arranged; “Until we” – The Lord’s saints on this side of the veil; “Have sealed” – Marked, separated, distinguished; “In their foreheads” – Given them an intellectual appreciation of the Plan of God, with its time features, etc., as a comfort, shield, and mark, seal, or evidence of their sonship.

EPIPHANEIA — APOKALYPSIS

That Servant defined these terms as synonymous (as an act and as a period of time). However, they are not synonymous in the strict sense of the word. Many translators give Epiphaneia as “bright shining,” “forthshining,” “uncovering,” etc.; whereas they offer “revelation” as the meaning of Apokalypsis. The Diaglott labels the last book in the Bible THE APOKALYPSIS. Viewed critically, it is impossible to have one without the other, which explains why they are synonymous as an act and as a period of time. Thus, it requires the bright shining to produce the revelation. The Book of Revelation, for instance, has been with us since the Apostle John wrote it; but it cannot possibly be understood – revealed, uncovered – until the bright shining (Epiphaneia) makes it clear. While Martin Luther saw the explanation for some parts of Revelation, other parts of it he could not possibly understand because the “bright shining” had not arrived to reveal it – in the “due time.” Just one instance: The 1260 days (1260 literal years) in Rev. 13:5 could not possibly be clear to him because those years did not end until 1799, and prophecy cannot be clearly understood in detail until it has been fulfilled, or is in the process of fulfillment. And those years did not end until 1799 – about 250 years after Luther’s death.

Thus, it will be seen that the “bright shining” and the “revelation” have contin­ued in limited measure throughout the Gospel Age; but there is also an Epiphaneia – Apokalypsis – designated as a special period of time here in the end of the Age; but it cannot be truthfully stated that there is a special Apokalypsis period apart from the Epiphaneia – or the Epiphany, as we call it.

THE EPIPHANY DAY OF JUDGMENT

In 2 Tim. 4:1 it is stated that the Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing (Epiphaneia) and at his kingdom (Basileia). There is no mention of His judging in the Apokalypsis, as a period apart from the Epiphaneia. And we believe all Bible Students will surely admit that we are yet in the judging period of the Elect and of the world – the world in the sense of the “judgments of the nations” (not individuals).

Regardless of how little time that judging would consume, it must be evident that it is nevertheless a special period of time. When we paraphrase 2 Tim. 4:1, the text becomes much clearer: “He shall judge the quick at His Epiphaneia, and the dead at His Basileia.” The judging of the Basileia has not yet started at all; but we think the judging of the Epiphaneia began when the Time of Trouble began in 1914.

Not only did the judging begin then, but it brought special trials on all the true Household of Faith. It stirred up a rabid patriotism in each country involved; and a great rage was unloosed against those who were not in harmony with such an attitude. In the third Chapter of Daniel we have the story of Nebuchadnezzar and his golden image, which the three Hebrews (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) refused to recognize. This made the King furious, and he ordered that they be cast into a fiery furnace – “that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.” (v. 19) That furnace typified the extreme fury that was unleashed then through militarism and the church federations. Those of us who were involved at that time know only too well of the truth of this conclusion, and it is still vividly recalled by some of us. Some of the Objectors were actually killed, and many were brutally tortured.

Here are some of the details: We were closely and intimately acquainted with three brethren who were inducted into the army early in 1917 – right after the United States entered the great war. In January of 1918, with the temperature at zero, those three were taken into the shower room, alternately showered with hot and cold water, then scrubbed with a rough floor brush until they bled; and this was continued until they fell over in a faint. One brother died as a result of that treatment; and another lost his mind, was sent to a mental institution and recovered after two years of treatment. But, when he eventually came out, he could not remember ever having seen us, although we were closely associated with him in the army. He has been dead for some years now. Yes, the furnace was heated “seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated.” All of this is now ancient history, completely unknown to most of our readers; and not known at all to those too young to remember World War One. But we know personally what happened then, and we can give an accurate account of it. The Epiphany has indeed been a time for judging “the quick.”

ELIJAH AND ELISHA

In the second chapter of 2 Kings there is related the last association of Elijah and Elisha — how they left Gilgal, went from there to Bethel, then to Jericho, then to Jordan (at which place Elijah wrapped his mantle, smote the River, which divided it into two parts and the “two went over on dry ground”). “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire... and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” In Bible symbolisms chariots often typify organizations; and that is its meaning in verse 12.

Many of our readers know that Pastor Russell said the time would come when there would be a clear separation of Elijah and Elisha here in the end of the Age: and that separation became an established fact in the summer of 1917. One of the very big issues then was the contention over “the channel, The Society” (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society) – the antitypical “chariot” over which Elisha lamented, “my father, my father, the chariot of Israel [God’s Household at that time – the organization founded by That Servant], and the horsemen [the leaders, the guides of that chariot] thereof.” The Berean Comments on v. 11: “of fire” – Probably signifying severe persecutions on the last members of the Elijah class.

The fulfilled facts antitypical of 1 Kings 19:19-21 and 2 Kings 2:1-25, prove that antitypical Elijah, after functioning for many centuries, called antitypical Elisha in 1846, afterwards journeyed with him to antitypical Gilgal, 1874, to antitypical Bethel, 1878, to antitypical Jericho, 1881, to antitypical Jordan, 1914, and separated from him in 1917, since which time antitypical Elisha functions without antitypical Elijah.

Follows now something from Tower Reprint 5772, Col. 2, bottom, and 5773, top: “It was while the two went on, with no knowledge of how far they would go, that Elijah said to Elisha, ‘What would you like as a reward for your faithfulness in journeying with me?’ Elisha responded that he would most prefer a large measure of the Spirit of the Lord, which so notably was manifested in Elijah. The reply was that he could get this great blessing only under special conditions; namely, that he would continue faithful in cooperation until the last – until Elijah would be taken. This would be a hard matter; for, if Elisha’s attention was permitted to wander, he would not get so rich a blessing.

“As they went on, behold, a chariot of fire parted them asunder! In symbolic language, this seems to signify that the Elijah class would be involved in very fiery trouble, persecutions, and will thus be separated from their fellows. The next symbol of a whirlwind taking Elijah to heaven also implies further trouble. Prophecies are generally understood after their fulfillment — and only vaguely before. It was thus at our Lord’s first advent in respect to the prophecies then being fulfilled.

 “We may not hope to clearly understand in advance the full import of the fiery chariot nor of the whirlwind. To some the thought of being taken away from the present life suddenly, violently, in fiery troubles, etc., would be a terrible prospect; not so will it be with the members of the Elijah class. Waiting for their change, and living in daily readiness of heart, therefore, they go on without trepidation. On the contrary, in whatever way they shall be taken, it will be the culmination of their hopes for which they so long have waited and prayed – their deliverance.”

Then this from Reprint 5846, col. 1, pars. 1 and 2; col. 2, pars. 1 and 3: “But here is the way the Lord pictures the matter: First, there will be the chariot of fire. We do not know what this will be; but we understand that some fiery experience will cause a separation between the two classes of the Lord’s people. Then will develop the whirlwind of anarchy. Perhaps this will be mobs that will destroy the lives of the faithful ones. We do not know...

“This picture is not given for nothing. ‘What does it mean?’ you ask. Ah, we know that most prophecies are understood only after they are fulfilled!

“‘Do you think that this has not yet taken place?’ may be a question in your minds. We think it has not yet fully taken place. ‘Do you think that the PHOTO-DRAMA OF CREATION has had a part in this?’ It may be...

“So, then, you see what we are looking for. Whether this will take place in a few months or in a few years more we may not be sure. But we think that we shall see something that will bring a division in the sentiments of the people before we get into the fiery chariot.”

That 1917 separation has continued to pyramid over the years, with more and more of antitypical Elijah leaving the Society, and associating themselves with various Truth movements. But whether these superior brethren left the Society, or whether they stayed, it is our conviction that all of them had their fiery chariot trials. We have known quite a few of them since 1917, so we speak from personal experience.

Many brethren attempted to interpret the account in the second chapter of 2 Kings; but, so far as we know, none of them were harmonious if they departed from That Servant’s general interpretation. While the brethren were in prison in 1918, Vice‑President Wise supervised the work of the Society. On one occasion he came to Dayton, Ohio, where we then lived; and during one of his discourses he said he had been bombarded with about 400 Bible articles in a few months’ time – most of them on Elijah and Elisha; but quiet reflection now convinces us that That Servant gave the correct generalities, and any correct interpretation would have to harmonize with his thoughts. During 1917‑1920 many of the brethren – those that stayed, and those that left – were truly in the furnace of affliction.

It is our fond hope that these papers will convince all our readers that we are now in the “Time of the End,” and have been so since 1799. But one writer has expressed himself very well: “Carry a cross patiently, and with perfect submission; and in the end it shall carry you.”

(John J. Hoefle, Reprint No. 293, November 1979)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Precious Emily,

Please make sure to send me Part Two, etc. of “The Beginning and Ending of the Time of the End” (No. 485). I want to keep checking out the insights and conclusions. The chapter on “Knowledge Shall be Increased” was amazing.

Praying for the Lord to guide and guard your life. Thanks for all the study materials. We love you. Frank and Norma Eiklor(CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Herman and Joseph:

Your letter of June 3, 1997, with the news that a Jewish movement had contacted you was good news. We are sure that the development will be positive for Emek ha Shalom.

I have sent copies of your letter to all friends of the truth here in Sweden and to Julius Nielsen, Skjern, Denmark.

All the best and many king regards.

Your friend, Anders Karlen (SWEDEN)

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NO. 487: THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF THE “TIME OF THE END” — Part Two

No. 487

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

The Epiphany Messenger tells us that the seventy years’ desolation of Christendom began in 1914 (typed by the seventy years’ desolation of the land of Israel during their Babylonish captivity), which seems reasonable. If the type works out, it will bring us to 1984; and if the prophesied events occur in the next five years, then we can have the strong assurance that it is a true type “for our admonition and learning, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor. 10:11) Surely no one instructed in Harvest Truth will deny that Christendom is now being desolated. But the Lord’s faithful people have no need for apprehension, because the Lord is mindful of His people. He has a time for all His purposes, and He will reveal them to His faithful servants in their time of need. (Amos 3:7) Indeed if this type doesn’t work out, there is no reason for us to lose faith in God, for “He is faithful that promised.” (Heb. 10:23)

FURTHER COMMENT

“The Time of the End is a long‑drawn‑out period, because it began, as just proved, October 1799, and will end just before Daniel’s resurrection and reward as an Ancient Worthy (Dan. 12:13) – ‘he will stand in his lot at the end of the days.’ This has not yet occurred, nor will it occur for years yet. Hence this disproves ‘approximately October 1, 1914,’ as the Time of the End. When our Pastor wrote Volume III, he believed that the trouble would all be over by Oct. 1914, and that the earthly phase of the Kingdom would then be established, and therefore in that volume he taught that the Time of the End, while beginning Oct. 1799, would end Oct. 1914. But when in 1904 he came to the conclusion that the trouble would begin in 1914 and refused thereafter to set a date for its end, he implied that the end of the Time of the End would come later than 1914.

“In the Time of the End Michael stands up (Dan. 12:1). This set in at Nisan 10, 1878 (paralleling His riding into Jerusalem 1845 years before and casting off Israel and cleansing the temple) when He began to exercise executive authority in casting off Babylon, and when by the first Harvest sifting He began by the Truth to drive out from His temple class the unworthy. It continued by His awakening the sleeping saints Nisan 16, 1878, and associating them with Him in the Kingdom.

“His standing up – then proceeded in a Truth attack upon Satan’s empire (Satan, the individual, having been bound from 1874‑1878 preparatory to the spoiling of his house, Matt. 12:29), in its religious, aristocratic, political and industrial features, which attack made such a division in Satan’s empire between the conservative classes and the radical masses as to threaten it with an overthrow by a revolution of the dissatisfied masses. To avert this threatening revolution and preserve his empire, Satan mustered the nations in two rival alliances for a war in which he hoped to wipe out the division between the conservatives and radicals by making them believe, in each set of nations, that the other set sought their national destruction. Hence the World War.... Michael did not begin to stand up about October 1, 1914; though about that time an important phase of His standing up did set in. His standing up began in 1878 and will continue as against Satan’s empire until the end of anarchy and Jacob’s trouble.

“During the Time of the End the whole trouble is to occur. Dan. 12:1 does not say, just the early stage of the war part of it, but the entire Time of Trouble, occurs in the Time of the End, including all its stages: war, revolution, anarchy and Jacob’s Trouble, with famines and pestilences interspersed; for the reason of the trouble is Michael’s standing up in an attack on Satan’s empire from 1878 onward, in order utterly to destroy it thru the troubles above‑mentioned... Jesus says that the great tribulation would be greater than anything that had yet occurred up to His time or anything that would occur after His time: ‘Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world unto this time [the time of His speaking], no, nor ever shall be.’ (Matt. 24:21) Since Dan. 12:1 teaches that in the Time of the End the entire trouble will occur, evidently the Time of the End is not identical with the end of the Gentile Times, which occurred in 1914. It began before and ends later.” (E‑6-453‑2)

CONFLICTING OPINIONS

It should be clear enough to any studious mind that we have been in the Time of Trouble in its violent stages since 1914. However, more and worse upheavals are still ahead of us. This is not merely our opinion; it is the combined thought of both Messengers – both of whom taught that the Epiphany and the Time of Trouble in its violent stages are identical. Therefore, it should be apparent that those who teach we are in the Apocalypse or the Basileia are confused and indulging in rampant error. Of those who embrace those errors one of them contends that the Epiphany as a period of time ended completely in 1954; the other says it ended in a “restricted sense” in 1954. Even at this late date – over 24 years [over 43 years now] after 1954 – we have not witnessed even the sec­ond of the two fierce violent features that both Messengers taught we would see in the Epiphany – the Epiphany being the last special period of the Gospel Age.

In 2 Thes. 2:8 St. Paul tells us that the Man of Sin will be annihilated by the Epiphany of the Lord’s presence. Therefore, those who now tamper with the Epiphany not only cast aside the clear teachings of both Messengers, but they also dispense with the inspired Word of God. Thus they come under the condem­nation of Rev. 16:6, Dia.: “Thou gavest them also blood [error] to drink; they deserve it.” We suggest to our readers that they search the Parousia or Epiphany volumes, as well as the Berean Comments for the faintest semblance of proof that these teachings are correct. We know such proof is not there, so that the leaders of both groups are not now “contending for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints,” but are openly rejecting it. We refer espec­ially to the bottom of page 12 in the Instructor’s Guide, where the Parousia vs. Epiphania and Apokalupsis are thoroughly analyzed, which analysis definitely rejects these teachings. Thus we quote here from Rev. 22:18,19: “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.”

THE DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES

The question now arises – If the Time of the End began in 1799, when will it end? We do not now have any definite answer to that question; however, we know that the Time of the End includes all the destructive features of this Old Order – the World War, Armageddon and Anarchy. Also, we know that the Time of Trouble and the Epiphany are identical. In the broad sense we might say that there is only one period of time – the Time of the End – but included in that period are the Parousia from 1874 to 1914, and the Epiphany – the Time of Trouble in its violent features – from 1914 to the end of Jacob’s Trouble. Thus the Time of the End runs concurrently with all of them – and the Epiphany and the Time of Trouble in its violent features are identical. When we say one, we mean either one as a period of time. The Scriptural proof for the Time of Trouble is to be found in Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14. Of course, the two periods just mentioned are of much shorter duration than the Time of the End: the Parousia did not begin until 1874, and the Epiphany, or the Great Tribulation, did not begin until 1914 – and is ever increasing in intensity until the grand smash comes. Toward the end of the Epiphany will come Jacob’s Trouble: “That day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s Trouble.” (Jer. 30:7) “Jacob’s Trouble” will terminate with the final throes of Anarchy, at which time “there will be no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither any peace to him that goeth out, or cometh in, because of the affliction: for I will set all men every one against his neighbor.” (Zech. 8:10) The Epiphany and the Time of Trouble in its narrow sense are identical; both began in 1914 and both will end with the last phase of the trouble. This is clear Scriptural teaching.

TWO JUDGMENTS

Two judgments are described in the Bible: (1) the judgment of the quick, and (2) the judgment of the dead. In 2 Tim. 4:1 it is stated that our Lord Jesus “shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and kingdom.” The nominal church has concluded that the “quick” in this text are those who are walking about and alive as we see them, and the “dead” are those in the tomb. This is a wrong conclusion; and we now offer the text from the Emphatic Diaglott: “Christ Jesus is about to judge the living and the dead, by his appearing and by his kingdom.” His appearing in this text is the Epiphany; and the living at that time are certain members of the Household of Faith – members of His Church. “You hath he quickened together with him” (Col. 2:13), who were “dead in trespasses and sins.” The remainder of the human race – whether in the tomb, or out of it, are reckoned as dead. This is plainly stated by Jesus in Matt. 8:22, Dia., “Leave the dead ones to inter their own dead.” Thus, 2 Tim. 4:1 becomes much clearer if we paraphrase it: “He will judge the living during his Epiphany, and the dead ones [the world of mankind, whether in their graves or living] during his Kingdom.” “Because he hath appointed a day [a thousand‑year day – Christ’s Kingdom], in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given as­surance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

IS THERE AN EPIPHANY?

Did That Servant teach an Epiphany period? Quite a few of the Lord’s good people think – and say – they are faithfully adhering to his teachings as they deny an Epiphany period, as well as a class of consecrators between the “closing of the door” and until Restitution begins. But we would say there are two meanings to the word – a condition (bright shining) and a period of time. Both of these are taught in 2 Thes. 2:8, which we quote from the Diaglott: “Then will be revealed the lawless one [the man of sin]: whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth [His sharp pertinent teachings], and annihilate by the appearing [Epiphaneia] of his presence [Parousia].”

That this is the thought of That Servant we now prove from the following quotations, which we hope will persuade all our readers on this point: “At [or during] the epiphania, or bright shining, of the Lord’s manifestation, God will have completed his present work of directing the church [in bringing in the 144,000], and the world will be informed that they are under a different dispensation.” (Reprint 5359, top, col. 1, par. 2)

“The Scriptures speak of a great time of trouble in the conclusion of this Gospel Age. Our Lord in the prophecy recorded in Matthew 24 mentions this great time of trouble... In connection with it He says, ‘When ye see these things begin to come to pass, then lift up your heads and rejoice; for your redemption draweth nigh’ (Luke 21:28) – linking this great climax to the deliverance of the Church, their change from earthly nature to heavenly nature... Our Lord speaks of this same time of trouble and says that Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luke 21:24). These ‘times of the Gentiles’ represent a period during which the world was to be ruled by Gentile nations... A stone was to smite the image upon the feet, which were iron and clay, and break them to pieces (Dan. 2:44,45). This crushing of the feet of the image was to come in the end of the Age, and would be the preparatory step to the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom (Dan. 2:31‑45)... The present terrible war is not the great time of trouble in the fullest sense of the word, but merely its forerunner. The great time of trouble of Scriptures will be brought on by Anarchy – the general uprising of the people.” (Reprint 5526, col. 1)

“The Scriptures indicate that the Gentile governments will receive from their own people their first notice that their lease of power has expired. The people will take note of the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens. The judgments of the Lord will begin to be manifest in the world, and run counter to many of their interests. This manifestation of His presence is Scripturally called the epiphaneia, the shining forth, the revealment, of the King of Glory. ‘He shall be revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (2 Thes. 1:7‑10) As a result, the nations of the earth will be broken to pieces like a potter’s vessel. (Psa. 2:8,9; Rev. 2:27)... The picture given of the end of Gentile Times is that of a stone striking the image of Gentile supremacy in its feet (Dan. 2:34,35). The impact will be so sharp and so thorough as to leave nothing of them. Having had their day, they will cease to be – ‘become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.’ The next event [after the Epiphany] will be the Messianic Kingdom of which it is writ­ten, ‘The desire of all people shall come.’“ (Reprint 5527, col. 2, pars. 2,3, Sept. 1, 1914)

And from Reprint 5456, col. 1, par. 2: “Emphasizing the suddenness with which the calamity will overtake the world, Jesus said on the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained down fire and brimstone from heaven; and He declared that thus it will be when the Son of Man is revealed. The Greek text shows a difference between the Parousia, or presence, of Christ before the time of trouble, and the later epiphaneia, or REVEALING. [The Epiphany, or Apoka­lypse, and the Time of Trouble are one and the same period of time. There would be no necessity of a “bright shining” if it didn’t reveal something. In other words, there is no Epiphany without an Apokalypse].”

“We are now in the beginning of this great day [the Epiphany day, April 15, 1914] of the Lord. All the forces which are to play a part in this mighty upheaval which is to introduce the reign of Messiah are rapidly gathering. The nations of the earth and all the various elements which form society as at present organized – political institutions, financial institutions, ecclesias­tical systems, etc. – are now before the bar of judgment [in 1914 at the end o£ the Gentile times and the beginning of World War One], and are being found wanting. All Christendom is trembling before the mighty forces that are coming in today. Morals are at a low ebb.” (Reprint 5442, col. l, par. 7, April 15, 1914)

“The earlier part of the judgment upon Christendom [in the Epiphany] will be upon the antitypical sons of Levi, the silver class... The fire of this great day [the Epiphany] shall ‘try every man’s work, of what sort it is.’ It will likewise discover who have built upon a foundation of sand (1 Cor. 3:11‑15).” (Reprint 5442, col. 2, pars 2 and 3)

The above quotations should certainly convince any open mind that That Servant recognized the Epiphany as a period of time; and present‑day events certainly attest mightily that we are indeed in that period of time – the time of trouble, the Epiphany.

SOME EPIPHANY OBSERVATIONS

“Doubtless the Adversary knew that a modern war would weaken his empire; but he preferred a weakened empire to none. He invented through perverted human brains the horrible weapons and munitions of the World War, whose destructiveness doubtless convinced him that the war would be short. To Satan’s ruthlessness God opposed a ‘so far, and no farther.’ Therefore God did not permit Satan to end the war with a speedy and easy victory for the Central Powers... Thus the war had two results directly opposite to those that Satan had planned: (1) the side that he favored was ultimately defeated; and (2) his empire was weakened and debt‑burdened almost to collapse. Moreover, the Lord overruled to the complete frustration of Satan’s purpose of making each nation emerge from the war with the masses and the classes thoroughly united with each other, instead of their being divided against each other as they had been before the war. This purpose of Satan was frustrated by the Lord’s making known, not only the human, but also the Satanic causes of the war, particularly as these were connected with the doctrines of the Divine Right of Kings, Aristocrats and Clerics, which doctrine and its resultant practices were the basic human causes of the war. The making of these things known has had various results: (1) the almost complete abolition of autocracy – a child of the Divine Right doctrine; (2) in some countries a large abolition, and in other countries a large limitation of aristocracy; (3) greatly decreased belief in the Divine Right of the Clergy and a correspondingly immense decrease of their influence; (4) greatly increased embitterment and opposition of the Radicals to what is Satan’s order of affairs; (5) greatly increased demands for more liberty from State, Aristocracy and Clergy; (6) most threatening imminence of world‑wide revolution. Thus in a deeper sense than most people recognize Satan emerged from his adventure in the World War as the worst defeated sovereign of all history.” (See E-2, pp. 136, 137 and 138)

“The World War was no usual war. From the above description it will be seen it was a greater conflict, with larger issues involved, than mankind in general recognizes. As a matter of fact the World War was the great war of prophecy – the war that, according to the Scriptures, would precede Armageddon, the war that would be the first part of the great Day of the Lord, the Day of Vengeance. In many places the Bible refers to it. The following are among the more important of these references: Joel 3:9‑14; Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21,22; 1 Thes. 5:1‑3. This war, and the very year – 1914 – in which it was to begin, were forecast from the Bible by Pastor Russell years before it began. According to the Bible it is after an ever increasingly stormy interval, to be followed by sudden world‑wide Revolution, which will overthrow the present form of Satan’s empire in state, aristocracy and religion. And according to the Scriptures even greater famines and pestilences than those that accompanied the World War will accompany the World Revolution. According to the Scriptural delineations, the Radicals, in the coming Revolution, will attack the present order with crushing and relentless blows, under which it will collapse with but scant resistance, due to its greatly weakened condition resulting from the wounds received in the World War and its aftermath. This is another great blunder Satan made in bringing about that war; for by greatly weakening his empire it will have prepared that empire to become an easy prey to the attacks of the Radicals in the coming World Revolution. Events on all hands indicate that we are rapidly sweeping toward this great social upheaval.” (E‑2,-138,139)

“Of the coming upheaval, the following are some of the Biblical descriptions, clothed in figurative language: ‘The Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty’ (Rev. 16:14; Zeph. 3:8; Isa. 13:4,5), ‘Armageddon’ (Rev. 16:16), ‘a great earthquake’ (Rev. 16:18; Heb. 12:26), ‘the fire of Jehovah’s Jealousy’ (Zeph. 3:8; 2 Peter 3:10,11,12; Mal. 4:1), ‘a whirlwind’ and a ‘storm’ (Nahum 1:3,6,7), ‘a tempest of hail,’ ‘a destroying storm,’ and ‘a flood of mighty waters’ (Isa. 28:2; Nahum 1:4,5,8), ‘the besom of destruction’ (Isa. 14:23), ‘a furnace of fire’ (Matt. 13:42), ‘a lake of fire’ (Rev. 19:20), and ‘the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God (Rev. 19:15).”

“As one reads these many terms descriptive of one and the same event, the conclusion is irresistible that they set forth in symbolic language an appalling calamity just ahead of the race.

“The present European powers are symbolized in their entirety in the seven‑headed Beast of Rev. 17:7‑12... We look for the coming of another (symbolic) Beast, which seems to represent the form of European government to be set up after the Revolution [Armageddon], and which, we opine, will probably be socialistic in form. This being a part of the ‘present evil world,’ Satan, of course, will be its invisible ruler.” (E‑2-139)

“The Scriptures teach that after this government shall but briefly pilot the ship of State amid the storms of the social sea, Anarchy will set in, and like a devouring fire will completely destroy every vestige of Satan’s empire. More severe famines and pestilences than those accompanying the Revolution will accompany Anarchy. Fire is the most frequent Biblical term describing the Anarchistic phase of the Great Tribulation. The prophet Elijah was given a vision of the three great phases of this Trouble – war, revolution, and anarchy – by the wind, earthquake and fire of 1 Kings 19:11,12. Using Jerusalem as a figure of Christendom, the prophet Ezekiel by the term ‘sword’ describes the War and Revolution, and by the figure of the noisome beast (a beast is opposed to law and order) fittingly describes the Anarchy of the Time of Trouble (Ezek. 14:21). Additionally, in the same passage, he shows that famines and pestilences will play their part in these troubles, as we by observation know they played their part in the war.” (E‑2-140)

“Satan will, after the Anarchy, attempt but one final effort against God’s people, and that not against His spiritual, but against His fleshly Israel. One of the signs of our times as a fulfillment of prophecy has been Israel’s returning to Palestine. This has had several stages... Arab opposition has given a temporary setback, but in due time this obstacle will be removed. Present world‑wide conditions have influenced many wealthy Israelites to divert vast millions of treasure to their Home Land, and the land is being richly built up... All this is in fulfillment of prophecy relating to our times (Ezek. 36:8,12). Satan, beholding these prosperous Israelites, and realizing that his days of mischief are about over, will, after anarchy has destroyed the future socialistic governments, in hatred against Israel stir up the anarchistic remnants of all nations to plunder the Israelites in Palestine. These plunderers, as described in Ezek. 38 and 39 and in Zech. 12:1‑9 and 14:1‑3, will be gathered by Satan from among all nations and will sorely afflict Israel in what the Bible calls Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:1‑9). This will be a very severe trouble, according to the prophetic description given in the above citations, and will be Israel’s final chastisement. It will effectually turn them to the Lord Jesus in thorough conversion, when they in the complete overthrow of their plunderers by the Lord Jesus, will remember that their trouble and their troublers’ were forecast to them by the Truth people. And their affliction and the overthrow of their anarchistic plunderers will be the last act of Satanic oppression as the god of this evil world. With that wicked effort his days as man’s supreme oppressor will be over, for which we thank God.” (E‑2-142)

Yes, in the last effort of Satan the Jews will call upon the Lord and He will answer their prayers: “Fools because of their transgression [crucifying the Lord of Glory], and because of their iniquities [their violations of the Mosaic Law], are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psa. 107:17‑21) “Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” (Zech. 14:3)

MORE ON THE HIGH CALLING

“This night [the great Time of Trouble] began in each country as it was involved in the World War, the first part of the great tribulation, which began when the first countries entered the war in August 1914. Accordingly, we recognize that the night began in 1914. But this symbolic night, just like the natural night, did not set in everywhere at the same instant of time, rather it reached each country only as it became involved in the war. While every government did not declare war, every one of the nations was involved therein; because every one of them was afflicted by the war. Now every nation is in the night, and has been since the war afflicted, and thus involved all nations, even those that did not declare war. Therefore the reaping is complete the world over; the Elects’ forehead sealing is finished.

“Closely connected with our text in thought is Rev. 7:1‑3, which we offer as a second proof that the forehead sealing of the Elect is complete. As these verses have, we think, been greatly misinterpreted in Vol. VII, we will introduce and ex­pound them briefly: ‘And after [seeing] these things [in Chap. 6] I [the Little Flock] saw [with both physical and mental eyes] four angels [the messengers of wrath, C-165, i.e., (1) rulers, (2) aristocrats, (3) proprietary business men and proprietary farmers and (4) laborers, who bring about the trouble, and thus pour out the sufferings, the wrath of the Time of Trouble; the Harvest workers are not the messengers of wrath, as Vol. VII claims, but are messengers of peace, announcing and working for real peace (Isa. 52:7; Eph. 6:15)] standing [each group stationed in the section of society to which it belongs] on the four corners of the earth [the symbolic earth, society (the symbolic heavens are not here included), is divided into four sections, each one corresponding to one of the four messengers of wrath: (1) government, (2) aristocracy, (3) bourgeoisie, (4) labor] holding [these groups, prompted more or less by their selfishness, which worked in different forms in the various groups, followed a course that restrained the fallen angels from bringing the great tribulation sooner than the due time] the four winds of the [fallen angels, who seem to be divided into four classes (Rom. 8:38; Eph. 6:12), and who are ruling over the symbolic] earth [society] [so] that the wind [the World War, 1 Kings 19:11; see Berean comments, also on Rev. 7:2. This ‘wind’ is not the ‘whirlwind,’ which will only then come when the fallen angels are more fully loosed than they were when causing the war, and as such meet in great conflicts among them­selves and produce among mankind the symbolic whirlwind, revolution and anarchy (Jer. 25:29-33, especially v. 32; 2 Kings 2:1,11, etc.). The wind, as this text implies, must precede the whirlwind, which occurs as a result of the hostile meeting of the fallen angels, after ‘the wind,’ 1 Kings 19:11,12] should not blow [bring tribulation] on the earth [society], nor on the sea [the restless, rebellious, lawless masses] nor on any tree [great one: the Lord’s people are counted great ones by Him; and the leaders among the four sections of society are also by their partisans].’“ (E‑5-147,148)

There will be more on the High Calling in Part 3. We trust that the first two parts of this series have blessed and strengthened the Lord’s people to a better understanding of the “Times and Seasons” in which we are now living.

“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them” (2 Tim. 3:14); and “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Psa. 27:14)

(Reprint No. 291, September 1979)

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The following is an answer to the letter in the June 1997 paper:

Dear Brother ….: Grace and peace thru our Beloved Lord!

Delay in answering your letter of February 23 is due to my illness... My wife has been unable to take care of some of the correspondence. However, I am now regaining my strength.

Your frank expressions on the subject of the Jews are appreciated. I especially appreciate the compliment you give me regarding my knowledge of God’s Word and His “plan of the ages.” I have endeavored to “continue in” the Truth I have learned and been assured of; and our Lord promises, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32) Also, the Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to “continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” (2 Tim. 3:14)

First of all, I wish to emphasize the fact that I am not a Jew – although I am not unmindful of the wonderful heritage the Jews have, even as I am acutely aware of the objectionable qualities that the renegade Jews have. As the Apostle Paul tells us, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.” (Rom. 2:28) God does not recognize these renegades as Jews: His promises are only to the faithful orthodox Jews who will eventually accept Christ as their Savior. Also, there are many renegade Christians, who outwardly profess Christ but do not so do from the heart.

At our Lord’s First Advent He opened up the way for natural Jews to become Spiritual Israelites, but only a few availed themselves of that opportunity. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together... and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” (Matt. 23:37,38)

After our Lord’s crucifixion, in “due time,” the Lord opened up the way for Gentiles to become Spiritual Israelites. But only a small minority of the human race have availed themselves of this opportunity – and quite a few of those who did... have made shipwreck of their profession. I am sure, my Brother, that you recognize this condition.

In the genealogy of Jesus we are clearly told that David was his ancestor. And certainly David was a Jew. And the inspired Scripture gives us what our Lord said: “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22) However, the faults of those renegade Jews, who are only Jews according to the flesh, may easily blind us to the overall picture. Ezekiel and Jeremiah are positive in disputing your opinion. I shall quote just one citation from Jer. 16:15: “I will bring them again into the land that I gave unto their fathers.”

As you undoubtedly know, Israel is just another name for Jacob, as he was originally called; and Jacob’s twelve sons are the progenitors of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel; and Jesus is referred to as “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” He was in a class by Himself when conducting His ministry at His First Advent; and at that time He certainly demonstrated that He was the lion (the King) of the tribe of Judah.

Note, too, Zech. 14:1-3: “I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle... then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” I assume I need not cite those ancient outstanding times when the Lord did fight for Israel; and the record tells us of Jesus: “He came unto his own [the Jews], and his own received him not.” Also Zech. 12:10: “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn because of it.” St. Paul corroborates this in Rom. 1:16: “To the Jew first.”

As footstep followers of Jesus, we should not hate any race because of the evils of some – perhaps many – individuals. Although the Lord beholds the good and the evil (Ec. 12:14), He is not dealing with any individual now but only with those who are in covenant-relationship with Him. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” (Acts 17:31) “For when thy judgments [instructions] are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” (2 Cor. 4:4) But their eyes will be opened in that Blessed Kingdom: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” (Isa. 35:5) “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” (Rom. 11:32)

If at any time I can be of assistance to you, do not hesitate to call upon me – as I consider you my brother. We here try to write “in sincerity and in truth,” as we rely upon His inspired Word.

With this comes my Christian love and the assurance of my prayers for your highest welfare. The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.

Sincerely your brother and servant, John J. Hoefle

PS — I am enclosing a tract on The Two Distinct Salvations and our May 1979 paper, which I hope you will find interesting and helpful.

Also, I have a few Jewish-Christians on my mailing list, and have exchanged personal correspondence with them. I find them most generous with those who have departed from the Truth – especially so with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, et al, who no longer teach the Truth on the promises to the Jews: “To the Jew First,” which is clearly taught in the Scriptures, for both the elective salvation as well as the salvation of the world in general in Christ’s Kingdom.

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