NO. 497 TAKE, MY BRETHREN, THE PROPHETS

JEREMIAH, member of a priestly family (Jer. 1:1) in the land of Benjamin, has his writing placed in the Bible immediately following that of Isaiah; and one of the four major prophets. One writer refers to him as "The greatest of the prophets"; but some may dispute that. However, we consider it a very fair appraisal to consider him as one of the greatest of prophets. His daughter Hammutal was the wife of King Josiah; thus he would probably have had free access to the very elite of Judah's society.

However, this proximity to Judah's uppercrust gave him ready and accurate appraisal of their vices and virtues. And in the broad sense the vices were much more reprehensible than were the virtues worthy of praise. A prophet in Judah, this placed him in the very delicate position of openly condemning the social abuses that were so glaringly apparent. And his "lamentation" of those failings earned for him the epithet of The Wailing Prophet.

Thus, it may be in order here to quote from another writer, not specifically about Jeremiah, but applying to his general situation: “It is difficult to conceive any situation more painful than that of a great man, condemned to watch the lingering agony of an exhausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction and raving which precede its dissolution, and to see the symptoms of vitality disappear one by one, till nothing is left but coldness, darkness, and corruption."

He predicted the downfall of the smaller kingdom of Judah, similar to the one that had befallen the larger one -Israel -133 years prior to that then slowly coming upon Judah. Concerning Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, Ezekiel had written: "Thou profane wicked prince of Israel [then called Judah], whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same…I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it to him." (Ezek. 21:25-27)

It is our understanding that the above prophecy applies to the time in which we have been living since 1914. It is telling us in another way what is recorded in the picture in 1 Kings 19:11,12: There the "wind," the "earthquake," and the "fire" represent three "overturnings," as stated in the above. They are the three convulsions that will remove present institutions to make way for "Him whose right it is" -the Kingdom of our Lord, which He promised in the words: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

CONDITIONS PREVAILING IN THE PROPHET'S DAY

The conditions of that time are very ably stated by the historians, of which we shall quote a few: "The temple was polluted with idolatry (2 Chron. 36:14), and justice was not executed (Jer. 21:11,12). A strong party in the state, assisted by false prophets, urged the king to throw off the foreign yoke (Jer. 27: 12-22). At the beginning of Zedekiah's reign (v. I, R.V. -margin) messengers from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon came to him in Jerusalem to plan a united revolt from the king of Babylon; but Jeremiah was Divinely instructed to condemn the purpose (vs. 2-11). Zedekiah sent an embassy to Nebuchadnezzar, probably to assure the great king of his fidelity (Jer. 29:3), and in his fourth year he himself visited Babylon (Jer. 51:59). Ultimately he was rash enough to rebel. On the 10th day of the 10th month, in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, the Babylonian monarch took post against Jerusalem, and began to erect forts around the city. It was too strong to be taken by assault; and the Babylonians held it in siege.

"The advance of the Egyptians compelled the Babylonians to withdraw for a time (Jer. 37:5), but they soon returned. By the ninth day of the fourth month in the 11th year of, Zedekiah's reign, the food in the be1eagured capital was exhausted. That night Zedekiah with all the men of war, secretly quitted the stronghold and, passing as noiselessly as possible between the Babylonian forts, fled in an easterly direction toward the Jordan. On learning that the king was gone, the Babylonian army pursued and overtook him in the plain of Jericho. He was brought a prisoner to Nebuchadnezzar, who had retired to Riblah, a little north of Palestine. There, after he had been tried and condemned. his sons were put to death in his presence, and his own eyes were put out; after which he was bound in fetters, carried to Babylon (2 Kings 24:17-20; 25:1-7; 2 Chron. 36:11-21: Jer.39:1-14), and put in prison till the day of his death (Jer. 52:11). Jeremiah prophesied during the whole of Zedekiah’s reign. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah; thus, we have first-hand information of what the situation was at that time."

Now, from another writer: "The corrupt religion and the moral degeneracy of the last days of the Judean kingdom are strikingly portrayed (Ezek. 8:11, 12). It appears that almost from the first Zedekiah was restive under the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah warned him not to participate in a coalition of neighboring states against his overlord (Jer.27). Possibly it was these activities which brought him under suspicion and necessitated his visit to Babylon (Jer. 51:59). The pro-Egyptian party was in the ascendancy' at the court. Under its influence Zedekiah openly rebelled. This was not merely an act of political suicide, it was a flagrant violation of the oath of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar which the king had sworn in the name of YAHWEH (Ezek. 17).

"The essential weakness of Zedekiah's character appears in his occasional consultations with Jeremiah during the course of the siege (Jer. 21:1-7; 38:14-28) and his treatment of the prophet (Jer. 37:17-21; 38:1-13). Granted that he was surrounded by a group of worthless advisers, Ezekiel's description of him as the deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel (Ezek. 21:25. R.V.) is not over severe when we consider his perfidious conduct is remembered (Jer. 34:8-22)."

 Jeremiah was called to the prophetic office by a vision. He was young at the time, and humbly felt his immaturity, inexperience and inability to speak to men. "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me. Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee... I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense to "other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands." (Jer. 1:6, 7, 16)

The opinion is expressed that Jeremiah was probably about twenty years old when the Lord called him to the prophet ministration; and we may well imagine his trepidation at that age, knowing the wayward and domineering bent of the Jewish aristocracy at that time. Moses was eighty years old when the Lord told him to go to Egypt and deliver His people from bondage. The Lord’s instructions to Jeremiah, were to root out, overthrow and destroy with one hand, but to plant and build with the other. He was well aware of the violent opposition that would be his from princes, priests and most of the people. He began to prophesy in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah; and continued his efforts to the full end of Zedekiah at the overthrow of the Jewish polity -in all about 41 years.

Like so many of God’s messengers, false charges were hurled at him. His predictions were discouraging the Jewish soldiers and encouraging the enemy. On one occasion, when he wished to visit his hometown of Anathoth, they accused him of deserting to the Chaldeans.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN JUDAH AT THAT TIME

The religious reform of Hezekiah's time had been followed by a terrible reaction in the reign of Manasseh. “He built altars for all the host of Heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord” (2 Chron. 33:5), he set up an idol in the Temple itself and dedicated his sons to Moloch (typical of Satan and eternal torment) by making them pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. His subsequent repentance, as recorded in the books of Chronicles, seems to have come too late to have much permanent effect upon the ordering of the kingdom, and no improvement was likely under such a man as his son Amon showed himself to be during his brief reign.

That was the state of affairs when Josiah came to the throne. The land was then recovering from the effects of the frequent and destructive attacks of the Assyrian monarchs, and its continued rest in the earlier years of Josiah was in itself favorable to the plans of that king for the country's moral and spiritual welfare. With good advisers in Ahikam, Hilkiah and others, and with a nation probably more than half weary of idolatry and its attendant evils -even before the alarm was sounded by the discovery of the lost Book of the Law, it was an opportunity not to be neglected for an attempt at the revival of religion such as Josiah undertook. And yet the reformation, as in the time of Hezekiah, seems not to have penetrated much below the surface. Pretty much an act of outward show! And Jeremiah was told to protest openly about the condition of the people, of the prevalence of dishonesty, of open licentiousness, of murder, adultery, false swearing, was such that there was great need for one who might convict the Jews of their sins, and arouse them to the requirements of the Divine Law.

There is no record to inform us if Jeremiah ever attended the schools of the prophets that began with Samuel and existing at Ramah, Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and elsewhere. Those schools corresponded in some respects to our Theological Seminaries, the chief subjects being a study of the Law, music and sacred poetry. It would seem that Jeremiah was prepared for his work by the instruction and associations he received at Anathoth and the priestly members of his own family; and was directly called by God to openly expose the disobedient Jews. When we consider all this, the man Jeremiah looms greater at every record of him. The discovery of the Book of the Law a few years after God had called him -but before he vitally entered upon his life's work -undoubtedly created quite a stir in his native town, as we know it did in Jerusalem.

Whether that Book contained all of the five books of Moses as we now have them, we cannot know, but it would have almost certainly included the graphic pictures contained in Deut. 28, which reveals the punishments that were to follow 'neglect of the Lord God and the subsequent lapse into idolatry. That book made a profound impression upon Jeremiah, and he refers and quotes copiously from those writings in his own declarations; and the solemn covenant entered into by the nation must have affected deeply his mind and heart. "The king went up into the house of the Lord... and all the people both small and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments … and all the people stood in the covenant." (2 Kings 23:3) These solemn words and the no less significant acts that followed, contrasted as they were with the state of wickedness which existed around the prophet, wrought upon his mind that effect, which God employed as the means of calling forth his declarations of impending woe, and thus making him the typical prophet of sorrow (the "Wailing Prophet"), and a derivative from his name (jeremiad) a synonym of lamentation.

It was under such circumstances as these that the actual call occurred, and in a form evidently altogether unlooked for. It did not come to him in the shape of a vision of the Divine Majesty as to Isaiah (Isa. 6), or of the mysterious living creatures and "wheels within wheels" such as came to Ezekiel, but without startling symbol or ecstatic trance the command was received. And the youth shrank from the prospect -as well might any of us have done under similar circumstances, not from fear of the innocent blood which the Jews "shed very much," but from honest distrust of his own power (“'I am a child") to assume leadership and deal boldly and successfully with the evils of the day, of gaining a hearing and producing an impression by the power of his language joined to the solemn import of his message.

How we are reminded here of the same condition that Moses plead regarding what the Lord told him to do -go to Egypt and deliver God's people from Egyptian bondage; “I am not eloquent, but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (Ex. 4: 10) However, the Lord reassured him, touched his mouth (“Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth… I have put my words in thy mouth.” -Jer. 1:9), and sent him forth as His prophet unto the nations. Then Jeremiah boldly addressed himself to the impurity and crime he saw around him.     

He condemned the worship of Baal and Astarte, and the unholy pleasures to which that worship ministered (the "iniquity" of the Amalekites and revolting manner of the Philistines). The example of those nations round about stimulated the Jews to break through all restraint; and the sacrifice of their children to Moloch was merely the attempt of an alarmed conscience to atone for their crimes. The prophet told them that the restoration of the temple and the celebration of the Passover would avail them nothing so long as their hearts remained as foul as they were before these gestures. His "rising early and speaking" clearly exposed him to "reproach and derision daily." (Jer. 20:8) Even the men of Anathoth sought the life of this "home-town boy." and they dealt treacherously with him (12:6). "A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me." (15:10)

The favor of the court was no longer on the side of the godly. Jeremiah thus extended himself to condemn the king’s own glorification and neglect of the worship of God. The prophet stressed real, and not pretended service, which exasperated the priests and false prophets by the very truth of the charges which he brought. So they condemned his "disloyalty," and demanded his death. He answered that his message was not his own, for "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house, and against this city." (26:11, 12)

And he continued to declare the signs of the times, and to maintain opposition to those who still advocated alliance with Egypt as against Babylon, because he said the latter would certainly prevail. He said that all these lands would be given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the “servant” of God. He demonstrated his statements by the breaking of a potter's clay vessel in the valley of Hinnom in the presence of the priests, which excited their wrath all the more against him, as they prophesied lies in the name of the Lord. This brought upon Jeremiah ignominious treatment, and some imprisonment for a time.

PARTIAL VINDICATION

About that time the first and partial fulfilment of his prophecies came concerning the supremacy to be asserted by Babylon. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign Nebuchadnezzar smote the army of Pharaoh-nechoh in Carchemish. He then advanced into Palestine, driving many of its inhabitants to seek refuge within the walls of Jerusalem. Among such were the Rechabites, which was the occasion of the interview that the prophet had with them, and from which he pointed a moral to his countrymen (Chapter 35). Nebuchadnezzar advanced to Jerusalem, and carried away Daniel and others, as well as vessels from the Temple, to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:6.7; Dan. 1:1) Nebuchadnezzar was then in charge of the army, and probably would have taken more positive steps against Judea had not word come to him of his father's illness, which caused him to return hastily to secure his succession to the throne.

The Jews failed to profit by the warning which God had thus given them; but Jeremiah, hidden to avoid the wrath of the king, sent his friend Baruch with a roll to be read in the Temple on a solemn feast day -in the ears of all the people. Hearing of this, the king ordered the roll to be read to him and had it burned -in spite of the protest of some of the princes. Whereupon Jeremiah had Baruch to write another roll with the words of the first, plus many more words that were added by the prophet -a rebuke to the king and further statements of God's coming vengeance.

Jeremiah and Baruch considered it unsafe to return to Jerusalem, so they hid in the hole of a rock near the river Euphrates; and the king received no more warnings. Although the Chaldeans had probably not yet returned to the siege.  The Jews submitted, and paid tribute to them for three years, money which the king desired to expend upon his own luxuries and pleasures. He was attacked by a conglomerous horde of Chaldeans and others. In this the king was killed, and was given an ignominious burial. His body was cast out and exposed, dragged away, received the burial of an ass beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

Then Jehoiachin was set up by Nebuchadnezzer, reigned but three months, after which the city being beseiged, he yielded himself to Nebuchadnezzar. The king., the treasures of the Temple and the king’s house, were taken to Babylon, where Jehoiachin spent thirty-six years in prison, after which Evil-Merodach, son and successor to Nebuchadnezzar released him. Jeremiah makes but passing comment about his reign. (22:24-30)

 Next came Zedekiah, who differed much from Jehoiachin. He was weak, and inclined to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, in accordance with Jeremiah's advice. But he had no real zeal for the service of God, vacillating in disposition, listening alternately to Jeremiah, then to those princes that advocated resistance to Babylon, the latter advising alliance with Egypt, or single-handed resistance. Jeremiah’s condemnation of the bad advice is shown in many places, but we shall quote just one: "Thus saith the Lord… Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt... and the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire." (Jer. 37:7.8)

All the best and worthiest part of the nation had already been carried away captive, and the prophet had told them that the “naughty figs” would shortly be consumed from off the land. Jeremiah also wrote to those Jews who had already been made captive -they should submit to their captivity, and await restoration to their land. But a false prophet (Shemaiah) sought to stir up the people of Jerusalem against Jeremiah, accusing him of being "a madman. “In the ninth year of Zedekiah the wealthiest people, who had made slaves of their brethren, consented under pressure to release them. But at the departure of the beseiging Chaldeans they reversed their decision. Zedekiah was too weak to oppose this latter course, but Jeremiah denounced it in the strongest of terms. Then the self-reliant irreligious men were much displeased with the prophet, and, upon manufactured charges, had him put into prison; but after "many days” was released by Zedekiah, who then gave him a daily supply of food (Jer. 37:21), after which he spoke of brighter days to come. But the captains did not believe him, and seized him again.

At that time each house in Jerusalem had a cistern for storing up water to be used in the dry season.  Into one of these, damp and slimy as it was, they lowered the prophet, but he was eventually rescued by an Ethiopian eunuch. The prophet then held conference with the King and others, but to no avail; and in Zedekiah's eleventh year the city was sacked, the temple burned; and Zedekiah and his leaders were given horrible treatment -as explained previously.

As for Jeremiah, the captain of the guard received a special charge from Nebuchadnezzar concerning him -he had his choice of remaining under the new governor of Judea, or living under an honorable captivity at Babylon. He chose to remain in Judea; and a friendly family took him in; but the head of that house was murdered in a few months. Jeremiah emphatically warned the people not to go down to Egypt, of the misery that would befall them. However the expectation of security from war and famine prevailed, and they forced Jeremiah to accompany them; and from Tahpanhes, a town near the eastern border of Egypt, there is the last information we have of his life. He there declared that Nebuchadnezzar's throne would be set up at the entry of Pharaoh’s house (Jer. 43:9.10).

He made one last protest against the idolatry of his countrymen, and their wanton worship of the moon -"the queen of heaven" (Jer. 44:17-25) -the "woman" in the moon being regarded as the resurrected diabolical Semiramus , whom we have described in previous papers. The Bible does not give us a record of Jeremiah's death, he being described by scholars as one of the greatest -if not the greatest -of the historical and literary prophets. In misery and continual peril of death, he had witnessed the fall of the Jewish state and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and eventually occupied the silent tomb of an alien land. Tradition has it that he was stoned to death.

SUMMATION

The history of this great man of God would not be complete if we did not offer the opinions of some sound and reliable writers concerning him: Jeremiah is personally the most interesting to us of all the prophets because, unlike the others, he shows us the inmost recesses of his mind. The various qualities which made up the man are quickly and easily gathered from his own lips. There is hardly a clearer illustration of the Providence of God in raising up men for special sorts of work than is afforded by Jeremiah. We have just seen that those were no ordinary times in which he lived. "The snake" of idolatry had been "scorched not killed" by Hezekiah and Josiah. The spirit of disobedience and rebellion, which had been so long working in his countrymen, was now past remedy by all common means. Nothing but the nation's total overthrow, at least for a time, could effect a radical cure.

Glowing appeals, such as had been made by an Isaiah, a Hosea, a Micah in former days would now have been of no avail. Those prophets had fulfilled their task. and the Holy Spirit had employed their special gifts for the work which belonged to their age. Jeremiah’s office on the other hand was to utter and reiterate the warning, though sensible all the while that the sentence of condemnation was passed and would speedily be put into execution. It was not for him as for those who had preceded him to proclaim the certainty of God's protection, to urge resistance to the foe, to present scarce any but bright pictures of the future. Hopes like these, bestowed through Isaiah, and since been forfeited, and now hardly anything remains save to mourn the downfall of the kingdom to point again and yet again to the canker that had eaten out the vitals of the nation.

Such a task as this demanded one who, however weak in body, should be a man of rare courage, unterrified by popular clamor or princely disfavor, fixed in resolve, and thoroughly devoted to the ascertained will of God. He needed not natural gifts of oratory. His work was not to persuade, but rather to testify, to express the thoughts of the few remaining pious ones of the nation, not to gain the ear or influence the hearts of the abandoned crowd. The wearing effect of constant failure, the intense pain of seeing his nation advance step by step on the road to its overthrow, his powerlessness to avert the evils which he saw impending. the hostility and abuse which it was his daily lot to bear from those whom he sought to warn, a solitary life and prohibition of marriage (Jer.16: 2) -these" required as a counterpoise a heroic spirit that should not shrink from the encounter, as well as ceaseless devotion to Him whose commission he had borne even from the womb (Jer. 1:6).

And yet he was naturally of a shy and timid disposition, shrinking from public life, deprecating all possibility of prophesying in God's name. And after he had entered upon his work, his naturally desponding mind would suggest not only that the message he bore was a sad one, but that he had not received the proofs -the credentials which marked a true prophet -such as were granted to his predecessors. No miracle was wrought to attest his words. No prediction was fulfilled with speed, so as to indicate the solidity of his claims. On the contrary "the word of the Lord was a reproach to him, and a derision daily."

At times he seems to have well-nigh despaired not only of success but of life itself. "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth... everyone of them doth curse me.” (Jer. 15: 10) Immediately afterwards he contrasts the joy in which, inspired no doubt by the promises given him, he had entered upon the prophetic office, with the disheartening reception that awaited him. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed?" (Jer. 15: 16, 18) Such is the bitterness of his sufferings that on one occasion we find him relating his resolve to keep silence. "The word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a daily derision. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name: but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." (Jer. 20:8, 9)

Belonging to the orders both of Priest and Prophet, and living at the very time when each had sunk to its lowest state of degradation, Jeremiah was compelled to submit to the buffeting which they each bestowed upon a man who was by his every word and deed passing sentence upon themselves. He saw them permitted to vent their rage upon his person, he saw them held in esteem by the people, their way prospering, those that dealt treacherously were happy. For the greater part of his mission he had no man likeminded with him. From the first moment of his call he was alone, amidst a hostile world. But through it all, conscientious devotion to duty maintained its place within his heart. The promise that he should be as a brazen wall made at the time of his call and renewed later never failed him. (Jer. 1: 18; 15: 20)

Jeremiah has been likened to several characters in profane history -to Cassandra, the Trojan prophetess, whose fate it was never to be believed, though prophesying nothing but the truth; to Phocion, the rival of Demosthenes in the last generation of Athenian greatness. who maintained the unpopular but sound doctrine that, if Athens were to escape worse evils, she must submit peaceably to the growing power of Macedon; to Dante, whose native state, Florence, was in relation to France and the empire as Palestine was to Egypt and Babylon, while the poet -like the prophet -could only protest without effect against the thickening ills.

His style corresponds closely with what we should expect from his character. It displays absence of ornament. This thoroughly befits his inartificial nature. He is not only preeminently the prophet of sorrow, but, as shrinking from anything like display of himself, and full of humility as of zeal for God's honor, he naturally was led to the simplest form of words to express the painful images which ever held possession of his thoughts. In him the glowing language and vivacity which characterize Isaiah's writing have no place, and while his style has a beauty of its own, it has at its best a shade of sadness, and its fervor, when it rises to such, is the fervor of expostulation or grief. He emphasizes this in Lam. 1:12:

“Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.”

The foregoing does not nearly exhaust the glowing descriptions voiced about Jeremiah, but we believe we have offered sufficient to give our readers a good eulogy of Jeremiah. And our own closer acquaintance of him magnifies our estimation of him; and affords keener understanding of St. James' statement: "Take, my brethren, the prophets for an example" (James 5:10); and St. Paul’s words: "Of whom the world was not worthy." (Heb. 11:38)

 (By John J. Hoefle, No.325, July 1982)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brethren: Grace and Peace!

There is much being written these days about cloning of human beings. I think this is a ridiculous idea. To my mind it is on a par with the unauthorized method of procreation used by the fallen angels in the days before the flood (Gen. 6:1-4). An illicit progeny was produced who were physical and mental giants. "men of renown.” who tyrannized the Adamic race, so God destroyed them in the flood.

Seems to me I recall that Adolph Hitler had his scientists working on this with the notion of cloning himself. What a horrible thought -many Hitlers! I cannot prove that this was so, but maybe some who are "in the know" can. But why would anyone in their right mind want to follow Hitler's lead? Isn't that what the Germans did and it got them  into a lot of trouble? I hope we do not have a mad scientist on the loose.

With prayers and blessings for your work in the Lord. 

Your Sister, … (NORTH CAROLINA)

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Dear Sister Emily,

Thank you for your letter and address of the sister in California. I am preparing to write to her and send her some copies of Brother Poe's letters.

 You asked where I met for Bible Study. As there are no brethren here, I am meeting with the Bible Students whenever I can. I pick up Sister ... and we go on to the meeting. Right now we are studying the Tabernacle Shadows on Sundays. I would like to get to more meetings, but because I am still working full time. I'm not able to do so.

I plan to attend the St. Louis Convention May 22 and 23. I received the truth while living in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1912 and consecrated and was inmersed in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1973. Brother and Sister... were the ones who brought the truth to me as I was witnessing for the Church of Christ at a booth at the Rock County Fair.

I believe that Pastor C. T. Russell was the 7th messenger to the church and the returned Lord entrusted him with the "meat in due season" to the household of faith. I continue to study the six volumes and Tabernacle Shadows as well as other writings of Pastor Russell, believing that these are the keys to the understanding of the Holy Scriptures. I fellowship as brethren those whom Pastor Russell fellowshipped (as he described in Reprint 5284, “Doctrines More or Less Important”). I do believe that the door is still open to run for the prize of the "high calling." Until the Lord closes the door I intend to so run as he gave us opportunity to do so.

Well, that is a brief description of what I believe. God bless you as you serve Him and His people. Your sister by His Grace,... (FLORIDA)

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Dear Emily,

One time I read one sentence in the Bible. It was in Isaiah 49:15: "Can a wife forget her suckling so that she should not pity the son of her belly? Even these women can forget, yet I myself shall not forget you.” These are my feelings toward you, although my many engagements and the job's responsibilities preventing me to have more time to spend for my friends and other activities.

 I hope you are well in health and spirit and your life to be full of joy. My life is very occupied by a lot of things I face day after day. In these last months I have made conference trips from south to north Italy speaking about the cults and about Jehovah's Witnesses. Moreover I wrote a book about Jehovah's Witnesses and the Nazi and Fascist party, that is going to be published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

 I'm continuing to direct two different offices in the two cities of Siracusa and Catania, so I am often on the road going from one to another one. And its in these moments when I drive my car that I have time to think. Many times my thoughts lead me far, and I wonder why there is so much pain and grief in the world among the human race.

I am unable to accept that to be the fruit of a deliberate design or the result of the long tolerance by God. Obviously I haven't any answer to these big problems but the important thing is that men are suffering from the night of the times and using the Apostle's words: "From the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation's beginning.” (2 Peter 3: 4) So, as I have other times written to you, I continue to think the best way of life is to have love for each other and "All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you you also must likewise do to them." (Matt. 1:12)

 I hope to be able to write you next time a bit speedier.  I'm waiting your news, meanwhile receive my sincere greetings and my brotherly love.

Your friend, Sergio (ITALY)

NO. 496 "LIFE FOR LIFE"

In considering the question of the universal application of a one-man Atonement compared with the equitable Law of God -"life for life" (Deut. 19:21; Exod. 21:23-25), we herein present the answer to the question: How can the death of Jesus, one individual, be "a ransom for all?"

First, it is important to bear in mind that at the time of Adam's transgression of the Divine Law, he had no offspring; that the entire human race, unborn, was, representatively, "in Adam." (1 Cor. 15:22) The death sentence, "Thou shalt surely die, "which was passed upon Adam, not only involved him as one individual, but it involved the prospective lives of all the life-seed "in his loins." (Heb. 7:9, 10) By the same token, when Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all," His death as an Atonement-sacrifice not only involved the sacrificial death of Himself, as one individual, but it involved the sacrificial death of a posterity in Him. He was in every way the exact equivalent and co-equal of Adam. Jesus' life, and the race represented in Him, was a duplication of Adam's life and the race represented in him when he violated the Divine Law. Thus Jesus was a complete ransom for Adam and his posterity -a full satisfaction and corresponding price. The New Testament clarifies the matter: "As by the offense of one [Adam], judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one Jesus], the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Rom. 5:18, 19)

The proposition is a plain one: Adam was made in the image and likeness of God and was given a dominion over all the earth and all that it contained. Head of the human race and lord of its home, he was pronounced by the highest Authority, "Very good." He was placed under law. The law was plain and positive as also was the penalty for its violation -death. Adam broke that law, and immediately came under the dying process of its penalty. The life, thus forfeited, was not merely his own individual life, but being the father, the life-giver, of the race, the life of the entire race (unborn) was forfeited in him. A perfect man's life was forfeited and its baneful effect and extent was universal. The Atonement-sacrifice of Jesus, another perfect man's life, was equal to the forfeit, and its blessed effect and extent is universal. In every particular in which Adam was originally perfect and different from his progeny, Jesus was his equal. The most unimpeachable testimony is given as to Jesus' sinlessness. He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26), and "without spot" He gave Himself as our great Atonement. This was giving "life for life" -human life for human  life. Thus Jesus "tasted death for every man." (Heb. 2:9) By the act of one (Adam) the  account was opened, by the act of one (Jesus) the account was closed. The account now stands square -the assets on the one side being equal to the liabilities on the other.

A question may arise: If the Atonement-sacrifice has been given, why do the living continue to die, and why do the dead still remain dead? We answer: Because the resurrection hour has not yet arrived. Time is the essence of everything. In God's plan there is a "set time" (Psa. 102: 13) for the accomplishment of all His purposes. We are  told, "When the fullness of time was come God sent forth his Son" (Gal. 4:4); and in "due time" (1 Tim. 2:6) He became the Atonement-sacrifice for sin; and when the appointed hour comes, the dead will rise. "For the hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and come forth." (John 5:2.8,29 R.V.) And in "due time" the "good tidings" regarding the Atonement-sacrifice will be "to all people" (Luke 2: 10), to the awakened dead as well as the living. Is this a second chance? No, not a second individual chance, for there is no Scripture whatever that supports the thought that if one gains a knowledge of the truth, and against full light and full ability, disregards ., it, that he will have another chance. The information or testimony once given and once understood is all that the Bible guarantees. If truth does not fall into a good and honest heart, a million repetitions would not change the heart condition. The testimony is co-equal with the Atonement in as much as both are given only once and both are universal. Universal Atonement and universal testimony are twin-elements of one plan. Limit either of them and the plan is mutilated.

Many Christians admit the universality of the Atonement-sacrifice, but deny that the testimony or knowledge concerning it will become universal. The New Testament declares that God "will have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:4) The saving (from everlasting death through a resurrection) comes first; a knowledge of the truth comes second. Both are universal. There is another Scripture which declares, God is the "Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." (1 Tim. 4: 10) Here, then, is the dividing line between "all men" and those that "believe." "All men" will be saved from everlasting death by a resurrection of "both the just and the unjust." (Acts 24: 15) But since knowledge precedes faith, "all men" must first hear before they can "believe." If the angel of the Lord declared, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10), who is man that he should say that the "good tidings" (the good message) shall not be to all people? The Atonement-sacrifice is for "all men" and will be testified (told) to all "in due time." (1 Tim. 2:6) "The knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth" (Isa. 11: 9), and thus the knowledge will become universal, co-extensive with the Atonement. Sin is universal, death is universal, and the resurrection of the dead and the knowledge of "good tidings" will become universal. But there is no evidence to conclude that "all men" will "believe," or that the acceptance of the "good tidings" will become universal. On the contrary, history,  experience, and prophecy all prove that as it was in the days of Jesus, it is now, and will be – some who hear the "good tidings" or testimony will accept it and others will reject it.

Speaking of the unbelief of the Jews, Jesus said, "For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me." (John 5:46) Jews, in the past, saw no connection whatever between Moses' writings and the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this reason Jews rejected Jesus though they trusted in Moses. To believe Moses and accept his writings involved an intelligent understanding of the meaning of his words. The Jews trusted in Moses and accepted the letter of his writings, but they did not believe in Moses, for if they had, they would have accepted Jesus. The Jews boasted of being Moses' disciples, and yet their ignorance was the ground of their inconsistency. The same inconsistency exists today. The method by which Moses wrote of Jesus was not by direct statements, but by figure and type. He declared, "Her seed, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," which refers to Jesus Christ and His work. (Gen. 3: 15)

So we see, as all mankind have shared death on account of Adam's sin, all mankind will have life-privileges offered to them by Jesus, who died for them and sacrificially took Adam's place before the broken law, and thus "gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:6) He died, "the just for the unjust, that He might bring us [back] to God." (1 Pet. 3:18) It should not be overlooked, however, that man's will must remain his own; that all of God's provisions for mankind recognize the human will as a factor in securing everlasting life. The Apostle's statement, however, is that, as the sentence of condemnation on Adam extended to all the posterity in him, even so, by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, which-death extended to all the posterity in Him, an opportunity for everlasting life will be extended to all of Adam's race. This, if accepted through the merit of the Atonement, will constitute the basis for life everlasting. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be [not were] made righteous." (Rom. 5:18, 19)

The completeness of the Atonement-sacrifice of Jesus is the very strongest possible argument for the resurrection of the dead and the Kingdom of God on earth. The very character of God for justice and honor stands pledged to it; every promise which He has made implies it; and every animal sacrifice pointed to the great and sufficient sacrifice – "The Lamb of God, which taketh away [cancels] the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

Here we establish the fact that the Atonement-sacrifice of Jesus, who was the exact equivalent of Adam, is to be as far-reaching in its blessed results and opportunities as was the sin of Adam in its blight and ruin; that all who were condemned and who suffered on account of the oonwone, may as surely be set free from all those illoone, may as surely be set free from all those ills on account of the other. And all the willing and obedient will be as fully reinstated in God's favor through the merit of Jesus' Atonement-sacrifice even as they were completely debarred from Divine favor through the demerit of Adam's sin.

God assures us that as "condemnation passed upon all in Adam" (Rom. 5: 18), so He has arranged for a new Lifegiver for the race, and that as "all in Adam" shared the curse of death, so "all in Christ" will have an opportunity to share the blessing of restoration and the Kingdom of God on earth (Rom. 5:12,18,19). Thus seen, the death of Jesus, the undefiled, the sinless One, was an exact equivalent of Adam, and a complete settlement toward God of Adam's sin. As one man had sinned, and the race in him shared the result of his penalty, so Jesus, having paid the penalty of that one sinner, bought not only Adam, but all his posterity – all who by heredity shared the consequence of his sin. "The man, Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2: 5,6), Himself unblemished, approved, and with a perfect race in Him, unborn, likewise untainted with sin, gave His all of human life and title as the full atonement and ransom-price for Adam and the race in him when sentenced to death. Thus, according to the equitable law of God, this is "life for life."

After fully purchasing, by His Atonement-sacrifice, the life of Adam and all his posterity, Christ offers to all of Adam's race an opportunity for everlasting life. Thus it is written: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:22)

What Jesus did for us, what price He paid on our behalf, what He surrendered, or laid down in death as a "ransom for all" must correspond exactly to whatever was man's penalty. Jesus did not go to everlasting torment, hence we have this indisputable testimony and logic that everlasting torment is not the penalty for sin, but merely a delusion foisted upon the world by the devil, and those whom he has deluded. So surely as that which Jesus suffered in man' s stead was the full penalty which men would otherwise have been obliged to suffer, so surely this is proof positive that no such punishment as eternal torture was ever threatened, inflicted or intended. The only one who ever promised eternal life in disobedience was the great deceiver, Satan. His declaration to Eve in Eden -"Ye shall not surely die" -was the first lie and the first sermon ever preached upon immortality of the soul. This declaration, resting solely upon the authority of Satan, is echoed from practically every pulpit in Christendom, and is received by the majority of the world as readily as it was received by our first parents in Eden. But we do not wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men so credulous concerning the words of Satan, and so unbelieving in regard to the Words of God, for we know that Satan is "the god [the ruler] of this world." (2 Cor. 4:4) But we do wonder what "Christians" think God would gain by witnessing unceasing tortures; is He regaled with the groans and shrieks and imprecations of the suffering creatures whom He holds in flames of fire? Can these horrid sounds be music in the ear of Infinite Love? "Christians" urge that the infliction of endless misery upon the wicked would show God's hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to the peace and order of the universe. Is God's hatred of sin the reason He would have it perpetuated? Is His glory enhanced by perpetuating the evil that He hates, and which, as admitted, is ruinous to the peace and order of the universe?

Those who know the testimony of God's Word recognize its statements to be that "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3); that He died, "the just for the unjust" (1 Pet. 3: 18), to bring us to God; that "He is the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the Whole world" (1 John 2:2); that "the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and by his stripes [the things which He suffered in our stead] we are healed." (Isa. 53:5, 6) What harmony and consistence is seen in this Scriptural view of matters; and how utterly inconsistent are the unscriptural delusions of Satan handed to the world and popularly received by them!

"The wages of sin is death," "the soul that sinneth it shall die," declare the Scriptures (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4). And then the Scriptures show us how completely this wage has been met for us, in the declaration, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and rose again for our justification." (1 Cor. 15:3; Rom. 4:25) Thus Jesus' death was our Atonement – the complete "ransom for all."

"Without the shedding of blood there is no remission" of sins (Heb. 9:22). Throughout the JewishJewish Law dispensation, God illustrated this feJewish Law dispensation, God illustrated this feature of His arrangement to Israel by requiring the blood of bulls and of goats; not that these could abolish sin, but that these might be recognized as illustrations of a "better sacrifice" through which sin would be blotted out and forever canceled. The expression "shedding of blood," signifies death, life poured out, yet points to a sacrificial death.

So far as being an Atonement-sacrifice was concerned, Jesus might have been put to death in any other form, and the requirements of a sacrifice have been equally well met. The necessary thing was the surrender of His innocent soul (being) as an off-set or in exchange for a guilty soul (being) whose existence had been forfeited by transgression. Neither was it necessary, so far as the Atonement was concerned, that the Messiah's person should be pierced with nails, and wounded. To pay the penalty for the Adamic sin meant simply death, the cessation of being. The crown of thorns, the nails and the pierced side were no part of the Atonement, and neither was the shame and ignominy of the public crucifixion.

"There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who  gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified [told to all] in due time." (1 Tim. 2:5, 6) The Atonement – the “At-one-ment "between God and man" -was wholly dependent upon the presentation of an acceptable sacrifice for Adam's transgression. Unless the Divine sentence or "curse" could be lifted legally and lawfully from mankind, it would stand as a perpetual embargo to prevent man's recovery or restoration back to Divine favor and everlasting life. Under the Divine Law, Adam was a sinner; through his own willful transgression in Eden he brought his trouble upon himself. The sentence of death against him was just. God could not remove that sentence without violating his own justice – the very foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14), hence the sentence must stand. It must be met by Adam or by his equivalent – an acceptable substitute who would be not only willing but also qualified to take his place.

We have seen that the penalty or sentence against transgression was distinctly stated by the Creator to Adam, death. To suppose that it was any other penalty than death would be to suppose that God had dealt dishonestly with Adam in Eden; that He misinformed and deceived him. We can see that a death sentence is a just sentence against sin; that life, being a conditional grant, the Creator had full right to revoke it. The death sentence, with all its terrible concomitants of sickness, pain and trouble, which came upon Adam, and which descended naturally through him to his offspring [inasmuch as an impure fountain cannot send forth a pure stream] we can see to be both reasonable and just -.a sentence before which all mouths must be stopped.

Death does not come now as an individual sentence from God, a penalty for personal disobedience; for not only do criminals and malicious persons die, but also saints and prattling babes. It is now a result of disease inherited and transmitted from one generation to another. But, looking back to Eden, we can see that matters were different there; disease was unknown until, as an element of death, it was incurred as the curse or penalty for transgressing the Divine Law. That God forced Adam into conditions productive of disease and death is evident from the record – "God drove him out of the garden and away from the trees of life" into the unfit wilderness, "lest he put forth his hand and eat and live forever" (Gen. 3: 22, 23), and thus, lacking suitable sustenance, gradually dying, he died. The proper view of the matter is: Adam, created in God's moral likeness and surrounded by His favors, violated His Creator's law knowingly, and without just provocation, and suffered the penalty of his transgression – death. But, as he died slowly over a period of 930 years, he begot children who, although not put on trial as Adam had been, and hence not sentenced individually to death as Adam had been sentenced, died nevertheless, because they had inherited from Adam a diseased and dying life-germ or life-seed. And thus it has been ever since, and is now. Death now is not a penalty for sin, it is a consequence. As the Apostle declares, it was "by one man [that] sin entered into the world, and death by [as the result of] sin." (Rom. 5: 12) As all mankind have inherited sinful weaknesses and tendencies through father Adam, so they also inherit death as a consequence of his transgression. A father can bequeath to his children no rights, privileges or conditions that he does not possess himself.

Therefore, knowing definitely the penalty which was pronounced against Adam, it can easily be seen what justice must require as a payment ere the "curse" could be lifted, and Adam and his posterity be released from the great prison-house of death (Isa. 61:1). As previously shown, it was not because the entire race had sinned that the penalty came, but because one man sinned, so that sentence of death fell directly upon Adam only, and only indirectly through him upon his race by heredity; and in full accord with these facts, Justice could demand only a corresponding price. Justice must, therefore, demand the life of another individual instead of the life of Adam before releasing Adam and his race. And if this penalty were paid, the whole penalty would be paid, one Atonement-sacrifice for all, even as one sin involved all.

We have already seen that the perfect Adam, the transgressor, who was sentenced was not an angel, nor an archangel, nor a god, but a man – in nature a "little lower" than that of angels (Psa. 8:5). Strictest Justice, therefore, could demand in his stead neither more nor less than one of Adam's equal – own human kind – under similar original conditions to his, namely, perfect, and free from Divine condemnation. We can see that none such could be found among men, all of whom were of the race of Adam, and therefore sharers, through heredity, of his penalty and degradation. Hence it was that the necessity arose that a sinless man must be found to take Adam's place, give himself a ransom for Adam – atone for his sin and thus for all who lost life through him. Then, in order not to be of the already condemned posterity of Adam, it was necessary that a human being must, somehow, be begotten in a way not connected with the life-germ of Adam; his life-germ must not come through the natural Adamic life-channel. To be able to ransom Adam, atone for his sin, he must be begotten separately and independently of Adam's condemned race. He must not be a son of Adam. And thus Jesus "proceeded forth and came from God." (John 8:42) He was begotten separately and independently of Adam's life-line. Both Jesus and Adam were sons of no human father; both were human sons of God. Thus Jesus was the exact equivalent of Adam, and His life a perfect Atonement and ransom for him.

Adam's failure to keep God's law had cut himself and his race off completely from Divine favor, and nothing that man could do would restore that favor. If there was to be any reconciliation at all, the initiative move must come from God, thus God is the author of the Atonement in providing not only a suitable but a willing sacrifice for our redemption, one equal in glory and honor and human perfection with the first man, Adam. "The man, Christ Jesus" was provided for the very purpose of "tasting death for every man." (Heb. 2: 9) He took the human nature "for the suffering of death" – the very penalty that was against our race. Thus we can see that our ransom and restoration, and full Atonement and reconciliation, have been amply provided for, and upon a plane of absolute justice in accordance with God's own law.

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

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EMUNAH -A MIGHTY WEAPON OVERPOWERING ALL ENEMIES

The UN once again, last week, invoked a special "Emergency Session of the General Assembly" attacking Israel -a third try within several months, after having failed to entice the Security Council into squeezing the Jewish State. Thankfully, the U.S. government, through Ambassador Bill Richardson, threatened to veto anyone-sided, anti-Israel resolution. It's good that the U.S., despite being pressured, is faithful to America's traditional pro-Israel policy.

The Assembly action came to naught. Very little attention was given to the proceedings, both here at the UN and in the press.

At the recent emergency session meetings, both Mr. Richardson and Israeli UN Ambassador Dore Gold put things into proper perspective. Commenting on the latest anti-Israel resolution which was adopted, the U.S. Ambassador said that it "would complicate, not enhance, the Middle East peace efforts." And he added that "with the Secretary-General about to visit the Middle East, the U.S. questioned the wisdom of holding holding the emergency special session and introducing the current draft resolution… " For his part, Mr. Gold wondered why, "despite the many real cases of aggressions and actual occupation since 1949 (he mentioned 1967 when the Arabs massed armies against Israel, and cited North Korea's invasion of South Korea in the early 1950's), the one case for which the General Assembly had actually recommended the convening of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention was the case of Israel. "Ironically," the Israeli ambassador further charged, "Israel was the one state which had actually implemented, in practice, the provisions of the Convention with respect to the occupied territory… "All in all, this shameful event was nothing more than just another black-eye for the UN's reputation.

Many people continually ask the reason for these ongoing assaults against Israel and the Jewish people. My answer, of course, is the Hebrew Bible. It gives the pro and con for such enemies as Antiochus, Haman, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Hitler, Saddam, etc.  Despite the many threats of our day, fear and confusion must not overcome us, the children of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc. To many friends who question and ask Why, my answer – which I give to both my Jewish and Christian friends – is one Hebrew word. That word is Emunah, whose root is Emmeth (truth). It can only be interpreted as faith or belief. And some may ask: faith in what or in who?

My answer is simple: Israel and its Torah. Israel's history as a people from the time of accepting the Torah to this day – a period of more than 3,500 years – has been testimony to its resurrection as a great and thriving democracy. How did this happen? Jewish Emunah is an ancient promise fulfilled! Take note, nations! Take note, Jewry! Take note, UN! Israel should be a lesson to the world.

Emunah is not an exclusive heritage of the Jews. Millions of non-Jews, Christians and others around the world, spiritually possess it. But it has a special meaning for us, Jews and Israelites, who should be emboldened by it. We must fear no threats or any new Hamans.

Among the millions who truly posses Emunah in the Jewish sense, are such souls as Chris Josephson, widow of Elmer Josephson, the author of a number of non-Jewish books, including a favorite of this writer: Israel – G-d's Key To World Redemption (we lost Elmer recently, and his obituary appears in the current edition of the United Israel Bulletin) .

Chris, who for many years jointly edited with Elmer the multiple pamphlets and magazines of the organization they founded, still continues this noble work, and issues a vital periodic newsworthy pamphlet entitled, "Bible Light In The News", which is strongly pro-Israel and is circulated around the world. The current issue contains a vital charge against those who are pressuring Israel to give up land. The following is a sample:

"Pushed into corner! After the '48 War of Independence, Truman pressured Israel to give up the northern Sinai and Gaza Strip to Egypt. After the '56 war, Eisenhower pressured Israel to surrender the entire Sinai to Egypt. After the 1967 miraculous Six-Day war, Nixon's team concocted the infamous Rogers Plan ('Jewish settlements are the greatest obstacle to peace'), calling for Israeli surrender of all territories won in fending off Arab invasion. After the 1973 war, Kissinger forced Israel to surrender chunks of the Golan and Sinai, and '75 he pressured Israel to give up even more of the Sinai. In 1978, at Camp David, Carter pressured Israel to withdraw from the rest of the Sinai. In 1982, the Reagan Administration pressured Israel to permit the escape of PLO forces from Lebanon. Now the pressure is on Netanyahu's Government, even causing the warrior Sharon to draw a compromise map! And Arafat is claiming that even the 'Western Wall' at the Temple Mount does not belong to Israel, and the PLO map eliminates Israel altogether!"

Emunah not only links the People of the Book to the Sinaitic Laws of Moses, but also those who hold the faiths of Islam and Christianity, all of whom found a common "Home" in the biblically inspired Charter of the United Nations. Emunah must replace politics during this 50th year of Israel's rebirth. 

(By David Horowitz, At the U.N., April 3, 1998)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: Does That Servant have a successor?

ANSWER: That Servant has no successor. Bible Students that emanate from That Servant's organization teach from the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures in their meetings. The Jehovah's Witnesses and their organization do not in any way represent That Servant and his teaching. They are no longer called Bible Students. They are called Jehovah's Witnesses, a sectarian name. They also build churches in which to meet, and call them Kingdom Halls. Brother Russell was asked why he didn't build churches. He answered, "If we built churches we would be sectarian like any other denomination."

At our Lord's First Advent He appointed twelve Apostles. The Apostles had no successor. They were imperfect men, but their teachings were inspired of God. At His Second Advent our Lord appointed Brother Russell as That Servant. He, too, was an imperfect man but was not inspired of God in his teaching. He gave us more truth on God's Plan of Salvation for all mankind than had ever been given before. He did not take credit for this knowledge as it was "due truth" at His Second Advent. That Servant didn't claim to be superior to the faithful Reformers, as they faithfully taught the truth due in their day. At our Lord's Second Advent the Scroll (Plan of Salvation) was opened as it had never been before. (Rev. 5:2, Dia. Also see our No. 483, April 1997, The Divine Scroll.)

"Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find him so doing [Brother Russell was searching the Scriptures]. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods." (Matt. 24:45-47)

These texts are clear that He appointed an individual to give "meat in due season," and made him ruler over all His goods. The Bible gives the truth in dark sayings, symbols, figures and types. None of these things will be understood until "due time." "But these things occurred to them typically for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages are come." (1 Cor. 10: 11, Dia.) The ends of the ages refer to the conclusion of the Gospel Age and the opening of the Millennial Age. "And I heard, but I understood not." (Dan. 12:8)

Since the demise of That Servant we still continue to grow in Knowledge and Grace: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Prov. 4:18) However, Satan will offer error and call it "advancing light." When such error is presented to us we can easily detect it if we are "rooted and grounded" in the truth that we have learned and been assured of, knowing of whom we have learned it (2 Tim. 3:14). New Light will be in harmony with what we have learned and in harmony with God's character. The Scripture tells us He is a God of love (1 John 4:15), and other Scriptures assure us of His attributes WISDOM, JUSTICE, POWER AND LOVE.

The Apostle Paul wrote more of the New Testament than did the other Apostles. He said, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." He gave us the text, 2 Tim. 2:20, which contains all four elect classes and the two classes of the restitutionists in the Kingdom: "But in a great house [the household of faith, the house of God] there were not only vessels of gold [the Little Flock] and of silver [the Great Company], but also of wood [Ancient Worthies -Hebrews 11] and earth [the unbegotten class taught by That Servant in Reprint 5761, which we call Youthful Worthies]: and some to honor [sheep of the Kingdom] and some to dishonor [goats]." The Plan of Salvation is succinctly given in this text. Whether the Apostle Paul understood all he wrote is not the question, but he evidently had more abundant revelations than did the other Apostles, some of which it wasn’t necessary for them to know at that time. "He was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Cor. 12:4) See 2 Cor. 12:6, 7.

That Servant also taught four elect classes – two heavenly and two earthly – and gave us the truth of the Kingdom on earth for the world's salvation (Acts 17:31). So it could be said of him that he "shunned not to give us all the counsel of God."

If we are faithful to what we have learned and been assured of we will remember that all new light first comes from God's word: "All Scripture, divinely inspired, is indeed profitable for Teaching, for Conviction, for Correction, for that Discipline which is in Righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly fitted for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16, 17, Dia.)

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST  

Dear Emily,

Isn't it wonderful how God entwines our lives for His purposes? And how He takes care of us. I know you enjoy typing as I do but here I am having to learn to use the computer. I am told once you master it that you never go back to typewriters. Well, at our ages, I think we can stick to our typewriters.

We will pray or at least I will pray for God to sustain you as you mend. Our old bodies just don't recover as quickly. This past week I have been feeling tired and like I need a good rest.

I had surgery last November and had to rest and I did feel so much better. But I love the work here and like you, it is a part of our lives.

BRAVO! This week begins the Jerusalem Mosaic programs. Do pray that God will use these films to touch people with an understanding of Israel. There is so much negative press all the time. Clarence will be in Tulsa with the family in July and we are planning a big 50th Jubilee Celebration here for Bridges for PeaceWhat a marvel of history but how difficult it has been for the State to survive. God did have His hand on it through all the wars. When and if you feel up to it, drop a note. Meantime, know that we love and appreciate you and your friendship. I saw a note in your paper from Elva in Paradise. I recognized it to be Elva and sent her a note. Had not heard from her for years. She was so active. I'll send Clarence's letter on to him. 

                                                                                                             Love, Ann (OKLAHOMA)

NO. 495B GOD, THE AUTHOR OF THE ATONEMENT AND THE MILLENNIAL REIGN - PART TWO

Though written by many pens at various times, under different circumstances, the Old and New Testaments exhibit a singleness of pattern that makes them one. They furnish us with reasonable, philosophical and harmonious statements of the cause of evil in the world, its only remedy and the final result as seen by Divine Wisdom, which saw the end from before its beginning.

The teaching of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, that Adam was tried in a state of original perfection, that he failed, and that the present imperfection, sickness and death are the results, but that God has not forsaken man, and will ultimately recover him through a redeemer, born of a woman (Gen. 3: 15), is kept up and elaborated all the way through the Old and New Testaments. The necessity of the death of a redeemer as an Atonement‑sacrifice for sin is pointed out and illustrated in the Old Testament by the acceptance of Abel’s offering; by Isaac on the altar; by the death of the various animal sacrifices by which the patriarchs and prophets had access to God, and of those animal sacrifices instituted under the Jewish law and perpetuated throughout the Jewish Age.

All the prophets mentioned the eventuality of laying sins upon a person instead of a dumb animal, and in prophetic vision they looked down the stream of time and saw Him, who was to redeem Israel and the entire human race, led “as a lamb to the slaughter,” that “the chastisement of our peace was upon him,” and “by his stripes we are healed.” They pictured Him as “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,” and declared that the “Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:3‑7) They told where He would be born (Micah 5:2) and when He should die, assuring us that His death would be “not for himself.” (Dan. 9:26) The prophets mentioned various virtues concerning Him ‑ that He would be “righteous,” and free from “deceit,” “violence” or any just cause of death (Isa. 53:9,12); they declared that not a bone of Him should be broken (Psa. 34:20, John 19:36); and though He should die and be buried, His flesh would not corrupt, neither would He remain in the grave (Psa. 16:10; Acts 2:31).

The New Testament writers studied the prophecies and found the fulfillment of all these Old Testament predictions in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, and by Scriptural evidence and logical reasoning they show that such an Atonement as He gave had already been predicted in the Law and by the Prophets (Isa. 1:18). They trace the entire plan of redemption in a logical and forcible manner, appealing neither to the prejudices nor to the emotions of their hearers, but to their enlightened reason and intelligence alone (Rom. 5:17‑19 to 12th Chap.).

Moses, who stood out preeminently as a deliverer, prophet, lawgiver and ruler, pointed to a blessing of Israel under a great Ruler and Deliverer, whose power and authority he declared shall be “like unto me.” (Deut. 18:15,19; Acts 3:22) The promised Ruler and Deliverer “like unto” Moses was to bless not only Israel, but by and through Israel He was to “bless all the families of the earth.” (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4) The holy prophets continue the same strain, declaring that Israel’s Messiah shall be also “for a light to lighten the Gentiles” (Isa. 49:6; Luke 2:32); that the Gentiles should come to Him “from the ends of the earth” (Jer. 16:19); that His name “shall be great among the Gentiles.” (Mal. 1:11)

The New Testament writers, though biased as Jews to think of every blessing as limited to their own people (Acts 11:1‑18), were enabled to see that while this great Lawgiver and Deliverer, “like unto” Moses, would bless Israel, that “all the families of the earth” would be blessed also, through them. They could see that Israel’s Messiah was the center and seal of the promises made to Israel and through them as a Chosen People to bless others. They point out the harmony of this view with what is written in the Law and the Prophets.

The thought of a Messiah as a ruler of not only Israel, but through Israel, also of the whole world, suggested in the books of Moses, is the theme of all the prophets. The thought of a universal earthly Kingdom established by and through Israel was also uppermost in the teaching of the apostles; and Jesus taught them to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.”

The Old Testament abounds with promises and prophecies in which the Kingdom of God on earth and Israel’s Messiah figure as the very center. It was the hope of every Israelite (Luke 3:15) that, as a Chosen People, God would exalt their nation under Messiah, and when Jesus came, He presented Himself to them as their Messiah, their Deliverer and Lawgiver “like unto” Moses, to establish through them the long promised Kingdom of God on earth. Not only was the Kingdom the topic with which Jesus began His public ministry, but it was the main topic of all His preaching (Luke 8:1; 4:43; 19:11), other subjects being mentioned merely in connection with or in explanation of this one subject. The majority of His parables were illustrations of the universal Kingdom from various standpoints.

In His talks with His followers, Jesus strengthened and encouraged their expectation of a Kingdom, saying to them, “...ye may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:29,30) And when, instead of being crowned and enthroned, their King was killed, His disciples were sorely perplexed and disappointed. As previously stated, they expressed their disappointment to a supposed stranger while on their way to Emmaus. In discussing Jesus they said, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” – delivering them from the Roman yoke, and making of Israel the Kingdom of God on earth in power and glory. But they were sadly disappointed by what had happened a few days previous. Then the supposed stranger, whom they later discovered to be the resurrected Jesus, opened their understanding by showing to them from the Old Testament prophecies that His atoning sacrifice was necessary first of all before a universally righteous Kingdom on earth could be established (Luke 24:21).

That in pointing out and explaining the prophecies, Jesus revived His disciples’ hope that Israel would yet be established as God’s Kingdom on earth is evident from the answer which He gave to their question as He was leaving them. They inquired, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” His answer, though not explicit, coincided with their hope that the Kingdom would be restored to Israel, but that it was not expedient at that time for them to know the time of its establishment. He said, “It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father hath, put in his own power.” (Acts 1:6‑7) Thus He left no doubt in their minds that the Kingdom would be restored to Israel, but he gave them to understand that it was not for them to know the exact time when it should be set up and put in operation.

Jesus always held forth the doctrine of a Kingdom, a righteous government to be established on earth with Israel, and to rule among men. And He not only inspired in His disciples a hope for a share in the Kingdom, but He taught them to pray for its establishment – “Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.”

To the Scripturally ignorant, but worldly‑wise leaders among the Jews, Jesus seemed an imposter and a fanatic; and they considered His disciples mere dupes. His wisdom, His tact, and His miracles, they could not gainsay, nor reasonably account for; yet, from their standpoint of unbelief, His claim that He would establish with Israel the promised Kingdom on earth which would eventually rule the world, and that His followers, all of them from the humbler walks of life, would be joint‑rulers with Him in that Kingdom, seemed too absurd for consideration. Rome, with its disciplined warriors, its able generals and immense wealth, was the master of the world, and was daily growing more powerful. Who, then, was this poor Nazarene? – and who were His followers, these fishermen, without money or influence, and with but a meager following among the common people? Who were these that they should talk about establishing with Israel the Kingdom long promised to be the grandest and mightiest Kingdom earth had ever known?

The Pharisees, hoping to expose the supposed weakness of Jesus, claim, and thereby to undeceive His followers, demanded of him: When will this Kingdom, which you preach, begin to make its appearance? – When will your soldiers arrive – When will this Kingdom of God appear? (Luke 17:20‑31).

The Pharisees, in their ignorance of the Scriptures, were not aware that the prophets taught that before the Kingdom of God could be established on earth in permanent peace and everlasting righteousness, there must first be a complete cancellation of sin; there must first be a full and final Atonement. The necessity of an Atonement was illustrated by various animal sacrifices in the Old Testament Scriptures. And since “the blood of bulls and goats [were only types, and] can never take away sin” (Heb. 10:4), the only way to blot sin out and abolish its penalty once for all was by man’s equivalent – man – who alone could atone to Divine Justice, completely satisfy its claim, and thus cancel the penalty. We note that when God declared to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3), He illustrated to Abraham that before the blessing of “all the families of the earth” could come, there must first be a full and final Atonement for sin. This was illustrated to Father Abraham in a most significant way; his son, Isaac, (“In whom thy seed shall be called”) was required to be a sacrifice. And after Isaac had been figuratively sacrificed, Abraham received him back from the dead in a “figure.” (Heb. 11:19) In that “figure” God illustrated to Abraham that “the blood of bulls and goats can‑never take away sin”; that to atone for sin and to abolish its penalty forever required a “better sacrifice.” (Heb. 9:22‑24) Thus God gave Abraham a physical demonstration of this fact. Isaac’s figurative death was a shadow or type which pointed to the necessity of a human Atonement – one who should die for the cancellation of sin before “all the families of the earth” could be permanently and everlastingly “blessed,” and before God’s Kingdom could be established in righteousness and His will “done on earth as it is done in heaven.”

At this point a question may arise: How can God be the Author of the one‑man Atonement theory which conflicts with His established Law of Justice which demands an exact equivalent – “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, foot for foot, life for life”? (Deut. 19:21; Exod. 21:23‑25) How can the law of equity and justice accept the life of one individual as being sufficient to atone for the sinful lives of millions of people? – how can the sacrifice of one human being be an equitable Atonement and complete satisfaction for the sins of the whole world?

In considering the above question, we shall show in a subsequent chapter how the unalterable Law of God ‑“life for life” – was logically, lawfully, and Scripturally fulfilled by the death of one Man as a “Ransom for All.” (1 Tim. 2:6)

(Chapter One, This Is The Millennium, by Shelah Ben‑Hanan – In due course, we will publish chapter two, which will answer the above question.)

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WHAT KIND OF A MAN IS SADDAM HUSSEIN?

Our political and military leaders are asking this question, “What kind of a man are we fighting?” The answer to this question was written in the Bible about 4, 000 years ago. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac: Ishmael by Hagar, an Egyptian, when Abraham’s wife Sarah was unable to conceive. Some years later God performed a biological miracle and permitted Sarah to give Abraham a son Isaac, the “seed of promise.” These two sons of Abraham each had twelve sons which became two mighty nations which later’ became known as the nation of Israel and the Arab nation or Ishmaelites.

The Arabs or Ishmaelites are described in Genesis 16:12 (Rotherham): “But he will be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every one, and every one’s hand against him yet in presence of all his brethren shall he have his habitation.” In Genesis 16:10, it states that Ishmael’s seed, the Arabs, “shall not be numbered for multitude.”

The Ishmaelites and posterity have lived by prey and plundering, robbers by land and pirates by sea. Genesis 16:12 states that Ishmael would dwell in the presence of all his brethren ‑ viz., Moabites, Edomites and Israelites. They have been continually at war with the rest of the world and yet never defeated. They did not acknowledge Alexander the Great as conqueror. Alexander objected to this insult and determined to punish the culprits but died before he could accomplish his mission.

When the Romans invaded the East and subdued adjoining countries, they were never able to reduce Arabia to a Roman province. Time after time enemies sought to invade but were always forced out.

About the 7th Century AD, Mohammed appeared on the scene and set the desert and the Mid East aflame. Ishmaelites under Mohammed strengthened and extended their power. Under his successors these Arabs, imbued with their new and false religion and their hereditary thirst for blood and pillage, developed into a ferocious horde and carried the Islam banner throughout Asia, Africa and even into Spain.

Since the fall of their Muslim empire, the Turks have made repeated attempts to subdue these Arabs, but instead of succeeding they have been obliged for several centuries to pay them yearly tribute, to permit the converted Turkish Moslems to have a safe passage to Mecca, the “Holy City” where Mohammed the Ismaelite was born.

Others, Gallas, Trajan, Pompey and Augustus, have been unsuccessful in conquering the Arabs – the Ishmaelites. Emperor Severus, a Roman, laid siege and even made a breach in their defenses, but insurrection broke out in the ranks. As an unseen power protected these Ishmaelites, Emperor Trajan sought to conquer them in about AD 110. Whirlwinds, swarms of flies, lightning, thunder, hail, apparitions in the sky, heat and thirst all helped to repulse these Italians every time they attacked. And so down the stream of time God’s hand seems to have been on the Ishmaelites. In spite of commerce and intercourse with others, they remain the same fierce, savage, intractable people like their ancestors.

This people, with the Jews excepted, have for 4,000 years withstood the enmity as a distinct people from their beginning with Ishmael.

Compare Arabs and Jews:

(1) Both descendants of Abraham; (2) Both practice circumcision; (3) Both originally had 12 patriarchs or heads of tribes and (4) Both marry among themselves.

A contrast: Israel scattered – Deut. 28:64; Ishmael stayed at home – Gen. 16:12.

The land promised to Abraham and his seed is given in Genesis 17:6‑8: “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be‑ a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Also in Genesis 22:16‑18: “And said, By myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” The stars of the heaven and the sand which is upon the sea shore indicates a heavenly and earthly phase of Christ’s Kingdom. In Jeremiah 31:31 God promised to make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. When this covenant is established with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, He will bless them and through them “all the families of the earth.”

The Ishmaelites too will be blessed thru the nation of Israel. “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.” (Gen. 17:20)

In Isaiah 2:2,3 we read: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

The Jews are to be gathered from the four comers of the earth where they have been dispersed until God gathers them by the hunters and fishers’. (Jer. 16:16) “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isa. 11:12)

The headquarters of the Kingdom will be Jerusalem and from there flow throughout the world

God did not promise Ishmael and his seed the land of Canaan. Isaac and his seed were promised the land from “the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” (Gen. 15:18‑21; Ex. 23:31; Deut. 1:7,8; 11:24; Ezek. 48:1‑29)

A similar picture is presented in the two sons of Isaac: Jacob and Esau. Saddam Hussein will be defeated eventually because God has promised Canaan to the Jews. “He is faithful that promised.” (Heb. 10:23)

(Reprint of SPECIAL No. 419‑A, by Brother Roy Ekroth)

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END OF AN EMPIRE

“‘Welcome to England. The sun has set on the British Empire because of what we did to the Jews.’ With this candid confession from a young English Christian leader, Norma and I began eight intensive days of teaching God’s promises concerning Israel and the Jews.

“We were in Cheltenham, a couple of hours west of London, at the invitation of Ken Webb and Mark Surguy. In a few days, we would hear the gong over Hong Kong, with the last major outpost of the British empire and colonialism quietly slipping away. The ‘Empire Upon Which the Sun Never Sets’ is now reduced to a beautiful island in the Atlantic, a few miles from the continent of Europe, and concerned that it is about to be swallowed up in European personality, promise and problems.

“How refreshing to hear the truth from English Christians. How the British promised Jews a homeland and then reneged. How the Balfour Declaration calling for Jewish independence in then–Palestine became the White Paper with its call for a staunching and them a stopping of long lines of Jews who could still escape Europe’s building hate. How the British rulers of Palestine used their gunboats to turn away Jews fleeing Hitler, forcing many to remain in Hitler’s Fortress Europe with its ghettos, genocide, and gas-powered cremation ovens.

“We could make this article a book by going on. Like how the British powers in Palestine armed and trained their Arab clients for war against the Jews – while disarming and jailing any Jew caught with a weapon. But it was these very acts that caused desperate Jews to fight – and beat – the British colossus and send the Crown’s military might scurrying for home. That setting of the sun on London’s Mideast rule was like a loud voice to those in Britain who took God seriously, ‘I will curse those who curse you.’ And the payment for such British contempt for the Lord’s plan for a restored Israel? From Crown to footstool – reigning world power to just a footnote – respected monarchy to a castle that is the butt of jokes – separate from Europe in power and prestige to now being forced into Europe for survival.

“Now England has been humbled. And with humility always comes hope. My English brothers and sisters welcomed us with open hearts and arms. ‘Teach us what God would have us know,’ they said. They are determined to pay the price to be God’s extended hand of unconditional love to Israel.

“Part of our teaching each other took in the lessons of the blessing or the curse meted nations and individuals in their treatment of the Jews. And we couldn’t avoid America – now proud as the world’s only ‘superpower,’ rich beyond imagination, immoral as ancient Rome, and politically inclined to protect the oil flow at the expense of Israel. The White House and State Department offer hypocritical lectures to Israel to bow to American bigness, while a Congress that respects the U.S. Jewish vote won’t offer Israel too much more than rhetoric. And most of U.S. media and religion are often unashamedly anti‑Israel.

“Only a remnant of serious students of the Scriptures seem aware of the shaking that is coming. The sun has set on the British Empire. Now America looms on the horizon seemingly believing it is destined to enjoy sunrise forever. And God’s hit list continues...

THE TRUTH SLIPS OUT

“Arab dictators excel at the big lie – even blaming Israel for starting the 1967 war. David Dolan, in Jerusalem, has pointed out an interesting statement by Morocco’s King Hassan (made in 1993 to a French journalist) concerning Israel’s fears for survival.

“What did we expect when the Jews kept hearing people like Achmed Shukeiri (the first PLO leader) declare that ‘We shall throw the Jews into the sea and burst the wombs of pregnant women and crush the babies with our feet’? asked Hassan. The King said he warned the PLO in 1968 that it would never succeed in destroying Israel.

“‘Indeed it won’t,’ adds Dolan, ‘since He who keeps Israel is none other than the mighty God, who ‘neither slumbers nor sleeps.’ (Psalms 121:4)”

(By Frank Eiklor, Front Lines Report, Volume 21, February 1998)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Friends,

A recent letter from a beloved friend, Virginia Cornwell, who lived in Israel for 19 years until her devoted husband died a couple of years ago, has so impressed me that I want to share it with you, having first received her approval. Would that all the followers of Jesus could be as enthused and inspired about Israel as is this dear Christian friend. Here are some excerpts from her letter:

“God is so special that He makes all the difference in our lives. He is doing some awesome things in my life just in the last month. It is so exciting! Let me tell you...

“I was sending a card to Yehada and Yona (owners of the fantastic dude ranch in the Galilee where Virginia and Ray worked and. lived for 19 years) and so gave it to my daughter Mary to write on it. She wrote: ‘Mother and I are coming to Israel in September, 1998. 1 can only stay two weeks but Mother can stay longer.’

“Oh, hallelujah, isn’t the Lord awesomel! I am so excited I could talk non‑stop. I try to console myself – everyone isn’t as interested as I am... I would shout it to the house tops... I must write or call or go up on a mountain top and shout”

Casimir and I first met Virginia and Ray Cornwell when they visited their son Mark here in Paradise many years ago. Mark arranged for us to meet and the four of us became fast friends due to our love for Israel and our love for the God of Israel. When we took tour groups to Israel after that we invited Ray and Virginia to speak to them about their experiences in Israel. We also became fast friends of Mark and Jeanette Cornwell and their delightful family here in Paradise. By the way, Virginia now resides with another son in Washington State.

Love from Elva ------- CALIFORNI

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Beloved Emily: SHALOM!

Your good letter with enclosure of Nos. 493 and 494 is received, which I read with deep interest. Congratulationsl Also received the chart.

Yes, I still have ever ready THE DIVINE PLAN OF THE AGES, which you gave me in 1984. YHVH’s Plan is being fulfilled daily in part until Zechariah, Chapter 14 fulfills itself – soon!

Deepest love, David   ------- (NEW YORK)

NO. 495A GOD, THE AUTHOR OF THE ATONEMENT AND THE MILLENNIAL REIGN - PART ONE

The doctrine of the Atonement and the Messianic era lies at the very foundation of Judaism and Christianity. Having thus the most important place in both theologies, a clear understanding of these subjects is very essential. The Atonement, though believed in, is little understood; the various ideas respecting it are disconnected as well as vague; and faith built upon disconnected and vague ideas of the foundation doctrine must, of necessity, be proportionately weak and unstable. On the contrary, if the Atonement, which is the basic principle of these two religious systems, be clearly understood, it not only will firmly establish faith upon correct principles, but it will serve as a guide in discriminating between truth and error regarding the Millennium. When the foundation is firmly established, and every item of doctrine built upon it is kept in alignment with that foundation, the entire faith superstructure will be perfect. But before we present the facts and philosophy that this is the Millennium, let us first establish faith in the Atonement, and in God’s Word.

The first five books of the Old Testament are known as the Five Books of Moses, though they nowhere mention his name as their author. That they were written by Moses, or under his supervision, is a reasonable inference, the account of his death and burial being properly added by his secretary. The omission of the positive statement that these books were written by Moses is no proof against the thought; for had another written them to impersonate Moses, to deceive and commit a fraud, he would surely have claimed that they were written by the great leader and statesman of Israel, in order to make good his imposition. (Deut. 31:9‑27) Of one thing we are certain, Moses did lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt. He did organize them as a nation under the laws set forth in these books; and the Hebrew people, for over three thousand years, have claimed these books as a gift to them from Moses, and have held them so sacred that a jot or tittle must not be altered.

The writings of Moses contain the only credible history extant of the epoch which it traverses. The account given in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, starts with the reasonable assumption that a God, an intelligent Creator, already existed. It treats not of God having a beginning, but of his work and of its beginning and its systematic, orderly progress – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) Then stepping over the origin of the earth without detail or explanation, the narrative of the six day epochs of preparing it for man proceeds. That account is substantially corroborated by the accumulating light of science of four thousand years; hence it is far more reasonable to accept the claim that its author, Moses, was Divinely inspired, than to assume that the intelligence of one man was superior to the combined intelligence and research of the rest of the race in three thousand years since, aided by modern methods and millions of dollars in the last hundred years.

The system of laws laid down in Moses’ writings was without an equal, either in their day or since. The laws of this century are based upon the principles laid down in the Mosaic Law, and framed, in the main, by men who acknowledged the Mosaic Law to be of Divine origin.

The government of Israel instituted by Moses differed from all others, ancient and modern, in that it claimed to be that of the Creator Himself, and the people were held accountable to God; their laws and institutions, civil and religious, claimed to emanate from the great Jehovah. An order of priests was established, which had complete charge of the Tabernacle, and through them alone access and communion with God was permitted with regard to the proper administration of their affairs as a nation.

The first thought of a skeptic in this connection might be: “Ah! I see the object of that organization; the priests ruled and controlled the people; they imposed upon their credulity, and excited their fears for their own honor and profit.”

But no one should assume anything where there is such good opportunity for proving the matter by the facts. The unanswerable evidence is contrary to such a supposition. The rights and privileges of the priests were limited; they were given no civil power whatever, and wholly lacked opportunity for using their office to impose upon the rights or consciences of the people; and this arrangement was made by Moses, a member of the priestly line.

Moses was God’s representative in bringing Israel out of Egyptian bondage, thus the force of circumstances centralized the government in his hand. This made Moses an autocrat in power and authority, though, from the meekness of his disposition, he was the overworked servant of the people, whose very life was being exhausted by the onerous cares of his position. Israel’s government, regarded in the light of its own claim, was a theocracy, that is, a Divine government; for the laws given by God, through Moses, permitted of no amendments; they must neither add to nor take from their code of ‑laws. Thus Israel’s government was different from any other civil government, either before or since. “The Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be elders of the common people and bring them unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there, and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee and will put it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not alone.” (Num. 11 :16,17) Moses, rehearsing the matter, says, “So I took the chief of your tribes, wise ‑men, and known [of influence], and made them heads over you: captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.” (Deut. 1:15; Exod. 18:13‑26)

Thus the distinguished lawgiver, Moses, so far from seeking to perpetuate or increase his own power by placing the government of the people under the control of his direct relatives of the priestly class, to use their religious authority to fetter the rights and liberties of the people, on the contrary introduced to Israel a form of government calculated to cultivate the spirit of liberty. The histories of Gentile rulers show no parallel to this. In almost every case the ruler has sought his own aggrandizement and greater power. Even in instances where such have aided in establishing republics, it has usually appeared from subsequent events that they were activated through policy, to obtain favor with the people, and to perpetuate their own power.

Circumstanced as Moses was, any ambitious man, governed by policy and attempting to perpetuate a fraud upon the people, would have worked for greater centralization of power in himself and in his family. This would have been an easy task since the religious authority was already vested in that tribe, and from the claim of that nation to be governed by God. Nor is it supposable that a man capable of forming such laws, and of ruling such a people, would be so dull of comprehension as not to see the possibilities and advantages which he might accrue to himself. So completely was the government of the people put into the peoples, own hands, that though it was stipulated that the weightier cases which the governors could not decide were to be brought unto Moses, yet the governors themselves were the judges as to what cases went before Moses. “The cause which is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it,” said Moses. (Deut. 1:17)

Thus seen, Israel was a republic whose officers acted under a Divine commission. And to the confusion of those who ignorantly claim that the Bible sanctions an established empire rule over the people, instead of “a government of the people by the people,” be it noted that this republican form of civil government continued for over four hundred years. It was finally changed for that of a King‑rule at the request of the people, without God’s approval, who said to Samuel, then acting as a sort of informal president, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they shall say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (1 Sam. 8:7) At God’s instance Samuel explained to the people how their rights and liberties would be disregarded, and how they would become servants by such a change; but Israel had become infatuated with the popular idea, illustrated all around them in Gentile nations (1 Sam. 8:6‑22). In considering this account of their desire for a king, is one not impressed with the thought that Moses could have firmly established himself at the head of a great empire without difficulty?

While Israel, as a whole, constituted one nation, yet tribal divisions were ever recognized after Jacob’s death. Each family, or tribe, by common consent, elected certain members as its representatives, or chiefs. This custom continued even throughout their long slavery in Egypt. It was to these that Moses delivered the honor and power of civil government; whereas, had he desired to centralize power in himself and in his family, these would have been the last men to honor with power and office.

The instructions which were given by Moses to those appointed to civil rulership were a model of simplicity and purity. He declared to the people, in the presence and in the hearing of these governors or judges: “I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger [foreigner] that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.” (Deut. 1:15‑17)

In view of these facts, what would one think of a theory which suggests that these laws were written by knavish priests to secure to themselves influence and power over the people? Would such men for such a purpose make laws destructive to the very aims they sought to advance? The record proves conclusively that Moses, the great Ruler of Israel, a member of the tribe of Levi, and brother of Aaron, the priest, cut off the Levites and the priesthood from all civil power by placing that power in the hands of the people.

Again it is worthy of note that the laws of the most advanced civilization, in this twentieth century, do not more carefully provide that rich and poor shall stand on a common level in accountability before the civil law. Absolutely no distinction was made by Moses, law. And as for the protection of the people from the dangers incident to some becoming very poor and others becoming excessively wealthy and powerful, no other national law has ever been enacted which so carefully guarded this point. Moses’ law provided for a restoration of all property every fiftieth year – The Jubilee Year. This law, by preventing the permanent sale and absolute alienation of property, thereby prevented its accumulation in the hands of a few. (Lev. 25:9,13‑23,27‑30)

All the laws were made public, thus preventing designing men from successfully tampering with the rights of the people. The laws were exposed in such a manner that anyone who chose might copy them; and in order that the poorest and most unlearned might not be ignorant of them, it was made the duty of the priests to read them to the people at their septennial festivals (Deut. 31:10‑13). Is it reasonable to suppose that such laws and arrangements were designed by men scheming to defraud the people of their liberties and happiness? Such an assumption would be unreasonable.

In its regard for the rights and interest of foreigners, and of enemies, it is doubtful if the laws of the most civilized nation today equal the Mosaic law in fairness and benevolence. We read:

“Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger [foreigner] as for one of your own country; for I am the Lord your God.” (Exod. 12:49; Lev. 24:22) “And if a stranger [foreigner] sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him; but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shall love him as thyself; for ye were strangers [foreigners] in the land of Egypt.” (Lev. 19:33‑34)

“If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, wouldst thou cease to leave thy business and help him? Thou shalt leave it, to join with [assist] him.” (Exod. 23:4‑5, margin)

Even the dumb animals were not forgotten. Cruelty to these as well as to human beings was strictly prohibited. An ox must not be muzzled while threshing the grain, for the good reason that any laborer is worthy of his food. Even the ox and the ass must not plow together, because so unequal in strength and tread, it would be cruelty. Their rest was also provided for. (Deut. 25:4; 22:10; Exod. 23:12).

The priesthood may be claimed by some to have been a selfish institution, because the priestly tribe – the tribe of Levi – was supported by the annual tenth, or tithe, of the individual produce of their brethren of the other tribes. This fact, stated thus, is an unfair presentation common to skeptics who misrepresent one of the most remarkable evidences of God’s part An the organization of that system of government. It was not the work of a selfish and scheming priesthood; it was founded upon the strictest equality and justice, as we shall show: When Israel came into possession of the land of Canaan, the priestly tribe, the Levites, had as much right to a share of the land as the other tribes; yet, by God’s express command, they got none of it except in certain cities or villages for residences, scattered among the various tribes whom they were to serve in religious matters. Instead of the land, it was only just that some equivalent should be provided for them, and the tithe was therefore this reasonable and just provision. And be it noted, that the tithe, though, as we have seen, a just debt, was not enforced as a tax, but was to be paid as a voluntary contribution. And no threat bound them to make those contributions; all depended upon their conscientiousness. The only exhortations to the people on the subject are as follows:

“Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.” (Deut. 12:19) “And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance (in the land] with thee.” (Deut. 14:27)

Is it reasonable to suppose that this order of things would have been thus arranged by selfish and ambitious priests – an arrangement to disinherit themselves and to make them dependent for support upon their brethren for whatever their brethren felt disposed to give them? Does not reason teach us to the contrary?

Consistent with this, is the further fact that no special provision was made for honoring the priesthood. In nothing would impostors be more careful than to provide reverence and respect for themselves, and severest punishments and penalties upon those who mistreated and misused them. But nothing of the kind appears; no special honor, no special reverence or immunity from violence or insult, is provided. The common law, which made no distinction between classes, was their only protection. This is the more remarkable because the treatment of servants, and strangers, and the aged, was the subject of special legislation. For instance: “Thou shalt not vex nor oppress a stranger, or widow, or fatherless child; for if they cry at all unto me (God] I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.” (Exod. 22:21‑24; 23:9; Lev. 19:33‑34) “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of strangers that are in thy land, within thy gates. At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it; lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be sin unto thee.” (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14‑15) “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old man.” (Lev. 19:32) All this, yet no special provision for priests or their tithes. Would not a selfish, scheming priesthood have provided for themselves?

Our hasty glance has furnished overwhelming evidence that this law, which constitutes the framework of the entire system of revealed religion, is a marvelous display of equity and justice. In the light of reason, we must admit that it bears no evidence of being the work of wicked, designing men, but that it corresponds exactly with what reason teaches to be the character of God. And further, the pious and noble lawgiver, Moses, states emphatically that the laws were not his own, and attributes them to God. (Exod. 24:12; Deut. 9:9‑11; Lev. 1:1)

Let us glance now at the general character of the prophets of the Bible and their testimonies. A remarkable fact is that the prophets, with few exceptions, were not of the priestly class; and in their day their prophecies were generally repugnant to the then degenerating and time‑serving priesthood, as well as to the idolatrously inclined people. The burden of their message from God to the people was generally reproof for sin, coupled with warnings of coming punishments, intertwined with which were promises of future blessings, after they should be cleansed from sin and should return to favor with God. The experiences of the prophets were far from enviable; they were generally reviled, many of them being imprisoned and put to violent deaths. (I Kings 18:4,17,18,19; Jer. 38:6; Heb. 11:32‑36) In some instances it was years after their death before their true character as God’s prophets was recognized. (We refer exclusively to the Biblical prophets.)

When it is remembered that these prophets were mainly laymen, drawing no support from the tithes of the priestly tribe, and when, added to this, is the fact that they were frequently not only the reprovers of kings and judges, but also of the personal sins of the priests, it becomes evident that we could not reasonably conclude that these prophets were parties to any league of priests, or others, to fabricate falsehood in the name of God. Reason in the light of facts contradicts such a suspicion.

If, then, we find no reason to impeach the motives of the writers of the Old Testament, but find that the spirit of its various parts is righteousness and truth, let us next proceed to investigate whether there exists any singleness of pattern, any common link, or bond of union, between the record of Moses, those of the other prophets, and those of the New Testament writers. If we shall find one pattern, one purpose, one aim and one common line of thought interwoven throughout the law and the prophets and the New Testament writing, which cover a period of fifteen hundred years, this, taken in connection with the character of the writers, will be a good reason for admitting their claim ‑ that they are Divinely inspired ‑ particularly if the theme common to all of them is a grand and noble one, comporting well with what reason and common sense teaches regarding the character and attributes of God.

We find that the New Testament throughout constantly points and refers to one prominent character, Jesus of Nazareth who, it claims, was the Son of God. From beginning to end His name, office, and work are made prominent. That a man called Jesus of Nazareth lived, and was somewhat noted, about the time indicated by the writers of the New Testament, is a fact of history outside the New Testament, and it is variously and fully corroborated. That this Jesus was crucified because He had rendered Himself offensive to the Jews and their priesthood is. a further fact established by history outside the evidence furnished by the New Testament writers. We also find that the writers of the New Testament (except Paul and Luke) were the personal acquaintances of Jesus of Nazareth, whose doctrines their writings set forth.

The existence of any book implies motive on the part of the writer. We therefore inquire, What motive inspired the writers of the New Testament to espouse the cause of this man “who was made of no reputation,” who was condemned as a blasphemer and crucified as a malefactor, the most religious ones among the Jews demanding His death as one unfit to live? And in espousing His cause, and promulgating His doctrines, we find that these writers braved contempt, deprivation and bitter persecution, risked life itself and in some cases even suffered martyrdom. Let us admit that while Jesus lived He was a remarkable person in both His life and His teaching, but what motive could there have been for any one to espouse His cause after He was dead ‑ especially when His death was so ignominious? And if we suppose that these writers invented their narratives, and that Jesus was their imaginary or ideal hero, how absurd to suppose that sane men, after making a claim that He was the Son of God, that He had been begotten in a supernatural way, had supernatural powers by which He had healed lepers, restored sight to those born blind, caused the deaf to hear, and even raised the dead – how absurd to suppose that they would wind up the story of such a great and marvelous character by stating that a band of His enemies got together and executed Him as a felon, while all His friends and His disciples, and among them the writers themselves, forsook Him and fled in the trying moment. The writers themselves frankly acknowledge that they were perplexed by the apparent inconsistency of the situation and they expressed their sore disappointment, saying, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.” (Luke 24:21)

It was not until after they had carefully examined the Old Testament Scriptures that they were able to understand and clarify the seeming inconsistency regarding the tragic death of one who, Himself, manifested the power to raise others from the dead. After a careful study of the Old Testament prophecies, they then furnished a Scriptural and logical reason for their faith and trust; and all the writers without exception were perseveringly faithful to those reasonable convictions down to their very death. And nothing connected with the Gospel Narrative of the New Testament appeals to human judgment more forcibly than does its simplicity. The fact that the blunderings, weaknesses, failures, and shortcomings of the Apostles themselves are faithfully narrated, and that without apologies or excuses or attempts to gloss over the defects and imperfections, shows a sincerity of purpose and a truthfulness of intention. The record reveals the shameless perfidy of Judas, and the weakness of the remaining eleven, who, in Jesus’ darkest hours, forsook Him, and fled, seeking personal safety, one of them subsequently denying Him. The writers of the New Testament would have been excusable had they interjected explanations and excuses for their weak course and shameful conduct; but the narrative is stronger as it stands, for we might be loath to accept‑ excuses had they offered them for themselves.

And what we have here noticed, we found likewise applicable to the various writers of the Old Testament. We found that they too were men notable for their fidelity to the Lord; and the Old Testament as impartially records and reproves their weaknesses and shortcomings as it commends their virtues and faithfulness. Thus there is a straightforwardness about the Old and New Testaments which stamps them as truth.

Having then found that both the Old and New Testaments were written by men whose motives we see no reason to impugn, but which, on the contrary, we see reason to approve, let us next examine the writings claimed as inspired,. to see whether their teachings correspond with the character we have reasonably imputed to God, and whether they bear internal evidence of their truthfulness.

This we do find: One plan, pattern, spirit, aim and purpose pervades‑the entire Old and New Testaments. The opening pages of the Old Testament record the creation and fall of man; the closing pages of the New Testament tell of man’s recovery from the fall; and its intervening pages show the successive steps of the plan of God for the accomplishment of that purpose. The harmony, yet contrast, of the first three chapters of the Old Testament and the last three chapters of the New, is striking. The Old Testament describes the creation of man and his fall into sin, the new describes how the creation is to be restored, with sin and its penal‑curse removed; the one shows Satan and evil entering the world to deceive and to cause death, the other shows how his work is to be undone, the dead restored to life, evil extinguished and Satan destroyed; the one shows the dominion of I earth lost by Adam, the other shows how it will be restored and forever established by Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and God’s will “done on earth as it is done in heaven”; the one shows sin the producing cause of degradation, shame and death; the other shows the reward of righteousness to be glory, honor and life.

(To be continued)

NO. 494 "THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING"

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [kingdom].” (Isa. 11:9) Accustomed as all mankind have been to misrule and misgovernment, it was necessary that assurance should be given to Israel that the kingdom of Messiah which God would one day set up in the earth would not only have good motives and intentions, but would also possess superior power of knowledge and judgment. And this is what the Prophet Isaiah pointed out. The new King will not need to rely upon the common channels of information in the giving of His blessings and in the administering of his reproofs and chastisements, but will have a superhuman endowment of power by which He will know the very thought and intents of the heart. He will not need to judge after the hearing of the ear or by the sight of the eye, as must all earthly rulers, however well intention­ed. (Isaiah 11:3,4)

It was proper also that Israel and all others should know that the kingdom of God to be established would be absolutely just and impartial; for their experiences have demonstrated that even the wisest and best of their rulers, lawmakers, judges, etc., have been largely governed by selfishness. The world’s great ones have amassed wealth at the expense of their subjects, and have made their special friends wealthy and have granted them special privileges, oftentimes at the expense of the poor, the helpless, the despised. Hence the Lord through the Prophet assures us that the earth’s new King will administer equity toward all; that the meek, the backward, the modest and unassuming, those who are indisposed to press their claims and to assert their rights, will have His particular assistance; and that the poor, who have few to sympathize with them or to encourage or help them, will find in the new King a Friend.

MILLENNIUM NOT THROUGH EVOLUTION

Those who expect the Millennial kingdom to come as a result of present efforts, under the order of society now prevailing, and who believe that the world is gradually approaching the Millennium by an evolu­tionary process, should carefully consider this Word of the Lord through the Prophet, as shown in our text and context. The Prophet declared that when Messiah shall take the reins of government, His first step will be to judge the poor, and to reprove the rich in equity, in the interests of the meek of the earth. How could this be possible, if equity had already prevailed by a gradual process, so that there were no poor and no rich, and so that all had become meek?

Other Scriptures in harmony with this testimony of the Prophet Isaiah, show that the very work which our Lord is to do at the beginning of His reign will be to correct the wrongs then prevailing. Our Lord Himself implies that the earth will be far from being a blessed condition at His Second Advent, when He asks the question, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find the faith [Truth] on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) The Revelator also gives no uncertain testimony on this subject. He says: ‘‘And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever ... And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear [reverence] thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them that corrupt the earth.” (Rev. 11:15‑18)

BIBLE HARMONIOUS AND CONSISTENT

Many Scriptures are of like import. The position of the Bible is throughout harmonious and consistent. It describes the present time, while sin is prevailing, as “the present evil world” (Gal. 1:4), in which “the prince of this world”  (John 14:30) rules, and in which the Lord’s true people, the body of Christ, the heirs of the kingdom, “suffer violence,” and declares that this violence is working out for those who are rightly exercised by it a character which will be approved by the Lord. The Scriptures point out that to God’s faithful saints who suffer now will be granted this glorious new kingdom in Joint heirship with Messiah. They shall be given the dominion “under the whole heavens,” as declared by the angel to Daniel the Prophet. (Daniel 7:27) This dominion Jehovah will wrest by force from the “prince of this world,” Satan (2 Cor. 4:4), and will give it to His Son, whose bride will share her Bridegroom’s kingdom. This transfer will be accomplished in a great time of trouble, which is to end this present world, the present social order.

In our context the Prophet goes on to say, “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.” (Isa. 11:4) It is very evident, then, that at the time of the establishment of the kingdom there will not only be poor needing assistance and succor, but there will be the wicked also. The rod of Messiah’s mouth signifies the judgments which He has already expressed, and which have very largely gone unheeded by Christen­dom. We remember His declaration: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath One that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48) – the day of judgment, now present, since 1874. Christendom in general has admitted the righteousness of the Lord’s Word, but those who attempt to live in harmony with that Word are remarkably few. Consequently, when the time shall come that “judgment shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet” Isa. 8:17), and when this judgment shall begin at the nominal house of God, the nominal systems will fall – condemned by that Word.

Only the faithful few, the Lord’s Jewels, shall “be accounted worthy to escape those things coming upon the world” (Luke 21:36), when, as elsewhere described, “He [the Lord] shall speak to them [the world] in His wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” when He shall render vengeance to His enemies, and recom­pense to those who have known the Master’s will, yet have done it not. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” “Wait ye upon Me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them Mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language [message] that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zephaniah 3:8, 9) “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” (Isaiah 11:5) The girdle represents diligence, service, and the proclamation here is that Messiah will be a faithful, diligent Servant of God, accomplishing all the work entrusted to His care.

GREAT CHANGES IN ANIMAL CREATION

The reference in this 11th chapter of Isaiah to the change of disposition in the animal kingdom, so that the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion, will dwell in harmony, is in full accord with the general Scriptural outlines of “the times of restitution of all things.” Not only is mankind to be restored, to be brought back to his primeval condition of human perfection and harmony with his Maker, but the lower animals will also share in the blessing and the restoration of order to be accomplished by the Reign of Christ, now, we believe, very near at hand.

In the Genesis account there is no intimation that the animals over which Adam had control were wild, vicious, at enmity with man. On the contrary, the implication is that they were in complete subjection to their perfect master. We may reasonably suppose that while the race, under the disintegrating influence of man’s death sentence, gradually lost more and more of the likeness of their Maker in which the first man was created, they at the same time lost the power of control over the lower animals.

The nature of the power possessed by the perfect Adam may still be imperfectly traced in the superior ability of certain of the fallen race to control the brute creation. Thus we see that some men can exercise mental force and control, not only over wild horses, but also over the ferocious beasts of the jungle. Adam was declared by the Lord to be the king of earth, and as such he was recognized by the lower orders of creation. After mankind had lost his original mental power to control the lower animals, a warfare sprang up between them, in which man has been compelled to pit force against force, as he has lost his hold upon the animal creation.

The restoration of mankind to that exalted position which was lost by sin implies naturally, therefore, a restoration of the brute creation to primeval conditions, such as is suggested in the prophecy which we are considering. The same thought is conveyed in the statement that “a little child shall lead” (Isa. 11:6), or control, the wild beasts, when these are brought into their proper relationship with mankind. In Verse 65:25 of Isaiah’s prophecy, it is stated of the Millennial conditions that “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together.” The reference may be to men who were formerly of wolf like and of lamb like dispositions, or character; or it may refer to animals, or both. The expression in either case signifies a blessed reign of peace. The Prophet continues, “And the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and the dust shall be the serpent’s meat.” If this refers to literal lions, it would imply that they will lose their carnivorous dispositions, and that they will undergo some change which will make them herbivorous, as animals were originally created. (Genesis 1:30) It would seem to imply that animals will not prey upon one another.

DAWN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD

The expression “Dust shall be the serpent’s meat” (Gen. 2:7), is similar to the statement in Psalm 72:9, regarding Messiah’s coming dominion: “His enemies shall lick the dust,” signifying the destruction of the serpent, or rather of the great adversary, Satan, whom the serpent symbolizes. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [kingdom], saith the Lord.” (Isa. 11:9)

The birth of the true Zion, the church of Christ, will be the cause of rejoicing among all who truly love righteousness; for, though it will at first dash in pieces all their long‑cherished hopes, it will be the dawn of a real hope for all the world. It will humble their pride and despoil them of all their cherished possessions and of what they have come to consider their rights. It will break down their boasted institutions, civil, social and religious, and completely wreck the present social order. Yet it will be the necessary prelude to the establishment of the grand New Order, which will come to be “the desire of all nations” (Hag. 2:6,7), as soon as they shall see its vast superiority to the old order.

TWO CLASSES BORN OUT OF ZION

In describing the birth of the “Man‑child,” The Christ, whose head was born more than eighteen hundred years ago, and the body of whom is now soon to be born, the Prophet Isaiah exclaims (Isa. 66:7, 8), “Before she travailed she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man‑child! Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children.” The especially marvelous thing that the Prophet here records is that a “man‑child” is to be born out of Zion before Zion travails. This is a striking reference to the fact, elsewhere clearly taught, that the ripe “wheat” of the Gospel church are to be separated from the unripe wheat and the “tares” at the end of this Age, that they are to be exalted and glorified before the burning, the consuming, trouble shall come.

This “man‑child”, then, is the little flock, the body of Christ, the true Zion. Out of nominal Zion will come this first‑fruits class, before the nominal system will be overthrown; for she will die in her travail pains, and in dying, will bring forth her later children the great company. In this great day of the Lord, nominal Zion will bring forth the man‑child and these later children.

“Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord. Shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God.” (Isa. 66:9) Ah, no! As surely as the Head was brought forth, so surely shall the body also be born. The birth shall certainly be completed. The great composite Christ shall come forth entire, not one member lacking – and before Zion’s travail has begun. But “who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such a thing?” And so, after the man‑child is delivered, the mother system will give birth, when travail pains come on, to a great company of children! This great company is described in the Apocalypse as coming up out of “great tribulation,” and washing their robes, spotted and soiled, and making them white, “in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14)

Following the birth of these two classes of the Lord’s people, will come the birth of the Jewish nation. They shall be awakened from the sleep of hades, in which as a nation they have been for over eighteen centuries. All this will take place in the early dawn of the day of Christ. O what rejoicing there will be! Fleshly Zion and spiritual Zion will rejoice together! Then soon the poor, chastened world will begin to join in the songs of praise to the God of all grace. What wonderful times are just before us! Though clouds and darkness for a brief time obscure the bright beams of the blessed Millennial dawning, soon the glorious “Sun of righteousness” shall rise in splendor, and its beams will rapidly spread over all the earth, scattering the darkness of sin, dispelling the fogs of error and superstition, and bringing the world into the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

RESTITUTION NOT CHANGE OF NATURE

The entire testimony of Scripture in regard to the blessings to come to the world in the new Age show that they are all to be earthly. The declaration that even the brute creation shall be changed in nature is a promise that in that blessed day there will no more be a condition of antagonism and enmity between mankind and the lower orders of God’s creatures, but all shall be peace and harmony. It would be wholly unnecessary to change the disposition of the animals, to bring them into subjection to man, if all the race were to be changed into spirit beings, and become like the angels. Many prophecies speak of mankind in the times of restitution as human beings, adapted to the earth and enjoying the blessings of the earth. They are to “sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.” (Micah 4:4) “They shall build houses and inhabit them ... They shall not build and another inhabit ... they shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” (Isa. 65:21‑25)

These promises for the world in general have no reference to the class being chosen out of the world during this Gospel Age. The promises to these are all spiritual. They are to be made like Christ, and “see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) They are called to the obtaining of His glory. As they “have borne the image of the earthly,” so shall they “also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Cor. 15:49) They are promised a share in Christ’s resurrection – the first resurrection. They are to reign as kings and priests in a kingdom which earthly beings cannot inherit. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor. 15:50) They have been called with a heavenly calling. They are not of the world, even as their Lord and Head is not of the world. (John 17:16)

WHY MANY FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD

With many the difficulty in understanding these distinctions is a failure to rightly divide the Scriptures, as St. Paul counseled Timothy, saying, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) This process would enable them to discern that the kingdom of God per se consists only of our Lord Jesus and His “little flock” of overcomers, to whom He says, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) These are to constitute the reigning class, as many Scriptures point out. At first the world of mankind will be subjects of this spiritual kingdom, and afterward become citizens, or members, if they come into harmony with its laws and regulations and into a condition of reconciliation with God, becoming the children of Christ, who will be the age‑lasting Father of the world during the Mediatorial Age. He will be the One who shall bring the entire race of Adam – both those who have a measure of life and those who have gone down into the tomb – back from the condition of death into full perfection of life, if they then prove willing and obedient. Otherwise they shall be cut off in the second death – everlasting destruction.

The Prophet Daniel, in explaining Nebuchad­nezzar’s dream regarding the Great Image, shows that the kingdom of God when first set up at the introduction of the Millennial Age will be but a small stone, which has been “cut out without hands,” but which will become a “great mountain and fill the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:31‑45) This stone kingdom is quarried out of the “earth” by the Lord. It is at first insignificant in size, and it seems to the world as powerless. But as soon as set up in power, this kingdom will smite the “great image” of earthly rulership, and shall grind it to powder (in the coming trouble), and the wind shall carry it away. This stone kingdom is the holy mountain referred to in Isaiah 11:9. A mountain is the Scriptural symbol of a kingdom. Hills seem to be symbolic of the smaller governments of earth. (See Isaiah 2:2; 40:4; 51:5; 59:18; Psalms 46:2,3; 97:5)

Nothing shall be permitted to do violence or to work injury throughout all God’s Holy kingdom, after it shall have been established. Love will be the law, and Divine power will be the means which will enforce that law. All who do not conform to it will be “cut off from among the people,” as the Lord declared through the Apostle Peter. (Acts 3:23) How evident it is that this kingdom has not yet come, when we see that amongst mankind selfishness is the rule, individually and nationally, and that there are many influences of evil which hurt and destroy throughout the world today. So we continue to pray: “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven.” And we believe that this petition so long offered by the Lord’s saints is very soon to be answered.

After Messiah has crushed the power of evil, after He has overthrown all the great systems of error and vice, and has set the people free, He will accomplish the blessing of humanity by the spread of the knowledge of Jehovah’s character. The Apostle Paul also assures us that it is the will of God that all men shall come to a knowledge of the Truth in order to be saved. He assures us that there can be no salvation without knowledge. None will ever be saved by ignorance. As yet only a comparatively few of earth’s millions have come to such a knowledge of God as to be able to exercise faith in Him and in the great sacrifice which He has provided for the whole world.

COMPREHENSIVENESS OF PLAN OF SALVATION

But the fact that but few in the present life come to this saving knowledge shall in no wise thwart the great Divine Plan, not make the death of Christ on behalf of the entire race of Adam of no avail. The Lord assures us in His Word that, in due time, the true light shall lighten “every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) This includes all the heathen and all those of imbecile mind, who could not in this life grasp the Truth, as well as all infants who have died before reaching the age where they could know of God and His Truth in Christ. It includes the dead, as well as the living. For “there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby they must be saved” (Acts 4:12) by the name of Jesus. God has thus made ample provision for all.

Nor are we to suppose that the knowledge which is to become worldwide during Messiah’s reign is merely a little sprinkling of knowledge, such as has come to a very limited portion of the world here and there in spots, up to the present time. The Lord’s people have received the droppings of grace and truth, but the provision for the next Age will be abundant and universal. The knowledge of the Lord shall be ocean deep like the fulness of the sea. Showers of blessings shall come down upon the world in copious measure. The effect will be “like rain upon the mown grass.” (Psalm 72:6) When the grass has been freshly cut and its roots are thus the more accessible, how quickly it responds to the refreshing showers! And how rapidly does it spring up in renewed vigor! So it will be with mankind, after they have been shorn of all that has encumbered them and prevented the showers of grace from reaching their hearts. How quickly they will respond to the refreshing rains and showers of blessing so copiously bestowed upon them, and will spring up into life and beauty as they drink in the rich supplies of grace! (By That Servant – Reprints 5573‑75, November 15, 1914)

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – Does That Servant teach that the Epiphany and the “Time of Trouble” are one and the same, as does the Epiphany Messenger?

ANSWER: – Yes, That Servant teaches the same as the Epiphany Messenger on the “Time of Trouble.” Both teach that the “Time of Trouble” began in its wide sense in 1874, but in its narrow sense the Time of Trouble began in 1914 when the World War started. In its “narrow sense” – beginning the destruction of Christendom and the Nominal Church – the Epiphany and the “Great Tribulation” are one and the same. As most Truth people know, Sodom types Christendom and the Nominal Church, and Egypt types the world of mankind – this “present evil world.” (Gal. 1:4 – See Rev. 11:8 and Berean Comments)

In “The Battle of Armageddon,” Parousia book 4, is this: “Her destruction will have a beginning by the end of the appointed ‘Time of the Gentiles’ – 1914.” And p. 158 of this book: “These [the Little Flock] have no share in the judgment of great Babylon, but are previously enlightened and called out of her. ” (Rev. 18:4) And from the Reprints we quote the following:

“To the very best of our ability we have endeavored to make clear that the parousia of our Lord is wholly different from His epiphaneia. Both of these Greek words are translated ‘coming’ in our common Bible, but in the Greek they have very different signification. The word parousia signifies presence, but does not signify any outward manifestation of that presence. It is used in respect to the first stage of the second advent, in which our Lord is said to come ‘as a thief in the night’ to reckon with His own servants and to take the faithful of them with Him to the heavenly mansion or condition prepared for them.

“Our Lord’s parousia and the gathering of the elect, we understand, has been in progress since October, 1874. It will continue until all of the ‘elect’ shall have been gathered and glorified. In one sense our Lord will continue to be present as the world’s King to the conclusion of the Millennial Age; but His parousia, in the sense of secrecy of presence, will terminate when, as the Scriptures declare, ‘He shall be revealed in flaming fire (judgments), taking vengeance on all who will not obey the truth,’ but enlightening and revivifying all who will hear and, to the extent of their opportunity, obey His message. The parousia is to the church and for the church only. The epiphaneia or apokalupsis of the Lord in power and great glory is not to the church, nor for the church, but to the world and for the world.” (Reprint 4543, bottom)

“Emphasizing the suddenness with which the calamity will overtake the world, Jesus said that 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 in the day 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.” (Reprint 5456, top, col. 1, par. 2 – May 1, 1914)

“The Scriptures indicate that the Gentile governments will receive from their own peoples 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 will 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 that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (2 Thes. 1:7‑10) As a result, the nations of earth will be broken to pieces like a potter’s vessel. ” (Psa. 2:8,9) (Reprint 5527, col. 1, top – September 1, 1914)

There is more from That Servant that will prove that the Epiphany Messenger simply elaborated on his teachings regarding the Time of Trouble, or the Great Tribulation, as the Epiphany period, but what we have given will suffice for now. Quite a few of the brethren have lost sight of this Truth – even the LHMM, founded by the Epiphany Messenger, now teaches that we are in the beginning Basileia since 1954 – the overlapping of the Epiphany – when three major stages of the Great Tribulation are yet future. One section of the Epiphany brethren teaches that there are four periods – the Parousia, Epiphany, Apokalypse (separate periods) and the Basileia – something never taught by Brothers Russell and Johnson; nor do the Scriptures support this claim. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing [the Epiphany] and his kingdom [the Basileia].” The way the Apokalypsis brethren teach, this text should read: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing [the Epiphany] and at his revealing, or Apokalypsis [a separate period from his “appearing”] and his kingdom [Basileia].”

To some extent the LHMM teaches four periods of the Lord’s Second Advent – the Parousia, the Epiphany, the “Overlapping,” which will witness three more severe stages of the Great Tribulation, as well as the annihilation of the Man of Sin (2 Thes. 2:8), and the Basileia. Their “overlapping” has no similarity to the overlapping of the Parousia of 26 months (1914 to Nov. 1916). As it is now more than 44 years overlapping, and we are not yet in Armageddon, the second stage of the Great Tribulation, with Anarchy and Jacob’s trouble still future after that.

We are living in the day when “they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4) Some of the Lord’s people who have received present truth are now setting much of it aside for opinions of their own. Some now say the end of the “Times of the Gentiles” is still future, and we are not in the “Time of Trouble” since 1914 although some of the thinking worldlings realize the world is in a “Time of Trouble” such as has never been before. Some deny our Lord’s presence; the Jehovah’s Witnesses are teaching that Armageddon will destroy not only this present system of things, but also annihilate all who do not join with them before Armageddon. This is “bad news” to those whose eyes are blinded (?) and do not accept their teachings. They teach that the world is not so blinded today, as not to be able to recognize their truth (?), which they are now teaching – that when they have had a chance to “learn of them,” and don’t accept them, it will be their last chance. This is much the same as the Papacy has taught: You must accept us, or receive eternal torment! (John J. Hoefle, October, 1977)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

'HONEST BIBI' MAY YET SHINE

Sir, -  Mark Heller  ("Two Outsiders," December 6)  drew an unfortunate parallel between former president Richard Nixon and Israel's current prime minister. Nixon was certainly not an outsider in Washington, since he had served in the House of Representatives in Congress and as a member of the U.S. Senate before becoming vice president to president Eisenhower for eight years. The only "outsider" president was Carter, and he would compare much better to the current leader of the Labor Party, General Ehud Barak.

A very good parallel can, however, be drawn between Bibi Netanyahu and president Abraham Lincoln. Each started as an outsider in their respective capitals, each was elected when the country was very much divided on the platform of "maintaining the integrity and unity of the land." Each had problems with his generals. Each was an intellectual.

Lincoln was eventually successful and became one of the greatest presidents so far, and "Honest Bibi" has a good chance of making the same mark.

                                                                                                            Bernard Linder,                  (LOS ANGELES)

(Jerusalem Post, January 3, 1998)

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Dear Sister Emily,

It was good to get your letter of December 9th. When you asked about Sister Jackson that gave me news of Hermann and Joseph, it was not Sister Osceola Jackson but Dorothy Jackson. I do not believe you know her. She, and her husband who has passed away, got the truth here in California about 30 years ago. She is one of the few in the class who accepts Tentative Justification. She has these friends who operate a YMCA camp in Israel and know about Hermann and Joseph. She says they are in the Truth ... Anyway it is good to know that Hermann and Joseph are both better.

I do not have anything to report on the question I was going to ask on the Tentative Justification ...

I have had a blessing in connection with the tapes I am reviewing. There is a Brother Wilburn Poe from Cincinnati, Ohio who got the Truth in 1908. He heard Brother Russell speak, lived through the split off of P.B.I. and then Rutherford. I am sure he would be dead now since the interview was in 1976 and he was 86 then. It was such a blessing to me to know of such a loyal one - like my own mother and dad ...

We are going to begin a study of Volume Two. I voted to study that over Brother Russell's Sermons. There will be a good deal of controversy, I am sure. We have at least two very strong advocates of the P.B.I. view on the Jubilees and many who do not accept Brother Russell's chronology. I am asking the Lord to help me to do His will.

Hope you continue to improve in health and let us pray that the Lord will allow us to help in His Kingdom.

Much Christian love and good wishes,               (CALIFORNIA)

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My Dear Sister Emily,

Grace and Peace be unto youl I'm acknowledging your letter of November 10th. Also want to thank you for your generous gift of the book "Pastor Charles Taze Russell an Early American Christian Zionist." I knew that Brother Hoefle had something to do with the book but didn't know how or-why. I'm glad to be enlightened about it. Thank you very much.

I don't know if I told you that I am 88 years young and live in a complex of three buildings. They are managed by the Quakers. I had to learn a few things about them so I could speak the truth with them. I understand that it was a Quaker that designed our cross and crown that we use so much. They are good people. But I've been to some of their sermons, etc., and they only have milk for the people and we should be thankful that we have "Meat in due season." What a glorious plan our God has for the church and for the rest of the people. I've had many experiences in my life for which I thank the LORD.

If I get any orders for the book I will send them to you. I wanted to write to you before going to the meeting to see the brethren. I enjoy the reprints too.

God bless you always, By His grace … (OHIO)

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Dear Sister Emily,

The open market cost of "The Pastor Russell Anthology" disc is $49.95. However, a friend and I have made arrangements to make it available in lots of 10 @ $25 each. If less than ten - or single copies mailed to different addresses - is desired, the cost is $26 each which includes postage. If you think anyone would be interested in having the disc I will be happy to send ordering instruction.

May the Lord bless thee and keep thee,  

…(OREGON)

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Dear Friends,

We believe that the heat from 700 oil wells burning at once put so much heat into the atmosphere it probably changed the weather pattern (wrecked it). Never has the world' experienced so much terrible weather. The Gulf war was a curse.

Why would Israel want to give Arafat more land? That is unbelievable. Hope they don't do that.

Love, your Colorado Friends. God Bless you …   (COLORADO)