In 1 Cor. 10:11, Dia., it is stated, "These things [the five evils related in vs. 6 thru 10] occurred to them typically [from the Greek tupos, meaning type], and were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come." This Scripture had its primary application in the end of the Jewish Age, with its secondary application applying to the end of the Gospel Age. However, there have been "ends" of other previous Ages; and with the ending of each one some outstanding event occurred -either violent or of ominous portent, or both. But those occurrences were foreknown by only a very small minority, with the vast majority of mankind either having no knowledge whatever of coming events, or ignoring the warning concerning them.
Regarding Noah, it is written that he was "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2: 5), so we may safely conclude that he did his share of preaching concerning the approaching deluge; but Jesus said' that they went on eating, drinking, marrying, etc. (Luke 17:27), in the ordinary affairs of life "until the flood came and destroyed them all." Thus, the first world Age ended with a stupendous act of violence, which destroyed all human beings except those in the Ark.
The Patriarchal Age came next, which ended with the death of Jacob. It also ended with a certain tenor of violence -Jacob and all his descendants (70 in number) were forced into Egypt because they were hungry. At the time both Jacob and Joseph (two of the "just" men described in Hebrews 11) considered the move into Egypt as a blessing from the Lord. Had they had the slightest premonition of subsequent events, they would certainly not have made the move; but that knowledge was purposely withheld from them because God was there beginning a tupos (Greek for the English word type), which was the most comprehensive of all Old Testament types in that it had application in the Gospel Age to the enslavement and deliverance of God's people from antitypical Egypt (the world of sin), and to the deliverance of all the remaining individuals of the human race in the Millennium, and having its grand finale at the end of the Little Season, when will be fulfilled the antitype of the destruction of Pharaoh and his host, and the deliverance of all the sheep into everlasting Paradise restored. While the event of the Red Sea was not the end of an Age, it was the end of an era, and with it came the mass destruction and violence of the Red Sea episode.
In the strictly limited sense, the Patriarchal Age (the "fathers" -2 Pet. 3:4) refers to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the Jewish Age began with the death of Jacob -when his twelve sons each became the head of one of the tribes of Israel). They are definitely the ancestors of what we recognize as the Jewish race. However, in the broad sense the Patriarchal Age began with Noah, with his son Shem being the progenitor of the Jewish race -Shemites, or Semites, as the name is now used.
At the end of the Jewish Age and the beginning of the Gospel Age came again events of great portent -the Advent of Jesus, followed by great violence in the year 70 in the destruction of Jerusalem and the unbelieving Jews, with only a very small minority once again understanding the turn of things. The Jews had been given the Divine revelation at Sinai, with the strict ritual of the Aaronic priesthood and their whole religious system; and that system had become so imbedded in their hearts and minds that it was indeed meat and drink to them -although they had strayed far afield from the real intents and purposes of the various ceremonies. St. Paul had told them that the things that happened to the fathers during their forty-year stay in the Wilderness of Sin were very pointedly tupos (types) of things that were happening during St. Paul's life; but they "made their hearts as adamant stone [diamond point], lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the prophets." (Zech. 7:12) And extreme violence by the Roman Army resulted in the destruction of many of them, and the overthrow of-their religious and political establishments. Once more we have presently come to "the end of the age" -the Gospel Age; and again a "time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation" -extreme violence on every hand -a greatly enlarged repetition of the condition in the days of Noah, when "the earth was filled with violence." (Gen. 6:11) And here once more only a mere segment of the population have had even a blurred understanding of events. When the violence broke forth in 1914 there was perhaps thirty or forty thousand subscribers to Brother Russell's Watch Tower, from a total of about two billion members of the human race. A certain number of the latter had heard the forecast of impending doom, but gave little or no heed thereto, although many millions then living had not even heard of what was coming.
And just as great changes came with the passing of the Jewish Age, so even greater changes are now in progress, with just a small minority understanding their significance. And this applies with more or less force even to those who claim to understand "the present truth." All who have even a smattering of present truth understand that the time will arrive here in the end of the Age when there will be no further opportunity to partake of the "high calling." Some have properly concluded that such a condition has already arrived -in the rather distant past -that the "plowman overtook the reaper" (Amos 9: 13) when the reaping work came to a stop in those countries of Christendom that were engulfed in the World War in 1914.
The Jewish Age reached its fullness at its end, when the Messiah made His appearance. "The people that sat in darkness saw great light." (Matt. 4: 16) The time of favor for the Jews reached its sad end at the time they "crucified the Lord of Glory." Immediately thereafter the nation began to wane, and was completely unstable in the year 70, when the dispersion began, the priesthood and the ceremonial features of the Law were completely obliterated. A certain degree of analogy may be made here in the end of the Age with the Truth Movement, which reached its climax in 1914-16, after which that Movement also began to wane. All who are at all familiar with conditions then know it would be an insult to Brother Russell to compare his brilliant performance with that which followed his death. And that change at 1916, when he died, has been sadly deteriorating in the years that have followed. Shortly after the Apostles passed away the great Apostasy appeared, which developed in scope and strength until the Bible itself was given little or no study; people believed what they were told by their renegade leaders. And a similar phase has been developing with us since 1914, so that today many so-called Truth people do not even know what Brother Russell taught; he is seldom quoted by many, as they also blindly accept what their leaders tell them.
It is a notable feature of the Jewish and Christian religions that each of them began with a true priesthood (Aaron and his sons), which slowly degraded into priestcraft, then into priestgraft ("a den of thieves" when Jesus arrived -Matt. 21:13). The twelve Apostles followed the course of Aaron even more rigidly than did Aaron -never took up a collection. When St. Paul acknowledged a gift from some of his beloved supporters, he said this: "Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." (Phil. 4: 17) And he relates some very interesting features of his self-denials in 2 Cor. 11:21-28.
Most Truth people today still believe that the 144,000 described in Rev. 7:4; 14:1, etc., is a literal number; but it is impossible to reconcile that belief with some of their other teachings. Taken as a whole, those organizations that have developed from the Parousia Truth Movement contain many more than 144,000 who think they are of that number, thus there is something sadly askew somewhere. Brother Russell was firmly convinced that he was conducting the reaping of the Gospel-Age Harvest, which persuaded him to the further opinion that it would end shortly, after which no more would enter that select group of the 144,000 who "stood with the Lamb on Mount Zion." He saw, too, that a considerable time would elapse between the selection of the last one of that group and the establishment of the Kingdom in power and great glory. This prompted him to write the following article (Reprint 4835), into which we have inserted a few comments of our own, none of which change the thought of the writer; they simply offer a little elaboration:
THE REWARDS OF SACRIFICE
"I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1) Nowhere in the Scriptures are we commanded by the Lord to sacrifice our earthly rights and privileges. The Divine commands end at the line of justice. In other words, justice and righteousness are one and the same thing. Sacrifice, self-denial, taking up the cross to follow Jesus, are all propositions way beyond the Divine law. The Law Covenant proffered a perpetuation of human life to all who would fulfill its requirements. None of the Jews, with whom that Covenant was made, were able to fulfill those requirements, except the One who came from above and for whom was provided a perfect human body, which enabled Him to keep the requirements of the Law Covenant, entitling Him, therefore, to everlasting earthly life.
The New Law Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), under the antitypical Mediator, will offer the same reward of everlasting human perfection to al1 who will fulfill its requirements. Its superiority over the first Law Covenant will consist in its having a better Mediator, capable of helping mankind fully out of condemnation, death and weakness and authorized so to do because of the merit of His "better sacrifices."
But while Jesus, born under the Law, was obligated to the conditions of that Covenant and fulfilled them, and thru them had a right to everlasting earthly life -He did more. He sacrificed that earthly life -laid it down (John 10:17,18) -permitted sinful men to take it from Him without resistance, although He had the power to call for legions of angels for protection. This was His sacrifice. He did not sacrifice sinful weaknesses, for He had none. He sacrificed perfect life and all His legal rights and privileges. His reward for so doing was exaltation from the human nature to the Divine nature -far above that of angels, principalities and powers. (Eph. 1:21) Thus exalted, He has the human rights (which He never forfeited) to give Adam and his race -their ransom-price. These He will give to them in the end of this Age, applying them to the sealing of the New Law Covenant, under which Israel and all mankind may be restored to all that was lost thru the first man's disobedience.
SIN-OFFERING SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE DURING THE GOSPEL AGE ONLY
Throughout this Gospel Age the Law Covenant has continued upon the Jews only, the remainder of the world of mankind being without any Covenant with God and waiting for the "times of restitution" under the New Law Covenant of the future. (Acts 3:19-21; Jer. 31: 31-34) It is during this time (the Gospel Age) that God draws and calls a certain loyal class and gives them an opportunity of sharing with their Redeemer in sacrificial death. The faithful will be counted His members, or His Bride or joint-heirs in His Kingdom of glory and honor and immortality. All men, in proportion as they know the Divine will (what is just, from the Divine standpoint), are correspondingly duty bound to fulfill that righteous requirement or Law of God to the extent of ability. But those desirous of following in the footsteps of Jesus are shown what they can do more than justice; but they are not commanded to do more. All sacrificing is a privilege, not a duty, not a command. In harmony with this, St. Paul writes, not commandingly, but entreatingly, "I beseech you, brethren… present your bodies living sacrifices." He did not command this. To have made it a command would at once prevent the opportunity of sacrifice. What we sacrifice is something that is not commanded. Whatever is commanded of God is obligation and not sacrifice.
The Ancient Worthies presented their bodies, laid down their lives, renouncing earthly rights, but they did not sacrifice for sin. Why? God did not call for human sacrifices for sin prior to Jesus' sacrifice of Himself. God was unwilling to accept imperfect, blemished creatures at His altar. They might lay down their lives, but He would not count-them sacrifices. Jesus was accepted as a sacrifice for sin because He was perfect, and His followers, since Pentecost, have been acceptable as sacrifices, because they were perfect -made so by the Redeemer's imputation to them of a sufficiency of His merit to compensate their blemishes. The spirit-begotten are reckoned perfect so long as they are faithful.
Aaron was commanded to offer the sin-offering sacrifices of the Day of Atonement "without blemish," which he scrupulously did. And it is probably true that the renegade priesthood that developed later also meticulously followed that procedure, because those priests would have died had they offered a blemished animal; and we have no record that any of them ever did die thru failure to keep that law. Jesus in His perfection was the antitype of the Atonement Day bullock; and His Gospel-Age followers -represented in the Atonement Day Lord's goat -are reckoned perfect because of the perfection of Jesus Himself.
Thus this Gospel Age is called the "acceptable day [or time] of the Lord," because, during this Gospel Age, God is willing to accept a predestinated number as joint-sacrificers with Jesus, But as soon as that' predestinated number shall have been completed the acceptable time will immediately end. No more presentations will be accepted as sacrifices -the antitypical Day of Atonement will have ended in its sacrificial part.
But suppose that some should present themselves after the close of the "acceptable time"; what would be their status and God's dealing with them? Since God is unchangeable, we must assume that He would always be pleased to have His creatures devote their lives wholly and unreservedly to the doing of His will, as He was pleased with the faithfulness of the Ancient Worthies to lay down their lives before a Covenant of Sacrifice was in force. We may reason that as God has promised human perfection to those Ancient Worthies who laid down their lives, He would be willing similarly to reward any who might follow the same course after the completion of the Church -after the ending of the "acceptable time" of sacrifice.
Quite likely, therefore, there will, be some in the end of this Age who, although faithful unto death, will not have been begotten of the Holy Spirit and not attain the spirit plane of being in the resurrection, but who will come forth members of the same class as the Ancient Worthies, who were developed before this Age began.
THE PRESENTATION OF ONESELF ALWAYS A REASONABLE SERVICE
In view of these facts our advice to all who love the Lord and who desire to be in complete fellowship with Him is the same message that has gone forth throughout this Age -"We beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, present your bodies living sacrifices." We cannot now assure them that, after presenting themselves as sacrifices, God will accept them as such and grant them spirit-begetting to a new nature; but we can assure them that God always gives large rewards to those who manifest their faith and loyalty towards Him and His cause. We can tell them, too, that, to our understanding, the Scriptures teach that the Ancient Worthies (of which they may be a part if they fail to be accepted to the new nature) will be highly honored of God, perfect on the human plane and made "princes in all the earth." (Psa. 45:16) We can assure them that, to our understanding, these princes will have a glorious precedence over the remainder of mankind as the special representatives of the invisible Messiah class for a thousand years. We can assure them that, to our understanding, after participating in that glorious work, these princes will be uplifted at the close of the Millennium to the spirit plane of being -as part of the antitypical Levites. (Excerpts by John J. Hoefle, No. 324, June 1982)
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ASSAD DOESN'T NEED TO THREATEN ISRAEL BARAK IS DOING IT FOR HIM
Ehud Barak has apparently gone back to Clinton for help with his local public relations campaign. He still thinks that it was Carville who won the election for him rather than Netanyahu's failure to lead. Who but an American public relations whiz would think to sell the Golan give-away to the Jewish People by using coercion tactics?
Who ever heard of an experienced soldier explaining to his own people that we should surrender, because, if we don't, the enemy will go to war with us? Who ever heard of an elected Prime Minister of any country make such an absurd statement? When the Israeli Prime Minister publicly threatens his own people by telling us that, if we fail to achieve a peace agreement with Syria we are inviting war, he is actually being the representative of our enemies I III He is telling us, in effect, that we have no choice but to surrender to Syria for "peace." If we buy this garbage, then the next item on the agenda is giving away Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem to Arafat for exactly the same reason! And why stop there? Certainly the Arabs living in the north would prefer to be a part of the PLO state. Why not give them Haifa? And what of the Arabs living in Jaffa? How can we interfere with their desires without inviting war? There is no end to this self-defeating policy.
The fact is really simple. Once you set the precedent that you are prepared to surrender without a fight, then the list of demands and demanders grows proportionately. Everyone wants a piece of the Israeli pie. And if we are giving it away, why shouldn't everyone come to get his free piece? No country ever gained respect and/or peace by appeasing its enemies. On the contrary. History has shown us that those who back down to coercion only invite more of the same. Those who speak of gaining peace by surrender to tyranny are cowardly self-deceivers.
Barak warned us that we should remember the scuds that were fired upon us by Iraq. Perhaps we should also remember the right wing Israeli government which chose not to fight back. Had we responded to the first scud with our own military might, there well may have been an end to it immediately. Instead we trusted our security to the hands of Bush. Doesn't it seem strange that the combined might of all those superpowers was unable to neutralize little Iraq? It was nothing less than a miracle that far more harm wasn't done to this country.
Somebody should tell our leaders that we are not a vassal of the United States. Any leader of a sovereign nation has, as his first responsibility, the obligation to defend that nation. Shamir failed to do this both during the intifada and the Gulf War. And Barak is presently failing by counseling surrender to Syria. It is nice to dream about making everyone's mother happy in the knowledge that we are building a new world of peace and tranquility for their children. But it is criminal to suggest that by surrendering to ruthless tyrants such will be the case.
Now, before we find ourselves with our backs to the sea, is the time to back away from Barak and bring this government down. Any coalition partner who can remain in this government at this time does not deserve the support of the Jewish people in the next election. Let Shas and the NRP have the courage to at long last act like Jews and walk out of this government of treason.
Whatever game Mr. Barak is playing with Syria, it is important for all of us to recognize that peace is certainly not one of the outcomes. If Barak is truly an honest man, then we have nothing to worry about. He clearly stated that he is not willing to depart from any of the Golan Heights without a full peace. If we do not have true peace with Egypt and the East Bank of Israel, then we certainly will never achieve such a peace with Syria. But the problem is that we are all participants in self-deception.
Abraham Lincoln once asked one of his aides to tell him how many legs a cow had. Perplexed at the question the aide replied that a cow has four legs. The president was pleased with the answer and then asked him how many legs the cow would have if we called its tail a leg. The aide replied that, in such a case it would have five legs. President Lincoln quickly responded that this was a big mistake. To call a cow's tail a leg does not make it one.
We are calling a process of successive surrender to our enemies peace. But calling surrender such a name doesn't change the fact that it really isn't and never will be peace.
(A Voice from Hebron, by Gary M. Cooperberg, December 20, 1999)
"BIBLE SHIFTS FROM HISTORY TO HUMANITIES: TALLAHASSEE -Students in Marion and Levy counties were asked during an exam on 1 Corinthians, 'Why is it hard for a non-Christian to understand things about God?'
"In Okaloosa County, students were asked, 'What is Jesus Christ's relationship to God, to creation and to you?'
"Among the harshest critics has been state Rep. Curt Levine, D-Boca Raton, who asked for the Department of Education, investigation. Levine criticized the 'anti-semitic and proselytizing instructional materials' being used in Some of the counties.
"Other counties where the Bible courses are being taught include: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Gulf, Taylor, Madison, Columbia, Clay, Levy, and Hillsborough." (Excerpts from The Orlando Sentinel, March 17, 2000)
"ISRAEL GIVES UP MORE LAND IN BID FOR PEACE: The move, effective Tuesday, leaves Palestinians in control of 41 percent of the West Bank. JERUSALEM -In the past, Israel has refused to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners from east Jerusalem because it does not recognize Palestinian jurisdiction over residents from the sector of the city it captured in the 1967 Mideast War.
"Ahmed Sublaban, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners Club in Jerusalem, said the prisoner release will help to move the peace negotiations forward because 'it shows the families [of the prisoners] that the peace process is tangible and that they can benefit from the fruits of peace.'
"He called on Israel to release all of the approximately 1,650 Palestinian prisoners being held for anti-Israel activity -so-called security prisoners."
(Excerpts from Associated Press, March 20, 2000)
"ARAFAT'S POPE: If the past is prologue, the present should be a defiant rebuff of historic moral lapses. Regrettably, though, the lapses are often intentional and represent immoral prejudice.
"Not heeding the lessons of Pope Pius' collusion with Hitler during the Holocaust, Pope John Paul II has aligned himself with Yasir Arafat. Religious leaders should be the arbiters of religious and moral law, not the henchmen of executioners. John Paul II, in signing an accord with the PLO condemning Israel's control of east Jerusalem as 'morally and legally unacceptable, ' has involved the Holy See in a relationship reminiscent of that of Pope Pius XII's with Hitler.
"The Vatican's vestigial anti-Jewish overtones reverberate throughout the centuries. The Pope's actions bring to mind the echoes of Jewish supplicants throughout the centuries who were barred from praying at the holiest of sites in Israel. Never have Catholics, Muslims, Jews and the world's religionists been entitled to the degree of free religious access that they enjoy since those areas have been under Israeli jurisdiction. The religious character of Jerusalem has remained unqualified since the city's unification in 1967. That is by the grace of the Israeli government, a government that the Vatican sees fit to impugn in morally unacceptable terms.
"The papal pronouncement follows on the heels of a 1998 assessment by the Vatican's foreign minister calling the Israeli presence in eastern Jerusalem an 'illegal occupation.' Yet, that same moral outrage was absent when Jews were denied the right to pray at the Kotel from 1948 through 1967, when Jordan controlled east Jerusalem.
"The moral outrage of the papacy seems misplaced, fifty years after Pope Pius XII could not muster enough moral revulsion to condemn Hitler and the Final Solution. In 'Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, ' John Cornwell examines the geopolitical influence that Pope Pius exerted on the European theater. Vatican documents verify that he used 'moral blackmail' to solidify Rome's authority on Germany. That authority offered the most powerful endorsement of Hitler with the 'Reich Concordat,' the treaty with Hitler that legitimized his program to kill the Jews. It was by Pius' hand that moral and ethical outrage were purged from Catholic doctrine.
"The Vatican has, as yet, not come to terms with Pope Pius' complicity in the murder of millions of Jews. Until that happens, the Church should accept that moral indignance is the exclusive dominion of moral individuals, whose resume does not include terrorism 'and murder. Otherwise, John Paul II will be Arafat's Pope, as much as Pius was Hitler's Pope.
(What's On Your Mind, by Assemblyman Dov Hikind, The Jewish Press, February 25, 2000)
"AN OPEN LETTER TO JOHN PAUL II: Sir: When the news came out that you were meeting with Yasir Arafat about some moral issue, I was filled with great hope. Finally, I thought, someone was going to show moral leadership and demand from this man that he turn himself in as a war criminal. Yes, it looked as if you were going to ask that he be tried for the murder of innocent Jewish children. It appeared that you were going to exhort the world to reconsider its removal of him from the list of international terrorists, and ask the U.S. why it backed off its oath to never negotiate with someone it had termed a ruthless murderer.
"Imagine my surprise when you met with Arafat to issue a joint proclamation stating that any attempt by the Jewish State to control Jerusalem's fate is 'morally and legally unacceptable.' Of all things to hear from you sir! You who expressed regret for what your church had done to the Jews over the ages. We thought you had pledged to be a friend of Israel. Why, then, would you interfere in the internal affairs of Israel, an intervention which could cause serious harm to the Jewish State?
"You say that 2,000 years ago, a rabbi from Nazaretb fought to keep Rome from interfering in Jerusalem. Well, today, on that issue, this rabbi from Monsey agrees with him completely. Evidently, you don't. How unChristian!
"Interference by your church in the internal affairs of Israel conjures up the wish of Justin Martyr, one of your early saints, who wanted Jewish towns to be consumed in flames, and demanded that no Jew be able to go to Jerusalem.
"Let us look at the record of the powers who have controlled Jerusalem, and their efforts to protect its places holy to various religions:
"Israeli soldiers died (you should read the list of their names) recapturing Jerusalem because they did not want to take the city by bombarding it which would have destroyed some of your churches. That respect for what various groups consider holy places was not demonstrated by the Jordanians and their Palestinian inhabitants who, while in control of Jerusalem, smashed Jewish synagogues and used them for latrines. And now -you, sir, a man whose predecessors rejoiced in the sacking of Jerusalem, stand together with the head of those Palestinians -a murderer of Jewish children -a man whose Koran considers you an infidel -and you both feel you have the right to preach to the Jews about the morality of control of Jerusalem! Jerusalem, the city which your very Bible states as belonging to the Jews. Jerusalem, the city which, had it been under Jewish control in 1939, would have been a haven for escapees from the Holocaust. The Jews had no one to speak up for them then. Your predecessor Pius XII fell silent. That was bad enough. But, now, as nazism rises once again in Austria and Germany, as Iran and Iraq load up with Scuds, you demand that Jews not be in control of Jerusalem.
"Not on your life, sir! Your voice could serve as an instrument of peace in the world. Joint statements with a murderer have the very opposite effect. There is still time to reconsider.
"The Jewish national memory is very long. We remember what happened to us 60 years ago. We also remember what your church leaders did to us and to our city throughout the centuries -especially Godfrey of Bouillon, who, in the First Crusade of 1095, wrote to Pope Urban II stating that 'in the Porch and in the Temple of Solomon our people had the vile blood... up to the knees of their horses. ' "In the words of a recently martyred Rabbi, Never Again, sir, Never Again." (The Spivak Report, by Rabbi Yaakov Spivak, The Jewish Press, February 25, 2000)
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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST
QUESTION -In the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46) to whom does the word nations refer?
ANSWER -This parable is entirely applied to the world, to the nations [peoples], the heathen in the Kingdom. For centuries the Jews had been accustomed to thinking of themselves as God's nation, God's people. All others they styled heathen, Gentiles, the people, the nations; and in the prophecies God treated the matter from this standpoint. So when spiritual Israel was received into Divine favor as the Royal Priesthood, the Holy Nation, the Peculiar people, all the remainder of mankind was properly enough to be thought of and described as "the nations," "the Gentiles."
In line with this our Lord in this parable tells what is to befall after His Kingdom shall have been set up -after the selection of the true church class to be the Bride, the Lamb's wife and joint-heirs in His Kingdom, in His throne. This, we notice, is very clearly stated by the Master, saying, "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels [saints] with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." (v. 31) Who, after proper consideration, will say that this is a matter of the past? Who will dispute that this is a description of Messiah's Kingdom following His Parousia and His Epiphaniea at His Second Advent?
Then follows the description of the work of the Millennial Age. "Before him shall be gathered all nations." (v. 32) This means all the people of the world outside the Lord's Holy nation, His peculiar people, the Church and other elect classes. Everybody except these will be before His great white throne of justice, mercy and love; that will be their judgment time. "When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness." (lsa. 26:9) "Bec ause he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:31)
For centuries the nations have claimed to be Christian kingdoms and called themselves Christendom, which means Christ's Kingdom. But God never approved of calling these nations by the name of Christ. Their only right, aside from the vote of the people, is in God's limited grant to rule until He comes whose right the dominion is. Let it be recognized that the best and the worst of earth's nations are but "kingdoms of this world," whose lease of power from God is now expired and they will give way to their ordained successor, the Kingdom of Messiah.
Read what God tells Israel in Jer. 30:11: "For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." This is repeated in Jer. 46:28.
Since nations will have no resurrection as nations, their reaping would come in this present evil world. (Gall: 4) The decision has already been made against present governments and institutions. "Mene, Mene, Teke1, Upharsin... Thou art weighted in the balance and found wanting." (Dan. 5: 25-28) The nations have been judged and now the eviction is taking place. We have seen the fall of one nation after another. Some have long since disappeared.
The establishment of the Lord's Kingdom will be in the top of these Kingdoms while they still exist (Isa. 2:2, 3; Micah 4:1) -that is, it will replace them. So while these nations are crumbling His Kingdom is rising. And the people will "go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob." Hallelujah!