No. 766
“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” (Isa. 32:1)
A great change in the affairs of men is indicated and acknowledged by all thoughtful, intelligent people. The world’s pace during the past 150 years astonishes everyone. The majority of scientific books written a century ago are considered worthless today. Rules, customs and theories of the past have been abandoned as worthless – in science, manufacturing, communications, art, finance and commerce. All these changes necessitate a new view of social conditions and a reexamination of the relationship of religion and the Bible to man and his conditions.
The business and social world have been compelled to keep pace with the steps of progress, whether gladly or reluctantly, but those professing to be the religious faithful have been placed in a most awkward position. Religion and morality constitute the backbone and fiber of the best progress in civilization, but the inability of religious thought to adjust itself to the changed conditions is causing a serious disadvantage to those who look to the Almighty for guidance in life’s affairs.
The increase in worldly wisdom, the improved human conditions, the advancement along scientific lines, and the increase of material prosperity, have turned many of the world’s brightest intellects away from God and from the Bible. Many of these, still professing Christianity in an outward, formal manner, have really abandoned it in favor of other theories. They have wandered from the divine revelation, the Bible, into paths of speculation. They have pondered that the reverse of what the Bible states is true: that instead of man falling from the image of God into sin and death, he is gradually rising upward from an ape-like condition to divine heights. Instead of looking for a great Deliverer, Messiah, Savior, Life-Giver, they hope to be left alone by any outside influence so that certain supposed laws of evolution may help them upward and onward to glory, honor and immortality.
As a result, religious thought today is chaotic and the whole of Christendom has become practically agnostic. They admit that they do not know the Truth nor how to adjust their reasoning to present conditions. They are in an attitude of expectation, seeking light, yet fearing the light because it might expose their cherished errors and force them to abandon their selfish hopes and ambitions. All the while they still pretend to know many things which we and they know that they do not know. The strain is becoming more intense and gradually everyone is recognizing that there is an impending crisis because the people are awakening and thinking, and will no longer accept errors as before.
CONVERTING THE WORLD TO GOD
In times past, Christian people had full faith in the Bible, although they seriously misunderstood it and read it through various sectarian lenses. They were fully agreed that God had given His Church the commission to convert the whole world and to establish Messiah’s Kingdom. They believed the nations would then learn war no more and would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Zealous Christians warned that the heathen were going to a hell of eternal torment at the rate of many thousands every day.
Men and women of noble character sacrificed their earthly interests to assist the heathen – to prevent that awful catastrophe which some other Christian people of an earlier day had declared was predestined and unalterable. They certainly attempted to do good work and we trust that some good was accomplished. However, we know that harm was also done in promoting fallacious conceptions about the character and plan of the Creator.
Eventually people with inquisitive minds began to realize that the number of heathen in the world was increasing rather than decreasing, when compared to a century before. Of course, there are those who refuse knowledge and zealously claim that large contributions of money would enable them to bring the whole world to God. Nevertheless, the masses can no longer be swayed to the same extent. Thinking people refuse to believe that for centuries God has been calmly viewing the situation and allowing untold millions to go to eternal torment. They refuse to believe that they themselves are more compassionate and sympathetic than their Creator!
Even the non-Christian world is awakening to the inconsistency of what has been presented to them under the label of the Gospel. They are learning that the word Gospel signifies “good news” and that what has been preached to them is the most awful news imaginable – namely, that they and the majority of the world have been sentenced to eternal torture because of ignorance or because they followed other creeds in which they honestly believed. The missionaries are perplexed, not knowing what to preach since the message of eternal damnation does not appeal to those they are trying to convert.
The majority of ministers and professors at theological colleges have become Higher Critics and no longer accept the Bible as the Word of God. They do not believe the Gospel the missionary societies were organized to proclaim. Being perplexed, many are prepared to abandon the former purpose of the missions, and to continue their work merely along humanitarian lines. Missionary effort has turned gradually to secular education and medical care with little religious doctrine – and so much the better.
Most people realize that the Kingdom of Messiah cannot be brought about by the conversion of the world. Informed people recognize that more people in the so-called Christian world have been lost to Christianity in recent years than have been converted in the non-Christian world. We say lost to Christianity, because why should anyone be called a Christian who has lost all faith in the Bible and its teachings? To join hands against these ominous conditions, the clergy of all denominations favor church union or federation. While the people feel comparatively little interest in that proposition, they do not oppose it.
The problem is that we have blundered in ignorantly misreading the Bible, twisting what we have read and taking certain texts out of context to support our various creeds. We have neglected the honest, truthful study which we should have given to the Father’s Word and the confusion of Christendom is the result. The Scriptures tell us that we are in the midst of a great falling away from faith in God and the Bible. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Psalmist: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand.” (Psa. 91:7) Only the “Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” will be kept from stumbling in this evil day. (John 1:47) The chaos already seen everywhere is only the beginning.
HELP IS NEAR
Christendom failed by rejecting God’s plan and accepting a human plan. It declared that the Church was going to “conquer the world for Jesus” and present it to Him as a trophy, but Christendom has not even been able to convert itself, which is the specific work the Master gave the Church to do. Greater humility would have shown them their folly long ago.
Bible students do not need to be reminded of God’s promises about the glorious reign of Messiah – how every knee will bow and every tongue confess and how the blind will see and the deaf will hear. (Rom. 14:11; Isa. 35:5) Bible students know that the blessing of the Lord will be with Israel, restored to His favor, and will operate through Israel for the blessing of all peoples. They remember the prophecies showing earthly governments destroyed and the Kingdom of Heaven established on their ruins. They remember the Jubilee picture repeated by the Israelites every fiftieth year, proclaiming liberty for the people, and typifying restitution of all that was lost through sin, and which is to be restored through Messiah’s Kingdom.
Bible students also know that nearly all of our Lord’s parables illustrated something connected with the Kingdom or the Kingdom class. They know that the Master proclaimed the Kingdom and taught His followers to pray for it to come. They know that all of the Apostles referred to the Kingdom and taught that it would be the realization of the hopes of the Church. They know it will be the time when God’s New Covenant with Israel will go into effect, the time when Israel will be regathered and the Law will go forth from Zion, the Spiritual Kingdom, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem, the capital of the earthly Kingdom. (Isa. 2:3) Humanity is beginning to realize it needs God’s remedy; its establishment will be “the desire of all nations.” (Hag. 2:7)
Bible students have come to see that the Gospel Age has been the time when Messiah has been selecting a saintly class from among Jews and Gentiles, testing and proving their loyalty to God and to righteousness. These are to be Messiah’s assistants – the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. As Abraham typified the heavenly Father, so the Messiah was typified by Isaac, and Messiah’s Bride – His joint-heir and co-laborer in His Kingdom – was typified by Rebekah.
Our neglect of the Word of God and the wrong influence of the creeds of the Dark Ages have been our undoing. We have failed to cultivate the fruits of the Holy Spirit – meekness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, brotherly kindness, and love. Instead, we have cultivated pride, ambition, and selfishness. We have done things we ought not to have done, and we have left undone things we ought to have done. The bad example set by Christian people has been thoroughly appropriated by the world. Our help must come from God and that help is near.
THE GREAT DAY OF WRATH
Because faith in the Bible and respect for God and His Word is waning, we should expect what the Scriptures declare to be at hand at the beginning of Messiah’s reign: “And at that time shall Michael stand up . . . and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:18) The selfishness cultivated among both the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, will result in the bond of human sympathy and brotherhood being utterly snapped in riotous selfishness. (Isa. 19:2) The Scriptures suggest that the conflict will be short, but it must last long enough to teach humanity a lesson never to be forgotten – that God’s arrangements must stand and be obeyed before blessings can come to the world.
Messiah’s Kingdom will not only bless those then living, but it will also gradually awaken the dead and give the entire human race a full opportunity to attain either everlasting life or everlasting death. When we understand this, we see that the Kingdom must be a spiritual one, just as Satan’s kingdom, which it supersedes, is spiritual.
Our opening text is in full harmony with this thought: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” (Isa. 32:1) Messiah, Head and Body will be that Great King, and the Princes who will execute judgment will be the Ancient Worthies, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets. This is the meaning of the Lord’s promise to Israel, “And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning.” (Isa. 1:26)
These Ancient Worthies, great in faith and obedience to God, will be known to the Jews as the “fathers.” The prophecy concerning them declares: “Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou [Messiah] mayest make princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) They will be the “children” of Messiah in the sense that they will derive their resurrection life from Him. The Scriptures assure us that eventually the whole world will receive new life from Messiah, replacing the life received from Adam that was forfeited through sin. Among the various titles given to Messiah by the Prophets are “everlasting Father,” as well as “Prince of Peace.” “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” (Isa. 9:6-7)
(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 318-321.)
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“I WILL SEND YOU ELIJAH”
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:5-6)
Since Christ’s Millennial Kingdom cannot be established until God first sends Elijah the Prophet, where should we look for the promised Elijah? No human being fulfills the requirements of the prophecy of Elijah; the fulfillment must be something on a much larger, grander scale.
Jesus said of John the Baptist, “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” (Matt. 11:14) That is to say, John the Baptist was acting among the Jewish household of faith in the power and spirit of Elijah, introducing Jesus in the flesh. The work of John the Baptist at our Lord’s First Advent was merely a foreshadowing, or illustration, of the greater work of the greater Elijah, whose ministry is to introduce the Second Advent of Christ and the Church in glory.
The relationship of John the Baptist to the future Elijah, the greater Elijah, was very similar to the relationship of our Lord Jesus at His First Advent to the greater Christ. That is to say, Jesus presented Himself to the Jews knowing in advance that He would be rejected by them. He knew He would be crucified and raised from the dead on the third day; He knew He would appear in the presence of God on behalf of the Church; He knew He would be absent from the world for more than eighteen centuries while a “little flock” was selected to be His Bride; He knew that at His Second Advent, the Christ would be glorified and the Kingdom of God would be established. He knew that then all the families of the earth would be blessed.
John the Baptist served the purpose of Elijah to those Jews who received Jesus as the Messiah, but the work of John was far from accomplishing the great things predicted of “Elijah the Prophet.” Nevertheless, in every detail there was some likeness between John and the true antitypical Elijah. For instance, he failed to establish unity and harmony in Israel’s relationship to their God; he failed to do this mediatorial work except for a few. The masses were unprepared for his message; consequently, that typical nation experienced a judgment from the Lord, a time of trouble such as they had never before experienced. This foreshadows the fact that the antitypical Elijah will similarly fail to establish peace, harmony, righteousness, and relationship between God and man on earth. Consequently, the Gospel Age will end as did the Jewish Age, with a time of trouble.
THE CHURCH IN THE FLESH IS ELIJAH
The Church in the flesh on this side the veil is the great Elijah mentioned in our opening text, while the Church in glory on the other side of the veil is the Christ, Head and Body. The Lord Jesus in the flesh, the Apostles in the flesh and all the faithful of the Lord’s people, while in the flesh throughout the Gospel Age, have been fulfilling the work ascribed to Elijah, seeking to bring about harmony, reconciliation and fellowship between God and His people. God laid the foundation for the reconciliation in the sacrifice of His Son. He has made His people “able ministers” of His Word, as if beseeching men to be reconciled to Him through them. (2 Cor. 3:6) Our Lord Jesus began this work while in the flesh, as the Head of this great Elijah, and during the Gospel Age the Church in the flesh has been laboring under His supervision to reconcile as many of the world as have been willing to hear and follow.
It was not prophesied that Elijah would be successful. On the contrary, the prophecy stated that a “curse” would follow if his efforts were unsuccessful, implying that this was the expected outcome. Other Scriptures show that the Lord foreknew and foretold through the Prophets that the great time of trouble would surely come. For example, the words of Zephaniah, the Prophet: “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, 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.” (Zeph. 3:8)
That the fiery trouble of that day will be effective and will yield blessed results is then distinctly shown: “For then will I turn to the people a pure language [a pure message], that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9) The scourging, the curse, the time of trouble, the symbolic fire, will accomplish for mankind in a short time what the message of Elijah failed to accomplish.
The Prophet Daniel refers to this time of trouble as does Revelation. (Dan. 12:1; Rev. 11:15-18) The Apostle Paul also notes the certain coming of this “curse” and declares that our Lord, at His Second Advent, will be revealed “in flaming fire taking vengeance.” (2 Thess. 1:8) The fire is a symbol of the destructive force which will be exercised against everything that will oppose the laws of Messiah’s Kingdom. Of that day he tells us: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” (1 Cor. 3:13)
The Apostle James, also guided by the Holy Spirit, foreknew that the Elijah class would not be successful in its endeavor to bring about a reconciliation, and that the result would be a time of “miseries” – particularly upon Christendom and the wealthy classes. (James, Chapter 5) The Apostle Peter likewise tells us of this fiery trouble to come upon the world in the end of this Gospel Age because of the failure of antitypical Elijah, the Church in the flesh, to establish righteousness, love, and reconciliation with God. (2 Pet. 3:10)
A COMPARISON OF ELIJAH AND THE CHURCH
Elijah is indirectly, shown in the New Testament to have been a type of the Gospel Church, his experiences typifying its experiences. The comparison of the features and incidents of the life of Elijah to the history of the Church is astonishing. Here are some of the remarkable parallels:
(1) Elijah was persecuted because of his fidelity to the Truth. The Church has also experienced such persecution.
(2) Elijah’s principal persecutor was Jezebel, the wicked queen of Israel, who is mentioned by name as the type of the enemy of the saints. (Rev. 2:20) The principal persecutor of the Church was the papacy, the apostate church which claims to be a queen. (Rev. 18:7)
(3) Jezebel’s power of persecution was accomplished through her husband, Ahab the king. Papacy’s power of persecution was accomplished through the Roman Empire to which it was joined.
(4) Elijah fled from Jezebel into the wilderness, where he was miraculously nourished by the Lord. (1 Kings 17:5-9) The true Church fled symbolically into the wilderness of isolation, but was miraculously sustained by God. (Rev. 12:6, 16)
(5) Elijah was three and one-half years in the wilderness, and during that time there was no rain, and a great famine prevailed. (Jas. 5:17; 1 Kings 17:7; 1 Kings 18:2) The Church was three and one-half symbolic years, or 1,260 literal years, in the wilderness condition, during which time there was a spiritual famine and thirst because of lack of Truth, the Living Water, the Bread of Life. (Rev. 12:6; Rev. 11:3; Amos 8:11)
(6) Elijah returned from the wilderness at the close of the three and a half years and manifested the errors of Jezebel’s priests. The true God was then honored and copious rains fell. (1 Kings 18:21-45) At the close of the 1,260 years (1799 A.D.), the power of the Truth and its witnesses was manifested and the true Church again came into prominence. Since that time a great blessing of refreshment has come to the world and millions of copies of Bibles have been distributed every year.
(7) King Ahab and his people at first rejoiced that Elijah and his God were honored, but the spirit of Jezebel remained unchanged; she again sought Elijah’s life, and he again was compelled to flee into the wilderness. (1 Kings 19:1-4) After the initial joy at the blessings brought by the flood of Bibles, the Jezebel principle and spirit continued, not only in Papacy, but also in Protestantism. The Lord’s true followers had to again flee into the wilderness, as did Elijah, their type.
(8) Elijah’s career ended by his being taken from the earth. (2 Kings 2:11) The saints will likewise be taken from the earth and be changed to heavenly conditions. This will be the end of the Elijah class.
THE CONDITION OF THE WORLD
Despite the failure of antitypical Elijah to convert the world, we do see a spread of humanitarian sentiment throughout the world. We are glad to note that a larger number of people than ever before possess some measure of sympathy for one another. While benevolent efforts by both governments and private persons and entities abound, we cannot credit them primarily to Christian sentiment. On the contrary, those professing non-Christian religions are just as likely to be benevolent as those who profess Christianity.
It is easy to see that a measure of selfishness runs through all these various benevolent efforts. Politicians who fund programs for the public good are influenced in large measure by a desire to curry favor among their constituents and those whose financial interests are benefited. Many philanthropists hope to obtain for themselves positions of influence or advantage as a result of their benevolences. We live in a time when many wealthy people have more money than they can spend. While the natural man has a propensity for benevolence, he also has an innate desire for approval. It is a natural thing for men to use their money to bring honor upon themselves while giving comfort or advantage to others.
The Gospel, mixed more or less with error, has been preached for nearly twenty centuries. Yet as we look at the world, we see that it has still not been converted to Christianity. What is still more discouraging is that the portion of the human family credited with being Christian is responsible for a large part of the world’s crime and corruption of every type.
We are not claiming that this is the result of Christianity. We are not claiming that the false teachings of the sects promote these conditions. What we do claim is that these facts prove that the knowledge of “the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Gal. 5:1) affects favorably only a small proportion of those who come in contact with it. Among those favorably affected, few have been saints who in their earthly lives have been members of the great antitypical Elijah, devoted to promoting the Gospel and doing their all to turn men from sin and to harmony with the Lord.
IS THE WORLD’S CONVERSION HOPELESS?
Some tell us that the world is rapidly being converted and that soon we will see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven, in fulfillment of the Lord’s Prayer. These dear friends are surely closing their eyes to the plain facts of the case. Even in the most moral and law-abiding places in the world, the condition is still far from the condition described in the Lord’s Prayer. Is God’s will done anywhere on earth as it is done in Heaven? Surely not!
If the Elijah class, the Church in the flesh, could accomplish such a conversion of the whole world as would bring all to the condition of the most moral places on earth, the world would still be in the very condition which would require the time of trouble to usher in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.
As proof, look back to where the Gospel was first preached. Look at Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth, Rome, and the cities of Asia Minor. The Gospel was first successfully planted there, but what do we see? We see that almost every spark of true religion, true Christianity, has died out in all these places. What could we then hope for in respect to the world in general? If we could establish Christianity in every quarter of the globe, in every city and town and village and hamlet, not only would they still be far from the condition mentioned in our Lord’s Prayer, but we have no assurance of their remaining even in that moderate condition for any length of time.
What we need is the Second Advent of our Master and the establishment of His Kingdom, not only in great Glory, but also in great power – the forcible establishment of righteousness in the earth. The world will need what the Lord has promised for that glorious Millennial Reign, namely, that full assistance will be granted to all who will then desire it. The world will need the power of the “times of restitution” to lift up all who are willing out of degradation, bringing them back to man’s original perfection. (Acts 3:19-23)
The work of the Elijah class has consisted only of gathering its members and witnessing to the rest of the world. We may be surprised by how little has been accomplished by the Lord’s faithful followers, but this was all the work that the Lord intended for this age. He foreknew that the efforts of the Elijah class would yield meagre results. As for what its work will be as the Body of Christ on the other side of the veil, we will leave that for consideration at a later time.
(Based on What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, pages 322-326.)
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