No. 769
“And it shall come to pass in the last [one of the] days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains . . . and all nations shall flow unto it.” (Isa. 2:2)
It is a mistake to suppose these words imply the end of time, or the end of the world in the ordinary sense. The Bible declares: “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.” (Eccl. 1:4) The Bible tells of the wonderful blessings of Restitution, when the Lord’s footstool will “blossom as the rose” – paradise restored. (Isa. 35:1) We suggest the translation “the last one of the days” for what is translated “the last days” in the King James Version, because the Hebrew word for “last” is singular in number, and therefore does not modify the Hebrew plural noun for “days.”
The last one of the days is the seventh day, because there are seven days in a week. While we use the decimal system, counting by tens, God uses the septenary system, counting by sevens. Hence seven is the divine number of completeness, while ten is the number of completeness for natures lower than the divine. This accounts for the frequency of the number seven in the Bible – seven days in a week, seven years in a Sabbath cycle, seven of these Sabbath cycles leading up to the Jubilee Year, seven churches, seven angels of the seven churches, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lights, seven spirits of God, seven eyes, seven horns, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, etc. This proves that the “last one of the days” means the seventh day; however, since a thousand of our years make a day of God’s time (2 Pet. 3:8), the expression “the last one of the days” means the seventh thousand-year day, and not a seventh day of twenty-four hours.
The Jews rightly understood that the seven days of the week, six of labor and the seventh of rest, were typical of seven greater days of a thousand years each. (Col. 2:16-17) The New Testament writers seem to have had the same thought. Thus our Lord declared that those who reject Him will be judged by His words “in the last day.” (John 12:48) Similarly, Martha declared her faith in the resurrection of her brother, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24) That great day – the Millennial Day, the Day of Christ – will witness the overthrow of Satan, sin, death and all unrighteousness and the uplifting of humanity. It is during this day that Messiah will put down all things opposed to righteousness: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26) The resurrection process will be in operation throughout that glorious day; mankind will rise out of its meanness, sin, sickness and death, back to all that was lost in Eden and redeemed on the Cross.
The last one of the days is referred to as being “after those days.” That is, it is after the days when sin and death are allowed to reign. God promises to make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah “after those days.” Through it, they will be uplifted and the blessings will flow from them to all nations. (Jer. 31:31-34; Isa. 2:2) It will be “after those days” also when God promises: “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.” (Joel 2:28) Our opening text is to be viewed from this standpoint: in the last one of these days, in the promised Day of Messiah, the Mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established, fixed, in the very top of the mountains – above all other kingdoms. This is in full accord with the entire tenor of the Scriptures. A mountain symbolizes a kingdom; and, as the Prophet declares, God’s Kingdom will be the highest mountain, overtopping all other kingdoms, established or fixed permanently above all others.
Messiah the King, along with His Elect Bride and Associate, will exercise His divine power. Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and sin will no longer be permitted. Justice will be executed upon the earth from the invisible plane of glory and majesty. Every good word, thought and deed will be rewarded, and every evil thought, word and deed will be punished swiftly and surely. As the Lord declared through the Prophet: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” (Isa. 11:9)
The world will then speedily learn righteousness: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” (Isa. 29:18) “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9) Now the world doubts the very existence of God, and declares that if He exists He pays little or no heed to wrongdoers. “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” (Mal. 3:15) But the new day will change all this: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” (Isa. 28:17)
The present tendency of the world is to gravitate downward, but there will be a reversal of this order. All nations will then flow or gravitate upward – toward the righteous Kingdom of Messiah: The Jews will begin to recognize the fulfillment of the prophecies of old, and other nationalities will slowly begin to see the Restitution blessings coming to Israel in harmony with the divine arrangements of the Kingdom: “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.” (Isa. 2:3) Both spiritual and natural Israel are in this picture. Mt. Zion is the higher, spiritual phase while Jerusalem is the lower, earthly phase. The law will go forth from the Messiah, head and body, while the directing and instructing will go forth from the patriarchal princes, who will represent the Kingdom. (Psa. 45:16)
The new King, Messiah, will judge the nations – the people. It will be a general judgment at first and an individual one subsequently. The national judgments will mean calamities upon the nations. Great armies and navies have proven that they cannot bring peace to earth, and those trusting in them suffer most severely. All must learn the lesson that Messiah’s Kingdom will not come by human might nor power. It is the Lord’s institution and it will come in His own appointed time.
The lesson will be so thoroughly learned in that day of trouble that war will forever cease: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:4) The Prophet David tells us that the mighty army of the Lord, through Messiah’s Kingdom, will work havoc upon present institutions with this result: “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth.” (Psa. 46:8-9) Human energy and activity will be better employed in conquering self, sin, sickness and death.
Idolatry to gold and silver will end, and the great trouble of that day will cause many to hide: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. . . . And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” (Isa. 2:9-11, 18-21)
The above description given by the Prophet Isaiah agrees very closely with a description given in the book of Revelation: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17) The idea here is that the powerful of earth will call upon the “mountains” and “rocks” to fall on them and hide them from the presence of the Lord.
Let us suppose that the vast oceans, constituting three-fourths of the earth’s surface, represent the masses of mankind who have unlimited longings, but no power to satisfy them. They lack property and have few prospects, “having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12) Let us suppose the land mass represents society, established and stable, and desiring to maintain peace. It is fearful that the “sea” class will wash away the status quo. As in the sea we find shallows and mighty depths, so on the land we find low places, higher places, and mountain peaks, and each of these represents a certain degree of prosperity or adversity. The mountain heights would represent the captains of society – the powerful in politics, business, etc.
As from time immemorial there has been a conflict between the land and the sea, the sea violently attacking and overtaking the land in storms, so it is with the two classes represented by the sea and the land. The “sea” class, helpless and without property, is envious of the “land” class, those who, under the present order, seize and possess the chief blessings. The mountains and rocks of society – its institutions (social, financial, political, etc.) – will all fall in that great day of trial and judging and testing; the shaking or overthrow of every human institution is in full accord with the divine requirements of justice and righteousness.
WHO SHALL STAND?
The Prophet Malachi asks, “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” (Mal. 3:2) Where is our treasure? Where is our security? The long-foretold day of the Lord is here and the great time of trouble is now upon us. (Dan. 12:1). If our treasures are upon the earth and our confidence rests in human organizations, the time is near when we may be crawling into these holes – these social and financial protective arrangements – calling upon them to cover us and protect us, but there will be no protection possible.
The Apostle declares that in that day everything that can be shaken will be shaken – everything that is not in full alignment with the divine standards will go down. In the language of the Scripture, we should set our affections on things above, not on earthly things. (Heb. 12:26-28) The Master counsels further: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:20-21) Blessed are they who so do.
If we have been careless in this matter in the past, it is high time for us to invest what little we have of time, influence, talent and money in the service of the King of kings – in laying up treasure in heaven, in promoting the interests of the great Kingdom wherein we trust, and of which we hope soon to be members. We are not counseling foolishness – the throwing away of money, of time and influence. On the contrary, we counsel the spirit of a sound mind, that every hour, every talent, every penny be used, not as our own, but as the Lord’s; not according to our own or others’ selfish desires, but according to the divine will, so far as we are able to understand it. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20)
The talents we possess, including our time and resources, are part of our stewardship and we must eventually give an account of them. The Lord’s consecrated people will be called to account before that great day of trouble upon the world. Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36)
We are to watch to see that we are faithful in the use of our time and talents. There will, indeed, be some of God’s people who will experience the trouble along with the world. Those who are too fearful of the weight of the cross will hide their talent in the earth, as illustrated by the Parable of the Talents. (Matt. 25:14-30) They will fail to have their portion with the Lord in the Kingdom, and, instead, will have their portion with the hypocrites, in the great trouble of that day.
It is impossible for us or for anyone to avert the great catastrophe surely bearing down upon the world. We are to have nothing whatever to do with bringing about the great catastrophe, any more than had the Prophets, whose words we are using. It is for us to remain faithful, availing ourselves of every opportunity to convey the divine message to all God’s people, or as the Apostle says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:16) Our day witnesses the world gone pleasure-mad: “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” (2 Tim. 3:4) The spirit of the world surrounds us, threatens to engulf us and destroy our spirituality. There never was a greater need than now for the soldiers of the cross to “put on the whole armour of God,” to “watch and pray,” and to fight a good fight against their own weaknesses and against the darts and snares of the Adversary. (Mark 13:33; Eph. 6:11)
Many dear Christians realize that we are living in strange times, but they do not realize that we are in the transition period between the reign of sin, sickness and death, and the reign of Messiah’s Kingdom of righteousness and light. Let all whose eyes of understanding have opened to a better appreciation of God’s great Book be ready to “show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)
(Based on The Herald of the Epiphany #16, January 15, 1923.)
____________________________________________________
LOOSING THE FOUR WINDS
“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” (Dan. 12:1)
There is something peculiarly forceful about this statement. We have known some to lay stress upon the word “such” in this verse of Daniel’s prophecy, and to suggest that this might mean that the trouble will not be greater, but that it will be of a different character than any previous trouble. We do not share that view. Our thought is that it will be the most intense, as well as the most widely diffused trouble, the most general trouble ever known. We see a great many things which corroborate this thought.
We can readily see that anarchy at this time would affect mankind more than at any previous time of the world’s history. In the past, cities were supported by a large farming element, with farmers selling more directly to consumers. Today cities are large, and populations are more concentrated than ever before. Food is transported and distributed through large networks and people have become accustomed to larger quantities and varieties of foods than ever before. We would feel starved by what people ate in former times. If our current food distribution system was disrupted, we can see how whole cities could be put into confusion, with everyone going hungry. The population would soon starve if supplies were cut off.
Our Lord fed the five thousand with bread and small fishes. Now people would not be satisfied, as they were then, to sit down on the grass, with a piece of bread in one hand and a piece of fish in the other. Now they would want five dishes, at least – and knives and forks, etc. They would think that they were starved if they had only a piece of fish and a piece of dry bread. And now, instead of gathering up the fragments, they would merely throw the fragments away.
We have reason to believe that this trouble in some respects will be accompanied by a ferocity never seen in the past. True, there have been atrocities committed in every age of the world’s history. And it is true that we now have a veneer that goes by the name of Christianity, but there is nothing Christian about it. We see more and more clearly how easy it would be to scratch off this veneer and get to the savage nature below it. This being so, we can see how the rendering of assistance by one part of the world to another part would be at an end. We also see how the evil spirits will be stirred up. We have every reason to believe our Lord’s words to be literally true – that the severity of the coming trouble will be such as never before has been known. (Matt. 24:21)
We also understand that the trouble at the end of the Jewish dispensation was a type, or foreshadowing, a parallel, of the great trouble coming at the end of this dispensation. The trouble that then came upon the Jewish nation was reckoned as having been the most severe in the world’s history. The trouble at the close of this age will be on a vastly larger scale – it will be world-wide.
ATTEMPTS TO AVERT THE CRISIS FUTILE
Whether it will be the socialistic, the anarchistic or the capitalistic elements of society that will bring about the anarchy, will depend upon which obstacle will be the most difficult to move. As to the socialism movement, it is our thought that the socialists will fail entirely in their attempt to carry out their ideas. While some of their ideas are good, some are medium, and some are bad, they can never carry out the best of their ideas because those who are controlling capital and managing the world’s affairs will never give them the opportunity.
All parties are very earnest, very intense, and very obstinate. The capitalists fear that the whole country and the world would “go to the dogs” if socialism prevailed. Therefore, they are ready to put the country into the ditch rather than give it a trial. And so we do not expect that socialists will get sufficient power to take the reins of government. We think the attempt would result in anarchy prevailing until divine power sets up the promised Kingdom.
In making these observations, we are not accusing any party in particular. We believe that if faced with the prospect of failure, either side would be ready to see the streets run with blood rather than see the other side win – they would be ready to go to any length to maintain their purpose and ideas. Each party is sure that it knows what it is doing, and there can be no possible compromise. All are sure that they are right and are sure that they will succeed. When the crisis is reached, which seems nearing, the great “whirlwind” will come, sweeping away all civilization. Thank God that the Kingdom of God’s dear Son will end the crisis when men will finally realize they are powerless!
THE FOUR GREAT WINDS
St. John mentions this whirlwind in Revelation: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” (Rev. 7:1) Of course, the winds referred to here are symbolic. The thought is that the winds from the four quarters – North, East, South and West – are being held back, and that when the restraint is withdrawn they will rush together, resulting in a whirlwind. Certain Scriptures tell of a whirlwind that will be raised up from the coasts of the earth. (Jer. 23:19; Jer. 25:32-33; Jer. 30:23-24) We do not understand this to be a physical whirlwind, but this symbolic expression is used to convey the thought of a great whirlwind of trouble.
These “winds” are not powers of natural air, but are the powers referred to by St. Paul when he speaks of Satan as “the Prince of the power of the air.” (Eph. 2:2) Those spirits who have been under the control of Satan – the fallen angels – were to be restrained in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day of the Lord. (2 Pet. 2:4) Although these fallen spirits have been restrained for many centuries, they have nevertheless exercised their influence to whatever extent they have had permission. If they had been allowed unlimited power, they would have wrecked the world long ago. The letting loose of these winds, or air powers, would seem to show that God will remove the restraints and permit the terrible trouble to come upon the world as a great cataclysm, resulting in the complete overthrow of the social order in anarchy.
St. John’s account seems to imply that when this outside influence is loosed it will exercise a destructive effect upon mankind. (Rev. 7:2-3) Apparently God will soon completely cease to restrain the fallen angels, and they will then proceed to vent their fury upon humanity, so that the whole earth will be full of violence, the same as in the days of Noah. “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” (Luke 17:26) In the days of Noah God beheld the thoughts of men, that man’s heart was evil and only evil continually – a very desperate condition. (Gen. 6:5)
The teachings of the Savior implied that at His Second Advent He would be present, unknown to the world, doing a work of gathering the Church – of making up His “jewels” – and that the world would not know of His presence until the Time of Trouble was upon them. (Luke 17:27-30) All of this is true today. The world is going about its business quite unaware of how near we are to the new arrangement, the incoming Kingdom, but we believe that the very near future will be a time of great crime and angry passions. Already we find that in spite of the many advantages of our day and the blessings showered upon the world, people are unthankful and ungrateful. Discontent is growing and the result will be great strife and the complete fall of present institutions.
Our thought is that the loosing of these “four winds” is still future. We believe the power manifested by the loosed demons will strive to injure mankind, and perhaps some of our readers will have a share in that injury. We have every reason to suppose these loosed fallen angels will first vent their anger upon the Lord’s people. We should not fear this, but rather take whatever the Lord’s providence permits, knowing that everything will work for our good. (Rom. 8:28) “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil [difficulty] thereof.” (Matt. 6:34) Let us leave the whole matter in the Lord’s hands and trust in Him.
(Based on Reprint 5469.)
____________________________________________________
WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE
Those who oppose our beliefs tend to misrepresent them. They desire to hinder our work, failing to recognize it as the Lord’s work. It is difficult to answer their arguments in a few words, when they have misunderstood thousands of pages we have presented. If they cannot understand a detailed explanation, we have no hope of making a brief one that will be satisfactory to them. Nevertheless, we present here a synopsis of our teachings:
I. We affirm the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Christ.
II. We acknowledge that the personality of the Holy Spirit is the Father and the Son; that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and in turn from all who are begotten by it.
III. We affirm the resurrection of Christ – that He was “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) We deny that He was raised in the flesh and any statement to that effect is unscriptural.
IV. We affirm, as the Scriptures teach, that in the beginning God alone possessed immortality. This divine quality has already been granted to the Lord Jesus (John 5:26) and will be the destiny of His elect Bride, His Body. The divine provision for mankind and angels is everlasting life for the obedient. While many mischaracterize this as immortality, we strictly follow the Scriptures.
V. We affirm that the entire human race lost life as a result of Father Adam’s failure in Eden. Christ died to secure a second chance for Adam and an individual chance for all of his race, who lost their first chance in Adam when he sinned. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:21-22) A comparative few, having eyes of faith and ears of understanding, have had this second chance in the present life. Adam and the great remainder of his posterity will get their second chance after being awakened from the tomb. No one is to get a third chance!
VI. We believe that the human soul was condemned to death. “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4) We believe that this death would have meant everlasting destruction, had it not been for God’s mercy in and through our Lord’s redemptive work. By reason of His death our souls are scripturally said to “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14), and will be awakened in the resurrection morning. The interim will be a period of unconsciousness, beautifully symbolized by a restful sleep.
VII. We believe the “hell” of the Bible means “grave.” Sheol is the only Hebrew word translated “hell” in the Old Testament. The King James Version translates this word as “grave” more than one-half the time, and it should always be thus translated. The Greek hades in the New Testament, is its equivalent. Gehenna in the New Testament, also translated “hell,” is a symbol of the Second Death.
VIII. We believe that God is able to destroy “both soul and body” in Gehenna – the Second Death. (Matt. 10:28) This belief is saner and more Scriptural than the belief that God created man but cannot destroy him. It is unreasonable to believe that He prefers to preserve the incorrigible so that they may suffer eternally, when their sufferings would be of no benefit to themselves or others.
IX. We believe that, like the Father and the holy angels, our Lord is a spirit being. We are convinced that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 15:50) We do not believe that our Lord has a flesh and blood body, a “little lower than the angels,” and has thus been out of harmony with His heavenly environment for nearly two thousand years. We believe the Apostle’s statement, “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:17) We believe He will “so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” – quietly and unknown to the world. (Acts 1:11) Our Lord warned us not to expect Him in the flesh; that men might say “Lo here! or, lo there!” (Luke 17:21)
(Based on Reprint 4955.)
Write to us at: epiphanybiblestudents@gmail.com