No. 782
“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:9)
To understand the prophecies, one must recognize the typical nature of both God’s ancient kingdom of fleshly Israel and the ancient kingdom of Babylon which overthrew it. The affairs of fleshly Israel and those of spiritual Israel, as well as the affairs of literal Babylon and those of “mystic” Babylon, are so interwoven in prophecy that they are incomprehensible and absurd unless understood from the standpoint of type and antitype. Some people understand that the Babylon of Revelation – “mystic” Babylon – is not ancient Babylon, and they distinctly discern her approaching fall. Yet, they fail to recognize that the Church, spiritual Israel, is the antitype of fleshly Israel. They fail to see that the natural Israelites were broken off from the root of divine promise made to father Abraham, and that the spiritual Israelites were grafted into that root, becoming the heirs of its chief promises and blessings. As a result, when the natural Israelites are restored to favor it will be at a lower, earthly status. The entire plan of God is clear and reasonable only when these facts are understood.
In our September 2022 paper, we considered the Prophet Isaiah’s vision wherein he was commissioned to give a message to his people. (Isa. 6) That message prophesied their complete overthrow and captivity, while at the same time offering the hope that a remnant, a “holy seed,” would be spared and would return to their land. (Isa. 6:13) There were three pivotal points in the complete fulfilment of the message:
(1) About one hundred and seventy years after Isaiah’s vision, Judah was carried captive to Babylon, and only a remnant returned seventy years later. (2) About eight hundred years after the vision, Messiah at His First Advent rejected Israel as a nation, with only a remnant being accepted into the house of sons of the Gospel Age. (3) About 2650 years after Isaiah’s vision and message, nominal spiritual Israel was rejected and the “Israelites indeed” were gathered out of it to be God’s “holy nation” with Messiah as its Head.
The remnant of natural Israel that was delivered from literal Babylon was a type of the remnant of spiritual Israel, God’s people, delivered from symbolic Babylon, Christendom. The fall of literal Babylon at the hands of Cyrus foreshadowed the fall of symbolic or “mystic” Babylon as a result of the battle of the great day of God Almighty under the antitypical Cyrus, the Captain of our salvation. The prophecies describe the fall of literal Babylon in very evocative language because the descriptions apply more specifically to mystic Babylon than to literal Babylon. Thus the divine purposes have been both declared and hidden throughout the ages. (Compare Isa. 13:1-15 with Rev. 17 and 18)
Isaiah’s prophecies about God’s providences toward His people of Isaiah’s time, His subsequent delivering of them to Babylonian captivity, and His later judgments upon Babylon were all accomplished within two hundred and fifty literal years after Isaiah’s vision. However, those prophecies are interspersed with statements about Messiah and His everlasting Kingdom, the blessing of the remnant of spiritual Israel, and the eventual healing and restoration of all Israel to divine favor. Thus Isaiah’s prophecies weave together the events of his time with the events of our time.
A BRANCH OUT OF HIS ROOTS
This intermingling of events of Isaiah’s time with events of our time is illustrated in the prophecy contained in Isa. 11:1-10, which begins: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Natural Israel is here pictured as being entirely cut off, leaving nothing behind but the root of divine promise (the “holy seed” referred to in Isaiah’s vision), and yet it is shown that out of this root will ultimately come all the blessings originally promised to Abraham, and later confirmed to Isaac, Jacob, and David. (2 Sam. 7:12-14) Our Lord Jesus is not pictured as a shoot out of David, but as a shoot out of Jesse, David’s father, because David himself is a type of Christ, his name signifying “beloved.” Accordingly, our Lord’s Millennial reign is often called the reign of David, the reign of the Beloved.
God speaks of Israel as a vine that He planted. (Jer. 2:21) One peculiarity of a vine is that it seems to thrive more when it is pruned. Sometimes it is necessary to cut back a vine all the way to its roots in order to get fresh sprouts from it, and God frequently pruned fleshly Israel through severe disciplines, captivities, etc., cutting off many branches and preserving only a remnant. At the First Advent, it was cut off from any further share in the spiritual features of the Abrahamic promise, except for the remnant who received the Lord, and were granted the privilege of becoming members of the house of sons. (John 1:12)
During this Gospel Age, God has not dealt with His people collectively as a nation, but rather individually. Each branch has been pruned and those not bringing forth fruit have been entirely lopped off. Thus our Lord Jesus spoke of the members of spiritual Israel as branches of Himself, the true vine, and declared that the Father prunes the vine so that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1-2) From the time of His baptism and anointing with the Holy Spirit, our Lord Jesus became the new spiritual shoot out of the Abrahamic promise, and out of the roots of Jesse.
While we recognize our Lord Jesus in this prophecy, it would be an error to not see that the true vine also includes the body of Christ, as our Lord explained. (John 15) Having its start in our Lord Jesus, this vine has grown and prospered, producing branches bearing fruit under the great Husbandman’s care throughout the centuries of the Gospel Age. Neither the vine nor its fruitage have been especially pleasing to either the fleshly Israelites or to nominal spiritual Israelites. On the contrary, our Lord’s prophetic declaration has been accurately fulfilled: “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” (Matt. 10:22) Our Lord and the Apostles were hated by the chief theologians of their day because of their faithfulness to God. That faithfulness was a light that reproved the unfaithfulness of those who hated them. (John 3:20)
The prophecy begins when our Lord Jesus received the Holy Spirit upon making His consecration at thirty years of age: “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.” (Isa. 11:2-3; John 1:32) The spirit of the Father rested upon Him from that time forward, making Him attentive to the use of His knowledge in reverence and submission to the divine will. His perfection of being was the source of His complete confidence and trust in the Father, and His knowledge of God from His pre-human existence was undoubtedly the driving force of His absolute obedience to the Father’s will.
The same is true for the members of His body. Like their Master, each branch of the vine has received the Holy Spirit through Him, just as in the type the anointing oil (typifying the Holy Spirit) was first poured entirely upon the head of the high priest and subsequently flowed down over his body. To the degree that this spirit dwells in each member of the body as it flows down from the Head, it is also a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, and a spirit of obedience to the Father’s will. Being perfect, our Lord Jesus could receive the Father’s spirit without measure, while those who are imperfect, blemished through inherited weaknesses, can receive the spirit only by measure, according to the individual capacity and condition of each. Members of the body must do all in their power to repair the blemishes of their “earthen vessels” in order to receive and retain larger measures of the spirit of holiness. (2 Cor. 4:7)
THE GRACES OF THE SPIRIT EXERCISED
The prophecy then shifts to the time when these graces of the divine spirit will be exercised by Christ in the Millennial Kingdom: “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” (Isa. 11:4-5) The girdle figuratively represents mercy, diligence, and service, and the proclamation here is that the Messiah will be the Father’s faithful and diligent servant, accomplishing all the work entrusted to His care. Along with the glorified Church, He will judge, bless, correct, and assist the willing to return to divine favor. The Church, head and body, will be so filled with the spirit of the Father’s wisdom and power that they will be fully qualified to do all the great work that was purposed and arranged for them to do since before the foundation of the world.
The prophecy goes on to describe a change in disposition in the animal kingdom: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion . . . and a little child shall lead them. . . . and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.” (Isa. 11:6-8) The first scriptural account of the lower animals contains nothing implying that they were wild, vicious, and at enmity with mankind. On the contrary, the implication is that they were in thorough subjection to the perfect man Adam, who was declared by the Lord to be the king of the earth and was so recognized by the brute creation. (Gen. 2:19-20) The statement that “a little child shall lead” shows that the animal creation will be brought back into its proper relationship with mankind. The picture of little children playing with venomous creatures illustrates that they will be rendered harmless.
The prophecy shows us that evil will be forcibly restrained in the Kingdom, and that the blessing of mankind will be accomplished by the spreading of the knowledge of the Lord, as our opening text declares. (Isa. 11:9) The Apostle further assured us that there can be no salvation without that knowledge and that it is the will of God that all men come to a knowledge of the truth so that they may be saved: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3-4; Rom. 10:13-15)
The fact that very few of earth’s billions have come to this knowledge in the present life will in no way thwart the divine plan, nor make the death of Christ on their behalf of no avail. The Lord has assured us that in due time Jesus, the true light of the world, will lighten all mankind. This includes all who have never had the opportunity to learn about Christ, those of limited mental capacity who could not grasp the truth even if it were presented to them, and infants who die without a knowledge of the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved. God has made ample provision for the salvation of all, first in the redemption provided through Christ Jesus, and then by providing the opportunity to learn of that salvation during the Millennial Age, when the knowledge of the Lord will fill the whole earth.
The last verse of our lesson refers to another root of Jesse, but this time it points us to the Millennial day: “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” (Isa. 11:10) After the spiritual seed of Abraham and David has been exalted to Kingdom glory, an earthly seed, out of the same root, will become prominent and be the earthly agent of the heavenly Kingdom. The Apostle Paul alluded to this subordinate seed, suggesting they will be used by the Lord in the blessing of mankind. (Rom. 4:16; Heb. 11:39-40)
The Israelites were accustomed to bad government, and all mankind since have likewise experienced it. This Prophecy provides needed assurance that the new King will not only have good and wise motives and intentions, but also possess super-human power by which He will bestow blessings and administer discipline. The new King will know the very thoughts and intents of the heart, and will not need to judge by natural hearing and sight as all earthly rulers must do.
All throughout history, even the wisest and best of kings and other rulers have governed largely by selfishness. They have amassed wealth at the expense of their subjects, and have granted special privileges to their wealthy friends, often at the expense of the poor and vulnerable. Through the Prophet, the Lord assures us that the new King will administer His office with equity toward all, giving special care to the meek and lowly who are hesitant to assert their rights. The poor presently find little sympathy, encouragement or help, but in the Kingdom they will find a friend in the new King.
GOD’S HOLY MOUNTAIN
Some people expect Messiah’s Kingdom to come as a result of the Church converting the world in the present age, while others believe that the world is gradually approaching a righteous condition by an evolutionary process. Those holding either view should consider the Word of God, which says that when Messiah takes the reins of government His first step will be to “judge the poor” and “reprove” the rich. He will “smite the earth” (the present social order) with the “rod of his mouth” (the truth) and will “slay the wicked.” Thus Messiah’s reign is to be inaugurated through the “time of trouble” predicted by the Prophet Daniel. (Dan. 12:1) If the world will already be converted to a righteous condition by then, none of this will be necessary because there will be no poor, no rich, and no wicked to slay. The very object of our Lord’s reign in its beginning will be to correct the wrongs that will then prevail. (Mal. 4:1, 6; Rev. 19:15) The Lord Himself implied that the earth will not be in a faithful condition at His Second Advent: “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
The “rod” of Messiah’s mouth signifies the judgments He has already expressed that have gone largely unheeded by Christendom. As He declared: “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) Christendom in general has admitted that God’s Word is righteous, but remarkably few attempt to live by it. Consequently, His judgments will begin with His nominal house, the nominal church, and that system will fall. Only the faithful few – the Lord’s “jewels” – will be “accounted worthy to escape.” (Mal. 3:17; Luke 21:36)
This prophecy of Isaiah is consistent with all Scripture testimony in showing that the blessings God has in reservation for mankind in general are earthly. If mankind were to be changed to a higher nature and become like the angels, it would be completely unnecessary to change the disposition of the animal creation. Other prophecies show that in the restitution condition, human beings will be perfect and fully adapted to the earth, which will also be perfect. In that perfect condition, they will “sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree.” No one will threaten them or make them afraid, and they “shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” (Mic. 4:4; Isa. 65:21-22)
These promises are the Millennial Age hope for the world. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the heavenly hope set before the Church of this Gospel Age. The realization of that hope will require all who will attain it to be changed from animal bodies to spiritual bodies, from weakness to power, from the human nature to the spiritual nature, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 15:40-50)
Many fail to discern that the Kingdom of God per se consists of our Lord Jesus and the Church, to whom Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) Together they constitute God’s royal or reigning class. The world of mankind in general will at first be the subjects of this spiritual Kingdom, and afterwards they will become citizens or members of it, provided they come into harmony with its rules and regulations. They will thus be reconciled with God and will again become His children through Christ.
When this Kingdom is set up it will be but a small “stone,” but in the end of this age it will by divine power crush the kingdoms of the earth to dust in the great time of trouble. (Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45) God’s Kingdom will not remain small, but will gradually expand until it fills the whole earth, becoming the “holy mountain” of our prophecy, a mountain being a symbol of a kingdom. Nothing will be permitted to do violence or work injury throughout all God’s holy Kingdom. Love will be the law, and divine power will enforce that law. All who will not conform to it will be “destroyed [cut off] from among the people,” as the Lord has declared through the Apostle. (Acts 3:23)
Love is far from the rule among mankind today. Selfishness rules among individuals, institutions, and governments, and countless evil influences hurt and destroy throughout the world. God’s Kingdom is not yet set up, and hence we continue to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)
(Based on Reprint 2372.)
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WORSHIPING FELLOW MESSENGERS
“And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” (1 Thess. 5:12-13)
It has long been our custom to pay tribute to Pastor Russell at this time of year to commemorate his death on October 31, 1916. While we esteem him as that “faithful and wise servant” (Matt. 24:45-46), we do not do this with the thought of worshiping him or magnifying his talent and character out of accordance with the facts. In keeping with this thought, we present Pastor Russell’s own thoughts on the subject.
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God’s people are to love and esteem each other, and that in proportion as they recognize in each other the spirit of God, the spirit of Christ, the spirit of holiness and devotion to truth and righteousness. But while there may be danger that some will fail to render “honor to whom honor” is due (Rom. 13:7), there is undoubtedly danger also that some might render too much honor to human instruments, whom God is pleased to use in connection with the service of the truth. It is proper therefore that we call attention here, as we have done heretofore, to the danger of man-worship. This matter is very forcibly brought to our attention in Revelation 22. John the Revelator, representing the living saints all down through the Gospel Age, is there caused to see unfolding the various features of the divine plan, and in conclusion falls down to worship the angel who showed him those things.
There has been a tendency on the part of many to give more than love, respect and honor to the servants of God who from time to time have been used as special servants of God in bringing to the attention of the Church things new and old, or to the particular brother or sister who was the means of conversion or other spiritual benefit. There was this disposition in the early Church, some exalting one Apostle and some another as their chief and master, and naming themselves as his disciples, saying, “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas [Peter].” (1 Cor. 1:12) The Apostle Paul assured them that this disposition indicated a measure of carnality, and he inquired, who then are Paul, Apollos, and Peter, but merely the servants or channels through whom God has been pleased to send you the blessings of the truth. “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:7) He indicated thus that they should not recognize the channels through whom the blessings came, but rather the Lord, the Author of their blessings, who died for them and redeemed them. They should loyally bear no name other than His.
Likewise, when the Church began to get rid of the gross darkness of the Dark Ages under the help and instruction of the reformers, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others, they naturally and properly had great respect for those whom God had honored as the instruments in the work of reformation. But again the tendency to “worship” the messengers, the human agents, instead of the divine Author was manifested, and today there are hundreds of thousands who call themselves by the name of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Campbell and others, and who give more respect to their teachings and writings than to the Word of God, and this with corresponding injury to themselves. Likewise, today, in the light of present truth, shining more clearly than ever before, no doubt there is need to be on guard against this carnal tendency which has had so deleterious an influence in the past.
When John fell down to worship the angel who had shown him the wonders of the divine plan, the angel’s refusal to accept homage should be a lesson to all ministers (servants, messengers) of God. He said, “See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” (Rev. 22:9) All servants of God are fellow-servants regardless of the time or extent of their service.
The Apostle called attention to this man-worshiping tendency in his epistle to the Colossians, saying, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels [messengers], intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” (Col. 2:18) The intimation was that this temptation would come insidiously, craftily, and not by brazen demands for reverence. Such is the reverence accorded in general to the ministry of the nominal churches. Many ministers who seem very meek, and who would not think of demanding reverence or worship, nevertheless accept of their flocks the voluntary title, “Reverend,” and encourage it, and feel offended if reverence or worship of this sort is not rendered. The effect has been and still is to injure the household of faith, to give an over-confidence in the judgment and word of the minister in spiritual things, so that many neglect to prove their faith by God’s Word, and to trust implicitly to its authority.
And there is danger amongst those who do not use the title, Reverend. It should always be remembered that control resides in the congregation and not in self-appointed leaders, whether they seek to serve a dozen or thousands. The churches of Christ should recognize the leading of their Head, and know their leaders to be of His choice (See Heb. 13:7, 17, 24, Dia.), but they should beware of any disposed to usurp the rights of the congregation or to ignore those rights by taking the place of leaders without the specific request of the congregation; beguiling the company into supposing that the leader alone is competent to judge and decide for the congregation as to the Lord’s choice, and thus failing to hold the Head (Christ) as the only real teacher, who is able and willing to guide all the meek in judgment, because they are His Church – “his body.”
Nor is this beguiling of the attention of the flock away from the only Shepherd to a fellow sheep always the fault of the “leaders.” There seems to be a general tendency on the part of all who have the true, humble, sheep nature to follow one another. It is a lesson, therefore, for all to learn – that each sheep recognize as leaders only such as are found in full accord with the voice and spirit of the Chief Shepherd (Christ), and the under-shepherds (the Apostles), and that each sheep see to it that he eats only “clean provender” and drinks only “pure water” as directed by the Shepherd. (See Ezek. 34:17-19) This implies the exercise of the individual conscience of each member of Christ’s flock on matters of doctrine and practice, and tends to keep each one in sympathy and fellowship with the Shepherd, who knows each sheep and “calleth his own sheep by name.” (John 10:3) The same intimate relationship of the individual Christian with the Lord is illustrated in the figure of Christ the Head and the Church as members of His body. (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:15-16)
As we have been to some extent, by the grace of God, used in the ministry of the gospel, it may not be out of place to say here what we have frequently said in private, and previously in these columns, namely, that while we appreciate the love, sympathy, confidence and fellowship of fellow-servants and of the entire household of faith, we want no homage, no reverence, for ourselves or our writings; nor do we wish to be called Reverend or Rabbi. Nor do we wish that any should be called by our name. The name of He who died for all – the name Christian – is quite sufficient to designate the spiritual sons of God, the true brethren of Christ; and whatsoever is more than this comes of evil, of carnality, and tends toward more of the same.
Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible, or on a par with the Holy Scriptures. The most we claim or have ever claimed for our teachings is that they are what we believe to be harmonious interpretations of the divine Word, in harmony with the spirit of the truth. And we still urge, as in the past, that each reader study the subjects we present in the light of the Scriptures, proving all things by the Scriptures, accepting what they see to be thus approved, and rejecting all else. It is to this end, to enable the student to trace the subject in the divinely inspired record, that we so freely intersperse both quotations and citations of the Scriptures upon which to build.
(Excerpt from Reprint 2079, lightly edited.)
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