NO. 238: TO THE JEW FIRST

No. 238

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

In Rom. 2:10 St. Paul makes this statement: “Glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” Since we entered the tribulation period in 1914 the Jews have been the object of much and varied con­troversy; and we may logically expect more of it before lasting peace is established in the earth. This uproar has not only been by way of armed conflict, but the lit­erary conflict has kept pace with it. And, as should be expected, much of the liter­ature has been badly tainted with error – an epidemic of it; so it seems timely to offer an analysis of some of these contentions.

ANGLO-ISRAELISM: The Theories of this organization have received rather wide ac­ceptance in some parts of society, the kernel of the teaching being briefly this: The real Jews are not those claiming to be such, but the real ones are actually the Brit­ish nation. They tell us that the name is from two Hebrew words – Brith and Ish ­the meaning of which is Chosen Man, which is a fitting description of the British peo­ple. And, as may be expected, they produce Scripture to ‘prove’ their point: “Whereas thou has been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee (this was especially true after the Reformation uprising shook off the papal yoke, and England became one of the chief targets of Roman opposition), I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou also shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings (Up to 1914 it could be properly stated that England’s sun never sets. Its far-flung empire was a special source of pride to the English people; they were a dominating force throughout the world.); and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver (the revenue from places such as India, South Africa, etc., was exceptionally great), and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors (revenue collectors) righteousness.” (Isa. 60: 15–17) Rotherham’s translation of verse 16 is even more emphatic: “Thou shalt derive sweet nourishment from the nations, Yea on the bounty of kings thou shalt be sustained.”

Additional ‘proof’ is produced from Isa. 61:6: “Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God: Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.” It needs no argument that the general import of these Scriptures did seem pertinent to England up to 1914; London was the financial center of the world. Most of the financing of the nations was done through English banks; none dared offend them lest their credit be cut off.

Be it noted that the Anglo-Israelites do not claim that the English represent the whole twelve tribes of Israel, but merely the ten “lost” tribes – that part called Is­rael after the revolt separated the ten tribes from the two tribes of Judah and Benja­min when Solomon died. Jeroboam was the first king of the ten tribes, and he pro­ceeded immediately to corrupt their religion; and he and succeeding kings proceeded to deprave the ten tribes much more than was true in the two tribes. Therefore, the Lord finally sent Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, to wage war against them; and he com­pletely defeated them in 739 B. C., at which time most of the ten tribes were carried away into Assyrian captivity. (2 Kgs. 18:9–11) To replace the captives the Assyrian King sent a horde of heathen Babylonians, who corrupted the Jews that remained and introduced their heathenish religion in the land. This conglomerate multitude became known as Samaritans; and were much detested by the two tribes.

By the time the two tribes were carried off captive to Babylon (133 years later) the ten tribes had become widely scattered – so much so that history does not give a clear account of what became of them. Thus, they became “lost”; and the contention is that they finally settled in what is now England, that the English people presently are the true descendants of those ten lost tribes; and are in fact the real Jews. The word Jews occurs for the first time in the Bible in 2 Kgs. 16:6. It is a distortion of the word Judah, which eventually was pronounced Joods, then Jews. Thus the two tribes are Jews, not Israelites; and, say some, Jesus made this clear distinction to the Apos­tles in Matt. 10:5: “Go not in the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samar­itans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” From this Scripture they contend Jesus was telling His disciples to find the ten “lost” tribes (lost sheep of Israel).

Just a superficial examination of this last text should convince any unbiased mind that Jesus did not mean anything like what this cult now tries to read into it, because not one of the Apostles ever went to England; and some of them certainly would have done so had Jesus told them to do it. In fact, about the first authentic date in his­tory for England is established at 55 BC, at which time Julius Caesar invaded the Is­land; and that was just 85 years before Jesus began His ministry. Furthermore, the undisputed records tell us that the first conversion to Christianity in England was in Kent in 597 AD by St. Augustine. That was about 500 years after the last of the Apostles died. Therefore, any one who would try to use Matt. 10:5 to prove Anglo-Is­raelism must be in desperate straits for something to say concerning the error.

Here is a quotation from one authority on the subject: “Jew – One belonging to the tribe or to the Kingdom of Judah. Then the meaning was extended, and the word was applied to any one of the Hebrew race who returned from the Captivity (in 536 BC—­JJH); and finally it comprehended all persons of that race throughout the world (Matt. 2:2).” Matt. 2:2 says Jesus was “King of the Jews” – not King of the Israelites. And Rom. 2:10 says “to the Jew first” – not to the Israelite first. Thus, if we would make any discrimination at all between the ten tribes and the two tribes, we would be forced to conclude that it is the Israelites who are not Jews. But it is well estab­lished that parts of all twelve tribes returned from the Captivity in 536 BC, although the larger number were from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

OTHER VAGARIES

Another publication attacks the Jews from a different angle: “Any student of the Scripture knows that Jesus Christ was not a Jew. He is a Galilean and an Israelite. The apostates which crucified our Lord and perpetuate the hate for our Lord were identi­fied by Jesus when He said: “If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the works of Abraham, but ye are of your father the Devil, a liar from the foundation of the earth.” Taking figurative statements of the Bible and attempting to apply them liter­ally has wrought no end of confusion throughout Christendom during the entire Gospel Age. Certainly, those people who were bantering Jesus did not actually have the Devil as their father; they were human beings the same as the rest of us, except with different characters. Rev. 5:5 specifically says Jesus is “The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David”; and Heb. 7:14, Dia. is even more to the point: “It is very plain that our Lord has sprung from Judah.” Thus, when they say “any student of the Scripture knows that Jesus Christ was not a Jew,” it is clear enough that they study only such Scriptures as can be applied to their own ideas. Any Scripture that contradicts them is blithely ignored – as though it did not exist.

These same people also declare that Jesus Himself was an outstanding Jew hater; so we offer another pertinent Scripture that directly contradicts that thought: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven.... If you love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:43-45) And further in 1 Cor. 2:8: “Had they (the Jews) known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.”

Yet more: This same group contends that the Jews are the Antichrist. Clearly enough, they do not understand the meaning of this word, which actually means “in place of Christ,” rather than “against Christ.” Once the real meaning of the word is understood, we then have no difficulty in connecting it with St. Paul’s words in 2 Thes. 2:3,4: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God... so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

Of course, St. Paul wrote the foregoing many years after Jesus had been crucified, so it could not possibly refer to the Jews. He does say that this great Apostasy (this mystery of iniquity) “doth already work,” yet its real force would not be felt un­til some future time. This same publication leans heavily upon Martin Luther in sup­port of their anti–Jewish contentions; yet here is what Martin Luther himself said con­cerning Antichrist: “The faith and the Church are at stake. I rejoice to suffer in so noble a cause. I am not worthy of so holy a trial. I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is Antichrist... I hope none but the papists will stain their hands in my blood. Antichrist reigns... All the articles of John Huss were condemned by Anti­christ and his apostles in the synagogue of Satan...   On the left Christ is washing the disciples’ feet. On the right Antichrist, the pope, is having his toes kissed by mon­archs.”

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES – This organization also adds its loud voice toward castiga­tion of the Jews, because the Jews generally will have no part of their teachings. They do not advocate violence against the Jews, or revile them politically, but they do pre­dict extreme violence for them in the approaching Armageddon – at which time they fore­cast the extermination of all people – including the Jews specifically – that have not joined their organization by the time the holocaust arrives.

In this they mimic the Antichrist, who also contends the Roman Catholic Church is the one true church; and during their counterfeit reign from 799 to 1799 they were very vociferous that there could be no salvation outside their church. And we may ob­serve here that those who make such claims go more and more into error – “outer dark­ness.” This is well typified in the attempted construction of the Tower of Babel. Men said, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven” (Gen. 11:4). They would have insurance against another flood (in spite of the promise that “the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh”––Gen. 9:15); they would build Bab–El (Gateway to God). As retribution for this affront, the Lord confused their tongues; they could no longer understand each other. Thus, the effort became known as Babyl, meaning confusion – the same being typical of the efforts of the Roman Church, and presently in our day of the Witnesses, to build a “Gateway to God”; that is, WE are the one true church – no salvation outside of us – no other access to God. And just as the Roman Church lost all important Biblical truths as presented by St. Peter, so the Witnesses have also lost the great majority of that system of truths that was left with them by their so-called founder, Pastor Russell.

THE LAYMEN’S HOME MISSIONARY MOVEMENT – Here is another group that attempts to downgrade the Jews – though it must be said of them that they do not approach the same de­gree of abnegation toward them as do the Witnesses. Whereas, the Bible clearly teaches that the Jews will be first and foremost – “beloved for the fathers’ sake” – the LHMM is now contending that those who become Campers Consecrated will be first and foremost – although they produce no Scripture to prove their point. Neither can they produce any­thing in the writings of the two Messengers to sustain their position; although we have given copious citations in past papers to prove our assertions.

And with all of these groups who would now have preeminence over the Jews, not one of them is making any effort whatever to return to the Holy Land, which God prom­ised to Abraham: “I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Gen. 17: 18) In all of this we are pointedly reminded of the words of Jesus: “Wisdom is justi­fied of all her children.” (Luke 7:35) But a wrong foundation will most certainly produce a faulty building. The present-day Jew is no more responsible for crucifying Jesus than are we present-day white Americans responsible for the slave trade of the past.

The time is now with us for the manifestation of persons, principles and things in a way never before done in the history of the human race. “The Lord will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of hearts.” (1 Cor. 4:5) And, while we have no thought of success in stopping present inequali­ties and erroneous teachings, we can warn those who have “an ear to hear” not to be partakers of such sins. The evils of “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4) will contin­ue apace with the sound exposures until the Lord’s Prayer is fulfilled: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven.” “Expecting and hastening the presence of the Day of God, on account of which the Heavens (the present ecclesias­tical order) being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements (various political, labor and social organizations) burning intensely will melt. But we, according to His prom­ise, are looking for new Heavens (a universal truth-motivated religious order) and a new earth (new social order), in which dwells righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:12,13, Dia.)

THE TRUTH ON THE JEWISH SITUATION

Beginning with p. 243 in Parousia Vol. 3 of Studies In The Scriptures, there is a chapter on The Restoration of Israel, some of which we shall quote, or paraphrase, with some additions of our own:

Among the relics of antiquity that have come down to our day, there is no other object of so great interest as the Jewish people. The Adversary and his blinded dupes have sought to destroy and eliminate the Jews – just as many of them have also tried to do with the Bible (“My two witnesses – the Old and the New Testament – shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore days – the papal supremacy from 539 to 1799 –­ in sackcloth”––Rev. 11:3) suppressed and depressed as those that mourn for the dead. But the very fact that the Jews are here today, as a people distinguished from other peoples (in keeping with the commandment of the Lord given to them more than 2,500 years ago: “Separate yourselves from the people of the land” (Ezra 10:11), should cause any God-fearing person to realize that even in their “cast-off” condition God has overruled their preservation – just as He has preserved His inspired Word

Let us emphasize once more that all the Bible writers were Jews; and St. Paul makes a capital point of this in Rom. 3:1,2: “What advantage then hath the Jew?..... Much every way; chiefly, because unto them were committed the oracles of God.” And this statement is complemented in Rom. 3:29: “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles?” Further in Gal. 2:15: “We who are Jews by nature.” Here St. Paul tells us that he himself is a Jew; and he wrote a large part of the New Testa­ment.

Let us emphasize also that at the time of the Exodus from Egypt the Jews were the only nation that worshipped but one God. “Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” (Deu. 6:4) The various heathen nations had a multiplicity of Gods – a god of war , a god for love, a god for vegetation, etc.    And with all of their gods combined they could not even remotely approach the idealism that came to the Jews through their “one Lord.”

The searchers after ancient lore have untiringly questioned every inanimate ob­ject that could give a mite of historic or scientific information. Monuments, altars, tombs, relics of public and private edifices, paintings, sculptures, hieroglyphs and dead languages have all been appealed to; and some have even tried patiently to dis­cover the line of actual truth that probably inspired the many fanciful traditions, legends, songs, etc., that have come floating down the centuries in order to learn all that is possible to know of human origin, history and destiny. But a most interesting relic, and one whose history can be most easily deciphered and understood, is the Jew­ish people. In them we have a monument of antiquity of inestimable value, upon which are recorded, in clearly legible characters, the origin, the progress and final destiny of the whole human race – a living and intelligent witness of the gradual outworking of a wonderful purpose in human affairs.

As a people, they are marked as distinct and peculiar by every circumstance of their history, and by their common religious faith, as well as by every element of their manners and customs. A forceful proof of this was to be observed in the war that began in the Fall of 1973 on their Atonement Day – a day in which ordinarily the orthodox Jews refrain from food and water. Under the heat and the strain of the battle that day many of the Jewish soldiers became dehydrated and well-nigh exhausted, yet they persisted in their abstinence – although their leaders had granted them freedom from the age-old cus­tom. Thus, some of them at least still try to adhere to the Law of Moses and the Cov­enant which Moses mediated for that nation almost four thousand years ago. The national characteristics of many centuries ago are still prominent, even to their fondness for the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, and their stiff–necked obstinacy. As a people, they truly had much advantage every way, in having committed unto them “the oracles of God,” developing among them poets, lawyers, statesmen and philosophers, and leading them up step by step from being a nation of slaves in Egypt to be – as in the time of Solomon (the zenith of their glory) – a people distinguished and honored among the nations, attracting the wonder and admiration of the world. (1 Kgs. 4:30-34; 10: 1-29)

Since they cast off and condemned the Just One and said, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children” (Matt. 27:25), they have again suffered, even moreso in many in­stances, than they did in their Old Testament stripings. This had its horrible begin­ning in the year 70 AD, when the Roman Army under Titus captured Jerusalem, destroyed their temple, and scattered them throughout the Gentile world. In their treatment of Jesus, God took the Jews at their word: When Jerusalem finally fell into the hands of the Romans, there was a circle of crosses around the City, with a dead Jew hanging on every one of them. Prophetically it has been written of them, “Fools because of their transgression (when they crucified the Lord of Glory), and because of their iniquities (their violations of the Mosaic Law), are afflicted.” (Psa. 107:17) Present-day in­stances of this are to be seen in the terrible treatment they have received in Germany, Russia, etc.

Israel has been a nation scattered and peeled – driven as exiles from country to country, from province to province, and have been deprived of almost every right and privilege which other men enjoyed. Rejecting Christianity – in its corrupted as well as in its true form – they became the objects of the contempt and relentless persecu­tion of the Church of Rome. Thus estranged from God and from their fellow-men of every nation, sad and pitiable indeed has been their miserable condition. During the relentless Papal persecutions of the Dark Ages, they have suffered in common with the saints and martyrs of Jesus – the Christian for his rejection of Antichrist, the Jew for his rejection of both Christ and Antichrist.

The treatment accorded them forced a marked change in their way of life. Canaan was a goodly land – “a land flowing with milk and honey” – so that a large segment of that people were engaged in farming and animal husbandry. But such things could not be carried with them as they were chased from nation to nation; and this forced them into businesses of various kinds, and into the money markets. In this manner their “quick assets” (stocks, bonds, cash, etc.) could be carried with them, so that today it is an oddity of the first rank to see a Jewish farmer. Almost all of them are in the cities, pursuing their professions or marketing their various wares; they no longer take the chance of having to leave their farms behind them as they moved on.

Nevertheless, whether they are still blinded to God’s promise to deliver them once more, as He did from Egypt, and from their various captivities, God is faithful that promised: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the House of Judah (this certainly includes all twelve tribes): Not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jer. 31:31–33)

God has not made this new covenant with Israel yet, but we can be sure that they never again will be entirely driven out from Jerusalem. He has planted them back in their own soil – in the land promised to Abraham, to him and to his seed after him for­ever – and even though we see them greatly oppressed, we can be sure that no one will drive them out of that land. The promise of God is to natural Israel – to be planted again in their homeland; but “all Israel” includes only those faithful covenant-keeping Jews: the others are counted as the heathen. And it will be through those faithful Jews that all the families of the earth will be blessed. “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel (the good news) unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (Gal. 3:8) And we may be sure that those faithful covenant-keeping Jews who have continued in their faith during the harrowing experiences meted out to them during their “cast-off” condition, will with alacrity and joy walk up the Highway of Holiness (Isa. 35:8) under their New Covenant meliorating conditions.

Up to the time of their casting off by Jesus, the Jews were the only nation that had covenant relationship with God. “O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt.. You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:1,2) Any of the people of other nations who would come into relationship with God had first to become proselyte Jews. And the same conditions will apply when the New Covenant is instituted – any who will be the recipient of those blessings must first become Jews.

So it was with the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles – the gospel was first pre­sented to the Jewish nation; and the message of Christian salvation has come to us through them. Cornelius was the first Gentile convert (Acts Chapter 10); but he had to wait for 3½ years after Jesus’ death before God would give to him the Holy Spirit. Since that time the gospel has been open alike to Jew and Gentile, although very few of the Jews have become Christians. “Blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Rom. 11:25) Nevertheless, it should be empha­sized here that the blessings and privileges of the Mosaic Law were offered “to the Jew first”; likewise, the blessings and privileges of Christianity were also offered “to the Jew first.” Also, the blessings and privileges of the New Covenant will be “to the Jew first.” A “New Covenant” necessarily carries the inference of an Old Covenant, the same being the Law Covenant given through Moses, of which the Gentiles were not in any way included. Therefore, a new covenant could not possibly be made with the Gentiles, because they have never had an old one. Any Gentiles wishing to partake of the old covenant had to become Jews; and some of them did just that, as instance ­“Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch.” (Acts 6:5) The same limitation will apply with the New Covenant: Any who wish to receive its blessings will have to become Jews.

JACOB’S TROUBLE

“These are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah (all twelve tribes are included in this). For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace (which has been occurring since 1948, and will be yet greatly increased)... Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer. 30:4-7)  Jacob is a term often applied to the entire nation of Israel in the Old Testament; but Jacob is never used to designate the Christian church.

That ‘great day’ of the foregoing text is described in more detail in Zech. 14: 1–3: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.”

Outstanding instances of the Lord fighting for Israel in ancient times are given in Ex. 17:8-14, where Amalek and his army were decisively defeated by Joshua; and in Judges 7:15-22, where Gideon with a band of 300 men accomplished the destruction of a Midianitish army “as grasshoppers for multitude; both they and their camels were with­out number.” See also 1 Kgs. 20:1-21, where Ben–hadad and “thirty and two kings with him” lost “an hundred thousand footmen in one day.” (v. 29)

“Jacob’s Trouble” is yet some years in the future, so we are now privileged to see only the overall picture; but enough is revealed to give us a fairly good idea of the event – in keeping with the words of St. Peter: “We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn” (2 Pet. 1:19), the dawning day here being the inaugura­tion of the New Covenant with Israel.

Lest any of our readers should draw an overly pessimistic conclusion about Jacob’s Trouble, we would remind them of these facts: At the time they were cast off by Jesus just before His death (“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate”––Matt. 23:37) the Jews, as a nation, began their decline; and they lost their national existence com­pletely in the year 70 AD, when the Roman army scattered them throughout the earth. And from that date onward the Gentile supremacy waxed greater and greater. However, since their restoration to their homeland the Jews as a nation have been on a gradual upgrade; whereas, the Gentile nations have become steadily more shaken and distressed. And this disparity will become much more pronounced in the years immediately ahead. The writing of Isa. 60:1–3 is now markedly pertinent; “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

Summation: – Those who ignore or openly contradict the foregoing interpretations are rejecting large and important parts of the Bible, whether they realize it or not. As instance, the Jehovah’s Witnesses lay great stress upon their Bible ‘proofs’ for what they teach; yet we cannot recall one instance where they have given any comment at all an Jer. 31:31-34, or Isa. 60:1-3, or upon the various statements of St. Paul concern­ing the Jew.

But the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement follows a more deceptive course: In the literature they distribute to the Jews they don’t mention Campers Consecrated they adhere to the Scriptures and the two Messengers’ teachings, even as we herein teach; although privately they teach that their new adherents will supersede the Jews and as their reward for “denying themselves” and walking a narrow way, they will be “first and chief” Restitutionists in the Kingdom blessings instead of the Jews! How­ever, the Jews could receive these blessings God promised them if they become Consecra­ted Epiphany Campers. The Jehovah’s Witnesses also grant this favor to the Jews – i.e. if they join them and become one of their “great crowd” they, too, may be “chief” in the Kingdom. But, up to now – so far as we know – the Jews are not joining Epiphany Campers Consecrated or the “great crowd” of these two organizations.

We contend with the Apostle Paul that the New Covenant blessings will be “to the Jew first,” and all others will receive the New Covenant blessings when they become Jews. The New Covenant simply replaces the Old Law Covenant, which was made only with natural Israel – and the New Covenant will be made only with natural Israel. If any Gentile desired the blessings of the Old Law Covenant he had to become a proselyte Jew – and the same condition will exist under the New Covenant.

Neither the Jehovah’s Witnesses nor the Laymen’s Home Missionary Movement can produce any Scriptures that support their contentions about the Jews, but we can produce many Scriptures to support our contentions: “And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scat­tered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.” (Ezek. 28:25-26)

“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, 0 my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, 0 my people, and brought you up out of your graves. And I shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” (Ezek. 37: 12-14)

Psalms 107:17-22 also applies to natural Israel, and also supports our conten­tion regarding “to the Jew first”: “They cry unto the Lord in their trouble (Jacob’s Trouble – second phase), and he saveth them out of their distresses.” (v. 19) These covenant-keeping Jews in Jerusalem will be the “first” to receive the blessings of the New Covenant, and will naturally become the first able and zealous missionaries of the Kingdom. Many will join them, of course – particularly the “repentant and be­lieving” in the finished picture of the Epiphany. “For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say 0 Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.” (Jer. 31:7)

“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; Micah 4:2) We would emphasize, however, that these promises apply only to the faithful covenant-keeping Jews – all others are counted as heathen.

Since “God is faithful that promised” (Heb. 10:23; 11:11), it is our hope and prayer that all God’s faithful people are in harmony with God’s good and perfect will. “Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together... There are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee... Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good.” (Psa. 122:3-9)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

NO. 237: SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE MEMORIAL

No. 237

My dear Brethren: Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Comes once more the Passover season, at which time we commemorate the death of "Christ our Passover." (1 Cor. 5:7) The correct time for 1975 is after six p.m., March 25. The moon nearest the Vernal Equinox this year comes new at 2 A.M., March 13 at the 30th Meridian East (the   one nearest Jerusalem), thus commencing Nisan 1 at 6 p.m.  March 12. Counting from this start we come to 6 p.m. March 25 as the 14th day of Nisan, during which evening the memorial is properly in order. We here at Mount Dora will memorialize at 7:30 p.m., and we issue a cordial invitation to any who may be in this vicinity, and who are of like mind, to join with us.

Our interest in the type centers especially in the lamb, which typified the Lamb of God. At this point it may be well to stress the difference between the Passover proper and the Passover Festival, which continued for a week after the Passover, making eight days in all for the two occasions. At the actual Passover in Egypt that preceded the freedom of the Jews from their bondage there was no Passover Festival, the first celebration being observed at Sinai the following year. The word Passover comes from the Hebrew 'pesah,' which means ‘to pass over' in the sense of ‘to spare.'

The Passover Festival is first mentioned in Ex. 12:15-17; and it is elaborated somewhat in Lev. 23:6-8. At the Passover in Egypt the participants stood; but in the subsequent memorials they reclined. "There was leaning on Jesus bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." (John 13:23) There was also several other differences between the original and the memorials. In Egypt the lamb was taken up on the tenth day of Nisan, but this was not done in later celebrations. Nor was there any blood sprinkled on the doorposts in the memorials.  Likewise, there is no mention of wine in the first, but four cups were used in the later events; and with the last of these, “the cup after supper" (Luke 22:20), Jesus instituted what is commonly known throughout Christendom as the Lord's Supper.

In the Passover proper the lamb was the thing stressed; whereas, in the seven-day Festival the unleavened bread was emphasized. In the Festival the first and the seventh days were to be "a holy convocation" (Ex. 12:16), rigidly kept - "no manner of work done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. The seven days of this Festival type the seven periods of the Gospel-Age Church; and in the first of these - the Ephesus stage, under the guidance of the twelve Apostles - there was unusually strict discipline. The same was true in the Laodicean period – under the supervision of That Servant. This would account for the large number of saints that were won during those periods - as against the five interim days, when certain laxity was permitted for the Jews to pursue their ordinary activities. This offers partial explanation for the large number of Great Company members during the Gospel-Age interim, when business, state and church fraternized more freely, thus promoting such laxity as caused many to lose their crowns during those five interim periods.

As there was only one Passover (all subsequent services being simply a memorial of the great type), so there has been only one antitype - "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." And in keeping the Lord's Supper as a memorial of that antitype we commemorate the greatest event of all history - the sacrificial death of the savior of the world. As the type was formed in the evening, so subsequent memorials were kept in the evening. Likewise the Supper was given in the evening by Jesus so also our memorial should be in the evening. Millions of Christians will partake of the bread and the wine on Easter Sunday - mostly in the morning - because they do not understand the real significance of the celebration.

Also, the real date has been lost in the confusion of the Dark Ages, mainly because the Roman Church wished to disassociate itself as fully as possible from anything Jewish. Therefore, instead of observing Nisan 14 as we do - and to be sure that "good Friday" would always be a Friday - they use the first Friday after the first full moon after the Verna1 Equinox. Although the moon is substantialiy full at Nisan 14, it may be two or three days before it actually reaches that point. However, the moon is not the controlling factor for keeping the Memorial, other than determining the first day of Nisan.

The Bible is very definite that the Memorial should be kept on the 14th day of Nisan, regardless of the condition of the moon.And by ignoring these details, the great majority fail to grasp the real significance of the event.

THE TRUE MEANING

The Passover in general represents the deliverance of God's people from Satan's rule on the basis of the antitypical Lamb's blood, the emphasis being mainly on justification through faith in Christ's merit.  In this picture Egypt is a type of the world in sin, with Pharaoh typing Satan as "the god of this world.” Celebrated the 14-21 of Nisan, it represents mainly the salvation of the Gospel Age and its joys, etc. - particularly that of the Gospel Church. All of this was clearly understood by the Ephesus period of the Church – the first antitypical day of the Gospel-Age Church.

When the true date for keeping the Memorial was distorted so badly, it also brought a corresponding loss of understanding on the true meaning of the memorial and the darkness deepened during the Dark Ages, so that the import of the service was very nebulous with most of the participants - and not even moderately clear to any of them, so far as we know. However, in 1521 star Member Zwingli began to revive the truth on the service, c1aiming as he did that the Lord's Supper represents (1) the death of Jesus; (2) faith appropriating justification from the merit of His humanity and life laid down unto death ("He hath poured out His soul unto death"); and (3) the fellowship of the saints in suffering. In all of this, however, he did not recognize the Church's share in the sin-offering - which is actually the case - for it remained for the bright shining of the Harvest Truth to make this fact clearly understandable as we see it today.

While Zwingli's truth on the doctrine was rather limited, it was potent enough to arouse the antagonism of the Roman Catholic Church, which then was thoroughly submerged in the hallucination of transubstantiation, and of the Lutheran Church which held to the view of instrumentalization - both churches claiming that the actual body and blood were received through the mouth of the communicants. While he did produce the general truth on the bread and the wine - much as we see it today - he did not grasp the thought of the right date for partaking of the emblems. Nor did any other group have the right date then, so far as we know. That also needed the Harvest Truth for clarification.

Although the true date is a minor question, we should use it correctly if we are ab1e to do it; but, if there be those who disagree with us, that difference should not be allowed to destroy Christian fellowship. We know that many of the very best of God's people during the Age have habitually observed the Lord's Supper on the wrong date and at the wrong time of the day; but this did not debar them from receiving rich blessings from the Lord. Nevertheless, the full truth on the subject does deepen the conviction in the Church that the entire Church is but one; and this unity should be preserved to the extent of our ability and knowledge. The Jews, of course, were very meticulous in their observance of the Passover proper and in the seven-day Festival that followed. It is one of their greatest memorials as a nation; and is celebrated by Jews in all parts of the world - even by some who claim to be agnostics. The same may be said of the Day of Atonement service. We have known Jews personally who claimed to have no faith in the Mosaic covenant, yet they would assemble in the synagogue of the orthodox Jews on these days - just to please their parents, as they put it.

However, it is one of the oddities of the Age that the Jews, with so many brilliant minds among them, have not thought it worthwhile to seek the truth on the subject. Why was the Passover lamb slain and eaten? Why was the blood sprinkled upon the doorposts and lintels? The Jews did it that night in Egypt because God had commanded them to do it; but why had He told them to do it? One of the greatest of their prophets had counseled them, after they had come into Canaan land, to "seek judgment … come, let us reason together." (Isa. 1:17,18) Such a God would give only reasonable commands, which means that the Passover ritual, with its strict exactions, must also be based upon sound reason. And we may consider ourselves blessed indeed if we are able to grasp fully and clearly the date and ceremonial features of the Lord's Supper.

The Passover type is clear enough in its purpose; all of the Jews understood that it was to free all of them from Egyptian bondage. And, while only the firstborns were in danger that night, the entire nation was in danger as they entered the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. But they all passed over dry shod, and were saved, while the pursuing hordes were all swallowed up in the receding waters. Not one Israelite was left behind, and not one Egyptian that pursued them was spared. There was enacted the grand drama of the Ages; and is intended to portray the salvation of the sheep, and the destruction of the goats at the end of the Little Season - at which time will be accomplished "the restitution of all things." (Acts 3:21)

Of course, the foregoing is not what we shall celebrate on the evening of March 25. At that time we shall memorialize the passing over of "the church of the firstborn" Heb. 12:23) of this Gospel Age. They are the ones who have been in danger of destruction if they should go out from under the blood of Christ our Passover. Having come "under the blood" by acceptance of Jesus, and having had His merit applied to them, it then does become a matter of life or death to them whether or not they should consider the blood of Him who gave Himself for them to be a trivial thing. This is the true lesson of the Passover type, and it applies in this Age only to those who have come "under the blood," and become a part of the Gospel-Age Church of the Firstborn - and to no others.

JESUS OUR PASSOVER LAMB

The Apostle Paul clearly and positively identifies the Passover Lamb with our Lord Jesus: "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore, let us keep the feast." (1 Cor. 5:7,8) With such clear and direct words, is it not strange indeed that few even of the leaders in Christendom fail to grasp their meaning?   But for those who do      understand their import they feed on the Lamb of God, just as the Jews fed on the lamb in Egypt that night. And, just as the Egyptians knew nothing of the Jews feasting that night, so "the world knoweth us not, even as it knew Him not." So also Jesus had said of Himself, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of … My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." (John 4:32-34)

Everything the Jews did that night was laden with significance. They were to eat the lamb with bitter herbs, which were typical of the trialsome and exhausting experiences which have come to the Gospel-Age Church. And, as the eating of those bitters merely sharpened their appetites for more of the lamb - which would give them the needed strength for the journey to the Red Sea - so it has been with the bitter experiences of the Gospel-Age Church: They have been strengthened in their determination to "keep up the good fight." "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

And the Jews were to eat the Passover in this manner: "With your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand;and ye shall eat it in haste." (Ex. 12:11) Ready for travel at a moment's notice, they typified the Gospel Age Church in the words of St. Paul: "We have here no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Heb. 13:14) Most people are not nomadic; they desire to establish a residence and to remain settled there: But such was not to be for the true Church. Had not Jesus told them, "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another … The disciple is not above His master." (Matt. 10:23,24) And He left them a grand example in His own life: "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." (Luke 9:58)

All of our readers are more or less familiar with the truth of the foregoing - either by their own experiences, or by having intimate knowledge about those of their brethren who have been forced to move on as it were. History is replete with the forced travels of many of the best of the Lord's people during this Age; and some instances come vividly to mind here in the end of the Age of brethren who were prodded to change company because they did not wish to become companion with the many errors that have appeared since 1917.

It is probably well in order here to consider the Apostle John. Shortly after Pentecost we hear nothing at all about him for more than forty years; but we are warranted in the conclusion that he was certainly not in Jerusalem at the time of its capture by the Romans in the year 70 A.D. Nor would he have returned there after the year 70. According to his own statement, he was on the Isle of Patmos at or near the end of his life - "for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Rev. 1:9) Patmos is a small rocky island in the Greek Archipelago, now called Patino - off the southwest coast of Asia Minor, about ten miles long and six miles wide, and generally barren. It was there that he wrote the Revelation - about the year 95 A.D. - apparently in much the same condition as was John Bunyan in prison when he wrote his memorable Pilgrim's Progress. Patmos means 'suffering.' Clearly enough, the Disciple that Jesus loved had here "no continuing city"; and Patmos could hardly be described as a desirable place to spend the last years of his life. However, his way of life had been well established - "with his loins girded, his shoes on his feet, and his staff in his hand"; and he continued in this manner until he had received from his Lord that, "Well done, good and faithful servant" - an "example of the believers."

 At the supper in the upper room that last night Jesus intimately identified Himself with the Passover Lamb. On the same night of His betrayal, just preceding His crucifixion, He said to His Apostles, "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." As Jews, it was a strict requirement of the Law that they should eat the Passover that night – on the exact anniversary of the occurrence in Egypt. But as soon as the requirements of the type had been met, He instituted a new Memorial upon the old foundation, saying "Do this in remembrance of Me." He blessed the bread and gave it to them; He blessed the cup and handed that to them, explaining that these items represented His broken body and shed blood, and that His followers accept this pattern in their annual commemoration of Him. No longer would the Apostles eat the Passover Lamb; rather, they would follow instructions and replace the lamb with the bread and the wine - not only as a Memorial, but as a yearly pledge that they would "follow in His steps."

When He told them, "Take, eat; this is My body" self-evidently He did not mean He was offering them His actual body, because He was not yet dead. Therefore, He had to mean that it represented His body. This truth seems plain enough, yet many of the best minds in Christendom try to take it literally, and this has brought them into great confusion. The unleavened (pure, unfermented) bread represented Jesus' sinless perfect flesh; whereas, leaven represented sin, and the commandment was very rigid that the Jews have no leaven in their houses at the Passover season. Jesus had said, "I am the bread of life - the Bread of God is He which cometh down from Heaven, and giveth life unto the world." "The bread that I  will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:33,51)

For us to keep the Memorial properly it is essential that we have a clear understanding of its meaning. To contend that the intention of the participant in this ceremony is the important thing, rather than a proper understanding, is not sound reasoning. To accept such an attitude in this instance would justify the same for any and every feature of Biblical truth. And once we come to such a conclusion, we are then forced to admit that the heathen do the same, which would give them equal standing before God with the Christians; and the Bible nowhere supports such a viewpoint.

Once we have a clear understanding of the matter – that Jesus offered His pure and spotless nature on behalf of sinners – then we see that we are privileged to appropriate to ourselves that which He gave, His perfect human life – the thing that would "save His people from their sins." Of course, this premise could not be a workable thing until He had been raised from the dead, ascended to the Father and deposited the sacrificial merit of His death with Him who had raised Him from the dead.

During this Age those who make intelligent acceptance of this fact – accept Him as Savior and submit themselves fully to His will – such are then said to be "justified by faith … and boast in hope of the Glory of God." (Rom. 5:1,2-Dia.) An intelligent participation in the bread and the wine means that by faith we receive a right to human life – with all its privileges, and which our Lord procured for us by His death.

THE DEEPER SIGNIFICANCE

Let us note that God's object in justifying the Church of the Gospel Age by faith in advance of the world's justification by works in the next Age – has been that they might "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." (Col. 1:24) This deeper meaning is not clearly stated by Jesus, although there is some intimation of it in Luke 22:20, Dia.: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, that in your behalf being poured out." The full meaning of the cup was probably one of the things He had in mind, when He told them that last night, "I have yet many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now… But the spirit of Truth …will lead you into all Truth … and declare to you the coming things." (John 16:12,13-Dia.) The spirit of truth had made this quite clear to St. Paul, "The cup of blessing for which we give thanks, is it not the participation of the blood of Christ? The loaf which we break, is it not the participation of the Body of Christ? … For we being many, are one loaf." (1 Cor. 10:16,17, Dia.) Thus, we would stress that the surface and the deeper meanings of the Memorial are essential to a proper participation in the celebration. Understanding the deeper part impresses each communicant with the exhortation, "We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (1 John 3:16, Dia.)

The "life" in the foregoing is not the spiritual life, of course; it is rather bodily life - just as Jesus gave His "flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews had been told by Moses that "the life is in the blood"; and this is confirmed by the fact that any one opening one of his important veins or arteries will quickly die – even though his body might be in excellent health. Therefore, when the cup represents the blood, it does not refer to the life retained, but to the life poured out. This is made quite clear by St. Paul's words in 2 Tim. 4:6, "I am now ready to be offered"; although the Diaglott makes this much more emphatic - "I am already being poured out." He was referring here to the fact that the Romans would very shortly chop off his head – his life would then be speedily ended - poured out in much the same manner as would be the wine in the cup. Therefore, obedience to the Jewish Law would not suffice in this matter, nor faith in some great teacher, nor the mere acceptance of Jesus as Savior. It must be the blood poured out - "Without an effusion of blood no forgiveness takes place."  (Heb. 9:22, Dia.)

"Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom." Seldom did He fail to proclaim that "good news." Nor did He fail to do so that last night He spent with His Disciples. He would go away, He said, to receive for Himself a kingdom; and would come again to receive them to Himself to share in it. In the course of the talk He told them that the Memorial which He was instituting would find fulfilment in that kingdom – that He would no more drink of the fruit of the vine until He would drink it anew with them in the Father's Kingdom.

Just what He meant by this statement may be difficult to determine positively; but it would seem He meant that the trials and sufferings portrayed by the cup – and which His followers would experience after His departure - were symbolized in the cup. As stated previously in this paper, the Jews had four cups of wine during their Passover memorial, the purpose of which was to enable them to be jubilant in the memory of their release from Egyptian oppression. Thus the cup which Jesus blessed would be emblematic of the joys which the Apostles would experience when they joined Him in His heavenly home. "Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." (John 16:20) “He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied." (Isa. 53:11) And the same would be true of those who were supping with Him that night. They would sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

The strong conviction that these things would be so made Him complete master of the situation – gave Him that "peace of God which surpasses all conception." (Phil. 4:7, Dia.) Later in the evening, when that cantankerous screaming mob was worked into a frenzy, it is recorded that "Jesus held His peace." (Matt. 26:63) - maintained His calm – was silent. This He did in defiance of the demand of the High Priest that He give them answer to their questions.

It seems appropriate to state here that the Jews were required to answer such questions by a magistrate or superior (Lev, 5:1); the answer thus given was considered to be under oath. A false answer would be judged to be perjury; and even the silence of the person was not accepted as proof of his innocence; and the High Priest questioning Jesus made full capital of the situation, continuing to hurl unfounded accusations against Him until he finally received Pilate's order to crucify Him."As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." (Isa. 53:7)

In all this "He left us an example." In all that reviling cursing mob He was most calm - so much so that after Peter had denied Him three times that night, after which third denial the cock crew – as Jesus had said it would - immediately He turned and looked at Peter. Hadn't He told him it would be this way. We may be sure that Peter never forgot that look; he rushed from the trial scene to the outdoors and wept bitterly. So impressed was he that it is claimed that he arose at four o'clock each morning for the rest of his life to remind him of his weakness that night.

THEY SANG THE HALLEL

Going back to the "upper room" - before Jesus had departed with His Disciples - it is stated in Matt. 26:30, "When they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives." The marginal reading says they sang a Psalm. The Psalm they used would be taken from the Hallel, a Hebrew word meaning 'Praise God.' The Hallel consisted of Psalms 113 through 118. The first two are known as the small Hallel; and the last four the great Hallel. This is the root of our English word hallelujah - praise to God.

The small Hallel was sung or chanted before the Passover memorial meal began; and the last four after the third or fourth cup. It is worthy of note that no more prayer was offered after drinking the fourth cup; they simply sang a Psalm and went out. Here again we have evidence of the great strength and composure of Jesus that night, knowing what He would be facing in the hours just ahead; yet joining in song with His Disciples in spite of that. It would seem almost certain that there was no singing during the original Passover; at least, there is no record of it; and the Jews were certainly under great stress that night - in no mood for singing. Yet there was singing just before the death of the antitypical Lamb, as just described. Of course, this type of singing in the Memorials could not have existed before King David wrote the Hallel, so we cannot know the exact type of service during the period of the Judges.

In their preparation for and participation in this coming Memorial we wish all our readers the Lord's rich blessing; and we would stress that what we have written is in no respect intended to replace the chapter on the Passover in Parousia Vol. 6; we urge all to read that again this year. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psa. 84:10,11)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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QUESTION OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: - Are we to offer Youthful Worthy hopes now as an incentive to consecrate?

ANSWER: - We are not to urge anyone to consecrate as an incentive for reward. We should invite the Tentatively Justified - those in the Court condition – to consecrate. The same motives for consecration that prevailed during the High Calling era should be practiced today: the unbegotten consecrators "between the Ages" make the same kind of consecration made by the Saints - the difference is in the way the Lord uses the consecrations. St. Paul had said we should do this as "your reasonable service." (Rom. 12:1) We are not to bargain with the Lord by agreeing to do His will in exchange for a reward. Those who have Tentative Justification should be encouraged to consecrate because of their faith in God - their conviction of His trustworthiness, their appreciation of His past favors, and a delight to do His good, and acceptable, and perfect will. If such make an acceptable consecration to do God's will, and walk faithfully in a narrow way while sin is in the ascendency, God will not be unrighteous to forget their , "work and labor of love." They will be rewarded with a place above the general restitutionists. There are some in the world who have never become tentatively justified - what we might describe as ‘noble worldlings.’ They are motivated by duty love to God and man, interested in reform movements, etc., which will prepare them to accept and receive the blessings of the New Covenant much more quickly than many of their neighbors.

The same may be said of those who have been ejected from the Court - those who received "the grace of God in vain." Failure to consecrate does not imply that such are pursuing sinful practices; they simply did not proceed to the Door of the Tabernacle. But the terms of the New Covenant will have speedy appeal to them, and they will readily accept the Highway of Holiness once it is explained to them.

There are some people who make a consecration who do not understand its meaning, as well as the requirements. Such people just think they are consecrated. This would not imply, however, that they do not have good intentions; but it does mean they have not been properly informed, or have been unable to comprehend the situation. However, some of these people do come to an understanding of their privileges and requirements in consecration, and become fully faithful. We would consider it wrong to encourage anyone to walk a "narrow way" now in the belief they will become superior restitutionists – that is, to receive the chief favor in the Kingdom. God did make an unconditional covenant with Israel - they have plenty of Scriptures upon which they may rely if they are faithful covenant-keeping Jews: "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Rom. 11:29) Note the Berean Comments on this text: "Jehovah never made a covenant which He would need or wish to break.” God has a works covenant with the Jews; and a "covenant by sacrifice" with the faith class during this Gospel Age. But He has no covenant with the world now; yet the promise is sure: He will bless all the willing under the New Covenant by the Elect Classes primarily, and through the faithful Jews secondarily. However, those who become truly repentant and believing during the reign of evil will be among the first to receive those blessings. Such qualities will enable them to do this. The Law Covenant did not obligate the Jews to sacrifice; nor will sacrifice be required to receive the blessings under the New Covenant.

"This expression, New Covenant, is not used in connection with any others of mankind than the Jews, because it is not true that God will make a New Covenant with the remainder of mankind. As the Apostle suggests, the word 'New' here implies a previous covenant which was counted Old, and this Old Covenant was not made with other nations or peoples than the Jews, of whom God declared that He ‘took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, which my covenant they brake.’ (Jer. 31:32) Hence, we should understand that all references to the New Covenant are references to God's arrangement with the Jewish people to supplant the old arrangement under Moses, under the conditions of which they are still condemned and bound. By this new, substitutionary covenant, God will shortly release the Jew from the condemnation of the Old Covenant.

"It will be in an incidental way that other nations will be granted the privilege of coming under the same laws and arrangements with natural Israel in the blotting out of sin and in being restored to the Divine image, and thus to full harmony and fellow­ ship and covenant relationship with God, which relationship all may maintain, if they will, throughout eternity." (Reprint 4659, top, col. l & 2)

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brethren: Greetings!

Last week I saw one of your letters. Would appreciate it if you would mail me some back ones if available.

 Yours in His Service, … (CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Brother Hoefle: Grace and peace be multiplied!

Your good letter is received, and as always, I was very glad to hear from you. I can understand the pressure you   have been under. I received the tracts this week, and thank you very much .Seemingly I enjoy very good health, and I thank God for all His blessings to me, and for your thoughtful letters from time to time, your prayers, etc. We seem to be moving rapidly to the Time of Trouble. What blessings await us after that, and also for the world of mankind.

God bless you all at Mount Dora and your loyal devotion to Our Lord’s cause. May He continue to bless and strengthen you all… Be assured of my prayers on your behalf, even as you pray for me,

 With Christian love, Your brother …(NEW JERSEY)

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Our Dear Brother Hoefle: Loving greetings to you and all with you!

 Many thanks for you good articles we keep receiving…. We keep “on the go” but we find we have to rest more… Thank you for keeping in touch with the Real Truth! Your very able efforts are much appreciated, dear brother as well as those who help you. I am sending you another name for your mailing list.

With the assurance of our love and prayers, Brother & Sister.....(ENGLAND)

NO. 236: THE OCTOBER 25-27 CONVENTION

No. 236

Due to serious illness and a death in the family, it was not our privilege to attend the Labor-Day Convention in Pottstown; but we did attend the one at Niles, IL., and we now offer some comments on things, actions, and expressions as we saw them there.

It is never our intention to attend any convention for the sole purpose of criti­cism; and we are always more than happy to hear a discourse that is uplifting, and in harmony with what we have “learned and been assured of” from the faithful Star Members. It gives us pleasure to express praise where praise is due – in harmony with St. Paul's words, “Love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the Truth.” (1 Cor. 13:6) Therefore, we are pleased to give excellent rating to R. G. Jolly's Saturday evening discourse, “The Heathen For An inheritance,” having its setting in the second Psalm, and in full harmony with the teachings of the two Messengers.

Also, at the Question Meeting on Sunday morning there was a refreshing absence of RGJ's usual vitriolic rancor; and we hope for him that this is evidence of permanent improvement in cleansing himself from some Great Company defilements. And quite a few of the questions were well answered with the Truth, although his usual “partly wise effu­sions” (E-10:591) were in evidence, so that he did not “have time” to answer quite a number of questions that had been presented. We believe they could have been answered had he used the proper brevity on some of those he did answer. He said also that he was pleased that the questions had all been presented by Saturday evening, which gave him time to secure some of the answers from the various writings. We emphasize this point because we do have some criticism for a few of his answers which were either par­tially or totally in error; and the excuse for these errors cannot be established on the contention that his remarks were snap judgment.

It would seem, however, that he did make some unintentional erroneous statements. For example, his statement that General Allenby captured Jerusalem from the Turks just two weeks before the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, the same being a fulfillment of Jesus' words that Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Here is what one encyclopedia says about the mat­ter:

“In June 1917 (seventeen months before the Armistice was signed—JJH) General Allenby took command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He... won a decisive vic­tory over the Turks at Gaza November 1917 (a full year before the Armistice—JJH) leading to the capture of Jerusalem December 9, 1917, and a victory at Megiddo (Sept. 19, 1918), which, with the capture of Damascus and Aleppo, ended Ottoman power in Syria.” This inaccuracy by RGJ was undoubtedly not intentional.

Then the question was asked whether it would be proper for a Truth person to par­ticipate in a Catholic wedding. His answer was that it would depend upon the circum­stances. However, we believe his answer is not in harmony with the Truth – probably due to his not being informed on the matter. If a wedding is performed in the church, then it is one of the seven sacraments recognized by the Roman Catholic Church; and at all such sacraments the mass is always performed and served to the active partici­pants. We are certain that RGJ would not advise his adherents to partake of the mass under any conditions.

Some one presented the question that the Berean Comment says Jesus and the Dis­ciples ate the Passover one day ahead of the Jews, and is this correct? He was em­phatic that this is right because no Jew would have left his house during the night after eating the Passover because he would have died had he done so. Jesus and all the Disciples left the house after they ate it. Did any of them die that night? This is a complicated and intricate question; and RGJ apparently is not clear on it. We suggest he read the Reprints and the Present Truths for the correct thought.

However, we would say there are some pronounced differences between the actual Passover that night in Egypt and the subsequent memorials – just as there are sharp differences in the antitypical Passover (Christ our Passover) and the memorial which we keep (the Lord's Supper). In the type itself the lamb was taken up on the tenth day of Nisan; but this was not done in the Memorials. Also, there was no blood sprinkled on the doorposts in the memorials; therefore, since none were under the blood, none could go out from under the blood. They had nothing to fear if they went out that night after they had participated in the memorial. Also, there is no mention of wine in the type – whether they drank it or not; but in the memorials there were four dif­ferent cups from beginning to end of the supper; and it was the last of these cups that Jesus used to institute the memorial of His own death. The Passover memorials were occasion for rejoicing, as the Jews recalled their delivery from Egyptian bondage and the various incidents connected with it.

We may be certain there was no deviation whatever by Jesus in observing the memor­ial. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law... Verily I say unto you, Till heav­en and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matt. 5:17,18) What method the Jews used for determining Nisan 1, we can­not be certain; but the date was proclaimed by the High Priest, and all Jewry accepted his finding.

Some of the confusion in this matter may come from not clearly understanding the difference between the Passover itself and the Passover Festival, the latter extending over seven days, making eight days in all. At the memorial the lamb was the thing stressed (although unleavened bread was eaten that night); but in the Festival the un­leavened bread was emphasized. They could eat any clean meat during the seven days, but only lamb was to be eaten the night of the memorial.

“In the first day (of the Festival, following the day of the Memorial) there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread..... in your generations by an ordinance forever.” (Ex. 12:16,17) It so happened at the cru­cifixion that the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday, which began at 6 p.m. Friday) was also the first day of the Passover Festival, which required doubly strict observance by the Jews at that time.

It is noted that St. John (18:28) is the only one of the Apostles to mention the hesitancy of the Jews from entering the residence of Pilate that early morning; but this is no cause for doubting the accuracy of what he said. However, had the matter been of real importance, it would seem the other Gospel writers would have made some comment about it. However, the rigid restriction against leaven during the Passover Festival of seven days would almost certainly restrain the Jewish leaders from enter­ing any house where leaven would be available; and this would be good reason for them to refuse to enter Pilate's residence.

The question was asked, “Where is vitalized justification represented in Taber­nacle types?” RGJ made no clear answer to the question, but went into quite a bit of detail about tentative justification represented in the Court, consecration at the first veil; and when consecration was accepted, they passed into the Holy. His com­ments were nebulous and misleading, so that the questioner probably knows less now than he did before the foregoing answer.

Seemingly RGJ does not understand the subject, or he would have given the proper answer. The answer is, Vitalized Justification is represented in the Court. Justi­fication means to make right – reckonedly, of course. But what is reckoned right? It is the humanity of the consecrator; and the humanity of none of the Gospel-Age con­secrators ever entered the Holy at all; the new creature is represented there. Wheth­er one be tentatively justified or vitalizedly justified, it has to do with the human­ity – and represented in the Court. This is clearly manifested by the animals on the brazen altar, which represented the humanity of the vitalizedly justified. Although those animals were led to the door of the Holy before they were killed, none of them were ever taken into the Holy. While RGJ's remarks were correct concerning consecra­tion, the question concerned vitalized justification. He read the question and then talked about the general setting of the Tabernacle. We repeat: Tentative Justifica­tion and Vitalized Justification are pictured in the Court during the Gospel Age – and they are represented in the Court during the Epiphany.

Only the sanctified were permitted in the Holy – the new creature. During the Epiphany, sanctification, as well as justification, is also represented in the Court for the Youthful Worthies and manifested crown-losers; and will continue to be repre­sented there until the last one has finished his earthly journey – although it would still be represented in the Holy for crown-retainers.

As both Messengers have stated, if one remains clear on Tabernacle types, he is not likely to go far astray in the general Truth – nor will he offer “strange fire” (false doctrine) before the Lord. Among the very first of JFR's deflections was his confusion on the Tabernacle, causing him to deny tentative justification. In a short time he was forced to reject the Tabernacle entirely to make way for his Jonadabs. And now RGJ is revolutionizing against Tabernacle types to make way for his Campers. He does not reject the Tabernacle completely, as did JFR, yet his revolutionisms of tentative justification – the Camp and the Court – are leading him into consider­able confusion. “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.” (2 Pet. 1:12,13)

It grieves us much to report once more that the spirit of rabid sectarianism still motivates the great majority of RGJ's supporters; and we offer a few quotations in the hope it may help some of them to recognize this defiling influence: “Jewish sectar­ianism, like all sectarianism, is of Satanic origin, and as such is the antitype of Pharaoh's daughter.” (E-11:19) “The leprous houses of Canaan are used to represent the Great Company sects;.... their sectarianism, their partisan support of power-grasping and lording leaders.” (E-4:290, top) “Sectarianism is a great sin; for it does not act from devotion to the Truth, the Truth arrangements and the Spirit of the Truth, but from devotion to partisanship.... Their actual, though not verbal motto is: 'My party – ­I stand for it, right or wrong.' Therefore they support their sect and leaders regard­less of how wrong they are.” (E-4:292,293) “Sometime these friends will recognize these evils as committed by them, but the faithful recognize them already. And this uncleanness will more or less remain in them until the end of the Epiphany (until even) a gradual matter, coming by the end of the Epiphany.” (E-4:299,300)

From the foregoing, as well as from the writings of That Servant, against the evils of sectarianism, it is self-evident that the faithful teachers in the Church did all in their power to discourage sectarianism in their supporters; whereas, the pseudo Truth teachers are inclined to encourage this evil, especially when they are in danger of los­ing some of their adherents if they read literature other than their own. It will be noted that this evil will be eliminated by “the end of the Epiphany” in those who are contaminated with it; and any who die in this condition, will lose their class stand­ing if they be Youthful Worthies, or life completely if they be new creaturely leaders.

THE MILLENNIUM'S FIRST CENTURY

On pp. 69-78 of the Sept.-Oct. 1974 P.T. the Editor offers quite some detail on events of the past hundred years, in which he also attempts exposure of certain Dawn errors, accusing them of using “Satan's methods of deception.” (p. 71, col. 2, par. 2) However, he does just that himself in the article under review – in a most cunning and deceptive manner. For instance, on p. 71, col. 1, par. 1, he offers this quotation from That Servant concerning those who would consecrate between the Ages, but for whom there would be no opportunity to enter the Body of Christ after that Body was complete:

“But note his (Brother Russell) words in Z 5761, col. 2, pars. 1,2: 'It is our thought that with the closing of the 'door' of this Gospel Age there would be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature. Any afterward coming to God through consecration, before the inauguration of the restitution work, will be accepted by Him, not to the spirit plane of being, but to the earthly plane. Such would come in under the same conditions as the Ancient Worthies who were accepted of God. The Ancient Wor­thies came in, no call being opened to them – the high calling being not yet open, and the restitution opportunities not open. But they freely gave themselves up to God with­out knowing what blessings their consecration would bring, except that they had the inti­mation that they would, in the future life, have a 'better resurrection' than would the remainder of the world.

“Our thought is that whoever under such conditions as these would make a full conse­cration to the Lord, to leave all to follow in His ways, and will live up faithfully, loyally, to that consecration, may be privileged to be counted as a similar class to those who preceded the Gospel Age. We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive those who make a consecration after the Gospel Age high calling and before the full opening of the Millennium.”

Any one reading the above would certainly conclude that RGJ is in complete harmony with it; whereas, as of this date, he is as much out of harmony with it as the Dawns ­perhaps even more so than they, because he himself has invented a new class to take the place of those mentioned in the quotation after 1954, and before “restitution opportun­ities” are open – a class he terms Consecrated Epiphany Campers. It will be noted in the above quotation that Brother Russell teaches that opportunity to enter this class would be available until “THE FULL OPENING OF THE MILLENNIUM”; but RGJ is saying it ap­plied only until 1954. The Jehovah's Witnesses and the LHMM are the only two groups emanating from the Harvest Truth that have invented a new class here in the end of the Age, so far as we know. Thus, whatever of fault may be hurled at the Dawns, they have not been guilty of offering “strange fire” (false doctrine) before the Lord to replace any mistakes they have been making; whereas, RGJ is clearly revolutionizing against the Truth he quotes from Brother Russell.

And this is not the first time he has followed this technique: he has done the same thing with his handling of the Jewish question. To the Jews he is in full har­mony with Brother Russell – they are to be the people under the New Covenant; but he tells his Campers Consecrated that they will have the preeminence at that time. Of course, this is just some of his symbolic witchcraft (especially deceptive false teach­ings). Truly, “A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways.” (Jas. 1:8 – See Be­rean Comments)

As stated previously, RGJ' attitude toward the Jews in relation to his Campers Con­secrated is the same as the Jehovah's Witnesses' attitude toward the Jews in relation to their “Great Crowd.” RGJ says any Jew who becomes a Campers Consecrated will be among the “chief and first” in the Kingdom arrangements – although he is more generous than the Witnesses in his teaching that the faithful covenant-keeping Jews who do not become Campers Consecrated will have a secondary place in the New Covenant arrangements. The Witnesses also teach that any Jew who will become a member of their “Great Crowd” will have a part in the preeminence of the Kingdom arrangements – but they have no place whatever for the faithful covenant-keeping Jews: all those that don't join with them will be annihilated in Armageddon. The Truth on the subject is: If any of the Restitutionists, including members of the “Great Crowd” and Campers Consecrated, desire to come into harmony with the New Covenant arrangements, they will have to become Jews. The New Covenant is Israelitish. The Gentiles were never under the Old Law Covenant ­nor could they be blessed by it unless they became proselyte Jews; and the same condi­tion applies to the New Covenant.

SOME TRUTHS IN THIS PRESENT TRUTH

However, we would not have our readers believe that we condemn all that RGJ says, because we are in full agreement with some of his statements. One of these points is the Bible Chronology, as it is given in Parousia Vol. 2, pp. 33-62. This we accept exactly as it is given there; and we believe the “signs of the times” clearly desig­nate 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times.

And just as there was a Big Babylon up to 1914, so there is now a Little Babylon among the various Truth groups that have arisen since 1917 – two of which are the Jeho­vah's Witnesses, and the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement since 1950. These two groups are probably the most sectarian of any that have arisen since 1917. As most of our readers know, Babylon means confusion; and it is self-evident that confusion pre­vails among the various Truth divisions – even if some among them should retain Parousia Truth in its purity. To carry the analogy a little further, most of God's true people were to be found in the sects of Big Babylon at 1874; and it is our opinion that this is also true of the sects now in Little Babylon. There is a reasonable chance, we be­lieve, that there are many of these people with the Witnesses.

It was told to us that Brother Russell once made the statement near the end of his life that he expected to find most of his followers back in Babylon again before “this present evil world” passes away. Note we say this statement is merely hearsay, so we do not state it as a fact; but we now recognize the statement to be a fact in actual operation – whether or not he said it. Some did go back to Big Babylon, but the major­ity built up a Babylon (confusion) of their own.

In this connection, we point out that the sects in Big Babylon were emphatically sectarian up to 1914 – all of them actively determined against the Truth; but they have now degraded to Combinationism, which makes them worse in some respects than they were up to 1914. The various Truth groups have since 1917 become the sectarians ­some more, some less – the Witnesses and the LHMM being two that are 'moreso.' In some of the other groups we find a much better spirit prevailing; and it is probable that quite a few of their members are not sectarian at all – which we state to their praise. In fact, we have had pleasant personal contact with some of these brethren, so we say this because of our own personal experience.

Another item with which we are in full accord with RGJ is that the High Calling was closed in September 1914; and we would stress herein just two of the many proofs to substantiate our contention. First, in Rev. 7:3 there is this statement: “Hurt not the earth (the present social order), neither the sea (the lawless elements of society), nor the trees (the prominent persons in Christendom), till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Certainly no one will dispute that all these classes were seriously “hurt” by the outbreak of the war in 1914; therefore, the servants of God had to be sealed in their foreheads by the time the war broke out in each nation.

A second item: Fire in the Bible usually types destructive forces in the antitype. In the Tabernacle type, when the burnt offering was presented “a fire came out from be­fore the Lord” (Lev. 9:24), which manifested God's acceptance of the sacrifice. This same thing occurred in the Day of Atonement sacrifices, which demon­strated the success­ful completion of the Sin Offering that day. In 1914 the great destructive features of the war also demonstrated that the Gospel-Age Sin Offering was then fixedly complete, although not actually so – will not actually be complete until the last member of the Lord's Goat has been fully sacrificed.

While we agree that the Gospel Age had a technical ending in 1874, we believe the Gospel Age is still with us, even though it has overlapped into the Millennium for a hun­dred years. The word gospel means good news – good news of the High Calling to such as had a hearing ear; and, so long as any of those who have responded to that call are still with us, we must conclude that the Gospel Age is also still with us. This would include crown-losers as well as crown-retainers – they are all a part of “the church of the firstborn.” (Heb. 12:23)

THE SAINT'S REIGN

Much has been argued back and forth about this subject; and we would offer the Berean Comment on Rev. 11:17,18: “Hast reigned – In a sense from 1878; actually from 1914. And the nations were angry – as a consequence of the reign begun.” In Matt. 28:18, Dia., there is this statement by the risen Jesus: “All authority has been imparted to Me, in Heaven and on earth.” From this it is clear enough that Jesus then possessed the “authority”; but there is no evidence that He was then exercising that authority; and this has been true throughout the Age until 1874. But at 1874 the Scriptures reveal that the great antitypical Jubilee began, at which time Jesus also began to exercise His authority. In Rev. 14:14, Dia., there is this: “Son of Man? having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle” (the Harvest reap­ing message). The golden crown would be evidence of kingly authority; and at that date He began to exercise that authority in a very positive manner, the first feature being the beginning of the binding of Satan.

If there are those who wish to contend that the reign also began at that time, we would answer that certainly not one of the saints were reigning “with Him” at that time. And even when they were resurrected in 1878, not a one of them had anything what­ever to do with raising themselves, or any others of the Christ Company. And that sit­uation continued throughout the Harvest. As each one died he did not raise himself, nor did the risen saints have anything to do with it. As each one was “caught away in clouds, for a meeting of the Lord in the air” (1 Thes. 4:17, Dia.) the marriage of the Lamb with that particular one was consummated, at which time they also joined in exer­cising His authority with Him.

And at successive dates that authority was broadened in scope: After 1878 the next date to appear in the parallel dispensations was the complete casting off of Big Babylon in 1881; then still much more of it in 1914, when “the stone cut out of the mountain without hands” (the completed Christ company) – Dan. 2:45 – began its smiting work; “to execute the judgment written.” (Psa. 149:9) Inasmuch as “this honor have “all the saints,” it should be clear enough that all of them were fixedly in the Body, although quite a few of them were still on earth, but they are actually in the Body when the last one joins that Company as a Divine being. These statements are fully corrob­orated in various places by Brother Russell, some of which we now quote:

“Apparently this matter of when the thousand-year period should be reckoned as fully beginning and fully ending will be an open question until the close of the Millennial Age. It is our expectation, from Rev. 20:8,9, that the obscurity of this question will have something to do with the final test of loyalty and obedience to God, which will come upon the whole world of mankind who will have enjoyed the blessings of restitution throughout the Millennial Age, and have attained perfection at its close.

“The Scripture declaration respecting the saints, the 'overcomers,' is “They lived and reigned a thousand years.' The reign of the saints cannot be properly said to be­gin before all the 'jewels' have been gathered, nor before the Times of the Gentiles end, in 1914. Nor is it; said that their reign will be no longer than a thousand years. After the thousand years' reign Satan shall be loosed and the above trial shall ensue; but the reign of Christ and the Church will evidently continue long after the thousand years to destroy all found unworthy in that final test, and thus complete the work for which this reign is instituted; – for, as expressed by the Apostle, 'He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.. And when all things shall he subdued unto Him (some by conversion and some by destruction), then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him (the Father).'“ (Reprints 2739-40) It is perhaps well to remind our readers here that no prophecy can be clearly understood until it has been fulfilled, or is in course of fulfillment.

And in Reprints 5631, col. 2, par. 4 (Feb. 15, 1915) there is this: “What time then is signified by the expression 'in the days of these kings,' when the Kingdom of God was to be set up in power? To our understanding the first step in the setting up of this Kingdom was the raising of the sleeping saints of the Gospel Age, which we believe was in the Spring of 1878. Then began the glorification of the Church. The work of setting up the Kingdom has, we understand, been progressing from that date, and is now merely lacking the last members of the Church class. When these shall have taken their places as members of the Church in Glory, the Kingdom will be fully set up.

“This does not signify that there may not be a part of the Kingdom work begun while some of the members of Christ are still in the flesh.... We read 'Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds.' ... The Scripture goes on to say that they have a two-edged sword in their hands – this is the word of God. They use it as the sword of the Spirit. This would not be true of them on the other side of the veil.

“The final phrase, 'to execute the judgments written,' would seem to imply that there would be something for the saints to do this side of the veil in connection with the execution of the judgments upon the nations.” Then in the same article under the heading THE KINGDOM OF GOD SET UP, there is this:

“Now is the time for God's Kingdom to displace them (the Gentile kingdoms—JJH); but they will not willingly resign their crowns and scepters; they are in defiance. Therefore, force is required to destroy them. Their 2520 years of rule are in the past, and they must now submit to a complete overthrow...

“The Lord has at this particular time especially to do with the affairs of the nations. And this war was allowed to occur at about the end of the Times of the Gen­tiles, at the appropriate time when they are to be dashed to pieces with the iron rod of the iron rule. (Psa. 2:6-12) It is our judgment that we shall see more of this iron rule and its breaking influence, not only upon the nations, but upon society at large. Now in this great day of the Lord everything that can be shaken is to be shaken to pieces and shaken out, to the intent that nothing unrighteous or unworthy shall remain. God Himself is doing the shaking.

“We believe that the Times of the Gentiles ended just on time, as shown in Vol. 2 of Studies in the Scriptures. The hand of justice is now doing the breaking – the na­tions shall be broken as 'a potter's vessel.' .... We believe that the time for the set­ting up of the Kingdom was on September 21, 1914. At that time, when it was due for our Lord to take up His great power and reign, the nations were already angry. They were at war over a month in advance of the time, because so angry. The due time for the wrath was September 21. We are expecting to see this wrath still more manifest.”

“We see that there is no throne yet established and that there is no bride now.” (Reprints 4990, col. 1, par. 6 – March 15, 1912)

On p. 427 of the Question Book there is this (year 1915); “We do not believe that the Kingdom was fully set up in 1878. These saints are glorified in that they have now their glorious spirit bodies; but their spirit bodies do not constitute the King­dom. The Kingdom is the reigning power. The Bible intimates that Jesus is to take to Himself His great power and reign before the great destruction of the present Order comes about... We have pointed out in the Watch Tower the possibility of the last mem­bers of the Body of Christ remaining yet for a little while. You remember the words of the Psalmist: 'Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand.' .... This seems to imply that there might be some of the saints during this time of smiting the nations who would be exercising power while still in the flesh.” This quota­tion is one of the very latest statements by That Servant on this subject.

While the expression “Christ” often refers to the Head and the Body, when Rev. 20:4 says the saints reigned with Christ it is presenting two different entities ­Christ and the saints; and, when RGJ says the part here (the individual Christ) is to be taken for the whole, he is simply revolutionizing against some more Parousia and Epiphany Truth.

In Rev. 2:26, 27, Dia., the record states: “He who conquers... I will give to him authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with an iron sceptre (as the earthen vessels it is breaking them together).” Certainly this “breaking them to­gether” – the “iron sceptre” – did not begin until 1914; and it is still continu­ing as respects the nations; and will continue unto a completion – after which the “iron sceptre” will apply to the individual restitutionists – during the entire Medi­atorial reign.

“He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.” (Rev. 2:7) “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hos. 10:12)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brothers in Jesus our Savior: May Grace and Peace be multiplied to you!

First, forgive me for not writing to you in English.... I am looking for Brother J. J. Hoefle. He is an American Brother who differs with The Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, managed by R. G. Jolly. RGJ teaches that since 1954, justification as being in the Camp. But I know, through articles of Brother J. J. Hoefle, he refutes the error, and he teaches as does Brother Russell. This is why I would like very much to find him.

Who can give me his address? Who would give me his address? Maybe you are the one, so dear Brother, if you know Brother J. J. Hoefle, for the love of the Truth taught by Brother Russell, I ask you to give me his address so that I can write to him. Waiting to hear from you, for which I thank you with all my heart. (Numbers 6:24-26)

My very best brotherly love, ------- (BELGIUM)
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF GENERAL INTEREST

Our Memorial date for this year is March 25, after 6:00 p.m., and we suggest for our Special Effort in Antitypical Gideon's Second Battle, Sunday, March 16 through Sun­day April 6, for our volunteer and sharpshooting in the slaying of the two King Errors Zebah (Eternal Torment), and Zalmunna (Consciousness of the Dead). The Special Effort is an Arrangement made for the Epiphany by the Epiphany Messenger. The “Battle” is not over – nor is the Epiphany over.

Our tracts – Where are the Dead, What is the Soul, and The Resurrection of the Dead, as well as the First Volume, The Divine Plan of the Ages, are pertinent literature for this work. The tracts and books for this Special Effort will be sent free, postage paid, to all who request them. We invite all of like mind to join with us in this Special Effort. Please place your orders early if you desire to join with us in this “good fight.” Be assured of our special prayers that all may have blessed experiences in so doing.

NO. 235: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

No. 235

Another year gone – and we continue to marvel at the scientific achievements of Society. Perhaps the outstanding feat of the year was the flight of an air­plane from New York to London on September 1 in just one hour and fifty-six minutes. At times the plane reached a speed of more than 2,000 miles an hour – more than thirty miles a minute – which is almost twice as fast as the speed of sound. It car­ried two men as operators.

A new steel has now been developed which is half as light in weight as the old steel, but is twice as strong. Also, it is generally conceded that the American farmer is the best in the world. In the year 1890 one farmer produced enough to support himself and 4.8 other people; in 1972 one farmer produced enough for 50.4 persons. Also, during the past year, a dwarf apple tree has been developed, which will not grow more than eight feet tall; and 500 such trees can be planted on one acre of ground, as against 50, 60, or 70 of the 25 to 30 ft. trees. And the smaller trees produce a more luscious fruit than the taller ones. It will be noted, too, that the smaller trees are much easier to pick; an ordinary man with a small stool can pick the fruit without a ladder, which contributes greatly to the safety and the speed of the harvest. They are now working on an eight-ft. plum tree, which they are hopeful of perfecting shortly.

A new product has now been developed which is 180 times sweeter than natural su­gar, weight for weight. This phenomenon is probably more industrial than agricultural ingenuity.

IN FINANCE

The financial situation in almost all countries has become tragically moth-eaten and threadbare. The price of gold has now advanced to $167 per ounce (writ­ten Nov. 2); and there are all sorts of predictions about its future value – some extremists declaring it will be worthless in a very short time, with others predict­ing a price of several thousand dollars per ounce. But, as one wag has stated it, we are living in the age of the Golden Rule: Whoever has the gold makes the rules. The overall debt in the United States at present – national, state, city and pri­vate – is said to exceed one and one-half trillion dollars. This figure is beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

In 1914 the national debt of the United States was about one billion dollars; and there was much serious talk then that it must not go any higher. But, by 1918, when the war had ended, the national debt had grown to about thirty billion; how­ever, the conservative presidents tackled this monstrosity with an admirable deter­mination, so that the debt had been reduced by about twelve billion, to eighteen bil­lion, by the time of the stock market crash in October 1929. This attempt at econ­omy was probably one of the major contributors to the 1929-1932 depression.

Came then the New Deal in 1932, with the inane philosophy that we could spend our way into prosperity; and the national debt increased so much that by about 1940 it was about forty billion, and one of the sound financial analysts made this obser­vation about it: No one in Washington with any intelligence thinks this debt will ever be paid off. It is now more than ten times what it was in 1940, so we need not elaborate about the chances of the present debt ever being paid.

The present administration in Washington is making some feeble effort to avoid further increase, but we can find no cause for enthusiasm for their mode of operation. The second largest item in the national budget is the interest on the enormous debt; yet just this last year 1974 a large offering of Government certificates was made at an interest rate of 9%. Thus, while they attempt economy in some avenues, their in­creased expense in other sectors may more than offset their efforts. Some good sound economists say that six per cent interest is more than the world can bear with so much printing-press money now in circulation; yet the interest charged to borrowers with a triple A rating was advanced to twelve per cent. This simply means that any one buy­ing stock at $100 per share must see that stock go up at least twelve points in one year for him to keep even. Following is a quotation from the financial page of one of the outstanding newspapers in the United States:

“YOU’VE GOT DEBTS?” NATION’S IN HOCK $2.525 TRILLION

“There exists, and probably always will, that ancient argument over just when and at what figure debt becomes excessive.

“At the extremes, proponents of one point of view insist that credit is quest of a better life, while advocates of the other view maintain it is a sin that leads to fi­nancial hell and damnation.

“The extremes would agree on one thing, however: that public and private debt in the United States amounts to an almost incomprehensible figure. At the end of 1973 it totaled $2,525 trillion (a trillion more than we mentioned aforegoing—JJH). In numbers that’s $2,525,000,000,000.

“Translating that figure into something more understandable, such as putting it on a per capita basis, still results in something of a jolt to the consciousness – roughly $12,000 per man, woman and child.

“The net public debt, made up of the obligations of the federal government and its agencies, plus those of state and local governments, rose 6.4% last year to a total of $593 billion, but was far exceeded by private debt. In that latter category, corpora­tions alone accounted for $1.1 trillion of the 1.93 trillion total, with the remainder divided among individuals and corporate enterprises. Corporate debt rose 13.6%, indi­vidual debt by 11.6%.

“Consumer debt, mainly of the kind that is paid back in installments, now exceeds $180 billion, compared to $157 billion in 1972 – and $138 billion in 1971. But don’t forget that inflation alone makes figures look larger. The biggest load of any indi­vidual debt category is accounted for by home mortgages, which amount to $374 billion at the close of 1973, up $35 billion in a year. But don’t forget that the population keeps rising too. Is all this too much?

“Those who most enthusiastically defend the present debt position maintain it is still within bounds, that much of it is backed by collateral and earning power, and that borrowers are more sophisticated in using credit. The ratio of corporate debt to assets is higher now than it was twenty years ago, but whether this is an indication of weakness or wiser use of money is debatable. Household assets have grown faster than debt.

“On the other side of the argument, a good many critics, many of them informed fi­nancial people, are growing more fearful that both families and corporations are borrow­ing too far into the future. Debt is just that – borrowing on future income. Some­times the money itself is the source of future earning power, and in that sense repays itself. This is true especially of corporate debt. Household debt more likely is re-paid simply by cutting into future earnings which, if you believe in the American dream, will continue to grow larger right up to retirement – and who knows, even beyond. So why not borrow?

“True enough, say the critics, but with many companies carrying a heavy debt load and with individual debt repayment lagging, maybe now is the time to slow things down. That, in fact, is what the Federal Reserve is doing.”

Not only is the financial situation precarious in the United States, but it seems to be even worse in Italy. Following is some comment about conditions there:

“Doctors find it impossible to operate; hospital administrators are refusing to accept patients; contractors have stopped supplying hospitals because hospitals do not pay them. Distrust of government, which was carried over after the war, has grown rather than abated. Politicians were sucked into the vortex of political power. They enjoyed the prestige and position, but were unable to root out and heal the basic problems of the nation.

“Italy has already had 36 governments since the war, each averaging less than ten months. Yet each government is formed basically of the same men, but in different cabinet positions. Instead of being the source of bold initiative or solid action to solve some of the agonizing woes facing the nation, the government has become less and less credible to the people... too many charges of graft and corruption, of Swiss bank accounts, and huge payoffs from oil companies to government leaders.

“Meanwhile government services worsen. A letter laboriously written by a man to his cousin in the north never got there. Along with thousands of tons of mail of all classes, including registered mail, it was ‘lost,’ burned, or simply ground into pulp for recycling. Thousands of elderly people often never receive their social security checks and similar forms of payment coming by mail. Overburdened postal workers di­verted the letters elsewhere, never to be recovered.

“People may soon get fed up if it continues to cut into their bread basket too long. This would be terrible because it would be the end of the country. Up to now Italy’s near bankruptcy has been eased by grants, aids and loans from its more stable Western allies – notably Germany... But these helpful neighbors have problems of their own. For the first time, the entire industrialized West is facing a perpetual deficit in bal­ance of payments. At the same time, inflation has soared virtually out of control.

“As one observer mentioned: “We’re either headed toward (coalition) government with the Communists – which is the last straw in trying to use the parliamentary system to make it work – or we’re headed into the unknown. Wherever that unknown’ leads, the rest of Europe could be dragged along in its wake.”

A long-standing friend of ours, a financial analyst, has written this in one of his recent papers:

“Official sources have confirmed there is a possibility of Italy selling some of its monetary gold in European community markets over the next two years. Such sales could be made in connection with a $2 billion credit line granted by the Deutsche Bundesbank to the Banca d’ Italia. The credit line is guaranteed by the equivalent amount of Italian monetary gold valued at $120 per ounce. If Italy should not be able to repay its debt, it has the option of surrendering the gold or selling it in the com­modity markets, and using the proceeds to repay its debt.

“I believe the leaders of the world have a definite desire to keep bullion prices up in these troubled economic times. A possible decline to $120 as projected by some analysts would be unlikely in my opinion. At this level panic could develop, and Italy would likely be forced into a complete bankruptcy. Britain would likely be forced even earlier than Italy. I believe that the economic leaders of the world, al­though naive, would be alert enough to see what a reduction in gold collateral value on Italy’s accounts could do to their credibility in the world money markets. (I have wrongly credited economic leaders with intelligence before. I hope this is not another error in my judgment.)”

This same writer then offers some more: “Though pension liability promises to be a hot topic in investment circles, investors so far have little hard information to go on. For many companies, it has become larger than balance sheet debt. one company has no balance sheet debt at all, but has a pension liability of $38 million, with at least ten other companies in the same category. In some cases, pension liability is greater than the market value of the company. One company has a liability of $186 million, while the market value of its stock is $72.1 million.

“According to the Wall Street Journal, the present unfunded liability of the US Social Security System is $2.1 trillion. The first thing that the public has to be told by the politicians is that it is not possible to maintain the current rate schedule and benefit level. Cumulative inflation seems to have produced a feeling that there is no way out – that the collapse of the political order is something to be ex­pected.”

Another writer says: “The Western democracies, the United States included, are facing a stark political problem in the decline of living standards caused by infla­tion and shortages. Only an optimist will view the problem as a temporary one. The strike and disorder among the national truckers when the fuel shortage hit last winter was one of the first ugly manifestations in this country of what happens when the in­come of a particular group is threatened by the spreading worldwide economic disloca­tion....

“The situation in Great Britain is far more serious, and may even be threatening British democracy. Striking miners have overwhelmed police and closed power stations. Construction workers and dockers have got their way by use of force. The Economist ob­served that ‘private armies, were relying on force to achieve their ends...... British thinkers in London believe an ugly conflict has developed between what they call the myth of expectation of affluence and the fact of increasing scarcity. The revolution of rising expectations that has swept the advanced nations since the end of World War Two may be going on the rocks... What the British and the rest of us may now have to adjust to is a revolution of falling expectations.”

A quote from another authority: “Inflation is very much of an explosive force in society. In fact, it is social dynamite. Inflation violently intensifies class con­flict, and this is not a pleasant thing to contemplate in a country already bitterly di­vided along class, ethnic, racial lines. When the economy is growing, there is a way to ease tensions by giving each group relatively more. In the last generation, this has been going on at a rapid rate, except at the lowest level. When the economy declines, these tensions increase...

“In the great depression the unemployed were loyal to the country. They were not a revolutionary force. So many people were in the same boat then that they didn’t feel ashamed... The danger of social upheaval now may well be universal... in the United States we may fear the anarchic tendencies of Americans... Americans are hostile to cen­tral authority, to discipline. I feel building up in this country enormous resent­ment, mostly political, waiting to be captured.”

Follows now a news item from Bonn, Germany: “West Germany’s finance minister says the United States and Japan should join in a concerted effort to guarantee that Italy does not ‘fall to pieces, under the impact of quadrupled oil prices and its other eco­nomic woes. The United States and Japan and the Western world should see that there is an Italian problem and that they have to guarantee via the International Monetary Fund that Italy remains intact and will not fall to pieces.

“West Germany recently loaned Italy $2 billion to stave off bankruptcy, but it is doubted that this kind of bilateral aid would be repeated... We certainly cannot cre­ate an instrument via these community loans to fully finance the oil deficits of Italy, France and Denmark... The industrialized countries must form a solid bloc and reduce oil consumption to stabilize oil prices. The United States should take the lead.”

More on the Italian finances: “If some headway isn’t made soon in dealing with these immense economic dislocations, a major political upheaval could lie ahead. Italy’s Giolitti last week painted a grim picture of what a bankrupt nation might be like: massive unemployment, food shortages and economic paralysis. If his scenario should come true, food riots and political anarchy might well ensue – and the Italian chaos could even spread to other European countries. The Governor of the Bank of Italy, Guido Carli, painted an almost equally bleak picture of the outlook unless the Western industrial nations manage to unite to deal with their economic problem. In the absence of coordinated action, the richest countries are moving toward a recession. And the poorest countries will be making an adjustment to... starvation.”

Of course, all of this financial tangle has come about through the enormous amount of printing-press money that has been foisted upon the world – much of it hardly worth the paper on which it is written. A hundred years ago the radicals (the antitypical Assyrians – “The rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation”—Isa. lO:5) attacked capitalism head on; but defeat after defeat eventually taught them they would never prevail with the methods they were then using. Consequently, they came to the conclusion that they should allow the “giant” to destroy himself – by print­ing so much money that the interest load would produce collapse. We are faced with just that kind of a situation now; the damage has been done; and a dozen Solomons could not decipher a solution. We offer another quotation regarding the situation:

“The conflict between monetarists and Keynesians (the advocates of printing-press inflation—JJH) starts with the very reasons for which there is a great inflation...... This conflict became a public debate in last week’s (Sept. 10, 1974) televised ‘summit, meeting. It leads to widely different prescriptions for anti-inflationary action. The net result is confusion both for the literate public and for congressional policy makers, whom the arguing economists advise. One Congressman was driven by such con­flicting advice to quote Casey Stengel (one of the very prominent men in baseball—JJH): ‘Doesn’t any one here know how this game is played?’ If the doctors disagree, what can the patient believe? Public confusion has opened the way for an army of quacks –scamps peddling schemes – and reduced the credibility of economists... The task for economists today, as for Keynes in 1940, is to diagnose economic events correctly as a guide to policy choices. Political preferences should be separated clearly to avoid mixing ideology and science. The profession’s reputation and the common weal both re­quire it.”

Much of the foregoing prompts us to quote one multi-millionaire’s definition: “An economist is a fellow who thinks he knows more about money than us that’s got it.”

IN POLITICS

The political upheavals in the United States during the past year are common knowl­edge, so we do not elaborate. However, we find a sad analogy between the fate of President Nixon and that of King Saul in Israel. The President came from an isolated and unknown Quaker family; and from this background he rose to leadership of the great­est nation in history – only to be toppled from his exalted position to one where he is now less esteemed by the majority than he was before he was elected to his high office.

And for Saul of Israel we quote his own words: “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?” (1 Sam. 9:21) But the people put him upon the throne with the shout (after “he had hid himself among the stuff”—l Sam. 10:22), “God save the king!” (1 Sam. 10:24) But he eventually came to ignominious defeat and death at the hands of the Philistines, so that he left the throne of Israel with a lower rating than he gave himself when he was installed as king.

Such occurrences as these are among the outstanding tragedies of all history, and they always tend to pit one faction of a nation against the other. This has been true in America this past year, and will probably be carried on heatedly – to the detriment of all sections of the populace.

Mexico divided by social unrest: “A huge limousine with darkened rear windows swept through downtown Monterey, Mexico. Behind it sped two other large cars, each sprouting radio antennae and carrying numerous bulky men who impatiently waved cars and pedestrians out of the way. Every morning the scene is repeated – not once, but several times – as Monterey’s wealthy industrialists and bankers travel from their heav­ily guarded homes in the plush suburbs to their offices in the city.

“For the wealthy, blatant and often-cumbersome security measures have become a daily feature of life in Mexico. The traditional tranquillity has been shattered by a series of urban Guerrilla actions, and a siege mentality now pervades the million­aire families that dominate Mexican society. They have fortified their homes, strengthened their cars against bullets, hired dozens of body-guards and equipped them with the latest automatic weapons smuggled in from the United States. Wealthy families have also dropped from the social circuit and withdrawn behind the high walls of their compounds. Newspapers have even been encouraged to keep their names and photographs off the social pages.”

In Spain a terrorist bomb wrecked a restaurant in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square at the lunch hour, killing nine, injuring forty.

Argentina faces chaos. Some 6,000 heavily armed followers of the late Juan Peron went underground. Like other terrorists, they want to wreck the army-backed government headed by Peron’s widow. In one day there were forty bomb blasts. Gunmen shot down political leaders. Strikes gripped the nation.

Ethiopia: “They are crowded into three long barracks, sleeping on simple army cots, their heads shaven like those of condemned men, their food brought to them three times daily by wives already dressed in black. These were once the high and mighty of Ethi­opia – princes, imperial courtiers, provincial nobility, aristocratic landlords, blue-blooded ministers and much decorated generals. They could boast of ruling entire prov­inces, of owning enormous estates and commanding private armies and of belonging to roy­al families tracing their ancestry back 2,000 years to the founding of the Ethiopian mon­archy....

“The constitutional crisis in Ethiopia has now entered a new and terrifying stage. A peasant revolt has erupted in the southern provinces of the country, with farms being burned down all along a 250-mile stretch of the country’s most fertile area of the Rift Valley. In the town of Arba Minch, only established in the last fifteen years as a farming and tourist center, fifteen people were shot on Friday, at least three by the police. Local administration is in complete chaos. The governor of the region fled to Addis Ababa ten days ago – with his house burning down behind him.”

It is worthy of note that Ethiopia is the last of the absolute monarchies to capit­ulate – the first one of any prominence being Russia in 1917. This situation had been prophetically stated about 3,000 years ago by King David of Israel: “We will not fear, though the earth (the present social order) be removed, and though the mountains (strong autocratic governments) be carried into the midst of the sea (the lawless elements of society).” (Psa. 46:2) And to demonstrate the irresponsible lack of executive ability, be it noted that the plunderers destroy food supplies and other fixed assets, not real­izing that those things that have been seized by them now belong to them.

This same situation prevailed in the Fall of 1917, when the Bolsheviks overthrew the Czarist regime in Russia: They also burned many large granaries filled with prec­ious grain, not realizing that they were pillaging assets that then belonged to them. In the 1967 riot in Detroit, Mich., much the same attitude prevailed there, as enormous quantities of foodstuff, wearing apparel, and the like were burned in a few days’ time; and the City has not yet recovered from that debacle. Such actions are concrete evi­dence that we have come into “the time of the end.” “Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness... The time come.... let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof... The land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.” (Eze. 7:11,12,23) A former US Agriculture Department official has this to say about the situation: “We are seeing food riots in a number of countries now: Bolivia, Ethiopia, India. We may well see 10 or 15 governments top­pled around the world in the text year as a result of smaller food crops.”

Follows now a comment from another publication regarding the political cauldron: “Three reliable observers point to a general increase in the scope of organized terror­ism and domestic guerrilla warfare. Candidates from 19 nations, including the U.S., Britain, West Germany, France, Israel (Muslim Arabs), Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, have been reported as in training. Estimates now total more than 500 trainees........ Major efforts to damage or destroy key public service installations, such as power plants, refineries, pipelines, transit and transportation and military installations are also on the program.”

France – “totters between outright Communism and self-respecting government all the time. It could go either way because it does not have a strong man to head its government and to stand in the breach with courage the way General De Gaulle did.”

Beautiful Ireland - “is chaotic. Case-hardened revolutionists who pose as Prot­estants and who pose as Catholics are pitted against each other in a feud surpassing the mountain feuds of Kentucky. Nothing can satisfy either side except the deaths of their contemporaries. The chaos can scarcely be estimated... They would rather see their neighbors and themselves shot to death by their domestic enemies than to have the protection of a military state.”

IN RELIGION

The religious outlook is well akin to the foregoing political deflections. A prom­inent Evangelist, who preaches Eternal Torment for the unsaved, says that the Devil is to be destroyed; while another section of Christians say that the Devil will never be destroyed – that he is immortal the same as all human beings, and, therefore indestruc­tible.

Presbyterian – A new denomination is being organized in America because of the highly modernistic and pro-Marxist conduct of leaders in the so-called United Presby­terian church. Recently 23 churches met in Petersburg, Va., for the purpose of re­organizing a denomination committed to the traditions of the church, the authenticity of the Bible and the complete deity of Jesus Christ.

Lutheran – The great Missouri Synod is split right down the middle because the officers of the church have removed the President of Concordia Theological Seminary because of his refusal to accept the doctrine of complete belief in the Holy Bible. Professors are striking; students are striking; but the highest officers of the de­nomination seem to be standing strong for the believing traditions of the church.

Methodist – “If the Methodist Church wants to enter politics,” says one commenta­tor, “why doesn’t it disorganize as a church and become a political party. But to take up collections on Sunday and use the money to impeach our President is a violation of decency and a violation of the law. Don’t think I’m anti-Methodist... but I’m afraid if John Wesley were to return, he would have a hard time getting invited to address a General Conference because he believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he be­lieved in the blood of Christ. But now a recent poll reveals that 51% of the Metho­dist clergy do not believe in the resurrection, and the rules of the church now decree that no hymn with the word ‘blood’ can be added to the new hymnal.”

Roman Catholic – It is estimated that 10% of the Roman Catholic priests in America are alcoholics. With this situation in mind, the congregation authorizes the ordinar­ies of the United States of America to grant to those priests who have made this re­quest the permission either to co-celebrate with one or more priests a normal mass, but without receiving communion under the species of wine, or, when this isn’t possible, to celebrate mass using unfermented grape juice.

In an election in Italy this past year the Catholic Church made an all-out effort to defeat the Communists; but instead, the Communists made such substantial gains that one publication had this to say about it: “Pope is defeated in the election in the worst setback for the Roman Catholic Church in Italian political affairs since Italian troops chased Pope Pius the IX to the Vatican, ending the Church’s temporal power in 1870.”

Here is something from E-13:57 along the same line: “Rome and what it is pleased to call the Reds – i.e., practically everything anti-Romanist – are waging a worldwide wordy and physical violence battle... with Rome getting by far the worst of it.” This observation was published in 1949; and things have become much worse since then. In another secular publication we are told that “Front personalities who appear as promi­nent citizens, such as clergymen, educators, journalists, businessmen and public offi­cials, who would not attend a conference or an open convention of revolutionary killers, are always happy to give these people praise, defense and favorable publicity.” And we add here that some of them made substantial financial contributions to Angela Davis, which has caused a deep resentment among many of the members.

General – For lack of space, we shall not elaborate on the following brief ex­cerpts from various publications: Crime has become so rampant in De­troit that valuable homes are being deserted because people are afraid to live in certain communities. Never before in the history of man have we seen the types of violence, the animalistic acts that we are going to see soon in our society.

American industry is being burdened with a new expense that is running into the millions annually, and threatens to go even higher: the money the firms and their top executives are having to spend to protect themselves from kidnappers, extortion­ists, bombers and terrorists. Never have revolutionary techniques invaded the areas of so-called respectability, including clerical power, educational power, journalis­tic prostitution and news media conspiracies surpassing what is going on right now. All families of wealth and abundance, or even who seem to have abundance, are in dan­ger. Kidnapping is now an epidemic, and people are being held for ransom and their entire estates are demanded in payment. And frequently, even when payment is made, the victim is killed. We must develop a secret police in this country as large as an army in time of war; otherwise, our nation will be sucked down into the valley of complete savagery.

Robert Gold, a captain in the Cleveland Fire Department, says arson is the fastest growing business in America – burning down property to get insurance. There are special arson gangs that can be hired like bootleggers to do a job for a price. They know how to do it without detection.

Suicide prevention centers across the nation report an alarming rise in the num­ber of people threatening to end their lives – many of them worried by inflation and crime.

Meningitis epidemic in Brazil – a dozen a day die. (Aug. 3, 1974) In India 25,000 were reported to have died from smallpox. Also, there are two billion four hundred million rats in India – five for every man, woman and child. It is stated that these rats either eat or ruin eight million tons of feed grain every year. As most of our readers know, the State religion of India forbids destruction of this scourge, because, believing as they do in the transmigration of souls, their ances­tors are now some lower form of animal; and certainly none of them would want to kill their mother or father, which might occur if they destroy some lower animal.

In Detroit a hitchhiker shot the man who had befriended him because the owner of the car did not let him off at the right street.

The prophetic words of Jesus most fittingly apply to some of the foregoing: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and in various places there will be great earthquakes, and famines, and pestilences; there will also be fearful sights.” (Luke 21:10,11, Dia.) However, our Lord offers some very pointed palliative for those who have the faith to receive it: “Let not your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Another antidote for the troubled condition of the world is found in the words of Isa. 61:11: “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”

Due to extra heavy work at the Bible House, and troubled by some illness, we have not been able to send the usual personal Holiday greetings to all our friends ­but we acknowledge with thanks and much appreciation the many gracious Holiday greet­ings we have received. To all our readers we send our cordial good wishes for phys­ical and spiritual health throughout 1975; and may the blessing that maketh rich from Him who “giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not” be your portion.(Jas. 1:5)

Sincerely your brother,

John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

NO. 234: THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR

No. 234

Of the four records, only John’s attempts to trace our Lord’s genealogy to the heavenly source, and to show us that before He was made flesh He was a spirit being with the Father and a sharer of His glory – a god with the God. But all of the Evan­gelists are clear in their statement that He “was made flesh” – not that he remained a spirit being, and assumed flesh as clothing in which to appear to men, but, however ex­plainable, that the life power of the spirit being, the Logos, became the life power of the human being, born of a woman and under the Law, subject to all the conditions and circumstances of the Jews. Matthew traces Joseph’s genealogy; for although the state­ment is clear that Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nevertheless, being adopted by him as his son, He might, without impropriety, inherit through him. Luke shows the gene­alogy of Mary, by which our Lord was actually related, according to the flesh, to our race and to the royal family of David through the line of Nathan.

The time of our Lord’s birth was an auspicious one in several respects, and very evidently Divine wisdom had exercised itself in respect to the world’s affairs by way of preparation for the important event: (1) the spirit of world-conquering that began with Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom was favorable to it, in the sense that it brought the various families or nations of mankind into closer contact with each other, broaden­ing their ideas. (2) This policy had resulted in the transplanting of peoples from one land to another, and thus had made them more cosmopolitan in their sentiments. (3) Israel and Judah, thus transplanted in their captivity to Babylon, became so at­tached to the new conditions that comparatively few of them availed themselves of the offer of Cyrus to return to their own land, only about fifty thousand of all the tribes, out of several millions. The Jews among the Gentiles were by no means lost and had by no means abandoned all of their hopes in the Abrahamic Covenant nor all of their faith­fulness to the Mosaic Law – although they were lax in these matters and too full of love of gain and ease to cultivate the spirit of Israelites indeed. Nevertheless, they had their influence amongst all the nations with whom they dwelt, and were witnesses to the hopes of Israel in the one God and in a coming Messiah, the Son of God, to be the world’s Deliverer. (4) The triumph for a time of the Greek Empire had brought to the civilized world a highly developed literature – the Greek language had reached its zenith, and was the literary language of the civilized world. (5) The Roman Empire had conquered the world and was in the height of its power, and as a result there was a time of universal peace, and hence a more favorable time than any before for the an­nouncement of the Gospel and for the safety of its represent­atives in passing from na­tion to nation. (6) Israel itself had reached probably its highest development, in­tellectually, morally and religiously, and additionally we are told in the Scriptures that “All men were in expectation” of the Messiah’s coming. (Luke 3:15)

The noting of these little incidentals by which Divine providence prepared for our Savior’s birth and for the sending forth of the Gospel message, is strengthening to the faith of the Lord’s people. Realizing God’s care in the past over even the little things, gives a foundation for confidence in His wisdom and provision for the features of His plan which are yet future – the fulfillment of all the exceeding great and precious promises which centered in Him who was born in Bethlehem. And so also a realization of the Divine providence in the larger affairs of the Divine plan stimulates faith also in the Lord’s providences as respects the personal and more private affairs of His people. Let us more and more realize that, as even the smallest inci­dents connected with the birth of our Savior were ordered of the Lord, so also He is both able and willing to order all of the affairs of His spiritual children. Let us reason with the Apostle that, if God loved us while we were yet sinners, so as to make such careful provision for our redemption, much more now that we are no longer rebels, aliens, strangers, foreigners, but have become His sons, fellow-heirs with Christ and all the saints, we may have confidence in His love and in His providential care, that according to His promise all things shall work together for good to them that love Him to the called ones according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28)

The same decree that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem brought many others of the numerous family of David, and as the inns or hotels of that time were comparatively limited in numbers and in capacity, it is not surprising that the inn proper was full of guests when Joseph and Mary arrived. Indeed, it was rather the custom for many travelers to carry with them their own lodging outfit, and to provide for their own conveniences in the courtyard connected with the inns. And hence the experiences of Joseph and Mary were by no means exceptional. When therefore the Babe Jesus was born, a manger became His most convenient cradle.

The city of Bethlehem still exists, and probably is not so dissimilar to what it was in that day, for in that land customs seem to have changed but little in centuries. A certain grotto is claimed to be the one which nineteen hundred years ago was the stable of the inn, and a certain stone manger is shown which, it is claimed, was the one in which the Babe Jesus was laid. Over this has been erected a Catholic Church, and various ceremonies are continually performed in and about and connected with “the sacred manger.” With such ceremonies we can feel little sympathy, believing them to be rather of the nature of idolatries. To us the center of interest is not the holy ground on which our Savior trod, nor the holy manger in which He lay as a babe, nor His holy mother; yea, though we reverence His flesh, and are deeply interested in all that pertains thereto, especially in all its experiences, from the time of its conse­cration to death at baptism; nevertheless, our greater interest is in our risen Lord, the new creature perfected, the spiritual One, far above manhood, far above angels, principalities and powers and every name that is named – next to the Father, and ex­alted to His right hand of power. The Apostle voices this sentiment well, saying, “Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him (so) no more” – our knowledge of Him as the risen and glorified Lord and Savior thoroughly out­shines all of our interest in His earthly life. (2 Cor. 5:16) And yet His earthly life is interesting and profitable to us, as we have seen and shall see.

Had the people assembled at Bethlehem realized who this was that had come to their city – that He was from the heavenly courts, that He was the Logos made flesh, that He had come to “save His people from their sins” – how gladly they would have wel­comed Him into the inn and have given to His use and comfort its choicest apartment! But they knew Him not, and hence lost this great privilege of ministering to Him. Sim­ilarly, in every city and town where the Lord’s people are (His true saints), there are many who would make them welcome and give them the best at their disposal, did they but recognize them as the messengers of Jesus and of the Heavenly Father; but as the Apostle says, “The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” (1 John 3:1) The disciple must not expect to be above his Lord, and hence, even when going upon missions of mercy and benevolence and as ambassadors for God, we should expect that the Lord’s providence would furnish for us, not the most palatial conditions, but probably very humble conditions. And when we find it thus we should rejoice that to some extent at least we have experiences which harmonize with those of our Lord.  The Lord’s people will obtain a blessing in proportion as they are prepared to receive all opportunities for God’s service as Divine favors and to appreciate them, no matter how humble the conditions; and it is noteworthy that neither Joseph, nor Mary, nor Jesus, nor the disciples, nor the Evangelist who recorded the incident, offer the slightest complaint or suggestion of dissatisfaction with the arrangements provided by Divine providence. In proportion as they would have felt dissatisfied with the arrangements provided, in that proportion the Divine plans would not have worked for their good.

SHEPHERDS WATCHING BY NIGHT

The vicinity of Bethlehem is a pastoral country, and today is covered with flocks. It was the custom of that time for the shepherds to remain with their flocks by night as a guard against thieves as well as against wild beasts. It was in this vicinity that David (afterward king), when a shepherd-boy protecting his flocks, slew on one oc­casion a lion and at another time a hear. The shepherds as a class were not particu­larly well educated people as respects schools, and yet many of them were thoughtful and thus secured, in their leisure time while watching their flocks, by reflection and by conversation, considerable knowledge, so that they might he termed an intellectual and thinking class of people – their minds being turned more to reflection on large subjects than are the minds of some who are constantly immersed in trade and mechanics. The shepherd whom God honored in making him king of His typical kingdom, was a great poet, and evidently much of his time while shepherding was given to the muse, and one of his most beautiful poems (Psalm 23) represents Jehovah himself as the Shepherd of His people – His flock, for which He cares. It was to men of this thoughtful class, and no doubt men familiar with David’s Psalms, and with the Messianic hopes therein set forth, that the Lord sent the first message respecting His Son made flesh.

The description of the appearance of an angel, and of the fear which the bright­ness of his countenance engendered, is both simple and natural. All mankind more or less feels instinctively a fear of the supernatural, a trepidation at the very thought of being in the presence of the holy angels. And this is proper as well as natural, for all realize their own imperfections through the fall, fearing more or less that the results to themselves would be unfavorable if Divine justice were laid to the line and to the plummet in respect to their affairs. All seem instinctively to realize their need of mercy at the hands of Him with whom we have to do. And so it was with these shepherds; they were affrighted as they beheld the heavenly visitor in their midst; but his message was not one of justice, nor in any sense of condemnation, but of Divine mercy. He soothed them with the words, “Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people.” Can we wonder that joy took the place of fear in their hearts as they heard the gracious words? Surely not. And so it is with all who from that day to the present time have heard this true Gospel mes­sage, not merely with the outward ears, but truly, with the ears of their understanding comprehending and appreciating it.

How false and how sad has been the understanding of this message by many of God’s people as it has echoed to them down the Ages! How few have heard it gladly, appre­ciatively! How remarkable that nearly all of the different churches and their thous­ands of ministers and hundreds of thousands of Sunday School teachers should unite in a complete contradiction of this message of the angels – a contradiction which not only wounds their own sentiments and grieves their own hearts, but which robs our dear Sav­ior’s mission of nine-tenths of its majesty, and thoroughly dishonors and maligns the name of our gracious Heavenly Father by its misrepresentation of the salvation which He has provided in Christ Jesus. Even in our day there are some who have received the true “good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people,” deny this great Truth: they say, “not all the people – only those people who join with us.”

GOOD VERSUS BAD TIDINGS

Some perhaps may be surprised, and even shocked, at such an arraignment of the message which they and other well-meaning but blinded Christians are delivering in the name of the Gospel – for the word “gospel” signifies by  derivation  glad  or  good  tidings. We are quite ready to believe that the vast majority of those who promulgate the bad tidings of eternal misery, as being the Divine message and sentence to the vast majority of mankind, are wholly unaware of how seriously they misrepresent the Divine character and govern­ment in the message which they carry to men; they misstate the Gospel, not of intention, but of blindness, the very blindness mentioned by the Apos­tle as originating with the great Adversary (2 Cor. 4:4) – the blindness by which he blinds the minds of the vast majority, to hinder them from realizing the glorious light of God’s goodness revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord.

O, if we could only get all true Christians to study Luke 2:10, and see the depths of its significance, it would quickly revolutionize the teachings of Christendom! But as our Lord declared, some of the deep things of the Divine plan are hidden from many of the wise and prudent according to the course of this world, and are revealed only to the humble – the babes. Nevertheless, the testimony of God standeth sure, and all whose understandings have been opened and who have been enabled to comprehend some of the lengths and the breadths, and the heights and the depths of God’s love, may rejoice that the ignorance of the world in general on this subject and the opposition of the great Adversary who is blinding them, cannot continue forever, but must soon give place, when the Lord’s due time shall come: when He who died on Calvary for the world’s redemp­tion shall begin His glorious reign by binding that old serpent, the devil, Satan, that he should deceive the nations no more for the thousand years of the Millennial reign. Then all shall see out of obscurity; then all shall discern what at present is the privilege of only the favored few to see, respecting the Divine character and plan ­that the message of the angel was true, every word of it – that the grand results to flow from the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem justified the message sent by the great Jehovah, -- a good message of great joy which eventually shall be to all people – whose enlightenment and blessing shall have no hindrance, no restriction, and as a result all shall come to “an accurate knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:4, Dia.) and to an oppor­tunity of availing themselves of the grace, mercy and peace provided for all in the great salvation secured by Jesus’ ransom-sacrifice. In that glorious reign, “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), in contrast to the present “evil world” when “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” (2 Cor. 4:4)

The angel further explained his great Gospel message, showing its basis, and de­claring that all the good things mentioned should come to pass because the Savior, Messiah, had been born – the one so long looked for in Israel, the promised seed of Abraham in whom not only Israel should be blessed and exalted to honor, dignity and cooperation, but in whom also “all the families of the earth should be blessed.” And let us here remark that the order of presentation used by the heavenly messenger, and evidently Divinely ordered, is the proper presentation of this subject which should be adopted by all who seek to be used of the Lord as His ambassadors. First, there is the grand pronouncement of Divine favor and blessing, that it is a cause for joy, and that ultimately it shall extend to every creature; secondly, there is the specific explanation of how all this is to be accomplished – through a Savior, a Deliverer, who as stated in our text, in order to deliver His people from the wages of sin, death, into eternal life and blessing, must first of all save them from their sins. And we see from other Scriptures that this salvation from our sins signifies not only the payment on our behalf of the penalty for Adamic Sin, but also, subsequently, man’s in­struction in righteousness and lifting out of sin; in which uplift each one is re­quired to cooperate to the extent of his will and ability.

So all teaching of the grace that is to come to mankind should be coupled with the philosophy of the salvation – the Savior made flesh and the flesh devoted or sacrificed for our sins, and the Savior glorified, that in due time after the selection of His Church, He might, with her, according to the Divine plan, establish His Kingdom of righteousness for the uplifting of the world of mankind out of ignorance, superstition and general degradation into which the great Adversary has gotten them into through the fall and through his subsequent blinding and misleading. In this connection it is well to remember that our Lord’s name, Jesus, signifies Jehovah is salvation, and that all who would be of the elect Church must have the spirit of the bridegroom (as well as by faith he covered with the garment of His imputed righteousness); and that His spirit is one of opposition to sin to the extent of self-sacrifice. We also are to “resist unto blood (death) striving against sin.” (Heb. 12:4)

Then the angel gave the shepherds an intimation of the humble conditions under which this great King of earth was born into the world, as a babe, wrapped in swaddling bands and lying in a manger. This was necessary, not only to their identification of Jesus, but necessary also to bring down their thoughts from the great and grand results to its humble beginnings, lest they should be misled in their expectations. And as it is with every part of the Divine plan, so also it should be in respect to all of our proclamations of the same. We are not only to tell of the future glory and greatness and grandeur, but we are to tell also of the present humiliation – not only of our Sav­ior who humbled Himself to take a low estate amongst men, and to die for our sins, but also to point out that the “elect” are called to walk in His footsteps, under similarly humiliating circumstances – to suffer with Him, if they would reign with Him; to die with Him, if they would live with Him.  And thus also the prophets spoke not only of the glory that should follow, but also of the sufferings of Christ (Head and Body) which must precede the glory. (1 Pet. 1:11) The lesson to every one who has ears to hear it is, “No cross, no crown.” Let us, then, humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and rejoice in every step of the humiliation that He may exalt us in due time to share the glories of His Son, our Lord, and to share with Him the grand work of blessing all the families of the earth.

It was a fitting climax that, after the one angel had told the surprised shepherds of the good tidings of great joy for all people and was ready to depart, he should he joined by an angelic host, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This was but a reiteration of the Gospel message already de­livered. It declared that the work which should be accomplished by the babe just born, should redound to the highest glory and honor of Jehovah God, His Father. It declared also that through this work to be accomplished by Jesus should come to earth Divine good will and consequently peace, – and all that these would imply in the way of bless­ings of restitution and privilege of attaining everlasting life.

But how much in conflict with all this are the erroneous theories which have gained credence in Christendom, which teach that, notwithstanding the ransom which our Lord Jesus gave, and notwithstanding the turning aside of the original sentence upon our race as the result of the propitiation for our sins accepted by the Father, the vast majority of the human family will nevertheless, to all eternity, be in rebellion against God, and in torture will continually blaspheme His name; – and that without ever having had a full, reasonable opportunity to know the Savior or to accept His salvation. How strange that any should think that such a plan would be glory to God in the highest!

How strange that any should refuse to see the very plain statement of the Scrip­ture that God has provided through Christ that every member of the human family shall have a full opportunity of coming to a knowledge of the truth, and then of relinquish­ing sin and of accepting new life of righteousness under the New Covenant – and that then whoever still refuses and will not submit himself to this righteous arrangement (refuse to rid themselves of the Adamic Death Process – the defilements they had re­maining in their characters from the reign of sin) shall be utterly destroyed from amongst the people (Acts 3:23) – in the Second Death, –that none will be suffered to live in sin and opposition to God to blemish any part of God’s dominions, but that all the incorrigible shall be as though they had not been. In no other way can we pos­sibly imagine that the time will ever come when there will be full peace among men.

The only solution which God offers respecting the establishment of peace is in connection with the establishment of His Kingdom, for which our dear Redeemer taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” That will mean peace in its fullest and most absolute sense. The Scriptural propo­sition does not include the violation of any man’s will, but merely the offering through Christ of any opportunity for the everlasting blessing and peace, or his cutting off in the Second Death if he fails to appreciate the Divine offer. (Acts 3:23) The 35th Chapter of Isaiah is a brief and beautiful description of that glorious Kingdom.

The shepherds having heard of God’s grace manifested their interest by visiting and paying their homage to the Savior; and so each one who has heard of the grace of God with an appreciative heart can do nothing less than seek the Lord and do Him rev­erence and serve His cause by proclaiming the gracious message with which he has been favored. Let us each do so, and thus more and more increase in our hearts our joys and our appreciation of the Gospel – the Good News.

THE GREAT SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” (Psa. 23:1) The thought presented in this text – as in other Scriptures – is that the great Over-Shepherd appointed His Son to be the Under Shepherd of the Sheep, even as the Son has appointed under-shepherds in the Church sub­ject to Him. The great Under-Shepherd does not shepherd goats or wolves. The only ones who are shepherded are the sheep; and special care is taken of the faithful Flock of God. The great Over-Shepherd looks out for the interests of His sheep, provides for them, leads them into green pastures, as the Psalmist tells us. He also protects them from wolves and other ravenous beasts. The Scriptures give us good evidence that orig­inally the Jewish nation constituted this flock, and that King David recognized himself as one of the sheep. Israel was not chosen by the Lord because they were better than the rest of mankind; but God made an exception of the people on account of Father Abra­ham, for whose sake He became the “Shepherd of Israel.” Because of Abraham’s great faith in God and his implicit obedience under the most crucial tests, the Lord promised to make of his seed a peculiar people above all the peoples of the earth.  He promised to bless them, to assume a particular care over their affairs, and eventually to use them in blessing all other nations. So God made the Hebrews His chosen people. And in proportion as they were obedient to His commands, He blessed them; and whenever they went astray, He chastised them and brought them back again under His care. And this is true of spiritual Israel, during the Gospel Age, He chastises the “children of disobedience” (the Measurably Faithful new creatures) and abandons them for a time un­til they are penitent and repent of their willfulness – at which time He brings them back again under His care.

So while the Lord had a care over the affairs of Natural Israel, and still has a care, He has a still more particular care over the affairs of Spiritual Israel. How­ever, as we know, the first privilege of becoming a member of Spiritual Israel was offered to Natural Israel – just as the first privilege of becoming a member of Christ’s children when the New Covenant is inaugurated, will be to Natural Israel – to Israel after the flesh. But all now who are privileged to use these words are the fully faithful of the Faith Age: “Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.” In this 23rd Psalm there is a distinction between sheep and wolves in the Faith Age, just as there is a difference of sheep and goats during the works Age – during Christ’s Kingdom. God has chosen for the members of this nation those – few in number – who are sheep like in disposition and who desire to come into His Fold. For these He has provided a par­ticular way in which to enter this Fold. He does not have bears in His Fold, nor ti­gers nor wolves nor birds of prey. God does not recognize such; they are not to be fed and cared for as He cares for His sheep.

If, therefore, we would claim the promise of this beautiful Psalm, we must make sure that we are of sheep like disposition and desirous of being led of the True Shep­herd. We are to be careful to note that there is only one Shepherd who is able to care for our interest and who can be safely entrusted with them. A strange shepherd would lead the sheep astray, would lead them into difficulties, dangers and disaster. For this reason we do not trust everybody who wears the garb of a shepherd. There is but one Shepherd that we can trust. He has appointed as the Under-Shepherd the One who died for us, that He might fully deliver all the sheep from the Evil One – the roaring lion who walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Our gracious Savior left the Courts of Glory and came down to earth, and for thirty-three years He traversed with weary feet this vale of tears. He mingled with the poor and lowly; He wept with the sorrowing and the sinful; He had no place to lay His head. He bore the griefs and sickness of those about Him. He did all this to recover us from the bond­age of sin – to deliver us from the death sentence imposed upon Adam and all in his loins. How grateful we should be for such a Shepherd! How can we sufficiently show forth His praise! Truly we can never know this on this side of the veil, “how dark was the night that the Lord passed through,” that He might redeem us to God – and not only His sheep of the Faith Age, but also the sheep of the Millennial Age.

But the sheep of the present Age, who are to be exalted, and are to do a shep­herding work for the sheep of the incoming Age, are given a distinct and peculiar training, to fit them for their future great work. From the time they are accepted to this higher plane, they are dealt with accordingly. This means that they must have certain trials and afflictions, according to the flesh. They represent only a small portion of mankind – those who have special qualities of earnestness, humility and love of righteousness. It is a “narrow way.” But, having come into this Fold of God, we have every reason for confidence in the great Shepherd, and should recognize His constant care over us, His supreme interest in our spiritual welfare. Let us be good sheep! Let us not stray from the Fold, to the right hand or to the left, nor be attracted away from the green pastures and pure waters to go browsing on the thistles and poisonous weeds of some by-path, or to drink of the muddy, polluted waters of hu­man speculation and delusive theories of men. In other words, let us keep the Truth and the Spirit of the Truth even though we travel a very lonely way. The way has in­deed been lonely in this day of “special wrath,” with some of the Lord’s dear people becoming weary of well doing – attracted away from the green pastures, frequently into the ‘fold’ of the measurably faithful under-shepherds.

The basic concepts of the foregoing are from the writings of the fully faithful under-shepherds of the Laodicean period – much of which is verbatim. Since the demise of That Servant, however, the measurably faithful under-shepherds have perverted and distorted the “faith once delivered unto the saints” – especially so in regard to the Messianic blessings “to the Jew first,” those covenant-keeping Jews after the flesh. It will be through natural Israel that “all the families of the earth” will be blessed, even as we have been taught. And for these “good tidings of great joy which shall he unto all people,” we echo the singing of the angelic host – “Glory to God in the high­est, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Our cordial good wishes to all our readers for a Blessed Holiday Season – and may “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:7)

Sincerely your brother,

John  J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: Greetings in Jesus, name!

Your very interesting publications No. 229 – The Great Commission – and No. 230 ­There Shall Be No More Curse – are received. Thank you very much! I read all your articles, and I’m very much satisfied. Your tracts help me very much, because you have the Scriptures to explain.  With much Christian love,

Your brother ------- (POLAND)

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Dear Brother Hoefle:  Grace and peace in Jesus’ dear Name!

I hope, D.v., this finds you both – also Sisters Dunnagan and Moynelo – quite well. Thank you for the tracts. I enjoy the Epiphany papers and read many of them over again. A few days ago two Jehovah’s Witnesses came by. One was more like the leader. I gave her a Divine Plan of the Ages and she took it. I think she was a little curious. I hope she will read some of it, but most seem so set in their ideas....

The economy has the leaders worried, yet how can prices come down when both labor and capital want all they can get.... But all will work out right in the end.

I am enclosing some things – a letter from Rabbi ------- and also Mr. .------- might read something.  Wishing you all God’s blessing and care through our Lord Jesus –  and with Christian love to all.

Your sister in the Truth ------- (CALIFORNIA)

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Dear Brother Hoefle:  Grace and peace!

By this time Sister Moynelo should be feeling much better. I sincerely hope so. My Christian love to her.......

You will have attended the LHMM Labor Day Convention by the time you get this. Hope your reception was good – by some anyway...

I had a surprise experience this past week. I was in a hobby shop and overheard part of a telephone conversation. The man was saying, “We are studying Tabernacle Shadows.” When he hung up the phone I told him what I heard him say, and wondered if it was the same book I had read by Pastor Russell. Of course it was and we talked a bit (his wife, too). He lives a few block from my cousin, and he has the T.S. study at his home – 8 attend. They belong to no group, receive no magazines, study Brother Russell only so afraid of error. He had heard very little about Brother Johnson – never heard of Brother Jolly. I shall go up some evening when it’s cool and get better acquainted.

Love and prayers (daily), ------- (FLORIDA)

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Dear Sir:

Will you please not send anymore of your papers to me, as I do not desire them... I don’t like your attitude towards our Dear Brother Jolly in always criticizing him and seeking to discredit him in the eyes of others. You are not showing brotherly love in continuing to do this, so I no longer wish to read your papers. I have no doubt you will find a way to justify yourself in doing this, but it is very unkind and unchristian.

Yours truly ------- (ENGLAND)

NOTE: Yes, any of the Lord’s faithful people who honestly and earnestly “contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints,” and seek to serve “the Lord, the TRUTH and the brethren,” are always able to justify their statements and actions to­ward errorists. Apparently this Sister gives full approval to “dear Brother Jolly’s” slanderous attacks upon us, and his multiplied errors and false statements as exposed in our November 1974 paper No. 233. Does she also ‘approve’ of RGJ’s sins as exposed in Epiphany Vol. 10, and condemn the Epiphany Messenger for being unkind and unChris­tian? The Epiphany Messenger was the recipient of many such letters from sectarian Society brethren for the exposures he presented against J. F. Rutherford’s slanders and scurrilous attacks upon him. This has been true of all the Lord’s people all down the Ages, who have been faithful to the Truth. “Blessed are ye, when men... shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” (Matt. 5:11)