NO. 511 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.” (Luke 2:10)

The story of Jesus’ birth is one so familiar as to require no special comment, and yet in its simple details lies the hope of the whole world. Four thousand years previous the birth of this child was promised, and all the way along during those forty centuries some faithful souls continued to trust in the promises and to look for the salvation to be brought about through Him. We may surely take for granted that the humble shepherds to whom the message of the Lord’s advent first came were men who thus hoped in the promise of God: for to such, and to such only, the Lord disclosed His purposes.

These men were quietly tending their flocks by night when suddenly the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them; and they were sore afraid (Verse 9). But their fear was soon overcome by the message of the angel, contained in our text, but which is only partially quoted, leaving out one of the grandest features of the message ‑viz., that it was to be to all people.

The message reads: “Fear not; for, behold I bring you good tidings, of GREAT JOY, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE.” It will be observed that the blessedness of these tidings is cumulative: first it is “good tidings”; then it is “great joy”; and then the crowning feature of it is that it is “to all people” – not only to you shepherds who are this night looking for the hope of Israel, but for all your friends and relations and neighbors far and near; and to all their friends and relatives and neighbors, both to those who now live and to those who shall live, as well as to all those now in death.

Blessed tidings! Hearken to the gladsome sound: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (V. 11) Then He was to be a saviour to all people: so the Scriptures clearly affirm, saying that, by the grace of God, He tasted death for every man, and that He gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time – to all. (Heb 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:6) The testimony however, is quite as necessary to the salvation of the sinner as the fact that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all. The favor of salvation will not be forced upon any; but the testimony that has been provided for every man, on condition of his acceptance of the favor upon God’s terms, is to be given to every man, for his acceptance or rejection. And though millions of the race for whom Christ died have gone down to the grave without such testimony, still the fact remains that the testimony shall be given in due time – which due time, to all such, must be after their awakening from death.

And to this agree the words of the Lord: “The hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and shall come forth; they that have done good [who during the present life have come into judgment and have passed their trial successfully], unto the resurrection of life [the full reward of the faithful]; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28,29) That is, the latter class will come forth from the grave to have the truth testified to them then, for their acceptance or rejection; and their final judgment of worthiness or unworthiness of life will be based upon their course under trial after the truth has been testified to them – in the Millennial Age. Thus the angel of the Lord preached the good tidings of the restitution of all things to the shepherds on the plain of Bethlehem (Acts 3:1921) .

Verse 12: Then they were told where and how they should find this Bud of promise, so that when they would see Him they might feel doubly assured that this was He. 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 manager. 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.

Verses 13,14: “Then suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This shows how the angels of God are interested in the affairs of men, and how they sympathize with us and rejoice over our prosperity. And this reminds us of other statements to the effect that there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:7); and again that they are earnest students of the plan for human salvation; and that they are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation (1 Peter 1:12; Heb. 1:14). Thus we see them to be creatures of God full of loving benevolence even toward a fallen race, and esteeming it a privilege to serve the heirs of this salvation, although they know, as they studiously look into God’s plan, that some of this fallen race are by and by to be highly exalted, even above the angels who never sinned.

Thus we see their humble recognition of the right of the Creator to do what He will with His own, and their cheerful and joyful acquiescence to His perfect will, which they know to be determined by His unerring wisdom and His fathomless love. Oh, what universal joy will prevail when the whole family of God, in heaven and in earth is brought into fullest harmony under Jehovah’s Anointed!

Verses 15,17,18 show the teachable attitude of the shepherds: they recognized the angels and their message as from the Lord, and, their fears being allayed, their hopes revived and their faith increased, they felt that they must go at once and see this which had come to pass. After seeing the babe, as they went away they published abroad the good tidings which the angels had brought to them, and how they had actually seen Him of whom the prophets testified. There was also three wise men from the east who came to see Him, who “is born to be King of the Jews.” Upon seeing a strange star (evidently a meteor, as it could not have been a fixed star) moving in the direction which the angel had told them to go, they followed the star until they reached Bethlehem, when it stood still over the place where the young child was. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him and presented to Him gold and frankincense and myrrh, recognizing in Him the long‑promised Messiah. And being warned of God in a dream, they disregarded the request of Herod to inform him of the whereabouts of the new‑born king, and so departed into their own country another way. An angel then appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to take the young child and his mother to Egypt. Thus Herod’s threat to the child was thwarted (Matt. 2:1‑13).

Verse 19: “But Mary [mother‑like] kept all these things and pondered them in her heart,” doubtless calling to mind also the message of the angel to her (Luke 1:28‑35). Again and again we seem to hear her say, “My soul doth magnify the Lord... for he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name.” (Luke 1:46‑59)

Verse 20: The shepherds returned to their flocks, fully assured of the wonderful truth that the promised seed of the woman who was to bruise the serpent’s head had really come. And they rejoiced and glorified God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as they were told unto them.

“Unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11) That our Lord existed prior to His incarnation, and in a more exalted nature and condition, is clearly stated in the Scriptures. (See John 17:5; 2 Cor. 8:9; John 1:13,10; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:15‑17; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 4:11)

This change of nature was a miracle, the philosophy of which, like that of all miracles, transcends the limits of human thought; and like all other miracles, it was performed to meet an emergency for which no natural law could otherwise provide. The philosophy of the Divine plan of redemption which required it is, however, very manifest to the thoughtful mind guided by the Scripture statements. The Son of God was made flesh that He might give His flesh – His humanity – for the life of the world; that as by man (Adam) came death, so by man (“the man Christ Jesus”) might come the resurrection of the dead (John 1:14; 6:51; 1 Cor. 15:21). In other words, He was transformed from the spiritual to the human nature, so that in giving His life for the world’s redemption He might give the exact equivalent or corresponding price for that which was lost.

For the sake of brevity we must of necessity pass by many points of interest connected with this narrative of our Lord’s birth, e.g. the prophecies of His coming (Gen. 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12‑16; Isa. 9:6,7; 11:1‑9; Dan. 9:24, etc.); the date of His birth; His human lineage as Son of David and of Abraham, and His Divine origin as the only begotten Son of God; and, lastly, the condition of the world at His advent. But these the student can with profit look up for himself.

On the last point, however, we would have none fail to observe the evidences of the Lord’s preparatory overruling providence in so shaping the world’s affairs to accomplish the purposes of His plan at that time: in due time the very best medium for the communication of the Gospel of the New Covenant.

(4) It was a time, too, of increased intellectual activity, which was ready to operate on this and every other question of public interest. Thus the circumstances of the time were peculiarly adapted to the announcement of this wonderful event – the advent of the world’s Redeemer. The fullness of time had come, and under the overruling providence of God, the conditions were ripe.

It is worthy of notice that the announcement of the Saviour’s birth was not made to an assembled world, in whose most vital interest He had come, nor even to assembled Israel, the chosen people of God; nor yet to all of those who, like Simeon and Anna, with devout hearts had long been looking for the hope of Israel. But it was made to only a few devout shepherds who were watching their flocks by night. The grand truth was one to be received by faith; and it was sent through humble, but trustworthy, human agents, who were the honored instruments in God’s hands. And any who proudly despised the instruments were unworthy of the good tidings.

The announcement was one which modern “orthodoxy” could not justify; for it was the very reverse of its bad tidings of great misery to nearly all people. The angel’s message was, “good tidings of GREAT JOY TO ALL PEOPLE; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

The tidings are of redemption and restitution and everlasting life for all who will accept this blessing on the terms on which it is offered – viz., faith in Christ as the Redeemer, and full repentance from sin, which of necessity implies the forsaking of sin and cultivation of righteousness. Christ was born to be a Saviour by subsequently giving His life a ransom for all. These good tidings – this miracle of Divine goodness and mercy to fallen and doomed mankind – met a marvelously cold and indifferent reception. The world in general, though apprised of the fact and its import, manifested no faith nor interest in it, while it is written that He came unto His own people (the Jews), and they received Him not. But the jubilant heavenly hosts, who were capable of appreciating what fallen men could not appreciate, and will not until their blind eyes are opened and their deaf ears unstopped, broke out in a rapturous strain of heavenly melody, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

The full import of this song will not be fully realized by mankind until the Millennial reign of Christ shall proffer them full emancipation and deliverance from sin and its entailments.

“Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21) We have elsewhere presented the Scriptural evidences that the date usually celebrated as the anniversary of our Lord Jesus’ birth is incorrect and that, instead of being December 25, BC 4, it really was about October 1, BC 2; nevertheless this need not mar our pleasure, nor our appreciation of the great fact so generally celebrated on the wrong date; for its lessons are as appropriate to one date as to another.

The great thought is that the first‑born of every creature left the glory of a spirit existence, the glory which He had enjoyed with the Father before the world was made, and in conformity to the Divine plan for human salvation, “humbled himself” to human nature, became a man, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14; Phil. 2:7,9)

But why did He do this? The Scriptures reply that He took our form and nature – the form of a servant – for the suffering of death. It was for the sin of man that He was to atone; and, to do so, to pay our debt, to give our ransom price, to be our substitute, He must be a man; that as by a man came death, by a man also should come the resurrection of the dead.

No wonder, then, that the birth of the babe Jesus, the first step in the Divine plan for salvation from sin and death, was hailed by angels as well as by wise men and the shepherds as most notable, as a most momentous event. And only those who see quite clearly the necessity for a ransom (a Corresponding price), before sin could be forgiven or one member of the condemned race of Adam could be set free from the death penalty resting upon all, can appreciate the depth of meaning there is in that song which the angels sang.

The infant Jesus was the first ray of light and hope to mankind; because He would become a man, and as the man would give His life a ransom for Adam and all condemned in him; and thus, by virtue of having paid our price, “bought us with his own precious blood [His life given],” He would be legally qualified before the Divine law to be the “Mediator of the New Covenant,” which He sealed or made effective with His own precious blood; “the blood of the New Covenant shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:28)

The great plan for human salvation, begun by the birth of Jesus, has not yet reached completion. It will not be complete until his people have been saved from their sins and from the penalty of their sins – death, which includes degradation – mental, moral and physical. The ransom, thank God, has been paid, and Justice has accepted it; and now the Mediator of the New Covenant is seeking out “his people.” First, during the Gospel Age, He seeks His peculiar people, His “Bride”; and in the age to follow this, the Millennium, he will cause the knowledge of the Divine offer of life under the terms of the New Covenant to be made general; all shall know, and then “whosoever will may take of the water of life freely.” And all whom He now is, or ever shall be willing to own as “his people,” will gladly avail themselves of that New Covenant’s gracious arrangements and return to full favor with God; all others will be willful sinners, and as such will be cut off from life in the Second Death.

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 shall be utterly destroyed from amongst the people – 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 an opportunity for his everlasting blessing and peace, or his cutting off it he fails to appreciate the Divine offer.

The shepherds having heard of God’s grace manifested their interest by visiting and paying their homage to the Saviour; 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 the joys of the Lord and our appreciation of His grand gospel. (Gal. 3:8,16,29)

Then, let us, who know the blessed story of the love of God in Christ tell abroad the gracious message, the foundation for which was laid in the birth of Jesus – “Behold, we bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people.” “He shall save his people from their sins.” Let us make sure that we have accepted Him and are “his people.” Let us be true wise men and present to Him our treasures – all that we have and are – our hearts.

___________________________________________________________________

‘NIGHTLINE’ & ABC NEWS IGNORE ISRAEL’S EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS IN TURKEY

New York State Senator Seymour P. Lachman (D‑Brooklyn) called Ted Koppel host of the ABC television network program Nightline and on the producers of ABC News, to review their editorial judgment in reporting events regarding the State of Israel.

“Alone among major national and local news media,” Senator Lachman stated. Nightline and ABC News failed to report that the State of Israel dispatched the first, and initiated the largest, rescue team to Turkey, following the recent massive earthquake. On August 17, ABC’s Nightline devoted a segment to the devastation and duly noted that the United States, Germany and Greece were aiding in rescue efforts.” the Senator observed.

“Nightline and ABC News can hardly claim that this assistance was unknown when it broadcast its August 17 program, since earlier in the day Israel’s contributions were reported by NBC News, which aired videotape of Israeli rescue efforts.

“The next day, on August 18, when The New York Times reported on special equipment sent by Israel to extract survivors from beneath earthquake rubble, a distinguished physicist from New York University’s Courant Institute, who had viewed the Nightline broadcast, contacted the program’s staff to inquire about its failure to report Israel’s assistance. He was informed by a Nightline spokesperson: ‘We did not list all the countries assisting in the rescue effort. Koppel chose to highlight just a few of the countries and the teams helping in order to provide a more specific example of the rescue effort.’

“Interestingly, there was no mention of the State of Israel which was the first to arrive, with the largest number of rescue and relief workers.

“Nightline, in its failure to inform viewers of Israel’s rescue efforts in Turkey, has demonstrated poor editorial judgment regarding an example of unstinting humanitarian cooperation in the face of overwhelming loss of life.

“Nightline and ABC News owe viewers better judgment, and an apology to the distinguished member of the Courant Institute for its cavalier dismissal when that poor judgment was brought to the attention of its staff.” (The Jewish Press, September 3, 1999)

___________________________________________________________________

PAPAL COMMENTS ON HELL RECEIVE WARM RECEPTION

With a new pronouncement from Pope John Paul II and temperatures in Central Florida pushing 100 degrees, hell is on people’s minds.

Last week, the pope defined hell, telling Catholics it is not a physical place and there are no flames – at the very least calling into question a thousand years of Christian art and a century of irreverent cartoons.

The pontiff’s remarks surprised few area religious leaders, who supported his position.

“The pope basically reiterated standard Catholic teaching” that hell is a state, rather than a place, said the Rev. Joseph Harte of Orlando’s Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine.

“There is very little known about hell,” Harte said. “You can’t use hell as a deterrent, like the electric chair.”

The Rev. Charles Horton of College Park Baptist Church agrees. “I think the pope has helped us to bring about an awareness of the fact that people make a virtual hell on earth for themselves by their choices and lifestyle,” he said. “Hell is eternal separation from God’s love. A separation from God is worse than fire.”

For Lutherans, hell is “the logical consequence of the choices that human beings make in excluding God from our lives,” said the Rev. Barry Snowden, of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Oviedo.

The concept of hell has long had a hold on the popular imagination. Dante, in the 14th century, and Milton in the 17th century, told a story of cosmic rebellion in which Satan (Lucifer) and his angels rebelled against God, only to be cast out of Heaven, and into their underworld domain.

In the 1700s, scientists thought hell might be on the sun or a comet. In the past decade, Trinity Broadcasting Network and other evangelical organizations spread tales that in Russia, a microphone lowered two miles below the surface of the earth had recorded the sound of souls in torment.

The notion of a physical hell after death predates Christianity. For ancient Greeks, it was Hades, surrounded by the River Styx. The dead were ferried across by the boatman Charon. Their concept of the afterlife evolved from a muddy bog to what the philosopher Plato called a place of “temporary punishment for the curably wicked and eternal punishment for the incurably wicked.”

For Greek Orthodox Christians, hell is “a separation from God, that in our exercise of free will we bring upon ourselves,” said the Rev. Mark Elliott, of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Maitland. “The soul is in torment because it is separated from God.”

In the Old Testament, some believe it is the underworld of Sheol, which can be translated simply as “the grave.” Other rabbis, in the 2nd century BC, believed it was Gehenna, named for an infamous valley south of Jerusalem where an early pagan cult sacrificed children. Gehenna was considered “a cosmic disposal site for the wicked,” according to historian Alan Weinstein, author of The Formation of Hell.

Today, Jews don’t talk much about hell from the pulpit, said Rabbi Alan Londy, of Temple Israel in Orlando.

“Clearly, hell is a biblical, Jewish idea,” Londy said. “But the issue is, what does that term actually mean?”

(By Mark I. Pinsky of the Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, September, 1999)

__________________________________________________________________

The following was sent by Lev and Hava Bausch:

DANGEROUS AMERICAN MISFITS

For the most part, America really is a wonderful country – the land of opportunity, freedom and democracy, and the beacon of individual liberty.

But with so much going for them over there, the gun culture defies all understanding. Violence is certainly not unique to the US on average, its citizens are probably not crazier than in other countries. In the Middle East, Arabs and Jews have been killing each other for the better part of a century. As we were reminded this week. terrorism is still a daily threat.

The Indians and Pakistanis are no better. Indeed, it is difficult to find any part of the world where different groups are not fighting for some ideology or land to call their own.

But there are some important differences that set the violence in America apart from the rest of the world. The murderers who spray their high‑school classmates with machinegun bullets, or who walk into a local Jewish community center and shoot at children, are not fighting for a nation or for a cause (not that this excuses violence and terror). Instead, they are maladjusted crazies, neo‑Nazis, and psychotics. They are angry at the world, filled with jealousy and hate, and unable to fit into normal social frameworks.

Such people exist in every society, including Israel’s. But only in America, the land of opportunity and individual freedom taken to its irrational extreme, can every crazy fill his car with guns, bullets, and explosives. The random violence in the US is a plague, and has turned this beacon of freedom into a fear‑ridden society, in which the threat of murder is always present. Car hijacking and drive‑by shootings are common occurrences. No one can feel safe.

After decades of mounting violence, it is clear that the American people, for all their virtues, are simply unable to cope with this cancer that is destroying them. In 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot by a social misfit using a mail‑order rifle; since then, the toll has mounted, but nothing has been done to cure the disease.

While all the polls indicate popular support for far‑reaching limitations on the ability to purchase guns and other lethal weapons, the power of the gun lobby in the US remains dominant. The National Rifle Association has been able to wrap itself around the flag through a warped interpretation of the American Bill of Rights.

But the rights to bear arms and to maintain a well‑regulated militia were rooted in the historical context of the war with the British over 200 years ago. This basic right of self‑determination and self‑defense has absolutely nothing in common with neo‑Nazis and gun‑nuts.

In the world’s greatest democracy, the people seem unable to be organized and mobilized enough to choose leaders who will act responsibly to end this farce. Under these circumstances, the Americans could use some major foreign aid.

In its relationship with Israel, Washington has always been very generous with its assistance, both substantively, and in terms of advice on the great issues of war and peace. This is an opportunity for the Jewish people to return the favor, and help the US out of its self‑imposed misery.

The Bible, a sacred document a few thousand years older than the American Constitution, lays down the basic rules for any civil society, including the prohibition against murder. No exceptions are made for members of hate groups, and a society that cannot prevent murder has no future. Sodom and Gomorrah have disappeared from the face of the earth. Americans pride themselves on their religious (mainly Christian) devotion, and the time for them to return to these basics is long overdue.

Jewish law also prohibits placing an obstacle in the path of a blind person. With the knowledge that there will always be maladjusted individuals and social misfits in any society, and that they are prone to be violent, allowing them access to weapons is like dropping a boulder in front of a blind man.

Any personal stress or crisis, real or imagined, will set off the chain of events leading to yet another mass killing. The guns, bullets, and other implements of destruction must be put out of reach and harm’s way.

To be the world’s leaders, respected around the globe, it is not enough to have the world’s richest economy or the most powerful army. America leads the world first and foremost by example, from food and fashion, to democracy and human rights.

But when it comes to free access to guns, the rest of us draw a line. With every act of mass and random violence, the influence of the US declines even further. As long as anyone in the US can obtain and carry a gun, walk into a public place, and start shooting, America will fail to be a moral model for the world.

(By Gerald M. Steinberg)

___________________________________________________________________

LETTER OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily,

We just want to send our love from the shores of the Sea of Galilee once again. Sadly the shores are getting bigger and the lake smaller as we still await some rain to water this thirsty land. Please pray we get early rains, as sometimes it can remain dry into November.

Thank you for your letters, and we pray you are feeling well. Thank you for the newsletters you and those helping you so faithfully send out. I know getting a publication together is not always an easy task. But you are blessing others, and we are so thankful for your stand for Israel! You had some good articles in the September/October issues. It is so important to bring out the one‑sidedness of the media, and how they are not objective in their reporting. That was a good example of the reporter Charley Reese!

We also know how people can change as even Martin Luther did. At first he was all for the Jews when he came out of the Catholic Church, but later turned so hateful that many of his ideas and statements against the Jews were used against them by Hitler – with the blessings of the churches!

Yes, I do think the media was very vicious against Netanyahu, and the pressures upon him were so heavy that he really “gave in” at the end. I think he was in a way glad he did not win and was out from under the burden.

Now Barak is into giving the Land back to Mr. Arafat for his smile and handshake! It is wonderful to know God will overrule all things.

Barak’s government is a very splintered group with so many different parties with a lot of opposing ideas. Something like a bomb waiting to explode with only a spark.

As you probably heard we had a car bomb last week here in Tiberias about ten blocks from us. I had just been on the spot a couple of hours before. It is really a miracle that the bomb went off prematurely on a street not in the center of the city where more people would have been killed or hurt.

We were a bit surprised to read the letter of Leif after his visit to Emek ha Shalom and that maybe Josef and Herman would live for a time at one of the settlements. After Lev got back from his father’s funeral (the end of May) we tried to contact Josef again. We even had friends who visited Emek ha Shalom in August but did not find Josef. It seemed that also the mobile phone that Josef had was not working, so we also were very concerned. Then yesterday Josef called us. He had been in the hospital for three weeks last month due to his digestive problems, and his mobile phone was stolen. He has gained some weight now, and is improving.

It seems we are having disasters on every hand – one can hardly keep up with them. Israel has been blessing her neighbors in their sorrows. Turkey is 20 times bigger than Israel and yet this tiny nation sent nearly 20 plane loads of aide to the people of Turkey including food, blankets, clothing, big equipment to dig people out of the rubble (they saved about 20 people alive), sniffer dogs to find people, a 100 bed field hospital with Israelis doctors and all, and a communication system. Then the earthquake happened in Greece and tiny Israel again sent aide to help save people. Thank the Lord that despite all of Israel’s problems they are still ready in a moment to help others.

Now Russia is feeling the pains of terrorists attacks right on their doorsteps. No nation is spared these troubles now – big or small.

Here many are concerned when we will have a big earthquake. as we sit on one of the biggest fault lines in the world. The last big earthquake in Israel was 1927 and destroyed much or Tiberias/Safed, etc. so it seems we are over‑due.

How wonderful to know our days are in the Lord’s hands from morning to morning? So great to know God is the “shomer” (guard) over Israel, and does not sleep day or night.

Lev has not felt the best since his trip to his father’s funeral... Please pray for him!

Well, Israel just started the year 5760 on the Jewish calendar and we can only pray for God’s mercy on His people day by day in the year ahead. Things change so fast here that we do not dare miss one day of news.

The Lord is blessing our small Bed/Breakfast by bringing guests. We were especially busy in July and August with families, and now will have guests during the holiday period here. We thank Him for this provision!

May the Lord bless you in every way! In His great love, Lev and Hava (ISRAEL)

NO. 510 ABOUT CASIMIR LANOWICK

 This article about Casimir Lanowick was submitted by Elva Lanowick, along with this note:

Thought you might like to see this copy of an account about Casimir’s work that I have submitted to Alisa Klausner Ber at her request. She is planning to write about Christian workers for Israel and wants to include information about Casimir.

Alisa is related to the late Dr. Joseph Klausner, well–known author in Israel who wrote, among other things, a book about Jesus. Possibly as a result of this, Alisa told us many years ago that she has always had a special interest In Christians who love Israel. She is a member of the Israel Interfaith Committee.

Alisa comes from pioneer stock in Israel and has known well, from her childhood, most of the early leaders of the Jewish State – David Ben Gurion, etc. She is married to Baruch Ber who has also been active in politics In Israel and on the editorial staff of the fine newspaper called HA’ARETZ.

Some of my friends remember her well as the dynamic personality who spoke to any number of our Israel tour groups. She told us back in 1955 that she considers Christians who work for Israel as “the saints of all the world,” as the Psalmist put it.

(By Elva Lanowick)

THE WORK OF CASIMIR LANOWICK – 1917 – 1980

Both Casimir and I were raised by Protestant Christian parents who had firm convictions regarding the ultimate rebirth of the Jewish nation as promised by the Hebrew prophets – a restoration that would have profound impacts not only for the Jewish people but also for the blessing of all mankind.

Before we knew each other, separately we read an excellent small book entitled ZIONISM IN PROPHECY, by Professor Franklyn Hudgings, published in 1936 by the Pro–Palestine Federation of America. Casimir was so impressed by this well–documented treatise that, typical of his special character trait of taking action upon his beliefs, at the young age of 19 he purchased and personally circulated many copies of ZIONISM IN PROPHECY which, incidentally, though written by a Christian scholar, carries the endorsement of Dr. Hirsch Loeb Gorton and was reviewed favorably by any number of leading U.S. Zionists of that era.

So it was only natural that when the United Nations voted in 1947 in favor of a Jewish state, Casimir was deeply moved by this development. That same year he commenced publishing, with my help, a magazine to report news about the prospect of Israel’s reconstitution as a nation, in a passionate endeavor to arouse the Christians of America as to the tremendous significance of the imminent rebirth of Israel. This news digest was entitled THE JEWS IN THE NEWS and later changed to ISRAEL’S RESTORATION NEWS.

Of course, when the dramatic date of May 14, 1948 saw the creation of the official state of Eretz Israel, our excitement grew more intense and we could never find enough space in the columns of our monthly publication to include all the truly meaningful reportage of events in that fledgling nation. Frequent reference was made to the very pertinent prophetic Scriptures which had so graphically foretold, some 2500 years previously, and even earlier, the details of this historic rebirth of the ancient nation of Israel. But it was a down-to-earth magazine, reporting on all aspects of life in the new state, whether related to agricultural revival, military achievements, the ingathering of the exiles, etc., so that the readers could hardly gainsay the depth of meaning of it all.

This endeavor to awaken Christians in the U.S. as to the great significance of Israel met, in those early years, with much skepticism among most Christians, and even Jews, who could not conceive that the tiny new nation could survive the tremendous pressures exerted against it by powerful and rich Arab enemies. It was our aim to be one of the voices of assurance.

Subscriptions to our news organ began to come in to our office in Redwood City, California, from all the then 48 states and even from many foreign countries, i.e. Canada, England, East and West Germany, France, Hungary, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Denmark and others. Because Israel was not a popular subject among the average Christians in those years, we never felt that our publication had the scope of readership it deserved. Yet there was a corps of regular readers, including many influential Christians of all denominations, who were eager to be kept informed regarding the progress in the Jewish State, and in looking back later we realized that our trail-blazing efforts were a considerable factor in bringing about the groundswell of Christian support for Israel that began in the 1970’s.

 Even as Theodor Herzl paradoxically met strongest opposition from among the rabbinical leaders of his time, so we found that ministers in the United States were least likely to respond to the message of Israel restored. However, in almost every church were the one’s and two’s whose parents and grandparents had told them that when the Jews would go back to their homeland, it would usher in the Messianic era of peace and righteousness for all mankind. These individuals often became firebrands of zeal concerning the historic significance of modern Israel. We derived much encouragement from these ardent readers, counteracting the general apathy and often open hostility of many of our peers. It is no surprise to the initiated that even anti-Semitism bared its well-entrenched fangs. Under the circumstances, you can understand that financial pressures were always a fact of life for us.

The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem requested, from time to time, that we make sure that a copy of each issue of THE JEWS IN THE NEWS (later ISRAEL’S RESTORATION NEWS) be sent to them, so if you wish, Alisa, you could examine these in their files to get an idea of the nature of our monthly Israel news digest.

In 1950 Casimir and I made our first trip to Israel, equipped with the latest and finest cameras. Between November of that year and March of 1951 we visited almost every important settlement, site, city and village, including Eilat when the only structure there was an army barracks. (We took panoramic motion pictures here and footage all over the country – of immigrants arriving by the thousands at the port of Haifa, of the maabarot camps, youth aliya villages, etc.) As you can imagine, this opportunity to go to Israel during those momentous times of its national beginnings, the days of tzena, the days of euphoria amidst harsh hardship, was a highlight in our lives. We also had the joy of becoming acquainted with many Israeli of diverse backgrounds – pioneers, refugees from the Nazi holocaust, Yemeni recent arrivals on the “Magic Carpet” looking for all the world like they had stepped right out of the pages of the Bible, etc. These early contacts would always be precious to us, even though we returned to Israel many times afterward.

On our way back to America via Europe, Casimir was asked to lecture in Italy, Germany and England regarding his findings in the new Jewish State. We also made a special trip to Basel, Switzerland so as to see the hall in which Theodor Herzl held the First Zionist Congress in 1897 (has since been torn down).

Our illustrated lecture activities began in earnest in the U.S. in July of 1951 when we commenced what would eventually be about ten years of cross–country engagements – six months of each year presenting the story of Israel by word and film, and then often but irregularly through the years right up until his death. Eventually our lecture work expanded into Canada, England and Wales, and especially to Australia and New Zealand where, in 1960, we were able to carry on an indepth coverage of these two down–under lands with our Israel presentation, over a six–month period. Our audiences in this part of the world included many Jewish people.

The films we had taken in Israel, with the aim of more effectively portraying the historic dimensions of the rise of Israel, received fine reviews, but even more important was the exceptional ability Casimir had as a dedicated and dynamic speaker, consistently able to inspire his audiences. His warmth, his vast store of knowledge about modern Israel, the judicious use of the Biblical tie-up, always elicited genuinely enthusiastic response. Casimir’s keen sense of humor spiced his otherwise serious but not pontifical delivery. He liked to use the term “educationally entertaining” in publicizing his illustrated lectures.

These film programs were presented in churches of almost every denomination, for service organizations such as Rotary, Lion’s Club, etc., and we were also sponsored at times by the Zionist Organization of America, Hadassah, and even individual lovers of Israel. Then, too, quite frequently we personally engaged auditoriums, placed newspaper advertising and thus sponsored some of our own very successful meetings. We carried along a very interesting display of Israel products and included Israeli folksongs with each program.

Eventually we came to the realization that an even better way to introduce the magic of Israel to the general public would be to escort them to Israel to see for themselves the marvelous achievements of the sons of Jacob restored to their land. Through our magazine readership and our lecture contacts we organized our first group tour in 1955. (This was when we had the privilege of meeting you, Alisa.) We spent a full 35 days in Eretz Israel that spring, determined to give our Christian friends as thorough an overview of Israel as possible under the circumstances.

As you know, after that we took many tour groups to Israel. We were mindful of the deficiencies of the average Christian “Holy Land” tours – the bypassing of much of the miracle of modern Israel in favor of mostly churches and other so–called “holy places.” Casimir also steadfastly refused to take short tours to Israel, even though we realized that we could have attracted many more tour members by offering cut–rate 7 or 10–day tours or by including Arab countries, European stopovers, etc. The testimonials we accumulated after the tours ended convinced us that our traveling companions were indeed returning home well–informed, deeply impressed and ready to become eager supporters of Israel’s goals and political stance. You are aware, too, that we also put much stress on the importance of introducing our touring friends to the people of the Land – Israeli from all walks of life, Jewish, Arab and Christian, so that they could catch the unusual spirit of the country, ask questions, etc.

By the way, in 1958 and 1959 we took time off to experience living in Israel, renting a lovely home in Talpioth, then a quiet suburb of Jerusalem, continuing to publish our Israel magazine wherever we went (until about 1968); we welcomed this opportunity to get even better acquainted with the Land and with the Israeli. Again new and lasting friendships were forged and our work for Israel took on an added important dimension.

Frequently from the years 1953 to 1979 we also arranged for any number of Israel seminars – both national and regional, at such scenic spots as the Grand Tetons, beautiful Asilomar by the Sea, Rocky Mountain National Park, etc., bringing in Israeli speakers and Christian leaders well versed as to Israel’s modern history in the light of the Bible. We enjoyed our relationship with the late Dr. G. Douglas Young because of his unflagging zeal for Israel and I recall with joy the worthy contribution he made to our 1979 Israel Seminar. Soon after that, in May of 1980, he died, and Casimir passed away only about five months later.

It was about the time that Israel became a state that we heard Dr. and Mrs. Walter Clay Lowdermilk speak at a large Zionist rally in San Francisco, renewing our admiration for their selfless devotion to the concept of a Jewish State, dating back to 1939. Our first tour group had the privilege of being entertained by the Lowdermilks in their fine house atop Mount Carmel in 1955. I mention this to lead up to the fact that when Dr. Lowdermilk died Casimir was moved to do something to commemorate the valuable work Dr. Lowdermilk had done for Israel – devising the national water plan, helping advance Israel’s agriculture in the. early years of statehood, establishing the Lowdermilk School of Agricultural Engineering at the Technion in Haifa, using his high station in the U.S. Government to influence administration policy, etc. (As you know, Mrs. Lowdermilk herself had spoken tirelessly on behalf of Israel while they were stationed in Washington, D.C. and after their return to Berkeley, California, where Dr. Lowdermilk taught at the University of California. Even to this date, at the advanced age of 92, Inez Lowdermilk retains a strong and active commitment to Israel.)

Casimir felt that the most appropriate memorial to Walter Clay Lowdermilk would be a forest planted in his honor in Israel. Always impressed by the work of Keren Kayemeth in planting trees, restoring the land, etc., Casimir proposed to the San Francisco chapter of the Jewish National Fund that such a forest project be commenced. With the help of the California Christian Committee for Israel, the fund–raising got under way. Casimir and I had the privilege of doing most of the work on this project, and after much persistence the full sum of $10,000 was raised, plus further amounts for a recreation area within the forest at Mrs. Lowdermilk’s request.

So, in March of 1976, Mrs. Lowdermilk was the guest of honor on one of our Israel tours organized specifically to include the dedication of the Lowdermilk Memorial Forest on Mt. Turan in the Galilee. How encouraged Casimir was when Golda Meir accepted his invitation to meet Mrs. Lowdermilk at the airport and join our tour group for dinner at the Sharon Hotel in Herzlia. It meant so much to Casimir to do something meaningful, to give recognition and encouragement to this valiant Christian woman and to honor the memory of her truly great husband. Needless to say, the hours spent with “Golda” were precious.

Not long after this project was finished we were asked by some Christian lovers of Zion in the U.S. to organize the “Christian-Israel Friendship League.” So this was done in 1978, but within two years Casimir had died and the loss of his unique leadership meant that the work of this league diminished considerably.

 However, Casimir lived to see a new page in the history of Christian Zionism – the emergence of grass-roots groups of Christian supporters of Israel all around the United States, and, in fact, all around the world. You cannot imagine how excited Casimir was about this development and how enthusiastically he planned to cooperate with them in their worthy endeavors. For instance, Casimir was the U.S. National Coordinator for the First International Congress for the Peace of Jerusalem held in Israel’s capital city in 1978, at which time about 1,000 Christians from many countries gathered to express support for Israel. The next year, when the idea of a Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem was proposed, Casimir got busy and wrote the organizers expressing his delight and started working to organize a tour to take in this first “Feast of Tabernacles” Christian gathering.

But it was not to be. In retrospect, I am convinced that Casimir’s work was done and the torch was being passed on to other zealous Christian lovers of Israel. You no doubt know about the 4,000, 5,000, and then 6,000 Christians from as many as 40 countries who have participated in the subsequent annual Feast of Tabernacles assemblies in Jerusalem. Casimir never considered himself indispensable, and how happy he would be today to see the ever–increasing numbers of Christians who are espousing the cause of Eretz Israel, the nation of destiny. (Elva)

P.S.. Are you familiar, Alisa, with the Christian–Zionist work of the late Charles Taze Russell between the years of about 1881–1916? He wrote and lectured extensively about the hopes of Israel restored, based on the Biblical record. His weekly articles were carried in hundreds of newspapers around the United States, so whenever he wrote about the Jews returning to “Palestine,” his firm convictions received wide coverage. He also addressed large Jewish audiences in the U.S. at the Hippodrome, in London, and around Western and Eastern Europe. He was aroused by the pogroms at Kishenev and elsewhere in Russia. It is touching to note how eagerly “Pastor” Russell reported the smallest developments in Palestine when the first aliya was taking place. A former student at the Hebrew University told us back in 1950 that when they studied Christian Zionism at this university, Charles Taze Russell was at the top of the list.

(Written by Mrs. Casimir Lanowick, November 1985)

Many Bible Students don’t think Emek ha Shalom is doing the Lord’s work by working for Israel, as they say His work now is “gathering the Saints.” But Casimir and Elva inspired many nominal Christians to help Israel financially and otherwise.

___________________________________________________________________

QUOTES RE NATURAL ISRAEL

“Now we are entering the great Time of Trouble which is to inaugurate Messiah’s Kingdom. During this trouble the Church is to be glorified in the First Resurrection. Then the thousand years of Messiah’s reign with the elect, Spiritual Bride, drawn from both Jews and Gentiles, will begin.

“Still God’s favor will pursue the natural seed of Abraham. Their lessons and chastisements will fit and prepare them more quickly than others of the world to receive the Messianic blessing. The earthly phase of Messiah’s Kingdom will be Israelitish, in that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets and saintly ones down to John the Baptist are to be made ‘princes in all the earth’ (Psa. 45:16) – the earthly representatives in human perfection of the Spiritual Kingdom of Messiah.

“Naturally enough, Israel will then in a natural way come first into harmony with the Divine arrangement and be the first to get the blessing. However, during the thousand years of the Kingdom, as the Scriptures declare, all nations shall bless themselves in becoming Abraham’s seed – in coming into relationship with the Kingdom, which will have an Israelitish basis. (Jer. 4:2; Isa. 65:16; Gen. 12:3) Eventually, all will be destroyed who do not thus become true Israelites. Thus Abraham’s seed will eventually include all the families of the earth – all for whom God has provided life eternal. As for Gentiles – strangers from God – none will remain.”

(By That Servant, Reprints 5809 bottom, 5810 top, December 1, 1915)

___________________________________________________________________

THOSE CONSECRATING BETWEEN THE AGES

“It is our thought that with the closing of the door of this Gospel Age there will be no more begetting of the Holy Spirit to the spirit nature. Any afterward coming to God thru 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 not yet being opened, 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 will 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 this Gospel Age. We know of no reason why the Lord would refuse to receive those who make a consecration after the close of the Gospel Age High Calling and before the full opening of the Millennium.” (By That Servant, Reprint 5761, September 1, 1915)

___________________________________________________________________

JESUS OF NAZARETH – THE ETERNAL GLORY OF THE JEWISH RACE

Perhaps, too, in this enlightened age, as his mind expands, and he takes a comprehensive view of this period of progress, the pupil of Moses may ask himself whether all the princes of the house of David have done so much for the Jews as that prince who was crucified on Calvary. Had it not been for Him, the Jews would have been comparatively unknown, or known only as a high Oriental caste which had lost its country. Has not He made their history the most famous in the world? Has not He hung up their laws in every temple? Has He not vindicated all their wrongs? Has not He avenged the victory of Titus and conquered the Caesars? What success did they anticipate from their Messiah? The wildest dreams of their Rabbis have been far exceeded. Has not Jesus conquered Europe and changed its name into Christendom?

The whole of the new world is devoted to the Semitic principle and its most glorious offspring, the Jewish faith, and the time will come when the vast communities and countless myriads of America and Australia, looking upon Greece, and wondering how so small a space could have achieved such great deeds, will still find music in the songs of Zion and still seek solace in the parables of Galilee.

These may be dreams, but there is one fact which none can contest. Christians may continue to persecute Jews, and Jews may persist in disbelieving Christians, but who can deny that Jesus of Nazareth, the Incarnate Son of the Most High God, is the eternal glory of the Jewish race?

(Statement by–Benjamin Disraeli from The Messiahship of Jesus, page 268)

___________________________________________________________________

CHRONICLE OF THE GREAT WASTE OF THE GREAT WAR

All across Europe, they marched and rode off to war in the summer of 1914, naively expecting to be home before the leaves fell.

Splendidly attired in uniforms suggestive of Napoleon’s time, they were a tragically innocent generation, with no way to foresee the coming four-year engagement that precipitated the rise of Hitler.

The war to end all wars didn’t. In fact, it was just the start. Leftover tensions led to slaughter of a far greater magnitude 25 years later, and – the case can be made – to Cold War fear of communist aggression, the nuclear arms race and the global instability that persists in the final year of the century.

John Keegan’s study of the Great War makes clear how it all might have been avoided. He writes eloquently with mastery of military history and scholarship that never loses touch with humanity and never gets bogged down in moralizing.

What Keegan accomplishes, through judiciously applied hindsight, is to make us aware of the role of chance in the events of the 20th century. With just a modicum of communication among European leaders, the blood–letting needn’t have happened. History amounts to a game of “what-if?” whose outcome could have been utterly different.

More than a month elapsed between the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo and the actual clash of armies. There was ample time, even with the rather primitive communications technology of the day, to avert the awful four years that followed.

Statesmen seemed oblivious to the uses of the telephone, preferring instead to rely on hand–written notes and telegraphed messages. The result, in Keegan’s words: “a dead march and a dialogue of the deaf.” causing the destruction of the continent.

Even more disconcerting, Keegan also shows how the course of the war was largely determined in advance by a German war planner’s scheme that had little chance of succeeding.

The so–called Schlieffen plan, concocted by the chief of the Great German General Staff, was devised and refined over more than 20 years, beginning in the 1890s. Its thrust was simple: to enable Germany to quickly overwhelm France in the West, then turn its attention to Russia in the East, thus avoiding a protracted, two–front war, for which Germany lacked the resources.

It called for a massive, exquisitely timed wheeling movement of German forces through the Low Countries, to envelop the French from the right. It demanded precision in the transport of troops via rail, and made little allowance for any delays.

“It was to prove the most important official document of the last hundred years,” Keegan writes, “for what it caused to ensue on the field of battle, the hopes it inspired, the hopes it dashed, were to have consequences that persist to this day.”

The inevitable failure of the German game plan provoked the stalemate known as trench warfare and the ensuing carnage in the hellish, barbed-wire strewn No Man’s Land between the ditches.

Millions died in the senseless and unproductive exchange of heavy artillery, machinegun fire and troops advancing on foot in the battles like Verdun and the Meuse and the Somme.

The numbers are staggering. The French lost 2 million soldiers and had 5 million wounded, including thousands so badly disfigured they were sent to rural villages to endure the rest of their days in privacy. The Germans also lost 2 million fighting men. The wounded included 1,264 who lost both legs.

The body counts were equally destructive for the Russians, Austrians, English, Italians and all the rest, up to and including the late-arriving Yanks.

But the country with the greatest percentage of casualties was Serbia, where 15 percent of the population died.

If only, if only. From Keegan’s perspective, none of it should have happened. Nearly a century has passed, yet the Great War still has aspects of profound mystery. Why, he asks, did a continent at the height of intellectual and cultural achievement choose to risk all in existentially pointless slaughter?

Those who returned home after the Armistice of November 1918 were profoundly changed by what Keegan calls the “ultimate mystery of the First World War.”

They had formed intimate bonds of friendship and mutual dependency unimaginable in peace, Keegan observes. To understand this process, he writes, is to understand “the mystery of human life.”

(The First World War, by John Keegan, reviewed by Chris Cobbs, The Orlando Sentinel, August 29, 1999)

IN ANSWER TO “THE GREAT WAR OF 1914”

Indeed it was a “Great War of 1914,” the greatest calamity to happen to the human race up to that time. Not every country took part in the battles, but every country in the world was involved and felt the consequences. We publish John Keegan’s reflection because it is interesting and informative to the younger generation who know very little, if anything, about its horrors. We agree with John Keegan that it is a “mystery” to all who are not acquainted with God’s Word regarding wars and other calamities that have occurred to mankind.

The end of the 1914 War brought the Great Depression, which, like the war, affected all nations. Many good workmen could not find jobs so could not care for their families and keep them from starving.

None of these events were by chance as suggested. They were providential happenings and could not have been prevented by any man. Dan. 4:17 says: “...to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” Some of the basest of men, Pharaoh, Napoleon, Hitler, et al, were used of God to further His Plan. They were not men of God, but were men of destiny. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” (Psa. 76:10) However, we have had good and honorable rulers at times – in our country as well as in some of the foreign countries.

God permitted the Gentiles to rule in the world for a specific time and when their times ended the Great War of 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times. The Gentile nations are still here, but God has rejected them and He is now in the process of ejecting them. The Lord’s Great Army is the masses of restless people (Joel 2:11). They are demanding more than they are getting, so they are protesting by marching on their governments.

The United States is the last great nation. Its economic condition is good, better than other countries. It is trying to make all governments Democratic, which is the best government for humanity in its fallen and imperfect condition. But it cannot succeed, for it cannot maintain its good economic condition – not with all the disasters which are costing more money than it has. Not only that, crime, drugs and health concerns are taking more money than it can afford. But if it cannot take care of the people, their voices will get louder and louder, and the marching on Washington will be increased greatly.

Although the U.S. has never sought to conquer territorial possessions, it now seems to think that it has the right and power to dictate to all countries. This is most notable in regard to Israel, and this meddling seems to be for the purpose of destroying that nation. But God will prevail. He says in Jer. 30:11: “...though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” This is repeated in Jer. 46:28.

Why will He not make a full end of the Israelite nation, even though they have been just as sinful as the others? For their Fathers sake – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He made promises that He will not break. Also, the Lord knew what He was doing when He called them His “Chosen People.” The Messiah came from the Jewish nation. “Salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22) The Kingdom will be Israelitish with Jerusalem as the capital of the world.

“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 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) The law will be administered from the heavenly Kingdom and handed down to the earthly Kingdom. The earthly Kingdom will be in the hands of the Ancient and Youthful Worthies. They will be “Princes in all the earth.” (Psa. 45:16) In other words the Worthies will be the visible rulers in the Kingdom.

Israel, “Arise, shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” (Isa. 60:1) “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light.” (Isa. 60:3)

“I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” (Isa. 1:26)

“0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee... thou art mine.” (Isa. 43:1) “I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will REJOICE in Jerusalem, in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” (Isa. 65:18,19)

“I will overturn, overturn; overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it him. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.” (Ezek. 21:27,30)

“I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10)

___________________________________________________________________

LET US STAND IN THE GAP IN PRAYER

Has anything really changed in the Moslem Middle East? On September 5, 1999, the Islamic fundamentalist group, Hamas, attempted two simultaneous car bombs – one in Tiberias and one in Haifa. Miraculously, both bombs exploded prematurely, only killing the terrorists. This was in response to the new treaty between Barak and Arafat signed the night before.

While we need to strive to make peace and seek to live at peace with our neighbors in the Middle East, we also need to know the difference between true peace and a peace that is but a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. Jesus told us that we are often found as “sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10:16) When the world “says peace, peace, when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14), then we need to beware and pray the prayer that Jesus taught us, “...deliver us from evil.” (Matt. 6:13) We need to pray for God’s peace, not the world’s peace, for our Jewish and Christians brothers in these trying times.

We need to pray for the Jewish residents of Hebron, who still live with constant threat of terror attacks. Pray for their safety and pray that the tragic events of 1929 will never be repeated.

We need to intercede for Israel and the Christians of the Middle East, that we would be delivered from the curses and attacks that are leveled against us. Pray that the nations of this world will hear and understand the meaning of the evil being taught by Islamic religious leaders, as they spew their hatred against Christians and Jews, and not be fooled. Pray that the world’s desire for real peace will not be confused with a “false peace,” giving into the demands of those Moslem leaders whose aim is to destroy or conquer non–Moslems. There are few Moslem leaders who are like Anwar Sadat and King Hussein of Jordan. We must find them and work with them and resist the tactics of the others.

Finally, we need to pray that the Lord God of Israel, the God of the Universe, would reveal Himself to the Moslem nations. Only as they turn to Him will there be real peace in the Middle East, peace for the Christians of the Middle East, and peace for the people and land of Israel. (See Psalm 34:15–17; 91:15; 122:6)

(By Clarence H. Wagner, Jr, Editor of Bridges For Peace, September/October 1999)

NO. 509B POPE PIUS'S 1943 LETTER AGAINST JEWISH STATEHOOD REVEALED

At the height of the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII made known to President Franklin D. Roosevelt his opposition to Palestine becoming a Jewish homeland, according to a letter from the U.S. Archives obtained by The Jerusalem Post from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Dated June 22, 1943, the letter sent by A. G. Cicognani, the pope’s special representative to the U.S., to Ambassador Myron Taylor, Roosevelt’s special emissary to Pius XII, is believed to be the first explicit expression of Pius’s policy against Zionism conveyed to the American government.

“It is true that at one time Palestine was inhabited by the Hebrew Race, but there is no axiom in history to substantiate the necessity of a people returning to a country they left nineteen centuries before,” the letter reads.

“If a ‘Hebrew Home’ is desired, it would not be too difficult to find a more fitting territory than Palestine. With an increase in the Jewish population there, grave, new international problems would arise.”

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the letter “is an indictment of Pius XII, because it basically says that when the pope wanted a point of view expressed about how he clearly felt, he said it clearly. Where is a similar letter to Adolf Hitler, telling Hitler that the Vatican finds his policies against the Jews repugnant? But at the height of the Holocaust, the Vatican knew how to oppose the State of Israel.”

Rabbi David Rosen, head of the Israel office of the Anti‑Defamation League and an expert on Catholic‑Jewish relations, said that “it has been well known for a long time of the shameful policy the Holy See maintained during that period, and this is just but one confirmation of that fact.”

Rosen said Pius’s anti‑Zionism was a continuation of long‑standing Vatican policy, which all changed with the issuing of Nostra Aetate.

Hier said the letter, which was found last month in research being conducted on Pope Pius, further spotlights the issue of the church’s moving forward his candidacy for sainthood.

“Many people have asked me, what is it our business who the Catholics appoint a saint?” Hier said, “Normally I would agree with that. But in the presence of survivors, tens of thousands of whom are still alive in their last few years, that they should live out their lives knowing that the person whom they heard nothing from, nothing but silence, has been designated as a saint – many people around the world will say a saint was alive in the Vatican during the Holocaust. That is an insult to the memory of the Holocaust, and is an insult to the survivors.”

(By Elli Wohlgelerntre, The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 1999)

THE MYSTERY OF CHARLEY REESE

A tale of two columnists, as different from each other as is humanly possible in their view of the Middle East. First, four quotes from the columnist who is second to none in his support for Israel:

1. “Yes, I love the state of Israel. It is everything a Western democracy should be at this point in history: brave, resourceful, tough, realistic, in search of peace but ready for war. It is a King Arthur of nations which is showing the rest of us how a brave and free people ought to live...”
2. “...I have no use for the [Palestine Liberation Organization). It is not a political organization, it is a criminal organization and a very wealthy one at that. Any government which recognizes the PLO is condoning murder and extortion.”
3. “The notion of homeless Palestinians is a myth. Some people who consider themselves Palestinians are in fact homeless but a majority are not. Those Arabs who lived in and continue to live in that part of Palestine now called Jordan are obviously neither homeless nor without a country.. Those Arabs who chose to remain in the area that became Israel... are not homeless and never have been.”
4. “Solutions can never come from myths, they must be based on facts. That will not be possible, however, until people who hate Israel stop exploiting the Palestinian issue...”

 And now four quotes from the columnist who, it is safe to say, is the polar opposite of the gentleman quoted above:

1. “To deny that Palestinians were driven out of their homes is the equivalent of denying the Holocaust.”
2. “...[T]here’s no group of people in the world who are more clearly victims of ethnic cleansing than the Palestinian refugees who have been rotting in refugee camps for 50 years. Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948 and again in 1967.”
3. “Because we are all sure that Clinton and the other heads of state who lead the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are men of honor and wouldn’t think of lying [in their justifications for the bombing in Yugoslavia], we can be sure then that as soon as this Balkan business is completed... Israel will be told to withdraw its forces from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem... and [to] allow all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and to live there safely. Or else the bombs will fall on Tel Aviv.”
4. “The Zionists in America are the biggest enemy of freedom of speech and freedom of‑the press there is.”

Identification time. The name of the latter writer, the fiery advocate of “ethnically cleansed” Palestinians and bitter denouncer of Zionists? It’s Charley Reese, an Orlando Sentinel columnist syndicated in at least 85 newspapers nationwide, whose columns are featured on a Hamas website.

And the name of the first columnist quoted, the staunch champion of Israel and debunker of Palestinian claims? Why, it’s also Charley Reese, circa 1986 – and therein lies a great mystery, because sometime between the late 1980’s and the mid‑1990’s something apparently happened that caused Reese to turn on Israel and assume the persona of a low‑rent Patrick Buchanan.

It’s not exactly clear why Reese turned; some critics, among them the editor emeritus of the Orlando‑based Heritage Florida Jewish News, have alluded to rumors about Reese’s personal life, while others speculate that Reese simply came under the influence of several hardcore Israeli leftists whom he regularly quotes in his columns.

Motives aside, the big problem with Reese, says Batsheva Genut, senior research analyst at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), is his habit “of using false information and distorted, baseless statistics as evidence for his reckless claims.”

Earlier this year CAMERA issued a detailed, point‑by‑point refutation of one of Reese’s more blatantly misleading columns and urged Orlando Sentinel publisher John Puerner to take a closer look at “Reese’s disregard for the facts... and to provide Sentinel readers with accurate information regarding the current situation in the Middle East.”

For now, though, the newspaper is downplaying the controversy, refusing even to run an advertisement critical of Reese that was to have been paid for by a coalition of concerned parties.

(By Jason Maoz, Staff Writer, The Jewish Press, June 25, 1999)

EXPOSED! Israeli Media Admits It Destroyed Netanyahu And Buried Barak Scandals

Be careful what you wish for... For the first time the Israeli media has revealed that they worked long and hard to bring down former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a concerted disinformation campaign. Arutz 7 reported last weekend that the Israeli media magazine Seventh Eye carried several ‘eye‑opening” reports on the conduct of the local press during the Netanyahu Administration and the recent election campaign.

The Jewish Press was virtually the only Anglo‑Jewish media outlet which tried to point out the various disinformation campaigns launched at Mr. Netanyahu in Israel and even here in the USA through the gullible and culpable Anglo‑Jewish weeklies. Not everyone was convinced we were telling the truth but as David Bar‑Illan, Mr. Netanyahu’s former media and policy guru told me recently, “The Jewish Press is the only Zionist Jewish newspaper still out there.”

Now the truth be told... Here is the Arutz 7 story from last weekend which reported on the disinformation campaign:

The latest edition of the media newspaper, The Seventh Eye, chastises Israeli radio, television and newspapers for their treatment of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Likud party during the election campaign. In one piece, the paper claimed that an activist employed by Ehud Barak’s One Israel party actually threatened to shoot Likud Knesset candidate Liat Rivner. In a report that gives credence to pre-election Likud allegations, The Seventh Eye discussed the Channel 2 news staff’s decision not to publicize extensive information it possessed on the criminal activities of the fictitious organizations associated with Ehud Barak.

Voice of Israel broadcaster Carmit Guy issued her own condemnation of the Ha’aretz newspaper for its treatment of Prime Minister Netanyahu in the course of the campaign. She even hinted that many of the anonymous anti‑Netanyahu advertisements in the paper were composed by the Ha’aretz editorial staff itself.

(By Steve K. Walz, Editor of Informed Sources, The Jewish Press, July 9, 1999)

ARAFAT AND BARAK VOW A NEW ERA OF PEACE

The Palestinian and Israeli leaders promised to unfreeze the Wye River accords. EREZ CROSSING POINT, Gaza Strip – Gripping hands and grinning after their first summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pledged Sunday to rebuild trust and to carry out U.S.‑brokered accords quickly.

Each man spoke in terms that have rarely been heard since 1996, when the hard‑line Benjamin Netanyahu took office: “respect,” “peace of the brave,” and mutual expressions of sympathy for each other’s fears and hopes.

With a Labor party‑led government back in power, along with a commitment to securing peace through conceding land, the differences in chemistry and content could not be sharper.

(By Mark Lavie, Associated Press, July 19, 1999)

HOW DID BIBI MISS THE BOAT?

A strongly pro‑Jewish, pro‑Zionist, longtime Southern Christian friend, Emily Hoefle – valiant champion of the late Pastor Charles Taze Russell, who aided this writer in the publication of the 1985 and 1990 editions of his book, “An Early American Christian Zionist,” on his prophecies of Israel’s rebirth as Biblically ordained – summed up her feelings about the recent Israeli elections in a letter to this writer.

“In one sense, I am sorry Bibi did not win, but in another sense I am glad he didn’t. He wanted to do Hashem’s will but couldn’t, under the present government, and that is the only government Israel can have at the present time. But Hashem’s Biblically ordained regime will be the only government that will bring peace – not only to Israel, but to the entire world...”

I fully share Mrs. Hoefle’s view. I am happy to note that our Jewish people could not have a better friend. In fact, Netanyahu, during his UN days, read my manuscript of the Pastor Russell book before publication, endorsing it with the following favorable comments published on the jacket of the book along with the endorsement of our mutual friend, Jeane Kirkpatrick:

“The renowned Christian preacher and Bible scholar Charles Taze Russell (1852‑1916) is known to many as the founder of J. Witnesses. But few realize that Pastor Russell was an early advocate of Zionism, and that he predicted the imminent return of the Jewish people to Israel. This collection of relevant articles and letters disclose some previously unknown facts about Russell, such as the anticipation of Theodore Herzl’s call for a return of the Jews to the Holy Land.”

That Bibi‑did not win the elections, is partly his own fault. He got into the habit of antagonizing his close Likud friends (Benny Begin, Mordechai), most of whom not only opposed his reelection but also ran against him – eventually withdrawing, with their vote going to Barak. And Barak, as a leader, should not be underestimated. He has a lot of “Bibi” in him.

Moreover, as his Likud friends contend, Bibi never lived up to his original election campaign pledges. Soon after his election the Yishuv was confronted with a new non-Maccabbean Bibi. He made unnecessary concessions – Hebron, the West Bank and the Wye Plantation agreement.

When I realized the new path he had chosen – which was altogether unbiblical, I wrote him a series of letters from the UN reminding him of the underground days and the sacrifices young Israelis made for the Medinah. In one of the letters, I sent him an Israeli Post Office montage showing postage‑size photos of the Israeli hero, Dov Gruner and several of his co‑fighters whom the ruthless. British hanged in the Acco prison. “They gave their lives for the State,” I told him. “Let’s honor them by remaining firm to their convictions not to sacrifice ‘land for peace’.”

He was not the Bibi I admired at the UN during his tour of duty there, where he excelled in his defense of Israel and justice. His colleague, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and he became a good UN team on behalf of Israel.

To his great credit, it must be said that he managed, through skillful maneuvering, to get the UN to kill that vicious anti‑Semitic resolution equating Zionism with racism. He also brought to light from hidden UN archives documents proving that Kurt Waldeim was a Nazi.

And as a good friend at the UN, he would join me and Jewish staff workers, organized as the Judaica Book Club, during Purim and Hanukkah commemorations. He took pride in kindling the candles.

I agree fully with my former UN colleague, Abe Rosenthal who, in a recent column concluded thus:

“I am not at all gloomy about Israel. One good man has been replaced in a way terrifying to every Arab ruler. It’s called election, and for friends of Israel it is powerful anti‑gloom, for all Israel’s years ahead.”

(By David Horowitz, The Jewish Press, June 11, 1999)

THE MOST SACRED BOOK ON EARTH

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. More to be desired are they than gold; yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:7,10)

The Bible has been read by more people, published in more languages and more copies produced than any other book in history. Overall there is absolutely no book that reaches or even begins to compare to the circulation of the Scriptures. It is a Book still loved, read and studied by millions. “Unbelievers for 1800 years have been refuting and trying to overthrow this Book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock.” (H. L. Hastings)

The Bible is unique in its survival through time, persecution and criticism. Being written on material that perishes (Papyrus paper), copied and recopied for hundreds of years before the invention of the printing press, even this did not diminish its style, correctness nor existence.

The Bible was the first religious book to be taken into outer space (on microfilm), and read aloud by astronauts on the moon.

Both the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God and contain an unbreakable connection. We need to realize that what Christians call the “Old Testament” was Yeshua’s only Bible. He taught only from it. He said, “Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35) The Psalms formed a very important background for His ministry. He learned them in His Jewish home and synagogue as a young man. At His Baptism, His earthly mission was stated clearly in Isaiah 41:1. Likewise, on the Cross Psalm 22:1 came to His mind in His last moments on earth.

“Think not that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:17‑18)

(Christian Action for Israel Newsletter, 2nd Quarter 1999)

QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST

The three following questions are on Consecration by That Servant:

QUESTION ‑ Is it your thought that those consecrating after the door to the High Calling is closed may have a resurrection to the spirit nature?

ANSWER – No, there will be no begetting of the Spirit that we know of after the High Calling is closed; and if there is no begetting of the Spirit then, there will be no birth of the spirit. The only thought we have in connection with that is what we expressed a moment ago, namely; that some might be accepted as of the Ancient Worthy class if they laid down their lives in loyalty to the Lord in that Time of Trouble, and then when the Ancient Worthy class may possibly have the spirit nature given to them at the end of the millennium, such being of that class might have the opportunity to obtain the spirit nature.

QUESTION ‑ Would the consecrated but not begotten ever have the opportunity of getting the spirit nature?

ANSWER – Our thought is that it is part of the Divine Plan to give the Ancient Worthies a change of nature in the end of the Millennial Age, as a reward for their faithfulness, and their service during the Millennial Age – that quite likely they will receive the spirit nature at the end of the Millennial Age. This is partly conjectural and partly built upon certain texts of Scripture which we have already considered in the Watch Tower and which we need not therefore enter into here.

QUESTION ‑ If any consecrated now and failed to be begotten of the Holy Spirit, where would the Lord place them?

ANSWER – We would presume that if they were faithful, as the prophets of old were faithful, to the extent of laying down their lives in the service of righteousness and truth, that God would give them a share some way with the Ancient Worthies. In other words, that if such should pass into the Time of Trouble to a considerable degree, and there lose their lives because of faithfulness to the Lord, that He would do just the same for them that He will do for the Ancient Worthies – they will be counted in with the Ancient Worthy class.

(Question Book, page 152)

QUESTION – Should we consider it necessary to call attention to other prominent dates than 1874, 1878, 1881 or 1914? Should 1911 be included?

ANSWER – I am glad that question is there, my dear brothers and sisters. You will notice that in my own teachings and writings I am careful to avoid any other dates than these. I know nothing about other dates.

In the third volume of Scriptures Studies there is a suggestion, but it is offered only as a suggestion, merely that a certain measurement in the Pyramid (not in the Word of God) looks as though it might point down to 1910 or 1911, but we do not say that it does mean anything, but merely throw out a suggestion. Don’t anticipate, don’t say things are to occur, for we do not know, at least I don’t, and don’t believe anyone else does. My advice is to follow the Apostle when he says, “We speak those things that we know.” Don’t say anything about those things that you do not know. Quite likely you will wish you had not after a while. Nineteen hundred and fourteen is the time when the “Gentile Times” will end. What does that mean? I do not know, but I think it is when God lets go in a general sense of the world, and permits things to take their course; and we can readily suppose, as the Apostle says, that the course of nature would be set on fire, because of strife. In the world of mankind, I shall expect a time of great trouble, which the Bible marks out as having its beginning about October, 1914, but I think, dear friends, that it is more important, instead of telling of the Time of Trouble, to tell about the good things. The poor people who get into the Time of Trouble will have all they want of it then. I have enough now, and so have you. The Scriptures say that through much tribulation shall we enter the Kingdom, and if we pay attention to our duties, we will get enough without taking time to tell them about the Time of Trouble. The world will not be profited by our telling, either. We do not wish to scare anybody. We see the bad effects of this scare religion in times past. While we can tell them that there is a storm coming, we can also tell them that God is going to make that a blessing, and we are glad for the whole world of mankind, that this time of refreshing is near, “Speak of the time of rest that nears.” They have enough tribulation, and I advise not to talk too much about the tribulation.

I think of one brother who had a large lump of imagination, who told his wife all about the Time of Trouble and told it as though he had been there already, telling her what flour would be a barrel at that time, etc., etc., so that his poor wife was almost afraid of the Truth. If he had said, My dear, there is a Time of Trouble coming and those who make the Lord their refuge, He will have a supervising care over them, I think it would have had a better effect. I have very little faith in any kind of scare religion, it does not work well.

Another thing while we are at it. It is not quite in this question, but it is kind of a second cousin to the question. To what extent should the Pilgrims and other brothers preach “Brother Russell”?

I say, not at all. You have plenty, dear friends, to preach and the Apostle says, “We preach Christ.” Brother Russell is very glad if the Lord has used him as a fingerboard to point the right road for your eyes, that you can see wonderful things in the Word of God, but it is not Brother Russell, but it is the Lord that has used him. As you see the finger‑board points out it is so many miles to Jamestown, it is not the finger‑board, but the person that painted and put it there that is to be appreciated. So my advice is that you do not search the Scriptures to find anything about Brother Russell, but that you search to find things about the “glorious One” whom we all reverence. You remember we had already pointed to it 15 years ago and made this statement applicable. You remember that John the Revelator had seen this and that, and other things, and he said he fell at the feet of the angel who showed me these things, saying, “See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” (Rev. 22:9)

That is the right thought, but there is a tendency in this direction, and a danger to worship the creature, or instrumentality, rather than the Creator who uses the instrumentality. Let us not make that mistake. I do not want any to make that mistake through any inadvertency on my part.

(By That Servant, Sourvenir Notes, Bible Students’ Conventions, 1910, pages 205, 206)

NO. 509A THE MISSION OF THAT SERVANT

The memory of That Servant deserves to be kept fragrant, and our best efforts to do so is by a faithful use of the Truth that he gave us, as well as by a loyal endeavor to copy his example of “walking in the footsteps of Jesus.” The following is offered as a tribute to his memory:

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” (Matt. 24:45‑47) We believe Brother Russell was That Servant.

If our Lord found him “so doing,” during what period of time did he accomplish the things that the Lord appointed him to do as “that wise and faithful servant”? We think he accomplished all the Lord gave him to do, but it required all of his life from the time he was appointed until he died. Since it covers a period of time, it will require time to fully answer the question.

At our Lord’s First Advent He appointed twelve Apostles. Aside from their inspired teachings, some of their words and acts were not perfect, which proved that they were imperfect men.

At our Lord’s Second Advent He appointed Brother Russell as “That Servant.” He also was an imperfect man, nor were his teachings inspired of God. He faithfully studied the Old and New Testaments’ inspired teachings, and gave us texts from the Bible for his teaching. However, he made mistakes due to his expecting too much to happen at the time. His most notable mistake was his expectations for the year 1914. He corrected this mistake in the foreword of Volume 2, among other places. He knew that 1914 .was plainly revealed in Bible Chronology, but his mistake was expecting too much too soon. That mistake is understandable when we reflect upon the condition of the times then. We cannot find fault with his few mistakes when we recognize the grand panorama of truth he gave us in outlining the whole Plan of the Ages, with Scriptural proof, in a manner that has not been done since the days of the Apostles. All this was done by hard study. It was “due time” for making known many truths and Scriptures which had not been previously understood.

The writers of the Old Testament didn’t understand much of what they prophesied as shown in Daniel 12:8. Also, the prophecies of the Apostles were not all understood by them. The Apostle Paul no doubt understood what he prophesied but it wasn’t lawful for him to utter it to the other Apostles and disciples. (2 Cor. 12:4) But the Lord’s people of all times have received truth sufficient “so that the man of God may be made complete, thoroughly fitted for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16,17, Dia.)

Our Lord’s Second Presence began in 1874 and That Servant referred to that year, as well as the years 1878, 1881, and 1914 many times in his writings. He did not imagine these dates but understood them from Bible chronology, time prophecies, parallels, jubilees and types. “But these things occurred to them typically, and were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the Ages have come.” (1 Cor. 10:11, Dia.) It is remarkable how all five of these lines of Biblical teachings reach the same conclusions and the same dates. (See Volume 2, pages 187, 223, 233)

Read what That Servant himself said: “The Truths I present, as God’s mouthpiece, were not revealed in visions or dreams, nor by God’s audible voice, nor all at once, but gradually, especially since 1870, and particularly since 1880. Neither is this clear unfolding of truth due to any human ingenuity or acuteness of perception, but to the simple fact that God’s due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out.” (Reprint 3821, col. 1, par. 3 – 1906)

That Servant in searching the Scriptures realized that the Jewish nation was typical of Christendom. Therefore, he studied the Tabernacle, but sought the advice of able Bible Students before he proceeded with further work. He then wrote Tabernacle Shadows in 1881 which was intended for the Royal Priesthood and all the Lord’s people. It is a precise explanation of the Old Testament Types. It has been truthfully said that any Bible Student who has studied and understood Tabernacle Shadows would never stray very far from the Truth. We would like to know how many Bible Students have even read that “little book.”

The context of our opening passage shows that this special servant would be placed over the household of faith in order to minister to it, showing that “that servant” is an individual leader and not the household itself, nor an organization or group. This “wise Steward” (Luke 12:42) was to be a general steward, overseer and dispenser of the Lord’s goods – not a composite steward, because we are not to recognize a clerical, or authoritative class; and the word “that” (“the” in the revised Version) implies a particular one. The intimation is that during the Lord’s presence, and at the time of the elect’s gathering, Jesus, the great Servant of His people, would make choice of one individual for dispensing meat in due season, though other fellow‑servants would be used in bringing the food to the household.

“BEHOLD THE BRIDEGROOM”

Although the theme “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) ran throughout his ministry, his mission included much more. Since 1799 the world had entered the “time of the end” (Dan. 12:4) and the work of cleansing the sanctuary (Church Class) had been proceeding. The awakening of the Lord’s people on the subject of the Second Advent culminated in 1874 when the above announcement began to go forth. This message was given to the Virgins in Matt. 25:6 (see Diaglott). It does not say He cometh but He is present, He has come. And the further announcement, “Thy God reigneth” was proclaimed (Isa. 52:7). This message was also to the Virgins. The revelation to the world would come later. (Volume 3, page 190, bottom; Reprint 3868, col. 1, par. 4)

A detailed understanding of the different lines of Bible Chronology (genealogies, jubilee cycles, parallel dispensation, types, etc. – 1 Cor. 10:11, Dia.) provided undeniable proof to the watching saints that the Lord’s presence had commenced. Truth on the distinction between human and spiritual natures revealed that Christ’s second presence was an invisible one and that the only manner in which He would be revealed or “seen” by the world was through the eye of faith and understanding. That Servant showed that the first and second comings were related and part of one plan; the first to redeem the world, the second to restore and bless the world through the promised seed. (Gal. 3:8,29) He made clear that the period between the first and second Advents (Gospel Age) was for. calling, testing, and selection of a “people for his name” (Acts 15:14) to reign with Christ in the next Age and share in the work of judging and blessing the world (1 Cor. 6:2). The Lord came as the chief “reaper” at that time, also.

“THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE”

The Harvest is a term which gives a general idea as to what work should be expected to be done during the 40 years between 1874 and 1914.

Jesus’ presence as Bridegroom and Reaper was recognized during the first three and a half years, from 1874 to 1878. Even though Christ was present in the Parousia as chief reaper, separating the wheat and tares with the sickle of truth (Rev. 14:14), That Servant was the mouthpiece and instrument for overseeing the gathering work. The Lord gave the message to That Servant: “Gather my Saints together unto me.” (Psa. 50:5) The Berean comments on that verse is as follows: “Gather my saints – From every quarter of Babylon into oneness with the Lord and each other, and out of fellowship with mere professors, tares after, and in consequence of, the Lord’s return.” That Servant in turn gave the message to the Saints to “Come out of her my people.” (Rev. 18:4) The Saints were never gathered into one unit at all in the Gospel Age until the Harvest when they were gathered into the sphere of the Truth. As the consecrated came forth from the nominal church during the 40 year period from 1874 to 1914, the Lord’s command of Psa. 50:5 was being fulfilled. The gathering was done under That Servant to an extent never done since the days of the Apostles. (See Volume 3, page 121; Volume 4, page 616, last par.)

At 1878 Jesus took the office of King and began to exercise His power by resurrecting the sleeping Saints (Matt. 28:18); Rev. 11:15‑17; Isa. 52:7). “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” (Rev. 14:13) Marking a particular time – 1878 – before which it would not be a blessing to die, but after which it would be a blessing to die. (Reprint 5556, col. 2) Since 1878 those Saints who were still alive need not sleep even a moment; but in the instant of dying are changed to spiritual beings. (See also sleep‑even 4, page 621, last par.; Volume 3, page 304, bottom and 305, top)

The date 1878 also was the beginning of the return of Divine favor to fleshly Israel. Their 1845 years double (mishneh), began in AD 33 and ended AD 1878 – 33 + 1845 = 1878. (Volume 2, page 218) The Scripture says, “Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem”. (Isa. 40:2) This “speaking comfortably” was to be done from 1878 onward, before they believe In Christ. Every evidence of the return of Divine favor to fleshly Israel is testimony that Divine favor to spiritual Israel had gradually drawn to a close. (Volume 2, page 218)

In Reprint 1395 there is this: “AH! were it not that the Lord has favored us with a share in the work of gathering out the bride and helping make her ready for the marriage of the Lamb, we would be in Jerusalem and, by the grace of God, would do a part in the great work now due of turning away blindness from Jacob (Rom 11:25).”

The date of the complete casting off of Babylon came in 1881. (Volume 2, page 235) The Gospel Age condition of wheat and tares combined is designated the Church nominal, church in name only. This mixed and confused condition is scripturally styled Babylon. That the wheat and tares were allowed to grow together until the Harvest indicates that God’s favor had been upon the nominal church throughout the Gospel Age (“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand” – Jer. 51:7; Rev. 17:4). This was for the spiritual growth and testing of the Wheat class. As the Harvest truth reached the faithful Brethren throughout all denominations, it became apparent to them that the doctrines of Christendom were scripturally unsound, moving them to leave their various sects and join the assembly of the Saints outside sectarian boundaries. The Truth, therefore, made plain that “Babylon the Great is fallen [no longer under Divine favor – Rev. 3:16]”, and that the only proper response for the true believers was to “come out of her my people.” (Rev. 18:2,4,23; Reprint 3884, col. 1, par. 3)

The date 1881 also marked the close of the special favor to Gentiles, the close of the High Calling, or invitation to the blessings peculiar to this age – to become joint-heirs with Christ. At this time the full number was complete, including those in Heaven and those still on the Earth. However, opportunity was still open for individuals who would take the place of those who lost their crowns. But at no time after 1881 was the full number not complete, because each crown‑loser was replaced immediately. (Volume 3, pages 217‑219)

“As a matter of fact, then, the only ones who see clearly the peculiarly high and grand features of the call of the Gospel Age, the only ones, therefore, who could announce or explain this calling, are the very ones who are also shown from God’s Word that the time limit of this call was reached in October, 1881. Others, while quoting the Apostle’s words concerning a ‘high calling of God in Christ,’ really explain the lower call which belongs to the Millennial Age. Hence the general Gospel call is ended. None can extend it – some because they do not understand it and cannot give it, others because they know it to be at an end.” (Volume 3, page 219, par. 1)

That Servant predicted, according to Bible Chronology, that 1914 would be the end of Gentile Times and a world war would be the sign of that. But everything was so calm and serene all over the world that he began to question the chronology. But he went over it four or five times with other Brethren, but could find nothing wrong with it. Suddenly the war broke‑out due to the assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Serbia. All countries were involved, though some were not active in the battles of war. (Volume 2, page 101)

In Revelation 7:1‑3 we are told that the four angels should “hold the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth... till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” The four winds in this text are the fallen angels (see also Dan. 7:2) the wind is the great war that started in 1914; and the forehead sealing refers to the ministering of the Truth to those who came into the Truth before that war began in each country. It should be noted here that all the Saints were spirit‑begotten (sealed in the heart) by 1914, but all of them had not been sealed in their foreheads (intellectually) with present Truth. “Till we have sealed...” – those on this side of the veil had an important work, to gather together the elect and to seal them in the forehead. Each sealed one became a sealer of others as soon as he himself was sealed. The chief mission of the Church has been her own development. “Edifying one another.” (1 Thes. 5:11) “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” (Jude 20) The sealing of one another was done with the present truth, “meat in due season,” given by the Lord through That Servant – the “steward” over the “household.” (Volume 3, page 165, bottom)

However, it should be carefully noted that this restraint was to be only “that no wind [World War One] might blow on the earth... till we have sealed the bondservants of our God in their foreheads” – giving sufficient knowledge of “Present Truth” to enable them to “Come out of her, My people.” (Rev. 18:4) The war did not break out in any country until the saints there had been “sealed in their foreheads.” Our thought is that the evil angels would long ago have done injury to the symbolic earth, sea and trees, had it not been for the restraint of Divine Power.

Symbolically, the earth represents organized society; the sea represents disorganized masses, and the trees represent the Household of Faith.

THE SMITING OF JORDAN

But all of them were “sealed in the forehead” in time to take part in the Smiting of Jordan. This Smiting was sharp, disclosing truths that disproved the doctrines of the Divine Right of the clergy, of aristocrats, of labor, each claiming certain privileges and powers by Divine Right. All the literature exposing these evils was used and directed by That Servant such as: Volume 4, Armageddon; tracts like The World on Fire, Distress of Nations, Clergy Ordination Proved Fraudulent, Why Financiers Tremble, Photo‑Drama, etc. Public lectures and private conversations were used in this smiting, also. This was done from the fall of 1914 to that of 1916. Psalms 149:5‑9 by the expression “this honor have all the saints,” shows that this honor would be shared in, even by the last member of the Little Flock to be called. (Volume 2, page 100, last par.)

Some of the Bible Students who believe they are saints are beginning to use the above mentioned literature as if they are finishing That Servant’s mission.

“UNITY OF FAITH”

If we define the “unity of faith” to be a clear and harmonious understanding of the “ten strings of the harp of God” (Psa. 33:2), then we must conclude That Servant and all who came into and clearly understood Harvest Present Truth indeed came to “unity of faith.” That this is the position God wished His people to accept during the Harvest is shown in Isa. 52:8, “Thy watchmen... shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” Note the Berean Comments on this: “In the harvest of the Gospel Age, clearly, harmoniously.” It was Brother Russell’s Stewardship Doctrine centering about Restitution that brought “unity of faith” for the first time in history to God’s people as a collective group. It is true that St. Peter preached Restitution (Acts 3:19‑21); and it is true that St. Paul was “caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:4); but it is also true that the General Church of that time had not come to the “unity of faith” – had not come to a clear understanding of Restitution. However, all in the Gospel Harvest were reasonably clear on the Restitution doctrine. (Volume 4, page 610)

Therefore, a Prophet did accomplish the first of the two purposes for which the servants of the Church were appointed – “till we all attain to the unity of faith.” We believe he also accomplished the second of these purposes – the measure of the full stature of the anointed one.” (Eph. 4:13, Dia.) When the last one was reaped in September 1914, there also for the first time was reached “the full stature of the anointed one” in that the Body was then full and irrevocably complete unto that unity which “every joint supplieth, to the effectual working in the measure of every part.” (Eph. 4:16)

Can it be said that the “watchmen” have seen “eye to eye” since 1916? No! Nor can it be said that this oneness is something attained by the Saint Class beyond the veil, because there would be no need for them to be “watchmen” then. If any are inclined to believe that “unity of faith” means understanding the entire Bible, then we must admit that no one does, so far as we know.

That Servant repeatedly said, in both the Towers and the Volumes, that the Kingdom was set up September 21, 1914. (Reprints 5632, col. 2, par. 3) This meant several things: (1) that the full number of the Saints had been won, and between 1914 and 1916 the last ones came into the sphere of the truth “sealed in the forehead.” (Rev. 7:1‑3); (2) that the full number, 144,000, was irrevocably fixed at that date; (3) that there were no more crowns lost after that date to be taken by others. It also meant that the Time of Trouble and the judgment of the nations had begun – “this honor have all the saints.” (Psa. 149:9 Volume 4, page 624, par. 3) Of course, the most severe features of the Time of Trouble have not yet come, but That Servant could not have known how soon or how late this would be. But the severe trouble is to be to and for the world, not for the Saints.

We see then that the following things took place during the period of 40 years from 1874 to 1914: (1) The announcement of the Second presence of the Lord. (Matt. 25:6; Volume 3, pages 190, bottom through 193) (2) Gathering of the Saints. (Psa. 50:5; Volume 3, page 159, par. 2) (3) The beginning of favor returning to the Jews. (Volume 2, page 258, bottom) (4) The close of the High Calling or special favor to the Gentiles. (Volume 2, page 218, top) (5) The smiting of Jordan. (Reprint 5632, col. 1, top; Volume 2, page 101, last par.) (6) The unity of faith. (Eph. 4:13; Reprint 3856, col. 2)

If all the saints were not gathered under Brother Russell during that 40‑year period then he did not complete the mission of That Servant and indeed was not That Servant. In that case, the Harvest has not yet been. That would also mean that the Lord’s second presence has not yet occurred, because His first task was to be the “chief reaper” of the Harvest. If all this be true then what we have learned from Brother Russell about the Plan of Salvation is all wrong. But more Truth, “meat in due season,” was revealed during his ministry than had been since the days of the Apostles, and we can be confident to “contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude 3) This is not to say that he succeeded the Apostles, or that he was inspired as they were, for we know that there is no such thing as Apostolic succession. But there is no other conclusion than that he was That Servant and that he did complete his mission of gathering the saints.

We love all the Lord’s people including those who believe they are Saints, and we are trying to help and not hurt them. We appreciate the good work they have done in witnessing and in publishing the Volumes and Towers. When we correct their mistakes, it means we love them even more. (Prow. 13:24) Let us remember that the first condition of acceptance with God is loyal obedience to His Word, the evidence of love for Him and faith in Him. Let us remember, also, that the second qualification He will look for in us is love for the brethren, readiness to be, to do and to suffer, to die on behalf of those who are really, truly consecrated children of God, seeking to walk in His ways.

But it is unrealistic to think all in the Bible Student groups are of the Little Flock. That would constitute a great flock. If their numbers could be counted, we believe it would be found that there are more of them now living than the number 144,000 (Rev. 7:4) predestined to be of that class. And, if they are bringing in new ones, the number would be even more inflated.

St. Paul said, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) It no doubt means he shunned not to give all the elect classes as well as the saved class of the Kingdom of the world, or the Restitutionist of Acts 17:31. Then the Apostle Paul gave us 2 Tim. 2:20: “But in a great house [God’s household] there are not only vessels of gold [the Bride class] and of silver [the Great Company, or the ones that lost their crowns], but also of wood [the Ancient Worthies of Hebrews, chapter 11] and of earth [the unbegotten class that That Servant taught in Reprint 5761, September 1, 1915]; and some to honour [saved Restitutionists], and some to dishonour [these are the ones that disobey and are sentenced to the Second Death].”

We notice there is a difference in how the elect and non‑elect are listed. The elect classes are separated by commas, while the non‑elect are separated from the elect by a semi‑colon. It seems reasonable that That Servant noticed these two texts when he unhesitatingly gave us an unbegotten class, which we call Youthful Worthies, to be won after all the Saints have been gathered. We do not wish to add anything to That Servant’s faithful teaching anymore than to add to God’s Word (Rev. 22:18); nor do we want to omit any of his faithful teaching anymore than we would omit some of God’s word (Rev. 22:19).

Some may ask, what of those who have consecrated since 1914? That Servant did not hesitate to give us the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). He taught four elect classes, including an unbegotten consecrated class between the Ages, after the High Calling is closed and before Restitution begins. (2 Tim. 2:20: Volume 6, page 157, top; Reprint 5761, col. 2; Reprint 5493, col. 1, par. 6) Perhaps in a future paper we will give more details on this unbegotten class in the end of the Age. But it is sufficient to say now that That Servant finished his mission to “gather together the Saints.” (Psa. 50:5) All were reaped into the Harvest movement before he enacted the toga scene in the railroad Pullman in Texas on October 16, 1916, with one of his final statements being, “I have done as thou has commanded me.” (Ezek. 9:11) This was in substance one of the last statements of Jesus, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:4) (See Question Book, page 147, Question 1, and page 152, Question 3)

Will our Pastor’s work endure? Temporarily it has suffered and will for a short time continue to suffer a partial eclipse in many minds – but surely as the Truth is powerful and will in the end prevail, so surely the work that the Lord gave That Servant will endure. In the meantime, it is the privilege of all who wish to support his work to protect against deviation from, and perversions of it whenever, wherever and however they can.

We also pay tribute to the Epiphany Messenger who faithfully upheld and defended the Truth in keeping with 1 Sam. 2:30: “Them that honor me I will honor.” We do well to honor those that the Lord honors – not as “angel” worshipers, but in sound and proper appraisal of their position and service in the Household.

Let their memory abide fragrant to us and be an inspiration for greater fidelity to fruitfulness, in the Lord. We heartily proclaim, God Bless their memory!

NO. 508 PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR (EPHESIANS 2:2)

Doubtless many have been much surprised when told that Satan is not in some far-off place stoking fires and torturing human or other victims, but that he is present amongst men, an invisible angel of evil, ably supported in his work as an Adversary of God by legions of other fallen angels (Mark 5:9; Luke 8:30), of whom he is master -"Prince of Demons," either because of his superiority of nature, or because of belonging to a higher rank or grade than the ordinary angel. It's a surprise to many to learn that Satan, so far from being ill-favored, is beautiful, according to the Scriptures, and is supervising the work directly and through the fallen angels, his servants, to mislead and to deceive humanity -putting light for darkness and darkness for light, error for truth, etc.

The time was not long ago when intelligent people made light of everything in the Scriptures respecting invisible spirit beings, good and bad -the messengers of God and the messengers of Satan. This, however, can no longer be done. Under the increasing light of the New Dispensation man himself today can do things which but a short time ago would have been considered impossible. We can speak with our friends over hundreds of miles with a telephone and recognize each other's voices. Still more marvelous is wireless telegraphy, the cellular phone, computers, fax machines, etc... whereby we can communicate with others with great ease. If man can accomplish these things, what can not the Almighty accomplish? Who can deny the possibility of the invisible presence of spirit beings and yet admit the possibility of wireless telegraphy? We are safe, dear friends, in guiding our judgments directly by the Word of God and reasoning inside and not outside of its boundaries.

THE BIBLE IN PERFECT ACCORD

The Bible, and it alone, explains certain phenomena, and all of the Bible explana­tions, although written by some of the writers centuries apart they are in perfect accord. Thus in Genesis .the Bible tells us respecting Satan's deflection, and the book of Revelation, written more than three thousand years later, tells us of his being bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2) of Messiah's reign and Satan's ultimate destruction. Isaiah and Ezekiel tell us of his being at one time in full harmony with God, and that then he was the "covering cherub" (Ezek. 28: 14,16), glorious, grand, beautiful, and that his name was Lucifer.

All of the angelic, heavenly hosts are termed stars, bright ones; but Lucifer, being of a higher order, was styled the "son of the morning" (Isa. 14: 12). It was at that time, while in Divine favor, that Satan permitted the lodgment in his mind of a disloyal thought of how, indirectly, by being of higher responsibility he could work some wonders and do some things better than the Almighty. Satan craved the opportunity to make a demonstra­tion of what he could do. But the Scriptures declare that first of all he said this merely in his heart and uttered it not. "He said in his heart, I will ascend into heaven: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [still farther above his angelic associates]. I will be as the Most High [a ruler]." (Isa. 14: 13, 14)

THE OPPORTUNE TIME CAME

Never had there been sin in heaven (Spirit world). Satan was the first of all its inhabitants to cherish and to entertain a rebellious thought, and to bring it to a consummation. He held the thought in abeyance until the opportunity was afforded him, and God Himself afforded the opportunity, with full knowledge of the consequences, and with the desire that this test of the entire heavenly host, and of a human race as well, should be effected, because God seeketh not the worship of constraint, but seeketh such as "worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), voluntarily, joyfully.  

It was when Satan beheld our first parents, in the image and likeness of God, yet not spirit but flesh, earthly, that he perceived the opportunity of gaining the coveted power for an empire, separate from that of Jehovah. In the first pair the Adversary beheld a new thing, a creature of Godlike qualities and possessed of the power to propagate his own species. Satan realized that the conquest of this pair and the bringing of them into subjection to himself would signify the capture of a world full of people eventually -that the enslavement of the parents would signify the enslavement of the race.

SATAN'S METHODS WERE SUCCESSFUL

We cannot deny that Satan's plans were logical and that he has carried them out with great success -so that the Scriptures declare him "the Prince of this world" (John 14:30). and again, "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4). Nevertheless, his victory was not so great as he doubtless expected it to be. No doubt he expected that he was capturing an immortal race. Quite probably he believed the falsehood he told mother Eve, when he contradicted the Word of God -that sin, that disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit, would bring upon them the penalty of death, "dying thou shalt die."

Satan's charge was that God had misrepresented the facts for the purpose of holding His creatures in mental slavery to Himself: that He did not wish them to be wise. therefore He forbade the eating of this particular kind of fruit and declared the penalty of death for the transgression of His law. "I, Satan, assure you that you need not be afraid of the fruit; I assure you that it will do you good, and that you will not surely die from the eating of it."

Alas!  Mother Eve believed the Adversary and disbelieved her God, and then enticed her husband, still thinking no doubt, that she would not die and that the serpent had told her the truth and that God had been the deceiver. St. Paul tells us that father Adam knew better and ate the fruit, knowing that it would cause his death, willing thus to disobey in order to maintain the fellowship of his wife, whose life, he realized was already forfeited (1 Tim. 2:14).

When the Divine sentence began to go into execution was when our first parents were driven out of Ede~ to battle with the thorns and thistles until they should return to dust. No doubt Satan was disappointed. He would rather be the Prince of a noble, living family of angels or of a perfect human race than the Emperor of a weak and dying race. However, from that day to the present time he has been fighting upon the same line; he has been contending with mankind that the Word of God is false when it declares that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), and that "the soul that sinneth it shall die." (Ezek. 18:4) From that day to this he has been using this falsehood to the injury of our race, and he surely has succeeded wonderfully.

Today, not only in heathen lands, but amongst the most civilized, it is freely believed (and many Christians consider it Scriptural to believe the nonsensical) that the dead is more alive than he was before he died. People of good, sound reasoning faculties on ordinary subjects seem to be "hoodooed" by this falsehood of Satan, "ye shall not surely die." So true is this, that it seems consistent to them to say that a man hit over the head with a stick and knocked senseless knows nothing, but a man hit over the head harder and killed, knows everything.

THE FALLEN ANGELS

It was sometime after the fall of Satan and the fall of man that the Lord permitted the great test to come upon the angels of heaven, under which test a host of them fell into sin, disobedience, etc., and since then are known in the Scriptures as the fallen angels, and as devils -more properly demons. These fallen angels, demons, are under Satan as their great Prince and they have been his active agents for long centuries in deceiving mankind and opposing the Divine Program.

SATAN THE GREAT MURDERER

No less an authority than our great Lord and Redeemer tells us that Satan is a murderer and a liar. He declares that "He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth; when he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, for he is the father of lies." (John 8: 44) It is well that we keep this Divine testimony in our minds. It is well that we note just what the first great lie was, namely, Satan's misrepresentation saying, "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. 3:4) It is important that we notice this, because so thoroughly has Satan accomplished his deceptive work that practically everybody, the heathen as well as the civilized, accept Satan's version of the matter and discredits that of the Almighty.

Let us notice that Satan is a murderer; that he murdered Father Adam and Mother Eve, and that his lie is still murdering our race, under the just laws of heredity. The error of believing Satan instead of God has gotten many into the confused situation of disclaiming that God proposed that man should live forever on earth in a Paradise, and, as his family would increase and continue in harmony with His wise regulation, the boundaries of his Paradise would be enlarged and be a Paradise filled with the knowledge of God and home of a perfect humanity, in accord with God, privileged to maintain everlasting life here. And, says this theory, by Satan's lie and our first parent's fall, we die and by dying become more alive and some of us go to heaven and the mass to some eternal, fiery hell, of which we have no knowledge.

SATAN'S KNOWLEDGE AND POWER INCREASING

But in another sense Satan is prince of the air power -literally. When Job was given into his hand to be tried, he manifested his power of death. He caused fire to fall from heaven (probably a bolt of lightening), and destroyed several of Job's servants and his sheep. He caused a great wind (a cyclone or tornado) to come upon Job's house and thus killed Job's sons and daughters.

Satan's object evidently was to make Job suppose that God caused those calamities, and to thus cause Job to feel bitter and resentful against God, and to "curse God and die"; or to shake his faith in there being any God. Indeed, that such was Satan' s object is implied in the narrative; and Job's friends, although God fearing men, were deceived into this view, and tried for days to convince Job that his afflictions were the work of the Lord. But of Job it is written, "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly [with being the author of his calamities]." (Job 1:22)

Again, notice that when our Lord and His disciples were in the little boat on the Sea of Galilee and our Lord was asleep, a storm suddenly arose, which appalled the hearts of those old and expert fishermen accustomed to the storms, until they awakened the Master, saying, Lord, save us; we perish! We cannot presume that, if the heavenly Father had willed or caused that storm, our Lord Jesus would have commanded it to subside, or that it would have obeyed Him. On the contrary, rather we may suppose that the same Satan who used his power against Job's household sought to destroy the Lord and the infant Church. But that Satan had no power over the life of Christ, until "his hour had come," is evident from our Lord's words upon this occasion, "0 ye of little faith, why are ye fearful?"

We would not be understood to question God's ability to cause st9rms, cyclones, etc.; but from our Lord's teachings we know that such would not be His spirit; for when the disciples were incensed against the Samaritans who did not welcome the Redeemer and asked, "Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Our Lord's answer was, "Ye know not what spirit ye are of [your spirit is not mine, nor the Father's]." (Luke 9:55)

Remembering the deluge and the destruction of Sodom, we can only understand, in the light of the account in Job, that God may at times use storms and fires as His servants to execute His decrees against the wicked; or that Satan is ever ready as an executioner, taking pleasure in evil, to destroy life whenever permitted to do so.

In thinking of how Satan has the power of death, let us not forget that in healing the diseases of the people, at His First Advent, our Lord expressly stated that they were "afflicted of [or by] the devil." If God had directly caused the diseases, our Redeemer in healing the sick would have been opposing the Father, and not doing His will. Since disease is death at work, devouring the sick, to have the power of disease is to have the power of death.

Satan is permitted to have such a power of disease and death because of sin; and because men are under the Divine and just sentence of death, as culprits. The Scriptures represent that mankind had sold itself. under sin and death, and to him that has this power, Satan.

The foregoing being true, it seems more than possible, yes, probable, that Satan's power for evil and death finds exercise in the development of new diseases which for a time successfully baffle the skill of all except Satan's own physicians -Christian Scientists, etc. Many new diseases have arisen in recent years, as well as the resurgence of some old ones thought to be eradicated. Some of these are: Aids, Eco1i, Hunta virus, Encephalitis, Tuberculosis, Chicken flu and Strep A, a very virulent invasive, sometimes fatal strain of Strep.

Knowing that God is resting from His creative work, since the creation of man, we are bound to attribute these new creations to other sources. Satan is knowledgeable, and no doubt merely takes advantage of natural laws in propagation of the evils mentioned; and no doubt if mankind possessed the powers with which his Creator endowed him, when he gave him dominion over every creature, he would have equal knowledge of the laws governing the start and propagation of bacteria and virus, and could use his knowledge and powers to prevent such formations or to destroy them. But man is fallen, and has "lost" (Luke 19: 10) much that he once possessed. Satan is now his master and prince; he "now worketh in the children of disobedience"; under his misrule "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together." (Eph. 2:2; Rom. 8:19-23; 1 John 5:19, Dia.)

We may safely say that Satan's object in using his "power of death" over his subjects is not merely to, gratify a fiendish delight in their sufferings. Quite probably his special object is to oppose the true light, which is now more and more breaking over the world as the Sun of Righteousness rises into place and influence. He is still striving to prevent the light of the knowledge of the goodness of God from shining into men's hearts and chasing away the dark shadows of doubt and fear which he has deeply engraved thereon for centuries by "doctrines of devils" -by which he has made God to appear as mercilessly cruel, unjust and unkind, and the author of evil, calamities, diseases, plagues, storms, etc.

Satan may think that he is unrestrainab1e, but we know that "all power in heaven and in earth" was given unto Christ, when, having finished His course, He was raised from death by the Father's power, and highly exalted.

By the ransom which He gave, by which God's sentence against the sinner-race was legally met and paid, once for all, our Lord became the owner of the race which had by sin sold itself to Satan and came under his control, but without any Divine sanction of the transaction. Christ, the legal purchaser now holds the destinies of all men. His purpose, as he explains it, is the very reverse of Satan's policy. He will set them free to act for themselves, by increasing their knowledge -opening the sin-blinded eyes of all –to see the goodness and love and justice of God. Those who then choose righteous­ness He will bless and help and heal, restoring them to perfection lost through Adam. Those who will not hear, obey, after the knowledge of the Lord fills the whole earth, will He cut off from among the people -in the Second Death. Then Satan, too, who for six thousand years has had the power of death and exercised it so relentlessly, shall be destroyed. (Heb. 2:14)

The permission of Satan's policy and power as "prince of this world," since the ransom-price was paid, and since all power over man passed legally into the hands of Christ, is not from lack of power to destroy Satan  and release his blinded slaves, nor from lack of loving sympathy and interest in them, but because God's due time for this world (age) to end, and for the world ("age) to come to begin has not arrived; and all of God's dealings are upon lines of strictest order. God's plan provided a work for Christ to do before the setting up of His Kingdom, and taking to Himself His great power and beginning His reign. (Rev. 15:14,17) The Gospel Age was needful for the call, selection and discipline of this class; and its work is almost completed.

At the close of the Gospel Age and the introduction of the Millennial Age our Lord in wisdom has purposed a great time of trouble, which shall not only be a just recompense upon the world for sins against light and opportunity, but also a time of breaking up present imperfect institutions preparatory to the better ones of Christ's Kingdom; and the breaking of the hard hearts of the ungodly -plowing and harrowing them, and getting ready many (we trust) for the good seed of righteousness, which the glorified Church will sow unsparingly during the Millennium.

As a part of that coming trouble, "such as was not since there was a nation" (Dan. 12:1), in addition to its financial, social, political and religious features, we believe that Satan's "power of death" will be permitted to a remarkable degree -increasingly and along the lines already indicated -storms, hail, droughts, pests, germs and diseases. Building upon the false doctrines he has already inculcated, he will be zealous in the exercise of his power of death, that thus to some he may represent God as being of devilish disposition, while to others the effect may be to destroy all faith in a Divine power. For none, except those instructed in the Scriptures respecting the cause and object of the permission of evil, calamities, etc., could suppose any reason why God should either inflict such calamities or permit them to come upon men from other causes.

And Satan's power of death makes it quite possible his relief of sickness, etc., through agencies of his choice for the purpose of enforcing their false teachings. This deception will, we believe, be employed by him more and more as the Time of Trouble advances. This is another sign of Satan's desperation, and indicates the near approach of the dissolution of his kingdom and power of death. So says our Lord in Matthew 12:25,26.

Satan no doubt has been permitted to gain increasing knowledge since 1799 just as have men; and no doubt like them he takes the credit to himself, and supposes that he is daily growing wiser, and through his wisdom he has greater "power of death." Christ, the new King, according to the Scriptures, will permit Satan to use his knowledge and powers increasingly, and thus cause the wrath of Satan to praise God, and to work out features of His plan, as He so often has done with the wrath of man. (Psa. 76:10)

Sickness, disease, accidents and other mysterious dispensations of Providence (so-called) are but the instruments of Satan; and the messengers -not of light but of darkness -by which he gathers in his harvest.

Can anyone look calmly at the misery of the past six thousand years and not discern who has been the ruler of this world? Surely they would exclaim with Job, "The earth is given unto the hand of the wicked one; he covereth the faces of [deceives] the judges thereof; if not where and who is he [the rightful ruler]?" Let those who have the truth stand up for the character and glory of the Father and of His Son, who is about to take up His great power and reign.

When the Time of Trouble is over we shall see a different order of things; when earth's sons may each sit fearlessly and peacefully under his own vine and fig-tree, rejoicing in the fruit of their own planting (Micah 4:4). Now death is everywhere. Carelessness, recklessness, covetousness, drunkenness, or devilishness may each be the instrumentality, but Satan is the director of all. Let us give the devil his due in the fullest sense and bravely stand for the honor of the Name of the Lord, praying, "THY KINGDOM COME."

THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE (Rom. 6:23)

God, while permitting Satan and sin and depravity and death to take their course, has not been idle. He has had, and still has a great plan for human salvation -a plan for recovering man from sin and from death and from all of his fallen conditions, a plan of restitution to human perfection, a plan by which the Seed of the woman shall yet, literally, crush the Serpent's head (Gen. 3:15), and undo Satan's great original misdeed -recover man from his murdered condition and from his fallen estate to all that he had at first plus the knowledge and experiences of the present life and plus the experience incidental to his uplift, during the reign of Messiah, for which we pray, "THY KINGDOM COME."

The Scriptures clearly show us that all of this recovery is to be accomplished through the merit of Jesus' sacrifice -the just for the unjust. That the work has not yet begun is evident. We are still living under the reign of sin and death. The Messianic Kingdom must come in power and great glory and be established, the Scriptures tell us, in a great time of trouble. Then the earth will be made to blossom as the rose, and the wilderness and the solitary places will be made glad, and all mankind will receive Divine blessing and opportunity to return to Divine favor and eternal life as human beings. And the willfully disobedient and the negligent of those opportunities will die the Second Death, from which there will be no recovery, no resurrection, no hope.

"The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." (Rom. 16: 20) The Church is the Body of Christ, Messiah. Hence the Apostle's words in this text apply to the Church in glory.

___________________________________________________________________

MOSHE ARENS URGED TO INTENSIFY ISRAEL'S SECURITY

Israel's Defense Minister, the popular and well-liked Moshe Arens, has been urged to correct some of the serious mistakes made by his predecessors to offset President Clinton's pro-Arafat and negative postures vis-a-vis the Jewish State.

The urgent call, made by Herbert Zweibon in a recent issue of "Outpost" of which he is editor, is fully consistent with the position of those who believe the time has come for the Netanyahu Government to show its mettle and act in the spirit of the Maccabees and the ancient prophets of our people, respecting the boundaries of the "Promised" Land as delineated in the Book of Books.

Your correspondent believes Arens will heed this call to the satisfaction of the majority of Israelis on the very eve of the scheduled elections:

1. Adjust the open-fire orders: For years, Israeli soldiers have had their hands tied when responding to Arab violence. A soldier facing a mob of Arabs hurling deadly rocks and firebombs is bound by impossible restrictive orders that prevent him from adequately defending himself. The open-fire orders need to be adjusted to reality: anybody throwing a rock or a firebomb is trying to kill and anyone who is the target of such an attempted murder should be allowed -indeed required to -respond with appropriate force.
2. Make the roads safe: For too long, the Jewish residents of Judea-Samaria-Gaza have traveled in fear every time they go to work or send their children off to school. The Israeli army needs to be assigned the mission of forcefully securing the safety of the roads. Just as it wiped out terrorist nests, house by house, in Gaza in 1969, the army today can get the job done -if the Defense Minister has the political courage to give the order and stand by it.
3. Military preparations for Jewish residents of the territories: The Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza should not be excessively dependent on the Israeli Army for day-to-day protection. It puts the residents at a military disadvantage, diverts the Army's resources, and could create unjustified public resentment of the Jewish residents of the territories. They should be given training courses in military preparedness and counter-terror tactics for repelling intruders so that they can assume the major share of their own defense requirements.
4. Change the Hebron double-standard: The Israeli legal authorities have been using a double standard against the Jewish residents of Hebron, harassing and intimidating them with trivial or even trumped-up charges, while Arab rioters and inciters walk free -a rule of law must be restored in Hebron.
5. Make Syria pay a price: Syria must not be allowed to continue the sponsorship of Hezbollah’s rocket terrorism without consequences. The Syrians must pay a price for their proxy war against Israel.
6. End the Lebanon rumors: The constant rumors of an imminent withdrawal from Lebanon demoralize soldiers stationed there and embolden the Hezbollah terrorists. Those rumors must be stopped, once and for all.
7. Assert Israel's Authority in Gaza: In the Gaza Strip the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been allowed to quietly expand its authority and powers that endanger local Jewish communities. The Israeli army should reassert its status at the sovereign power in the region.
8. Confiscate illegal PA weapons: Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon recently revealed that the PA is amassing huge stockpiles of weapons prohibited by the Oslo accords, including missiles and anti-tank weapons. If the PA will not surrender them, the Israeli army should seize them. Otherwise they will one day be used against Israel.
9. Pursue terrorist everywhere: Terrorists who attack Israelis and then flee into PA territory should be chased into PA territory whether Arafat likes it or not. Subcontracting the fight against terror to Arafat has never worked. Even the Oslo accords themselves authorize Israel to engage in "hot pursuit" of fleeing terrorist.
10. Protect Arab allies: Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, local Arabs who assisted Israel in the past have in some cases, been left without adequate protection by the Israeli security forces. Pressure from the PA should not be allowed to compromise Israel's moral responsibility to defend those who risked their lives to aid Israel in various ways.

And finally, Mr. Defense Minister, it is vital that you remind the Prime Minister that Israeli policy must be decided in Jerusalem, not in Washington or Gaza. Foreign pressures must not be allowed to dictate what measures Israel takes to protect its security.

Yes, let the spirit of the Maccabees and the Prophets inflame the Yishuv again.

(By David Horowitz, The Jewish Press, April 16, 1999)

PAPAL DECREE: "When the Vatican's head of state visited our country, he apparently forgot that he was our guest. His criticism of capital punishment was uncalled for and a blatant attempt to interfere with and change the laws and customs of a host nation.

"In addition to this, his referring to our death penalties as 'cruel and unusual punishment' is somewhat hypocritical. Compared with the cruelty of his eternal purgatories and hells, our execution gurneys and electric chairs are mere slaps on the wrist.

"A papal decree that abolishes the literal concept of eternal punishment would do a lot more to alleviate suffering in the world than would doing away with secular death penalties." (By C. A. Lousignont, Letter to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, April 1999)

___________________________________________________________________

LETTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST

Dear Emily,

We are deeply touched by your sharing with us these very trying times. We have your letter of March 6 as well as your lovely card of March 24. Both together  and each one by itself  were such an encouragement. And you yourself don't have it so easy now ­nevertheless you have room in your heart for people you have never seen and who live thousands of miles away. This warmth and humanity is nothing short of astonishing. Too, I am sure, it is Christian to the core, simple and pure!

It pains me to say that Dina's situation has deteriorated: There is more pain. With the help of a variety of medications the pain is kept at bay, less or more. And Dina gets all the food-additions the doctors prescribe, like Royal Jelly - the very concentrated honey. (Remember the "Land that flows with milk and honey"? -Deut. 27:3; Joshua 5:6 and many others, as you so well know!) So, we carry on. The main thing is and remains to keep spirits and hope UP!

Today here is Remembrance Day for the Fallen -which always precedes by one day the Independence Day. More than 19,000 men and women gave their life so that Israel, we all here, can live. And tomorrow it's 51 years that we stand on our own feet.

Be well and do receive our heartfelt gratitude for your support and wishes and Prayers!

Michael Pragai    (ISRAEL)

........................................

Dear Emily:

Back home again after my tenth visit at Emek ha Shalom. Despite Herman's 98 years he still makes speeches and Joseph assists him with the translation into Hebrew.

Visitors came to Emek ha Shalom almost every day. One day for instance there were several school-children in buses, and one Sabbath there was a "public walk" in the valley with thousands of people.

The side-walks are now completed. They end up at resting-places with chairs and tables for the visitors.

During my stay we visited settlers in Judea and Samaria. The settlers at Bet Haggai near Karmel in Judea told us that they were prohibited to build houses. But for a long time they have seen the Arabic people building houses in the neighborhood.

In Samaria we visited settlers not far from Siloh, about 25 kilometers north of Jerusalem. There was a rather deep discussion between Joseph and one of the Settlers. The discussion ended up in the comment from the settler to Joseph: "Your spirit strengthens our faith."

On a hill not far from Siloh, Herman and Joseph plan to stay in a caravan for some time to support the settlers. The caravan is now being prepared at Emek ha Shalom. Joseph pointed out the hill for me and told me that the Jews in the neighborhood call the hill "The Voice of Zion."

Joseph told me that he wants people to take care of the visitors at Emek ha Shalom during the time he and Herman will stay in the caravan in Samaria. I enclose a letter from Anders Karlen. Regards from Anders Karlen and from the other friends in Sweden. All the best and many kind regards from your friend.

Leif Malmkvist       (SWEDEN)

PS. The friends here in Sweden are interested to find the book What Say the Scriptures About Spiritism. Do you know where we can find it?

........................................

Dear Sister Hoefle.

I have received a copy of your newsletter from a brother of Eugene. Or. It is very interesting and informative and I enjoyed reading it very much. If it would be possible. I would like to start receiving it on a regular basis. Please let me know the price and I will send you a check.

It is very difficult to find good reading material involving truth as presented by Pastor Russell and Pastor Johnson. Please keep up the good work and write me at the above address.

Peace and love in the name of our beloved Lord     ------- (OREGON)