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As revealed and Elaborated in the Scriptures of Truth and Embraced in the Covenants of Promise
and Hope of Israel.
Intended to assist in rescuing honest hearts from the delusions of apostate Christendom, and to guide them into the strait
and narrow way which one leads to life and glory in the coming kingdom of God.
THOMAS WILLIAMS
AUTHOR Of
“THE PROBLEM OF LIFE”, “’THE GREAT SALVATION”
AND OTHER WORKS.
“And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heavens and earth must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”
Acts 3: 20, 21.
Published by
THE ADVOCATE COMITTEE
RICHMOND VIRGINA,
platform, the glorious truths of the Bible. Many in many places have expressed a wish to have his lectures in print for careful and frequent perusal. and to help iii their efforts to bring their friend and neighbors to the light of the glorious gospel Since the author always in his public efforts speaks extemporaneously it has only occasionally been possible to publish a lecture verbatim, when it happened that a reporter would be present In response to these wishes and that he might do what seemed to be his part in the good work in which he sincerely hopes this book will assist he has reduced his public addressees to chapters in which to a large extent, the matter and method are the same as in his extemporaneous lectures, much of the book having been dictated to a stenographer.
The author does riot feel that he owes any- apology .for the seeming presumption of adding another book to the world full of books already in existence, because he does not regard this as of the worlds books. It is not of the world, and is intended as an earnest appeal to its readers to come out of the world It is therefore not one of marry books but one of few; and if apology be necessary for adding to the few, it is not to be found in a claim on the authors part of superior or equal ability in a literary sense or to go more profoundly into the important subjects deal with: but rather in the need for a simplicity that might the more effectually reach the only class which we can hope to reach in this evil age the “poor of this world” capable of becoming “rich in faith.’ It is a consciousness of having the faculty of making himself easily under stood that has given the author the courage to send out THE WORLDS REDEMPTION to the perishing masses of our times. in the hope that it may rescue a few, whom God grant, he may be worthy to meet in the kingdom of God. and with whom he may be blessed with the power of endless life free from the pangs of sickness, sorrow, pain and death.
1898 THE AUTHOR.
I 951
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
THE first edition 0F THE W0RLD’S REDEMPTION consisted of fifteen hundred copies, all of which have been sold, and waiting orders are in hand that will be fitted from this second edition. After the book had been read by friends, it was suggested that a contribution be made to render it possible to reduce the price of the cloth-bound copies from one dollar and a half to one dollar. A liberal response to this suggestion made it possible to make a reduction . The intention is to start with the second edition at the same price,. but the increase in the cost of printing and binding resulting from the general rise in labor and cost of printing may necessitate a rise in the price to one dollar and a quarter if not to one dollar and a half.
The style of the second edition is superior to that of the first, both as to type and form of the pages; and this has increased the number of pages from 424 to 496 without any increase of matter.
We have found no reason to add to or take from, or to change the subject matter, but it is hoped that fewer typographical errors will he found, since circumstances have allowed a little more care in this particular.
Those who have contributed make the reduction in price referred to expressed the hope that the book would become a “standard work” to teach the entire plan of redemption and to briefly set forth the duties and privileges of those who come into the fold. There are many evidences that their hope has been realized, and that the book is of great help to many who are already in the truth
Tt is the authors hope and prayer that the usefulness of the book will he enlarged, and that THE WORLD’S REDEMPTION will continue to redeem many children of our fallen race and that it will be worthy of the approval of him in whose service it has been humbly, diligently and earnestly produced and sent forth. Whether we live or whether we die, may the good work go on, and at last redound to the glory of God and the well-being of His creatures. This is the prayer of your humble sojourner in mortal life. hoping, praying and working for the life that is to come.
1913 THE AUTHOR.
V
PREFACE
(THIRD EDITION)
THE first edition of this work was published in 1898, the year of the Spanish-American war. The second edition was issued
in 1913. shortly- before the Author’s death. while on a visit to the place of his birth in South Wales No changes of wording were made in the later edition After the death of the Author his works were taken charge of by Mr John Spencer of Chicago In the transference from Orlando, Florida, where Mr Williams had been living for several years the stereotype plates for THE ~WORLD 5 REDEMPTION were broken so since the exhaustion of stock on hand. it has been out of print. <Many have expressed regret for this. and have suggested that a new edition be published Mean while. such copies as have survived the passage of time have been treasured by those so fortunate as to possess the, and who cherish the Hope and subscribe to the Divine Plan of the Ages herein set forth.
In the latest two centuries. knowledge in the Natural Sciences has been greatly advanced. Through the researches and activities of men of exceptional talent the darkness of error and ignorance has been dispelled by the light of truth This is the case with Geology. Astronomy. Anthropology and all the natural sciences And we feel that what has been done in other branches of knowledge by eminent men of the world has been done with respect to Bible Truth by the Author of WORLD’S REDEMPTION and other writers along similar hues.
Men may and do create confusion in the world through error and ignorance. But surely the ALL Wise Deity by whom the worlds were framed, and in whom we live. move. and have our being”. cannot be given to error and vacillation. There are such things as truth and right and these only- can be of God. And insofar as He has chosen to reveal His will and purpose to man, such revelation must he true, orderly, harmonious and infallible.
Let the reader ask himself: Does this book unfold this heavenly purpose? This is something which each must determine for himself. We feel that the Author has outlined this purpose with such abundant Scriptural attestation and such irresistible logic, that we can reject it only by discarding the Bible as being the Word of God.
It is doubtless too much to expect that the re-issuance and dissemination of this work will result in any large accession of numbers to those who have acknowledged and rendered obedience to the Divine mandate. For it is still true that “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” But a duty is performed in sending it forth, and the motives in so doing can he no other than love of man and the service of God.
We are assured that ..”Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” That foundation. we judge, is plainly marked out in WORLD’S REDEMPTION. It is somewhat more than the foundation in that it paves the way for advancement into the understanding of the more profound aspects of Bible teaching. Other writings, more advanced, but in harmony with this, are available. In the words of our Master, “Seek and ye shall find: knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
The Author of this work, was well-known to the writer of this Preface. Often in his youth the latter had the privilege of listening spell-bound to Thomas Williams’ masterly addresses. The ability of Mr. Williams as a writer speaks for itself in this work. but he was even more impressive as a speaker. The animation, the telling emphasis, the appropriate gesture, the modulation of a musical voice, must be left to the imagination.
Mr. Williams was active with voice and pen, in the proclamation and defense of the Gospel, and as a peacemaker among brethren, until within a few days of his death. He has now been sleeping over thirty-seven years. we count him worthy to be numbered with the patriarchs and prophets of old, who also “sleep in the dust of the earth”, awaiting the hour when He who obtained the keys to the grave and death, through perfect obedience will call them forth, with trumpet voice, and render reward to “His servants the prophets, and to all who fear his name. both small and great.”
1951 BERTON LITTLE.
Author of THE WORLD’S REDEMPTION was born April 7, 1847 “probably in Parkmill,” a small village not far from
Swansea, Gower Peninsula, Glamorgan County, South Wales. The death of his mother deprived him of her tender care when he was two, and he was taken into the home of a good old grandmother, who lived not far from the coast near the town of Llagadranta. When he became old enough, he was apprenticed and taught carpentry- in Parkmill. Acquiring skill in that trade he went to Mumbles to work. and there came in contact with William Clement—also a carpenter—his prospective father-in-law Mr. Clement was a disciple of Dr. John Thomas, and an ardent Christadelphian. It was not long until there was a new disciple, as Thomas Williams embraced the Faith at the age of seventeen. He had been christened according to the practice of the Established Church, in irresponsible infancy; and he used to say, in after-life, that his godfather had repudiated the devil for him as a child, but that as a man he had repudiated the devil for himself in a way his sponsor never dreamed of. It was not long before he and Elizabeth Clement were joined in marriage, as he remarked near the end of life. “for the better without the worse.” By the time the family had grown to five, the magnetic attraction of the New ‘world began to draw them. In 1872 they packed their bags and embarked for the land of opportunity. They traveled first to Chicago. which was bustling with building activity as the result of the devastating fire of October, 1871. They did not, however, remain there for long, but went farther west, to locate in Riverside, Iowa. They made friendships among the Believers in Chicago that were to endure steadfast until the end. In Riverside; he engaged for a time in farming, the lumber business and construction business on his own account.
Eight children were born to the couple, altogether—Clement, William, Katherine, in Wales; and Gershom, Fred, May, George and Bessie, this side the ocean. Gershom, their first-born after reaching these shores. was so named, because they felt themselves to be “strangers in a strange land.” (See Exod. 2: 22.)
Thomas Williams superior ability as an expounder and defender of the Faith was very evident from the first. Arrangements were soon made for him to devote his entire time, with pen and voice, to this work. Removing to Waterloo, Iowa, he began in 1885 the publication of the Christadelphian Advocate, for “The Promulgation and Defense of ‘The Things Concerning the King dom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ’... with a view of assisting in the work of taking out a people preparatory to the coming of the Lord.” His services as a lecturer and debater were soon in demand throughout the United States and Canada, and he devoted himself to this work with great energy. The unusual character of his Bible expositions often brought the challenge to meet the exponents of popular and traditional doctrines in public discussion. Such invitations were never declined, when details could be satisfactorily arranged. Mr Williams always insisted that some part of the debate be conducted on the Socratic method of direct questions and answers. This was necessary to make the issues plain and bring the discussion to a focus; but not every opponent was willing to meet this condition. Mr Williams’ training no doubt aided a naturally keen and logical mind to give him extraordinary skill as a debater. He took the platform with church leaders to debate the subjects of the Nature of Man, Punishment of the Wicked, Scope of the Resurrection. Location of the Kingdom of God, and the Time of its Establishment, Universal Salvation, the Sabbath Question, and Anglo-Israelism. On separate occasions he met two infidels, a Col. Billings in Riverside, and Mr. Charles Watts, of London, England. Several efforts to arrange a discussion with “Pastor” Charles Taze Russell, author of the Millennial Dawn series, were not successful.
A somewhat turbulent affair took place in Toronto? Canada, in 1906. A popular revivalist had been holding meetings in Massey Ha11. seating about six thousand. At the close he was called upon to defend his teachings as to the immortality of the soul and eternal torments in public debate with Thomas Williams. This he declined to do. whereupon arrangements were made for a well advertised address by Thomas Williams to be delivered from the platform lately occupied by the evangelist. “Eternal Torments-a Fallacy, a Failure and a Fraud.” was the title of this address, which aroused much interest and evoked favorable comment in the Canadian Press.
Not only was the Author of THE WORLD·S REDEMPTION active on the platform, but he was also busy with his pen, and published many tracts and pamphlets, illuminating Scripture teachings, and exposing popular errors as to Bible doctrines. He and his family moved back to Chicago, to build a home and printing plant, in 1892. The following was the year of “The World’s Columbian Exposition,” in connection with which was to be held a “World’s Congress of Religions.” A booklet for free distribution was prepared by Mr. Williams, entitled The Great Salvation.- What it is, and How to Obtain it. This summary of Bible teaching has had a wide circulation
In addition to his activities in the United States and Canada, the Author made four trips to England to lecture and to visit the place of his birth and home of his youth in Wales. In May of 900 , he and Mrs. Williams, always his faithful helpmate, sailed from Montreal on the S. S.Dominion. The purpose of this journey was threefold: To deliver a series of addresses according to an itinerary planned by co-workers in England; to endeavor to compose differences which were causing controversy and division within the Fraternity; and to visit the homeland and people he and Mrs. Williams had left twenty-eight. years before
His second visit was in 1903, this time on the Lucania. Guglielmo Marconi was a passenger on the same vessel, and wireless messages---quite new at the time—were being exchanged between ship and shore. and between ship and ship. Mr. Williams was naturally much impressed, by this and commented in the Advocate. “A strange feeling came over me when we received the first bulletin of Marconigrams. Just think of it! Out in mid-ocean, hundreds of miles from land and from other vessels, and yet receiving news of what was happening on land and sea! If such is possible in the finite sphere, who can doubt the omnipresence and the omniscience of the Infinite. More real than ever are we impressed with the thought that wherever we are the eye of the Almighty is upon us—a pleasing thought if we are walking in the way of righteousness; but a dreadful one if otherwise.... The telegrams were in detail as much as any ordinary telegrams- and if the expense is not too great to interfere with the practicability of the wonderful system, what a revolution it will make! and how closely will the world seem to have become united! Surely we are now living in the time predicted—‘Many shall run to and fro. and knowledge shall increase.”’ He remarks about the youthfulness and friendliness of the inventor, who would be twenty-nine at the time. (May the writer be permitted the observation, that little less wonder had been felt half-a-century earlier at the transmitting of
vi
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
messages by wire. Since 1903, wireless has made possible the radio, the wireless telephone, and now television. Is it not probable that the future holds other great marvels, one day to become commonplace-perhaps in God’s Kingdom!)
A third trip across was made in 1907, which occupied almost a year.
After passing his sixtieth birthday. Mr. Williams’ incessant activity- began to telll upon his constitution. He ‘was a man of deep and definite convictions, and was ever ready to “ give a reason for his Hope.” He was sensitive of conscience and fervent of spirit. He had responded promptly- for pleas for his help, coming from the north. the south, the east and the ‘west, in heat of summer and the cold and snows of winter, Train connections ‘were not always according to schedule. and there were the other trials and inconveniences incidental to travel. The very nature of his ‘,work often caused him to be subjected to severe emotional stress and strain. Then. how many occasions there were which called for sympathy and condolence! Only a cheerful and equable disposition. fortified by profound faith in God, could ever for so long have sustained him.
Decline of health caused his thoughts to turn to the sunny South. He had been in Orlando, Florida, in I 905, for lectures and to visit old friends and had tarried a while for rest and recuperation. Finding the climate there so much to his liking. he decided five years later to make his home there. moving there in 1910, he continued his publishing work, with travel in the North restricted to summertime.
In 1913, with his faithful companion, he undertook the fourth journey to England and Wales-from which he ‘was not to return. While traveling in England and meeting lecture appointments, his strength suddenly failed, and he returned to Mrs. Williams’ old home in Wales ‘where he died within a few days. The end came in the very house where youth’s springtime began, with all its joyful promise. A fruitful life was finished.
He fell asleep December 8, 1913 with his hope fixed not upon death but upon the coming of the Lord and the resurrection. As for the validity of that Hope, we invite the reader’s earnest attention to the pages of
THE WORLD’S REDEMPTION.
BERTON LITTLE.
Ill
CONTENTS
THOMAS WILLIAMS, THE AUTHOR . . . Frontispiece
PAGE
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 111
PREFACE TO THIS SECOND EDITION V
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES lx
CHAPTER
I THE BIBLE OUR ONLY SAFE GUIDF
II. REDEMPTION AND RESTITUTION FOR MAN
AND THE EARTH 13
III THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO BE UNIVERSAL IN THE
EARTH 24
IV -COVEANTS OF PROMISE 39
V.THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE-CONTINUED . . 65
VI. CONFIRM.\TION OF THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE . 80
VII.THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL IN RELATION
TO THEWORLD’S REDEMPTION 87
VIII. THE ~MESSIANIC RESTORATION OF THE KINGDOM
OF ISRAEL AND THRONE OF DAVID 110
IX THE LITERAL RETURN OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH . 138
X THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, OLD AND NEW . 153
XI TOKENS OF OUR TIMES IN RELATION TO THE
RETURN OF THE MESSIAH 174
XII.OBJECTIONS MET AND DIFFICULTIES REMOVED . . 219
XIII. MAN, HIS ORIGIN AND NATURE 239
XIV. MAN, HIS ORIGIN AND NATURE CONTINUED . . 256
XV. MAN UNCONSCIOUS IN DEATH: RESURRECTION
THE ONLY HOPE OP FUTURE LIFE 285
CONTENTS
XVI. ETERNAL LIFE AND IMMORTALITY PROMISED
, NOT POSSESSED 315
XVII. HELL,WHAT IS IT AND WHERE IS IT? 332
XVIII. THE: DEVIL, HIS ORIGIN AND END 345
XIX. TH JUDGMENTS OF GOD AND THE
DISPENSATION OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENT 385
XX. GOD SPIRIT, ANGELS AND CHRIST 403
XXI. GOD; SPIRIT, ANGELS AND CHRIST—CONTINUED 407
XXII. SALVATION EXEMPLIFIED IN CHRIST 452
XXIII. REDEMPTION—HOW OBTAINED . 471
XXIV. BAPTISM, ITS MODE AND MEANING 478
XXV. DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF GOD’S PEOPE~ 488
XXVI. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED . 492
DEAR READER:--If our appeal to you is earnest, it is because the subject upon which we address you is an important one. It is a subject upon which hangs our eternal destiny. The perplexities of the present evil world and the greed for gain of the temporalities of life so engross the minds of this generation that the great vital question of the life that is to come is thought but little of, and the masses are recklessly rushing headlong into perdition. You, like many others, will perhaps impatiently answer, “It is no use talking religion to me. Look at the confusion there is in the world. What is the use for me to trouble myself in trying to understand a subject that our wisest men cannot agree upon?” We confess your words have considerable force, in view of the confusion there is in the religious world at the present time. The common people who, by the exigencies of an evil state of things, are kept busy providing for the necessities of life have little time to study the subtle and technical questions which divide and confuse the churches of Christendom; and they are given to understand that these are matters to be left to the “clergy” while the “laity” are to accept the situation, asking no questions, but putting their trust in their leaders that in some way, they are not supposed to know how, all will end well. If you are disposed to think for yourself, you will not be satisfied to blindly follow the dictates of men, but you will want to know that you are upon safe ground, and that the road you are traveling will lead to the haven of rest which many weary travellers are earnestly- seeking.
THE GOSPEL FOR COMMONPLACE PEOPLE
Did it ever occur to you that God in providing His beneficent plan of salvation so arranged it that it would be more nearly within the reach of the poor and commonplace people of the world than of the great and the learned and the opulent? Honor belongs to Him who is the Great Creator, in whom we live and move and have our being. Therefore the honor and submission given to the so-called learned leaders of men are misplaced. It would be strange, would it not, if God had revealed a plan of salvation
pg 2
which, by the very mystery of its nature, must necessarily become a monopoly in the hands of a few men who happened to be thrown into circumstances admitting of a technical theological education. This would have made the salvation of the masses dependent upon the few favored ones in a worldly sense. And since these very-few comparatively-seriously and sometimes violently disagree among themselves, what a hopeless plight we should all be in were we dependent solely upon them for guidance in the way of life. What is in our day considered learning is familiarity with the mysteries of the darkness of Egypt, Greece and Rome. A man whose college education enables him to glibly talk of heathen gods and pagan myths is regarded as a “learned man.” Is Egypt likely to be a good place to go to for heavenly light? Are the heathen philosophers of Greece to be supposed to be luminaries of divine revelation? Why should any one expect to receive the light of salvation from Rome, which, whether under pagan or papal power. has drenched her soil with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus? These are not the sources whence we may expect to derive saving truth, and the fact that preparation for the popular pulpit consists Largely, if not principally, in the study of heathen “philosophers” is sufficient reason why you should turn from the highways of popular religion and seek for truth at the fountain head of the stream of life eternal.
SEEK FOR THE OLD PATH
I am not presenting to you a new thought, nor advising you to pursue a new course, though to you, possibly, it may appear so. I am simply asking you to remember the words of the prophet who said, “Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old path, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6: 16). To do this you must “not put your trust in princes nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no help” (Ps. 146. 3), but you must realize that “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence” (I. Cor. 1: 26-29).
THE, BIBLE, THE ONLY AUTHORITY
There is only one authority for us all in relation to the problem of life; and, God he thanked, there is free access to that in our land and in our times for all who will avail themselves of the
page 3
privilege. While the world’s wise are disputing and fighting about the “wisdom of the world” let the humble seeker after truth search the old paths that lead to the grand old book of the ages, which has withstood the severe tests of times of darkness, wickedness and cruelty and yet brightly burns as a beacon of light to every way worn and footsore traveler. “Familiar spirits” have multiplied in our times because of the barrenness; of Bible teaching. The prevailing ignorance of God’s Word admits of their tricks and turns ;in deceiving the hearts of. the simple. Let me appeal to YOU dear leader, not to allow yourself to be deceived “when” the warning so clearly and loudly cries out, “When they shall Say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? Why should you seek unto the dead concerning the living (Septuagint rendering)? To the law and, to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them (Isa. 8: 19, 20) .
EVIL OF POPULAR DISPARAGEMENT
To say that there is barrenness of Bible teaching may astonish you in view of the boasted claims of Progress in the study of Bible lore: but it is a sad fact that the boasted progress is rapidly reducing the Word of God to an object of contempt and ridicule. The very highest leaders of the schools are doing with God’s Word what Judas Iscariot did with the Son of God. It is being sold to the enemy—infidelity while its professed friends are impressing upon its pages the betraying kiss. The more flaws their flaunting scholarship” can find in the Bible, the more they pretend to like it. What matters it to them if the Son of God himself sealed the divinity of Moses and the prophets with his life’s blood, if they can persuade their dupes that through their deep researches (?) in the darkness of superstitious iniquity, and their masterful detection of verbal peculiarities and imaginary distinctions they can pose before their admirers as men and masters of great profundity. The traps and snares that are being set for the young and unwary the theological schools of our times are among- the great evils of the century, and if we look not well to ourselves we shall be carried down to oblivion with the great destructive popular wave of skepticism.
PREVAILING IGNORANCE OF THE BIBLE PREDICTED
Familiarity with the unerring Predictions of the Word of God will remove any cause for surprise that there is such prevailing
and widespread. ignorance of the real teachings of the Bible. If it were otherwise prophecy bearing upon our times would be a
pg 4 THE WORLDS REDEMPTION
failure. Let me quote here a few testimonies which you will readily see foretell the present state of things in relation to the subject in hand
Amos 8: ll—Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Luke 18: 7, 8-And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he shall avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
II Thes. 2: 3-12--Let no man, deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth iI1 the temple of God showing himself that he is God, Remember ye not that when I was with you I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For· the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who doth letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming; even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteouness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion. that they should believe a lie.
I Tim. 4·: 1-3--Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
II Tim. 3: 17--This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their ownselves. covetous, boasters. proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebrakers, false accusers incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than followers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.
Verses 12, I3 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
IT Tim. 4·: 3-~--For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
A WIDE-SPREAD APOSTASY FORETOLD
Now, dear reader, not only do these testimonies foretell a departure from the truth, but they show clearly that the apostasy would be wide-spread, and be the prevailing character of the latter times. The question asked by the Saviour, “Shall he find faith on earth?” referring to His second coming, warns us that the true faith would scarcely be found; and this agrees with what He says upon another occasion in the awful words, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth
pg 5
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Malt. 7: 13, 14)~ And, again, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24·: 37).
THE WORLD NOT GETTING BETTER
My object in dwelling upon this unhappy state of things is to remove the delusion which has largely led the people to believe that the world is getting better and is being “converted” through the agencies now at work. This claim is in direct opposition to the testimony of God’s Word and to the real facts in the case. The testimonies speak for themselves and cannot be ignored nor gain said. If so-called Christendom is what it claims to be God’s word in declaring a great apostasy has failed, and all the predictions and warnings have proven false. These testimonies of Holy Writ cannot be harmonized with popular claims. which will you believe?
If you believe the latter you must deny the former, and then you will surely be in the “broadway that leadeth to destruction. If you believe the testimonies, then you must turn from the highways of popular so-called Christianity in order that you might enter the “strait gate”: and the “narrow way which leadeth unto life.” Are you still inclined to give credence to the popular claims of present world conversion? then look at a few facts that some of the religious periodicals are frank enough to publish.
INCREASE, OF CRIME
On the increase Of Crime we quote the following from THE TRUTH
The San Francisco Examiner calls attention to the statistics of crime which the Chicago Tribune careful? collects and publishes every vear. The record shows that murders are increasing far beyond the growth of the population, and that this so-called Christian country with its boasted 20.000.000 of Christians, far surpasses Italy or any known heathen land in the number of its homicides.
The rapid increase of murder in the United States is one of the most distressing facts in our history. The figures are worthy of deep consideration by every man who is interested in the welfare of the country and his own safety-. The recorded homicides for ten years run:
1886............... .......................................................................... 1449
1887......................................................................................... 2335
1888......................................................................................... 2,184
1889............................................................................................3,567
1890............... .............................................................................4,090
1891....... .....................................................................................5,906
1892........................................................................................... 6,791
1893........................................................................................... 6,615
1894............... .......................................................................... 9,800
1895............... .......................................................................... 10,500
This awful record of slaughter, a record that shows an annual loss of life by knife and pistol, equal to the loss by almost any of the great battles of
pg 6
history, is an indictment of our civilization. It is a record that cannot be matched out of Armenia or the brutalized regions of Darkest Africa. There is no part of the civilized globe in which human life is so little regarded, and the taking of it so lightly condoned, as in the United States of America. Beside the annual murder record of 150 to 200 that is found in England, or even the 2,500 to 3,000 murders that are found in Italy, the record of the United States is a national disgrace and humiliation_(1)
WORLD CONVERSION A FAILURE
Some of the editors of religious papers are being compelled by the force of cold facts to confess that in the efforts to convert the world there is utter failure. Here is what the editor of The Truth says;
The ablest statisticians estimate that the Pagan and Mohammedan population of the earth has increased during this century 250,000,000. The number of professed converts to Christianity- can be set down at 3,000,000. It is claimed that that there are 20,000,000 Christians in this land, that is, one out of every two or three of the adult inhabitants, whereas not ten ever attend church; but admitting the extravagant and foolish claim, there are 50,000,000 more remaining to he converted than at the beginning of the century. In other words. the increase of Christians does not begin to equal those who are not Christians; and at this rate, when will the world be converted? Many will reply. that the result is sure according to the Word of God; but is not a single promise that the end will be reached bv the agencies. instrumentality’s and means now employed. (2)
WORLD CONVERSION IS IN THE AGE TO COME
If God Is not converting the world through the agencies now at work, . what is his purpose in sending the gospel? You may ask.
His purpose is ultimately to convert the world, that is, the world consisting of the survivors of the calamities of hastening vengeance to be visited upon the people of this ungodly age. But the honor and the power are His, and belong not to “man whose breath is in his nostrils” and who is puffed up with pride in his ability to form society here and society there for this and for that. When the appointed time arrives “The Lord will make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isa. 52 :10). It is when God’s “judgments are in the earth,. the inhabitants of the world will
(1) According to figures at hand. the cost of crime has more than doubled in the latest twenty five years, and is said to be twelve billions annually in the USA;. where according to a remark made recently by FBI Director J. Edgar· Hoover, “a major crime Is committed every twenty-three seconds.”
(2) ‘Since this was written. the two World Wars have been fought, and a third now appears imminent. This has been appraised as “the failure of Christianity.” One great nation, the Soviet. has repudiated religion as being “the opiate of the people,” and has avowed atheism as a feature of State policy. Teeming millions still bow down to idols in various parts of the earth. And even if conversion were making progress, the question would still remain, Conversion to what?--to Catholicism. or to what branch of
Protestantism?--and would such conversion be conversion to truth, and bring the peace and the favor of God which is promised will come with the reign of Christ?
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learn righteousness” (Isa. 26: 9). Not till then will the veil that has been drawn over the eyes of the people be torn off, and, coming to see how they have been deceived and deluded, the Gentiles will “come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit”(Jer. 16: 19). In the meantime however. the door is not closed against any honest seeker after truth. The gospel is doing the work it was foretold it should during these dark days of Gentile times; for we are assured that God’s word “shall not return unto him void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55: 11).
THE GOSPEL IS NOW TAKING OUT A PEOPLE
It is now clear that we must seek for the way of salvation, not in the popular systems of the world, but aside from these, and in the “old paths” which lead to the “strait gate and the narrow way,” to walk in which requires that we be “converted and become as little children” if we would enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt. 18: 3). To this end it is necessary that we come out from the world, for true disciples are those who are chosen out of the world, and are not of the world (John 15: 16-19). Hence the gentiles are not visited by the gospel to be converted en mass, but through it God is “visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name” (Acts 15: 14)) and when “the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11: 25), Christ will “return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.” Then it is
that the “residue of men shall seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom his name is called” (Acts 15: 16, 17)..
THE GOSPEL MUST BE, BELIEVED AND OBEYED
Since the gospel is sent out for this purpose. it must be evident that its conditions must be complied with by those who would share in the blessings it offers. Here is another growing evil in our day, in the delusive stupor that many honest people allow themselves to pass into with the thought that it makes no difference what our belief is if we do our best. The greatest danger of this lies in its plausibility and in its adaptability to the likings of the flesh. Dear reader, deceive not yourself, but awake to the importance of seeking for life in the way—the only way-the wisdom and goodness of God have provided. You cannot hope to be much better in “doing your best” than was Cornelius of Cesarea. It is testified that he was “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10: 1, 2). Notwithstanding this, his salvation depended
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upon a correct faith. The Apostle Peter is therefore sent to tell him what he must do before he can he saved. “He shall tell
thee what thou oughtest to do “says verse 6, and Peter tells him “words where by he and all his house should be saved” (chap. 11:14·). This is in strict harmony with the commission given to the apostles, in the words, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 25: 29). The people must be taught the truth of the gospel; for it is “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16: 16).
ONLY ONE SAVING GOSPEL
This does not allow us to believe what we please or be indifferent as to whether we have any particular belief. When some in Galatia became “foolish” and “bewitched” in departing somewhat from the true gospel the Apostle Paul wrote them in the strongest terms of warning saying, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel; which 1S not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1: 6-9). The absolute necessity of believing the one true gospel and rejecting all others is thus made clear, and our duty to stand firm and earnestly to contend for the truth is further sustained by-the following testimonies:
Isa. 8: 20--To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
John 6: 45-It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me.
Rom. 1: I6--For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth
Rom. 10: 17--So then faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the word of God.
Heb. 11: 6--But without faith it is impossible to please God.
I Thess. 5: 21--Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
I John 5: 10--‘ He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believerh not the record that God gave of his Son.
Jude 3--Beloved. when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation. it was, needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.
THE SCRIPTURES NOT READ AND STUDIED
It is a well-known fact that the Scriptures are read but very
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little these days, and as for a careful study of them it is out of the question. The example for this deplorable neglect of God’s Word is set before the people by their leaders; for the Bible scarcely enters into modern popular sermons A single text is sometimes quoted and then left, while the speaker rambles into the fields of politics, “philosophy” and fiction.
You may not be fully aware of the extent and evil of this departure from the reading and study of God’s Word, and may shrink from believing that it is possible for the leaders of the people to be so remiss, but a glance over the customs of the so-called evangelism and revivalism of the day will show what little use is made of the Scriptures and what cunning devices men are resorting to to stir, not the sober intellectual faculties, but the impulses and excitement of the natural man.
It is not a new thing for the ways and traditions of men to supplant God’s words. It was the crime of the first century, and from the predictions we have quoted it will be seen that it was to be that of the latter days of Gentile times. Let not, therefore, the fear and awe of pomp and flaunting “learning,” or pious pretenses in high places daunt you or deter you, dear reader, from resolving to turn earnestly and persistently- to the reading and study of God’s Word; for remember what is said in the “warning”
of the first century, even to those who read the Scriptures in a formal way more than their successors do now. Pause over the indictment of the “learned” in the following testimonies:
Matt 15:3 But he answered and said unto them. Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Mark 8: 7, 9, l3-Howbeit in vain do they worship me: teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups; and many other things ye do. and he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. * * * (verse 13) making the word of God of none effect by your tradition.
Col.2: 8--Beware, lest ay. man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit. after the tradition of men, after- the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
ISRAEL COMMANDED TO READ THE SCRIPTURES
The danger of neglect of God’s word caused serious and imperative warnings to be given Israel as will be seen in the following:
Deut. 6: 7; 8--Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house. and when thou walkest in the way. and when thou liest down.and when thou risest up. But thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Jos 3: 9--And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.
Ps. 50: 7--Hear, O my people, and I will speak; 0 Israel, and I will testify against thee; I am God, even thy God.
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Ps. 78: 1--Give ear, 0 my people. to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
“The carnal mind is enmity against God,” but when it is subjected to the spiritual mind, which can be done only by the power of God’s word, then there is a real hunger and thirst for the Word, from which flows the utmost satisfaction and the sweet peace of mind “which passeth all understanding.”
THE WORD WILL ILLUMINATE
Ps. 119: 105--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Prov, 6: 23---For the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light. and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
II Pet. 1: 19--And we have the word of prophecy- made sure: whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shinning in a dark place. until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts; knowing this first. that no prophecy of the Scripture is of private interpretation (R. V.).
I John 2: 8--Again, a new- commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
THE WORD IS PURE
Ps. 12: 6-The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in ; a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Ps. 119: 140--Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
Prov. 30: 5--Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
John 15: 3--Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
THE WORD IS PERFECT AND TRUE
II Sam. 22: 31- As for- God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; he is a buckler to them that trust in him.
Ps19: 7--‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure. making wise the simple. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Ps. 91:5 Thy testimonies are very sure, holiness becometh thine house. O Lord forever.
Ps, 119: I28--Therefore I esteem ; all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and hate every false way.
Verse 142 --Thy- righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is truth.
Verse 151 ‘l’hou art near. 0 Lord, and all thy- commandments are truth.
Verse 160’ Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy judgments endureth forever
Prov -.22. 20--Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee.
Eccl. 12: 10--The preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Is. 25: 1--0 Lord. thou art my God; I will exalt thee. I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
John 17: 17--Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.
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John 21: 24--This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
Rev 19: 9--And he said, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev. 21: 5--And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write; for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 22:6 .And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
THE WORD IS POWERFUL AND EVERLAS’I’ING
Deut. 32: 2--My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew. as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
Is. 55: 10, 11--For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven. and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out .of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void. but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Jer. 23: 29--Is not my word like fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.
Ps 119: 144--The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding and I shall live.
Verse I52--Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever.
Is 40: 8--The grass withereth. the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Luke 21: 33--Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away.
John 10: 35--If ye call them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, Etc.
I Pet. 1: 25 ---But tile word of the Lord endureth forever And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
THE WORD DIVINELY INSPIRED
II Sam 23:.2 .The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue
II Kings 21 :10 And the Lord spake unto his servants the prophets, saying. etc.
Neh. 9: 13--Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments.
I Cor. 2: 4,5--And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of mans wisdom. but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should riot stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Verse 13 Which things also we speak not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth. but which the Holy Spilt teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Col 14:36 What Came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only. If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
Gal. 1: 11, 12 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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THE WORD’S REDEMPTION
II Tim 2:16 -All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
II Pet 1:21 -For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
1 John 5:9 -If we receive the witness of men, the witness of god is greater, for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
Now, dear reader, we have given these selections of testimonies from God’s Word to offset the disparaging assertions of those who profess to be the friends of the Bible, but who, like the rulers of the Jews in the days of our Lord and his Apostles, are making it of none effect by their traditions and vain philosophy. Ponder over these words of Holy Scripture, and, we beseech of you, make up your mind to thoroughly examine your faith in the light of Divine truth; and if you already are in possession of the one saving faith, you will be strengthened; and if not, God grant that the eyes of your understanding may be opened and your heart prepared to receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. It is with this hope that we ask you to follow us in what we shall, the Lord willing, set forth in chapters to follow, carrying with us that unshaken confidence in God and in his word, which finds such forceful expression in the words, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8: 38, 39).
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LIFE is sweet, with all its pains and perplexities. Natural law has endowed man with the love of life, and we are quite willing to endure great hardships and suffer many pangs and pains, wrestle with powerful enemies and meet with numerous difficulties and disappointments if we are allowed to live and given the hope of length of days.
But after all life is but a span, “an inch or two of time,” hung upon a slender cord that is momentarily in danger of breaking and in the end-the inevitable end-sure to be cut asunder by the ever-busy hand of man’s universal enemy, the dread of all mankind-Death, Death, pitiless, cruel and relentless Death. Sickness, sorrow, pain and death are realities alike in the experience of young and old, rich and poor, great and small, in every land and in every clime.
DOES DEATH END ALL?
In the face of such facts the questions press themselves upon every sensible man and woman, Does death end all? Is there a life beyond? Is evil eternal? Is there a remedy for the world’s woes and provision for man’s inmost wants? What, if any, are the possible dangers ahead? What, if any, are the blessings attainable? What mean these inmost longings of the heart, and these wellsprings of hope, these lofty aspirations of the intelligent mind whose eyes look over and beyond life’s vale of tears with anxious hope and expectation of ultimate realization? Have these longings and throbbings taken hold of us to mock us? Or have they been begotten, born and nourished by promises that the evils of this troubled, sin-stricken and death-stricken world are to be eliminated and give place to a good time that’s coming that shall gladden the hearts and bless the lives of those whose love of their Creator and faithfulness to their Redeemer have moulded their faith and their character into form and fitness for a life that shall know no end? In view of the power and wisdom manifest in the natural world, in “the heavens that declare the glory of God and the firmament that showeth his handiwork,” surely it is wise to conclude that a
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better time is coming, and a glance at the only compass that is safe upon the troubled and angry sea reveals the fact that there is a
RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS
spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began,” and in this restitution will be found the panacea for man’s ills and evils, wants and woes, and by its accomplishment will be made manifest to an admiring and happy world the wisdom and might and goodness and glory of Him in whom we “live and move and have our being.” When this grand end is seen in its splendid brightness to be the sun that is yet to rise and chase away the darkness and mist of present night, the evils and burdens we groan under will be viewed from the standpoint of Divine philosophy and seen to be wisely permitted, as it were, but for a moment, and utilized to sharpen our appetite and intensify our feelings for the rapturous joy of deliverance and the unspeakable happiness of eternity, unmarred by the sufferings of this transitory, preparatory, evil life.
Six thousand years of continued and increasing evils and perplexities show that the world is incurable by human agencies, and we may not hope for help from man, but when the time for the promised restitution arrives, the great Deliverer shall appear in His glory and majesty; and though dark be the clouds that precede and usher in His majestic advent, and terrible the convulsions that shall attend the mighty revolution, yet great shall be the glory that shall follow and peaceful and tranquil the repose that shall forever settle upon earth’s everlasting hills.
RESTITUTION AND REDEMPTION WHERE NEEDED
Now, dear reader, shall we ask you to pause and consider fully the meaning of the words “restitution of all things.” They are found in the Acts of the apostles, chap. 3: 21. Verses 20 and 21 read as follows: “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.. whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Words in frequent use and to be found in various parts of the Bible are, “salvation,” “redemption,” “reconciliation” and “restoration.” What do they mean? To what do they apply? What is salvation? These are questions we may well pause over and consider their meaning in relation to the vital question they represent. The words imply that there has been a loss of something somewhere; and is it unreasonable to believe that salvation, whatever it is, will deal with that which is lost? And that restitution, restoration and redemption will meet requirements and deal with conditions arising from the loss, in accordance with the character of the loss and right where the lost condition is found?
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What is it that has gone wrong, and where is the wrong that needs rectifying? Salvation, whatever it is, redemption, whatever it is, restitution, whatever it is, surely ought to be understood to remedy the wrong where the wrong is, and deal with it practically whatever it is. Now we do not know that things have gone wrong on other planets. We know not whether salvation, redemption and restitution are needed on any of them; and we may be sure from what is revealed of the character of God that there are no wrongs to right in heaven, His holy habitation. With the healing balm contained in the words salvation, restitution, etc., we should seek for the wounds and sores it is intended to soothe and heal. The plaster surely is made for the wound and it ought to fit and be adapted to the nature of the wound. What is it that has received the wound? Where are the diseases to be cured, the lost to be gained, the wrongs to be righted, the captives to be redeemed? They are not in the moon, in the stars nor in the sky; neither are they ‘beyond the bounds of time and space.” They are here, right here in this world of ours; on this earth, in the very ground; on man universally, in man. They are real. They are to be seen, to he heard, to be felt, and all this right here, and we need look no farther, no higher, no lower. It is our world and we ourselves that are lost, and it is our world and we ourselves that need salvation and restitution. There would be no restitution were we, a few of us, transported to another planet and the rest dragged down into regions eternal and infernal, and our earth, beautiful, notwithstanding all its blightings and cursings through sill, were burnt up and dissolved into smoke. Can you, dear reader, bring yourself to believe that the wisdom whose marvelous works strike us with awe and admiration as we behold them in the shining starry heavens above and in the wonders of creation in the earth beneath-can you I ask, bring yourself to believe that He whose wisdom and power you behold has created this terrestrial sphere to be desecrated by sin, blighted by curse, tortured by sickness, darkened by death, devastated by war and blood-shed, and after all to end in conflagration that shall send it up in smoke or precipitate it into the irrecoverable depths of oblivion? In such a sad end where would he the glory and honor of the Creator? Dream not then of ghostly flights to worlds unknown, where Elysium fields are supposed to bloom with flowers of endless beauty. Look no deeper for sufferings and terrors than you behold upon a sin-stricken earth, groaning beneath its burdens of sinful suffering humanity. But look for salvation where it is needed to “heal the broken-hearted, to bring deliverance to the captive, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4: 18); and look for restitution in the world and
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upon the earth of which it was said, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3: 17-19).
THE FIRST PROMISE
The very first promise we have, involving salvation, was made immediately upon the entrance of the evil it was intended to deal with, and it meets the real requirements in the case. Figuratively speaking, the serpent had pierced man with a fatal sting, whose poison was destined to affect the entire race, the earth and all that is in it. This is met by the promise contained in the words, ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and he; seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” {Gen. 3: 15).
When the work of creation was completed ‘God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:
31). Of man and woman it was said, “so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. 1: 26-28).
MAN GIVEN DOMINION
The Psalmist, referring to this part of the work of creation. says, “When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers. the moon and the stars. which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou host made him a little lower than the angels and host crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea. 0 Lord, our Lord. how excellent is thy name in all the earth” (Psa. 8: 3-9) While this doubtless has a prophetic significance as well as historic. the latter is what we are particularly concerned about now. Still it will be seen that the prophetic aspect is in strict agreement with the thought of the restitution of all things. Commenting upon this passage the Apostle Paul, after quoting the passage to prove that all things had been put under man, and that all things would be put under him again, says, “But now we see not yet all things
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put under him” (Heb. 2: 8). This raises the question. If all things were put under man’s dominion in the beginning, and now “we see not all things put under him,” what was the cause of this loss of power and dominion? In the answer to this question we shall discover what the loss is that salvation and restitution are intended to remedy.
MAN ENDOWED WITH THE POWER OF FREE VOLITION
With creation “very good,” every creature happy and the first human pair enthroned and given dominion over a world that was an honor to its Creator and possessed of every thing conducive to happiness and well-being man is placed under a law that would test his fidelity to his Creator He is endowed with the power of free volition and this is what makes him a responsible creature, higher in the scale of intellectuality than all others and possessed of a moral nature capable of maintaining a moral image accept able or of falling under the condemnation of his Lawgiver what gives man his superiority and his divine right to “ have dominion” is this moral element of his nature and the power of free volition arising therefrom, crowned with a noble intellect
By this it was possible to place upon him a responsibility that was an applicable to other creatures of lower grades or intellectual power Those who would find fault with this procedure and claim that it would have been better if man had been left without a law that could test his faithfulness and fidelity seem to forget that this is the essential thing to constitute him a man This is why he is a man and to deprive him of the opportunity of exercising at first the latent mental and moral possibilities of his nature under the guidance of law to reduce him to a level with the creatures over whom he is given dominion If it was wise to endow man with this latent moral power, it was only the next step in the way of wisdom to give scope for its exercise under law
PLACED UNDER LAW
To this intellectual capable man, then, the law is given as follow’,: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good a nd evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:16, 17). At this time nothing had been lost. Everything was as God in His wisdom had created it The words salvation, redemption and restitution were useless words there was nothing to be saved or redeemed, because there was nothing lost. It is so arranged by the wise law of the Creator that if a loss occurs it shall be by man’s breach of law and his unfaithfulness to his Benefactor.
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The machinery of this world was given into the hands of man in perfect order. If ever a cog slip or a belt fly off, it shall be the fault of him who is given the responsibility of the dominion. If ever joy give place to sorrow, happiness to woe, health to sickness, life to death and the very good” condition is turned into a very bad one, man shall be the cause and not God. The change is made dependent upon man’s honoring and obeying a righteous law, which his Creator had a right to place over him; and when the fall, the crash, the loss, the curse comes it shall come justly, and man will have one to blame but himself.
It came. Yes it came and that, too, by man’s breach of the divine law. Here is how it was brought about..
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman. Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God bath said, Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall he opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, arid gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat” Gen .3: 1-6.
THE FAR REACHING EFFECTS OF THE TRANGRESSION
Here is the first sin committed and here is the cause of the fall man and his kingdom which God had given into his hands. Sin brings sorrow, sickness, pain and death, and its far-reaching effects are seen in a lost world, with its once ruling monarch stricken with shame and remorse, hiding himself from the face of the Elohim and, when called to account, trying to excuse his unfaithfulness with the cowardly answer. “I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. * * The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen. 3: 10-12). In the sentence passed upon our first parents for thus transgressing God’s law is to be seen the world-wide results of man’s first act of unfaithfulness to God, results which are not confined to the man and the woman, but which blight and curse their entire domain. To the serpent, the woman and to the man it is said,
And the Lord God said ‘into the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle. and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go, arid dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. * * Unto the woman he said, I wilt greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall he to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also
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and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat of the herbs of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” Gen. 3: 14-19.
Now, dear reader, we have before us the root of all the world’s evils, and by careful consideration of the nature of the loss, and an understanding of what is lost, we shall be helped toward a correct understanding of what salvation is and what the restitution is “which God hath spoken of by all his holy prophets since the world began.” Subsequently to the pronouncing of the sentence man is driven out of the garden of Eden and access is guarded by a “flaming sword “ which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life (Verse 24)
The earth, so far as its primitive very good condition is concerned, is lost, Paradise is lost dominion is lost, life is lost, man is lost-the whole creation is lost, until sin, for the time being has made every thing vanity, vanity, all is vanity, and, as the prophet Isaiah says, ‘The earth also is defied under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate” (Isa. 24: 5, 6). The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together (Rom. 8: 22).
WHAT FITS THE SITUATION
Now salvation for fallen lost man and restitution for a cursed earth are provisions made by the God of heaven to remove the evils and bring goodness and blessing here yes here in the very place it is needed. and in which a sin wrecked creation groans The wise plan of salvation revealed in the Scriptures is not one that leaves a lost Paradise forever lost and transports man to the sky. It is not a plan that retreats foiled and frustrated by sin and leaves this sin-wrecked and sin ruined planet of God’s handiwork to be carried down to an ignominious oblivion While God has permitted the sad results of sin for a time to mar the beauty and dim the splendor and darken the light of His grand and marvelous work. think not that He has retreated and forsaken the work of His Almighty hand. In this we may safely “trust Him for His grace,” and know that “behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face;” and when His good time comes salvation and restitution shall be realities here, to take the place of the evils that are here now; for He has declared in burning words that never can be quenched, “As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numb. 14: 21).
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THE EARTH TO ABIDE
The earth, then, is not to be the scene of six thousand years of trouble in its thousands of forms, and at last to be destroyed. It is to abide forever:
Eccl. 1: 4~One generation passeth away. and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever.
Psa. 104: Blessed be the Lord, * * who laid the foundation of the earth, that it shall not be removed forever.
Psa. 119: 90~Thy faithfulness is unto all generations, thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
Since the wisdom of Solomon could see the earth and all that is in it as in a state of vanity, and since we learn from the above testimonies that the earth is to abide forever, we may safely conclude that God has in store better days for this our habitation. He has assured us that He has not created it in vain in the beautiful words of the prophet Isaiah: “For thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it he created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord; and there is none else (Isa. 49”: 18). When the vanity of the present is removed and the earth restored to the very good” state that was lost through man’s fall, the following promises will find joyful realization
Numb. 14: 21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Psa. 72: 1 7-l9~His name shall endure forever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall he blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel. who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever; aud let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Isa. 11: 9~They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holly mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. as the waters cover the sea.
Hab , 2: l4 -For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Matt. 6: 6, 1 0~After this manner pray Ye: * * Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 2: 1 4~Glory to God in the highest. and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Isa 55: 10-13 For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
bud. ‘ so shall ,my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void. but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you in to singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
THE EARTH TO BE THE EVERLASTING INHERITANCE OF THE
RIGHTEOUS
It is when the earth is thus blessed, and man redeemed that it
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will become the everlasting inheritance of the righteous, who will have been saved from the lost state and exalted to glory and honor with the second Adam, whose righteousness and faithfulness shall have undone and eliminated the evils resulting from the transgression of our first parents. Hence in God’s plan of salvation the earth is promised as our everlasting inheritance, as the following Scriptures will clearly show:
Gen. 13: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever.
Rom. 4: 13-For the promise that he Abraham) should be the heir of the world was riot to Abraham, or to his seed through the law but (it was) through the righteousness of faith
Psa 37:9 For evil doers shall be cut off but those that wait upon the Lord . they shall Inherit the earth
Verse 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight them selves in the abundance of peace
Verse 22 such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
Verse 29 The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever
Verse 34~ Wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land when the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it
Psa 115-16 The Heaven, even the heavens are the Lord s, but the earth hath he given to the children of men
Prov, 11 31 Behold the righteous shall be recompensed In the earth much more than the wicked and the sinner
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high
Matt. 5: 5-.Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth
Rev. 5: 9, 10-And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people. and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
Here we have clear testimony, that the earth is to be the everlasting inheritance of the righteous and do not be alarmed dear reader. when we assert that nowhere in the Scriptures are we promised that we shall go to heaven when we die or at any other time. You will now begin to see clearly from the many testimonies given that the great plan of salvation is very different thing from that taught in the popular religion of our times According to the creeds of so called Orthodoxy” this earth is to be the habitation of man in its present evil state for a time perhaps six thousand years, during which comparatively a few will at death be transported to heaven and countless millions will be dragged to a place they call hell to be indescribably tormented eternally, and then, without any restitution the earth which has borne the curse of sin, is to be burned up and pass away in fire and smoke. You will readily see that with this view restitution or restoration is Out of the question, and the Paradise that was lost
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will forever remain lost, and the earth and its history be a blot upon the pages of the Divine plan of the ages. Of the millions which the earth has produced, it is claimed that not one has ceased to be and never can cease to be. The words of Scripture about the ‘strait gate and broad way” are forced into service to describe the destiny of those millions, and it therefore follows, that while our planet has produced a few for realms of happiness and bliss, it has supplied a yawning, burning, agonizing, torturing hell with food and fuel for endless time in the form of millions of immortal indestructible beings whose groans and moans and shrieks of eternal despair shall endlessly echo and re-echo the failure of one of the planets of the Almighty’s handiwork and the eternal and ever-visible and audible triumph of evil in its most horrible form. The spectacle is appalling to man and dishonoring to God, who is wise and just and powerful, and it is the imputation of such myths of pagan thoughts of cruelty and barbarity to God’s Word that feeds the sneers of the skeptic and the reckless profanity of infidelity. As men’s minds become enlightened and their hearts softened by the influence of Divine Revelation, they become ashamed of popular creeds and a few are bold and fearless enough to relegate them to the darkness and cruelty of fallen, depraved and degraded men, who reveled in thoughts of the sorrow and suffering, pain and panic, torment and torture, of their fellow-creatures.
The Bible must be snatched out of this burning fire of the depraved and savage passions of degraded men, and we must cry out amid the noise and confusion of modern Babel that the Bible is the book Divine, full of wisdom, justice and love. In it, while for a tinie we have a Paradise lost through man, we have the promise of the same Paradise regained through the Divine man. While sin is allowed to curse the earth for a time God’s mighty arm will yet bring it blessings for eteritity; while sin and death now reign by man’s transgression the righteous Son of God shall “reign till he hath put down all enemies under His feet,” when “the last enemy death “shall be destroyed’ and sickness, sorrow, pain and death shall be no more.
Jesus shall reigh wher’er the sun
Doth his successive jourueys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till sin shall curse the earth no mare.
For him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown his bead,
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
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People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.
Blessings abound where’er he reigns,
The pris’ner leaps to loose his chains,
The weary find eternal rest
, And all the sons of want are blest.
Where he displays his healing power,
Sorrow and pain are known no more;
In him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.
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the Earth
We have seen that the Scriptures teach the fall of man and his kingdom and the consequent evils universal in the earth. The testimonies cited glowingly promise redemption and restitution for fallen man and the kingdom and dominion God graciously gave him, which he wrecked and ruined by sin. The question which now naturally presents itself is’ By what means does God’s revealed plan provide for the great and universal remedy promised? Before we open the Bible for the answer to this question we may glance at the troubled world we live in and ask, “What is the matter?” History is almost an unbroken tale of woe and war in all the conflicting kingdoms and empires that have had their day and disappeared from the face of the earth amid the raging, dashing waves of the angry and restless sea of nations. Ever since sin’s demoralizing power threw out of balance the peaceful, harmonious state of God’s handiwork in the creation, confusion, trouble, turmoil, tyranny, bloodshed and war have deluged the earth, and in our own times we see preparations for war on every hand which threaten a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. The Saviour foretold this present state of unrest among the nations, declaring that there should be wars and commotions, great earthquakes in divers places, and famines and pestilence’s” (Luke 21: 9-1 1 ). “Upon the earth.” He says, “there shall be distress of nations, with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth (Luke 21: 25, 26). Now in view of the spectacle we behold in this troubled world what would meet the requirements of the case? Frequently we hear of nations when they reach a crisis crying out, “for a coming man.” They find themselves, after all their experience and experimenting in trying to rule themselves, enveloped in trouble beyond their power to deal with, and in their perplexity they cry out and long for a coming man to settle their difficulties. The coming man in the sense in which they call for him will never come. Man, after all his experience
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and experiments, has proven himself unable to rule himself and to bring peace and tranquillity to the burdened and groaning masses. If a man were to come’ who should be wise enough, good enough and powerful enough to calm this raging sea and bring peace, prosperity and happiness to the world universally, would it not settle all the difficulties which now burden the world of humanity? If the conflicting kingdoms and empires were consolidated into one, purified of their political, social and religious evils and placed under the power and jurisdiction of a wise, good and powerful king, organized into a kingdom with laws from heaven guiding it in ways of peace and happiness, would not this meet all the requirements of the case and bring about the world’s redemption? There is no power upon earth able to produce such a state of things. The world’s salvation is not to be found in man, but it must proceed from God; righteous laws and wise government must come from heaven, the source of all wisdom and goodness. It is no vain speculation to say that such a grand state of things awaits this burdened world of ours and that it will be realized in the establishment of the kingdom of God universally in all the earth. That kingdom which existed in miniature form and fell in the hands of our first parents through sin will in its amplitude arise to glory and splendor in the hands of a second Adam who has proven himself under the most stringent tests to be faithful, wise and good. You will see dear reader that when this kingdom of God sweeps from the face of the earth the wickedness of man and fills the earth to its utmost bounds with the glory of the Lord the world’s redemption will be a grand and glorious reality and in view of this what folly it is to hope for transportation to the sky or to the stars.
This view of the matter however is so unpopular in the religious world and men’s minds have been so alienated from this grand truth that it is not sufficient simply to state the case Every inch of ground has to be carefully examined every claim pro and con subjected to a rigid test and at last all must be weighed measured and decided by the infallible rule which God has given us the “law and the testimony”, for “if we speak not according to this word. it is because there is no light in us.”
THE FIRST PROMISE INVOLVED THE WORLDS REDEMPTION
The scope of the first promise made to fallen man, though couched in very few words. is wide enough to embrace this universal kingdom of God-“It shall bruise thy head.” The cure must reach as far as the disease; and since it is a world which is lost by the downfall of a righteous, Divinely-given dominion, the same world must be redeemed by the raising up of a righteous, Divinely
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given dominion and kingdom adequate to the removal of every evil and the cure of every ill Hence it is said by the apostle John, when carried in vision down to the end of the kingdoms of men, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev. 11: 15); and it is this kingdom that is to be the instrumentality in the hands of Christ to effect the world’s redemption. Is it to be wondered, then, that our Saviour embodied it in the prayer He taught His disciples, in the words, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven” Matt. 6: 10)? Since salvation is for man and for his world-this planet and since the kingdom of God is to be the means by which redemption is to be realized we can, readily understand why so much is said in the Scriptures about the kingdom of God and why it is the subject matter of the gospel.
HOW THE GOSPEL FITS THE CASE
What would be gospel or good news to men who realize the hopelessness of release and rest from the confused and corrupt kingdoms of men? Would that not be a gospel which provided for a righteous government that would insure “Glory to God in the Highest, on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2: 14)? It was this very gospel that Jesus preached, and that He sent His twelve disciples out to preach. It involved “glad tidings” for a world that needed such tidings. Hence Luke says of Jesus that “He went throughout every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.” “And he sent them (His disciples) to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 8: 1; 9: 2). It is here that such a kingdom is needed. We know not what is needed in other planets, and the Bible is a revelation fitted for this earth, dealing with its history and destiny. It is here that a kingdom has fallen, not in heaven. The gospel proclaims good news of a kingdom to be set up (Dan. 2: 44), not of one which never fell and therefore never needed to be set up. We may be sure that a kingdom never fell in heaven, God’s holy habitation. There His will is done to perfection and the promised kingdom of the gospel is one which will come, and cause God’s will to be done here-“in earth-as it is done in heaven.”
CHRIST TO BE THE KING OF ALL NATIONS
We have seen that God declares that as truly as He lives “the whole earth shall be filled with his glory” (Numb. 14: 21). Promises sure and grand such as this can never be realized while human governments continue their exaltation and flattery of man and the dishonor of God. Kingdoms had risen and fallen before the days of King David. He himself had won many battles and
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established upon Zion’s stronghold the best kingdom the world had then and has ever since seen. He was a prophet and could look down the ages and see the great and mighty empires of Babylon, Greece and Rome; hut in none of these, not even in his own kingdom, given into his hands by Israel’s God, could he see salvation and redemption for our sin-burdened earth. Looking down the distance of about twelve hundred years he could see his Lord at Yahweh’s right hand, waiting the time when His enemies should be made His foot-stool. Stretching still further, about two thousand years, he saw that “The Lord at Yahweh’s right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen (nations), he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries” (Psa. 110: 1, 5, 6). Not that he gloried in the world’s great crisis and catastrophe which thus opened out before his prophetic vision, but that he saw that a mighty storm and terrible convulsions must clear away the foul and stifling atmosphere of sin and corruption in the political, social and religious world before he could hope for all his salvation and all his desire” (II. Sam. 23: 5). With the vain vicissitudes of the past and the increasing and world-wide desolations of the future in the hands of man apostate from God all before his eyes. with the “spirit of the Lord speaking by him and the word of inspiration on his tongue” (II. Sam. 23: 2) he exclaimed, “Give the king thy judgments, 0 God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be his glorious name forever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen.” David’s mind and heart had been prepared for this outburst of hope by being made the medium of precious promises concerning his royal son Christ, whom on account of His destined greatness he called “My Lord.” Through him God had declared to Christ
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prophetically, “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (PS 2: 8, 9). “”Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the kindreds shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he is the governor among the nations” (Psa 22: 24-28).
This theme of Israel’s sweetest psalmist is the thrilling theme that made the hearts of the prophets and apostles burn within them in contemplation of its rapturous realization. Here are a few of the testimonies which make clear the purpose of God to establish a divine real, literal kingdom on the earth succeeding the utter destruction of human governments in every form:
Gen 22: 1 7-That in blessing I wilt bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.
Num. 14: 21-But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
Psa. 2: 5 Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa. 149: 2-8-Let Israel rejoice in him that made him; let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. * * * Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the heathen (nations) and punishments upon the people to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron.
Isa. 2 4 5 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not lift up sword against nation. neither shall they learn war any more O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord
Dan 2 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Dan. 7: 13, 14-I saw in the night visions, and beheld, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven. and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominions, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Dan. 7: 18, 22, 27-But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.* * * And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. And the kingdom and dominion,
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and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Zech. 14: 9-And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
Matt 6: 10-Thy kingdom come. Thy’ will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
I Cor, 15: 25--For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
II Tim 4: 1-I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
Rev. 11: 1 5-The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.
Isa. 29: 18-20-And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall out of obscurity and out of darkness The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off
Isa. 32: 1-4-Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim and the ears of them that hear shall hearken The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge. and the tongue of the stammers shalt be ready to speak plainly.
Isa. 35: 3-10-Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shalt waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of waters in the habitation of dragons where each lay , shall be grass, with reeds and rushes And an highway shalt be there, and a way and it shall be called The way of holiness, the unclean shall not pass ever it; but it shalt be for those time wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away
Zech. 9: 10-And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Mal 1: 11-For from the rising of the sun, even en unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shalt be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD NOT SET UP IN THE FIRST CENTURY
In view of the glorious state of things which is to prevail in all the earth, when the kingdom of God is established, as shown by these testimonies, do you not consider it strange, dear reader, that the religious leaders of our day are claiming that God’s kingdom was set up in the first century of the Christian era and that Christ
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is now reigning in so-called Christendom? Christendom means dominion of Christ, and the civilized world has been so christened because it is claimed that Christ is now reigning spiritually in the earth. To see the fallacy of this you have only to ask yourself whether such a state of things now exists as the testimonies quoted declare is to be the result of the establishment of the kingdom of God. As we have before shown from facts published in current religious periodicals, crime is on the increase and the world is getting worse. If Christ were reigning it would be the reverse. A spiritual kingdom, such as popular theology believes in, does not and cannot deal with the literal evils which keep the world in turmoil and distress. It requires a real government, one that will deal with the affairs of’ men politically, socially, commercially and religiously, and right all wrongs and keep them right.
Though the world has increased in knowledge in many and various ways, and civilization, such as it is, has spread out more widely, no progress has been made toward giving “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will toward men,” but the stubborn facts show the very reverse of this. Do you think it is an honor to Christ to call Christendom His kingdom? If He is now reigning why is it that all forms of wickedness in high and low places are not put down? If He is now the world’s teacher, why is it that all do not “know the Lord from the least to the greatest”? Were things progressing in this direction, you might say these good ends will be reached by degrees, but the “progress” is the other way-the wrong way, and it is the height of folly to allow ourselves to be persuaded that Christendom is what its name is Intended to signify. You may depend upon it, the heavy foot of the oppressor, and the cruel hand of the assassin would not be allowed to distress and shock the world as they do now were Christ upon the throne of the earth’s dominion.
THE MISTAKE OF CHRISTENDOM
It is strange that so called Christians should have fallen into the very same mistake that caused the Jews to crucify Christ the same in one sense, but somewhat changed by their own inventions. The Jews, to whom the “oracles of God were committed,” learned from those oracles that their Messiah was to be king of all the earth and that he would break in pieces the oppressor and judge and rule in behalf of the poor and the needy. How could they learn otherwise from testimonies that declared that He should have all nations for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession; and that He would rule the nations with a rod of iron and dash their wicked governments in pieces like a potter’s vessel? Trampled down successively by the despotic
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powers of Babylon, Greece and Rome, the Jewish nation had become so absorbed in the hope of deliverance at the hands of their Messiah that they overlooked prophecies of his first coming to be as a lamb led to the slaughter, and to be followed by his response to His Father’s invitation, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.” With these prophecies eclipsed by the dazzling brightness of a rising “sun of righteousness,” they made the mistake of expecting the establishment of God’s kingdom upon the ruins of the kingdoms of men at the time that Christ appeared among them, and because He did not come as they expected, and as He will yet come, they denied Him and stretched out their cruel hands to crucify Him. Their mistake was in expecting the kingdom then, and so-called Christians have fallen into the very same mistake, and have gone further, to say that it was then set up. Feeling, however, that the visible facts of the world’s evil condition was against them, they have invented the mythical theory of a spiritual kingdom, which they have reduced some of them to the limits of men’s hearts, and others to that small portion of the earth called Christendom, a kingdom that is intangible and invisible. Let us not insult the Lord of glory by imputing to Him the kingship of the hearts of members of the Churches who make this foolish claim. Let us not dishonor Him by pointing to so-called Christendom and saying this is the dominion of Christ. As well might we point to Babylon, and we should be more nearly right were we to point to Christendom and cry out, Babylon! yes, “Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.”
In order to make somewhat of a show of sustaining the theory’ of the present spiritual existence of the kingdom of God, the ingenuity of man has been employed to make it appear that the spiritual kingdom can and does exist contemporarily with the temporal powers of the world, a sort of a kingdom within kingdoms, and one which allies itself with the world’s politics, forming a kind of twin relationship. There is an endeavor to mutually compromise so as to get along in peace and prevent a rupture between Church and State. The Church flirts with the legislative department in the prayers of Chaplains and by influencing votes at the polls, and the State in return helps the Church by patronage in various ways exemption from taxation, bestowing of official titles, and rich endowments, etc. Thus hand in hand they go and they are “hail fellows well met.”
This of itself is sufficient to show that there is no semblance of the kingdom of God in this system of things; for the kingdom of God will give no quarters to any government in the hands of mortal men. It will compromise with nothing which feeds the
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pride and vanity of pompous man, and when the time arrives for its establishment, man will have been permitted, like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar of old, to reach the climax of his vanity and pride and to inflate himself with his own self-importance, then to he dashed to the earth by a strong and righteous arm that will allow no flesh to glory in the presence of the God of heaven.
THE DREAM OF A KING
representative and characteristic of vain ambitious man, King Nebuchadnezzar, having reached the pinnacle of human honor and power cried out, “’Is not this great Babylon that I have built?” Anxious no doubt, to perpetuate his name and the greatness of his empire, . “thoughts came into his mind upon his bed what should come to pass hereafter” (Dan. 2: 29). You will, no doubt, remember the remarkable dream which followed; it was a prophetic dream and the wise men of Babylon could not meet the strenuous demands of the King, to give him the interpretation thereof. The prophet Daniel was God’s instrument in revealing the dream in its far-reaching and vastly important significance. In the interpretation given we have a clear and positive settlement of the question of the destiny of all human governments and the attitude of the kingdom of God toward them, when the time for its establishment shall come. In his dream King Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image composed of gold, silver, brass, iron and clay. It was intended to make known to the King “what shall be in the latter days” (Dan. 2: 28). Proceeding to interpret the dream, the prophet begins with the head, saying to Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou art this head of gold” (verse 38). Or in other words, Thy kingdom is represented by his head of gold; and then he adds, “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Then he proceeded to describe the fourth kingdom, saying, ‘”And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise (verse 40). By the mixing of clay with the iron the King was given to understand that the fourth empire “shall be partly strong and partly broken” verse 42). Here we have four great empires-Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman, and we have also the weakening and dividing up of the Roman empire as is represented by the introduction of the clay element. There is nothing of the so-called spiritual nature about these empires. If these are not literal powers in the earth, then there are no literal powers. They are real, as real as it is possible for a kingdom or empire to be real. You will pardon me if I remind you that they are every one
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of them on this very earth of ours. In considering this remarkable prophecy you are not carried to the sky, the stars, nor “beyond the bounds of time and space.” You are dealing with real empires within the bounds of time and space-time and space pertaining to this planet on which we live and move and have our being. There is therefore no mistake in our position here. We have taken our bearings. we know where we are. Standing here upon this solid foundation and taking a retrospective view of the world of nations we read in the writings of men what was here foretold by the inspiration of God. Viewing it from a human standpoint, the most unlikely things happened. The proud and mighty empire of Babylon went down. Persia, Grecia and Rome came upon the scene one after another just exactly as the prophet had declared. There was a time when no one would have dreamed of the strong iron empire of Rome being broken; but the clay mixed with the iron and the . “decline and fall’ ‘ of the Roman empire became a fact to be recorded by the pen of the eloquent historian, Gibbon. Remember that when Christ was here despised and rejected of men and finally crucified after a life of suffering by the authorities of this very Roman empire the Roman empire existed m the greatness of its strength It was in the zenith of its glory and no division had yet taken place no indication of crumbling appeared. And right here let us recall the fact that in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream a fifth empire appeared, in speaking of which the prophet tells the King, Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces No clay existed in this iron part of the image when Christ appeared upon the earth as the despised Nazarene. At that time it was impossible to strike the feet of the image, for the feet had not yet developed in the course of the historical formation of the image. This fifth empire represented by a stone, was not to ally itself with the iron kingdom but it was to break in pieces every form of human government grind them to powder until they become as the chaff of the summer threshing floor to be carried away by the wind of Divine vengeance. What is this stone that is to smite the great military image of the kingdom of men? We shall find the answer to the question; but first let me ask again, What is the gold of the image? The answer will be, The Babylonian empire; the silver the Medo-Persian; the brass the Macedonian; the iron the Roman; the clay mixed with the iron Rome weakened and divided. Surely there ought to be an answer to the question, “What does the stone represent?” Who in the Scripture is called the “stone of stumbling and a rock of offense?” Who is spoken of as the “stone which the builders rejected which is to become the head of the corner?”
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Anybody who knows anything about the Bible knows that these refer to Christ, the “stone of Israel” the “’typical rock that followed Israel” in the wilderness, from which, at the stroke of the rod of Moses and Aaron the waters of life gushed out, and that rock, says the Apostle Paul, was (a type of) Christ. This is the rock upon which the Church of Christ is built, so that “the gates of hades cannot prevail against it.” The stone then of Nebuchadnezzar”s prophetic dream is Christ, coming in his power and might as the king of all the earth. If the stone smiting the image represents the kingdom of God breaking the kingdoms of men to pieces. grinding them to powder and blowing them away as chaff. surely this must mean the end of all powers of human governments that their place might be occupied by the kingdom of God. There can be no question about this, because when this destruction is accomplished it is said, “and the stone which smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2: 35
Here is a universal kingdom taking the place of the kingdoms of men. Breaking in pieces the gold, the silver. the brass, the iron and the clay together can mean nothing else but the utter destruction of every element of these historic empires, under whose tyranny the world has groaned for centuries. If the stone represents Christ in His establishment of the kingdom of God. the mountain, which the stone becomes, must represent His kingdom as the only one on the face of the earth. His kingdom therefore is a constitution of things to be established here and not there- in the earth not in the sky. So far as we can know the sky is no place for a kingdom; but here a kingdom is needed. Here a man is needed good enough, wise enough and strong enough to “show strength with his arm; to scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts; to put down the mighty from their seats, and exalt them of low “degree.” This Man will come and He will “fill the hungry with good things and the rich He will send empty away ,Luke 1 51-53 How can there be any question that this stone is Christ, and that its breaking in pieces of the image is Christ’s destruction of the kingdoms of men and inauguration of the grand and glorious kingdom of God? Hear what the inspired prophet himself says: “And in the days of these kings shalt the God of heaven set up a kingdom. which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever’ . (Dan. 2: 44). What have we here? Who is this who is to set up a kingdom and what is the stone to fill? The whole earth. Whose kingdom is this that is to be set up represented by the stone filling the whole earth? Mark the words, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” “And the kingdom
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and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Dan. 7: 27). Here the question is settled. While God permits human rule or rather misrule, for a time, His glorious plan has provided for its utter destruction and the elimination of the evils which have filled the earth, and then the good time will come to bless the World of mankind with peace, prosperity, righteousness and everlasting joy.
Let me remind you again of the words, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” If the God of heaven sets up a kingdom it will be the kingdom of the God of heaven will it not? In other words the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. This recalls the fact that Jesus and His disciples preached the glad tidings or the gospel of the kingdom of God, which brings home to our minds that they preached the very gospel which is proclaimed in this wonderful prophecy of the book of Daniel, that the kingdom of God, which supersedes upon the earth the kingdoms of men, removes the curse and brings the heavenly blessings for which “the whole creation groans and travails together in pain waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God.”
DOES THIS SUBJECT CONCERN OUR INDIVIDUAL SALVATION?
Is this an important matter for you, dear reader, and for me? Does it concern our salvation or eternal welfare? Surely it must, since this kingdom of God, which is the only kingdom involved in the plan of salvation, is the subject matter of the gospel. The gospel was preached that men and women might believe it, and be saved by it. For them to believe any other gospel would be for them to disbelieve the true gospel. If the kingdom of God is the subject matter of the only saving gospel and that gospel must be believed in order to obtain salvation, surely we must have a correct idea of what the kingdom is; where it will be established and the grand object of its establishment. It cannot be that it can be had by belief in a false gospel. Salvation is predicated upon a belief of the only true gospel. The Saviour, in commissioning His apostles, commanded them to preach the gospel to every creature. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16: 16). The Apostle Paul says, “If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed”
Gal. 1: 6-9). The gospel which Paul had preached to the Galatians was the same as he preached in Rome, where he “dwelt two whole years in his own hired house and received all that
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came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28: 30, 31). This is the same gospel he speaks of when writing to the Romans, saying, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1: 16).
Now to preach or to believe another gospel different from the one the Scriptures set forth will not suffice; and this is the danger with the believer in a kingdom beyond the skies, and that at death we “mount triumphant there.” When God fulfills His promise to give Christ the ‘uttermost parts of the earth for His possession,” and Christ becomes king over all the earth, as the prophet Zechariah declares; when He comes again in like manner as He departed and literally stands upon the Mount of Olives as He stood before He ascended is it not reasonable to believe that His true followers will be with Him The one hundred and forty-four thousand redeemed ones of the Book of Revelation “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” How can this be if the eternal abode of the righteous is in heaven? The Saviour, in correcting a mistake which the disciples fell into when He was here on the earth, also corrects the mistake made by the popular teachings in regard to heaven-going at death, and He also corrects the mistake made by those who claim that the kingdom of God would “immediately appear.” or, as they say’, was established when Chirst was here on earth. It was because the disciples thought that the kingdom of God would immediately appear” that He spake to them the parable of the nobleman. In this parable He says, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come But his citizens hated him. and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass. when he was returned. having received the kingdom. then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading” (Luke 19: 12-15 Here He clearly teaches His return to establish His kingdom and therefore shows that His kingdom was not established at His first coming Here He teaches that His kingdom is to be established upon the earth, and not in heaven, and now may we ask. What is the commandment he gave to his faithful servants concerning thus matter? Does he say-. Occupy till you come to me? or does He say’, “Occupy till I come.” Does He call his servants to Him in heaven and judge them there, and reward them there, or is it when the nobleman returns that He calls His servants together and judges them and rewards them?
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Note the parable carefully and you must see that it is entirely out of harmony with popular tradition and in beautiful harmony with the things concerning the kingdom of God, which we have learned from testimonies quoted If when we die we go to heaven and are received there-and-then by Christ, where would be the force of the words, “When He was returned he called his servants together”? They will have been called together to him in heaven if popular tradition is right and they will not be here for Him to call them together at His return The truth of God in relation to this grand subject is as a perfect arch. Take out one stone and it falls to pieces. Every stone is made to fit, and the keystone is Christ himself. This kingdom us the one that we should seek for so that when Christ shall come we may be blessed with an abundant entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1 11) It is When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt 25 31 34) Do you not think it would be a matter of great astonishment for Christ to say , “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom to one who believes he has been in the kingdom as long as he has been in the Church? Would not such a deluded person be inclined to answer I have been in the kingdom ever since I entered the Church It is therefore not necessary to invite me to inherit the kingdom I have been in since my conversion But with the inconsistencies of popular tradition we have very little to do except to endeavor or to escape their snares and delusions and be found among those occupying” with a view of being prepared for Christ’s coming instead of for our going so that we may be worthy of His words of commendation , . ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant words that will not be addressed to those who have believed the traditions of the world and refused the clear teachings of the word of God. Should it be our lot to be accepted by Him at His righteous judgment we shall then be among that happy company to whom the kingdom shall be given, for it is said, “The time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” “The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Dan. 7: 27). Then with hearts thrilled
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with joy and delight and voices tuned in harmony with truth and righteousness, we shall send up to heaven the anthem of praise, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5: 8-10).
Hark?. ten thousand, thousand voices
Sing the song of jubilee;
Earth through their tribes rejoices
, Broke her long captivity.
Now the theme in pealing thunders.
Through the gladsome air is rung;
Now in gentler tones the wonders
. Of redeeming grace are sung.
Hail, Emmanuel, great deliven’erer,
Hail, Emmanuel, praise to thee.
Oh! the rapturous, blissful story,
Spoken to Emmanuel’s praise;
And the strains so full of glory
That immortal voices raise;
While our crowns of glory casting
At His feet in rapture lost,
We, in anthems everlasting,
Mingle with the ransomed host.
Hail, Emmanuel, great delivei’er,
Thou art worthy of all praise.
Yes, He reigns, the great Messiah
In millennial glory crowned;
Israel’s Hope and “Earth’s Desire
‘ Now triumphant and renowned;
Heaven and earth with all their regions,
At His footstool prostrate fall;
Heaven and earth with all their legions.
Crown Emmanuel Lord of all
Hail, Emmanuel; reign forever
Heaven’en to earth reflects the sound.
Man, through sin, having fallen from the exalted position in which God had placed him, becomes an outcast, an
alien from God and in the language Of the Apostle Paul, was “without hope and without God in the world He was then so far as he himself was concerned hopeless and absolutely powerless to help himself. He had fallen He was lost While he had thus brought evil into the world, dethroned himself and become the subject of sin, resulting in the deplorable history of human affairs which followed, he placed himself in a predicament to become the subject of Divine mercy. This gave scope for the manifestation of the love of God, to show that His tender mercies are always manifest towards those who will believe His word and obey His commandments He does not leave man to die under the sentence and go down into dust without hope, but He comes to his rescue opening up a new relationship.
COVENANT WITH ADAM
Here, we may safely say is the first covenant of promise to be found in the Bible. While the promise is made in so many words the covenant feature is only implied The implication however is sufficient to assure us that a covenant relationship was opened up between man and his creator The Scriptures lay down the principle that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin” (Heb. 9: 22). A covenant, therefore, providing for man’s redemption must always provide for a sacrifice for the remission of sins. Was there such a sacrifice in the case of our first parents? May we not safely conclude that the coats of skins made for covering their nakedness implied a sacrifice involving the shedding of blood? That by the goodness of God an arrangement was entered into between God and man at that early stage, requiring sacrificial offerings, is clear from the words of the Apostle Paul By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts: and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh (Heb 11 4) This alludes to Gen 4: 3, 4 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto
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the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” How could Cain and Abel know that it was necessary to make offerings unless they had received the revelation from God? That a covenant had been entered into, God promising redemption and requiring submission to his prescribed conditions, would seem to be more than implied in what the apostle says. He first defines faith, saying, “Now’ faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Our first parents and their sons could know nothing of future life and could hope for nothing after the fall, unless God had made promises to them. In these promises they had “evidence of things not seen,” things far in the future. involving human redemption. Without this faith “it Is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11: 6). This is what is called in other parts of the Scriptures “the one faith,’ . the “one hope. ‘ ‘ We may safely conclude also that this one faith is what is termed the one gospel, and therefore the gospel from the beginning and throughout all ages since has been the same, involving the redemption of man and the “restitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.” Having defined what the one faith is. the apostle proceeds to say, “Through faith we understand that the worlds (ages) were framed.” and then he adds, “By faith,” this faith already defined, . “Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” The one faith was therefore revealed to them. and this one faith instructed them that God required an offering from them, or rather offerings, for evidently there were two kinds of offerings to be made-one of the fruit of the ground and the other of the firstlings of the flock. it does not appear that God found fault with Cain’s offering in itself. it was all right in its place. but where he fell short was that he did not do all that God had required as Abel his brother did. That it was not displeasing to God to offer the fruit of the ground us shown by the fact that such offerings were instituted in the Mosaic law. The difference between the two was that the one was an offering of gratitude to God, while the other, the firstlings of the flock. involving the shedding of blood, acknowledged man as a sinner and his dependence upon God for forgiveness and redemption through the shedding of the blood of the typical victims. which pointed to Christ. whose blood has been shed for redemption. An offering which acknowledged the justice of God in inflicting death for sin and His goodness in granting remission of sin and release from its evil effects was esteemed very important, sufficiently so to cause God to have respect to Abel’s obedience and to bring frowns upon the disobedience of Cain. The words spoken to Cain, “Sin lieth at the door” (Gen. 4: 7) should be
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rendered “A sin-offering croucheth at thy door,” intimating that an animal proper to be offered for atonement, and which Cain had failed to offer, was within reach. We may safely say that “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” was in the gospel or the faith known to our first parents, and that their offering pointed directly to Him, as all the types and shadows of the Mosaic law did, of which the apostles assure us. Here then in the Garden of Eden. as soon as man fell, we have a covenant of promise.
THE COVENANT WITH NOAH
Coming down to the time of Noah when the wickedness of man became great and God’s justice and vengeance required the destruction of almost everything that existed, provision being made for the safety of Noah and his family and sufficient of the animal kingdom to give the world a fresh start, another covenant of promise was made. In the building of the ark which saved Noah and all that went in with him we have a figure of Christ The apostle Peter says, “The like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save us” 1 Pet 3 21 ) The storm and flood having subsided God enters into covenant with Noah, instructing him in certain details concerning thie various animals by which he could discriminate between the clean and the unclean, He then says
Gen 9: 9-17 And I behold I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle and every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you neither shalt all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood, neither shall all there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said This is the token of the covenant which l make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh And the bow shall be in the cloud: and I will look upon it that l may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth
Again we would pause here and ask the reader to remember that these covenants. so far is we have gone pertain to the earth and the creatures upon it that they deal with the results of the curse which was the origin as cause of all the evils necessitating the covenants and the end they are intended to reach. No doubt there were many details in these covenants communicated to the people of the times that are not recorded revelation not seeming to abound in giving particulars from Adam to Abraham as it does from Abraham to Christ and His apostles. The outlines given, however, with references made in more recent writings in the
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Scriptures, are sufficient to assure us that God’s promises and all His arrangements with man in those early ages dealt with things as they had come to be in the earth with a view of ultimately righting all wrongs and eradicating every vestige of sin and its woeful effects. Over two thousand years pass away before the details of the covenants of promise begin to be clearly revealed and assume tangible form, which brings them well within the scope of the comprehension of following ages.
THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
Abraham is told to leave his native country and to go into the land of Canaan. where God promises to make of him a great nation to bless him and to make his name great. “And Abram took Sarah his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance * * * and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan: and into the land of Canaan they came” (Gen. 12: 5). Upon his arrival in the promised land we are informed of the nature of the promised covenant which was repeated to Isaac and to Jacob:
Gen 13: 14-1 7-The Lord d said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him. Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward. and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth. then shall thy seed also be numbered Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for l will give it unto thee.
Gen l 5: And he bought him forth abroad, and said Look now toward heaven and tell the stars. if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him. So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord : and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him I am the Lord that bought thee out Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said Lord God. where by shall l know that I shall inherit it?
Verse l 8-In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river the river Euphrates.
Gen . 17: l 8-And when Abram was ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God: walk before me and be thou perfect And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him saying As for me behold. my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations Neither shall thy name be called Abram but thy name shall he Abraham : for a father of many nations have I made thee And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee. and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, and to seed after thee. And l will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession: and l will be their God.
Gen 22: 15-17-And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. and said, By myself have I sworn saith the Lord: for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore:
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and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice.
REPEATED TO ISAAC
Gen 26: 1-5-And there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar And the Lord appeared unto him and said Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which l shall tell thee of sojourn in this land, and I will he with thee and will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed l will give all these countries and l will perform the oath which l made unto Abraham thy father; and l will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because that Abraham obeyed my voice. and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws
REPEATED AGAIN TO JACOB
Gen 28: 13. 14-And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, l am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
TYPICALLY CONFIRMED
Those who have departed from the Abrahamic faith and subverted the covenants of promise will claim that these Scriptures found their fulfillment in the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; at any rate in that of their descendants, the twelve tribes of Israel They are astonished when we quote these testimonies and apply them to ourselves They have no idea that the gospel the only true and saving gospel is found in these very promises Perhaps you, dear reader have taken this ground but let us reason together a little. You will notice that in making the promise to Abraham it is said, not simply that I will give this land including the blessings promised, to thy seed but I will give it to thee and to thy seed. Therefore it was intended that Abraham himself and Isaac, and Jacob should personally receive the inheritance and enjoy the blessings contained in the covenant That Abraham did not understand that he was then to receive the inheritance is clearly shown from the anxious inquiry he makes when he says, . “Lord God, whereby shall I know that l shall inherit it?” What could make him ask such a question as this if when the promise was made the inheritance was given to him and he already inherited it? There was no reason why he should ask for evidence that at a future time he would come into the possession of the inheritance if it was then given into his possession. It is evident that he saw how far-reaching the promises were, that they reached away beyond the time of his natural life; and may we not conclude that it was in this that he saw the day of Christ, of which our Saviour speaks when he says, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” The manner in which Abraham
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asked for assurance show’s that this was the case. He Was not answered in so many words, but he was commanded to take an heifer of three years old and with it and other things make an offering which shows that the realization of the promises depended upon sacrifice. All sacrifices, especially those in which there was the shedding of blood, pointed to Christ. If we View this typically we may safely conclude that the answer points out that the inheritance could not be realized except through Christ. and that he would be the covenant sacrifice, whose blood would be shed to bring the covenant into force
RESURRECTION REVEALED
There is another reason why we may conclude that this promise reached down the ages beyond the time of the resurrection. The matters recorded in the fifteenth chapter seem to follow each other in natural sequence The first command given to Abraham in answer to his inquiry whereby he should know that he should inherit the land. is to offer sacrifice. This takes us back to the sin of our first parents which necessitated sacrifice in order that men might escape the curse which Adam brought upon the race. Had God never interposed in mans behalf, man must have died under the condemnation and gone into the perpetual darkness of the grave. But sacrifice having been provided. pointing to Christ hope is given of escape from the power of death and the bondage of the grave through resurrection Hence the next step in the answer to Abraham’s inquiry was one that removed the grievous difficulty which, no doubt, stood in his way . He felt and confessed that he was ‘but dust and ashes: realizing that in a few years; his life must end. and he would be “gathered to his fathers and see corruption.” How then could he inherit such wonderful worldwide endless blessings as had been promised? How could he pass over the dark chasm of death and the grave and reach the time when all the nations of the earth would be blessed in him and in his seed and he would receive the everlasting inheritance promised? He exclaims in the earnestness of his soul Lord God. whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” In answer after commanding that offerings be made the sun is going down and Abraham is caused to pass into a “deep sleep and a horror of great darkness fell upon him. . . What can this be but death and the grave that perplexing obstacle which Abraham saw between him and the realization of the grand promises? Why is he thus caused to symbolically die. to pass into the darkness of the grave? Is it not that God might awaken him out of this sleep. and thus show him by symbol that the obstacle standing in his way would be removed, and that by him ultimately being awakened from the
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sleep of death and brought victoriously forth from the power of the grave he would realize the promises?
If this is the gospel involved in the Abrahamic promises it surely concerns us as much as it did him. The same gospel that suited his condition and his future prospects suits ours. Therefore these promises seriously concern us, and let us not be persuaded that they are out of date and pertain to the ages of the past, having no reference whatever to our salvation.
Previous to the Lord appearing to Abraham the second time to amplify the covenant, he was subjected to the severe test of offering his son his only heir, as a sacrifice to God. We have only to imagine ourselves as in Abraham’s place to realize what a trying ordeal it was for him to be the recipient of such momentous promises. Had he not been the right man in the right place, he certainly would have faltered and fallen under the weight of such responsibilities as he must have felt devolving upon him. by’ reason of being the one upon whom in the hands of God, depended such wonderful eventualities God’s goodness however always provides for the weakness of fallen men and “the word of the Lord” came unto Abraham in a vision , saying, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward ( Gen l 5 : 1). Still the question pressed itself How could such great things be-accomplished through his seed when he was a childless man advanced in years? He exclaims “ Behold to me thou hast given no seed: and lo, one born in my house is mine heir (verse 3). All through the trying ordeal Abraham is in anxious and intelligent inquirer doubting not the power and veracity of God but seeking “the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen which is always well pleasing to God who even condescends to say to the intelligent creatures of his creation
“Come let us reason together” As Abraham’s anxiety’ grew’ in intensity’, one by one the obstacles were removed and the light increased. shining “brighter and brighter unto the perfect day” He is assured and strengthened by the words This (Ishmael) “shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir (verse 4 ) W hen Abraham w as ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared unto him to renew the covenant and said. “As for Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call her name Sarai but Sarah shall her name be. And l will bless her, and give these a son also of her: yea I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations: kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, 0 that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said,
pg 46 THE WORLD’S REDEMPTION
Sarah thy wife shall hear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” (Gen. 17: 1-5 19). In due lime Isaac was born; and after a While, when the mocking of Ishmael sorely displeased Sarah, she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Gen. 21: 10-12).
Thus far all obstacles have been removed, everything made clear and Abraham could more fully trust in God, and wait in faith the fulfillment of the covenants of promise. But still a more trying ordeal awaited him, one that without the faith developed by irresistible evidence and by intelligence concerning the power and purpose of God, he could never have endured. The indignant scoffer flushes his cheeks and cries out against God’s demand of Abraham to ‘Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Gen. 22: 2). To the mere natural man it appears cruel; but to one who knows God’s power, authority and wisdom it is quite intelligible. Had Abraham reasoned from the standpoint of the mere natural man, to Slay his son and heir would be to frustrate the purpose of God and defeat the plan the covenants of promise provided for. But was not Isaac’s existence a token of God’s power? Had not God in various ways shown His power and faithfulness? Even if I slay my son, cannot the God, who supernaturally gave him to me, prevent the pangs and pains of death, even though he die by the knife, and then restore him to life again? This was a faith based upon the power and veracity of God, and one that required reason and intelligence concerning His plan of a character too high for the unenlightened mere natural man to reach. It was, however, the faith that strengthened Abraham for the trying test; for the Apostle Paul says, “By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” Heb 11:17-19). Here we have a representation of God’s love in giving His Son, and of Christ’s resurrection to life through sacrifice, which is the real and final confirmation of the covenants of promise. As the sacrifice of the
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victim brought Isaac from the dead in “a figure” so the “God of peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13: 20). And thus was Christ “a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers” (Rom. 15: *)
NOT YET FULFILLED, BUT WILL BE
Should you, dear reader, not feel disposed to accept what seems to be the unmistakable meaning of the types or symbols we have called attention to, we are pleased to assure you that the futurity of the Abrahamic promises is not dependent upon these alone. The Scriptures positively declare it in words that cannot be mis-understood. Coming down to the first century of the Christian era, over two thousand years from Abraham’s time, we have the words of the Apostle Paul declaring, “By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, * * * went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise” (Heb. 11: 8, 9). There can be no question that the apostle here refers to the very land promised to Abraham for an inheritance, including also, of course, all the blessings involved I must again remind you that there is not one word indicating a promise to Abraham of an inheritance in heaven. It all has to do with the earth. He is told to “look northward, southward, eastward and westward, and all the land which thou seest,” it says. “to thee will I give it.” ‘When he is commanded to arise and walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, and he is assured that to him God would give it-the land. Abraham believed this and it was accounted to him for righteousness, Had he changed this and believed in “reading his title clear to mansions in the skies,” he would not have believed the promise, but something else, not promised; and that would not have been accounted to him for righteousness, for “he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;” and surely God cannot be well pleased with those who, by refusing to believe His promises as they are given, without perversion, make Him a liar. In this very land he sojourned; and in this very land he was a stranger; of this very land he was heir, not yet in possession; of this very covenant, of these very promises made to Abraham and others, the apostle says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, hut having seen them afar oft, and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth” (Heb. 11: 13). At that time they were strangers and
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pilgrims, but when they come to the realization of the promises they will no longer be strangers and pilgrims, for then they will be of those spoken of by our Saviour, in His promise, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,” and they will join in that grand song of redemption, “Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth.”
Some base the claim of a past fulfillment of the promises to Abraham upon the words from Neh. 9: 7, 8-“Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham: and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him, to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his Seed, and hast performed thy words.”
A moment’s thought will show the fallacy of such a claim, and those who make it forget that if they succeeded in proving that Nehemiah meant the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, the passage would be a flat contradiction to what is said in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul declares that the possession of the promised land under the Mosaic law, or the added covenant, did not disannual to make the Abrahamic covenant of none effect (Gal. 3: 17, 18). Supposing we were to make the words of Nehemiah read as some would have them read, “And madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorties, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say (to thee and) to thy seed, and hast performed thy words.” Then we should be met with the words of Stephen in Acts 7: 5 where he declares, “And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.” No one who has any regard for the Scriptures would force a claim that necessitates the admission that the Bible contradicts itself. There is no disputing the words of Stephen, and if the words of Nehemiah say the very Opposite a contradiction necessarily must be admitted. Numerous testimonies show clearly that the promise has not been fulfilled to Abraham and to his seed; for it centered in Christ, and cannot be fulfilled until Christ takes possession of the promised inheritance. But how would we harmonize the apparent contradiction? Very easily if we pay strict attention to what Nehemiah says. He does not say, “to give it, I say, to him and to his seed.” He simply Says, “to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words.” The seed here referred to were the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh; and the possession of the land by them was under the Mosaic covenant, which was added to the
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Abrahamic “till the seed should come to whom the promise (the great Abrahamic covenant, to which the Mosaic covenant was added) was made.” The possession of the land under the Mosaic covenant was a small matter compared with the promise to Abraham in its amplitude and was simply an added affair to illustrate a greater and grander constitution, that to which it pointed and of which it was a type. It was the lesser involved in the greater, and when it had served its purpose was abolished and Abraham’s natural seed driven out of the land and scattered among all nations of the earth. Hence Paul says of the two covenants represented by Sarah and Isaac, and Hagar and Ishmael, “which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants the one from the Mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage which* * *is Agar and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children But Jerusalem which is above or as some translate it, “Jerusalem the exalted the one that will be higher and more glorious than the one that was is free This one is represented by Sarah and Isaac Hence he adds “ Now we, brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise.” The Abrahamic promise is therefore still a promise and not a thing fulfilled.
Upon the principle of the greater involving the lesser, which is characteristic of the Scriptures in many cases, there is a double fulfillment provided for. The possession of the land under the Mosaic law was involved in the promise made to Abraham, but it was not the fulfillment of it As an illustration of this principle we may refer to the words, Out of Fgypt have I called my son, which were originally applied to Israel coming out of Egypt but they are applied also to Christ and it is a question if they are not still applicable to the future and larger fulfillment God knowing the end from the beginning, can give expression in the same words to events wide apart that will repeat themselves in the future history of the world, and thus clothe divine thoughts in few words It would be difficult for any one to divide the promises made to Abraham, and say on the one hand, This applies to the possession of the land under the Mosaic law, and on the other hand, This applies to the everlasting inheritance under Christ. But if it be kept in mind that the Mosaic possession, the lesser, is involved in the promise of the everlasting inheritance through Christ, the greater, the difficulty will be removed, and then we can apply the words of Nehemiah to the lesser, in which he only says that the land was given “to his seed.” It yet remains for the absolute fulfillment required by the promise which declares, “To thee will I give it and to thy seed for an everlasting inheritance;’ and when this is fulfilled, “all families of the earth shall be
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blessed,” a thing that has found no fulfillment as yet in the history o£ the world.
HOW TO AVOID A CONTRADICTION
Since the covenants of promise are really the gospel and since salvation is to be realized by all the saved of Adam’s race at the same time, it is evident that the actual inheritance could not be realized until all the redeemed should enter upon it together, and this is exactly what this same apostle declares: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11: 39, 40). Should you still be in doubt, dear reader, on this, let me invite your attention to what is recorded in Acts 7: 2 “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child Here we have a portion of the Scriptures made much of by infidelity. The infidel asks the popular theorist some very awkward questions here, as follows: Did God promise to give Abraham the land of Canaan for in everlasting inheritance? To this only one answer can be given-Yes, he did. It would not do to say that He promised him a spiritual Canaan in the skies, for that would be adding to God’s word, The language is too clear to allow of such perversion. Abraham was not commanded to look to the skies. nor to heaven; he was taken into the land itself, saw it and walked through it, and all this land was promised to him. The infidel then puts the question God having promised this land to Abraham, did He give it to him? It will not for us to say yes, for Inspiration has just told us that “He gave him not so much as to set his foot on, yet He promised that He would give it to him Then says the infidel, it is recorded in the book of Genesis that God promised to give Abraham the land, and it is recorded in the Acts of the apostles that He did not give him so much as to set his foot upon, therefore you have a contradictory Bible and an unfaithful God. What shall we do about this? Shall we leave the God of the Bible open to the charge of unfaithfulness, and admit that the Bible is a contradictory book? Shall we surrender to infidelity, or shall we take the sword of the Spirit and use it manfully in defense of God and
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His book? Your Bible, says the infidel, says that God promised the land to Abraham and your Bible, says the infidel, declares that he did not fulfill this promise, and then he asks the leaders of “orthodoxy,” Will God ever give that land which He promised to Abraham to him for his inheritance? and the answer is, and must, from the very nature of the creeds, be no, for they have sent Abraham beyond the bounds of time and space, and claim that heaven is to be his everlasting abode and therefore have no provision in their creed for him ever to come into possession of the real promise. Then, says the infidel, God has promised what He never has performed, and what you say He never will perform. What shall we do? There is only one way of saving the Bible from impeachment and there is only one way of vindicating the veracity of God in this case. The facts and the truths allow us but one way. they force us to but one answer, and that one answer will bring us to the truth in relation to the covenants of promise. We must admit that God made the promise. We must admit that the same Bible tells us that He did not fulfill it, but shall we admit that He never will fulfill it? Perish the thought. And yet when we admit that He will fulfill it we must necessarily’ face the frowns of the religious world. For to admit that God will yet give the very land He promised, that the very land He did not give-shall yet be given is to admit the future inheritance of faithful Abraham and all of his like precious faith on the earth, not in heaven, in the skies, nor beyond the bounds of time and space and this necessarily’ comes into collision with and entirely breaks up the theories upon which is built the whole structure of popular theology.
When these truths are presented to the advocates of popular religious theories they readily see that they undermine the whole superstructure upon which the creeds are built. They endeavor to escape the force of these testimonies by the process of spiritualizing Canaan and making it mean heaven. Hence we have been taught in our youthful days to sing, “I have a father in the promised land; I have a mother in the promised land,” meaning by “promised land’ heaven. to which all the good are supposed to go at death. Surely if any body is in this promised land, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. to whom the real promise was made, ought to be there. But mere assertion is not always truth. Paul positively says of the fathers, that ‘these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise;” and they are not to realize it until the redeemed are all perfected together (Heb. 11:39, 40). “These” he says, all “died in the faith.” They saw afar off by the eye of faith the realization of the promises and they died in the faith. How could it be said that they died in this faith
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if they did not die, but simply “”shuffled off this mortal coil to mount to realms of bliss beyond the stars? This would not be dying in faith. It would be commencing to live and to realize the very hope which the apostle declares they died in No believer in the theory of heaven-going at death as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise would ever think of speaking of Abraham coming into possession of the inheritance in the future. To them it is a thing of the past and the present, the actual inheritance of the spiritual Canaan commencing with the hour and article of death. But the prophet Micah, giving expression to the Abrahamic faith and hope, declares, about ten hundred years after Abraham’s death. “Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (Micah 7: 20). What had God sworn unto our fathers? That He would give them the land of Canaan for an everlasting inheritance, that in Abraham and his seed He would bless all nations of the earth. These promises, as we have seen, involve the resurrection to life and immortality, the realization of salvation. These were the things that were promised, and the performance of the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham was, in the days of the prophet Micah, still in the distant future-a matter of hope and expectation. If it is still said that the intention of the promise to Abraham was to give him a spiritual Canaan in the sky, then, according to Acts 7, he had not received so much as to set his foot on when Stephen uttered these words. Whether the Canaan promised was above or below, in the sky or on the earth, Abraham had not received so much of it as to set his foot on about two thousand years after his death. There is only one way left open for us, and that is the way of truth.
While the promise describes a certain land to Abraham, the bounds of which are given as “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” which it would seem applies in a special sense, that is to say, this particular land is to be allotted for a particular purpose, a center, as it were around which the future workings of God, in blessing all nations of the earth, wilh revolve. yet the Apostle Paul seems to widen out the Abrahamic promises into a “world.” He says, “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13). As all nations of the earth are to be blessed, it follows, as a matter of course, that the promise included within its scope the entire earth, a grand truth more clearly revealed as we come further down in the course of revelation. In the second Psalm the promise to Christ is, “I shall give thee the heathen for thine in-heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession
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(Psa. 2: 8). The “world” of which Abraham was made heir by the promise will be as wide as the “uttermost parts of the earth” promised to Christ, for otherwise the cure of the Adamic curse would not be as wide as the disease. The world’s redemption is therefore fully comprehended in the Abrahamic covenant.
Some will possibly ask, How about the children of Abraham going into the promised land under Joshua? Was not that a fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise? This, indeed, is the position generally taken by those who have subverted the covenant and substituted in its place the theory of heaven-going. But this question is settled as clearly as it is possible for any question to be settled if we take the word of God as our authority, and what else can we take? There is no other authority worth considering. Take all the help you please from frail, mortal fallible man, the court of final appeal in all these cases must be the unerring word of the living and true God. The Apostle Paul seems to anticipate the very theories of our time and head them off, as it were, by argument and facts irresistible. He says, “And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God, in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect” (Gal. 3: 17). The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ is undoubtedly the Abrahamic covenant, which was made four hundred and thirty years before Israel came out of Egypt under the Mosaic covenant. Its confirmation was in Christ, typically, for, as we have seen, all sacrifices point to Christ, and the covenant made with Abraham was confirmed by the offering of sacrifices. This covenant, which was made with Abraham four hundred and thirty years before the children of Israel came out of Egypt, was not, the apostle says, disannuled and made of none effect by the descendants of Abraham being delivered from Egypt and given possession of the land of Canaan. “If,” he adds, “the inheritance” that is, of course, the inheritance promised to Abraham, “be of the law.”’ that is, if it was realized in its fullness by the law of Moses, “it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise (Gal. 3: 18). Then he anticipates the question, “Wherefore then serveth the law?” Or what was the Mosaic covenant for? And his answer is, “It was added”-added to the Abrahamic covenant “because of transgression.” Till when? For how long? To whom did it lead? And his answer is, “Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” This shows us clearly that the Abrahamic promise or the covenant reached down to Christ, and that in and through him it would finally be realized; and that the law of Moses was simply added as a sort of parenthesis, thrown in.as it were, for the time being, to deal with certain evils, and
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leading up to the grand ultimatum centering in Him the pith and the pivot of the whole matter. “Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Mark this. While the promise was made to Abraham, there was a greater than he who was the chief one-the one to whom the promise was made, in whom it centered, and upon whom it depended for its fulfillment.
If in making the covenant with Abraham the gospel of salvation was made known to him, or in other words, if the Abrahamic covenant and the gospel are synonymous, then, since the gospel wherever it is found and by whatever name we give it, must have Christ in it, we ought to find Christ clearly and distinctly revealed in the Abrahamic covenant. Some may object to what we have set forth in relation to Christ being typified by the offerings Abraham made, although we can scarcely imagine how the truth thus shadowed forth could be evaded, but even allowing such objection, there is unmistakable and indisputable evidence that Christ is in the Abrahamic promises. For instance, we read, “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore (Gen. 22: 17). Here, no doubt, we have first a promise of the great nation which should come forth from Abraham according to the flesh, but from other testimonies we may be safe in concluding that there is a higher meaning still, and that the promises involved a multitude of Abraham’s seed according to the spirit, as we shall presently see from other testimonies. Then it is added, “Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Here we have an individual seed. It is not, Thy seed shall possess the gate of their enemies, but thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, “and in thy seed,” this particular individual seed, in or through him all nations of the earth shall be blessed.” Who is this? If it is Christ, then we have here the second Adam that is to undo the evil of the first Adam. If it is Christ, then we have here the one that shall “possess the gate of his enemies;” have power over all enemies; rule as king of all the earth; the one to whom it is said, “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen (nations) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psa. 2: 8). If it is not Christ who is it? Who can it be? Can the question be settled beyond the shadow of a doubt? We have frequently called this promise the gospel. Should our right to do so be questioned, we would refer to the Apostle Paul for our authority. He says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before (before visiting the Gentiles) the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Gal. 3: 8). The gospel then promises a blessing for all nations of the earth. This gospel was preached to
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Abraham. There is no other gospel which will save. In this very same letter to the Galatians he says, “Though we, or an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel ‘unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed” (chap. 1: 8).
There being but one gospel and that gospel having been preached to Abraham, we are safe in saying that in the Abrahamic covenant we have the gospel of our salvation In this gospel we are to find Christ. Have we found Him? Again the words ring with the force of truth, “Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies We claim these words can apply to no one except Christ. Are we right Let us be sure. Let us be safe The subject is important It has many enemies. Popular sentiment m the world is against it. Nothing will settle this but Inspiration. Again we ask, Is this seed. . this individual seed, Christ? The Apostle Paul has declared the oneness of the gospel, and then directing us back to the book of Genesis, where we should have an account of that one gospel preached to Abraham, by which all the nations of the earth are to be blessed, he removes all possibility of doubt and shows us that Christ is the very heart of the gospel. “To Abraham and to his seed” he says, “were the promises made.” Yes, Paul, we have seen that, for we have read in the book of Genesis that God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed for an everlasting inheritance; but there is much dispute in the modern religious world about this question, and popular theology says that the “seed” there is simply the Jews, who dwelt in the land for a time and on account of their wickedness have been scattered and destroyed as a nation and that is the end of the matter. We would like therefore to know who this seed is. He answers, “He saith not and to seeds as to many; but as OF ONE, And to thy seed WHICH IS CHRIST” (Gal. 3: 16).
HOW GENTILES MAY BECOME HEIRS
The question is safely settled, and we go back to Genesis and read the promises again, with the assurance that they are made to Abraham and to Christ. The chief, the head, the Alpha and the Omega is Christ, and yet the seed through him is to be multitudinous. The promise to him is that he, Christ, shall have the land. the world, the “uttermost parts of the earth for his possession That He is to bless all nations of the earth. There is no promise to any one not of the seed of Abraham. Therefore the apostle says, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith”-the Abrahamic faith, of course, the same faith that was accounted to him for righteousness-“know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal. 3: 5-7). How may we become the children of Abraham? Hear what the
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apostle says in writing to the Ephesians, ‘”For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote afore in few words Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph.. 3: 1-5). What is this that is revealed to Paul that concerns the Gentiles. that which we may’ safely presume will concern the greater part of Our readers? Unless we become the seed of Abraham we cannot hope to share in the promises made to Abraham and his seed. As Gentiles we are not the seed of Abraham; therefore have no right to the promise. But the apostle has already told us, that “”they which are of the faith * * * are the children of Abraham.” And now he is going to tell us clearly what had been revealed to him specially’ in behalf of the Gentiles, and it is this:
“”That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same’ body and partakers of his promise, in Christ by the gospel” (Eph. 3: 6’). While we are Gentiles, and in no sense the seed of Abraham we are. he says, By nature the children of wrath” (Eph. 2: 3): and he tells us to remember that when we were Gentiles in the flesh we were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2: 12). If the Gentiles are to be made fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of the same promise in Christ by the gospel, and if before this takes place they’ are aliens, strangers, having no hope and without God in the world, is it not, dear reader, a vital question, the most important question to us, how may we change our relationship so as to become the seed of Abraham, and not to be aliens and strangers. hopeless and helpless, but come into such a relationship that we shall have a hope, the hope of the gospel, that our God may be the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, that we may be heirs of the commonwealth of Israel? The apostle’s answer is .”But now” in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (Eph. 2.. 13, 14). ‘Now’ therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (verse 19). Still the question remains, How is the change brought about? And in answer to this, we have the words of the same apostle, ‘”For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” That is to say, they had all been made the children of God by the one faith which centers in Christ, in
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whom they were now by the one faith. How shall we pass or come into Christ? By what means does the one faith put us in Christ and constitute us the children of God? His answer is, “”For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Now what follows ? Mark the words And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Heirs of what? Heirs of heaven? Heirs of the skies’” Heirs of a spiritual Canaan beyond the stars? Let us not pervert the Word of God. Let us receive it with meekness as the engrafted word which is able to save our souls Here it is “And if we be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3: 26 29) What promise? He is speaking of the promise made to Abraham We know what that is shall we accept it or reject it? Why should we reject it? Why should we not receive with open hearts such grand promises which provide for Christ’s rulership universal in all the earth which provide for the blessing of all families of the earth we which provide for the elimination of every vestige of the Adamic curse and for filling “the earth with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea ‘?
Now it is quite clear that the covenants of promise so far as we have gone, were made for the purpose of effecting human redemption through Christ: that Christ is the very essence of the promises made to Adam, to Noah and to Abraham Isaac and to Jacob From experience and observation we have learned that in dealing with these grand truths it is quite difficult to keep the religious people of the world from soaring into the heavens and imaging that the Bible has more to do with other worlds than with ours There is a reason for this. The oracles of God were committed to the Jews, not to the nations who were in a state of idolatry throughout “times of ignorance” as the Apostle Paul terms them. The human family had apostatized almost completely from God in the days of Abraham and in him there is a beginning of taking out from among them a people for Yahweh s name Abraham becomes the nucleus of this people, we might say ‘ both according to the flesh and according to the spirit, for the Jews, according to the flesh, are the children of Abraham by nature; while the “holy nation;’ as Peter calls it. consists of the children of Abraham or Israel according to the spirit, made so by the one faith.
When the time came that Israel too had departed from God’s statutes and laws and filled up the cup of iniquity by crucifying the Messiah, the time had arrived for the “other sheep” not of that Israelitish fold to be brought. “These,” says the Saviour, “I must also bring and there shall be one shepherd and one fold.”
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Commissioning His apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every- creature is the beginning of this work. In pursuance of this, Peter goes to the house of Cornelius, in Caesarea a Gentile, and preaches the gospel to him and to his household, removing the prejudice of the Jews by saying. “Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized. which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we”? (Acts 10: 47). The Apostle Paul says to the Jews “Seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13: 46) , and in turning to the Gentiles they turned to a people who had for ages been worshippers of idols, deluded by the so-called philosophy of the Greeks and Romans the Platonic philosophy of disembodied existence in particular These pagans had filled the heavens with dead men’s ghosts, and multiplied spiritual worlds without number. to which it was supposed that all liberated spirits departed at the hour of death, Thus the world had been alienated from the realities, of the truth of the Bible, and their minds carried away into the realms of fancy and fiction.
The rapid strides which Christianity made in the first century of the Christian era caused it to become popular to a large extent. Pagan worshippers saw that it was destined to sweep everything before it, and unless some compromise were made Paganism would utterly cease and go into ruin before the powerful advent of Christianity. The headers, therefore, hastened to make a compromise Christianity so called, but corrupted and perverted, was soon constituted the religion of the state, exalted to the throne of the civilized world which was named Christendom. This was the establishment of the spurious kingdom of antichrist. This system of antichrist sought to forestall the true kingdom of Christ and of Christ Himself, by becoming enthroned. The truth in its simplicity and in its work of “taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name was not intended to be enthroned or in any sense incorporated with the powers of the state. Its followers while they were to be in the world were not to be of the world They were to come out from the world and be separated from it in all its ways . a “peculiar people,” regarded by popular sentiment as the off-scouring of all things as their Master had been before them. But the enthronement of the truth genuine Christianity, was not to be until the return of Christ who appeared the first time as a “Lamb to be led to the slaughter but who will appear the second time as the Lion of tribe of Judah, to be king over all the earth. Then true Christianity- will be enthroned in the person of Christ with those who are His faithful ones, and He will reign on the earth in fulfillment of the covenants of promise.
We must, therefore eradicate from our minds the superstitious
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spiritualism of Paganism and come to realize that the Bible is a book that deals with things here on earth, here now and hereafter, but here all the time. Herein is the difference between truth and error. Bible truth teaches a hereafter. Antichristian systems teach a thereafter as the Pagans did of old. Let us not then imagine the covenants of promise to be an astronomical matter, but a geographical, for there is a geography to the question. Abraham is not told to hook into the heavens, let me remind you again, dear reader but to the four quarters of the earth, and his promise is of the hand which he saw and which he walked through, in the length of it and in the breadth of it. This land was described as from the river of Egypt to the great river the river Euphrates While in this great Abrahamic covenant we have the future everlasting inheritance of the land so described upon the principle of the greater containing the lesser no doubt the promise of the possession of the land of Canaan by the natural descendants of Abraham was involved But their possession fell far short of the extent of the full promise made to Abraham Considering this question geographically the promise to Abraham has never been fulfilled for his descendants to say nothing about Abraham himself who as we have seen did not receive so much as to set his foot upon did not inherit the land to the extent described in the Abrahamic covenant Here again we may stop and ask ourselves the question, Has God promised what He has not fulfilled and never intends to fulfill? Far be it from us to reach any such conclusion The land to the extent described has never been possessed by Abraham’s seed: the land promised lo Abraham has never been inherited not a foot of it by
Abraham himself God has made oath that His promise shall be fulfilled Therefore the land to the fullest extent described in the boundary lines given must yet be inherited by- Abraham and his seed This is a simple matter, one that can be decided and has been decided geographically and mathematically In proof of this we here quote from an able writer. the author of “The Gospel Treasury” an extract giving time difference in extent between the land possessed by Israel and the land promised to Abraham or in other words the extent of the land of ancient possession and the land of future inheritance
The LAND OF ISRAEL—PALESTINE OR JUDEA Was given in an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his seed for
ever See Gen 12: 6, 7, 13, 14,- 17 It was washed on the W. by the Mediterranean or Great sea as it is called in the Bible ( Num 21 6’ “ And as for the western border we shall even have the great sea for a border this shall be your west border Josh 1 1 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river the river Euphrates all the land of the Hittites and unto the great ,sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast NORTHWARD it reached along the Mediterranean sea to Mount Cassius at rise mouth of the Ororstes, which is the entrance into Hamath Numb 34~ 7-9 “This shall be your north border; from the great sea ye shalt point out for you Mount Hon (Heb Hor ha-hor-a very high
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mountain ) From Mount Hor ye shall point out unto the entrance into Hamath,” etc. Its SOUTH border is the “River of Egypt”-see Gen. 15: 18, “Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” And the EAST border-see Deut. 11: 24, “Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: * * * From the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be” The difference of latitude and longitude in the land actually occupied by Israel and that which was promised in the everlasting covenant, and still remains to be fulfilled, is as follows:-See I. Kings 4: 25, ‘Judah and Israel dwelt safely from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” (But Solomon like his father David, exercised a nominal or real sovereignty over all the regions which the Lord had given to the seed of Jacob-See I. Kings 4: 21).
The latitude of Beersheba is 31 deg. 15 min of Dan 33 deg. 15 min.; the south point of the Dead sea, the ancient border of Israel, is 31 deg. 7 min in the same longitude with Dan, the intervening distance, in a line from north to south, being 128 geographical, or about 150 English miles
The latitude of the north point of the Elanitic gulf or the Red sea, On which Eziongeber, a port of Solomon’s, stood, is 29 deg. 31 min. This is the south border promised to Abraham. The mouth of the Orontes, or the entrance into Hamath from the Mediterranean, is 36 deg., and that of Beer, or Berothah on the Euphrates, 37 deg. But the range of Amanus lies beyond it, and the medium longitude of the north boundary is more than 36 deg. 31 min. N.; or in an ideal line, from south to north, the length of th land is upwards of seven degrees, or 500 miles, instead of 150 as of old.
The breadth of Immanuel’s land, instead of its anciently contracted span, from the Mediterranean sea on the west, to a few miles on the east of Jordan, stops not short of a navigable frontier everywhere, and on every side. The longitude of the river Nile is 30 deg. 2 min.; that of the Euphrates, as it flows through the Persian Gulf, 48 deg. 26 min.; or a difference of nearly 18 deg. and a half, or more than 1,100 miles.
On the northern extremity of the land the range of Amanus mountains from the river Euphrates, to the uttermost sea, or extremity of the Mediterranean, scarcely exceeds 100 miles. In round numbers the average breadth of the Promised Land is 600 miles, which, multiplied by its length 500 miles, gives an area of 300,000 square miles, or more than that of any kingdom or empire in Europe, Russia alone excepted.
Separated as Israel is from other lands, such are its borders, that it has unequaled freedom of access to all * * * and is well-fitted for becoming “the glory of all lands,” the heritage of a people blessed of the LORD.-See Keith’s “Land of Israel.”
THE LAND OF PROMISE was so called from God’s having given it by promise to the seed of Abraham,-Gen. 12: 7; see also Gen. 13: 14-17, “And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the hand, in the length of it, and the breadth of it: for I will give it unto thee (17: 8). And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the hand wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God”-Gospel Treasury, p. 10
We do not read in so many words that the Abrahamic promises contain the establishment of a kingdom, but there is enough to show that what in subsequent times is revealed as the kingdom of God is involved in those promises. One testimony quoted shows this phase of the subject: “And when Abram was ninety years old
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and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and I will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Gen. 17: 1-8). The promise, “kings shall come out of thee,” shows that a kingdom ts involved. Christ will be the king and the redeemed saints will he the kings in the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant. Hence when Mary contemplated the birth of her royal son, Christ, she saw through this the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises and exclaimed, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his hand-maiden: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever” (Luke 1: 46-55) All this she declares is in remembrance of God’s mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.” What is it that Mary so exults over? Is it not the prospect of Christ, her royal son, the seed of Abraham, becoming king over all the earth, showing strength with his arm, scattering the proud, putting down the mighty, exalting the poor, filling the hungry with good things, sending the rich empty away-all of this in remembrance of what God had spoken to Abraham? These things can never be accomplished without kingly power and heavenly authority, and this will be the fulfillment of the great promise to bless all nations of the earth in and through Abraham’s seed, which is Christ.
The Spirit speaking through the prophet Malachi declares,
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“Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me” (Mal. 3: 1). This found partial fulfillment in the work of John the Baptist, preparatory to Christ who, he said, should “’be mightier than he, the latchet of whose shoes he was not worthy to unloose.” His father, Zacharias, saw in John the forerunner of the promised Son of Abraham and, filled with the Holy Spirit. bore testimony to the truth contained in the covenants of promise, saying,
Blessed he the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people. And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began; that we should he saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant onto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt he called the Prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way : to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercies of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high bath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1: 68-79).
Here again it will be observed that all this is to
“”perform the mercy promised to the fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he sware to our father Abraham.”
It would seem that while God was making these promises. he was also exemplifying them by causing Abraham and his descendants to pass through an experience, the history of which would be prophecy, the past foretelling the future-type pointing to antitype. In the literal immigration of Abraham out of his own native country and his separation from his idolatrous relatives, we have a representation of the Abrahamic faith taking out from among the Gentiles a people for Yahweh’s name. His literal going into that land, a type of our coming out, as it were of darkness to the light of the truth, and in mind going into that land by faith:
and ultimately of Abraham’s descendants, according to the flesh. and his children by faith taking full possession of the land, when the former would constitute the subjects and the latter the rulers of the greatest kingdom that has ever adorned the earth. coming further down we have what the Apostle Paul says “”had happened for types” in the history of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, their wanderings in the wilderness and their final entrance into the land of promise under Joshua’s remarkable leadership, that is at once history and prophecy; for out of the wilderness of sin and desolation, as it were, Abraham’s seed by faith are called. They pass through the waters of baptism, as Israel did when they were “baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” In that won-
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derful event a nation was born in a day, Israel becoming the national son of God, as the words, “out of Egypt have I called my son” imply-words applicable to the national son, Israel, and the individual Son, Christ, and the multitudinous Christ, composed of him as the head and of those that will constitute the one great Christ body that shall rule the world in righteousness. After crossing the waters of the Red Sea and washing away, as it were, Egypt’s bondage and sin, they had to pass through “much tribulation” before they could enter under Joshua, their saviour, into the kingdom of God, which was known in the past as the kingdom of Israel. So now it is with Israel by faith, they pass through the waters of baptism and become the children of God. They wash away their sins and become redeemed, but have to pass through much tribulation before they can enter the kingdom of God. Then Joshua, their Saviour, shall say to them, ‘”Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom.” It required a Joshua to expel and exterminate the Amorites; so it requires a greater Joshua to bring down the mighty from their seats; to redeem the world from its iniquitous rulers and to fit it for the establishment of a heavenly kingdom. When the “way of the kings from the sun’s rising shall be prepared” the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in his beams and shall burst forth upon a benighted world to spread blessings, peace and prosperity, where cursings, war and desolation have for many long ages blighted this beautiful habitable. Again we may go back to the history of Israel in their deliverance from Egypt; their crossing the sea and going through the much tribulation of the wilderness, and their final conquest of the land, and we have the history of a nation that will repeat itself upon a grander scale. That same Israel is now scattered among all nations of the earth, “which spiritually are called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11: 8)-the Roman habitable, and what is Christendom to-day but Rome divided? Israel has indeed been scattered among these nations, but a mighty deliverance awaits them. As Abraham left his idolatrous kindred and came from the “other side of the flood” and went into the land of promise; as Israel was delivered from Egypt and crossed the sea, passing through the wilderness and finally into the land of promise, so shall the nation of Israel again be brought from Egypt, front the “other side of the flood,” pass through the depths of the sea and become a nation born in a day. This time it will not be the wilderness of Sinai, but “the wilderness of the people, where God will plead with them face to face, like as he pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
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and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 20: 35-38). These grand truths will more fully develop as we proceed with the investigation of the covenants of promise as made to David, which will be the next subject for our consideration.
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In the words of the Apostle Paul, as found in his letter to the Ephesians, we have the term, “covenants of promise”-plural. While there is but one great covenant involving the world’s redemption as there is but one gospel, on account of this having been made in various forms in various times, it is spoken of in the plural. We have already seen that the covenant was initiated with Adam, made known to Noah, and still more fully brought to light to Abraham. Now in the covenant with David, it assumes a more complete form with respect to its aspect as a kingdom. The kingdom of Israel had become a fact, and was called the kingdom of God. Being a type of the everlasting kingdom of God, the time had come when by it those to whom the oracles of God were committed would be better qualified to understand the meaning of the gospel of the kingdom of God as embodied in the covenants of promise, so that the covenant with David deals especially with a kingdom. Following are some of the testimonies setting forth this aspect of the covenants of promise:
II Sam. 7: 12-16-And when thy days he fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever.
II Sam. 23: 1-5-Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must he just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house he not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow
Psa 89: 4, 19, 20, 34-37-Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations Then thou spaketh in vision to thy Holy One and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: with whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him: nor the son
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of wickedness afflict him And I will beat down his foes before his face. and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall he with him: and in my name shall his horn he exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father. my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my first horn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me It shall he established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.
Psa. 110 -The Lord said onto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand. until I make thine enemies thy- footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine enemies Thy people shall be willing in the day- of thy- power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy- right hand shall strike through kings in the day- of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies: he shall wound the heads over many countries he shall drink of the brook in the way : therefore shall he lift up the head.
Psa. 132: 1l~18~Tbe Lord hath sworn in truth unto David he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them. their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion: he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisional will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: hut upon himself shall his crown flourish.
Isa. 9: 6, 7~For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall he upon his shoulder: and his name shall he called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isa. 16: 5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall it upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment and hasting righteousness
Isa. 55: 1, 3~Ho, every-one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. * * * Incline your ear, and come unto me hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Jer. 23: 5, 6-Behold, the days come, saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth In his days Judah shall be saved. and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall he called The Lord Our Righteousness.
Luke 1: 30-33~And the angel said unto her, Fear not. Mary;: for thou hast found favor with God And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall he great. and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Acts 2: 29-34-Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that be is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us
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unto this day. Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins
according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear For David is not ascended into the heavens but he saith himself The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand until I make my foes my footstool.
Acts 15: 16, 17-After this I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David. which is fallen down and I will build again the ruins thereof and I will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the Lord who doeth all these things.
Rev 3: 17-And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth
Rev 5: 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David hath
prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 22: 16-I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches, l am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright arid morning star.
Here we have what we may call the Davidian covenant. It will be seen from these testimonies that this, like the Abrahamic covenant leads down to Christ and pertains to the world’; redemption. The kingdom of God, as it had existed under David and was now about to be transferred to Solomon, consisted of all the element; necessary to constitute a kingdom. It was not what is popularly known as a spiritual kingdom. It was real. It was on the earth, a literal constitution of things. It had territory, subjects, rulers, laws and a capital. It was complete so far a; it was possible for there to he a complete kingdom in that evil age in which it existed. Now that a covenant was made with David concerning a future kingdom the question is, Will it also be real literal having the same elements in its composition as that of the kingdom of Israel of the past? That this covenant was understood by David to refer to the future is clear from what he say s in II Sam 7 l 9 And this was yet a small thing in thy sight. O Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy servant s house for a great while to come. Many people suppose that this covenant related to Solomon only While Solomon no doubt was a type of Christ this covenant reached beyond him. Its realization was not expected by David in the time of Solomon. It was for a great while to come What does it involve? In the tenth verse it is said Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they. may dwell in a p/ace of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before time.” Here we have the place in which Israel is to be
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planted When the Covenant is fully realized; hence We may safely conclude that the kingdom Will have literal territory. Next we find that He promised to David that His mercy shall not depart from him, the person Who is the subject of the covenant, as it did from Saul, and his house, David’s royal house, and kingdom should he established for ever in his hands; his throne should be established for ever (verses 15, 16) Hence we have here a royal house, a king, a territory, a kingdom; and as Israel’s laws Were heavenly, or laws from heaven so we may conclude the laws of this kingdom will be heavenly.
IT WAS DAVID’S SALVATION
At the time that this covenant was made, the days of David’s natural career were about ended. He could not hope to live much longer, and did not, and therefore to make such promises to him would seem like mockery unless they involved for him a future life. “Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee (verse 16). What can the words “before thee” mean but in thy presence? As in the case of Abraham it is a matter personally to be realized. Therefore resurrection is here provided for though not expressed in so many words; it is clearly implied. David was to die, yet his house and his kingdom were to be established for ever in his presence. How could this be unless David were to be raised from the dead? for it was to be “ for a great while to come.
This covenant is made the subject of David’s last words, which shows that he viewed it as a matter of the future: “”Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob. and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, * * * He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God: yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow” (II. Sam. 23: 1-5). This covenant with David involved “ “all his salvation and all his desire:” his only hope in the hour of death. It was the hope in which he lived and the hope in which he died. Like all other ancient worthies, he “died in faith, not having received the promises but seeing them afar of’”.”’ or as he terms it, in a “”great while to come.
That this refers to the kingdom of God in the hands of Christ there can be no question, for we have the words of the Apostle Peter who, by inspiration, declares that the covenant with David
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reached down to the days of Christ’s glorious reign on the earth. Not only so, but he assures us that this was David’s understanding of the matter, for he says, ‘”Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2: 29-31). David being a prophet, then, foresaw that Christ would be raised up to sit upon his throne. Hence we may safely conclude that the seed which was promised to David, who should establish his house and his kingdom for ever, is Christ and that David so understood it, and in this saw by faith, and died in the faith, that the fulfillment of the covenant through Christ would bring to him the realization of “”all his salvation and all his desire”
It is impossible for any one having the least regard for the truth and consistency of the Bible to say that the promises of the covenant with David have been fulfilled, except so far as the mission of Christ in his first coming is embraced in the covenant. Without “ “rightly dividing the word of truth” in this case. as in that of the Abrahamic covenant, the Bible will be made to appear as a contradictory book, and advantage given the infidel Let us look at the facts in the case One of the promises is that God would “”appoint a place for his people Israel and plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more (II Sam. 7: 10). Israel scattered in all the world to day is sufficient to show that this promise has not yet been fulfilled If their immovable “”planting” in the place appointed had become a fact, they would be there now but they are not there they are not in a “place of their own.” In Lev 26 31 33 the present scattered condition of Israel is foretold in the following words And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odors And l will bring the land into desolation and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And l will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.” In Dent. 28: 49-50 Moses predicted the same scattering in the following words: ‘”The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand: a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young.” In Verses 64 and 65 he adds, “And the Lord shall scatter them
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among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other: and there thou shalt serve other gods, Which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.” Now With these prophecies on record, God promised David that He would appoint Israel a place of their own and they shall never be moved: neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before-time. What shall we do with these apparently contradictory testimonies? We cannot mistake What they say. We know that the prophecy of Moses in regard to this scattering has been fulfilled since Christ was on the earth nineteen hundred years ago. He testified to the truth of what Moses wrote, for He said, “”Moses wrote of me” and “if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me Moses declared that Israel should be scattered, that their city should be besieged and that their land should go into desolation. Jesus confirms this by saying, “”And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies then know that the desolation thereof is nigh”” (Luke 21: 20). And then He adds, speaking of Israel. “and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations (Luke 21: 24). And yet in the covenant with David promise is made that they shall cease to be scattered, and that they shall be planted in their land and be no more moved, neither shall they be afflicted. Have we a contradictory Bible? There is only one way to escape the difficulty before us. When God spoke through Moses of scattering Israel He made no mistake. Neither had He forgotten what He had said to Moses when He promised David that Israel should be planted in the land never again to be scattered. Notwithstanding the fact that the Saviour predicted their scattering and that they are scattered to day, there is no difficulty if we accept the truth. The only solution which the truth will admit of is th it the “”planting” spoken of in the covenant with David is yet in the future. If this is in the future then the promise concerning David”s seed, or his royal son who is to sit upon his throne in whose hands David’s house and kingdom will be established for ever in David’s presence, is also in the future, And if all this centers in Christ, then you can see that the world’s redemption is provided for in the covenant with David.
ITS PERPETUITY
Again, here we have God’s oath to David that this seed which should be raised up to sit upon his throne should be David’s “salvation and his desire:” that God’s mercy should never depart from him as it did from Saul; that his house and his kingdom should be
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established for ever: his, David’s seed, it is said, he will “make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven” (Psa. 89:29). My covenant will l not break,” He adds, “nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Once have l sworn by my holiness that l will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me (verses 34 36) Let us compare with these promises What we read in Ezek 21 25 27 And thou profane wicked prince of Israel whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end. Thus saith the Lord God Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. l will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more until he come whose right it is: and l will give it him.” Here is the overturn of David’s throne, and again there is seemingly a contradiction, and it is contradictory if there is no future fulfillment of the covenant with David. Suppose we were to read verse 27 thus, ‘”I will overturn, overturn, overturn it and it shall be no more.” Then we would surely have contradiction, for we have just read in the eighty-ninth Psalm that his throne is to continue for ever, and here it is said that it is overturned in the days of Zedekiah and it shall be no more. But this, while it would be in strict accordance with popular theology, which finds no room for the re-establishment of David’s throne and kingdom, would he perverting the testimony. We must read the entire verse in order to
escape the contradiction in order to save the Bible from contradiction in order to vindicate the veracity of God. This verse reads when we read it all I will overturn overturn overturn it and it shall be no more until He come whose right it is, and I will give it him “ Who is this? Can we be as sure that the “him here is Christ as we were that the “’his” in the Abrahamic covenant
was Christ? You will remember dear reader, that the Apostle Paul assures us that the promise to Abraham, “ “Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies refers to Christ, by saying, “He saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one, And to thy seed which is Christ We may be sure that the seed promised to David the “he” who is to come and whose right David’s throne is, is the Christ. Christ is in the Davidian covenant as well as in the Abrahamic, and the world’s redemption will also be thus seen to be involved in the covenant with David. Can we be sure that Christ is involved in this covenant? Is the seed here Christ? Let the law and the testimony settle the question. One passage we have given is Isa. 9: 6, 7, where we have the words, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” No one will dispute the application of this to Christ. We know that this is Christ. And now what else is promised in this passage in relation to Christ? Mark the words, “and the government
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shall be upon his shoulder What else? Mark the Words again. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” Has this anything to do With the covenant With David? Has this anything to do with the throne of David? Mark the Words again, “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it With judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this,” This ought to settle the question. But let us proceed further. Again let me remind you that we have read in Ezek. 21: 25-27 of the overthrow of David’s throne, and that it would be no more, until he come whose right it is, “and l will give it him.” Can we again connect this with Christ? Here is what angelic testimony declares as an answer, “’And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary : for thou hast found favor With God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Connect With this the inquiry of the wise men, who came from the East to Jerusalem on the occasion of Christ’s birth, asking, “Where is he that is born King of the Jew’s” (Matt. 2: 1, 2); and again the answer given to Herod’s question, “And thou, Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel” (Matt. 2: 6), and now that Christ is the very heart of the covenant made with David is beyond question.
Yes but, some will say, while we are bound to admit that
Christ is the subject of the covenant with David, we claim that the covenant
was fulfilled at His first coming. Now, dear reader, ask yourself the question,
Did the Lord God give Christ the throne of His Father David while He was here
as a “man of sorrow and acquainted with grief?” He declared, “The foxes have
holes, and the birds of the air have nests: but the Son of man hath not where
to lay his head” (Luke 9: 58) “ Did He then reign over the house of Jacob, as
the angel declared to Mary He should? Is it not a fact that the Jews denied
Him, and for doing so, He said they should be “led away captive among all
nations.” Hear the words which came from Him when He wept over the City of
Jerusalem, “0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest
them that are sent unto thee: how often would l have gathered thy children
together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her Wings and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the
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time come, when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13: 34-35). In His second appearing we have the solution of the whole problem He did not fulfill the covenant with David at His first coming. The covenant requires the re-establishment of David’s throne and kingdom, with Christ reigning over the house of Jacob. This did not take place. But after He had been rejected by the house of Israel, God said to Him, “Sit thou at my right hand, until l make thy foes thy footstool.” Christ now is in heaven. Israel is scattered, and her land is in desolation: David’s throne is in ruins Jerusalem is trodden down bv the Gentiles. When and by what means will the covenant with David be fulfilled? Remember the words are, “He shall build an house for my name and l will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.” Remember the words of the angel to Mary are, “And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” We are compelled by the force of facts and truth to conclude that such promises never having been fulfilled, will find their fulfillment in the future. Not having been fulfilled at Christ’s first coming, will they find their fulfillment at His second coming? Are we left to doubt or uncertainty in the case, or shall we find words of Inspiration that will assure us of the truth beyond the shadow of doubt? Listen to the words of Divine testimony, “And after they had held their peace James answered saying, Men and brethren hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets: as it is written, After this l will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and l will build again the ruins thereof, and l will set it up that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord who doeth all these things” (Acts 15: 13-17). What was the first thing that James said was to be done? Visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. When does this occur? The visiting of the Gentiles commenced after Christ’s death and resurrection. We may safely say that it began when Peter went to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. The work of taking out of the Gentiles still goes on through the instrumentality of the gospel. We know that we are now in the times of the Gentiles. When will Christ come and build the tabernacle of David? Let Him answer. “After this,” that is, after visiting the Gentiles, “I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and I Will build again the ruins thereof, and I Will
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set it up.” The question is settled. There is no room for dispute. Ah! but says the one who spiritualizes God’s words to suit popular creeds, you are too literal. You are looking for a literal kingdom With Christ as its personal ruler on the earth. Yes indeed we are. What else can we look for? When it was said of David’s throne “I Will overturn, overturn, overturn it” was that literal? or Was it a spiritual throne in the skies, in the heavens, or beyond the bounds of time and space? What was overturned to be no more till he come whose right it is”? That it was the throne, kingdom and dominion of David which was overthrown everybody knows. The same testimony that says “it shall he no more, until he come Whose right it is,” says also, “And I Will give it him.” Give What to him? a spiritual throne in heaven? We know nothing of David ever having a spiritual throne in heaven, and if there was one there, it surely was never “overturned.” The throne that was overturned was the one that was to be given to him whose right it is. If David’s throne and kingdom were real and literal, then it will be a literal throne and kingdom that will he given to Christ. Ah! some will say with a sneer, that reduces the thing to an absurdity. You are talking about the literal chair in which David sat. No we are not talking about the literal chair, but we are talking about the power and dominion of David. We don’t mean the literal chair in which Queen Victoria sits when we talk about the throne of England but in using the term we, of course, mean a real kingdom. the kingdom of Great Britain, that has territory, a throne subjects. laws and rulers; and we mean the very same when we speak of the throne and kingdom of David which had all and will again have all these elements. We mean the very same when we speak of giving it, the throne that was overturned, to him whose right it is. The angel declares to Mary, “He shall be great. and the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his kingdom there shall he no end” these words are too clear to be spiritualized and made meaningless; for James adds, “After this l will return and Will build again.” Mark the word, “again,” something that was built before, that had been overturned and needed building again. Surely the supposed spiritual throne of David in heaven was never overthrown and needed to be built again. The testimony continues still more clearly, “ I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and l will build again the ruins thereof.” What folly it is to try to spiritualize this and make it mean anything but what it declares. Inspiration has anticipated and forestalled all these vain attempts at making the Word of God of none effect by tradition.
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ISAIAH S INVITATION
TO THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID
How often do We hear quoted the beautiful Words of the Prophet Isaiah, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come, buy and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55: 1). These are words to a thirsty perishing world. They are a call to fallen man inviting him to partake of the blessings of salvation. Salvation is what is offered here. And now the question is, Does this stand related in any way to the covenant made with David? The words are frequently quoted without any regard to that which is offered in them and to which they invite lost men and women. What does God say He will do with those who respond to this beneficent call, this invitation to salvation? “Incline your ear,” He says, “and come unto me. Hear and your soul shall live: and l will make am everlasting covenant with you” (Isa. 55: 8) Surely here is the place to settle the nature of this covenant. If it is that God invites us to a covenant providing for our flight to realms beyond the stars, we ought to find it here. If on the contrary it is an invitation to the covenant made with David, involving an inheritance in the earth, when David’s throne and kingdom will be restored and given to His royal Son Christ, King David the second them certainly we shall find in it the gospel which provides for the world’s redemption. What is the invitation to? What are we called to? Mark the words carefully Receive them as truth and reject everything that conflicts with them Here they are and I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David.” Now dear reader did you ever find any where in the Scriptures sure mercies of David providing for an inheritance in heaven or a kingdom in the sky ? David never was in heaven How then could he have a kingdom there? David died in faith not having received the promise but seeing its fulfillment “in a great while to come “declares it to he his salvation Has he gone to heaven? Has he gone any where except to the dust to await in glorious resurrection to the realization of these promises “David. after’ he had served his own generation by the will of God. fell on sheep. and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption” ( Acts l 3: 36) David is not ascended into the heavens but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool Christ is gone to heaven, but not David. And when we reach the end of the time indicated by the word “until” he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouths of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3: 20, 21).
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If the invitation to come into covenant relationship with God, is to every one that thirsteth, in which covenant are “the sure mercies of David,” then the covenant and the gospel must be one and the same thing, because every invitation that is sent out to fallen man from God is for him to come to a belief and obedience of the gospel Whereby he may obtain salvation. To invite men, then, to believe and obey the gospel is the same thing as to invite him to the everlasting covenant in Which are the sure mercies of David, and it is this covenant With David and with others that time Apostle Paul alludes to in addressing the Church of Ephesus· saying “”Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, * * * at that time ye were without Christ. being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2 11, 12). To be a Gentile is to be an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and a stranger from the covenants of promise To be this is to be without hope and without God in the world. Was heaven ever spoken of as the commonwealth of Israel? Is the promise of an everlasting abode beyond the stars ever found in any of the covenants of promise? If not, why believe it? Why accept another gospel, when the apostle says to do so will bring a curse instead of a blessing? What can the Words commonwealth of Israel” mean? Commonwealth means a wealth to be enjoyed in common. and since it is the commonwealth of Israel, this must be a wealth to be enjoyed by Israel in common. Israel means he that hath prevailed and become a prince With God. Who pre-eminently is entitled to this name, Israel? Who has prevailed where all others of the Adamic race failed? Who by reason of overcoming has become a prince with God. That this is Christ there can be no question. He is therefore pre-eminently an Israelite, yes, the Israelite, in whom was found no guile and in whom centers the commonwealth of Israel because in him is the power to fulfill the covenants of promise, and give the promised wealth of salvation and everlasting inheritance to the Israel of God (Gal. 6: 16). In this, as we shall see further along, the commonwealth will be enjoyed by the Israel of God, first according to the spirit, and secondly the nation of Israel restored to the land of their fathers-the former, which constitute the one great body politic, of which Christ is the head, will be the rulers-those who will have overcome, prevailed and become princes with God, kings of whom Christ is King; “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” Will be the rulers, while the twelve tribes of Israel restored to the land promised to Abraham will be the subjects to be “planted in a land of their own and never be moved; neither shall the children of wickedness any more afflict them as before time.” Then the sure
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mercies of David will find their fulfillment. But what l wish to impress here is that the apostle says that while we were Gentiles, before We became part of the Israel of God, we were aliens from this commonwealth, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Therefore it is essential, it is a vital question, that we see to it that we come to believe in the commonwealth of Israel, in the covenants of promise, not in promises that were never made, but, like Abraham, in the very promises made, to believe which will be accounted to us for righteousness as it was in Abraham’s case. Salvation is predicated upon this, and it is ihe same matter as is involved in the gospel of which our Saviour says He that beleveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that beleveth not shall be condemned (Mark 16: 16). The apostle shows us here that he that beleveth in the commonwealth of Israel and the covenants of promise and is there upon baptized into Christ shall be saved while he that believeth not in the commonwealth of Israel and in the covenants of promise can no more be saved than he who believeth not the gospel. Hence he adds, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Eph 2 13) W hen ye were afar off ye were aliens and strangers hopeless and helpless but now having believed the gospel which involves the commonwealth of Israel and covenants of promise and having been baptized into Christ, you are therefore not afar off but made nigh by the blood of Christ. “ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (verses 19 22). Of the covenant with David then we may say the same as we did of the covenant with Abraham. All time blessings through Christ are promised to David’s seed, and to Abraham’s seed, and therefore we must become adopted into the family of Abraham to become part of the “seed” to whom the promise is made. Christ is the mediator. “He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between” the Jews and the Gentiles. Belief in the covenants of promise, or the gospel, and baptism into Christ inducts us into the only saving “name* * * given among men whereby we must be saved.” Hence the apostle says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3: 27). And now in this relationship or condition expressed by the phrase “in Christ,” “there is no difference” between Jew and Greek, that is to say, it makes no
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difference Whether you are of Jewish descent according to the flesh, or Gentiles by nature, There is therefore no salvation out of Christ. There is no way into Christ but by believing the covenants of promise and being baptized, and when these are complied With We are Christ’s. “And if ye be Christ’s” says the apostle, “then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” That is, heirs of this Israelitish commonwealth, these covenants of promise made to Abraham and to David. We thus see that Christ is the pith and pivot of it all, the heart, the life of the whole matter. All these things Were arranged on account of Him and for Him, and therefore He “is the root and the offspring of David.” He was the Word of God in the beginning and that word, or logos, was the Father’s purpose centered in Christ. That was the root of this great plan of salvation involved in the covenants of promise When “the Word Was made flesh,” the logos, as it were. assumed personal form and Christ Was personally the exemplification of God’s great purpose to bring about the world’s redemption. Hence He says, “I am the Way, the truth and the life.” He is called the Word of God. A word is a sign or symbol of thought. Christ was a sign or symbol, a manifestation of God’s purpose in the earth. He was the kingdom of Israel in its germ form when here upon the earth. According to the flesh he was the offspring of David; viewing the word David as a representation of God’s plan He is the outcome, the offspring of that plan. Everything pertaining to the covenants of promise and the world’s redemption centers in Him. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He holds “the key of David,” in that He holds the key that shall unlock the bars of the grave, which for the time being holds David in corruption. “I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore. amen; and have the keys of hades and of death” (Rev. 1: 18). He has the “key of David; He openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth and no man openeth” (Rev. 3 7) Not only will he use the keys to unlock the grave for David and all the ancient worthies who “died in the faith, not having received the promise,” but the key of David will open the royal house of David, the kingdom of Israel, and again bring to the earth a Divine administration of affairs that will fulfill the Abrahamic covenant, blessing all families of the earth. Of Him David says, “He that ruleth over men shall be a just one that shall rule according to the righteous precepts of Jehovah”; and when David looked down the dark ages that would intervene, he pierced the future horizon of his hope, and exclaimed, “He shall be like the sun of an unclouded dawn.” or as our translation has it, “a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
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Although my house be not so with God,” that is, at the time that he spoke, “Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure,” and with this hope he closed his eves to await the time contemplated in the words, “I shall be satisfied. when I awake with thy likeness.” Then shall he with all those who are now in the sleep of death awaiting the realization of the faith in which they died, behold the uprising of the “Sun of righteousness,” which shall arise with healing in his wings, and burst forth in all his splendor and beauty to “fill the earth with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
In all this we are not asked to take visionary flights to worlds unknown, nor need we dream of the impossible task of reading our “title clear to mansions in the sky-;” for fitting immortal souls for the sky is no part of the world’s redemption. There is a grander and more noble work for the redeemed in the age to come than playing upon golden streets and reveling in idleness. There is a lost paradise to be regained, a thousand wrongs to be righted, a crooked world to be straightened a lost world to be redeemed the profaned name of Yahweh to be honored where it has been despised and rejected, a mocked and crucified King to be enthroned and glorified and the sky is no place for these things to be done They are needed where social vice is corrupting and eating out the very life of society; where a false and deceptive religious system is trafficking for worldy gain in the bodies and souls of men and women who are ignorant of God’s s Word and are carried away under high pressure of excitement and animal magnetism by the cunning tricks of experts; they are needed where famishing millions are slaves to tyrannical monopolies and where the cruel heel of the oppressor is crushing into the earth its helpless victims: they are needed here and nothing will effect these grand results but the King from heaven who will shortly appear in His mighty power and majestic glory to associate with himself all His worthy ones of the ages of the past in the great work of restitution of all things, when there shall be “glory- to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will among men,” and the world’s redemption become a glorious fact.
THE fall of our first parents incurred the penalty of death, upon the principle that the wages of sin is death. God in his goodness extended mercy, yet there must he a vindication, as it were, of His own justice before He could grant the world s redemption. Sin had caused all the trouble. God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. His justice requires the death of the sinner, while His mercy provides means of remission of sin and purification of the sinner in a way to spare the sinner and yet not defeat justice. Only Divine wisdom can blend together mercy and justice. If the penalty on our first parents had been inflicted without any merciful provision, all would have forever been lost, but redemption from under the penalty of the law by sacrifice was arranged for, and in it we have Christ “as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world, (Rev. 13: 8), and it was shown in the beginning that through Him redemption would take place of what had been lost by Adam the first. God therefore, predicated His covenant with man upon the sacrifice for sin, by which alone man’s restoration to favor could be effected. In the very nature of the case, then, a covenant provided by God for fallen man demands a sacrifice which will admit of reconciliation and atonement between God who is pure and man who is sinful and this must take place before the covenants of promise could be realized. Hence the Apostle Paul shows that all that pertained to the covenant depended on Christ as the covenant sacrifice In the Authorized Version we have a very unhappy translation of Heb. 9: 16-18; but the Diaghott and other translations remove the difficulty. The Emphatic Diaglott renders the passage as follows: “”For where a covenant exists, the death of that which has ratified it is necessary to be produced; because a covenant is firm over dead victims, since it is never valid when that which ratifies it is alive. Hence not even the first has been instituted without blood” (Heb. 9: 16-18). Here we see that a covenant is of no force while the covenant sacrifice, that which ratifies it, is alive, which means that the covenants of promise were of no force without the death of Christ, the real covenant sacrifice.
PURIFICATION BY COVENANT SACRIFICE
The Hebrew word for covenant (berith) means to purify or cleanse. It implies a purification or a purifier, because in all God’s covenants with man, sin and sinfulness exist on man’s side. Since covenants are intended to bring man into reconciliation with God and fit him for the everlasting inheritance promised, and since this cannot be done without purification through sacrifice, berith is used not only for the covenant itself, but for the sacrifice which confirms the covenant. When Moses said, ‘”Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you” (Ex. 24: 8), he meant the blood of the victim slain as a covenant sacrifice. The prophet Isaiah says, “’Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages” (chap 49: 8). This is a prophecy of Christ, and to give Him for a covenant was to give Him as a sacrifice, or a covenant sacrifice. By the words, By the blood of the covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water” (Zech. 9: 11) is meant the blood of the victim whose death must take place to bring the covenant into force.
lt will be remembered that when Abraham was commanded to offer sacrifices he was to divide some of the victims in the midst. This manner of making a covenant is referred to by the prophet Jeremiah thus And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before us, when they cut the ca/f in twain and passed between the parts thereof” (Jer 34 18) The ancient custom among the Persians and other nations no doubt had their original in God’s manner of allowing man to’ enter into’ covenant relation with him The custom was as indicated by Jeremiah. to divide the victim and the covenanting parties “ passed between the parts.,’ In this way, in covenants between God and men, man, who is a sinner and under justice without mercy, deserves death, may be said to have passed into the death of the victim, or to have died sacrificially or representatively, admitting of atonement.
CHRIST THE REAL COVENANT SACRIFICE
Now Christ being “”a minister of the circumcision * * * to confirm the promises made unto the fathers” (Rom. 15: 8), must provide a victim or covenant sacrifice; to have offered an animal would have been no better than had been offered in shadow or type arrangements of the past. The time had come when the substance the real offering must be made. Who would be the
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victim? “Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure Then said I Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, 0 God. Above when be said. Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will 0 God. he taketh away the first that he may establish the second, by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10 5- 0
ALIENATION AND RECONCILIATION
By typical Sacrifices COVENANT relationship between God and man was made possible as soon as man fell and redemption became a necessity. Had no provision been made till the real covenant sacrifice Christ-was offered upon the cross, all who died from Adam to Christ would have hopelessly gone down into death and the grave under the sentence, Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.” God’s plan had made all provision for what seems to us to be an emergency in the fall of man. Christ had been provided in that plan as a sacrifice. It was not that God made provision after the emergency arose. as if He must wait developments and meet them as they came; for He says, Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46: 9, 10).
Not only was Christ’s sacrificial offering prearranged for before sin actually made it a necessity but there was a due time” when it should take place. “When we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly’ (Rom 5 6). It was when “the fullness of the time was come. that God sent forth His Son, made of a woman. made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. that we might receive the adoption” (Gal. 4: 4, 5). About four thousand years were to elapse from Adam’s fall to this “”due time.” and therefore a provisional arrangement must serve during that period.
Human customs must always fall short of fully illustrating God’s wonderful and wise works as the finite cannot reach the heights of the infinite; but they may help to a deeper understanding of things divine There is a breach between two men on account of one having incurred a debt to the other and is not able to pay it. They are estranged from each other and something must
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be done to bring about reconciliation. The debtor is promised by a friend that in one year from a given date he will discharge the debt for him; and on the strength of this the debtor offers the creditor his note, which is a legal covenant, promising to pay the debt when the “”due time” arrives. His offer is accepted and the estrangement is removed and they are at one with each other under this provisional arrangement. When the “”due time” comes the note is honored and the debt thereby discharged, and the atonement continues between the two.
Now this in measure illustrates the provisional sacrificial arrangement which God provided for fallen man between the time of his becoming a sinner and the “”due time” when “”Christ would die for the ungodly.” Man was estranged from God, having no right to approach Him, being under His just condemnation. On the strength of a promise that Christ would meet all the requirements of divine justice, man is permitted by sacrificial offerings to draw in advance, as it were, and the efficacy of the blood of the atonement-the covenant sacrifice-reaches back through the typical offerings and effects reconciliation and atonement between God and men. Hence those who died in faith” died in a state of reconciliation, their realization of the promised blessings however depending upon the fulfillment of the promise at the due time that Christ would meet all the requirements of the case Had it been possible for Him to fail and, like the first Adam prove unfaithful, all provisional arrangements would have gone for nothing. those who “”died in faith would have remained dead. If Christ be not raised your faith is vain * * * then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished” (I. Con 15: 18).
A GREAT TASK AND A VICTORY
Looking back over the ages of the past and realizing what depended upon Him what a great responsibility He must have felt resting upon Him, as he grew to manhood and faced the mightily mission entrusted in His hands. Even at the youthful age of twelve he exclaims, “”Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business”:. but when the last and terrible ordeal confronted Him He seemed almost about to fall and fail, crying out, “”Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” Why could it not pass? Because thousands of ancient worthies had by faith reached down to Him and put all their trust in His faithfulness unto the death of the cross. They had gone into the cold embrace of death and the dark chambers of the grave with the only hope that He would go there with a pow’r, the power of perfect obedience, to break the jaws of death and the barriers of the grave and thus become Captain of salvation to set the captives free. Real-
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izing that all this depended upon His faithfulness and courage in this dreadful hour, He braved the pain of an ignominious death and exclaimed. “”Not my will, but thine be done,” and
“”He drank the dreadful cup of pain.
Then rose to life and joy again,”
and sent ringing back through the centuries of the past and down through the ages to follow the triumphant words, “”I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” The covenants of promise are now confirmed and their realization in due time made certain.
Since the fall of our first parents all mankind has been in what the Scriptures term a state of alienation from God afar off; and the apostle, in speaking of those who have been inducted into Christ, says, “”If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II. Con. 5: 17). This implies that before they became “new creatures” in Christ they may be said to have been by nature old creatures in the old man Adam, hopeless and helpless. Hence the Saviour tells Nicodemus, Ye must be born again.” This new” birth takes man out of the old creature state and puts him in a new creature state, brings him from “”afar off” and makes him “nigh” In order that this might be accomplished, God provides a means and in this we have sacrifices, but as we have seen, all center in the one offering, Christ. “”When they,” as Jeremiah says, ‘”cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts” the death of the victim represented the penalty of sin, a penalty which hangs over the whole human race, for “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5: 12). When they passed between the parts, they were considered as having passed into the death, as it were, of the victim Having died to sin, and put off the alienation, they were now” in a state of reconciliation a reconciliation admitted by a covenant relationship between them and God. They had passed into the covenant sacrifice which had made for them an atonement. and so at-one-ment took place. Now all this finds its fulfillment in Christ. Christ’s death has niet Divine justice and blended it with Divine mercy, so that in Christ God can be just and yet justify sinners. By nature, how-ever, we are not in Christ. A natural birth gives us nothing but alienation. “Marvel not,” says the Saviour, “that I say ye must be born again” Speaking of which the apostle says, using another figure of speech, “Know ye not. that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death” (Rom. 6: 3). As much as to say, Christ the victim or covenant sacrifice has been slain and as in ancient
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covenants they passed between the parts, and, as it were, into the death of the victim, so in baptism we are baptized into, or pass into the death of the slain victim, Christ, the covenant sacrifice, and are therefore new creatures in Christ Jesus in the bond of the covenant, and are now the children of the covenant, brought into such relationship to the covenants of promise as to be constituted “heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” The confirmation of the covenants, which took place by the death of Christ, and made their fulfillment a certainty, is now applied to us. We have made a covenant with God, and that covenant is confirmed by the death of Christ; into whose death we are baptized. We have entered therefore into “the only name given among men whereby we must be saved,” and we are now no more strangers and foreigners to the covenants of promise, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, waiting the time of the realization of these covenants, which will take place when all the ancient worthies, with us, shall be made perfect together to rejoice in the blessings which shall fill the earth as declared in the promise, “in thee and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
If this scriptural view of covenant relation with God is understood it will correct the mistake which many religious people make It is generally supposed that we are children of God by natual birth, and that repentance and return to God through Christ are necessitated by our personal sins committed when we become old enough to refuse the evil and choose the good. But we must remember that we are all born in a lost state, according to the Scriptures, having been sold, as it were, to sin and death by our first parents who entailed upon the whole Adamic family the results of sin. They left us with a lost paradise, victims to the dread monster death, hopeless and helpless. Hence the Apostle Paul says, “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” or as the margin gives it, “”in whom all have sinned” Rom 5: 12). Then the apostle continues in verse 18, omitting the parenthetic clause of verses 14-17, “Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.” Here we have the cause and effect of the world’s evils, which are ultimately to be removed by the second Adam. From this lost, condemned state into which we came by natural birth. we must sever our relation by being “born again.” It is by the new- birth that we become the children of God, not by natural birth. We are not born into covenant relationship with God by natural birth, but when we are “born again,” then we enter into that covenant relation which makes us one with God, the children of the covenant; because we are then in Him who is the covenant sacrifice and are
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reconciled to God in Christ where alone reconciliation can take place from that alienation imposed by Adam upon all the race. Thus “”God was in Christ (not in Adam) reconciling the world unto himself;” and baptism, or birth of water, puts us in Christ and thereby in at-one-ment, “”heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” We are now on probation, and upon our walk in this favored, exalted and responsible relation to God and to Christ depends our eternal destiny. Realize this, dear reader, enter the bond of the everlasting covenant, honor it to the end of your probationary career and the coronal wreath will adorn your brow throughout the untold ages of indescribable glory and happiness. God grant that our Judge may say to us, “”Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.”
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World’s Redemption
A BRAHAM is the father of the Hebrew nation. As we have seen in the covenants of promise, God promised Abraham that He would make of him a great nation. Upon the principle laid down by the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15.-First the natural, afterward the spiritual the great nation which was to come from Abraham was to be his descendants according to the flesh the natural out of whom and through whom. as the medium of Divine revelation, would be evolved the spiritual, the holy nation and royal priesthood. The nation of Israel was favored of God above all nations of the earth in the past, to say nothing of what awaits it in the ages to come. The esteem in which Israel was held by God is shown by the following testimonies:
Deut 7: 6~For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deut 14 2-For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Deut 26 17, 13-Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and walk in his ways and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments and to harken unto his voice: and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments.
Deut 32 9-For the Lord’s portion is his people,” Jacob is the lot of his in nut ance Psa 105 6-0 ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his Chosen Psa 135 4-For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. Psa 41 8 But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
WHY THEY WERE FAVORED
The reason given for Israel being a favored nation with God will be found in the following testimonies:
Deut 7: 7. 8-The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the
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oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deut. 10: 15~On1y the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
Deut 26: 19-And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made in praise and in name. and in honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.
After Israel’s deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, they were by God’s direction and under His laws organized and became the most remarkable nation that has ever existed upon the face of the earth. It is generally admitted that their laws were tile almost perfect, and that so long as they were obedient they were the healthiest and happiest nation that could possibly exist in the evil days of mortality. They were taken into the land of Canaan, which is called “the land of milk and honey,” where they were blessed in their basket and in their store. So highly favored were they that they became the repository of Divine revelation, and to them we are indebted in the hands of God for the entire Bible. What advantage then hath the Jew?” asks the Apostle Paul. Much every way,” he answers, - because unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Rom. 3: 2). And the Saviour speaking of them says, ‘Salvation is of the Jews” (Jno. 4: 22). The wonderful miracles which were performed in Israel made them a dread and fear among all other nations, and on that account Israel’s God was recognized as a great God even by the nations, who were worshippers of idols.
But their history is a checkered one. They did not continue long blessed in their basket and in their store with things temporal and spiritual. for they departed from the law’s and the statutes obedience to which had vouchsafed them health longevity, and happiness in this life. and the use of the present life as a stepping-stone to that which is to come. Stiff-necked and stubborn, they continually rebelled against God and His law’s and terrible were the results from time to time as we come along down through their troubled history. In the days of Jereboam and Rehoboam the ten tribes revolted against the lawful king and were carried away under rebellious Jereboam, who it is said “”made Israel to sin. Subsequently they were taken captive by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and after awhile were lost sight of, and they remain to this day “the host ten tribes of Israel.” The other two tribes who remained under Rehoboam also became rebellious and disobedient and were taken captive to Babylon where for seventy years they were subjected to the tyranny of that proud and despotic empire. Restored from that captivity, they endured under great hardships a temporary occupation of their land, the land of their fathers;
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but a future and wider scattering had been foretold Moses had declared it in language which leaves no doubt as to its application to a scattering subsequent to the Babylonish captivity He says:
Deut. 28: 25- The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth
Verses 36, 37-The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone And thou shalt become an astonishment a proverb and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.
Verses 40-53-The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from afar from the end of the earth as swift as the eagle flieth a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young and he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle and the fruit of thy land until thou be destroyed which also shall not leave the either corn or wine or oil, or the increase of thy kine or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee And he shall besiege three in all thy gates until thy high and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustedest throughout all thy land and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates then throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee.
Verses 62-65-And ye shall be left fewe in number, whereas ye were as the as the stars of heaven for multitude, because , thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it And the lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto thee other; and then thou shalt serve other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have known even wood and stone And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: But the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes and sorrow of mind.
FINAL SCATTERING BY THE ROMANS FORTOLD BY MOSES
That this scattering did not refer to their captivity in Babylon is clear from verses 49 and 50 as swift as the eagle flieth the nation should come, and “of fierce countenance” should be the nation that should besiege them in their gates And cause them to devour their own offspring This is evidently the Roman nation and it is generally understood that this terrible prophecy found its dreadful fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem seventy years after the birth of Christ and in what has since then been their history. That the prophecy referred to the fate of Israel subsequent to the Saviour’s time will be seen by the following
Luke 19: 41-44-And when he was come near he behold the city, and wept over it. saying If thou hadst known even thou, at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and keep thee on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee: and they shall not leave in the one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation
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Luke 21: 19, 20-In your patience possess ye your souls. And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Verse 24-And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.
Now in this we have a key that will serve us wiell in unlocking the real meaning of the Scriptures in their application to Israel in the future as well as in the past The prophecies quoted are not to be taken in a spiritual sense, that is spiritual in the sense which is claimed for certain prophecies of the Scriptures by popular teachings. Israel’s sad experience in fulfillment of these prophecies has been really and bitterly literal. They were literally in the land of promise. They were literally taken into captivity in Babylon, and were literally delivered. They were literally scattered by the Romans, driven into captivity among all nations of the earth. The prophecies apply to a real nation having a real existence, and their existence in the scattered state foretold is a reality to-day. There is no need for seeking a “spiritual” meaning. There is no room for any misunderstanding.
SUBSEQUENT RESTORATION ALSO FORETOLD
Now if we find that there are testimonies which speak of the future restoration of the twelve tribes, should we not also look for these testimonies to have a fulfillment, just as literal as those have had which speak of their history and present scattered and trodden down condition? Fifteen hundred years before Jerusalem was taken hy the Romans Moses had declared minutely how it would be done and what would be the result that Israel would be scattered among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other Deut 28: 4). Notwithstanding this Moses also declared their future acceptance by God. “Rejoice,”” he says, “”O ye nations with his people; for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries and will be merciful tinto his land, and to his people” (Dent. 32: 43). And he also declares. “ The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren. like unto me unto him ye shall hearken” (Deut. 18: 15 ) “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee says God to Moses, “and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that l shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto his words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him (Verses 18,19)
The prophet here is Christ. He was “raised up to Israel, and appeared among them declaring himself to be king of the Jews, but they rejected Him. “”He came to his own and his own
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received him not.” It was in crucifying their Messiah that Israel “”filled up the measure of their fathers” and finished the national iniquity which was to be the cause of the captivity and scattering foretold by Moses. While these truths are generally admitted, we deem it necessary to emphasize them here by way of fixing the time of this final captivity in relation to the subsequent and final gathering. A gathering that would restore Israel from this scattering at the hands of the Romans must necessarily be yet future Does Moses, who so clearly foretold the scattering, also foretell a gathering which reached beyond the scattering? If so the future restoration is established beyond a doubt and not only so but since the prophecy has been proven true -literally true- by history in relation to the scattering, if he foretells a subsequent gathering it must have a literal fulfillment After foretelling the scattering of Israel. Moses declares
Deut 30: l 6-And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them to mind among all nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee and shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day thou and thy children, with all
thine heart and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nation,. whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and the Lord
thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest liv e
Verse 8 9-And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his commandments, which I command thee this day And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the
fruit of thy cattle and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord again will rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers
Some try to evade this by saying that the restoration is hypothetical - “ if thou wilt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God (verse l 0 ) But Moses also say s “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy- seed to love the
Lord thy God with all thine heart (verse 6). It is therefore a certainty; and so he declares, and thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord (verse 8)
Here then is restoration which must find its fulfillment after the final scattering at the hands of the Romans and that this will be real and literal gathering will be shown fully- presently, Meanwhile we submit the following testimonies;
II Sam 7: 10, 24-Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as
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beforetime. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, Lord, art become their God.
I Chron. 17: 9. 10-Also l will obtain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them. and they shall dwell in their place and shall be moved no more neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning, and since the time that l commanded judges to be over my-people Israel. Moreover l will subdue all thine enemies Furthermore l will tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house
Isa . 30 20, 2 l And though the Lord give your the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any-more but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, This is the way walk ye in it. when ye turn to the right hand. and when ye turn to the left.
Chap: 60 l 5 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so
that no man went through thee, I will
make thee an eternal excellency, a joy
of many generations
Verse 21 Thy people shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting the work of my hands, that I may be glorified
Chap 66: 22 For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain
Ezek 20:33 As I
live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out
arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: And I will bring you out from the people, and
will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring
you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to
face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will cause you to
pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the
rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the
country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel:
and ye shall know that I am the LORD. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith
the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye
will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts,
and with your idols. For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height
of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them
in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your
offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy
things. I will accept you with your
sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the
countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you
before the heathen. And ye shall know
that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the
country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and
all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves
in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I
have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways,
nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
BEYOND COMPARESON WITH OTHER NATIONS
There is no nation in the history of mankind that has had such a bearing on the world at large as the Jewish nation. There is no nation that can trace its history and pedigree back to the remotest antiquity as the Jewish nation can. In this and in many other ways it has been a wonderful people, so much so that their history
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and present status in the world are unaccountable when compared with other nations. During the long history of this people they have enjoyed peace and prosperity comparatively for only a very short time. About three-fourths of their history has been one of trouble, exile and persecution. The great Gentile nations, Babylon, Greece and Rome in the zenith of their power and glory were famous so long as they maintained their power and prestige in the world but as soon as the tide turned, down they went Their downfall to them meant their obliteration as nations, from the earth. Where is Assyria Where is proud Babylon? Where is the much boasted greatness of classic Greece? What has become of the mighty empire of Rome? What has defeat done for these nations They are gone Their identity has been lost and their subjects and citizens have been absorbed among the multitudes of the past and present divided world Not so, however with Israel It might be said that Israel’s fame and greatness are not so much in their past prosperity and power as it is in their persecution, exile and trouble in all parts of the world Where other nations have sunk out of sight, by the hardships of human history , Israel has thriven upon persecution and trouble of all kinds imposed upon them in the worst ways imaginable Every nation has raised its hand to smite Israel, and endeavored to crush it into the earth ;but in spite of all this the people are here to day They are its every land and in every clime They are in every city in every street. marked out distinctly from every other people hated and despised and yet they are the victors in every conflict in which they engage, except in the conflict for national existence and power as a kingdom By analogy of human history’ this is impossible to account for. It is unique in the history of human affairs. Upon the principle of the law’s of nations it is without comparison Arid here we might say that there is nothing in the world that is a more powerful proof of the divinity of the Bible than Israel’s history and present existence The Bible is a book of miracles Israel is a nation of miracles Its history is a standing miracle before an astonished world Its survival of all the persecutions and oppressions which have been heaped upon it is a greater miracle still. No great statesman or philosopher will ever attempt to account for Israel s history and present existence by- ordinary- natural laws anymore than it is possible to account for the Bible by such laws. Divinity is written upon every page of Israel’s Book; and it is also written upon every page of Israel s history, whether we consider it in the Bible or out of the Bible Indeed they cannot be separated What has been the history of the Bible has been the history of the nation and we might add that, to some extent, it has been the history of Israel s King, the
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man of the Bible, the essence of the Bible, the subject of it from Alpha to Omega, the beginning and end -Christ. The nation has suffered at the hands of every nation, and every attempt possible has been put forth to destroy it, yet it has been providentially preserved. The Bible, the nation’s book, has suffered in the same Way, and yet here it is to-day, a burning and shining light in a dark and benighted world. The nation’s king, the book’s subject and the nation’s future Deliverer suffered at the hands of Israel, and the only great nation that existed at the time He was here, and in this sense all the world as it were was in array against Him, and endeavored to destroy Him and rid the world of His presence. When from a natural standpoint, it seemed that they had succeeded was when Divine success was most certain. While these things have been characteristic of the history of the nation, the Book and the Man, the wide world against the three the miraculous character of their history assures us of the certainty of miraculous events in relation to their future. Israel is yet to arise and prosper as a nation, and their book is yet to be vindicated to the ends of the earth, to an extent that not even its professed friends have ever dreamed of. The man who suffered at the hands of the Gentile and Jewish powers has for a time disappeared from the earth behind a frowning Providence. but He is yet to succeed to an extent that the world little dreams of at present. The purpose of God, therefore, in relation to the world’s redemption is centered in Israel, in Israel’s book and in Israel’s king. Just as sure as Israel exists. so sure is there a wonderful future for the nation; just as sure as the book has survived the hostility of a dark and cruel history so sure will it be vindicated before the eyes of a subdued and astonished world ; just as sure as the nation’s king has suffered at the hands of cruel and hateful rulers so sure with He yet “ ‘fill the earth with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” These things cannot be separated. They are the Divine fiat, and no human opposition can defeat the purpose of Him, who holds the world in His hands Keep the God of the universe out of sight,. and Israel’s history cannot be accounted for. Recognize Him not, and the Bible’s existence and survival become a greater mystery and a greater miracle than it is now Ignore the Great Creator’s existence and interposition in human affairs, and He who was crucified to save a lost world was, in His history, in His character, in His death, to say nothing of His resurrection to life again an unaccountable mystery. Keep God in view. the God of heaven and earth. as the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then all is clear as the noonday sun. Israel’s birth as a nation. its preservation, and the wonderful good effects of obedi-
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ence to its laws, then can be accounted for. The preservation of the nation throughout an experience that no other nation has ever been able to endure and survive, can then be understood. The miraculous works that Christ, the king of the nation, did are then clear and intelligible.
But what is the history of Christ compared with His future? What is the history of the Bible compared with its future? What is the history of the nation compared with what awaits it? The Gentile world persuaded itself that Israel had for ever forfeited all rights to Divine favor and that it was to be destroyed never to exist again as a nation. Through the dark ages that have intervened between the crucifixion of Israel’s King on Cavalry, the destruction of their city, Jerusalem, and the present time the idea of Israel’s future existence has been laughed to scorn by professed believers in the Bible But even apart from prophecy, for the religious world pays little regard to prophecy, as it bears literally upon the nation of Israel; I say apart from such prophecy, force of circumstances has compelled many people to admit that a great mistake has been made in relation to Israel; that there is something unaccountable about this people from the fact that now as we near the end of Gentile times they are becoming more and more remarkable and powerful in the world, and raising problems that puzzle the wisest statesmen and the most profound philosophers here is what Prof Gratz says in relation to this wonderful survival of the fittest: “Can a nation be born in a day? or can a nation be born again ? * * * Yet in one nation a new birth appears-a resurrection out of a state of death and apparent corruption-and that in a race which is long past the vigor of youth whose history numbers thousands of years Such a miracle deserves the closest attention of every man w ho does not overlook all wonderful phenomena. . Mendelssohn had said at the beginning of this period. “My nation is kept at such a distance from all culture, that one might well doubt the possibility of any improvement. And yet she arose with such marvelous quickness out of her abasement as if she had heard a prophet
calling unto her Arise! arise! Shake off the dust! Loose the bonds of thy chains O captive daughter of Zion !”
PRE DICTIONS AND FULFILLMENT
It is well known that the Jews hold the purse strings of time world to-day, and they can by their financial and executive powers sway the mightiest empires upon time face of the earth they can dictate terms to the strongest monarchs that tyrannize over the masses. Prof. Christliebs bears testimony thus In Modern Doubt and Christian Belief W e would point (them) to the people of Israel as a perennial, living historical miracle. The continued
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existence of this nation up to the present day, the preservation of its national peculiarities throughout thousands of years, in spite of all dispersion and oppression, remains so unparalleled a phenomenon, that without the special providential preparation of God, and His constant interference and protection, it would be impossible for us to explain it. For where else is there a people over which such judgments have passed, and yet not ended in destruction?”
This miracle must be admitted by the force of facts, for all this is true in spite of every kind of opposition. The wealth of the Jews has been proverbial in the phrase, ‘rich as a Jew,” but the most remarkable thing is the great power and influence they wield over nations by means of their wealth The money of the Rothschilds is used to help the great nations of Europe and thus to command power behind the press and the throne The British and Foreign Evangelical Review October, 1881. says “”During the ten years. l 853-64 the Rothschilds furnished in loans, $200,000,000 to England. $50,000,000 to Austria $10, 000,000 to Prussia, $130,000,000 to France $50,000,000 to Russian, $12,000,000 to Brazil, in all, $482,000,000, besides many millions to smaller States.”
How is it to be accounted for that a people without a king or prince, all that pertains to their national and ecclesiastical life gone and yet they- maintain a marked identity throughout the world? Universally the history Of the nations has shown that when their kings have been dethroned and their lands become the spoils of enemies they have disappeared from the face of the earth. Why is it that the same fate has not befallen Israel?-left without a king. without a prince, without a capital, even its ritualistic Laws abolished scattered everywhere without a home, why did they not cease to exist? the only answer is the Scriptural answer “”For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without
an image and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hosea 3: 4). Here is the reason why they should abide where other nations under such circumstances have not been able to abide. How could it be otherwise when God has said,
Jer. 31: 36. 37-If those ordinances depart from before me saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord If heaven above can be measured,. and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath. I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done saith the Lord.
Jeri 33; 17-26 For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and “ that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that
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he should not have a son to reign upon his throne and with the Levites the priests my ministers As the host of heaven cannot be numbered neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant and the Levites that minister unto me Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah saying. Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying The two families which the Lord hath chosen he hath even cast them off? Thus they have despised my people that they should be no more a nation before them Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant be not with day and night and if I have not appointed the ordinance of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David my servant so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return and have mercy on them
No Now we may ask, What is this jealous preservation of Israel for. Does it not suggest that God has a purpose in the future
of this people a future greater and grander than the past? There must be some reason, and a Divine reason The prophet Isaiah in speaking of Israel says “ Go ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled * * In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts the
mount Zion (Isa, l 8 ; 2 7) In lesser’s translation of these verses we have a nation scattered and peeled to a people terrible from their beginning and forward There is therefore a future and this future is the reason, the only reason for the past and the present
W ho can mistake or who can deny the future of Israel as foretold in the following testimonies
Isa, 1:11,12 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam, and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth
Isa 43:5-7 Fear not for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth even every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory I have formed him yea I have made him
Jer 3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers
Jeer: 12:15 And it shalt come to pass after that I have plucked them out I will return and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage and every man to his land
Jer 16:14,15 Therefore behold the days come saith the Lord. that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but. The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had
98 THE WORLD”S REDEMPTION
driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
Jer. 29: 14-And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Jer.30: 3 For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people, Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Verse 10~Therefore fear thou not, 0 my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither. be dismayed. 0 Israel: for, lo I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest,. and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer. 32: 37~Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my-fury-, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely-.
Jer. 32: 7~And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
Jer. 46: 27. 24-But fear not thou, 0 my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, 0 Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease. and none shall make him afraid Fear thou not, 0 Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure, yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
Ezek 11:15-19 -Son of man, thy brethren,. even thy- brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they- unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord: unto us is this land given in possession. Therefore say, saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary- in the countries where they, shall come Therefore say saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people, -and assemble you out of the countries. where ye have been scattered and I wll give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. Arid I will give them one heart. and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony- heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh
Ezek 37: 21 And say. unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen. whither they be gone. and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land..
Zach 8:7,8 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save thy people from the east country, and from the west country-; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people. and I will be their
God, in truth and righteousness
Zach 10 : 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah. and I will save the house of Joseph, and will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them and they, shall be as though I had not cast them off:; for I am the Lord their God ,and will hear them.
Verse 10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt. and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the and of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them..
TWO POPULAR
MISTAKES
It is not astonishing that there should be an attempt made by professed friends of the Bible to evade the force of such plain
testimonies as these? There are two ways by which it is sought to
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get rid of these testimonies. One is to claim that they all found their fulfillment in the restoration from Babylon; the second is that they are to be understood in a spiritual sense and applied to the Church. The first one is an inexcusable presumption’ the second is really ludicrous and exhibits a folly that were it not for the solemnity of the question would provoke a smile. In the restoration from Babylonish captivity only two tribes were concerned and the ten tribes have remained in exile ever since they were taken by the king of Assyria They became then and still are the “lost ten tribes.” Even supposing that we should grant the foolish claim Of Anglo-Israelites that the Anglo-Saxons are the lost ten tribes, still the prophecies would remain unfulfilled, for the Anglo-Saxons have never enjoyed the blessings of these prophecies. The restoration from Babylon being temporary and confined to two tribes, and the ten tribes never having been restored to the land of their fathers as these predictions declare they will be, it follows. as a matter of course, that there must be a future restoration of the twelve tribes. It will have been noticed that frequently in these passages given, Judah and Israel are referred to; for instance. Isa. 11: 12- “And shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth “C; Jer. 3: 18-“In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel and they shall come together out of the land of the north,” etc.; Jer 30 3 For lo the days will come .saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord “ 33 7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return”; 46:27-But fear not thou, 0 my servant Jacob and be not dismayed O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar Here we have the whole house of Israel provided for. How in the face of these declarations can any man dare say that such prophecies found fulfillment in the restoration from Babylon? God has pledged Himself that this restoration shall take place. It has not taken place in the past. What shall we do? Shall we hand the Bible over to the infidel and admit that God has promised what He has not and never will perform. This is what must be done if we submit to popular theories. But what is the duty of every fearless honest- minded person in the case? Is it not to vindicate God and His word above all things and let “God be true, though all men be liars”. There is no alternative. The man who has the courage of hi s convictions will cry aloud and spare not against apostate Christendom in vindication of the veracity of God and the truthfulness of the Bible.
The famous prophecy of Ezek. 37 is so clear upon this subject that it ‘would seem impossible for any one to mistake it. There is
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a vision of a valley of dry bones and the question is asked, “Can these bones live?” Then there is a “shaking among the bones, bone coming to his bone”; there is flesh upon the bones and then they are covered with skin; and breath is breathed into them and they live and stand upon their feet and know that God is the Lord. What is this a vision of? What does it represent? The answer is given. “Then he said unto me, son of man, These bones are the whole house of Israel” (verse 11;). Not part of the house, as in the case of the restoration from Babylon, which restoration, as we have seen, was only a temporary affair; but it is the whole house of Israel/, the twelve tribes, the house of Jacob. the descendants of his twelve sons. The prophet is then commanded to take two sticks in his hands, the two sticks representing ancient books or parchments rolled on sticks. Then it is said, “Moreover. thou son of man. take thee one stick. and write upon it. For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph. the stick of Ephraim. and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand” (verses 16, 17) . Label one stick, Israel. the ten tribes,. and label the other. Judah. the two tribes. in recognition of the fact that the house of Israel is divided. one faction of which is called Israel, and the other Judah. Here is a fact of history that the world knows of, and now when these two sticks become one in thine hand. let this be known to the coming world, that these divided factions shall be united and become one.
If there were nothing more said, this would be sufficient to show that divided Israel is yet to be united, that Israel and Judah are to become one, but we are not left to conjecture. It was anticipated that it would be asked. “Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?” And the answer is given,. yes, it is given. preceded by a “Thus saith the Lord God.” Here it is, who can mistake it?-Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph. which is in the hand of Ephraim. and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick. and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God;- Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen. whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side. and will bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all” (verses 19-22). Surely this settles the matter, and no comment can make it clearer.
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Now a few words on the claim that all the prophecies in relation to Israel’s restoration in the Old Testament were written previous to the Babylonish captivity and for that reason had their fulfillment in that deliverance. The wording of the prophesies prevents any such conclusion and were we to admit of their application to the restoration from Babylon, we would still be met with the undeniable fact that Scripture words frequently have a double application, the lesser being involved in the greater and therefore the fulfillment of the lesser does not disannul the fulfillment of the greater. As we have seen m the covenants of promise the possession of the land under Moses did not disannul the Abrahamic promise, which reached down to a future everlasting inheritance under Christ. while it was involved in the same promise it was only a parenthesis as it were thrown in for the time being explanatory and to emphasize the great book of the covenant which is yet to be realized in its fullness As history repeats itself and prophecy is history in advance prophecy must necessarily repeat itself. Many instances of this kind will readily be recalled by those familiar with the Scriptures. But all the prophecies were not written previous to the Babylonish captivity. According to good authority, the prophecy of Zechariah was written afterwards, and this prophecy declares a restoration future from his time in words that far over-reach anything history records. He says:
Zech 1: 16, 1 7~Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of hosts and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem Cry yet saying Thus saith the Lord of hosts My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad , and the Lord shall comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem
Zech 2:1000-13 Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion for, to, I come and I will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people and I will dwell in the midst of thee. and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. and the Lord shall inherit Judah him portion in the holy land and shall choose Jerusalem again Be silent, 0 all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation
Zech. 8: 2-4-Thus saith the lord of hosts I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy. and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord-I am returned unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be called. A city of truth and the mountain of the Lord of hosts The holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord of hosts There shall yet old men and women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
‘Verses 7, 8~Thus saith the Lord of host’ Behold I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country and I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness
Verses l3-15 And it shall come to pass that as ye were a curse among the heathen, 0 house of Judah, and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; as I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not; so again have I thought
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in these days to do well unto Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
Verse 23-Thus saith the Lord of hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you.
Zech. 9: 10. 1 1-And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. and the battle-bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen; and his dominion shall he from sea even to sea and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for thee also, by the blood. of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Read also chapters 12: 10-14; 1 3: 7-8.
TWO GREAT DELIVERANCES
Since in the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, only a small part of the house of Israel was concerned, that event is very seldom considered in speaking of Israel’s deliverance. The future restoration. involving the twelve tribes is compared with their deliverance from Egypt which also included the twelve. These two deliverance’s being spoken of, the one compared with the other, it follows that since only one of them has taken place. the other remains to be fulfilled. One is spoken of as the “second time,” the first of course, being implied. The first we know to be a fact, the second we know has not become a fact. And yet the prophet Isaiah says. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. which shall be left, from Assyria. and from Egypt, and from Pathros. and from Cush. and from Elam and from Shinar. and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set tip an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall he cut off: Ephraim shall not envy .Judah. and Judah shall not vex Ephraim’’ (Isa. 11: 11-13).
NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
Some so-called scholars will compass land and sea to try to prove that all the prophecies were written before the Bablyonish captivity in order to make out their case. We might for the sake of argument even grant that they were, and ignore the fact that they provide for the restoration of the whole house of Israel. Indeed we might close the Old Testament and take the New and there would he sufficient evidence to show’ that there is a future restoration for the twelve tribes of Israel. Take for instance angelic testimony in promising to Mary the birth of Christ, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
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there shall be no end” (Luke 1: 32, 33). What is the house of Jacob composed of? Is it not of the twelve tribes of Israel? How can Christ reign over the house of Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel, unless He gather them and restore them to the land of their fathers? This was the very thing that Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying, “Blessed he the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began; that we would be saved from our enemies. and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies. might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life’’ (verses 67-75). To raise up an ‘‘horn of salvation” means the raising up of a King to bring national salvation. When Peter asked the question. Behold. we have forsaken all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? The answer is, ‘‘Verily I say unto you. That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration. when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19: 27. 28). How can they judge (rule) the twelve tribes of Israel unless the twelve tribes of Israel are restored? The past fulfillment theories impeach Moses as a prophet. It is necessary to say to them as the Saviour said to the Scribes and Pharisees, “If ye had believed Moses. ye would have believed me.’’ They persist in making the word of God spoken through Moses of none effect by their tradition, What did he as a prophet say? ‘‘The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken” (Deut. 18: 15). The prophet to be raised up is Christ. When John appeared, they asked him. “Art thou that Prophet? And John’s answer was, that he was not that prophet, but he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. “That prophet” that Moses said would be raised up to Israel was raised up. Moses prophesied the truth, and He was like him in that He was refused by Israel; they asked Him as they did Moses of old, “Who made thee a ruler over us?” “He came to his own and his own received him not,” Before Moses delivered Israel he had to forsake them for a time, and leave them till the bondage and tyranny of Egypt became so heavy that they would cry out for deliverance, and be Willing to go under the direction of their leader and deliverer into the promised land,
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AN APPARENT CONTRADICTION
“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet * * like unto me,” He came to Israel, and they would not have Him. “Away with him! crucify him!” they cried out, and the Father snatched Him from them and said to Him, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.” So far, Moses has truly spoken, his words have come to pass; but he does not stop here. He put himself upon record about thirty-three hundred years ago. that not only would this prophet be raised up to Israel but that they should hear him in all things. It was not that God would only raise up a prophet to a spiritual Israel, but to the very Israel whom Moses addressed. He was to be raised up from among them, “unto them,” and that nation unto whom He was to be raised up, were to hear Him in all things. Ah! says the infidel, there you are again with your contradictory Bible. One of the most famous of your prophets said that the prophet that would be raised up to Israel would be heard of them in all things. According to your Scriptures they refused to hear Him, and they crucified Him and according to popular theology that nation is never to hear Him in all things, and you are face to face with an unfulfilled prophecy, and the God of the Bible stands impeached. Scoffingly he cries out. Away with your contradictory, fabulous, foolish Bible. What shall we say to the scoffing skeptic arid profane infidel? What shall we say? If we hold to popular theology, it will forbid us saying that Christ will come again and restore Israel, and that then they will hear Him. Popular teachers will frown upon us and tell us that this is not strictly according to “orthodoxy.” They are more tenacious of so-called orthodoxy than they are concerned about the harmony of the Bible and the veracity of God. Under the influence of such teachers we cannot answer the infidel. He will tie us hand and foot; he will look us straight and sternly in the face and say. You cannot deny that Moses said Israel should hear that prophet in all things. You cannot deny that it is said in the same book that they did not hear him; you cannot deny that they have not yet heard Him. What are you going to do about it? The answer is easy, and the weapon of truth, the sword of the Spirit, is powerful if we are permitted to use it unhampered and free from the bondage of a corrupt theology. To the representatives of that nation who did crucify the Messiah. the inspired apostle says. “Repent ye therefore, and he converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses
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truly said unto the fathers, a Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet will be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3: 1 9-23). Here we have the key to the solution of the problem. The nation had filled up the measure of their fathers; the cup of their iniquity in crucifying their Messiah was full. But their national repentance is yet to take place. and their sins are to be blotted out; times of refreshing are to come. “He shall send Jesus Christ, whom the heaven must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,” when He shall “appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” But in their impatience they sought a king who would bring immediate deliverance without complying with the means leading up to that great end. This was their national mistake resulting in their national crime. They refused the Prince of life, and desired a murderer to be granted unto them. All this had been prophesied in the Divine plan of the ages, and everything will come out right and in harmony with the wonderful plan. For the present, there is a pierced Messiah, and a scattered captive nation, with its cities in ruins and its land in desolation, but when the “times of refreshing shall come” and God “shall send Jesus Christ.” that which Moses truly spake shall come to pass, and they shall hear Him in all things. Gathered from every land, where for long and dreary ages they have been held captive, “with a mighty hand, and a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, “ they shall yet be delivered.
BROUGHT INTO THE BOND OF THE COVENANT
“.I will,’’ says Jehovah, ‘‘bring you” out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people. and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. so will I plead with you. saith the Lord God. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know’ that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 20: 34-38). This will bring them to their senses, as the prodigal son “came to himself.” This prodigal son, who once was “called out of Egypt,” ‘will again come home crying, “Father, I have
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sinned against heaven and before thee.” Then will be “poured 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 first-born” (Zech. 12: 10). “And one shall say unto Him. What are these wounds in thy hands? Then he shall answer. Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” Israel will then realize that the prophet like unto Moses has come. They will hear Him in all things. and He will prove to be their great deliverer, the one king that shall be king over all; and they shall never be divided into two nations any more at all.
THE TWO ISRAELS
The Apostle Paul deals with the question of spiritual and literal Israel, and it is by confounding the one with the other that popular teachers confine Israel’s restoration to the Spiritual seed. ignoring the national and literal restoration of the twelve tribes. An easy way to settle the question of the liberality of the Israelitish restoration is to ask. Of what nation did Moses and the prophets speak when they said it should be scattered? This was not spiritual Israel, but literal, national Israel. This was the nation that was to be scattered: and to this very same nation, and of this very same nation, the gathering is foretold. “Like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict: so will I watch over them to build and to plant saith the Lord’’ (Jer. 30: 28, 29 ) . But let us examine closely the argument of the Apostle Paul. first in Romans 9: 1- 3-”I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have a great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ. for my brethren. my kinsmen according to the flesh.” These are not spiritual Israel. There was no reason why he should wish to he accursed from Christ (or, perhaps he meant accursed as Christ was accursed for spiritual Israel: they needed not such concern, but their kinsmen. according to the flesh. did. These are the Israelites “to whom pertain the national adoption. to whom and through whom the covenants were spoken. the law and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.” But what the apostle is here showing is that the promise of everlasting inheritance of the kingdom, or what we might call the royalty or rulership of the kingdom is not to be theirs because they were Jews according to the flesh. Hence their
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restoration would be a national restoration, when they again will be multiplied in the land. But the “Israel of God” or Israel according to the Spirit, are the seed to whom the promise of the inheritance of the kingdom or rulership was made. Isaac being the representative of faith, it is said, “in Isaac shall thy seed be called. In Rom. 11 he discriminates more clearly between the two Israels, verse 7-”What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election bath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.’’ Here are two Israels---one that bath not obtained and that is blinded, and the other that bath obtained and that is not blinded. In other words, one that has accepted Christ as the hope of Israel. and the other that through blindness hath rejected Him. Now in speaking of the Israel that did not obtain it. they were blinded. which was the reason they crucified Christ, he says. ‘‘For I would not. brethren, that ye shall be ignorant of this mystery. lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in’’ (Rom. 11: 25). This blindness had happened in part to literal, national Israel, and the part in which they were blind was that they did not see that Christ was to be a sacrifice first, ascend to the Father and return before He could become their great deliverer and king. The blindness in part. then. which happened to them is only “until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.’’ And so shall all Israel be saved, as it is written, there shall come to Zion, a deliverer that shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Jacob here stands for the whole house of Israel When the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. this Deliverer shall come and remove the nations sin, as we have seen in the prophecy of Zechariah, and bring Israel into the bond of he covenant. Their salvation as a nation will be their restoration and re-establishment in the land of their fathers. when He that was born in Bethlehem shall “rule His people Israel.” and He who was crucified. because He said He was the king of the .Jews, will be the King of the Jews in deed and in truth. They shall then be made one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and the king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all (Ezek. 37: 22).
THE. PREJUDICE AGAINST JEWS WITHOUT REASON. SIFTED AND
FITTED FOR GOD’S PURPOSE
The objection which many offer to the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and to their being thus favored of God, is that they are, as they are seen mingling among the Gentiles of the present times, dishonest and tricky in their commercial dealings. Why,
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they ask, should God favor such men as we see on our streets these hated Jews? The fact that they are hated is only another proof of the truth of prophecy in relation to them. But the objection raised against their being favored because of what some of them appear to be is without foundation. From a mere natural standpoint it would be difficult to say why they should ever have been favored. ‘What appears objectionable in the characters of some with whom we come in contact in commercial life existed. perhaps. to a greater extent when they were in Egypt and the same objection could be raised to the favor shown them in their deliverance from Egypt and in their subsequent history. The Scriptures show that they were a very stiff-necked. stubborn and faithless people. and the question might well have been asked. judging from what they were when their deliverance commenced. Why should these people be gathered and taken into a favored land; for by comparison there were others. possibly, that seemed more deserving of such favor. The objection is removed, however, when we remember that the stubborn and faithless ones. who gave Moses and Aaron so much trouble. did not enter into the land. Being depraved and fleshly in their minds. they were unfit for the purpose which God had in view in their national deliverance and planting in the land of Canaan. In all these things the glory of God is the end and object and no room is left for the glory of men. Commencing. then. with a people depraved. stubborn and faithless, fit only that their carcasses should fall in the wilderness. out of them God developed a people suitable for his purpose. leaving the purged-out ones strewn along the crooked and rugged pathway of the wilderness. After a thorough sifting, the survivors were fitted for the possession of the land of promise.
So it is to be in the future great deliverance, and in this the objection raised against the hateful .Jew,. as he is regarded, who is seen so cunning in the commercial world will be removed. Clearly is this explained by the prophet Ezekiel. who says that it is with a mighty hand, and a stretched-out arm. and with fury poured out that God will first deal with Israel in their deliverance. As Moses led them through the wilderness of Sinai. so will they be led into “the wilderness of the people, and there he will plead with them face to face” (Ezek. 20: 35). And he adds, “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: and will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me.” These, he says, “I will bring forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel” (verse 38). In the sifting process, these rebels, faithless, stubborn and stiff-necked, will be left, as it were, in the wilderness of the people, where their car-
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casses will fall under the fury of Jehovah then poured out. When the purging process has been sufficiently carried out, and the rod of correction and chastisement has been effectually used, the survivors will be fitted, because they will be humbled and instructed and brought to their senses; and these will all become the subjects of the restored kingdom of Israel under Christ, as their fathers did under Joshua, the typical national saviour. We may, therefore, say that God is no respecter of persons, as persons. It was not because He respected Abraham as a person above all others that He selected him, but it was because Abraham was possessed of certain characteristics that would be responsive to the Divine purpose. though he may first have to be tried and tested severely, and gradually elevated to that standard and status of faith which should be accounted to him for righteousness. So with Abraham’s descendants, God will “sift them as wheat.’’ blowing away the chaff. and will gradually elevate the survivors till fitted as the nucleus of the subjects of the coming kingdom, to be planted in the land of God’s appointment,. never to be moved, and where the children of wickedness shall no more afflict them. ‘‘I do not this for your sakes, 0 house of Israel. but for my own name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen wither ye went’’
(Ezek. 36: 22). To honor God’s holy name and to maintain the truth of His revealed purpose, Israel’s restoration must take place. and when it does take place. God will be justified and sanctified in the eyes of all the world. No one will be able to ask, Why are these men favored? because those who will enter the land will be of a different character from their brethren whom we now see throughout the various parts of the world. They will have hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone. They will be elevated in the scale of intellectuality and morality, and therefore in the highest sense be fitted for the great purpose that God has designed to work out in and through their great deliverance under their own Messiah..
of Israel and Throne of David
I
IN AS MUCH as the twelve tribes of Israel are to be restored to the land of Canaan, and to regain their nationality, the question arises, Under what arrangement or constitution of things is this to be effected? We have seen that God is to establish His kingdom in all the earth, and the question now naturally arises. What is to be the dynasty of the Kingdom? Who is to be the King?-in short, what are the elements of this great and universal constitution of things which is to effect the world*s redemption? We will here venture to state what we propose to prove in this chapter in the form of propositions:
1 --In the universality of God*s kingdom, the whole earth and its inhabitants are embraced.
2-The subjects of the kingdom, proper, or in a special sense, will be the twelve tribes of Israel, the subjects of the dominion IN general being all other nations.
3-The dynasty of the kingdom will be of Israel, more particularly stated, of the tribe of Judah, still more particularly of the Royal house of David.
4-The king of the kingdom will be Christ returned to the earth to reign on David*s throne, to rule the house of Jacob, specially, and the whole world generally.
5-The Royal house or associates of the King will be (a) the twelve apostles raised from the dead and immortalized, who will rule the twelve tribes of Israel; and (b) the immortal saints redeemed from the human race from the time when Paradise was lost by Adam the first till Paradise will be regained by Adam the second, who will be kings and priests with Christ over all nations.
6.-The territory of the kingdom, proper, will consist the land of Canaan as promised to Abraham, while the territorial dominion will extend to the “uttermost parts of the earth.”
7.-The capital of the kingdom will be the City of Jerusalem, rebuilt in unsurpassed beauty and splendor.
8.-The laws of the kingdom will be heavenly, righteous and of a character suited to the requirements necessary to finally effect
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absolutely the world's redemption, to the ultimate eternal well-being of man and the honor and glory of God.
The first proposition concerning the universality of the kingdom has been dealt with in a previous chapter under the heading of “The Kingdom of God to be Universal in the Earth.” The reader will only have to recall some of the testimonies cited to see how unquestionable this is. The promise to Abraham was, “In thee and in thy seed shall all nations be blessed.” Through Moses God declared, “As truly as I live the whole earth shall be filled with my glory.” To Christ He says, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” The prophet Zechariah declares, “The Lord in that day shall be king over all the earth.” The prayer of our Lord to His disciples involved this in the words, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven” (Matt. 6: 10). This shows that the re-establishment of the kingdom would cause God's will to be done in the earth as it is done in heaven, which necessarily will require that it reach to the uttermost parts of the earth. While this kingdom in the universal sense is called the kingdom of God, there is a special sense in which the kingdom of Israel is called God*s kingdom. In the history of Israel we have the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth, but it was not universal. It was confined to Israel and to Israel*s land. Some of its blessings, no doubt, spread out, and the world at large, to some extent, has been benefited by them, but there never has been a time when that kingdom of God has spread out in all the earth, resulting in blessing all nations, as the covenants of promise require. That the kingdom of Israel in the past was called the kingdom of God will be seen from the words of David, who says, “Of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel” (I. Chron. 28:3). This kingdom of the Lord, or kingdom of Israel, on account of the apostasy and wickedness of the nation, ceased to be and the subjects are scattered over the earth to-day. But this kingdom of God, or kingdom of Israel, is to be restored. Its restoration was what the Jews were looking for when Christ appeared, over nineteen hundred years ago, and even the disciples of our Lord did not fully know the time when this hope and desire of Israel would be realized. It was their mistake in relation to the question of the time when this kingdom would be restored that caused the parable of the nobleman to be spoken to them. It is said, “And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear” (Luke 19: 11). They thought
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that the kingdom of God should immediately appear and the kingdom of God which they looked for was the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Jesus did not deny that this kingdom was to appear, but by the parable corrected the mistake they made in relation to the time when it would appear, showing that before it could be restored He must go as a nobleman to a “far country,” or to heaven, to receive for Himself the kingdom and to return. And it is when He returns that He is to say to the worthy ones, “Come, ye blessed to my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25: 34). Even this parable did not remove the deep-seated hope and belief that Christ would restore again the kingdom of Israel at that time. After His crucifixion some of them said, “We trusted that it had been he that should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24: 21), and their mistake is here again corrected by His words, “0 fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24: 25, 26). Then he expounded the matter more clearly to them. Still the nation's longing desire had taken such hold upon them that they seemed impatient to wait God’s time to restore again the kingdom to Israel. Hence after Christ*s resurrection, and just previous to His ascension, they asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1: 6, 7). At all times then the burning question with our Lord*s disciples was the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. That they were not mistaken in this is clearly shown from the fact that, instead of reproving them for believing in it. He only corrects their belief so far as it affected the question of time. In His last answer to this last question put to Him He says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. As much as to say that God ‘will restore the kingdom of Israel, as you hope. He hath put it in His own power and purpose to do so, but the time when He will do it is not for you to know.
The Apostle Paul, when he was called and sent out to preach the gospel, preached this very same hope of Israel, and for declaring that it could only be realized in and through Christ the Jews caused him to be bound with a chain. Appearing before Agrippa he said, “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope*s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews” (Acts 26: 6, 7). And later, as a prisoner in Rome, he
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says, “For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain” (Acts 28: 20). That this hope of Israel was the hope of the restoration of the kingdom of Israel in the hands of Christ is clear from the fact that it is said, “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodgings; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28: 23). Then again, it is said, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things, which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Acts 28: 30, 31). The hope of Israel and its realization through Christ was the subject matter of Paul*s preaching and the offensive part of it to the Jews was that it was associated with and made dependent upon Christ. Had Paul preached the hope of Israel independently of Christ, it would have been no offence to them, but Christ was to be the “stone of stumbling and rock of offence,” and therefore they could not endure the thought that the realization of their long-cherished hope was dependent upon the despised Nazarene, whom they had with wicked hands crucified.
This very hope of Israel, then, is called the kingdom of God, which will be clearly seen by putting the matter in the following syllogistic form:
The burden of Paul*s preaching was the hope of Israel.
The burden of Paul*s preaching was the kingdom of God.
Therefore the hope of Israel and the kingdom of God are one and the same thing.
When the hope of Israel is realized, it will be realized in and through the establishment of the kingdom of God in the hands of Christ.
THE SUBJECTS PROPER
Now our proposition says that the subjects of the kingdom proper, or in a special sense, will be the twelve tribes of Israel. to illustrate what we mean by the kingdom proper, we would refer to the kingdom of Great Britain. Here we have a kingdom, and what some would call an empire, or dominion. The kingdom proper is confined to the British Isles, while its empire or dominion extends far and wide, and upon it, it is said, the sun never sets. Hence Queen Victoria is called Queen of England and Empress of India. It is through the kingdom proper that advantage or disadvantage must accrue to the empire. If it can be said that India has been blessed by England-and indeed it has to a certain
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extent-then we have a parallel case. Supposing a prophet had Said, before the conquest of India by England, In England shall all your tribes be blessed, that would mean that England, being possessed of power and dominion, involving blessings, would confer these on the wilds of India, by civilization, education and other blessings derived from that nation. It is in this sense that in speaking of the nation of Israel as Abraham*s seed we apply the words in the promise to Abraham, “In thy seed, or through thy seed, shall all families of the earth be blessed.” But, as we have seen before, these words have a higher meaning, and reach farther and center in Christ. Going to the fountain head of these blessings, we should say that they flow from God Himself, as the source and giver of all good. In His kingdom, however, we shall have, first. Christ; second, His apostles, who under Him are to rule the twelve tribes of Israel; and then through the nation of Israel the blessings of the kingdom will spread out to the uttermost parts of the earth. All nations of the earth will then be blessed in Abraham*s seed, as the medium of Divine blessing.
That the kingdom of God when established upon the earth is spoken of in the sense of a kingdom and dominion, we learn from Dan. 7: 27-”And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Here we have a kingdom and dominion. What is the kingdom proper here? Let the prophet Micah answer the question, “And thou, 0 tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4: 8). This shows us its Israelitish character, and that the nation that should be most highly favored when the kingdom is established is that nation which has descended from Abraham and, as regards the subjects, are the “seed in whom all nations of the earth shall be blessed.” Hence the prophet Isaiah in contemplating the glorious time of the establishment of this kingdom addresses his words to Israel, to her land and to her capital city:
Isa. 52: 1-10--Awake! awake! put on thy strength, 0 Zion; put on thy beautiful garments 0 Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from thy lust; arise, and sit down, 0 Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, 0 captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath
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redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made hare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Isa. 60: 1-5-Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Isa. 60: 9-15-Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee; for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
The reason why this blessing is to come to Israel first, is shown by the words, “Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time” (verses 21, 22).
Following this we have a case of “rightly dividing the word of truth.” You will remember that the Savior in the synagogue read from the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah*s prophecy, the first verse and part of the second, when He closed the book and said, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” The next word that follows what He read is a conjunction, and what follows remains to be read, as it were, or exemplified in what is yet to come to pass in the restoration of Israel*s kingdom. It is, “And the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Seeming to anticipate modern methods of applying these Scriptures to spiritual Israel and Jerusalem to the church, he adds, “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
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and strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen, and your vine-dressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Minister of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double. and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double; everlasting joy shall he unto them. For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt-offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I \will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people, all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed” (Isa. 61: 2-9).
CHRIST THE KING
That this kingdom will be Israel restored under Christ is clear from numerous testimonies, a few of which are as follows: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jer. 23: 5. 6i. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel. and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and lie shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 33: 14, 15).
In addition to this ‘we would again refer the reader to
the unmistakable prophecy of Ezek. 37. where it is said, “they shall become one
nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to
them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided
into two kingdoms any more at all.” And it is this favored nation that is
referred to by our Savior, when He says, In the regeneration, when the Son of
man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
When Israel was brought into the bond of the Mosaic covenant, there were to be certain curses in case of their disobedience, and blessings to follow their obedience. When God makes a covenant, it can no more return to Him void than His word can, of which He says, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55: 11). In making the Mosaic covenant, God promised Israel as
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follows: “The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto the fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give thee rain unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them” (Deut. 28: 7-13). Israel*s headship over the nations is here predicated upon their obedience. It is clear from the testimonies cited, that this predetermined head-ship shall he exemplified in Israel*s future restoration. Were it not so, God*s promise would fail, and His words, so far as the covenant is concerned, would have returned to Him void, and failed to have accomplished that which He pleased and prospered in the thing whereto He sent it. The fact of the generations of Israel in the past failing to live up to the requirements of the covenant can no more frustrate the purpose of God than the fall of Adam could prevent the carrying out of that eternal plan, which God had arranged from the beginning, centering in Christ. In that plan Christ was before Adam. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was the Alpha of the purpose of God to bless the earth. Hence ye may say, that Christ, as a sacrifice, had been provided in the plan before sin made the sacrifice necessary. This shows the wisdom and fore-knowledge of God in providing for every eventuality that might transpire in the history of the world. To us they seem like happenings or occurrences by chance, but to God, who knows the end from the beginning, they were certainties, and what to us seem emergencies were provided for in every particular.
So the failure of the generations of Israel, from Moses down to the present, to live up to the requirements of the covenant, cannot frustrate God*s plan as expressed to Abraham in the covenants of
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promise to bless all nations of the earth through his seed. The broken covenant must be repaired. The nation has broken loose, as it were, and departed from the bond of the covenant, but the prophet Jeremiah says: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Hear ye the word of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: that I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, Lord” (Jer. 11: 1-5). The reader is asked to read to verse 17. Is this broken covenant to remain broken? Is Israel never to be brought into its bonds to render that faithful obedience which will entitle them to the promise made by Moses that they shall be the head of all nations? God*s purpose cannot fail. Therefore he says, “For I am with thee, saith the Lord. to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished” (Jer. 30: 11). Then he cries out, “Hear the word of the Lord, 0 ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock” (Jer. 31: 10). Speaking of the scattering and gathering, and breaking of the covenant, and being brought back into its bonds, he says, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord” (Jer. 31: 27, 28). “Thus saith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord” (Jer. 32: 42-44). Notwithstanding they have been many days without a king, and without a prince, he
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declares that a time is to come when “David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; neither shall the priests the Levites want a man to offer burnt-offerings and to kindle meat-offerings, and to sacrifice continually.” When this is fulfilled the prophecy we have before quoted from Ezek. 20: 33-38 will find its exemplification. Verse 37 of that prophecy reads, “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” Then God*s Word will accomplish that for which it went forth, and prosper in the thing whereto it is sent.
AN OBJECTION
ANSWERED
Some offer objections to the future fulfillment of these promises because a renewal of the sacrifices is predicted, as for instance in the verse just quoted (Jer. 33: 18) it says, “Neither shall the Levites want a man before me, to offer burnt-offerings, and to kindle meat-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.” The objection here raised is that Christ being made the one great offering, “once for all,” no sacrifices can be offered in the age to come. But Israel*s laws in the past required offerings to be made pointing to Christ, and those offerings were intended as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. While this was fulfilled to a limited extent, it fell short of absolute fulfillment, for Israel, as a nation, did not receive the instructions of the schoolmaster, and were, therefore, not led to Christ, and therefore did not recognize Him. When they are brought into the bond of the broken covenant they will he willing to do God*s commandments, for He says, “My people shall be willing in the day of my wrath,” and what they failed to do in the offerings under the law prospectively, under Christ in the age to come they will do retrospectively. What a grand sequel this is. The very nation which crucified Christ, notwithstanding that all their sacrifices pointed to Him, shall yet look unto Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him. Therefore those sacrifices which by their wickedness they had wrested out of their true meaning, shall yet be offered in the real and true sense in which they were intended to be offered, pointing to, centering and focalizing, as it were, in Christ. They will then, repenting of their sins, heartily acknowledge and memorialize Him who was the type and the substance of the shadow of the broken law.
For a more elaborate and clearer prophecy of this memorial system of offerings, in the rebuilt and beautiful temple which is to adorn the land of Israel, the reader is referred to the prophecy of Ezekiel, where a description of the temple and the Divine Service is given, which has never yet found its fulfillment in the history of the world. The description is there by inspiration. It is there to be fulfilled. And fulfilled it will be as surely as it has
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been written. Then Israel, as a nation, in relation to the civil and the ecclesiastical government of the world, will be, as Moses declared, the head and not the tail, the highest of all nations; the forces of the Gentiles shall be brought unto them, and the dark night which has obtained since Israel*s sun went down will be dispelled b the morning of an unclouded dawn when the “sun of righteousness” will illuminate and bless the world, and “fill the earth with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
THE DYNASTY OF THE KINGDOM
That the dynasty of the kingdom will be of the house of David is clearly shown throughout the Scriptures. In the covenant made with David, it is said, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever” (II. Sam. 7: 12-16). The king here promised us is to be a descendant of David according to the flesh, and it was to him David looked for the realization of his salvation; for He says, speaking of this promised seed, “He shall be a just one, ruling according to the righteous precepts of Jehovah, and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain” (II. Sam. 23: 3, 4). Speaking of this same covenant, the Palmist says, “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne” (Psa. 132: 11). That David understood this to refer to Christ, we need have no doubt whatever, because the matter is settled positively by Inspiration. Why try to get rid of the Messianic application of such prophecies by saying that they found their fulfillment in the history of Solomon? But how can one satisfy himself with such a claim, when David says of the matter, “Thou hast spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come.” And according to his dying words he saw in the promise “all his salvation.” He must have looked beyond Solomon and