Rachel

  • Building the Tabernacle of David Again The apostle James, in announcing the decision of the great and epoch-making Conference of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1–21) which Conference was historically the first General Council of the Christian Church, cited the words of the prophet Amos, through whom God had said: In that day will I raise up again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen (Amos 9:11). The present writer has frequently been asked the meaning of this prophecy concerning the tabernacle of David; and inasmuch as the passage is sometimes referred to in support of the idea of a future restoration of the Jewish nation, it is appropriate that due consideration be given to it in this volume. By reference to Acts 15:1–21, it will be seen that the question presented for the decision of the Conference was whether the Gentiles, who had been converted to Christ, should be circumcised and commanded to keep the law of Moses (verse 5). For some had taught them, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved (verse 1). That question was of capital importance, as may be clearly seen in the light of Paul’s Epistle to the churches of Galatia. The conference, therefore, marked a momentous epoch in the history of the Kingdom of God. For a proper understanding of this record, and particularly the words of James, we must give heed to the fact that the Jerusalem conference had to do wholly and solely with the conversion of the Gentiles (verse 3), which was not only a new thing, but to the Jewish disciples was a most astonishing thing, a thing for which they were, in fact, wholly unprepared. Peter was the first to speak. He related how God had instructed him to go to the house of Cornelius, where a company of Gentiles was awaiting him, and what had taken place there. Then Barnabas and Paul addressed the conference, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them (verse 12). And finally, James addressed the assemblage, saying: Simeon hath declared how God at the first (i.e. for the first time) 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 I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and 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. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world (verses 14–18). According to the writer’s understanding of the passage, the era contemplated by the words, After this I will return, is this present Gospel dispensation, whereof the conversion of Gentiles is the conspicuous feature (the mystery, Ephesians 3:3–6); and that the tabernacle of David is a prophetic symbol of that spiritual house, into which converted Gentiles, along with converted Jews, as living stones, are being built together, upon Christ, the sure Foundation … for a habitation of God through the Spirit (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20–22; 1 Peter 2:5–6; Isaiah 28:16). From James’ words alone it is clear that God’s promise through the prophet Amos, that He would build again the Tabernacle of David, was related to what He was just then beginning to do, namely, visiting the Gentiles, to take out from among them a people for His Name. For, after rehearsing what Simon Peter had just told them, how that God had chosen that apostle as the instrument whereby He, for the first time, did visit a company of Gentiles for the purpose stated above, James plainly declared that to this (God’s visitation of the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name) agreed the words of the prophets (in general), and those of Amos (in the passage quoted) in particular. This connects the promise concerning the building again of the Tabernacle of David directly with God’s work, then just commenced, of converting sinners from among the Gentiles. It fixes beyond all question the time of the building again of the Tabernacle of David; for it definitely locates that promised work in this gospel era, during all of which God has been visiting and converting the Gentiles. And when we connect with this the further fact, clearly stated in the New Testament that God’s chief purpose in converting sinners of the Gentiles is that He may use them as living stones, in the building of that spiritual house which He is now raising up, our way to a right understanding of the passage seems fairly clear. For it only remains to inquire whether we are warranted by the Word of God in taking the tabernacle of David, spoken of by Amos, as a prophetic symbol of that habitation of God, which is now being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Corner Stone (Ephesians 2:20–22). “After This” Let it then be kept in mind, as we proceed with our inquiry, that the great Jerusalem Conference was occupied — not with some future work of God, but — with what He had at that very time begun to do. For His visitation of the Gentiles, beginning through Peter at the house of Cornelius, and continuing through Paul and Barnabas in various places in Asia Minor, was the subject, and the only subject, so far as the record discloses, that was considered at that Conference. In view of this fact, and of other considerations hereafter noted, it is clear that the words, after this, do not specify a period of time subsequent to this present gospel dispensation (as supposed by some), but a period subsequent to the time when Amos spoke his prophecy. For James is giving, in verses 16–17, not a prophecy of his own, but that of Amos; and he is stating, moreover, the substance of other Old Testament prophecies. When James declared that the words of the prophets agreed with what Peter had just related concerning his mission to the house of Cornelius, he used a word which means literally to sound together, to symphonize, as when the instruments of an orchestra play in perfect harmony. Thus we are given clearly to know that the reports which Peter, Paul and Barnabas had brought to that Conference, concerning God’s wonderful work in visiting and saying numbers of Gentiles, is just what had been foretold by the prophets in general (see Romans 15:8–12), and particularly by Amos, whose words James proceeds to quote. This makes it certain that the phrase after this refers to some period subsequent to the days of the Old Testament prophets, and not to a period yet future. In fact, it is entirely clear from the whole record of the Conference, that James applied the words of the prophets, including the phrase after this, to what God was then doing in visiting the Gentiles. Furthermore, the exact words which God spake by the prophet Amos were, In that day (not after this) I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen etc. (Amos 9:11); and the Holy Spirit, speaking by James, gives us to understand that the words, after this, correctly express what Amos meant by in that day; and that they express also what was meant by other prophets, who had foretold the salvation of the Gentiles. Now the two preceding verses of Amos make it plain that the day whereof he was speaking is this present era; for it is now that the Israelites are sifted among all the nations (verse 9). Hence the Scriptures thus far considered compel us to look for some work of God in this present age as the fulfillment of the prophecy that He would raise up the Tabernacle of David; and for a work that involves the conversion of the Gentiles. This brings us to the question, What then is The Tabernacle of David? To begin with, let us note that it is not the temple of Solomon. The two structures were quite distinct; and typically they differ widely in significance. Amos prophesied concerning a tabernacle, definitely associated with David, a tabernacle which, at the time of his prophecy, had fallen, and was in ruins. Amos prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah (1:1), at which time the temple of Solomon was standing in all its glory, and its services and sacrifices were being carried out in due order. There is doubtless something very significant in the fact that, while the temple of Solomon was yet standing, God declared His purpose to raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen, and to raise up its ruins. Historically, the tabernacle of David was the tent wherein the ark of God was housed during the latter part of David’s reign. In 2 Samuel 6 is the account of the bringing up of the ark of God into the city of David with gladness (verse 12); and it is recorded that they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it (verse 17). Thus the tabernacle of David, pitched in Zion, the city of David, became the dwelling place of Jehovah; and hence it is most natural and fitting that it should become in prophecy the figure or symbol of that tabernacle of God, which the Son of David was to build, according to the true meaning and intent of the word of the Lord by Nathan, recorded in the very next chapter of 2 Samuel: He shall build an house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:13). It should be noted that the words, for My name, link this promise with the words of James, to take out of them a people for His Name. This conclusion finds strong support in the fact that the name of David’s city, Zion, is used in many prophecies, and also in the New Testament, as the designation of God’s eternal habitation. Recurring to the prophecy of Amos, it will be clearly seen that his statements could not be taken as applying to the lateral tent that David had set up to receive the ark. Even if that frail structure had survived, in a condition of dilapidation, to the days of Amos, still the terms breaches and ruins, used by Amos, and the phrase build again of James, would be inapplicable to a mere tent. Nor would it require a work of God to raise it up and repair it. So we are driven to the conclusion that the raising again of the tabernacle of David, spoken of by the prophet, was the figure of a work which God Himself would undertake to accomplish; a work that was of great importance in His eyes, and that would require for its accomplishment the putting forth of His mighty quickening power. And such indeed is the building of that spiritual house whereof Jesus Christ of the seed of David, risen from the dead (2 Timothy 2:7), is the true foundation, the tried Corner Stone laid in Zion; and upon which converted Jews and Gentiles having been quickened together with Christ, are as living stones, being built up, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-6). In this view of the prophecy, it does indeed agree with what God was beginning to do in the days of the Jerusalem conference, as reported by the apostles, Peter, Paul and Barnabas. As Living Stones Peter, who was the first speaker in that Conference, gives clear light, in his first Epistle, upon the matter which was there under deliberation, and which is also the subject of our present inquiry. For the revelation of truth given in that Epistle culminates in the statement of Chapter 2, that those whom God has begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, who have been redeemed with His precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, and have been born again of the incorruptible seed of the word of God, as declared in Chapter 1, are, as living stones, being built up a spiritual house, upon Jesus Christ, the living Stone which the builders rejected, made in resurrection the head of the corner. And the apostle quotes in this connection Isaiah 28:16, Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. This citation from Isaiah establishes two facts of capital importance; first, that God’s eternal habitation is being built, not in the natural world, but in the spiritual world; and second, that the Zion of prophecy, which God has chosen as the place of His eternal abode, is the heavenly Zion, to which we are come (Hebrews 12:22). These two facts constitute strong evidence confirmatory of the correctness of our explanation of Acts 15:16. For the tabernacle that David built for the ark was in Zion, the city of David; and inasmuch as the name Zion designates a spiritual locality, the place of God’s eternal dwelling, it would naturally follow that the expression tabernacle of David has also a spiritual meaning. Furthermore, when God, by the lips of His prophet, declares that He Himself will, in a certain specified era, raise up again that which had formerly been His temporary dwelling place, and when, in that very era, we learn from His servants, Peter and Paul, that He is actually building for Himself an eternal dwelling place, the conclusion is well-nigh irresistible that the building He is now raising up is the one He said He would raise up in this present dispensation. A Habitation of God In complete agreement with this revelation by Peter, is what Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Ephesians, concerning that masterpiece of God’s workmanship which He is raising up at the present time, that wondrous building, fitly framed together, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:10, 20–22). But Paul goes more fully into the subject, and he clearly identifies this great building with what had been under consideration at the Jerusalem Conference, by emphasizing the place which the saved from among the Gentiles have in this great work of God. That equal participation of saved Gentiles with saved Jews in the one household of God (Ephesians 2:11–19) is the mystery of Christ, which, writes this apostle, 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; and that mystery was, as the apostle himself defines it. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ, by the gospel (Ephesians 3:4–6). Other Details of the Passage It has been already pointed out that the words which is fallen down etc. could not be taken as applying either to the literal tent which David had erected as a habitation for the ark, or to Solomon’s temple. In what sense then was the tabernacle of David fallen down and in ruins? To find an explanation for those words we must needs take them in a figurative sense; and there should be no hesitation or reluctance so to do, seeing that figurative language is the customary language of the prophets. And a most satisfactory explanation of those expressions immediately presents itself, when we call to mind that God’s people constitute His true dwelling place. It was Israel that was fallen, and that was, in God’s contemplation, in ruins. It was Israel that God purposed to raise up again — not, of course, the natural Israel, but the spiritual Israel, the true Israel of God, a people composed of the saved remnant of the natural Israel, with whom are incorporated into one body, forming one spiritual house, the called from among the Gentiles. To these Amos refers in the words remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen (Gentiles) upon whom My Name is called (Amos 9:12, margin). Instead of remnant of Edom, James has residue of men, which indicates that Amos used the word Edom figuratively to designate all who were not Jacob, that is, non-Israelites. The words Gentiles upon whom My Name is called refer back to the words to take out of them a people for His Name; which further serves to show that the prophecy of Amos has its fulfillment in God’s present day visitation of the Gentiles. The word “tabernacle” is used of God’s dwelling place in the New Testament. Thus we read in Hebrews 8:1–2 concerning Christ that He is “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man”; and again, in the last vision of the Apocalypse, John saw the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, and heard a great voice saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men” (Revelation 21:1–3). Moreover, in this connection the Lord Jesus announces Himself as “The Root and Offspring of David” (22:16). In the prophecy of Amos we have the words of God, “And I will build it, as in the days of old.” The days when David pitched a tabernacle in Zion for the ark were days of joy and gladness, of shouting and dancing, of victory and prosperity, the days when David reigned over a united and a happy people. It is recorded that “He blessed the people in the Name of the lord of hosts And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to everyone a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine” (2 Samuel 6:12–19). It is not difficult to see in this description a type of those eternal joys which all will share together, when at last “the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God.” George Smith on the Tabernacle of David Very little seems to have been written on the subject of the Tabernacle of David; therefore the writer was glad to find, in George Smith’s Harmony of the Divine Dispensations (published in 1856) some illuminating comments thereon. The chapter is much too long to be reproduced here in full. But some extracts are given below, prefaced by a brief explanation of what precedes the quoted paragraphs. Mr. Smith wonders that there should ever have been any uncertainty as to what was meant in the prophecies of Isaiah 16:5 and Amos 9:11 by “the tabernacle of David”; seeing that the Scriptures give such great prominence to “the tabernacle that David had pitched” for the ark of the covenant. One account of the removal of the ark to the tabernacle that David prepared for it on Mount Zion is given in 2 Samuel 6:5–7; and again in 1 Chronicles 16:1 it is recorded that “they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it.” Moreover, both accounts make evident that the housing of the ark of God in the Tabernacle of David was an event of unusual importance; for it was celebrated by “all Israel” with demonstrations of the most impressive character — “with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets and with cymbals”, while King David himself danced before the ark with all his might in the exuberance of his joy. And then followed sacrifices of burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the distribution “to every one of Israel, both man and woman”, of the king’s bounty, flesh, bread and wine for a feast. And furthermore the event was signalized by the fact that “Then on that day David delivered first this Psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren” (that is, Psalm 105 and parts of other Psalms; see 2 Samuel. 23:1, and 1 Chronicles 16:7). But, as Mr. Smith points out, the most remarkable and significant feature of this great historical event is that it constituted a decided break with the Levitical ordinances given through Moses, in that the ark of God’s presence was no longer in the holy of holies of the Tabernacle of the Wilderness (which was then at Gibeon), but in the midst of the Tabernacle of David on Mount Zion; and further that there were no animal sacrifices there, only sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving; and no priests, but only Levites, whom David appointed “to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record”, that is literally to make mention of or bring to remembrance, or in other words to proclaim or preach the mercies and the marvelous acts of God, “and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel” (1 Chronicles 16:4). This was a very remarkable suspension of the system of worship of the Law, and an equally remarkable foreshadowing of that of the Gospel. And so it was during the greater part of King David’s reign, during all the years the ark of God dwelt in the Tabernacle of David. Chiefly it is to be observed that this sojourn of the ark on Mount Zion is the foundation of the many references in the Psalms and the Prophets to Zion, as the dwelling place of Jehovah, and is what gives to the terms Zion and Mount Zion their high spiritual meaning. And it is a most significant fact, whereof we must take due notice if we are to understand some of the most important of the prophecies, that never thereafter was Mount Moriah, where Solomon’s magnificent temple stood, referred to as Jehovah’s dwelling place, but always Mount Zion; and that when God speaks by His prophets concerning things to come in the Kingdom of Christ, He never says “I will build again the Temple of Solomon which I destroyed”, but I will build again the Tabernacle of David which is fallen down. Thus, the Tabernacle of David is evidently replete with typical meaning, concerning which it will suffice for our present purpose to remark that, to David, the man after God’s own heart, who was himself a conspicuous type of Christ, and who is more closely associated with the gospel than any other of the patriarchs (Matthew 1:1; Acts 13:22, 34; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8; Revelation 22:16, etc.) it was given to know the mind of God concerning real spiritual worship; and that he, 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 (Acts 2:30) was permitted to give in the tabernacle pitched by him on Mount Zion, a wonderful foreshadowing of the worship, by prayer, preaching and song, which characterizes the gatherings of God’s people in this gospel dispensation. The spiritual worship thus begun was not continued in the reign of subsequent Kings; for a fearful decline began in the days of Solomon and continued to the end of the kingdom era. But Amos, in the days of Uzziah, delivered that famous prophecy concerning the raising up of the Tabernacle of David (Amos 9:11–12), which all the apostles, elders and people assembled at Jerusalem accepted as decisive of the question whether the Mosaic ritual was to be imposed upon Gentile converts (Acts 15:1–17). Citing the words of Amos, Mr. Smith says it was, A prophecy which clearly places before us the genius and character, religious services and spirit of the Tabernacle of David, as similar and precursor to the Kingdom of Christ. And then, after quoting Isaiah’s prophecy (16:5) concerning the Tabernacle of David, he continues: These prophecies considerably enlarge our field of vision with respect to the relation of the Tabernacle of David to the kingdom of Christ. According to these, the Shekinah, resting over the cherubim in the sanctuary of Mount Zion, typified the reign of Christ in the Gospel Church. In fact this is the true line of descent, and the true exposition of the kingdom of Christ. For here, in those gracious institutions of a remembered and proclaimed covenant mercy, and those thanksgivings of grateful love (poured out in songs of praise), Messiah sits ruling in the hearts of His people, dispensing truth, and hastening them on to the attainment of righteousness. Referring to the question brought up for decision at Jerusalem, whereof an account is given in Acts 15, Mr. Smith says: The decision of that question, so vitally important to the rising Church, was formally referred to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. Paul, Barnabas and others went from Antioch to the Hebrew capital to take part in this important discussion. Peter, Barnabas and Paul recited the wonders wrought among the Gentiles by the preaching of the Gospel. But still there was wanting some clear, pointed, powerful, Scriptural authority to effect the permanent settlement of a question of such magnitude. And it was supplied by James, who quoted the words of the text (Amos 9:10–11) as incontrovertible evidence on the case. The question was, Must the ritual law of Moses be obeyed by Christian converts? To this the apostle replied, “Certainly not; for inspired prophecy declares that the kingdom of Christ is not to be a revival and extension of Mosaicism, but on the contrary a restoration of the tabernacle of David. And since in that sanctuary the Mosaic ritual had no place, so it can have no claims in the Christian Church.” The most important feature of this case is the perfect unanimity with which this judgment was received and adopted. This was a meeting composed almost entirely of Hebrews, whose sympathies and prejudices inclined them to the observance of the ordinances of the law. Yet no sooner is the citation of sacred Prophecy made, than all perceive its force, all admit its decisive effect. Even the great body of believers unanimously concurs. And there in Jerusalem itself, within sight of the temple, where the ritual of the law was still performed in all its extent and minuteness, the whole body of the Church repudiate its claims, and adopt the Tabernacle of David as the divinely appointed model for all Christian practice and institutions. As to the effects: The first effect of the decision was to sweep away forever the assertion, Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved. For, says our author, Circumcision fell and perished from the Christian Church before the divinely inspired quotation of the prophecy of Amos by the apostle James. Sacrifice was abolished with circumcision. For that institution formed no part of the worship offered to God on Mount Zion. With circumcision and sacrifice the priesthood was also abolished. Indeed a non-sacrificing priesthood is a contradiction of terms; for every priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices (Hebrews 8:3). But there was nothing of that kind in the Tabernacle of David, whose sacred services therefore vividly represented the worship proper to that church which is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, Whose one sacrifice for sins is universally and everlastingly efficacious — once for all (Hebrews 10:10). Nor must it be forgotten that, with those elements of the Mosaic economy, every existing typical and symbolical thing was swept away (That is to say all the shadows of the law were abolished and replaced by the corresponding spiritual realities). It is astonishing that educated Christian men should evince so much weakness and ignorance as have been of late displayed; not to use stronger terms. The Tabernacle of David evidently arose from the existence and felt wants of men. They needed means of more direct union with God and communion with His Spirit, than was afforded by priestly instrumentality in the national sanctuary. And it pleased God to sanction and honor such a deviation from His own appointed ordinances as would meet that need. Hence the Ark of God and His glory dwelt in the sanctuary of Zion. There the people met before the Lord. There they heard the wonders of His covenant mercy and felt the power of His saving grace. How marvelous are the merciful manifestations of God! Who would have supposed that the Mosaic system could, in one great feature of its operation, have been suspended for so many years? That this measure should have been wrought up into sacred prophecy, and used under apostolic inspiration to cast a steady light on the true character of the Gospel Church, and to show the nature of Gospel institutions? Yet so it is. And so fully is this the case that none can adequately apprehend the glorious development of grace which has attended the revelation of the Gospel, without recognition of the Tabernacle of David, and some acquaintance with its services and its position in prophecy. How beautiful is the harmony with which these views put before us the merciful revelation of Divine grace to mankind! The law was introduced as a mighty persuasive and protest against idolatry, and for the purpose of setting forth, by the most significant and vivid typical action, the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus. This being done, the Tabernacle of David is raised, and Mount Zion becomes the seat of a manifestation of spiritual privilege and saving grace, which, in a great measure, anticipated the blessings of the Gospel, and was exactly adapted to prepare the world, and especially the Hebrew church, for the coming and Kingdom of God’s Messiah. The foregoing quotations present what impresses the writer as being a sound, sane, satisfying and above all, Scriptural, exposition of the Word of truth! Calvin’s Comment on Micah 4:6 In connection with the subject of the building of the Tabernacle of David, Calvin’s comment on a parallel prophecy is worthy of special consideration. Micah 4:6–7 reads: In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that I have afflicted: and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever. Although the Church is at the present time hardly to be distinguished from a dead, or at best a sick, man, there is no reason for despair; for the Lord raises up His own suddenly, as He waked the dead from the grave. This we must clearly remember lest, when the Church fails to shine forth, we conclude too quickly that her light has died utterly away. But the Church in the world is so preserved that she rises suddenly from the dead. Her very preservation through the years is due to a succession of such miracles. Let us cling to the remembrance that she is not without her resurrection, or rather, not without her many resurrections (John Calvin). For it is to be remembered that, as already pointed out, the true Israel is a resurrection from the putrid carcass of the natural Israel. As regards verse 7, we have a record of the fulfillment thereof in 1 Peter 2:9, where we read of a remnant that had been made a nation. At verse 10 the prophet foretells the birth pangs of the daughter of Zion in the bringing forth of this nation; and a few verses further on (5:1) he speaks of the treatment the Judge of Israel was to receive at the hands of that people, and which was to precipitatRead more

  • The Election Hath Obtained It The Spirit of God has caused it to be placed on record that: Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it (Romans 11:7). Of what is the apostle speaking? What is it Israel was seeking for and had not obtained, but which the election had obtained and was in possession of, at the time the Epistle to the Romans was written? The apostle deemed it not necessary to specify what he had in mind. We may infer it was something so well known that they to whom the Epistle was addressed would understand his meaning without a more explicit statement. And surely, what Israel was expecting was, and is, so well known by all who have any acquaintance with Bible prophecy and Jewish history, as to make a definite specification thereof unnecessary. Moreover, the context makes plain what it was that the election had obtained. But let us, before proceeding further, observe that, whatever had been the object of Israel’s quest, Israel had now (at the time the Epistle was written) lost it irretrievably; for the inspired utterance declares that, not only had Israel failed to obtain it, but another company, the election, had obtained it. And furthermore, one of the chief purposes for which this passage (Romans 9–11) was written was, to make known that God, in bestowing the coveted blessing upon the believing remnant of Israel and in incorporating with that remnant the saved from among the Gentiles, was fulfilling the promises He had made by the mouth of His holy prophets to Israel; for they are not all Israel which are of Israel (9:6). Clearly then, what is here referred to is not something which that generation of Israelites had missed and God had temporarily withdrawn, with the intention of bestowing it upon a future generation. And further let us observe preliminarily that Paul is not speaking here of something that lay in the then future purposes of God, but of a promised blessing whereof the set time had come, a blessing which had in fact already passed into the possession of those for whom it had been intended, the people of God which He foreknew (verse 1). For the word is, The election HATH obtained it. To Whom Pertain the Promises At the beginning of the passage the apostle gives a list of seven things whereby God had distinguished the Israelites from all other peoples (9:4–5); which list includes the promises. And there is no dispute, or room for it, that the blessings God had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures were all expressly for Israel, for the seed of Abraham. Therefore, although the Jews of that day had misunderstood the voices of the prophets (Acts 13:27) and had carnalized the things their prophets had foretold, they were nevertheless not in error in the belief that the glorious things promised by them were all for Israel. Their error, as has now been plainly pointed out in the New Testament Scriptures, was twofold: first (as already shown) they misunderstood the nature of the promised blessings, for they supposed them to be natural and earthly, instead of spiritual and heavenly; and second, they did not understand that the promises were, not for the natural seed of Abraham, but for his spiritual seed; or in other words, that they who compose the true Israel of God are not those who have mere the outward sign of circumcision, but those who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised (Romans 4:11–12). And so today, the differences that have arisen between those who study the prophetic Scriptures and seek the meaning thereof, are not as to whether the promises of God through the Old Testament prophets were expressly for Israel, for the Jews, for the circumcision, for the seed of Abraham; but as to who are the Israel of promise? Who is a Jew? Who are the circumcision? and who the seed of Abraham? But how comes it that there are differences as to those questions between those who accept the New Testament as the Word of God? seeing that the first is expressly answered by Romans 9:6–8; the second by Romans 2:28–29; the third by Philippians 3:3; and the fourth by Galatians 3:7, 29? The Promise But at this point some will say: “True, there is a spiritual Israel as well as a natural Israel, an Israel of God as well as an Israel after the flesh; but may it not be that some of the blessings promised of old by the prophets of Israel are intended for the natural Israel, and are reserved for a yet future day? And is not the gift of the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed a promise of that sort?” We believe a clear answer is to be found in the very passage we are now considering. For to begin with, if what Israel was then seeking after was the restoration of its nationality and the repossession of the land of Canaan — and undoubtedly that is what they were most ardently seeking — then manifestly the words, the election hath obtained it, would be a complete bar to their hopes. But we look further into the matter. The promises of God were numerous and were expressed in various ways; yet they were often viewed in their totality as a comprehensive whole. For example, in Galatians 3:7 we find the words, heirs according to the promise; as if all the promises scattered through the messages of the prophets constituted in the aggregate a single all-inclusive promise, which in due time was to be fulfilled to the seed of Abraham. Doubtless it is this comprehensive, all-embracing promise that Paul had in mind when he wrote of that which he (Israel) seeketh for. And it is also quite certain, both from the Scriptures and also from Jewish history, that what that intensely patriotic people were ever seeking for was the repossession of the land of Canaan. And one of the Scriptures upon which their hopes were founded is this: 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 … For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and shall burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves to him; but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them (Jeremiah 30:3, 8–9). This is a typical expression of the promise, and of what Israel was seeking after, according to their interpretation of it. Hence it is what they had failed to obtain, and what the election had obtained. God’s original promise to Abraham and his seed of a territorial possession is recorded in these words: And I will give unto thee, and unto thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:1–8). Upon a close examination of this passage it will be seen that the promise is so worded that it would have been literally fulfilled had God thereafter given that land to the descendants of Ishmael; for Ishmael was as much the seed of Abraham as was Isaac. Later Scriptures, however, limit the promise to Isaac’s descendants — which things are an allegory — and still later Scriptures limit it to the children of Jacob, excluding the offspring of Esau. But as between the twelve sons of Jacob no distinctions were made; and hence, if God should give that land to any single descendant of Jacob, it would be a literal fulfillment of the promise. And is not that precisely what God has done? But let us go a little further in quest of what the Scripture says concerning God’s promise to Abraham. In Romans 4, immediately following the verse quoted above, which tells who the real children of Abraham are, we read: 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 (Romans 4:13). By this we learn that God’s promise to Abraham was much larger than He chose to reveal in Old Testament times. It embraced the whole world. And now that we know the full breadth of the promise, we clearly recognize that God, by giving the whole world to the seed of Abraham would literally fulfill this promise; for the greater includes the less. The apostle then goes on to show that it is impossible that the promise to Abraham could be fulfilled to those who were merely his natural descendants: For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect (Romans 4:14). In other words, the bestowal of the Promised Land upon the nation of Israel (they which are of the law) would be — not the fulfilling of the promise, but — the nullification of it. And the passage continues Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all seed; not to that (seed) only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations). By this we are given to know that the promise to Abraham, recorded in Genesis 17:1–8, runs to Abraham and his spiritual seed, those who are of the faith of Abraham, and that the clause I have made thee a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5), means that saved Gentiles were to be among the heirs of this promise. The subject is still further elucidated in Galatians; where we read: Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to SEEDS, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is CHRIST (Galatians 3:16). Thus we see that Christ is the true and only legitimate Heir of the promise to Abraham; but by the same Scripture (and by others as well) we learn that Christ’s members are included with Him in the promise. In Galatians it is put thus: Even as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham … And if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:6–7, 29). Now, since they which are of faith, they that are Christ’s, are the elect remnant of Israel (with believing Gentiles incorporated with them into one body) we have reached a clear explanation of what is meant by the election hath obtained it. Christ and His people are the heirs according to the promise, which embraces all the promises. It follows that there remains for the natural Israel nothing whatever of God’s promise to Abraham concerning a territorial possession in the world. The election hath obtained it, and will never be dispossessed. But, in order to put the matter beyond all doubt, the apostle not only states affirmatively who are the heirs of God’s promise to Abraham, but he also shows negatively that Abraham’s natural descendants have no share therein. He rebukes those of his contemporaries who held the contrary, charging them with not understanding the Scripture which records that Abraham had two sons (Galatians 4:21–31). We will not expatiate further on that wonderful allegory; but would merely remind the reader again that Ishmael represents Abraham’s natural seed, and Isaac his spiritual seed, the latter being the heirs of the promise; and that the words, cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman, were a prophecy that the natural descendants of Abraham should not share the inheritance with his spiritual seed, the elect remnant. Manifestly therefore, those who now maintain that the natural Israelites as such are the heirs of God’s promise to Abraham do not only fail to understand the allegorical significance of his family history, but they also close their eyes to the clear explanation thereof in Galatians 4:21–31. In Romans 9:6–8 the same truth is stated in these words: For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children; but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. This Scripture gives us, in addition to the important truth that not all Israelites are included in the Israel of God’s prophetic purposes, the closely allied truth that the children of God, that is, those who are saved by the gospel, are the children of the promise (definite article in the original); and that they are counted for the seed (of Abraham). By this passage it is also seen that Romans 9 continues a subject that was begun in Chapter 8, the inheritance of the whole redeemed creation by the children of God. For in Chapter 8 it is written: The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16–17). And the succeeding verses show that the inheritance here referred to is the entire creation of God, which is hereafter to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Here is another Scripture which never could have been written if there were to be a Jewish millennium intervening between the sufferings of this present time and the glory which shall be revealed in (or to) us (verse 18). Hath God Cast Away His People? If therefore, God had cast out the bondwoman and her son (Israel after the flesh) and had decreed that the son of the bondwoman was to have no share in the inheritance promised to Abraham (the world), could it be said that He had cast away His people? Manifestly if the natural descendants of Abraham were His people, the answer would be, Yes. But Paul’s answer to that question is an emphatic and indignant, God forbid. And he goes on to explain that the natural Israelites were not His people; but that — His people which He foreknew was that very small remnant according to the election of grace which believed in Jesus Christ (Romans 11:1–7). The plain and decisive answer given by the apostle in this passage is that God had not cast away His people, because the apostate nation which He had cast was not His people. Those were the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, which for centuries past He had endured with much longsuffering (Romans 9:22), and to whom He had said through Isaiah, All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people (10:20–21). Those were not His people, and they never were, for when Elijah made intercession against Israel, and instanced some of the enormities they had committed, what was God’s answer? I have reserved to Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. That very small remnant were all He owned as His people in that day; and Paul says, EVEN SO it is at this present time also; and he had shown in the preceding chapter (9:25–26) that this present time is the that day foretold of God through Hosea, in which He would disown His nominal people as not My people, and would call them My people which were not My people (Hosea 1:9; 2:23). There is no obscurity in the apostle’s answer to his own question, Hath God cast away His people? The answer being in effect that God had in contemplation a people, which He foreknew, which were not the natural Israel (for only a small fraction of that nation were to be included among them) and these He had not cast away, but on the contrary they had obtained and were already in possession of that which the natural Israel had been vainly seeking for. And yet, in the interest of modern dispensationalism, this luminous explanation is not merely disregarded, but is reversed; and the passage is made to mean that the natural Israelites are God’s people, and that as such they are to obtain in a future dispensation that which they have been seeking for. The Kingdom of God What Israel was seeking for was usually in those days designated by the then current expressions, Kingdom of God and Kingdom of the heavens; and the Holy Spirit has made use of those terms in the New Testament. Therefore, in closing this chapter, it is appropriate to call attention to the fact that, what Paul was inspired to reveal in detail in Romans and Galatians, had been briefly foretold by the Lord Himself in His last words spoken to chief priests and elders of the people just before His death. It is recorded by Matthew that, after speaking to those Jewish leaders the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, the Lord put to them a question which led them to pronounce the doom of their nation. For, replying to His question — What will he (the lord of the vineyard) do to those wicked husbandman? — they said: He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandman, which shall render him the fruits in their season (Matthew 21:33–41). Little did they imagine that, in so speaking, they were uttering a true prophecy of what was about to happen to that nation. But the next words of Jesus make this clear; for He said: Therefore I say unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (verse 43). What Christ declares in these words is the same thing in substance as what Paul afterwards stated, when he said: Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it; for obviously, the election is that nation to which, according to the words of Christ, the Kingdom of God (which Israel was seeking for) was to be given. The election is that holy nation, which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God (1 Peter 2:9). Further discussion of the subject of the people of God, and particularly of the place which Gentiles have in that company, will be found later on. The Word of Faith Which We Preach A specific instance of that which Israel was seeking for and had not obtained, but which the believing remnant had obtained, is found in the reference which Paul makes in Romans 10 to the last prophecy of Moses concerning Israel. That citation is of the highest importance; for it furnishes in and of itself conclusive proof that the promises of future mercy to Israel, when they should repent and return to the Lord are promises of gospel salvation, not of national restoration. Therefore we ask special attention to what follows: Immediately preceding the words quoted by Paul from Deuteronomy 30, are prophecies of the complete apostasy of Israel; foretelling of the days to come when they would turn from the Lord, would break His covenant and serve other gods, even sacrificing unto devils; because of which He would bring upon them all the curses written in the book of the law, until He have destroyed thee (Deuteronomy 28:46, 48, 61; and 29:24–28). But now, against the background of that dark cloud of coming judgment, God sets the lustrous bow of promised mercy. Let us therefore pay careful attention to the words of Moses and to the explanation of them the Spirit has given through the apostle Paul: And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee … and thou shalt call them to mind among all the 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 thy heart and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion on thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee… And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it … And the Lord will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of all thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live … And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command thee this day (Deuteronomy 30:1–8). Here we have a clear statement of what Israel was seeking for; and we can readily understand how the unspiritual rabbis, those blind leaders of the blind, should have interpreted this and similar scriptures as promises of political restoration for Israel and of the repossession by that nation of the earthly Canaan; for they were blinded to the truth that the land of Canaan was but a fleeting shadow (Hebrews 10:1) of, the true land of promise (Ephesians 1:3); even as the earthly nation itself was but the shadow for the time then present, of the true Israel of God. And then follow these words, to which we specially invite attention: For this commandment, which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it (Deuteronomy 30:11–14). Paul quotes from this scripture and says that Moses was referring there to the word of faith which we preach, that is, the gospel; and he declares the inner meaning of these words of Moses to be, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus — Moses had said in thy mouth and in thy heart … and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9). And the apostle goes on to say that the promise was not for repentant Jews only, but for all men: For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (verses 12–13). The essence of all this, stated in the fewest words, is that this commandment which — Moses said — I command thee this day, and which was to be brought very nigh unto them, was to hear and obey, the gospel of Christ. And from this Paul argues the imperative necessity of preaching the gospel to all men, Jews and Gentiles alike; for how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And, still keeping Moses’ prophecy in view, he continues: But I say, Did not Israel know? (that God’s promised mercy was to embrace Gentiles also). First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people (Romans 10:18–21). And then the apostle sums up the truth of the matter by saying: Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Here we have an authoritative explanation of God’s promise of mercy for some future generation of Israelites upon condition of re- pentance and faith; and thereby we learn that, although it spoke of things seemingly material and earthly, such as the repossession of the tiny bit of earth’s surface formerly possessed by their ancestors, it was in reality a promise of gospel salvation. Further we learn thereby that the promise is being fulfilled now to all those Jews (the remnant according to the election of grace) who confess the crucified Jesus as Lord and who believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead; and that the promise is for believing Gentiles as well as for believing Jews. By this explanation we learn also that the failure of Israel as a nation to obtain the promise of Deuteronomy 30, which the remnant has obtained, is in fulfillment not only of the prophecies of Moses but of other prophecies as well; such for example as that which God spake through Isaiah, saying: All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Both classes of prophecies — blessings and cursings — are in course of fulfillment now. For it necessarily follows that all similar prophecies of mercy and restoration for the Jewish people are prophecies of gospel salvation, and have their fulfillment in this present day of grace. And it is appropriate at this point to recall once more the enlightening word spoken by Peter, whereby we know that it was revealed to Israel’s prophets that the things foretold by them they ministered, not unto themselves, but unto us; which prophecies are the very things now reported by those that have preached the gospel unto us with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (1 PeterRead more

  • Where Is the Promise of His Coming? The testimony of the apostle Peter has a decisive bearing upon the question under consideration; and his testimony is the more weighty because he was in a special sense the apostle to the Jews (Galatians 2:7–8). Most assuredly therefore, if there were to be hereafter an era of earthly greatness and world supremacy for a revived and reconstituted nation of Israel, and if that were the hope of Israel, the revelation thereof would be found in the writings of Peter. But the writings of that servant of Christ show conclusively that, not only had he no knowledge of such a future for the Jewish nation, but there is nothing of that sort in the purposes of God. The testimony we wish particularly to bring to the reader’s attention is found in Peter’s second Epistle, Chapter 3; but before presenting it, we will briefly notice several pertinent matters in his first Epistle. In 1 Peter 1:7 is a reference to the appearing of Jesus Christ and the praise and honor and glory that will then be the portion of those who endure successfully the trial of their faith. The apostle had previously referred to the living hope of those strangers … elect according to the foreknowledge of God; which hope he describes as — not a place in a millennial earth, but — an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven (verse 4). This is the salvation (that is) ready to be revealed in the last time (verse 5), and this, he says is the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (verse 13). Can we think the Holy Spirit would have written thus if the appearing of Jesus Christ were to be followed by a thousand years (or any period) of earthly bliss for Jews and Gentiles? Furthermore, the apostle makes at this point an illuminating statement concerning the general subject of Old Testament prophecy, showing that it is not at all what the Jewish rabbis of that time were teaching (and what is taught among Christians today) — namely, that it had to do with a future state of earthly glory and dominion for the Jewish nation; but that what was revealed to the prophets of Israel concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow, were the very same things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (verses 11,12). And we have seen by the above quotations that those things (which things the angels desire to look into) are such as leave no room for a millennium of earthly delights. Moreover, were it otherwise, and were such a millennium a part of the glory that should follow, it certainly would have been mentioned here and in other like passages in the New Testament. Chapter 2 of this first Epistle brings into view two great results of the sufferings of Christ, namely, first, the spiritual house that is now being built upon Christ, the chief Corner Stone, elect, precious, laid in Zion; and second, the holy nation, which is a royal priesthood and a peculiar people to God. As has been already pointed out, this passage (1 Peter 2:1–9) shows that the Zion of unfulfilled prophecy is a spiritual locality; that the temple of unfulfilled prophecy is a spiritual house, and that the Israel that was to inherit the promise of future glory, is that holy nation, which includes all who have been begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and have been redeemed by His precious blood. The Promise of His Coming Turning now to Peter’s second Epistle, we find in Chapter 3 a prophecy concerning a class of persons, designated scoffers, who should come upon the scene in the last days. It is evident, from the attention paid to them in this Epistle, that those scoffers would constitute a prominent and highly influential class of persons in the end times of the gospel era. What would specially distinguish them is the doctrine they would hold, the substance of which is the gradual and uninterrupted progress of human civilization (which is the essence of the modern theory of evolution); and on the basis of which doctrine they would deride those Bible prophecies that foretell the sudden and complete destruction of the world, including all the great works whereof men make their boast, at the second coming of Christ. The characteristic attitude of those scoffers of the last days is very plainly revealed by their derisive question: Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation (verse 4). It is specially to be noted, for the purpose of the present inquiry, that the apostle here contemplates the coming of Christ — not as the beginning of an era of tranquility and prosperity for the earth, but — as the signal for its utter destruction. Those scoffers, whose doctrine so strikingly resembles that of present day evolutionists and modernists, are charged with being willingly ignorant of historical facts recorded in the Bible, which show that all things have not continued without interruption at the hand of God, and also of Bible prophecies, to the effect that mundane affairs will not continue without interruption on His part in the future. Specifically the apostle charges them with being willingly (or willfully) ignorant that the world, which existed in the days of Noah, having been, by the word of God, overflowed with water, perished; and that, correspondingly, The heavens and earth which now are, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men (verses 5–7). This gives us Peter’s outlook for the world that now is, and tells what is to happen to it at the coming again of Jesus Christ — not a millennium of peace and plenty, but total destruction by fire, a destruction comparable to what was accomplished in the days of Noah by the agency of water. The passage gives us also the Holy Spirit’s answer to those who scoff at the promise of the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ; an answer which manifestly could not have been given if His coming were to have the effect of changing the present conditions on earth into a millennium of unmixed blessedness. Then follows (verses 8– 9) the Divine explanation of what appears, from the human standpoint, to be a long delay on God’s part, evincing slackness in the fulfillment of His promise. First, the apostle reminds his readers that God, who inhabiteth eternity, does not measure time as man does; for that with Him one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. And he adds (this being a statement to which special heed should be given) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This verse needs no explanation; for it plainly declares what the preceding verses had distinctly intimated, that at the coming again of Jesus Christ the opportunity for repentance will end, and all who have not previously repented will perish; just as in the days of Noah all who were not in the ark perished (verse 6). It is absolutely impossible, in the light of this verse, to maintain that the entire Jewish nation is to be saved (and many Gentiles also) at the Lord’s second coming. Manifestly, if there were to be, as now is commonly taught, salvation for every Jew in the world, and for Gentiles too, at the second coming of Christ, it could not be said that the delay in His coming is due to the long suffering of God and to His desire that not any should perish. The apostle then proceeds to declare that, notwithstanding the seeming delay, and notwithstanding the confident assertions to the contrary of the scoffer’s of the last days, the day of the Lord will come (verse 10); and moreover he proceeds to tell how it will come, and also what will happen when it does come. First be it observed that the apostle speaks of the coming of Christ and the coming of the day of the Lord as one and the same thing. It is utterly impossible therefore, that a period of a thousand years should intervene between the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the day of the Lord. This makes pre-millennialism of the current type (which is practically the same as that held by the Jews of Christ’s day) an impossibility. Then the apostle declares that the day of the Lord will come as a complete surprise, even as a thief in the night; and in so saying, Peter is merely repeating what Christ Himself had declared with great emphasis and particularity. Paul also says the same (1 Thessalonians 2:5) and John likewise (Revelation 3:3). The testimony of Scripture to the effect that the second coming of Christ will be at such a time as will take all men, His own followers included, by surprise, is copious and very impressive. And this makes it still further impossible that His coming should be at the end of a millennium of earthly tranquility, peace and prosperity; so that the Scripture we are considering is as fatal to post-millennialism, of the type currently held by some, as it is to pre-millennialism. Let us recall some of the plain statements of Scripture touching this transcendently important matter: Matthew 24:27: As the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth unto the west; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be (see Luke 17:24). Luke 17:30–31: They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. 1 Thessalonians 4:16: It will be with a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. Matthew 24:36–42: It will be unexpectedly; at a time known only to the Father. 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3: The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9: The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel — who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. In order to uphold the doctrine of a millennium under Jewish auspices to follow the coming of the Lord, it is necessary to assume that Peter, in writing the above prophecy, purposely overlooked the millennium, passing it over in silence and writing as if the next thing following this present age was to be the Day of Judgment. But what calls for explanation, in order to give plausibility to the above supposition, and what has never been explained to the writer’s satisfaction, is how — upon the assumption that this age is to be followed by a millennium of earthly bliss — the apostle Peter, and every other New Testament writer who deals with the subject of Christ’s second coming, could write as if the day of judgment were to follow immediately hereafter. That Peter does indeed write as if the next thing after this day of salvation is the day of the Lord, and that every other New Testament writer does the same, is indisputable; and the only reasonable explanation thereof is that they have so written because so it is to be. Then the apostle delivers an admonition based upon his prediction of what is to happen when Christ comes again, saying: Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (verses 11–12). Manifestly, Peter could not have written this admonition if, instead of predicting the day of judgment at the second coming of Christ, he had foretold a millennium of earthly delights; for clearly it is not possible for God’s people of this present era to be impressed by the approaching dissolution of the existing heavens and earth and to be looking for, much less hasting unto, the day of God, if in fact, and if the word of God elsewhere makes known, that a thousand years are to intervene, during which the earth that now is will exist in a glorified state. Then Peter says: Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But manifestly, the new heavens and new earth could not be in the foreground of his expectation, or of ours, if there were to come first a millennium of the Lord’s own presence, during which we are to share the glory of His throne. In that case the coming of the day of God would be but faintly in view, if at all. In this connection we should recall the Lord’s promise to His disciples that in the regeneration, they should sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That prospect must have been always before Peter’s eyes; and since he here tells us that he according to the Lord’s promise, was looking for new heavens and a new earth, it is certain that Christ’s promise to His disciples will be fulfilled — not in an earthly millennium, but — in the new creation. No one, we are sure, could read this passage in 2 Peter with an open mind, and in simple confidence that the word of God is written to enlighten and not to mislead, without being convinced that, at the end of this present day of salvation, Christ will come again; and that His coming will be followed immediately by the day of judgment, the destruction of the present creation by fire, and the ushering in of the new heavens and new earth. And we say, moreover, that there is not a passage anywhere in the Bible that teaches, or that fairly implies, anything to the contrary; while there are not a few that confirm it. It is appropriate at this point to turn back a few pages to the Book of Hebrews, and to recall once more that the fathers of Israel were taught, even as the saints of the present era are taught, to look — not for a glorified earth, whereof the earthly Jerusalem is to be the metropolitan city and the religious center, but — for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and for a better country, that is an heavenly (Hebrews 11:10, 16). Peter’s concluding exhortation reiterates the main doctrine of the passage, namely, that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; thus evincing a desire to impress upon the reader’s mind that the lapse of time before the fulfillment of the promise of His coming is due to the solemn fact that His coming marks the very end of the day of salvation. And Peter continues without a break or a new sentence, saying, even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking of these things. Let us beware, therefore, of those who would make it appear that Paul, in his Epistles, teaches anything not in perfect harmony with what Peter declares in the passage we have been considering. And let it be recalled at this point that, as has been already shown, Paul also, in his foretelling of the second coming of Christ, gives prominence to the fact that it will be attended by the destruction of the world by fire, and the judgment and perdition of ungodly men. For Paul too looks on to the end of the present order of things; to the time when God will recompense tribulation to them who now trouble His people, and to those who now are troubled rest with His apostles; and according to Paul, that will be When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. And once more we are told that this will be When He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10) Thus we see that, as in Peter’s account, so likewise in Paul’s the conspicuous features of the events that will attend the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, are the flaming fire, and the everlasting punishment of the ungodly. Paul identifies these as they that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; which words make it evident that the events he describes — that is, the awarding of rest to God’s people and tribulation to their enemies — will take place at the end of this day Of GOSPEL salvation. That day of vengeance will follow next after this day of the gospel. Again we see, as from Peter’s description of that coming day of the Lord’s vengeance (Isaiah 34:8), that it is impossible that those events could be preceded by a millennium during which the earth was populated by none but worshipers of God. So this passage in 2 Thessalonians also makes postmillennialism (of the sort commonly held) an utter impossibility. Between the teaching of Paul and that of modern pre-millennialists there is this immense difference: According to the former, all who obey not the gospel of Christ are to be punished, when He comes again, with everlasting destruction from His presence; but according to the latter, the Jewish rejecters of the gospel (and others a little later) are to be blessed with a thousand years of undiluted happiness and prosperity in His presence. Is it possible to imagine a greater difference than that? In the endeavor to harmonize this passage (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10) with the usual premillennial teaching, it is sometimes said that the passage refers to a “second stage” of Christ’s coming. For according to one of the recent refinements of the doctrine, the one coming of our Lord is divided into several “stages”, and certain passages are assigned to the first stage, and others, that cannot be made to agree with the interpretation placed upon the first group of Scriptures, to the second stage; it being usual to place “the great tribulation” — which we are told is to last three and a half years — between the two “stages.” But, apart from the fact that there is not the slightest warrant for this arbitrary arrangement of passages, which all refer to one and the same coming of the Lord from heaven, the difficulty referred to above is not in the least lessened thereby. For it is impossible to see, in the light of this passage, how any segment of humanity, Jew or Gentile, can be converted and blessed after a first (or any other) stage of the Lord’s coming. Furthermore, to those who give attention to the wording of the passage it will be evident that it relates — not to a later stage, but — to the very earliest period of the Lord’s second coming. For all are agreed that the first thing on the program of the events of that day, is the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the catching away of all who are His (the living being changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye) to meet the Lord in the air. Such is the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians 15:51–52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17. And it is important (in view of the modern teaching of a “secret rapture”) to notice that both the above-cited passages make this to be a world shaking event. The first (1 Corinthians 15:51–52) states that the instantaneous change of all the people of God in the world to the state of immortality, and the simultaneous raising of the dead incorruptible, will be at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And the second passage puts it thus: For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17). All are agreed, we believe (and certainly it should be evident to all who give consideration thereto) that these two passages refer to the same coming events. And it seems quite clear also that the passage we have quoted from 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10 refers to the very same events; for the apostle is there speaking of the time when God will award rest to His people, the time of the union of Christ with His saints, when He shall come to be glorified and admired in them. All the passages we have examined, and all others that relate to the subject in hand, agree in testifying that, at the coming again of our Lord from heaven, the day of salvation will end, and the day of eternal rest for His people, and of eternal destruction forRead more

  • The Bible on the Future of Israel We have now shown by the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself that at His coming again (of which no premonitory sign will be given) there will be an immediate separation of those who have obeyed the gospel from those who have refused its proffered mercy; that the former will enter at once into everlasting glory and blessing and the latter into eternal wrath and judgment. The Teaching of Paul Reference has already been made to the passage in Romans 2:1-16, which states that they who in this day of salvation despise the riches of God’s goodness, refusing to repent, are even now treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath; and that just as in this era of grace, the gospel is to the Jew first (1:16), even so in that day of judgment, the tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil will also be to the Jew first. And the reason is given, namely, that there is no respect of persons with God (2:9–11). This Scripture alone, if there were none other, would suffice to overthrow completely the doctrine of a special salvation for the natural descendants of Jacob after the day of grace shall have ended, and the day of judgment shall have begun. Romans 11:1–32. We have already given consideration to this chapter of Romans; and we have seen that it is part of a passage (Chapters 9–11) in which the apostle expounds the course of God’s dealings with the Jews, in whom he had the deepest and most loving interest, seeing that they were his own Kinsmen according to the flesh (9:3). It contains a strong intimation that it lay in the purpose of God at, some time in the then future, to extend special mercy to the Jews (11:24, 26, 31). The time of this promised visitation is indicated in a general way by the words, That blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (11:26). But it is plainly declared that the promised mercy will take the form, not of a special national salvation after this day of grace shall have ended, but of the incorporating of individual Jews (natural branches) into the very same olive tree (the Israel of God, whose root is Christ and whose fatness is the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 3:14) into which believing Gentiles are now being incorporated. It follows therefore, and other Scriptures (such as those heretofore cited) shut us up to the same conclusion, that the promised visitation of the Jews in mercy must take place ere this present day of grace comes to an end. In a word, whatever mercy (11:31–32) may be in store for the natural Jews, will come to them in this day of grace, and as individuals, not in the Day of Judgment, and as a nation. The teaching of the apostle Paul on the subject of our present inquiry is found mainly in his two Epistles to the Thessalonians, to which we shall now refer. 1 Thessalonians 4:18–5:9: The first part of this well known passage speaks of the descending of the Lord from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, whereupon the dead in Christ shall rise first … then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. This is the only sort of salvation that the apostle here (or elsewhere) describes as taking place at the coming of the Lord; and it is expressly limited to those who are already in Christ. Moreover, the apostle goes on to speak of the times and seasons of these great events saying that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. And how will it then fare with those who are not found in Christ? He tells us they will be assuring themselves of good things ahead by saying, Peace and Safety (just as were those who lived and despised God’s warnings in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot), but that sudden destruction shall fall upon them, and they shall not escape. Verse 9 declares that the alternatives presented to all men are salvation and wrath. And so say all the Scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 1:5–10: We have already pointed out the close agreement (extending even to similarity of words) between this passage and that in Matthew 25, in which our Lord Himself declares what will happen at His coming again. It describes the day that was foreseen by Daniel when 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 (Daniel 7:27); (the day) when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels And the plain declaration is that He will come In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. Moreover, it is here declared that this sweeping judgment, embracing all who know not God and obey not the Gospel, will be at the very time He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (2 Thessalonians 1:7–10). By this passage again we are assured that at our Lord’s second coming all them that believe will be made sharers of His own glory, and all others will be punished, by banishment away from His presence, to a place of destruction that shall be everlasting. It has been already noted, and should be kept in mind, that the unconverted Jews have ever been foremost among the despisers of God’s mercy, even in the preceding dispensation, and that they have been most conspicuously the rejecters of Jesus Christ and His gospel. For, by trampling upon the law of God, they brought upon themselves and their children all its curses and judgments. Moreover, from the very beginning they have had the Holy Scriptures which testify of Christ; they have heard every Sabbath day the voices of the prophets, which spake beforehand of His coming, and of all He was to do and suffer; they were the first to whom the risen Christ sent the glad tidings of free salvation through His chosen witnesses, who preached the gospel unto them with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; and even in these last days special efforts for their salvation have been made through societies organized and maintained for that sole purpose. How can it be supposed then that this passage and other Scriptures which speak plainly to the same effect, have no application to those who are of Israel after the flesh? And what responsibility do we incur, if we preach a doctrine so contrary to that of Christ and His apostles, especially if thereby any should be encouraged to continue in unbelief, trusting the delusive hope of national salvation in the approaching day of wrath? This passage is most assuredly decisive of the question we are considering; for it declares, in language that is unmistakably plain, what will happen at the end of this gospel era to them that have not obeyed the gospel; and certainly, of all the people in the world, the Jews are most conspicuously those who have not obeyed the gospel. 2 Thessalonians 2:2–12: There are difficulties of a minor character in regard to certain details of this passage; but with respect to the subject of our present inquiry it speaks with a certainty and clearness that leave nothing to be desired. For it plainly declares that, at the Lord’s appearing in glory, that man of sin, the son of perdition … that Wicked one (the antichrist) shall be consumed by the spirit (or breath) of His mouth, and destroyed by the effulgence of His presence (literally the epiphany of His parousia); and further that they who would not receive the love of the truth, whereby they might have been saved, will have been given over by God Himself to strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (the original has the definite article); to this end, namely (let the words be carefully observed): That they all might be damned, who believed not the truth (the gospel), but had pleasure in unrighteousness. This agrees perfectly with Christ’s own words concerning the flood, and took them all away. It absolutely excludes the possibility of the salvation after His coming of any who have rejected the gospel previously. 2 Peter 8:1–10: The apostle Peter speaks plainly in this passage concerning the scoffers of the last days who deride the warnings of judgment to come; and he declares that the day of wrath will come suddenly, when the earth and the works therein shall be burned up. Moreover, what he says about the reason for God’s long delay (verse 9) precludes the idea of there being any opportunity for repentance after that day begins. This important passage will be considered more in detail in a subsequent chapter. Revelation 6:12–17: This vision clearly depicts the great day of the wrath of the Lamb. It has no place in it for the salvation of any racial or other group. Moreover, the captains of industry, the magnates and other great ones of the earth are under no illusions whatever as to the doom that is about to overwhelm them. Revelation 19:11–21: This passage describes a vision of the things that are to happen at the second coming of Christ. John says: And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. The vision shows what Christ will do from the moment He issues forth from the opened heaven down to the complete overthrow of all His enemies, the casting of the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire, the binding of Satan in the bottomless pit, and the setting up of the thrones of His everlasting Kingdom. He comes to judge and make war. And in keeping with this purpose, His eyes are as a flame of fire and out of His mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it He should smite the nations. John sees also an angel standing in the sun, who cries with a loud voice to all the fowls of the air, saying, Come and gather yourselves to the great supper of God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men. There is nothing here (and it would be here if anywhere) concerning any group of people whom Christ converts and saves after His coming. The separation is complete from the moment of His appearing; and the children of men are either in the armies of heaven which followed Him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean, or they are in that other company which includes the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. For there are no neutrals in that war. Those that are not for Him are against Him. And the end of those who are not with Him is described in these words: And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh (verse 21). The two edged sword is the symbol of the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). So we have here a description in symbolic language of the fulfillment of Christ’s own prophecy: And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken (the sword of His mouth) the same shall judge him in the last day (John 12:47–48). For His word is to them that hear it either a word of eternal life, or a word of eternal judgment. It either saves or damns. The fowls of the air represent, according to the Lord’s explanation of the para- ble of the sower, the wicked spirits, the agents of the evil one. This vision, and others described in Revelation, absolutely excludes the possibility of salvation after the beginning of the day of wrath for any who have previously rejected the gospel. It is appropriate also to remark that there is a noticeable and significant absence, throughout the entire Apocalypse, of all reference to the earthly Zion and earthly Jerusalem. The only holy mountain and city that have part and place in those future scenes of blessedness are that Mount Zion to which we have been brought, and the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and which is attended by an innumerable company of angels (Hebrews 11:10; 12:22–23). The Disciples’ Question in Acts 1 Acts 1:6–8: Here we have the record of our Lord’s last words to His disciples before His ascension. The disciples had at last nerved themselves to ask Him plainly and directly concerning that which was ever uppermost in their Jewish minds; saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? His reply (I quote from Bagster’s Interlinear) was: It is not yours to know times or seasons which the Father placed in His own authority; but ye will receive power, the Holy Ghost having come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth. It is quite possible to read into these words the idea that there was to be, in some then future times or seasons, a restoration of earthly dominion to Israel. In fact the writer himself having accepted these modern Jewish fables (which have become so astonishingly popular of late) held to that idea until he could no longer close his eyes to the fact that, by placing that interpretation upon the passage, he was making it contradict the plain teaching of the entire New Testament. On the other hand it is not difficult to assign to the words of our Lord, quoted above, a meaning that accords perfectly with the Scriptures we have been examining; and this, of course, is what we are bound to do. A careful consideration and quiet pondering of those words lead to the conclusion that here, as on many other occasions, our Lord simply ignored what was in the minds of His disciples (for His thoughts were not their thoughts, neither were their ways His ways). He might well have administered to them on this occasion the same rebuke He had administered to Peter, when that disciple spoke to Him under the influence of the same Jewish expectation; to whom He said, Thou art an offense to Me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men (Matthew 16:23). But the course He now took was to disregard entirely the thought of their hearts, and simply to impress upon them the fact that their all-engrossing occupation was to be that of bearing testimony to His resurrection from the dead. It was to be their supreme business to proclaim that mighty truth of the gospel to the whole world; and for the accomplishment of that great mission, power would be given them through the coming upon them, in a few days, of the Holy Spirit from heaven. Moreover, a new order of things was then at hand; for Christ was not henceforth to teach them in Person and directly, but indirectly, through the Holy, Spirit, Who, as He had already told them, should guide them into all truth (John 16:13). And it is a striking fact that after they had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit they never again spoke of that sort of a kingdom (Acts 8:12, 19:8, 20:25; 28:31; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 4:20; 15:50; Colossians 1:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Revelation 1:19; etc.). It is clear from the wording of the disciples’ question that they had no doubt in their minds that the kingdom was to be restored to Israel, the only thing to be settled with them being whether the time of its restoration was then at hand; also there is good reason to believe that their conception of the nature of the expected kingdom did not differ materially from that of their fellow Israelites. There has been discussion in print recently as to whether the question the disciples put to their risen Lord was “an intelligent question”; and it has been argued in behalf of modern dispensationalism that the question was an “intelligent” one, and that it would follow from the Lord’s reply that the kingdom was to be restored to Israel at some time then future. I agree that the question was intelligent; and indeed deem it a most natural and almost inevitable, question for them to ask; for they, in common with all their compatriots, groaning under the tyranny of Rome’s iron yoke, were eagerly awaiting the emancipation of the Jewish people and the reestablishment of the earthly kingdom of Israel. Moreover, they had heard their Master say, Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32); and at a later time they had heard Him say to the chief priests and elders at Jerusalem, Therefore I say unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matthew 21:43). And finally, during those forty days when He had appeared to them from time to time, He had been speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Hence the question was “intelligent” enough. But it is needful to remember that there were certain things concerning the kingdom which He was not ready to make known to them, because they were not as yet ready to receive them; things they were to learn later on through the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Lord had said to them on the night of His betrayal, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth (John 16:12–13). Especially the truth as to Israel’s relation to the kingdom was a thing they could not “bear” until baptized by the Spirit; for to natural Jews that truth is unbearable. Also they had yet to learn that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17). Accordingly they were given to know, through subsequent revelations of the Holy Spirit, that the promised kingdom was of spiritual character, and that the nation to which it was to be given was — not Israel after the flesh, but — the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16; Romans 2:28–29). Furthermore, the question involved times and seasons which the Father had put in His own power. It is the Father who bestows the kingdom (Luke 12:13); and it is the Father who determines the times and seasons, as it is written, When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). Now that little flock, to which the Father was pleased to give the kingdom, was indeed Israel; but the mystery concerning the true Israel, the flock for which the good Shepherd gave His life, had not as yet been made known to them, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:1–6). Also it is to be noted that the times of the Gentiles, which had a long course to run, had not yet begun; which is an additional reason why the Lord answered them as He did, thereby putting aside the subject of the bestowal of the kingdom, and fixing their minds upon the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would make the whole matter clear. Finally, seeing there is but one kingdom in God’s purpose, and but one Israel, the passage we are considering (Acts 1:1–6) cannot be interpreted in such manner as lend support to the nationalistic dreams of Israel after the flesh. As to the “Tribulation Saints” Another feature of the modern doctrine of Judaistic nationalism should receive brief attention. I refer to the idea of many modern dispensationalists that the supposed national conversion of the Jews is to take place not actually in the millennium itself, but at the interval between the coming of Christ for His saved people and His coming to the earth with them. Those who make the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21) a yet future event locate it in this interval, which they commonly refer to as “the tribulation period”, and they who are to be saved in that period (with a salvation much inferior to that now offered through the gospel) are termed “tribulation saints.” Hence, according to this view, the supposed conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation is to take place not in the millennium but, in a special “tribulation period”, which is to intervene between this present day of grace and the millennial day But all the above, and the many specific features that go with it, are purely the products of the human imagination. The length of the interval between the catching up of the saints to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and His appearing with them in glory (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 19:11–14 etc.) is not indicated. There is nothing to show that it will be longer than a day, or part of a day. Indeed the interval itself is not referred to anywhere in the Scriptures. Its existence is entirely a matter of inference from 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17; it being obvious that there must needs be an interim of some length between the taking of the saved (living and raised) away from the earth, and their manifestation with Christ in His glorious appearing (Titus 2:13). But it is taking an unwarranted liberty with the word of prophecy to make that interval a period of many years, and to crowd it with events of transcendent importance; and specially so when it is expressly stated that the change of condition of the Lord’s people at that time will be effected in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). That there will be any gospel effort during that interval, or any salvation either of nations or of individuals, is purely a dream. And not only so, but the idea is negatived, first, by the silence of Scripture in regard thereto; second, by the testimony of the very passage from which the interval is inferred, 1 Thessalonians 4:16–5:9. For it is plainly declared in that Scripture that what cometh upon those who are not caught away to meet the Lord is — not salvation, or another opportunity to be saved, but — sudden destruction; which, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9, is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The alternative which the passage presents is salvation or wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9); and concerning those who have riot obeyed the gospel it is plainly declared that they shall not escape. The doctrine of another chance for any members of Adam’s race, and of a period, long or short, in which there will be preached another gospel, different from that preached by Paul and all the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 11), and particularly that of the conversion and restoration of the Jewish nation, cannot be maintained without setting aside the very passage upon which it is supposedly founded, and all other pertinent Scriptures besides. Other Scriptures testify quite plainly against the idea of a special salvation for Jews after Christ shall have removed His people from the world. Thus Peter, speaking to a concourse of Jews at Jerusalem, whom he addressed as Ye men of Israel, recalled to their minds the prophecy of Moses of the coming of Christ as a Prophet like unto himself: concerning Whom Moses said: And it shall come to pass that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. This tells us — not that after Christ comes for His believing people the Jews will be saved in a body, but — that the first thing on the program of the second advent will be that all Jews who have not believed the gospel will be destroyed from among the people. This is in exact agreement with what Christ had taught His Jewish auditors, namely, that at the end of the age the reapers should gather first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them! (Matthew 13:30). This earliest of the utterances of Christ’s apostles concerning God’s future dealings with the Jews is in striking agreement with what Paul subsequently stated at greater length in Romans 11. Peter declares not that God would utterly destroy or cast off that people, but that those of them who would not believe in Jesus Christ were to be destroyed from among the people; which would leave only the believing Jews, corresponding to the few natural branches of Paul’s olive tree, that were not broken off. This word of Peter plainly forbids the expectation of any salvation for Jews after the second coming of Christ. This proclamation by Peter is in striking agreement with the Lord’s answer to the prayer of King Solomon, to whom He said (after promising a reward for fidelity), said, But if ye shall at all turn from following Me, ye or your children, and will not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which have hallowed for My Name, will I cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. No recovery is hinted at; and so it is with themRead more

  • The Hope of the Gospel In at previous chapter it was pointed out, from the repeated utterances of the apostle PaulRead more

  • Basie Martins wrote a new post 9 months ago

    Future Mercy For the Jews Before turning to the New Testament for the purpose of considering certain passages that throw light upon our subject, we would remind the reader of the need of giving particular attention to what is written on that subject in the New Testament Scriptures. Chief among the reasons for this need is the fact that the prophecies of the Old Testament are occupied principally with the coming of the Messiah, the promised and long expected Son of David, for the redemption of His people, as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began (Luke 1:70). Those prophecies did not, except in a few instances, look beyond the events of this present era of the Holy Spirit. In accordance with what had been predicted by the prophets of Israel, when the fullness of the time was come — for the fulfillment of their prophecies — God sent forth His Son … to redeem them that were under the law (Galatians 4:4–5). But they had been taught by their blind leaders to look for a physical and political redemption, instead of a spiritual redemption from the dominion of sin and death, which was what their prophets had foretold. Consequently when the Divine Redeemer came to His own (creation) His own (people) received Him not (John 1:11); but rejected Him, betrayed Him, and compassed His death. This is what Hosea and other prophets had foretold, though God purposely enveloped the meaning of their prophecies and his full purposes for the Gentiles, in mystery, which mystery is now fully explained (Ephesians 3:1–6). Evidently then, as regards the purposes of God concerning the Jewish people after their rejection of that One through whom their promised redemption was to come, we must needs look to what is revealed in the New Testament; for there is where the Spirit of God has revealed the fellowship of the mystery (Ephesians 3:9), that is, the union of Jews and Gentiles to form the true Israel. Let us recall, moreover, that the covenant relations between God and Israel after the flesh were ended, even as had been foretold by their own prophets, beginning with Moses and Joshua (Deuteronomy 4:26; 6:14–15; 8:20; Joshua 23:15–16); the old covenant was dissolved and ready to vanish away; every vestige of it was shortly to be obliterated; and therefore, of necessity, all promises based upon that covenant, had there been any as yet unfulfilled, fell to the ground. But beside all that, God has now brought clearly to light, as we have seen, what He had but dimly revealed in times past, that the name ISRAEL belongs properly to His new covenant people. Therefore it is not enough for the settling of the question of God’s future purposes for the Jews, that prophecies concerning Israel be found which apparently have not yet been fulfilled; for we must needs conclude, as to all such prophecies — unless the contrary plainly appears — that they pertain to the true Israel of God, and that their fulfillment is in the realm of things spiritual and unseen. What then does the New Testament say as to the reconstitution hereafter of the Jewish nation; as to the reoccupation by that nation of the land of Canaan; as to its exaltation to the place of world supremacy and headship over other nations; as to the rebuilding of the temple and the reinstitution of bloody sacrifices, etc.? Not one word. This silence is itself sufficient to dispose of the question before us; but there is much more than that to be learned from the New Testament; for there are statements in it which make it utterly impossible that there should be any such future in store for the Jewish nation. Some of those New Testament statements have been quoted in the preceding portion of this volume, and others will be cited hereafter. Again it is particularly to be observed that, in the manifold wisdom of God, and because of His foreknowledge of the rejection of the Messiah by His nominal people, He saw fit to conceal for a time, in the form of mystery (Ephesians 3:1–12) and allegory (Galatians 4:22–26), the fact that the things historical and prophetic pertaining to Israel after the flesh were but the temporal foreshadowings (Hebrews 10:1) of things eternal and spiritual; which mystery therefore 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 (Ephesians 3:5). That mystery (which is not a mystery any longer) comprised several elements, whereof the most prominent (and the hardest for the Jewish mind to grasp) was the place which believing Gentiles were to have in the commonwealth of Israel, and the share that was to be theirs in the covenants of promise (Ephesians 2:12); that Gentiles were in the eternal purpose of God, destined to be joint-heirs (with natural Israelites), stand a joint body, and joint-partakers of His promise in Christ, by means of the gospel (literal rendering of Ephesians 3:6). And what is particularly pertinent to our present inquiry is the previously hidden, but now clearly revealed, fact, that the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), the true seed of Abraham who are the heirs of all the promises of God (Galatians 3:7, 29; 2 Corinthians 1:20) are a body composed of all those — whether by nature they were Jews or Gentiles — who are of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16). Because of this mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:4) which Paul was specially commissioned to explain, it is most needful that we, in attempting the interpretation of Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel, Zion, Jerusalem, etc., should take pains to ascertain whether it was the earthly and natural people (or locality) the prophet had in view, or the heavenly and spiritual counterpart thereof. Happily it is generally possible, in the light of the explanations given in the New Testament, to do this with some degree of certainty. Moreover, it will be found that, when we have set aside first, all the Old Testament prophecies and promises concerning Israel that have been already fulfilled, second, all that were conditional in character and hence have become null and void for failure by the Jews to perform the conditions on which they were based, and third, those that belong to the Israel of God, there remains for the natural Israel no promise of blessing except the common salvation (Jude 3) which is proclaimed by the gospel of Christ, and which God bestows freely upon all — Jews and Gentiles — who fulfil the simple conditions of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). Further, before taking up the passages of the New Testament that are relevant to our subject, we would recall to the reader’s mind what is said in Chapter 11 of this volume regarding what is commonly called the literal interpretation of the prophecies. What we specially wish the reader to understand is that the literal interpretation of a prophecy may require it to be understood in the spiritual sense. For, as regards Israel, Zion, Jerusalem, the Land of Promise, etc. the spiritual and heavenly thing so designated is the real thing and is often (as the New Testament abundantly proves) what was literally intended. In Scripture the contrast is not between the literal and the spiritual, but between the natural and the spiritual; as it is written: Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:46–47). These words reveal the rule or principle of God’s order of procedure in the working out of His great purpose. Accordingly there is first the natural humanity and afterward the spiritual humanity; first the natural birth and afterward the spiritual birth; first the natural or earthly Israel, Zion, temple, priesthood, sacrifices, etc., and afterward their spiritual and heavenly counterparts. If therefore, there were nothing but this passage to guide us, it would be safe to conclude, in the absence of an express statement of Scripture to the contrary, that there is to be no reversal of God’s settled order of procedure, no going back from the spiritual to the natural. Hence there can be no return hereafter to the natural Israel, the earthly Jerusalem and the earthly temple, with its smoking altar, its Aaronic priesthood and its animal sacrifices. It will probably be agreed by all Bible teachers that there is no prediction in the New Testament of a national restoration of the Jewish people; and we believe it has been already shown in these pages that the testimony of the New Testament excludes the possibility of such a thing. Further proof to the same effect will be found below. But it is thought by some that there is a hint of the national restoration of Israel in the following Scriptures: 1. The Lord Jesus Christ, in warning His disciples of the then approaching doom of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, said: 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 be fulfilled (Luke 21:24). (The truth is that God did restore the Jews as a nation in 1948 – when the time of the gentiles was fulfilled – but this is as far as this restoration will go, although there will be future changes and escalations when the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs will stop when Israel, as a nation repents, accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, and rejects all plans to build a physical temple. Until then, the conflict between Israel and the Arabs will prevent the building of a physical temple and Israel will remain a nation, just as any other on this earth, and their only hope is and will forever be the Gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it is for any other human being or any other nation on this earth) 2. The apostle Paul, in dealing with the very question we are now considering, namely, Hath God cast away His people? (Romans 11:1), says: For I would not, brethren, that ye should 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 (Romans 11:25). (Since the blindness that God brought over the Jews was removed when the times of the Gentiles was fulfilled in 1948, there has been an escalation in repentance among the Jews, however, just like other nations, as China and India and others, the Jews are still very reluctant to accept and follow Jesus Christ. There are suggestions in the Scriptures that Israel will repent wholeheartedly as a nation in the future, but even after this, they will still forever be a normal nation just as any other nation. They have lost the privilege to be a superior nation forever when they rejected and murdered Jesus Christ during His visitation) The argument of those who cite the above passages in support of the doctrine of a national future for the Jews is, that the word until implies a change of some sort at the expiration of the period indicated, and they jump to the conclusion that the implied change is that which their doctrine calls for. But obviously, even if a change of some sort is implied by the word until, it by no means follows that the change will be in the national status of the scattered people; or that it will take place in a yet future era. Strictly speaking, the word until gives not the slightest indication as to what will take place when the period which the passage limits shall have run its course. What that word declares, and all it declares is that throughout the times of the Gentiles Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles, and that the spiritual blindness, which has been laid as a punishment upon the greater part of the natural Israel, will persist until the fullness of the Gentiles be come into the fold of Christ. But before inquiring what room is left by these Scriptures for a possible season of special mercy to those of Jewish descent; let us take note of the purpose for which they were apparently written. What has chiefly impressed the writer when meditating upon the above Scriptures is that they constitute (and were specially designed to that end) a twofold testimony to the authenticity of the Scriptures, a testimony which has this remarkable character, namely, that it was to be before the eyes of every generation of men throughout the entire Christian era. Here are two distinct predictions, one concerning the City of Jerusalem, the other concerning the Jewish people; predictions of such sort that, had they been the utterances of men, would long since have failed. They are, moreover, predictions that have required for their age-long fulfillment two continuing miracles; first, that Jerusalem should be preserved from destruction and yet should be trodden down of the Gentiles throughout the entire era; and second, that the Jewish race should be preserved and be everywhere recognizable — not amalgamated with other races — though scattered throughout the world and commingled with other peoples for centuries of time. To all who reflect upon these truly miraculous facts and are willing to allow to them their proper probative value, it will be evident, and apart from all other proofs, that the New Testament is indeed of Divine Authorship. For truly, these are stupendous miracles; and moreover, they are unique among the miracles of the Bible in that they have the character of continuance. Every successive generation has witnessed the remarkable fact that Jerusalem, though bereft of its proper inhabitants, has not shared the fate of other cities of antiquity Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre and Sidon; and has witnessed also the companion fact that the Jewish people, in defiance of all natural law and contrary to all human experience, has not been absorbed into other races or exterminated by the fierce persecutions they have suffered, but have maintained their racial identity and have even thriven and multiplied during the nineteen hundred years of their dispersion throughout the world. Surely the Book that foretold such unlikely happenings concerning a people and their dearly cherished city, sundered apart the one from the other, must be divinely inspired; and in this may be clearly seen the purpose of the above quoted passages. But regardless of this purpose, it is plain that, in neither passage, is there so much as a hint to the effect that there is to be, at the termination of the times of the Gentiles, a dispensation in which the Jewish nation is to be revived and reestablished in the land of Canaan; in which Jerusalem is to become the political head and the religious center of a densely populated and completely pacified world; and in which the temple is to be rebuilt, its priest hood and animal sacrifices restored, etc., as currently taught. (The reality is that God did indeed restore the Jews as a nation in 1948, contrary to what P. Mauro believed, but it does not change anything at all. As I said in the first few posts of this series, this was the only fact that he got wrong. He is right on almost everything else and he thoroughly has proven in his book, that Israel will not be the chosen nation that they used to be and still hope for. He has proven that their only hope is indeed the Gospel of Christ and nothing else) It cannot be too strongly insisted or too firmly maintained that the doctrine of a coming millennial age of Jewish supremacy on earth, an age in which nations of men are to be saved with a salvation different in kind from, and distinctly inferior to, gospel salvation, is a thoroughly unscriptural and anti-scriptural doctrine. It cannot be too strongly insisted or too firmly maintained that there is no going backward in the works of God; that He does not build again the things He has destroyed; that there is no salvation for Jew or Gentile other than gospel salvation; that there is no day of salvation for any part of the human race except this present day of gospel mercy for all; that there is no Israel in God’s purpose but the Israel of God, and no Zion, but that heavenly mount to which we are come; and finally, that the temporary shadows of the old covenant — the temple, altar, priesthood, sacrifices and ordinances — have now been abolished completely and forever. The current doctrine as to the conditions of things in the world during the millennium has no biblical foundation. It is a hybrid; the product of a commingling of heathen superstition and corrupted Judaism. To this subject we will come in our last chapter. From the above it follows, that there is but one form the mercy of God to the Jewish people can possibly assume. It must take the form of gospel salvation; and hence it must come in this present day of salvation, or not come at all. All this being understood, it yet remains that the passage in Romans 11:25 leaves room for, even if it does not imply, a time to come during this gospel era when the supernatural blindness, imposed as a punishment upon the Jews as a nation, will be removed, or at least abated, so that the gospel message will have a far greater effect among them than during the time the veil was upon their hearts, and that many of them may be saved. Paul’s heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel was that they might be saved; and it is reasonable to assume that, in so praying, he was praying in the Holy Ghost. This lends support to the expectation that there will yet be a mighty working of the Spirit and the word of God amongst the Jewish people, something analogous to the latter rain — in which, of course, Gentiles too will participate. It is apparent upon an attentive perusal of Romans 9–11 that the subject of a national restoration for the Jews is not in contemplation at all. What occupied the apostle’s mind is the distressing mystery (11:25) of Israel’s failure to recognize the promised Messiah when He came to them, and to receive the salvation He offered them. The salvation of God, foretold by the prophets and now proclaimed by the gospel (1 Peter 1:9–12), is what Israel as a nation had not obtained, though they had been seeking for it (Romans 11:7); for truly they had been eagerly looking for what their expected Messiah was to bring them and do for them, though all but a very small remnant were wholly mistaken as to the nature of the salvation foretold by the prophets (see Chapter 16 herein). Incidentally it may be well to point out that the chief item or feature of God’s salvation is the righteousness of God … which is, by faith of Jesus Christ, upon all them that believe; for there is no difference (Romans 3:22); and this is the chief feature of the Kingdom of God, as defined in Chapter 14:17; for the Kingdom of God is salvation, and that Kingdom is what Israel as a people had ever been seeking for (though they utterly misunderstood the nature of it) and which the elect remnant in Paul’s day had already obtained. The Figure of the Olive Tree At verse 14 of Chapter 11 Paul again refers to those of his own flesh and again gives voice to his intense desire that he might save some of them. And he goes on to say: For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? (verse 16). The words receiving of them, following the words the casting away of them, indicate that Paul was not without hope that numbers of Jews might yet be saved; and then, in the verses that follow (11:17–24) he illustrates by the figure of the olive tree what God’s salvation does for Jews and Gentiles alike, and how the true Israel is composed. We do not attempt an exposition of those verses, it being necessary only to point out that the Israel of God’s eternal purpose is here represented by an olive tree, whereof the branches are holy because the root is holy (see Psalm 52:8); that the salvation of Gentiles is represented as having the effect of grafting them (who by nature were the branches of a wild olive tree) into that good olive tree, thereby making them fellow partakers of the root (Christ) and the fatness (the Holy Spirit, commonly typified in Scripture by the oil derived from the olive) of that tree; and finally that the unconverted Jews are represented as branches broken off from, the olive tree, in other words, as dead sticks fit only for the fire. Verse 20 tells us it was because of unbelief they were broken off, but evidently Paul did not regard their state as hopeless; for he says that they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again (verse 23). Paul is here speaking of the salvation — not merely of an occasional individual, but of the great mass of the people, represented by the branches broken off from the olive tree. Thus, while the passage intimates, on the one hand, that there may come a time when the Jews as a whole will be much more receptive of the message of the gospel than they have been during the centuries past, it makes plain, on the other hand, that the only salvation for them is the same olive tree salvation whereof Gentiles (as well as Jews) who believe in Jesus Christ are made partakers, and that the condition of their being saved is that they continue not in unbelief. The words And so all Israel shall be saved (verse 26) have been strangely misunderstood. They have been taken to mean that all natural Jews are to be saved in a coming dispensation. But they cannot possibly be made to yield that meaning. The adverb so declares how (not when) all Israel shall be saved. It refers to the process of grafting into the good olive tree branches from a wild olive tree and branches broken off from the good olive tree itself; and it declares that so, that is to say, in that manner, and hence necessarily in this present dispensation of the Holy Spirit, all the Israel of God shall be saved. Instead therefore, of indicating a special (earthly) salvation for the Jews in a future dispensation, the words, And so all Israel shall be saved, preclude all possibility of such a thing. Until The Fullness of the Gentiles Be Come In When will that be? The advocates of modern dispensationalism seem to take for granted that it will be the very end of the gospel era, the very last day of grace. If that be indeed the sense, then either the blindness laid upon the Jewish people will never be removed, or else their deliverance from that spiritual blindness will take place in a future era. But I cannot conceive that, if the apostle had intended to express either of those meanings, he would have chosen the words of the text for that purpose. When he wished to indicate (as many times he did) the end of the day of salvation, he always did it by words of clear import; whereas manifestly the words, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, are most inappropriate for the purpose. Rather do they indicate a coming season, of longer or shorter duration, when gospel work among the nations will have been substantially ended and the great mass of those that have been ordained unto eternal life will have been reached and saved; leaving a few here and there to be gathered in, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost branches (Isaiah 17:6). It may mean (and I think does mean) that, just as there was at the beginning a short season that was distinctly Jewish (during which, however, some Gentiles were saved), and then a much longer season that has been distinctly Gentilish (although some Jews were saved during its course), so will there be at the end another period distinctively Jewish in character, during which, however, there will be some Gentiles brought into the Kingdom. In yet another passage, written to Gentile Christians, (2 Corinthians 3:12–18) Paul speaks of the spiritual blindness that had fallen upon the great mass of the Jewish people. Referring to the Old Covenant, which was but temporary, and comparing it with the New Covenant, which abides forever, the apostle recalls the occasion when Moses put a veil over his face, thereby foreshowing that the children of Israel would be unable to see the end of that (covenant) which is abolished. And he adds: But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Covenant; which veil is done away (for them who are) in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart — blinding them to the fact that the Mosaic covenant is come to an end (and it is so even to this day, nineteen hundred years later) — Nevertheless when it (the heart) shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. This passage seems to imply, or at least it leaves room for, a coming time when the heart of natural Israelites will turn to the Lord on a scale not hitherto witnessed. And this brings to mind the last words spoken by Moses to that people, in which, after warning them of what would befall them in the latter days because of their manifold sins and persistent disobedience, he said that nevertheless, if they would call to mind his words among all the nations whither the Lord their God should have driven them, and would return unto the Lord and obey His voice, then He would turn their captivity and have compassion on them (Deuteronomy 30:1–3). To the writer’s mind the foregoing is a far more glorious and worthy fulfillment of the promises of blessing to Israel, and a far more satisfactory interpretation of the prophecies, than what are obtained by the imagining of a millennium of earthly bliss with a reconstituted Jewish nation at the head of God-fearing Gentiles, all satiated with material prosperity and going up year by year to keep the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem. In concluding our remarks upon this part of our subject, we would point out that, conditions being what they are, the work of converting a multitude of Jews to Christ might be only a matter of days. For the millions of Jews now living, though scattered through all the nations of the world, are nevertheless in touch with one another through various organizations and societies, and are bound together by ties that have marvelously resisted the tooth of time and all the destructive influences of the world. Moreover, they are all located at, or are in easy reach of, one or another of the centers of Christian civilization; which means that they all have ready access to the word of the gospel (Just a reminder, P. Mauro wrote this book before 1948). And finally, the facilities for swift communication by train, airplane, telegraph, wireless and radio, have been wonderfully developed within a few decades past; and it is at least possible that these may be what are represented by the horses and chariots and litters and swift beasts seen in the vision of the prophet who, looking on the days just preceding the new heavens and the new earth, speaks first of those saved Israelites whom God would send unto the nations, and who, says He, shall declare My glory among the Gentiles (Isaiah 66:19); and then adds: And they (the Gentiles) shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses and in litters (margin coaches) and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord (verse 20). P. MaurRead more

  • Ezekiel's Temple/Waters Flowing Chapters 40–46 inclusive of the Book of Ezekiel contains the account of a vision given to that prophet, in which was shown him the pattern of a temple and its various appointments, the arrangements, gates, courts, and chambers, their dimensions and other details being stated with minuteness. The space given to the description of this temple would indicate that it is a matter of considerable importance in the eyes of God. So it will be well worth our while to seek an understanding of the vision, and to inquire as to the purpose for which it was given; and the more so because, as regards the interpretation of the vision and its purpose in God’s plan, there has been much barren conjecture and much contrariety of opinion amongst those who seek to expound the Scriptures. These visions present difficulties of interpretation, as is generally recognized; but whatever they may or may not mean, they certainly afford no support for the doctrine of a political future for the earthly Israel. Insofar as this prophecy was to have its fulfillment in the realm of the natural, it was fulfilled after the return from Babylon. But, as with the pattern of the temple showed to Moses on Mount Sinai, so likewise here it seems we must take the visions seen by Ezekiel on that Very high mountain (40:2) to be the patterns of things heavenly and Spiritual. It is simply impossible to naturalize (or carnalize) all the details of those visions. Moreover, in chapter 43:9–11, it is distinctly stated that all these promises given through Ezekiel (which were proposed first to the natural Israel) were conditional; and we know that these people (this nation) did not fulfill the conditions here laid down any more than they fulfilled those of the old covenant. Hence these later promises (along with all the others) have been forfeited irretrievably; and they find their yea and their amen in Christ, being all unto the glory of God by us — the true Israel (2 Corinthians 1:20). That is to say, God will have glory through the fulfillment of those promises in and through His new covenant people. Is it the Plan of a Temple for the Millennium? One solution to the problem we are studying (a solution much favored in certain quarters) is that Ezekiel’s vision relates to Millennial times; that Israel will then be reconstituted as a nation on earth, and as such will reoccupy the land of Palestine; and that then the temple shown to Ezekiel will be erected on Mount Moriah, and the system of worship described in these chapters will be instituted and carried on. This view is characteristic of that peculiar system of interpreting the Scriptures which we are examining in the present volume; for, according to the principles thereof, all difficulties in the prophetic Word, and all problems of like nature are solved by the simple expedient of postponing their fulfillment to the millennial age. Thus the Millennium becomes the convenient and promiscuous dumping place of all portions of Scripture which offer any difficulty; and the unhappy consequence is that many prophecies which were fulfilled at the first coming of Christ, or are being fulfilled in this age of the gospel, and many Scriptures, such as the Sermon on the Mount, which apply directly to the saints of this dispensation, are wrenched out of their proper place and are relegated to a distant future, much to the loss of the people of God and to the dislocation of the Scripture as a whole. The “postponement” system doubtless owes the popularity it enjoys to the circumstance that its method is both safe and easy. It is safe because, when a fulfillment of prophecy is relegated to the Millennium, it cannot be conclusively refuted until the time comes. All date-setting schemes owe their measure of popularity to the same fact. It is easy because it relieves the Bible student of the trouble of searching for the meaning and application of difficult passages. But, coming to the special case in hand, which is illustrative of many others, we are bold to say, and undertake herein to show, that there are insurmountable objections to the view that Ezekiel’s temple is for millennial times. To begin with, there is no proof that, even if Israel does indeed occupy the land of Canaan again as an earthly nation, they will restore the ancient system of temple worship, either according to the plan shown to and described by Ezekiel or according to any other plan. On the contrary, we maintain that the Scriptures plainly forbid that supposition. For it was by God’s own hand that the ancient system of worship was abolished and obliterated; and the obliteration thereof was for reasons so closely connected with the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that to reestablish it again would be to do dishonor to that work and its results. Furthermore, the sacrifices of animals were a strictly temporary appointment, belonging to an economy that made nothing perfect. Moreover, we have shown in a previous chapter that the entire system — temple, altar, priesthood, and all — was but a shadow of that which was to come, a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience; that they were to stand only until the time of reformation; that God had no pleasure in them; and that they were completely and forever abolished by the one sacrifice for sins offered by the Lord Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 7:18–19; 9:6–10; 10:1–9). For it was not by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Roman armies in AD 70, that the Jewish system of worship was overthrown, but by the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God on Calvary; and it follows that, so long as the merits and efficacy of that Sacrifice endure, there will be no room in God’s universe for any other. It is most needful for us to recognize and to hold fast to the truth that the old covenant and everything pertaining to it — sanctuary, altar, priesthood, feasts, Sabbaths, and especially animal sacrifices — have been completely and forever done away. Surely the words in which this truth is declared are plain, and the reason for it is clearly manifest. For the Spirit says expressly. He taketh away the first — the sacrifices of the law — that He may establish the second — the true spiritual worship of the heavenly sanctuary, based upon the one Sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:8–12, 18–22). And the words taketh away, and establish, signify something eternally accomplished. The Vision But let us turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel with the object of learning what the record itself has to tell us of the purpose for which the vision was given. First, we would point out that, in the sixth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, that is to say, while Solomon’s temple was yet standing, Ezekiel had a wonderful vision in which he saw the glory of the Lord departing from the house (8:1; 10:18). The vision of the new temple was 19 years later; for Ezekiel is careful to record that it was the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten (40:1–2). To this, we will return. At present we wish only to point out that the most conspicuous features of the temple shown in this vision are the various appointments for the slaughter of animals, and for offering the same upon the altar, sprinkling their blood, etc. Thus we find a description of the tables, eight in number, for slaying the burnt offerings and other sacrifices, and upon which they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice (40:38–43). Therefore, in the clear light of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of all Scripture pertaining to the Sacrifice of Christ, it is impossible to place this temple in any dispensation subsequent to Calvary. But an attempt has been made to avoid this objection and to make possible the locating of Ezekiel’s temple in the Millennium, by saying that the sacrifice of animals in that era will be only for a “reminder” or a “memorial” of the former days. But this is a very weak effort of the imagination. For what warrant have we for supposing that God would require any memorial of those sacrifices in which, even in the time when they were needed, He had had no pleasure? And how preposterous is the idea that He would require the slaughter of innumerable creatures merely to revive the memory of those other defective sacrifices which could never take away sins! Surely they who advance this idea have forgotten the Scripture, which they all apply to the Millennium, and which says, They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain (Isaiah 11:9). But the passage itself completely refutes this idea; for it plainly declares that the sacrifices there specified were not at all for a remembrance or a memorial, but were for the very different purposes of sin offerings, trespass offerings, peace offerings, etc.; also for cleansing the house, making reconciliation both for the princes of Israel and for the people, and the like. All the five offerings of the Levitical system are mentioned by name (40:39, 42:13; 43:27; 45:17; 46:20); and provision is made for sprinkling the blood of the sin offering upon the corners of the altar, upon the posts of the house and court in order to cleanse them (43:20; 45:18–19). In the word, the sacrifices are the Levitical sacrifices, and they are expressly declared to be for the identical purposes thereof. Hence it is impossible to locate this temple, as an actual structure (apart from the spiritual signification thereof), in any other era than that of the law. The Purpose of the Vision What then was the immediate purpose of this vision? We think this question admits of a simple answer in the light of the passage itself and that of other Scriptures. Ezekiel prophesied during the captivity. That captivity was to be of seventy years duration, as predicted by Jeremiah. At its end, the captives were to return and rebuild the city and the temple. This new temple was to serve as the sanctuary of God until Christ should come. God’s plan had always been to give to His people the exact pattern of the sanctuary they were to build for His Name. To Moses He had shown the pattern of the tabernacle, giving him at the same time the strictest injunctions to make every detail in exact accordance with that pattern. Likewise to David God had revealed the pattern of the temple which was to be built at Jerusalem, with all its appointments, vessels of service, etc. All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern (1 Chronicle 28:11–19). And now again a house was about to be built for the Name of the Lord in Jerusalem. Therefore, having in mind His invariable method in such case, we should expect to find at this period a revelation from heaven of the pattern to be followed in the building of that house. And just here we do find the revelation from God of the complete pattern and appointments of a temple, with directions to the prophet to show the same to the house of Israel. Furthermore, we find that even as Moses was admonished to make all things like unto the pattern shown him in the mount, so Ezekiel was taken to a very high mountain where this pattern was shown him; and he was bidden to set his heart upon all that should be shown him, and to declare all he should see to the house of Israel (40:3–4; 44:5). Again, as regards the ministers of the sanctuary, it is strictly commanded that the priests are to be Levites of the sons of Zadok (45:15); which proves that the whole system was for an era when the priesthood of Aaron was not as yet abolished. Furthermore, special instructions are given in this vision regarding the prince. Now it was only after the return from Babylon that Israel was subject to a prince, as Zerubbabel in the days of Ezra, and the Asmonaean princes at a later day. Finally, this vision contains instructions for the reallotment of the land, corresponding to the instructions given Moses and Joshua at the first occupation thereof. This provision embraces the whole twelve tribes of Israel. For it should be noted that in the land of their captivity, Israel and Judah were commingled; and from that time onward the distinction between the ten tribes and the two no longer exists. Thus Ezekiel was sent to the children of Israel, to the house of Israel, and as in several passages to all the house of Israel (11:15; 20:40, etc.). Likewise, Daniel confessed for all Israel and prayed for his people Israel (9:11, 20); and those who returned with Ezra were all Israel (Ezra 2:70; 8:25; 9:1 etc.). And this continued to New Testament times, when Peter makes his proclamation at Pentecost to all the house of Israel (Acts 2:36); Paul speaks to Herod Agrippa of our twelve tribes (Acts 26:7); and James writes to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (James 1:1). This effectually disposes of all speculations regarding “the lost ten tribes”, and particularly of the delusion of Anglo-Israelism. Was the Pattern Shown Ezekiel Followed? So far as we are aware there is no evidence now available as to the plan of the temple built in the days of Ezra. Herod the Great had so transformed it in the days of Christ, though without interrupting the regular services and sacrifices, as to destroy all trace of the original design. That question, however, which we cannot now answer, does not affect the question of the purpose for which the pattern was revealed to Ezekiel. It should be noted that everything in connection with the return of the people of Israel out of Babylon was purely voluntary. Only those returned to Jerusalem whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5). They were not taken out of Babylon as out of Egypt in a body and by strength of hand. But we know that they brought with them the holy vessels, and we know that they had, and could have followed, the pattern shown in the mount to Ezekiel. For God had commanded the prophet to show it to them, and He gave him also this charge: Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof and the comings in thereof and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof; and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them (43:10–11). The blessings promised to Israel through Ezekiel were like those promised through Moses, conditional upon their faithfulness and obedience; and, since they were not obedient, the blessings were forfeited. So we are left in uncertainty as to what, if anything, resulted from this revelation to Ezekiel. But as regards the purpose for which it was given, we think there is no uncertainty at all. Of course this vision, like all visions and prophecies of God, has a spiritual fulfillment in Christ; and this is very apparent, we think, from Chapter 47. That chapter contains the vision of the life-giving waters, which the prophet saw issuing out from the temple, a shallow stream at first, but increasing to a mighty river — waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over (verse 5). As with respect to Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the living waters (Zechariah 14:8), referred to in a former chapter, so with respect to this vision of Ezekiel, we confidently submit that the fulfillment thereof is in the living waters of the gospel; which began, on the day of Pentecost, to flow out from the Temple at Jerusalem. Our Lord uses the expression rivers of living water, in John 7:38; and the meaning of the expression is given in the next verse. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. This explanation controls the passage we are considering. This will be apparent from what follows. Where Did the Spirit Descend At Pentecost? For the purpose of a better understanding of the foregoing prophetic vision of Ezekiel, and because, moreover, the events of the day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, are of the greatest significance. It is a matter of much interest to ascertain just where, in the city of Jerusalem, the disciples were assembled at the moment when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Some may wonder that there should be any question as to that, seeing it seems to be generally agreed that the gathering place of the disciples was the upper room. Indeed it is often positively asserted, as if it were a recorded fact, that the upper room was “the birthplace of the Church”. But the truth is that the record affords no warrant at all for the idea that the disciples were gathered in an upper room when the Holy Spirit came upon them, or that the upper room mentioned in Acts 1:13 was ever their assembling place during the ten days of their tarrying in Jerusalem, in obedience to the Lord’s command, while waiting for the Promise of the Father. All that is said concerning the upper room is, that the apostles, after witnessing the Lord’s ascension from Mount Olivet, returned to Jerusalem and went to an upper room, where Peter, James, John and the other of the eleven apostles were lodging (Acts 1:13). What appears from the record, and all that appears, is that those Galileans, during their stay in Jerusalem, had their lodgings in an upper room. There is no suggestion at all that the sleeping quarters of those eleven men were also the meeting place of the one hundred and twenty disciples of Christ who were in Jerusalem at that time. Still, less reason is there for supposing that the morning of the great Feast day would have found them gathered in such a place. The Temple the Place There was, in fact, but one place in the city of Jerusalem where devout Jews, of whatever sect, would have congregated on that morning; and there was but one place where the events recorded in Acts 2 could possibly have transpired. That place is the Temple. But it is not upon inference alone that we base our conclusion; for, after a careful examination of the inspired records, we venture to say that they contain positive proof that it was in the Temple that the Holy Spirit came suddenly upon the company of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that from the Temple the proclamation of God’s Good News began to go forth to all the world. And we shall seek to show that it was the outflow of the Gospel — all the words of this life (Acts 5:20) — that was prefigured by the vision of living waters issuing from the Temple. Surely it is befitting that so it should have been. For it is in accordance with all that has been revealed to us of the dispensational dealings of God, and of the connection between the Old Covenant and the New, that the first manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s personal Presence should have been in the Temple; that the beginning of the building of the spiritual House should have been on the site of the material House. Indeed the same reasons which required that the preaching of forgiveness in the Name of the Risen Christ should begin at Jerusalem (Luke 24:47), would seem to require also that it should begin at the Temple. Into this aspect of the matter we propose to look a little later; but first we would ascertain whether the inspired record gives any definite indications as to the place where the wonderful events of Pentecost occurred. Continually in the Temple The first Scripture that bears on the matter is the concluding portion of Luke’s Gospel whereof the book of Acts is a continuation, written by the same hand. Luke records the Lord’s commandment to His disciples to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they should be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). The brief record of this verse does not state whether or not the Lord designated any particular place in Jerusalem where they were to await the promised enduement; but the further record given in Luke 24:52–53 of what they did in obedience to the Lord’s commands, supplies this information. For we read that they worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God (Luke 24:52–53). This passage definitely declares that the Temple was the place where they assembled for the purpose of waiting upon God in worship and prayer, and it declares furthermore that they were there continually. Hence we need nothing further to tell us just where they were assembled whenever we read of their being gathered during that period, in one place. We have the emphasis of the word continually, which leaves no room for the supposition that during the ten days following, they were assembled as a company in any place other than the Temple. This passage alone seems to make it clear that the Lord had told them to wait in the Temple for the promised enduement. When, moreover, we bear in mind the fact (which appears both from the Scriptures and from other contemporary records) that the Temple, with its vast corridors or “porches”, was the regular gathering place of all the various parties and sects of Jews, however antagonistic the one to the other, it will be easy to realize that the Temple is just the place — both because of its hallowed associations, and also because of its many convenient meeting places — where the disciples would naturally congregate. Edersheim says that the vast Temple area was capable of containing a concourse of 210,000 people; and he mentions also that the colonnades in Solomon’s Porch formed many gathering places for the various sects, schools and congregations of the people. In commenting on John 7 this trustworthy authority says that: The gathering places in Solomon’s Porch had benches in them; and from the liberty of speaking and teaching in Israel, Jesus might here address the people in the very face of His enemies. It was, moreover, and this is an important item of evidence, in Solomon’s Porch that the concourse of Jews gathered which Peter addressed in Acts 3 (see verse 11). Hence there can be little doubt that one of the assembling places to which Edersheim refers was the house where the disciples were sitting when the Holy Spirit came upon them. When Luke takes up, in the book of Acts, the thread of the narrative he dropped at the end of his Gospel, he says (speaking of the apostles) that: These all continued (literally were continuing) with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren (Acts 1:14). We have here in substance a repetition of what is recorded in the last verse of Luke’s Gospel, namely that, during the ten days following the Lord’s ascension, His disciples were continually together waiting upon God (they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication). The record in Acts omits mention of the place where they so continued; but that information was not needed, see- ing it had already been definitely stated in Luke 24:52–53. But the evangelist adds the interesting fact that the women, and Mary the mother of the Lord, and His brethren, were with them. All this, be it remembered, was done by the Lord’s express instructions. They were of course praying for the promised enduement from on high (Luke 11:13). The next verse (Acts 1:15), states that: In those days (of waiting upon God in the Temple) Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty), … And then follows the account of the choosing of Matthias as an apostle and witness of Christ’s resurrection in the place of Judas. This doubtless occurred in their accustomed gathering place in the Temple, since they were continually there during those days of waiting for enduement from on high. In passing we would note how unlikely it is that the disciples, to the number of one hundred and twenty, should (or could) be using as their place of gathering the upper room which served the apostles for sleeping quarters. The Day of Pentecost Thus the day of Pentecost came; and the occurrence of the great Feast day would furnish an additional reason why they should be found assembled in the Temple. The services — the offering of the morning sacrifice and incense, with the accompanying prayers (in which they would undoubtedly have taken part) — began at sunrise. This service being concluded, they would naturally be sitting in their customary place; and then it was that suddenly out of heaven came that sound as of a rushing, mighty wind. The words they were all with one accord in one place (compare 1:14) indicate that they were in their customary gathering place in the Temple. Similar words found at the end of chapter 2 lend emphasis to this; for we find there the statement that, after about three thousand souls had been added to them, they still continued with one accord in the Temple (verse 46). This shows that what they had been doing as a small company they continued to do, still with one accord, as an exceedingly large and growing company. It shows further that the place where they were gathered when the Holy Spirit came upon them must have been of such ample dimensions as to admit of three thousand more being added to them; and it need hardly be said that the Temple was the only building in Jerusalem open to the public, where this would have been possible. By having before our eyes the several statements of Scripture that bear upon the matter we are examining it will be seen, we think, that there is no room for doubt about it. These are the statements: Luke 24:52–53: And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the Temple, praising and blessing God. Acts 1:14 says, All these were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. This must needs have been in the Temple, since it is impossible that they should have been continually in the Temple and at the same time should have been continuing with one accord in another place. Acts 2:1: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Acts 2:46: And they, continuing daily with one accord in the Temple. These passages reiterate that the disciples continued, during all the period in question, in one place; and the first and last passages quoted state that the place was the Temple. From the last passage it plainly appears that, after Pentecost, they still made it a practice to meet daily in the Temple, the wording being such as to show that this was not a new custom from that date, but was the continuing of what had been their custom since the Lord’s ascension into heaven. The Service of the Feast of Pentecost Additional light upon our subject is afforded by Acts 2:1, when heed is given to the literal meaning of that verse. As rendered in our Authorized Version it reads And when the day of Pentecost was fully come. The word translated by the three English words was fully come (which rendering manifestly does not give the true sense, since a day cannot be more fully come after it has actually come), means literally was being accomplished. In the Bagster Interlinear Translation the reading is: And during the accomplishing of the day of Pentecost, they were all with one accord in the same place. What is seemingly implied is that they were, as we should expect, in the Temple, for the purpose of taking part in the appointed services of the great feast day. During an intermission in those ceremonies they would naturally be sitting together in their customary meeting place within the temple area. What seems to be impressed upon us by this verse is that, during the accomplishing of the various ceremonies of the day of Pentecost, the disciples were not dispersed and mingled with the great crowds of worshipers, but kept together, and were with one accord in one place — not scattered about. It can hardly be doubted, therefore, that at the moment the Spirit descended upon them they were all in one and the same place somewhere within the large area of the Temple, presumably in Solomon’s Porch. Concerning the verse we are now considering (Acts 2:1), Dr G Campbell Morgan, in a letter to the author, said: Personally, I believe that the statement that the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled means far more than that they were observing its ritual. I am convinced that the meaning of Luke here is that all that was signified by that feast was finding its historic fulfillment. With the aid of this comment we can see a great wealth of meaning in these few words of Scripture. The coming of the Holy Spirit took place some little time before nine in the morning (see verse 15), just long enough for it to be noised abroad (2:6), and for an enormous crowd to congregate. There would be ample time for this between the morning services and nine o’clock. On reading attentively the record in Acts 2:1–14 it will be seen that the events there narrated happened all in one and the same locality; for there is no change of location. Wherever the disciples were when they began to speak in other (Greek: heteros — different) tongues or languages, and where the astonished multitude assembled and listened to the first Gospel address ever preached with the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, that was the very same place where the Holy Spirit came upon them. Concerning the words of verse 6, Now when this was noised abroad, Dr Morgan, in the letter already quoted, says that this is not to be taken as meaning that a rumor of the marvelous event was spread abroad; for the verb rendered noised broad in the A. V. … is never used in the sense of a rumor. I believe the sound as of a mighty wind was heard by the entire city. That being so, your interpretation as to the place falls in with tremendous naturalness to me. The devout Jews would, at the hearing of some supernatural sound, rush to the Temple. In this connection the force of the words of Acts 2:2 should be specially noted: And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind (or Breath) and it filled all the house where they were sitting. It is important to note that in those days, and for a considerable period thereafter, the disciples were in favor with all the people (Acts 2:48); and hence they were permitted to enjoy, in common with all Jewish sects and parties, the privileges of assembling for the usual purposes, and as a distinct company or sect, in the Temple. It should also be specially noted that no pious Jews would be anywhere but in the Temple on that day (see Acts 20:16). We conclude, therefore, that the material House of God served as the womb for the spiritual House, and that from it the Church was to come forth, and soon did come forth. For a little while the two were identified, as the true spiritual Israel of God was, for a while, identified with Israel after the flesh — the spiritual seed of Abraham with his natural seed. And this is in keeping with the revealed ways of God. The letter from Dr Morgan, from which several quotations have been given above, was written in reply to one from the author, in which he submitted this interpretation of Acts 2, and asked Dr Morgan’s opinion thereon. Dr Morgan stated in reply that the interpretation was new to him; and he went on to say: I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that you are absolutely correct. Here is an illustration of how those of us who desire and attempt to be the most careful in our study, are in danger of taking things too much for granted. I certainly have proceeded on the assumption that the one place of Acts 2 was the upper room of Acts 1. It is as plain as a thing can be that I have been wrong; and I am very grateful to have it thus pointed out. The Source of the Living Waters It is evident that the matter into which we have been inquiring has a direct relation to certain prophecies, such as Ezekiel 47, referred to above, where the prophet describes his vision of the healing and life giving waters issuing from out of the Temple. It was explained to the prophet, as we have already noted that the waters which he saw were to go down into the desert (which suggests barren Israel), and to go into the sea (which symbolizes the nations), whose waters should be healed; and the description continues: And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither; for they shall be healed. And everything shall live whither the river cometh (Ezekiel 47:9). It is easy to see in this passage the familiar scriptural figures of the Gospel, and its life giving and healing ministry. So we note with interest that the Temple — the House of God — was to be the source of the stream of living waters. Therefore, we cannot fail to see in this prophetic vision a spiritual foretelling of the issuing forth of the Gospel for all mankind from God’s appointed center, which broadly was Israel, and more definitely Jerusalem, and still more definitely the Temple. Other portions of Ezekiel’s prophecy have clearly a spiritual fulfillment in this dispensation of the Holy Spirit, as we have sought to show. In this connection we would call attention also to the prophecy of Joel. Inasmuch as the Apostle Peter quoted from the second chapter of Joel, as having its fulfillment in the coming of the Holy Spirit, and in those miraculous events whereby His presence was manifested, it is significant that, in chapter 3, of Joel’s prophecy, there is the promise that all of the rivers of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the House of the Lord (3:18). We believe that those who are spiritual will be able to see in this verse and its context much that is applicable to this present dispensation, though it may be that the complete fulfillment of this passage, and also of that quoted by Peter from Chapter 2, awaits the coming again of the Lord from heaven. “Go Speak in the Temple All the Words of this Life” Further, we have the very significant record of Acts 5:17–25, which tells us that when the Apostles were released by the angel of the Lord from the prison into which the religious leaders had put them, the angel bade them, Go, stand and speak in the Temple, to the people all the words of this life (verse 20). This makes clear, for reasons which we should seek to discern, that it was in the purpose of God that the gospel stream — the words of this life — should begin their flow in the Temple. In this we can see the continuity of God’s dealings and the orderly working out of His great plan. Everything pertaining to the old dispensation centered in the Temple. Therefore, it was fitting that the new dispensation should start at that place, and move out thence into the world which it was to overspread. The phrase words of this life is very significant; and it is moreover, an aid to the right understanding of the passage; for it serves to elucidate the meaning of the expression living waters in the prophecies. And, finally, the Scripture tells us that, notwithstanding the strong opposition of the authorities, the disciples ceased not daily, in the temple and in every house, to teach and preach Jesus Christ (Acts 5:40–42). Living Waters Flowing From the House of God For some time after Pentecost the church continued at Jerusalem, and seems to have been tolerated, in accordance with the advice of Gamaliel (Acts 5:33–40) until the time of the stoning of Stephen, after which period the gospel stream spread throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1), the church at Jerusalem, the spiritual house of God, being thus far its source. A little later we find another church of God at Antioch; for it is written that Barnabas sought Saul at Tarsus, and brought him unto Antioch, and that for a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people (Acts 11:25–26). Here again in the church in Antioch we find the Holy Spirit in full charge; and after a year of teaching inside the House, we see the living waters flowing out, and producing the results intended in the purposes of God. For we read at Acts 13:1,2, concerning the church that was at Antioch, that as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And thus, from the House of God, and in the power of the Spirit of God, the stream of the Gospel flowed out in a new direction, and extended farther than it had yet gone. Still later on the gospel was carried into Europe and it came to Thessalonica — not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:5). The result was the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1). And this is declared to be an example or pattern for other churches, for the express reason, as the apostle writes to them that, From you sounded out the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad (1:8). A Great Difference Our study brings into view a great difference between the Temple — God’s dwelling place in the old dispensation, and the Church — His dwelling place in the new. In the case of the Temple, sacrifices were brought to it, blood flowed in it, and incense (worship) ascended from it. But no healing waters flowed from it. Hence what Ezekiel saw, and what was revealed also to Joel and to Zechariah, living waters going out from Jerusalem (Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:8), was something quite new, and to which the Temple and its ritual presented no analogy. Therefore, one of the chief lessons to be learned from the Scriptures we have been considering is that the Spiritual House of this era should be specially marked by being the source of a freely flowing stream of living waters, carrying life and health into all the regions round about. And where this mark is lacking, even when the form of the House is quite correct, the explanation will doubtless be found in the conditioRead more

  • Ezekiel's Prophecies About Israel Certain prophecies of Ezekiel are sometimes cited as lending support to the idea of the future reconstitution and earthly dominion of the Jewish nation. But on the contrary, they contain many clear warnings of judgments to come upon the house of Israel and the city of Jerusalem; and they also contain predictions — not so clear perhaps as the threatened judgments, because they are capable, like other Old Testament prophecies, of being interpreted according to the desires of the carnal Jewish mind — concerning the recovery that was to be accomplished through the work of the coming Redeemer. It must ever be borne in mind, while studying Old Testament prophecies which relate to the future of the Jewish people, that we have a sure guide as to their interpretation in the way such prophecies are applied in the New Testament, especially by Paul. And specifically, we have these guiding facts: first, that all the prophecies of mercy to that people that are cited in the New Testament are declared to have their fulfillment in this present era of the Holy Spirit. For all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after — have likewise (i.e. like Moses, who had been mentioned previously) foretold of these days (Acts 3:24), there being never an instance where the fulfillment is assigned to a future dispensation; and second, that in the New Testament all promises of future blessing for the Jews are applied to the true Israel, it being declared that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; … but he is a Jew; which corresponds with the heavenly places mentioned in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Ezekiel 21–23 foretell further judgments that were to fall upon Jerusalem, and give details of the general corruption of priests, prophets and people; and Chapter 24 again foretells the approaching woe to the bloody city. Ezekiel 25–33 are occupied with prophecies of judgments that were to come upon various nations, Tyre, Egypt, Babylon, etc. Ezekiel 28:25 contains the following promise: Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen in their land; and they shall dwell safely therein; etc. This promise might have been fulfilled to them in a material sense after their return from the Babylonian captivity; but inasmuch as they did not meet the stipulated condition — for God was not sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen in their land — the promise was forfeited. Chapter 34 contains one of the clearest of the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Savior. The chapter begins with Jehovah’s reproof of the shepherds of Israel, because they had shamefully neglected His sheep — not healing the sick, or bringing again that which was driven away, or binding up that which was broken, or seeking that which was lost. My flock, says He, was scattered upon all the face of the earth and none did search or seek after them (verse 6). What then is the promise of God in view of that state of things? Will God reestablish the nation in the land of Palestine in prosperity exceeding the palmiest days of David and Solomon? So say the teachers of modern dispensationalism; whose leading authority puts it thus: “When Christ appeared to the Jewish people, the next thing in the order of revelation as it then stood should have been the setting up of the Davidic kingdom.” But what says the Lord God through His servant, Ezekiel? Hearken to this: For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep and will deliver them … and I will feed them in a good pasture … I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away; and will bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick (verses 11–16). Our Lord Himself has declared the fulfillment of this prophecy in one of the best-known chapters in the Bible, John 10. For our present purpose we need only recall these familiar words: I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep … I am the door; by Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. Beyond dispute, therefore, Ezekiel 34 is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ to seek His own sheep, to lead them out from the mass of the apostate Jewish nation, to die for them, and in resurrection to be their Prince, their David, who is here, as elsewhere, a type of the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15). Peter declared the fulfillment of this part of Ezekiel’s prophecy when he confronted the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem with the statement that God had exalted Jesus, whom they had slain, to be a Prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31). This chapter (Ezekiel 34) has always been regarded, I believe, until very recent times, as a prophecy of Christ and His spiritual kingdom. Likewise the prophecy of Ezekiel 36:21–38 is a foretelling of the present era; for the blessings of the New Covenant are distinctly foretold. The first step in the fulfillment of this prophecy was the return from Babylon (verse 24); then the preaching of Christ (36: 25; cf John 15:3 and Hebrews 10:22); then the gift of the Holy Spirit (verses 26–27; cf. John 20:22). We have seen that His disciples are the true Israel and their land (the heavenly places) is the true Zion. In Ezekiel 36 God promises that He will gather His people out of all countries, will bring them into their own land, will sprinkle clean water upon them; will cleanse them from all their filthiness; will put a new heart and a new spirit within them, and will put His Spirit in them (verses 24–27). Manifestly these are promises of gospel blessings, with which God has now blessed His people in heavenly places — the true Zion, their own land. For He gives them a new heart and a new spirit; with the blood of Christ He cleanses them from all sin; and He puts His own Holy Spirit in them. We have seen that the land God gave their fathers, and which they were looking for, was a better country, even a heavenly (Hebrews 11:16; 12:22). The Valley of the Dry Bones — (Chapter 37) Here the same prophecy of salvation to the true Israel, the sheep who know their Shepherd’s voice, is given in the form of an allegorical vision. The Spirit of Jehovah transports the prophet from Jerusalem and sets him down in a low lying place, a valley which was full of bones. And says the prophet, He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? (verse 3). This question gives the clue to the significance of the vision. God is bringing to mind that He is the God of Abraham, who quickens the dead (Romans 4:17). That valley represents the dominion of sin and death (Romans 6), and the dry bones represent the state by nature of all the Israel of God; for we were all dead in trespasses and sins ere He quickened us together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1, 5). This was the condition of the whole commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:12). By this prophecy God makes known that He would employ, in the mighty work of regeneration and recreation, the same agencies He used in the old creation — the Word (Prophecy to these bones) and the Spirit (Breath); for the salvation of all those who compose the Israel of God, that holy nation, is effected by the word of the gospel, preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (1 Peter 1:12). The chapter foretells the gospel era beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist (who prophesied unto the dry bones of Israel). In verse 4 mention is made of the Word and in verse 9 of the Spirit. In verse 11 is foreseen the whole house of Israel (the true Israel), a people quickened together with Christ, baptized into His death, and made partakers of His resurrection (See John 5:25; Ephesians 1:1–4; 2:5–6). Historically, in the fulfillment of this wonderful prophecy, when the Fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son — not to set up the Davidic kingdom, for which the Jews were looking, but — to redeem them that were under the law — Jews (Galatians 4:4); and He spake unto them the word of life (prophesied unto the bones), the result being that there was a great stir among the Jews, a shaking of the bones; and that a company was formed; the bones coming together, bone to his bone. But there was as yet no live body (verse 7). But at Pentecost there came the mighty Breath of God. God began then to breathe upon those who had been dead in their sins; and they lived, and stood upon their feet. And the work begun that day has been going on ever since, until the company of the regenerated ones has become an exceeding great army, an innumerable multitude (Revelation 7:9). It is not to be wondered at that the Jewish rabbis should have interpreted this vision as a prophecy of the revival of their nation; for they were grossly carnal in their thoughts (God’s thoughts were not their thoughts, Isaiah 55:8), and they were, moreover, narrowly selfish and exclusive as regards their expectations of Divine blessing. And furthermore, they were ignorant of the mystery of the true Israel (Ephesians 2:12–13; 3:1–6), namely, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ, by (means of) the gospel. But it is a cause of wonderment that any of those to whom that mystery has been revealed, and who have learned moreover, how the Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in these days of the Holy Spirit’s presence on earth, should discard what has been the accepted Christian interpretation of these prophecies for nineteen centuries, in favor of that held by those blind leaders of the blind, whose leadership brought about theRead more

  • Can Women Preach and Teach in Church? Why are so many people so wrong about this? In 1 Timothy 2:12, the apostle Paul writes: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” This does not mean that women cannot serve God (the work of the ministry) because in Philippians 4:3 Paul writes that Euodia and Syntyche “labored side by side with me in the Gospel.” It does not mean that a woman may never speak in the church because in 1 Corinthians 11:5 Paul is writing about women who pray and prophesy in the church meeting, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.” It does not mean that a woman can never teach a man about spiritual matters because in Acts 18:24-26 we read that Apollos started to preach, but he had no clear grasp of the Gospel. Then it says “And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” I have seen many explanations by many church leaders about this subject and most of them fail miserably because they do not take the relevant factors that existed then, into consideration. The early church functioned in a very informal way, until about 387 AC, when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, built the first church building. This is when things started to become formal. Preaching, as we know it did start a bit earlier than that but it was not the norm in the early church. On the other hand, teaching in a formal setting was done quite early for we read about Paul formally teaching Christians in the school of Tyrannus in Acts 19:9. The informal meetings which were the general practice since the planting of the church, were held in houses, until the late 300s AC. It can be compared to families getting together, eating together, praying together, and ministering to each other in a really informal way. This informality had wonderful results and implications, but, it also had to be monitored constantly to ensure that everything is done in the orderly fashion God intended it to be. You can imagine that when people are allowed to function freely and informally as described in 1 Corinthians 14, some people with strong characters, men and women, by the way, had to be addressed and corrected when they misused these privileges. Just take a look at how those early congregations functioned when they got together: 1 Corinthians 14:26-27 26. How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. 27. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. Everything about the early church was informal. They were operating and functioning in the streets and marketplaces, the public square, houses and basically everywhere you could find people. They were not in official buildings with formal settings. Everything about the church was family-like and very informal back then. Initially, quite a few things had to be addressed to get the members of these churches to conduct themselves as Christ Jesus expected from them. After all, Christ was and is the Head of the church and the Holy Spirit has to be followed as He leads the congregation or the church in general. Some of the men and women caused an imbalance when they emphasized the speaking in tongues too much, and I am referring to “tongues” their prayer language, and not “tongues” the Gift of the Spirit that precedes prophecy. So “tongues” as the Gift of prophecy, and prophecy itself were neglected whilst they emphasized “tongues”, the personal prayer language which was supposed to be practiced at home or in private. So Paul had to address these things and he did it in his letters to these churches which was later accepted as divine Scripture. Another thing Paul had to address was men arguing with each other in the meetings. Yet another thing Paul had to address was women arguing with men and their husbands in the meetings. This is why he instructed them to keep quiet in the meetings and to be taught at home by their husbands. After all, the husband was given the authority in the family. He is the head of the family and wives must submit themselves to their husbands. Obviously, all these problems led to frustration and dissatisfaction and Paul had to address them as Christ and the Holy Spirit led him to. 2 Timothy 2:23-24 23. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 24. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient… So the Scriptures about Paul addressing all sorts of problems in the church are supposed to be in the Bible. They are not mistakes, but, in the organized church, these Scriptures do not always make sense. It has to be adapted to fit the organized church. How should we apply these Scriptures in the institutional church? I am not sure but I can see that women preaching and teaching in the institutional church do not cause all sorts of problems when they do preach or teach. This is because of the well-controlled rules of conduct in the church. Nobody is going to stand up and start to argue with such a woman because this is universally not acceptable in the institutional church. Such a person, even if he is a man and the speaker a woman, the Pastor or elder or the counsel of such a congregation will not tolerate that. This is not about agreeing or disagreeing in silence with women preachers. Just as with male preachers, we have all the right to disagree with them but we cannot start arguing with them in the middle of a sermon or a teaching session. This is what it is all about because this is what Paul had to address in house churches in Biblical times. I do not think that women preachers want to force anybody to accept or believe what they are preaching or teaching, just as any male preacher does. They do not take authority over men when they preach or teach. They are just preaching and teaching the word of God and not trying to compete with men. In fact, the authority that Paul referred to in 1 Timothy 2:12 was a result of women starting to argue with men (and other women) about the word of God and the will of God, which was quite easy in the informal house church setting that I explained. Arguing is bad because it has a very negative effect on the people who have to sit and listen to people arguing. This is why Paul said that women must keep quiet and learn from their husbands at home. The bottom line is that wives must submit themselves to their husbands (only their husbands) and the authority that God gave them but women are equal to any and all other men in every sense whatsoever. Galatians 3:26-29 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28. 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. 29. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.   It is because of verse 28 that women have all the rights and privileges that men have. We have seen that women are allowed to do the work of the ministry. They worked with Paul and with the other apostles. They are allowed to speak in the congregations and they are allowed to exercise the Gifts of the Spirit. They have the right, not only to pray and prophesy but even to take part in the discussions during the official meetings. They are even allowed to teach outside the meetings as we can see with Aquila and Priscilla (funny that Aquila was mentioned before her husband in the Bible, probably because she was the more prominent and well-schooled of the two). In the organized church, it is only when men openly start to differ from women and start arguing with them, that they are to keep silent. Women should not get involved in any argument with a man when it is about the word and will of God. In fact, even men should not argue about these things, but, when a woman does so, arguing is nothing but usurping authority over the man. There is a reason why Paul said that the man came first and the woman second. There is also a reason why he said that it was the woman who was deceived and not the man. 1 Timothy 2:11-14 11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. My opinion is that women who teach and preach in the organized church are not causing any of the problems that Paul referred to because he was addressing problems in the organic house church meetings of the early church. The way we conduct our meetings today did not even exist at that time, and it is completely different. So I think women who preach and who teach may do this without feeling condemned unless they are members of house churches that function as Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14 and other Scriptures. In this case, they do have to comply with Paul’s instructions. I hope that this post clarifies the true BibliRead more

  • False Doctrines In the Church The Sabbath, the Jewish Feasts, the Circumcision, the Unclean Meat Doctrine Have you ever encountered someone who attempted to convince you that the Jewish Sabbath must also be honored and kept by Christians? Have you also heard the countless arguments on why it is an everlasting command of God and why Christians may honor and keep it on a Sunday? I understand that some people have sincere and honorable motives about this. Many of them just want to be obedient and they want to do the right thing, but, as Paul has warned us, there will be people who refuse to understand and accept the truth about the Sabbath and other Jewish rituals, in spite of the fact that Paul and Jesus Christ were so clear about the Old Testament shadows and New Testament fulfillment in Christ Jesus. When dealing with these people, just refer them to Paul. What he had to say about these Old Testament Jewish doctrines in the church is so clear that even a child can understand it. Paul calls people who promote these Old Testament doctrines false prophets and false apostles who spoil the church through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Paul knew exactly how to deal with such people because they started to hinder and destroy his work and ministry soon after his apostolic journey began. He had to counter their work of destruction with the pure word of God. They followed him wherever he went and they did not leave one stone unturned to beguile and deceive the young congregations and young Christians that Paul ministered to. Whilst he was planting churches and teaching them the doctrines of Christ these false teachers followed him and taught the Christians to go back to the law and their roots in Judaism. They basically taught the Gentiles to be circumcised, to keep the Sabbath, to keep the Jewish  Holy Festivals, and not to eat unclean meat. Paul warned the Christians in several of his letters not to fall for these Jewish laws. He told them not to be deceived and not to allow these false teachers to take away their freedom in Christ. When they did not heed his pleas, he asked them why did they allow these false teachers to bewitch them with their false doctrines. These doctrines were authentic and correct in the Old Testament but they cannot be incorporated into the church. We cannot serve Christ and the law at the same time. This is why Paul called these doctrines “philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”. Let’s read what else Paul had to say about these doctrines. Colossians 2 1. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; 3. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. 5. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19. And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. 20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21. (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22. Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. In Colossians 2 Paul addressed all of the mentioned doctrines and he named and identified all four of them in one sentence. I mention this because many Christians accept some of them but not one or two of them. How can we accept Paul’s explanations with some of them and not all when he said the same thing about all of them? It is very clear that Jesus Christ and the apostles did not instruct anybody to keep these laws, but, contrary to what anybody may claim, they actually explicitly instructed the church not to keep these laws. About unclean meats: Mark 7:14-23 14. And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: 15. There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 16. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 17. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19. Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20. And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22. Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. About circumcision: Galatians 5: 1-12 1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 7. Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8. This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. About the Sabbath and Jewish festivals: Galatians 4:9-11 9. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. About all these laws: In one sentence, Colossians 2:16, Paul tells us that we should not allow anybody to judge us because we do not keep these laws.  All these laws were Old Testament shadows and the New Testament declares that all of them have been fulfilled in Christ. Why would the Bible confirm that all these shadows have been fulfilled in the New Testament in Christ and then instruct us to keep adhering to or honoring these laws? It does not. As I already proved with the necessary Scriptures, it explicitly asks us and warns us and even appeals to us not to keep these shadows and not to allow anybody to judge us if we don’t. Before I prove to you that Jesus Christ did fulfill all these shadows, even the Sabbath, allow me to tell you what the Bible says about Sundays. The Bible only vaguely mentions that Christians kept coming together on Sundays after they did it the first time with Jesus’ resurrection, but, it does not say that it should be kept as a Sabbath or similar to a Sabbath, in fact, in the book of Hebrews we read that Jesus Christ is the Sabbath that the Old Testament pointed to as mentioned by Joshua. So our rest is in Christ, as explicitly declared in the Book of Hebrews (referring back to what Joshua said about the real Sabbath that will come), but more about this at the end of the post. Why is there no holy day or days for the Christians? Why is there no holy building for the Christians, like the Jewish temple and the Muslim mosques or the iron dome? Because Jesus Christ is the temple of God and because Jesus Christ is the Sabbath and because He fulfilled all the Jewish festivals. Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:20-23 20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21. (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22. Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. Do not forget, whenever anybody attempts to convince you that you must keep these Jewish laws, they are busy with “philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”. It is for this very same reason that you should not attempt to influence other people to do so. It does not matter what these people say, especially that some of these laws, like the Sabbath, were implemented by God at the beginning of the world, long before the Jews or Israel even existed, or that the Jewish festivals are God’s festivals, that unclean meat is actually very unhealthy and that is why God instructed the Israelites not to eat unclean animals, or whatever they come up with. Unclean meat was a shadow of sinful things that should not be allowed in our hearts, the Jewish festivals were given to the Jews to keep. It is Jewish festivals. The Sabbath was given to the Patriarchs and their seed. It was given to one nation. It was not given to the rest of the world and it was not given to the church. Only one nation, Israel or the Jews and their fathers (of which Abraham was the most prominent and most well-known). Paul clearly says that these Jewish laws are the rudiments (first principles) of the world. This emphasizes the fact that it belongs to the old and not the new. He calls these things an opinionated religion and that it only satisfies the flesh and he concludes that it is of no spiritual value. Some people may ask, “How can Paul call the keeping of the Sabbath a tradition of men if God implemented it in the first place?”  The answer is simple: If God did not implement it in the church because He is satisfied that Jesus Christ fulfilled this Old Testament shadow, then people who want to implement it in the church teach an erroneous doctrine, which is now a tradition of men. It was the truth in the Old Testament but it became a tradition of men in the New Testament. I always ask people who are in doubt about these doctrines to read Colossians 2 and Hebrews 4 slowly and prayerfully. Ask God to help you understand and accept His truth. We read in Hebrew 4:1-11 that Christ is the true Sabbath of God. Everybody and anybody who accepted Christ as his or her Savior, or anybody who decides to follow Christ, enters the Sabbath rest of God. The Jews kept the Sabbath but they never entered God’s rest. God promised that He would never allow them to enter into His rest because they did not believe.  Read Hebrews 4 and see exactly how Jesus Christ became the true Sabbath of God and how the gospel of Christ is the Sabbath-rest of God. Read how this replaced the Old Testament Sabbath or rather, how Jesus Christ fulfilled this shadow: Hebrews 4:1-11 1. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7. Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Verse 8 confirms that Joshua talked about the true Sabbath which was at that stage still somewhere in the future. Jesus Christ fulfilled this shadow on the cross. This rest can only be entered by accepting and following Jesus Christ. This rest is in the gospel of Christ because Hebrews 4: 2-3 connects it with the gospel of Christ. So regarding the Sabbath, the New Testament confirms that the fulfillment has come and it even says when the Sabbath was fulfilled. It says that it became a reality in Christ and it becomes a reality when a person is confronted with the Gospel of Christ: “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. We enter God’s rest when we accept Jesus Christ. Another rest, although not as important as what I discussed above, is every Christian’s ability to be blessed financially, without working. I am not talking about the false prosperity teachings of the organized church but about the true financial system or the true prosperity teachings of God. Read about this at the link below: What is really the Sabbath rest of God? This quotation below describes it beautifully: The key to understanding how Jesus is our Sabbath rest is the Hebrew word sabat, which means “to rest or stop or cease from work.” The origin of the Sabbath goes back to Creation. After creating the heavens and the earth in six days, God “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made” (Genesis 2:2). This doesn’t mean that God was tired and needed a rest. We know that God is omnipotent, literally “all-powerful.” He has all the power in the universe, He never tires, and His most arduous expenditure of energy does not diminish His power one bit. So, what does it mean that God rested on the seventh day? Simply that He stopped what He was doing. He ceased His labors. This is important in understanding the establishment of the Sabbath day and the role of Christ as our Sabbath rest. God used the example of His resting on the seventh day of Creation to establish the principle of the Sabbath day rest for His people. In Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15, God gave the Israelites the fourth of His Ten Commandments. They were to “remember” the Sabbath day and “keep it holy.” One day out of every seven, they were to rest from their labors and give the same day of rest to their servants and animals. This was not just a physical rest, but a cessation of laboring. Whatever work they were engaged in was to stop for a full day each week. (Please read our other articles on the Sabbath day, Saturday vs. Sunday and Sabbath keeping to explore this issue further.) The Sabbath day was established so the people would rest from their labors, only to begin again after a one-day rest. The various elements of the Sabbath symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would provide a permanent rest for His people. Once again the example of resting from our labors comes into play. With the establishment of the Old Testament Law, the Jews were constantly “laboring” to make themselves acceptable to God. Their labors included trying to obey a myriad of do’s and don’ts of the ceremonial law, the Temple law, the civil law, etc. Of course they couldn’t possibly keep all those laws, so God provided an array of sin offerings and sacrifices so they could come to Him for forgiveness and restore fellowship with Him, but only temporarily. Just as they began their physical labors after a one-day rest, so, too, did they have to continue to offer sacrifices. Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the law “can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” But these sacrifices were offered in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Just as He rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice, He sat down and rested—ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever. Because of what He did, we no longer have to “labor” in law-keeping in order to be justified in the sight of God. Jesus was sent so that we might rest in God and in what He has provided. Another element of the Sabbath day rest which God instituted as a foreshadowing of our complete rest in Christ is that He blessed it, sanctified it, and made it holy. Here again we see the symbol of Christ as our Sabbath rest—the holy, perfect Son of God who sanctifies and makes holy all who believe in Him. God sanctified Christ, just as He sanctified the Sabbath day, and sent Him into the world (John 10:36) to be our sacrifice for sin. In Him we find complete rest from the labors of our self-effort, because He alone is holy and righteous. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always. Jesus can be our Sabbath rest in part because He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). As God incarnate, He decides the true meaning of the Sabbath because He created it, and He is our Sabbath rest in the flesh. When the Pharisees criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them that even they, sinful as they were, would not hesitate to pull a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. Because He came to seek and save His sheep who would hear His voice (John 10:3,27) and enter into the Sabbath rest He provided by paying for their sins, He could break the Sabbath rules. He told the Pharisees that people are more important than sheep and the salvation He provided was more important than rules. By saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as He came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works. We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favor. Jesus is our rest from works now, just as He is the door to heaven, where we will rest in Him forever. Hebrews 4 is the definitive passage regarding Jesus as our Sabbath rest. The writer of the Hebrews exhorts his readers to “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ. After three chapters of telling them that Jesus is superior to the angels and that He is our Apostle and High Priest, he pleads with them not to harden their hearts against Him, as their fathers hardened their hearts against the Lord in the wilderness. Because of their unbelief, God denied that generation access to the holy land, saying, “They shall not enter into My rest” (Hebrews 3:11). In the same way, the writer to the Hebrews begs his readers not to make the same mistake by rejecting God’s Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ. “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:9–11). There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for sin. He is God’s plan for us to cease the labor of our own works. We dare not reject this one-and-only Way of salvation (John 14:6). God’s reaction to those who choose to reject His plan is seen in Numbers 15. A man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, in spite of God’s plain commandment to cease all labor on the Sabbath. This transgression was a known and willful sin, done with unblushing boldness in broad daylight, in open defiance of the divine authority. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp’” (verse 35). So it will be to all who reject God’s provision for our Sabbath rest in Christ. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3). Got Questions   I hope that this post will help you to deal with people who want to know more aRead more

  • Interpreting End-Time/Prophetic Symbols To develop and improve our student’s end times prophecies interpretation skills, I have decided to include prophetic symbols, not only in the dictionary but also in the Dream Interpretation Courses. This will undeniably help our students to successfully interpret prophetic dreams and visions about the end times, including the prophetic dreams and visions in the Bible. This post contains the rules, principles, guidelines, and the meanings of the apocalyptic symbols that explain the correct method (foundation) that is required to correctly interpret end-time prophecies. As most of us already know, prophetic messages and books in the Old and the New Testaments about the end times are written in figurative language. This means that end-time prophecies must be interpreted just as dreams and visions are interpreted. Just as with the parables of Jesus and dreams and visions, the end times prophecies were given to the children of God in the language of symbols. Fortunately, our students are already very familiar with this language. All the principles and rules that govern symbolism when it comes to the general everyday symbols are the same when it comes to prophetic symbols. In this sense, apocalyptic symbols are not different from everyday symbols at all. It is part of the same language and it is governed and ruled by the same rules and principles. When the Book of Daniel or the Book of Revelations refers to a beast it does not refer to a mystical animal that is now extinct. It refers to a nation and/or the king or the government or the different peoples of that specific nation. When it speaks of earthquakes it does not mean natural earthquakes but the sudden disruptive movement and relocation of nations and groups of people. We should not regard these symbols as literal. The apostle John explains in the Book of Revelations that what he has written in the Book of Revelations must be regarded as symbolic and not literal. Revelations 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. The word “signified” in this Scripture declares that the Book of Revelations was written in figurative language, which means that the Book of Revelation must be interpreted, just like any other dream or vision. By the way, the content of the Book of Revelations came to John through a vision and as we all know, all visions must be interpreted. The word “signified” confirms that the meanings of the events in the Book of Revelations were expressed by signs or symbols rather than the physical form it is expressed in. The signifier is interpreted as the conceptual material form, i.e. something which can be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted; and the signified as the conceptual ideal form. In other words, “contemporary commentators tend to describe the signifier as the form that the sign takes and the signified as the concept to which it refers. “The relationship between the signifier and signified is an arbitrary relationship: “there is no logical connection” between them. “The idea that both the signifier and the signified are inseparable is explained by Saussure’s diagram, which shows how both components coincide to create the sign. In order to understand how the signifier and signified relate to each other, one must be able to interpret signs. “The only reason that the signifier does entail the signified is because there is a conventional relationship at play. “That is, a sign can only be understood when the relationship between the two components that make up the sign are agreed upon. Saussure argued that the meaning of a sign “depends on its relation to other words within the system “for example, to understand an individual word such as “tree,” one must also understand the word “bush” and how the two relate to each other. Louis Hjelmslev Like with the beast, the different animals in Daniel 8 symbolize different nations or empires. The ram with the two horns symbolized the kings of the Medes and the Persians, and the rough goat was the king of ancient Greece. Daniel 8: 18-25 18. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright. 19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. 20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. As we can see, a rule of the language of symbolism determines that God can apply a specific isolated value (meaning) to a specific object or person, or kingdom, like the king of Greece, and then, in another situation, to another king, or nation or empire in another similar situation. For instance, the king of ancient Greece was symbolized by a rough goat, indicating the king’s or the nation’s attitude, power or strength, moral condition, or spiritual condition in a specific situation as mentioned above (hidden) (discernment of spirits). However, the leader of a modern nation like the USA or Russia, with the same characteristics can be symbolized by a goat as well as long as it is morally or spiritually in the same condition with the same attitude and motives as the king of Greece was at the time of the prophetic dream. When it comes to the prophetic, very little of what we see in the Bible can and should be taken literally. For instance, some parts of the Book of Daniel (the end times prophecies) and almost everything in the Book of Revelations, as well as other prophetic books and isolated parts (prophecies) of the Scriptures, should be understood and accepted as figurative language. Many scholars of eschatology make many huge mistakes by taking symbols literally that should have been regarded as symbolic. For instance, when the Scriptures refer to the earth and the natural heaven, and water in the prophetic books, it refers to empires and world politics, and governments. So the natural heaven, earth, and the lower parts of the earth, water-bodies and places and areas under the surface of the earth, speak of the broad and entire spectrum of different earthly powers and empires and governments and dignitaries. In this sense, heaven does not symbolize God but the higher and stronger political empires of the world whilst the lower areas symbolize the lower political powers like normal citizens or insignificant nations or kingdoms or inferior people. There are many examples in the Bible that indicate that heavenly bodies were indeed used to symbolize people and kingdoms on the earth for instance, in Genesis 37:9 we read that in Joseph’s dream, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars bowed down before him. The sun symbolized Jacob, the moon Joseph’s mother, and the eleven stars his brothers. So in the Book of Revelations, these four symbols (heavenly bodies and areas, the two different levels of earthly bodies and areas, and the areas under the surface of the world) speak of thrones, dignities, kingdoms, empires, governments, and people and spiritual entities. The heavenly bodies referred to kings and queens and princes and important offices or dignitaries and dominant and powerful entities and empires. The higher earthly areas like mountains speak of the middle-class leaders or people or empires that are not so strong or as powerful as the dominant empires but still powerful kingdoms and dignitaries and peoples and forces with influence and powerful abilities. The lower parts of the earth like valleys and canyons speak of very inferior people and political governments and leaders. The “underworld” (areas below the surface of the earth) like the bottomless pit and hell, and hades symbolize the different demonic powers that influence the world and all these other earthly powers, specifically about and around the end-time events. This knowledge helps us to understand that when these prophecies speak of “ascending to heaven” or “descending to earth” it speaks of these political entities or parties or empires or leaders rising or falling in power and honor. It speaks of losing wars and winning wars or being elected or dethroned or eliminated or conquered. So rising out of the water or the earth and falling into the earth or water speaks of rising from being part of the inferior to being part of the superior elite or dominion or power or honor or falling from these superior areas by losing power and honor. When we read of a symbolic entity descending to a very low state (very low area like a valley) it speaks of such a nation or people or person entering political conditions of a very unhappy, weak, and remorseful situation or place. Such groups of people and nations are slaves or constantly oppressed. So when we read about the movements between the higher areas of heaven, the higher area on earth, and the lower areas on earth, it speaks of moving or being promoted to or from one place to another, symbolizing the translation from one level of office, dignity, or dominion, to another and this can refer to a person, a group of people, a nation, an empire or kingdom, or a king, or a very strong political leader or the general public or citizens of such nations. In the prophetic books of the Bible, people can even move down to the areas underneath the surface of the earth like hell or the lake of fire. However, a lake of fire can be a lower area of the earth as well like a water body or a valley, which speaks of people being consumed by war, which is a bad situation to experience. It appears that the earth nations and earth leaders are more powerful or stronger and higher in dignity than the water nations. The water nations have filled the lower areas of the earth. So when something rose out of the water and conquers an earth nation, it means that the relevant person or nation has shifted in power and honor by becoming or being promoted to an earth nation or government. It is very important to understand that from “out of the earth” something “rose and ascended to heaven” does not speak of the throne of God but about the highest political power on earth. So the shaking of earth (earthquakes) and the shaking of heaven speaks of the shaking of empires or kingdoms to defeat them or overthrow them. It does not mean shaking God’s kingdom or the place where God resides. In this sense, objects (heavenly bodies falling from the sky) and great earthquakes speak of the overthrow of a kingdom and sometimes the relocation of people and nations (landslides). The creation of a new heaven and a new earth speaks of the establishment of a new political order or system where the old rulers and kingdoms have been overthrown and replaced by a new power or empire or kingdom or ruler. So the passing away of the old and the ending of the world and the beginning of a new world or heaven speaks of the shifts and changes of power. In such cases, nothing happens in or with the natural world, but, when such shifts and changes happen, one can go to sleep in an old world and wake up the next morning in a new world with a new heaven (new reigning kingdom or empire) without even knowing it. In the prophetic books of the Bible, the sun (kings) and moon (queens) symbolize kings and queens in the kingdom or kingdoms of the political world, shining with regal power and glory. In some cases (in another sense), the moon symbolizes the body of the common people considered the king’s wife (the moon is the sun’s wife), the stars for subordinate princes and great men, or bishops and rulers of the people. As already mentioned, when symbols in the prophetic books of the Bible are not referring to the earth with its political structures and levels but refer to the divine and Godly “heaven”, the sun symbolizes either God the Father or Jesus Christ the Sun of righteousness. In this case, light symbolizes the glory, the truth, and the knowledge of God. In this case, the moon speaks of the Holy Spirit and the stars speak of great and good men shining and illuminating others and therefore speaking of being great witnesses of God. In this sense, these people are the light of the world just as Jesus was during his walk on this earth. In the prophetic books of the Bible, darkness symbolizes obscurity or evil and depressive conditions, or error, blindness, and ignorance (which is the same as the meaning of darkness as an everyday symbol). The darkening, smiting, or setting of the sun, the moon, or the stars symbolizes the ceasing of a kingdom, leaders, or the destruction thereof, proportional to the darkness. The same can be said for the falling of the sun, moon, and/or stars. When the Bible speaks of turning the Moon into blood it speaks of death and destruction of a kingdom or a person. In everyday symbols, blood or the loss of blood speak of death also so there is a direct connotation here. Death is destruction. A new moon speaks of the return of a dispersed people and a restoration of a kingdom or a political empire or a religious ecclesiastical system. Can you see how wrong people can be about end times and events when they interpret these things literally? In the prophetic books, fire and meteors signify situations and events in both the natural heaven and earth. Fire and meteors speak of consuming nations with war. When this happens, a significant portion of such nations are destroyed. So when we read about burning anything with fire, a conflagration of the earth, or turning a country into a lake of fire, it speaks of nations being consumed by war. When we read about a nation being in a furnace it speaks of such a nation being enslaved by another nation. When we read about the ascending of the smoke of any burning thing forever and ever it speaks of the continuation of a conquered people under the misery of perpetual subjection and slavery. The scorching heat of the sun symbolizes frustrating and irritating wars, persecution, and troubles (coming from a heavenly nation) like Israel has been experiencing for ages as a result of them rejecting God in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament (being enslaved and oppressed by Assyria, Babylon, the Roman Empire, etc.). When it comes to smoke or clouds and rain and lack thereof it speaks of oppression or blessing. We have just covered the meanings of fire and smoke. We know that smoke comes from fire. Long after the visible fire is dead, smoke tends to be created for quite some time before it eventually goes away. This is because there is still a slow-burning taking place. Many fires take a long time before it is quenched completely. This is sometimes true during times of war. The war ended but peoples or nations are being oppressed constantly for a time. Covering the sun with smoke or a cloud speaks of oppressing the king (the sun) with perpetual attacks by enemy armies. Riding on the clouds symbolizes the reigning of a king over many people. Turbulent and strong winds and the rapid movement of clouds symbolize wars and the turmoil of war. When we read about a storm of thunder, lightning, hail, and overflowing rain, or a tempest it symbolizes war descending from the heavens (coming from a powerful “heaven” empire because these symbols are heavenly bodies) (coming from heaven on the heads of people on the earth or of earthen powers or kingdoms0). In another sense in the prophetic books, thunder, also known as “the voice of a cloud” sometimes symbolizes the voice of a multitude of people. Rain, in moderation, and dew, and living water, symbolize the graces and doctrines of the Spirit. A lack of rain in the prophetic books of the Bible symbolizes spiritual barrenness. It is interesting that in the prophetic books of the Bible, certain areas of dry land and certain bodies of water or congregated water like a sea, a river, or a flood, symbolize the people of several regions, nations, and dominions. When we read of the embittering of water it symbolizes the great affliction of the people by war and persecution. In the prophetic books, the turning of things into blood, like water bodies or rivers symbolizes the mystical death of political dignitaries, governments, nations, empires, or people causing their cessation or termination. The overflowing of a sea or river symbolizes the invasion of an “earthly” political government or kingdom by the people of the “water” kingdoms or governments. The same principle is true for the drying up of waters, which symbolizes the conquest of their regions by the “earth” nations or kingdoms. In the prophetic books of the Bible, life-giving resources like fountains are significant because it speaks of the permanent heads of political governments or cities or kingdoms. A fountain speaks of sustainability. Similarly, mountains sometimes speak of the strong cities of the earthly kingdoms and islands of the strong cities of the water kingdoms with the territories and smaller dominions around those cities belonging to the kings of those cities (in this sense, the island is not an earthly kingdom surrounded by water kingdoms but rather the cities of a water kingdom). The dens and rocks of mountains (on islands as well as on dry land areas), in this sense, speak of the temples of cities and men hiding in those dens and rocks as the shutting up of idols in their temples. In the prophetic books of the Bible, houses on land and ships on sea speak of families, assemblies, or small towns. Soldiers on land or a navy (battleships) on the water speak of the armies of those relevant kingdoms. So as you can see, the prophetic symbols of the Bible do not differ from the everyday symbols at all. It is the same, and it is very relevant to its meanings and even the rules and principles that govern this language stay the same. In the prophetic books, land animals, trees, herbs, and vegetables symbolize the people and conditions of the earth kingdoms and nations where as flags, reeds, and fishes symbolize the people and conditions of the water kingdoms and governments whilst birds and insects symbolize the people and conditions of the dominant heavenly or highest elite of the worldly kingdoms. A forest symbolized a kingdom where people are many and the wilderness symbolizes a desolate place or area with just a few inhabitants or a lot fewer inhabitants than a “forest kingdom”. A scholar of eschatology needs to understand that there can be a mixture of symbols, coming from all the earthly or worldly areas, to represent a single person or dominion, or empire. For instance, a king of a very powerful and dominant empire will be symbolized by the sun, which is a heavenly body, but, such a person can also be symbolized by a tall or huge tree, which is from a lower area of dominion but still emphasizing the character, power, character, and abilities of such a powerful leader. The same can be said for such a king, symbolized by animals like a lion or elephant, a leopard or a goat, or bear, which are from a lower area also. So in this sense, it is understandable that symbolism in the prophetic books of the Bible does consider this principle when a heavenly king’s character can be described or symbolized by a “powerful” earthly object or symbol. Such a person can even be symbolized by a fox to expose his “sly” or “deceitful” nature, even though he is strong and powerful and therefore symbolized by the sun and a leopard or a goat.  When animals are sacrificed or slaughtered in the prophetic books it speaks of conquering kingdoms and governments. When there are friendships between beasts, it speaks of peace between kings and kingdoms. Sometimes, in the prophetic books of the Bible, certain information of significance is added to specific symbols to indicate that something special or different must also be taken into consideration regarding the character or “spirit” of such a person or kingdom. For instance, when a tree is mentioned and called the tree of life, something significant is suggested. In this case, I think everybody will agree that Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life. Similarly, when a beast is described as the old serpent or being worshiped, it brings additional significant information to the foreground about that symbol. The serpent is of course none other than the devil himself or the suggestion that the devil is behind the actions and motivations of a “serpent” kingdom. Sometimes a beast can be representative of more than one part or segment of a kingdom or empire, like the head representing a king or emperor or the political offices or government of the kingdom, and the hair or tail the inferior citizens of such a kingdom who follow and who are governed by the head. So a beast’s head or heads when more than one, symbolizes the number of dynasties or the number of capital parts, or dominions in the kingdom whether collateral or successive, with respect to the civil government. The number of horns on its head symbolizes the number of different kingdoms in respect of the armies or military power of the kingdom. The Roman Empire was a kingdom that was symbolized by such a beast with its many horns and many eyes. The number of eyes in its head and the degree of sight symbolized its understanding regarding governance and the making of laws and the implementing of policies in the kingdom to govern the people successfully. In the prophetic books of the Bible, “speaking” symbolizes making laws and a mouth symbolizes a law-giver. A loud voice symbolizes power and might and a faint voice symbolizes weakness. Eating and drinking symbolize acquiring whatever is signified by the particular food or drink. The hairs of a land animal symbolize people and the feathers of a bird symbolize people. The wings of a beast symbolize the number of kingdoms represented by a beast empire or leader and the arm of a man (like the image of the man that Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar saw) the strength and power of the people in which such a kingdom’s power consists of. The feet of such an image of a man speak of the lowest people of such a kingdom or symbolizes the latter part or end-period of such a kingdom. The feet, nails, and teeth of beasts of prey, symbolize the armies and squadrons of armies of an empire or kingdom. The bones of such an animal symbolize the strength and the fortified places of such a kingdom and the flesh symbolizes the riches and possessions of the kingdom or empire. The days that such a kingdom act or operates or functions (whatever actions are described in the prophecy) symbolize years. When a tree symbolizes a kingdom in the prophetic books of the Bible, its branches, leaves, and fruit, have the same meanings as the wings, feathers, and the food of a bird or beast when it represents a kingdom. When a man is portrayed in a mystical sense, in the prophetic books, his qualities or characteristics are often signified by his actions, and by the circumstances about or around him and objects connected to him. So a Ruler is signified by his riding on a beast, a warrior, and conqueror by his having a sword and bow, a potent man by his gigantic stature, a Judge, by weights and measures, or a sentence of absolution, or condemnation, or by a white or a black stone. A new dignity is symbolized by a new name and so this means that when he still had his old name he was not yet promoted or appointed or did not yet move up in terms of honor or power. In the prophetic books of the Bible, moral or civil qualifications are symbolized by garments whilst honor and glory are symbolized by splendid apparel. Royal dignity is symbolized by purple or scarlet, or by a crown. Righteousness is symbolized by white and clean robes whilst wickedness and uncleanliness are symbolized by spotted and filthy clothes. People being affliction, who are mourning, and displaying humiliation are symbolized by clothing in sackcloth. Naked people, in the prophetic books of the Bible, symbolize people who will be dishonored, in shame, and found in want of good works. Whenever someone drank a cup of his or her wine it symbolizes either error or misery or both caused by himself or herself as symbolized by the action of drinking the wine. When we read about someone or a kingdom exercising traffic and merchandising with the people, it symbolizes promoting their religion for gain. When we read about adultery or people committing adultery with the princes of other nations or by worshiping the princes of other nations, in the prophetic books of the Bible, it speaks of worshiping or serving the false gods of such a nation. Whenever we see an image in the prophetic books, it symbolizes the Council of a kingdom. When we read the word blasphemy it symbolizes idolatry. When we read about an animal or beast or a man being wounded, it symbolizes an overthrow in war. When we read about people plagued by sores and pain it symbolizes a durable plague of war. When we read about the pain of a woman in labor to bring forth a man-child it symbolizes the affliction or persecution which a people suffers in laboring to bring forth a new kingdom. When a man or a beast dies in the prophetic books of the Bible, it symbolizes the end or the termination of a kingdom or empire. The resurrection of the dead in the prophetic books of the Bible symbolizes the revival or the restoration of a dissolved dominion or kingdom. At the end of this chapter, which is aimed at giving the scholars of the prophetic books of the Bible and the scholars of eschatology a very good foundation to enable them to interpret the end times prophecy correctly, I want to mention a few other symbols briefly that are very prominent in the prophetic books of the Bible. When we read about the Ancient of days in the prophetic books of the Bible we know that it refers to the Most High God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Candlesticks symbolize churches. Carpenters symbolize destroyers of governments. An image of different metals symbolizes the succession of governments. Incense or odors symbolize prayers. A lamb symbolizes Christ. The Lamb’s wife symbolizes the saints or the church. A likeness of a man symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ. Fine and clean linen symbolizes the righteousness of the saints. The New Jerusalem symbolizes the redeemed Christian Church, the Bride, or the Lamb’s wife. Revivification of dry bones symbolizes the resurrection of the dead. In another sense, other than what was explained at the beginning of this chapter, stars symbolize the angels, or the children of God who are the messengers of the churches. Souls of martyrs living again symbolize the first resurrection. A stone, becoming a mountain symbolizes theRead more

  • Salvation in Zion/The Sure Mercies of David The hope of the gospel is for those, whether Jews by nature or Gentiles, whom God has delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear, Son (Colossians 1:12–23); for the gospel brings a glorious hope even to those who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, having no hope (Ephesians 2:12). And briefly that hope is the promised kingdom, whereof God had spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began (for God had promised that gospel afore by His prophets in the holy Scriptures, Romans 1:2); the kingdom concerning which the King Himself in that coming day will say to those on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, whereof it is written, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him (James 2:5); the kingdom whereof it is also written, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50). These passages refer, of course, to that future aspect of the kingdom, for which all creation waits (Romans 8:19–21), when the kingdom of God, into which those who are saved by grace are immediately translated (Colossians 1:12), will be manifested in power and glory. It is for this our Lord taught His disciples to pray, Thy kingdom come. In all the above passages, and in all others, so far as I can find, where the same subject is referred to, it is always one hope (not two), one kingdom, one gospel, one salvation, that is spoken of. I deem it of much importance to establish this; and therefore the main object of the present inquiry is to ascertain whether there be any ground in the Old Testament prophecies for the idea that there is another “hope of Israel”, another kingdom of God (one of earthly character, as some teach) which will be hereafter given to the Jewish nation en masse, which has rejected the kingdom of God, that was preached to the Jew first. It is true indeed that in the Old Testament Scriptures the kingdom was promised to Israel only, and the hope was for Israel only. What God said again and again, in one form of words and another, is just what He expressed by the mouth of Isaiah, I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory (Isaiah 46:13); and it is expressly reaffirmed in the New Testament that to them (Israelites) pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants and the promises (Rom 9:4–5). But while this is the truth concerning the promised kingdom, it is not all the truth. For when Christ came, the natural Israel parted in twain. It divided itself into two parts, one of which (a small remnant) accepted Christ, and the other rejected Him. The latter part embraced the mass of the nation; whereas the former was a very small remnant indeed, as it is written, He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God (i.e., children of God, and if children then heirs, John 1:11–12; Romans 8:17). Now the apostle, in the passage quoted above, declares expressly that the unbelieving part of the nation is not the true Israel (Romans 9:6); and he goes on to say that Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election (the believing part) hath obtained it (Romans 11:7). And furthermore, in the very same passage, he declares that this election, which is the true Israel, and which has obtained the promises, embraces believing Gentiles along with believing Jews (Romans 9:24–31;10:19–20; 11:11–27). And now we have the whole truth concerning the Israel of God, as revealed in the Scriptures. It is hard to conceive how there could be a plainer statement of facts than has been given us in the above quoted Scriptures concerning the kingdom promised to Israel. How extraordinary then, and how subversive of the truth concerning the hope of Israel (for the preaching of which Paul was accused and made a prisoner by the Jews), is the teaching of those in our day who take the unbelieving part of the Jewish nation to be the true Israel, and apply to them the blessings promised by God through His prophets! This doctrine reverses completely that of the Bible, which teaches plainly that they are not all Israel which are of Israel; that they which are of the flesh are not the children of God (and hence not the heirs of God’s promises, or any of them) but that the children of the promise are counted for the seed (Romans 9:6–8; Galatians 3:16). Not only does this new teaching (new among the people of God, though it was the very core of the teaching of apostate Judaism) destroy the unity of the one kingdom of God, the one Israel of God, the one hope of the gospel, the one everlasting covenant, but it also deranges the whole scheme of prophecy. For it necessitates that time and place be made in the future for another (an earthly) kingdom and another people of God (an earthly people.) The Sure Mercies of David In a preceding chapter it was pointed out that Moses, the founder of the Jewish nation, clearly foretold its apostasy and its complete extermination; even describing the characteristics of the people (the Romans) whom God would use as the instruments of His vengeance. The next prophet of note after Moses, who has written concerning the kingdom of God, the hope of Israel, is Israel’s great King, David. His prophecies, however, are so numerous that it would not be possible within the limit of this volume to examine them. Moreover, the greater part of them are couched in language so poetical and figurative, so abounding in imagery which is obscure to us, as to require much patient investigation in order to establish the character of their fulfillment. But it is only their general purport that we need to ascertain at present; and happily that has been given to us in a single, comprehensive utterance, from the lips of the apostle Paul, spoken in a Jewish synagogue: “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm … And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead … He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David” (Acts 13:32–34). These words plainly declare that the promise, which God had made to the fathers of Israel, He had fulfilled by raising up Jesus Christ from the dead; and specifically that His promises to and concerning David — among which the kingdom was prominent — implied and depended upon, and that it was accomplished in, the resurrection of Christ. Hence; when a servant of Christ proclaims the gospel of His resurrection, he is preaching (whether he be aware of it or not) the sure mercies of David. The original passage from which the apostle took the phrase, “the sure mercies of David”, connects those mercies with the everlasting covenant; and it most unmistakably locates the fulfillment of this great promise in this present era of the gospel. I quote the prophetic passage: 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. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 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 (Isaiah 55:1–3). Here we have the Spirit of Christ in the prophet (1 Peter 1:11) giving utterance beforehand to the gospel invitation, Come unto Me; hear and your soul shall live; — Come ye to the waters; Come, buy, without money, and without price. And we have also the plain declaration that the everlasting covenant and the sure mercies of David are one and the same thing. As we have been at pains to show in the foregoing pages, the everlasting covenant is the only covenant of God that now subsists. For the temporary covenant with the Jewish nation was but a fleeting shadow, being likened in Scripture to the light that shined for a little while in the face of Moses, and then quickly faded away (2 Corinthians 3:13–15). True the teachers and leaders of the Jews were, and still are, blinded to the fact that that covenant is done away in Christ. But that is no wonder; for both David (Psalm 69:23) and Isaiah (6:9) foretold that they should be blinded to the passing away of the old covenant. Moreover, Paul points this out in Romans 11:8–10; and in 2 Corinthians 3:13–15 he explains that the veil which Moses put over his face was a prophetic sign that the Jewish nation would be blinded to the passing away of the old covenant and its promises. So that even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. But the wonder is that any of the present day teachers of the word of God, who are legitimate successors of Paul and Timothy, whom God had made able ministers of the new covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6) should be likewise blinded to a truth so plainly declared, and should in consequence be driven to the exercise of their ingenuity in the devising of schemes of unfulfilled prophecy, illustrated perhaps by elaborate charts and diagrams; wherein provision is made for a reviving of the promises and other incidents of the old covenant, which the Jewish nation forfeited by its flagrant rebellion and apostasy, and which God has long ago abolished (2 Corinthians 3:13; Hebrews 8:13). It is of the very essence of the truth of the gospel that the resurrection of Jesus Christ marks the dividing line between that which is natural and that which is spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46); for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the gospel, insomuch that if Christ be not risen, the preaching of His apostles is vain, and our faith also is vain, we are yet in our sins, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished, and we who hope in Him are of all men the most miserable (idem verses 13–19). Before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God recognized as His people a nation of men in the flesh, the natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and with them He made covenants concerning earthly things, and gave them the promise of earthly blessings. Also He recognized an earthly Zion and an earthly Jerusalem; and He appointed an earthly temple, an earthly priesthood and earthly sacrifices. But that system in its entirety was but a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience (Hebrews 9:9). Moreover, its ordinances were imposed only until the time of reformation (verse 10). Here is a fact to which we wish to direct special attention; namely, that the whole Jewish system, nation and all, had a status in God’s plan only until the fixed time of reformation; and the next succeeding verses (11–15) make it plain that the time of reformation began when Christ — not in virtue of the blood of goats and calves, but in virtue of His own blood — entered in, once for all, into the true holy of holies, as the High Priest of the good things that were to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle than that ordained by Moses and administered by Aaron, a tabernacle not made with men’s hands, and not of this creation. Here indeed is dispensational truth; for the time then present was the dispensation of the law, and it was to be (and now has been) followed by the dispensation of the gospel; for when the Fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). With the sacrificial death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the old system of natural things passed away completely and forever; and the new system of things spiritual and eternal came into being — the heavenly Zion, the Jerusalem which is above which is the mother of us all, the heavenly sanctuary, and a people — not blessed with all natural blessings in earthly places through Moses and Joshua, but — blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places through Christ (Ephesians 1:3). The two systems cannot coexist; for they are mutually exclusive of each other. That which had to do with an earthly people and earthly localities, was imposed only until the time of reformation. But Christ being come … and having through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, and having assumed the office of Mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:11–15), the former has completely served its purpose and has been wholly abolished. Those who attentively consider what is written for our learning in Hebrews 8–10 can hardly fail to realize the utter impossibility, in the working out of the revealed purposes of God, of a restoration of the earthly nation of Israel andRead more

  • God’s Promises to Israel Fulfilled by Joshua The Book of Joshua contains a passage (Chapter 21:43–45) which throws clear light upon the question we are investigating — the future of the Jews. The passage has already been briefly noticed; but its importance demands a more extended consideration. Its value for our present purpose lies chiefly in the fact that thereby it clearly appears that nothing now remains to be fulfilled of all that God promised the fathers of Israel He would do for their natural descendants. Joshua, whose name signifies Saved of Jehovah, had by God’s express command, led the children of Israel across the River Jordan and into the land which the Lord had promised their fathers to give them. Furthermore, after a personal interview with the Captain of the host of the Lord (who could have been none other than the Lord Jesus Himself) he led them victoriously against their enemies, subduing one after another, until, as the record declares, he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses (11:15). And finally, he divided the entire land among the twelve tribes, assigning to each tribe its inheritance, and to the Levites cities in diverse parts of the land. God was with Joshua in a very special way; and through that chosen and well prepared instrument He completed all He had pledged Himself to do for the children of Israel under His unconditional covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and this is plainly and most emphatically declared in the passage we are about to examine. The confusion and lack of understanding that now exists, in regard to the present status and future prospects of Israel after the flesh, would never have arisen had due attention been given to these facts of Scripture: first, that God’s promise to the fathers of Israel concerning the land of Canaan went no farther than that He would bring their descendants into that land, would give them complete possession of it, and would subdue their enemies under them; and second, that their continued possession of that promised land would depend upon their faithfulness to Him and their obedience to His commandments. Accordingly, when the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had fulfilled to their seed, through Joshua, all He had pledged Himself to do for them, all of which He faithfully accomplished to the last detail, notwithstanding their many and great provocations during the forty years He suffered their manners in the wilderness, then the unconditional covenants with the fathers were fulfilled so completely that there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. Therefore, they stood thenceforth, as to their relations with God, wholly upon the conditional covenant He made with them through Moses, which we have considered in a previous chapter (Deuteronomy 29:1). The details of that substituted covenant, which is strangely ignored by Bible teachers in our day, occupy the greater part of the Book of Deuteronomy. The substance of it was, as we have already seen, that, upon the express condition that the children of Israel would diligently keep the commandments of God — those commandments being of the essence of the covenant — He would plant them firmly in that land, would establish them in permanent possession of it, and would, moreover, give them to enjoy certain specified blessings therein. But if, on the other hand, they should be disobedient, should adopt the customs of the people of the land, and should forsake Him to worship their gods, then He would bring sundry curses upon them, and eventually, for persistent rebellion and apostasy on their part, would destroy them from off the land and scatter them among all the nations of the world (Deuteronomy 28:15–68). This is stated again and again, in the clearest and strongest terms (see Deuteronomy 29:23–28; and 30:17–18). God’s Promises to the Children of Israel Fulfilled by Joshua Certainly it is impossible to maintain, in the face of these plain Scriptures, and of what we are now about to bring to the reader’s attention, that God had obligated Himself to give the land of Canaan to the natural seed of Abraham for an everlasting possession. Moreover, those who so teach overlook the fact that, if God had indeed obligated Himself by His covenants of promise, not only to bring the children of Israel into that good land, but also to establish them in it forever, then it would have been a breach of covenant on His part to pluck them from off the land and scatter them among all the nations of the world, as He has now done. But, as to the conclusions we should reach regarding this important matter, we are not left to an inference, however plain; for we have this clear record: And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass (Joshua 21:43–45). Here is a carefully worded record, manifestly designed to arrest the attention and impress itself upon the minds of the readers of God’s Word; which record declares in the most emphatic terms that God had, despite all the provocation, contumacy and rebellion of that people, fulfilled completely all He had promised and sworn to their fathers to do for them; insomuch that of all the good things He had spoken concerning the house of Israel, there failed not ought. But that is not all; for Joshua, when about to die, assembled all Israel, with their elders, their heads, their judges and their officers (23:2), and after rehearsing briefly what Jehovah had done for them, he earnestly exhorted them to be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the law of Moses; to shun the idolatries of the Canaanites, not even so much as to make mention of the names of their gods; but to cleave steadfastly to Jehovah their God, as they had done during the period of his leadership (verses 6–8). And then, with the utmost solemnity and impressiveness, he warned them that, if they should in anywise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of those nations … and make marriages with them, then they were to know for a certainty that the Lord would no more drive out those enemies; but would make them the instruments of His judgment upon the apostate people, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you (11–13). And he concludes with these weighty words: And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Therefore it shall come to pass that, as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which He hath given unto you (verses 14–16). It is specially to be noted that Joshua’s last message changes in character at verse 16 from an exhortation to a prophecy; and that, in the prophetic part of that message, he plainly declares that the then unborn generations of Israelites would transgress the covenant of the Lord, and that He would therefore destroy them from off the land. (That the prophecy had reference to future generations of Israelites appears from verse 31 of the next chapter, where it is recorded that Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel.) And now the whole world has been witness for nineteen centuries (until 1848) that God has done just what He said He would do. And is there to be, in time to come, a reversal of this Divine decree and judgment? Impossible. We use that strong word advisedly. For to begin with, there is no hint in the Scripture we have been considering of the reversal of this decree and of a return to the old order of things; and God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets (a complete restoration as initially promised will not happen as Philip Mauro will prove in the remaining chapters of his book. In 1948, God merely elevated Israel back to a position where they have at least the same status as all other nations. And forever more they will be just another nation as any other nation of this world, with the exception that they will indefinitely struggle with the nations that they failed to exterminate in Old Testament times, to fulfill God’s promise but explicitly for the purpose to prevent the Jews from rebuilding the temple and going back to animal sacrifices. After the crucifixion of Christ, the precious and perfect lamb of God, the Father will never allow animal sacrifices to happen ever again. Not even the so-called symbolic animal sacrifices). Furthermore, the terms in which God announced through Moses and Joshua (the founders of the nation of Israel) the destruction of that nation, exclude the possibility of its restoration. And finally, it was necessary that the old covenant and all that was connected with it should wax old and vanish away, in order that place might be found for the new and everlasting covenant, the better covenant, which was established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6–13). It was under that old covenant, which had merely the shadow of good things to come — the glorious and eternal things of God’s everlasting kingdom — that the children of Israel took possession of the land of Canaan. And now, not only have the old covenant and all the shadows connected with it passed away, but they have been replaced by the eternal realities, which those shadows represented for that era of mingled light and darkness. But the darkness is past and the true light now shineth (1 John 2:8); so there can be no going back again to the time of dimness and shadows. It is of the highest importance that this truth be clearly grasped and firmly maintained, for it is of the very essence and substance of the gospel that, while there is mercy now for all men — pardon, life and eternal blessing — through the blood of the everlasting covenant, there is no mercy and no blessing for any, whether Jews or Gentiles, under any other covenant; but judgments and curses only. There now remain no promises for any except the better promises of the gospel of Christ; and for those who refuse that gospel — it matters not what their ancestry — there is nought but the abiding wrath of God, nought but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries (Hebrews 10:27). It is due to the glory of God and the honor of His gospel to insist this. From the Desert to the River Euphrates Those who hold the doctrine of a national restoration for the Jews, and with a territorial dominion greater (so we are told) than any they occupied in their past history, usually refer to the word of the Lord to Abraham — Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Genesis 15:18), as affording support for the doctrine. The argument is — and it is regarded by those who make use thereof as quite conclusive of the matter — that this promise has never been fulfilled to the seed of Abraham, and hence there must needs be a restoration of national Israel, if only for the purpose of the fulfillment of this particular promise. But this argument is based upon a twofold mistake: first, a mistake as to the facts of history, for the above promise was duly fulfilled to Abraham’s natural seed, and the Bible contains clear records of the fact, as will be shown presently; and second, a mistake as to the nature of the promise; for the promise in its fullness runs to Abraham’s true seed (which is Christ), as clearly explained by the apostle Paul. This also will be shown below. 1. As to the historical facts: At Mount Sinai God showed to Moses how He would proceed to put the children of Israel in possession of their promised inheritance. He would not drive out the inhabitants of the land in one year; but He said, little by little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. And He goes on to say that He would set the bounds of their possession from the desert unto the river (Euphrates), and would deliver the inhabitants of the land into their hand, and they should drive them out before them (Exodus 23:27–31). This shows that the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, insofar as it was to be fulfilled to his natural seed, was not to be postponed to a far-off dispensation, but was to be accomplished in that era of the old covenant; and so it was. Again, when Moses had brought the Israelites to the River Jordan and was about to leave them, he reminded them of the word of Jehovah spoken at Horeb; where He commanded them to take their journey to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates; and said, “Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them” (Deuteronomy 1:6–8). From this it will be seen that, as soon as the Israelites had crossed the River Jordan, they were constructively in possession of the whole land of promise, from the Red sea to the Euphrates River. And once again, in this last message, Moses says: “Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be” (Deuteronomy 11:24). Furthermore, in God’s first word to Joshua after the death of Moses, He commanded him, saying: Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land that I do give them, even to the children of Israel (Joshua 1:2). And what was the extent of the territory which God gave to the children of Israel at that time? The next verses answer the question: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 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” (verses 3–4). Here therefore, we have a record of the fulfillment of the promise, considered as a promise of an earthly possession to an earthly people, in its widest extent. But there are later records which make it yet more certain that nothing remains, of the promise we are considering, for fulfillment to a reconstituted Jewish nation. Thus we read (2 Samuel 8:3) that David smote also Hadadeger, the son of Rehob, King of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the River Euphrates. This record makes evident that the eastern boundary of the territory of the nation of Israel was the River Euphrates. It shows, moreover, that part of that territory has been wrested from them, and was occupied by the King of Zobah, and that when David defeated the latter he did not conquer alien territory, but merely recovered his own proper border at the river Euphrates. (See also 1 Chronicles 13:3). A little further on we read: And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms, from the river (i.e., the Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt … For he had dominion over the entire region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side of the river (1 Kings 4:21, 24. See also 2 Chronicles 9:26). So much for the “literal” fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham and his seed. 2. But we learn from the New Testament that God’s promise to Abraham, recorded in Genesis 15:18, was much larger than appears from the words in which it was spoken; and we learn also that, while it had Abraham’s natural seed immediately in view, its fullness was intended for his spiritual seed. For in Romans 4:9–25 Paul unfolds the great truth that Abraham was, in God’s sight and according to His eternal purpose, the father, not only of a natural line of posterity, but also the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. And in that connection he refers to the promise we are considering, and 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 (verse 13). Here we get a view of the vast extent and the true character of this promise; and we see also that the heirs of the promise are, not Abraham’s natural descendants, but his spiritual children. And this is confirmed by what is written in Galatians 3:7. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham; and in Galatians 3:29, And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. The promise referred to in this chapter of Galatians is the promise of Genesis 13:15 and 15:18; and verse 16 contains a very illuminating explanation thereof: Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. Thus we find that the promise to Abraham embraced the gift of the whole world, and that the true and sole heir of that promise is Jesus Christ; though, through God’s wondrous grace, those who believe in Christ are reckoned the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16–17). And this makes it impossible that there should be a future fulfillment of the promise in the realm of that which is natural (1 Corinthians 16:46). The Son of the Bondwoman Shall Not Be Heir But the Scripture does not leave the matter there. Chapter 3 of Galatians states the positive side of the truth, showing, and with all the clearness that could be asked, that Christ and His people are the true Israel of God (6:16), the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promises; but Chapter 4 presents the negative side of the same truth, making it evident that the natural Israel has no longer any standing before God, or any part in His future purposes. And further it is shown that the setting aside of Israel after the flesh is not a new revelation given to Paul, but was to be found in the Old Testament records. For there is evident reproof in the words: Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman (Galatians 4:21–22). Paul’s question implies that those who construed the Scriptures in the sense that is nowadays miscalled “literal”, should have known better. And he goes on to show that these things are an allegory, in which Hagar stands for the old covenant and her son, Ishmael, for the natural Israel; whereas Sarah represents the new covenant and Isaac the true Israel, the seed of Abraham, the heirs of the promise. And the climax of the lesson is found in the words of Sarah, which the apostle here declares to be the voice of Scripture; for, in declaring what was to be the outcome of the controversy between the natural Israel, that which was born after the flesh, and the true Israel, that which was born after the Spirit, and which was being persecuted by the natural Israel, he says in verse 4:30, and he concludes with a comforting statement in verse 4:31: Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman (verse 30). So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free (verse 31). It is superfluous to say that these New Testament Scriptures make certain that the national restoration of Israel after the flesh is not a part of the revealed will of God, but that the reverse is true. The Period of the Judges The period of the Judges is one of repeated departures by the people of Israel from the right ways of the Lord, and of repeated lapses into idolatry. Yet He exercised great patience and long forbearance with them, not casting them off for one offense, or for many; but permitting them to have one bitter experience after another at the hands of their enemies, to teach them that their welfare, and indeed their very existence as a nation, depended upon their faithfulness to Him and their obedience to His law. And again and again, during that long period of decline, He intervened for their deliverance by the hand of one and another of the Judges. It is recorded that, in the completeness of their apostasy and the depth of their degradation, they sacrificed unto devils (Deuteronomy 32:17). And further to show the extent of their denial of God during the era of the Judges, we quote the following testimony from their own scriptures: And the children of Israel did evil again in the eight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord and served not Him (Judges 10:6). Finally, during the regency of Samuel, the last of the Judges and the first of the line of Prophets, the wickedness of the people culminated in their demand for a king. And notwithstanding that the thing displeased Samuel, they persisted in that demand, saying, Make us a king to judge us like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5–6). This was a national sin of rebellion against Jehovah. Nevertheless, He did not cast them off, but directed Samuel to let them have their own way, saying: Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them (verse 7). This was the origin of the earthly Kingdom of Israel, over which David and his descendants reigned, and which the carnally minded Jews were, and are, expecting their long looked for Messiah to restore. And we see that, so far from being the Kingdom of God, that earthly Kingdom involved the repudiation of the Kingdom of God. Later on Samuel, by the Lord’s command, gathered the people together, and after recalling what the Lord had done for them in days past, said: And ye have this day rejected your God, who Himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations, and ye have said unto Him, Nay, but set a king over us (1 Samuel 10:17–19). Finally when Samuel was about to die, he addressed all Israel, reminding them of their grievous sin, and saying: And when ye saw that Nahash the King of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your King. And he went on to say: Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king (1 Samuel 12:6–17). These passages make it abundantly clear, even were there nothing else to enlighten us, that God regards that earthly kingdom with utter detestation, that He will never restore it, and that when John the Baptist preached to the Jewish people, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he was not announcing theRead more

  • God’s Warnings Through Moses (continued) The truth of the matter concerning which we are inquiring can be ascertained with certainty by a study of God’s covenants with the children of Israel (to which partial consideration has been given in the preceding chapter), and of His messages to that people from time to time, given through His servants, the prophets. We have already seen that, by the covenant of Sinai, God offered them the highest of all blessings, but upon the express condition of obedience; the terms being, If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My Covenant (Exodus 19:5–6). To this they all agreed, saying, All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do (verse 8). And this pledge of obedience was twice repeated by them after the Ten Commandments had been spoken to them (Exodus 24:3, 7). Nevertheless, that covenant was broken by them within forty days through the idolatry of the golden calf (Which My covenant they brake — Jeremiah 31:32). Nevertheless, in response to Moses’ intercession, God continued to acknowledge them as His people, and consented to go with them into the land that had been promised by Him to their fathers. But the covenant of Sinai was annulled, and a substitute covenant was made with them at the end of their wilderness journey, when they were about to enter and occupy the land of Canaan. For we have seen that in the last chapters of Deuteronomy is the record of another covenant, which, like the first, was accompanied by the giving of the law. This additional (or substituted) covenant was made with the next succeeding generation following that which had broken the covenant of Horeb. It is very different in its terms, particularly in that those great promises — ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me … and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation — are entirely omitted. (Those wonderful promises reappear in connection with God’s new covenant people, the true Israel, the holy nation, 1 Peter 2:9). The covenant made at the end of the wilderness journey is limited to a recital of the terms and conditions upon which the children of Israel would be permitted to occupy the land of Canaan, which God had promised their fathers that He would give to their children; and as has been already stated, the children of Israel failed completely to keep the conditions of this covenant, even as they had failed to keep those of the other. Moreover, though the Lord God of their fathers sent to them repeatedly by His messengers, the prophets, to warn them, and to recall them to Himself, because He had compassion upon His people, and on His dwelling place, yet they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy (2 Chronicles 36:15–16). It is recorded that both Israel and Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God; wherefore the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight (2 Kings 17:18–20). Nor was this national rebellion and apostasy ever repented of. For Christ declared concerning the generation of His day that they would fill up the measure of their fathers, and would bring upon them the wrath of God to the uttermost (Mat 23:29–36). And this was repeated by Paul a short time before the final storm of judgment burst upon them (1 Thessalonians 2:14–16). Close attention should be given to the last prophecy of Moses (Deuteronomy 28–32) because of the clear light it throws upon the subject of our present inquiry. It foretells the history of the children of Israel, down to the very end thereof, showing that it would be a history of continued apostasy and rebellion, and of stubborn refusal to hear the voice of Jehovah by His servants the prophets; and it declares with marvelous exactitude and fullness of detail what the end of that nation was to be (Deuteronomy 28:49–68). This has ever been accounted, by all who have given attention to it, one of the greatest wonders of prophecy. For example, “Keith on the Prophecies” contains an instructive comment upon this passage, from which I quote the following: The commonwealth of Israel from its establishment to its dissolution subsisted for more than fifteen hundred years. In delivering their law, Moses assumed more (much more) than the authority of a human legislator; for he asserted that he was invested with a divine commission; and he who founded their government foretold, notwithstanding the intervening of so many centuries, the precise manner of its overthrow. While they were yet wanderers in the wilderness, without a city and without a home, Moses threatened them with the destruction of their cities and the desolation of their country. Even while they were viewing for the first time the land of Palestine, and victorious and triumphant, they were about to possess it, he represented the scene of desolation that it would present to their vanquished and enslaved posterity, on their final departure from it. Ere they themselves had entered it as enemies, he describes those enemies by whom their descendants were to be subjugated and dispossessed; though they were to arise from a very distant region, and though they did not appear till after a millenary and a half of year — The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young etc. (quoting Deuteronomy 28:49–52). Each particular of this prophecy has met its full completion. The remote situation of the Romans, the rapidity of their march, the very emblem of their arms, their unknown language and warlike appearance, the indiscriminate cruelty they manifested toward old and young, could not have been represented in more descriptive terms. The Roman generals, Vespasian, Adrian and Julius Severus, removed with parts of their armies from Britain to Palestine, the extreme points of the Roman world. And this writer proceeds to show, as many other commentators have done, how, point by point, in the minutest detail, the judgments executed by the Romans in the years 66–70 of our era, were pre-described by Moses. Now the matter of chief interest for our present purposes is that, from this national destruction by the Romans there was to be no recovery and in this, the prophecy of Moses is in full accord with that of Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. For Moses said: God 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 one end of the earth even to the other (Deuteronomy 28:63–64). This, according to this prophecy, was to be the end of their history as a nation. Nor is there any promise of God, by any later prophet, of recovery for the earthly nation from this final destruction and dispersion at the hands of the Romans. For an attentive reading of the prophecies concerning Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem, leads to the conclusions that such as are yet to be fulfilled relate to the heavenly people, country, and city, to which respectively those names properly belong; and that all prophecies of recovery intended for Israel after the flesh (1 Corinthians 10:18) were completely fulfilled in and after the return from the Babylonian captivity (Although this was true for the ten northern tribes, it was not true for the tribe of Judah. As previously mentioned, Philip Mauro has written this book before 1948 and he was not aware of the fact that God would allow Judah to return to Israel and he was also not aware of the restoration of the nation and state of Israel in 1948. This caused him to believe that God had no plans to restore Israel again whatsoever. This was about the only thing that he got wrong in this entire book and we cannot blame him for that. Apart from a few suggestive Scriptures, there are indeed no Biblical references to such a restoration unless you ignorantly ignore or misinterpret many Scriptures. Regardless of the 1948 restoration, Philip Maoro provided his readers with undeniable Scriptural proof of the statements that he made regarding the physical Israel. The 1948 restoration only brought Israel, as a nation on an almost equal footing with the rest of the nations in this world but the Scriptures undeniably confirm that the hope of Israel, as the Jews and the Fathers of Israel saw it, will never materialize). The Importance of a Right Understanding of These Prophecies Some may think it a matter of small consequence whether the prophecies of future blessing and dominion for Israel apply to the earthly or to the heavenly people. But not so; for the matter affects the whole subject of salvation and the hope of the Gospel. It needs to be settled, and settled according to the Scriptures, in order that the Gospel itself may be understood and its work properly accomplished. For so long as another hope, that is to say another Gospel (upon which, be it noted, the only anathema of the New Testament is laid, Galatians 1:8–9) is presented for a section of the human race (the scattered descendants of Jacob) and that a hope of earthly character, just so long, and to that extent, will the work of the Gospel be hindered, and the Gospel itself be obscured. It was so at the beginning, when the fixed notion of a restoration of the earthly greatness of Israel made the Jewish people the implacable enemies of the Gospel, and of the Christ of the Gospel, Who is also the Christ of prophecy. Therefore I am impelled to insist in the strongest way, and to call upon all the friends of the Gospel to do the like, that there is but one hope, one Gospel, one salvation, even as there is but one Savior for all men. Israel after the flesh was a nation under the law. As such, i.e., as being under the law, promises were given them, all those promises being expressly conditioned upon their obedience to the law; and as such, judgments were denounced upon them as penalties for disobedience, which judgments mounted up to complete national extermination, if their disobedience should be persistent — as it was. And now the law has been superseded by the Gospel, with its better hope. The economy of the law, with all its shadows — people, land, city, temple, priesthood, sacrifices — has been set aside, and forever. Therefore, it is needful, and is due also to the glory of the Gospel, and of Him Who died and rose again in order that all men might have the blessings of the Gospel, that it should be clearly established and ceaselessly proclaimed that there is one hope, and only one hope, for all mankind. For there is no room in the purposes of God for the hope of the Gospel and for another hope for any. Whatever promises there were annexed to the law were all conditional; and all have now been forfeited and annulled. Its curses were what the nation earned for itself; and hence there is, in this dispensation of grace, but one way of escape from the curse of the law, and that is by accepting the mercy which God freely offers to all men through Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead (2 Timothy 2:7). The Kingdom Foretold by Moses It is a remarkable fact that Moses foretold, in this last prophecy, that the children of Israel would set a king over them; and he also foretold what would be the consequence thereof (Deuteronomy 28:36). That wicked act on their part was to be the culmination of apostasy; for it meant their repudiation of the sovereignty of Jehovah. We have His own word for this; for He said to Samuel, when commanding that prophet to give them their desire, They have not rejected thee; but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them (1 Samuel 8:7). That kingdom therefore was not the kingdom of God, preached by John and Christ. So far from its being the kingdom of God, the truth is that its establishment involved the setting aside of the kingdom of God. And it was not the kingdom of heaven, for what the people demanded was a kingdom of earthly character, like all the nations. It is strange indeed, therefore, that any Christian expositor should regard the proclamation of Christ and His forerunner as the announcement of the restoration of that kingdom, born of apostasy and rebellion; and the more so after God had plainly spoken concerning it, saying, I gave thee a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath (Hosea 13:11). Moreover, this ending of that odious kingdom is precisely what Moses had foretold long before it came into existence. For his words were, 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 (verse 36). That, of course, was the Babylonian captivity. The kingdom ended then, but not the nation. And in agreement with this historical fact, the prophecy of Moses goes on to speak of the subsequent experience of the nation, as an experience of continued servitude to, and oppression by, other nations. It shows too that the post-captivity period was to be an era in which they should have, not peace and plenty in their land, but dearth, distress, and various other miseries and afflictions (verses 37–48). The fact that Moses speaks of the continued existence of the nation after the Babylonian captivity affords strong reason for the belief that his prophecy gives the history of the nation down to its very end. From this alone we have warrant for the conclusion that from the national destruction wrought by the Romans there was to be no recovery. That, of course, was not the view of the Jewish teachers, who, because they knew not the voices of the prophets (Acts 13:27), and because their thoughts and desires were carnal, interpreted the promises as pertaining to a kingdom of the very same sort as their forefathers had demanded of SRead more

  • God’s Warnings To Israel Through Moses God’s first covenant with Israel was very broad in scope, but was conditional in character; that is to say, the performance of its promises by Jehovah was dependent upon certain express conditions, which the Israelites bound themselves to fulfill. Here are the terms of that covenant, as proposed by God and agreed to by all the people: Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant — note the condition — then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation (Exodus 19:5–6). Here are three things which, upon the express conditions of obedience and fidelity on the part of the children of Israel, God promised to make of that people: first, a peculiar treasure to Himself; second, a kingdom of priests; third, a holy nation. There was no promise of earthly territory in that Sinaitic covenant. Thereupon Moses, in his character of mediator of that covenant, called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord (verses 7–8). So the terms of the contract were agreed to by both the contracting parties. Then God spake in their hearing the Words they were to keep, the Ten Commandments (Chapter 20); and He also gave to Moses the judgments whereby their dealings with one another were to be governed (Chapters 21–23). And thereupon Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord hath said we will do (Exodus 24:3). Accordingly the contract was reduced to writing and was executed in a most solemn manner; it being a blood covenant, which was the most binding sort. For Moses took the book of the covenant, that is the scroll of parchment on which the terms of the contract were inscribed, and read in the audience of the people, and took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words (24:6–8). Here is where we read of the blood of the old covenant; with which we should compare what is written concerning the blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 13:20). Within the space of forty days that covenant was broken by the abominable idolatry of the golden calf and the shameless rites with which the people, led by Aaron, worshipped it (Chapter 32); and it should be noted that the terms of that covenant were never again ratified with that people. We shall see presently what were the terms of the substituted covenant that God made with the children of Israel, but we would impress upon the reader, as truth of the highest importance, that the three wondrously glorious promises of the covenant of Exodus 19–24 were reserved for another people, the true Israel. For to them, the apostle Peter writes that God had made them apart from all conditions, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9). When the Israelites made and worshipped the golden calf, God was minded to destroy them and to make of Moses a great nation (Exodus 32:10). Had He done so, He would nevertheless have fulfilled the promises He had made to Abraham and his seed (Galatians 3:16); for Moses was a direct descendant of Abraham. For the same reason it follows that, in fulfilling those promises to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:7, 29), God has kept His covenant with Abraham in letter as well as in spirit. But Moses interceded for the people; and God spared the people, and commanded Moses to lead them to the land He had promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob (38:1); and He made with them another covenant (34:10); which covenant, in respect to what was promised thereby, was very inferior to the covenant they had broken; for this substituted covenant (which was not a blood covenant) was restricted to the terms and conditions upon which God would permit them to continue in possession of the land of Canaan. Those terms and conditions are set forth in detail in the book of Deuteronomy; where, after the recital of them, Moses writes: “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which He made with them in Horeb” (Deuteronomy 29:1). The subsequent history of the Israelites shows that they broke this substituted covenant also; and not in one particular only, but in every particular, thereby forfeiting irretrievably all the stipulated blessings, and incurring all the curses thereof. That covenant having been finally annulled (done away, 2 Corinthians 3:11; Hebrews 10:9, etc.), there remains now, of all the covenants ever made by God with a people in this world, none but the everlasting covenant, or new covenant, whereof Jesus Christ is the Guarantor (Surety, Hebrews 7.22), who fulfills all the conditions of perfect obedience, even unto death; and is also the Mediator (Hebrews 9:15; 12:24); which covenant was, as we have seen, sealed with His own blood. Therefore, as regards God’s covenants with that earthly people, Israel after the flesh, the matter stands thus: the conditional promises thereof were all nullified by their breach of covenant; whereas the unconditional promises were all fulfilled to them, to the last detail, through Moses and Joshua; and God, moreover has caused that fact to be plainly recorded, as we shall presently see. Let us now notice briefly some of the records made by Moses concerning the covenant under which the Israelites entered into possession of the land that God had sworn to their fathers to give them: A very comprehensive prophecy is found in Numbers 33:55–56, where God plainly says, through Moses, that in case they should fail to drive out the inhabitants of the land, as He had repeatedly commanded them to do, then as a first consequence, those that were permitted to remain should become pricks in their eyes and thorns in their sides; and Moreover, it shall come to pass that I shall do unto you as I thought to do unto them; and what He purposed as to those idolatrous nations was their national extermination and their expulsion from that land. This prophecy concerning the earthly Israel has been completely fulfilled (Philip Mauro has written this book before 1948 and he was not aware of the fact that God would allow Judah to return to Israel. He was also not aware of the restoration of the nation and state of Israel in 1948. This caused him to believe that God had no plans to restore Israel whatsoever. He was just mentioning what was the current situation regarding the nation of Israel at the time of writing this book). Deuteronomy 4:1: Here is a summary of the covenant. They were to hearken always to God’s statutes and judgments; and, upon that express condition, they were to go in and possess the land. Every blessing mentioned in this book is made to depend upon that same condition. This chapter lays special emphasis upon the Second Commandment (verses 15–24); for it was because of the breaking of that commandment that the Sinaitic covenant had been nullified; and now God proclaims to the whole nation, and makes it a matter of record, what would certainly be the penal consequences to them if they should break this substituted covenant. And not only so, but He confirms His word with a solemn oath, saying, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed (verse 26) (this did happen with the 10 northern tribes during the conquest of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians in 721 BC). Will God fulfill His word? Shall heaven and earth bear witness that He did not mean what He said? Careful note should be taken of the promise of mercy (verses 29–30) which should be fulfilled to them if, when scattered among the heathen (verses 27–28), any of them should turn to the Lord: If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all they heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee, if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shalt be obedient unto His voice. This is the promise of the gospel of Christ. It is repeated in Isaiah 55:7 (the sure mercies of David, Isaiah 55:3, Acts 13:34); and is recalled by Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:16. It is the one and only hope for the natural Israelite, as for all mankind. The conditions are, turn to the Lord (i.e., repent) and be obedient to His voice (obey the gospel by coming in faith to Jesus Christ). Especially is it to be noted that this promise is to the individual, there being no collective promise for the nation as a whole. This is the mercy of the everlasting covenant which God had sworn to their fathers (verse 31). Thus it stands in the Word of God. But compare this with the now current system of teaching, according to which God will bring the Israelites in a body again after the day of gospel salvation is ended, to Palestine in unbelief; and will there convert the entire nation, not by faith, but by the sight of Jesus Christ standing on the Mount of Olives! The above quoted warning and oath of God that He would, in the event of their lapse into disobedience and idolatry, destroy them from off the land, was never revoked or modified, that I can find; but on the contrary, it was reiterated again and again. Deuteronomy 6:14–15. Ye shall not go after other gods of the people which are round about you … lest the anger of the Lord be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth (or land). Deuteronomy 7:1–3: Here they are forbidden to make any covenants with the Canaanites and to intermarry with them (they subsequently did both); the penalty for disobedience being stated thus: So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly (verse 4). For while He keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, yet He repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them (verses 9–10). Deuteronomy 8:1–18: This chapter is of capital importance. In it Moses charges the children of Israel to remember all God’s dealings with them in Egypt and in the wilderness, saying: Otherwise it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods and serve them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which, the Lord destroyed before your face, so shall ye perish, because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God. Here God declares explicitly the completeness of their destruction as a nation. It was to be such as obliterated those nations which the Lord had destroyed before their face. Can it be supposed He did not mean this? And if He meant it, how can anyone maintain, in the face of so clear a statement, the doctrine of a national restoration for Israel? Furthermore, the form of this tremendously impressive warning, Ye shall surely perish, is like that given to Adam, Thou shalt surely die. But in the case of Adam, God’s enemy, the father of lies, raised a question concerning the Divine utterance; Yea, hath God said? With this example and its disastrous consequences in mind, we should be suspicious as to the source of the doctrine which declares, concerning the nation of Israel, that, it shall not perish, but that, on the contrary, it is to be not only saved, but also is to be exalted to the place of supremacy among and over the nations of the world. Deuteronomy 11:1–9: Moses here recalls God’s judgments upon Pharaoh, his land and his army; also His judgments upon Dathan and Abiram; and he admonishes the people of Israel to be warned thereby, and to keep the commandments of the Lord, that ye may prolong your days in the land. (Over and over Moses declares that God was giving them that land solely because He had promised their fathers He would do so; and that their continued possession of it depended upon their obedience and fidelity). And again, in this same chapter, Moses bids them take heed, that: Ye turn not aside and serve other gods and worship them; and then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you … and ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you (verses 16–17). And at verses 26–28 we read the choice God presented to them: Behold, a blessing and a curse! A blessing, if ye obey … a curse, if ye obey not. Then how about those that obey not the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:7–9)? Then follow a number of chapters (12–26) containing the statutes and judgments, they were to obey as the condition of their remaining in possession of the land and enjoying God’s favor and blessing therein; and in chapter 24:14–26 are twelve several curses which, after they should have entered the land of Canaan, the Levites were to recite, as coming upon those who should sin against the Lord; and to each curse all the people were to respond, Amen. Then in the following chapter (28) is the solemn declaration that, if they would not hearken and obey, All these curses shall come upon thee … until thou be destroyed (verses 15–20). And then, after the recital of a long list of the appalling evils that were to overtake them, Moses says: “Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee … and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until He have destroyed thee” (verses 47–48). This was fulfilled in the Roman oppression of Israel, iron being the symbol of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:40; 7:7). And then follows (verses 50–67) that marvelously exact and vividly descriptive prophecy, which God gave through Moses, of the final siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the horrors of which were to be unsurpassed in all history; which prophecy ends with this prediction (verses 63–67): And it shall come to pass that, as the Lord rejoiced over you to do 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 unto the other … And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, etc. This is their condition at the present time; and it should be noted that in this same chapter Moses says concerning all these curses that they shall be upon thee, for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed forever (verse 46). Deuteronomy 29:1: Here we learn that the covenant under which the Israelites were given possession of the land of Canaan was not, as appears to be commonly supposed at the present time, the covenant of Sinai (and we have already seen that that covenant said not a word about their possession of any earthly territory). For here we read: These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. And this is followed by a further warning that the breach of this latter covenant would be punished by an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah; that is, an irrecoverable ruin (verse 23). Deuteronomy 30:1–10: And it shall come to pass when all these things come upon thee — so it was all to happen and what then? Special heed should be given to this chapter, because here is where mercy is promised them; and here are stated the conditions on which they may obtain it, after they should have been destroyed as a nation, plucked from off their land, and scattered among all the nations of the earth. First there is the promise of a return from captivity if, among the nations whither the Lord should have driven them, they should return unto the Lord thy God (verse 2). Then follows a passage (verses 11–14), which is quoted in part by Paul in Romans 10:6–10, and concerning which he says that the word, there spoken by Moses, is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Thus we find that the very last hope of mercy that is held out through Moses to that disobedient and gainsaying people, to whom God says I have stretched out my hands all the day long, is the one hope of the gospel of Christ. Verses 15–20 (of Deuteronomy 30) are intensely solemn, and their meaning is so plain it would be like charging God with trifling (as scoffers make light of His warnings concerning hell and eternal torment) to say that this pledge, which God calls heaven and earth to witness, does not mean exactly what it says. Again we have the plain statement; If thine heart turn away … ye shall surely perish, and shall not prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 31:15–21: God now appears to Moses and plainly tells Him that this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of strangers, and will forsake Me, and break My Covenant. And My anger shall be kindled against them. Therefore He commanded Moses to teach them that remarkable prophetic song, which witnessed beforehand what they would do, and what was to befall them. For, says God, I know their imagination even now, before I have brought them into the land (21). To this Moses adds (verses 27–30) that he knew their rebellion even while he was with them; And how much more, he asks, after my death? For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and evil will befall you in the latter days (and no subsequent recovery is hinted at; though surely, if such a thing were to be, it would appear here). Deuteronomy 32: Here is the song which bears so clear a testimony against them. Note the following points: They have corrupted themselves; they are a perverse and crooked generation (5): Remember all that the Lord did for them (7–14); But — how they requited Him; and then, what He will do because thereof: I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be (20). A fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, etc. (22). Threats of vengeance are found in verses 23–26; and there is the declaration that, were it not that their adversaries would be gratified thereby; God would have made the remembrance of them to cease from among men (26). In verses 28–42 we find more of what was laid up in store for them, and sealed up among God’s treasures (of wrath — see Romans 2:5; Job 14:14; Jeremiah 2:22). Their foot shall slide in due time (34–35). Finally He lifts up His hand to heaven and swears a great oath of vengeance against all enemies (40–42). Verse 21 is especially significant because of the prophetic reference therein to that new nation which was eventually to displace the natural Israel (see Romans 10:9). And the last verse of all is most important in the light of the interpretation the Holy Spirit has given through the apostle Paul: Rejoice, O ye nations with His people. This is a promise of the gospel to the Gentiles, to whom Paul was made the special messenger of God (Romans 15:10). Paul had already shown (11:7) that His people was not the nation of Israel in its entirety, but only that part of it (the remnant according to the election of grace) which He foreknew; with which remnant the saved from among the Gentiles were to be incorporated; thus forming the true Israel of God, represented by the good olive tree. Thus it has been foreseen of God, from the beginning of the earthly Israel, that the only hope of the natural Israelite at this stage of human history is to believe in Jesus Christ and be grafted into their own olive tree. What better thing could be desired for them? What the Apostles Were Looking For It is appropriate we should take notice in this connection of the fact that the apostles of Christ, and they who follow their teaching, were (and are) looking for the very same things which were in the vision of the fathers of Israel; for as Peter — writing to them that have obtained like precious faith with us (the apostles of Christ) says:24 “We, according to His promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). Thus the outlook of the true Israel of God, that holy nation which is, and always was, composed only of those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16), was ever the same. And it was, as we should expect, a radically different outlook from that of the degenerate and apostate Jews, who looked for an age (or dispensation as it is now called) of earthly glory for the reconstituted Jewish nation; an age in which that nation will occupy the place of dominance over the Gentiles. Manifestly Peter could not have written the above quoted verse if he had held the now current doctrine of a millennium of earthly greatness for the Jewish nation. Indeed the entire chapter bears strong testimony against that doctrine. The general subject of the chapter is the promise of His coming (verse 4); and its special purpose is to warn the Lord’s people of what would seem to them a long delay in His second coming and to assure them that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some would regard it, but that the reason for the seeming delay was because of the long suffering of God, and of His desire that not any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (verses 3–9). To all who give due attention to this passage it must surely be evident that what is immediately to follow this day of salvation for all men is the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (verse 7), the day of the Lord (verse 10), the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (verse 12). Manifestly, if this present day of salvation were to be followed by a day of glory, peace and prosperity for the earth, a day in which the entire Jewish nation and other nations as well, are to be saved, there would be no long suffering and mercy in prolonging the Savior’s absence; but just the reverse. The apostle’s reason for the delay is valid only if the return of the Lord is to usher in the Day of Judgment, and if it coincides with the coming of the day of God. The apostle reminds us that the world that existed in the time of Noah, being overflowed with water, perished; and goes on to say that, the heavens and earth which are now … are kept in store — not for a thousand years of peace and plenty, but — reserved unto fire (verse 7). In verse 10 he warns us, as do other Scriptures (Matthew 24:42; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Revelation 16:15), that our Lord’s coming will take the world by surprise; and he couples the warning with information which shuts out all possibility of a millennial dispensation to follow His coming; for the apostle says: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” And then he admonishes us as to what our conversation (manner of life) ought to be in view of the imminence of these exterminating judgments; and that we should be looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat (verse 12). Manifestly it is impossible that we should be looking for and more so that we should be hasting unto, the coming of that day, if a millennial age is to intervene. This passage in Second Peter is referred to again in a coming chapter. Erroneous Teaching Concerning the Sinaitic Covenant Dr Charles W Rankin, President of the Fundamentalist College in Shanghai, China, calls attention in a recently published booklet to the grievous doctrine of the leading Dispensationalists concerning the Law of God which He gave the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Dr. Rankin cites several notes on Exodus 19:3 in the popular Scofield Reference Bible, referred to above, which state that: The law was not imposed until it had been proposed and voluntarily accepted; Also the note on Genesis 12: The dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law (Exodus 19:8). And Dr. Rankin comments as follows: In other words, God did not intend the Mosaic Law to be accepted by the Jews, the Jews rashly accepted it, — did something God did not want them to do. Therefore God did not intend the Mosaic Law to be a part of the Bible. He merely proposed it to the Jews, of course not desiring them to do a rash thing and accept it, and so it was the Jews who put it into the Bible by their rash action. It was not even put into the Bible by human but was put in by will when acting rashly. Therefore having thus by man’s rash action of course improperly come into the Bible, the Mosaic Law cannot truly be a part of the Bible. Accordingly, put it out. This is the logic of the teaching of these Premillennialist leaders. And there can be no escape from this logical destruction of the Pentateuch under their teaching. To the extent of striking at the authority of the Mosaic Law, no Modernism could be worse. Moreover it is the most aggravated impiety and irreverence to teach that God having proposed to men a covenant, a Law, that they could act rashly in giving heed to His proposition and accepting it. God had just led the Jews out of Egypt by the strength of His mighty arm. They were not in a position from any standpoint to make law for themselves, and moreover, the Mosaic Law was not only the necessary State law for the Jewish nation which God Himself was to govern, but it was a revelation from God of Himself, of His moral law, and of His plans both for Jew and Gentile. It contains the prophecies of the coming Messiah, the Ten Commandments, the Levitical System typifying the Atonement of Christ. The Mosaic Code is the foundation for the entire Bible. And God led the Jews to Sinai to receive His Law. Under most sublime and awe-inspiring conditions was Moses called up into the mount to receive it for them. And he was commanded to teach it to them (Exodus 24:12). Moreover, it was the duty of the Jews to receive it (Deuteronomy 4:13–14). The Mosaic Law was God’s commands, — was His Law. And had the Jews failed willingly to accept it, this would simply have been rebellion. Beyond all question, when God offered to the children of Israel the covenant of Sinai, it was with the intention that they should accept it and faithfully observe it; and beyond all question, the law He gave them at the beginning of their history as a nation has been an unspeakable blessing to them, with incidentaRead more

  • What the Fathers Of Israel Were Looking For “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1) We turn back now to the Old Testament Scriptures for the purpose of ascertaining what is foretold there — in concerning the future of the Israelitish people, and particularly what, if any, indications they contain as to the restoration of their national greatness in a yet future day. And first we direct our attention to the patriarchal era, in order to learn what it was that the fathers of Israel were taught of the Lord to anticipate for themselves and their posterity. This is the proper place to begin our inquiry; for we recall that when Paul was arraigned before King Herod Agrippa by his infuriated fellow countrymen, because he preached a hope for Israel radically different from that held and taught by them and their rabbis, he declared that he was judged for the hope of the promise made of God to our fathers. And he went on to say that God’s promise to the fathers was the true hope of all Israel — our twelve tribes (Acts 26:6–7). It is written that faith is the substance of things hoped for. If, therefore, we know what a man is hoping for, we know what he believes. The faith of Jesus Christ is that on which is founded the hope of the gospel (Colossians 1:23); and there is just the one hope for all men (Ephesians 4:4) because there is but one gospel (and never was, or will be, another gospel (Galatians 1:6–9). The hope of the gospel has ever been the coming of Him who should bruise the serpent’s head, and who should be Himself bruised in the deadly conflict; Him who by death should destroy him, that had the power of death, the Devil. It is fitting that the faith of Abraham should have a large space in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews; for Abraham is the father of all them that believe (Romans 4:11). That chapter does not state what the gospel was that God preached unto Abraham (Galatians 3:8); but it tells what the effect thereof was upon his life and conduct, and what his hope was, that is, what he was looking for. It is recorded that By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange (or foreign) country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise (verse 9). And verse 10 gives the explanation — For he looked (literally was waiting for) the (not a) city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. Mention is made also of Sarah’s faith, which was also an important factor in the accomplishment of the purposes of God, and who is herself a type of that heavenly city upon which Abraham’s hope was fixed … the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). And further, it is expressly declared that Isaac and Jacob were co-heirs with Abraham of the same promise (verse 9). And then, concerning those four — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Sarah, to whom the promises were directly given, we have this illuminating testimony: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off; and were persuaded (fully convinced) of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city (verses 13–16). This gives us clearly to know, first that the promises exerted a mighty influence over those to whom they were first given, (proving that their faith in what God had spoken was real and unwavering); and second, that the nature of the promises was such as to turn their thoughts entirely away from the earth, and to raise in their hearts the expectation of a country better than the very best of earth (showing that the promises themselves were spiritual and heavenly in character). For those promises had the effect of making even the land of promise itself to be to them as a foreign country. For while the land of Canaan was indeed promised to Abraham’s natural seed, that promise never was the hope of Israel. The hope of the gospel which God preached to Abraham was of such a nature that it caused him, and those who were the heirs with him of the same promise, to declare themselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth. As will be more fully shown in subsequent chapters, God’s promise that He would bring Abraham’s descendants into that land was punctually fulfilled. For it is recorded in the Book of Joshua that the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware unto their fathers to give them, and they possessed it, and dwelt therein — There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord hath spoken unto the house of Israel (Joshua 21:43–45). But the possession of that land by later generations was forfeited through disobedience, apostasy, and idolatry, even as Moses and Joshua foretold; and, in consequence of their complete repudiation of Jehovah their God, they were plucked off the land (Deuteronomy 28:63–64; Joshua 12:13). And thus was fulfilled the prophetic allegory of Abraham’s family history, according to which the bondwoman and her son, representing Israel after the flesh, were to be cast out (Galatians 4:30); which is the end of their history as a nation. It was not until centuries of time had passed, not until faith had vanished from among the children of Israel, not until the true spiritual and eternal character of the promises had faded out of sight, and fleshly lusts had taken the place of heavenly hopes and longings, that there arose among the natural seed of Abraham the ruinous doctrine that the hope of Israel was an earthly thing. That doctrine was the product of degenerate times. It was tenaciously held and zealously propagated by the scribes, Pharisees, rabbis and lawyers of first century Judaism — that generation of vipers; and it wrought in them such devilishness that they eagerly carried out the will of their father, the devil (Matthew 23:33; John 8:44) in compassing the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. Should we not therefore regard that odious doctrine with abhorrence and with fear? And should it not be a matter of anxious inquiry as to how it has arisen and spread itself among the true followers of Christ in these perilous times? And now we come to the grand climax of the passage we are examining, Hebrews 11. It is found in verse 16, where it is announced that the fathers of Israel desired a better country, that is an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city; and from Revelation 21:2–3, we learn that He will dwell with them in that city forever. Here is truth of the highest importance and most practical character. These words give us the explanation of the fact that the Eternal God, the Almighty Creator, He who is infinite in power, wisdom and holiness, condescends to call Himself the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob (Exodus 3:6, 16; Matthew 22:32). There could not be a more emphatic assertion of the oneness of God’s elect, the true seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:7,29), and of the truly fundamental truth that there is just one hope, one common salvation for them all, whether by nature they be Jews or Gentiles. And there could not be a more impressive refutation of the erroneous doctrine — now current amongst certain groups of Christians — that the biblical hope of Israel is a thing of earthly place and dominion. This surely is another gospel, very difRead more

  • How Paul Interpreted Prophecies About Israel We shall be better prepared for an examination of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the hopeRead more

  • How To Interpret Old Testament Prophecies About Israel? The main purpose of this post is to bring clearly to view the important truth that in Scripture the contrast is not between the spiritual and the literal, but between the spiritual and the natural; for a passage of Scripture may refer, when taken “literally”, either to that which is natural or to that which is spiritual. In other words, the literal interpretation may call for a thing which exists in the realm of nature, or for the counterpart of that thing which exists in the realm of spiritual realities (1 Corinthians 15:46). It is of the utmost importance that this be understood; for the advocates of modern dispensationalism have wrought confusion, and have succeeded in giving plausibility to many misinterpretations of Scripture, by first taking for granted (erroneously, as will be herein shown) that a “literal” interpretation necessarily calls for something material or natural, and by then insisting strenuously that all prophecies which refer to Israel, Jerusalem, Zion, etc., should be interpreted “literally”. It will not be difficult to show that this is a thoroughly unsound principle of interpretation, that it is based upon a false premise, and that its application has made havoc of many prophecies. For example, those expositors who think the Bible teaches us to expect hereafter a millennium of earthly bliss, a golden age of worldwide peace and plenty, during which the Jewish nation will be reconstituted and will have the place of headship over a world occupied by God-fearing and peace-loving Gentiles, base that expectation upon certain Old Testament prophecies which, they think, are to be fulfilled “literally”; and since they cannot possibly be fulfilled in that manner during this era of the Gospel, there must needs be an age to come of an entirely different character from this day of gospel salvation. This argument, however, is utterly fallacious, because based upon a false premise. Those who make use of it take for granted that in order to interpret a prophecy “literally” its fulfillment must be located in the realm of nature, and not in the spiritual realm. Thus they assume that the “literal” interpretation is in contrast with the “spiritual” interpretation thereof; and they denounce and repudiate what they refer to disparagingly as “the spiritualizing” of the prophecies. Undoubtedly our natural bias is in favor of the so-called “literal” interpretation of the prophecies in question; for to the natural man the things that are seen are the real things; and to that view we are disposed to cling tenaciously, notwithstanding the plain teaching of the New Testament that the seen things are but the fleeting shadows of things unseen, the latter being the spiritual and eternal realities with which the promises of future blessing have mainly to do. For the New Testament Scriptures state, in the most unambiguous language, that the seed of Abraham, to whom all the promises of God belong, are those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:7, 29; 2 Corinthians 1:20). Further, in the New Testament it is plainly revealed that, even as Abraham had two sons (which might make it uncertain whether the descendants of Ishmael or those of Isaac were to inherit the promises) so likewise there is a natural Israel, Zion and Jerusalem and also a spiritual counterpart of each; and that just as Ishmael preceded in time the true heir (though eventually he was to be cast out and not to be heir with the son of the free woman) even so the natural Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem preceded the respective spiritual realities to which those names properly belong. For God’s invariable order of procedure, in the working out of His eternal purposes, is first — that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46). If, therefore, an Old Testament prophecy of blessing, intended for the true Israel (that holy nation of 1 Peter 2:9), be interpreted as applying to Israel after the flesh, the interpretation is not “literal” (i.e., according to the letter) except in the sense in which the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life (2 Corinthians 3:6); for obviously in this case the “literal” interpretation destroys the prophecy completely. And it is specially to be noted that, in the passage from which this Scripture is quoted, Paul is explaining the great differences between the Old Covenant (which was of the letter) and the New Covenant (of the Spirit); and moreover, he is comparing the ministry of Moses, which had to do with things that are seen (an earthly sanctuary and its vessels of service, animal sacrifices, etc.), with the ministry of himself and others whom God had made able ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit. Also it should be noted that the apostle there speaks of the Old Covenant (under which promises were made to the natural Israel) as that which is done away; whereas the New Covenant is that which remaineth, that is, abideth eternally (verse 11). From this Scripture alone it is evident (and the same truth is set forth at greater length in Galatians 4:21–31 and Hebrews 8–10) that all future promises of glory and blessing for Israel and Zion must belong to the true Israel and the heavenly Zion. And, in this very passage, we are admonished to look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (4:18); which admonition, however, is habitually disregarded in the interpretation of prophecies relating to these very subjects. We ask the reader specially to note that in the above quoted passage, the apostle speaks of the old covenant as that which is done away (verse 11), that which is abolished (verse 13). This shows that the old covenant, under which the earthly nation of Israel had been constituted, was already, in Paul’s day, a thing of the past. Evidently then our difficulty in understanding prophecies of the class referred to above is due to our lack of faith and our spiritual dullness. For, in respect to the things which are not seen, faith takes the place of sight; for faith has to do solely with things not visible to the natural eye; and hope likewise, for hope that is seen is not hope (Romans 8:24). Wherefore it is written that, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; and through faith we understand (Hebrews 11:1, 3). Hence, to understand the prophecies it is necessary, and vitally necessary, that we believe the revelations of the New Testament; that we accept as “literally” true that there is now, at this present time, a realm of spiritual realities, into which our risen Lord is actually entered, and we in Him; that the substance of things hoped for is there, not here; and specially that God’s purposes concerning His City, Temple and People are being fulfilled at this very time, in that spiritual realm, though the natural eye cannot see what is going on there. The writer of these lines can testify from experience that, by the simple process of believing what is written in the New Testament concerning the actual present existence, among the things not seen, of the true Zion, of the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem, of the holy nation which is a royal priesthood, and of other spiritual realities, the main difficulty in the understanding of the Old Testament prophecies which speak of a glorified state of the things named above, vanishes away. An Illustration from Zechariah Zechariah is one of the books that is frequently referred to as containing prophecies which await a “literal” fulfillment in a future dispensation. Zechariah, with Haggai, prophesied during the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, after the return from Babylon of some of the deported Israelites; at which time the elders of the Jews builded and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo (Ezra 6:14). But, as all are agreed, the prophet looks beyond what those men were building, to a temple and a city that were to be far more glorious. He records the word of the Lord concerning Zion: For, Lo 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 (2:10–11). And the prophet goes on to speak of a priest, Joshua, who was clothed at first in filthy garments, but to whom it was said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment (3:3–4). This Joshua and his fellows were to be men wondered at; for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua (verses 8–9). There is no difficulty in recognizing in this passage a prophecy of the coming of Christ as the Branch of Jehovah and as the Foundation Stone of the true Temple of God; for Peter (quoting a similar prophecy by Isaiah) writes to those who have been redeemed … by the precious blood of Christ, saying: Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he had just said in the preceding verse, Ye also, as living stones are being built up, a spiritual house, an holy priesthood — as typified by Joshua’s change of garments — to offer up spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5–6). Thus by Peter’s application of the prophecy we are given plainly to understand that it relates to spiritual things, and that it is now being fulfilled in the spiritual realm. It will greatly help us in our efforts to understand the class of prophecies above referred to, if we give due heed to the facts stated in the above quotation from Peter (and stated also in Hebrews 12:22–24, and in the Epistle to the Ephesians, as pointed out below) that God’s Spiritual house is in course of erection now, that it is being built in Zion, and that believers in Jesus Christ are living stones therein, and are also a royal priesthood. Zechariah refers again (6:12–15) to the Man whose name is The BRANCH, and who shall build the temple of the Lord; and says of Him that He shall bear the glory, and He shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne. None will dispute, in the light of New Testament Scriptures, that this prophecy is being fulfilled now (Hebrews 2:9; 8:1, etc.). And the prophet goes on to say that crowns shall be given also to certain men, whom he names, and that they that are far off (a scriptural designation of Gentiles, see Acts 2:39 and Ephesians 2:13), shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. Furthermore, in Zechariah 9:9 we have the familiar passage: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion …behold, thy King cometh unto thee; and we know to a certainty, from Luke 19:38, that that prophecy was fulfilled when Christ came to Jerusalem to die for our salvation. In Zechariah 13:7–9 the atoning death of Christ is foretold in the words, Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My Fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered (see Matthew 26:31). And what was to follow as regards the Jewish people is foretold in these words: And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts shall be cut off, and die; but the third part shall be left therein. And in agreement with this, the two great parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were cut off; but a third part, the disciples of Christ, were left. And as to these, the prophecy goes on to say: And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined (see 1 Peter 1:6 and 4:12); they shall call on My Name and I will hear them. I will say, It is My people; and they shall say, The Lord is My God (see Romans 11:1–2). Moreover, the apostle Paul declares the same truth concerning the building of God’s true temple now as declared by Peter. He makes known that those who believe in Jesus Christ are even now quickened together with Christ, — and raised up together, and made to sit together (i.e., on thrones) in heavenly places (Zion) in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:5–6); which plainly declares that we live and reign with Christ even now. This indeed is not perceived with the natural eye or realized in our conscious experience. Nevertheless it is true, and this truth is developed in Chapter 20 of this volume. And furthermore, in the immediate context, Paul also declares the companion truth revealed by Peter, namely that the saints of this era, Gentiles as well as Jews, are being 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 (verses 20–21). The expression in that day occurs about twenty times in the book of Zechariah; and, as a judicious commentator says, “It is a synonym for the great Messianic hope.” The first of these occurrences we have nations shall be joined to the Lord quoted, And many in that day (2:11). What was that day then, is this day now; for now is the day of salvation; and all the prophets from Samuel … as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days (Acts 3:24). And so, when Zechariah says (13:1) In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness, we understand clearly that he is foretelling the cross of Christ; as very plainly appears from verse 7, Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My Fellow, saith the Lord of hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Further reference to the prophecies of Zechariah will be found in Chapter 10, The New Covenant. Enough has been said, however, to make evident that the prophecies of Zechariah referred to above, and hence other prophecies of like character as well, relate to things spiritual and have their fulfillment in this present era of grace. But it will be profitable to follow a little further the subject of the building of God’s true temple. So we recall that, at our Lord’s first visit to Jerusalem, when He had driven the traffickers out of the temple which Herod had built and which was one of the wonders of the world; and when the onlookers demanded of Him what sign He could give in proof of His authority to do those things, He answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). The Jews understood this “literally”; that is to say, they took it as applying to that building of material stones which stood on Mount Moriah; and had the record stopped there, it would doubtless be insisted by some in our day that that great edifice, which has been meanwhile destroyed so completely that not one stone remains upon another, is to be miraculously restored in the coming millennium. But, to the end that we should not be misled and also that we might have a key to the interpretation of prophetic utterances of this sort, the Spirit caused John to insert the explanatory note. But He spake of the Temple of His Body. This is just one of the many, seemingly casual, indications scattered throughout the Scriptures, that God’s promises are to be fulfilled and His purposes are to be accomplished in the resurrection; that is to say, in the new creation. Again, at a subsequent visit to Jerusalem, at the season of one of the feasts, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink, he — in other words, both eastward and westward — in summer and in winter shall it be — that is, all the year round. In the light of John’s explanation, we understand, therefore, that our Lord was foretelling, not some extraordinary physical phenomenon, which was to happen in a far off millennial age, but the then approaching era of the Holy Spirit, when there was to be an outflow of the gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (1 Peter 1:12), both eastward and westward from Jerusalem. Thus both the place whence (Jerusalem) and the time when (in that day) those living waters were to begin to flow out into all the world, both summer and winter, are plainly foretold in Zechariah’s prophecy. Further explanations of the prophecies concerning the outflow of living waters from the Temple at Jerusalem will be found below in connection with a discussion of Ezekiel’s temple and of the question, Where did the Spirit descend at Pentecost? And again let it be noted that these explanations put us in possession of the general principle upon which all prophecies of the same sort should be interpreted. They harmonize fully with all other indications contained in the Scriptures; making it abundantly plain that all the prophecies of future glory and blessing for Israel, Zion and Jerusalem, pertain to that holy nation (1 Peter 2:9) the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), and to that heavenly Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to which we already are come (Hebrews 12:22). Therefore, for the above, and for other reasons set forth elsewhere in this volume, the writer reaches the conclusion that we are to look for the fulfillment of the prophecies in question — not to another age than this, but — to another locality; namely, to that spiritual realm, which Paul designates the heavenlies; where our Lord is gone to prepare a place for us, where the true temple is now in course of erection, and where already exists the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). The idea of a future dispensation for the fulfillment of prophecies on the earth, abounds in difficulties, and moreover it contradicts many passages of Scripture; whereas the idea of another locality, a spiritual and heavenly realm where those prophecies are in course of fulfillment now, is free from all difficulty, and has, moreover, the support of many New Testament Scriptures. Concerning that now existing realm of unseen things enough is said in the Scriptures to make known that it is a region of great activity; that the principalities and powers therein are numerous and mighty angels and demons, good spirits and evil — and hence we must infer that there are happenings there which are of immense importance and significance. For example, we read: There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels (Revelation 12:7). Also, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). In this connection it were well to recall that the title of the last book of the Bible, The Apocalypse, means the unveiling; that is to say, the taking away of the Veil that normally separates the realm of spiritual things from that of natural things. That title indicates that the visions described in the book of Revelation bring into view things and happenings in the spiritual realm, whereof, except for this unveiling, we should be wholly unaware. And when we come to Chapter 20, where is found the only reference in the Bible to the millennium — the thousand years — the language of the inspired writer makes it evident that the happenings of the millennium are part of the history of the spirit realm. This will be shown in the last chapter of this volume. It follows that all effort to find a place for those happenings in theRead more

  • Load More