THE HERALD
of Christ's Kingdom
VOL. III. March 1, 1920 No. 5
Table of Contents
SCRIPTURAL
PROOFS OF SPIRIT-BEGETTING
BEREAN
STUDIES IN THE REVELATION
THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
ST.
JOHN'S VISION OF WORSHIP IN HEAVEN
REVIEW:
THE LIFE WORK OF THE APOSTLES PETER AND JOHN
THE
MINISTRY COMMENDED
VOL. III. March 15, 1920 No. 6
Table of Contents
OUR
"PASSOVER" MEMORIAL
THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
ISRAEL
RULED BY JUDGES
DEBORAH
AND BARAK DELIVER ISRAEL
BEREAN
STUDIES 'IN THE REVELATION
"ARE
YE ABLE"
VOL. III. March 1, 1920 No. 5
"Of His own will begat He
us with the Word of Truth."--James 1:18.
INSPIRED writers say our Lord left the glory which He had with the
Father before the world was and came to earth, becoming a man, "for the suffering of
death," that He might give Himself "a- ransom for all." At the age of
thirty, we are told, He went to Jordan and presented Himself as a sacrifice to God.
After His baptism as He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him,
"the heavens were opened unto Him." He was then led of the Spirit (this newly
begotten Spirit) into the wilderness for forty days, to commune with the Father, to study
the types and prophecies of the Scriptures, and to be tested of the. Adversary
Thereafter, He was able to see clearly the course which the Father had marked out for Him,
as shown in these types and prophecies.
In inviting His disciples to follow Him, our Lord made it very plain
that in so doing they must of necessity be baptized into His death and partake of His cup
of suffering, that they might live and reign with Him. Throughout the Scriptures it is
pointed out that the Church are to be members of the Body of Christ, of which He is the
Head. They declare that He is our Fore-runner, the Captain of our salvation; that "as
He was, so are we, in this world"; that His experiences are to be our experiences.
They declare that He is "leading many sons" -- His brethren-to God, to glory.
The steps that we are to take, then, are exactly the steps that He
took whom we are to follow. He is our great Pattern. We are enabled by faith to see, under
Divine guidance, the redemption which Jesus accomplished for us and our opportunity of
becoming His disciples, of being baptized into His death. Baptism into death would be far
from desirable, unless there was some Way by which it might be made a gateway unto life;
and this way provided by God. It was opened first for His Son.
JESUS' HUMAN AND SPIRIT NATURES TYPIFIED
In the type of the Atonement Day, our Lord's human nature was
represented in the bullock, which was offered for sacrifice. The high priest, clothed in
the white linen garments of sacrifice, represented Him as a spirit-begotten New Creature,
after His human sacrifice was accepted, and while the actual consuming of His human body
was in process. The high priest 7 clothed in the "garments of glory and beauty,"
represented Him after His resurrection to the Divine nature, after he was born of the
Spirit and highly exalted to glory, honor and immortality by the Father, as a reward for
His faithfulness.--John 3:3-8.
So at the time when we present ourselves to God in consecration and
our sacrifice is accepted of Him, we die as men; but we are likewise begotten to the new
nature, the new life. And this new life, begotten from above, continues to grow by the
assimilation of spiritual nourishment, until it will, in due time, be born a fully
developed spirit being, like unto our Lord. (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:29.) This process and
its outcome are brought to our attention in the Scripture which declares of our Lord that
He was "the First-born from the dead." And this word born [gennao in the Greek] is the same word which is'
translated begotten. It relates to the entire process of bringing forth. This is a
progressive matter; first there is the begetting, then the period of gestation, then
birth.
Our Lord's baptism to the new life was at the time He' made His
consecration unto death at His baptism. The New Creature there begun was growing during
the three and a half years thereafter. This period, as before mentioned, was represented
in the high priest in the type. .At His baptism He was begotten as a Son of God on the
highest plane-the Divine. John the Baptist here bore witness of Him saying, "I saw
the spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him." The record of
the Scriptures is that only those who are begotten of the Spirit can see spiritual
things--1 Cor. 2:9-16.
DEEP TRUTHS NOT VIS1BLE ON THE SURFACE
It is asked: Why is it that. a fact of so great importance as the
Lord's begetting of the Spirit is not stated in so many words, but must be proven by
deduction? We reply: To those who are spiritually minded there is very strong evidence
indeed, yet it might be passed over by others and not recognized at all. This is likewise
true of other important Scriptual doctrines. There is one Scripture which declares that
through the exceeding great and precious promises we may be made partakers of the Divine
nature. Other Scriptures state that the followers of Christ shall share His glory, honor
and immortality., These- latter Scriptures imply the same thing as the first, though only
the one text (2 Pet. 1:4) states the matter in just those words.
In respect to our Lord's resurrection, it is declared that "He
was put to death in flesh, and made alive in Spirit." (1 Pet. 3:18--Diaglott.) This
Scripture does not say that He was raised a Spirit, but this is the evident meaning; and
we know that this was the case:. "Now the Lord is that Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:17.)
In Colossians 1:18 we read of our Lord: "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church,
who is the beginning [of this New Creation], the First-born from the dead." As our
Lord was born from the dead a spirit Being, He
must have been previously begotten of the Spirit, as birth is always preceded by
begetting.
In speaking of the resurrection of the Church, which is declared to
be Christ's resurrection (Phil. 3:10), the Apostle Paul says: "It is sown an animal
body, it is raised a spiritual body." So it is "here a little and there a.
little" that we must find these precious truths. This seems to be the way in which
the Lord has pre-. pared- the Bible-giving here a little and there a little of these
jewels of Truth. Those who are superficial in their search will overlook the most
important features of -truth, to find later that they have only a small part.
CLEARER LIGHT NOW SHINING
As we search the Scriptures and learn how to rightly divide and
rightly combine its various elements, now that the dawning light of the New Dispensation
is shining on the Word making it more luminous to our view, we see the wonderful
whole--the great Plan that we and others had previously passed over and failed to discern.
Those who are not of the right class will not be able to see the
Truth in all its wondrous clearness, beauty and harmony. If we have
the right spirit as children of God, we shall want to know what God has in reservation for
His people.
This gives an opportunity for the operation of the spirit of the
truth upon our hearts and minds. This desire leads us to come. together for Bible study,
when the worldly would say: Let us play billiards or chess or pool. -- They complain to
us: You have already read that Bible several times. We tell them that we have and with a great deal of blessing.
Thus, as we are desiring to know the Lord's Plan and His will
concerning us, He reveals it to us more and more; and thus, little by little we gain a
great aggregate of Truth, which greatly rejoices our hearts, gives us an intelligent
understanding of the wonderful day in which we are living and gives us calmness and
confidence, while the hearts of others are failing them for fear.
In accordance with our statement in the preceding issue of this
journal, we are submitting outline lessons in the study of the book of Revelation,
beginning with the month of March, one lesson of five questions for each week. The
foundation, in the way of text books, -we are recommending in connection with these
studies, is represented in the writings of Pastor Russell-the six volumes of Scripture
Studies, and the Watch Tower published up to the time of his death, including smaller
booklets and tracts which he published. As we have in the series of Revelation articles
published in this journal endeavored to present the sum of Pastor Russell's thought so far
as he expressed himself on Revelation, we are also suggesting the use of the HERALD
Revelation series in connection with the studies of these lessons. These lessons are not
intended to teach, but merely to question and to refer the student to the Scriptures and
various helps that we believe will be of advantage. In this way, thought is stimulated and
the Truth more clearly impressed.
However, we desire all to understand that we do not put any
restriction or limitation on any with regard to any helps they desire to use in these
studies. We be lieve that full liberty should
be exercised and that all should feel free to make use of any writings or exposi tions
that they think will assist in the elucidation of the Revelation and will help to
emphasize and bring out the Truth. Following the question we give frequent citation of
Scripture texts or give reference to page number of STUDIES, WATCH TOWER, or HERALD
comments The first six letters of the alphabet refer to the six volumes Of STUDIES; the
TOWERS are designated with the letter Z, and the HERALD by the letter H.
THE REVELATION AND ITS IMPORT
STUDY I-MARCH 7
(1) What: is the significance of the title , Revelation, as applied
to the visions of St. John recorded in the last book of the Bible?--Rev. 1:1.
(2) To whom and for what purpose was the Revelation first given, and
what was the method employed-in imparting it to St. John? What three important things are
thus brought to our attention? Rev. 1:1; H. p. 7, col. 2.
(3) For what class of people were the lessons of the Revelation
visions intended, and what should be our object in studying this book? And what procedure
do we find in connection with our Lord's earthly ministry that corresponds more or less
with that noted in Revelation? Rev. 2:11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 22:16; Eph. 1:17-20;
3:16-19. H. p. 7, col. 2.
(4) How may we be certain that the book of Revelation has been in the
past, and is of special importance to the Church at the present time; and in what way has
Satan attempted to prevent the Lord's people from an understanding of its visions? Rev.
22:10; 1:3; H. p. 7, col. 2.
(5) Name some of the important points that are necessary to be
observed and noted in order to a proper understanding of the Revelation, and to derive
from it the blessings promised, and what is implied in the statement, "he that
readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things?" Rev.
.1 -.3; H. p. 8, col. 1.|
VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION
STUDY II -- MARCH 14
-
(6) What have been the principal schools of interpretation of the
Revelation? and give the origin and development of each and the names of some of the
individuals who belonged to the principal schools. H. p. 5, col. 2.
(7) What is a more modern school? and describe some of its
characteristics. H. p. 5, col. 2.
(8) What ate the principal. objections that stand in the way of our
accepting the Futurist as well as the more modern school of interpretation? H p. 6, col.
1; p. 7, col. 1.
(9) What visions, occupying a large portion of the Revelation, did
Pastor Russell quite fully expound which prove that he held to the Historical school? and
in following the Historical school did he teach that all the Revelation visions have been
fulfilled? H p. 6.
(10) What other evidences are there to be found in his interpretation
of visions, indicating that Pastor Russell believed in the Historical school? H p. 6, col.
1, 2; p. 7, col. 1.
SERIES XXVII
THE VISION OF THE LAMB ON MOUNT, ZION
"And I saw, and behold,
the Lamb standing on the Mount Zion, and with him a Hundred and Forty-four Thousand
[persons] having his Name and the Name of his Father written on their
Foreheads."--Rev. 14:1.
IN chapter 13, the subject matter of the last four of this series, we
saw described in symbol the great anti-Christian apostasy in its various stages. We saw
first its earlier phase (Papacy), defiling the Truth and persecuting God's saints, which
continued through the long period of its supremacy. (Rev. 13:1-10) ; and in the closing
verses of the same chapter we saw what seems to describe the last and final phase of the
anti-Christian apostasy-confederated Protestantism as the Image of the Beast, for a time
acting in sympathy with Papacy; the civil powers also for a time co-operating with both.
As we have shown in the preceding article, this seems to be the last form that the
"powers that be" will assume in opposition to God's saints before their
destruction by the Epiphania (bright-shining) of
His Parousia (presence); which detruction . . .
seems to begin with the Papal hier-archy itself.
As, to out understanding, we thus have set before us the very trying
conditions in which the last members of Christ's Body will soon find themselves, and over
which they must become victorious, it is most comforting and strengthening to faith to
discover in the vision we now consider, a description of the assumption-of Divine au and
the exercise of Divine power operating to accomplish-the overthrow and destruction of this
last great *anti-Christian combination. The visions of Rev elation. that follow the one
we now consider, all relate to the. last great conflict of this Age between truth and
error, which conflict we find portrayed in succeeding visions and is exhibited in -several
different stages. The part that the last members of this saintly class will have in these
final scenes will, it seems to us, be that of giving a simple testimony to the Truth--a
testimony given in a meek, humble and submissive spirit to the Father's will, who will not
permit any experiences to come to them that will not be for their good and His glory. This
tes timony will be like the last testimony of Christ given to the. religious rulers of
the Jews, and the civil power of Rome. It will be well that the true followers of the Lamb
examine carefully those Scriptures that describe the Master's attitude and final testimony
to those powers that then existed--the one, the Jewish religious power, the instigator and
accuser; the other, the Roman civil power, the executor of the decrees of the former.
CHRIST ASSUMES KINGLY AUTHORITY
In the light of the foregoing, it will be seen that the vision we now
consider--the Lamb standing on Mount Zion--brings us to the beginning of the most
thrilling period in the history of the true Church, and the world; indeed, to the
momentous events that transpire in connection with the overthrow of. the enemies of Truth,
and the establishment of Christ's Kingdom. A
careful study of the vision can hardly fail to produce the conviction that the "Lamb
standing on Mount Zion" is a symbolical representation of Christ's assumption land
exercise of kingly authority. Carefully searching the Scriptures to discover the
significance of this symbolism, we find that the symbol of the literal Mount Zion of old,
the place where the -typical David's throne was 'located, is frequently employed to
-picture this assumption and exercise of Divine authority and-power over human affairs;
this authority and power being vested in Christ. As one writer commenting on the visions
of anti-Christian apostasy described in chapter 13, and connecting this vision ,with them
has truthfully said:
"The manifestation of evil is complete; we are now to see God's
dealings as to it. These acts of Satan and his ministers [described in chapter 13] are a
plain challenge of all His rights in [spiritual] Israel and the earth; and further
patience would be no longer patience but dishonor. Hence we find now , as in answer to the
challenge, the Lamb upon Mount Zion, that is upon David's [antitypical] seat; and as the
beast's followers have his mark upon them, so the followers of -Christ, associated with
Him here, have His and His Father's name upon their foreheads. What this means can
scarcely be mistaken.
"Zion is not only identified in Scripture with David and his
sovereignty, but very plainly with the sovereign grace of God, when everything intrusted
to man (in King Saul's day) had failed in Israel-priesthood had broken down, the Ark gone
into captivity in the enemy's land, and although restored by the judgment of God upon the
Philistines, was no more sought- unto in the days of Saul. He, though Jehovah's anointed
king, had become apostate. All might seem to have gone, but it was not-so; and in this
extremity, as the seventy eighth Psalm says, "Then the Lord awaked as one out of
sleep, . . . and He smote his adversaries backward. Moreover, He refused the tent of
Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, I but chose the tribe of Judah-the Mount Zion
which He loved. . . . He chose also David His servant.'. Nor was this a- temporary choice,
as a later Psalm adds, 'For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His
habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.' (Psa.
132:13, 14.) . . The Lamb on Mount Zion shows us the true David, on the covenanted throne,
and ,Zion, by this, lifted above the hills indeed."--F. W. Grant.
ANCIENT ZION SYMBOL OF THE KINGDOM
In Micah 4:1-3, we have this same symbolic use of the word Zion in
connection with a prophecy describing the establishment of God's Kingdom over the world:
"But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain [kingdom] of the house
of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains [kingdoms], - . . for the Law
shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among
many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off."
In the Psalms we have another special use of the word Zion in this
particular. It will be noted as we quote it that it portrays the same things we find
described in this Revelation vision and its context, namely, the gathering of the Lord's
saints to Himself in connection with fiery-trial-judgment troubles upon their enemies. It
reads:
"The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the
earth from the rising of the 'Sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection
of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall
devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the
heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather my saints
together unto Me; those that 'have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."--Psa.
50:1-5.
Again we have a prophecy concerning Jehovah's giving to His Son
authority to execute judgment upon His enemies, in which Zion is used in this same sense.
It reads: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until 1, make thine
enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou
in the midst of thine enemies."--Psa. 110:1, 2.
We. have a very remarkable portrayal, of symbolical Zion in Heb.
12:18-28. -In this Scripture as in the others referred to, as well as in the vision under
consideration, we have Zion employed to represent the Heavenly King dom. These words of
St. Paul describe, the distressing troubles of those times in connection with 'Which
Christ will be assuming kingly authority and power, described in this Revelation vision as
the "Lamb standing on Mount Zion." We refer the reader to a very interesting
unfolding of this Scripture by Pastor Russell, which he applies as describing this great
event:
"The Apostle draws a parallel between the marching of Israel
from Egypt and the Red Sea, up to Mount Sinai, where, under the leadership of the
priesthood, they came under the Law Covenant, with all who hope to become God's people,
marching under the lead of Christ and the 'royal priesthood' toward another mountain-to
Mount Zion, the Kingdom of God, the Millennial Kingdom. . . .
"When we consider how the Israelites approached Mount Sinai as a
host, and that they did not all get there at the same moment nor the same hour, nor even
in the same day, we find the parallel of this in the fact that the Lord's people
throughout this Age have been gradually approaching this Kingdom-not all at once, but one
after another throughout the Age. The last members of the Royal Priesthood are only
getting close to the Kingdom, Mount Zion, now; and are to be followed in turn by all the
hosts who will become true Israelites during the Millennial Age, when light and knowledge
shall be freely granted. . . .
"But although we are approaching -these grand and glo rious
things, we are not to expect that they will all be ushered in in a peaceful manner; on
the contrary, as the Apostle points out (vs. 26, 27), there will be a correspondence
between the great time of trouble, with which the Millennial Age and its New Covenant for
mankind will be ushered in, and the way in which the Law Covenant to the Jews was ushered
in-only that the New Covenant will be ushered in on a much grander and antitypical plane.
There will be a shaking here, as, there was a shaking there; but instead of its being the
physical earth that will shake, I it will be the symbolical earth-society. And not alone
the social structure, but also the heavens, or ecclesiastical structure, is to be shaken
here. As the Apostle's words clearly intimate, the shaking will be a much more wonderful
one than was its type, even as every antitype is much greater than its type. He explains
that the shaking here is to be so thorough that it will shake everything that is
shakeable, and that only the fixed, permanent, righteous things shall ultimately remain.
And those things that shall be permitted to remain, he declares (v. 28) pertain to the
Kingdom of God, which is immovable, unshakeable.
"It is this kingdom [symbolized by Mount Zion] toward which all
of the Lord's people march throughout this Gospel Age, that will then be fully attained
amidst all that great shaking and. confusion of the' great day of trouble which is just before us. And as Moses went up into the
quaking mountain, and was lost to the sight of the people below, so at, and in conjunction
with these mighty manifestations of the time of trouble the entire Church [144,-0601
will be 'caught up,' gathered to the Lord, changed to His likeness-passing through the
portals of death, though they [the last ones] shall not sleep, but be changed in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye."--Z '00-297.
HOW BEAUTIFUL UPON THE MOUNTAINS THE FEET OF HIM
We note that it is the earlier aspect or phase of Christ's rulership
as King, that in which the Lord's saints are being gathered to Him, that marks the time of
this vision of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. The first act in connection with this
assumption of kingly power is stated in the Scriptures to be the resurrection of those
members of Christ's Body who had slept up to that time. The remainder of the 144,000
continue in. the flesh for a time and as they finish their course, experience their change
one by one to Divine, heavenly conditions, without sleeping. These, in the succeeding
visions of this chapter, as we shall endeavor to, show later, are portrayed as performing
a service under the invisible leadership of Christ, a work that has an important bearing
in connection with the full establishment of the Kingdom, in its blessing aspects to the
world. This work is: (1) to declare a message and announce that the time of judgment is
come-evidently the great Thousand-year judgment Day; (2) to announce the fall from favor
of symbolical Babylon; (3) the giving of a warning to the Lord's people to. separate
themselves from the Beast system and its Image, and to be watchful and careful that they
keep themselves free from the Beast's Mark.
All these things show that it is the beginning stages of Christ's
presence that is described in the vision of the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion. Indeed it
will be found to be true, that all the visions in the book of Revelation that follow,
beginning with the one under consideration, refer to the closing events in connection with
the deliverance of the last members of the Church and the judgments on Christendom. The
only exceptions to this are those in chapter 17, where the revealing angel gives in his
'explanation -a retrospective view of the doings of the anti-Christian system of Papacy,
and those of chapters 20, 21 and 22. Bible students have for some time understood that
this assumption of authority by Christ will not be visible to either the Church or the
world., The fact of this assumption of authority will be 'made known gradually, first to
the watching ones of the Lord's people, and finally to the whole world. The period in
which the Lord is secretly present, gathering the faithful is called the "Parousia" (presence) of the Lord. The
manner in which the "presence" will be made known, revealed to the world, is
described in the word "epiphania." Some
of the Lords people have in some way obtained the impression that the "epiphania" refers to a definite period,
and a new dispensation of Truth to the household of faith, a considerable time after the "Parousia" begins. This, however, does
not seem to be the thought conveyed in the Scriptures. The word "epiphania"- means
"bright-shining," and the signification of the word in this connection is that
the, knowledge of His presence will be made known to the world gradually, by the
"epiphania," bright-shining of Truth along all lines. This bright-shining noted
in the outward signs of the times, will, of course, be first realized by the Watchers, and
finally by the world after the Church has been glorified. At last the bright-shining of
Truth will be so clear, that even the supporters of the anti-Christian systems will be
made aware of the untruthfulness of their claims. Then will begin the work of destruction
as described by St. Paul: "whom the Lord . . . will destroy. with the epiphania [bright-shining] of His Parousia [presence]."--2 Thes. 2:8.
CHRIST'S PAROUSIA AND EPIPHANIA
We quote Pastor Russell in this connection. In summing up his
conclusions in an article entitled, "The Parousia of Our Lord Jesus and His
Subsequent Apokalupsis and Epiphania," we have his words:
"Foregoing we drew the line of distinction between the parousia and the epiphania or apokalupsis of our Lord quite sharply, to assist
the reader in noting their difference of signification. As a matter of fact, however, the
bright shining of the present One is due to begin shortly after the parousia begins, and again as at the First Advent,
it will be true that the 'Light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it
not.' The revealing of the Lord's presence
begins with the faithful of the Church speedily,. and gradually extends to the world in
general. Up to the. time when the strength of the trouble breaks forth, only-the faithful
watchers discern the parousia, and only by them
can the -bright shining (epiphania) of the
Lord's presence be appreciated. To these the bright shining [epiphania] of the Lord's presence, the increasing
brilliancy of the light of Truth respecting the Word and character and Plan of God is an
ever increasing joy and pleasure; thus it is that ye, brethren, are not in darkness,'
respecting the events of the day of the Lord, but know in advance that its tribulation
will come upon the world as travail upon a woman.--1 Thes. 2:3, 4.
"While the revealment of the Lord's presence thus illuminates
the hearts of the faithful ones as the Day-star (2 Pet. 1:19), and causes them to
understand, and not be in darkness with the world in respect to His plans, present and
future, the bright shining [epiphania] of the
Lord's presence shall affect nominal Christians, and the civilized world in general also,
but in a totally different manner, for the character of Christ's 'harvest' work, during
this period of His presence, is such as to cause a general opening of eyes along the lines
of justice and injustice, righteousness and sin, the rights of mankind and the wrongs of
mankind. The light which has been shining out for the past twenty years is awakening the
world to a realization of its rights and its wrongs, to a realization that the earth
belongs to mankind in general, and not exclusively to a few who have seized and fenced it.
This same light is exposing the corruption and falsity of many long-venerated theories and
institutions, monarchial, religious political and financial. It was in reference to this
light of His presence at the Second Advent that our Lord declared that this day of His
presence would bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the secret
counsels of the heart, for there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered. (Luke
8:17.) And in this connection let it not be overlooked that the Apostle declares that
Satan's power to deceive the world through antiChrist is to be consumed by 'the bright
shining (epiphania) of His presence (parousia). -- 2 Thes. 2:8.
"Thus seen, the bright shining of the present One is causing
great joy to the hearts of the faithful, who wait patiently for Him and the deliverance
which He has promised, but the bright shining, as it affects the worldly, has the effect
of quickening their selfish propensities, producing discontent, and is thus preparing the
world for the great climax of catastrophe, predicted in the Word of the Lord, as the
consummation of this Age; the overthrow of this present order of things in anarchy-'a time
of trouble such as was not since there was a nation."--Z '98--Nov. 7, pp. 17, 18,
It is doubtless this present period of the Lord's presence--the
period in which the Master has been dispensing the present Truth to His saints, that is
depicted in this vision of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. However, some may ask, How can
this be, when in the vision it is stated, that standing with Him on the Mount are the
complete 144,000? Does not this imply that the 144,000, which according to many
commentators represents the complete number of the Elect ones out of this Age, are with
Him in glory? We reply that to those who understand the manner of the Second Advent, and
also that of the deliverance of the Church all is clear. As touching this we note that
this vision is the first one in the Revelation in which all the members of the Elect
company are represented as complete and with Christ, the Lamb. And this is true, and will
be seen to be so, when we consider that the first act in connection, with the exercise
of-authority and power is the resurrection of all of this class who have "slept"
throughout the Age. These surely are with Him then, yes, even now with Him in glory.
However, there is a sense in which it is true that the others-those who are alive in the flesh when He comes, and others who
may consecrate later, are I with Him, as we
read in Rev. 17:14: "And they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and
faithful." Keeping in mind that the period of the Lamb's standing on Mount Zion
covers the whole time from the beginning of His assumption of Divine power, exercised in
the awakening and resurrection of His sleeping ones, and also reaching on to the time when
the remaining ones who are living in. the flesh -will have attained to the mark of
acceptability as chosen, accepted ones, it will be seen that the whole Elect number are all with Him. Thus, it
can be truthfully said that they are all with Him, the
larger number with Him in glory, the remainder with Him on the earth following Him
wherever He. leads. The correctness of this interpretation of the vision is further
confirmed by the fact that the Lamb's marriage, which of course represents the union in glory of, all the Bride class with
the Heavenly Bridegroom, is not recorded in this vision, which would be if all the members
were glorified at once. This great event is not recorded as having occurred until these
last members of the Bride class have, as we shall see later, given a warning cry that Babylon has fallen (from favor), and
all this class have become entirely separated, and have experienced what is symbolically
described as having the Lamb's name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads;
indeed not until great Babylon (the Papal hierarchy) has met its doom does this greatest
of all events occur. Compare Rev. 18:2, 15, 21; 19:1-3; 19:5-8.
HAVING HIS NAME WRITTEN IN THEIR FOREHEADS
We inquire next, What" is the significance of the words,
"having His name and the name of His' Father written in their foreheads?" This
is a very significant symbol, and is better appreciated when viewed in the light of the
significance attached to the giving of a name in vogue in connection with Israelitish
history, in that the name stands for the character. In chapter 7, we have this same
company pictured as undergoing this process of sealing in the forehead. - In this
instance, it signifies that a knowledge of the Truth was given to them, which Truth was to
be made use of to enable them to obtain a clear view of the Divine character as revealed
in His plans and purposes for the Church and the world.
In the vision under consideration, we have this work described as
having been accomplished. In short that they had attained unto the character-likeness of
their Lord. In the accomplishment of this great work not ,only was it essential that a
knowledge of the Truth be given, but certain severe trials were also needed to strengthen
and prove this character-likeness to their Divine Lord and Father. We have seen as we have
studied some of the visions preceding this one, how that by coming in contact with the
false religions of earth, the saints of past generations suffered because of their loyalty
to the measure of Truth then understood by them. This had the effect of developing and
crystallizing their characters, and their resurrection was the proof of their acceptance
into this honored company. And now, as we shall see in the visions that follow, those of
this class living and becoming enlightened in the period of the "Parousia" have
had, and will still have, opportunity -to strengthen and prove their loyalty to their
Divine Lord and Master under more trying conditions, and thus develop that
character-likeness symbolized by having His name written in their foreheads. Concerning
this, the visions that follow will describe; and their partial fulfillment for some time
past enables us to discern more fully the more severe and trying future ones just ahead.
However, the symbol, we believe, pictures something more definite than this, while
describing something that characterizes all of the "elect" class throughout the
Age, it seems to refer more especially to those who live in the period when the linage of
the Beast is fully developed and acting. It appears to -refer to some outward mark that
will distinguish these from all others who profess the name of Christ, something that
will, make them conspicuous, even, to the world at large. One eminent expositor has
noted, and thus described this:
"To have the name of God and of the Lamb written on the
forehead, is to be brought to a public and decisive manifestation of allegiance to the
Most High, 'and Him alone, as of title to religious homage, and right to impose religious
laws.
As the worshipers of the Image of the Wild Beast impress on
themselves its Mark and Number, by entering the society of that apostate hierarchy,
submitting to its rites, offering its idolatrous worship and obeying its-sway; so the
worshipers of Goa become impressed with His name and the name of the Lamb, by refusing to
join that idolatrous train and publicly asserting the sole right of God to institute the
laws of religion and receive a religious homage, paying to Him alone the worship He
demands, and placing in Christ exclusively the trust He requires as Redeemer. . . . The
distinguishing characteristic of the sealed, is a full and emphatic denial and resistance
of the assumed right of civil rulers and legalized hierarchies to legislate in the place
of God, make their will the ground of obligation and rule of faith and worship, and treat
a dissent from it as a crime against them, and against the Almighty."--D. N. Lord.
THE VOICE OF HARPERS
"And I heard a Voice from Heaven, as the Sound of many Waters,
and as the sound of great Thunder; and the voice which I heard was as that of Harpers
playing on their Harps; and they sing a new Song in the presence of the Throne, and in the
presence of the, Four Living ones, and the 'Elders; and no one was able to' learn the Song
except the Hundred Forty-Four Thousand-Those who were Redeemed from the Earth."-Rev.
14:2, 3.
The first thing necessary to note before seeking to discover the
symbolic meaning of the "voice. from heaven," I and the "song" that is
represented as being sting in the presence of the Throne, etc., is, that it must meet its
fulfillment in the period beginning with Christ's assumption, and exercise of power in the
resurrection of the "elect" class, who had "slept" up to that time and
ending with the time when the last living one of the "elect'' class is changed and
become united with Him. In harmony with this, and also with the prevailing be lief
amongst Truth people generally, that we have for some time been living in this-period,
then, this vision must have been in process of fulfillment for some years past. In seeking
to discover the meaning of the vision, we note that properly speaking, there are but two
principal symbols to explain in these words. These are, the "voice from
heaven," and the "song" that was being learned and sung.
The "voice from heaven" in this instance represents living
persons speaking for or in praise of God. We learn this by the similes used by St. John to
describe this voice. Similes occur quite frequently in the Revelation visions, and should
be distinguished from symbols. A simile is defined as "a comparison of two things,
which, however different in other respects, have some strong points of resemblance; by
which comparison, the character or qualities of a thing are illustrated or presented in an
impressive manner. Thus, -[by way of illustration], the eloquence of Demosthenes was like
a rapid torrent; that of Cicero, like a large stream that glides smoothly along with
majestic tranquillity."-Webster.
Applying this definition to the "voice" of the vision, we
note that St. John says, "it was as [like] the sound of many wafers, and as the sound
of great thunder;?'* but that which enables us to determine the character of the sound is
described in the words that follow: "the voice which I heard was as [like] that of
harpers playing
*In the other instances where thunders are heard by St. John, it was
real thunder, and symbolized controversies. In this, however, it was like the sound of thunder, and being accompanied by
a sound like harpers playing, it will be seen that thunder in this instance does not
'denote controversies on their harps." We conclude, therefore, that the combination
of these three elements produced a harmonious, musical sound, pleasing to the ear,
pleasing to God.
In the history of typical Israel, the harp was the chief instrument
used in connection with celebrations and seasons of great rejoicing in giving praise to
Jehovah. We have recorded such celebrations in connection with the dedicatory services at
the completion of the first and second temples. (2 Chron. 5:12; Neh. 12:27.) It was also
true that harp music was a most prominent feature in revival services in connection with
great reformations and purifications of the temple services, which, sometimes for long
years, had been neglected or defiled by a false worship; as that in King Hezekiah's and
another in Josiah's day.--2 Chron. 29:25; 35:15.
Keeping in mind the sad departures on the part of God's professed
people, and the defilement of Truth prevailing in Christendom in connection with the
Lamb's assumption of kingly authority, we believe that these harmonious notes like the
sound of harpers playing on their harps, would be because of the culmination of a great
reform movement among God's true people, accompanied by a: wonderful unfolding of Truth
and engaged it! by peoples of many languages (many waters).
Some of the older expositors, I among them Mr. Elliott, have
endeavored to apply this wonderful vision of the Lamb standing on Mount Zion to the great
Protestant Movement of the sixteenth century; that being a time corresponding in some of
its particular features to some of the great reform movements in typical Israel's history.
The objections to such an application are insurmountable, for the Lamb did not assume
kingly authority in the Reformation, neither had the full number of the "elect"
been called at that time; and furthermore, as we have endeavored to show in a previous
exposition (Rev. 10: 1), the Sixteenth-Century Reformation Movement was only a beginning
of the cleansing of the antitypical temple (sanctuary class), which did not culminate
until 1846. However, when we consider that since that year there has developed a falling
away, a departure from God on. the part of the great Protestant systems, like that which
existed- in King Saul's closing days just before the typical David ascended the throne of
Jehovah, it is difficult to avoid the conviction that the fulfillment of this vision must
be looked for since 1846, and as we shall prove has been a matter of history for some time
past.
THE TIME IS AT HAND
When we consider in connection with this that all the prophecies are
in agreement that we are in the end of the Age)' the Harvest period, we should expect that
among the Revelation visions there would be one that portrays the assumption of authority
by the antitypical David. And still further, when we consider the fact that the great
Reformation Movement of the sixteenth century accomplished the giving of an open Bible to
the world, and has finally culminated in the true sanctuary class obtaining a clear
understanding of God's great Plan of the Ages, and that. the last twenty-five years have
witnessed a most remarkable work :engaged in by the tested'' class, and doubtless many,
others with them in spreading the knowledge of this wonderful revelation of truth far and
near, and in many languages, it is not difficult to see in this the fulfillment of this
voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and as the sound of thunder and as that of
harpers playing on their harps. To those who have been associated in this movement, and
who are familiar with the Church's history in the Gospel Age, there can hardly be any
disagreement that so far as it has to do with a wonderful unfolding and proclamation of
Divine Truth is concerned, there has been nothing that can compare with it, since
Apostolic days. The dissemination of the Scripture
Studies and tracts in many languages, the local classes engaging in. the study of the
Lord's great Plan, the assembling in great Conventions of thousands and thousands of the
Lord's people all over Christendom, have certainly been, as the vision portrays, a voice
like the sound of many waters, etc., and like the sound of harpers playing on their harps.
How transcendent the harmony with the Scriptures of truth and the Divine character has
this "voice" been! Concerning the Scriptural significance of this, Pastor
Russell has said:
"The whole Divine testimony must be in harmony,, whether it be
communicated by the Law, the Prophets, the Lord or the Apostles. Their entire harmony is
the proof of their Divine inspiration. And, thank God! we find that harmony existing, so
that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments constitute what the Lord Himself
designates 'the harp, of God.' (Rev. 15:2.) And the various testimonies of the Law and the
Prophets are the several chords of that harp,' which, when tuned by the Holy Spirit
dwelling in our hearts, and swept by the fingers of the devoted servants and searchers
after Divine Truth, yields the most enchanting strains that ever fell on mortal ears."--Studies, Vol. VI, p. 233.
ONLY THE ELECT MAY SING THE SONG.
However, it is well to keep in mind that while this wonderful
symbolic "voice" of harps describes a harmonious unfolding of the wonderful Plan
of God as contained in all the Holy Scriptures, this has been accomplished largely through
the printed page, and has been engaged in by many beside the "elect" class. It
is evidently in connection with this particular that we are to discover the difference
between the "voice" and that of the "song" being sung before the
Throne, etc. The last forty or more years has been the period arranged in the Divine
purpose for learning to sing the song. The present time is the one arranged in the same
Divine purpose to prove who have really and truly learned to sing it. To many of those who
have engaged in the work of proclaiming it, present conditions are proving that they are
not among the singers, that they do not belong to-this heavenly choir. The,
"vision" declares that no one was able to learn that song but those of the
"elect" class, -the 144,000. It is one thing to be engaged in its proclamation;
it, is quite another thing to be able to sing it. We may truthfully say that it is the
bridal hymn. It is doubtless the same blessed truths portrayed by the symbolic
"voice," that is represented in the "song," but it must be kept in
mind that a knowledge of these Divine truths was given to enable the last members of the
"elect" Bride company to prepare themselves for the Marriage. This class, one by
one, have been brought into the antechamber of preparation, have learned to sing the song,
and one by one have been and are in the present time passing beyond. In the language of
the poet, it has been with such:
"A little while to keep the oil from failing
A little while faith's flickering lamp to trim;
And then the Bridegroom's coming footsteps hailing
We'll haste to meet Him with the bridal hymn."
"These are those who were not defiled with Women; for they are
Virgins."--Rev. 14:4.
This description of a characteristic of the "elect" class,
the 144,000, is not to. be understood literally, no more than that of the others
described. A comment by Pastor Russell on this statement is very instructive in this connection.
It was given in reply to a question. We give the question and his answer to the same:
"Question.-You have- already suggested that the expression,
'These are they which are not defiled by women' (Rev. 14:4) symbolically refers to earthly
church organizations, represented as women-Babylon, mother and daughters. Now, I want to
inquire, Have not all or nearly all of us who now enjoy the light of Present Truth been at
one time or-another in Babylon, connected with some of these church systems or 'women'? If
so, have we not all been thus defiled? If not, what is signified by the defilement?
"Answer.--To our understanding, the point where defilement
begins is after the light of Truth has reached the Lord's people, and opened the eyes of
their understanding to see the difference between the Church whose names are written in
heaven and the human organizations whose memberships are written on earth. After we have
come to see something at least of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the
Divine character and Plan, and to appreciate something at least of how the Lord and His
Plan have been misrepresented by these women (systems) and His character traduced, and
after we have heard thus the Voice of conscience and of the Lord's Word, saying to us,
'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers -of her. sins and that ye receive
not of her plagues;' -then it is that our defilement of conscience begins, if we refuse
-to obey the light that God has granted us, and the voice of His Truth. Whoever, for,
social or financial or other mercenary reasons, holds to that which he sees is built upon
a wrong principle, and upholding wrong theories, in defamation of the Divine character, is
defiling his conscience, will be unworthy to be counted an overcomer, and will fail to
have a part in the First Resurrection."--Z
'05-222.
"These are those who Follow the Lamb wherever He goes."--V.
4.
This is a literal statement, and the truth contained in it is found
everywhere unfolded in the sacred Word. Mr. Barnes has very comprehensively and truthfully
unfolded their deep significance. He says in this connection:
"This is another characteristic of those who are redeemed that
they are followers of the Lamb of God. That is, they are His disciples; they imitate His
example; they obey His instructions; they yield to His laws; they receive Him as their
counsellor and their guide-whithersoever He goeth-as sheep. follow the shepherd. (Psa. 23:1, 2.) It is one characteristic of true
Christians that they follow the Savior wherever He leads them. Be it into trouble, into
danger, into difficult duty; be it in Christian or heathen lands; be it in pleasant paths,
or in roads rough and difficult, they commit themselves wholly to His guidance and submit
themselves wholly to His will."
"These were Redeemed from Men a First-fruit to God and to the
Lamb."--V. 4.
This figure-- first-fruit confirms the truthfulness of the
interpretation that the 144,000 represent the entire "elect" class of the Gospel
Age. The expression is used first in relation to, Christ: "Christ, the first-fruits,
etc."--(1 Cor. 15:23.) 'Keeping in mind that the whole "elect" company,
Christ the Head and the Church His Body, are called "The Christ," will enable us
to appreciate the words of the Apostle James in this connection: "Of His own will
begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be A. kind of first-fruits of His
creatures." (Jas. 1:18.) It' is very apparent to Bible students that the First
Resurrection, is made up of this entire elect company. It is also understood by the same
that this First Resurrection began when the Lamb in the vision was seen standing on Mount
Zion, and is not yet completed, as other visions which follow this one clearly show. These
we shall consider in their order.
WATCH AND KEEP THY GARMENTS WHITE
"And. in their Mouth was found no Falsehood; for .they are
blameless."--V. 5.
This, the last characteristic of those "elect" ones, is one
of the most significant as -expressing character-likeness to Christ, of all others. They
are open, frank, honest in all that they do, and especially in their intercourse with
their fellowman. They do not in any degree practice deceits, fraud or hypocrisy. They
are sincerely and truly what they profess to be, and are thus blameless before God and
their fellowmen.
An eminent writer. has used the plot of the Song of Solomon to
describe the characteristics of those who will at last be numbered among the Bride
company. His comment is as follows:
"The central idea of the Song of Solomon is the same as that of
the Apocalypse. According to Ewald, the Commentary, who has given the most subtle analysis
of this most exquisite poem, the plot is this:
"'On the one hand, a king in all the splendors of his glory
transported with admiration, overflowing with-passion; on the other, the poor and simple
shepherd, to whom the Shulamite [maiden] has plighted her faith; the former present, the
latter absent; the maiden called to decide between these two rivals. Such is the [plot
and] conflict in all its moral grandeur.'
"Translating Oriental poetry into Apocalyptic symbolism, the
book of Revelation yields us the same conception.* Immanuel, the Shepherd Bridegroom . . .
in [the heavenly] Paradise, is ever sending word to His espoused Church on earth, 'Behold.
I come quickly.' But she, in her long waiting, is constantly solicited and wooed by royal
suitors--purple and gold and precious stones being offered her to withdraw her heart from
her heavenly Consort, and to accept a throne with the kings of the earth. The harlot
bride, a fallen daughter of God, clothed with 'Scarlet and decked with jewels, and living
in fornication with the rulers of this world, appears upon the scene, hating and hunting
this unsullied spouse of Christ, and driving her into exile, but in spite of all these
trials of her faith on the one hand, and all these solicitations of kings and these
proffers of Solomonic wealth and splendor on the other, her heart is still true to her
absent Lord, and her noble answer [in the poem] is: 'Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for
love, it would be utterly contemned.
___________
."The Seer. [St. John]
That ere he died, saw all the grievous times
Of the fair Bride-who with the lance and nails was won."--Dante
_____________
"And yet the trial is one of intense and protracted severity.
Her Lord delays His return long beyond her expectation; and the world mocks at her bridal
hope, incredulously asking, 'Where is the sign of His coming?' Besides, it is an invisible
and 'far-off Lover to whom her heart is plighted, one who appears only in visions of hope,
and 'who in His sublime austerity scorns to use any sensuous means for attracting His
people to Himself." In a word, her choice must be between an earthly Solomon crowned
with present glory and honor, and the Beloved whom the world has rejected, and who stands
without, knocking-His head wet with the dews of the night. 'Sometimes He comes down and
manifests Himself to the eyes of her faith. She sees Him as in a dream; she delights
herself spiritually in His presence-then suddenly He vanishes. And then once more she is
alone, carrying on the contest with Solomon, who draws near in all his pomp, and tries to
cast his spell upon her. But she remains faithful to Him who is invisible; she sees the
moment approaching in which-, the true love of her God having Won the victory in her heart
over all the arts of the seducer, she will be fetched away by Him and, more fortunate in
this respect than the Shulamite herself, will be able to follow Him to those spiced
mountains, where He pastures His flock among the lilies.'*
____________
*Godet, Studies on the Old
Testament, p. 329.
_______________
"For where is the true Bride of Christ at this time? Before
the face of her enemy she has 'fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of
God, that they should 'feed her there.: . . . The time of the harlot's enthronement is the
time of the Bride's exile;. while the one is sharing a crown with the princes of this
world, who crucified the Lord of glory, the other is sharing rejection with Him whom the
world knew not. What pathetic sorrows are hers during all the wilderness period! Because
she will not be seduced from her bridal affection, all manner of opprobrium is heaped upon
her. Even the watchmen, when they find her, smite her and wound her, and the keepers of
the walls take take away her veil from her. But in spite of all violence and scorn of men,
her heart is with the absent Bridegroom, say ing, 'I charge you, 0 daughters of
Jerusalem, if ye find my Beloved, that ye tell Him that I am sick of love.'
"My heart is with Him on the throne,
And ill can brook delay;
Each moment listening for His voice:
Rise up and come away.
"But now the long hoped-for consummation has arrived. The cry,
'Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him, sounds upon the air. She who kept
her garments unspotted from the world is ready to be married, and stands clothed in her
wedding vesture; she also, who lived wantonly with the kings of the earth, is ready to be
condemned, and stands 'arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and
precious stones.' (Rev'. 17:4.) Hardly has the 'Alleluia' over the judgment of the great
harlot which did corrupt the earth with her fornication (Rev. 19:1, 2) died away, before
another is heard: 'Alleluia for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and
rejoice, and give honor to Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath
made herself ready.'--Rev. 19:6, 7.
"'Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness leaning upon
her beloved?' (Cant. 8:5.) Who indeed but she whose countenance was often bedewed with
tears, whose feet were often torn with the thorns of the desert, through which her enemies
pursued her? But now the reproach of her widowhood is taken away, the bridal veil is on
her face, and the nuptial joy is in her heart."--A. J. Gordan.--Ecce Vemit.
"The night is fast passing, the day is at hand,
Day is at hand;
We've sighted the portals of Beulah land,
Sweet Beulah land.
Then sing, weary pilgrim, you're nearing the strand,
Nearing the strand,
Where loved ones are waiting in Beulah land,
Sweet Beulah land."
--MARCH 21--REVELATION
7:9-17--
Golden Text.--"Blessing,
and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our, God
for ever and ever. Amen."--Rev. 7:12.
THE title at the head of this lesson, selected by the International
Sunday School Committee, we regard as somewhat misleading. Evidently those who selected
this title were under the impression that what St. John saw was a vision of heaven itself,
and of the actual and perpetual worship there on the part of the angels. In this we cannot
concur. As has been pointed out in our discussion of the throne-scene in the Revelation
series,* this entire matter observed by St. John was symbolic, while the rainbow-encircled
Throne may properly represent Jehovah as the Ruler of the universe, yet we do not regard
it as a vision of God's eternal Throne in heaven; neither is the worship observed in the
vision a picture of that which will exist in heaven forever. Rather, as has been
previously explained, this vision of the Throne, set with various objects and actors,
represents certain - instrumentalities, developments and progression of the Divine Plan,
looking toward the redemption of mankind. The angelic hosts, 'in subjection to the Divine
will, are pictured as being at Jehovah's disposal, as co-operating with Him, and as being
in full accord with every feature -and development of His great purpose, and this is shown
in their expression of worship and praise as stated in our Golden Text.
______________
*See HERALD, Feb. 1, 1919, p. 39.
____________
Our lesson has to do
more properly with a great ,multitude of redeemed ones who are pictured - as securing
salvation and a goodly portion on the spirit plane, and we believe that all the
surroundings, and the general setting of this vision relates to a body of Christian people
who, in this dispensation, are pictured as coming up out of great tribulation and
ultimately winning Divine approval.
According to the Bible, those professing the name of Christ are of
three general classes. It is not ours to read their hearts; but it is ours, as Jesus said,
to know them by their fruits. Yet even here we might deceive ourselves. The only safe way
for us,, therefore, in respect to persons who claim to be Christians and who live an
upright and moral life is to take them for what they profess to be . One of these classes
Jesus styles Tares--"children of the Wicked One"--because their presence in the
Church is the result of false doctrines, false teachings, sown by the Adversary, Satan.
(Matt. 113:24-30, 36-43.) Many tares, we understand, are very talented, very honorable,
and very wealthy. They really, however, have neither part nor lot with the true Church of
Christ, all of whose members are spirit begotten through the Word of Truth..
ONLY ONE CALLING IN THIS AGE
The other two classes are made up of those who have, by faith and
consecration, obtained the favor of the Lord's fellowship, and membership in the Church of
the First Born. Not that the Lord in this dispensation is calling two separate classes, to
two different rewards, for to the contrary the Scriptures clearly teach that all believers
and followers of Christ are called in one hope of their calling (Eph. 4:4), and invited to
become members of the Bride of Christ, to eventually inherit immortality, the Divine
nature. Only one class, therefore, is called, but because the larger number of these who
profess faith in Christ and have made a consecration to Him do not faithfully and
successfully carry out that consecration, the results in the end are two distinct classes,
to two wholly different rewards. Rev. 7:4-8 clearly refers to those Who will ultimately
obtain membership in what we may properly call first
grade Christians. These are pictured as being an exact number144,000, sealed in their
foreheads. These are the same that are elsewhere represented as standing with the Lamb on
Mount Zion, and singing the song which none but themselves could learn to sing. (Rev.
14:1-3.) Again, these are represented as being with the Lamb, standing upon the sea of
glass. (Rev. 15:2, 3.) Thus in various ways this group seems to represent the Very Elect,
the saintly few, the Little Flock, to whom it will be the Father's good pleasure to give
the Millennial Kingdom, as joint-heirs with their Lord and Redeemer.
In Rev. 7:4, we read that these are from the twelve tribes of
Israel--12,000 from each tribe. This is understood by Bible students to signify that God
originally arranged -for the full number of the Elect to be taken from natural Israel, as
though He did not know that natural Israel would reject the Lord and crucify Him. The Plan
was laid out on the Israelitish basis, even though God knew in advance that Israel. would
not obtain that which he sought (the chief blessing), but that the Election would obtain
it, and the remainder of that nation would be temporarily blinded, until the completion of
the gathering of the Elect.--Rom. 11:7, 25-33.
Although many of the Israelites were dispersed amongst the
surrounding nations, it is evident from the Scriptural records that the entire nation --
every tribe was represented in Palestine after the return from Babylonian captivity. Thus,
Jesus referred to His work as being for the twelve tribes of Israel, and the Apostles did
also. As a matter of fact, the saintly ones of the Jews who heard the call, and who
responded, and who were begotten of the Holy Spirit, and who thus became spiritual
Israelites and sons of God, were from all the various tribes, of some more and-of some
less. These constituted so many of the foreordained 144,000.
But there were not enough of the saintly ones to complete the
Election. Hence by Divine favor the Message was carried to the Getiles, Cornelius being
the first Gentile convert. During the intervening centuries, the Gentiles who have
responded to God's call have been accepted and begotten of the Holy Spirit, have been
reckoned in as Israelites indeed, as spiritual members of the Seed of Abraham, as heirs,
together with the elect Jews, to the First Resurrection, according to God's promise made
to Abraham, natural Israel being still heir to God's secondary promises.
Thus the sealing of the Elect has been in progress for nearly
nineteen centuries. Altogether, gathered from Jews and Gentiles, there will be 144,000
kings and priests unto God, followers of the Lamb, and His joint-heirs in the Kingdom. The
filling up of these assignments of 12,000 each to the twelve tribes we may understand. to
be accomplished in the same way that British regiments of soldiers in India are recruited.
The enlistments are made all over Great Britain, but the enlisted man, no matter from what
city 'or county he be, may be assigned to membership in whatever regiment is deficient in
numbers.
After the account of the sealing of the 144,000 of the Very Elect, in
the same chapter we have an account of the Great Company. We read, "I beheld and lo,
a great company, whose number no man knoweth [unlike the Little Flock, these were not
predestinated, or foreordained, as to number], of all nations, kindreds, peoples and
tongues, stood before the Throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb."
Let the truth be clearly seen by all, that notwithstanding the fact
that St. John after seeing the sealing of the 144,000, beheld a great company of saved
ones, there is no second call to become members of
an inferior class to the one described above. Therefore, in the sense that the
consecrated are all called in the one hope of their calling 'and all begotten of the one
spirit through the one Word of Truth, they are one class, one Church, under one Lord, one
faith, one baptism. (Eph. 4:4, 5.) The division into two classes is the result of
coldness, lukewarmness, 'fear to perform the sacrifice contracted, fear of death, on the
part of some-the "great multitude" referred to in this lesson. These may be
properly designated second grade Christians. The
Apostle describes them saying, "Through fear of death they are all their life time
subject to bondage." (Heb. 2:15.) Some of them fear also loss of business or name or
fame or social standing. Therefore they compro mise with the world and its spirit. They
do not deny the Lord. Indeed, many of them would die rather than directly deny Him. Yet by
their works they do deny Him-ashamed of the Truth because it is not popular, or- ashamed
of the Lord's brethren because of their humble position or their unpopularity among the
worldly.
While this class do not deny the Lord's name, yet they fail to walk
closely in His footsteps, and therefore will fail to get the glorious prize of this Gospel
Age; namely, glory, honor, immortality, joint-heirship with Jesus in Hi; Millennial
Kingdom, etc. Those great blessings and favors are to be granted only to the "more
than conquerors"--the Little Flock, to whom it is the Father's good. pleasure to give
the Kingdom those who "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth," rejoicing in
tribulation, esteeming it an honor to be counted worthy to suffer for Christ, His cause,
His Word, His brethren. And yet this Little Flock, styled in the Bible, the Lord's jewels,
are described by the poet, who says:
"Those whom God makes His kings and priests
Are mean in human, eyes."
THE TWO CLASSES CONTRASTED
The Great Company described in our lesson will be overcomers; else
they would never get any part in the everlasting blessings which the Lord is about to
dispense now, at His Second Advent, when all of His faithful will be received to the
Heavenly Home, the Father's House. They will be overcomers, or conquerors, in, the end
because the Lord will help them through by forcing those of this class who will be living
in the end of the present Age to come to a positive decision-to banish their fears and
courageously count not their lives dear unto them in the great tribulation with which this
Age will end. The fact that when the test does come, when the crisis is reached, these
will die rather than deny the Lord, will constitute them overcomers and secure for them
the blessing described in our lesson.
Nevertheless, there is a still higher position that will be attained
by some. As it was not necessary for Jesus to be forced by tribulation either to
acknowledge the. Heavenly Father and stand for Truth or else to die the Second Death, so
there is a class in the Church who are like the Master and who will have similar
experiences to His. These are styled "More than conquerors" because they not
only do the right thing-stand for truth, righteousness and the Divine arrangement--but
they do it as Jesus did-voluntarily, with hearty good will, as soon as it is shown to
them.
Here, then, we see the difference between two classes in the Church,
all of whom are spirit-begotten, all of whom are called with the same High Calling, all of
whom had similar opportunities for attaining the great .prize. The "more than
overcomers," copies of God's dear Son, faithful unto death in their voluntary I
laying down of their lives in God's service and in behalf of the brethren--these will be
the Little Flock to inherit the Kingdom-these, will be the Royal Priesthood-these will
constitute the Bride, the Lamb's Wife and Joint-heir.
The Great Company of this lesson are to be found everywhere. They
fail to become members of the Body of Christ, fail to get the great reward, fail to become
kings and priests. They will be granted a blessing, however, but an inferior position,
which will correspond to that of the Levites of old, who were not priests, but of the
priestly tribe-servants to their brethren, the priesthood. Again, they are represented in
the Bible as not being worthy to be of the Bride class, but as being granted the-great
honor of being "the virgins, her companions, who follow her"--bridesmaids.--Psa.
45:14, 15.
This class is also represented in the Lord's parable as the foolish
virgins. (Matt. 25:1-13.) They were virgins -pure, justified; hence they were fully
consecrated to the Lord. But they were foolish in that they-permitted the things of the
present life to balance against the things of the life to come, to which they had made. a
full consecration. The wise virgins go in with the Bridegroom, become the Bride class,
when the marriage of the Lamb takes place at the Second Coming of Christ. But the foolish
virgins do not gain admittance, and they hear the Master's words, "I do not recognize
you. " But although they cannot be recognized as the. Bride class, we praise God for
His mercy in indicating that they all belong to the company of virgins, the Bride's
companions who follow her.
A beautiful picture of this is given us in Rev. 19:6-9. There also we
are told of the Great Company who will praise God eventually that the Marriage of the Lamb
is come- and His Wife hath made herself ready-even though they will not be part of that
Bride class. Awakened from their slumber and stupor and separated from Babylon the Great
by its fire, these finally recognize what they have missed; but they thank God that His
Plan, so full of blessings, will still be carried out, though the true Bride class have
gone before. Then the Lord' gives to them the precious message, "Blessed are they who
are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb." But they can go to that Marriage
Supper only through much tribulation, which will test to the last their full devotion to
the Lord -- even unto death.
In Psalm 45 we have a picture of the Heavenly Father as the Great
King, the Lord Jesus as the King's Son, the Church as the Bride, and the Great
Company as the virgins, the Bride's companions, following after her. It is not only a
beautiful picture, but one full of comfort and encouragement to all.
It should be noticed that the promise to the elect kings and priests
is that their blessing will be not before the
Throne, but in the Throne. 'Moreover, their victory will not be shown by palm branches,
but by crowns of glory. All these circumstances attest that this Great Company before the
Throne and with palm branches are a wholly different company from the Elect, the Bride,
who will share Messiah's Throne and glory.
This Great Company was explained to the Revelator, and the
explanation is for us. We read, "These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have 'washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are
they before the Throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple; and He that
sitteth on the Throne shall dwell among them."
Bible students notice that the Little Flock class are styled
"the Temple of God ... .. living stones," whereas this Great Company will serve
God in that Temple-in and through the Church. They also notice that this class who will
wash their robes, and make them white in the, blood of the Lamb during a great time of
trouble, must of necessity be a different class from the Bride, who are described as
watching and keeping their garments unspotted from- the world-that they may be without
spot and without wrinkle in the presence of the King.
TWO TRIBULATION CLASSES
The Little Flock, the Royal Priesthood, the Elect Church, of which
Christ is the Head, will indeed pass through tribulations. So it is written, "Through
much tribulation shall ye enter the Kingdom." Indeed; we know that the Lord Himself
passed through great tribu lation , shame, suffering and death., We know the same also of
His footstep followers, the Apostles and others.
Nevertheless, these are not described in the Bible as ,the
Tribulation Class, because, by virtue of their greater faith, these are able to rejoice in
their tribulations and to count them all joy knowing that these are working -out for them
a far more exceeding and eternal weight .of glory. These pass through the tribulations
joyfully, because they -consider the, things that are I seen as temporal. They look with
the eye of faith to the things not seen, to the things eternal, - which God hath in
reservation for them that love 'Him.
The tribulation saints are variously pictured in the Scriptures as
those who lack in the amount of their zeal, but who do not lack in their loyalty. The
tribulation' saints fail to go on and fulfil their vows of sacrifice, and to be heroes in
the fight against the world, the flesh and the Adversary. As the Scriptures say,
"Through fear of death they are all their lifetime subject to bondage --
"bondage to the flesh, bondage to the customs of society, fearful of the sacrificing
experiences which they covenanted should be theirs.
For this reason, they cannot be accepted of the Lord as copies of His
dear Son, and as worthy of sharing in His glory, honor and immortality. Nevertheless, the
Lord is very compassionate, and tests them as to their loyalty to Him. As many as
ultimately prove faithful, loyal, He proposes shall be granted everlasting life, even
though they fail of joint-heirship in the Kingdom, the very thing to which they were
invited. As it is written, "Ye are all called in the one hope of your-
calling."Eph. 4:4.
Undoubtedly, there have been some of this class developed all the way
down through the Gospel Age, but the Scriptures picture this class especially in
connection with the tribulation coming on the world in the close of this Age. Take for
instance, the statement that they should come up out of great tribulation, also St. Paul's
statement that "that Day shall try every man's work of what sort it is." They
that builded with gold, silver and precious stones, he declares will stand the test. The
fire of that. Day will not cause them tribulation--will not destroy their faith structure.
Then he describes.the Great Company class, saying that others have built improperly with
wood, hay and stubble,. and that the fire of that Day shall completely destroy all such
improper structures. He declares, nevertheless, that if they builded, even improperly,
upon the true Foundation, they shall be saved, so as by fire-saved in the time of trouble,
coming up to God's favor through great tribulation, and sharers in a goodly resurrection,
although not participants in the First Resurrection. For of it we read, "Blessed and
holy are all those who have part in the First [chief] Resurrection; on such the Second
Death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with
Him a thousand years."--Rev. 20:6.
The larger company is spoken of in the account of today's lesson as a
'.'great multitude whom no man can number"--a poor translation, better rendered,
"a great company- whose number no man knows." We do know the number of the
Elect, the "more than conquerors." It is stated to be one hundred and forty-four
thousand of those who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth -a Little Flock indeed, as
compared with the millions of earth for eighteen centuries, but a very choice company. The
Great Company is not a foreordained number. No one can say what their number is; for they
are castaways from the High Calling, rescued by the mercy of God through Christ, because
they have not denied His name, because at heart they were loyal, even though they failed
to manifest a sufficiency of zeal in performing the covenant of sacrifice which they
covenanted and on the terms of which they had been accepted into the Lord's family. St.
John says that, theirs is a position of glory and honor, not in the Throne with the Bride,
but before the Throne, as those who are subject. He sees them not wearing crowns, the
highest insignia of victory, which goes only to the "more than conquerors," but
he sees them victors, nevertheless, with palm branches. Then he heard the statement that
they were not members of the Temple class, but servants of the Temple, who serve God in
His Temple. Great will be their blessing. The Lord will lead them to the waters of life.
But they will not be, like the Bride, possessed of immortality--which the Lord describes
as water of life springing up in His people. (John 4:14; 7:37-39.)
GREAT COMPANY TO BE* SPIRIT BEINGS,
It is regarded by some that this water of life which will be given to
the Great Company class may be upon the human plane, that these may ultimately be of the
human nature with the rest of mankind and not of the spirit nature or upon the angelic
plane. We do not share this view, however, for the reason that these who will ultimately
be of this class were originally called with the same calling and the same hope that was
given to those who will be of the Little Flock. They were all called in the one hope of
their calling, and in making a consecration to the Lord in accordance with Romans 12: 1,
it meant for all such the giving up of their justified humanity, human rights, privileges
and all that is represented in the perfect man. We believe the inference a most reasonable
one, that once a person has dedicated all earthly things to the Lord, and the same is
accepted by Him, it would not be reasonable to expect that person to have life again upon
the earthly plane; that whatever life he would have thereafter would be upon some other
plane of existence. More than this, as is clearly taught in the New Testament, all persons
making a consecration to. the Lord in this Gospel Age and whose consecrations are
accepted, receive the Holy Spirit and are begotten unto heavenly hopes, ambitions,
desires, etc. (1 Pet. 1:3, 4; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 5:17.) These Scriptures, with others, to
our mind, clearly establish the thought that all who make a consecration to the Lord are
begotten or have in them the beginning of a new life, and as all the promises pertaining
to this Age are heavenward and spiritual, the logical deduction to be drawn would be that
whatever life they would have thereafter must be upon the spiritual plane. The fact that
the majority making a consecration to God come short of attaining the highest form of
life, -immortality, need not necessarily mean that they must fall back to the earthly
plane. We think it unreasonable to conclude that - they would be reinstated upon the
earthly plane, in view of the fact that they had sacrificed this once and for all time.
The Apostle's explanation in 2 Cor. 3:15 would seem -to clearly teach that whatever life
these would be given later would be something different from the human-that of the spirit.
He declares that their works being burned they themselves shall suffer loss, that is the
loss of the chief prize, the Divine nature the great reward, but they themselves, the
spirit nature'. Will be saved so as by fire, that is, through great tribulation; the
fiery, experiences purifying them and bringing them to the place where they can be given
life as spirits, or, spirit beings.,
Again today's lesson describes the Great Company as standing before
the Throne. While this statement does not say in so many words that they will be spirit
beings, yet the very fact that they are identified with the Throne,, and are seen in close
connection with it, would seem to be an argument strongly corroborative of the conclusion
that they would be upon the spirit plane -before the Throne. And then the statement
additionally -made that they will serve God in His Temple, the Church, still more closely
identifies them with the Church in spirit life, implying that this class will have some
ministry-in connection with the Church, the Temple of God, and this of itself would
necessitate their existence upon the spirit plane.
Finally then, the statement that the Lord "shall lead them unto
living fountains of waters". seems to mean that the water of life which Jesus will
give this second class, will be everlasting life upon the spirit plane like unto the
angels, but not on the Divine plane of immortality-not the Divine nature. Seeing these
things set forth so clearly in the Word of God should we not be the more earnest, the more
loyal, the more faithful that we may obtain the highest reward, even that to which the
Lord has invited us, to become members of the Body of Christ-members of the glorified
priesthood.
In confirmation of the foregoing lesson regarding the .Great Company
class we are submitting as the conclusion of this lesson an article from the pen of Pastor
Russell, which, we believe, will be found edifying and profitable to all.*
_____________
*AdditionaIly we recommend a careful rereading of. Series VII of the
Revelation articles contained in the HERALD of
April 1, 1919, page 103.
____________
"'THAT YE RECEIVE A FULL REWARD"'
"Look to yourselves, that
ye lose not the things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward."--2
John 8, R.V.
"Some of our readers appear not to grasp fully the fact that two
classes are being saved during this Gospel Age--a 'Little Flock,' to be the 'Bride/ the
'Lamb's Wife,' 'Joint-heirs' in the Kingdom;. and a 'Great Company,' who will constitute
the 'virgins, her companions, that follow her.' (Psa. 45:14.) We might say from one
standpoint that this is not a fundamental doctrine, and that hence differences of opinion
respecting it need cause little concern. However, every truth has its place and bearing
upon the Divine Plan as a whole, and upon our doctrinal establishment, and hence upon our
ability to 'Stand in this evil day.' Those who see not the two companies in the process
of development during this Age will of necessity be somewhat confused in respect to
certain features of the Divine Plan. Take, for instance, the statement that the final
overcomers of the Bride class will be those who were not only called, but also chosen, and
also found faithful. (Rev. 17:14.) All can readily recognize that, while sinners are
called to repentance, only justified believers are called of God to this High Calling,
this heavenly calling of joint-heirship with their Lord in the Kingdom.- If we assume that
throughout the Age all the justified ones were granted that privilege in order that they
might be ready, we must admit the force of the declaration that 'many are called but few
are chosen.' This Scripture shows us a wide distinction be tween merely a position of
justification by faith and a position of acceptance with God. Only such called ones as
accept the call by making a full consecration of them selves belong to this 'chosen'
class.
"The chosen ones, begotten of the Holy Spirit and adopted as
spirit-begotten sons of God, are forthwith in the school of Christ, with a view to their
development in grace, knowledge, love, and with a view to their testing as respects the
thoroughness of their consecration even unto death. We well know that not all who reach
this -chosen place will prove faithful and win the crown. The great majority of the
exhortations in the New Testament are addressed to this chosen class, accepted of God as
probationary members of the Bride company, the Little Flock, the Body of Christ. To these
come the exhortations to 'fight the good, fight/ to 'bear much fruit,' to 'let their light
shine,' to 'so run that they may obtain,' to 'lay aside every weight,' to 'strive to enter
in,' to be 'faithful unto death, that ye may receive the crown of life,' to be 'filled
with the spirit.' They are exhorted that if the various fruits and graces of the spirit be
in them and abound, an entrance shall be ministered to them abundantly into the
everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.--2 Pet. 1:11.
"THE UNFAITHFUL, THE FOOLISH VIRGINS
"If in the foregoing it is intimated beyond question that only
the 'more than conquerors' will. gain the prize -or, as our text expresses it, 'gain the
full reward'- what shall we say will become of those who will not gain the full reward,
not gain the prize, who, being begotten of the spirit, will fail to have part in the First
Resurrection of the blessed and holy, amongst the Body of. Christ! 'These evidently are
referred to in the various parables. In one parable the Lord styles this class a wicked
and slothful servant. He does not deny him the honor of being a servant, He does not
charge him with becoming an enemy, and the entire parable shows no such attitude toward
the reproved. He is counted .wicked and slothful because, having undertaken certain
responsibilities as a servant, having certain talents committed to his care as a steward,
he has failed to manifest the proper spirit of earnest devotion which he had professed at
the time of his acceptance, when the talents were entrusted to him. Similarly the foolish
virgins are still virgins in the parable. They are not shown as having become corrupt or
become lovers of sin. They Were drowsy, overcharged with the cares of this life, and did
not show the proper spirit and alertness in connection with the interests of their Master,
the Bridegroom. Hence they did not at the time have the -proper oil in their vessels nor
in their lamps, and hence were hot ready nor of the class finally accepted as the 'Very
Elect,' though for a time they had, been a part of the nominally elect. The parable shows
the door into the high calling to the exclusion of these.
"Moreover, aside from tile parables, our own experience teaches
that amongst those who have made a real consecration to the Lord and who have for a time
manifested a thorough devotion to Him, some fall away to the extent of carelessness,
lukewarmness, a condition which the Lord describes as 'overcharged with the cares of this
life and the deceitfulness of riches'--true wheat, but choked so that they do not bring
forth the proper fruitage. We cannot suppose for a moment that such would be accepted of
the Lord under the strict terms and conditions of the high calling on the narrow way and
the faithfulness unto death-the terms and conditions everywhere implied in connection with
the Little Flock. What then shall we say would be the portion of these lukewarm,
overcharged ones?
"The Scriptures inform us that as that which is begotten of the
flesh is flesh, so that which is begotten of the spirit is spirit. That is to say, that
whoever has been begotten of the Holy Spirit has experienced a change of nature so radical
that it would be impossible for him to share a resurrection with the world on the human
plane. He must either be born of the Spirit and become a spirit being, or else experience
the only alternative we find, namely the Second Death. We remember, however, the
declaration of the Lord that He willeth not the death of him that dieth, but would that
all should turn unto Him and live. We must suppose, therefore, that God would feel a deep
sympathy with the large class of Christian people who have made a consecration unto death,
but who have not rightly valued or improved the opportunity for carrying out that covenant
in self-sacrifice. Some of this class the Scriptures clearly indicate are destined for the
Second Death. One of the Apostles describes them as those who have been washed, but like
the sow have returned to wallowing in the mire. Another Apostle describes this' class
saying, 'If we sin willfully after that we have received a knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no, longer a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour us as adversaries.' (Heb. 10:27.) And again he
tells us that it is* impossible to renew again unto repentance those who have counted the
blood of the covenant a common thing, and done despite to the spirit of favor. (Heb. 6:4,
10:29.) And again we read, 'There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for
it."--1 John 5:16.
"But are there not many Christians who have not taken these
extreme backward steps to sin and to rejection of Divine favor, who nevertheless are not
so running as' to obtain the prize? Is there not a large number that would come under the
classification made by the Apostle as those who build with wood, hay, stubble, instead of
with gold, silver and precious stones? -a large number, therefore, whose works will be
burned in this trial time just before us. And does not the Apostle say of these,
'themselves shall be saved so as by fire?' (I Cor. 3:15.) This is a large class; no wonder
it is styled a Great Company, no wonder it is symbolically represented in the Levites,
while the more than conquerors, the faithful, are but a Little Flock, heirs of the
Kingdom, joint-heirs with their Redeemer. It is in great mercy that the Lord will deal
with these and bring them into judgment, testing, so that all of them, who at heart love
righteousness and hate iniquity, may be manifested, may be blessed, may be saved, even
though they do not come up to the glorious standard which God has predestinated as the
only acceptable one for the Redeemer and all those who shall be joint-heirs with Him, for
He has predestinated that these shall be conformed to the image of His Son--more than
conquerors through Him who loved them and bought them with His own precious blood.
"The Apostle James seems to speak of this Great Company class
when he says, 'The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways! (Jas. 1:8.) These surely
can not be the more than conquerors, yet who will say that some of the dear people who
manifest considerable vacil lation and double-mindedness are enemies of God and
righteousness, whose portion will be the Second Death? Such is not our opinion. Rather we
understand the Scriptures to teach that this Great Company class, double-minded, intent on
serving the Lord and hoping, to gain a crown, and at the same time loving the world and
seeking to have its approval and emoluments, will miss the prize of our High Calling and
not be counted worthy a share in the Kingdom, but put to the crucial test so many of them
as under stress will fix their characters for righteousness and become its loyal
servants these will be saved with the- lesser salvation-on the spirit plane indeed, but
not as partakers of the Divine nature nor joint-heirs with our Redeemer in his
Kingdom."-Z '07-315.
--MARCH
28--REVELATION 21:21-22:5--
Golden Text.--"Go ye
therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world."--Matt. 28:19, 20.
THE life story of St. Peter and St. John is logically divided into
two distinct sections, as indeed is -the life story of all who attain positions of
eminence and distinction in the Lord's work.
The first part embraces the years of their training, the influence
and environments of their early life; their special training in the school of Christ
during the days of His flesh. This phase of their life was the subject of our study during
the first half of this course of lessons, the last quarter of 1919.
The second part embraces the story of their work and ministry for the
Master; the use they made of their training; their successes and failures; and what they
have really accomplished for God's people.
Reviewing the lessons of the past two quarters in which the lives of
these two noble men are given special prominence, we will do well to note the qualities
that are manifest in these two grand saints of God.
Though in some respects their characters are widely apart, yet there
are marked similarities. They were both impulsive and both full of' courage, and yet they
were men of great humility and meekness and both de voted to Jesus and fully consecrated
to the holy serv ices to which He called them; and were both therefore constituted
foundation stones or pillars in the Church -the great Antitypical Temple that-God has been
pre paring during the Gospel Age.,
The contributions of St. Peter and St. John in the way of spiritual
assistance to the entire Church can hardly be overestimated, Were the first twelve chapters of Acts eliminated, we
recognize that we would lose much of importance to the understanding of, the remainder of
the history. St. Peter's great change from his former fearfulness in which' he denied even
an acquaintance -with his Master to the bold preacher before the great counsel--though
himself not. a learned man, or experienced in the wordly courts--reveals to us as nothing
else could the power of the Holy Spirit, and enables us to appreciate likewise the courage
of those who have followed in the same way since, as martyrs of Jesus. This lesson of
Christian courage should be a means of much strength and fortitude to the Lord's people at
the present time, beset as they are with many discouragements, failings and failures.
The Gospel of St. John contains what is to us the greatest part of
the teachings of Jesus, which-come close to our hearts. His chapters on Christian love in
his first epistle may well be placed alongside of St. Paul's wonderful 'chapter on love.
St. John gave us what to some is regarded as the greatest sentence in the literature of
the world: "God is Love." And finally we note that St. John has what might be,
regarded in some respects as the chiefest honor of all the Apostles that of receiving and
communicating to the Church the wonderful vision. of the Revelation. As we have already
discovered, these visions in the last book of the Bible bear us in vision through all the
stormy experiences of God's people throughout this entire Gospel Age, finally carrying us
down to the Second Coming of the Lord and the introduction of the new dispensation during
which we witness the resurrection of the dead, the judgment scene, and in which all the world is to come forth to a new opportunity
and trial for everlasting life' under the most favorable conditions, under the
enlightenment and restitution influences of the glorified Christ--Jesus the Head, and the
Church, His Body, sharing in the resurrection to glory, honor and immortality with their
Head. Finally, as we find recorded in the last two chapters of the Revelation cited at,
the head of this lesson,* it is our happy privilege
to behold the glorious consummation of the Divine Plan in a redeemed world-all pain, sorrow, sickness and death removed and with all
the finally incorrigible destroyed in the Second Death, and the assurance that "there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain;
for the former things are passed away."
___________
*As we purpose I to treat these chapters in their proper order in the
Revelation series, we are not in this lesson going into a detailed exposition of them.
______________
A WORD IN DEFENSE OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
DEAR BRETHREN:
All service rendered by the Lord's people is done "as unto the
Lord," and His commendation is- all that is necessary or desired. But it often occurs
that a word or two from a brother may be a sweet word spoken in season and may help to
encourage one sometimes when, in the deeper recesses of his heart, he knows that such
encouragement is most needed.
It is for that reason that I am impelled to tell you how much I
Appreciated the Dec. 15th Herald, and especially
the first article, and the second one, with particular reference to "HUMAN CHURCH
ORGANIZATION NOT DESIRABLE," on page 347. The latter seems to me to be most timely,
and to one who has a sacred passion for that Liberty Which we have in Christ Jesus, it is
indeed good to know that the Lord's people still have the benefit of a publication that
hews as closely as possible to the "Old Paths"; Whose compilers and editors have
a vision broad enough to grant to each Christian the freedom of independent thinking and
who do not become fired with prideful indignation because the Lord may have shown to some
other brother some view different from theirs; who. do not, assume for themselves an
'intelligence and authority greater than the Lord has evidently provided, nor think of,
themselves more highly than they ought. It is refreshing to note, your statement that you
hold in the very same dear fellowship one who loves the Lord, even though he may differ
with you in some of the opinions you hold. Having read very carefully all of the Heralds appearing since their beginning, I can and
do most willingly testify that this spirit of love and forbearance has been carried out.
1, rejoice in this and profoundly congratulate you for it.
It is difficult to see how any brother could see anything
objectionable in having some chartered business corporation to function, in a legalized
way, as a center through which the Lord's people can carry on whatever they may conceive
to be the Lord's work. It would become objectionable and an Abomination to the Lord only
should it take to itself powers that belong only to the Lord; that is, should it become
ob sessed with the idea that IT is the Church and the sole arbiter of what is right -or
wrong for the Lord's people; should it lose sight of the fact that it is but an instrument
in the hands of the Lord and His people, to be used for furthering His Cause, and instead
think of itself as having some peculiar Divine authority and power, and then proceed to
use this assumed authority in dictating to the Lord's people in matters of faith and
practice. I pray and hope that the, PASTORAL BIBLE 'INSTITUTE will never fall into that
error so as to surely build up still another Babylonish sect. A business corporation used
as a means to carry on certain work which the Church finds it best to do by that means, is
that and nothing more, It should be nothing more nor less than that. So long as it urges
the friends to hold fast to the Head and to Him alone, and to look to the Word of God
Alone for the subjects and objects of their faith, to "prove all things" and to
accept only that which appeals as true-to their consecrated and sanctified reason, just so
long will it have the blessing of the Lord. Would it go beyond this and seek to. en slave
its associates into a yoke of bondage whereby their minds should become bound to
everything that proceeded out of its mouth, and their hearts narrowed into fellowship with
only those whose heads are likewise bound, then surely the Lord's blessing must be
withdrawn and proportionately the 'devil would find space to enter and insinuate all
manner of malice, envyings, strife, until he might succeed in taking away. all of that
dear Liberty of Conscience for the attainment of which the brethren of the Lord have, in
part, made the great covenant of sacrifice.
I earnestly pray that the Lord may guide you by His spirit and keep
you from such temptations, or lead you through them triumphant.
Your brother in the Truth that has made us free,
FREDERICK ROEHL.
New Orleans, La.
REPLY BY PUBLISHERS
DEAR BROTHER:
Your kind favor of Dec. 20th has been received, and we wish to assure
you of our deep and hearty appreciation of this message, as it brings to us genuine
encouragement of heart and mind in connection with the ministry the brethren here are
endeavoring to carry forward. We are glad to know that you have been blessed in reading
the columns of the Herald. You may be sure,
dear brother, that it is increasingly the desire of the brethren having this ministry in
charge to present before the Lord's people that which we feel sure will be to their
edification and development as new* creatures in Christ Jesus. We are more and more
impressed with the importance of presenting only that which we know to be sound
doctrine-that which is thoroughly substantiated -by clear statements of our Lord, the
Apostles and Prophets.. It is a source, too, of real satisfaction in these days to re-,
member that this was the policy and spirit of our dear Pastor in all of his ministry on
behalf of the household-of faith.
We desire, too, that the friends shall be sure to make the Truth
their own, and not to accept any statements as truth, published in our journal, which they
do not find supported by the Scriptures. To this end we are continually encouraging the
friends to study the Truth-to compare our presentations with the Scriptures. We find that
it is in this connection that the maintenance of their Liberty in Christ is of
inestimable importance.
We do most fully concur in- the statements of your I own letter
bearing along the line of the value of Christian freedom. The history of the Church since
the beginning of the Age shows that the Adversary has made special attempts to interfere
with the progress of God's people in coming to a
knowledge of the Truth. His methods generally have been to use some individual who,
possessed naturally of pride and ambition, has set himself up as the sole teacher of the
Church, and has lorded it over God's heritage; or if not that method, he has frequently
succeeded in using certain systems and organizations among the Lord's people, so that
they have usurped the individual right of Christians to settle every matter of doctrine
and practice themselves, personally.' The delegation of this liberty or right to others,
to think for us, to interpret the Scriptures and to settle for us what is Truth,
represents a course of which the Scriptures do not approve, inasmuch as those who do this
are subjecting themselves to being misled into wrong conceptions of the Lord and His
Truth, the result of which Would mean their failure to, attain the development I of proper
Christian character, and failure to ultimately attain the great reward.
In this connection we desire to state that if yourself or any' of the
friends at any time see anything in the presentations of the Herald that does not appear consistent or in
accordance with the Truth and sound doctrine as presented-in the Bible, we shall be glad
if you will bring such matters to our attention for further investigation and
consideration.
Again expressing our
appreciation of your helpful message, and assuring you of our hearty good wishes and
Christian love, we are,
Your brethren And fellow-servants in the Anointed One,
PASTORAL BIBLE INSTITUTE.
VOL. III. March 15, 1920 No. 6
"For even Christ our
Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let- us keep the feast."--1 Cor. 5:7,
8.
IN THE ABOVE statement the Apostle indicated that it is the Lord's
good pleasure that spiritual Israel are honored with the high privilege of celebrating the
most significant and important of all events-the death of our dear Redeemer, securing the
ransom price for the redemption of all the world. The foundation of the Passover lesson
was laid in the typical experiences of fleshly Israel, centuries in advance of our Lord's
First Advent.
The severe bondage of Israel under Pharaoh, the god or ruler of
Egypt, calls to mind the bondage of corruption under which "the whole creation
groans," being 'burdened under the reign of sin and death; and Pharaoh fitly typified
Satan, "the god of this world." In the deliverance of all Israel under the
leadership of Moses we see the deliverance, the I liberation, of all who reverence God and
His laws under the leadership of the greater than Moses-Christ, Head and Body, during the
Millenium, In the overthrow of Pharaoh and his hosts we see the type of the destruction,
in the Second Death, of Satan and all who follow his course. These anti typical
blessings are all the pictured results of the Anti typical Passover, of which Christ is
the central figure.
THE LAMB SLAIN
The Scripture which refers to our Lord as the Lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world indicates to us that all the details of this Passover were
clearly in the mind and plan of God, not only since the fall of Adam under the death
sentence, but from long before Adam's creation. It thus assures us that although the
justice of God only was manifested for centuries, although Divine love was not "manifested" until the First Advent of
Jesus, nevertheless love was in God's heart toward His creatures, from the beginning.
As the Passover
deliverance represented the Millennial blessing, so the Passover night represented this Gospel Age, in which all who
trust in God wait for His salvation-in which the entire "household of faith"
feeds ,on the unleavened bread of Truth, mingled with -the bitter herbs of trial and
testing, waiting for the Morning -in which the Church "of the first-born," under
the protection of "the blood of the Lamb" is passed over from condemnation to justification,
from death to life. Ah! there it is! 'For that reason we keep a. continual feast
of-rejoicing in the Lord, feeding on our Lamb and unleavened bread and herbs. For this
reason, also, we keep the annual Memorial of all this, "for even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast."--1 Cor. 5:7
It was this that our Master, enjoined upon all -His disciples,
saying, "As often as ye do this, [as year
by year, ye shall frequently, before my Second
Coming, do this], do it in remembrance of me-and
no longer in remembrance of the, typical lamb and the typical passing over of the typical
first-born of typical Israel.
For centuries the Adversary. blinded the Lord's people to, this
simple custom of. the early Church, persuading them first of all that the Romish Mass was
the same thing, and later that the quarterly, monthly and weekly celebrations of
Protestants would do as well. How much we were losing under those delusions we never knew
until graciously brought to see the truth respecting "Christ our Passover, sacrificed
for us," on whose account we, "first born," celebrate.
We will no longer be defrauded of the blessing our Lord designed for
us. We 'Will "keep the feast." And so surely as the consecrated believers of
this Age are the "Church of the first-born," so surely will there be .a
deliverance later of all of the household under the lead of the First-born (Christ), even
as the type showed. And that the after-born delivered by Moses will ultimately consist
only of the obedient, the Apostle clearly shows.-Acts 3:23.
"IN THE SAME NIGHT"
How much more impressive and inspiring it is to celebrate an
important matter on its anniversary--to recall the deeds and words and looks, and place
ourselves with the chief actors of that greatest of all dramas, which over eighteen
centuries -ago- ended at Calvary. It even strengthens -our general faith in Divine
providence to note that the very day, the very hour, as well as the very year of this
tragedy God had predetermined, so that although previously the Jews sought to take Him to
put Him to death, no man laid hands on Him,, because "His hour was not yet
come." The precise time of this great event had not only been typified for centuries,
with careful precision as to the very day, but our Lord with equal exactness declared
"Mine hour is come," and when instituting the bread and wine Memorial, of His
own death as the Antitypical Lamb He waited,. "and when the hour was come He sat down" with His
disciples to cat the Passover supper, saying, "With desire have I desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer."--Luke 22:15.
"LET US KEEP THE FEAST"
With equal carefulness to that shown by our Lord and His Apostles,
let -us keep the feast, the Memorial of His death, as He directed-not at any time,
morning, noon or night, but only as a supper-not any day, but only on its anniversary--if
we would "do this," rather than commemorate something else, on some other date.
This year, Saturday, April 3 - rd, will correspond to the day on
which our Lord was crucified, from 9 a., in. until 3 p. m. when He died, crying, "It
is finished." He was .laid in Joseph's new, tomb before 6 p. m., and the next day
(beginning at that hour) was the first day of the Feast of Passover celebrated by the
Jews, corresponding this year to Sunday, April 4th. We celebrate nothing in common with
our Hebrew friends, but refer to their date by way of making clear the date on which we
locate our Lord's death and its Memorial Supper of the preceding evening.
Our Lord instituted the Memorial Supper, which He requested. His
followers to celebrate, after six o'clock on the evening before He was crucified, "in
the same night in which He was betrayed," which this year will correspond to April 2nd
after six o'clock. This, how ever, as we have previously shown, was on the 14th of
Nisan, the very same day on which He died-God hav ing provided the Jews a custom for
counting their days from 6 p. m. to 6 p. m. from sundown to sundown.
WASHING ONE ANOTHER'S FEET
Jesus and His disciples, being Jews, were obligated to keep the
Jewish Passover Supper, and ate together a literal lamb, with herbs and unleavened bread,
and wine; but we are no longer interested in those typical matters, which have forever
passed away by being fulfilled in Christ. It was after
the Jewish Passover Supper that our Lord instituted the new, the Memorial Supper,
commemorative. of His own sacrifice for the first-borns, and of their joint-sacrifice with
Him, as is clearly manifest.
Whether the washing, of His disciples' feet by our Lord was after the
Passover Supper and before the Memorial Supper or after the latter, we cannot be too
positive, but apparently it was the latter (Matt. 26:26); and was intended as an example
in humility and a lesson to the Apostles who seem still to have had a spirit of rivalry
for pre-eminence. In any event the feet washing was not a part of the Memorial, nor do we
understand it to have been enjoined as a custom amongst our Lord's disciples, though we
have no quarrel with those who think differently and choose to wash each other's feet
literally. To our understanding, the lesson was that our Lord's followers were not to shun
any service, however menial, that Would enable them to assist or comfort one another.
Performing this service to-day is usually far from a convenience to those who practice it,
whereas other comforting services are often neglected.
"THIS IS MY BODY"
Apparently it was just when the regular Jewish Passover Supper was
ended that our Lord took some of the left-over unleavened bread, blessed it, broke it into
pieces, and gave them to His disciples saying, "Take, eat; this is my body given for
you; this do in remembrance of Me."--Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19.
These words "This is my body" have caused endless disputes
for centuries amongst the Lord's people, the. basis for the dispute being the Roman
Catholic doctrine of the Mass, which claims that under the priest's blessing, the bread is
changed into the actual flesh of Jesus, which the priest then adores and proceeds to break (a fresh sacrifice) for the sins of those for
whom the Mass is said. To have this procedure resemble that of our Lord, great stress is
laid on the words, "This is my 'body," thereby to prove the body in the bread
and the .possibility of its sacrifice. But the whole matter is very quickly settled when
we remember that our Lord had not yet died when He said these words. Hence He must have
meant, "This bread represents my
body," for any other interpretation or meaning would have been untrue-for He was
still flesh, His change not having yet come in any sense.
Taking our Lord's words in their simple obvious sense, how beautiful
is their lesson. Unleavened (pure) bread henceforth would at this Memorial represent our
Lord, the Bread from heaven, of which we may eat and have everlasting life. The next
thought is that this heaven-supplied "bread" must be "broken" in order
to be appropriated. And so we see that it was necessary not only for our Lord to come from
heaven as the "bread;" but necessary also that He be broken in death--sacrificed
for our sins ere we could appropriate His merit and enjoy everlasting life.
"THE BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT"
The "fruit of the vine" was next introduced as a part of
this Memorial of our Lord's loving sacrifice. He explained that it represented His
blood--"The blood of the New Covenant, shed for many for the remission of sins.)
(Matt. 26:28.) What a reminder this is of the ransom
Price necessary and secured on behalf of the sins of the world. The broken bread
taught a part of the lesson, the "cup" taught the remainder of it. We not only need nourishment, strength, assistance to come
back to God and His favor, but we need the precious. Blood the life of our Lord as our
redemption price to release us from the condemnation of justice.
The Lord's disciples must, by faith partake of (appropriate) both the
"bread" and the "cup," or they cannot be one with Him. More than this:
the Apostle shows that there is another subsequent view of this Memorial. We who thus eat
and drink-who thus partake of our Savior's merits-are reckoned in with Him as His
"members," as His "body," being broken; and our lives sacrificed in
His -service under his direction are counted as a part of His sacrifice. The Apostle's
words are: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion [common-union] of
the blood of Christ? The loaf which we break, is it not the communion of the body of
Christ? For we being many are one loaf, and one body, because we are all partakers of that
one loaf -- [Christ]." -- 1 Cor. 10:16,17.
DRINKING OF THE LORD'S CUP BY THE CHURCH
The drinking of the Lord's Cup by the Church represents our
participation in the sufferings of Christ in the present time. None shall be a member of
the Body of the great Mediator of the New Covenant unless he come in now tinder the proper
terms. The drinking of the blood, then, is the sharing of the Cup. For if we drink not of
His Cup, neither shall we share with Him in His glory. He said, "Drink ye all of
it." All must drink, and the entire Cup must
be drained during this Age.
It is a very great privilege that we are permitted to have a share in
the sufferings of Christ. "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him."
We shall participate in the inauguration of the New Dispensation, and in dispensing its
blessings. The Antitype of Moses' who will do the sprinkling, is Christ the Head and the
Church His Body, glorified, of whom we read in Acts 3:22, "For Moses truly said unto
the Fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like
unto Me"--that is, Moses was His type,. on a smaller scale. The Body is now being
raised up. Jesus was first raised up, then all the Apostles; and following after, the
remaining members of His Body.
As Moses sprinkled all the people, so this antitypical Moses, when
completed, will "sprinkle" the World of mankind; and this will mean the bringing
of them into harmony with the Divine Law. It will require the thousand years to
"sprinkle" mankind. So there is a great difference between the drinking of the
Cup and the sprinkling of the blood. The sprinkling with the blood represents
justification, while the drinking of the Cup by the Church represents, not only
justification, but sanctification.
OUR LORD'S RECOGNITION OF THE DIVINE PURPOSES
Our Lord, in His memorable words to St. Peter--"the Cup which My
Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" -referred, evidently, to His dying
experiences, which were severe in the extreme. He was dishonored of men and reckoned as an
enemy of God--a blasphemer. His physical sufferings He knew would be intense, but to His
perfect mind the shame and disesteem, the opprobrium, added greatly to the poignancy of
His anguish. Yet this was the Cup the Father had given Him; it was the Divine purpose
respecting Him.
Our Lord had all the experiences necessary for proving and testing
His loyalty; for it was necessary that He manifest His loyalty before both angels and men.
The whole matter had been Divinely arranged from before the creation of man. He was
"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8.) Everything
pertaining to that. slain Lamb was foreknown by the Father. Jesus was to drink the Cup
which belonged to the sinner, in order that He might redeem man and might thus be a
faithful and merciful High Priest. This was the Cup of suffering and death. It was
necessary that Jesus should suffer the death of the cross in order that He might redeem
the Jew.
LOVE AND LOYALTY MANIFESTED BY SUBMISSION
All His sufferings were foretold in the Scriptures. The crucifixion
was pictured by the lifting up of the brazen serpent in the wilderness. All of His
experiences were foreknown, forearranged and necessary. When He came. to earth to do the
Father's will, He did not know of all that was to come. But He learned obedience by the
things which He suffered, the things' which were "written in the Book." He
submitted Himself to all the Father's will, and thus He proved His loyalty. As He Himself
declared,, "I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of My Father which sent
Me!" As the hour of the consummation of His sacrifice drew near, in the lonely shades
of Gethsemane, the Master prayed, "My Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pass
from me!" We are not to suppose that He prayed for the Cup of death to pass away; but
He wondered whether or not the ignominious experiences of the crucifixion might pass. Yet
we find that He did not murmur nor rebel, but said, "Not My will, but Thine, be
done!"
SPECIAL SUPERVISION OF OUR CUP
We see that our beloved Lord drank of the bitter Cup to its dregs,
and did so, thankfully. And we are to remember that He gave the Cup to us, that we should
all drink of it-not that we should all have exactly the same experiences that He had, but
that we must all drink of the Cup of suffering and death in the Father's own way. Jesus
was the perfect One, and the Father dealt with Him in a very particular manner.
In our cases the experiences would be different; because, of our
imperfection we could not be dealt with from the standpoint of perfection. We are,
therefore, not to think of our Cup as a definite, fixed program as was the Master's, but
rather that the Father permitted us' to have a share in the Cup of death with His Son. Our
Cup is supervised by our Savior, although it is the Cup poured by the Father; for it is
the Father's Program.
In the Master's case the Cup. was necessary for the sins of the whole
world. In our case it is not necessary, but it has pleased the Father to grant us a
share in the sufferings and glory of our Lord. Jesus makes good our deficiencies and
develops our characters, fashioning us into His own glorious Image. Without this
supervision of our Cup by our Lord, we might be very poorly developed in many qualities;
therefore our Cup needs to be specially supervised. And so he assures us that, while the
necessary experiences are coming to us, at the same time His grace will be sufficient, and
His strength will be made perfect in our weakness, and all things will be made to work
together for our good.
Let us never forget that unless we partake of His Cup, unless we are
immersed into death with Him, we can have no share in His Kingdom of glory, we can never
sit with Him in His Throne. Let us then count all the things of this earth as loss and
dross that we may attain this Pearl of Great Price. As the experiences of suffering come
to us, let us not be affrighted, nor "think it strange concerning the fiery trials
that shall try us, as though some strange thing happened unto us"; for even
"hereunto were we called," to suffer with our beloved Master now, and by and by
be glorified together with Him in the Kingdom eternal!
"Are ye able to walk in the narrow, straight way,
With no friend by Your side, and no arm for your stay?
Can ye bravely go on through the darkening night?
Can ye patiently wait till the Lord sends the light?
"Ah, if thus ye can drink of the Cup He shall pour,
And if never the banner of Truth ye shall lower,
His beloved ye are, and His crown ye shall wear,
In His Throne ye shall sit, and His glory shall share!"
Ah, yes! How deep are the Lord's lessons! and the deeper we look the
more beauty we see, the eyes of our understanding opening more and more as we appreciate
and heartily obey. "'Let us keep the feast". in both senses, then: (1)
Appropriating and feasting on the great work done for us by our Redeemer and the riches of
grace granted us through Him; and (2) Appreciating our privilege of joint-sacrifice with
our Redeemer--laying down our lives in His service, for the brethren, etc., and thus
"filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ."--Col. 1:24.
Left behind, not because our Lord could not suffer enough for all,
nor because His sufferings were not sufficient for all, but because He wished to have us
with Him to share His nature and His glory, and only by suffering with Him and as His members could we be allowed to share His glory,
honor and immortality.
"SHOW FORTH THE LORD'S DEATH"
We exhort all the Lord's brethren everywhere to join us in observing
the Lord's Memorial on its proper anniversary, as above stated. Gather with as many as
profess I faith and consecration-urge not others. Let us, meet in twos and threes and
larger groups as opportunity permits. Take a, day or two off if necessary to assemble with
brethren nearest you. Do not let monetary considerations decide everything. One spiritual
feast with the Lord and those who celebrate His memorial in sincerity is worth more to us
than several meals of natural food. Man shall not live by earthly bread alone, but
specially by the bread from heaven.
Even the solitary ones who cannot
possibly meet with even one more should celebrate. "Soda biscuits'' are
unleavened bread and will do very well-though if you live near a Hebrew family they Will
be pleased to sell you an unleavened loaf (cracker) for a cent or two. As for "fruit
of the vine:" it is advisable to put away a bottle of grape juice every summer; but
if you have none you can stem raisins and use the juice, which will be "fruit of the
vine" as truly as any other.
But do not let us allow preparations
for the Memorial to so fill our thoughts that the real meaning of the emblems will be
forgotten. on -the contrary, let us give as much of the preceding and the succeeding days
as possible to prayer, and to meditation on the stupendous events memorialized and feed
upon the Living Bread in our, hearts with thankful Joy
We again recommend that after the season of communion, while
partaking of the symbolic bread and cup, the meetings all close as did the one our Lord
conducted as an example. "They sang a hymn and went out." Let us do the same.
Omitting our usual greetings, etc., let us keep our thoughts with the Lord in Gethsemane,
at the High Priest's Court, before Pilate, before Herod, before Pilate again-beaten,
condemned to death, carrying His cross, crucified--for our sins. These thoughts are sure
to make us appreciate our Lord the more, and to hate sin the more, and thus will help us
to realize better ".what manner of persons we ought to be in all holy conversation
and godliness."
The New York City Ecclesia will meet to observe the -Memorial Supper
on the evening of April 2, at 7:30 o'clock. The service will be held at the Young Women's
Christian Association, corner Schermerhorn Street and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, N.
Y.--convenient to subways, elevated and surface lines.
We would like to have a postal card from the various classes,
including the ones and twos thus celebrating, stating the number present and
participating.
SERIES XXVII
THE-FIRST HARVEST ANGEL'S MESSAGE
"And I saw an Angel flying
in Mid-heaven, having aionian [everlasting] Glad tidings to announce to Those who Dwell on
the Earth, even to Every Nation, and Tribe, and Language, and People,--saying with a loud
Voice, 'Fear God, and give Glory to Hint; Because the Hour of His Judgment is come; and
worship Him who.Made the Heaven, and the Earth, and the Sea, and the Fountains of
Waters.'"--Rev. 14:6, 7.
LET THE, READER'S consideration first be, of the significance of the
symbols employed in this vision, and endeavor next to discover what must occur on earth in
order to fulfil the requirements of the same.
In harmony with other visions where angels are represented as
proclaiming a message from God, we interpret this angel to represent a company of ,the
Lord's consecrated. It would therefore seem to point
to an organized movement. The fact of the angel flying in Mid-heaven would represent a
very conspicuous movement, operating in the true powers of spiritual control. The fact
that the message was a truthful one is indicated
in its being called the "everlasting Gospel." In other words it was the true
Gospel. That this message of the true Gospel was to be preached to all who dwelt upon the
earth, is explained in the words that follow to mean every nation, tribe, language and
people, signifying nothing less than a world-wide message. A "voice" represents
a human agency, either one or many; in this case, doubtless, a large number.
One of the very significant features of this vision, and one which
without other assistance ought to enable us to discover the time when it will meet its
fulfillment is, that this proclamation of the everlasting Gospel is ,made contemporaneous
with the announcement of the judgment Day; and the two are thus indicated as closely
related. We can hardly avoid the conclusion, therefore, that the vision could not be
fulfilled until a full knowledge- of what is comprehended in the Glad Tidings had been
-made known to those engaged in this movement. This full, clear knowledge did not come
until about forty years ago. No expositor previous to the middle of the nineteenth century
ever thought of associating the great judgment Day as the Scriptures do with the
proclamation of the Gospel, the Glad Tidings. The Glad Tidings of great joy which is, in
God's due time, to be realized by all people, had been, because of apostasy, utterly lost
sight of until in the closing years of the nineteenth century when it was, as Bible
students know, in a very special way restored to the true Church. 'Careful attention to
this enables us not only to locate the period when this vision had its fulfillment,
beginning some time after 1878, but also to recognize that its fulfillment has been
contem-poraneous with that of the vision considered in our last, of the Lamb standing on'
the Mount Zion.
Many expositors, among them those whom we have frequently referred to
in our previous expositions, have applied this vision to the great Reformation Movement of
the sixteenth century; others to that of the great world-wide Foreign Missionary Movement
which occurred in the opening and middle years of the nineteenth century. Adventist
expositors have quite generally applied this vision, as also that of the preceding one, to
the Second Advent Movement under Win. Miller, which, culminated in the disappointment of
Mr. Miller and his associates in 1844. This latter movement was, without doubt, a prelude
to the vision now under consideration. However, in neither the Reformation Movement nor
that headed by Mr. Miller was there a clear, full understanding of the Gospel given;
neither was the judgment Day of the world looked upon by any of these expositors as being
Good News for unconverted humanity; on the contrary, it was proclaimed as -bad news for
such. The true character of the judgment Day was not understood by those who engaged in
either of these movements; indeed it was riot understood until the vision of the Lamb
standing on Mount Zion began to meet its fulfillment, about 1878.
THE TRUE, THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL
PROCLAIMED IN THESE LATTER TIMES
We therefore conclude that this angel flying in mid-heaven having the
everlasting Gospel to preach, etc., must represent in its beginning features at least a
very prominent movement. among the living saints of the Harvest period, and is, therefore,
to a large extent a matter- of past history. Up to about -forty years ago the truth
respecting the true Gospel had been so perverted
and clouded by the errors of the creeds, both of Romanism and Protestantism, that a
knowledge of the true Gospel which would be required to fulfil the vision did not exist in
either of these great nominal Christian bodies, neither among those associated in the
Miller Movement.
The proclamation of this symbolic angel was that "the hour of
His judgment is come;" i. e., in a sense it had already begun, because this judgment
Day must first begin at the house of God, and this, not only in the spiritual house, but
the nominal house, as well. It would signify, as we shall endeavor, to show as we unfold
the visions that follow in this chapter, that the time had come to prepare the way for the
realization by all mankind of the blessed things referred to in the Glad Tidings, the true
Gospel, the one preached by Jehovah to Abraham--"in thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed.". This preparation for an understanding of these
'blessings 'would of necessity include the destruction of the enemies of truth the false
religious systems. The matters described in the "Voice as the sound of many
waters," and the "Song" sung by the 144,000 (Rev. 14:2, 3), considered in
our previous exposition, refer more especially to the unfolding of the present Truth to
the Lord's consecrated who would engage in this movement; and on the other hand', the
message of the symbolic angel of the Vision we are now considering refers to a public
proclamation given by the Lord's consecrated after they had received a knowledge
themselves.
The public ministrations under the supervision of that special
messenger were doubtless to the largest extent those that fulfilled this vision of the
"angel flying in mid-heaven," etc. These public ministrations we believe are all
now matters of history, having been fulfilled in the years of the recent past. The
agencies used in making this public announcement were various, involving services of
several kinds--the many public lectures to larger and smaller audiences, by means of the
almost phenomenal circulation of the Scripture Studies, the Photo Drama of Creation, and
the distribution of millions of tracts and free papers, all having the effect of bringing the knowledge of the true Gospel to
the "nations" of Christendom. This service differed widely from the private
meetings for study and the assembling in Conventions in different parts of the world
(Christendom), engaged in by the Lord's people. Such ministries are described in the
previous vision already considered.
It will be seen that it would be necessary before such a public
ministration could be engaged in, that the "new Song" be well learned by some at
least, and therefore could not begin until some little time after the Harvest .opened. The
message given to the public, as is well known by all who engaged in the service,
emphasized chiefly that the Glad Tidings when rightly understood was, that the Day of
judgment was at hand, and that this judgment Day was the one so frequently referred to in
the Prophets and the Psalms--a judgment that eventually would cause great rejoicing.
COMING JUDGMENT DAY GOOD TIDINGS FOR ALL
Hear this Gospel of the judgment Day as proclaimed by a preacher of
old. With what rapture of rejoicing does he give utterance to it:
"0 sing unto the Lord a new
song!
Sing unto the Lord all the earth.
Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
Show forth His salvation from day to day!
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all the peoples!
0 sing unto the Lord a new song;
For He hath done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory.
The Lord hath made known His salvation:
His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the nations.
He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel:
All the ends of the earth hath seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth;
Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
The world, and they that dwell therein,
Let the floods clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
Before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth:
With righteousness shall He judge the world,
And the people with equity."--Psa. 96 and 98.
It is a message that is calculated when believed, as all who are
acquainted with if know, to cause men to fear God; i. e., not a manifestation of slavish
fear that the creeds of Christendom inculcate, but rather that reverential fear that
regards Him with the supreme awe that is due Him, because of His infinite greatness and
goodness. It was also calculated to cause those who believed it to have a true conception
of God's character and attributes and thus give Him glory, as they heard the unfolding of
the great Creator's wise, just and loving Plan for His creatures, all the phases of which
were comprehended in the various features of the great judgment Day. The beneficial
effects in these respects produced in the minds of many in the world by this public
witnessing to the Truth, can only in a very small measure be seen in the present time.
However, enough is revealed to show that many, not necessarily consecrated ones, have been
blessed and, comforted and caused to have a new, a better, a truer conception of the great
God as seen in His Plan for all His creatures. Many of this class have been delivered from
the fears that the erroneous creeds of Christendom engendered, particularly the fear of
eternal torment, etc. And we may truthfully say that this work is not yet entirely
completed, it is still going on. Indeed, the sorrow and suffering of the past five years
have prepared and mellowed some hearts to appreciate the message and thus bring comfort
to. some who mourn. This feature of the work has been, and is preparing the way so that
when the great predicted troubles fully come, a much larger number of humanity will then
be glad to read the messages that at the present *time lay quietly enclosed in volumes
that are stored away, possibly never having been opened before that time.
JUDGMENT DAY AT HAND
Let the reader observe that this symbolic angel movement is only a
proclamation of the glorious times coming, soon to be realized, however, by our race. The
visions that succeed this one, and which we next consider, show that other proclamations,
messages are to be given by the same class and afterwards meet their fulfillment before
these blessings can come to the world. Indeed, the events of the present time all point to
the fact that we are near the crisis in human affairs that will fulfil succeeding visions
of judgment, which, how ever, will be followed quickly by the ushering in of the new
order of things. These startling -events that are now transpiring so descriptive of
judgment investigations, are to the faithful Watchers sure premonitions, harbingers of the
dawn of the Millennial morning. In this connection the words of Pastor Russell are found
to be fraught with solemn instruction and significance:
"Many even who are not of the Watchers are noting the signs of
our times and are startled, and led to exclaim, What do these things mean? -- This
remarkable latter-day advance in science, art and mechanical invention? This latter-day
discontent in the midst of plenty and luxury? -- This latter-day growth of millionaires
and paupers? This growth of giant corporations of world-wide power and influence? -- Why
are national policies and public men and their, utterances and doings criticized (judged)
by the masses as never before? -- And what means it that with, an apparent growth in
wealth and numbers in all denominations of Christians there is a growing dissatisfaction,
discontent in them all: a growing tendency to criticize the creeds and the preaching and
everything? -- How comes it that nine-tenths of the preachers in all denominations know
that their hearers desire a change, and would gladly 'move on,' if they knew how to better
themselves even at smaller salaries?
"The Scriptural answer is, The hour of God's judgment is come;
the-time when 'Christendom,' political, financial, social and ecclesiastical, is being
judged-being tried in the Divine balances. And the Scriptures declare that she will be
found wanting, and will be adjudged unworthy to further administer the affairs of earth,
which will be turned over to the elect 'little flock,' according to the Divine
promise.--Luke 12:32.
"The secret of the matter now is the same as in the Jewish
'harvest,' when John explained, saying, 'There standeth One among you whom you know
not.'--John 1, 26."--Z Nov. 7-'98, p. 23.
It will have been noted, that in our expositions of these two visions
recorded in Rev. 14:1-5 and Rev. 14:6, 7, we do not find that the fulfillment of the one
succeeds the other in point of time, but rather that they occur contemporaneously, i. e.,
we find that the Voice that St. John heard, that was "like the sound of many
waters," and that of "harpers playing on their harps," together with the
"new Song" sung by the 144,000, refer to the glorious revelations of present
Truth given to God's saints; and on the other hand, we understand that the angel flying in
mid-heaven, having the ever lasting Gospel to preach, etc., refers to a general procla
mation of the true Gospel throughout Christendom by the Lord's saints and that these both
have been having their fulfillment contemporaneously for some years past. It will be
necessary to further call attention to this point as we consider succeeding visions. These
two visions will not cease fulfilling until all the Elect class have been sealed, which we
believe will be indicated by the ushering in of the dark night that precedes the full
dawning of the Millennial Day. (John 9:4.) The "loud. Voice" of the symbolic
flying angel will doubtless de crease in volume; indeed, since the departure of the
Church's last messenger, the Lord has permitted the development of conditions and
circumstances that have lessened the volume of tone to a very large extent. However, these
incidents were doubtless providential, and are only having the designed effect to prove
who have and who have not learned the "new Song;" 1. e., to so appreciate the
glorious message of present Truth as to cause them to "hope perfectly for the gift
that is to be given them at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Pet.
1:13.--Diaglott.) Let us learn to distinguish the grand and perfect harmony of this new
song from the many confusing and discordant voices. that are being heard throughout
Christendom today!
PASTOR RUSSELL APPLIES VISION TO OUR DAY
It is a matter of no little interest to the faithful Watchers that as
far back as 1881, Pastor Russell, because of an understanding of this vision, was enabled
to foresee the events that are now matters of history, which we have described foregoing.
We quote his words which were given in connection with an exposition in which he was
proving that the vision of the voice that spake from heaven of verse 13, "Blessed are
those dead that die in the Lord from this time," etc., was, about that time (1878),
beginning to have its fulfillment,:
"We look backward at the context to ascertain if possible when
this blessing is due. The seven preceding verses [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12] give, we think,
very clear testimony on the subject. They mention three specific messages [the first one
of which is the subject of our present exposition], which must be proclaimed in the Church
[symbol, heaven], which we believe have been in process [of fulfillment] during the first
seven years of harvest just ended, from 1874 to 1881. The first message [the one of this
article]' embodies not only the everlasting good new (Gospel), but also the time
element,--'The hour of His judgment is come.' This is precisely what was preached by quite
a goodly number of us, viz.: that the Glad Tidings of great joy should yet be unto all
people, and that the 'harvest' or time of trial (judgment) commenced with 1874. . . . All
three of these messages yet continue, and will doubtless continue to be repeated by
others, so long as they contain truth due to the Lord's children."--Z Dec. 1881, p.
S.
The above language clearly shows when this vision we are considering
was understood by. Pastor Russell to have its fulfillment. There is much of absorbing
interest contained in his exposition that has an important bearing on the fulfillment of
succeeding visions of chapter 14, and will be referred to in its proper order.
It will be of interest to the reader in this connection to note the
comment of Mr. Barnes on this vision now under consideration. Though not possessing a
clear knowledge of. all the features of the Divine Plan (the full Truth not then being
quite due), yet his exposition shows remarkable spiritual discernment, and there is
remarkable harmony between his conclusions and that set forth in Pastor Russell's
interpretation given above.
"'Having the everlasting Gospel.' The Gospel is here called
everlasting or eternal,. (a) because its great truths have always existed, or it is
conformed to eternal truth; (b) because it will forever remain unchanged-not being liable
to fluctuations like the opinions of men; (c) because its effects will be everlasting-in
the redemption of the soul, and the joys of heaven. In all the glorious eternity before
the redeemed, they will be but developing the effects of that Gospel on their own hearts,
and enjoying the results of it in the presence of God. . . .
"When that time will be, the writer [St. John] does not intimate
farther than that it would be after the beast
and its adherents had attempted to stay its progress; and for the fulfillment of this,
therefore, we are to look for a period subsequent to the rise and fall [from favor] of
that great anti-Christian power symbolized by the beast and his image. . . . The main idea
is, that when God shall be about to cause His Gospel to spread through the world, there
will be, as it were, a solemn judgment on that anti-Christian power which had so long
resisted His Truth and persecuted His saints, and that' on the fall of that power His own
Kingdom will be set up on the earth; that is, in the language of Daniel, 'the Kingdom and
the dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom tinder the whole heaven, shall be given to
the people of the saints of the Most High."'--Dan. 7.--Barnes' Notes on Revelation.
THE SECOND ANGEL'S MESSAGE
"And Another, a Second Angel followed, saying, 'Fallen is
Babylon the Great, who has given All the Nations to drink of the Wine of the Wrath of her
Fornication.' "-Rev. 14:8.
This second angel and his message, we understand refer to another
movement of the saints of the "harvest" period, beginning a little later, but
continuing, contemporaneously with the one just considered. It is, therefore, like the
preceding one, also largely a matter of history, but its fulfillment is not yet complete;
and like the other, will continue in a measure, until the "dark night" sets in,
when all such testimony will, because of the then existing conditions, have to cease.
Considering carefully the comment of Pastor Russell just cited by us we can be sure that
he believed that this vision began its fulfillment about the same time as the one
preceding (1878), and would continue until the Church would finish its testimony in the
"dark night" just ahead. Mr. Barnes' thought on this point, also of interest, is
as follows:
"It is not necessary to suppose that this [vision] would, in the
fulfillment, succeed the other [the vision preceding] in time. The chapter is made up of a
number of representations, all designed to illustrate the same general thing, and to
produce the same general effect on the mind--that the Gospel would be finally triumphant,
and that, therefore, the hearts of the troubled and afflicted (of God's people) should be
comforted. The representation in this verse, bearing on this point,, is, that Babylon, the
great enemy [of the true Church], would fall to rise no more."
It is of no little significance that we have in this vision , for the
first time in the Revelation, the word Babylon mentioned. The ancient empire of Babylon
and its capital city, located on the great river Euphrates, had, long before St. John's
day, ceased to exist. That both city and empire are employed as symbols in this, and
several subsequent visions, all historical expositors are agreed. Mr. Barnes expresses the
general thought of expositors concerning its significance. We quote his words bearing on
this matter:
"In reference to the meaning of the, word [Babylon] in this
place, it may be-remarked (1) that the general characteristics of [literal] Babylon were,
that it was proud, haughty, insolent, oppressive. It was chiefly known and remembered by
the Hebrew people as a power that had invaded the holy land; that had reduced its capital
and. temple to ruins; -that had destroyed the independence of their country, subjecting it
to the condition of a province, and that had carried away the inhabitants into a long and
painful captivity.
"It became, therefore, the emblem of all that was haughty and
oppressive, and especially of all that persecuted the Church of God. (2) The word must be
used here to denote some power that resembled the ancient and literal Babylon in these
characteristics. . . . We are to seek, therefore, in the application of this, for some
power that had the same general characteristics which the literal Babylon had. (3) . . .
All the circumstances require us to understand this of Rome-at some period of its history:
for Rome, like Babylon, was the seat of empire, and the head of the heathen world; Rome
was characterized by many of the same attributes as Babylon, being arrogant' proud,
oppressive, Rome, like Babylon, was distin-guished for its conquests, and for the fact
that it made 'all other. nations subject to its control; Rome had been, like Babylon, a
desolating power, having destroyed the capital of the holy land, and burnt its beautiful
temple, and reduced the country to a province. Rome, like Babylon of old, was the most
formidable power with which the Church had to contend. Yet it is not, I suppose, Rome
considered as Pagan that is here meant-but Rome considered as the prolongation of the
ancient power in the Papal form."--Barnes.
SYMBOLIC BABYLON FALLEN
This interpretation of the symbolic Babylon very well represents the
-consensus of opinion of all expositors who lived previous to the middle of the nineteenth
century. Mr. H. G. Guinness in his. able work, "The
Approaching End of the Age," has given a more exhaustive exposition of the
symbolical Babylon than those who preceded him, and it is a treatise well worthy of
consideration by all Bible students. Pastor Russell has very frequently quoted this
eminent writer. However, as would be supposed, because of his greater advantages, Pastor
Russell has given the most comprehensive, and clear unfolding of this Babylon symbol in
all its various phases to be found in all the writings or expositions of today. His
thoughts on this subject are interspersed here and there in his Studies in the Scriptures; more especially,
however, in Vol. IV. It will be our purpose in future expositions to quote freely from his
utterances which describe the symbolism of Babylon in its varied phases. Referring to the
generally accepted Protestant view, he says:
"It has been very generally and properly claimed by Protestants
that the name 'Babylon' and the prophetic description are applicable to Papacy, though
recently a more compromising disposition is less inclined so to apply it. On the contrary,
every effort is now made on the part of -the sects of, Protestantism to conciliate and
imitate the Church of Rome, and to affiliate and co-operate with her. In so doing they
become part and parcel with her, while they justify her course and fill up the measure of
her iniquities, just as surely as did the Scribes and Pharisees fill up the measure of
their fathers who killed the prophets. (Matt. 23:31, 32.)"--Studies, Vol. IV, p. 26.
After describing the literal typical Babylon, empire and city, we
have given by this special messenger in this same connection, a brief but comprehensive
unfolding of this symbol, which symbol we will find is frequently mentioned in the
subsequent Revelation visions. This unfolding we quote:
"Such was-the typical city; and, like a great millstone cast
into the sea, it was sunken centuries ago, never again to rise: even the memory of it has
become a reproach and a byword. Now let us look I for its antitype, first observing that
the Scriptures clearly point it out, and then noting the aptness of the symbolism.
"In symbolic prophecy a 'city' signifies a religious government
backed by power and influence. Thus, for instance, the 'holy city, the new Jerusalem,' is
the symbol used to represent the established Kingdom of God, the overcomers of the Gospel
Church exalted and reigning in glory. The Church is also, and in the same connection,
represented as a woman, 'the bride, the Lamb's wife,' in power and glory, and backed by
the power and authority of Christ, her husband. 'And there came unto me one of the seven
angels . . . saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he . .
. . showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem.'--Rev. 21:9, 10.
"This same method of interpretation applies to mystical Babylon,
the great ecclesiastical kingdom, 'that great city' (Rev. 17:1-6), which is described as a
harlot, a fallen woman (an apostate church;--for the true Church is a virgin), exalted to
power and dominion, and backed, to a considerable degree, by the kings of the earth, the
civil powers, which are all more or less intoxicated with her spirit and doctrine. The
apostate church lost her virgin purity. Instead of waiting, as an espoused and chaste
virgin, for exaltation with the heavenly Bridegroom, she associated herself with the kings
of the earth and prostituted her -virgin purity-both of doctrine and characterto suit the
world's ideas; and in return she received, and now to some extent exercises, a present
dominion, in large measure by their support, direct and, indirect. This unfaithfulness to
the Lord, whose name she claims, and to her high privilege to be 'the 'chaste virgin'
espoused to Christ,. is the occasion of the symbolic appellation, 'harlot,' while her
influence as a sacerdotal empire, full of inconsistency and confusion, is symbolically
represented under the name Babylon, which, in its widest sense, as symbolized by the
Babylonian empire, we promptly recognize to be Christendom; while in its more restricted
sense, as symbolized by the ancient city Babylon, we recognize to be the nominal Christian
Church."--Studies, Vol. IV pp. 25, 26.
MYSTICAL MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS
Pastor Russell further enlarging on the significance of symbolical
Babylon goes on to say that many sincere Christians had not, at the time he wrote these
words, become sufficiently awake to the decline of Protestantism to discern the
relationship existing, between the various sects of this latter system, with. that of
Papacy. He informs us of a fact seen by a considerable number of students of Scripture
today, that Protestant churches no longer have the spirit of the Reformation:
"Protestantism, as it exists today, is not the result of the
Great [sixteenth-century] Reformation, but of its de cline; and it now partakes to a
large degree of the dis position and character of the Church of Rome, from which its
various branches sprang. The, various Protestant sects (and we say it with all due
deference to a comparatively few devout souls within them, whom the Lord designates as
'wheat,' in contradistinction to the" over whelming numbers of 'fares') are the
true daughters of that degenerate system of nominal Christianity, the Papacy, to which the
Revelator makes reference in applying to her the name 'Mother of harlots.' (Rev. 17:5.)
And let it not pass unobserved that both Romanists and Protestants now freely own the
relationship of mother- and daughters, the former continually styling herself the, Holy
Mother Church, and the latter, with pleased complacency, ,endorsing the idea, as shown by
many public utterances of leading Protestant clergymen and laymen.' . . .
"But let us see how the Protestant systems sustain this
relationship of daughters to Papacy. Since Papacy, the mother, is not a single individual,
but a great religious system, in keeping with the symbol we- should expect to see other
religious systems answering to the illustration of daughters of similar character-not, of
course, so old, nor necessarily so depraved, as Papacy--but, nevertheless, 'harlots' in
the same sense; i.e., religious systems claiming to be either the espoused virgin or the
Bride of Christ, and yet courting the favor and receiving the support of the world, at the
price of disloyalty to Christ.
"To this description the various Protestant organizations fully
correspond. They are the great daughter systems. . . . The birth of these various daughter
systems came in connection with reforms from the corruptions of the mother Church. The
daughter systems parted 'from the mother under circumstances of travail, and were born
virgins. However, they contained more than true reformers; they contained many who still
had the spirit of the mother, and they inherited many of her false doctrines and theories;
and it was not long until they fell into many of her bad practices and proved their
characters true to the prophetic stigma--'harlots.'
"But let it not be forgotten that while the various reformation
movements did valuable work in the 'cleansing of the sanctuary, yet only the temple class,
the sanctuary class, has ever been the true Church, in God's reckoning. The great human
systems, called churches, have never been more than nominally the Church."--Studies,
Vol. IV, pp. 28, 29, 30.
"COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE"
With what solemn meaning indeed do the words of this special
messenger come home to the Lord's people in these closing days. The reader should bear
well in mind that the particular characteristics of the decline of this great Reformation
Movement described in the above quotation--ending
in. later times in the formationof the
daughter sects--are, in these closing days -finally, and for the last time we trust,
repeated again in our very midst--in the midst of that body of people who have professed
to represent a cleansed sanctuary, free from the spirit of Babylon. Alas that so many have
overlooked the fact that it is as individuals that we are called to membership in the
Bride of Christ, and our identity as members of a human system or organization counts for
nothing in the eyes of the Great Head of the Church. We need as individual Christians, to
more than ever keep in mind the various peculiarities of the spirit of Babylon, for it is
its spirit, even more than its letter, that is- to be overcome. Let him that readeth
understand!
It is a well established fact that a few of the eminent godly men who
had not come to see clearly all that is embraced in the full everlasting Gospel before
they finished their service in death, nevertheless saw, and to a certain extent engaged
in, the work of this symbolic angel in declaring the fall (from favor) of Protestantism
and associated it with Papacy as about to receive her final-doom. We quote H. G. Guinness
in this connection, speaking of Papacy's failure to give heed to the judgments that have
been sent on her:
"Rome has proved herself irreformable and deserving of the
dreadful doom so long decreed against her. . . . And when we turn our eyes to the reformed
Protestant churches of Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and England, what do we behold? The power
of godliness to a greater extent, a purer creed an open Bible, an educated people, a
general respect for the things of God, and some vital godliness, some faith. But even here
how much of covert or open infidelity, what rationalism, what skepticism, what 'broad
church' views, what oppositions of science, falsely so-called. What worldliness, what
national sins, what confusion and strife in the church, what, loathsome vice and
ungodliness in the world!
"National churches honeycombed with infidelity, even when not
relapsing back to Popery under another name, and nonconformist churches fast admitting the
same deadly leaven., Where can we find a Christianity, worthy of Christ? Where a church,
like a chaste virgin, fit to be His Bride?
"The Christian Church as a witness for God in the world has
failed, like the Jewish nation, and become apostate. There is a little flock, there is a
true Church, but its members are scattered abroad and almost invisible in the great
Babylon; they are the seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal, they are the
called and chosen and faithful who follow the Lamb, they are those who, have turned to God
from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven; they
are those who have not the form only, but the power of godliness those who keep themselves
unspotted from the world, and overcome through faith. They are found in every section of
the professing Church and the Lord knoweth them that are His--'They shall be mine, saith
the Lord, in that day when I make up my Jewels."
"But for the rest-for the vast professing body which bears His
name, it has not continued in the goodness of God, it has turned His grace into
licentiousness, its sentence has gone forth, it must be 'cut off.' . . . The professing
church has long been unworthy of the sacred name it bears. . . . Instead of being the
instrument of spreading the truth of the Gospel among men, it is the worst hindrance to
their attaining that knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, in which life
eternal lies; like the Pharisees of old it stands as the great obstruction, neither
entering itself into the Kingdom, nor suffering those who would to enter in. . . . The
church is confounded with the world, and the true saints are strangers in its society; it
is no longer the pillar and ground of the truth, it is the hotbed of heresy; false
doctrine and corruption of every kind. . . . An end must come to all this! Not only does
the Word of God predict it, not only does our own sense of righteousness demand it, but
the solemn analogies of history distinctly intimate it. Let the undeniable fact that past
apostasies brought down the judgment they deserved, forewarn men what must be the end of
the existing apostasy of the people of God. Babylon must fall! Great Babylon must come in
remembrance before God, who will give unto her. the cup of the fierceness of His -wrath,
for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities 1 The
testimony of the Apocalypse is full and fearful as to the doom that is now impending over
Christendom."--Approaching End of the Age.
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES, FOUND WANTING
The above words 'were written, in 1880 and were quoted by Pastor
Russell in the Watch Tower, December, 1880.
A. J. Gordon in 1889 utters a no less solemn voice of warning:
"Every age has ended in judgment, and so shall the present
dispensation close., As apostate Judaism met its doom in the destruction of Jerusalem, so
apostate Christendom expiates its sentence - in the overthrow of mystical Babylon. -, This
destruction will fall, we, believe [first] upon the literal city of seven hills, as the
visible center of the apostasy. What other systems beside the Papal may be involved in the
judgment, is a most solemn question to be pondered. It is plainly intimated that the
mother has daughters, and therefore that Babylon the Great has outlying suburbs, which are
in fellowship with her. Let him that readeth understand!"--Ecce Venit.
David N. Lord, an expositor frequently cited by Pastor Russell, and
also in the expositions of this journal, looked for the fulfillment of this vision in the
future of his day (1846). He saw very clearly, as will be observed in the quotation, the
failure of the Reformation in the formation of the Protestant sects, and that those who,
in any measure,. united with or received support by the civil powers, were part and parcel
of Babylon. In this connection his words. which we quote are very significant:
"The Protestant churches [sects] so far from going out of great
Babylon, continued in her communion by still acting on her [the mother's] principles,
arrogating the same dominion over the laws of God, and uniting- in the same manner in
imposing their creeds and rites on others, and persecuting dissentients. . . . The
Protestant nationalized churches, therefore, great as was the sum of her [the mother's]
false doctrines which they rejected,- inasmuch as they thus imitated her, in an arrogation
of the throne of God, and elevation of their authority above His rights and will, still
continued to belong to great Babylon, and if they subsist at that time [the time of
judgment described in the vision], are to share in her fall."--Exposition of Apocalypse.
The fulfillment of this vision recorded in Rev. 14:8, as we have
before seen, is simply that of an announcement, a proclamation of Babylon's fall; 1. e.,
her fall from favor. This announcement has been having its fulfillment since the-Harvest
of the Age began. Her fall (destruction) is portrayed in chapter 18. Pastor Russell has
frequently in his writings given this as his understanding of the meaning of this vision.
I In 1900 he said:.
"More evident does it become, daily, that our Lord's
,declaration, 'Babylon is fallen!' does not signify the outward collapse of
'Churchianity;' but that nominal 'Christendom' has fallen from Divine favor; just as the
fall of national Judaism from Divine favor, at the rejection and crucifixion of Messiah at
His 'first presence, meant not the collapse at the moment of that religio-political
system.' The collapse will be sudden and awful when it does come; and while only a few
realize the fallen-from-grace condition of Babylon in the present, none will be ignorant
of her collapse when it comes."--Z '00-3.
"But when we say that nearly all will fall--'a thousand shall
fall at thy side" We do not mean that they will fall into open immorality, nor that
they will abandon church organizations, nor that the fallen ones will even know that they
have fallen. On the contrary, the fallen ones as usual will think that they are rising
higher and higher -getting rid of error, etc. They will be thoroughly blind to the fact
that with the errors and superstitions they are getting rid also of the truths and the
faith which alone constituted them. Christians in God's sight. This is the sense in which
Babylon is falling, since 1878, and hence God's call, 'Come 'out of her, my people, that
ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'--Rev.
18:4."--Z '99-83, 84.
DRUNKEN WITH WINE OF FALSE DOCTRINE
The next clause in the vision gives a reason why Babylon has utterly
fallen from favor, become apostate, rejected. It is because she "has given all the
nations to drink of the wine of, the wrath of her fornication." This statement
expressed in several different forms is found, several times in the subsequent visions. In
chapter 17, the woman upon whose, forehead is the name Babylon written, holds in her hand
a golden cup, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication., (v. 4.); and in
verse 2 St: John was told that the "in-habitants of the earth had been made drunk
with the wine of her fornication." Again, in verse 6, St. John saw the woman, the
mother of harlots, "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
witnesses of Jesus." Briefly stated, the meaning of the expression in the vision we
are considering is, that the great harlot, mother system, had at the time the vision:
meets its fulfillment, succeeded in causing so-called Christendom to drink and become
stupefied with false religious doctrines and was on this account ripe for judgment. The
Sixteenth-Century Reformation Movement had exposed to -view some of these false doctrines,
and caused many to see the apostate mother system in' its true light. The failure of the
Reformation Movement by the formation of the sects, caused a cessation of. this cleansing
work and gradually brought in the present apostate condition. Those represented in this
movement by the angel crying, "fallen, fallen is Babylon," are the company that
in the last forty years have been proclaiming this fact. The expression "the wine of
the wrath of God," is interpreted in two ways. Mr. Barnes says:
"The meaning here is, that the nations had drunk of that cup
which brought on the wrath of God on account of her 'fornication.' . . . The word
'fornication' here is used to denote spiritual
uncleanness; that is, -heathen and superstitious rites and observances. The term is
often used in the Scriptures as applicable to idolatry and superstition."
Others interpret the expression that these false doctrines made the
nations to become infuriated, causing them to carry out the mother system's cruel decrees
against protest-ants against her abominations. Pastor Russell comments on this expression:
"In horror we ask ourselves, Why did kings, and princes, and
emperors, and the people at large, permit such atrocities.? Why did they not rise long ago
and smite down anti-Christ? The answer is found in the Scriptures (Rev. 18:3): The nations
were drunk (stupefied), they lost their senses in drinking the mixed wine. (doctrine,
false and true mixed) given them by the apostate church. They were deceived by the claims
of Papacy."--Studies, Vol. 11, p. 348.
Will the indirect enlightening influences of the Truth ever again
become so obscured as to cause another, although brief repetition of this symbolical
drunkennessto act against the Truth?
Put on thy
beautiful robes, Bride of Christ,
For the King shall embrace thee today;
Break forth into singing; the morning has dawned,
And the shadows of night flee away.
Shake off the dust from thy feet, Bride of Christ;
For the Conqueror, girded with might,
Shall vanquish the foe, the dragon cast down
Arid the cohorts of death put to flight.
The winds bear
the noise of his chariot-wheels,
And the thunders of victory roar:
Lift up thy beautiful gates, Bride of Christ,
For the grave holds dominion no more.
Thou art the
Bride of His love, His elect;
Dry, thy tears, for thy sorrows are past;
Lone were the hours when thy Lord was away,
But He comes with the morning at last.
--APRIL 4--JUDGES
2:6-23--
Golden Text.--"When in their distress they turned unto
Jehovah, the God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them."--2 Chron. 15:4.
THE BOOK OF JUDGES was designed to furnish a history of Israel during
the period intervening between the death of Joshua and the birth of Samuel, or from the
close of the conquest of Canaan to the beginnings of the Hebrew monarchy. But this was not
its Only purpose. The main portion of the book (2:6-16:31) was clearly designed to teach a great religious
lesson, to wit, that departure from the service of Jehovah, especially in the worship of
other gods, brought oppression and disaster upon the people of Israel, from which relief
might be obtained by crying to Jehovah, who stood ready to raise up a deliverer, under
whom rest from foreign oppression might be enjoyed.
Israel's history from the time of the, division of. Canaan amongst
the tribes until the anointing of Saul to be their king, a period of 450 years, is called.
the period of the judges, Joshua being the first judge and Samuel the last. These judges
were evidently not elected to their position, but raised to it providentially. But as
these judges had no power or authority, collected no revenues and held no office which
they could entail upon others, it follows that any power or influence they possessed was a
personal one, and to give it weight or force' implied a proper acknowledgment of them as
divinely appointed or raised up. This arrangement led the people continually to look to
God for their helpers and leaders rather than to engage in an ordinary claptrap of
politics in which personal ambitions and spoils would dominate and control. God did the
nominating, and the people in proportion as they Would come into harmony with Him took
cognizance of His choice (and practically endorsed it or voted for it) by their acceptance
of the judge. There may have been a more methodical procedure in some instances as is
intimated in our lesson (verse 7), where the elders of Israel who had witnessed God's
miraculous interposition on their behalf and who outlived Joshua, seem to have constituted
the judges in the different tribes.
EVANGELISTS AND TEACHERS FOR THE PER FECTING OF SAINTS
This arrangement by which God gave Israel its judges is in
considerable harmony with His dealings with spiritual Israel during this Gospel
Age--raising up for them from time to time special counselors, deliverers, ministers.
Similarly spiritual Israelites are not to caucus
and wire-pull and decide for themselves who shall be their spiritual leaders; but are
to regard the Lord as the great Chief Captain, and to look to Him to raise up from time to time such
spiritual chieftains as He 'may please. The acceptance of the leadings of these as God's
appointees does not necessarily mean their selection by ballot, but may be indicated
merely by giving ear to their teachings in harmony with the Word of the Lord. The lead of
such spiritual lieutenants of Divine appointment will always be marked by spiritual victories and the
bringing of the Lord's people into closer heart-relationship with Him. Any leadership
which does not produce such fruits is evidently not of the. Lord; the spirit of the Lord
leads not to bondage, ignorance or strife, but to love, joy, peace of heart, liberty of con science.
Israel needed no congress or legislature, for it had one Lawgiver-the
Lord-and the Law given at Mt. Sinai was to be perpetually the guide to the nation. The
priests and Levites under, the Law were the appointed helpers of the people in things
pertaining to God-to instruct them in the law and represent them in the typical
sacrificing, atonement work, etc. In each tribe, also the elders according to their
capacity, had charge of the civil affairs of the tribe. As for soldiers and a war
department, they had none. The Divine Law was to separate them from other nations, and if
they would remain faithful to the Lord He was to be their protector against all
antagonists.
Similarly spiritual Zion in every congregation is to look out, from
amongst themselves fit men for the services needed; God's Law is to keep them-separate
from the schemes and warfares and entanglements of the world, they are to be His peculiar
people, and His pledge 'to them is that all things shall work together for their good so
long as they abide faithful to Him. They, therefore, need no armies, armed with carnal
weapons, although they are all soldiers of the cross, pledged to fight against sin)
especially each within himself, and to lay down their lives for each other--"the
brethren."
Our lesson proper describes the situation that followed immediately
upon the death of Joshua. Joshua remembering the command of Moses to remind the people of.
their covenant obligation (Deut. 27) sought an occasion (josh. 24:14-25) for leading the
people to a renewal of their vows and a purging of themselves from every semblance of
idolatry, which his address shows still lingered in some degree among them.
LESSONS FOR SPIRITUAL ISRAEL
The counsel of Joshua was reverently received, the covenant was
renewed, and. the nation purged itself from idolatry, and in consequence was prospered and
blessed. But why, we may reasonably inquire, should we be interested now in seemingly
trivial matters of history of a date so remote? Why so minutely consider the experience
and doings of that nation more than others of the ancient peoples? Or why are they so
minutely given by the sacred writers?
Their importance to us lies in the fact that in the experiences of
that consecrated people were foreshadowed those-of God's consecrated people of this Gospel
Age; and in God's dealings with them we can read His judgment of us tinder similar
circumstances, we, the Gospel Church, being the antitypes of fleshly Israel, the
spiritual Israel of God--nominally, as in the type, including all the professed members
of the Church, but actually only those who are truly the Lord's--"Israelites
indeed," Christians indeed.
In the nation of Israel (nominal Israel) we observe a constant
tendency to idolatry, while a faithful few ("Israelites indeed") always resisted
this tendency, and, with fixed purpose of heart, worshiped the Lord in the beauty of
holiness and endeavored to influence others to similar faithfulness. But their forefathers
prior to Abraham were idolaters; the nations all about them were idolaters; and idolatrous
worship, unlike the worship of the true God, imposed no restraints upon the downward
tendencies of the fallen nature, but, on the contrary, cultivated and pandered to its
depravity. Nor did it require faith in the unseen, but presented to the senses tangible
objects of worship with rites and ceremonies suited to the carnal nature. Hence the
continual gravitation of the nation toward idolatry, notwithstanding the wonderful power
and goodness of God manifested on their behalf. Joshua, after calling attention to the
marvels of Divine providence which their wonderful history furnished, urges upon the,
people a prompt and firm decision, saying, "Choose ye this day whom ye will
serve," etc.
Joshua also gave them distinctly to understand that in choosing to
serve the Lord it must be whole-hearted and sincere service, a full and Complete turning
to the Lord and the putting away of all rivals. This exhortation was coupled with warnings
of the Lord's indignation and wrath if they should wickedly ignore or violate their
covenant and turn to idolatry. "And the people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God
will we serve and His voice will we obey." But alas, how solemnly the .lesson comes
home to us that -it is one thing to make a covenant with the Lord and quite another matter
to carry out His good pleasure. One writer commenting upon today's lesson makes the
following statement:
"The story of the book of judges opens with a depressing
situation. With the deaths of Joshua and the high priest Eleazar, and then with the death
of his son Phinehas, the third high priest, 'the age of stern fidelity to the national
covenant with Jehovah seems to have come to a close. Weary with years of struggle,
satisfied with what they had acquired, tempted to seek friendship with the Canaanites by
the similarity of language, the opportunities of profit, the seductions of neighborhood,
by their. own want of military science and by the weakness of tribal division, their
warlike feelings gave way to a desire for ease and quiet. The rush of invasion had spent
its force, and now the rods which could not even be bent when united were easily broken in
detail when apart.'" -- Cunningham Geikie.
If the book of judges be read as a fully complete history of Israel
for those four and one-half centuries, it would be a discouraging picture, and to some
extent give the inference -that they were continually in sin and idolatry, and suffering
punishment therefor. But this would be an unfair view to take. On the contrary, the record
passes by the happy period of Israel's prosperity, and specially points out their
deflection from obedience to God and punishments for such transgressions and the
deliverances from their troubles through the judges or-deliverers whom God raised up for
them. That this was in many respects a favorable time for the Israelites is implied in the
Lord's promise, "I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at
the beginning."--Isa. 1:26.
Incidentally the story of Ruth and of the parents of Samuel (1 Sam.
1) gives us little glimpses of the other Side of the matter-of the God-fearing piety
prevalent amongst many of the people, the happiness and contentment enjoyed. In our own
day if we judge of the affairs of the world wholly by the daily history and details, in
the newspapers, we might get the impression that crimes,. strikes and accidents and
imprisonments constitute& the whole life in our own land; the great mass of the people
attending to the ordinary affairs of .life are scarcely mentioned.
"LOVE NOT THE WORLD, NEITHER THE THINGS IN THE
WORLD"
The Israelites had been instructed by the Lord to utterly exterminate
the people of the land, which extermination we saw in a previous lesson prefigured our
conquests as spiritual Israelites over the desires of the fallen nature. Israel, however,
settled down to enjoy the Land of Promise without fully exterminating the condemned ones;
and the false religion of the latter, later on-contaminated the Israelites through
friendship and fellowship; and thus these whom God had condemned gradually alienated the
hearts of many from their full, proper loyalty to the- Lord; seducing many of them into a.
lascivious idolatry. So with the spiritual Israelites who do-not wage a valiant battle
against the natural desires of their own fallen flesh-they find shortly that the flesh
prospers at the expense of the spiritual life and that truces with the flesh mean that
their love for the Lord is gradually cooled until some form of idolatry creeps in-the love
of money, or of praise of men or of self, etc., dividing with the Lord the love and
reverence of their hearts.
We are not to suppose that all the Israelites fell away into
idolatry; we are rather to understand that a considerable number of them became alienated
for a tithe, repeatedly, from the love and worship of the Lord, and thus repeatedly
brought upon them the Lord's disfavor. Verse 16 supports this thought, suggesting to our
minds that our lesson is a condensed statement of the whole period of the judges-over four
hundred years. Applying this to spiritual Israel we are not to expect that the Lord's
displeasure with His people would delay until they had fully and completely gone into
idolatry to self or wealth or fame; but rather that when some of the affections of the
heart begin to go out: to other things, the Lord's chastisements would be sent to reprove
and rebuke and correct, while still there is in our hearts something of obedience and love
toward Him-before the world, the flesh and the Adversary would have time to capture us
completely.
These records of Divine chastisements, and Israel's subsequent
repentance, and the Lord's deliverances, were all proofs of the Divine love and care for
that consecrated people. So far as we have information Divine power was not exercised thus
upon the other unconsecrated nations, for their reproof and correction, etc. They were
left as strangers, foreigners, aliens from God and from His promises. So now the Lord's
corrections in righteousness, His chastisements, etc., are evidences of special protection
and care and relationship to the "house of sons." It is because of our
acceptance in Christ and our consecration to the Lord, that He, in turn, has accepted us
as sons and gives us the experiences, trials and difficulties. needful to our testing and
character- development ; and it is to the intent that we may realize the' treachery and
the seductive influences of our own' fallen natures, represented by the Amalekites and
Canaanites, and that we may utterly destroy these, and thus come eventually into the
condition mentioned by the Apostle when he declares that the consecrated should bring
every thought into captivity to the will of God in Christ.--2 Cor. 10:5.
When fleshly Israel learned one lesson after another, and as fast as
each was learned sent a cry of loyalty up to God, His power was exercised. on their behalf
and their deliverance was effected. So with the spiritual Israelite when he recognizes the
true situation and with thorough repentance turns unto the Lord and cries for deliverance
from his own weaknesses and imperfections according to the flesh; his prayer is heard and
his deliverance is provided for with the assurance that the Lord's grace is sufficient.
The condition of the spiritual Israelite is represented in our Golden Text, "When in
their distress they turned unto Jehovah, the God of. Israel, and sought Him, He was found
of them." (2 Chron. 15:4.) Such a cry to the Lord, however, implies that the sins and
weaknesses of the flesh were contrary to the transgressor's will; it implies that in some
manner he was seduced or entangled by the world, the flesh or the Adversary and that his
heart is still loyal to the Lord and to the truth. All such who cry unto the Lord in
sincerity and faith shall be heard, shall be delivered. His grace is sufficient for us.
--APRIL 11--JUDGES
4:4-5:31--
Golden Text.--"God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."--Psa. 46:1.
MANY Bible students recognize that the great battle of Armageddon,
the antitypical one, is peat; that for Many years past conditions in the world have been
ripening, and that the world-war of the past five years has had no little part in
hastening developments looking toward this final great conflict between light and
darkness.
FIRST ARMAGEDDON BATTLE
Today's study relates to the first of the great battles in the Valley
of Megiddo, noted for its many slaughters, and therefore made the basis of the Divine
prediction respecting the "time of trouble such as was not since' there was a
nation," Which will precede and prepare the way for Messiah's glorious rule of a
thousand years.1 Cor. 15:24-26; Rev. 20:6.
The Israelites, guilty of idolatry, had, according to God's covenant
with them, been chastened by the permitting of their enemies to vanquish them. They had
come to great straits. Their enemies had become strong and highhanded. General Sisera, of
the Canaanites, having humbled the Israelites of North Palestine for years, started with a
large army, intent upon victories, to the southward. The strength of his army is shown in
the statement that it contained nine hundred iron chariots.
By the time he had gotten as far southward as the Valley of Megiddo,
messengers reached him, informing him that Barak, a leader among the Israelites, had
improved the opportunity of his absence and was also leading southward an army of ten
thousand. Israelites. Under Divine guidance Barak made Mt. Tabor his army base-the same
which, in Jesus' day, became known to His followers as the Mount of Transfiguration, where
the coming Kingdom of Messiah was represented in a vision. Thus we have another remarkable
feature of the picture of the future-the association of the vision of the Kingdom in
proximity with the Armageddon field -of disaster picturing the overthrow of present
institutions.
A DISCOMFITED ARMY
General Sisera, disdaining the poorly armed Israelites, advanced with
his army on both sides of the River Kishon toward Mt. Tabor. Then it was that the word of
the Lord came afresh to General Barak, directing him to advance against the army of the
Canaanites. The slaughter was a great one, as related in our lesson. Sisera's army was
discomfited, so that it scattered.' A great storm and cloudburst swelled the river, making
quagmires of the lower valleys, rendering useless the chariots of Sisera. His soldiers,
fleeing for their lives, were cut down by the Israelites, while other thousands were swept
by the freshets down the river to the sea. This interference of God on behalf of His
people Israel, in figurative language, is styled the fighting of the "stars of
heaven" against. Sisera's army. Similarly in the great Armageddon near at hand it
will not be human might that will prevail, but the disconcerted, hosts will effect the
complete disruption of the present order of things, for "every man's hand shall be
against his brother and against his neighbor." (Ezek. 38:21; Zech. 8:10; 14:13.) It
is the cloudburst of -truth and the rising waters of knowledge which are bringing to pass
this great human - catastrophe-which the Lord will overrule for the blessing of the world.
A HEROINE IN ISRAEL
Although the Lord has been pleased usually to use men in connection
with His work, not only as typical characters, but also as evangels of the Gospel,
nevertheless the Scriptures give us pictures of noble women who, because of the
delinquency of men, have been used and almost forced into public service by God's
providence. Notable amongst the instances of such-in the Bible is the case of Deborah. She
perceived how neglect of the Divine Law had borne fruit in the subjugation of her people.
She perceived that this was spreading throughout the land of Canaan, and that what Was
needed was a guide to point the people to the right way back to God. The Canaanites, whom
they had not conquered, had conquered them.
The conquest was permitted of God. It had its incipient state when
the Israelites neglected the Divine direction that they should live separate from all
other people. Instead, they had begun to intermarry with the Canaanites. These, in turn,
had enticed their husbands and their children to the heathen gods of worship. Apparently
many of Israel who had not gone over to idolatry had nearly lost their knowledge and
appreciation of the true God.
The same is a difficulty today in this land--everywhere. The
revulsion of Christian people from the monstrous creedal errors of the past has alienated
many from the Bible, under the belief, that the Bible and the creeds teach the same
doctrines. This is the explanation of empty pews and a distaste for religion. What the
people need is correct information respecting the true God of Love and His real
Plan, as outlined in the Bible.
In the dark hour of Israel's oppression, the princes of the tribes
seemed to lack patriotism as well as faith in God. Each tribe was a separate State and
there was. no cohesion between them-the Divinely intended bond of union, the true
religion, having relaxed. It was about this time that the Lord, seeking a channel through
which to be gracious to His people, found that channel in a woman-Deborah. She realized
the situation more keenly than others, probably because more deeply consecrated to God and
His service. She removed from her home in the northern part to a central place in the
Highlands of Ephraim. aim. From there she sent encouraging, stimulating messages to the
chief men of the various tribes. She was respected. Her counsel was appreciated. Her
advice was sought. In this sense she judged admonished, guided, assisted Israel.
Deborah is styled a prophetess. This might mean a public teacher, or
it might mean one through whom the 'Lord sent special messages. 'Some things connected
with the story indicate the latter. Surely the Lord used her, and that because she was a.
willing and consecrated servant of His cause, His people. What a lesson here for all of
God's people-that in order to be used in the Lord's service and accomplish things for Him
and His, full devotion of-heart is essential!
At an opportune time, when Sisera's army with nine hundred chariots
had proceeded southward to Megiddo, Deborah sent word to Barak, a leader in her
tribe--Naphtali.--she admonished that now was the time to do something for the deliverance
of. God's people, and that he should immediately march to battle with ten thousand-
Israelites-. Barak refused unless she would co-operate. She agreed to do so, forewarning
him, however, that the honor of the matter would thus be divided with, another, and that
he would miss a part of his blessing by reason of his lack of courage. Thus it was that
when Barak's army moved to Mt. Tabor, it was under General Barak's command, but a woman
was the real mouthpiece or agent of God, in directing the affairs of the battle which
brought such signal victory to Israel.
GOD'S PEOPLE VICTORIOUS
General Sisera's chariots stuck in the mire; his army defeated, he
fled afoot with others, only to be overtaken by' the -victors. Entering a supposedly
hospitable tent, he hid himself and fell asleep. His hostess improved the opportunity and
drove a tent pin through his temple. The act has been denounced as a breach of hospitality
by some, but by others it has been defended on the grounds that the custom still of the
Arabs of Palestine is that any man intruding into a woman's tent is worthy of death.
Anyway, let us remember that Jael was not a Christian woman, not begotten of the Holy
Spirit, not taught in the School of Christ and that, therefore, whatever may be said of
her would have no bearing whatever in respect to Christians who are, under the Law of the
Spirit of Christ-the Law of Love.
Incidentally, let us remember that none of the Jews stood in the same
relationship to God and His Divine purposes that true Christians occupy. Their warfare in
the flesh typifies our warfare as New Creatures against the weaknesses and appetites of
our flesh. Let us, re-member also that the death of Sisera and -his army did not
precipitate them into a hell of eternal tortures, but merely was the passage-way by which
they were "gathered to their fathers"--"slept with their fathers."
They have known nothing since, and will know nothing in the future until the time of
their- awakening; and that awakening God has graciously timed so that it will be after
Messiah -shall have taken possession of the world, and by the establishment of His Kingdom
shall have overthrown the kingdom of Satan arid the reign of sin and death.
Sisera and his army will come forth, like the remainder of mankind,
as. a result of the redemptive work of Jesus, finished at Calvary. They will come forth in
order that the grace of God may be testified to them, and that they may have an
opportunity, by obedience to the laws, of the Kingdom, to prepare themselves to enter into
everlasting life on the plane of human perfection in an earthly Paradise. With this
thought before us, it makes little matter whether death comes upon - us through war,
pestilence or disease. Only- those who have heard of Christ, who have accepted Him and who
have been begotten of the Holy Spirit as New Creatures -only these are on trial at the
present time. The trial of all the remainder of the world is future; for knowledge is an
essential feature of testing for life eternal or death eternal.
"A thousands years! earth's coming glory!
'Tis the glad Day so long foretold;
'Tis the bright morn of Zion's glory,
Prophets foresaw in times of old."
RULES GOVERNING INTERPRETATION OF SYMBOLS
STUDY III-MARCH 21
(11) Why is it that we find the world powers portrayed in the visions
of Revelation? H.'19, p.5, col. 1; p.7, col.2; P. 8, Col.
1.
(12) From what phases of life are the symbols of the book taken?
H.'19, p. 8, Col. 2.
(13) What Divine laws should be observed in connection with the
interpretation of symbols? H.'19, p. 8, Col. 1.
(14) What may its visions as a whole be likened to, and name the
orderly arrangement of the visions? H.'19, P. 8, Col,
1.
(15) What was the special object in the giving of these visions, and
what benefit have they been to God's people in past history?. H.'19, p. 8, col. 2.
THE VISION OF CHRIST
STUDY IV-MARCH 28
(16) In what way were the visions of Revelation introduced to St.
John? and is it reasonable to suppose that the Apostle John was a type of some class?
H.'19, p. 20; '20, pp. 59, 60.
(17) What two views have been advanced as to the time indicated by
the expression, "on the Lord's Day?" Which is the more reasonable one? Rev.
1:10; H.'19, p. 20;'20, p. 60, Col. 1.
(18) What is the significance of St. John hearing "a voice
behind him?". H.'19, p. 20, Col. 2; '20, p.
60, Col. 1.
(19) Describe the appearance of Christ in the vision. Is this a
description of Christ's person as a partaker of the Divine nature?. If not, what is the
lesson intended to be taught by it and explain in detail the symbolical significance of
this entire appearance. Rev. 1:13-16; H.'19, p. 21, Col.
1; '20, p. 60, Col. 2.
(20) What lesson may we see in the fact that St. John fell as dead
before this vision of Christ? H.'20, p. 61.
CHRIST'S. MINISTRY TO THE CHURCHES
STUDY V--APRIL 4
(21) What is the mystery of the "seven stars" and of the
"seven golden lampstands?" H.'20, p. 60, 61.
(22) What was symbolized by the vision of Christ id the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks, and of His holding the seven stars in His right hand? And are
any of the Apostles represented- among these stars? Rev. 1:13; H.'20, p. 60.
(23) Name in consecutive order the seven Churches to which the
message of the Revelator was to be sent. Do these seven Churches here mentioned refer
merely to seven local congregations existing at that time, or are we to look for a broader
application? What does each of these names signify? Rev. 1:11; H.'20, p. 60; Z.'16, pp.
346, 347.*
(24) In what other way besides the historical fulfillment- of the
symbols of Revelation did the Lord intend the seven messages to be applied? H.'19, p. 21, Col. 2.
(25) Is it possible to approximate the times or epochs in the history
of the Church signified by the seven congregations? If so, indicate them. Z.'16, p. 346, Col. 1.
__________
*Though the WATCH TOWER of November 15, 1916, was published after
Pastor Russell's death, the article here referred to was written and submitted for
publication by him before his death.
"Are ye able to drink of
the Cup that I shall drink of ?"--Matt. 20:22.
WE RECALL the circumstances under which these words were uttered by
our Savior: It was just a few days before His crucifixion Jesus had promised His disciples
that they should sit with Him in His Throne in His Kingdom. So confident were they that
this would be as the Lord had said that they were discussing the positions they might
occupy. The mother of the two disciples, James and John, came to Him and asked 'Whether
her two sons might sit, the one on His right hand and the other on His left, in the
Kingdom. And Jesus, turning to the two -disciples, replied by asking them: "Are ye
able to drink ,of the Cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with?"
We know that Jesus' baptism in water took place at the beginning of
His ministry. In harmony with the Divine Plan, He was to die as the Savior of men. And He
symbolized this death as soon as He was thirty years of age-as soon as was possible under
the Law. During the three and a half years of His ministry, He was accomplishing this
baptism. He was pouring out His soul unto death, and this death He finished at Cavalry.'
Jesus said, "The baptism that I am [being] baptized with"--now--not a baptism which was either future or past.
But He spoke differently of the Cup-"the Cup that I shall drink of." He thus implied that the
Cup was future-not in the present nor in the,
past. He had told His disciples that. He would go up to Jerusalem; and that there He
'Would be crucified, and on the third day He would rise again. 'And He said on another
occasion, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no
life in you." What the Master said about His being crucified the disciples did not
undere. stand. But Jesus understood the situation, and He knew that this Cup was about to
be poured for Him. And so He spoke of it I again, saying of Himself, "The Cup that My
Father hath poured for Me, shall I not drink it?"
OUR LORD'S SPECIAL TRIAL
We might think of the word Cup as representing various experiences of
life-that everybody has his Cup of mingled joy and sorrow. But Jesus used the word in a
different sense. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed,- "0 My Father, if
it be possible, let this Cup pass from Me! Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou
wilt." And again, the same night He prayed, saying, "0 My Father, if this
Cup may not pass away from Me, except I- drink it, Thy will be done!" In the matter
of His baptism into death, there was no hesitation on our Lord's 'Part. On the contrary,
from the very beginning ;He ,Voluntarily participated in it. The ignominious death was the thing that He prayed
might pass, if it were possible. 'But this was what He learned was the Father's will for
'Him, and He was content to have it so.
There was nothing in the Law to indicate that our Lord should be
executed as a blasphemer of the Divine Law. Yet blasphemy was the charge preferred against
Him. The Sanhedrin decided that He was a blasphemer in that He had said, "Destroy
this Temple, and in three days I will raise it again," and also in claiming that He
was the Son of God. Apparently, then, the thing which was specially weighing on His mind
and from which He Would have liked to be' relieved was the ignominy and shame of being
crucified as a criminal, as a. blasphemer of the Father He loved so well. I I
Jesus knew that He had. come into the 'world to die, and that He must
suffer. But this part of His experience He had
not fully understood. Evidently He knew that "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;" for comparatively early in His
ministry He had stated this in His conversation with Nicodemus. But as He came down
nearer. and nearer to the time of His humiliation, His degradation, and realized all that
it meant, He felt a great shrinking from it. and poured out His heart in the cry, "If it be possible, let this Cup pass from
Me!" But immediately= proving that His affirmation, at the time of His consecration,
"Lo I come to do Thy will, 0 God," was
not empty words-He added, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but -as Thou wilt!"--Matt. 26:39.
ARE WE WILLING TO SHARE HIS IGNOMINY?
And so to His disciples our Savior said: Are you able to lay down
your lives completely, even though this shall mean to you injustice in the taking away of
your. lives? Are ye able to drink of the Cup that I shall drink of ? There will be
disgrace and ignominy connected with it all. Are ye willing to share with Me in this, My
Cup? They answered: "We are able." They were willing.
This, we see, is the same Cup represented in the Communion Service.
The bread represents the body, and the wine the blood of our Lord. The Cup especially
represented the shame and ignominy connected with His death-, - and the two disciples said
that they were willing to share His Cup-they had no -hesitancy. At any cost they would be
faithful. They would comply with any conditions He would make. They did not, of course,
yet know the, full import of the word baptism or of the word Cup, 'These were things all
His disciples were feeling after. When Pentecost should come, these things that Jesus had
spoken to them would come to their remembrance, as He had foretold. (John 16:4; 13:19.)
But they were willing* and anxious. And that is all that we can be. Jesus guaranteed that,
being willing, they should have these experiences', that, continuing willing, continuing
to suffer with Him here, they should reign with Him in His Throne. -But as to the-
particular place for each in the Throne, that would not be for Him to say, but for the
Father,
The courage, the fortitude, of our dear Redeemer in walking the
Narrow Way fills us with admiration. How strong and brave was His character! He had no
thought of looking back; His whole being was intent upon accomplishing the will of His
Father in Heaven-upon sacrificing Himself in the interest of the world. What a noble
Example was set before the Apostles!--greatness in humility, victory through entire
self-surrender!
Hath He marks to lead me to Him,
If He be my Guide?
In His feet and hands are wound-prints,
And His side.
If I find Him, if I follow,
What's my portion here?
Many a sorrow, many a conflict,
Many a tear.
If, I still hold closely -to Him,
What have I at last?
Sorrow vanquished, labor ended,
Jordan past!
If I ask Him to receive me,
Will He say me nay?
Not till earth and not till heaven
Pass away!
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