VOL. V. April 1, 1922 No. 7 THE HERALD OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM - APRIL 1, 1922 WHOM AND WHAT SHALL WE PREACH? AN EXAMINATION OF THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES BEREAN STUDIES IN THE REVELATION VOL. V. April 15, 1922 No. 8 OUTLOOK FROM THE WALLS OF ZION BEREAN STUDIES IN THE REVELATION CONCERNING THE FOUR AND TWENTY ELDERS ISAIAH'S IDEAL FOR A WORLD AT STRIFE HEZEKIAH LEADS HIS PEOPLE BACK TO GOD VOL. V. April 1, 1922 No. 5 WHOM AND WHAT
SHALL WE PREACH?
"For
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."--1
Cor. 2:2. THE
Scriptures leave us in no doubt as to whom the laurels of victory and leadership belong in
the outworking of God's eternal purpose of the ages, as that purpose pertains to both the
Church and the world. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, has been ac
corded the place amongst God's creatures second to none. The Divine Word assures us that,
His well beloved Son has been charged with the responsibility of executing the Divine
Plan, and no more forceful presentation of this thought is to be found anywhere than
amongst the visions of St. John, where the Savior is pictured in the throne scene as a
slain Lamb; and as set forth in that vision, He is acclaimed a victorious
conqueror--"The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed." Because of His
mighty strength, and His great worthiness, the great Jehovah placed entirely in His hands
the mystical Scroll, the great Divine Plan, for execution. In fulfillment of this picture,
in the days of our Lord's flesh, He repeatedly heard the voice from heaven saying,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and at His resurrection He
declared, "All power [authority], in heaven and in earth is given unto Me." St. Paul
assures us that "it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell,"
and that "God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every
name," making Him "King of kings, and Lord of lords." (Col. 1:19; Phil.
2:9; 1 Tim. 6:15.) Other Scriptures assure us that He is seated with the Father in His
throne, and that in this most exalted station He will ever receive the homage of angels
and men; yea, says the Apostle, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that He is
rightfully their Lord and Master; and so, continues the Apostle, "that in the
dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him."Eph. 1:10. "ALL GLORY TO JESUS BE GIVEN"
Do we ask
why such wealth of glory and such exalted station have been accorded this special Son of
God? The answer is not far to seek. St. Paul applies the Old Testament prophecy to the
Savior, saying: "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God,
even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." (Psa.
45:7; Heb. 1:9.) It is, without doubt, because of the perfect obedience and loyalty of the
Only Begotten Son of God in laying down His life as a redemption price for the human
family, with all that involved of ignominy, shame and contempt, that the unspeakable
riches of the heavenly court have been conferred upon Him. He truly went into the great
prison-house of death itself, and thereby achieved a most marvelous victory, and as a
result thereof He will ultimately lead forth a multitude of captives--whosoever wills of
all mankind will be given to enjoy the fruitage of His triumph. In due
course, Saul of Tarsus, who was to be accorded an honorable station as one of the Twelve
Apostles, was given a vision of Christ: and do we marvel at his expressed attitude in
response to what he saw--"Whereupon I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision." As he recognized his Divine Lord and Master in this revelation, he fell at
His feet in the most profound worship, and yielded his all in grateful obedience, saying:
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (Eph. 3:8.) Nor
are we astonished at the Apostle's statement in our text--"I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." The Apostle's one business
in life would be, so far as he was able, to make himself acceptable to the Lord, and to do
with his might what he could to assist others into the same condition. In
harmony with this, the thought of our text seems to be that whatever the Apostle knew
respecting other matters prominent in his day--customs of the age, scientific questions,
etc.--he would ignore. He would be a specialist. He
would confine his thoughts, words and teachings along this one line; for he thought it was worthy. He had been at Corinth as an ambassador of
Christ. He was not there to air his knowledge, but to tell the Message of the Kingdom. He would make preaching the
Gospel his one business, to accomplish which, he felt that all his knowledge and all his
energy were too little. The
Apostle did not determine to ignore all of his knowledge without having a good reason, or
purpose therefore. It was because he wished to concentrate all his attention and influence
upon one great subject. That subject was Jesus Christ, Jesus the Anointed; Jesus the
Messiah was the main thought of all his preaching. He realized that the great Messiah was
a part of the Divine Program which had been promised--the "Seed" which was to
bless all the families of the earth; that Jesus was that great Messiah, and that all men
should recognize Him, should flock to His standard. NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
But St.
Paul would preach, not only that Jesus was the Messiah, but that He was the crucified Messiah, for he would not be ashamed of
the Divine teaching. He would preach that God sent forth His Son; and that the Son had
left the glory He had with the Father, and had lived on the earth, and had "died, the
just for the unjust," for this very purpose--that He might manifest His obedience to
the Divine arrangement. In thus preaching Christ and His crucifixion, the Apostle was not
ignoring the fact that there was to be a Church; that the elect Church is to be the Bride
of Christ; and that Jesus was the Anointed Head over His Body, the Church. Hence, in
preaching Jesus the Anointed One, St. Paul was showing how the Divine Plan was being
outworked under Divine supervision, and what the glorious results would be. To these
things he had determined that all his time and attention should go. Therefore, as the
Apostle did, we are preaching Jesus, the Crucified One, who died for our sins, who rose
again for our justification, and who, coming in glory with His Church, is the great
Messiah to bless the world through natural Israel. Because
we have found the Truth, we, like St. Paul, feel constrained to preach nothing but this
Message. The same truth that influenced him should influence us. If, therefore, any of the
brethren feel disposed to preach some other person or theme, here is the
reproof--"Not ... anything save Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified." This is the only
subject. St. Paul would be as though he knew
nothing else. This subject would be the one thing
to which he would give his time and attention. Let it be so with us! But,
looking back over the history of the Church, we are at once deeply impressed with the
thought of how few of those who have occupied positions as servants in the Church have
been, like St. Paul, faithful to their trust, faithful in the recognition of the one
Divine Lord and Master, the one Head of the Church, and in preaching Him alone. How
evident it is that today many professed servants of the Truth appear to have lost
something possessed by the Apostle who thus recognized the importance of Christ. This loss
very largely accounts for certain peculiar topics used for religious meetings, out of
which grow certain discussions and conclusions that really have no Scriptural support. How
often, too, it is proved that the mind of the one who professes to be a teacher of the
Truth, has lost track of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and has permitted his mind to
settle more or less upon some other theme and object, and is found preaching to more or
less extent the name of another, instead of Christ. "A VOLUNTARY WORSHIPPING OF ANGELS"
Amongst
the servants of the Church of Christ during the past nineteen centuries, we find some of
the most worthy characters--worthy because of their Christian courage, uprightness,
humility and love; whose service and ministry on behalf of fellow-men, and especially on
behalf of fellow-members of the Church, have been of inestimable value. Such special
servants of the Church have possessed, not only great ability as teachers in spiritual
things, but they have been examples of unselfishness and true piety, of love and of
loyalty to God. Indeed, all such, the various members of the Church are to regard with
true appreciation and high esteem; but our special messages to men and the subject of our
principal discourse to one another is not to be with regard to any of the Church's
servants. We are not to preach any man nor any human instrumentality that the Lord may
have especially used in the ministry of the Truth. Once the
mind becomes removed from the Great Teacher, the one Message--"Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified"--it is easily supplanted by another. The mistake made along this line in
the past has indeed been a serious one. Time and again professing Christians have
permitted their affections and worship, to a large extent, to be transferred from Him who
is the Head, to one or another of the servants in the Church who may have been used to
impart spiritual blessing. It was against this evil tendency that the Apostle Paul rebuked
the Church at Corinth; for he found the spirit of division and dissension in their midst.
(I Cor. 1:12.) Various factions in the Church were forming because they were losing sight
of the one Lord and Master and had begun to gather around human servants or instruments
that were being used to minister to the spiritual needs of the Church. Some said they were
of Paul, others of Apollos and others of Cephas, as though these were their real leaders,
and the source of their salvation. But we may properly ask the question, Why should not those brethren
in Corinth exalt and preach Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, as they were disposed to do, and
specially honor these servants? Had not they received great blessings from these, and had
not Paul, Apollos and Cephas been greatly used for the instruction of that Church? The
answer is found in the clear and forceful reasoning of the Apostle, in the language:
"Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of
Paul?" Thus he is virtually saying that Christ alone deserves the special honor
that the brethren in Corinth were inclined to give to himself, to Apollos and Cephas. He
is virtually saying that neither himself nor other servants mentioned, possessed ability
to give salvation to any one. The power of salvation did not reside in them: they had not
died for anyone, nor had they done anything really to impart salvation to others: they
were merely acting as the Lord's mouthpieces to call attention to the One who was really
the source of their salvation, the One alone who had been crucified for both the Church
and the world, and who was therefore "the way, and the truth, and the life."
Consequently the Apostle would have them understand that they were entirely out of order
in permitting their minds to gather around any of these servants, even though these had
been specially called of the Lord as inspired Apostles to bear the message on behalf of
the entire Church. Since the
days of St. Paul, the advice he gave the Church at Corinth has been sadly neglected, and
too often have Christians yielded to the temptation to bestow undue honor and worship upon
the instrument the Lord has used-- what the Apostle otherwise terms, "a voluntary
worshipping of angels [messengers];" thus forgetting in large measure their one true
Lord and Teacher. OUR FAITH SHOULD STAND IN THE POWER OF GOD
Some of
the friends, who, we doubt not, are well-meaning, have at times offered their suggestions
to the effect that the brethren of our INSTITUTE should make greater
effort to exalt and honor the memory and ministry of our dear BROTHER RUSSELL; that greater
space should be given in the HERALD
to setting forth the importance of our dear Brother personally, as a messenger from the
Lord. To this end it is suggested that we make special endeavor to locate BROTHER RUSSELL personally in
various portions of the Bible, as it is argued that if our dear Brother's identity in the
Scriptures is thus clearly established, it would constitute a bulwark to our faith in
these days and serve as a preventative for "going out of the Truth," etc. Up to the
present time, the brethren having charge of this ministry have found themselves unable to
concur in the above lines of reasoning. In the first place, we believe that it is a wrong
attitude to assume, that in order for us to be properly fixed in the faith we must settle
upon it that the one whom the Lord has used to bring us the Message must be personally
referred to in Holy Writ. To the contrary, we find that the messages of the Bible call our
attention repeatedly, as we have pointed out foregoing, to the Heavenly Father and our
Lord Jesus alone as deserving our supreme worship; that our faith in these is not to be
based upon the life and works of any fellow- Christian, but is to be based upon the
knowledge of God's truth which we have received. Thus we are taught that our faith should stand in the power of God, in the truth that He
has given us, and not in any sense be dependent upon any fellow-member of the Body. On
this point we believe we can do no better than quote the words of wisdom uttered by BROTHER RUSSELL himself: "Every true child of God must have a definite individual
Christian character which is not dependent for its existence upon the spiritual life of
any other Christian. He must from the Word of Truth, proclaimed and exemplified by other
Christians, draw those principles of life, etc., which give him an established character,
a spiritual individuality of his own. So positive and definite should be the spiritual
individuality of every one, that, should even the beloved brother or sister whose
spiritual life first nourished ours and brought us forward to completeness of character
fall away (which the Apostle shows is not impossible--Heb. 6:4-6; Gal. 1:8), we should
still live, being able to appropriate for ourselves the Spirit of Truth."--Z '03, p.
375. SERVANTS OF GOD NOTED IN HOLY WRIT
We are
therefore unable to see that it would be pleasing to the Lord or acceptable to Him for us
to attempt to point out BROTHER
RUSSELL in a special way in the Scriptures; nor do we think it would be pleasing to
BROTHER RUSSELL himself.
Even if we should attempt to do this, what we could offer on the subject would after all
be only our guess or in the nature of our theory, and we would prefer not to do any
guessing, believing that it is unprofitable. Surely whatever we could offer on the subject
would be of a speculative character, in view of the fact that there are no plain
statements in the Bible that can be said to be unmistakably applicable to certain servants
of the Church, except our Lord and the Apostles. That the great Head of the Church is
personally identified, all concede; that the twelve Apostles are also personally
mentioned, cannot be disputed, as they are said to be "the twelve Apostles of the
Lamb. . . the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem;" but the matter of finding
personal mention, either in type, symbol, prophecy or otherwise, of other servants of the
Church beyond the Apostles, is an open question, and one concerning which we do well to
allow full and complete liberty to each other to view and decide as each thinks best. It
is well known that BROTHER
RUSSELL himself did not give any emphasis to this point of seeing himself or other
special servants in the Bible. It is recalled, that he did express his disapproval of, and
even rebuked the disposition on the part of some to find himself referred to in the
Scriptures. It is also recalled that he disapproved of the tendency on the part of some to
gather around himself personally and bestow upon him undue reverence and honor. He
solemnly counseled the brethren against an undue exaltation of himself, saying: "As we have been to some extent, by the grace of God, used in
the ministry of the Gospel, it may not be out of place to say here what we have frequently
said in private, and previously in these columns,--namely that while we appreciate the
love, sympathy, confidence and fellowship of fellow-servants and of the entire household
of faith, we want no homage, no reverence, for ourselves or our writings; nor do we wish
to be called Reverend or Rabbi. Nor do we wish that any should be called by our name. The
name of Him who died for all--the name Christian--is quite sufficient to designate the
spiritual sons of God, the true brethren of Christ; and whatsoever is more than this
cometh of evil, of carnality, and tends toward more of the same. "Nor would we have our writings
reverenced or regarded as infallible, or on a par with the holy Scriptures. The most we
claim or have ever claimed for our teachings is, that they are what we believe to be
harmonious interpretations of the Divine Word, in harmony with the spirit of the truth.
And we still urge, as in the past, that each reader study the subjects we present in the
light of the Scriptures, proving all things by the Scriptures, accepting what they see to
be thus approved, and rejecting all else. It is to this end, to enable the student to
trace the subject in the divinely inspired Record, that we so freely intersperse both
quotations and citations of the Scriptures upon which to build."--Z '96, p. 306. ESTEEMED HIGHLY FOR HIS WORK'S SAKE
That none may misunderstand any of the foregoing statements, we desire to assure all the friends that both the Directors of the INSTITUTE and the Editorial Committee of the HERALD are in perfect unity in the recognition and appreciation of the
value and importance of the ministry and lifework of BROTHER RUSSELL. For our-selves,
we feel that the testimony in BROTHER
RUSSELL'S example and ministry is sufficient alone to establish our faith in Him as
indeed a very wise and faithful servant, on account of which we hold his memory in high
and sacred regard, and esteem him highly for his work's sake. We assure all that there has
been no change whatever in the minds of any of our brethren with regard to BROTHER RUSSELL'S place in God's
ministry: in fact, we believe that there are no brethren who more fully appreciate his
valuable ministry and service to God's people than do the brethren of this INSTITUTE; and as evidence of
our continued steadfast confidence in BROTHER RUSSELL as a true and
worthy servant of God, the careful reader of these pages will have observed how freely
we have published of his writings. But while fully appreciating the great ministry of our
Brother, we believe we are following the voice of wisdom, and indeed BROTHER RUSSELL'S own advice,
in counseling the friends everywhere to keep their eyes fixed primarily upon the great
Head of the Church, while they honor and esteem highly for their work's sake God's
servants in the Church. It is well known that BROTHER RUSSELL did not preach
any man nor any other name than that of Jesus, and we do not believe he would have his own
name preached now. As for
what has been offered in the pages of this journal from time to time, we have only to say
that we believe it is in keeping with the spirit and teaching of BROTHER RUSSELL'S ministry
that we continue as we have been doing, to press on in the study of the Divine
Word--continue to make progress to even a clearer appreciation of the Truth, as time and
events may lend assistance, and as the Lord in His wise providence may see fit to give to
His people a clearer vision of one feature or another. We have only to observe that the
conduct of BROTHER RUSSELL shows
that his whole experience was one of constant advancement in the knowledge of the Truth.
Those who are careful readers of his messages will have no difficulty in recalling that he
ever maintained the spirit of progress, and bid all followers of Christ keep their lamps
trimmed and burning brightly, that thus they might have the advantage of all the rich
blessings of Truth and knowledge which it might be the Father's good pleasure to give. In the light of the foregoing we are even
more deeply impressed with a sense of the importance of the Apostle's language quoted at
the head of this article: "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified." Surely if it was important for the great Apostle to
announce this as the one theme of his soul, and to preach Christ, and Christ alone, as the
power and wisdom of God, it cannot be any less important and necessary, that those who are
still pursuing the course of their earthly pilgrimage should, like the Apostle, determine
to know and preach nothing else but the One Savior and His Message. AN EXAMINATION OF
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES
"And when He had destroyed seven nations in the
land of Chanaan, He divided their land to them by lot. And after that, He gave unto them
judges, about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And
afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the
tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years." Acts 13:19-21. COMMUNICATIONS
from brethren far and near give evidence that there has been considerable investigation
and earnest study of the subject of chronology during the past year. We are assured that
many have been caused to search and examine the
entire matter more exhaustively than they ever have before. In
previous articles appearing in this journal we have offered what we consider valid
Scriptural reasons why the subject of the time features is a proper and worthy one for
God's children to think upon. Many in recent months have been blessed indeed as they have
humbly and with fervency of spirit sought to more fully assure themselves concerning the
Divine "times and seasons." Some of
the brethren have written us advising that in view of the discrepancy or shortage of the
nineteen years that was discovered in connection with the reckoning of the period of the
kings and the seventy years of servitude, they have been carefully investigating what is
designated as the period of the judges, thinking that they might be able to discover
another period of nineteen years extra, to compensate for or counterbalance the nineteen
years shortage noted in the end of the period of the Kings; so that the ending of the
6,000 years of human history might not be disturbed or removed from the point we have
heretofore considered it, namely, the year 1872. The first
inclination would be to ask, How can there by any possible disagreement, or where is there
room for making any change whatever in the period of the Judges?--the language of the
Apostle is so plain, it seems impossible that it could be understood to teach anything
otherwise than that the period beginning after the division of the land and reaching to
Samuel the Prophet was 450 years. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS RAISED
Nevertheless,
as a result of the investigations that have been recently made, several objections have
been raised to the conclusion which we have held in the past as to the length of that
period of time from the entrance of the Jews into the land of Canaan, to the beginning of
the period of the Kings. Believing that there might be others who have similar
difficulties concerning this matter, we are therefore submitting below some of the
principal questions and objections that have come to us; and will state our own
conclusions after having carefully examined and considered the points of objection. Question 1. Concerning 1 Kings 6:1, which reads:
"And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of
Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over
Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of
the Lord." Is it not evident that this statement contradicts St. Paul's remarks, in
Acts 13:20, 21, that God gave them judges about the space of 450 years? Is there not at
least a difference of 100 years in the two computations of the same period? The statement
of 1 Kings 6:1 requires that we begin to reckon the 480 years when the children of Israel
came out of Egypt, and end them in the fourth year of Solomon. In harmony with this
requirement, and reckoning the 450 years given by St. Paul as covering the period from the
division of the land until Samuel the Prophet, taking for granted that with Samuel the
Prophet Saul's reign begins, we have:
Is it not manifest that if we are
to understand the statement of I Kings 6:1 to be correct, we could allow only 350 years
for the period that St. Paul reckons to be 450, thus:
How can we harmonize St. Paul's statement with that of
1 Kings 6:1 ? Question 2. We have heretofore regarded the period to the
division of the land as covering six years. Have we not been in error in this? Was not
this period, in fact, much longer than six years, and is it not clearly indicated in
chapters 15-20 of the Book of Joshua? Was not the remainder of Joshua's life after
entering Canaan devoted to the division of the land? While the Scripture account does not
state how long Joshua lived, after entering Canaan, the record does show that he was 110
years old when he died (Josh. 24:29); and the historian Josephus states that Joshua became
the commander of Israel twenty-five years after Moses' death, which would signify that it
was that length of time after entering Canaan. Accordingly, should not our conclusion be
that the division of the land covered twenty-five years instead of six--a discrepancy, or
an extra number of years, amounting to nineteen, over former calculations? Question 3. Even though we should allow but six
years for the division of the land, have we not been in error in reckoning the career of
Joshua as a part of the period of the judges? Should we not reckon this period of 450
years which St. Paul assigns to the judges as starting at the end of Joshua's life, and
not at the end of the six years' division of the land? The Scripture record shows that
Joshua lived considerably longer than six years after entering Canaan, as we read:
"And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel . . .
that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age."--Josh. 23:1. Question 4. Should we not look for some method of
reckoning the period of the judges as much shorter than 450 years, in view of the fact
that the genealogy given by Matthew and Luke mentions only four generations as covering
the period of time from Salmon* to David: "And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz
begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat David the king; and David the
king begat Solomon of her that *It is
generally supposed by scholars that Salmon lived contemporaneous with entering Canaan and
that he became the husband of Rahab.had been the wife of Urias." (Matt.1:5 1 , 6.)
How can we harmonize the period as indicated in these genealogies with St. Paul's
statement concerning the 450 years? THE MOST DIFFICULT PORTION OF CHRONOLOGY
As we examine and consider
the foregoing questions and arguments, we freely admit that the points of objection appear
reasonable and well taken. More than this, we admit that this subject of the length of the
period of the judges is one that has been considerably enshrouded in obscurity; in fact,
this matter is one that has been under discussion by Bible expositors for the past sixteen
or seventeen centuries, and every reference and cross- reference that could possibly
throw light upon the matter has been examined, with the result that there are still those
who disagree as to just what time was referred to by St. Paul. At this point it will be
interesting to read the remarks by PASTOR RUSSELL in connection with his examination of
the period of the judges: "We
come now to the most difficult portion of chronology, the period from the division of the
land to the anointing of Saul as king. It is usually termed the period of the judges,
though the judges did not fill the office continuously. The record given in the books of
judges and 1 Samuel mentions nineteen periods, approximating a total of four hundred and
fifty years; but they are disconnected, broken, lapped and tangled so much that we could
arrive at no definite conclusion from them, and should be obliged to conclude as others
have done, that nothing positive could be known on the subject, were it not that the New
Testament supplies the deficiency. Paul states that after God divided their land to them
by lot, 'He gave unto them judges about [during] the space of four hundred and fifty
years, until Samuel the Prophet. Afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them
Saul.'--Acts 13:19-2 1.'' --Studies, Vol. II, p.
49. In view
of these facts, we believe it would not be wise for any to be dogmatic as to the exact
length of this period; for after all is said upon the subject, there is still room for
difference of opinion. We urge none to receive what is here presented, but desire all to
feel entirely free to see and accept, or reject; as may seem reasonable, according to the
reader's own judgment. In the
first place, it does not seem to us to be a safe or reasonable attitude, in taking up this
subject, to feel that we must find some
discrepancy and locate a certain number of years extra or as a surplus, in order to
harmonize with some preconceived view that we may have in mind. Experience generally shows
that when the student has his mind set upon locating a certain number of years in order to
constitute a "missing link," it is easy enough for the imagination to work on
the subject and force or manufacture a number of years so as to reach the desired
conclusion. We should approach this subject entirely independent and unbiased, with no
determination whatever that we must locate an imaginary "missing link" or
discrepancy; and leave ourselves free to see all the facts as nearly as we can, as they
are set forth in the records. The first
question concerns 1 Kings 6:1, which states that it was 480 years from the time the children of Israel came
out of Egypt, until the fourth year of Solomon's reign, etc.; and this is said to be out
of harmony with St. Paul's statement that God gave them Judges for the space of 450 years. It is seen, of course, that it is because of making one or the other of these two statements the basis for calculation that causes the different results in computing the length of the period. Those who make St. Paul's statement the basis of their calculation understand that the one in I Kings 6:1 should read, "five hundred and eighty years," instead of "four hundred and eighty.'' The Hebrew character "daleth" (four) very much resembles "hay" (five), and it is supposed that in this way the error occurred, being possibly the mistake of the transcriber. Those who make 1 Kings 6:1 the basis for calculating the period of the judges, believe that the translation of St. Paul's words as
given in our Common Version, and indeed, most versions, is incorrect; and such proceed to
translate them so as to fix the beginning of the 450 years mentioned by St. Paul at a
date much earlier than the division of the land. ABOUT THE SPACE OF 450 YEARS
We then
readily observe that to obtain a correct solution of the matter, it will first be
necessary to settle concerning the correct translation of St. Paul's words. We accordingly
give several well known translations of these words. The Common Version, we have placed at
the head of this article. The Diaglott thus renders the passage: "And having cast out
seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by lot. And after
these things, He gave judges about four hundred
and fifty years, till Samuel the Prophet." A footnote in the Diaglott on this passage
reads: "A difficulty occurs here which has very much puzzled Biblical chronologists.
The date given here is at variance with the statement found in I Kings 6:1. There have
been many solutions offered, but only one which seems entirely satisfactory, i. e., that
the text in 1 Kings 6:1, has been corrupted, by substituting the Hebrew character daleth (4) for hay (5), which is very similar in
form. This would make 580 years (instead of 480) from the exode to the building of the
temple, and exactly agree with Paul's chronologyy? The
Syriac translation is as follows: "And He extirpated seven nations in the land of
Canaan, and gave them their land for an inheritance, and for four hundred and fifty years
he gave them judges until Samuel the Prophet." A
recent translation of the Scriptures by FERRAR FENTON, called The Complete Bible in Modern English, thus renders
the passage: "Afterwards, when He had conquered seven nations in the land of Canaan,
He entrusted them with the possession of their country for about four hundred and fifty
years; and contemporary with these events, He gave judges until the end of Samuel the
Prophet." Another
quite recent translation, by JAMES MOFFATT, of England, reads: "And after destroying
seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance for about
four hundred and fifty years. After that He gave them judges, down to Samuel the
Prophet." Conybeare
and Howson, in their "Life of St. Paul,"
thus translate these words: "And He destroyed seven nations in the land of
Canaan, and gave their land as a portion unto His people. And after that He gave unto them
judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years until Samuel the Prophet." The Douay
Version (Roman Catholic) reads: "And destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,
divided their land among them by lot, as it were, after four hundred and fifty years; and
after these things He gave unto them judges until Samuel the Prophet." The
Tischendorf translation is practically the same as the Douay. It reads: "He
distributed their land to them for an inheritance, about four hundred and fifty years. And
after that He gave unto them judges until Samuel the Prophet." The
rendering of the Revised Version is: "And when He had destroyed seven nations in the
land of Canaan, He gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and
fifty years; and after these things He gave them judges until Samuel the Prophet." It will
be noted that all these translations, except those of the Revised Version, Douay and
Tischendorf, support the thought that the four hundred and fifty years begin after the
division of the land and end with Samuel the Prophet. Those of the Douay, Revised and
Tischendorf, can hardly be said to support either view. It will
also be seen that all these translations, with the exception of the Syriac and Douay, use
the word "about." This would mean, if the Greek word is properly translated,
that the Apostle does not give the exact length
of the period, but rather an approximate estimate of the same. It will therefore be
important that we discover whether the Greek word in the passage is properly rendered.
Consulting Hudson's Critical GreekEnglish Concordance (pp. 420, 421), we find the Greek
word translated "about" is used in two senses: (1) "In notation of
[indefinite] time"; (2) "Of number." Under the first sense, the Greek word is translated "while" in three instances, which we
quote: "Did not our heart burn within us, while
He talked with us by the way, and while He
opened unto us the Scriptures." (Luke 24:32.) "And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven,"
etc. (Acts 1:10.) "Now while Peter doubted
in himself," etc. (Acts 10:17.) Under the second sense, when the Greek word is used
in connection with number, as in the passage
under consideration, it is invariably translated "about." We quote all the
Scriptures showing this: "And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the
swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand)." (Mark 5:13.) "And
they that had eaten were about four
thousand." (Mark 8:9.) "And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years." (Luke 2:37.)
"For he had one only daughter, about twelve
years of age." (Luke 8:42.) "Now Bethany was . . . about fifteen furlongs off." (John 11
:18.) "So when they had rowed about five
and twenty or thirty furlongs." (John 6:19.) "The number of the names together
were about an hundred and twenty." (Acts
1:15.) "And it was about the space of three
hours after." (Acts 5:7.) "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was
silence in heaven about the space of half an
hour." (Rev. 8:1.) "And there fell
upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about
the weight of a talent."--Rev. 16:21. CONFIRMATION IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES
It
therefore seems very evident that the Apostle in the text under consideration is giving an
approximate estimate, and not an exact statement of the time between the division of the,
land and Samuel the Prophet. We can
hardly come to any other conclusion than that if the above translations of the words of
St. Paul are correct, then 1 Kings 6:1 is (as is quite generally understood) an error of
the scribe. Furthermore, the book of judges itself, together with certain statements in I
Samuel, confirms the correctness of the Common Version translation of St. Paul's words,
that the period from the division of the land
to Samuel the Prophet was about four hundred and
fifty years. We give here a table of the different periods mentioned in the book of judges
and 1 Samuel, which, when summed up, amount to "about"
four hundred and fifty years. We also find that in addition to these definite periods,
there are at least two periods, the lengths of which are not stated, and which it is most
reasonable to suppose would fill up the gap and complete the period in harmony with St.
Paul's statement. The
first of these is that period of Joshua's life from the division of the land, till his
death. That Caleb was 85 years old at the division
of the land will be seen by comparing Josh. 14:7-10; but there is nothing in the
record to show how long it was from this point till Joshua's death, except the bare
statement that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age and that he died at the age of 110
years. Josephus tells us that Joshua commanded Israel twenty-five years, following the
death of Moses. This would mean approximately twenty years following the division of the
land. But Josephus, not being an inspired writer, could scarcely be regarded as authentic
on such a remote period; thus this period remains in the nature of a conjecture or guess;
likewise the length of the succeeding period following Joshua's death is indefinite, for
we have no clear information regarding its length. We list
the various periods following the division of the land, as follows:
It will
be seen that this enumeration leaves only 20 years to make up the full 450. This 20 years,
it is reasonable to suppose, accounts for the unknown period referred to in Judges 2:7-10,
noted above. It will be in order at this point to notice a mistake that some have made in
the past concerning the chronology, stated in Judges 13:1--the servitude of 40 years in
the land of the Philistines. We will endeavor to show that the 40 years of Eli (1 Sam
4:18) and the 20 years of Samson (Judges 15:20) are included in the 40 years of the
servitude to the Philistines. *We have
submitted the table above, not by way of depending upon this to prove that the period of
the judges was 450 years, but as showing that this period could not have been much shorter
than that. (Judges
13:1.) It was because of failing to see this that Mr. Miller, the Advent preacher, in his
computation of the world's chronology, made the 6000 years of the world's history appear
to end in 1843. He added these years thus: 40 for Eli, 20 for Samson, and 40 for the
servitude to the Philistines, which makes a total of 100 years, which mistake, of course,
if he were correct in his other calculations,
would have made the 6000 years from Adam's creation end in 1903. THE TESTIMONY OF OTHER AUTHORITIES
The
evidences that the above, and not that of Mr. Miller's, is the proper way to understand
this matter are as follows: "In
I Sam. 4:18, Eli, at his death, is said to have judged Israel forty years. The number of
years between the death of Abdon (Judges 12:14),
and that of Eli (1 Sam. 4:18), is just forty years. Eli, therefore, was his immediate successor, as one of the Judges of Israel. The sacred narrative furnishes
no other mode than this of determining the commencement
of Eli's administration as judge. Now, it is evident that the narrative which
immediately follows the death of Abdon (Judges 12:13-151) gives an account of the birth of Samson (Judges 13) ; not of the commencement of his judicial administration. At the time of Samson's
marriage, the Philistines had dominion Over
Israel. (Judges 14:4.) Samson was then a young
man (verse 10); say about twenty years of age.
But it was at this very time when his career
as defender and deliverer of Israel commenced. 'The
spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan, between Zora and
Astaol;' and when he came to his father and mother, asking them to procure as a wife the
woman of Timnath, they 'knew not that it was of the
Lord,' and 'that he sought an occasion against
the Philistines.' (Judges 13:25; 14:1-4.) To this it may be added that it is expressly
declared (Judges 15:20) that Samson 'judged Israel in
the days of the Philistines twenty years.' Nor
will this be thought singular, when in addition to the official insufficiency of Eli, we add the
consequent misrule of his two sons, Haphni and Phineas. The conclusion we submit is, that
the interval between the death of Abdon and
that of Eli includes all that is narrated in the
career of Samson, and of Haphni and Phineas. In other words, that the forty years of Eli,
and the twenty years of Samson, are to be
included in the forty years of the sixth servitude."--The
Second Coming of Christ. --R. C. SHIMEAL. This is
the conclusion arrived at by students of the Bible in general concerning this matter. In
the Oxford Bible, under the heading, "Helps to the Study of the Bible," page 35,
we have the following: "The judgeships of Samson and Eli were included in the period
of Philistine oppression." The end
of this four hundred and fifty-year period (which began after the division of the land) is
stated by St. Paul to be "until Samuel the Prophet." Concerning what is meant by
the expression, "until Samuel the Prophet," when this period will end, it is
necessary to keep in mind that Samuel's official character included those of a prophet, a
judge, and a priest. In 1 Sam. 7:15 it is said that "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." This seems to have
reference to his whole complex administration, which included that which he exercised in
connection with Eli, before the latter's death. It was during the time when he exercised a
joint-judgeship with Eli that the events portrayed in 1 Sam. 4-6 occurred; namely, the
capture of the Ark from the Philistines and its final removal to Kirjath-jearim. (I Sam.
7:1-5.) In verse 6 we have the express statement made at the time of this latter event,
that "Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah." This would seem to
indicate that it was at this very time that his separate
judgeship commenced. Keeping in mind the fact as stated in I Sam. 7:2, that the Ark
remained at Kirjath-jearim for "a long time, for it was twenty years;" and that
at the expiration of this time, when Samuel had grown old and made his sons judges over
Israel, and on account of the dissatisfaction of the people because of their misrule, they
had asked Samuel to make them a king to judge them like all the nations (I Sam. 8:1-6), we
have conclusive evidence that at the end, or at least shortly after the end of this twenty
years, Saul was anointed king over Israel. In view of the foregoing, we can come to no
other conclusion than that St. Paul, if he had no other way of determining the length of
the period of the Judges than we have today--i.e., these records--his statement, "And
when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He divided their land to, them
by lot. And after that He gave them about the space
of four hundred and fifty years," is absolutely correct; and this ought alone to
be sufficient to determine the correctness of this translation. However, it is only just and fair to say
that there are others who honestly and sincerely hold to the correctness of the shorter
chronology of the period of the judges. It may be asked, How do such dispose of the
definitely stated periods found in the book of Judges? The following words of one who
holds to the shorter chronology well illustrate how these answer this question. After
quoting 1 Kings 6:1, the writer says: "This
is by far the MOST DIFFICULT
PERIOD in which to harmonize the several chronological references in Scripture. A
ready method of surmounting some of the difficulties has been to reject as an
interpolation [?] the passage of I Kings 6. For this, however, there is no warrant, unless
the computation of Josephus, assigning 592 years to the period may be so regarded. The LXX
gives 440 years, a difference from the Hebrew text plainly due to the omission of the
forty years wandering. . . . But the reference by St. Paul (Acts 13:20, A. V.) seems to
extend the period of the Judges alone, to 450 years. Textual criticism, however, gives
another turn to the Apostle's words, making them refer to a period before the time of the Judges (see R. V.); starting
possibly from the birth of Isaac, which was the
beginning of the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. "Taking,
then, the statement of 1 Kings 6:1, as the basis of calculating, it becomes necessary to shorten the apparent
periods of the book of Judges, which give in a very precise form the successive
periods of servitude and of peaceful rule, from the death of Joshua to the end of the
Philistine domination. . . . The recurrence of the round
number "forty years," suggests a rough, rather than an accurate calculation.
It is in the highest degree probable that in some cases the oppressions and the judgeships
overlapped one another, being referable to
different portions of the land * " --Oxford Bible--Helps to the Study of the Bible, p. 35. THE DIVISION OF THE LAND
We come
to Question 2, concerning the period of the division of the land after entering Canaan.
While conceding that the records could be more explicit as to the exact length of this
period, we find that there are quite definite statements, which to us are reasonably
conclusive evidence that this period referred to in Acts 13 :19 covered approximately six
years. The statement made by St. Paul appears to be based upon the record found in Josh.
14, particularly verse 5. The first eleven chapters in Joshua tell us of the crossing of
Jordan, the entering of the land of Canaan, and of the various wars of conquest that
followed, incident to the settling up and dividing of the land. Coming to verse 23 of
chapter 11, we read: "So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord
said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their
divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war." To our understanding, this statement clearly
shows that there was a definite sense in which the "dividing of the land by lot"
had at that time been accomplished. The next two chapters, 12 and 13, are devoted to
giving the names of the kings of the land that were subdued. Verses 1-4 of chapter 14 sum
up in a general way the essential facts. Then verse 5 makes the positive and sweeping
statement, "As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did, and they
divided the land." The question is: How long was this after entering Canaan? The
answer is found immediately following verse 5, which states: "Then the children of
Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal," etc. The word "then" implies that it was
at that time, or after the division of the land had taken place; and succeeding verses
record Caleb's conference with Joshua, especially verses 7-10. In this interview with
Joshua, Caleb clearly implies that he was 80 years old at the time of entering Canaan and
that now, at the time of making this statement, he is fourscore and five years old; hence
he must have been in his 86th year at the time when it was said that the land was divided,
as the Lord commanded Moses. We recognize and admit that the record
found in chapters 15-20 of Joshua, conveys the impression that the division of the land
continued and extended beyond the six years; but our understanding is that we have in the
first five verses of chapter 14 a general statement of the matter of dividing the land,
in the sense of allotting or apportioning it out to the various tribes; for verse 5 says:
"As the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did." It therefore seems
to us that what is recorded in subsequent chapters would be more that of setting forth the
details of what is implied in the first five verses of this chapter. Then there is the
additional thought that it is one thing to allot or apportion the land, and still another
thing to actually accomplish the settling up and subjugating of it. The latter, we
concede, required more than the first five or six years of their experience in Canaan, and
it seems to us that what is recorded in the 15th to the 20th chapters describes to a
considerable extent the matter of conquering and subjugating the Canaanites; for in fact,
this phase of the task continued on for many years. JOSHUA IN THE PERIOD OF JUDGES
Replying
to Question 3: We have here called into question the propriety of including any part of
Joshua's life in the 450-year period of the Judges, since he is not specifically mentioned
as one of the Judges. We freely admit there appears to be strong argument here that we
should not begin to count the 450 years until Joshua's death. If we should thus calculate
the matter, there would of course be a surplus of several years from the division of the
land, until Joshua's death. As we
have before stated, the Scripture records are silent as to how long Joshua lived after the
interview with Caleb, at which time the latter said he was 85 years old, that being his
sixth year in the land. The historian Josephus implies that Joshua lived about nineteen
years after this; and it is this nineteen years that is seized upon by some as a surplus
period, or as being what they call the "missing link" to fill up, or take the
place, in our chronological system, of the nineteen years' shortage discovered in
connection with the ending of the period of the Kings. Again we remark that we are not
now, in our examination of this question, hunting for any period of nineteen, or any other
number of years. We are endeavoring, without bias from any standpoint, to look at the
facts as far as they are revealed in these records. Since
Josephus is not an inspired writer, we would not be able to accept his statements as
conclusive proof, but would have to regard them as more or less problematical; and we are
left without any positive proof as to how long it was from the time of the division of the
land to Joshua's death. However, in our discussion of this question, it is not necessary
for us to determine the length of that time. The point of the question rather hinges upon
whether or not Joshua's career is to be included in the period of the Judges. Our
principal reason for favoring the view that Joshua's life should be included in the period
of the Judges is found in St. Paul's language, Acts 13:19-21; for here it appears that the
Apostle under inspiration is led of the Lord to make a statement bridging over these
uncertain periods of Israel's early experiences in Canaan, and in most instances he gives
the number of years of each. First he says: "About the time of forty years suffered
He their manners in the wilderness." Then his next remark, "When He had
destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He divided their land to them by lot,"
seems quite clearly to be based upon the statement in Josh. 14:5 which we have just
considered, that the land was divided as God commanded Moses, etc. Then the Apostle goes
on to say, "He gave unto them Judges, about the space of four hundred and fifty
years," seemingly under the direction of the Spirit, to connect up the period of the
Judges at the point where the land had been divided by lot. The
objection that Joshua was not considered one of the judges and that the period of his life
in Canaan should not be included in the period of the judges, can hardly be sustained, in
view of the foregoing review of St. Paul's language. While, strictly speaking, he was not
mentioned as one of the judges of Israel, yet as a matter of fact he did fill the office
of a Judge for that nation as did also Moses. In view of all the facts, we believe it a
reasonable conclusion that the Apostle in designating the four hundred and fifty years, is
including all the time of Joshua after the division of the land, along with the other
Judges; and he gives us no word in this connection to imply that he was skipping over a
period between the division of the land and the commencement of the period of the Judges. A SEEMING DIFFICULTY
Question
4 relates to the genealogies furnished us by the two evangelists St. Matthew and St. Luke,
and we acknowledge that upon the surface at least there appears to be a serious difficulty
in that they allow but four generations to cover the long stretch of time from Salmon to
David. Again we observe that this feature, like the others, has been carefully examined
and discussed by Bible scholars for centuries. It is this seeming difficulty (for it is
only such), together with that of I Kings 6:1, that has caused some to lean toward a
translation of the Apostle's words that will harmonize with this genealogy. It is our
conviction that assistance can be obtained in harmonizing this seeming contradiction, in
the writings of those who have given much study to the genealogies. We will therefore
submit the conclusions of some of these men of God. In doing this, it becomes necessary to
understand the object of the genealogical records. To this end we quote: "The
New Testament gives us the genealogy of but one person, that of our Savior. This is given
because it was important to prove that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies spoken of Him. Only
as the son and heir of David could He be the Messiah. The following propositions will
explain the true construction of these genealogies:--(1) They are both (Matthew and Luke)
the genealogies of Joseph, i. e., of Jesus Christ as the reputed and legal son of Joseph
and Mary. (2) The genealogy of St. Matthew is Joseph's genealogy as legal successor to the
throne of David. St. Luke's is Joseph's private genealogy,
exhibiting his real birth as David's son, and thus showing why he was heir to Solomon's
crown. The simple principle that one evangelist exhibits that genealogy which contained the successive heirs to David and Solomon's throne,
while the other exhibits the paternal stem of Him who was the heir, explains all the
anomalies of the two pedigrees, their agreement as well as their discrepancies, and the
circumstances of their being two at all. (3) Mary, the mother of Jesus, was in all
probability the daughter of Jacob, and first cousin of Joseph her husband, thus:
"Godet,
Lange and many others take the ground that Luke gives the genealogy of Mary, rendering
Luke 3:23 thus: 'being (as was supposed) the son
of Joseph,' (but in reality) the son of Heli. In
this case, Mary, as declared in the Targums, was the daughter of Heli, and Heli was the
grandfather of Jesus. Mary's name was omitted because 'ancient sentiment did not comport
with the mention of the mother as the genealogical link.' So we often find in the Old Testament the grandson called
the son. This view has this greatly in its favor, that it shows that Jesus was not
merely the legal but the actual descendant of David; and it would be very strange that in
the Gospel accounts, where so much is made of Jesus being the son of David and of his
kingdom, His real descent from David should not
be shown."--International Bible Dictionary. Concerning
the particular matter under consideration: The fact that a woman by the name of Rachab is
mentioned in the genealogy as an ancestress of Jesus Christ, and that this Rachab is
understood by some to be Rahab the harlot, the one who hid the spies (Josh. 2:1), is thus
referred to by the same authority: "The
chief objection to her identification with the Rahab of Matt. 1:5 (A. V. Rachab) is the
short distance in time between Rahab, who was an adult 'at the time of entrance to the
land,' and David, who was born about 1085 B.C. .
. . There may have been some generations omitted in
the record." SOME GENERATIONS OMITTED
There
certainly were generations omitted in several periods, as we shall show. On this account
the genealogies are of no assistance, and certainly not a basis to calculate chronology.
It is not unreasonable to suppose that the Rahab who married Salmon was a person of that
name who lived at a later period. As it is absolutely impossible to make the genealogical
records agree with either St. Paul's statement of four hundred and fifty years, or with
the shorter period of 1 Kings 6:1, then the only way
to harmonize the genealogy with these records is to understand that there are omitted some
generations in the account of both Matthew and Luke. The following will be interesting, as
well as helpful in explaining this matter: "It
remains to be said that just notions of the nature of
the Jewish genealogical records are of great importance with a view to the right
interpretation of Scripture. Let it only be remembered that these records have respect to
political and territorial divisions as much as to strictly genealogical descent, and it will at once be seen how erroneous a
conclusion it may be that all who are called 'sons' of such and such a patriarch or chief,
must necessarily be his VERY children. If
any one family or house become extinct, some other would succeed to its place, called
after its own chief father. Hence, of course, a census of any tribe drawn up at a later
period would exhibit different divisions from one drawn up earlier. The same principle
must be borne in mind in interpreting any particular genealogy. Again, when a pedigree was abbreviated, it would naturally specify
such generations as would indicate from what chief houses the person
descended."--International Bible Dictionary. In this
way several generations might be omitted. We conclude, therefore, that the genealogies are
not reliable for computing chronology, for the reason that in several instances it is well
known that whole generations were omitted, and the genealogical links often connect father
and grandson, instead of father and son. In some instances where a king's heirs were cut
off, the heirship reverted to another relative whose descent was traced from David or
Solomon. We mention two instances where a grandson is called a son. In Matt. 1:8 it is
said that Joram begat Ozias (Uzziah). A
reference to 2 Chron. 26:1 will show that Ozias (Uzziah) was a son of Amaziah. Joram
(Jehoram) was evidently his grandfather, some think, great, great, grandfather. (International Bible Dictionary, p. 118.) It will be seen by comparing the marginal
reference to Matt. 1:11, where it is said that Josias (Josiah) begot Jechonias (Jehoiachin), with 2 Kings 24:6,
and 2 Kings 23:34, that Jechonias (Jehoiachin) was a grandson of Josias (Josiah) and a son
of Jehoiakim. GENEALOGIES NOT A BASIS FOR CHRONOLOGY
The
Matthew genealogy, therefore, is not the direct personal
descent by the succession to the kingly right under the Law. We know that Jechonias
(Matt. 1:11) was not the father of Salathiel, because Jeremiah pronounced him childless (at least, in the official sense). His seed could not under the prophecy sit on the
throne of David; so Jesus could not take it under him as a personal descendant. (Jer. 22:30.) The same thing
had been declared of Jehoiakim in Jer. 36:30. St. Matthew seems to have given the
succession and not the strict birth, and
apparently or probably the names after the childless Jechoniah are those of his next kin,
as also in 1 Chron. 3:17. The names following Jechoniah--Salathiel and Zorobabel--seem to
be taken from the other genealogical line, which shows that Salathiel's real father was
kin of the house of Nathan. Salathiel of the house of Nathan became heir to David's throne
on the failure of Solomon's line in Jechoniah, and that as such, he and two descendants
were transferred as sons of Jechoniah to the royal genealogical table according to the
principle of the Jewish Law laid down in Numbers 27:8-11. We give
some interesting facts connected with these genealogy tables in Matthew and Luke which
show that they are not intended to calculate chronology. In examining them we discover the
following peculiarities and distinguishing features contained therein, from Abraham
to Jesus: (1)
Matthew gives 41 names or generations, and Luke gives 56. The obvious conclusion is that
15 generations were omitted in the Matthew account. (2) From
David, Matthew begins with Solomon, and Luke begins with Nathan. (3) From
David to Matthan (Matthat), Matthew mentions 21 names not mentioned by Luke, and Luke
mentions 37 names not mentioned by Matthew. (4) After
the return from Babylon, both Matthew and Luke
mention Salathiel and Zorobabel. . (5) In
the close of the genealogical records, Matthew mentions Matthan (Matthat), Jacob, Joseph and Jesus, while Luke mentions
Matthat (Matthan), Heli, Joseph and Jesus. It
certainly ought to convince anyone, however the genealogy may be interpreted as concerning
its Divinely designed use, that it was never intended or designed to calculate the length
of chronological periods, except those prior to Abraham. For the
benefit of the reader we give the genealogical records of both Matthew and Luke:
Matthew's Luke's Genealogical Table Genealogical Table 15. Solomon 1 1 15. Nathan 16. Roboam 2 2 16. Mattatha 3 17. Menan 17. Abia 3 4 18. Melea 18. Asa 4 5 19 Eliakim 6 20. Jonan 19. Josaphat 5 7 21. Joseph 8 22. Juda 20. Joram 6 9 23. Simeon 35 24. Levi 21. Ozias 7 11 25. Matthat 36 26. Jorim 22. Joathan 8 12 26. Jorim 13 27. Eliezer 23. Achaz 9 14 28. Jose 15 29. Er 24. Ezekias 10 Not 16 30. Elmodam men-17 31. Cosam 25. Manasses 11 Not tioned 18 32. Addi men- by 19 33. Melchi 18 26. Amon 12 tioned Mat-20 34. Neri 27. Josias 13 by thew 35. Salathiel 28. Jechonias 14 Luke 36. Zorobabel 29. Salathiel 21 37. Rhesa 30. 1 Zorobabel 22 38. Joanna 23 39. Juda 31. Abiud 15 24 40. Joseph 25 41. Semei 32. Eliakim 16 26 42. Miattathias 27 43. Maath 33. Azor 17 28 44. Nagge 34. Sadoc 18 29 45. Esli 35. Achim 19 30 46. Naum 31 47. Amos 36. Eliud 20 32 48. Mattathias 33 49. Joseph 37. Eleazor 21 34 50. Janna 35 51. Melchi
38. Matthan 36 52. Levi 39. Jacob- 53. Matthat 40. Joseph 37 54. Heli 55. Joseph 41. Jesus 56. Jesus THE REASONABLE CONCLUSION
The
foregoing review makes quite positively manifest that the genealogies of Matthew and Luke
cannot be relied upon to calculate chronology. Furthermore, it is perfectly reasonable to
believe that in the genealogy from Naasson to David (Matt. 1:4-6), several generations
are, for some legitimate cause unknown to us, omitted. In other words, it is most
reasonable to suppose that the genealogical tables from Salmon to David do not give the
line of descent from father to son. All that seems intended is to prove that Jesus
descended through David from JUDAH, of whom it was said "The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come."--Gen.
49:10. After all
the foregoing considerations with regard to these two links in our chronological
chain--that of the division of the land and that of the judges--it seems to us that the
only safe and reasonable conclusion we can come to is that the exact length of these two
periods cannot be determined with absolute
certainty; that after all is done and said on the subject, there is still room for a
difference of opinion; and that we do well, therefore, to content ourselves with the
thought that we can only approximate the length
of these periods, or determine about how much time they covered, viz., 6 years for the
division of the land, and 450 as the period of the judges. UZZIAH'S PRIDE AND PUNISHMENT--APRIL 23-2 CHRON. 26:1-21--Golden Text.--"Pride goeth before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall."--Prov. 16:18. UZZIAH was a great
and prosperous king in Jerusalem. He made a good beginning, was reverential toward God,
and put his capital and the remainder of his kingdom into good condition for defense
against enemies. When thinking of the wars of Israel, we are to remember that for a time
this nation represented God's rule in the earth in a sense that no other nation ever did,
either before or after them. The kings
of Israel were anointed, by Divine commission and authority, as were no other kings; and
they were said to "sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord," as no other
kings before or since have held dominion. Theirs was not, however, the Kingdom of God for
which we pray, "Thy Kingdom come," but merely a preparatory arrangement with the
typical Israelites. God's
Kingdom will really come to earth after Messiah shall establish it. For a thousand years
He shall reign, to uplift the humble, to bless all who seek righteousness, to punish and
correct all others, and finally to destroy the incorrigible in the Second Death. It was,
therefore, quite in line with the arrangements of the time that the kings of Israel and of
Judah should fortify and strengthen themselves and defend the land which the Almighty had
especially given to their nation. The two
kings that preceded Uzziah, Joash and Amaziah, were far from being illustrious or noble
examples of true worship and obedience to God. The lives of these two kings have been
summed up in all interesting manner by one commentator. Concerning the first, Joash, he
says: "On
the death of the good old high priest, Jehoiada, the mentor of King Joash from his youth,
Joash fell away from his standards of thought and conduct. He was led astray by the nobles
of Judah, who fawned upon him, and persuaded him to allow a return to the base idolatries
that had such a hold upon the people. Jehoiada's son Zechariah was then high priest.
Seized with prophetic fervor, he raised his voice in the midst of a throng in the court of
the temple, and prophesied dire misfortune to come upon the nation as the result of this
apostasy. Thereupon Joash ordered Zechariah executed in that very court, and not far from
the altar of burnt offerings. This is probably the Zechariah to whom our Lord refers in
Matt. 23:35. There is a tradition that for many years the blood of the martyr continued to
bubble up through the pavement where he fell, and did not cease until the capture of
Jerusalem fulfilled Zechariah's prophecy of ruin." How true
it is that history repeats itself. How often the pages of history have been stained with
blood at the hands of those whose pride, selfishness, jealousy and bigotry have been
aroused when the true message of the Lord has been announced by His servants. Thus it was
with our Lord Jesus, who said, "the darkness hateth the light," and so it has
ever been with His true followers since. The commentator quoted above, continues : "Zechariah's
prophecy, however, began at once to be fulfilled, for King Hazael of Syria, having wrought
much evil upon Israel to the north, next attacked Gath in Philistia. He was victorious,
and turned swiftly upon Jerusalem. Joash met him, was badly beaten, and was forced to buy
him off with the gold and silver and other treasures of his own palace and of Solomon's
temple. King Asa had stripped them to buy off another Syrian king, Ben-hadad, but new
stores had since accumulated. Now these were gone, and in his distress and humiliation
King Joash fell ill in the castle of Millo, where some of his own attendants slew him on
his bed, thus punishing the king for the killing of Zechariah. Joash had reigned for forty
years. "Joash
was succeeded by his oldest son, Amaziah, a pious prince at first, who exercised what was
for the times great kindness in executing his father's murderers and not putting their
sons to death with them. "The
first great deed of Amaziah was the war against Edom, a region south of the Dead Sea
peopled by a fierce tribe, descended from Esau, who constantly harassed southern Judah.
Carefully organizing an army of 300,000, Amaziah added 100,000 mercenaries whom he hired
from the Northern Kingdom; but he let them go when a prophet protested against his getting
aid from an adolatrous nation. When Amaziah objected on the ground of the cost of hiring
these foreign soldiers, which would be wasted if he dismissed them, the prophet nobly
answered, 'The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.' The saying was amply
justified, for Edom was decisively conquered, and its many iniquities were terribly
punished. "With
this success, however, Amaziah's failure began. Puffed up with pride, he sought other
conquests, and sent a bold challenge to King Joash of Israel, who was very prompt to
accept it. Battle was joined at Bethshemesh, in Judah to the west of Jerusalem, and
Amaziah was terribly beaten. Joash tore down two hundred yards of the wall of Jerusalem,
and through that great gap entered the city. He took everything of value in the temple and
palace, and carried away hostages as he returned in triumph to the Northern Kingdom. "Amaziah
reigned for fifteen years after this defeat, but did nothing notable. He was foolish
enough to worship the idols which he had taken from Edom, and received the deserved rebuke
of a prophet, who shamed him for falling down before gods that had been utterly unable to
save their own people. Finally an extensive conspiracy was formed against the despised
king. Almost alone, he fled to Lachish in the south, where he was caught and killed. He
had reigned for twenty-nine years and was fifty-four years old."--Peloubet's Select Notes. THE KING'S PRESUMPTION
The
truthfulness of the Scripture, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit
before a fall," was illustrated ill King Uzziah. When his fame had spread abroad and
he began to feel his greatness, pride came in. He forgot that he was merely the Lord's
representative in the kingdom, and that his first duty as a loyal subject of God was to
hearken and to obey the Divine commands. Having
accomplished great things from a political and military standpoint, King Uzziah essayed to
a religious distinction. Evidently he felt that God was proud of him and of his success,
and would be very well pleased to have him enter the Temple after the manner of the
priests and offer incense at the Golden Altar. He knew of the rules and regulations
governing the Temple and its service, but considered himself above them. He would go
directly to God, and not recognize the priest. Many
successful people fall into the same error of supposing that their success in business or
in politics, their brilliancy of mind or their polish of education is the only requisite
in the sight of Jehovah God. They feel that if they should go to church and acknowledge
God, He should be very proud to have them and, of course, should give them the first place
in everything. This is a mistake. The great King Eternal, "the Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" (Isa.
57:15), has rules and regulations governing all attempts to approach Him. There is just
the One Way of approach, and no other.--John 14:6. THE MELCHISEDEC PRIEST
"Oh!"
says one, "I see. You wish us to understand that the laity have no access to God;
that they must come through the clergy, even as King Uzziah should have approached God
through Israel's high priest. But I deny that the clergy are any more than other mortals.
I claim that many of them are less brilliant of mind than myself; that many of them are
less educated, and others totally devoid of business sense. I admit that it may be well
enough for the common people to approach God through the clergy; but whenever I approach,
I do so on the strength of my own personal intelligence and with the realization that the
Almighty is glad to have me come. Often I pray, 'O Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as
other men, nor even as this publican.' "--Luke.18:11. No, friend; this is not our
thought--not the Bible thought, not the lesson which we should draw from the Scriptures
under consideration. We must admit that there is no Scriptural authority for a clerical
class in the Church of Christ--unless it be the Twelve Apostles, St. Paul taking the place
of Judas. Scripturally those Twelve rank as a hierarchy--the special mouthpiece of Jesus. We are not intimating that
the soul desirous of approaching God must come through the clergy of any denomination. We
do emphasize, nevertheless, the fact that there is but the One Way of approaching God, and
that is by and through the great Advocate whom He hath appointed for us--"Jesus
Christ the Righteous"--"a Priest for the Age after the order of
Melchisedec." (I John 2:1; Heb. 5:6.) "No man cometh unto the Father but by
Me," was His message. "There is none other name given under heaven or amongst
men whereby we must be saved, is the Apostle's message.--Acts 4:12. INCENSE AT THE GOLDEN ALTAR
Those
whose eyes of understanding have never been opened to a realization that Jesus is the
Divine Appointee for the reconciliation of the world to God may be excused if they
approach God in prayer aside from Him. Their prayers may be answered to a limited extent,
if offered in sincerity, from the heart, and because, as St. Paul intimates, "God
winked at" their ignorance of His arrangements.--Acts 17:30. But as
King Uzziah knew of the Divine arrangement that only the priest could offer to the
Almighty incense on the Golden Altar, so those who have come to a realization of the fact
that Jesus is the great antitypical Priest, through whom communication with the Father has
been opened up, would come under condemnation should they intrude into the Divine presence
in prayer otherwise than as provided in God's arrangement, even as King Uzziah was smitten
with leprosy for his presumption and pride. Leprosy,
Scripturally considered, is a type of sin. King Uzziah's experiences, therefore, signify
typically that whoever would approach God aside from His ordained Priest, having a
knowledge of the impropriety, would come under Divine sentence as a wilful sinner. The
penalty would be in proportion to the degree of enlightenment previously enjoyed. FOURSCORE VALIANT PRIESTS
When the
king entered the Holy of the Temple to offer incense at the Golden Altar, the high priest
and eighty of the under priests followed him, protesting against his sacrilege. Although
this was only their duty, nevertheless it marked them as valiant, courageous men; for in
ancient times a king had great power. King Uzziah was feeling his own greatness and was
proud of it; therefore he was likely to resent any interference with his kingly
prerogatives. Their
words of protest voiced what the king already knew respecting the restrictions attaching
to the services of the Temple. But they added, "Go out, for thou hast trespassed;
neither shall it be for thine honor from Jehovah God." True honor, true blessing,
true prosperity, cannot be found in opposition to the Divine arrangements. The king's
course, therefore, must bring him dishonor. Had he hastened to glorify God, he would have
received a blessing, no doubt. But instead, violation of the Divine Law brought him the
curse. The
lesson is a plain one, exemplified by our text and by our Lord's words, "He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted; he that exalteth himself shall be abased." (Luke 14:11.) It was not
enough, even if the king had good intentions, instead of pride, backing him up. Good
intentions should have guided him to a study of the Divine arrangements and promises.
Ignorance of the Law is not an excuse. Hence the Apostle's exhortation, "Study to
show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the Word of Truth.--2 Tim. 2:15. The
lesson seems to be one of humility, both for the Church and for the world. Some are born
humble-minded, and others are born self-conceited. The latter, therefore, are handicapped
as respects this grace, though Scripturally advantaged in respect to courage to battle
against present adversities. On the whole, our handicaps through imperfections of the
flesh are not so unequal as to make it easier for one than for another to enter into the
Kingdom under the call of this Gospel Age; for where much is given, much is required; and
the judgment of the Lord will be according to the heart, the will, the intention, the
endeavor, and not according to the flesh, its weaknesses and its failures. Humility
is important, not only on its own account, but also because the other graces of the Holy
Spirit cannot be cultivated without it. At the head of the list of these spiritual graces
is meekness. How could one be gentle or make good progress in the cultivation of these
graces if he were not meek? How could one be patient and submissive in the trials and
difficulties of life if not meek? How could one be kind toward opponents and kind in all
things if he were not meek? How could one be patient toward all if he were not meek? How
could one have brotherly kindness except through meekness? How could one be Godlike except
he possessed meekness? How could one be loving in the Scriptural sense without meekness?
Along these lines all who will be of the Church will be tested. And meekness and humility
must be cultivated and must abound in the heart, in order to enable the cultivation of the
other fruits of the Holy Spirit. ISAIAH'S SUMMONS AND RESPONSE--APRIL 30--ISA. 6:1-13--
Golden Text.--"Here am 1; send me."--Isa.
6:8. PRECEDING
lessons have traced for us the history of the ten tribes, Israel, and afterward the two
tribes, Judah, down to about the time of Isaiah the Prophet. We have noted the
truthfulness of the Lord's expression respecting Israel, that they were a "crooked
and perverse generation," according to their own history. They were continually
gravitating toward idolatry, and even when corrected and brought back, through Divine
judgments at the hands of their enemies, their prosperity lasted but a brief season, until
they were delving again in idolatry, and required fresh chastisements. The first five
chapters of the prophecy of Isaiah are denunciations against Israel and Judah, mingled
with exhortations to reformation in which the Lord calls to them, saying: "The
ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but Israel does not know, My people
doth not consider. . . . Wash you, make you clean: put away the evil of your doings from
before your eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well.... Come now and let us reason
together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient ye
shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured with the
sword." But these
Divine offers of mercy fell upon heedless ears, and consequently the Lord sent a different
message, to which this lesson specially relates. And since the new message would he a
difficult one to proclaim, a vision was given to Isaiah to encourage him, and to lead him
to volunteer to be the bearer of that message.
The vision represented the majesty of God, His greatness and glory: and His holiness is
markedly brought to attention by the acclaim of the seraphim, "Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." In this vision Jehovah
presents Himself to the attention of Isaiah as a King above all kings, as though to
suggest to the Prophet, and to all to whom the vision would be related, the thought of
Divine majesty, which ultimately shall be revealed to the whole world of mankind, in the
light of whose glory the majesty and tinsel-grandeur of earthly kings will be the veriest
dross. The vision is a prophecy of the future, when the "glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" in the establishment of the Kingdom of
God during the Millennium.--Isa. 40:5. Only from
this prophetic standpoint would the words of the seraphim be true, for the whole earth has
never yet been filled with the Lord's glory. Quite to the contrary, the earth is full of
sin and violence, and every evil work prospers under the dominion of the great adversary
of God and righteousness, "the prince of this world." But God would have Isaiah,
and especially the spiritual "sons" of this Gospel Age, for whose benefit the
Prophet specially wrote (1 Pet. 1:12), know that evil shall not always prevail, but that,
as expressed, in our dear Redeemer's model prayer, eventually God's Kingdom shall come,
and His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. Then, with evil and evil-doers
destroyed, and the knowledge of the Lord filling the earth, this prophecy will be
fulfilled, and the whole earth shall be full of the Lord's glory. But meantime the Lord's
people are to wait patiently for Him--for His time for the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness. And meantime His servants are to serve Him, and to endure opposition from
the world, as seeing Him who is invisible, and as recognizing the glory of the Lord, which
is as yet only in vision and promise. GOD'S GLORY AND HUMAN WEAKNESS
The
repeating of the word "holy" has an intensifying effect, as signifying
superlatively holy, most holy. Thus, in vision, did God impress upon His servant, Isaiah,
His own holiness and indirectly as well His grace. All the surroundings of the vision were
such as to support these thoughts, the very door-posts being seen to reverberate, and the
Prophet's own person thrilled with the sight and the message. Naturally and properly, his
first thought was of His own unholiness, imperfection, as a member of the fallen race: he
felt himself unworthy even to see so great a sight, or to be in the Divine presence in
vision, and immediately began to lament his own infirmity and his unworthiness, saying:
Woe, I am a man whose lips are not clean enough to join with you seraphim in praising the
Great King, much as I should like to do so. Thus we
ever find it: those who are brought closest to the Divine presence, and who see the Divine
glories and majesty most distinctly, with the eyes of their understanding, and who realize
most fully the holiness and perfection of our God--these feel, more than do others, their
own blemishes and shortcomings and unworthiness, although, actually they are far superior
to others of the human family, else they would never be granted such insights to the
Divine Plan, character and coming glory. Humility is not only an appropriate grace for all
who are blemished through the fall, but it is appropriate also to the angels, for is it
not one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, as pointed out by the Apostle? Whoever has a
deep humility of heart, an intense appreciation of his own demerits, and of the Divine
perfection, is in a condition of heart ready for Divine blessing and for usefulness in the
Divine service, while the Pharisaical, who claim perfection for themselves in thought word or deed, are in a
condition of heart that is deplorable, and are wholly unfit to be used of the Lord as
messengers of Divine grace. One writer has very appropriately said: "The men who accomplish great things for the world are the men who like Isaiah have great visions of God. 'Saul of Tarsus, on the Damascus road, saw Jesus Christ, and out of that vision came a power of manhood that has thrown itself beneficently across twenty centuries. Luther, in his monk's cell, had a vision of the spiritual, and out of it came the Protestant Reformation, with all its forces of liberty and progress and enterprise.'"Two men looked through prison bars, The one saw mud--the other stars." When
Isaiah, in the vision, cried out lamenting his own imperfection, and that his lips were
wholly inadequate to the telling of the Divine glory, one of the seraphim brought a live
coal from off the altar, and therewith touched the Prophet's lips. Thus, in the symbolic
language of the vision, the Lord said to Isaiah: Since you have realized your own
blemishes and Divine goodness, you shall be granted powers of speech and eloquence and
words, that are not your own, but which are beyond your natural ability, and inspired by
the Lord; your lips shall be inspired, with the message of the great salvation, the
message of love, the fire, the zeal, which shall prompt and consume that sacrifice, and
with the grand results which shall flow from it: you may, in your lips at least, be
cleansed from all sin, even in advance of the great sacrifice of which you shall speak as
My prophet and mouthpiece. THE CALL TO DIVINE SERVICE
The
vision had its designed effect upon Isaiah, establishing more firmly his faith,
manifesting to him the Divine greatness and power, to him the highest of holy things. Thus
Isaiah's heart was quickened with a desire to further engage in the Divine service, no
matter what the message which the Lord would send. Consequently, when further on in the
vision he heard the Lord inquire for a faithful servant, he immediately responded,
offering himself, and was accepted, and the message given to him. Thus it
has been with all those whom the Lord would specially use in His service during this
Gospel Age. None are forced into Divine service: all soldiers of the cross must be volunteers--none will be drafted. The Lord does
not even press us to become His servants, but, as was illustrated here with Isaiah, He
shows to His faithful His character and Plan, and lets them know that He is seeking such
to Worship and serve Him as worship and serve in spirit and in truth, and this knowledge
is His "call." This is quite sufficient for all who have tasted of the Lord's,
grace appreciatively: for such to know that there is an opportunity of rendering service
to the King of kings is to volunteer their services, to pray that the Lord will grant them
a privilege of doing all their talents will fit them to do in His service. Only such are
true mouthpieces of the Lord. The false prophets and teachers of error are those who
affect to serve the Lord's cause, for hire of money or for praise of men, for
self-adulation or aggrandizement. The
message of which Isaiah was thus made the channel or mouthpiece of the Lord, was, as
already intimated, an unpleasant one. It was a message to the effect that the Divine
counsel had already foreseen that all the warnings, threatenings, chastisements, which had
come upon Israel and Judah, and which would yet come upon them, would fail to reach their
hearts and turn them to repentance: and that, as a consequence, the land would be made
desolate, the people being, carried away into captivity. Such a message would be difficult
to deliver to any people, yet this was the message which the Lord sent, and for which He
specially prepared His servant. We are not surprised to learn that the message "was
resented, and although Isaiah lived to the good old age of seventy, there seems to be
reasonable ground for the truth of the claim made by tradition that he eventually died a
martyr's death, being sawn asunder. Even the ray of hope which his message contained, to
the effect that a remnant of the people would be
spared and returned to their land, and that the national hope would thus be revived, was
no doubt considered to be the addition of insult to injury by the proud and self-willed people to whom the message was delivered. THE SOLEMN PREDICTIONS FULFILLED
It was
not long after Isaiah had this vision that the ten tribes were carried away into
captivity, and although a reformation set in with Judah, it was but temporary, and Judah's
share in the prophesied captivity occurred about one hundred and fifty years later. This same
message of the Lord was quoted by the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul as further
applicable to Israel at the First Advent, when, on their rejection of Messiah, the nation
as a whole was rejected of the Lord and scattered amongst all the nations of the earth,
and only a "remnant" of Israelites indeed, who accepted the Messiah, were
received into the higher dispensation of Divine favor of this Gospel Age, as sons of God
and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ our Lord.--Matt. 13:13-17; John 1:12; Rom. 11:5-11. Finding,
as we do, in the Scriptures, that natural Israel was a type of nominal spiritual Israel,
we are not surprised to find also that there is a somewhat similar message due to the
spiritual house now, in the end of this Age. The Lord's message has been that the harvest
of the earth is ripe, that the time of harvest has come, that He is seeking Israelites
indeed, that He is gathering out His jewels, which, during the prevalence of evil in the
past, have been undergoing polishing to fit and prepare them for coming glory, and to
reflect the Divine light and beauty. The message now is that nominal Christendom is
hereafter to be known as "Babylon," confusion, and that all who are truly the
Lord's people are now to hear His voice and to flee out of Mystic Babylon, that they be
not partakers of her sins, and that they receive not a share of her plagues from the vials
of wrath which she is shortly to experience.--Rev. 18:1-4. While the
Lord has indeed put into our months a new song, that we may show forth the praises of Him
who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and that we may tell of his
loving-kindness and his tender mercies over all his works, and that eventually all shall
come to a knowledge of the Lord, that they may be saved, if they will, nevertheless, this
particular feature of the message of Present Truth, which calls God's people out of
Babylon, is, in many respects, like the message which Isaiah was bidden to deliver to the
faithful of Israel in his day: it is a message that is not favorably received; a message
that is resented, and that brings upon those who present it, even in the most gentle and
loving manner, the maledictions and the scowls of those who love sectarianism. and the
worship of human theories and creeds better than they love the Lord and His message. Those who
would speak the message of Present Truth in love, and yet with courage and fearlessness of
man, need just such an encouragement as the Lord gramed to Isaiah. They need that the eyes
of their understanding be granted a vision of. the King in His beauty; and they need to
hear distinctly uttered the fact that ultimately the Lord shall establish His Kingdom,
which shall fill the whole earth with His glory. And just such a view and such a message
the Lord has been granting to those whom He would use as servants and mouth-pieces. The
Present Truth, the eating of the "meat in due season," now provided by our
present Lord, affords His faithful a waking vision of the Lord's glory, never conceived of
before, but now clearly recognized by the eye of faith, in the light of the clearer truth.
In this light of the Divine Plan of the Ages we indeed see the Divine character as never
before--Divine wisdom, Divine justice, Divine love and Divine power, fully coordinated,
operating in absolute accord in all the great work of our God, comprehending the past, the
present and the future. In this
our vision there comes to us also the seraphic
testimony, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is [to be] full of
His glory." From this standpoint of the future work of our God, through the
Millennial Kingdom of the glorified Christ, Head and Body, who shall bless all the
families of the earth, we can see Divine holiness, love, wisdom and justice, as it is not
possible for them to be seen from any other. As it is, those who thus see Divine grace in
its effulgence, and who, nevertheless, realize their own imperfection and unworthiness,
these it is who today have granted to them the opportunity of being mouthpieces of God by
being touched with an antitypical coal from the antitypical altar--touched with the
consecration of the great sacrifice. And these are they who are anxious to render service
to our Lord, and who are commissioned to bear the message of Present Truth to others. BEREAN STUDIES IN
THE REVELATION
STUDY CXIX--APRIL 2. THE TEN KINGS THAT MAKE WAR WITH THE LAMB
(641)
What is the significance of the statement that the ten kings receive power with the Beast
"one hour"? Has this yet been fulfilled? H '20-268. (642)
What is the import of verse 14--the war between the ten kings and the Lamb? Has this yet
been fulfilled? If so, when? Who are the called, chosen, and faithful? H '20-269. (643)
What is the lesson to be drawn from verse 16, the ten horns warring against the Harlot
Woman, eating her flesh and burning her with fire? Has this yet been fulfilled? If so,
when? H '20-268. (644)
What is the thought in verse 17 that "God hath put it into their hearts to fulfill
His will," etc. H '20-269. (645) Who
is represented by that great City that reigneth over the kings of the earth? H '20-269. STUDY CXX--APRIL 9. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF BABYLON.--Rev. 18:1-4.
(646)
What is the thought in the words "after these things"? What were the two
prominent phases of the Apostate Church that were brought to our attention in preceding
visions? Give Scripture references pertaining to each. H '20-294. (647)
What is meant by the statement that "another angel come down from heaven"? and
what was the evident object of the angel's message? H '20-294. (648)
What is the meaning of the solemn announcement, "Babylon is fallen," and of the
call to "Come out of her, My people" ? H '20-294, 295. (649) At
what point of time should we reasonably look for the beginning of the fulfilment of the
vision of Babylon's fall and the call to "come out of her"? H '20-295. (650) Was
the real character of Babylon fully recognized by the Reformers ? Give facts hearing upon
this point. H '20-295, 296. VOL. V. April 15, 1922 No. 6 OUTLOOK FROM THE
WALLS OF ZION
"ZIONIST VIGOR PUTS COUNTRY FAR BEYOND ITS STATE
UNDER TURK RULE"
HOW
eagerly all the faithful watchers are endeavoring to observe the signs of the times, such
as that mentioned by Jesus, when He referred to the fig tree putting forth (the Jewish
nation beginning to return to Divine favor), and said: "When her branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So ye in like manner, when
ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the
doors."--Mark 13:28, 29. The
following, taken from The Chicago Daily News, will
be read with interest: "Jerusalem,
Palestine, Feb. 2.--Palestine is beginning to rouse from its long industrial slumber.
Manufacturing industries are springing up rapidly in this country, which could not boast
of a single industry for hundreds of years under the Turkish regime. Now the new
industries are beginning to compete strongly with foreign manufacturers. "This
change is attributed here to Zionist capital and enterprise. "Carpet
weaving, perhaps, ranks first in importance among the new industries. The Pro-Jerusalem
society has a number of looms which turn out some remarkably beautiful work, Jewish
colonists from Persia have also set up a number of factories which make carpet patterns
for foreign consumption. The United States is their chief buyer for the present. "TWO FURNITURE FACTORIES BUSY"
"The
manufacture of house and office furniture is making rapid strides. Two large Zionist
factories are now busy producing all the wooden requisites of office and home for
Palestine as well as for Egypt. "Cigarette
making, pearl button manufacturing, wine producing, candy, brush and basketmaking are
among the many other enterprises which are being developed. Their promoters say they are
more than satisfied with results, despite the general depression in trade prevailing the
world over. "ELECTRICITY IS NEEDED"
"Two
existing handicaps, however, seem to arrest the rapid growth. The first is lack of
electricity to run the machinery in factories and the second the lack of suitable harbors,
piers and sheds to facilitate the handling of the sudden increase in imports and exports. "The
Rutemberg scheme for generating electricity from the River Jordan, which has already been
approved by the government in London and on which work is to start soon, is expected to
eliminate these handicaps. "The
administration is bending its utmost efforts to promote more enterprises. An exhibition of
home industries, the first of its kind in Palestine, is being arranged for the first week
of April." "1,000 JEWS G0 TO HOLY LAND EVERY MONTH"'
Another
item, published under date of March 6th, bears along the same lines: "The
new exodus of the children of Israel from Europe and back to Palestine is proceeding at
the rate of 1,000. persons each month, according to Peter J. Schweitzer, multimillionaire
manufacturer and chairman of the administrative Committee of the Palestine foundation
fund, which is about to begin a new drive for the 1922 quota of $9,000,000. "'There
are now 80,000 Jews back in the Palestine area,' said Mr. Schweitzer yesterday at the
Hotel La Salle, where he is making his headquarters during conferences this week with
local directors of the campaign. 'In a short time we expect the migration will amount to
50,000 annually, for there are 100,000 Jews in Europe alone who are ready to go back as
soon as preparations have been made for them. "ECONOMICS THE ISSUE"
"'Political
conditions formerly handicapped the movement, but that barrier no longer exists. It is now
only a question of economics. "'Wars
have denuded the country of vegetation. There are no natural sanitation facilities. There
is neither coal nor petroleum. The fund we are gathering is being disbursed for these
purposes. "'Lands
are being purchased in various sections. The two principal seaports where colonization is
most rapid are Jaffa and Haifa. Since May of last year, when the drive was inaugurated, we
have been spending the receipts in improvement of these lands and in the establishment of
sanitary systems and public utilities. We have actually collected $1,300,000, and
$2,000,000 additional has been pledged to be paid this year. "GENTILES AIDING FUND"
"'Gentiles
are contributing to the campaign with almost as great zeal as the Jews themselves. Many
public officials, including William Jennings Bryan, have donated sums. The goal this year
is $9,000,000 and we expect the possibilities of this fund to give added impetus to the
migration.' "Mr.
Schweitzer has contributed approximately $300,000 to the fund during the past year. The
administrative committee, which includes Professor Otto Warburg and Nahum Sokolow, are
expected in Chicago within the next three days to supervise personally the local
campaign."--The Chicago Herald and Examiner. PALESTINE'S CONSTITUTION
Still
another item is of interest as showing that the race prejudice that has existed for ages
between the posterity of Isaac and Ishmael, still proves an obstruction; but the Lord in
due time can remove every difficulty: "Efforts
to make trouble between Arabs and Zionists in the Holy Land go on apace. It is charged
that incoming Hebrews, joining with Hebrew colonists, are bent on making Palestine a
Jewish state; that the Arabs are discriminated against in favor of the Hebrews in matters
of race, religion and worship. "The
evidence against both these charges is amply furnished by the new constitution for
Palestine just issued by the British government. For one thing, the document, instead of
setting up a Jewish or any other state, explicitly provides 'for the general
administration of the country and the establishment of a national home for the Jewish
people,' reaffirming the original Balfour declaration. For another, the amplest care is
taken to protect native rights. Elections to the executive council are opened to all the
population, and no ordinance can be passed which 'shall tend to discriminate in any way
between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground of race, religion or language.' "What
more do the Arabs need? With what justification may they distrust and oppose the Zionist
program? Sir Alfred Mond has just reminded them that since the British administration took
charge of the Holy Land 'the progress of the country has proceeded at a speed more like
that of the western cities of America.' And he asks: 'Whoever heard of Jews oppressing
anybody in the 1800 years' misery they endured?' All they wish, he asserts, 'is to be
allowed to toil on road, in rock and soil--to rebuild, little by little, the home from
which they were expelled eighteen centuries ago.' "Zionists
and Arabs come of the same Semitic stock and meet under conditions which should make for
amity rather than discord. Reason for conflict between them there never has been,
according to Sir Alfred. The last pretence of it surely ought to be removed by the new
constitution."--The Boston Herald. THE CONTROVERSY OVER DARWINISM
The
recent appearance in the public press of various statements by William Jennings Bryan,
discountenancing faith in Darwinism, etc., has brought a general storm of criticism from
those who advocate and support the cause of the Evolution theory. Amongst those who have
expressed pronounced disapproval and condemnation of Mr. Bryan's courageous stand are many
of the leading professors and teachers of the colleges and seminaries, as well as many
preachers of various denominations. Indeed, the recent heated discussion which Mr. Bryan's
remarks seem to have evoked, and the zest with which his statements have been resented
show how rapid has been the progress that Higher Criticism, Darwinism, etc., have made in
the recent years throughout the country, which we believe is a fulfilment of the Apostle's
forecast concerning the present time. (1 Tim. 4:12.) We submit a few statements by popular
teachers, which are a fair representation of the attitude and sentiment of those who
champion that side of the cause: "Hanover,
N. J., Feb. 17.--President Ernest Martin Hopkins, of Dartmouth College, commenting on the
attempts of certain religious sects to do away with the teaching of evolution in the
schools, said that 'Dartmouth College, along with other educational institutions of the
country, is not free from the efforts of those whose religious thinking would lead to a
narrowing and stultifying influence any more than is the Church or State.' He said of the
pre-millennialist movement: "'Milleliarianism
is an archaic form of Biblical literalism. It shows marked effects on the policies of the
present day, especially in the Kentucky Legislature on the one hand and the speeches of
William Jennings Bryan. on the other. "'As
always happens in a period of reactionary religious thinking, there is insistence upon the
acceptance of all statements of the Bible literally, completely ignoring the fact that
Oriental people dealt largely in allegory and metaphor, even when most serious. "'Accepting.
the Bible literally, the next step is to argue that evil has run its course and that
Christ is coming to earth to slay and destroy all who oppose His Word--that is, all who
oppose the fundamental movement--and that evil is to be chained for a thousand years, and
that goodness and righteousness shall be established on the earth by force. "'I believe that 'honest agnosticism or, doubt of any mind ought to have full play, and that only out of such freedom of speculation can a genuine and strongly founded belief of any potentiality be acquired.'"--The Philadelphia Record. "'If
those opposed to the teaching of evolution wish to see their movement completely
discredited,' volunteered R., G. Jones, president of the department of superintendence,
'all they have to do is to continue their fight for suppression. Their policy could end
only in absurdity.' "'Opposition
to the theory of evolution expresses the ideas of society's childhood,' said Prof. Edwin
R. A. Seligman ofColumbia University. 'If we are going back to childhood, let us go all
the way. Teach that the earth is flat. It is the same idea as that in the antagonism to
Galileo.' "Prof.
Seligman suggested the preparation of an exhibit including remains of the dinosaur, the
ancestor of the horse, and other prehistoric animals, showing proofs of evolution, and
taking it on a special train throughout the country. "If
studies based on the doctrine of evolution were eliminated from our schools, no science
would be left, declared Dr. Frank E. Spaulding of Yale University. Another educator called
Mr. Bryan 'still a medievalist.' "-The Chicago
Tribune. So far as
we have observed, the replies that have been made to Mr. Bryan offer no real
argument--present no attempt to give a substantial reason for frowning upon his defense of
the Bible; in fact, the majority of the replies show that sarcasm and ridicule are the
principal weapons used against Mr. Bryan in his courageous stand in support of the
infallibility of the sacred Scriptures. While
many of the religious teachers of Christendom are thus blindly leading their flocks away
from the Lord, we need not be surprised that, bewildered, and without any Divine
anchorage, many have fallen into various pitfalls of error--Christian Science, Theosophy,
Spiritism, etc., and in substance concluding that God is a principle, not a being, a
principle of good; that man is the highest embodiment of this "good" and
intelligent principle which pervades all space and all times; hence that man is not only
the highest form of animal, but the highest expression of God. Thus, while God is
dethroned, man is enthroned--man is his own god. But,
however many may be ensnared by Satan, or fall before the pestilence of Infidelity now
issuing from the "high places" of learning, we may rest assured that in due time
"the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isa.
40:5), and that that due time is not far distant; for although there will first be a dark
and stormy time, it is nearly due time for the Sun of Righteousness to arise with healing
in His beams. And further, we may rest assured that the Lord knoweth them that are His,
not only His in profession, but His in deed and in truth, and that none can pluck them out
of His hand. It will not be possible to deceive "the very elect;" hence, those
deceived are not "the very elect," what ever may be their station in the future. While
seeing error flourish often in high as well as in low places, we are reminded of the grand
truth expressed upon the old seal of the Huguenots. It represented an anvil with broken
hammers scattered all around it, and bore this legened: "Hammer away ye hostile bands! Your hammers break, God's anvil stands." "UNDER HIS WINGS!""He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under
His wings shalt thou find shelter."--Psa. 91:4.--Leeser. [Reprint from PASTOR RUSSELL] IN the
midst of the "perilous times" of this "evil day," and of the warning
voices of Prophets and Apostles pointing out snares and pestilences and subtle dangers on
every hand--and in the midst, too, of a realizing sense of the actual existence of such
evil besetments and perils--how precious to the saints are the assurances of Divine
protection and care and personal love! We call
to mind the gracious promises of our Lord--"The Father Himself loveth you;"
"Fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
Kingdom;" and "He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love
him and will manifest Myself to him; . . . and My Father will love him, and we will come
in unto him and make Our abode with him. . . . Peace I leave with you, My peace I give
unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."--John 16:27;
14:21, 23, 27; Luke 12:32. But
warning voices and wholesome counsel are also necessary; and he is not wise who turns a
deaf ear to them, and takes cognizance alone of the comforting assurances which are
designed only for those who faithfully "watch and pray lest they enter into
temptation." Every soldier of the cross needs to heed the Apostle's
warnings--"Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand;" and again, "Let us fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into
His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it;" and fear also "lest, as
the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve, through his
subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ;"
"for grievous wolves shall enter in among
you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things to draw away disciples after them." "Behold," said our Lord, "I
send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be
ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves."--Eph. 6:13; Heb. 4:1; 2 Cor.
11:3; Acts 20:29, 30; Matt. 10: 16. It is
necessary for the discipline, trial and final proving of the Church of God that they
should be subjected to these adverse influences; for to him that overcometh them is the promise of the great reward.
If we would reign with Christ, we must prove our worthiness to reign by the same tests of
loyalty to God, of faith in His Word, of zeal for the Truth, of patient endurance of
reproach and persecution, even unto death, and of unwavering trust in the power and
purpose of God to deliver and exalt His Church in due time. To such faithful ones are the
blessed consolations of Psa. 91. Hearken -- Verse 1.
"He who abideth in the secret place of the Most High [typified by the Most Holy or
Sanctuary] shall rest under the shadow of the Almighty." We, thus place ourselves
under the Divine protection when, having come to a knowledge of God's willingness to
accept us as His children, we gratefully accept the invitation and approach in His
appointed way, through Christ our Redeemer, and consecrate ourselves fully to His service.
Such may sweetly rest in the precious promises of God, all of which are "yea and amen
in Christ Jesus." (2 Cor. 1 :20.) The world does not see the overshadowing wings of
Divine protection, but the faithful have a blessed secret realization of it. Praise the
Lord! Verse 2.
"1 [Christ Jesus, whom David here, as elsewhere, personifies, and who thus addresses
His body, His Church] will say of Jehovah, who is My refuge and My stronghold, My God in
whom I ever trust." (John 20:17)-- Verse 3.
"That He will surely deliver thee from the snare of the fowler [from the deceptions
of Satan, in which all those not protected shall stumble; for our Lord said that so subtle
and deceptive will they be that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect.
But this is not possible, for those who are making their calling and election sure abide
under the protection of the Almighty], and from the pestilence of destruction." Not
from the destructive pestilences of physical disease, but from the moral and spiritual
pestilences of destruction--from the sinful propensities of the old nature, which, in
unguarded moments, are liable to assert their mastery and overwhelm the souls of those who
are not abiding under the secret protection of
the Most High; and from the spiritual pestilences of false doctrine which, with subtle
sophistry, destroy the faith of the unwatchful. Such pestilences are already abroad in the
shape of so-called Christian Science, Spiritualism and the various no-ransom theories
which take the name of The Larger Hope, and which bid fair, both from present prospects
and from the prophetic outlook, ere long to become epidemic. From all these pestilences
the Lord's elect shall be protected, resting sweetly under the shadow of the Almighty. Verse 4.
"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou find shelter.
[So close to His heart does Jehovah gather His loyal and faithful children that they feel
the warmth of His love, and the responsive language of their hearts is, "I will abide
in Thy tabernacle"--under Thy protection--"forever: I will trust in the covert
of Thy wings; for Thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy; for
Thou hast heard my vows"--my consecration--"Thou hast given me the heritage of
those that fear Thy name."--Psa. 61:4, 3, 5.] His truth shall be thy shield and
buckler"--thy protection. Yes, His Truth--that grand system of truth comprised in the
Divine Plan of the Ages--is an ample shield and buckler to all who in simplicity of heart
receive it and prove faithful to it. It is the armor of God which the Apostle urges all
the faithful to put on--to appropriate, to meditate upon and to store up the Truth in mind
and heart--that they may be able, by its use, to withstand error and evil in every form
presented to them in this evil day. Verse 5.
"Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night [the dark night of which the
Prophet Isaiah and also the Lord spoke, saying, "The morning"--the Millennial
morning--"cometh, and also the night"--the great time of trouble which shall
immediately precedeth, the night "wherein no man can labor" for the
dissemination of Divine truth: so great will be "the terror," the tumult and
trouble and persecution of that night.--Isa. 21 :12; John 9:4]; nor for the arrow
["even bitter words" of the opponents of the Truth--Psa. 64:3] that flieth by
day"--at the present time, which, in comparison with the dark night that is coming,
is called day. Verse 6.
"Nor for the pestilence [moral and spiritual] that walketh in darkness [that spreads
and makes its victims among those who are ignorant of the Truth, or who are unfaithful to
it and hence unworthy of it, and who therefore lack the Divine protection and are subject
to the "strong delusions"--of error--2 Thes. 2:11; nor for the destruction
[caused by these pestilences] that wasteth at noon-day"--that subverts the faith
and hope of many, just when the light of Divine Truth is shining clearest upon the
faithful, as it is shining upon us today. Verse 7.
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand [so great will
be the falling away from the Truth, even among those who, like ourselves, received it once
with joy and who did for a time run well]; but it shall not come nigh thee."--Because
of thy loyalty and uncompromising faithfulness and because of the ample armor of truth and
righteousness, thou shalt stand and not fall. Verse 8.
"Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the recompense of the
wrongdoers"--who reject the Truth or who prove unfaithful to it. Verses 9,
10. "Because thou hast said, 'The Lord is my protection;' because the Most High thou
hast made thy refuge, no evil shall befall thee"--no evils of the kind above referred
to; and any other seeming evils shall, under Divine providence, work together for your
good--Rom. 8:28. Verse 11.
"For He shall give His angels [messengers] a charge concerning thee, to guard thee in
all thy ways." That is, God will raise up some
faithful pastors and teachers who will "watch for your souls as they that must give
an account." True, there shall arise false teachers, perverting the Word of the Lord
and seeking by cunning sophistries to subvert your souls; but if in simplicity of heart
God's children require a "Thus saith the Lord" for every element of their faith,
and carefully prove all things by the Word, they will be able to distinguish readily the
true from the false. And having done so, the Apostle Paul (Heb. 13:17) counsels us to have
confidence. The Lord, our Shepherd, will care for the true sheep. Verse 12.
"They shall bear thee [all the members of the Body of Christ, individually and
collectively] up in their hands [using their strength], lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone"--any stumbling-stone of false doctrine, and especially that great fundamental
rock-doctrine of the redemption through the precious blood of Christ--that "rock of
offense and stone of stumbling" to both the houses of nominal Israel (fleshly and
spiritual). (Isa. 8:14.) The "feet" of the Body are its last members; the saints
now living are members of the "feet of
Him" (Christ), the ones who are now in danger of being stumbled, as the feet of the
Jewish house of servants were in danger in the end or harvest of the Jewish Age. How do
such messengers of the Lord bear up the feet of Christ? By helping them to a clear
understanding of the Truth, and teaching and encouraging them by word and example how to
be faithful to the Truth, and how to run so as to attain to the mark for the prize of our
high calling. Verse 13.
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou
trample under feet."--Thus borne up in the hands of the Lord's faithful messengers
and guarded by their vigilant watchfulness, and under the constant protection of the Most
High, God's trusting, faithful children shall triumph over every device of Satan either to
overpower or beguile them--whether he boisterously goes about as a roaring lion, or
whether, serpent-like, he stealthily lurks about to insert his venomous poison. Verse 14.
"Because He hath set His love upon me [saith Jehovah], therefore will I deliver him
[from the pestilence, etc.]: I will set him on high [exalt him to joint-heirship with
Christ, make him a member of the "Royal Priesthood," and a "partaker of the
Divine nature"]; because he hath known [appreciated] My name." Verses
15, 16. "He shall call upon Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him. With long life [eternal life--John 10:28, 29; Rom. 2:1 ]
will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation"--make him understand My Plan. Praise
the Lord for such assurances of His loving care! "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all
that is within me, bless His holy name!" BEREAN STUDIES IN
THE REVELATION
STUDY CXXI--APRIL 16. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF BABYLON (Cont.)--REV. 18:1-4.
(651)
What course did the Reformers pursue toward
Babylon as they discerned her real character? Are we to understand that all who took part
in the Protestant movement were of the fully consecrated? H '20-296, 297. (652) To
what extent was the call to come out of Babylon heeded? H '20-297. (653)
What followed this separation from Babylon that prepared the way for the "Image of the Beast"? H
'20-297. (654)
What picture is brought to our minds in the statement that Babylon "is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird?" and what is the antitypical significance? H '20-297. (655)
What is the significance of the fact that a distinction is made between the City
(Babylon), and its inhabitants? To what does each refer? H '20-297. STUDY CXXII--APRIL 23. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF BABYLON (Cont.)--REV. 18:5-8.
(656)
What does the vision under consideration teach as to the attitude of the Papal system just
prior to its destruction? H '20-297, 298. (657)
Describe from the prophetic Word the manner of Babylon's fall, also note the circumstances
associated with her final collapse. (Daniel 7:26; Rev. 18:10, 17, 19.) Describe the
processes of consumption that have been going on in the past. H '20-297, 298. (658)
Point out in a general way what is included in the term Babylon, and explain the
underlying causes of her repudiation and condemnation. H '20-298. (659)
Show how Babylon's attitude and condition harmonize with the prophetic picture contained
in the vision. (Vs. 5, 7.) H '20-298. (660)
What is signified by the words: "Double unto her double according to her works,"
etc.? Does this solemn prediction relate to Papacy only, or will others share a similar
retribution? H '20-298. STUDY CXXIII--APRIL 30. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF BABYLON (Cont.)--REV. 18:8-10.
(661)
Have we reasons for concluding that there will be a still greater awakening among the
masses as to the real import of the Papacy? If so, state what they are. H '20-298. (662)
What is the meaning of the Apostle's words with reference to the destruction of this evil
system in 2 Thes. 2:8: "Whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming"? How is this related to the description of Babylon's destruction in verse 8
of this lesson? H '20-298. (663) To
whom do the "kings of the earth" refer? What has been the attitude of this class
toward Papacy since the Reformation and until recent times? H '20-299. (664)
Explain the meaning of the symbolic picture contained in verses 9 and 10, setting forth
the attitude of the kings of the earth towards Babylon's fall. H '20-299. (665) In
view of this symbolic picture not yet fulfilled, what would be a reasonable inference
respecting the future attitude of these "kings" toward Papacy? H '20-299. CONCERNING THE
FOUR AND
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