WHEN we speak of the second advent of Christ, we are touching a
theme which in reality has been the hope of God’s people since the
expulsion of our first parents from the garden of Eden. In the words
to the serpent, that the seed of the woman should bruise his head,
was an assurance that finally a restorer would come, who should
defeat the usurpations of Satan, and accomplish God’s purpose in the
earth. The supposition is that Adam and Eve thought this work would
very soon be performed, and that an immediate descendant from them
would be the victor. Yet in God’s plan the promise of the Saviour
from the apparent ruin embraced all that has since been developed in
the carrying out of his “own purpose and grace which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began.”1
Had Adam and Eve been given at once a view of the misery and woe
which would fill the world during the long ages intervening between
its ruin and its restoration, their grief would have been
unbearable. The God of heaven, in his tender mercy and compassion,
hid this view from them, leaving them to cherish the fond hope of
soon being delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of
God. Entertaining the thought that redemption was near would
naturally incite them to greater earnestness in preparation to meet
the event.
1. 2 Tim.1:9
22
In like manner has it been with the people of God in all the
generations since the days of Adam. They were certain that a great
and important event was sometime in the future to occur-that Christ
would finally come and establish his kingdom. They too, like Adam
and Eve, believed the event was near at hand, and, like them, were
unconscious of what would transpire between their own time and the
event; otherwise, they might have become discouraged in pressing
toward the mark of the prize.
This thought can be illustrated by the use of events that have
occurred in the way of great discoveries. The men who originated
them, although not aware of it, were actually fulfilling God’s
purpose; yet were they animated with ideas that did not prove to be
in all respects in harmony with their own theories which moved them
to action.
Far-reaching Effects of Columbus’s Discoveries
Montgomery, in his “American History,” edition of 1902, pages 8, 9,
speaking of the theory that moved Columbus to start out on his
voyage, and the carrying out of his plan of reaching the East Indies
by sailing west, says:-
“Columbus thought that he could improve on the King of Portugal’s
project. He felt certain that there was a shorter and better way of
reaching the Indies than the track Diaz had marked out. The plan of
the Genoese sailor [Columbus] was as daring as it was original.
Instead of sailing east, or south and east, he proposed to sail
directly west. He had, as he believed, three good and solid reasons
for such an undertaking: First, in common with the best geographies
of his day, Columbus was convinced that the earth was not flat, as
most men supposed, but a globe. Secondly, he supposed this globe to
be much smaller than it is, and the greater part to be land instead
of water. Thirdly, as he knew nothing, and surmised nothing, of
the existence of the continent of America
23
or of the Pacific Ocean, he imagined that the coast of Asia or the
Indies was directly opposite Spain and the western coast of Europe.
The entire distance across to Cipango, or Japan, he estimated would
probably not exceed about four thousand miles.
“His plan was this: He would start from Europe; head his ship
westward toward Japan, and follow the curve of the globe until it
brought him to what he sought. To his mind it seemed as sure and
simple as for a fly to walk around an apple.
“If successful in the expedition, he would have this immense
advantage: He would enter the Indies directly by the front door,
instead of reaching them in a roundabout way, and by a sort of
side-entrance, as the Portuguese must.
“We see that this man, who understood practical mathematics,
geography, and navigation as well as any one of his day, was right
on the first point,- the shape of the earth,-but utterly wrong on
the other two.
A Fortunate Mistake
“Yet, singularly enough, his errors were in one respect a help to
him. The mistake that he made in regard to the distance was a most
fortunate one. Had Columbus correctly reckoned the size of the
globe, and the true length of such a voyage, he probably would not
have sailed, since he would have seen at once that the proposed
Portuguese route was both far shorter and cheaper. Again, could he
have imagined or in any way foreseen that the American continent lay
right across his path, that, in itself, might not then have induced
him to start on a voyage of discovery, for his object was not to
find a new country, but a new way to an old one.”
24. The Great Hope of the Ages
So the people of God, coming down through the ages, have had the
hope of Christ’s coming before them “as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast.”2
Though often mid sorrows and afflictions they in anguish cry out,
“How long, O Lord, before deliverance will come?” yet have they
pressed forward, and like Paul have said and still say, “What is our
hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”3
Paul Sustained by the Hope
A few illustrations of the sustaining power of this hope, in this
connection, must suffice. When Paul was arraigned before Felix, and
permitted to speak for himself, he said, “After the way which they
call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets; and have
hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall
be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.”4
In his able plea when brought before Agrippa, Paul said, “Now I
stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our
fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God
day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I
am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible
with you, that God should raise the dead?”5
When at last he was in Rome to appear before Caesar, he said to the
Jews, “For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”6
Paul spoke freely of that hope in his letter to Titus: “For the
grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”7
Peter Rejoicing in the Hope
Peter speaks of the same hope as follows: “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us
2. Heb. 6:19.
3. 1 Thess. 2:19.
4. Acts 24:14, 15.
5. Acts 26:6-8.
6. Acts 28:20.
7. Titus 2:11-13.
25
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season,
if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”8
God’s Purpose in Creation
The Scriptures reveal the purpose of God in creating the world; and
from the word of prophecy we also learn his plan concerning the
future: “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself
that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he
created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.”9
When he had formed it, he gave it to man. The psalmist says, “The
heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; but the earth hath he
given to the children of men.”10 But
when he gave it to man, man was upright, as expressed by the wise
man, “This only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but
they have sought out many inventions.”11
We read of the Lord’s dealing with the race, that “when he separated
the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the
number of the children of Israel,”12 that
is, according to the number of the true Israel that shall at last be
gathered on the earth as subjects of his future kingdom. It is
expressed by Paul in these words: “God . . . hath made of one blood
all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel
after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us;
for in him we live,
8. 1 Peter 1:3-7. 9. Isa. 45:18. 10. Ps. 115:16. 11.
Eccl. 7:29. 12. Deut. 32:8. 13. Acts 17:26-28.
26
and move, and have our being.”13
When this original purpose respecting the earth is carried out, “thy
people also shall be all righteous.”14
Again it is said of them in that state, “The inhabitant shall not
say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven
their iniquity.”15
That will be the time when “the meek shall inherit the earth; and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”16
Christ’s Second Coming not a Fable
It is stated in the second epistle of Peter that “we have not
followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of
his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which
came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that
ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts.”17
In this scripture the apostle refers to the transfiguration on the
mount as a proof of the second coming of Christ. Previous to this
scene our Saviour had said to his apostles, “There be some standing
here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man
coming in his kingdom”18-as
recorded by Luke, “There be some standing here, which shall not
taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.”19
This promise was literally fulfilled in the transfiguration itself.
In this “vision” on the mount they saw Jesus glorified, as he will
appear when he comes in his kingdom. They saw Elias (Elijah), who
was taken to heaven without tasting death, representing those who
will be translated-changed from mortal to immortal-”in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye,” when the Lord comes.20 There
was also Moses,
14. Isa. 60:21.
15. Isa. 33:24.
16. Ps. 37:11.
17. 2 Peter 1:16-19
18. Matt 16:28
19. Luke 9:27
20. I Cor 15:51,52
27
one who had died, representing those who will be raised from the
dead to meet the Lord. So in this “vision” they had a view of Christ
coming in his kingdom, as he had promised them.
Prophecy a More Sure Word
Though the apostles had seen this glorious sight on the mount of
transfiguration, and had heard the voice of God’s approval, the
apostle Peter affirms: “We have a more sure word of prophecy.” By
this statement he is not discounting what they saw and heard on that
memorable occasion. They then heard the voice of God once, but in
the great lines of prophecy, extending down to Christ’s second
coming, we have the voice of God oft repeated. In fact, every
definite prophetic prediction fulfilled or recorded in history is
the voice of God to us. It must be in this sense that the word of
prophecy is “more sure.” The Revised Version translates it, “made
sure.” The prophecy is made sure by each and every specification
fulfilled. Each and every event predicted, when fulfilled, is an
assurance that the remaining events predicted will surely come to
pass.
The Nature of Prophecy
The following testimonials from eminent Bible students on the nature
of prophecy are forcible:-
Thomas Newton makes the assertion that “prophecy is history
anticipated and contracted; history is prophecy accomplished and
dilated. Lying oracles have been in the world; but all the wit and
malice of men and devils cannot produce any such prophecies as are
recorded in the Scriptures.”
Sir Isaac Newton testifies that “the giving ear to the prophets is a
fundamental character of the true church.”
Dr. A. Keith says that “prophecy is equivalent to any miracle, and
is of itself miraculous. . . . The voice of Omnipotence alone could
call the dead from the tomb,-the voice of Omniscience alone could
tell all that lay hid in dark futurity, which to man is as
impenetrable as the mansions of the dead,-and both are alike the
voice of God.”
28
Matthew Henry said that “in God’s time, which is the best time, and
in God’s way, which is the best way, prophecy shall certainly be
fulfilled. Every word of Christ is very pure, and therefore very
sure.”
The Object of Prophecy
We may learn from the words of Christ to his apostles one object of
the Lord in giving prophecy. Speaking prophetically of the things
that would take place in the career of Judas, he said, “I tell you
before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I
am he.”21
The Lord says also by the prophet Isaiah, “I am God, and there is
none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”22
Again, “I have declared the former things from the beginning, and
they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them
suddenly, and they came to pass. . . . I have even from the
beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it
thee; lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my
graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast
heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have showed thee
new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not
know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even
before the day when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldest say,
Behold, I knew them.”23
From this language the force of prophetic fulfillments as a proof of
the divine origin of prophecy is seen, as well as its being a
demonstration of the power of the Lord above all the gods of the
heathen. It is also observed from these words that prophecy
occupies a very important place in the Scriptures
21. John 13:19
22. Isa 46:9,10
23. Isa 48:3-7
29 of truth. These facts being true, it is surprisingly strange that
so many people give little or no attention to the study of the
prophetic portions of the Sacred Scriptures.
Prophecy not Sealed
The uninformed say they are unlearned, and therefore cannot
understand the prophecies. On the other hand, many of the educated,
and some of them among the ministry, say: “The prophecies are
sealed, and cannot be understood. We all know that the book of
Revelation is a sealed book.”
In the Revelation, the beloved John was given a special command not
to seal the book.24 Also
in this book a blessing is pronounced upon those that “hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
therein.”25 How
could the things contained in a sealed book be kept if they were
not, and could not be, understood? The Lord said by Moses, “The
secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which
are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may
do all the words of this law.”26
That the Lord designed the prophecies of Daniel to be understood is
evident from his words to his disciples respecting them. We read:
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth,
let him understand),”27 that
virtually says, Understand Daniel the prophet.
The Lord exposes the fallacy of the claim that prophecy cannot be
understood, in these words: “The vision of all is become unto you as
the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is
learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot,
for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not
learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not
learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw
near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have
removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught
by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a
marvelous
24. Rev. 22:10
25. Rev. 1:3
26. Deut. 29:29
27. Matt. 24:15
30
work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of
their prudent men shall be hid.”28 Had
the people to whom the prophet here refers followed the sure word
of prophecy, they need not have drifted away from God’s law, and
substituted for his precepts the commandments of men.
Prophecy not of Private Interpretation
It is not that prophecy has some deep, hidden, mysterious meaning
that so many fail to understand it. The apostle Peter has said of
it, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.”29
It is plainly implied from this language that what is essential to
an understanding of prophecy is the reception of that spirit which
spake through the prophets. Of that spirit, promised to all who
seek it, it is written, “He will guide you into all truth.”30
Prophecy Fulfilled
In the study of prophecy there are certain facts that should ever be
kept in mind: God, who is infallible, is the author of prophecy, and
when the time comes for the fulfillment of a prediction, the very
event predicted will occur. Again, as the Lord, who has power to
foresee just what men will do, specifies a time when a thing will
transpire, when that time comes, a true fulfillment of the prophecy
is met. In other words, a false fulfillment of prophecy in the
specified time for the true, is an impossibility. In harmony with
this axiom, we may say, when the Lord’s time comes for his message
of truth to be given to the world, the message makes its appearance
every time.
At one time, when the writer had given a discourse on the
fulfillment of prophecy, an infidel who was present came
28. Isa. 29:11-14
29. 2 Peter 1:20,21
30. John 16:13
31 forward and said, “I must congratulate you interpreters of
prophecy as being very fortunate. In your study of history, you seem
so readily to find that which exactly fits the prophecy.” “Yes,” was
our reply, “it fits because it was made to fit. If you should go to
a glove store to buy a pair of gloves, would you not expect to find
those that would fit your hand?” He replied, “Of course I would,
because they were made to fit.” “So,” said the writer, “that God
who knew just what men would do, made the predictions concerning
them, and when those men come upon the stage of action, and do the
very things he predicted, the true historian makes a record of their
actions, which, compared with the prediction, are an exact fit.”
Prophecy a Light in the Darkness
The apostle Peter says we should give heed to prophecy as unto a
light shining in a dark place. Without the lamp of prophecy the
future would be total darkness. The purpose of light is to dispel
darkness-when traveling in a dark place, to show the pathway, and to
show the pathway clearly, that the traveler may be enabled, step by
step, to see and choose the way. “Thy word,” the psalmist says, “is
a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”31
The wise man says, “The path of the just is as the shining light,
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”32 Thus
it is seen, as we pass down the stream of time, that the word of
God, especially in its prophetic fulfillments, will open more and
yet more, making it clearer and still clearer to the Bible student
that he is surely in the pathway leading to everlasting light and
eternal day.
Three Prominent Events from Eden to the End
In considering the pathway of the Lord’s people from Eden down to
the end, in the light of the Scriptures, there are three events that
stand out in special prominence. The first is the first advent of
Christ, the incarnation, the coming of Emmanuel, God manifest in the
flesh; the second, the great
31. Ps. 119:105.
32. Prov. 4:18
32
Reformation after the Dark Ages-the 1260 years of oppression, in
which the word of the Lord was almost wholly kept from the common
people-a coming of the church out of her wilderness state, and the
placing of the Scriptures where all might read and know his will;
the third, the second coming of our Lord to bring in the times of
restitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of all his holy
prophets since the world began; this, to close up “the conflict of
ages,” the conflict between sin and righteousness, to bring in the
age of glory, toward which all the ages have been tending.
Prophecy Gives Way-Marks to the End
In giving heed to the sure word of prophecy as unto a light that is
to guide our steps, discovering to us the correct path through the
darkness, it cannot be otherwise than that we shall find the
pathway clearly marked out in the prophetic word all the way down
the stream of time to the second advent of Christ. This being the
case, those who follow closely the light of prophecy will not only
recognize the signs and tokens that the great day is near, but will
also recognize the work of the Lord as it steadily moves on in
messages of truth which are to prepare a people to meet him in peace
at his coming.
While the Scriptures declare that the day of the Lord will come upon
the masses as “a thief in the night,”33 it
also says of those standing in the counsel of the Lord, “Ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as
a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the
day.”34
Remember the Lord’s Leadings
In calling to remembrance the Lord’s leadings in the advent
movement, it is well to note that it has ever been the design of God
that his people should remember the manifestations of his providence
and power in their behalf. In giving the reasons for the
backsliding of Israel from God, the psalmist says, “They forgot God
their Saviour, which had
33. I Thess. 5:2; 2
Peter 3:10.
34. I Thess. 5:4,5
33
done great things in Egypt; wondrous works in the land of Ham, and
terrible things by the Red Sea.”35
If it was good for Israel to call to remembrance the leadings of the
Lord with them, is it not good also for us? In ecstasy the psalmist
again says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits.”36
In all ages the Lord has had important truths, calculated, by his
grace, to lead out a people from the bondage of sin, and fit them
for an entrance into the heavenly Canaan; and it is profitable to
consider the dealings of the Lord with those who have proclaimed
these truths.
Great Results from Smallest Means - D’Aubigne’s Testimony
D’Aubigne, in his “History of the Reformation,” says, “God, who
prepares his work through ages, accomplishes it by the weakest
instruments, when his time has come. To effect great results by the
smallest means, such is the law of God. This law, which prevails
everywhere in nature, is also found in history.”37
When God, in ancient time, began choosing a special people in order
to establish them as a peculiar nation for himself, it was by
calling one man-Abraham-who dwelt among the heathen, in Ur of the
Chaldees. From him sprang a numerous progeny; but of them, when
exalted to the dignity of a nation, the God of heaven said: “The
Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were
more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all
people.”38
Then again, when he would deliver his people from their bondage in
Egypt, he chose as their leader one who, in his infancy, was hidden
for three months in his mother’s house, and afterward placed in a
simple, rude ark composed of bulrushes and daubed with
pitch, and committed to the keeping of the River Nile. This same
Moses, however, was
one who, when he came to years of understanding, chose the humble
35. Ps. 106:21,22.
36. Ps 103:2.
37. “History of the Reformation,” Book II, chap. 1, par 1
38. Deut. 7:7
34
path of suffering with the people of God rather than the enjoyment
to be found in the
“pleasures of sin for a season.”39
Gideon’s Victory
Afterward, when the Lord would deliver Israel from the Midianites
and the Amalekites, who came upon their land “as grasshoppers for
multitude,” and destroyed the increase of the earth, leaving “no
sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass,” the Lord
sent an angel to Gideon. This son of Joash was reduced to the
extremity of threshing out a little wheat and hiding it from his
enemies. When the angel notified him that he should deliver Israel,
Gideon with astonishment inquired, “Wherewith shall I save Israel?
Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my
father’s house.”40 This
same humble, poor man went out with his three hundred men, with
their simple lamps and pitchers (an action which would seem like
foolishness to finite judgment), and making God their strength, they
gained a mighty victory. Previous to the deliverance, Gideon might
have uttered a lamentation like that of the prophet Amos when he
inquired, “By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.”41
The Babe in the Manager
In the Lord’s appointed time the Saviour of mankind was born, and
the shepherds found him lying in a manger. His earthly relatives
followed the humble though honorable pursuits of life. Concerning
his earthly poverty the Saviour said, “The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where
to lay his head.”42 He
chose his apostles “from among that lower rank, which, although not
the meanest, does not reach the level of the middle classes.
Everything was thus intended to manifest to the world that the work
was not of man, but of God.”
39. Heb 11:25.
40. Judges 6:4, 5,15.
41. Amos 7:2
42. Matt. 8:20
35
Not Many Wise Called
Paul said of the work in the days of the primitive church: “The
foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is
stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the
world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and
things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no
flesh should glory in his presence.”43
Humble Men in the Reformation
We find the same principle exemplified in the lives of the great
Reformers of the sixteenth century. The historian says: “The
Reformer Zwingle emerged from an Alpine shepherd’s hut; Melanchthon,
the theologian of the Reformation, from an armorer’s shop; and
Luther from the cottage of a poor miner.” Of himself, Luther said:
“My parents were very poor. My father was a poor wood-cutter
(afterwards he became a miner), and my mother has often carried wood
upon her back, that she might procure the means of bringing up her
children. They endured the severest labor for our sakes.”
The apostle James, speaking of the calling of the people to the
Lord’s service, says, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the
kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”44
Early Methodists
In looking down on the advancing line of reformers to the early days
of Methodism, when the doctrine of free grace was assiduously
proclaimed, we find it accompanied by the power of God. As it was
faithfully set before the people, with the tender love of Christ,
and was grasped by living faith, the believers not only found
remission of past sins, but a sanctifying power to enable them to
lead a life of holiness. Methodism had a humble beginning, and was
blessed according to the faith and simple trust of the ministry and
laity.
43. 1 Cor 1:25-29
44. James 2:5
36
In tracing the incidents and experiences connected with the advent
movement, we find that, as in every work of the Lord in the
accomplishment of which man is an agent, its origin was among the
poor and obscure; but let none decide against it on this account
before carefully examining the evidence upon which this great work
is based, lest they be found in the position of those of whom the
Lord inquired, “Who hath despised the day of small things?”45
Eck’s Retort to Luther
For the benefit of those who may be inclined to decide whether a
doctrinal point is right or wrong by the few or many who accept it,
we quote, in part, the controversy between Luther and Eck. As Luther
took his position upon the Scriptures, and presumed to dispute the
right of men to place their opinions above the word of God, Eck
retorted in these ironical words: “I am surprised at the humility
and modesty with which the reverend Doctor undertakes to oppose,
alone, so many illustrious fathers, and pretends to know more than
the sovereign pontiffs, the councils, the doctors, and the
universities! . . . It would be surprising, no doubt, if God had
hidden the truth from so many saints and martyrs until the advent of
the reverend Father.”
This retort might well be met with that of Zwingle to John Faber, at
Zurich, when the latter expressed his “amazement at the pass to
which things had come, when the ancient usages which had lasted for
twelve centuries were forsaken, and it was clearly concluded that
Christendom had been in error fourteen hundred years.” Zwingle
quickly replied that “error was not less error because the belief of
it had lasted fourteen hundred years, and that in the
45. Zech 4:10
37
worship of God antiquity of usage was nothing unless ground or
warrant for it could be found in the sacred Scriptures.”46
The Word of the Lord vs. Human Wisdom
The danger of leaning to the opinions of men, instead of settling
the question, “What is truth?” by the word of the Lord, is sharply
defined by the prophet Hosea when he says, “Ye have plowed
wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of
lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy
mighty men.”47
The tendency of the human heart has always been to trust in man; but
as we approach the time when the Lord is to “arise and shake
terribly the earth,” the prophet Isaiah exhorts, “cease ye from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted
of?”48
Being thus cautioned in the Scriptures respecting our danger in this
direction, let none hastily pass condemnation on the advent
movement, as though unworthy of consideration because of its humble
beginning, or because those called great in the eyes of the world
have not espoused the cause. Rather let all weigh carefully its
claims. Truth is of inestimable value, compared with which mere
opinions of men are but worthless chaff.
46. Wylie’s “History of
Protestantism,” Cap. XII, par
16,17. Casel edition, p 458.
47. Hos 10:13.
48. Isa. 2:22.
“HOPE deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it
is a tree of life.”1
“For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, it is a little while,
and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the
dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all
nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the
Lord of hosts.”2
From the time that Adam was driven from the garden of Eden and the
tree of life, the words addressed to Satan respecting the seed of
the woman-”It shall bruise thy head,”-has given hope of the final
defeat of the devil, the overthrow of his wily schemes, and a
restoration to the tree of life. The expected One-the promised
Seed-thus became the “Desire of all nations.”
In the above quotation from Haggai it appears that the coming of
this Desired One is connected with the time when the Lord shall
shake both the heavens and the earth. Paul, in writing to the
Hebrews, placed that shaking in the future, saying, “Yet once more I
shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once
more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of
things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may
remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence
and godly fear.”3
This language concerning the one shaking, yet to come, seems to
place it
1. Prov. 13:12.
2. Haggai 2:6, 7.
3. Heb. 12:26-28.
39 in close connection with the final setting up of God’s kingdom,
under Christ, the promised Seed, “the Desire of all nations.” The
restoration to be accomplished through Christ can be clearly viewed
in these last days by all who have the whole Bible open before
them. It was not so with the ancients. The word of the Lord came
to them, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon
line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”4
So in the revelation to them of the plan of salvation, it was like
the path of the just, “as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day.”5
Thus it becomes a matter of much interest to trace briefly
the gradual unfolding of that plan to his ancient people.
Delay not Revealed at First
The Lord did not at once defer their hope, making their heart sick
by revealing to them the fact that it would be hundreds of years
before they should reach the consummation of their hopes in the
promised Seed. From facts recorded we infer that they were allowed
to think that the first child born would be that Seed: and that very
soon, in some way, Eden would be restored, and they again have
access to the tree of life. When Cain was born, Eve exclaimed, “I
have gotten a man from the Lord.”6
Some Hebrew scholars testify that literally and fully rendered the
text reads, “I have gotten a man, the Lord.” That is, Here is the
Seed that is to do this lordly work of defeating Satan. There is no
record of any such expression on the part of Eve when Abel was
born. She could, and naturally would, suppose the first-born was
the one to fulfil the promise. How her hopes must have fallen, and
even died, as the character of Cain developed, and she witnessed his
evil course that finally led to the killing of his brother. Before
Abel was slain they must have received some light and knowledge
concerning the future sacrifice to be made in their behalf; for
Abel, as
4. Isa. 28:13.
5. Prov. 4:18.
6. Gen. 4:1.
40
divinely instructed, brought his lamb for an offering, while Cain,
who had been taught the same as his brother, brought an offering of
the fruits of the ground, and this even mingled with the spirit of
wrath and jealousy. Abel’s offering was more acceptable than
Cain’s, for it was made “by faith,” and of it Paul writes, “He being
dead yet speaketh.”7
Is Seth the Seed?
After the death of Abel, Seth was born, when hope revived; “for
God,” said Eve, “hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel,
whom Cain slew.”8 Afterward Seth was counted in the line of descent
from Adam. (See Gen. 5:3.) Cain, the real first-born, is not
counted in the pedigree. Quite probably Eve supposed that Seth was
now the promised Seed. It appears from the record that after the
birth of Seth, men began to call themselves by the name of the
Lord. (See margin of Gen. 4:26.) Perhaps they did this on the
supposition that Seth was the one who was to be the final ruler, the
Lord, and overthrow Satan’s usurped dominion.
Hope Centered on Noah
In the brief record of events from the time of Adam to the birth of
Noah, but little more than the genealogy of the race is given. In
the birth of Noah (“the upright,” margin) hope sprang up again, and
the people said, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and
toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath
cursed.”9 The divine word is silent as to how, or the way, they
expected comfort; but the hope was entertained that the curse upon
the earth was in some way to be mitigated. A knowledge of the
wickedness that existed in Noah’s day, when men were to so fill the
world with sin and violence that the race would be swept from the
earth by a flood, and only Noah and his family escape the
destruction; and the fact that he was for
7. Heb. 11:4.
8. Gen. 4:25.
9. Gen. 5:29.
41
one hundred and twenty years to warn the world of the impending
destruction, were all withheld from them.
Babel Built
Following the flood, the people were instructed, through Noah, to
replenish the earth; but as they began to multiply, they rejected
the Lord’s plan of ruling them. Nimrod established the kingdom of
Babel (afterward called Babylon, the first of earthly governments).10
A little later the people began the building of the tower of Babel,
to make unto themselves a name, and to prevent their being scattered
abroad, just contrary to what the Lord, through Noah, had taught
them. Instead of patiently waiting for the Lord to accomplish his
purposes, they took the matter into their own hands, when God
confounded their language, and thus they were scattered.
Abraham to be Heir of the World
Tracing the brief record down to the tenth in descent from Noah, we
have the call of Abraham, to whom the Lord said, “All the land which
thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I
will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can
number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth
of it; for I will give it unto thee.”11
Notwithstanding this promise to Abraham that he should
possess the land, the Lord assured him that he would die. Paul says
he went out into “a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance.”12
This question of the fulfillment of the promise was undoubtedly made
plain to Abraham in a vision from God, for he “looked for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”13
In Rom. 4:13 it is stated that the promise was “that he should be
the heir of the world;” not in its present state, but sooner or
later, after he should live again.
10. Gen. 9:1; 10:9, 10.
11. Gen. 13:15-17.
12. Heb. 11:8.
13. Heb. 11:10.
42
From a human standpoint Abraham failed to see how the seed promised
could be his own offspring. He therefore suggested the calling of
Eliezer, his steward, the seed. The Lord said, Not so; but it will
be one “shall come forth out of thine own bowels.” Now the Lord
begins to reveal to him that the final work of his seed is not to
have an immediate accomplishment. He said to Abraham, “Thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve
them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. . . . And thou
shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old
age.”14
Abraham’s wife proposed an unwise plan for hastening the fulfillment
of the promise; but after Isaac was born, a real son of Abraham and
Sarah, his lawful wife, the Lord said of Ishmael and his mother
Hagar, “Cast out this bond-woman and her son.”
In the test of Abraham’s faith in the offering of Isaac upon the
altar, he learned a lesson upon the subject of the resurrection of
the dead. It is said of him, “Accounting that God was able to raise
him [Isaac] up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him
in a figure.”15
The Real Seed
Abraham was at one time instructed that the real Seed, through whom
all the nations were to be blessed, though of his posterity after
the flesh, would in reality be the Christ of God; for the Lord said
not to him, “Seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed,
which is Christ.”16
The apostle Paul said of this, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel
unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”17
The promise to Abraham was renewed to Isaac and his seed,18 and
also to Jacob.19
14. Gen. 15:13-15. 15. Heb. 11:19. 16. Gal. 3:16. 17.
Gal. 3:8. 18. Gen. 26:3-5. 19. Gen. 28:13. 20
43
As Jacob had twelve sons, the question would now naturally arise,
Through which is the lineage of the true Seed to be traced? In the
inspired testimony borne by Jacob respecting his sons, the case was
settled: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver
from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the
gathering of the people be.” 20 In fulfillment of this it is well
to note here that the Israelites, although subject to the various
nations, were permitted to have their Sanhedrin. Thus Judah-the
tribe of the Jews so named from Judah-had some voice in their
government until Shiloh (Christ) did actually come.
The Time Hidden
The patriarchs were in possession of some knowledge concerning the
restoration and the promised Seed; but when or how long before he
should come was still hidden from them. As the posterity of Jacob
multiplied in Egypt, and the Assyrian-Pharaoh (Isa. 52:4)-who “knew
not Joseph,”21 oppressed them, their minds naturally reverted to the
400 (actually 430) years mentioned to Abraham as the period covering
their afflictions and their sojourn as strangers, hoping that
deliverance from these would usher in the promised inheritance.
When Moses was born, his parents saw that “he was a proper
child.”22 Light must have been given them that he was to be, under
God, Israel’s deliverer from their cruel bondage. Undoubtedly this
knowledge was imparted to Moses; for when, at the age of forty
years, he decided fully to go with the oppressed Israelites, and
suffer affliction with them rather than to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter and heir to the Egyptian throne,* and when he
began to plead the cause of his people, and in their defense slew an
Egyptian, he marveled greatly that they failed to recognize his
work; “for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that
God by his hand would deliver them.”23
*See Josephus’s “Antiquities of the Jews,” Book II,
chap. ix, par. vii; “Spiritual Gifts,”
Vol. 1, pp. 162-164.
20. Gen. 49:10.
21. Ex. 1:8; Acts 7:18.
22. Heb. 11:23.
23. Acts 7:25.
44
When the Lord’s time came for the Israelites to leave Egypt, they
departed, and on the predicted time to a day. Ex. 12:40, 41. They
could not have considered Moses as their final ruler and the seed to
whom the promise was made, for he was of the tribe of Levi, and had
not Jacob in his inspired prediction declared that Judah should be
their ruler until the Shiloh should come?
“I Shall See Him, but not Now.”
When the Israelites were on their way to Canaan, Balak, the king of
Moab (a descendant of Lot), called Balaam to curse Israel. The Lord
turned his curse into a blessing, through which they received
additional light, calculated to dispel the thought that the final
deliverance from Satan’s usurpation would be immediate on their
entrance into Canaan. The Scripture account of it reads, Balaam, in
a vision from God, said, “I shall see him, but not now; I shall
behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and
a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of
Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.”24
This multitudinous seed that sprang from Abraham is spoken of by
Paul on this wise: “Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as
good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as
the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”25
The heart of Israel need not have fainted or been discouraged by the
prediction of Balaam that the consummation of their hope is “not
now,” nor “near;” for the Lord, not long before this prophecy, had
pledged his own life that the glorious state should finally come.
Through Moses he said, “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall
be filled with the glory of the Lord.”26
In the days of the prophet Habakkuk, 863 years later, the same
truth was reiterated,
24. Num. 24:17.
25. Heb. 11:12, 13.
26. Num. 14:21.
45
but spoken of as an event yet future: “for the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea.”27
The Sanctuary Service a Type of the True
When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, he proclaimed in the
audience of all the camp his law of moral precepts, and gave them a
copy of the same on stone, graven by his own finger, that they might
continually be pointed forward to that Saviour who would finally
make a sacrifice of himself for them; and that by virtue of his
precious blood their sins might be cleansed away, he had a sanctuary
erected in the wilderness.
This tabernacle, or sanctuary, in all its construction, Moses was
admonished to make exactly like the pattern which the Lord showed to
him in the mount.28 The
service in this sanctuary was a shadow of the real service of Christ
in the heavenly sanctuary.29
While the purpose of God in the offerings and sacrifices of the
sanctuary was to keep before men a shadow of “good things to come,”30 Satan’s
effort was to lead the people to regard the offering itself, instead
of Christ and his actual service, of which this was only an
example. Thus he sought to lead them to trust in their own works
for salvation.
It was the Lord’s purpose to be the ruler of his people,-the
Israelites,-to fight their battles and subdue the nations. He had
his method of ruling, as is shown by the following text: “When he
had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, 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.”31
Israel Calls for a King
The Israelites evidently disliked the Lord’s manner of ruling them.
It was, however, his purpose and his will that
27. Hab. 2:14.
28. Ex. 25:40; 26:30; 27:8; Acts 7:44.
29. Heb. 8:3-5; 9:8-12.30. Heb.
10:1.
31. Acts 13:19, 20.
46
they should be a peculiar people, distinct from all others around
them. Had they strictly followed his instructions, the nations even
would say of them, “Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath
God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we
call upon him for?”32
In their dissatisfaction they requested of Samuel that he appoint a
king over them, and the Lord said to Samuel, “They have rejected me,
that I should not reign over them.”33
Again they said to Samuel, and a little more imperatively, “Now make
us a king to judge us like all the nations.”34
Carefully did Samuel lay before them the oppression that
would come upon them in case they had a king, but “nevertheless the
people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but
we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the
nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and
fight our battles.”35
So they had kings to rule them for about five hundred years, first,
as one kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon; then as divided into
two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. A very few of their kings were good
and just, but most of them were wicked, leading the people into
idolatry and gross iniquities. So the people were not only like the
nations around them in having a king, but like them in wickedness,
in forsaking the God of their fathers, and in worshiping idols and
the hosts of heaven.
The Lord said of this kingly rule, by the mouth of the prophet
Hosea, “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine
help. I will be thy king; where is any other that may save thee in
all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king
and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in
my wrath.”36
32. Deut. 4:6, 7.
33. I Sam. 8:7.
34. I Sam. 8:5.
35. 1 Sam. 8:19, 20.
36. Hosea 13:9-11.
47
The Kingdom Overturned
This kingly rule continued until the Chaldeans burned Jerusalem,
took the vessels of the temple, and carried Judah captive to
Babylon, where they remained for seventy years, as predicted
against them. At the cessation of this monarchical ruling, the Lord
said by the prophet Ezekiel, to Zedekiah, their last king, “Thou
profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity
shall have an end, thus the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take
off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low
[the ruler of Babylon], and abase him that is high [this highly
self-exalted ruler of the tribe of Judah]. I will overturn,
overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose
right it is; and I will give it him.”37
This rightful ruler, the true Seed, is Christ. Of him the prophet
Micah wrote, “Thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the
daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion
[dominion over the earth, restored in Christ]: the kingdom shall
come to the daughter of Jerusalem.”38
When Israel lost the scepter, it passed into the hands of the king
of Babylon. As they were successively under the rule of Medo-Persia,
Greece, and Rome, the kingdom was three times overturned. In the
reign of Caesar Augustus, emperor of Rome, Christ, the rightful heir
to the throne of David,-the true Seed of the woman, of Abraham, and
of David,-was born, and in the manner predicted.
That the people might know that the rightful Ruler, the true Seed,
was more then an ordinary mortal man with a short-lived kingdom, the
Lord moved the psalmist thus to write: “I will make him my
first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I
keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the
days of heaven.” “His seed shall endure forever, and his throne
37. Eze. 21:25-27.
38. Micah 4:8 48
as the sun before me. I shall be established forever as the moon,
and as a faithful witness in heaven.”39
In the prophecy of Isaiah we read further of this Ruler as follows:
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice form henceforth
even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”40
Translation of Enoch and Elijah
Instances are recorded of persons in ancient times being translated
to heaven without tasting death. Of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, it
is said, he “walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”41
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was
not found, because God had translated him: for before his
translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”42
Again, as Elijah and Elisha were walking together, “it came to pass,
as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a
chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder;
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it,
and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the
horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more.”43
Enoch prophesied of Christ’s coming as the judge of all the earth,
in these words: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his
saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have
ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly
sinners have spoken against him.”44
39. Ps. 89:27-29, 36, 37. 40. Isa. 9:6, 7.44 Jude 14,
15. 41. Gen. 5:24. 42. Heb. 11:5. 43. 2 Kings 2:11, 12.
49
Job Taught the Lord’s Coming
Job, who is supposed to have lived in Moses’ time, had some
knowledge concerning the coming of Christ and the resurrection; for
he said, “O that my words were now written! O that they were printed
in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the
rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.”45
The Throne of David the Lord’s Throne
The throne of David was called the throne of the Lord. “Solomon sat
on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father.”46
The Lord had “sworn with an oath to him [David], that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to
sit on his throne: he seeing this before spake of the resurrection
of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did
see corruption.”47
And it is further said of Christ’s future reign, He shall sit upon
the throne of David. (See Isa. 9:7.) Again, “The kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the
Lord, and against his Anointed. . . . Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said
unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”48 Again,
“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool.”49
The Jews Perplexed
These texts perplexed the Jews. Here was a problem they could not
solve: if David called him Lord, how was he then his son? How could
he be a child born of the seed
45. Job. 19:23-27. 46. 1 Chron. 29:23. 47 Acts 2:30,
31. 48. Ps. 2:2-7 49. Ps 110:1
50
of David, and yet be Immanuel-God with us? Yet Isaiah, their own
prophet, declared, “A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel.”50
Christ well knew the question that would put to silence the caviling
Pharisees, hence he asked them, “What think ye of Christ? whose son
is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How
then doth David in spirit call him Lord saying, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy
footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?”51
This subject is again alluded to in Ps. 45:6, 7: “Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter.
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”52
With these Scriptures before the mind, the Jewish people must have
had exalted conceptions of the character of the future Ruler and
Restorer. It could not have been otherwise.
The Seed Of Divine Origin
Minute instruction was given concerning Christ and his birth, for
the Lord by Micah the prophet designated his divine origin, and even
the little village where he was to be born: “But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting”
(margin, Heb., from “the days of eternity”).53
God’s Presence Manifest in the Shekinah and the Cloud
Later in the history of the Israelites, when Solomon had finished
the erection of the temple, which he said must be exceedingly “magnifical,”
the shekinah of God’s glory took its position between the cherubim
over the mercy-seat. The record says that at the dedication of the
temple, as the priests
50. Isa 7:14
51. Matt. 22:42-45; Ps. 110:1.
52. Heb. 1:8, 9.
53. Micah 5:2.
51
came out of the holy place, “the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the
cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.”54
The presence of the Lord in this temple was manifest to the
eyes of the people in the cloud of glory. The Lord responded to the
prayer of Solomon on this occasion, and said unto him, “I have heard
thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of
sacrifice.”55
The people sinned,-went into idolatry,-and consequently their city
and sanctuary were in ruins for seventy years. After the captivity,
the temple was rebuilt under the hand of Zerubbabel. Although
inferior in splendor to the one built by Solomon, yet the Lord said
of it by his prophet, “The glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former.”56
This house was beautified by Herod, and in its courts the Savior
taught. The former house had a cloud of glory representing the
Lord, but into the second came the Saviour himself, the Maker of all
things.
Glorious Reign of the Stem of Jesse
To the expectant, waiting ones in Isaiah’s day, the representations
through his prophecy of the glorious things connected with the final
redemption must have been a source of strength and encouragement.
These prophecies again delineate most clearly the line whence this
expected Deliverer should come, as follows: “And there shall come
forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of
his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make
him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing
of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and
reprove with equity
54. 1 Kings 8:10, 11.
55. 2 Chron. 7:12.
56. Haggai 2:9.
52
for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod
of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked.”57
The Resurrection Taught by the Prophets
The prophet Isaiah also taught the doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead, in these comforting words: “In this mountain shall the
Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of
wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of
the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over
all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God
will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his
people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath
spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we
have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”58
The Renewed-Earth Kingdom
The same prophet says that it is to be a renewed earth in which the
final reign shall be established: “For, behold, I create new heavens
[atmospheric heavens] and a new earth; and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind [margin, Heb., “come upon the heart,”
that is, to be desired again]. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in
that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing,
and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in
my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence [from the
time the new earth is created] an infant of days [a short lived
child], nor an old man that hath not filled his days [premature old
age]: for the child shall die an hundred years old [in days when men
attained to lives of nine hundred years
57. Isa. 11:1-4.
58. Isa. 25:6-9.
children might be one hundred years old]; but the sinner being an
hundred years old [in later years of an hundred-year life-time]
shall be accursed. [Those dying at the time the new earth is
brought in are those who perish in the “perdition of ungodly men.”
2 Peter 3:7.] And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and
they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall
not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another
eat: for as the days of a tree [the tree of life, Septuagint] are
the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of
their hands.”59
Ezekiel looks down through the long vista of time to the
resurrection of the dead. Through him the Lord says, “Behold, O my
people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of
your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.”60
“He Hath Borne Our Sorrows”
To Isaiah, the gospel prophet, was revealed more fully the trial,
sufferings, and death of the Saviour in behalf of men. “Who,” says
the prophet, “hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of
the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”61
Are these events so wonderful to transpire in my day? the people, as
well as the prophet, might have asked. The answer would have been,
Not now will they happen; the
59. Isa. 65:17-22.
60. Eze. 37:12.
61. Isa.
53:1-5.
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time has not yet arrived for the coming of this great Deliverer; but
says the prophet, “Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they
shall behold the land that is very far off.”62
Daniel’s Prophecies Reveal the Future
It was, however, through the prophet Daniel that the Lord began to
instruct his people concerning consecutive kingdoms that should
arise and bear rule down to the setting up of his everlasting
kingdom; and to reveal a special period of time, from an event then
yet to occur, to the actual appearing and the cutting off of the
Messiah. The interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream revealed that
the four kingdoms which were to rule the world would diminish in
power and grandeur in the ratio of the diminishing value of gold,
silver, brass, and iron; and that finally the broken, disunited
state of the kingdoms would be comparable to the brittleness of iron
mixed with miry clay. Then was to come the kingdom of heaven that
should follow the reduction of those kingdoms that were to become
like the chaff of the summer’s threshing floor, so that no place
should be found for them, while God’s kingdom would fill the whole
earth.
Then, in the vision of the seventh chapter, under symbols of the
four great beasts, the same ground is again covered, and other
features of these kingdoms presented. In this chapter is traced the
career and work of the “little-horn” power that should arise, after
the division of the fourth kingdom into ten parts, overthrowing or
subduing three of them to establish itself as a spiritual ruler over
them all. This papal power is to continue in the divided and
brittle state of the fourth kingdom, even for 1260 years. Thus were
revealed events reaching to the time when Christ receives the
kingdom from his Father, and gives it to the saints of the Most
High; a kingdom which shall finally bear rule over all the earth,
and shall stand forever.
62. Isa. 33:17.
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