|
 ET us throw
away our old Jewish spectacles, which enabled them to see no
blessings from Messiah but for themselves, and look through the
"promise and oath of God" to that blessing promised to "all the
families of the earth:" then shall we see, as we have never seen the
magnitude of God’s love to "the world." This view will cause us to
wonder at our past blindness, and to adore the LOVE of God and of
"Christ which passeth knowledge." "Unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end" —or, "the
endless succession of ages," as Macknight renders it. Eph
3:21. A literal translation of this text may be given as follows:
"To him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, through all the
generations" ( genas, accusative plural) "of the age of the ages.
Amen."
Here is a solemn testimony, to which the Holy Spirit, in Paul, adds
its oath, by an "Amen." This testimony is, that there shall be
"generations’ in "the age of ages," and that Christ Jesus" is the
administrator; for it is "by" Him, the "glory" is to be revealed in
that "age of ages."
What of the "generations?" How many are there? Well, there are at
least a thousand. Thus saith the LORD, by the mouth of David, "Be ye
mindful always of His covenant; the word He made with Abraham," etc.
- 1Ch 16:15; also Ps 105:8. All the generations from
Adam to this time, do not exceed two hundred, allowing thirty years
to a generation. Eight hundred generations yet to come. If the
thousand generations are yet to be made up, which side of the second
advent shall we place them? If 6000 years have made only 200
generations, how may will be wanted to fill up the "1000
generations?" Ans. Twenty-four thousand. Who are willing to wait
that long for the second advent of Christ, rather than admit in age,
or ages to come, after the advent, in which generations, and
consequently, probations will go on, to fill up the thousand
generations? But we will not press this point.
For our own part, we accept the Psalmist’s testimony as follows:
"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD:
all the kindred’s of the nations shall worship before thee: for the
kingdom is the LORD’S: and He is the governor among the nations:"
[plural]... "A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the
LORD for a generation:" [singular]: "they" [that seed] "shall come,
and shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be
born, that He hath done this." - Ps 22:27-31. Generations will
go on among the "left of the nations," and people will "be born,"
after the one generation has had its resurrection and are immortal:
then, after that, "they shall declare" God’s "righteousness" [His
infinite mercy to the creatures He has made] "unto a people that
shall be born." A blessed and glorious work, which looks like God’s
fulfilling His "promise and oath to Abraham." Those who do not like
such work, will not be compelled to engage in it.
In connection with Ps 22., just considered, read Ps 67.
"God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine
upon us; Selah. That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy saving
health among all nations. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all
the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy:
for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations
upon the earth. Selah. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all
the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and
God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the
end of the earth shall fear him."
This again corresponds with Jer 23:5,6: "Behold, the days come
saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and
a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell in safety," etc. Hence are promises, which the LORD is
pledged to fulfill, agreeing with Ps 22:27-31, and
corresponding with the promises and oath to Abraham.
At this point we may as well look at the testimony of God by Isaiah,
chap. xi. On this chapter immense labor has been bestowed to
harmonize it with the theory of burning the world at the second
advent of Christ; but still it reads just as it always did, and
shows conclusively an age in this world that has never yet been
seen, and never can be, if there is not a dispensation yet future
differing essentially from any that has ever gone before. Here is
presented to us a BRANCH out of the root of Jesse. None will doubt
but that the Son of David-the Son of God-is here intended. Under his
government the animal creation will become changed so as to be
harmless and docile; "the sucking child shall play on the hole of
the asp, and the weaned child put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for, the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea. And in that day [when the earth is thus full of the
knowledge of the Lord] there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek;
and his rest shall be glorious." This is not all; "It shall come to
pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second
time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left from
Assyria," etc. Not the gathering of spiritual Jews, but his people
whom he had once before gathered from Babylon, as will be seen: that
gathering was not in "that day" just spoken of. "And he shall set up
an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of
Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth."
Here the language distinctly marks the two nations into which the
posterity of Jacob were divided in the days of Rehoboam, son of
Solomon: one nation was called Judah, and the other Israel, and
sometimes Ephraim, from the principal tribe of the nation of Israel.
This latter nation was not "scattered," but was "cast out" of the
land of Israel into Assyria, some hundred years before Judah was
carried captive into Babylon. Israel was therefore called
"outcasts," as in the text before us; see also 2Ki 17:20. Nor
was "Judah dispersed" to the "four corners of the earth" till their
Temple was destroyed by the Romans. The promise in this text,
therefore, clearly relates to their gathering subsequent to that
destruction; and as no such gathering ever has taken place, it must
still be future, and is not "conditional," and is as certain as
"Thus saith the LORD" can make it. [ Editor: Remember! this paper
was published in 1874] If any doubt remained, the next verse would
dispel it: "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the
adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."
Before Ephraim or Israel was carried away into Assyria, there was
continual strife, contention, and war between the two nations. When
one shall be assembled and the other gathered, this envy and vexing
each other shall be known no more. And let it never be forgotten,
these things are to be done "in that day" when "the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord;" of course, future, and a
glorious day. In that day, Isa 11:16, "There shall be a
highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from
Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came out of the
land of Egypt." Here we see what the first "recovering" was, which
is alluded to, Isa 11:11, where it is said, "The Lord shall
set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his
people," etc. It was their being brought up out of Egypt, and it is
"the remnant" of the people of whom the prophet speaks.
The prophet then goes on to tell us what that people will say when
gathered: "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise
thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away,
and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust,
and not be afraid; for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song:
he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall we say,
Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the
people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD;
for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy
One of Israel in the midst of thee." - Isa 12.
This subject is made so plain by the prophet that it does really
seem wonderful that any should call in question the meaning of the
prophecy, or attempt to spiritualize it. That it applies to any
events in the past has never yet been shown. That it is not a
conditional promise, is equally manifest. So surely as the BRANCH of
Jesse’s root ever reigns on earth, so surely, "in that day," will
these things come to pass. So we believe.
The text relied upon to prove the end of the world, or mundane
system, is to come when the gospel of the kingdom has been preached
in all the world for a witness to all nations. { Mt 24:14}, has no
such sense as is attached to it by the advocates of burning the
world or earth at the second advent. Let us carefully examine the
text and the context.
As Jesus went out of the temple his disciples called attention to
the "buildings of the temple." "Jesus said unto them, See ye not all
these things? Verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." The subject
then was the destruction of Jerusalem and her temple. The disciples
inquired of him, "privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these
things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of aionos —age," not of the "world," as our translation has it: for
the end of the world, proper, had no connection with the Saviour’s
language in relation to the destruction of the temple. This
destruction of the buildings of the temple, involving, as it
necessarily would, the end of services there, the disciples
construed into an end of that age, as it truly was.
In his reply, Jesus tells them, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the ( oikoumenee) world for a witness unto all (
ethnesi, heathen) nations; and then shall the end come." The end of
what? The end of the age spoken of, when the temple should be thrown
down. This, to our mind, is clearly the sense.
Now as to the oikoumenee, translated world, Mt 24:14, it is
the same word found in Lu 2:1, "There went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the ( oikoumenee) world should be taxed."
All the world, here, was the Roman empire, and no more. Jesus uses
the same word in his statement of how extensive the gospel should be
preached before the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the
Jewish age would come to an end.
Some persons take the ground, from Paul’s language 1Co
15:24-28, that "the end" of probation to all the families of the
earth will come at the second advent of Christ and the resurrection
of the dead in Him. The correctness of such assumption depends upon
whether such persons give a true interpretation to the language
employed by the apostle.
We ask, What is "the end" spoken of? What is "the kingdom" referred
to, and when is it "delivered up?" What is meant by death as "the
last enemy," and to whom does Paul state it to be the last enemy?
This chapter is devoted to the proof of the resurrection of the
believers in Christ. Their last enemy, who shall ever have dominion
over them, is death: to them therefore death is destroyed by
resurrection. That Christ does not deliver up the kingdom at that
time is evident from many prophecies. First: Ps 72., "In His
days shall the righteous flourish." (Surely not till raised from the
dead). "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river
to the ends of the earth... The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles
shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve
him... His name shall endure forever; His name shall be continued as
long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall
call Him blessed." This entire prophecy relates to what transpires
after Messiah reigns on David’s throne, which reign is after the
resurrection spoken of in 1Co 15.
Still another prophecy-Dan. vii. After the fourth "beast was slain,
and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame," one like
the Son of man appears before the Ancient of Days, "And there was
given him dominion," [not 1800 years ago], "that all people,
nations, and languages, should serve and obey him: his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed." The angel explains this to
Daniel as the reign of the saints, made immortal, of course, thus:
"But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess
the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." The horn of the fourth
beast prevailed against the saints "Until the Ancient of Days came,
and judgment [rule] was given to the saints of the Most High: and
the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."... "And the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion
shall serve and obey Him."
Thus prophecy makes "people, nations, and languages" to exist, after
the saints are made immortal; and they are all put in subjection to
the saints in a kingdom that has no end.
HOME
TOP
CONTENTS
|
