Page images
PDF
EPUB

slain this world with the sword of death, over fifty times in the present dispensation.

Think of it! more than fifty worlds gone down in the whirlpool of death. Each generation brings on to the scene an entirely new world. And how few out of these are converted. How few are reached by the gospel lifeboat, and how few of those reached heed the message of salvation. The great mass sweep on, like a wrecked vessel, in darkness and unbelief, to the Judgment.

The coming of Christ will inaugurate a far better state of things. For, when He comes, all things that offend shall be gathered out and the kingdom shall be established in righteousness.130 And even though the subjects of the kingdom (not the reigning ones) 131 may die during the millennial age, yet shall they die in a good old age, the child even a hundred years old,1 ,132 and their death shall be blessed,183 and though the Millennium is not the perfect state, yet Judgment will speedily follow the sinner of that day, or the nation which shall swerve from serving God.134

(130) Mat. 13:49. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

50. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Also verses 31-43.

(131) Luke 20:35. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36. Neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Also Rev. 20:4-6.

(132) Isa. 65:20. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner, being an hun

dred years old, shall be accursed.

(133) Rev. 14:13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours.

(134) Zech. 14:16. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

17. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

18. And if the family of Esypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not

[ocr errors]

Surely, then, His speedy coming cannot be counted an unmerciful event. The wonder is rather at the long-suffering of God, which now135 (as before the flood136) waits in such patient pleading. But He will fulfill His promise, and the Coming One* will come137 and cut short the work in righteousness. Rom. 9:28.

Then let us not look upon Christ's coming as cruel or unmerciful. He has said "SURELY I COME QUICKLY," and let us have the mind of the Holy Spirit, who replied "EVEN SO COME LORD JESUS." Rev. 22:20.

"Then welcome, thrice welcome, ye tokens of God.
What else but His coming can comfort afford?
What presence but His set this prisoned earth free?
O Star of the Morning, our hope is in Thee!"

No. XIV. This Generation.

Jesus said: "This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." Lu. 21:32. See also Mat. 24:34; Mar. 13:30.

Some have construed "generation" to mean a time of thirty or forty years; and, as Jerusalem was destroyed within forty years after Christ spoke, they refer all he said to that event.

Israel the Generation That Passes Not Away.

We believe "generation," as there used, means the whole existence of the Israelitish race. Compare the following passages where the same Greek word is used.138

*So the Greek.

up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

19. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Also Isa. 65:20.

(135) 2 Pet. 3:9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

(136) 1 Pet. 3:20. Which

[blocks in formation]

In Psa. 22:30, we read: "A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation." And in Psa. 24:6: "This is the generation of them that seek Him."

In Prov. 30:11-14, the generation of the righteous and the generation of the wicked are clearly distinguished. Hence we conclude that the generation of the Israelites were not only to see the destruction of Jerusalem, but the COMING of Christ (at the revelation) and the end of the age. Mat. 24:3.

And their wonderful preservation, as a distinct people, through all the persecutions, vicissitudes and wanderings of the past eighteen centuries down to the present moment, is a standing miracle, attesting the truth of God's word, and assuring us of His purposes in their future history.

Said Frederick the Great to his chaplain: "Doctor, if your religion is a true one, it ought to be capable of very brief and simple proof. Will you give me an evidence of its truth in ONE WORD?" The good man answered, "Israel." Other nations come and go, but Israel remains. She passes not away. God says of her, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." Isa. 54:7-8.

eration? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows.

Mat. 16:4. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Luke 9:41. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

Luke 11:49. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

50. That the blood of all the

prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

51. From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Phil. 2:15. That ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world,

Also Mark 8:38.

Luke 7:31; 11:29, 30, 31, 32; 16:8; 17:25. Acts 2:40.

CHAPTER XV.

Israel Is to Be Restored.

But, perhaps, you say: "I don't believe the Israelites are to be restored to Canaan, and Jerusalem rebuilt."

Dear reader! have you read the declarations of God's word about it? Surely nothing is more plainly stated in the Scriptures. We would that we had space to quote the passages, but we can only give you a portion of the references. We beg of you to read them thoughtfully. Divest yourself of prejudice and preconceived notions, and let the Holy Spirit show you, from His word, the glorious future of God's chosen people, "who are beloved" (Rom. 11:28), and dear unto Him as "the apple of His eye." Zech. 2:8.

1st. God calls Abraham. Gen. 12:1.1 2nd. God's promise to Abraham.

Gen. 12:2-7.

Gen. 13:14-17.2

[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

12:1.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Now the

(1) Gen. Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land and

Gen. 26:1-5.

there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

(2) Gen. 13:14. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward;

15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

16. 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.

17. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

3rd. The land described. Ex. 23:31; Nu. 34; Deut. 11:24; Deut. 34:1-4; Josh. 1:2-6.

4th. The land partially possessed. 1 Kings 4:21. 5th. Punishment prophesied for disobedience. 39; Deut. 4:22; 28:15; 31:16.

Lev. 26:14

6th. Israel's sins. Judges 2:11-19; 1 Sam. 8:6; 2 Kings 21: 11; 2 Kings 24:3; Jer. 15:4; and many others, ESPECIALLY Mat. 27:25.

7th. The promises to be remembered and restoration assured:

Lev. 26:40-45, especially verses 42, 44, 45.3

Deut. 4:30-31.4

66 30:1-10, especially verses 4, 5, 6.5

2 Sam. 7:10-11.6

Joel 2:18-32.

66 3:1-21.

(3) Lev. 26:44. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

45. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

(4) Deut. 4:30. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

31. (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

(5) Deut. 30:1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

2. And shalt return unto the

Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

3. That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

4. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

5. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

(6) 2 Sam. 7:10. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime.

« PreviousContinue »