The Moral Purpose of Prophecy

[Berean]

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
FOREWORD

Those who study the Bible realize the enormous importance of having a correct overview of prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. What will the future look like? Can we know the kind of world we will live in tomorrow? And will there be a tomorrow? So discordant are the voices of those who claim to know what the prophecies of the Bible predict that the common man is tempted to say with the then puzzled and discouraged Jews in exile in Babylon: “We no longer see our signs; there is no longer a prophet, and no one among us who knows until when … ”(Psalms 74.9)

But it is part of faith to believe that God is still in heaven even though all is not well in the world, and to believe that He must have really revealed to us the truth about the future of the world in the Holy Saints. Scriptures. How can we correctly interpret what He has given us?

The Jews had everything God revealed to them then two thousand years ago. And they should have understood correctly what God predicted. Why have they failed so miserably in all the prophecies concerning their Messiah? And when we see many Christians in our day adopting exactly the same methods of interpreting prophecy that the Pharisees employed, how can we be confident that these men know what they are doing?

It is undeniable that modern Futurists, represented by dozens of Bible Institutes and the Scofield Bible, have embraced the same extreme “literalism” that the Jews stood for in Christ’s time. This deceptive method of interpreting prophecies sent their true Messiah to Calvary and led them to national destruction and a second Diaspora to the four winds. How can a spiritual Christian follow such methods of interpretation at the time of mankind’s last crisis?

Any student of the subject has noticed that all of the prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments are given in a distinctly Jewish or Palestinian context. But instead of adopting a deceptive literalism, quite contrary to the many examples of the interpretation of Old Testament prophecies by the New, why not ask ourselves how prophecies could have been given to the Jews other than in a Jewish or Palestinian context? Would it not be essential that these prophecies be given in a language which would be intelligible to them, at least in certain aspects? There was really no other way consistent with the distinctly moral and spiritual purposes for which the prophecies were given. But if we remain true to both Christ’s and Paul’s statements regarding the absolute end of all special opportunities and privileges accorded to the literal descendants of Abraham, we are forced to interpret the prophecies in the light of more noble spiritual values. brought by the gospel since the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, despite their Palestinian context.

This little book deals with all of these issues. Using the texts of the Scriptures in profusion and manifesting a clear vision of the fundamental principles of prophetic interpretation, Louis F. WERE has given us a work which deserves careful and continuous study. She hasn’t solved all the problems: she doesn’t pretend to. But it points us in the right direction. Let us continue our study of these vital themes until Dawn comes and the Morning Star rises never to go to bed again.

Georges McGready PRICE
Loma Linda, California

To be continued

[Berean]

Following of

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
FOREWORD
Those who study the Bible realize the enormous importance of having a correct overview of prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. What will the future look like? Can we know the kind of world we will live in tomorrow? And will there be a tomorrow? So discordant are the voices of those who claim to know what the prophecies of the Bible predict that the common man is tempted to say with the then puzzled and discouraged Jews in exile in Babylon: “We no longer see our signs; there is no longer a prophet, and no one among us who knows until when … ”(Psalms 74.9)

But it is part of faith to believe that God is still in heaven even though all is not well in the world, and to believe that He must have really revealed to us the truth about the future of the world in the Holy Saints. Scriptures. How can we correctly interpret what He has given us?

The Jews had everything God revealed to them then two thousand years ago. And they should have understood correctly what God predicted. Why have they failed so miserably in all the prophecies concerning their Messiah? And when we see many Christians in our day adopting exactly the same methods of interpreting prophecy that the Pharisees employed, how can we be confident that these men know what they are doing?

It is undeniable that modern Futurists, represented by dozens of Bible Institutes and the Scofield Bible, have embraced the same extreme “literalism” that the Jews stood for in Christ’s time. This deceptive method of interpreting prophecies sent their true Messiah to Calvary and led them to national destruction and a second Diaspora to the four winds. How can a spiritual Christian follow such methods of interpretation at the time of mankind’s last crisis?

Any student of the subject has noticed that all of the prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments are given in a distinctly Jewish or Palestinian context. But instead of adopting a deceptive literalism, quite contrary to the many examples of the interpretation of Old Testament prophecies by the New, why not ask ourselves how prophecies could have been given to the Jews other than in a Jewish or Palestinian context? Would it not be essential that these prophecies be given in a language which would be intelligible to them, at least in certain aspects? There was really no other way consistent with the distinctly moral and spiritual purposes for which the prophecies were given. But if we remain true to both Christ’s and Paul’s statements regarding the absolute end of all special opportunities and privileges accorded to the literal descendants of Abraham, we are forced to interpret the prophecies in the light of more noble spiritual values. brought by the gospel since the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, despite their Palestinian context.

This little book deals with all of these issues. Using the texts of the Scriptures in profusion and manifesting a clear vision of the fundamental principles of prophetic interpretation, Louis F. WERE has given us a work which deserves careful and continuous study. She hasn’t solved all the problems: she doesn’t pretend to. But it points us in the right direction. Let us continue our study of these vital themes until Dawn comes and the Morning Star rises never to go to bed again.

Georges McGready PRICE
Loma Linda, California

[Berean]

FOLLOWING OF

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
1
THE SCRIPTURES HAVE BEEN GIVEN
TO REVEAL JESUS
Correctly understood, prophecies are just as important and contain as much gospel instruction as other portions of scripture. God inspired the prophets to write the prophecies of Scripture so that through them men could find salvation. The Bible is not a book made up of portions containing essential gospel facts and other smaller portions containing prophecies. Satan seeks to distract us from the moral purpose of prophecies and rob them of their vitality through false interpretations.

The opening words of Revelation distinctly inform us that the prophecies in this wonderful book were given by way of “Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1: 1). A study of the principles on which Revelation is based allows us to learn that all Bible prophecy is a “Revelation of Jesus Christ” as Savior of those who trust in Him and Destroyer of evil. Interpretations of prophecy that do not clearly present the gospel of Christ are not inspired of God. Interpretations of prophecy that do not find their center in Jesus as Savior or Destroyer of evil are bad applications of Scripture.

In the ancient sanctuary and later in the Jewish temple, only those who were consecrated to fulfill the holy office of priest were permitted to contemplate the wonderful glories visible inside the sacred building. Likewise only those whose life is consecrated to God are permitted to see the inner beauties of the temple of truth. Jesus said to the rulers of the Jews, “You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life in them: they are the ones that bear record of me. “(John 5.39, 46)

The New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. In its exposition of the gospel, the New Testament employs 1,500 quotations from propositions and phrases from the scriptures of the Old Testament. The first verse of Matthew shows one of the main reasons for the existence of this book and the New Testament, that is, to show the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament in Jesus and in His work of salvation. . The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies is assured by Jesus. (See 2 Corinthians 1:20; Acts 13: 27-37). The book of Matthew contains 99 direct references to Old Testament scriptures. Nine times he uses the formula “that it may be fulfilled” (see Matthew 1: 22, 23; 2: 15, 17, 23, etc.), and at other times he refers to the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament saying: “For this is what was written by the prophet” (Matthew 2: 5); “Then that which was announced by the prophet was fulfilled” (Matthew 27.9); “But all this happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. ”(Matthew 26.56); “For it is written” (Matthew 26:31, etc.) Thus Matthew illustrates the purpose of the New Testament writers to show that the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection of Jesus and the development of the Church and his work fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.

The first words we read in the gospel of Matthew direct our minds to the prophecies that were given to David and Abraham. Although Solomon was the son who sat on David’s throne in the days immediately following the prediction, the real and distant fulfillment is to come through “a greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42). The peace and wisdom of the early part of Solomon’s reign, as people came from afar to learn from him, find their wider application in Christ. David was to have a son who would sit on his throne (2 Samuel 7.12, 13, 16; Luke 1.32, 33). Abraham received the promise of a son who would be a channel of blessing. Isaac was the immediate accomplishment; but Isaac foreshadowed a greater fulfillment in Jesus who, through His Church, would bless the world (Galatians 3.16, 29; 4.28). The Old Testament prophecies which present the birth of the sons of Abraham and David are concentrated in the first verse of Matthew: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. So from its beginning the New Testament takes the things of the Old Testament and applies them in relation to Christ and His work of redemption. Christ and His salvation form the central theme of the Bible and make it clear that the plan of salvation was the only reason the scriptures were written. As the sun is reflected in each of the millions of dew droplets, so Jesus, the “Light of the world,” shines in every chapter of the Bible.

“At each page, whether it be history, commandments, or prophecies, the Old Testament scriptures shine with the glory of the Son of God. As long as it was of divine institution, the entire system of Judaism constituted a compact prophecy of the gospel. ‘All the prophets have testified’ of Christ (Acts 10:43). »(Jesus Christ, p. 195-196)

[Berean]

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
2
THE JEWS FAILED TO STUDY THE SCRIPTURES
IN LIGHT OF GOD’S MORAL PURPOSE:
A SOLEMN WARNING FOR OUR TIME
The ultra-religious Jews were masters in the outward knowledge of the Scriptures and yet, despite all their Old Testament readings, they did not understand the prophecies. Not only were the prophecies abundantly fulfilled before their eyes, but they themselves helped fulfill them while being too spiritually blind to recognize their fulfillment. Peter said: “All the prophets who have spoken successively since Samuel also announced those days. “(Acts 3.24) Paul proclaimed:” And after they (the Jews) had fulfilled all that is written of him … the promise made to our fathers, God fulfilled it for us their children, by resuscitating Jesus. ”(Acts 13: 27-33).

When the Old Testament prophecies that the Jews knew so well, being “read every Sabbath,” were fulfilled so precisely, how could they be so blinded to their fulfillment, especially after shamelessly cooperating in them? In Acts 13:27, the reason is given to us: “For the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their princes, because they did not recognize him, nor the words of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled them by condemning him. Because they did not recognize Jesus – because they did not agree with God who sent Jesus – they misread the Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His kingdom. If they had accepted Jesus as their Lord, He would have given them deliverance from sin, and the spiritual discernment enabling them to see the moral purpose of prophecy would have been imparted to them with the power to live victorious personal lives.

One author said: “The rulers of the Jews had studied the teachings of the prophets on the kingdom of Messiah; but they had done so, not with a sincere desire to know the truth, but in order to find the evidence necessary to support their lofty hopes. ”(Jesus Christ, p. 196)

If their hearts had been in harmony with God’s plan, they would have clearly understood that plan.

Correct interpretations of prophecies relating to present and future events, when considered, will be found to harmonize with present Christian experience. The more we know the character of God and the more we become like Him, the more we are enabled to experience the Scriptures. “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in his knowledge, and that he may enlighten the eyes of your understanding …” (Ephesians 1: 17, 18 ) “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18) The more we grow in grace, the greater is the knowledge of our Savior, a practical, experimental knowledge. “The soul who turns to God for His help, His support, His power through sincere and daily prayer, will have noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth and duty. (A Better Life, p. 103)

“Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. ”(Matthew 4.4). Our Lord was quoting Deuteronomy 8.3 where this statement is given as the moral reason why God gave manna to the children of Israel. He wanted them to apply it in their personal relationship with the Savior. If the Jews of our Lord’s time had sincerely experienced the daily renewal of the heavenly manna – if they had lived by every word of God – they would have gladly accepted the Savior’s spiritual application of the gift of manna. to His own person. (See John 6: 31-66. “Many of his disciples, after hearing it, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? … From that time many of his disciples withdrew, and they did not were more with him. ”) Their lives were not in harmony with the scriptures, so they did not understand them.

The Jews studied the prophecies, but without spiritual discernment

As the spiritual condition of the Church declines, more attention is paid to the external things of religion and less to the internal things – a dead shell instead of the living grain. Literal things that have been instituted because of their spiritual significance lose their spiritual meaning and the service of the Church degenerates into formalism: the letter grows in importance while the spirit diminishes. These were the experiences of ancient Israel which were repeated in the Christian Church. “The Jews lost spiritual life in their ceremonies and became attached to dead forms. “(Jesus Christ,

p. 20)

To show this loss of spiritual vision for the Jews, note the following excerpt:

“God had said to Moses concerning His commandments, ‘You shall tie them on your hand, to be a sign, and they will be like frontlets between your eyes.’ (Deuteronomy 6.8). These words have a deep meaning. When the Word of God is meditated on and put into practice, the whole man will be ennobled. The hands occupied in acts of righteousness and mercy will reveal like a seal the principles of the divine law … The eyes, directed towards a noble goal, will be clear and honest … But the Jews of the days of Christ did not nothing discerned from all this. The command given to Moses was misunderstood so that the precepts of Scripture were carried on the person. Therefore, they wrote them on parchment strips and tied them conspicuously around the head or wrists. “(Id., P. 609)

Their proud disposition to show righteousness in the eyes of their neighbor led them to interpret the Scriptures in this sense. If they had been meek and lowly in heart, they would have discerned the spiritual importance of Deuteronomy 6.8.

Isaiah prophesied: “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it at the same instant; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 40.5) But before the visible glory of God was manifested in the Second Coming, the spiritual glory of God would be revealed in the character and life of the Lord Jesus. If the Jews had enjoyed blessed fellowship with God and understood His character, they would have discerned the glory of God in the life of Jesus and seen that the prophet was speaking of the revelation of spiritual glory before the literal glory of God was due. to be revealed.

The need of the Jews for a spiritual vision was also illustrated by their blindness to the meaning of the prophecy of Haggai 2: 7-9. Commenting on this prophecy, the author of The Tragedy of the Centuries says on page 24:

“This [Solomon’s] temple was the most magnificent building the world has ever seen. However the Lord had declared … ‘The glory of this last house will be greater than that of the first … I will fill this house with glory’ … But the second temple did not equal the magnificence of the first, nor had he been sanctified by those visible signs of the divine presence which marked the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark his consecration … For centuries the Jews had tried in vain to show how the promise of God given to Haggai had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet’s words. The second temple was not honored with the cloud of glory of Jehovah, but with the living presence of Him in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily … It is in the presence of Christ and in this only that the second temple exceeded the glory of the first. ”

If the Jews had been right with God, they would have recognized the greatness and glory of God shining in the character of Christ; they would have seen the fulfillment of Haggai’s prophecy. When Jesus said, “Now, I tell you, there’s something greater here than the temple.” (Matthew 12.6), they would have recognized the presence of the God whom they believed to be the only one greater than the temple. (See 2 Chronicles 6:18). They would have seen the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi 3: 1: “And suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come into his temple.” ”

Jesus also said, “The queen of the South will arise in the day of judgment with this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, there is more here. taller than Solomon. If the Jews had read the Old Testament story correctly, they would have seen that the story of famous people like Solomon was recorded in the scriptures to represent the coming of someone greater, of the long-promised Messiah, and when Jesus made these statements, they would immediately have seen the glorious privilege that was theirs.

The Old Testament contains many predictions regarding the kingdom of Messiah.

“At the time … when our Lord appeared, there was a general expectation among the Jews of the coming of the Messiah and His reign was called ‘the world to come’, ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’, ‘the kingdom of heaven’ or ‘of God’. To enter the kingdom was to become His disciple. The Jews had very mistaken ideas of its nature and it was necessary for our Lord to correct them. This is what He does in His teachings and those of His disciples. The nature of the kingdom of God must therefore be learned from the New Testament. (Angus’s Bible Handbook, p. 203)

When the Messiah came “among

his own ”,“ his own did not receive him ”(John 1:11). The Jews rejected Christ because His interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies about the expected kingdom was not what they wanted. Their hearts were not prepared for the kind of kingdom that He was preaching. The author already quoted tells us:

“Some of the Pharisees had come to Jesus asking ‘when the kingdom of God would come.’ More than three years had passed since John the Baptist had given the message which had sounded like a trumpet all over the land: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near? ‘ And yet these Pharisees saw no hint of the establishment of the kingdom. Many of those who rejected John, and who stood against Jesus at every step, insinuated that His mission had failed. Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming. They shall not say, He is here, or, He is there, for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. ‘ The kingdom of God begins in the heart. Do not look here or there for powerful earthly manifestations to mark His coming … Because it is not accompanied by worldly pomp, you are in danger of not discerning the glory of my mission. ”(Jesus Christ, p. 502)

The Jews were waiting for the time when, with the advent of the Messiah, all the foretold looking at the exaltation of Israel in His literal kingdom would have their great fulfillment. The dual nature of Messiah’s kingdom could not be grasped by their unspiritual nature.

Not wishing to see this two-pronged nature prophesied by the seers of Israel, they failed to follow the truth that the first phase of the kingdom concerned humiliation and the struggle against internal evil. Christ had to suffer before he could enter into His glory. (Luke 24.25, 26, 46; 1 Peter 1.11). Likewise, the Israel associated with Him would first have to suffer before they could reign with Him. (2 Timothy 2.12; 1 Peter 4.13).

The proud human heart would like to participate in the glory but not in the humiliation and suffering that are essential to enter the kingdom (Acts 14:22). The first phase of the kingdom of Messiah is the kingdom of grace during which time and opportunity are given to us to prepare our hearts for the glory to come.

“Life” is a synonym for “the kingdom of God” (Mark 9.45, 47; Matthew 18.9); in the kingdom of grace, Jesus gives spiritual life. In the kingdom of glory, He gives eternal life.

Christ now reigns by His Spirit in every heart that is subject to Him here below. (Colossians 1.13, 26, 27; 3.4; 1 John 3.14; 5.11-13; John 3.3, 7; Philippians 3.20; Hebrews 12.23, margin; Ephesians 2.6, etc.) Here is the kingdom which was “at the door” (Matthew 3.2 ; 4.17, etc.). This was the purpose of Paul’s sermons. (See Acts 20.25; 28.23, 31).

The prophecies concerning the kingdom of Messiah are now being fulfilled spiritually, but one must have this experiential knowledge of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in Him to fully appreciate their present fulfillment.

Their inability to read the prophecies in light of Christ’s saving work led the Jews to misunderstand the prophecies they knew so well. Unless our interpretations of prophecy reveal Christ, we too will fail to grasp their true meaning. The Jews were made to reject Christ because of their misinterpretation of the prophecies concerning Israel; they have forgotten or ignored the moral object of prophecy: personal deliverance from sin. “You shall call his name Jesus; it is he who will save his people from their sins ”(Matthew 1:21). Spiritual pride, selfishness, and sin in their hearts have clouded their spiritual discernment.

“While desiring the coming of the Messiah, the Jews did not have a correct conception of His mission. They did not seek to be redeemed from sin but to be delivered from the Romans … They had studied the prophecies but without spiritual discernment … Pride clouded their vision. They interpreted the prophecies in accordance with their selfish desires. »(Jesus Christ, p. 21-22)

Jews were rigid literalists

The Jews were rigid literalists in interpreting the Scriptures. When Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” Nicodemus pretended to understand His words literally, as if Jesus was referring to a physical birth. Obviously Jesus was referring to a spiritual birth. (See John 3). When Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you, in three days will you raise it up? But he was talking about the temple of his body. ”(John 2: 29-21). On the question of the authority of the prophecy of Malachi 3: 1 and 4: 5, the Jews expected that Elijah would literally return

on earth before the coming of the Messiah. This raised the question: how could Jesus be the Messiah since Elijah had yet appeared in person (Matthew 17:10; John 1:21)? Jesus responded to the objection raised by the Pharisees by stating that Malachi’s prophecy of Elijah’s coming was fulfilled through the ministry of John the Baptist, and that Elijah was a type of the Forerunner. (See Matthew 17.11-13). When Jesus said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54), He was talking about a spiritual relationship in the form of a figure, of an Old Testament type. Jesus’ Jewish listeners, being literalists, misunderstood His words. The author of “Jesus Christ”, p. 379-383, gives us the following commentary on this incident of Christ’s earthly ministry:

“The words of Christ had as their object the same truth symbolized in the paschal service. But it was not yet discernible. Irritated, the rabbis exclaimed, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ They pretended to understand His words in the same literal sense as Nicodemus when he asked, ‘How can a man be reborn when he is old?’ … By giving a false construction to His words, they hoped to raise prejudice to Him among the people. Christ did not consent to soften His symbolic representation … The unbelieving Jews wanted to see only the most literal meaning of the Savior’s words … The mysterious spiritual kingdom He had spoken of left them indifferent [speaking of the disciples who rejected the spiritual truths that tested them]. ”

The Jews explained the prophecies “but without spiritual discernment”; they did not study prophecies in light of God’s moral purpose; they did not study the prophecies so that they could strengthen them to overcome the sin in their hearts. Now, it was for this purpose that they had been given.

[Berean]

Hi To all

The Moral Purpose of Prophecy
3
THE STORY REPEATS ITSELF
Today, in a similar fashion, several thousand professional Christians study the prophecies and apply them wrongly in the same way that the Jews did: their interpretation of the prophecies is consistent with that of the Jews who rejected Christ and it is in fact opposed to the clear teachings of the New Testament. The Jews showed the prophecies describing Israel’s triumph over its enemies (such as Ezekiel 38:39; Joel 3; Zechariah 12 and 14, etc.) and felt assured of God’s protection and blessing. Today the Christians who explain them teach the same as the Jews about these prophecies. Both ignored the spiritual qualifications required by those whose victory and blessing are described: both ignored the moral purpose of the prophecies.

In the days of our Lord, when the Jews read the promise in Jeremiah 31: 31-37, they applied it unconditionally to their nation. An author whose works give evidence of a deep spiritual discernment comments as follows:

“The Jews had misinterpreted the divine promise of eternal favor to Israel [the words of Jeremiah 31.33-34 are then quoted]. “Thus saith the Lord … If these ordinances [the sun, the moon, and the stars] come to an end before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel will also cease to be a nation before me for always. (Jeremiah 31.35-37) The Jews regarded their natural descendants of Abraham as entitling them to this promise. But they ignored the conditions that God had set. Before giving that promise, He said, “I will put my law in them and write it in their hearts …”

“To a people who have His law written in their hearts, God’s favor is assured. »(Jesus Christ, p. 86-87)

The New Testament clearly teaches that the Church inherited all the promises and blessings guaranteed to Israel. Jesus said to the Jews:

“Wherefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you [literal Israel], and shall be given to a nation [spiritual Israel] which shall bear its fruits. “(Matthew 21.43) To those who bear the” fruit of the Spirit “(Galatians 5: 22-23) in the Lord’s vineyard (Matthew 21.33-43, John 15.1-11, etc.), blessing and protection are assured. of God. “You [the Church] are … a holy nation. (1 Peter 2: 9) The New Testament everywhere maintains that the Church is now the nation of Israel. This fact has been pointed out by many renowned Bible commentators. We will quote one, representing a large number of those which could be quoted: “The Christian Church absorbs the Jewish Church, inherits its privileges and adopts its phraseology in a vaster and more noble sense … The Israel of God, the Church of Christ, takes the place of national Israel. (Ellicot’s Commentary, Notes on Revelation, p. 96, 125)

It cannot be overstated that this statement expresses the clear and frequently repeated teaching of the New Testament and the explicit position of Protestant churches and Protestant commentators. But unfortunately! the enemy of truth has worked diligently to blind people to the true interpretation of the scriptures so that they do not see the moral purpose of prophecy which is vital to understand in this fateful hour. Although time-tested, the Church’s belief that Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom found their wider moral fulfillment in the New Testament Church is dismissed in favor of relatively new teaching and quite revolutionary called dispensationalism which declares that these prophecies ignore the Church age and will be literally fulfilled in a Jewish kingdom that will follow our time. This downright revolutionary teaching reviews the interpretation of the book of Revelation, and students of Revelation should prayerfully examine their interpretation of this book to see if it is influenced by the tenets of Futurism. Writing to condemn this system of interpretation, Dr. Oswald T. Allis points out his fundamental error:

“Dispensationalism has its origin in a faulty and unscriptural literalism which ignores, in the important field of prophecy, the typical and preparatory character of the Old Testament … This dispensationalist system of interpretation of Scripture is today ‘ hui very popular. The reasons are not hard to find. Literal interpretation seems to make Bible study easy. She also seems reverent. She gives this argument: “God must have said exactly what He meant and He must mean exactly what He said; and what He said is to be taken as He said it, that is, literally. But the New Testament clearly shows that the literal interpretation

rale was a stumbling block for the Jews. She hid the most precious truths of the scriptures from them. The temple and its worship were typical of Christ’s work as a high priest (John 2:19). But the Jews failed to understand that He was applying it to Himself and used His words to destroy Him (Matthew 26:61) … He came to fulfill the law and the prophets. But the fulfillment He offered the Jews was so different from their literal and carnal expectations and desires that they sent their King to Calvary. (Prophecy and the Church, p. 256, 258).

The story repeats itself. The Jews expected an earthly and temporal kingdom. They demanded a literal and unconditional fulfillment of the prophecies concerning “Israel”, refusing to see that they had lost their right to these prophecies because of their inability to fulfill the conditions. Because of their false interpretations of the prophecies concerning the kingdom promised to Israel, the Jews rejected Christ and His spiritual kingdom. Likewise today, many professional Christians fall into the same error of interpreting the prophecies concerning “Israel” in a literal Palestinian sense, failing to see that the Jews wasted, by their rejection of Christ and His crucifixion, everything. right to these prophecies. Just as the Palestine-centered literal system of interpretation was the means by which the Jews rejected Christ and His spiritual kingdom, so today the Palestinian-centered literal system of interpretation Futurism leads people to misinterpret. and to reject Christ’s message for the last days concerning the end events in His spiritual kingdom Israel. This message is clearly stated in the book of Revelation but as it is written in Old Testament terminology, its present moral purpose is not understood by those who follow the futuristic system of interpretation.

Because of the imagery relating to Israel so extensively used in the book of Revelation, Futurists say it is a book primarily relating to the literal Jew in Palestine. The lack of understanding of the New Testament principle that Old Testament terminology is now used in a worldwide spiritual sense in connection with the Church is responsible for much of the theological confusion. “Israel” is the key word that solves prophetic problems, especially in the book of Revelation. It is only in their relationship to the Church that prophecies can be fully understood. Several commentators rightly point out that “the symbolism of the Apocalypse is totally and exclusively Jewish”; only spiritual Israelites can understand the prophecies of Revelation. It is estimated that at least 550 quotes from the Old Testament are found in the book of Revelation. The following excerpt from “The Revelation of St. John” by Prof. W. Milligan, D. D., p. 27-30, illustrates what others have said about the exclusively Jewish nature of Revelation:

“The Christian Church, even among the Gentiles, has been grafted onto the trunk of David. She was interested in Zion and Jerusalem; she saw in Babylon the representation of her enemies; she saw herself as the true Israel of God. She was very familiar with the tabernacle and the temple, with their pillars and their incense, with the various altars, with the robes of the priests, with the golden seven-branched candlesticks, with the ark of the testimony, with the hidden manna. , and with the scrolls of parchment written inside and out. These symbols were therefore perfectly suited to her situation and must have had a special influence on her. ”

“But the symbolism of Revelation is entirely and exclusively Jewish. Even the crown of life of verse 2.10 is not the crown of the winner of the Greek games but the Hebrew crown of kingship and joy, the crown of King Solomon with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day in the joy of his heart (Song of Solomon 3:11). The white pebble bearing the new name in verse 2.17 does not relate to the white pebble which in pagan courts was thrown into the voting box as an acquittal by the prisoner’s judge at the bar, but most likely the shiny plaque worn by the high priest on his forehead. And all good commentators agree that the boughs (palms) of verse 7: 9 are not the boughs of the pagan conquerors in battle or games, but the boughs of the Feast of Tabernacles when, in the most joyous of all its national holidays, Israel was celebrating that life of independence they had entered when they walked from Ramses to Succoth and traded their mansions in the hot brick fields of Egypt for the open air of the desert and the tents they erected.

in the fields. The symbols of Revelation should be viewed with the sentiments of a Jew and not with those of our own country or time. ”

After presenting other aspects of Israel present in Revelation, Professor Milligan continues:

“If we move from trumpets to cups, the following particular points require our attention:

1. The very mention of the cups immediately connects us not to the world, but to the Church. The vases thus mentioned were not cups, but bowls or basins, wide and thin rather than narrow and deep. These were the gifts presented by the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel for the service of the tabernacle (Numbers 7), and they were used to offer on the golden altar of the sanctuary the incense that had been lit by the coals. of the altar of the courts. These were instruments for religious service, and they were particularly appropriate, according to the law of cash retribution present throughout Revelation, to contain the judgments of the Almighty designed for … the unbelieving Church. . [The plagues fall first on spiritual Babylon the apostate Church.]

2. A similar remark applies to the fact that, as mentioned in verse 15.6, the angels who bear the last seven plagues come out of the temple or the innermost part of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven, dressed as priests, in pure white linen and with gold sashes (p. 54-55).

“This book is entirely riddled with memories, incidents, thoughts, and language of the Church’s past … And so it is that one can doubt that it contains a single image that is not taken from the Old Testament or a single complete sentence which is more or less formed from material from the same source. Nothing can give a more complete and adequate impression on this point than a careful study of the book itself, in this particular aspect of its contents. “(P. 72)

He then lists the examples of the many people, places and incidents associated with Old Israel and mentioned in Revelation. Professor Milligan continues:

“The great earthquake of chapter 6 comes from Haggai; the sun turning black like a sack of horsehair and the moon turning like blood in the same chapter 6 come from Joel; the stars that fall from the sky, the fig tree that throws its figs unexpectedly and the skies that go away like a scroll, in the same chapter come from Isaiah; the locusts of chapter 9, from Joel; the harvest of the vine of the earth in chapter 14, from Joel and the press trampled under the feet of the same chapter comes from Isaiah; the wings of the eagle that carries the woman into the wilderness to protect her are those of Deuteronomy and Isaiah, and the entire description of New Jerusalem in chapter 21 is cast on Ezekiel.

“If we look at some of the greater visions, we will learn the same lesson, that of the throne in heaven in chapter 4 having its prototype in Isaiah and Ezekiel; that of the opening of the seals of chapter 6, in Zechariah; that of the beast rising from the sea in chapter 13, in Daniel; that of the olive trees in chapter 11, in Zechariah; that of the measurement of the temple in chapter 21, in Ezekiel and Zechariah; that of the little book in chapter 10, in Ezekiel.

“Or, again, if we take any vision and examine it in detail, we will find that its different portions are often taken from different prophets or from different parts of the same prophet. Thus, in the first vision of the book, that of the glorified Redeemer in chapter 1, verses 12-20, the golden candlesticks come from Exodus and Zechariah; the garment reaching down to the feet of Exodus and Daniel; the golden belt of Isaiah and Daniel; the hair like white wool, of these same two prophets; feet like hot brass, from Ezekiel; the two-edged sword of Isaiah and the Psalms; the figure like the sun shining in its strength, of the Exodus; the fall of the seer as dead at the feet of the person who appears to him, of Exodus, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel; the right hand of Jesus resting on the Seer, of Daniel.

“It is impossible to amplify [a story thus] without going through every chapter, verse and clause of the book, which is a perfect mosaic of Old Testament passages, quoted in one place verbally, in another by making a a clear allusion, taken here from a scene in Jewish history and elsewhere from two or three scenes together … The sacred books of His people were most familiar to Him. They had penetrated His whole being … In all the whole of sacred or religious literature, one cannot find such a perfect fusion of the revelation given to Israel with the thought of someone who would express the ideas of Israel, or pronounce them through the symbols provided by the history of Israel, right down to the most common thoughts.

pure and highest of the Christian faith ”(p. 75-76)

“If we pass people to places, we can observe the same rule. Jerusalem and Mount Zion, Babylon and the Euphrates, Sodom and Egypt, all these places which are familiar to us in the history of Israel, play their part in order to underline the holiness or the happiness of the saints, the coming of the judgment or the mention of transgressors from whom the righteous must separate. The battle of Armageddon undoubtedly refers to one or the other if not the two killings connected to the plain of Megiddo in the Old Testament (Judges 5.19; Psalms 83.9; 2 Kings 23.29) …

“Nothing can explain the latest attack on the saints like a gathering of Gog and Magog from the four corners of the earth except the fact that these names were already dedicated to a similar purpose in the prophecies of Ezekiel (chapters 38, 39) . »(Id., P. 72-73)

“A Commentary on the Bible by Bishops and Other Clergy of the Anglican Church” says regarding Revelation 20.8: “The terms camp and city are images borrowed from the condition of Israel in the wilderness and in the Promised Land ( Exodus 14.19; Psalm 107.36). ”

The emphasis on Hebrew is seen throughout Revelation. John even gives the many Greek words a “strong Hebrew color.” Note the following excerpt from Prof. W. Milligan, D. D .:

“The Hebrew writer therefore intentionally … Nothing can be firmer than his declaration (Ewald) that the imitation of the Hebrew idiom in Revelation even goes so far as to produce a change in the Greek construction with the aim of to imitate the forms of the Hebrew language. (The Revelation of St. John, p. 260)

The teacher states in connection with Revelation 9:11: “When we look at the root of the Greek name Apollyon … we find that it expresses the same thought as in Hebrew. ”

In his book “Daniel and the Revelation”, p. 479, Uriah Smith commenting on Revelation 9:11 says, “His name. In Hebrew, ‘Abaddon’, the destroyer; in Greek, ‘Apollyon’, someone who exterminates or destroys. Having two different names in two languages, it is obvious that it is the character rather than the name of the power that one wants to represent … as expressed in the two languages, it is a destroyer. ”

In describing the destruction of the enemies of the Church, John is careful to emphasize the symbolic place “called in the Hebrew language Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16). Just as the character of the power and not its literal name is expressed in the Hebrew name of Revelation 9.11, so it is because of the character or meaning in Hebrew of the word Armageddon that it is mentioned in Revelation 16:16. The meaning of the word Armageddon is given by Christopher Wordsworth: Armageddon or Armageddon is formed of two Hebrew words one, ‘har’, meaning a mountain; the other, cut into pieces; and thus it signifies the mountain of excision or slaughter. ”

Ellicot’s Commentary states:

“The Greek is molded from the author’s Hebrew tendencies …. So the strong Hebrew coloring is precisely what we would expect from someone … constantly speaking of Messianic hopes and prophecies. “(P. 5-6)

“The prevalence of Hebrew influences seen in Revelation could very well fit in with the later date. “(P. 11)

“The interpreter is too easily captivated by external similarities and pays too little attention to internal spiritual and ethical principles … Of these principles the main one seems to be the following: 1) The original passages of the prophecies of the Old Testament must be considered ”(p. 12, 15).

In “The New Testament in Greek, General Epistles and Revelation”, Bishop C. Wordsworth states:

“The diction of the book of Revelation is more Hebrew than anywhere else in the New Testament. She adopts Hebrew idioms and Hebrew words. She carefully dismisses Gentile syntax and even courts grammatical anomalies and deviations; it Christianizes Hebrew words and sentiments, clothes them with an evangelical mantle, and consecrates them to Christ. For example, she never uses the Greek form ‘Hierolosuma’ but always uses the Hebrew ‘Hierusalem’; and she never designates literal Zion by that name, but the Christian Church. ”

Bishop Wordsworth shows by several illustrations the Hebrew context, the Hebrew sentiment, etc. which prevails throughout Revelation. He further says:

“In such a spirit of true catholicity, opening the mind, spiritualizing the language of the Jewish nation and investing it with the light of the gospel, Revelation designates the Universal Church of Christ under the terms of a nomenclature Hebrew by the names of the twelve tribes of Israel ”. He thus extends the vision of the Hebrew people and widens the walls of Zion and the borders of Palestine until they embrace of their great reach the whole of the human family … The Apocalypse also lifts the heart and the voice of the Hebrew nation to the very court of the glorified Church. Here the Hebrew language resonates in the solemn service of the celestial ritual, in which the angelic choir sings praises to God, Amen, Alleluia … It treats in a similar way the Hebrew prophecy. It is a feature of Hebrew prophecy to repeat the same predictions at different times. Revelation proceeds on a similar plan. ”

To be continued

 

 

 

 

[Berean]

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 4

The fundamental error of futurism
The book of Revelation was written for the Church of Jesus Christ. (See Revelation 1:11; 2: 7,11,17,29; 3: 6,13,22, etc.) and the Lord says there in the last chapter: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel for you attest to these things in the churches. (Revelation 22:16) However, despite the statements of the Lord Himself in Revelation and despite the clear teaching of the New Testament that the Church is now “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6: 16; etc.), Futurists state that since it contains so many images relating to Israel, it mainly deals with the literal Jew in Palestine!

To properly appreciate any teaching, it is always necessary to carefully observe its basic principles. We will let Dr. Scofield’s Bible (who speaks in favor of Futurism) state the basic premise of Futurism.

Futurism denies “that the Church is the true Israel and that the Old Testament vision of the kingdom is fulfilled in the Church.” (p. 989)

As we have demonstrated, this is in direct contradiction to the clear teaching of the New Testament and also to the teaching of the Christian Church which has already stood the test of time and has existed for hundreds of years. Futurists ignore the clear statements of Scripture that “wrath has fallen upon them [the literal nation of Israel] to the fullest” (1 Thessalonians 2:16) and that as a nation they have been so broken that they “May no longer be healed” (Jeremiah 19:11) and which Christ explicitly declared to them: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and will be given to a nation (the Church, 1 Peter 2: 9) which will give back. the fruits. (Matthew 21:43)

Not being guided by the New Testament teaching that spiritual Israel – the Church – took the place of the nation of Israel, Futurists still build their doctrines and their hopes for the world in their belief in one. literal and Palestinian fulfillment of prophecies relating to Israel. Thus the Scofield Bible, page 1226, comments: “The promise of the kingdom to David and his seed, described by the prophets (2 Samuel 7: 8-17, ref .; Zechariah 12: 8) enters the New Testament absolutely unchanged (Luke 1: 31-33). But Scofield forgets the fact that since the Church inherits all that belonged to Israel (in a higher sense), it also inherits the phraseology of the nation of Israel: the same words and designations refer to both. . The author has, in other publications, given dozens of examples from the New Testament. There is no change in the phraseology used in the New Testament, but there is definitely a change in the people to whom these prophecies and designations now apply. In the New Testament, the Church is described in the language used in the Old Testament regarding Israel. Prophecies and blessings that once referred to the nation of Israel now refer to the Church. As the Church and its enemies are so described in Revelation, Futurists see in it only the literal Jewish nation and Palestine in the many references to the things of Israel contained in the book of Revelation. Revelation can only be properly understood and its moral purpose discerned when Old Testament historical events, persons, names, numbers, colors, etc., are applied spiritually in relation to Christ and His Church.

Like the Jewish theology of Jesus’ day, Futurism is based on a rigid and literal interpretation of the Scriptures. Regarding this futuristic stance, Dr O. T. Allis says:

“It is the continuing contention of its advocates that it is only when it is interpreted literally that the Bible is interpreted faithfully; and they denounce as “spiritualists” or “allegorists” those who do not interpret the Bible with the same degree of literalism as them … The question of literal interpretation versus figurative interpretation is therefore a question we must face up to the start. And we must immediately observe that the question cannot be qualified as a simple choice between the literal and the figurative. No literalist, even a convinced literalist, takes everything there is in the Bible literally. Nor do those who favor a more figurative method of interpretation insist that everything is figurative. The two principles have their place and their limits … The most precious teachings of the Bible are spiritual; and these spiritual and celestial realities are often presented in the form of earthly objects and human relationships … And spiritual things are more real and more precious than visible, tangible, ephemeral things. Because “the things represented

[Berean]

have more reality and perfection than the things by which we represent them ”. The words “This is my body” do not lose but gain meaning when the literal meaning is rejected as unscriptural. (Prophecy and the Church, p. 16-18)

[Berean]

Le but moral de la prophétie
Chapitre 5
Autres mensonges futuristes

L’adhésion au principe selon lequel les prophéties écrites dans la terminologie relative à “Israël” doivent être accomplies littéralement par rapport aux Juifs littéraux reporte leur accomplissement à un certain temps dans le futur. Ainsi, parce que les prophéties ne peuvent pas être dites avoir déjà été accomplies ou pourraient être accomplies de nos jours, les futuristes se réfèrent à leur accomplissement comme devant se produire après “l’enlèvement” de l’Église. Ce n’est pas le but de cet aperçu limité d’aborder le sujet dans ses nombreux détails. Cependant, nous tenons à préciser que les futuristes enseignent que certaines particularités relatives aux Juifs seront réactivées : des sacrifices d’animaux seront à nouveau offerts. Scofield a entrepris de résoudre la difficulté en raison des nombreux textes du Nouveau Testament qui enseignent explicitement que le rituel mosaïque du sacrifice et le sacerdoce lévitique ont été abolis et que le système symbolique d’expiation dans l’Ancien Testament trouve son accomplissement dans l’expiation du Haut Prêtre et la médiation du Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Scofield dit : « Sans aucun doute, ces offrandes seront un mémorial de la croix tout comme les offrandes de l’Ancienne Alliance étaient une anticipation, un regard vers la croix à venir » (p. 890). En cela, comme dans beaucoup d’autres illustrations qui pourraient être données, nous voyons le triste résultat d’un système d’interprétation qui exige que les choses relatives à « Israël » doivent être faites littéralement.

C’est une accusation suffisamment valable contre le futurisme qu’il relègue à l’avenir l’accomplissement de prophéties comme celle de Zacharie 13 : 1 : (« En ce jour-là, une fontaine sera ouverte pour la maison de David et ses habitants. de Jérusalem, pour le péché et pour l’impureté.”) et Daniel 9:24. Le commentaire futuriste est: “Le jour est encore à venir où une source sera ouverte pour l’iniquité du peuple de Daniel (Zacharie 13: 1) et la justice viendra pour eux.” “

It is a principle employed by the prophets of the Bible to speak of world-wide events in language which at first glance seems to indicate that Palestine must be the place of their fulfillment. But a deeper study reveals that the whole history of salvation is written in similar phraseology. Thus the literal local set of things of the Mosaic economy predicts world events relating to the Christian Church (See 1 Corinthians 10: 6,10 in the margin). This has been the belief of Protestant interpreters for hundreds of years, as we can see from the titles of the King James Version. Although it is written in phraseology indicating that the source of purification would literally be in Jerusalem, yet most Christians have applied this verse in reference to the scarlet stream that flowed from the Savior at His death on Calvary. We can all symbolically or by faith dive into this precious source from any place we literally find ourselves on earth. Cowper’s familiar hymn, “There is a well filled with blood” owes its beautiful but painful symbolism to this verse. By comparing Zechariah 14: 8 and Ezekiel 47: 1-12, we see the thought contained in Zechariah 13: 1 that water is a symbol of cleansing and purification. (See also Ezekiel 36:25, Revelation 7:14, etc.) The refusal to see the symbolic importance of the scriptures used by the Holy Spirit to convey spiritual truths is the basis of the errors of Roman Catholicism.

[Berean]

Rectification

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 5
Other futuristic falsehoods

Adherence to the principle that prophecies that are written in terminology relating to “Israel” are to be fulfilled literally in relation to literal Jews postpones their fulfillment to some time in the future. Thus, because prophecies cannot be said to have already been fulfilled or could be fulfilled in the present day, Futurists refer to their fulfillment as having to occur after the “rapture” of the Church. It is not the purpose of this limited overview to discuss the subject in its many details. However, we would like to point out that the Futurists teach that certain peculiarities relating to the Jews will be reactivated: animal sacrifices will be offered again. Scofield set out to resolve the difficulty because of the many New Testament texts which explicitly teach that the Mosaic ritual of sacrifice and the Levitical priesthood have been abolished and that the symbolic system of atonement in the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in the atonement of the High Priest and the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Scofield says, “No doubt these offerings will be a memorial of the cross just as the Old Covenant offerings were an anticipation, a look to the coming cross” (p. 890). In this, as in many other illustrations that might be given, we see the sad result of a system of interpretation which demands that things relating to “Israel” must be done literally.

This is a sufficiently valid accusation against Futurism that it relegates to the future the fulfillment of prophecies like that of Zechariah 13: 1: (“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and its inhabitants. of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. ”) and Daniel 9:24. The futuristic commentary is: “The day is yet to come when a source will be opened for the iniquity of the people of Daniel (Zechariah 13: 1) and righteousness will come in for them.” ”

It is a principle employed by the prophets of the Bible to speak of world-wide events in language which at first glance seems to indicate that Palestine must be the place of their fulfillment. But a deeper study reveals that the whole history of salvation is written in similar phraseology. Thus the literal local set of things of the Mosaic economy predicts world events relating to the Christian Church (See 1 Corinthians 10: 6,10 in the margin). This has been the belief of Protestant interpreters for hundreds of years, as we can see from the titles of the King James Version. Although it is written in phraseology indicating that the source of purification would literally be in Jerusalem, yet most Christians have applied this verse in reference to the scarlet stream that flowed from the Savior at His death on Calvary. We can all symbolically or by faith dive into this precious source from any place we literally find ourselves on earth. Cowper’s familiar hymn, “There is a well filled with blood” owes its beautiful but painful symbolism to this verse. By comparing Zechariah 14: 8 and Ezekiel 47: 1-12, we see the thought contained in Zechariah 13: 1 that water is a symbol of cleansing and purification. (See also Ezekiel 36:25, Revelation 7:14, etc.) The refusal to see the symbolic importance of the scriptures used by the Holy Spirit to convey spiritual truths is the basis of the errors of Roman Catholicism.

[GeneBalthrop]

Berean………..The book of Revelations  is the, the revelation of Jesus Christ , “that GOD”, “gave him”,  to show unto his servants (God’s servants) “,….<   the things to come.

It Comes from ” God”, to Jesus<  then to God’s servant John, then to God’s servants in the churches, and God’s future servants down through the ages and ages to come.

Why did you leave that part out?

peace and love to you and yours……..gene

[Berean]

Gene

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 

which God gave unto him, 

to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;

and he sent and signified it by his angel  (Gabriel, like for Daniel)

unto his servant John: 

[2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

[Berean]

God bless

[Berean]

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 6 

Futurism and the Book of Revelation
As the Jews did, so do the Futurists: they fail to discern the current moral purpose of the prophecies relating to “Israel.” Old Testament terminology is used in Revelation because the Church has taken the place of Israel, because the Church is “Israel.” God had a moral reason for giving Jacob the name Israel: his character had been changed after a night of prayer (See Genesis 32: 24-30; Hosea 12: 3-4). Jesus is “the King of Israel” (See John 1:49). And “the King of Israel,” who knows His children, said to Nathanael (who had spent time with his God in prayer in the secret of a fig tree that hid him): “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom he there is no fraud. “(John 1: 47-49)” The remnant of Israel “(Zephaniah 3:13) will be formed of those of whom it is said:” … in their mouth was not found a lie. (Revelation 14: 5). A true Israelite (like Jacob and Nathanael, etc.) knows from experience what it means to open one’s soul before God, clinging to Him and trusting in His love and mercy. Only those who thus commune with God and have “no deceit” can fully understand or accept Christ’s message in Revelation. Revelation can be understood only in light of the literal types of ancient Israel. As this principle is rejected by Futurists, they cannot understand the current moral purpose of most of the prophecies of Revelation. They literally apply them in relation to the literal Jew of Palestine. Since literally nothing has happened yet according to their interpretation of things concerning Israel, they say that these things must be future. So reasoned the Jews in Christ’s day, and they rejected Him. Likewise, Futurists are blind to the current fulfillment of doomsday prophecies and reject the vital message Christ has for them today.

The futuristic conception states that the Antichrist and the prophecies relating to the “war” waged against the “saints” deal with a person who has yet to arise and do his deadly work against the literal Jews in Palestine. The futuristic system of Interpretation was sponsored by the papacy because it shows a military Antichrist a literal person to arise in Palestine in the future and thus divert our attention to preventing us from seeing the papacy as the Antichrist described in the ‘Revelation, a spiritual organization.

The question of whether “Armageddon” is used in a literal or symbolic sense prompts us to decide what system of interpretation we use. Futurism teaches that all Jewish matters in Revelation are to be considered literally, including “the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.” “Armageddon,” they say, is an actual military battle in which the Lord delivers the rest of the literal Jews in Palestine from their national enemies led by the beast and the false prophet. When “Armageddon” is interpreted according to the principle established in the New Testament, that is to say that the Church is now the Israel of God, “Armageddon” is seen as a spiritual conflict involving the Church and the principles. moralities it represents. When taught as a military conflict, the prophetic description of Armageddon has no moral purpose; when taught in connection with the destruction of the enemies of the Church and the triumph of the Church, it contains a vital moral purpose.

God’s solemn warning against worshiping the “beast” and “his image” or receiving his “mark”, like many and astonishing prophecies of Revelation, lose their present moral purpose when they do so. are interpreted according to the futuristic system which applies them to the future in relation to the literal Jews of Palestine. Those who read these prophecies from a futuristic point of view do so as spectators or as people whose mental curiosity is stimulated to know what events will happen to other people who will live in Palestine in the future. But the Lord gave these prophecies as vital messages to the true Israelites living today.

[Berean]

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 7

Pentecost shed light on the moral objectid of prophecy
Even the disciples were slow to appreciate their Master’s interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies relating to the kingdom. They too were seeking temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke and therefore were not prepared for their terrible disappointment when they saw their Lord being crucified. One author relates:

“Shortly before His crucifixion, the Savior explained to His disciples that He was about to be put to death and to rise from the grave … But the disciples were awaiting a temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke … The words of which they needed to remember were banished from their minds and when the time of testing came he found them unprepared. Jesus’ death destroyed their hopes as completely as if He had never warned them. »(Tragedy of the centuries, p. 644)

If the disciples had had a correct understanding of the prophecies, they could have held a worship service in recognition of the wonderful fulfillment of prophecy in the death and resurrection of their Lord. Even on the day of the resurrection, the disciples did not know the true interpretation of the prophecies concerning Israel. Before Jesus revealed Himself to the two disciples of Emmaus, He explained the prophecies to them because “it was necessary for them to understand the testimony given of Him by the types and prophecies of the Old Testament. It was on these things that their faith was to be established. Christ did not perform any miracles to convince them, but His first job was to explain the Scriptures to them. They had viewed His death as the destruction of all their hopes. Now He was showing them from the prophets that this was the strongest proof for their faith … The miracles of Christ are a strong proof of His divinity, but an even stronger proof that He is the Redeemer of the world appears. by comparing Old Testament prophecies with New Testament history. ”(Jesus Christ, p. 799)

Old conceptions die hard, and even after the resurrection the disciples still had misconceptions about the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the establishment of the kingdom of Christ (Acts 1: 6). Jesus commanded them to preach, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10: 7). But it wasn’t until after Pentecost, after spending weeks in prayer, putting aside things that were out of harmony with Christ, that the disciples really grasped the moral purpose of prophecy.

“Just before leaving His disciples, Christ made clear to them once again the nature of His kingdom. He reminded them of the things he had told them earlier about this. He declared that it was not His purpose to establish a temporal kingdom in this world. “(Peaceful Conquerors, p. 29)

“Because of their selfishness and worldliness, even Jesus’ followers could not understand the spiritual glory he sought to reveal to them. It was only after Christ’s ascension to His Father and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon believers that the disciples could fully appreciate the character of the Savior and His mission. ”(Jesus Christ, p. 502)

It was only after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that the disciples understood the spiritual interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom. After Pentecost, while teaching future literal and physical salvation, they also taught that spiritual salvation was a present blessing. (See 1 Peter 1: 5; 1 Thessalonians 5: 8; Romans 13:11; Hebrews 9:28; Isaiah 25: 9, etc.) Initially, “because of their selfishness and worldliness”, the disciples did not could not see that the “spiritual glory” of the work of Christ fulfilled the predictions of the Old Testament.

[GeneBalthrop]

Berean……God sent it by his servant  “Jesus” And Jesus sent it to the churches by God’s servant John.  Why do you people want to always leave God the Father out of everything?  Jesus never did that did he?  If you truly believe Jesus , you would never leave God the Father out of anything,  Jesus never did.

peace and love to you and yours……..gene

[Berean]

Gene

I do not leave God thé Father out if every things…

The truth IS Heart:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God gave unto him,

to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;

and he sent and signified it by his angel  (Gabriel, like for Daniel)

unto his servant John:

[2] Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

[Berean]

 The moral purpose of prophecy

CHAPTER 8

JESUS IS REIGNING NOW!

The Scriptures make it plain that the prophecies concerning the reign of David’s Son were to be fulfilled by His death and resurrection. (See Acts 2:29, 32; 13:22-24, 32-34; Rom. 1:4; 2 Tim. 2:8.) Paul preached the kingdom of God and of Christ as’ a then reality, into which every believer of the gospel was, and is, instantly translated. (Col. 1:12, 13; 1 Cor. 15:11; Acts 20:24, 25, etc.) God has “raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus” (Acts 13:22, 23; Luke 2:10, 11, 30-32, 68-70; Acts 5:30, 31). By the work of the Holy Spirit in Messiah’s spiritual kingdom of grace, Christ is now saving, redeeming Israel out of “all people” (Luke 2:30-32, etc.). That salvation is “in Zion” (Joel 2:32; Rom. 11:26; 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:4-7), the church, where Jesus reigns.

When the disciples, who were still thinking of the immediate literal fulfillment of the Old Testament kingdom prophecies, asked “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel”. He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. BUT ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:6-8). The literal kingdom will be set up after the gospel age is finished at the second advent, and the time for that event is hidden from man, BUT the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah’s kingdom are now being fulfilled through the power of the Holy Ghost. “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20).

Jesus is now reigning! The prophecies concerning the Messiah’s kingdom are now being fulfilled! This was the thrilling burden of the apostles’ preaching after the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost! it was this recognition of the fulfillment of the kingdom prophecies in relation to the church that gave power to their preaching, and which also aroused the anger of the Jews against them. That which the Jews regarded as being wholly future, and to be fulfilled literally in connection with national Israel, the apostles preached as being fulfilled in the work of preaching the gospel. A study of the New Testament – of sermons recorded therein, or of epistles, etc., written after Pentecost – will clearly reveal this fact.

On the day of Pentecost, the inspired Peter declared that Jesus was raised to sit upon a throne; that He was “both Lord and Christ.” (See Acts 2:30-36.) Peter’s sermon was very largely made up of quotations from the Old Testament. The first of these is from Joel (2:28-32), and Peter quotes these verses addressed to ancient Israel and applies them to all those who would believe in Jesus as “both Lord and Christ”: “all flesh,” “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In His commission to the Disciples, Jesus said: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:18). Thus the risen Lord spoke as a king who is about to receive His kingdom, and to take His place at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Peter in Acts 2:33 describes the outpouring of the Spirit predicted by Joel as a demonstration of the fact that He has already received and is now exercising that royal authority. This can only mean that Jesus had entered into His kingdom, and that this great inaugural event of the church age is to be regarded as the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. The King is now exercising His sovereign power. Note this significance in such verses as Acts 3:16; 4:10, 30; 5:31, etc.

Peter quoted from Ps. 110:1:”The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies.” Jesus is now reigning “in the midst” of His “enemies.” Peter’s quotation from Joel 2:32 (see Acts 2:21 and compare with Joel 2:32) also shows that from the time of Pentecost Old Testament prophecies concerning Zion, Jerusalem, the land of Israel, etc. were interpreted as being fulfilled in connection with the word of Christ in the gospel. As Jesus reigns in the church, His spiritual Zion or Jerusalem, those who are pictured in Joel’s prophecy (see Joel 3) as being gathered outside in the valley of Jehoshaphat to make war upon God’s people within Jerusalem must refer to those who oppose the work of the gospel. This interpretation placed the Jews not as those favored of God within Jerusalem, but among those on the outside among the enemies of God. Such an interpretation aroused the anger of the Jews, who believed those prophecies would be fulfilled literally in connection with the literal nation of the Jews.

To be continued

[Berean]

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 9
All Scriptures Are Vibrant Moral Messages From a Living Savior
At Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples agreed with Peter’s interpretation because he made this statement “stand with the eleven” (Acts 2:14). Their spiritual application presents kingdom prophecies (which the Jews applied only in a strictly literal sense in relation to the future) made the Old Testament a new and living book for them and their listeners. It was no longer a book containing the arid tales of the past and future blessings unrelated to the present, but a Book containing a past and a future now being realized as a living book, vibrating with messages from a living Savior. Not only did the Old Testament itself provide evidence, but the living Christ by His ever-present Spirit gave an experience in harmony with the interpretation.

The New Testament teaching is clear that since the rejection of the Jewish nation, the Church is now the “temple” in which Christ reigns by His Spirit. “The man of sin” the false king who was to sit “in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4) is in fact the papacy within of the spiritual temple the Church of the Christian denomination. Futurists whether on the papal or apparently Protestant side apply this prophecy to a literal temple yet to be built in literal Jerusalem by an enemy of literal Jews. Futurism fails to see the goal in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4 and other temple prophecies, as described in Ezekiel 40-48 and Revelation 11: 1. By applying these prophecies literally in relation to the future and to Palestine, they fail to understand the present moral purpose for which they were given.

Paul speaks not only of the Church as being the “temple” of God, but also of each individual (Ephesians 2: 21-22; 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17; 6:19; etc.). The tabernacle in the wilderness was built after the heavenly “pattern” (Exodus 25: 9,40). After Moses had completed every detail of the structure and all the furniture “as the Lord had commanded” (Exodus 40: 16,19,21,23,25,27,29,31), “the glory of the Lord fill the tabernacle ”(v. 35). The same thing happened during the dedication of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8: 10,12; 2 Chronicles 5: 13,14; 7: 2). The spiritual lesson is obvious: when we do all that the Lord commands us to do, we too will be filled with the glory of God. The New Testament commands us: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18); it is tantamount to urging us to obey God in all things, for it is only in this way that the Spirit of God will fill the soul with His glory. “… the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey him. (Acts 5:32)

The temple painstakingly described in Ezekiel 40-48 also finds its fulfillment present in the Christian Church and in each individual believer. Individually as well as collectively, the Messiah is now building His “temple” in which He currently reigns with authority (Zechariah 6: 12,15; 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17; 6:19; Ephesians 2: 21-22, etc.). The most precise and exact measurements of each part of the temple are understood in experience by those who seek to do only that which is in harmony with the divine rod. (Compare Ezekiel 40: 3, etc., with Revelation 11: 1). The Christian experience harmonizes with the interpretation. All biblical temple-related scenes whether recorded in the history of Ancient Israel or in prophetic portions of Scripture were written to illustrate God’s moral purpose and show individuals the path to salvation. This truth has been clearly stated by the author of the book entitled “Jesus Christ”.

“From eternity the design of God has been that every creature, from the resplendent and holy seraphim to man, be a temple honored by the presence of the Creator. As a result of sin, mankind has ceased to be the temple of God … But the plan of heaven is accomplished by the incarnation of the Son of God. God dwells in humanity and by the effect of His saving grace the heart of man becomes His temple again. God designed the temple in Jerusalem to be a continual witness to the high destiny reserved for every soul. »(Jesus Christ, p. 142-143)

“By the purification of the temple, Jesus announced His mission as Messiah and began His work … By purifying the temple of sellers and buyers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the taint of sin, from earthly desires, carnal lusts, bad habits that corrupt the soul. “(Id.)

The magnificent temple of Solomon symbolized the Church and every believer. Regarding the erection of S

one temple on Mount Moriah, we read: “When they were building the house, ready-made stones were used, and neither hammer, nor ax, nor any iron instrument was heard in the house while it was being built. . (1 Kings 6: 7) The quiet building of this temple symbolized the building up of the spiritual temple of Christ by the gentle action of the Spirit of God. (See Ephesians 2: 21-22). The author of Prophets and Kings, says on page 24:

“This temple built by Solomon and his co-workers for God and His worship was of incomparable beauty, of unparalleled splendor. Adorned with precious stones, the temple … was an appropriate emblem of the living Church of God on earth which, through the ages, had been built according to the divine pattern with materials like “gold, silver, precious stones “,” polished as for a palace “(1 Corinthians 3:12, Psalms 144: 12). Christ is the cornerstone of this spiritual temple, ‘in whom the whole building, well coordinated, rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. ”(Ephesians 2: 20-21)

“It was through Christ that the purpose of which the tabernacle was a symbol of this glorious edifice was to be fulfilled, its walls of glittering gold reflecting in rainbow colors on the curtains covered with cherubim, the smell of incense burning continually and penetrating all, the priests in immaculate white robes, and in the midst of the great mystery of the most holy place, above the mercy seat, between the angels whose faces were bowed in sign of worship, was the glory of the Most Holy God. The Lord desired that in all this His people could read His purpose for the human soul. (Education, p. 31)

“Although the ministry was transferred from the earthly temple to the heavenly temple, although the sanctuary and our High Priest were invisible to human eyes, the disciples were not to be impoverished … As Jesus officiates there in the sanctuary , He continues by His Spirit to minister to the Church on earth. ”(Jesus Christ, p. 149)

“We are on the Day of Atonement and we must work in harmony with Christ in His work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people … Those who do not cooperate with Jesus in His work in the courts of heaven, who do not cleanse the temple from the soul of all defilement … join the ranks of the enemy of God and of man. (Review & Herald, January 21, 1890).

“His Church is to be a temple built in the likeness of God, and the angelic architect brought his golden rod from heaven so that every stone could be hewn and squared according to divine measure, and polished to shine as an emblem of heaven. , radiating in all directions the bright and clear rays of the Sun of Justice. ”(Testimonies to Ministers, p. 17)

In these excerpts we see applied the principle that the desert sanctuary, the temple in Jerusalem, and the temple described in prophecy symbolized God’s moral purpose for His Church and for each individual.

The destruction of Solomon’s temple by the Babylonians (2 Chronicles 36: 17-19), the taking of the utensils of the house of God and their transport to Babylon (2 Chronicles 36:18, Ezra 1: 7-11, Daniel 1: 2), their use there in the service of their false gods (Daniel 5: 2-3), the deliverance and return of ancient Israel from its Babylonian captivity, the act of rebuilding the temple and the city of Jerusalem etc., all of these incidents are recorded in the scriptures for a moral purpose (See Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, etc.). While the study of sacred history is interesting and beneficial in itself, the main reason these incidents have been recorded in the scriptures is so that we may receive spiritual strength from them. “Now everything that has been written in advance has been written for our instruction, that by patience and by the consolation of the scriptures we may have hope. (Romans 15: 4) Not only can we discern the building up of the Church of Christ and of each individual believer in the building up of the sanctuary and the temple, but also that the restoration of the fallen soul or the He church as a divine abode can be seen in the reestablishment and restoration of the temple and its services after having suffered the onslaught and damage of the forces of Babylon. An author who always draws a moral lesson from historical accounts of Scripture says:

“The work of restoration and reform undertaken by the exiles who returned to Israel, a work placed under the direction of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, offers us the picture of the spiritual renewal which must be accomplished in the last days of the history of this land … How many vicissitudes they had to undergo during the reconstruction of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem! … The spiritual restoration of which the work is

The enterprise in Nehemiah’s time was a symbol highlighted in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “They will build on ancient ruins, they will raise up ancient rubble, they will repair devastated cities.” (Isaiah 61: 4) “Yours will rebuild on ancient ruins; You will raise up ancient foundations; you will be called the mender of breaches, he who restores the ways.” (Isaiah 58:12). »(Prophets and Kings, p. 514-515)

In describing the call to God’s people to come out of spiritual Babylon, the Revealer (he uses the same principle throughout Revelation) refers to the moral purpose of the call to literal Israel to come out of spiritual Babylon. literal city of Babylon and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city. (See Revelation 18: 4) People today are called individually to come out of Babylon in order to restore and restore true divine worship.

The damage done in the Middle Ages by the spiritual Babylonians to the spiritual temple and the city of God (Revelation 11: 1-2) is being repaired. Utensils taken from the house of Jerusalem (Daniel 1: 2) and used in the service of the false Babylonian system of worship of Satan (Daniel 1: 2; 5: 1-4) are being brought back to the place of true worship . (Ezra 1: 1-11; Matthew 17:11). The building and restoration of an individual and of the Church as a temple of God is exemplified in this experience of Israel.

Keeping in mind the New Testament principle of applying Old Testament history and prophecies in relation to God’s moral purpose not only allows this book to be a living book filled with power and motivation, but guides us in our interpretation of prophecies.

[Berean]

THE MORAL PURPOSE OF PROPHECY

CHAPTER 10 

THE INDIVIDUAL APPLICATION OF HISTORY AND PROPHECY

The New Testament interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom and work of the Messiah is that they apply individually as well as collectively to the church. It is important that the individual application of prophecy be considered. All Bible prophecies center in Jesus, and they, when rightly understood, will have a bearing upon individuals. God deals with individuals: “whosoever” (John 3:16; Rev. 22:17). The Ten Commandments are written in the singular number. The promises are “to him that overcometh” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). Jesus says: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matt. 11:15). Eight times in the Revelation Jesus also appeals to the individual: “He that hath an ear, let him hear” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:9). The acceptance of Christ is a personal matter. The writing of the Law of God in the heart is an individual work. (2 Cor. 3:3; Ps. 40:8; Ezek. 11:19,20; 36:26; Heb. 8:8-13.)

The deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage not only typifies the deliverance of the church, but of the individual from the bondage of sin. The safe passage of the nation of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1, 2, 11); the Israelites partaking of the manna and drinking the water from the rock (1 Cor. 10:3, 4, 11); the march of national Israel across the wilderness to the promised land (1 Pet. 2:11); the sanctuary in the midst of the camp of Israel (John 1:14, R.V.) ; the daily services of the sanctuary (Heb. 13:10-15; Rom. 12:1, etc.) ; the cleansing of the sanctuary (1 John 1:9, etc.) ; the writing of the Law of God upon two tables of stone (1 Cor. 3:3); the temple (John 2:21; 1 Cor. 3:19); the kings and the priests of Israel (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), etc., are, in the New Testament, applied in connection with the individual believer, as well as to the church as a whole. In this way the Lord has shown us that our interpretation of the contents of Scripture, whether of the history of past events in the experiences of God’s people, or concerning prophecies of the future, should have a present message for the individual. In this way the Book is vibrant with a living message of power and authority; in this way we also learn to test interpretations of prophecy.

Blessings which are stated in the Word of God to be the future inheritance of the saints are applicable to the believer to-day. Thus Paul quotes from Isa. 64:4, and applies the promises of future things as belonging to the present: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. BUT GOD HATH REVEALED THEM UNTO US BY HIS SPIRIT.” (1 Cor. 2:9, 10.) “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5) is God’s promise concerning the eternal kingdom. “Behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17), declared Paul of those “in Christ.” Elsewhere, the writer has shown by a number of examples that future blessings are applied as present spiritual realities to those who are “in Christ.” As the past events of Israel are applied in the New Testament in relation to present experiences of individuals and of the church (1 Cor. 10:6, 11 margins), and that which is future is also thus applied, the Bible is therefore a book alive with messages for the present. The past and the future become present realities. To-day’s experiences will harmonize with the experiences recorded in the history of God’s ancient people and also harmonize with what is revealed regarding the future kingdom of glory. The present life of the Christian is not something entirely different from the experiences of Israel; it is not something entirely foreign to future experiences and events in God’s kingdom of glory.

With these guiding principles before us in our study of the Bible it becomes a living book which is vibrant with meaning concerning Christ and each individual believer. In the inspired record of creation we may see also the work of the Holy Spirit upon our unshaped characters; calling order out of chaos; light instead of darkness, etc. In the record of the flood we may also see our rescue by the means of the ark God has provided. The deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt foreshadows our deliverance from sin. Pharaoh’s endeavor to keep God’s people in bondage illustrates how Satan endeavors to hold us in his grasp. As we seek to serve God, Satan seeks to make the way harder, just as Pharaoh made the lot of Israel more difficult. When we flee from Egypt, Satan pursues us to slay us or to again take us captive. Our faith is tested at the Red Sea. God opens up a way of escape for us from our foes. We come to the bitter waters which are made sweet only by the Branch (Christ) (Zech. 6:12, etc.). We, too, are fed by the heavenly manna, which must be eaten each day; drink of the water of life gushing from the Smitten Rock (1 Cor. 10:14); bitten by serpents but cured by looking to Christ (John 3:14, etc.) ; attacked by enemies as we journey to the promised land; overcome our foes as our great Leader pleads for us on high; have a foretaste of the fruits of coming inheritance; cross over Jordan’s cold billows and enter in triumph into Canaan.

In the sanctuary and its services we see clear and definite illustrations of the various features connected with the plan of redemption. An innocent, unblemished lamb slain because of an individual’s sin presents an impressive picture of Christ’s substitutionary death. The word picture of the Israelites sheltering behind the blood-sprinkled door lintels while the death angel passes by, graphically portrays the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus to save us from God’s wrath against sin. By the pictures presented in the sacred narratives of the physical exploits of Samson, we see clearly illustrations of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, overcoming the difficulties and dangers from our spiritual foes. (See Dan. 11:32; Ephes. 6:10.) David’s victorious conflict with Goliath provides us with a clear picture of what it means to live the victorious life in the power of Christ. Satan, our Goliath, is far too strong for us to slay, but with Paul we can say: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). We obtain “the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).

The historical incidents recorded in the Old Testament provide us with word pictures by which God teaches us spiritual truths. In them we are to see things world-wide in scope: corresponding likenesses in the spiritual realm, which are “spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

The New Testament reveals the principle of “spiritually” discerning “spiritual things” in the historical narratives of the Old Testament. In this way “God hath revealed them unto us” -the things which He “hath prepared for them that love Him.” The natural eye does not discern these “spiritual things,” and often interprets literally that which should be “spiritually discerned.” (See 1 Cor. 2:6-16.) A well-known author says:-

“Undoubtedly our natural bias is in favour of the so-called ‘literal’ interpretation of the prophecies in question; for to the natural man the things that are seen are the real things and to that view we are disposed to cling tenaciously, notwithstanding the plain teaching of the New Testament, that the seen things are fleeting shadows of things unseen, the latter being the spiritual and eternal realities with which the promises of future blessing have mainly to do. . . . Evidently, then, our difficulty in understanding prophecies of the class referred to above is due to our lack of faith and our spiritual dullness.” (“The Hope of Israel,” pp.15, 17, by P. Mauro.)

The Jews, still clinging tenaciously to the belief that the prophecies concerning Israel must be literally fulfilled through the Jewish nation, were so blinded that they did not recognize the fulfillment of those prophecies in the experiences of the Messiah and spiritual Israel. They failed to remember that those prophecies were for those who experienced in their lives the things portrayed in the prophetic word. Similarly, today, modern theologians are so blinded by the belief of a literal Palestinian fulfillment of the ancient prophecies given to Israel, that they do not recognize the spiritual fulfillment now taking place.

The river of living spiritual water is now emerging from this church and individual temple to bless a needy world. (Ezek. 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8; John 7:37-39; 4:10,14; Rev. 22:17.) The spiritual latter rain is now falling and is experienced by thousands of Christians in all parts of the world. Their experience harmonizes with the interpretation. (Joel 2:23-29; Zech. 10:1.) The spiritual gathering of God’s people is now taking place. (Rev. 18:4; Isa. 11:11, 12.) From the confusion of Babylon they come to Jerusalem, “the foundations of peace.” The walls of spiritual Jerusalem are now being built. (Isa. 60:1-11.) Each believer is conscious of the protecting Presence of God. (Zech. 2:5.) In the Person of His Holy Spirit, Jesus is now reigning in spiritual Jerusalem. (Micah 4:7; Joel 3:17, 21; Isa. 24:23; Ezek. 48:35, etc.) 46 47

Those “in Christ” know this by joyful experience. Satan is now endeavoring to assemble his hosts against spiritual Israel. (Ezek. 38, 39; Joel 3; Zech. 14.) The sincere believer knows from his daily experience that he fights the good fight of faith against wicked spirits in high places. He fights best who, morning by morning, visualizes the battlefield and nerves himself for conflict with the combined forces under Gog’s-Satan’s – banner, and who marches into the field of battle “with the cross of Jesus going on before.” The utter defeat of the enemies of Gods people, so graphically depicted in Ezek. 38, 39, is the blessed assurance to His people that they are the recipients of His care and protection, and that they will triumph over their enemies.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14). Israel’s victory depicted in Ezek. 38, 39; Joel 3; Zech. 14, has a daily significance to the Christian when (as it should be) it is applied in harmony with his experience; but these prophecies, when applied literally in relation to nations yet to war in Palestine can have no significance to the Christian’s present experiences. When these prophecies are applied to the future of the nations of the world it may please the mind, but it can have no message to the heart of the Christian; it cannot be of spiritual help to the Christian in his fight against the forces of evil arrayed against him. But it should be remembered that God did not inspire men to write prophecies – especially long prophecies such as Ezek. 38, 39 – merely to pass on matters of purely mental interest; He caused to be written that which would help Christians in their conflict with the forces of evil. Since the rejection of the Jewish nation as God’s chosen nation, the prophecies concerning Israel meet their fulfillment in relation to the church of God-the spiritual Israel. (Gal. 6:16, etc.) Prophecies depicting a gathering of evil forces against “Israel” now describe the spiritual warfare. “They shall surely gather together, but not by Me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. . . . No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” (Isa. 54:15, 17.) In his daily experience the earnest Christian says: “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” (Ps. 27:3.)

To be continued

 

[Berean]

 

The moral purpose of prophecy
Chapter 11
Application of the principle to the study of Armageddon

 

Applying the principle of the harmony of interpretation and Christian experience in connection with the Revelator’s description of Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16), we learn that, as a description of a military battle between nations in Palestine, it has no message for the Christian in his conflict with the powers of evil. When interpreted as the finale of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, it immediately becomes of great interest and usefulness to the Christian who is now engaged in warfare with the forces of evil. The very first promise given was one in which the Lord promised man that He would be with him in the conflict with the forces of evil. (See Gen. 3:15.) In God’s Word, throughout the centuries we can trace the development of that “war” or “controversy.” We are admonished to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3), and to “war a good warfare” (1 Tim. 1:18). By the word “war” or “battle” the Revelator describes the great controversy between Christ and Satan from the time they warred in heaven until the consummation of all things at the end of the millennium. (See Rev. 12:7, 17; 13:7; 16:14, 16; 17:14; 19:19; 20:8.) The purpose for which the Bible was written was to make the child of God wise regarding the spiritual “war,” and to give him strength to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). When the Lord’s prophets describe the spiritual conflict which wages between those serving in the Lord’s army and those on the side of the Lord’s enemy, they liken the Christian to a soldier, with his armor on, fighting with a spiritual sword – the Word of God. (See Ephes. 6:11-17.) This conflict is as real as any war between nations, is more continuous and more extensive than any material struggle between nations, and requires from the Christian as much patience, perseverance, and ceaseless struggle as in any international conflict. The knowledge of this Bible teaching has prompted hymn writers to write such hymns as: “Onward. Christian soldiers, marching as to war.” Under such names as “Armageddon,” and “The Final Conflict,” hymnologists have given the Christian church hymns which express the inspired interpretation of the “war” imagery of the Apocalypse. These godly hymn writers have expressed the interpretation held by the most spiritual and devoted men and women of God. The Christian church has lost its power for the battle against evil in proportion to its loss of the spiritual vision accorded by the true interpretation of these “war” pictures of the Revelation. Satan’s design is to weaken the church by spreading abroad false interpretations, which cause people to fail to see their own personal and vital connection with the battle between the forces of good and evil: that they are either on the Lord’s side in His army, or on the side of the Lord’s enemy. By teaching that these prophecies deal with some material war among nations away off in Palestine, people are blinded to the solemn truth that these “war” pictures of the Revelation were given by our Lord to show that by our acceptance or rejection of Him and His truth, we either stand with Him or against Him.

If “Armageddon” concerned merely a future Palestinian military war, it could have no present or future spiritual value to the Christian, for it would belong entirely to the future; but as the conclusion of the spiritual conflict; it has a definite message for those now engaged in that warfare. If “the kings from the sunrising” refer to military powers who come into the prophetic limelight only at the time of the sixth plague, the prophecy could have no message for anyone until the time of the sixth plague, and even at that time such information would help no one! But when “the Kings from the sunrising” are interpreted as the heavenly armies led by our Lord Jesus Christ coming to deliver His people and to destroy their Babylonian enemies, the prophecy is immediately lifted to the plane of being a present blessing to believers in the Lord. A prophecy of future military events would be limited to the time referred to, and would mean just that, and no more, being totally independent of Christian experience; but, as the writer has shown in a larger publication, prophecies concerning future events in the great conflict between the forces of good and evil have a present blessing for those engaged in that conflict. The Leader of the forces of good, and the leader of the forces of evil, and the principles involved are the same down through all stages of the spiritual conflict, and, as shown in my previous publication referred to, a prophetic description of its final stages, in principle, is applicable to other parts of the conflict. After the 1,000 years mentioned in Rev. 20, the wicked seek to overthrow the saints; but they have sought to do that down through all the centuries of the conflict. The Lord reigning within the New Jerusalem thwarts the purpose of the wicked and destroys the enemies of His people; but the Lord has always reigned within the midst of His people and always caused them to triumph – even in the face of adversity.

Christian experience is in harmony with the interpretation that “the Kings from the sun-rising” refers to the coming of the heavenly armies led by our Lord. Having fully explained all the angles of this prophecy in other publications, we must refer the reader to them for detailed consideration. Here, where we are necessarily restricted by space, we confine our remarks to that which particularly concerns Christian experience and Christ as “the sun-rising.”

Throughout the Scriptures Christ is said to be the “Day-spring,” or “Sun-rising.” (See Luke 1:78, margin; Mal. 4:2, etc.) He is declared to be “the Light of the world.” (See John 9:5; 1:5,9; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35,46; Ephes. 5:14; 2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 2:28; 22:16, etc.) These oft-repeated, explicit statements should guide Christ-loving Bible students when interpreting Rev. 16:12. In the Revelation (5:5) Jesus, the Son of David, is declared to be “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” As the tribe and standard of Judah were “on the east side toward the rising of the sun” (Num. 2:1-3), we know that the Revelator’s reference to “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” keeps before us the connection of the east with Jesus, as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” Who leads His people across the sands of the desert to the promised land. In the Scriptures the lion is employed as the symbol of strength to destroy one’s enemies, and when Jesus comes the second time He is pictured as Israel’s “strong Redeemer” (Jer. 50:34) coming from the east-“from the rising of the sun”-like Cyrus (whose name meant “the sun”) to liberate Israel from the bondage of Babylon. (Jer. 50:33; Isa. 41:2, 25; 45:1, 13; 46:11.)

The same Greek word for “east” (“anatole”) is employed in Rev. 7:2 (where a message from Christ is pictured as coming from the “east”), and Rev. 16:12. The same word, “anatole,” is also employed in Luke 1:78, where Jesus is definitely termed “the Dayspring,” or “Sunrising.” Zacharias declared, “The Dayspring” (margin, “Sunrising”) from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Jesus is the Source of spiritual light, comfort and growth of the soul as the sun is the source of literal light, warmth and growth of all things on this world. Without the light of the sun ~l earthly life would perish; without the light of Jesus all spiritual life would perish. This truth is well expressed in the words of the hymn written by John Wesley, “Christ, Whose Glory,” and in such hymns as “Sun of My Soul,” “Jesus, the Light of the World,” etc.

Christ is said to be “the light of men,” “that light,” “the true light” (John 1:4, 7, 8). John declares that “God is light” (1 John 1:5). James states that God is “the Father of lights” (James 1:17). The Psalmist says: “The Lord God is a sun” (Ps. 84:11). Isaiah assures us that “the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory” (Isa. 60:20, 21). “The Lord is my light” (Ps. 27:1). “The light dwelleth with Him” (Dan. 2:22). Jesus came to be “a light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). “Christ shall give thee light” (Ephes. 5:14). “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Isa. 2:5). “And in Thy light we shall see light” (Ps. 36:9) “The saints in light” (Col. 1:12). “The light of the gospel” (2 Cor. 4:4). “His marvellous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). The gospel church is likened to “a woman clothed with the sun” (Rev. 12:1). “The law is light” (Prov. 6:23). “Thy word is a lamp, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). “The entrance of Thy words giveth light” (Ps. 119:130). “The path of the just is as the shining light” (Prov. 4:18). These are a few of scores of such expressions to be found throughout the Word of God. Christ’s kingdom is depicted in the Scriptures as the kingdom of light (Luke 16:8, etc.), and Satan’s kingdom as the kingdom of darkness (Ephes. 6:12; Col. 1:13, etc.).

It should be emphasized that the light from Jesus, “the Light of the world,” “the Sun of righteousness,” comes to believers as the sun rising in the eastern skies, scattering the darkness and giving light to those who previously were in darkness. “His going forth is prepared as the morning” (Hos. 6:3). “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning” (Isa. 58:8). “Until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). “But unto you . . shall the Sun of righteousness arise” (Mal. 4:2). “I am . . . the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16).

The blessings of the light of the gospel are spoken of as coming from the east. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:1-3). Upon a world of spiritual darkness the light of the gospel message is shining. Coming from “the Sun of righteousness”; coming like the rising of the sun (Rev. 7:1-3), its glory is now being shed with increasing power throughout the earth. Soon “the earth” will be “lightened with His glory” (Rev. 18:1). Thus the Scriptures refer to the spiritual light of the gospel coming “from the east” or “from the sunrising,” and also refer to the literal glory of Christ coming “from the east” or “from the sun-rising” (Matt. 24:27; Rev. 16:12, etc.).

Christian experience harmonizes with the interpretation that applies (Rev. 16:12) in connection with Christ and His glorious work of redemption. Light is actually a ray of power and energy. Gospel light is a vibrant power poured out by “the Sun of righteousness” upon those who seek for it. Light is energy-giving and strengthens the innermost soul. It penetrates the soul and the mind, and these react on the physical and will make it well and happy. Light from “the Sun of righteousness” descends upon honest hearts and uplifts, exalts, refines and purifies. Light is the giver of all things worth while. All evil flies before it like bats before the dawn. All things of menace to mankind thrive in the dark. All things of Light glory in the Light. Light glorifies the colors of the earth and uplifts humanity in its appreciation of the beautiful. Light is being used in its many forms in hospitals to-day to rejuvenate people and heal the sick. The gospel light is shining and is healing sin-sick souls. Rev. 16:12 teaches that the Light-giver is coming back with the hosts of light to destroy the kingdom of darkness. As the rising of the sun is a daily experience, so the believer in Jesus knows that the “healing” rays of “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2) rise daily upon him, dispelling the darkness. Every day his life harmonizes with the true interpretation of Rev. 16:12. By interpreting Rev. 16:12-16 in relation to a future military war, the moral purpose of this prophecy is lost sight of and Satan is gratified.

The Revelator’s reference to the drying up of the river Euphrates (Rev. 16:12) when applied militarily in regard to the future is meaningless to Christians living to-day; but when applied, as it should be, in connection with the conflict between the forces of good and evil, it has a spiritual message for each Christian to-day. Babylon was built upon the Euphrates, the waters of which were predicted to dry up. (Jer. 50:38; 51:36; Isa. 44:27.) This provides the Revelator with the expression which he uses in Rev. 16:12. John obtained his imagery regarding spiritual Babylon from Isaiah’s forecasts of the destruction of literal Babylon by Cyrus, who is a type of Christ. The translators believed that the Revelator used the drying up of the river Euphrates in the taking of ancient Babylon to obtain his imagery for the overthrow of spiritual Babylon for, in the margin of Rev. 16:12, they have placed Jer. 50:38; 51:36, which prophesied the drying up of the river Euphrates. And that they regarded the reference to “the kings of the east” as referring back to the overthrow of ancient Babylon by Cyrus is evident by the fact that they placed Isa. 41:2, 25, which predicted the coming of one “from the east,” “from the rising of the sun,” in the margin of Rev. 16:12. In Isa. 44:24-28; 45:1, Cyrus is set forth as a type of the Messiah. Cyrus overthrowing the literal, ancient Babylon after the drying of the Euphrates, is a type of Christ overthrowing spiritual Babylon after drying up the flooding, persecuting waters of modern Babylon by the manifestations of His “fury” (Ezek. 38:18), which arrest the attempt of murderous Babylonian “multitudes” (Rev. 17:1, 15) to slay the people of God.

It is clear that the prophecies of Isaiah relating to the coming of the Almighty Saviour of Israel to bring in “everlasting salvation” and “the world without end” are linked up with Cyrus, the Lord’s “Anointed” (“Messiah”), who destroyed literal Babylon. (See Isaiah, chapters 41-48.)

The name “Cyrus” means “the sun,” and Cyrus in his work of destroying Babylon and delivering Israel, typifies Jesus “the Sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2). The references to Cyrus coming “from the east,” “from the rising of the sun,” are a play upon the meaning of his name. There is also a spiritual play upon the designation of Jesus as “the Sun of righteousness” who arises “with healing in His wings.” Jesus is the true “Sunrising”: “The Sunrising from on high” came “to give light to them that are in darkness” (Luke 1:78, margin; Isa. 9:2; 42:6, 7). Obviously the things Isaiah wrote concerning Cyrus (Isa. 45:1, 3, 13; 46:11, etc.) typify the greater redemption to be wrought out by the greater Cyrus, the greater “Shepherd-King,” God’s “Anointed” or “Messiah,” the Deliverer of spiritual Israel.

After having introduced Cyrus in Isa. 41, verses 1-7 of chapter 42, etc., outline the work of God’s “servant” – the coming Messiah – Who would “bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isa. 42:7). As Cyrus, the Lord’s “anointed” (Isa. 45:1), set Israel free (Isa. 45:13), 50 the greater Cyrus, the Lord’s “Anointed” (Isa. 61:1), would “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isa. 61:1). Thus the Messiah’s work of redemption is described in connection with the prophecy concerning the work of Cyrus in liberating Israel from their Babylonian captivity. But one does not need to wait until the sixth plague for the Lord to intervene and dry up the waters of the Euphrates and bring deliverance to those in Babylonian captivity. Today our Lord will bring deliverance from the bondage of sin; today, He will set His people free (Luke 4:18-21) and dry up the waters that threaten to engulf them (See Isa. 43:2;59:19; 8:7;28:1,2; 2 Sam. 22:5; Ps. 69:1,2, 14, 15.)

To further illustrate the principle that a true interpretation of the prophecies – particularly those picturing earth’s final events – will always be a “revelation of Jesus Christ” as the Saviour of His people, and the Destroyer of their enemies, and that it will also have a bearing upon present Christian experience, we will touch briefly upon the book of Daniel.

 

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