THE BINDING OF SATAN
AND
THE LAST REBELLION
By
ROBERT
GOVETT, M.A.*
[*
The following two chapters - (“Abridged from the Four Volume Edition, 1864.”) - are from
“The Apocalypse Expounded By Scripture.” (pp. 319-338.)]
-------
A FOREWORD
The
following two chapters in “this
book is an abridged edition of Govett’s four volumes on the Apocalypse, which
are now totally out of print. Govett’s
excellence does not lie in his style, in his mastery of language of learned
authors, but in infinitely the most important of all the qualities of a
commentator, a disclosure of the exact meaning of the Holy Ghost. In all my life I have discovered no author so
exactly aware of what God has said; and who is able to make it clear in plain
and simple language.
There is no kook more important to the world at this moment than
the apocalypse. It is our Lord’s warning to both the church and the world of the awful
cataclysmic events that will crowd the closing epoch. The Apocalypse reveals judgements simply preliminary
to a never ending Hell; [i.e, in “the lake of fire”
– Ed.] and it closes with an exquisite picture of
the
- D. M. Panton
FOREWORD TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
“This book comes from the pen of a great Bible scholar and a prince
among Scripture Expositors. It is a book
of the greatest value of truths for present day conditions. It ranks among the first and best books on
Revelation. It is filled with light on
the last book of the Bible. It is clear,
plain, very plain; it is fearless in its declarations; it is deeply heart
searching with its illumination and contains the ‘gold key’ to the understanding of the last message to the church by the
Head of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Published by
Voice of Truth - P.R.H..
1951
* *
* * *
* *
[Page 319]
CHAPTER 20
THE BINDING OF SATAN
1-3. “And I saw an angel
coming down out of the heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain
on his hand. And he laid hold on
the dragon, the old serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit and locked and sealed (it) over him, that he should not
deceive the nations any more,
until the thousand years were fulfilled: after that he must be
loosed a little while.”
The
victory over men is not sufficient. The
Evil Spirit, by whose instigation the troops were collected and the battle
joined, needs to be arrested. For want
of this, former successes have been turned into defeats, sooner or later. New plot have been framed by the great
Deceiver; and new tools found to carry them into effect, Justice then proceeds
to seize the chief culprit.
The
key that was lent him awhile was taken away to heaven. It is brought again to earth only to be used
against him.
He
is dealt with by himself: he is not a man, but a spirit. He is not found, like the others, with arms
in his hands. Hence his treatment is
different: an angel seizes him. He is
beyond man’s power to retain. In chapter 12.
Michael the archangel and his angels cast him down after a battle. Now there is no fight: but a single angel
arrests him.
By
the act of angels Satan was defeated on high.
By an angel he is arrested on earth.
This is the last act of an angel in open interference on the earth. The millennium is the time, not of angel’s
rule, but of men’s.
He
has “a great chain on his hand,” The key is in
the angel’s hand; the chain is coiled up around
it. The chain is long and heavy: for
it is to bind the great and strong dragon.
His jailor is duly furnished for his office.
He
seizes the fallen spirit. If I mistake
not, Satan when cast down to earth will appear visible: as visible as he did to
Eve. The world will not receive the Holy
Spirit, “because it seeth him not.” It will receive the great
Adversary: will it not be, because it seeth him? To show that the same fallen being who
tempted Eve in the garden is now removed from the scene of his wickedness, both
the angel and the Tempter will, I suppose be seen. Good angels made themselves visible: so may
evil angels. Angels ate with Abraham:
why may not angels be bound? Another example of this binding of angels has
previously arisen. 11:
14, 15. And in Peter and Jude
like assertions are made. 2 Peter 2.;
Jude 6. Those angels that fell long after Satan, and
received Jesus’ preaching, when as a spirit He entered the place of spirits,
now come forth from their darkness and chains to be judged, and to be
released. It is “the judgment of the great day.” Satan, after
long liberty, is cast into the close durance from which they have just been
delivered.
He
is cast into “the
bottomless pit.”
[Page 320]
It
is very remarkable how different a style of punishment overtakes Satan, from
that which arrests his two coadjutors.
They are cast into the lake of fire: he, into the bottomless pit. But the reason of this difference is, that his two assistants were already in the bottomless
pit, ere he released them. They go,
therefore, into hell proper, or the Gehenna of fire. Satan himself has not yet suffered more than
ejection from heaven: imprisonment in the bottomless pit is therefore his
sentence.
The
angel further locks and seals the pit-door.
The open pit was the signal for God’s terrible judgments on men. ’Twas the time of woe to earth: locusts
tormented and the False Christ deceived.
It remained open all the time of Satan’s power. The angel has not to open the pit, in order
to cast Satan into it.
Now
the pit is shut and locked again. Its
sulphurous flames and terrible executioners shall no more be free to come
forth.
What
is the intent of all those actions? That
Satan’s deception of the nations of the earth may no longer be carried on. Deception is his constant trade. His angels may deceive individuals: he
deceives nations. The truth is against
him, he is therefore driven to use falsehood.
He excites false hopes. He makes
promises of success in sin, which are sure to end in the destruction of his
dupes. He knows from the first the wrath
which will descend on himself and them: but still he
goes on. His deceits prevail: the old
serpent rules the old man.
But
Satan must be loosed again after the thousand years are over. Why?
It
were not necessary that we should be able to see the
reason of this “must” on God’s part. But I think several very substantial and
satisfactory ones may be assigned.
1.
The great aim of God in this and in all other things is not to glorify man, but
Himself. His design is to display the golf which
serves the Creator unchangeable in holiness, from the creature perpetually
changing to evil, whenever he is tried, and not upheld by sovereign grace. It will probably be fancied, as it is
imagined by some now, that Jesus is to appear in person, to raise the dead, to
rule the earth, to give authority to His saints, to cut off His foes, and to
display them burning in the fiery lake, that none will be found hardy enough to
attempt to resist Him. God means, on the
other hand, to discover to us, that man,
placed under the most favourable circumstances [during
Christ’s Millennium], will yet
fall if left to his own choice under temptation. Yes, even against Christ in person he can
rebel!
2.
This displays the foreknowledge of God. Ages ere they take place, God has foretold
the things that shall be. The choice of
men, and Satan himself, is discerned by Him from afar. Much as Satan must desire to dishonour God,
and to prove His words false, still his hatred of God will prevail, and thus
will he act. God knows, too, what man
is, and how he will choose. Man is
unchanged in nature, wherever grace has not stepped in to heal.
[Page 321]
3.
This discovers to us Satan’s incurable wickedness, and
the enduring character of sin in general. Though he foresees the coming wrath of God,
he is not even restrained for awhile from open acts of rebellion against
God. Sin overlaps all calculations of
self interest, all past results of experience, all threatenings of God.
4.
This discovers also to us the futility of the ideas of many on a point of much
importance. Many will not believe God’s
testimony concerning the eternity of punishment. They trust in the efficacy of penal
inflictions on the sinful to restore them to a right mind. “The fire will burn
out the dross from the corrupt: the gold will at length appear.” This is a false and foolish supposition. It is here negatived by the voice of
prophecy. The mighty intellect of Satan
knows the unchangeable holiness of God, sees that as long as God shall be holy,
and himself sinful, so long God must be against him. He has experienced imprisonment a thousand
years: has felt the superior might of the Most High: has learned by the slow
lapses of centuries how vain are all his plans, how
uniformly defeat has extinguished them.
Surely, then, we should be apt to imagine, he will say to himself – “It is folly to strive with God. This heavy captivity of a thousand years has
not indeed destroyed my hatred of God, but it has at least taught me
prudence. I will not offend against Him
openly. I will keep my enmity locked in
my own bosom. I am once again at
liberty: I will not do aught rebellious again to forfeit it, and to draw down
final and eternal wrath.” Is such
the result? Nothing of
the kind. He is the tiger; while
enclosed in his dungeon, his love of blood is undiminished by his captivity:
and as soon as his prison doors are loosed, he is off to his jungle and his
prey once more.
THE MILLENNIUM
4. “And I saw thrones, and (men) sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and (I saw) the souls of those that
had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the
Word of God: and whoever worshipped not the Wild
Beast nor his image, nor received the mark on their forehead, or on their hand,
both lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5. And the rest of the dead lived not until
the thousand years were fulfilled. This
is the first resurrection. 6. Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; over these the second
death hath not authority, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years.”
We
have now arrived at a much controverted portion of the book: may the Holy
Spirit enlighten us with true conceptions of the period described!
We
inquire first:-
Is
the resurrection here spoken of FIGURATIVE
or LITERAL?
This
is the great point of controversy on this book.
We think that the case is very easily decided.
We
ask first - Will the literal interpretation stand here? It
will. [Page 322] Does it
produce absurdity to suppose that the resurrection may be of persons really
slain? By no means. Then the
literal interpretation is the true one.
Allegorists
would have is believe that the resurrection here spoken of is a figurative and
corporate one. “The
party of Antichrist is put down, the Christian party (or the Church) is exalted
and in power.”
Now
we reply first, That if this resurrection may be
explained away, so may all others. We
answer next, That if the resurrection be figurative and
corporate, the death which precedes it is figurative and corporate also. We forbid you, then, to assume that Christ’s cause is put down by the literal beheading and slaughter of
individual believers. That is literal
death, and you may not steal our weapon.
There may be the figurative and corporate extinction of a party, by the
dying out of the principles which created it, in the minds of its
partisans. That you may take, if you will: and if you are Calvinists, you will
find it a live bombshell in your camp.
We
proceed, then, to apply our leaver. The death which is suffered by the saints
is literal and individual; such, therefore, is the resurrection. The first proposition needs no longer
proof. It will not be denied that Jesus
calls His followers literally and individually to die for Him. Matt. 10: 21, 28, 30; 24: 9; Rev. 1: 13; 6: 11; 13: 15; Luke 12: 4, 5, etc. It will not be disputed, either, that not a
few have, in obedience to our Lord’s words, simply and literally given up live
for His name. As, then, the life surrendered was literal and individual, literal and
individual is the life restored.
We
advance. Is the second resurrection*
literal of figurative?
[* That is, at the resurrection of the dead after
the thousand years have expired.]
Hitherto
it has been assumed almost universally, that the judgment of the dead (verses 11-15) is a literal resurrection. But
if that be literal, then, as the first resurrection is related to the second,
as a part of the rest of one great whole, if
the second resurrection be literal, so is the first. You cannot have the real root of a figurative
tree; or the figurative branch of a literal tree.
The
question may be brought to a point briefly thus. On anti-millenarian views, the present
dispensation [or evil age] is to continue till the end of the world. More and more is the gospel to increase, and to subject at length all nations to its sway,
while believers become more and more patterns of everything good and holy. Whence, then, is to come the burning up of
the globe for sin? Where is the evil on man’s part, and the wrath on God’s, which are
to be the causes of the world’s destruction?
On this view, Christ should return, only to welcome His people, and they
to receive Him with joy. What say the
Scriptures about the Lord’s Second Advent?
Joel 3.; Isa.
13., 24.;
Matt. 24., etc.
“I saw thrones, and the
souls of the beheaded” (Accusative case.)
“And whoever worshipped not lived” (Nominative case.)
Three
classes are named in the verse.
1. The first is indefinite. “Men sat on the thrones.”
[Page 323]
2. The second consists of early martyrs for God’s cause.
3. The third is composed of those who struggle with the last enemy, even
Antichrist.
To
these three parties resurrection and royalty are assigned.
The
thrones of the twenty-four elders on high [presumably angelic
creatures, presently invested with divine authority to rule] have
disappeared: they are seen no more. Here
are unnumbered thrones set on earth.
What,
then are the conditions of obtaining
a seat on one of these thrones?
The
occupants of them are here spoken of only indefinitely. They are, I believe, the same parties who
descend with Christ as His army. This
would appear more clearly, if we read verses 1-3 of this [20th] chapter as a
parenthesis. The army
of warriors who come with Christ, reign with Christ. As those
who fought with Joshua, with Joshua inherited the land; so those with Christ
war, with Him reign.
“Will all believers, then, reign with Christ?” By no means. The kingdom of the thousand years is never
said to belong to those who only believe.
There are not a few texts addressed to [regenerate] believers
which declare that certain classes of them shall not enter the kingdom.
(1) Those whose (active)
righteousness shall not exceed that of
the Pharisees. Matt.
5: 20.
(2) Those who, while professors of Christ’s name, do not the will of His
Father. Matt.
7: 21.
(3) Those guilty of strife, envy,
and contention. Luke 9: 46-50; Mark 9: 33-50; Matt. 18: 1-3.
(4) [Certain] Rich
disciples. Matt. 19: 23; Luke 6: 24; 18: 24.
(5) Those who deny the millennium. Luke 18: 17; Mark 10: 15.
(6) The unbaptized. John 3: 5.
(7) See also 1 Cor. 6: 9, 10; Gal. 5: 19-21; 6: 7, 8; Matt. 10: 32, 39; 16: 26; 18: 17, 18; Luke 9: 26.
“But will only martyrs have part in the millennial kingdom?”
This
is making the gate too narrow, as the other makes it too wide. Those who
suffer for Christ, even though not unto death, will reign with Christ. Rom. 8: 17; 2 Tim. 2: 11, 12.
The
conquerors [or ‘overcomers’
as translated by other yranslations] in Christ
generally will have part in it. Rev. 2: 26, 27. Those who “receive the abundance of the grace and the gift of
righteousness will reign in life by the one Christ Jesus” (Rom. 5: 17). (See Greek.)
But
many other texts describe those who will partake of the first resurrection.
“And judgment was given to them.”
There
seems to be a direct reference to Dan. 7. “The judgment was
[Page 324] set, and books were opened”
(10) “The
saints of the heavenlies (Heb.) shall
take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever, even
for ever and ever” (18). The false Christ prevailed “Until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given unto the saints of
the heavenlies: and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” (22)
(See also verse 27 and 2: 44.) Thus the
latter portion of the verse expounds the former. We learn that the thrones which John saw were
no mere pageant of royalty; but that royal power to decide causes, and to pass
sentence, and to regulate the nations, accompanied the outward ensigns of
sovereignty.
This
is the more observable, as contrasted with God’s previous injunctions upon His
Church. Jesus forbade His disciples to
act the civil magistrate, as unsuited to the present dispensation of mercy, and
to their own sinful condition now. “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7: 1, 2; 5: 40).
“Judge nothing before
the time, until the Lord come” (1 Cor. 4: 5). And the apostle blames the Corinthian believers
who were already full, rich, and “reigning as kings” while
apostles were hungry, thirsty, naked, in danger of death. He desired indeed, that both might reign
together. 1 Cor. 4: 8-14. But all
reigning now, while our Lord is rejected, is the exercise of judgment “before the time.” There is
judging indeed of those within the
Church; but, as regards the world, the apostle dismisses it. “What have I to do to judge them that
are within? But them that are without God will judge”* (1 Cor. 6: 2, 3).
*
So read the best MSS., and the critical
editions.
Jesus
Himself, when asked to decide in a civil suit, refused. “Man, who made Me a judge, or a divider over
you?” (Luke 12: 14). He refused to judge, because, as He said, He
came not to judge, but to save the world.
John 12: 47.
But
now Jesus is sent forth with power to reign, and to subdue all to His Father.
Hence
now is fulfilled the word, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” “Know ye not that we shall
judge angels? How much more things that pertain unto this life?”
(1 Cor. 6: 2, 3).
“And I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded.” “How,” say
some, “can a soul be seen?” Very easily: the [disembodied] soul or ghost
resembles the body which it has left and is perfectly an object of sight,
although it cannot be handled. Thus Saul saw the soul
or ghost of Samuel.
Why
is it noticed so specially, that John saw the souls of “the beheaded with an axe,” it is not easy to say. It is not meant to exclude those slain by
other modes of death. Else the apostle
Peter would be shut out, because he was crucified; the apostle James, and John
Baptist, for they were slain, not with an axe, but with a sword; and John
himself, who was put into a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped alive. So also the Two Witnesses would be excluded,
for they are to be crucified; and those who have endured the more fearful death
by fire. [Page 325] The
beheading by axe is probably mentioned, because it was, or because it will be
the more common mode of death to the saints.
The Romans scourged with the lictor’s rods, and then beheaded with his
axe. This view is confirmed by the word
used concerning those under the altar: of them it is only said that they were “slain,” the mode of death being undefined.
Here,
then, the martyrs alone appear. But they are only one of three classes. And the difficulty experienced by Burg and
others with regard to the passage, as though martyrs alone would be partakers
of the first resurrection - has arisen from overlooking the previous class,
which is not composed exclusively of the saints for Christ. The beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount,
and many other passages, prove that others also shall partake in the joys of
that [millennial] day of glory.
“Blessed are the poor in
spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of [the] heaven[s]”;
that is, the [heavenly sphere of] the millennial kingdom.* So it is
promised [after the ‘first resurrection’] to the doers of God’s will
(Matt. 7:
21), and the vehement seekers after it. (11:
12.) Also the Saviour promises a recompense at “the
resurrection of the righteous,” for
those who make feasts not to receive a return now, but for such as cannot
requite [i.e., repay or
compensate]
them. Luke 14: 12, 14. Jesus in the
Seven Epistles [Rev.
chapters 2. & 3.] promises
chiefly reward to [our] works: here consolation is held out chiefly to the sufferers for Him.
[* NOTE: Being
“equal unto the angels”
(Luke 20: 35,
R.V.), with bodies of “flesh and bones” after
Resurrection - (like our Lord’s post-resurrection body, Luke 24: 39), will
distinguish those “accounted worthy to attain to that
age,” (by their ability to access and rule also in the heavenly
sphere of His coming messianic kingdom), from those living upon earth at that
time, in natural bodies of “flesh and blood”.]
Why
were these servants of God slain?
“For
the witness of Jesus.” This marks
them as martyrs of the New Testament.
John describes himself as thus suffering for his testimony. Rev. 1: 2, 9. They “did well, and suffered for it.” This is our
strange calling: quite contrasted with that of men under Moses’ law, where
obedience was to win honour and present reward.
Deut. 4: 6. These were slain not for sin, but for
holiness. These bearers of Jesus’ flag
of truce into the camp of the rebels were assassinated by those whom they came
to serve. Thus they resemble Christ, and
are by His Father “counted
worthy” to reign with Jesus. They lost their lives for Him. A thousand
years requites the loss of ten or twenty for Jesus’ sake.
Behold
the fulfilment here of that favourite word of Jesus, so often recorded by the
Holy Ghost. “He that found his life (soul) shall
lose it; and he that lost his life
(soul) for My sake shall find it” Matt. 10: 39.
(Greek); 16: 25, 26; Mark 8: 35-37; Luke 9: 24; 17: 33; John 12: 25. Those who
gave up life for Christ receive the peculiar bliss of the thousand years: those
who saved life by refusing to witness for Christ, or by denying Him, lose life
- they are not admitted to the glory of the thousand years.
There
were others slain “for the word
of God.”
This
distinguishes the saints of the Old Testament.
They are described in the same terms as the fifth seal. The
[Page 326]
The
next words point out to us another group.*
[* Contrary to the popular belief and false teachings,
that all
Christians will be either Resurrected from the dead, or Translated,
(changed from mortality into immortality) at the time of Death, and at the end
of the Great Tribulation, 1 Thess.
4: 16, 17.) - there is, according to the Word of God, to
be a translation of living “saints,” beforehand:
and those “left,” will have to endure
Anti-Christ’s persecutions! Luke 21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10. Some “prevail to escape” the coming end-time events;
others will be “left” to endure them.]
“And whosoever worshipped not the Wild Beast, nor his image, nor received
the mark on their forehead or their hand, both lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years”
A
new class is here presented to us: a new construction ushers it in. The False Christ is the enemy whom Jesus
finds in possession of the field at His return.
But there are a few, who, upheld
by the spirit of God, and
fearing the awful threatenings of this book, refuse to adore him. To
such belongs a place in the millennial kingdom, to whatever dispensation they
might have been assigned originally, whether believers in Jesus, born under the
law of Moses, or dwellers in heathen lands.
While
the dragon and his king rule, the mark which carries damnation is set by each
on his person. But soon Satan’s king s
dethroned, and he himself imprisoned, and now the heroic refusers of his mage
and mark live and reign. We have been
introduced to this company before, n the conquerors who stand on the sea of
fire. 15:
2. As they have peculiarly suffered for God,
they have peculiar glory and bliss.
These
three classes, then, “both lived and reigned with the Christ a thousand years.” The
companies of saints named in chapters
5: 9, 10; 6: 9; 7: 9; 12: 11; 15: 2; all meet
in this time of reward. All three classes consist (in general) of the dead restored to life. The Hebrew word “lived”
includes the idea of a return to life. “The soul of the child comes into him again, and he returned to
life” (1 Kings 17: 22). “As they were burying a man …
when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha he revived (returned to life) and stood upon his
feet” (2
Kings 13: 21; 20: 7; Isa. 38: 9). That is the
sense of the Greek also, as we find in this book, 1:
8,
where it is spoken of Jesus’ return to life after death.
In
the faith of this lies the especial consolation of those called to suffer
persecution unto death for Jesus’ sake. If all the saved
will be possessors of the same duration of glory, why should so many pass
quietly through life, and I have
to endure suffering, imprisonment, martyrdom?
Why should I not yield for peace’ sake, and for the sake of
self-preservation (the first law of nature), what is required of me.”
Here is the answer vividly given. “Because by so doing, you lose the special glory of the
thousand years, and meet Christ’s face of displeasure. Surrender life, and a thousand years of joy
are provided by God to recompense that small loss endured for His sake.” “Faithful is the saying, if we died
with Him, we shall live with Him. If we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him, if we deny Him, He also will deny us” (2 Tim. 2: 11, 12). The “we” who
suffer, are the “we” who reign. Real as the headman’s axe now, so real is the
throne to the sufferer. Can the martyr be one party, and the reward
be given to one that never suffered, nor is to suffer? Is
that the act of “the righteous Judge?”
They
not only lived, “they reigned
with Christ.”
These
favoured ones “reign” with Christ.
“Life” and a “kingdom” [Page
327] are by no means necessarily
connected. This, then, communicates to
us the news of a fresh privilege. They
not only live with Christ; with Him they reign.
Their reign begins only after
resurrection. The Creed of Pope Pius
supposes that the saints reign with Christ as naked spirits. “Likewise
that the saints reigning together with Christ are to be vererated
and invoked” (7th Article).
At
length they reign awhile: for a thousand years, while the earth lasts. Afterwards
when the earth is destroyed, they reign for ever and ever. 22: 5.
If the reign here be only figurative, so is the reign there.
At
this point most of the year-day interpreters are inconsistent. For if a day in prophecy signify a year, then
the thousand years of bliss intend a period of 365,000 years! Or if they affirm the thousand years to be
only literal years, then we hold them to the inference that the thousand and
odd days must be literal days. This
follows, not only from the principle of consistency in computation, but also on
the ground of equity. Can it be
accordant with justice, that the False Christ should rule two thousand and
sixty years longer that the True Christ?
5. “And the rest of the
dead lived not* until the thousand years were finished.”
*
So read the best MSS, and Critical Editions.
If
this be the revival of a party of holy men, it is not “the first,” or the
twentieth. “But,”
it is replied, “there was a resurrection also of dead
persons before this, as Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus, and others” (Matt. 27: 52, 53). The Holy Spirit does not reckon these cases
as the first resurrection.*
The [‘first’]
resurrection is not the mere act of rising; it includes the [millennial] glory
then possessed.** The time
of enjoyment and reigning with Christ ensuing on the rising from the dead, is
here taken into account. The raptures of
the saints occur in different battalions.
But all resurrections, beginning to be reckoned from the thousand years,
and introducing their partakers [unto immortality, (Luke 20: 36a)] into the
[* All previous resurrections (with the exception of our
Lord’s) from the dead were not unto immortality. **
See 1 Pet. 1:
9, 11,
R.V.]
“This is the first resurrection.” Here is a
word of explanation, resembling many like passages in the book. That must be taken literally, whatever be
symbolic. Then resurrection is not
figurative here, but literal. The sacred
writer in saying, “the first resurrection,” implies that there is a second. He implies, too,
that while the resurrections differ in
regard of time or order, they are of the
same description in regard to their essence as resurrections.
To
the overcoming saint Jesus promises a place on His throne as distinct from the Father’s, a place on that which He now
occupies. 3: 21. Where is Christ’s throne seen to be distinct
from the Father’s? Not in chapters 4. and 5. There Jesus is between the throne and the
elders. Not in the final state of things
in the city. There it is “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (22: 1). It must be, then, in this chapter, 20: 4. There the
throne of the Christ is set up, and favoured
ones reign with Him.
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The
elders, when Christ takes the book, confess His worthiness, because of His
death, and acknowledge those whom He has made priests and kings, and will reign over the earth. 5: 9, 10.
This
is nowhere asserted or beheld, if not fulfilled in 20:
4. For after it,
the earth is wholly destroyed.
5. When the seventh trumpet sounds, “The kingdom of the world
becomes that of our Lord and of His Christ” (11:
15). And the elders describe further the results
which ensue. God exerts His power and reigns. The nations are
wroth, and God’s wrath descends. Neither
of these is the case now. ’Tis the time
of mercy, the nations are indifferent. ’Tis then the time of reward
for God’s people, and of destruction to the destroyers of earth. Neither of these things is going on now. ’Tis the evil day, as yet,
of the combat with Satan. Eph.
6: 10-18. ’Tis not the destruction of
the wicked now. But God is reconciling the world to Himself, “not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Cor. 5: 19).
The
kingdom has come to heaven, when favoured saints, awaking from the dead in
resurrection-bodies, are caught up to God’s throne, and are rapt thither that
they may rule the nations with rod of iron.
12: 5-12. They reign, after Satan is cast down, first
from heaven, and then into the pit.
Neither of these things has yet been effected. Not yet is it “Woe to earth, because
Satan has but a short time!” Or else “woe also to the saints:”
because the day of the Lord, the great and very terrible, is upon them! Against this the Holy Spirit comforts His watchful ones. The presence of the Lord will gather us to
itself ere the falling away from Christianity takes place, and the great
apostle of Satan’s lie appears. 2 Thess. 2: 9. Not yet has a king of
Of
the resurrection of reward there are several notices.
1.
Jesus advises His disciples to make feasts for those who cannot repay them,
because they should be “blessed,” and be “recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke
14: 14). There are,
then, two resurrections: one for the
righteous alone.
2.
Jesus, in His reply to the Sadducees says, “They which shall be
accounted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection
from among the dead (not ‘from death’),
neither marry, nor are
given in marriage. Neither can they die any more,* for they
are equal unto angels, and are children of God,
being the
children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:
34-36). That
resurrection into none but persons “accounted worthy”
can enter, must be a resurrection of the
righteous only. It is identified
with a special portion of time - “that age.” All who partake of it are God’s sons, because they
partake of it. This could not be true,
if the wicked and the righteous rise together.
It must be, then, the resurrection of Rev.
20., for “Blessed and holy is he that has part in that.” The righteous
only partake in that.
3.
There is a “resurrection
of life,” for those “who have done good” (John 5: 29). After it comes the
resurrection of judgment, for those who have done evil. How clearly the two
resurrections of Rev. 20.
expounds this.
4.
In Phil. 3: 11, Paul
tells us what was “the prize of his
calling” towards which he pressed
onward. “If by any means I might attain to the select
resurrection that is [out] from amongst the dead” (Greek). Here is a resurrection which leaves many [bodies] in their
graves, a select resurrection ’Tis
a resurrection of privilege, not obtained even by all believers. For was not
Paul a believer when he wrote those words?
Yet he was seeking for it, as a prize proposed to believers. He feared lest, “having acted the herald to others, he himself should become rejected” with regard to
this prize, 1 Cor. 9: 27. (Greek).
5.
He confirms this in Romans
6: 5. Speaking of
those immersed upon the confession of faith in Christ, and thus buried and
risen with Christ in baptism, he adds, “For if we become planted together in the likeness of His
death, yea we shall be also of the
resurrection” (see
Greek). See to it, believer, that
that “if” does not impede your entrance into the [millennial] kingdom!
6.
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: over these the Second Death hath
not authority, but they shall be priests of God,
and of the Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
The general description of the risen as “blessed and holy,” is the result of Jesus’ previous adjudication of
them. The king has called His servants before Him;
but some have behaved themselves unworthy of their calling as servants, and
have been dismissed as unworthy to partake that reward.
Those
that enter the kingdom are “blessed.” They are happy in their circumstances: they
are “holy,” in relation to their state.
“Blessed”
is the word continually used by our Lord to describe the lot of those partaking
the millennial kingdom. “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Matt. 5: 3-11; Luke 6: 20; 12: 37, 38, 43). “Thou shalt be
blessed: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke
14: 14, 15).
Their
blessedness seems to have an especial reference to their situation, as kings;
their holiness is in closest connection with their priesthood. The world taunted them as hypocrites in their
life, despised them as fools and fanatics, that threw
away the good things and enjoyments of the world for nought. But they trusted the promises of God and are
not deceived. Their holiness is owned,
and as pure of heart they have access to God.
Their suffering for Christ is confessed, and rewarded with the [promised] kingdom* of God.
[* See Eph. 5: 5; Gal. 5: 21. cf.
1 Tim. 6: 19ff.).]
Happiness
and holiness are now wedded together, never to be severed. Here holiness is often led into deepest trouble,
through the might of Satan, the wickedness of the world, the weakness and
struggles of the flesh. This is the
resurrection and kingdom of “the saints,” as foretold by Daniel
7: 18, 22, 27. Those then, who, though [regenerate]
believers, have displayed an unsanctified spirit and conduct, will be [unless
repentance
is granted and forthcoming] will be excluded.
1 Cor. 6: 8-11. “Ye are doing wrong and defrauding, and that your brethren. Know ye not that unrighteous persons shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor Sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, shall
inherit the
*For
the corrections, see the Greek.
And
he warned them to let no thought of election or conversion, or of the
privileges of believers in Christ, embolden them to persevere in the way of [wilful] sin, with
the hope that no threats of God could apply to His elect.
Three
blessed results attach to their position of trust and honour,
1.
“Over these the Second
Death hath no authority.”
We
have first the negative advantage. No
punishment is theirs. There are in the
Apocalypse two deaths, a present and a future.
Both are places. The first Death,
or the bottomless pit, exists now. Jesus
holds the keys. 1:
18. The
Second Death is the lake of fire; as the chapter teaches. Verse
14. Exemption from this
latter is a promise to the conquerors of the churches.
The
promise made to the conquerors of the churches during the time of their
previous life is now fulfilled. “He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death.” These, then,
are in great part the overcomers from among Christ’s churches.
This
statement sounds strangely in our ears: for we are quite accustomed to forget
that even those justified by faith will
be recompensed according to their works. Matt. 16: 24-27; Rev. 22: 12. Here it is implied that over some guilty offending believers the Second Death may have authority.
“And his Lord was wrath, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till he should
pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall
my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one
his brother their trespasses” (Matt.
18: 24, 25).
“Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God. That no man go beyond and defraud
his brother in the matter: because that the
Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have
forewarned you and testified”
(1 Thess. 4: 5, 6).
The
promise of escaping this was made to the angel of
[Page 331]
“And I say unto you, my friends, Be
not afraid of them that kill the body, and after
that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:
Fear Him,
which after He
hath killed hath power to cast into hell [Gk.
‘Gehenna’]; yea, I say unto you,
Fear Him.”
“Do you mean, then, to deny, with the Wesleyans, the perseverance
of God’s elect?” By no
means; that is a truth standing on firm grounds. But even John, who in his gospel so strongly
teaches that, as strongly asserts in the Saviour’s words, the punishment of
believers who die in sin unrepented of.
What says the memorable passage?
“If a man abide not in
Me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they are burned” (John
15: 6).*
[*
See “Reign of the Servant Kings”
by Joseph Dillow. pp. 401- 412.]
And
the Saviour’s promises of the saint’s perseverance are made in a way whose
force has been missed by our translators. “Verily [or
truly] I say unto you, If any keep My
sayings, he
shall not for ever see death” (John 8:
51, 52).
“I give unto them
(my sheep) eternal life, and they shall not perish
for ever: neither shall any pluck them out
of My hand.” “I am Resurrection and Life: he
that believeth on me shall not die for
ever” (John 11: 25, 26).
“Do you mean, then, that all those who are excluded from the
millennial glory taste of death for a thousand years?” By no means. Some will be simply shut out, as unworthy of
reward. But some are great offenders:
some have been cut off in their sins: witness Ananias and Sapphira.
2.
“But they shall
be priests of God and of the Christ.”
By
priests we understand those holier than others, accepted by the God they
worship, admitted nearer to Him than others, and bearers of messages to and
from Him. All these things belong to the
favoured ones of this scene. They are
holier than others, clothed in resurrection-bodies, privileged to enter the
Holiest if the temple in heaven. They
are intercessors for the earth in that [millennial] day: they bear
to God the petitions of men: they receive back from God His replies to men.
At
this time there are two temples, and two sets of priests; the earthly temple
and the priests of Aaron’s line, who offer sacrifices that
cleanse the flesh. Heb. 9: 13. There are the
risen priests also who minister in the temple of the new covenant. The temple below is but “the outer court” of the temple above.
But in the temple below Jesus as the Christ takes His seat.
The
life of a believer in Jesus now is intended to be a preparation for that
day. He [or she] is
constituted already a priest to “offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1
Pet. 2: 5, 9; Heb. 13: 15, 16). He is
directed to lift up prayer and praise for all.
1
Tim. 2: 1, 2. He is learning to discern between good and
evil. Heb. 5: 14. He [Page
322] is endeavouring to instruct
others, and turn them to God. At length,
if obedient to his calling, he is “accounted worthy”
to exercise his priesthood in the day of Messiah’s kingdom, while yet the earth
lasts; to see with Messiah of the travail of his soul onto death. The nations dispute not their priesthood, as
did the Israelites that of the sons of Aaron; it is sealed, not with the token
of resurrection, but in its reality.
They
are priests of “God
and of the Christ.”
God
and Jesus as the Christ are
worshipped during the millennial age, in preparation for the final adoration of
“God and the Lamb.” Jesus,
therefore, is God: for the priest is a minister of God. The title “the Christ” is only
four times used in this book, and on all four occasions it refers to the
millennial kingdom.
3.
“They shall reign
with him a thousand years.”
Is
the promised kingdom a session with Christ on His throne, while the dead are
being judged at the close of the thousand years? Nay, the kingly authority is exercised during
the thousand years, previous to the judgment of the dead. And what place is there for priesthood, while
the dead are judged?
The
subjects of these kings are the Gentiles; the authority over the twelve tribes
of
Here
is at length the lawful union of the kingly and priestly offices. Under the Law, the kings might not be
priests: and no priest became a king.
Under the Gospel, the saints were priests, but were forbidden to be
kings. 1 Cor. 4: 8-14. Now [i.e., during Christ’s millennium] the risen [i.e., the Resurrected] are both
priests and kings. Here is the
perfection of government. For the rulers
are the righteous, no longer tempted by sin or Satan. With full knowledge, perfect impartiality,
and love of God and man, they rule their subjects. If there be any evil, it springs from the
governed, but from the governors.
But
this is not the final state. ’Tis only for a thousand years. ’Tis a transition-period
between the old [or present]
earth and the ‘new’, partaking of the
characteristics of both. Then is
fulfilled the word of the elders - “They shall reign over the earth.”
* *
*
CHAPTER 21
THE LAST REBELLION
7-10.
“And when the
thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth
to deceive the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the
camp of the saints, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast
into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the Wild Beast and the False
Prophet are, and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
The
Jewish prophets have in general no glimpse beyond the millennial period, in
which their nation attains the district height of supremacy and glory. But this book looks far beyond into eternity,
where the Jew’s distinctive position is no longer maintained.
Satan led our first parents to be discontented: he will thus lead the
nations. But what mode will he
adopt? I think we may fairly conjecture, that he will stir up the Gentiles against the Jews.*
It is natural to man to be jealous of a superior. The Jew during the millennium is made to take
a height far above the nations or Gentiles.
Isa. 60: 10-12, 14, 16; Isa. 61: 5, 6.
[* See included: “Why We Should Love
the Jewish People” by Ivan Foster.]
These
words fret many Gentiles souls now. How
will they gall the spirits of the unconverted then? Here, then, is fuel which he will know how to
kindle. “Gentiles! Are you poor spirited enough to submit any
longer to the Jews? that ill-favoured, money-getting,
abject race, whom your fathers despised and loathed? Whose are the great warriors of whom history
speaks? whose the mighty kings? the
great in arts? the giant discoverers of science? Gentiles!
Your fathers! Will you, then, any
longer tamely bow at the feet of these outcasts? Why should the Jew hold the primacy? ‘The Gentile his inferior?’ It is a lie against nature and history: the
past and the present. Assert your native
superiority. Rise and wrest the sceptre
from those oppressors! Determine that
you will be free! Will it, and liberty
is yours! Go up to
Thus
he deceives them. He makes them imagine
it degradation to submit to God’s appointment.
All
past mercies are forgotten in deep ingratitude.
They will not have the holy to reign over them: they refuse Christ
Himself, the Perfect King.
Satan
does not now attempt to deceive
The
devil goes into the four quarters of the globe on his errand, a new Peter the
Hermit, preaching the crusade of many races against one. Great his encouragement. Multitudes unnumbered answer to his [Page
334] call. The nations are in the main still his
seed. The seed of Satan must be purged
out from among men, that in the [eternal] ‘new’ earth there may be a peace never disturbed. The evil generation will not have passed away
till the earth itself is destroyed.
But
this is a stumbling-block to some. “Whom will he find willing?
Only the holy are left on the earth, after the
Saviour’s sword and His judgment have severed the evil from among the good” (Rev.
19.; Matt. 25: 31-46). It is true that, at the commencement of the
millennium, only the holy will be found.
But are the offspring of the holy, holy likewise? Must not grace step in, or the child of pious
parents is only a fallen son of Adam?
This, then, accounts easily for the last fearful hosts of sin. At the
close of the millennium there are thousands not renewed.
Amidst
the nations, or as inclusive of them, two names are given, “Gog and Magog.”
Asia,
north of the
The
writer observes that from the east of Asia, almost as far as the confines of
We
are to understand, then, that the northern nations, especially the Tartars,
Russians, and the adjacent nations, will be conspicuous in this invasion.
We
must distinguish it, however, from the invasion of Gog and Magog in Ezek. 38. It is after that the millennial times occur. After this later inroad, the earth is burnt
up.
“The number of whom is as the sand of
the sea.”
Satan
has now no king with him: all the kings are of Christ’s appointment: they are
the favoured risen.
Before the devil sent out evil spirits with miracles to persuade; and
had two supernatural human assistants.
Now he is alone. Then he set up a
false religion as the basis of the rebellion.
Now, his time is probably being far shorter than before, he aims only at
collecting an army for battle.
At
the commencement of the thousand years, but few are left alive on earth,
because of the fearful destruction of the ungodly. But now, as the result of peace and plenty
for a thousand years, the population of earth is enormous. In their vast numbers they put their trust:
forgetful that God in former days has destroyed armies characterized by the
same incalculable proportions.
It
is worthy of remark, that the point for which these go up to fight against God
is granted in the next dispensation, and on the new earth. In the new world, all the nations occupy the
same level. Of course the rebels have no
place there. But God in mercy there
removes this stone of offence. And had
they waited but a brief period, they would have attained the object they so
unlawfully and ungratefully sought.
Satan’s
last resource is war. Once he has fought
in heaven; once on earth. He attempts it
now for the third and last time.
But
some say of this scene, - “It is incredible, if all that has preceded be
literally true, that ever men should be so frantic as to rush on
Such
little know what man and Satan are. Such
have little profited by the records of the past. It is incredible that after ten plagues
supernaturally sent and confessed to be from God, Pharaoh and his hosts should
still assail the people of
Is
it incredible, that after the earth had opened and swallowed up the
congregation of Dathan and Abiram, and the fire of God had struck dead the two
hundred and fifty presumptuous burners of incense, that the next day “all the congregation of Israel murmured against Moses and
against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord”? (Num. 16: 41). Was that a
fact? So will this be.
“They went up on the breadth of the earth.”
But
what is “the
breadth of the earth?” It is once used of the earth, or globe in
general. Job
38: 18. But I am inclined to think that in this place
we should translate it, “on the breadth of the land,”
referring the expression to the
[Page 336]
The
expression seems to intend a design on their part to enclose the whole of the
Zech. 14: 16-19 teaches
us that, in general, the nations will be disinclined for the long yearly
pilgrimage to
In
the previous war against God, it seems as if He had been foolish in drying up
Euphrates, and the Easterns take advantage of it to fight against
In
pursuance of their purpose, “they compassed the camp of the saints.”
What
is meant by “the
camp of the saints”? The expression, rightly understood, is full
of interest.
When
Now,
under the guidance of the greater Joshua, “the armies” of heaven have descended from on high. 19: 11. They are the camp of heaven on earth now; for the aspect of heaven towards earth
is military. Though at rest, they are
prepared for war.
I
cannot agree with those that believe that the [resurrected] saints who rule with Christ will not be upon the earth. They can, no doubt, ascend to heaven, and to
the new Jerusalem - their real centre - when they
will; but Christ will be oft on earth,
and surely they will be there also.
The
millennium is Messiah’s “rule” “in the midst among
enemies” (Ps. 110: 2). The “iron rod” tells of martial law proclaimed. It descends to “judge and make war” “in righteousness.” Against this, destruction
to foes. Earth is treated as
conquered in battle. Messiah then, as
the chief obstacle to Satan’s project, their advance is mainly directed. This body of heavenly kings can be, on
occasion, warriors also. So were they at
first: so are they seen at last. This confirms
our inference, that the armies who come from heaven become the kings enthroned
in 20: 4. They watch
over
That
“the camp of the
saints” refers to the army of the
risen who come with Christ, seems to be corroborated by the immediately
precedent occurrences of the word “saints.” They are those especially holy before
God. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven,
and ye saints.” “The fine
linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (18: 20; 19: 8). “Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection”
(20: 6).
It
is probable that this attack of the nations is made at the time of the feast of
Tabernacles, when less suspicion would attend the gathering of such vast
multitudes, and when most of Israel would be gone up to the temple. This would be the time, too, at which the
Gentiles’ subjection to the Jews would be felt most sorely, and when the
nations might be most easily collected; that being the time when the autumnal
fruits had been gathered in.
Lest
any should imagine that the wickedness of earth is owing to a corrupt form of government,
and should any “as many might be apt to do, from a view of the forms of
wickedness in the last days), “Ah, you see these evils
spring from kings. Again and again Scripture traces the
latter-day transgressions to them. The people
are always sound-hearted for Christ in the main; but for the influence of
corrupted kings they would never have been leagued against the Lord Jesus, as
we see, at His coming.” Scripture shows us that when there are no
kings of earth but the perfect governors of Christ’s appointment, the people go
astray. Satan deceives the nations, even when the weight of government is all
against them. No! No! the mischief lies deeper far than any form of government.
They
assail also “the
beloved city.”
Their
encompassing at once the camp and the city, and filling the breadth of the
land, shows something of their immense multitudes. For the
It
is not named
“Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.”
For
the offence of not coming up to
Here,
as in the former case, the dupes of Satan are first dealt with, then Satan
himself. As the incorrigible Deceiver,
who loves and makes a lie, his career is finished in woe: fire falls on them,
and kills them. But he is cast “into the lake of fire and brimstone.” That awful abode of the lost
was kindled as soon as the millennium began.
It now receives him, for whom and for those angels it is destined. Matt. 25: 41. For Satan is not consumed by the fire from above, as men are. He is not in flesh, as are the hosts whom he
leads. He is to dwell visibly in eternal
fire, as before he was shut up in the bottomless pit, away from sight.
In
that awful pool of woe the Wild Beast and the False Prophet foe awhile
delivered from the bottomless pit, by means of the key granted him. After their increased wickedness displayed
during the time they were at liberty, they were consigned to a more fearful
place still.
Satan
has now sinned after judgment tasted the mercy experienced, even as those two
had. He is therefore smitten as they
have been, and are. All three are
evidently persons. For a thousand years
the two sons of men punished more severely than he, because more mercy had been
shown to them. For before both of them
had the good news of a Saviour been brought, and rejected. Paul stood before Nero to make his defence (2 Tim. 4: 17), and was at last slain by him, together with
unnumbered other Christians.
As
the thousand years are a period of peculiar glory to
the saints who wrought on behalf of God’s [millennial] Kingdom, so it
is a time of especial woe to these its most inveterate enemies.
Thus
we trace God’s general appointment. At
death the souls of the lost go into the pit [Gehenna]. Out of it they come to be tried; and after
being sentenced as risen men, they are cast into hell, or the lake of fire.
In
that lake they and the three specially mentioned “shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever.” No further exit, for these firebrands, into
God’s universe! Eternally they shall suffer.
It is no marvel, if in our day the awful doctrine of eternal punishment
is frequently attacked: but the evidence for it is overwhelming.
Here
the difference between temporary and eternal punishment comes directly into
view. We are set at the close of the
temporary vengeance: and there the Holy Spirit traces for us the line of future
wrath. It is not millennial wrath alone
that the wicked are to endure. After that period is over, we are instructed
that onward, without a break, torment is to continue. It is not annihilation, and relative punishment,
in consequence of transgressors being blotted out of conscious existence. It is life and conscious life in misery - “Tormented For Ever And Ever.”
* *
*
Why We Should Love the Jewish People
By IVAN FOSTER
(This is the substance of talks given at the Kilskerry Independent Christian School on Holocaust Memorial Day, 2016).
-------
“Now the LORD had
said into Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and
make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee:
and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:
1-3).
It is clear from the first words spoken to Abraham,
from whom sprang the Jewish people, that he and his descendants would be those
about whom there would be a division of opinions. There would be those that would “bless” them and there would be those who would “curse” them! Those
that “bless” them would be blessed of God and those that “cursed” them
would be cursed of God. They were, in
heaven’s eyes, a very special people.
On
this day in 1945, there took place the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi
concentration camp. With that event the
world was given irrefutable evidence of the cruel and satanic attack upon the
Jewish people by Nazi Germany. It has
been set as a day to remember that dreadful wickedness.
Today
I want to tell you why we should and must love the Jewish people.
1.
Our Blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a Jew
We
are given the Saviour’s ancestry repeatedly in the Holy Scriptures
“The book of the generation of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew
1: 1).
“Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh”
(Romans 1: 3).
“Who are Israelites; to whom
pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the
giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are
the fathers, and whom as concerning the flesh
Christ came, Who is over all, God blessed for
ever.
Amen” (Romans 9: 4, 5).
The
Lord Jesus was the Son of God but He took into union with His divine nature,
spotless human nature, being born of the Virgin Mary. By race He was a Jew! How can we not love that people of whom our
blessed Redeemer sprang?
2.
The Jew Gave Us the Holy Scriptures
The
Bible you hold in your hands today is a Jewish book. The writers, inspired by God, were almost all
Jews. Since we do not know who wrote the
book of Job, we make that the only exception.
What
a blessing has to come to the world from these blessed scriptures!
“What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of
circumcision?
Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God”
(Romans 3: 1, 2).
“For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our
God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so
righteous as all this law, which I set before
you this day?” (Deuteronomy
4: 7, 8).
3.
They Became God’s Missionaries to us in
and
to All the World
“And He said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark
16: 15). The eleven men
thus commissioned with the task of telling the world the glorious message of
salvation were all Jews. How we rejoice
in their obedience and in their sacrifice, for each one with the exception of
John died a martyr for the cause of Christ.
“And they passing by Mysia came down to
Here
is the promise of the gospel to
“After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had
passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to
Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I
must also see Rome” (Acts 19: 21).
The
gospel is moving further west and nearer to us here in
“Whensoever I take my journey into
The
westward movement continues and the light was soon to dawn in the
Today
we salute those, chiefly Jews, whose labours brought us that light.
4.
We Should Love the Jews Because of the Terrible Suffering
They
Must Yet Face
While
marking the sufferings under Nazism, we sadly note what the Saviour tells us
regarding the future of the Jewish people.
The Lord Jesus tells us that the Jewish people will go through great tribulation
under the Antichrist. It must be said
that by rejecting their Messiah and by uttering those dreadful words, recorded
in Matthew 27: 24-25: “When Pilate saw that
he could prevail nothing, but that rather a
tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children,” the Jewish nation brought upon their heads the terrible wrath of God.
Of
this the Saviour had warned. “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you
prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you my come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of
Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and
the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All
these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how oft would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house
is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me
henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23: 34-39).
The
Saviour warns of future suffering, greater than any yet endured, which will
come upon the Jewish people in the days of the Antichrist. “When ye therefore shall
see the abomination of desolation, spoken of
by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
readeth, let him understand:) then let them which are in Judaea flee into the mountains: let him that is on the housetop not come down to take any
thing out of his house: neither let him which is
in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them
that are with child, and to them that give suck
in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither
on the sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And
except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s
sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew
24: 15-22).
5.
God Will Yet Bless the World Through the Jew
They
that were the means under God of bringing the gospel to the world 2000 years ago, will yet be used of God in an even greater way in the
future. God is not yet finished with the
Jews!
Listen
to the words of Paul. “I say then, Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For
I also am an Israelite, of the seed of
Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew” (Romans 11: 1-2).
“I say then, Have they stumbled
that they should fall? God forbid: but
rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now
if the fall of them be the riches of the world,
and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles:
how much more their fullness?”
(Romans 11: 11, 12).
“For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what
shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11: 15).
“For I would not brethren, that
ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And so all
There is a future, a great and glorious
future for the Jew!
“And Jesus said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, That
ye which have followed Me, in the
regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His
glory, ye also shall sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
“That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
6.
A Promise of Blessing is Given to Those
[that have continued with Christ in His trials (Luke 22: 28)
and] that
love
“Pray for the peace of
Peace
will one [millennial] day come to
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace;
that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith into
“Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and
be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all
ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations;
that ye may milk out,
and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I
will extend peace to her like a river, and the
glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then
shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in
It will be a [millennial] day of peace for the
world.
“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 4: 4).
“He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and
cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the
chariot in the fire” (Psalm 46: 9).
“They shall not hurt or destroy in all My
holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11: 9).
This,
very briefly, is a setting forth of the glorious future God has planned for the
Jewish people and through them for the world.
Ought
we not therefore to love them and pray for
them now that God would hasten the day of their redemption and that of the
world?
“Blessed be the LORD
God, the God of Israel, Who only doeth wondrous things, and blessed be His glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 72: 18-19).
-------
“Blessed be the Lord my
strength, which teacheth my hands
to war and my fingers to fight.”
(Psalm 144: 1.)
“Waxed valiant in fight.” (Hebrews 11: 34.)
We
are to attack Satan, as well as secure ourselves; the shield in one hand and
the sword in the other. Whoever fights
with the powers of hell will need both.
How shall we conquer if we do not fight? – J. Wesley.
Stand forth, my soul, and grip thy woe,
Buckle the sword and face the foe.
What right hast thou to be afraid
When all the universe will
aid;
Ten thousand rally to thy name,
Horses and chariots of flame.
Do others fear, do others fail?
My soul must grapple and prevail.
My soul bust scale the mountainside
And with the conquering army ride –
Stand forth, by soul!
-
Angela Morgan.
God
could have kept Daniel out of the lion’s den.
He could have kept Paul and Silas out of jail. But God had never promised to keep us out of
hard places. What He has promised is to
go with us through every hard place, and to bring us through victoriously. - Nanna W. Smith.
“I know that after my departing grievous
wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock: and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering by the space
of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears. And now I commend you to God,* and to the
word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the
inheritance among all them that are sanctified:” (Acts 20: 29-32, R.V.).
*
Some ancient authorities read the Lord.
THE END