Meditation:
“You now have an opportunity to attain to the greatest intellectual power through the study of the Word of God. But if you are indolent, and fail to dig deep in the mines of truth, you will not be ready for the crisis that is soon to come upon us. O that you would realize that each moment is golden. If you live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, you will not be found unprepared.” Maranatha p.253.4
Review:
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel 2:44-45.
Do you understand the words in days of these kings? The words “in days of these kings” is not before or after the days of these kings but the word of God clearly says “in days of these kings,” this kings is representative by the toes, in a divided state, and of a crumbling material, that will not hold together the Iron and miry clay.
“Our position in the image of Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the toes, in a divided state, and of a crumbling material, that will not hold together. Prophecy shows us that the great day of God is right upon us. It hasteth greatly.” Testimonies vol. 1 p.360.3
“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.” Daniel 2:41.
Who is representing the Iron in the History?
Answer: “In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast “his power, and his seat, and great authority.” The Great Controversy p.53-54.
Who is representing the iron mixed with miry clay?
Answer: “I saw that the two-horned beast had a dragon’s mouth, and that his power was in his head, and that the decree would go out of his mouth. Then I saw the Mother of Harlots; that the mother was not the daughters, but separate and distinct from them. She has had her day, and it is past, and her daughters, the Protestant sects, were the next to come on the stage and act out the same mind that the mother had when she persecuted the saints. I saw that as the mother has been declining in power, the daughters had been growing, and soon they will exercise the power once exercised by the mother.” Spalding and Magan Collection p.1.4-5 by Ellen G. White.
“And the Protestants will work as their mother worked before them to destroy the saints. But before their decree bring or bear fruit, the saints will be delivered by the Voice of God.” Spalding and Magan Collection p.2.1 by Ellen G.
a. The feet and toes of the image (Dan. 2), being a mixture of iron and clay, forecast an empire which cannot cleave together, the clay causing it to break into parts — into separate kingdoms: some large, some small, “partly strong, and partly ”
b. Obviously this scripture describes the present family of kings in their intermarried state (mingled “with the seed of men”). Coming as a result of the crumbling of Pagan Rome, they make a fifth and multipartite empire. Thus this prophetic picture clearly foretells that the rulers of today, unable to cleave one to another (Dan. 2:42, 43), are doomed to continual ruptures and hostilities among themselves.”
We quote from the writings of the “Spirit of Prophecy”:
“This was the time of Jacob’s trouble. Then all the saints cried out with anguish of spirit, and were delivered by the voice of God. The one hundred and forty-four thousand triumphed. Their faces were lighted up with the glory of God.” — “Life Sketches,” page 117. {EW 36.2}
a. Note that the 144,000 in number, were present in “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” According to the following quotation, that time of trouble commences immediately after the close of probation:
“When Christ shall cease His work as mediator in man’s behalf, then this time of trouble will begin.” –Patriarchs and Prophets, page 201.
a. That time of trouble is before any of the sleeping saints are resurrected, therefore the 144,000 are not resurrected, but are living saints who have never tasted death and are to be translated at the second coming of Christ.
“The hour of emancipation and deliverance is at hand. Who will stand with the church of the 144,000 who are to be found without fault before the throne of God?” Review and Herald April 9, 1889.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Daniel 2:44-45.
A. “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:”
The name kingdom is compose of two words, king and servant or king and His dominion.
“THE TWO KINGDOMS”
“Two conditions of the people of God are expressed in the Scriptures by the word kingdom”
- God’s arrangement to save men by grace. This we shall term the kingdom of grace “Let us therefore, says Paul, “come boldly unto the throne of grace Heb. 4:16 A throne of grace supposes a kingdom of grace.”
- God’s arrangement in the future reward of those who shall be saved by grace. This we shall term the kingdom of glory ”
THE TWO KINGDOMS—Kingdom of Grace to–The Kingdom of Glory.
The Old Testament Church Expected The Kingdom Of Glory?
Read: Isaiah 9:6-7 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of ” “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
- The Jews expected the Messiah to establish the kingdom in their day. With the promise of the birth of the Messiah (Christ) also came the promise of the establishment of His kingdom.
The Apostles Expected The Kingdom In Their Day Read: Acts 1:6,7
Read: Acts 1:6,7
6 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”
7 “And 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.”
- The Lord did not say that the kingdom was not to be established, but that it was not for them to know the times or the seasons. The Jews and the Apostles had studied these promises and were expecting Christ to set up his kingdom of glory at that time. This indicates that the kingdom will be established subsequent to the time of the the Apostles.
The Kingdom Of Glory Established In The Latter Days
Read: Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
- Here we see that the Kingdom is to be established in the days of the ten toe kings (our time – 1T 361). We conclude that the promise to restore the Kingdom to Israel is to be fulfilled during the present world. We must therefore now be looking for its establishment. Not Before our present world or After, but IN —DURING our present world.
- We also note that the stone is the same as the kingdom because they both smite the image. The stone —144,000. (See outline on Daniel two).
- We note that the stone was a kingdom before it smote the image. (See verse 44) “…and it [the kingdom] shall destroy all these kingdoms…” This proves that the kingdom is established before the finishing of the gospel and the 2nd advent.
Read: See Prophets and Kings p.19.
“The children of Israel were to occupy all the territory which God appointed them. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God were to be dispossessed. But it was God’s purpose that by the revelation of His character through Israel men should be drawn unto Him. To all the world the gospel invitation was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service, Christ was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto Him should live. All who, like Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabitess, turned from idolatry to the worship of the true God were to unite themselves with His chosen people. As the numbers of Israel increased, they were to enlarge their borders until their kingdom should embrace the world.” Prophets and Kings p.19 by E.G.W.
- The ancient people of God were to extend the borders of their kingdom to embrace the whole world. God intended that the earth was to be filled with righteousness from border to border. GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL TO BE FULFILLED WITH THE SDA CHURCH.
Read: See Prophets and King p.713, 714
“That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today. He has “let out His vineyard unto other husbandmen,” even to His covenant- keeping people, who faithfully “render Him the fruits in their seasons.” Never has the Lord been without true representatives on this earth who have made His interests their own. These witnesses for God are numbered among the spiritual Israel, and to them will be fulfilled all the covenant promises made by Jehovah to His ancient people.” Prophets and Kings p.713, 714.
- Even though ancient Israel did not fulfill this commission, God’s word cannot return to Him void. Thus what ancient Israel failed to do, it will be accomplished through the Israel of today. All the covenant promises made to ancient Israel will finally reach their fulfillment through the SDA church—modern or spiritual Israel. (For further proof see PK 22, 299).
Read: Psalm 105:8-11 “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:”
- This verse describes what the covenant is and definitely reveals that God will remember it forever. The covenant states that “unto thee will I give the land of Canaan.”—The kingdom established in Palestine.
Psalms 105:8 “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.”
“Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,” 1 Chronicles 16:16-17.
“THOUGH there are many covenants of agreement or promise noticed in the Scriptures, we find only one “covenant commanded,” and this even “to a thousand generations.” 1 Chron. 16: 15. This period is surely not expired. And that this commanded covenant is the Ten Commandments, is proved by the fact that it was “confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” Verse 17.” Review and Herald, July 5, 1870.
“Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:” Psalms 105:11.
- In the history the land of Canaan “Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:” Psalms 105:9-10.
- In present time the modern Israel the Seventh Day Adventist the land of Canaan is the same covenant to Israel for an everlasting covenant. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8.
The Kingdom Established In The Latter Days In The Land Of Canaan
Read: Jeremiah 30:3,24
3 “For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”
24 “And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.”
- Note that this promise of restoration is Unconditional, and that it includes the return of ISRAEL and JUDAH (all 12 tribes) to the land of their fathers (Canaan/Palestine). We also note that this is to be fulfilled in the Latter Days (verse 24).
- When Jeremiah was writing only two tribes existed as a nation. The ten tribes had been scattered many years before in 721 B.C. Up to this day they are completely assimilated among the nations. Thus Jeremiah could not have been referring to his time. Neither could his prophecy be speaking of the identifiable Jews of today found in Palestine and other parts of the world, since they too are descendants of the two tribes—Judah. Jeremiah refers to all 12 tribes returning to the land of promise.
Read: Jeremiah 23:5-8
5 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the ”
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own ”
- This promise is also unconditional and refers to all 12 tribes (Israel and Judah) in the Latter days.
Read: Hosea 3:4-5
4 “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:
5 “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days”
- Here we see that after many days of obscure wondering, without their own government (king, or prince), and without the temple and its services (sacrifice, ephod, teraphim, etc), all the tribes (“children of Israel”) will return [to the land of their fathers] and establish a kingdom.
What Will The Pre-Millennial Kingdom Be Like?
Read: Isaiah 11:1-12
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness s shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
- This passage could NOT be referring to Heaven during the millennium or to the New Earth because:
- There will be no gentiles to seek the to seek the kingdom.
- No such gathering described in verses 11, 12, will take place in heaven or the New Earth.
- There will be No births from the time Christ returns, through the 1,000 years (millenium) and throughout the New Earth. Hence, there will be no children in the earth made new. Therefore, this passage unequivocally proves that this event is pre-millennial. (See Luke 20:27-36; 1SM 172, 173)
- Therefore, Isaiah here must be speaking of a time when there will be gentiles seeking to join God’s kingdom, and a great gathering from various nations, and when sucking, weaned, and little children exist. Thus it must be pre-millennial. It cannot be Heaven or the New Earth. We note, too, that there are no conditions to this prophecy.
The Kingdom And The New Heart Experience
Read: Ezekiel 36:17-37
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhibited.
36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
- Here we see that God is to cleanse His people from their sins. Hence only those who have embraced the righteousness of Christ will inherit the land. The kingdom is to be a witness to the heathen. This is the grandest object of the Pre-millennial kingdom.
Further Proofs:
- Read: Zech. 8:1-8—There will be no old men and women, or little children in the new Jerusalem.
- Read: Ezekiel 48:1-16—This passage describes new and unfulfilled set-up of Palestine. Thus it has to be in the pre-millennial phase of the kingdom.
- Note, too, that in verse 8 it mentioned a sanctuary or temple, but there will be no temple in the New Earth (Rev. 21:22). So, we see again that this has to be pre-millennial. (Jer. 31:8-12, Amos 1:14,15; 9:9-15, Micah 4:1-4, Hos.l:10,11; 2:18, Ezek. 34:11-13,15; 37:16-22, Gen 49:10, Zech 2:1-12.)
“There is hope for us only as we come under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus. The gospel preached to Abraham, through which he had hope, was the same gospel that is preached to us today, through which we have hope. Abraham looked unto Jesus, who is also the Author and the Finisher of our faith.” Manuscript Releases Vol. 1 p.121.2.
What is the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus?
Conclusion:
“The words of the Psalmist are to the point; “Ask of me [says the Father to the Son], and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Ps. 2:8, 9. Before the Son makes his second advent to this world, he receives from the father “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.” After the coronation of the King of kings, or the marriage of the Lamb, the opening heavens will reveal him coming in grandeur and in glory, leading on the armies of Heaven to the last great conflict with the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth. See Rev. 19 “His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.” “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name Written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.” His mission then will be to “judge and make war.” He will then destroy his enemies, and redeem his people. The marriage is over, and his people are still waiting his return. The true position of the waiting ones is thus described: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning: and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding.” Luke 12:35, 36.”” Review and Herald, January 31, 1871.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON PRESENT TRUTH PORTION
TOPICS IN THE INTEREST OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST BRETHREN AND READERS
This “scribe,” instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, “bringeth forth… things new and old.” Matt. 13:52.
Now “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” 1 Pet. 3:15.
Answerer Book 2 p.74 Question No. 42
“The Great Controversy,” pp. 322, 323, teaches that “not until the personal advent of Christ can His people receive the kingdom….But when Jesus comes, He confers immortality upon His people; and then He calls them to inherit the kingdom of which they have hitherto been only heirs.” Will you please help harmonize the Bible and “The Shepherd’s Rod” with these and other passages in Sister White’s writings in regard to the setting up of the Kingdom?
Answer:
Although the doctrine of the Kingdom may not appear quite so complete under the lens of Sister White’s writings as under the lens of the Rod, one dare not thus superficially reject either, but must the more studiously compare both views of the doctrine under the super-lens of the Bible. He must keep in mind that we are not given license to harmonize the Bible with any other writings, but are charged to measure all others by It.
First of all, in order to do justice to the Scriptures, to Sister White’s writings, and to the Rod the position of each on the subject must be viewed in the light of the Scriptures, which incontrovertibly teach that the Promised Land will be reinhabited by the Lord’s own converted people. (See Isaiah 2; Micah 4; Ezekiel 36, 37; Jeremiah 31-33).
As to Sister White’s statement in The Great Controversy, she is there speaking of the Kingdom complete, after the dead are raised, at the time the saints receive it. This was the only phase of the subject–the consummate phase–that Providence had made known when she wrote. Now as the scroll of prophetic Truth has unrolled further since her day, the Kingdom in reality is seen to have an intermediate, Davidian phase, as well as the final one heretofore known.
Besides the prophecies relating to the literal–the Davidian–Kingdom, the Bible contains many other prophetic subjects which the writings of Sister White do not even mention, let alone treat of. And if the Lord does not now reveal them to the church to meet her need
Today she will not be prepared for their fulfillment but will be left to perish in her undone Laodicean condition. These prophecies must therefore be revealed in order to strengthen the church in her final warfare. Otherwise, for what purpose were they written?
No prophet of God has ever forged a complete prophetic chain of events, with no links missing. It has taken many inspired writers to complete the long chain of prophecy. The mind, therefore which takes the position that Sister White has done what no prophet in or out of the Bible has ever done, does so at the utter disregard of actual Biblical procedure and also of revealed Truth.
She herself says that “no man, however honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the Divine purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God would accomplish by the work which He gives them to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in His name.”–The Great Controversy, p. 343.
Some persons, being of the parrot kind, utter parrot-like statements, never stopping to think what they say, and seemingly never caring whether their statements stand or fall. Such are they who say that no other event or events can come before, between, or after those set forth in Sister White’s writings.
Should one insist that the continuity of events recorded in Early Writings, pp. 15-17, must be taken as absolute, and that no other event or events can be sandwiched in, then he is getting himself into deep water, for the pages mentioned in no wise even intimate either the seven last plagues or the millennium!
Again: the Jews rejected the Lord because not all of what the prophets taught and wrote was found in the teachings of Moses. “We know,” they said, “that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.” John 9:29.
As no prophet’s writings ever predicted the entire Truth needed by the church to carry her clear through to the Kingdom, and as other prophets followed, either enlarging upon or adding to the prophecies already recorded in the Scriptures, then for anyone to turn down the good tidings of the Kingdom on the grounds that this phase of the Kingdom is not found in Sister White’s writings is for him to take the same inexcusable and fatal stand as did the Jews. It is to say, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Rev. 3:17. It is this attitude that compels God to spue out of His mouth the lukewarm, satisfied Laodiceans.
The eleventh-hour message has been timed and designed to reveal the Davidian Kingdom rising a new before the appearing of Christ in the clouds. Having no direct light, however, on this phase of the Kingdom, The Great Controversy could no more have expressed itself in the definite terms which the message today uses, than could William Miller have expressed himself on the subject of the cleansing of the sanctuary, in such terms as we read in The Great Controversy.
Of necessity, any statements relative to a subject which is still out of sight in the unfolding of the Scroll, are made only in incidental terms of truth as it is at the time seen or commonly understood. And if the common understanding of these incidental statements be wrong, the writer cannot be held responsible for that which he has borrowed from others or seen but very dimly and therefore expressed very indefinitely.
For example, in Christ’s day “the doctrine of a conscious state of existence between death and the resurrection was held by many of those who were listening to Christ’s words. The Saviour knew of their ideas, and He framed his parable so as to inculcate important truths through these preconceived opinions. He held up before His hearers a mirror wherein they might see themselves in their true relation to God. He used the prevailing opinion to convey the idea He wished to make prominent to all….”–Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 263.
This circumstance is natural and common to every writer treating of Present Truth, beginning with the Old Testament writers, and continuing ever since, and will thus be until every component part of the Truth is made known. This is borne out in the work of John the Baptist. He was to proclaim, not the setting up of the Kingdom, but the coming of the King. But in announcing the one, he incidentally had to answer questions concerning the other. When speaking of the coming King, he expressed himself in terms of revealed Truth. But when circumstantially alluding to the coming Kingdom, on which there was no special light in his day, he necessarily expressed himself in terms of the doctrines as then commonly understood.
Nevertheless, when the further unrolling of the scroll revealed that the Kingdom was not to be set up at that time, then the honest, truth-seeking ones did not accuse either John or Christ, but joyously watched the scroll unfold, and jubilantly marched on with the Truth. Not so, though, with the vast majority of the Jews. Their pride of opinion, forbidding them to forgo their errors and to embrace advancing Truth, led them deeper into error.
“Thus it was,” says the Spirit of Prophecy, “that the Jews did in the days of Christ, and we are warned not to do as they did, and be led to choose darkness rather than light, because there was in them an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”–Testimonies on Sabbath-School Work, p. 66; Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 30.
So The Great Controversy and Early Writings make the subject of the Kingdom just as clear as the partial unrolling of the scroll permitted the writer to view it, in only one of its phases, at the time she wrote both books.
While The Great Controversy may omit showing that the establishment of the Kingdom and the inheriting of it are two different events, elsewhere the Spirit of Prophecy does do so: While the apostles, it says, “were not to behold the coming of the kingdom in their day, the fact that Jesus bade them pray for it, is evidence that in God’s own time it will surely come.
“The Kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love. But the full establishment of the kingdom of His glory will not take place until the second coming of Christ to this world. ‘The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,’ is to be given to ‘the people of the saints of the Most High.'”–Mount of Blessing, p. 159.
Every Christian should remember that as the Truth is ever-advancing, It will not be found today where It was yesterday, and that therefore Christ’s followers must advance with It. They will not follow the examples of the Jews and the Romans.
When Moses wrote the first part of the Bible, he was not given all the light which God intended to reveal to His people through the ages. With each approaching hour for the Truth to advance, came first one prophet, then another, in a long succession ending with John the Baptist. Then came Christ, the apostles, the reformers, William Miller, and Sister White, each one in turn teaching truths which could not be borne out entirely by the writings of any one predecessor. To find all the Truth thus progressively revealed, the writings of all must be collaborated.
For instance, in setting forth the law of the Passover, and in commanding its observance Moses wrote: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.” Ex. 12:5, 6.
The reason which Moses assigns for the Passover observance is that it is to commemorate Israel’s going out of Egypt (Deut. 16:1-3). John the Baptist, however, imputes its significance to the coming of Christ, “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), while the apostles assign it to His crucifixion: “For even Christ our passover,” says Paul, “is sacrificed for us.” 1 Cor. 5:7. And the significance of keeping the Passover, he then attaches to the ordinance of the Lord’s supper (1 Cor. 11 :26).
Similarly, Moses did not explain that the Levitical priesthood in the earthly sanctuary (Ex.
40:15) was only a provisional and thus a temporary one, a figure of Christ’s priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary, as the apostles explained (Heb. 6:19, 20; 9:12, 26).
Failing to advance with the advancing Truth, each generation of Jews found fault with its respective prophets, culminating with the apostles and the very Son of God Himself. The Jews justified their criminal actions on the ground that the claims of their prophets, of Christ, and of the apostles, were not founded upon Moses’ writings. So while boasting of Moses’ writings, they denied and killed the prophets who came after him–a solemn warning to us, lest doing as they did, we meet their fate!
The main question therefore is not as to whether Sister White’s or Moses’ or this one’s or that one’s writings contain all the messages for this day, but rather simply as to whether they are found in, and supported by, the Bible.
The Rod consequently does not claim that its message is found in its entirety in the writings of any one particular prophet, but rather in the writings of all the prophets–“here a little, and there a little.” Isa. 28:13.
Let none, therefore, treacherously use Sister White’s writings, as the Jews used Moses’ writings, against the advance of Truth, and to their own eternal hurt. From every angle approached, the Bible clears the subject of the Kingdom, making impossible one’s erring if he follows precisely what the Word says concerning it.
The Rod does not teach either that Jerusalem is to be rebuilt, or that it is not to be rebuilt, as the capital city of the Kingdom, but only that the Kingdom in its beginning is to be set up in the Promised Land. And in confirmation of this truth, Ezekiel prophesies of A New Division of The Land.
The prophet presents a division of the land entirely different from that in Joshua’s time (Josh.
17): it is to be in strips from the east to the west; Dan is to have the first portion in the north, and Gad, the last portion in the south; between the borders of these two are to be the portions of the rest of the tribes; the city is to be in the midst of the land (Ezek. 48).
The fact that such a division of the Promised Land has never been made, shows that it is yet future. Also the fact that the sanctuary is to be there, whereas it is not to be in the earth made new (Rev. 21:22), again proves that this unique setup is pre-millennial.
In addition, the twofold fact that the name of the city is “The Lord is There,” and that its location, according to the division of the land, necessarily must in some respects be different from that of old Jerusalem, shows that Jerusalem of today, the city proper, may not at all be rebuilt as a capital city of the coming Kingdom. (See Tract No. 12, The World Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, 1941 Edition, pp. 52, 53).
If the Bible makes Itself clear on any subject It certainly does so on the subject of the Kingdom. And rightly so, for the Kingdom is the Christian’s crowning hope, Satan’s Constant Target, the People’s Repeated Stumbling Block.
That the great controversy between Christ and Satan is over this crowning hope, the Kingdom, is seen from the Lord’s repeated instructions in the prophecies, in the types, and in the parables; from Satan’s constant effort to keep the human race out of it; and last, from human beings repeatedly being defeated in their warfare to become heirs of it.
Working determinedly from the beginning to plunge all humanity into hell, Satan conceived his major strategy of misleading them concerning the Kingdom. He succeeded with most of the Jews because they wanted the Kingdom set up before its appointed time or not at all. And he is succeeding with many of the Laodiceans today because now, when the time appointed actually has come, they want to have it later or not at all! What a paradox! What an irony! Indeed, as history repeats itself, so does folly!
The Bible says: “In the days of these kings [the kings that are symbolized by the ten toes of the great image] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed….It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” Dan. 2:44.
Observe that “the stone” (the Kingdom) does not become a great mountain until after it smites the image, showing that the Kingdom begins in its infancy with only the first fruits, who soon stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, and who later, after they have garnered in the second fruits of the living, smite the nations finally there come from the grave the saved of all ages fully to make up the “great mountain”–the Kingdom complete!
In the face of these clear-cut and repeatedly chronicled prophecies, may no one be so foolish as to say, as did the Jews in response to Ezekiel’s prophecies, “The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off” (Ezek. 12:27), thereby bringing upon his head the same dreadful doom.
WILL OLD JERUSALEM BE REBUILT?
Question No. 43:
How do you reconcile “The Shepherd’s Rod” teaching that the Davidian Kingdom is again to be set up in Palestine, with “Early Writings,” pp. 75 ,76: “Old Jerusalem never would be built up”?
Answer:
The context of the Early Writings’ statement reveals that it refers to the Jewish Zionist Movement, and it shows that the Movement’s avowed purpose to re-establish a national Jewish Homeland, centered in Jerusalem proper, will never be realized that never will Old Jerusalem be rebuilt in accordance with the Zionist interpretation, and never will the non- Christian Jews be the subjects of the Kingdom. (See Tract No. 8, Mount Sion at the Eleventh Hour.)
THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH?
Question No. 44:
What is the marriage spoken of in “Christ’s Object Lessons,” p. 307, and in “The Great Controversy,” pg. 426, 427? In one instance, it is said to be “the union of humanity with divinity”; in another “the reception by Christ of His kingdom” in still another it is said that the marriage “takes place in heaven, while [the saints] are upon the earth” waiting “for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding.” Will you please clear this complex subject for me?
Answer:
Let us remember that these figures of speech, along with many others, are only illustrations of truths, not the truths in themselves. For example, the setting up of the Kingdom is illustrated, in one instance, by the “harvest;” the subjects of the Kingdom, by the “wheat”; and the kingdom itself, by the “barn.” Matt. 13:30. In another instance, the setting up of the Kingdom and the separation of the sinners from among the saints, are illustrated by the angels drawing “the net” to shore then sitting down, segregating the bad from the good fish, and putting the good into “vessels, ” but casting out of it the bad (Matt. 13:48). In this instance, the subjects of the Kingdom are represented by the good fish; and the Kingdom itself, by the “vessels.”
So, while it is true that the marriage of Christ is a “union of humanity with divinity,” it is also true that the marriage is “the reception of His kingdom,” for humanity makes up the Kingdom. Therefore, the marriage is equivalent to the coronation; the Kingdom itself, to the city, or bride; and the guests, to the saints or subjects of the Kingdom. From this we see that when Christ receives His Kingdom, He indeed will unite humanity with divinity.
The reception of His Kingdom takes place in heaven while the saints are still on earth, as Daniel was shown: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14.
Bringing into prophetic focus this same event Jesus declared parabolically: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom, and to return.” Luke 19:12. Note that He receives the Kingdom (acquires ownership of it) while He is away, not when He returns. (See The Great Controversy, pp. 426, 427).
So, the marriage is the coronation of Christ, which takes place in the heavenly temple when all His subjects on earth are made ready, while the work is drawing to completion, and probation to a close. Obviously, then, the marriage takes place before He comes to “receive” the saints unto Himself (John 14:3), and before they meet Him “in the air.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. Afterwards is served the “supper.”
Consequently, though the wedding takes place in heaven, the saints while on the earth are the prospective guests for the marriage supper. Then, after the marriage is solemnized in the Holy of Holies, Jesus descends from heaven and takes the guests unto Himself, so that where He is, they may be also (John 14:1-3). There they eat of the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”–The Great Controversy p. 427; Rev. 19:9. In this instance, while the saints are said to be the guests, the Holy City is said to be “the bride.” Rev. 21:9, 10.
Again: just before the marriage, when the saints are still on earth, their righteousness is said to be the bride’s (city’s) “fine linen.” Rev. 19:8.
The lessons that are taught by these and other illustrations become priceless jewels of truth to those who take heed to them.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN THE HEART, OR ON THE EARTH?
Question No. 45:
Since Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within” us (Luke 17:21), how, then, can it be an earthly kingdom?
Answer: If the statement in question means that there is to be no Kingdom of God on earth, then by the same token of reasoning it must also mean that neither is there to be any kingdom in heaven. And if there is to be none on earth, and none in heaven, then our hope is vain. But, as always, that which proves too much, proves nothing. Consequently, to stand upon the proposition in the question is to take the position that there is to be no literal kingdom either on earth or in heaven, but only a spiritual kingdom within the heart, which is to reduce the subject to an absurdity. It is to play right into the hands of the Devil, who would desperately like to blackout the Kingdom truth, and relegate the Kingdom itself to oblivion. But in this, thank God, the Word assures us he is doomed to certain failure.
So before the Kingdom of God is established on this earth, it must indeed be spiritually established within us if we are ever to qualify for admission when it is physically established upon “earth, as it is in heaven.”
Accordingly, the spiritual kingdom of God within, is within those who embody the principles of its rule before the physical Kingdom is established. So the kingdom of God “within” is the regimen of the spiritual life; it is prerequisite to an inheritance in the external Kingdom of God.
Conclusion:
“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” Zech. 12:3.
“In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” Zech. 12:8. Then “clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness,” declares the Spirit of Prophecy, “the church is to enter upon her final conflict. ‘Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,’ she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”–Prophets and Kings, p. 725.
“Those who have been timid and self-distrustful, will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church, will be as David–willing to do and dare.”–Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 81.
“Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [the Third Angel’s Message] when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.”–The Review and Herald, No. 19, 1908.
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