ISAIAH 49


[Yeshayah 49 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)]

1 Listen, O isles [iyim], unto Me [Moshiach]; and hearken [pay heed], ye people, from far; Yahweh hath called me from the womb [beten][See Isaiah 7:14; Gn 3:15; Ps 22:9; Mic 5:1-2]; from the bowels of my mother [inward parts of immi] hath he made mention of my name [He remembered My Shem].

The preparation of Christ, Yahweh's true servant, was from the womb: Pslm.22.10;71:6; Jer.1. 8; Pslm. 86. 16; Is. 7 .14; 2 Sam.7.14.

Nothing was left to chance. He was the promised One from the beginning (Gen. 3.15), the seed of the Woman (not of man), divinely conceived, that he might be both the literal Son of God, and Son of Man (Lk. 1. 26-38), the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and Truth (Jhn. 1. l4). All flesh should consider this. *



2 And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword [sharpened cherev]; in the shadow [tzel] of His hand hath he hid Me [Yad hath He concealed Me], and made Me a polished shaft [arrow]; in His quiver hath He hid Me;
 

Here the Cherub of the Spirit bears the name of his ancestor Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, which signifies "Prince of Power," i.e., of God, in our vernacular. His mouth was truly like a sharp sword, for it cut deeply into the hearts of the self-righteous hypocrites of his day, who gnashed upon him with malice and dislike. When he opened his mouth to speak, the "word of power" uttered wisdom, counsel and knowledge; and of this word, Paul says in Heb. 4:12, "It is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

In Eph. 6:17, he exhorts the saints to take it as the weapon of their warfare against all crotchets and imaginations that exalt themselves against "the knowledge of God" -- the knowledge revealed by Him. "Take," says he, "the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God"; and with this "stand against the devil's wiles" (verse 11).

But the Cherub of the Eternal Spirit in the days of his flesh and blood did not wholly fill up the idea presented in the phrase "made my mouth as a sharp sword." In his future manifestation, he is represented in the Book of Symbols as having "a sharp two-edged sword issuing forth from his mouth."

We refer to Apoc. 1:16, and 19:15. In the latter place, the use he is to make of the sword is stated in these words: "that with it he should smite the nations." The interpretation is, that at his approaching advent, he will assume the position indicated in the chapter in relation to his associate Cherubim, on the one hand, and the hostile nations on the other. Being the Commander-in-Chief, or "Captain of Salvation," the Word of Power goes forth from his mouth. He commands that the nations be smitten, and his orders are obeyed; and though they make great resistance, they are finally overcome by the energy whereby he is able to subdue to himself (Phil. 3:21).

Phanerosis - The Anointed Cherub

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This was the similitude of the Son of Man individual and corporeal (Rev. 1. 16) a sharp two edged sword proceeding out of his mouth (Is. 11. 1-3). He judged not by the sight of his eyes, his judgment was true, always spiritual (not of the flesh, his mind always spiritual, in the days of his flesh, like a sharp sword for he knew what was in man; before they spoke, he had pierced their thoughts (Mtt. 9.4; Jhn. 2. 25).

Chrst was a polished arrow in the days of his flesh (Mtt. 22. 18), but will be both the sword and arrow in his glory and majesty to smite down his enemies (Pslm. 45. 3-5). The saints and Israel redeemed will be part of that sword (rhomphaia) of the Spirit (Ezk. 21. 4-15; Zech 9. 12-15). *


***


Need the reader be told who this great and mighty one is? Whose name was mentioned by the Lord before his birth? Hear the scripture -- "And Gabriel said to Mary, behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS (Heb. Yehoshua, Yahweh tzidkenu, the Lord our righteousness) for he shall save his people from their sins. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:31-33).

But he was born, and has departed, and is hid in the shadow of the Lord's hand; and has neither received David's throne, nor does he reign over Israel, who, though born to rule over them, "curse their king and their God, and look upwards" (Isaiah 8:21).

We shall see how this is. In the oracle quoted, the Lord Jesus, who makes proclamation to the isles of the Gentiles, announces himself as the Servant of Yahweh in whom He will be glorified. Now a servant implies work to be performed for, and in behalf of, another. What work, or service, then, has the Lord Jesus to execute for the Father?

"Behold the Lord will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold his reward is with him, his work before him " (Isaiah 40:10).

We want to know what this work is. Hear then what the word saith.

"The Lord formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him."

But is the restoration of the tribes of Israel all he will have to do? We shall find not; for Yahweh says to him,

"It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the desolation of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation to the ends of the earth" (see also v3,5,6,8).

The Lord Jesus, the servant of Yahweh then, is in reserve at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, for the purpose of a future manifestation, not to destroy the earth and to burn up the wicked, but to fulfil the covenants of promise; in putting an end to the desolation of Canaan, restoring the tribes to their native land, re-establishing the commonweaIth of Israel, enlightening the nations, regenerating society, filling the earth with the glory of the Lord, establishing his sovereignty in the world, and in rewarding the saints.

All this is to be accomplished when the Lord comes. The God of the fathers will then remember the covenants which he began to fulfil when he called Israel out of Egypt under Moses; and when he called Jesus out of Egypt in the days of Archelaus.# These were but earnests of the good things to come, in the manifestation of which the promises will be

perfected in every jot and tittle of the word.

This is the sense in which James understood the testimony of God. "Simeon," said he, "hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name." Then, in quoting the words of Amos, he continues, "After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: that the residue of men (Edom) might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord" (Acts 15:14-17).

This was adduced as a quietus upon the Judaizers to prove the acceptance of Gentiles by the Lord as well as of Jews, and upon the same terms. But I have introduced it here to show the arrangement of things in relation to the work to be performed. We see that there is a certain labour to be finished, to wit, the taking out a people from among the nations for the Lord's name. By the time this is accomplished, the Lord will return.

But what does the text before us say he returns for? To set up David's kingdom which is in ruins. But again, what ulterior purpose is to be effected through this restitution? The turning the Gentiles from their delusions to serve God according to the institutions of the Age to come.

The People for the Lord's name are the saints or "heirs of the kingdom." Such an institution requires administrators; and as from its nature only righteous and immortal men can inherit it, it became necessary to call them out, first from Israel, and then from the nations, upon the principle of the obedience of faith. This is one reason why so many ages have elapsed from the promise of it to Abraham until now.

If it had been possible to set it up in Abraham's time, where would have been the kings and priests to answer its requirements, seeing it is to rule over all nations? It would have been a kingdom without rulers. Hence, the gospel, or glad tidings, concerning it have been preached for the purpose of obtaining kings, priests, and princes of all ranks and degrees, for the kingdom, when the time comes for the God of heaven to establish it by the hand of His servant, the Lord Christ.

Elpis Israel 2.5.

#Herod Archelaus (Greek: Ἡρώδης Ἀρχέλαος, Hērōdēs Archelaos; 23 BC - c. 18 AD) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea (Biblical Edom), including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for a period of nine years (circa 4 BC to 6 AD). Archelaus was removed by Roman Emperor Augustus when Judaea province was formed under direct Roman rule, at the time of the Census of Quirinius. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, and was the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod II. Archelaus (a name meaning "leading the people") came to power after the death of his father Herod the Great in 4 BC, and ruled over one-half of the territorial dominion of his father. - Wikipedia

See Matt 2:13-23



Such is the power to which the garment and the thigh belong, and upon which the name of the Blessed and the Only Potentate is inscribed. The rider of the white horse is the Image of the Invisible One, from whose mouth issues the command for the smiting of the nations; a command which is executed by the people who are his sword. He gives the word; they obey with alacrity and invincible effect.

This is symbolized in the scene before us by a sharp sword as it were going out of the mouth of the principal figure of the group, who is also styled, "the Word of the Deity" - the Word made FLESH; and afterwards, in its ascent to the Father, "justified by spirit," and therefore SPIRIT. This all-powerful Image of the Invisible King of kings, having smitten the nations by his all-conquering hosts, assumes the government of them by right of conquest.

The mythic "sovereignty of the people" is effectually and finally abolished from the earth, partial or universal suffrage is extinguished; and the rule of a Righteous Despot, who shall govern the nations by his own absolute will and authority, will be substituted in their stead; for, it is written, "he shall rule them with an iron rod".

Every approved and accepted believer of the Truth, who shall have been made "like him," will participate with him in the administration of this iron and righteous despotism - iron because of its invincibility and strength: for "he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall rule them with an iron rod" (ch. 2:26,27); "even as," saith he, "I have received of my Father".


3 And said unto Me [Moshiach, i.e., the She'erit of the She'erit, the true and worthy Israel and also the King who personifies the People], Thou art my servant [Avdi], O [Yisroel], in whom I will be glorified [Thou in Whom I glorify Myself].

Jesus was the true Prince of Ail (Israel), who did his Father's will, and has inherited all things (Pslm. 8; 2; Col.l, Jhn 17). So he is the Prince of Ezekiel (Ezk.44-48), in the great Temple, and of DanieI (Dan.8.25) (the Prince of Princes), Dan.9.25 (Messiah the Prince), "the great Prince" (Dan.12.1), and the Prince of the Apocalypse (Rev. 1.5) "the Prince of the kings of the earth."

With such glory and royal majesty will he be clothed when they behold the King in his beauty (Pslm. 27. 4; 90.17; Song 5. 10-16), a King Priest upon his throne (Zech. 6.12-13,Is.6;l), before whom all flesh will be humbled (Zech.2. 12-l3). He was the acceptable sacrifice (Hb. 9. 16), the healer of the breach. *


They shall not be ashamed that wait for me

He did not mean that they would not have shame for the time being. On the contrary, such are put to shame now: the confessing of Christ before men means the incurring of shame now. There is no more infallible method of getting into low esteem with men, for faith in Christ, in the Bible sense, has long since become inconsistent with a true enlightenment in the estimation of the world of our era.

They "shall not be ashamed" has a future bearing; and its bearing then will be striking and thorough; for the world, everywhere, will shrink with craven fear in the presence of God's manifested power in the earth. When Christ reappears,

"all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."

But those who love his appearing and are waiting for him will not be affected thus. They will be sent for and acknowledged by Christ as his faithful servants, and gladdened by that investiture with his nature and placed by his side in safety, and glory and joy for evermore.

Such are the promises of the Word of God that cannot fail. May it be ours to experience the full measure of their fulfilment in the great and terrible day of the Lord which is about to dawn.

Seasons 2. 57


4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought [ko'ach for tohu], and in vain [hevel]: yet surely judgment [mishpat] is with Yahweh, and my work [ peulah ]with my Elohim.

In the smitings and hate, and the depths of his sufferings, this is how it must have seemed, his vision more marred than any other man, despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, deserted by all (Pslm. 6. 22,69; Is. 53). *



5 And now, saith Yahweh that formed me [My Yotzer] from the womb [ beten] to be his servant [Eved of Him], to [back Ya'akov] again to him, Though Israel be not gathered [Yisroel would be gathered to Him], yet shall I [Moshiach] be glorious [honored] in the eyes of Yahweh, and my Elohim shall be my strength [oz].

To raise up the tribes of Jacob, restore the preserved of Israel, a light for the Gentiles, to be MY Salvation unto the ends of the earth. *



6 And He said, It is a light [too small a] thing that Thou shouldest be my servant [Eved to Me] to raise up the tribes of Jacob [Shivtei Ya'akov], and to restore the preserved of Israel [bring back the Netzurei Yisroel (Preserved of Israel, the She'erit)]: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles [Ohr Goyim], that Thou mayest be My salvation [Yeshuah] unto the end of the earth [ketzeh ha'aretz].

If it be admitted, that we are still in "the day of salvation," then it must be received as true, that we are living "while it is called to-day " -- that "to-day" is now; and this "now" will be present until the Lord Jesus enters into His rest (Psalm 132:13-18), which He cannot do until He has finished the work God has given Him to do (Isaiah 49:5, 6, 8; xl. 10). "Behold, now is the time of acceptance; behold, now is the day," or the "to-day," "of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2), -- a period of time from Joshua to the future glorious manifestation of Christ in the kingdom, to say nothing of "the accepted time" to the patriarchs, before the typical rest of Israel in the promised land.

This "to-day," however, is limited both to Jew and Gentile; and in defining this limitation, Paul tells us, that "to-day" means, "after so long a time." "God limiteth a certain day," says he, "saying in David, to-day, after so long a time: as it is said, to day if ye will hear His voice harden not your hearts" (Heb. 4:7). When this time has elapsed, it will no longer be "to-day;" but to-morrow, or the seventh day of the millennial week.

Elpis Israel 1.2.

***

I and thou = One Power, power of his servant manifest (Is.44. 6). This is the mission of the Lord when he.returns as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to deliver the Jews and enlighten them (Jer 30. 31, Zech 12), and to extend the blessings of the Truth to the humbled Gentiles who will beg for mercy (Is.60). *


My salvation

The Supreme Power has not only a Son, but a multitude of sons, and all of them partaking of His nature, or spirit-substance, hypostasis. The Supreme Power, or Ail, is "the Godhead," or source, fountain, or sole spring of Power.

Moses and the prophets do not teach that "there are three persons, three essences, three somethings, or three anythings, in the Godhead; and that these three distinct units, or unities, constitute only one unit or one Unity -- and that that Tri-Unity is the God of Israel." They do not teach this. This is the foolishness of the Old Man of the Flesh.

They teach the absolute oneness of the Power-Head. "Before me," as written in Isaiah 43:10, 11, "Ail" was not created, nor after me shall be: I, I shall be (anoke, anoke, Yahweh); and NONE WITHOUT ME A SAVIOUR.

This is perfectly true, and quite compatible with Peter's proclamation to Israel concerning Jesus, saying: "Him hath Theos exalted to His right hand, a Prince and SAVIOUR; to give enlightenment (metanoian) to Israel, and remission of sins" (Acts 5:31).

The Jew objects that if Jesus be a Saviour, there is then another Saviour beside Ail. But this objection arises from not knowing Ail, and Jesus Anointed whom He has sent. That born of Mary was bain Eloahh, Son of Power. Beside that power there is no Saviour. Apart from the Power the Son could not save; for he, as son of Mary, testifies, that "of himself he could do nothing."

That the Supreme Power would save by a Servant-Power, is manifest from Isaiah as well as Peter. In that prophet, the Only Potentate says to one He styles His servant: "Thou shalt be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the desolation of Israel; I will also give thee for a Light to the nations, that thou mayest be my Yesua, salvation to the end of the earth" (49:6). The I and the Thee of this passage are but One Power. Power in servant-manifestation -- I the First and I the Last, and independent of that I, there are no Elohim or powers (Isaiah 44:6).

Phanerosis - One Deity in Multiplicity



Unto the end of the earth


...there will be no armies and navies. These destructive agents will cease to exist. The vintage will have cut them off, and disbanded them as useless and demoralizing encumbrances upon society. War will be studied no more; and a general disarmament, which is now impossible, will be enforced by the all-conquering "King of the Jews," then become "the Light of the Gentiles, and the salvation of the Father to the ends of the earth" (Isa. 49:6).

Babylon will have fallen with its Papacy and all the powers, temporal and spiritual, which now sustain it. They will all have "licked the dust like a serpent;" and the Deity will have performed the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which he swore to the fathers from the days of old (Mic. 7:20).

Eureka 14.14.


7 Thus saith Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel [Go'el Yisroel], and His Holy One [ Kadosh], to Him whom man despiseth [Him of despised nefesh], to Him whom the nation [Goy (Nation, i.e., Israel; see Isaiah 53:3,8)] abhorreth, to a servant of rulers [Eved Moshelim], Kings [Melachim] shall see and arise, princes [Sarim] also shall worship, because of Yahweh that is faithful [Who is Ne'eman], and the Holy One of Israel [Kadosh Yisroel], and he shall choose thee.


...the justified and glorified Jesus, the Son of the Father's Handmaid, the Man at His right hand whom He hath made strong for Himself, "the Lord the Spirit" (Psa. 116:16; 80:17; 2 Cor. 3:18), descends to Sinai, in whose wilderness he unites himself to his body, the Bride, of whom he becomes the Head. Thus recruited and enlarged, he is the "One Angel", whose measure is "144 cubits" (ch. 19:17; 21:17). 

Having finished his work in Teman, "he marches through the land in indignation, and threshes the Gentiles" he encounters "in anger". Arrived at the Mount of Olives, he descends from thence into Jerusalem, the city of the Great King. There, "standing in the sun," he pauses in his descent upon the lofty city, Babylon, which he purposes to level with the dust. 

Before he invades her peoples with his troops (Hab. 3:12,16,3), he sends forth a voice from the heaven, announcing the judgment that impends. When this proclamation is fulfilled, he will then complete his descent upon Babylon, which he will not abandon until he hath abolished her from the earth.

Eureka 18.1.



8 Thus saith Yahweh, In an acceptable time [of [My] ratzon (favour)] have I heard [answered]Thee, and in a day of salvation [Yom Yeshuah] have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give Thee for a covenant [Brit Am] of the people, to establish the earth [to raise up Eretz], to cause to inherit the desolate heritages [ to reapportion desolate nechalot];

The antitypical Joshua (cp Josh 13-21) allotting the inheritances. Yahoshua our righteousness (Zech 6:11-12) having destroyed the Latter Day Canaanites out of the land will reapportion new and enlarged boundaries in the Greater territory of Israel in the midst of paradise.


God has hidden His face.‭ ‬He takes not the least obvious part in human concerns.‭ ‬He sent an attested message by the apostolic embassy‭ ‬1,800‭ ‬years ago,‭ ‬and has established that message in a written form in the midst of the nations:‭ ‬but since the apostolic age,‭ ‬so far as practical interference in the working of things among men is concerned,‭ ‬it is true what Paul said of the generations immediately prior to his own:‭ ‬he‭ "‬hath suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.‭"

If a nation overcome a nation in war,‭ ‬there is nothing to show that God has influenced the result in any way.‭ ‬If a party get the upper hand in a state,‭ ‬and work injustice and oppression on the helpless,‭ ‬they flourish on the spoils of their iniquity without check or reproof.‭ ‬If a man unjustly afflict his righteous neighbour,‭ ‬and prevail against him,‭ "‬bringing wicked devices to pass,‭" ‬there is nothing to show that God is angry with the wicked or pities His people.‭

If oppressive laws are enacted,‭ ‬if evil ways are established by authority,‭ ‬so that the multitude are degraded and impoverished,‭ ‬and groans wrung from the heart of millions,‭ ‬appeal to heaven is made in vain.‭ ‬Triumphant wickedness takes its course.‭ ‬God has hidden His face.‭ ‬Human life is a degrading scramble,‭ ‬in which the weak go to the wall and the strong are demoralised by the process of their success.

It is night,‭ ‬it is dark.‭ ‬All things are out of course.‭ ‬Human life is not what it ought to be,‭ ‬and cannot be what it ought to be,‭ ‬under the conditions that prevail.‭ ‬Who will alter those conditions‭? ‬Who can give us the conditions that are needed‭? ‬What are they‭? ‬We need God to take the world in charge.‭ ‬We need the bungling incapacities of man to be put on one side,‭ ‬and all power and authority vested in one government of his direct appointment-a government that cannot err,‭ ‬and that cannot be resisted,‭ ‬and that cannot be removed.‭

Give us such a government,‭ ‬and you give us the sun,‭ ‬at whose bright presence,‭ ‬darkness will soon fly away.‭ ‬The reign of such a government will change the life of the world in a single generation.‭ ‬Such a government is coming.

‭"‬God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,‭ ‬whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.‭"

They were no empty words of poetical flourish that Jesus uttered when he said,‭ "‬I am the light of the world.‭" ‬He spoke the truth-absolute and unmixed.‭ ‬There is no light apart from him,‭ ‬in either individual or national relations.‭ ‬It is the individual bearing that most concerns us at present.‭ ‬What is life without him‭? ‬A fevered dream-a bootless activity,‭ ‬having promise and incentive at its beginning,‭ ‬but gradually settling to a doleful vacuity at its end-a paleful gloom,‭ ‬as with spent power,‭ ‬we draw near to the grave in the clear perception that,‭ ‬without God,‭ ‬all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

‭ ‬Introduce Christ and see how changed the scene.‭ ‬The love of Christ constrains‭; ‬the obedience of Christ subdues and ennobles‭; ‬the hope of Christ brightens,‭ ‬and imparts an interest to life we never knew before.‭ ‬We live no longer to ourselves‭; ‬we yield no longer to ourselves‭; ‬we surrender no longer to the gloom of a headless universe and an uncertain future.‭

We open our hearts to God in faith and reconciliation,‭ ‬through Christ who died for us:‭ ‬we confide in his direction though unseen‭; ‬we walk through the darkness in joyful trust and anticipation of the promised day when God will wipe away every tear and remove every curse.‭ ‬Letting Christ dwell in our hearts by faith,‭ ‬our darkness is dispelled,‭ ‬our coldness ended,‭ ‬our waywardness corrected,‭ ‬our loves purified,‭ ‬our whole life cleansed and redeemed from the ultimate corruption and abortiveness of mere natural power.‭

He becomes our light and our life to whom we daily grow as the thriving plant before the sun,‭ ‬seeking more and more‭ "‬to know the love of Christ which passeth know ledge,‭" "‬counting all things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord,‭" "‬in whom is filled up all the fulness of the God-head bodily.‭"

And looking out with unavailing pity and distress on the larger field of racial affliction,‭ ‬do we not see plainly that Christ is the light of the world‭? ‬What darkness broods in all lands after the most prolonged and careful experiments in self-management.‭ ‬See the struggling masses of the poor shaking the clenched fist of desperation in the face of the educated and provided classes,‭ ‬and this,‭ ‬not in despotic and brutalised countries,‭ ‬but in‭ "‬civilized‭" ‬England and America.‭ ...

‭... ‬The problem of human management is too intricate,‭ ‬too subtle,‭ ‬too difficult,‭ ‬for human power.‭ ‬It needs God who made man to successfully manage him,‭ ‬and God has purposed to do it at the right and the ripe time which is now near.‭ ‬Christ is His strong right arm for the work,‭ ‬and he comes anon to do it.‭ ‬He will‭ "‬break‭" ‬the current systems‭ "‬with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.‭"

He will then give the world such a system as it has never seen since the day of Adam's departure from Eden-such a system as it exactly needs-a centralised system of invincible power and unerring wisdom which will promulgate and enforce the laws that are needed for the glory of God and the wellbeing of man without asking the consent of parliaments or the suffrages of peoples.

This system in the hands of immortal and infallible agents will soon cause the present desert of human life to rejoice and blossom as the rose.‭ ‬What an honour,‭ ‬what a dignity,‭ ‬what a prize,‭ ‬what an unspeakable glory,‭ ‬to be chosen to act as the king's representative in the day of light and gladness.‭ ‬To this we are called,‭ ‬and to this we shall attain if meanwhile,‭ ‬in faith and patience,‭ ‬we walk as children of the light.‭-‬Editor.

‭The Christadelphian, June 1887


13 Sing [joyfully], O heavens [Shomayim]; and be joyful [Eretz], O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains [Harim]: for Yahweh hath comforted His people, and will have mercy [ rachamim] upon his afflicted [ones].

The "Economy of the Fulness of Times" will now have fairly commenced, and the Day of Christ in all the glory of the Sun of Righteousness have opened in all its blessedness upon the nations of the earth.

The gospel preached to Abraham, saying "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed," will be a reality. The Lord, with Judah as his bended bow and Israel for his arrow, having subdued the nations, and "bound their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron" as his conquests progressed, will have transferred their much-abused power to his saints (Rev. 2:26, 27), who shall rule them with a rod of iron which cannot be broken. Having received his law (Isaiah 42: 4), and experienced the justice of its administration, "all nations will call him blessed," and "daily will he be praised."

An universal jubilee will celebrate the admiration of mankind and their devotion to the King of all the earth. The world will no more resound with wars' alarms for a thousand years; and among the highest there will be glory to God, on the earth there will be peace and good-will among men (Luke 2:14) The mission of the Lord's Christ will have been gloriously fulfilled.

He will have raised up the tribes of Jacob, restored the preserved of Israel, and been the salvation of Yahweh to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). In his days there will be abundance of peace; for the nations will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into scythes, and practise war no more.

"At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem" as the metropolis of the world; "neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil "heart " (Jer. 3:17).

The things they delight in will then be an abomination to them; for "the Gentiles shall come unto the Lord from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things in which there is no profit" (Jer. 16:19).

Elpis Israel 3.6.



23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Yahweh: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Waiting may be trying; it is intended to be: but it will not be destructive to a wise man. Such a man knows that God is great, and the ages long, and that man has no claim to existence, and that it is a privilege to stand by any length of time and see how God works out his purpose.

"Though the vision tarry, wait for it. It will surely come."

Seasons 1.98.



The prospect we have in Christ


Carlyle said that what was wanted was that one strong man should make his advent, and lay hold with strong arm on universal affairs and compel man to submit to what was good for them. This is precisely what the purpose of God provides, as proclaimed in the Gospel of the Kingdom.

"God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men in that He hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31).

"Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron" (Rev. 19:15).

With such a prospect, the believer in Christ can survey with calmness the political deadlock into which the world is drifting. He can afford to wait, for he waits for God, and it is naturally true that

"they shall not be ashamed that wait for Him."

God, who made the earth, has made no mistake in the working out of its affairs. He purposes a regulation and administration of human life upon the earth that will realise the highest possibilities of existence. It will be an administration through a king. The foundation is laid in Christ as a head centre, through whom the Creator's own headship will be enforced.

A preparation has been made in the most interesting way imaginable. First, in Christ, the root mischief that has put things wrong upon earth is rectified. Matters have gone wrong between God and man. The first principle of submission - absolute submission - on the part of man to what God commands has been violated. Death has reigned by sin, and mortal man has vainly turmoiled for generations in the awful confusion resulting.

In the coming King, as nucleus of a new development, this has been put right. Possessing the very nature we inherit from Eden, sin has been condemned, and the supremacy of God enforced in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, and in the proclamation of his name to mankind as the only acceptable way of approach to God.

Then sinful mankind have been left to manage their own affairs, with the double result of subduing the earth and getting it into order for the new race, and, at the same time, of convincing themselves of their utter inability to rule themselves.

At the ripe moment, the new king stands forth, in a second appearing, "in power and great glory," to "break in pieces" the governments of sinful mankind, and to take unto himself his own great God-given power, setting up a Kingdom in which his friends will shine, the glory of God prevail, and that will rule over all the world for the blessedness of all the families of the earth, as promised in the beginning.

Here is a perfect provision for the political needs of the world, and a perfect solution of the problems that present themselves to the thoughtful student of the human state. In what other direction is there hope? None, absolutely none.

Those who think otherwise-those who entertain roseate views of human prospects in the natural order are not the thinkers and statesmen of the world, but men of limited horizon and conventional view-men of contented personal circumstances, who have not embraced all the elements of the problem, and who find gratification for their personal ambitions in the little spheres of public life.

All men of mental breadth and full information recognise the darkness of the prospect for which the gospel alone provides the needed light and relief.

Seasons 2.73