International Bible Students Association, ^uAJishers.

Vol. VII.                                         BROOKLYN. N.Y.                                          No.*12

*T'HERE can be no doubt that the words of the text apply, not to Spiritual Israel and the heavenly Jerusalem, but to the Seed of Jacob, for many centuries travailing in pain—a nation without a land, people possessing most wonderful promises, yet enjoying none of these—a people scattered amongst all other peoples; yet, in harmony with the Divine promise made at the beginning of their organization, they have been preserved separate and distinct from all other nations! The Jews are a miracle in themselves. They witness to the civilized world God’s promises and the power thereof in the human mind. As foretold in the Scriptures for long centuries they have had no Prophet, no Priest, no ephod, no vision from God, no revelation. The people to whom at one time belonged the honor of being the only people to whom the Divine purposes were revealed have for more than eighteen centuries been left destitute of any evidence of Divine favor, except in this one fact, that their solidarity as a people is preserved.

We are not of those who rail against the Jew; who cry out, “Christ-killers; the vengeance of God is upon you, and what you have suffered is only a foretaste of more awful sufferings for all eternity!” Thank God, No! We have Bo such evil sentiment in our heart. We have nothing for the Jew but sympathy, even while in him, as in others of Adam’s children, we may see much to reprehend; nevertheless, we also see his commendable qualities. Among others, we see the quality which God so greatly appreciated in Abraham; namely, faith in his God and in the Divine promises. Such a faith has inspired “God’s Chosen People” to wait for his promised Messianic Kingdom, 10, these many centuries—through all kinds of discouragements, disappointment- and persecutions.           >

Israel, the Channel of Blessing

The long-promised time of Israel’s exaltation as the channel of Messianic blessing to mankind is near—it hasteth greatly. What though there shall be another and great spasm of tribulation In conjunction with the birth of the New Order of things! Beyond the sighing and the crying, the morning dawns—the glorious day in which the Sun of Righteousness shall chase from the world all the shadows of death and despair, which sin and its penalty have brought upon mankind! What though the Scriptures tell us that Israel is yet to have “The time of Jacob’s trouble” in connection with the world’s great time of trouble impending. None of these things shall hinder us from rejoicing in the New Heavens and the New Earth, which God declares he is about to create and put in control of Israel and through them the world— “Be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.”—Isaiah 65:18.

The New Heavens and the New Earth are but symbolical terms for that New Era in which there will be a new social order, as well as a new ecclesiastical system, eternal in the heavens.

The time has come when our text is having its fulfillment. The shining of the lamp of Truth upon the prophetic page shows us that the great clock of the Universe is marking the hour when he w’hose right it is shall take to himself his great power and reign. Ah, yes! We remember that it is written that then the nations shall be angry, and God’s wrath shall be manifest, and then the time shall come for the judgment of the dead and the reward of all. both small and great. But we are glad, nevertheless, that the “times of the Gentiles” are nearly at an end and the time of Messiah’s theocratic government is at hand—For he must reign until he shall have put down all unrighteousness and insubordination, until he shall have caused every knee to bow and every tongue to confess to the glory of God the Father.

First in order of the Kingdom work will be the binding of Satan—the work of a heavenly, and not of an earthly king. Gradually, in the judgments, decrees, rewards, punishments of mankind and the banishing of sin and death will the great King of Glory reveal his own gracious character and the Father’s righteousness to the children of men. Gradually all will have the eyes of their understanding opened to see, not only the Father of all in his true character, but also the Son in his glorious majesty—the Conqueror, “who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame,” and hence is at the right hand of Divine majesty and entrusted with the pouring out of the Divine blessing upon Israel, and, through Israel, extending that blessing to every nation.

One King, but Two Kingdoms

It has escaped Christendom in general until now that the Divine promise to Abraham is to be fulfilled through two Seeds—one a heavenly class, the other an earthly class, with Messiah the Head over all. For eighteen centuries God favored the Seed of Abraham, the nation of Israel. Chastisements they had, reproofs in righteousness; yet in al] that time they had also Divine favo., as represented in their Law and in the Prophecies and in the privileges which came to them under the Law Covenant, in that they had an annual Atonement Day, which continued to them Divine favor. That period of favor, explain it how we may, began to wane about the time of Jesus’ death. It was completely removed from them in the desolation of their land by the Roman army A. D. 70. Now a parallel time has been reached, as stated in our text. Hence it is time for the return of God’s favor, as herein mentioned, returning.

The Jew has not been so comfortable, nor so favorably fixed as he is today, in more than eighteen centuries. But his blessing is only beginning. Shortly Divine favor, in God’s due time, will accomplish for his Chosen People all the precious promises of the Law and of the Prophets. Already the Jew is awakening to a realization of this great Truth.

Zionism Political Becoming Religious

Zionism, started as a political movement, is about to bud and blossom into a religious movement and the blessing of Divine Providence will so order their affairs. The words of the Book, the words of Divine promise, so long read ignorantly and blindly, are about to become luminous and constitute the light which will direct them in the ways of the Lord—leading on to the rehabilitation of Jerusalem and to the attainment of loftier ideals amongst the Jewish people. A voice is sounding from the wilderness, and the Jews everywhere are hearkening to it. It does not call them to become Christians, but to remain Jews and to realize, as Jews, the ideals siet before them by the Lord in the Law and by the Prophets. To all those exercised thereby a great blessing is near, which will more than compensate for the sorrows of the past. Neither by sword, nor guns, nor dreadnaughts, neither by flying air-ships, nor torpedoes will Israel’s great victory be won, neither by money power and worshiping of the golden calf of finance, nor by trusting in the arm of flesh, but by looking to the Lord, from whom will come their help.

Messiah’s Spiritual Empire, about to be established, will bind Satan, restrain every evil and lift up a standard for the people, blessing Israel and establishing with them the New (Law) Covenant instead of the Old Law Covenant—under the better Mediator, still more capable than the great Moses; under the greatei’ King, still more wise than Solomon and still more beloved of God than David. This great Celestial Empire will be established with great authority in the world by a time of trouble, a time of earthly distress, which the prophecies picture as terrible—a short reign of anarchy. Jews and Gentiles will be responsible, rich and poor, for the bringing to pass of this awful trouble, by reason of the selfishness which at present is governing the world and which will be used of the Lord to wreck our present grand civilization—grand at least on its surface and in its aspirations and pretensions.

A Socialistic artillery of words and ecclesiastical bombs of similar nature will only aggravate the strife. Financial weights and levers will have much to do with the great crash of the forces of civilization in this, nearapproaching cataclysm of trouble, in which the reign of sin, inequity, injustice, selfishness, shall forever fall, to rise no more; and the present religious systems also shall be found wanting and pass away. For these old systems, symbolically the “heavens and earth” of the present time, will be substituted the New Heavens and the New Earth—the Church glorified beyond the veil as the Bride of the great Messiah, and, Society on earth reorganized, will constitute the New Earth, wherein will dwell righteousness. The transition will be but a momentary ordeal, as compared with the glorious eternity of blessing under Messiah’s righteous supervision. “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth.”

Israel’s Hopes—Why So Delayed?

The perplexing thought with our Jewish friends, as well as with Christians, is, If these things be so; if Messiah’s Kingdom is yet to be established, only on a spiritual plane instead of an earthly one; and if God’s purpose is to use those anciently favored people as the channels of his blessing in the future, why has* there been so long delay?

We answer. This is what the Scriptures term The Mystery—the matter which God did not reveal directly, either to Abraham or through any of the Prophets. Indirectly he hinted at it, saying to Abraham, “Thy Seed shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the seashore for multitude.” But Abraham did not discern, nor did others, that these two illustrations belonged, not to the same people, but to two different Israels. The earthly promises belonged to natural Israel. Eventually all mankind, blessed under the Messianic reign, will become Israelites—of the Seed of Abraham.

Thus Abraham’s “Seed shall be as the sand of the seashore for multitude.” And they must all have the faith of Abraham and his obedience, ere they can reach perfection as members of his Seed. First in the order of blessing will come the Ancient Worthies—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the Prophets and holy ones of the past. These will be raised from the dead by the power of God—not imperfect and fallen, but perfect: fully up to all the glorious ideals of their minds aforetime. This will be their reward for having walked by faith and not by sight. Thus we read, Instead of being the fathers, they shall be the children, whom Messiah will make princes in all the earth—his representatives in power, in rulership, in authority (Psalms 45:16). At that time the blessing shall return to Israel that has been taken from them for more than eighteen centuries.

Crimes Committed in Jesus' Name

With shame true Christians must admit that most atrocious crimes were committed in the name of Jesus during the “Dark Ages.” Worse than that! The horrible misrepresentation of all that the name of Jesus stands for still continues. Witness, for instance, the injustices practised in the name of Christianity against the Jew in Russia for years past, and in various nations in remoter times. Witness the fact also that only a few months agO' the so-called Christians of Rouma-nia acted like veritable demons toward their Jewish neighbors. Well authenticated accounts tell that the Jewish cemetery was despoiled. Many of those buried within the two preceding months were dug up and the putrid and mangled corpses thrown on the steps and in the door-yards of their families. Can we wonder that the Jew has developed a hatred for the word Christian and for the name Jesus?

The name Jesus, as is well known, is but another form for Joshua, which signifies Deliverer. The name Christ is the Greek equivalent for the name Messiah. Every Jew. rightly informed respecting the character and the teachings of Jesus, is bound to respect him and his immediate followers as amongst the grandest Jews that ever lived. They must not be judged according to the perversion of their teachings, so common amongst Christians. And it should not be forgotten that while the masses of Christendom have misrepresented their teaching, doctrines and practices, there has been throughout the entire age a saintly few who have closely followed in the footsteps of Jesus.                    >

In our preaching we do not urge upon the Jews to become Christians; but we seek to hold forth the Divine standard for them and to assist them to get ready for the fulfillment of the glorious promises which are theirs. That the due time for the fulfillment of these is at hand is the comfort we offer them, in harmony with our text. The Prophet declares that it will be after their return to their own land, and after the great time of trouble which is now impending upon Christendom, that the Jew will recognize that the great Messiah of glory, the great Michael of Daniel xii, 1, for whose Kingdom they have been waiting, is none other than the “Man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all men” eighteen centuries ago. God will then blessedly open their eyes of understanding. As The Prophet declares, “They shall look upon him whom they pierced”; they will then see the identity between the Jesus who was sacrificed for the sins of Israel and the world and the Messiah of Glory.

Meantime, what has God wrought? Ah, this, again, we say is the Mystery! Here and there from Jew and Gentile, saintly characters have been sought and found by the preaching of the message of Christ, even though that message frequently was dimmed by earthly imperfections and blemishes— by erroneous representations. Those saintly ones will be sharers wfith Messiah in Divine blessings on the spirit plane, mentioned to Abraham under the figure that his “Seed shall be as the stars of heaven.”

But under what conditions do these attain a spiritual inheritance iike unto the angels and far above them? We answer that the spirit nature is the divine reward of a special obedience

THE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY

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Our race was not created ol the heavenly plane nor for a he vcnly nature, but of the earth earthy. .uid its salvation from sin will brin_o it to the full perfection of human nature and to the full enjoyment of a w . Id-wide Eden. The Spiritual Seed of Abraham is to be composed of Messiah and the Elect Little Flock of saintly xootstep followers. The price of their exaltation is their consecration unt ■ death and faithfulness to that Vow. These are the Jewels mentioned by th Lord to the Prophet—“Gather together my saints unto me, saith the Lord; those who have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice”; “They shall be mine, in that day when I make up my jewels.”

“HOW READEST THOU?

“’Tis one thing, friend, to read the Scriptures through,

Another thing to read to learn and do;

’Tis one thing, too, to read it with d Might And quite another thing to read it right.

“Some read it with design to learn to read, But to the subject pay but little heed;

Some read it as their duty once a week, But no instruction from the Scriptures seek.

“Some read to bring themselves into repute, By showing others how they can dispute; Whilst others read because their neighbors do, To see how long ’twill take to read it through.

“Some read to prove a preadopted creed, Thus understand but little what they read; And every passage of the book they bund To make it suit that all important <.nd.

Some people read, as I have often thought, To teach the Book instead of being taught.”

AWAKE! JERUSALEM, AWAKE!

Awake, Jerusalem, awake!

The Lord will comfort thee’

Now from the dust thy garments shake. Arise in majesty!

Thy light is come, thy sun shall rise.

With healHg in his rays,

Thy land shall be a paradise, And echo ceaseless praise.

—Isa. 52:1-3; J er. 31:28-37; Ezck. 36:8-38.

The darkness that has veiled as night The lost of Israel’s fold.

Will be replaced by gospel light When “Gentile times” are told.

When “God’s elect” in Zion reign, Thy morning shall begin;

Their mercy shall remove the stain Of Jacob’s crimson sin.

—Jer. 31:10-12; Ezck. 39:23-29 ; Ps. 49:14

The cup of trembling from thy hand

Jehovah will remove;

And spread o’er thy forsaken land The mantle of His love.

The barren plain shall bloom again, And famine flee thy shores;

Blest peace will aid thy husbandmen, And fill thy threshing floois.

—Isa. 51:17-2.3; 30:18-26; Amos 9 :11-15.

Thy watchmen eye to eye shall see, When God shall Zion bring;

Good news of good shall swiftly fly On everlasting wing;

The voice of crying then shall cease, And praises thrill the skies;

For health and gladness will increase

As vanquished error dies.

—Zeph. 3: 8-20; Ps. 67.; Micah 7: 16-20

Redeemed, redeemed, but not with gold, Thy ransomed ones return;

With awe the Gentiles shall behold

Thy holy incense burn;

Unto thy palaces, restored, All nations soon shall flow, To seek and serve thy royal Lord, In homage bowing low.

—Isa. 52:9, 10; Zech. 8:20-23; Mal. 1:11.

ISRAEL’S RETURN TO PALESTINE

The Zionist movement for the past few years has awakened much thought amongst those who believe the prophecies of the Bible. This issue of The Bible Students Monthly is wholly inadequate for the presentation of the vast amount of Scriptural testimony upon the subject. We refer the interested reader to Pastor Russell’s volumes of Studies in the Scriptures, as follows:

Vol.                                     Pages.

• I. “The Divine Plan of the Ages”

• II. “The Time Is At Hand”

• III. “Thy Kingdom Come”

• IV. “The Battle of Armageddon”

• V. “Atonement Between God and Man” 752

• VI. “The New Creation”

Each volume is complete, costing but

35e. postpaid, and the entire set of six books will be supplied to our readers for $2.65, including also one year’s subscription to Pastor Russell’s semi-monthlv magazine, The Watch Tower. Address International Bible Students Association. Brooklyn, N. Y.

The unusual spectacle of 4,000 Hebrews enthusiastically applauding a Gentile preacher, after having listened t a -irmon he addressed to them concerning their own religion, was presented at the Hippodrome yesterday afternoon, where Pastor Russell, the famous head of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, conducted a most unusual service.

In his time the venerable pastor has done many unconventional things. His r ligion is bounded by no particular denomination, and encompasses, as he s .ys, an mankind. His ways of teaching it are his own. But he never did a more unconventional thing than this —nor a more successful one.

He won over an audience that had come—some of it, at least—prepared to debate with him, to resent, perhaps, what might have appeared like a possible intrusion. “Pastor Russell is going to try to convert the Jews to Christianity,” was the word that many had received before the meeting. “He wants to proselyte us.”

Received at First in Silence

In the crowd that filled the big showhouse were scores of rabbis and teachers, who had come to speak out in case the Christian attacked their religion or sought to win them from it. They had questions and criticisms ready for him. He was received at first in a dead silence.

But the pastor did not seek to convert the Jews. To their unbounded delight, he pointed out the good things of their religion, agreed with them in their most important beliefs as to their salvation, and finally, after a warm advocacy of the plan of the Jews establishing a nation of their own, brought about a tumult of applause by leading a choir in the Zionist anthem: “Hatikva—Our Hope.”

A more interesting audience the Hippodrome never held, perhaps. From all parts of the city came serious minded HG. ..s to hear what it was an alien, a Gentile, might have to say to them at a service, held during their week of feasting, Rosh Hoshana. They were quiet, well dressed, thinking men and women.

Among them were many prominent figures of the Hebrew literary world. Some of these escorted Pastor Russell to the Hippodrome in a motor car and then took places in the auditorium. The literary men recognized the pastor as a writer and investigator of international fame on the subject of Judaism and Zionism. Some of those present were Dr. Jacobs, editor of the “American Hebrew”; W. J. Solomon, of the “Hebrew Standard”; J. Brosky, associate editor of the same; Louis Lipsky, editor Of the “Maccabean”; A. B. Landau, of the “Warheit”; Leo Wolfson, president of the Federation of Roumanian Societies; J. Pfeffer, of the “Jewish Weekly”; S. Diamont, editor of the “Jewish Spirit”; S. Goldberg, editor of the “American Hebrew”; J. Barrondess, of the “Jewish Big Stick,” and Mr. Goldman, editor of “H’Yom,” the only Jewish daily.

No Religious Symbols There

No symbol of any religion at all greeted them when they gazed at the Hippodrome stage. It was entirely empty save for a small lectern and three peace flags hanging from silken cords above. One was the familiar white silk banner with the Stars and Stripes in its center, together with the words “Peace Among Nations” in letters of gold. Another bore a rainbow and the word “Pax.” The third was a Silken strip bearing miniature representations of all the nations' flags.

There were no preliminaries. Pastor Russell, tall, erect and whitebearded, walked across the stage without introduction, raised his hand, and his double quartette from the Brooklyn Tabernacle sang the hymn “Zion’s Glad Day.” The members of this organization are Mrs. E. W. Brenneisen, Mrs. E. N. Detweiler, Miss Blanche Raymond and Mrs. Raymond, Emil Hirscher, C. Myers, J. P. MacPherson, and J. Mockridge. Their voices blended perfectly, and the hymn, without any instrumental accompaniment, was impressive.

But still there seemed an air of •aloofness about the audience. They did not applaud, but sat silently watching the stalwart figure of the pastor. When he began to talk, however, they gave him respectful attention.

With a powerful, yet charming voice, that filled the great playhouse, the un-» conventional clergyman made his every word audible to every hearer. His tones pleased their ears, his graceful gestures soon captivated their eyes, and in a few moments his apparently thorough knowledge of his subject appealed to their minds. Though still silent, the 4,000 were “warming up” to him.

Reserve and Doubt Vanish

It was not long before all reserve, and all possible doubt of Pastor Russell’s entire sincerity and friendliness were worn away. Then the mention of the name of a great Jewish leader— who, the speaker declared, had been raised by God for the cause—brought a burst of applause.

From that moment on the audience was his. The Jews became as enthusiastic over him as though he had been a great rabbi or famous orator of their own religion. He hailed them as one of the bravest races of the earth—having kept their faith through the persecutions and cruelties of all other people for thousands of years. And he predicted that before very long they would be the greatest of the earth— not merely a people, any longer, but a nation. By a system of deductions based upon the prophesies of old, the pastor declared that the return of the kingdom of the Jews might occur at so near a period as the year 1914. Persecution would then soon be over and peace and universal happiness would triumph.

As he brought his address to a conclusion the pastor raised his hand again to his choir. This time they raised the quaint, foreign-sounding strains of the Zion hymn, “Our Hope,” one of the masterpieces of the eccentric East Side poet, Imber.

The unprecedented incident of Christian voices singing the Jewish anthem came as a tremendous stirprise. For a moment the Hebrew auditors could scarcely believe their ears. Then, making sure it was their own hymn, they first cheered and clapped with such ardor that the music was drowned out, and then, with the second verse, joined in by hundreds.

What Pastor Russell Said

The speaker read to his audience many quotations from the prophecies of the Bible relating to Zionism, the first one of which was Psalms cii, 13-18 —“Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. Then shall the Gentiles fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

Pastor Russell declared that while once he had been inclined to discard the Bible as unreliable, along the lines of Higher Criticism, he had subsequently given it very earnest study, entirely apart from all creeds and theories of men. This study had greatly enlightened his mind and had given him a very different view of the sacred Book. He now has absolute confidence in it. He now realizes, not only that there is a great Creator, but that he is definite, orderly, in his dealings with humanity, in his shaping of earth’s affairs. For instance, the first Psalm quoted mentions the time, yea, the set time, for the return of Divine favor to Zion.

So he finds matters everywhere through the Holy Scriptures. In due time David, Solomon and others represented Jehovah in the Kingdom of Israel and “sat upon tl e throne of the Kingdom of the Lord.” Later the Kingdom was taken from Zedekiah, the last of the line of David to sit upon the throne of God’s typical Kingdom. When the dominion was taken from him the Gentile governments were recognized, but not in the same manner as was Israel. None of them was designated the Kingdom of God. None of them was given perpetuity of rule.

But Gentile governments were promised a lease of power during the period when Israel would be cast off from God’s favor. Then at the appointed time the Gentile lease of earthly power would terminate, and God’s original provision for Israel to represent his Kingdom in the world, would return.

These are certainly the set times referred to by the Psalmist. God’s promise to David—“The sure mercies of David”—were that of the fruit of his loins one should sit on the throne of the Lord forever. The real purport of this promise was that Messiah, the long-promised King of Israrel, would be the root and off-shoot of the David-ic line and blessed of the Lord; his Kingdom should be an everlasting one and fully competent to fulfill all of the Divine promises made to Abraham— “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

Zedekiah Rejected — Nebuchadnezzar Acknowledged

So long as God acknowledged the nation of Israel as his Kingdom their kings .were his representatives; but when Zedekiah was rejected it was not inconsistent on the Lord’s part to recognize the Gentile governments, as above suggested. Of King Zedekiah we read, “O thou profane and wicked Prince, whose time has come that iniquity should have an end. Remove the diadem. Take off the crown. This shall not be the same. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it until he come whose right it is (Messiah), and I will give it unto him” (Ezekiel 21:25, 26, 27).

It was at this very time that Goel gave the lease of earthly power to Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, as is related in Daniel’s prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed, but disremembered his vision. Daniel the Prophet, made prisoner at an earlier date, was, by Divine providence* introduced to the king as the one person in all the world able to rehearse the King’s dream and to give its interpretation, and his power so to do is declared to have been of the Lord.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Vision of Gentile Dominion

The vision was of a stupendous image. Its head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar’s Empire—Babylon. Its breast and arms of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire. Its belly and thighs of brass represented the Grecian Empire. Its strong legs of iron represented the Roman Empire, East and West. Its feet of iron and clay represented Papal Rome. The iron continues to represent civil governments, and the miry clay, making them appear like stone, represented ecclesiasticism as it is now mixed up with the politics of the ten kingdoms of Europe.

The whole period of time in which these various- Gentile governments would dominate the world would last until Messiah’s promised Kingdom And this period is symbolically stated to have been “seven times”; that is, seven years—evidently not literal years, but symbolical.

At their end the lease of earthly power of Gentile governments will ter minate in the great time of trouble

foretold by Daniel (12:1). Then Messiah shall stand up in the sense of assuming control of earth’s affairs and Gentile governments will cease, for all nations shall serve and obey Messiah. And then God’s Chosen People, Israel, will come to the front in the world’s affairs, because they will become the representatives and instruments amongst men of Messiah’s Kingdom, which will be spiritual and invisible, as is that of the Prince of this world, the Prince of darkness, whom Messiah will bind or restrain during the thousand years of his reign of righteousness and destroy at the conclusion, when he shall deliver over the Kingdom of the earth to the Father. Mankind will then be perfect, because all wilful sinners will be destroyed in the Second Death. Meantime, Messiah’s reign will not only bless and uplift Israel, but through Israel the blessing will extend to every nation, people, kindred and tongue in full accord with the Divine promise and oath made to Abraham more than thirty centuries ago.

All this is briefly and beautifully represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, as explained by Daniel. He saw a stone taken from the mountain without human aid. He watched and saw the stone smite the image on its feet and beheld, as the result, complete de-molishment of the Gentile systems. This smiting of the image in the feet symbolically represents that it will bo by Divine power that present institutions will all come to naught preparatory to the establishment of the Kingdom of God in their stead.

Messiah's Kingdom in the Vision

Then Messiah’s Kingdom, symbolized fey the stone, will not only fill the place where the image stood, but, gradually increasing, will fill the whole earth. From this standpoint, said the speaker, it is not difficult for us to believe the words of the Psalmist that there is a time for God’s regathering Zion, yea, a set time—fixed and unalterable. The speaker would not pretend to say the day or month or year in which these things would be accomplished—in which the Gentile lease of earth’s dominion would expire and Messiah’s Kingdom assume control.

He did, however, offer a suggestion: So far as he could discern, the time for these stupendous events is very much closer than many of us had supposed. The seven times, or years of Gentile domination, reckoned on the basis suggested in the Scriptures themselves, should be interpreted a day for a year, lunar time. Seven years in lunar time would represent 2,520 days and these, symbolically interpreted, would mean 2,520 years— from the time Nebuchadnezzar, the head of the image, was recognized down to the time of the expiration of the lease of Gentile power, when the stone shall smite the image in the feet. So far as Pastor Russell has been able to determine, the year of Zedekiah’s dethronement was 606 B. C. Thus calculated the 2,520 years of Gentile lease of power will expire in October, 1914. There are some who claim that Zedekiah’s dethronement should be dated B. C. 588. If this be true it could make a difference of but eighteen years and give the date 1932. Pastor Russell’s convictions, however, favor the 1914 date.

Zionism’s Future Assured Beyond Question of Doubt

For more than thirty years I have been presenting to Christian people the views I am today presenting specially to Jews, at the invitation of your Committee. Thirty years ago I attempted to tell to Israel the good tidings that God’s set time to remember Zion had come. But that seemingly was too early. God’s set time for Israel to .hear was still future. I waited and am still waiting for God’s own time and way for the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:1, 2—“Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people; speak ye comfortingly to Jerusalem. Cry unto her that her appointed time is accomplished, and her iniquity pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all of her sins.”

“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.”

About twenty years ago providence raised up for your people a great leader, Dr. Herzl, whose name is now a household word with your race. While your people were unready for any message that I could give them they were

t-rtbfc Lil tKATUKt!

Send postal-card request to the editor for free copies of this paper. Some of the interesting subjects you may have for asking are:

Calamities—Why Permitted?

What Is tin Soul?

Where Are the Dead?

Prince Lucifer of Old Now Prince of Demons.

What Is Sheol—Hades—Hell?

Do You Believe in the Resurrection of the Dead?

Why Financiers Tremble. ready for what God sent them through Dr. Herzl—-a message of hope, a message of national aspiration which quickened the pulse of your people into new hope respecting the future of the Jews. Dr. Herzl’s endeavor was to have all loyal sons of Israel rise from the dust and aspire to be a nation amongst nations and to provide a home for the persecuted of their race in Russia and Eastern Europe. Dr. Herzl struck the popular chord in the hearts of the people. At first it was purely political, and the name of Zion meant little of anything religious; but gradually Dr. Herzl and all the leaders of t’m counsels of your people began to sec that the religious element of the movement was the strongest, the most powerful.

Dr. Herzl has been succeeded by Dr. Nordau, also evidently a man of great talent and great patriotism; but Zionism languishes. I am disclosing no secret when I tell you that amongst the leaders, as well as amongst the rank and file, Zionism is trembling in the balances and fearful of coming to naught. It has spent its force along the lines originally inaugurated; but it will not fail, as many fear. Without assuming the role of a seer, I answer you that Zionism is about to take on fresh vigor; that its most prosperous days are yet to come. According to my understanding of tl-e Hebrew prophets the time of “Jacob’s trouble” is not yet ended. Further pogroms of Russia may be expected and further atrocities in the land of Roumania and elsewhere.

It is sad indeed to be obliged to admit that these tribulations will probably come to you from professed Christians. How ashamed I feel of those who thus dishonor the name and the teachings of my Master, I cannot find words to express! They are deluded. They have misunderstood the Teacher whom they profess to follow. Their thought is that God will torment eternally all who do not profess the name of Christ. Controlled by delusions they are serving the god Adversary and dishonoring Jesus. But as the trials and difficulties of the patriarch Joseph were God’s providences to lead him on to influence and rower and honor, so will all these experiences and persecutions work blessings for your race and tend to drive them out of their present satisfaction and make them long for home—for Palestine. These experiences, in connection with the voice of the prophets, which will henceforth more and more ring in your ears, will be the providences of God to accomplish for you more along the lines of Zionism than personal pride and national patriotism.

It is not my thought that the eight millions of Jews in the world will all gb to Palestine, even though it has been estimated that, under most favorable conditions, the land could support more than twice that many. It is my thought that some of your most earnest and saintly people will go to Palestine quickly, that the rejuvenation there will be astonishing to the world. Further, it is my thought that Jews in every part of the world, in proportion as they come under the holy influences of God’s promises through the prophets, will go to Palestine sympathetically—by encouraging those who can better go than themselves and by financial assistance and the establishment there of great enterprises.

Permit me to suggest that in the time of trouble, incidental to the transfer of Gentile rule to the power of Messiah, all financial interests will be jeopardized. Many of your race, growing wealthy, will surely take pleasure in forwarding the work of .^r ionism, as soon as they shall realize that it is of God, foretold through the prophets. And those of your people of insufficient faith to use their means in forwarding the Lord’s work at this important juncture will, before very long, find themselves in the condition pictured by the Prophet Ezekiel, w^rho declares (8:19) that in this great day of trouble—“They shall cast their silver in the streets and their gold shall be removed; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” The great Messenger of the Covenant whom ye delight in (Malachi 3:1-3) will test and prove you as a people. Those who worship idols of gold and silver, stocks and bonds, will receive severe chastisement at his hand that they may learn a great lesson before he will grant them a share in the fast approaching blessings.

Tabernacle Shadows

An interesting little brochure by Pastor Russell, dealing with the Jewish Tabernacle, Priesthood and sacrifices, in type and antitype. Illustrated, 140 pages, 10c. postpaid

Published by

International Bible Students Assn.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.

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WHO is this Pastor Charles T. Russell, who through one medium and another is making an appeal to the Jews, in fact, is going to the lengths of advising them on internal affairs, from a Kehillah to Zionism? And if he appeals to the Jews why does he do it? The average Jew, without reading a word about Mr. Russell, would answer any question of this kind by the curt observation, “another missionary.” Some have indeed so branded Mr. Russell, but Mr. Russell hotly denies the whole business. He makes a point of advertising the fact that he is in no way connected with any of the missionary movements; and those who have aided him in some measure to get a Jewish hearing—he spoke to thousands of Jews in the New York Hippodrome—would prefer helping a thief to steal, to aiding a missionary in any of his nefarious designs. It was therefore largely in the interest x>f fair play that the editor of The Jewish Advocate paid a flying visit to New York to spend a day with Mr. Russell, determined to report his conclusions whatever they might be. And let us at once set forward the conclusion, in justice to the man : Pastor Russell is not a missionary to the Jews,_ he has no desire to convert them to Christianity in any form, in fact, he could not be an ordinary Christian and be Pastor Russell at the same time.

He is a realist of the resurrection idea, and has separated himself from all other forms of Christianity, even from the Adventists by certain peculiarities. His doctrine concerned the writer in so far as this, that the doctrine would show whether or not Mr. Russell has. a subconscious conversionist purpose in seeking contact with the Jews.

Seated in his study he permitted himself to be questioned by the hour, and the questioner was hostile and critical, but the answers came freely and without reserve. His teachings are curiously akin to the doctrines of the Chassidim, of whose existence the Pastor and his friends know nothing. Of course the Pastor believes in the Nazarene, but it is not the common Christian conception, and what concerns us most his Christ is for the Christians, not for the Jews. He does not believe in the Trinity and re; ards the doctrine as contrary to all Scriptures.

Reading his Bible literally, and particularly the Psalms, he believes that the dead are all dead till the resurrection, and Sheol is the grave and nothing more. Calculating from the Book of Daniel he has some idea of the actual date of “the things to come,” and his teaching and his life and that of his disciples are entirely a preparation for “the latter days.” He and they and all those who are good and accept his teaching are to be, or seek to be, among the 144,000 who are to have a special resurrection, and whose Kingdom is to be invisible, in the sky. For tne rest of us there is to be a physical, material resurrection, embracing all generations since man began.

The fervid enthusiasm with which all this is related would surprise most Jews who take the hereafter, and the future life, as a matter of course. With Pastor Russell and his followers it is a matter of a burning quest. They seek to 'be among the saints; they want for themselves something more than that physical resurrection which they hold out with assurance to all mankind. And because of this desire they approach the Jews, and more particularly the Zionists, in a peculiar spirit of fellowship.

Pastor Russell is not looking for the resettlement of all the Jews in Palestine. He is quite satisfied if in numbers and effort they repeat what is related in Ezra and Nehemiah, but the more they move in that direction, the more they accom-Slish towards rebuilding Zion. Pastor tussell believes that all nations will, under the Millennial Reign, become Jews.

So Pastor Russell neither practically nor theoretically favors the conversion of the Jews. But our interest in him does not quite end there. The removal of the fundamental cause for suspicion brings him, as a matter of fact, on an entirely new plane of relations with Jews. He is the possible philo-Semite. His particular creed teaches him that the Jews are entitled to their own creed, and therefore he has not the usual Christian reason for assuming an attitude of spiritual superiority towards the Jews. Thus his form of Christianity permits the Jew to be himself, and offers him a measure of praise if he will be it. In the words of Pastor Russell:

“My writings and teachings in general are addressed to Christians. I am striving my utmost to help fellow-Christians out of the blindness of error and superstition and away from the misconceptions of the Divine Word which led our forefathers to persecute your race—in dense ignorance of the teachings of the holy Scriptures and the spirit thereof. From an unsectarian standpoint I am speaking to the little remnant of true Christians in the great heterogeneous mass. Those true Christians I am endeavoring to instruct from the Word of God respecting

THE issues of life, death and a hereafter are all in the power of the Lord. He took counsel of none of us, and holds Himself fully responsible, declaring that all of His purposes shall be accomplished, and that His Word that has gone forth shall not return to Him void, but shall accomplish that which He pleases.— Isaiah 40 :1C, 11.

He owed us nothing in the beginning, and will be under no obligations to us in the end. God gave our race life in Adam, but, as he had foreseen, they lost it by disobedience and came under the penalty —death.

A ray of hope came with the giving of the Oath-Bound Promise to Abraham, which declared “In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”—Genesis 22 :18.

Assurance of Almighty’s Oath.

Doubtless Abraham and all of his family, Israel after the flesh, drew a certain amount of blessing and encouragement from this Covenant or promise and the oath of the Almighty, which doubly sealed it, and which gave double assurance of its certainty of accomplishment; but the Apostle Paul intimates that God’s special design in giving that Covenant and in binding it solemnly with an oath, was to encourage Spiritual Israel—to give us a firm foundation for faith. He says (Hebrews 6:13-18), “That by two immutable things (two unalterable things), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we (the Gospel Church) might have a strong consolation, (we) who have fled for refuge (to Christ), to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” The context shows distinctly that the Apostles and the early Christian Church drew comfort from the Oath-Bound Covenant, and clearly implies that this same comfort belongs to every true Christian down to the end of this age.

God well knew that, although 3,000 years from His own standpoint would be but a brief space, “as a watch in the night,” nevertheless to us the time would appear long, and the strain upon faith would be severe; hence the positive statement and the still more deliberate oath that bound it. We cannot but wonder at such condescension upon the part of the great Creator—that He would stoop to His fallen creatures and, above all, that He should condescend to give His oath on the subject.

Our Lord Jesus was the great heir of the Abrahamic promise, and the faithful of His consecrated people of this Gospel Age are declared to be His joint-heirs in that promise, which is not yet fulfilled. For its fulfilment, not only the Church is waiting, as the Bride or fellow-members of the Body of Christ, to be participants with the Lord in the glories implied in the Promise, but additionally, the whole creation (the entire human family) is groaning and travailing in pain together waiting for the great fulfilment of that Oath-Bound Promise or Covenant.—Romans 8 :19-23.

Those who follow the Apostle’s argument and realize that all true Christians are still waiting for the fulfilment of this Promise, will be anxious to know what are the terms of this Covenant which is the hope of the world, the hope of the Church, and the object of so much solicitude and care on the part of God, in that He would promise and then back His Word with an Oath. We answer that every Christian should know what this promise is, since it lies at the very foundation of every Christian’s hope.

How can this hope be an anchor to our the spiritual privileges and hopes which the Bible holds out to them.

“All the good promises of His Word are sure to be fulfilled. I see it in your prophecies. I urge upon the Jew that he turn to the Voice of God speaking through Moses and the Prophets. The time for this is ripe. Set before your minds the glorious heights and depths and lengths and breadths of your Law—love to God with all your hearts, and love to your fellows as to yourself.

“Assuredly, I do not urge Jews to join any Christian sect or party, nor to accept the crudities of Christian creeds. My message to them is “To the Law and to the Prophets (testimony). If they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:20.) True Christians and true Jews should not be very far apart in their love for God and in their well-wishes toward each other, even though they differ in their views relative to certain modes of belief.” soul in all the storms and trials and difficulties of life, in all the opposition of the world, the flesh and the Adversary, if we do not know what the hope is, if we have not even recognized the promise upon, which this hope is based?

The Seed Which Will Bless AU.

The Apostle Paul referred to this very promise, declaring that the Seed of Abraham mentioned therein is Christ. All Christians agree to this, although they have not distinctively and properly associated it with the declarations of the Promise. But the Apostle makes clear to us that in saying that Christ is the Seed of Abraham, he had in mind not only the Lord Jesus as the Head of the Body, the Head of The Christ, but also the overcoming saints of this Gospel Age as the Body of Christ. This he distinctly states in many places, for instance Galatians 3 :16-29. Here he declares the matter expressly, saying: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s Seed, and heirs according to the Promise.”

“The Seed of Abraham” is the Gospel Church, with her Head, the Lord Jesus; as the Apostle states again saying: “We, brethren, as Isaac was (typified by Isaac), are the children of promise.” (Galatians 4:28.) It follows that the Seed of Abraham mentioned in the promise is not complete and will not be until the full close of this Gospel Age—in the Harvest time of which we now are!

But what a wonderful thought is involved in this plain interpretation of the Diyine Word I It is big with hope for Spiritual Israel, the Spiritual Seed, and no less, it means a blessing for the natural seed, fleshly Israel, and ultimately the Millennial blessings to all the families of the earth. Let us examine these three hopes, which Center in the Oath-Bound Covenant—the Anchor to the Soul.

The Christian Hope.

Now what hope and interest has the Church of Christ in this promise made to Abraham ? To us belongs the very cream of the promise, “the riches of God’s grace.” The promise implies the greatness of the Seed of Abraham, which Seed is Christ and the overcoming Church. This greatness is so wonderful as to be almost beyond human comprehension. The overcomers of this Gospel Age who “make their calling and election sure” in Christ, are to ue joint-heirs with Him in the glorious Millennial Kingdom which is to be God’s agency or channel for bringing about the promised blessings —the blessing of all the families of the earth. Be it distinctly noted that the Promise to Abraham divided his “Seed” into two parts, (first) “as the stars of heaven,” (second) “as the sands of the seashore.” From this it is apparent that there was to be a Heavenly, spiritual seed as well as the Natural, earthly seed. Through the Spiritual Seed, during the Messianic Reign, the whole world is to be blessed.

The great blessing of forgiveness of past sins, and even the blessing of being awakened from the sleep of death, would profit mankind but little, if the arrangements of that future time—the Millennial Age—were not on such a scale as to permit a thorough recovery from present mental, moral and physical weaknesses. Hence we are rejoiced to learn that in that time Satan will be bound, every evil influence and every unfavorable condition will be brought under restraint, and the favor of God through the knowledge of God will be turned upon the people— “The knowledge of the Lord shall fill the waole earth as the waters, cover the great deep.” Blessing, aye, favor upon favor, blessing upon blessing, is the Lord’s arrangement and provision I All shull know Him from the least unto the greatest, and none shall need to say to his neighbor or his brother, “Know thou the Lord?”—Isaiah 11:9 ; Jeremiah 31:34.

The prophets spoke repeatedly of these blessings due to the world in the future. Mark how Joel tells that, as during this Gospel Age, the Lord pours out His Spirit upon His servants and hand-maidens, so after these days, in the Millennial Age, He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. There will be world-wide blessing through the knowledge of the Truth. Mark how Moses, the Prophet, spoke of these coming blessings, and told how God would raise up a greater Lawgiver than Himself, a greater Teacher, a better Mediator, and, under the better Covenant of the Lord, would bring blessings worldwide ! Mark again how he represents the Atonement for the sins of the whole world in the Atonement Day sacrificial arrangements! Mark how again he typ-ifically foretold the blessings of the Millennial Age, representing them in Israel’s “Year of Jubilee,” in which every man went free and every possession was returned to its original ownership, thus representing the blessings of the future, man’s release from the servitude of sin and Satan, and the return to him of all that was lost through Adam. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Micah, have spoken of these coming times, so that the Apostle Peter, pointing to the future, could truthfully. declare that the coming Times of Restitution of all things have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the .world began.—Acts 3 :19-21.

Hope for Jews and Others.

The second class to be blessed under this Abrahamic Covenant is Natural Israel. We are not forgetting that the Jews were a stiff-necked and rebellious people; that they slew the prophets and stoned the Lord’s ministers and caused the crucifixion of our Redeemer. Nevertheless, the Scriptures clearly hold forth that after they have had a period of chastisement, which they have been undergoing as a nation since our Lord’s crucifixion, and after Spiritual Israel shall have been glorified in the Kingdom, then a blessing from the Lord will come upon Natural Israel; they shall be saved or recovered from their blindness, and, as the Prophet declares, they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced and shall mourn for Him—because the eyes of their understanding shall be opened. We rejoice, too, that the promise is clear and distinct that the Lord will pour upon them the “spirit of prayer and of supplication.” (Zechariah 12:10.) See also Romans 11 :25-32.

But if God is to have mercy upon the natural Israelite, whom He declares to have been stiff-necked and hard-hearted and rebellious, would it surprise us that the Divine, benevolent intention should be to also bless others than the Jews—others who had not in the past the favors and privileges of this favored nation, and whose course, therefore, was less in opposition to the Light? It should not surprise us. And so we find in this great Oath-Bound Covenant a blessing for all nations—all peoples.

Poor, Imperfect Creatures.

“We make God’s love too narrow By false standards of our own.”

Do not misapprehend us. We are not teaching that heathen and imbeciles and the unregenerate in general shall be taken to Heaven, where they would be utterly out of harmony with their surroundings and require to be converted and to be taught. Such an inconsistent view we leave to those who are now claiming that the heathen will be saved in their ignorance. We stand by the Word of God that there is no present salvation without faith in Christ Jesus, and that the heathen and. the imbecile have neither part nor lot in the salvation of the present time. We stand by the Scripture:; which say that salvation at the present time is only for the Little Flock, who, through much tribulation, shall enter the Kingdom. We stand by the Scriptures which say that this Kingdom class now being developed is the Spiritual Seed of Abraham under the Lord, their Head, their Elder Brother, the Bridegroom.

The period in which opportunity will be granted to man is in the Scriptures termed the Day of Judgment—a thousand-year day, the Millennial Day. It will be a day of trial, a day of testing, a day of proving the world to see whether, with a full knowledge of God and of righteousness., which He requires, they will choose righteousness in preference to sin, choose life in preference to the Second Death—everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His Power.

Thank God for that wonderful judgment, the trial day for the world, secured for all through the precious blood of Christ. “When the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”—Isaiah 26:9.