Restoration (1927)
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RESTORATION
RESTORATION
A Biblical portrayal of Israel as God's Chosen People and an account of Zionism in its relation to the Divine Plan.
By J. F. Rutherford
Author of
"Deliverance"
"The Harp of God"
"Millions Now Living Will Never Die"
"Comfort for the People"
"Where are the Dead?"
etc.
Copyright 1927.
Publishers:
International Bible Students Association
Brooklyn, New York, U. S. A.
Also: London, Toronto, Melbourne, Cape Town, Magdeburg, Berne, etc.
(Made in U. S. A.) Alexandria Bay, N.
Y.
Casa Blanca
Aug. 14, 1925
Hon. Joseph F. Rutherford,
124 Columbia H'ghts.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
My dear Justice:-
Your address "Jews returning to Palestine" which was broadcasted, has just been brought to my attention.
My wife and I have been three times in the Holy Land. We are intensely interested in its reconstruction, being ardent Zionists.
Your interpretation of the prophecies of the Bible strongly appeals to us - and confirms our own conviction.
You manifest a serious study of the Old Testament, which cannot help but convince of the justice of my people in wanting again to possess the Holy Land.
Accept assurance of my personal appreciation of your liberal, generous viewpoint of our sacred cause.
Most sincerely yours, ---
PUBLISHERS' FOREWORD
THE rebuilding of Palestine is claiming the attention of Jews throughout the earth. Some of the Gentile world powers are outwardly favoring the movement but manifestly for selfish reasons.
JUDGE RUTHERFORD, known throughout the world as a friend of the Hebrew people, is vigorously supporting the claim of the Jews to the Holy Land. He is opposed to proselyting the Jews, holding that such is not only wrong but contrary to the Scriptures. His lectures to large audiences, which have been broadcast throughout the world, on "JEWS RETURNING TO PALESTINE", have created an intense interest. There is a great demand for them in printed form. He has amplified these lectures and now presents them in book form. This volume will be of profound interest to Jews and Gentiles alike. It is the first unbiased presentation of the subject from the Scriptural viewpoint published.
The Publishers send forth this volume confident that it will do great good.
THE PUBLISHERS
October, 1925
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Palestine: Land and People ..................................................... 5
The Promises of God to Israel .................................................12
Abraham the "Father of Nations" .............................................16
Deliverance from Egypt .......................................................20
At Mount Sinai ..................................................................24
The Purpose of the Law .........................................................27
The Enemy's Organization ....................................................23
The Judgment of the Lord .....................................................30
God's Organization ...............................................................34
Jews Cast Off for a Time. Why? .............................................37
"Until He Come" (Ezekiel 21:27) ...........................................45
Israel's Long Warfare ..........................................................46
Gentile Times ..................................................................49
Why Israel Suffered ..............................................................51
Israel's Warfare Now Ended ..................................................56
The Balfour Declaration .......................................................60
"Chaluzim" ..................................................................62
Hebrew University Dedicated ................................................65
Prophecy Fulfilled ...............................................................67
Corroborative Testimony .....................................................70
Israel's "Double" (Isaiah 40:1, 2; Jeremiah 16:14-18) ....74
Zionism Organized ...............................................................78
The Jubilee ..................................................................80
Time of Fulfilment ...............................................................87
Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) .................................89
Breath into the Body ............................................................94
The New Covenant with Israel .............................................97
Redemption ................................................................104
The Messiah ................................................................114
RESTORATION
Land and People
Chapter I
ARE the Jews the rightful owners and justly entitled to the full and uninterrupted possession of the land of Palestine? Will the Jews be restored to the possession of the land of Palestine, build there their permanent home and establish a government which shall beneficially affect other peoples of the earth?
If the evidence now available furnishes proof satisfactorily answering these questions in the affirmative, such answer should bring comfort to the heart of every real Jew. Not only that, but proof should stimulate Jews to greater zeal and activity in possessing and rebuilding Palestine. Not only Jews but Gentiles should have a keen interest in the question of the rebuilding of Palestine; because if the time has come for this to be done, it means the great transformation period in the affairs of the world. Candid and unbiased consideration of the evidence herein submitted is invited.
Land
The land herein considered is that portion of the earth's surface known as the Holy Land. It is called the Holy Land because it is the land chosen by Jehovah God as the theatre of the most momentous events in the history of man. When Jehovah, through Moses, gave the law to Israel he said therein concerning the land: "The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine." (Leviticus 25:23) That which is specially set aside by Jehovah for his purposes is holy; hence it is properly called the Holy Land.
Canaan is the name originally given to that land. It is the land which God promised to give to Abraham. Dr. Isaac Leeser, in his translation of the Pentateuch, makes first mention of the land of Palestine, using that word in Exodus 15:14. This reference is to that portion of the land then inhabited by the Philistines. In several places in the Holy Scriptures the word Palestine is used in reference to this land, but in each instance it is from the Hebrew word properly rendered Philistia.
Originally the land of Philistia meant that long strip of land lying along the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Through this strip of land was the road or highway between Egypt and Phoenicia and other northern countries. The name Palestine was gradually extended to the country further inland until it became the name applied to all the land of the Jews both west and east of the River Jordan. By common usage the word Palestine is now applied to all that portion of the earth's surface known as the Holy Land. During the period of the reigns of David and Solomon Palestine, or the Holy Land, embraced all that land lying between the river of Egypt and the wilderness on the south, and Lebanon and the great River Euphrates on the north and east and the Mediterranean sea on the west. It embraces an area of upwards of 100,000 square miles. Before the desolation this land must have been very rich and productive, because it furnished support and maintenance for millions of people. That land, though made desolate, is capable of being brought again to such a high state of production that it can support many millions of people.
People
It is the Jews who lay claim to the land of Palestine and who desire to rebuild their homes there. The question then arises, Who is a Jew?
Jacob was a grandson of Abraham, the latter known as "the father of the faithful". Jacob became the possessor of the birthright which descended from Abraham according to the promise which God made unto Abraham.
On a certain occasion the Lord caused the name of Jacob to be changed to that of Israel. (Genesis 32:28) When Jacob (now Israel) was old and about to die he called before him his sons that he might prophesy and tell them what should transpire in the future. At this time began the nation of Israel. "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them."—Genesis 49:28.
Judah was the name of one of the sons of Jacob and he became the head of the tribe of Judah. All the descendants of Jacob (now Israel) were from that time forward properly called Israelites; but not all the descendants of Israel can be properly called Jews. All the religious hopes of the descendants of Israel (Jacob) from the time of his death rested in the tribe of Judah, because of the specific prophecy uttered by Jacob on his death-bed concerning the tribe of Judah, to wit: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."—Genesis 49:8-10.
Here is the clear and positive statement that the one to whom the people shall be gathered, and the one who shall be their lawgiver, must be a descendant of the tribe of Judah. Jacob was a holy man of God, because he believed God and obeyed him. It was the power of God that moved Jacob to speak the words of this prophecy; therefore the words must be taken as the words of Jehovah God. No one can please God unless he believes in the existence of Jehovah, and that he, Jehovah God, is the true and only God and is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
A Jew therefore is one who is the natural descendant of Jacob (Israel) and who has faith in the words uttered by Jacob concerning Judah. Such a one will have faith in all the promises which God has made to the Israelites through his prophets, who were holy men of old.
One may be a natural descendant of Israel, and even of the tribe of Judah, and yet not be a Jew. If he repudiates the promise God made concerning the gathering of the people unto the descendant of Judah he is as one who has renounced his allegiance to his native land and ceased to be a citizen thereof. If a citizen of England immigrates to the United States, renounces his allegiance to the king of England and becomes a citizen of the United States, he is no longer an Englishman. For the same reason if a descendant of Jacob, and even a direct descendant of Judah, renounces faith in the promises of God he thereby ceases to be a Jew. There are many natural descendants of Israel who have no faith in God and no faith in his Word. Such are not Jews within the meaning of the scripture.
There is a clergy class amongst the Israelites, even as there is such a class amongst the Gentiles. Few if any of those of the clergy class have real faith in the Word of God, because they have become wise in their own conceits, feeding themselves and not feeding the people, and have repudiated the Word of the Lord even as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold that they would do. (Ezekiel 34:1-10) There is a class of natural descendants from Israel, or Jacob, who believe that Jehovah is the only true and living God and that Moses and others of the holy prophets wrote the Holy Scriptures under the direction of the Almighty God. These are properly called Orthodox Jews. A statement of their faith follows: I believe with a true and perfect faith (1) that God is the creator, governor, and maker of all creatures, and that he hath wrought all things; (2) that the Creator is one, and that he alone hath been our God, is, and forever shall be; (3) that the Creator is not corporeal, not to be comprehended with any bodily properties, and that there is no bodily essence that can be likened unto him; (4) that nothing was before him, and that he shall abide forever; (5) that he is to be worshiped and none else; (6) that all the words of the prophets are true; (7) that the prophecies of Moses were true; that he was chief of all wise men that lived before him or ever shall live after him; (8) that all the law which at this day is found in our hands was delivered by God himself to our master, Moses; (9) that the same law is never to be changed, nor any other to be given us by God; (10) that God understandeth all the thoughts and works of men, as it is written in the prophets: "He fashioneth their hearts alike, he understandeth all their works"; (11) that God will recompense good to them that keep his commandments, and will punish them who transgress them; (12) that the Messiah is yet to come; and, although he retard his coming, yet "I will wait for him till he come"; (13) that the dead shall be restored to life when it shall seem fit unto God, the Creator, whose name be blessed and memory celebrated without end.
Amen.
That class of natural descendants of Jacob who have such faith in God and in his Word, as above stated, really are Jews; and they will receive comfort by now giving a careful consideration to the prophecies of God's Word.
Prophecy means the foretelling of events that are to transpire before they do transpire. Prophecy can be understood and properly interpreted after its fulfilment or when in course of fulfilment. Prophecy contained in the Word of God was written by holy men of old as they were moved upon by the invisible power of Jehovah. Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and like men were used by the Almighty God to prophesy and make record thereof for the benefit of the people who might be on earth at the time of the fulfilment of these prophetic utterances. When prophecy is fulfilled we describe the facts of its fulfilment as physical facts.
As an illustration, Daniel prophesied that in the last days there would be great running to and fro and a great increase of knowledge. (Daniel 12:4) Now we see the numerous means of rapid transit and the great increase of knowledge made manifest in modern inventions, and these are physical facts showing the fulfilment of prophecy.
The proof herein submitted, in support of the conclusions that shall be stated, is based upon prophecy written by holy men of old as recorded in the Holy Scriptures and upon the physical facts in fulfilment.
After the death of Solomon there was a rebellion of ten tribes of Israel, who formed the kingdom in the north part of Palestine with Jeroboam as their king. These were called Israelites, while those remaining loyal to Solomon's son, Rehoboam, were called the house of Judah. The northern kingdom was the first to fall into the hands of the Babylonians, and later the house of Judah was carried away captive to Babylon. At the end of the period of seventy years Cyrus the king of Persia, under the direction of Jehovah, issued a proclamation in which it is stated: "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. . . . Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God has raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem."—Ezra 1:2, 3, 5.
Thus it is shown that all the natural descendants of Jacob who had faith in God and in his promises exercised that faith by returning to Jerusalem. They were thereafter recognized under the general name of Israelites. Many of those who returned were from the various tribes, but the major portion of them were from the tribe of Judah.
Therefore all were properly called Jews because of their faith in God's promises prophetically uttered concerning the tribe of Judah.
Some erroneously contend that the Anglo-Saxon people, those who make up the population of Great Britain and the United States, are the offspring of the ten tribes of Israel who did not return; and that these are the favored ones of God. Such a contention is not supported by any scripture nor by any reasonable facts. Those who did not return under the decree of Cyrus automatically severed themselves from God's people because of their lack of faith. The Anglo-Saxons do not have faith in the promises of God, particularly that promise made concerning the regathering of the people under Shiloh. Even though it should be found that the major portion of the ten tribes go to make up the population of the Anglo-Saxon countries they could not be the chosen people of God because of severing their allegiance from his people and because of their lack of faith in his Word. All of the ten tribes who forsook the promise of God automatically made themselves Gentiles.
The house of Israel became the national name of the ten tribes collectively. This name was later applied to all those who returned from captivity. The house of Judah is applied to all those who are the natural descendants of Judah and who have faith in the promise made concerning his tribe. Since the blessings are to come to the entire house of Israel through the seed of the tribe of Judah, all Israelites who have faith in God's promise made concerning the Deliverer are properly called Jews.
It will be found that the Scriptures definitely teach that salvation is of the Jews because it is from the tribe of Judah that Shiloh the Messiah comes, he who shall be the Savior and Deliverer of mankind—the Jews first and thereafter the Gentiles. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith in Jehovah and in his Word no one will ever receive a blessing at his hand.
The Promises of God
Chapter II
The rebuilding of Palestine is now beginning and is well under way. This is being done clearly in fulfilment of prophecy uttered as promises from Jehovah. This alone should command not only the respectful attention but the profoundest interest of everyone to believe that Jehovah is God. It was the great Jehovah speaking through men who had faith in him that foretold what we now see transpiring concerning Palestine. The privilege of living on earth at the time of the fulfilment of these prophecies cannot be overestimated. At once the Jew comes into prominence, and the history of the Jewish people becomes more thrilling than any book of fiction ever written.
Because the promises of God are not always fulfilled at the time when men think they should be fulfilled, many lose faith in his promises made. Let each one settle it in his mind for all time that when God Almighty makes a promise that promise is absolutely certain of fulfilment in God's due time. Speaking through his prophet the Lord God says:
"I am the Lord, I change not. . . . Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3:6, 7) "For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me. . . . My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. . . . I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." (Isaiah 46:9-11) "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."—Isaiah 55:11.
Of all the peoples of the world the Jews have the greatest reason for faith in Jehovah God and his Word.
No other people were ever favored as were the Jews. God gave them an opportunity to magnify his name. All who magnify and honor the name of Jehovah God he honors. God will now make a name for himself in the earth. Let all the peoples, particularly the Jews, take heed.
There dwelt in the land of Ur of the Chaldees a man by the name of Terah with his son Abram. Terah took his son and his daughter-in-law and journeyed to Haran. When Abram was seventy-five years old and while residing in Haran God said unto him:
"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."—Genesis 12:1-3.
Not many generations had passed from the time of the creation of man. Moses afterward recorded that God created Adam the first man perfect, and gave him authority to multiply and fill the earth. Abram must have learned from his forefathers that Adam was made a perfect man and that for the disobedience of God's law he was justly sentenced to death. He would understand that the children of Adam were begotten after this sentence and therefore, in harmony with David's statement, were born in sin and shapen in iniquity. Abram knew that men had been dying and that the death of his forefathers was due to the sin of Adam. He must have understood the promise that God made unto him to mean that at some time and in some way God would provide a means for redeeming man from death and for the restoration to perfection of all who would obey the Lord's righteous laws. Abram must have understood that in some manner he would be connected with this blessing of the people, because God promised as much. Abram had faith in God's promise, and that pleased the Lord.
Then later God promised Abram to give him the land and make him the father of many nations. Moses records this promise in these words:
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."—Genesis 13:14-17.
At the time God made this promise Abram had no heir. Then, as is recorded by Moses, God appeared unto Abram in a vision and told him that he would have one.
"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness."—Genesis 15:5, 6.
Here is given proof that it was the faith of Abram that pleased God. It therefore follows that every Jew who is pleasing to God must have faith in the Lord. Those who have hope of receiving blessings from the Lord God must believe that his Word is true. Then the Lord God in order to further furnish Abram a basis for his faith made a covenant with him. It is written:
"And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."—Genesis 15:7-18.
Subsequent evidence shows that here the Lord foretold that the descendants of Abram would spend a long time in Egypt and be oppressed there, and that then they would come out with great substance, and that his offspring should come again into the land of Canaan. These very things did happen. Abram must have understood from this statement of the Lord that he (Abram) must die and that later God would raise him up out of death and make good to him his promise. Here also is the clear and definite statement as to the boundaries of the land that God promised to give Abram.
Fifteen years later God changed the name of Abram to that of Abraham, the latter meaning "father of nations". On that occasion the Lord God said unto him:
"As for me,, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me, and you, and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised."—Genesis 17:4-10.
When these promises were made by Jehovah to Abraham he had no children, yet he believed that the Lord would give him an heir. After God had thus tested the faith of Abraham for twenty-five years, and when Abraham was one hundred years old, Isaac was born. From time to time the Lord rewarded Abraham's faith. This should be a lesson to every Jew; namely, that it is faith in the Lord and faithfulness to him that bring reward and blessings.
Faith means to have a knowledge of God's Word and purposes, and then to confidently rely upon the promises of God and to deport oneself accordingly. It follows then that it is necessary for everyone to have a knowledge of the Word of God before he can have faith. It becomes necessary for every Jew who is to have a blessing and who is now living on the earth to obtain a knowledge of Jehovah's plan and, knowing this, to rely upon it. This is faith.
Twenty-five years more passed, and the Lord put Abraham to a severe test. Of course Abraham loved his son Isaac and had reason to expect that the promised blessings of the people would come through Isaac. To test Abraham's faith God directed him to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah and there offer him as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham did not hesitate to obey, because of his complete confidence and faith in God.
He journeyed to the appointed place and there built an altar, bound Isaac and laid him upon the altar, and took his knife to slay his only son.
What a test of faith to Abraham! And he bravely met the test. God rewarded his faith then and there, as is recorded:
"And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice."
—Genesis 22:11-18.
Here not only did the Lord tell Abraham what he was about to do, but he bound his promise with his oath that he would multiply the seed of Abraham as the stars of heaven and as the sands upon the sea shore, and that in the seed of Abraham all nations of the earth shall be blessed; and he said he did this because of Abraham's obedience.
When Abraham was 175 years old he died. God had promised him the land and had bound the promise with his oath; but Abraham never possessed a foot of it as his own.
Does that mean that God's promises are not true? It does not. The time had not come for Abraham to enter into his inheritance. God's promises are sure; therefore we must understand that it is the purpose of the Lord at some future time to raise Abraham out of death and give to him, and to his offspring who have the faith of Abraham, all the land that he promised him. That time is at hand, as subsequent facts will show. Hence every Jew should take comfort therefrom.
Isaac begat Jacob, who by divine provision and by contract rightfully succeeded to the promise or birth-right which God had made unto Abraham. (Genesis 25:23, 31-33) Jacob was the father of the twelve patriarchs, or heads of the twelve tribes. The Lord God renewed the Abrahamic promise to Jacob, as it is written:
"And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."—Genesis 28:13-15.
Jacob's beloved son Joseph was sold into Egypt and there became a great ruler. Later Jacob and his sons went to reside in Egypt. Jacob drew near unto death. This time marked the beginning of the nation of Israel, because Jacob's name was now Israel by order of the Lord. At that time, under the direction of the Lord, Jacob called his sons to him and prophesied unto them. Here it was that the Abrahamic promise took on a more definite form. Here the Lord showed that his intention is that the blessing should come particularly through the seed of Judah; hence the truth of the statement that "salvation is of the Jews".
By this is meant that those who have the faith of Abraham and who have full faith in the promises of God shall be blessed and be instruments of blessing. It was at this time that God said concerning Judah: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."—Genesis 49:10.
Shiloh means tranquil; that is, to be secure, happy and prosperous. It is one of the names denoting the Messiah, the one clothed with power and authority as God's representative to carry out his purposes concerning man.
This prophecy clearly proves that the blessings which God promised to come through the seed of Abraham will be realized only when Messiah shall come, that the Messiah constitutes the seed of Abraham according to the promise, and that this seed comes particularly through the line of Judah. But before these promised blessings could come the Jews must pass through a long line of trying experiences, and these experiences ultimately will work out good for the Jews and for the other peoples of the earth who observe them and who are properly exercised thereby.
With all their fiery experiences through the centuries past it is remarkable how the Jews have kept themselves separate and distinct from other peoples. Let each Jew take courage now and know that the promises that the Lord God made to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob and to the Israelites through the prophets are absolutely certain of fulfilment. The time draws near when the Jews shall appreciate the fact that the fiery trials through which they have passed will work out to their good, and not to their good only, but to that of all others of peoples on earth who exercise the faith of Abraham.
Deliverance from Egypt
Chapter III
After the death of Jacob his sons continued to reside in the land of Egypt. While Joseph lived and ruled, the Israelites were well treated and prospered. But the time had come for a change.
"And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." (Genesis 50:24-26) "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph."—Exodus 1:8.
This new Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, dealt wickedly with the Israelites. He caused the babes to be killed. Moses was born; and the Lord miraculously preserved him and caused him to be nourished and brought up in the house of the king. Moses, learning of the promises made to his forefathers and seeing his brethren persecuted and ill-treated, rather than to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh and enjoy the pleasures of the great kingdom, chose to suffer affliction with his own people. He forsook Egypt and sought to know and to do the will of God.
The afflictions of the Israelites increased under the wicked rulership of the Egyptian king. God called to Moses and said:
"I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. . . . And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."—Exodus 3:6-10.
Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and told him to appear before the king of Egypt and demand the release of the Israelites. The Lord had appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the name of God Almighty; but now for the first time he appears as Jehovah, and he says to Moses:
"And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant."—Exodus 6:4, 5.
Pharaoh continued to increase the burdens of the Israelites. God visited the various plagues upon the Egyptians. Still the king refused to permit Israel to go. Then came the plague of the first-borns. This was the time of the institution of the Passover. It marked the beginning of time with the Israelites. The Lord commanded that on the tenth day of the first month each family should take a lamb which must be without blemish, a male of the first year. The lamb should be kept up until the fourteenth day of the same month, on which day it should be killed and the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the two sideposts and the lintels of the door of the house of the family. Then the lamb should be roasted with fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; and the family eating thereof should have their loins girded, shoes on their feet and staff in hand; that at midnight of that day, when the angel of the Lord should pass through the land of Egypt and smite with death the first-born both of man and beast in Egypt, the first-born of the Israelites would be spared provided they had sprinkled the blood upon the door as directed.
The families of Israel obeyed this command, and thus showed their faith in God's promise; and their first-born were spared from death. On that fateful night the Lord smote with death the first-born of the households of Egypt, from the king to the humblest servant. There was a great cry in Egypt, and now the king and the people thrust out the Israelites. The Israelites borrowed from the Egyptians their silver, their gold and their raiment. The descendants of Israel, or Jacob, had now grown to upwards of 600,000 people; and these on foot marched to the Red Sea. When the king had bemoaned the fate of his first-born for a time, then he summoned his army and followed after the Israelites to slay them.
When Moses and Aaron had appeared before the king and requested that the Israelites be permitted to go and worship their God, Pharaoh said: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2) When the Egyptians had oppressed hard the Israelites God said unto Moses: "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horse-men." (Exodus 14:18) God then went before the camp of Israel and shielded them by a cloud and pillar of fire. The Lord commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand over the sea; and by a strong east wind the Lord caused the sea to go back so that the Israelites passed through the Red Sea on dry land. When the Egyptians started to follow after them they were engulfed in the sea and were destroyed.
God thus demonstrated to the Israelites that he was their God, their shield and their protector.
When they were safely on the other side of the sea Moses and the children of Israel sang a song of praise unto Jehovah: "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name."—Exodus 15:2, 3.
The Lord Jehovah now began to teach the Israelites lessons of faith. Their miraculous deliverance from the hands of their enemies should have been sufficient to establish their faith in God. Faith and faithfulness is one of the hardest lessons that man has to learn. According to one's faith is his reward and blessing.
At Mount Sinai
Chapter IV
IN THE third month after the Israelites were delivered from the Egyptians they came to the wilderness of Sinai and pitched their camp at the base of Mount Sinai. At the invitation of Jehovah Moses went up into the mountain that God might communicate with him and arrange for the ratification of the covenant which had been made in Egypt.
A covenant is a solemn agreement made between two or more parties upon a sufficient consideration, in which both parties agree to do or not to do certain things. In the law covenant ratified at Mount Sinai God promised to do certain things, and the Israelites agreed to do all that God proposed unto them. The Lord spoke through Moses, the mediator for Israel. God there promised the Israelites that if they would be faithful to their agreement they should be unto him a holy nation. (Ex. 19:3-8):
"And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel."
Then the Lord told Moses to prepare the people, for on the third day thereafter he would come down and give unto them the law. The people were assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai; and on the morning of the third day, amidst thunders and lightnings and while thick clouds hung over the mountain, the voice of a trumpet sounded exceeding loud and all the mountain quaked so that the people trembled with fear; and then the Lord spoke unto them.
Amidst these great convulsions of the earth and the elements, God through Moses gave unto the Israelites the law, the fundamental portion of which is set out in the Scriptures as follows:
"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
"Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
"Thou shalt not kill.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery.
"Thou shalt not steal.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
"And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off: and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon."—Exodus 20:1-26.
For a record of the divers statutes and ordinances which God gave to Israel the reader is referred to Exodus, chapters twenty-one and twenty-two.
But many ask: Why should God make a covenant with the people of Israel? The answer is: God had now organized the Israelites into a nation for his purposes. He had promised that through the line of Judah should come the great Messiah, to whom the people should be gathered, and who would administer to them the blessings according to the promise which God had made to Abraham. Of course God knew the weaknesses of men and knew that the Israelites would now be the special target of the enemy; but that the law would be unto the Jews a teacher or schoolmaster to keep them separate and distinct from other peoples of the earth and prepare them to receive the great Messiah in due time.
The law also served to teach them the real significance of the sacrifices which they were caused to perform and which in due time they would fully understand. The sacrifices of animals were merely types and shadows, showing that better things would follow.
It is observed that of all things stated in the law that which is made the most prominent is that the people should worship Jehovah God and should have no other gods beside him. Why is that feature of the law made so prominent? If Jehovah God is all powerful and is the personification of love, why should it be necessary for him to make such a provision in his law? Did Jehovah God make this law for a selfish purpose, that he might have the worship of the people? No; God did not make this law for a selfish purpose. He made it for the special benefit of the Jews and also for the ultimate benefit of all men. The proper answers to the above questions are very essential to an understanding of God's specific dealings with Israel and of the general blessings he purposes for all mankind.
Enemy's Organization
It is recorded in the book of Job (38:4-7) that when God laid the foundations of the earth as a habitation for man the Morning Stars sang together for joy. The Holy Scriptures show that the term Morning Stars refers to two mighty beings of heaven; namely, Michael (the Logos) and Lucifer. Here something is said about Lucifer and later herein something will be said concerning the Logos. Lucifer proved to be the disloyal son of God, while the Logos is the "Faithful and True". Since this prophecy refers to the laying of the foundations of the earth as a place for man's habitation, it is necessary to examine here the account of the creation of man.
The Genesis account written by Moses under inspiration of God discloses that when God had created the earth he made a portion thereof exceedingly beautiful and called it Eden. He planted a garden in the eastern part of Eden, and then made man and woman and placed them in this garden of the Lord. (Genesis 2:8-15) God clothed man with power and authority to produce his own species and to fill the earth in due time.
Lucifer was appointed to the high position of overlord of man. He was assigned to the duty of overseeing man and of carrying out God's purposes concerning humanity. Lucifer therefore occupied a confidential or fiduciary relationship toward God and a position of confidence and trust on behalf of man. The Prophet Ezekiel records concerning Lucifer that he was "in Eden the garden of God". The same prophet further says concerning Lucifer: "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (Ezekiel 28:14, 15) The title "covering cherub" used herein shows that Lucifer occupied a position of trust and authority.
The greatest crime that can be committed is to wilfully betray a trust, resulting in injury to another. Such is an act of treason. It makes the perpetrator of the wrong a wicked and nefarious creature. Lucifer was guilty of this very thing. He knew that man was so created that he must worship a higher being. He knew that man would enjoy the beauties of Eden and worship Jehovah God, his Creator and Benefactor. He also knew that man was clothed with authority to bring forth children and fill the earth with a race of people. Lucifer became ambitious that he might have from man the worship to which God alone was justly entitled. He reasoned that if he could turn man away from God, in due time Adam and Eve and all their offspring would worship Lucifer, and that then he would be like the Most High.
God's prophet says concerning Lucifer:
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High."—Isaiah 14:12-14.
To accomplish his selfish and wicked purpose Lucifer resorted to fraud, deceit and lying, which resulted in murder. Therefore he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning of man's history. He employed the serpent in Eden through which to speak to Eve in order to deceive her. God had told Adam and Eve that growing upon the trees of Eden there were certain fruits which they must not eat. Lucifer, in his wily and subtle way of deceiving man, approached Eve first and said: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman replied: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."—Genesis 3:1-3.
Now Lucifer knew that in order to succeed in his wicked purposes he must make God appear to be a liar and that he, Lucifer, must appear as a benefactor. Hence he replied to Eve:
"Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."—Genesis 3:4-6.
Thus yielding to the seductive influence of Lucifer, operating through the serpent, Eve ate of the fruit in violation of the law of God; and Adam joined her in the transgression.
The Judgment
Jehovah God must be consistent. He cannot deny himself. Having announced the penalty for the violation of his law he must see to it that the law, when violated, must be enforced. By the terms of that judgment (Genesis 3:14-24) it is provided that henceforth there should be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; that in God's due time the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head; that the woman should bring forth her children in sorrow; that man should earn thereafter his bread in the sweat of his face until he should return to the dust, whence God had taken him. To enforce this judgment God drove Adam and Eve out of Eden and prevented them from returning, lest they should eat of the tree of life and live for ever. Outside of Eden, feeding upon the unfinished fruits of the earth, which were poisonous, gradually they went into death.
The name Lucifer means "Light-bearer"; and now since he had become wicked God changed his name so that thereafter he was, and has been, known by four different names: Serpent, Dragon, Satan and the Devil. Each one of these names has a special significance. Serpent means deceiver, and he has sought to deceive everyone that tried to do right. Dragon means devourer, and he has attempted to devour everyone that has tried to walk in the way of righteousness. Satan means opposer or adversary, and he has opposed everything of righteousness. Devil means slanderer, and he has made it his chief business to slander God and every one that has tried to be in harmony with God.
The sentence of God against him is that in due time he shall be destroyed. The prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah both make this clear:
"Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee; it shall devour thee; and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee." (Ezekiel 28:17, 18)
"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."—Isaiah 14:15.
Of course God could have destroyed Satan the Devil at once, but his wisdom provided a more effectual course. Knowing that the wicked course Satan would take would test the faith of every righteous one God permitted him to be used to try the faith of men. Thus a way was open where man could exercise his own free will. He could choose to follow evil or choose to follow righteousness. The enemy, Satan, marks the course of evil. God points out the way of righteousness and good. Every man must have an opportunity to exercise his own free will-power; and if he follows evil the consequences will be disastrous; but if good he will receive God's blessings.
From the time of Eden until now Satan has opposed every effort on the part of men or peoples to do that which is right. Those who have attempted to obey God have been the special targets of the Devil. When Abel would serve God, the Devil induced Cain to murder his brother. From then till now Satan the enemy has planted murder in the hearts of men and caused them to kill one another and to attempt the destruction of every one who believes and serves God.
The enemy Satan the Devil seduced a number of the angels of heaven and turned them away from God, until there came to be a great host of devils of whom he is the chief.
He proceeded to set up his organization, composed of a wicked heaven and a wicked earth. Heaven means the invisible ruling realm and power, while earth has reference to the organization of the governments of men on earth.
In Noah's day Satan the enemy had seduced the people and turned them away from God, and none except Noah and his family remained true and faithful. God brought the great deluge upon the earth and destroyed all the creatures on earth except Noah and his family, thereby expressing his displeasure with wickedness, and demonstrated his superior power to that of others that mankind might have faith in him and know that he is the living God. In Abraham's day few people had any faith in God. Abraham was one of the faithful, and for this reason he received God's approval and favor.
The Scriptures disclose that it has ever been the policy of Satan the enemy to induce the people to worship him either directly or indirectly; and that if he could not induce them to worship him directly, then he caused them to worship graven images or idols or to worship anything except Jehovah God. Satan the enemy organized all the nations outside of the offspring of Abraham and induced them to worship him or some of his representatives.
When the Israelites were domiciled in Egypt, every nation and people under the sun aside from the Israelites were under the control and influence of Satan the enemy. Pharaoh was Satan's chief representative on earth. The Scriptures show that Pharaoh was a type of Satan, and that Egypt was a type of the wicked world under Satan. The great persecution of the Israelites in Egypt was due to the fact that Israel was the only people of God, and that Satan the enemy sought to destroy them because God had declared that the seed of promise should bruise Satan's head in due time. The Lord God miraculously delivered the Israelites from Egypt, and thus demonstrated that he is all-powerful and able to save them to the uttermost.
God led Israel up to Mount Sinai and there gave them the law by which they should be governed, and which would serve as a protection to them against the wiles of the enemy Satan. The law also served as a schoolmaster to teach them and lead them in the way that they should go as long as they would obey the law. The purpose of the Lord was to thus lead them until the coming of the great Messiah, to whom the people should be gathered and blessed, according to his promise. But the people soon fell into the habit of offering their sacrifices unto devils. And then God spoke unto Moses and commanded that they should offer their sacrifices unto the Lord: "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations."—Leviticus 17:7.
And now the question is answered why God commanded the people that they should have no other god beside him. The answer is: Because he saw how the enemy Satan had turned all the nations and peoples into the course of wickedness, and he knew that the only safeguard for the Israelites was for them to remain faithful to Jehovah God. He commanded that they should worship him as the only true God; and this command was for their good. It was the love of God for the people of Israel that induced him to give them the law.
God's Organization
The Scriptures abundantly testify to the fact that there are many pure and holy angels in heaven who are loyal to Jehovah God. These form the invisible part of God's organization, which organization is righteous. When the people of Israel were organized into a nation and entered into a covenant with Jehovah God, that people and nation became a part of God's organization. Zion is one of the names applied to God's organization.
Israel is often mentioned in the Scriptures under the name Zion. The reason for this is that Israel for a long time was the visible part of God's organization on earth.
David was the beloved king of Israel. He was a man after God's own heart. His name means beloved. He was a type of the great Messiah to come. His son Solomon was a type of the glorified Messiah reigning in riches and glory. A city is often used as a symbol of an organization or government. It is written in 1 Kings 8:1: "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion."
The Scriptures declare that God dwells in Zion, as it is written in Psalms 9:11 and 132:13: "Sing praises unto the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings." "For the Lord hath chosen Zion: he hath desired it for his habitation." Thus it is shown that Zion is the habitation of Jehovah. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined."—Psa. 50:2.
Israel, when in harmony with God being the only government on earth with which the Lord dealt, is properly called Zion because a part of his organization. Being the only part of God's visible organization, it is easily understood why God hedged about the Israelites with his perfect law. Israel was favored above any other people on earth because God chose them for his people.
The great lesson that God was teaching to the Israelites, which all men must ultimately learn, is this, to wit: That Satan the enemy is the wicked one; that his course leads to destruction and that those who wilfully follow him will in due time be destroyed: that God is the great Righteous One, the God of wisdom, justice, love and power, and that he has provided the way to life and eternal blessedness for all those who will obey him and follow righteousness. The Lord has thus expressed it through his prophet in Psalm 145:20: "The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy."
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