The Watchtower, August 15, 1930
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Vol. LI
August 15, 1930
No. 16
A GREAT IMAGE
“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.”—Dan. 2: 31.
PART 2
JEHOVAH holds all of his secrets until his due time to make them known to his creatures. Without doubt he caused Nebuchadnezzar to have the dream and also that he had Daniel his beloved prophet at hand to make known the dream to the king. Daniel laid no claim whatsoever to superior knowledge or ability to discern and express the purpose of God. That there might be no undue credit given to the man Daniel he said to the king: “This secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation.” Since Daniel represented the remnant of Christ on earth immediately preceding Armageddon, it is certain that the proper understanding of the image is to enlighten the remnant and to encourage the members thereof to press the battle now against the enemy. Until God’s anointed had a clearer vision of the two great organizations it was impossible to see and appreciate the meaning of this prophecy. Thanks be to God, the due time has now come.
THE HEAD
2 In Daniel 2: 31, 32, the statement is made that the image was of great brightness, excellent and terrible, and that the head was of fine gold, the breast and arms of silver, and the belly and thighs of copper (mistranslated “brass”). The image was great and terrible because it was in opposition to Jehovah and was the picture of complete wickedness. The image pictured Satan’s organization, of which the wicked one is the head. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had the dream, and it was appropriate to use him and his dream to make this picture to be recorded in the Bible and which discloses Satan’s organization and fully identifies it in God’s due time. Gold is the only appropriate metal that could represent the head of that organization at the time it was created.
3 Almighty God’s universal organization bears the name of God’s woman, “Zion.” Jehovah is the “husband” and father, and Zion is the ‘wife’ and mother that produces God’s seed. The way to Jehovah God is through his organization. Concerning Lucifer it is written: “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. ’ ’—Isa. 14:13, 14.
4 That Satan carried out his covetous desire expressed in this prophecy is true beyond any question of doubt. Having an organization he determined to turn the entire thing against God, or in opposition to God, and to set up a throne in the mount (or organization) of the congregation (or assembly) of God’s creation in the sides of the north (in the position occupied by Jehovah), and therefore said, “I will be like the Most High.” God had given Lucifer an organization which he, as Satan, now proceeds to use and to make as nearly like Jehovah’s organization as possible and yet use it for his own selfish and wicked purposes in opposing Jehovah. Jehovah God permitted him to take his own wicked course and bides his own good time when, as he states, Lucifer ‘shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit’.— Isa. 14:15.
5 Satan called his organization on earth Bab-il, meaning “the gate to god”, and doubtless his purpose was to have it understood that through his organization is the way to come to him to worship, even as the way to God is through His organization. Without a question of doubt Satan is the “god of this world”. (2 Cor. 4:3, 4) Bab-il, or Babylon, is the name of Satan’s woman symbolizing his organization. Jehovah named the wicked organization “Bab-el”, which means confusion. (Gen. 11: 9) There is a striking similarity in the two names, but they have different meanings. God has truly named the organization Bab-el, because it has confused all the peoples and nations of the earth. Particularly has this been done by and through the Devil religion.
6 The beginning of the earthly part of Satan’s organization was under Nimrod, and to the city organized by him was given the name Babylon, which is the name of Satan’s woman or his organization. Although the first to be organized, Babylon was the third in order as a world power. Egypt and Assyria preceded Babylon as world powers. Nebuchadnezzar, being the king of Babylon at the time of his dream, pictured Satan, the real head of the organization. (For a more detailed description of Satan’s organization, see the book Prophecy, chapter six.)
7 Addressing Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Daniel said: ‘ ‘ Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.” (Dan. 2:37) This scripture could not specifically apply to Nebuchadnezzar, except in a representative capacity. It is not true that the God of heaven had given Nebuchadnezzar the universal kingdom, because the Babylonish empire was Satan’s organization, organized and operated in opposition to God. God had made Lucifer the golden head of the organization, given him before his deflection. Lucifer had now turned his organization to wickedness. Lucifer’s organization being of divine origin is properly symbolized by gold as the head of that organization. The fact that it was afterward turned to wickedness would not at all change the original symbol. Nebuchadnezzar was holding the earthly position of king or ruler as the visible representative of Satan, the real head. Therefore the description of the head of the image fits Satan exactly as the “head of gold”. The fact that Nebuchadnezzar immediately thereafter set up a golden image, contrary to God’s law, and commanded God’s chosen people to worship that image, is proof conclusive that Nebuchadnezzar was Satan’s representative. (Dan. 3:1; Ex. 20:3, 4) Jehovah had withdrawn his favor from Israel because that people had yielded to the Devil, and now the Devil had become the universal ruler.
8 Nebuchadnezzar was the visible representative of Satan, and therefore in the representative capacity it was said of him: “Thou art a king of kings.” The Israelites had been unfaithful to their covenant and had fallen away from God to Satan and now came under his organization. God declared this condition should continue until the coming of him “whose right it is” to rule. Therefore the rule of Nebuchadnezzar was not by divine right. (Ezek. 21:27) Nebuchadnezzar was not the representative of Jehovah. The statement of Paul, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God,” has been misapplied time and again. It has no reference whatsoever to any part of Satan’s organization, and could not have. Paul’s statement must apply and does apply exclusively to God’s organization. The Gentile powers of this earth were never “ordained of God”. Satan has been their god in defiance of Jehovah; and this is fully supported by the words of Jesus and the apostles.—2 Cor. 4:3, 4; John 12: 31; 14: 30.
9 The beasts of the field and the fowls of the air were subject to the perfect man Adam. Since he was driven out from Eden the beasts of the field have been wild and vicious and manifest the spirit of the Devil. Manifestly it is Satan the Devil who turned them against man; and this explains why wild beasts and reptiles seek the destruction of man. Satan’s first representative on earth was the man Nimrod, and he made him a “mighty hunter” of wild beasts and advanced him in the eyes of the people as above Jehovah. Satan would induce man to believe that God had made even the animals vicious against them, and thus cause the people to curse and reproach God; and by his putting Nimrod forward as the great defender of the people against the wild beasts, Nimrod was said to be above or superior to or better than Jehovah. (Gen. 10: 9) Because the beasts of the field and the birds of the air were subject to Adam and he was under Lucifer, the description in Daniel 2:38 and in Ezekiel 31: 6 exactly fits Lucifer as the ruler of the world.
10 Lucifer was ‘a golden cup in the hand of Jehovah’ when first put in his office. This “cup” marked out the course Lucifer should take. He took an opposite course, and therefore the golden cup became an abominable thing. In harmony with this it is written: “Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.” (Jer. 51:7) Lucifer’s organization as constituted by Jehovah was right, and is therefore pictured by gold the head. It became wicked; hence his organization, now called Babylon, is employed to make all the nations of the earth drink of the wine of his cup and go mad, which they have done.
11 Continuing, Daniel says: “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass [copper], which shall bear rule over all the earth.” (Vs. 39) The word “after” does not have reference to time, but rather to inferiority, or station below Satan in his organization. The “kingdom” has reference to rulership. A prince in a kingdom is a ruler under a superior power. It is certain that Satan would constitute his organization as nearly as possible like that of Jehovah; that is to say, Satan would take and did take the superior or supreme position, and in his organization and under him would be princes or rulers.
12 Daniel’s prophecy tells of the invisible rulers of Satan under the titles of “prince of Persia” and “prince of Grecia”. (Dan. 10:13, 20) These princes were so powerful that Michael had to interfere in behalf of the angel that was sent to Daniel with a message. These invisible princes or rulers in Satan’s organization are shown as a part of the terrible image; and as silver and copper are inferior or next in order to gold, therefore the image shows that, instead of these representing world powers, they represent lower orders than Lucifer in the great organization.13 Until 1914 Satan was seated “in the sides of the north’’, where he had fixed a throne, with his deputy rulers with him. (Rev. 12:3-7) These latter, named and symbolized by silver, doubtless did not come directly in contact with the nations of the earth, but that duty was assigned and is assigned to the company of wicked angels pictured by copper. Evidently these princes of Grecia and Persia were exercising power superior to angels, and therefore successfully resisting an angel that was on the way to Daniel with a message.
14 Be it now noted that in the thirty-ninth verse, above quoted, it is stated that the third kingdom of brass “shall bear rule over all the earth”. This statement is limited to the third order, or copper class, and therefore proves that the immediate rule of the earth has been under the control of the evil angels directed by Satan the head, and in this rule he has been assisted by his invisible princes. Jesus referred to Satan as the “prince [or chief] of this world”, and hence chief of devils. (John 14: 30; Matt. 9:34; 12:24) In his time men were possessed of demons, or devils, which he cast out. (Matt. 9: 32, 33; 12: 22) The testimony of Jesus is conclusive that these devils were not Satan himself, but were a host of wicked angels operating about the earth.
15 This conclusion upon Daniel’s prophecy is supported by the words of Jesus and by the further inspired words, to wit: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of [that] world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12) Here the apostle shows that Satan’s invisible organization is made up of principalities (superior power); powers (officers of power in the organization); and rulers (wicked angels). The three “noble” metals of Daniel therefore describe the three invisible parts of Satan’s organization.
16 As God’s organization is sometimes pictured by a man, so here Satan’s organization is pictured by a man in the form of this image. The legs support and bear up the man. The legs are beneath the head of the man and carry the man about. The legs of the image therefore represent the inferior and visible parts of Satan’s organization under the head, but which support the head and act in obedience to the head. The terrible image described shows that the legs were of iron, “and as iron that breaketh, all these shall it break . . . and bruise.” This part of the image pictures the world powers, every one of them, beginning with Egypt to the present day, all of which are of Satan’s organization. From the time of Egypt until now these world powers have oppressed and bruised and broken in pieces the people. There is no exception whatsoever to this rule. The history of the nations of earth is written in human blood unrighteously shed, because the ruling factors have oppressed, bruised and broken to pieces the people by employing military power. To apply this picture of the legs to the Roman empire alone would be entirely foreign to the facts. It is by the facts well known to be true that at the proper time the prophecy must be understood.
17 The feet and toes of the image are shown to be part of iron and part of clay. The feet and toes are essentially a part of the legs and support this image which is Satan’s organization. Clay has the appearance of stone. It is a camouflage. It is a means of practicing hypocrisy. The visible part of Satan’s organization has at all times had three component parts, to wit, commercial, political, and religious. The commercial and political have formed and operated the military, which has bruised and broken the people; while the religious element has furnished the hypocritical screen to hide the real, wicked purpose of the ruling powers. It has been the camouflage and the prime instrument of hypocrisy. In every world power and every nation religion has been employed to induce the people to believe that the world powers are exercised by divine right.
18 Coming down to modern times we see that “organized Christianity”, so called, is the religious element of the ruling powers of earth. Therein is found the greatest exhibition of hypocrisy that has ever been made. It claims that the nations exist and operate by divine right and that the League (or combination) of Nations represents God and his kingdom on the earth and is an exact expression thereof. Then the record reads: “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided.”—Vs. 41.
19 “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” (Vs. 43) The chief objective of the enemy Satan is to turn the people away from Jehovah and keep them under the wicked one’s control. He uses the commercial and political elements that operate and control the military to coerce the people, and uses the religious element to hoodwink and deceive them. The three elements mingle themselves with the seed of men, and with high-sounding words claim to be the saviors of men, and insist that the people must support their organization if they would live. There are ten toes to the feet, and these symbolically represent all the nations of Christendom in the conspiracy under their father and head, Satan, to keep the people in subjection and under control.
20 The pious religious frauds are made prominent in the feet and toes by the miry clay that attempts to cover up the wickedness of their unholy allies. There is no real cleavage between iron and clay, and this shows that there is really nothing that sincerely binds the commercial and political elements to their religious frauds. They are carried like barnacles to support a devilish scheme. “They shall not cleave one to another,” because God has decreed it so. Already the peoples of Russia are beginning to break away, and the people of good will throughout all the nations are now seeing that the religious leaders are the greatest hypocrites that have ever walked the earth.
21 Subsequently Daniel had a dream and a vision in which the visible part of Satan’s organization is pictured under the symbol of wild beasts, whereas the terrible image of Nebuchadnezzar shows a picture of the entire satanic organization, both invisible and visible. It should hardly be expected that the Lord would disclose the real meaning of this image until the time of its destruction should arrive. God did not interrupt the rule and operations of this devilish organization until he set his King upon his throne.
22 He anointed Lucifer to rule, as the Scriptures show, and there is no evidence in the Bible that God ever took that anointing away from Lucifer prior to 1914, if then. His time for ruling by sufferance of Jehovah has come to an end. He has been cast out of heaven. The decree is written against him, and soon that decree shall be enforced by the complete destruction of his organization, both visible and invisible. The instrument to be used for this great work Jehovah now discloses in this same prophecy.
THE STONE
23 Jehovah uses “The Stone” to destroy the terrible image, which is Satan’s organization. That at once identifies “The Stone” as God’s Executive and Priest acting as the head of his organization. The Logos was the beginning of God’s creation, and has since been the active agent in the creation of all things that were created. When Lucifer turned his organization to wickedness God expressed his purpose to bring forth a new thing which would be the “seed” or offspring of his “woman”, or great universal organization. Satan had a seed, and since then others have become his offspring. (John 8:42-44) It is the “seed” of God’s woman, Zion, that will destroy Satan and his “seed” of his woman, Babylon. Therefore it is written: “Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. ’ ’ (Vs. 45) If Satan understood the prophecy, then the utterance of it was serving notice upon him how God would accomplish the destruction of his wicked organization. No wonder he made every possible effort to destroy Jesus.
24 What is meant by the statement, “The stone was cut out of the mountain without hands”? “The mountain” is God’s universal organization. To “cut out” means to bring forth or produce something new. That would mean to bring out from his universal organization that which is pictured by “The Stone”, and in doing so no hands are employed. It is all done by the will of God. Jehovah having purposed it, it must be done and the accomplishment of his purpose is absolutely certain. Satan not only reproached Jehovah, but defied him. He insisted that any and all creatures would forsake Jehovah under certain conditions and that therefore Jehovah could not put a man on the earth who would maintain his integrity and remain true and faithful to God. Satan claimed to be able to cause all men to curse God. The Bible account of Job is proof of this. (See the book of Job, and explanation in the book Life.)
25 God accepted the challenge of Satan and purposed to completely vindicate his word and name before all creation, and he proceeded in his own good way to prepare to do so. He chose the people of Israel and organized them into a nation to foreshadow his purposes and the manner of accomplishment of the same. With a few exceptions the people of that nation fell away to Satan and came under his wicked control. When God removed his protecting hand and permitted the Israelites to fall under the control of Satan, the Devil there became the god of the entire world. At the same time God announced that in his own due time he would send the One whose right it is to rule and he would rule in righteousness.
26 Jehovah then sent his beloved Son Jesus to the earth. Jesus left everything in heaven that he possessed, including all his power and glory. He took upon himself a bondman’s form, that is to say, of a man in bondage. As a perfect man he denied himself everything that he could rightfully have had. He was subjected to the most severe test that could possibly be put upon him by Satan the enemy. Jesus had no rulership, surely, at the time that Satan offered to give the kingdoms of the world to him upon condition that he would worship Satan. Jesus refused every offer and resisted every temptation of Satan and maintained his integrity under the most severe of all tests. Because of his faithfulness even unto the most ignominious death God raised him up and made him to be above all, that in all things he should have the preeminence.—Col. 1:18, 19.
27 God has now expressed his purpose to ‘take away from him [Satan] that which he hath and give unto him [Christ] who had nothing’. Jesus announced this as the rule applying to all to whom is committed responsibility and who fail or refuse to perform the duties imposed upon them. (Matt. 25: 29) Jesus went into death with nothing, not even a place to lay his head. Because of his faithfulness God raised him up out of death and then announced that all the angels of heaven should worship him and that every knee to him shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Jehovah’s anointed One and the high officer of the Most High.—Phil. 2:11.
28 “The Stone,” therefore, is God's anointed King. He is the world’s rightful Ruler. (Ezek. 21:27) He appears under other symbols, such as ‘the man child, who is to rule all nations’. (Rev. 12:5) The Stone is cut out of “the mountain”, God’s universal organization, in this, that it is 'the man child, born by Zion’. (Isa. 66:7, 8) He is the One to whom the prophet refers when he says: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”—Ps. 2: 9.
29 Jehovah God carried out his expressed purpose and has prepared for his beloved Son a city, or organization, of which Christ Jesus is made the Head, and which new organization is the capital city, or chief part, of the universal organization of Jehovah. It is symbolized by the name “the holy Jerusalem”. It is God’s new creation. It is the very pinnacle of his creation. God made Lucifer the golden head of an organization, which organization Lucifer turned against Jehovah and made every part thereof to be the enemy of God. Jehovah would now have it known that he has made his beloved Son the Head of the new organization and clothed him with divine authority for ever, and this he symbolizes by the crown of pure gold.
30 This new organization shall destroy the enemies of God and be forever to his glory, therefore it is written: ‘ ‘ For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. ’ ’—Ps. 21: 3, 5-9.
31 As a further vindication of his word and name Jehovah God has laid before men of the earth the opportunity of proving their faithfulness and devotion to him, and grants to the faithful overcomers the great honor and reward of being a part of “the holy city”. To this end he justified and brought forth sons and then offered them a place in his kingdom. Those who responded to the call and have walked in the way of righteousness he has chosen and anointed. These have maintained their integrity with Jehovah and must continue to be stedfast in every way, and, so doing, will prove their complete loyalty and faithfulness unto God. These have been taken into the covenant for the kingdom. (Luke 22: 28, 29) They are described as “living stones” built up according to the pattern of the perfect One, The Stone, the elect and precious One. If faithful unto death these sons of God will be born as children of God’s woman Zion and be made a part of the kingdom or “holy nation”. (1 Pet. 2:3-10; Isa. 66:8) These shall be made a part of “the holy city”, the holy Jerusalem or organization prepared especially for the beloved One, Christ Jesus. Of these stones there will be 144,000; and they have been in course of development and preparation during the past nineteen hundred years, and the number is about complete.
32 By his prophet Jehovah said: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. ’ ’—Isa. 28:16, 17.
33 At the time of being laid The Stone must be “a tried stone”. For three and a half years Jesus carried on his work in the earth and resisted every effort put forth by Satan to overcome him, and at the conclusion thereof Jesus rode into the typical city Jerusalem and offered himself as King. That was the laying of The Stone in miniature. (Matt. 21:1-11) The clergy in control of the religion of that people rejected Jesus as King and sought his death. They openly took the side of Satan the Devil. To them Christ Jesus was there “a stone of stumbling” and “a rock of offence”. He denounced them as the very hotbed of hypocrisy, and said to them: ‘ ‘ The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” He quoted to them the prophecy concerning The Stone, that they might have full notice that they were rejecting God’s Word. —Ps. 118: 22; Matt. 21:42-44.
34 In 1914 Jesus, at Jehovah’s direction, took his power and began his reign as King. After ousting Satan from heaven Jesus then, in 1918, came to his temple for judgment. He had then been “tried” twice, once when on earth, and the second time in his great fight against Satan, when he ousted him from heaven. (Rev. 12:1-7) In coming to his temple he offered himself as King and rightful Ruler of the earth to all who claim his name. That was the laying of the chief corner Stone in Zion and in completion. The religionists of the present time, particularly the clergy of Christendom and the counterpart of the Pharisees, rejected Christ Jesus as King. They joined with others of Satan’s organization to set up the League of Nations and fully allied themselves openly with Satan’s organization. In this the kings of earth are joined in a confederacy and shall fall. (Isa. 8:9-12) Christ is the great Judge in the temple. Now begins his judgment. Jehovah God through him puts forth a great witness to the truth which is likened unto hail which now uncovers the refuge of lies and hypocrisy that have long been practiced by the chief ones of Satan’s earthly organization. Thus is The Stone definitely and completely identified.
35 Daniel then announces God’s decree or judgment Upon ‘the terrible image'. At the time of the enforcement of the judgment this terrible image must be completely in existence and must be completely destroyed. All the kingdoms of the earth, and particularly “Christendom”, are pictured in the feet and toes of the image. The Stone strikes the image, first on the feet, and then breaks and grinds to pieces Satan’s entire organization, and a great whirlwind carries it completely away. Satan’s entire organization must be and will be destroyed at Armageddon. Satan’s organization, represented by the terrible image, is “broken to pieces” and ‘no place is found for it’. (Dan. 2:35) Thus Babylon, or Satan’s organization, of which Nebuchadnezzar was a symbol and the visible ruler at the time of the dream, is shown to completely fall and never shall be again. Egypt and Assyria, which were world powers under Satan, shall be restored, in this, that the peoples thereof will have an opportunity for life; but Babylon will never be restored.
36 Some commentators have said that after The Stone breaks the image it then grows into a great mountain that fills the earth. This is not the correct thought. The Stone is complete before the striking is done. After the destruction of Satan’s organization the beneficial operations of the kingdom of the Lord will extend to every part of the earth and fill it with life and joy and happiness.
37 Lucifer was appointed by Jehovah to the high office of overseer of the earth and of all the things therein, including the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air. He was unfaithful to God and turned the earthly creation into God’s enemies. Christ now becomes earth’s rightful Ruler by the appointment of Jehovah. His rule will bring blessings to all obedient ones, and righteousness shall be established everywhere. Peace will be with man and beast forever because the great Ruler is The Prince of Peace.—Isa. 9 :6, 7.
38 The beasts of the field and the fowls of the heavens will be given into the hand of the righteous Ruler, and thus all that Lucifer once had while he was perfect will be transferred to the One who rules by right and who is faithful to God. “In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground.” (Hos. 2:18) “And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” (Ezek. 34:25, 26) This further supports the conclusion that the terrible image represents Satan’s entire organization, visible and invisible, and that everything that continues to exist shall be put under the control of Christ.
39 The great climax is at hand. The kings of earth now set themselves against God and against his anointed Stone. Arrogantly and in defiance of God the wicked rulers of the earth go on in their wrongful way. Jehovah now holds them in derision. His judgment against every part of Satan’s organization, including the kings and nobles of earth, has been written, and that judgment is death, in which they shall all be bound by the chains and “fetters of iron”. All the saints shall have a part in this honor, to the glory of God. (Ps. 149:5-9) The complete triumph of Jehovah over his enemies comes suddenly. The nations at this day are boasting of their ability to bring lasting peace to the earth, while at the same time they prepare more deadly instruments to engage in war. Continuing to cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace, suddenly destruction shall come upon all. (1 Thess. 5:3) This is in full accord with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
40 As the kings thus continue to arrogantly rule and boast this prophecy of Daniel will be fulfilled, to wit: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Vs. 44) Thus in prophetic phrase Daniel describes the kingdom of God under Christ, the holy city. No selfish creature shall have any part therein nor any control over it. It is God’s creation and he makes it the capital or chief city of his universal organization. It shall stand forever, and everything therein shall give praise and honor to the great Creator.
41 God has expressed his purpose, and discloses the meaning thereof in advance to those who love him. There is nothing that can prevent the complete accomplishment thereof. The Lord Jehovah says: “I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isa. 46:11) Having accomplished his announced purpose, thus he will have vindicated his word. He proves that he is equal and exact in justice, perfect in wisdom, unlimited in power, and entirely unselfish, and that only those in harmony with him shall have life everlasting. All will learn that he is the only true God, the Almighty God, Jehovah, the Most High. The paramount doctrine of his Word is his kingdom, through which his name is vindicated.
QUESTIONS FOK BEREAN STUDY
1. When does Jehovah reveal his secrets ? To whom? What of divine providence is seen in the setting of our text? Daniel represented whom? What lesson for these is found in verse 30 of this chapter?
2. Show the fitness of Jehovah’s using Nebuchadnezzar and his dream to make this prophetic picture.
3, 4. Quote scripture expressing Lucifer’s covetous desire. Describe the situation which enabled him to proceed to carry out that desire.
5, 6. Point out how Lucifer’s (Satan’s) policy of confusion by mimicry and counterfeit was adopted from the time he began to misuse his commission.
7, 8. Show whether Daniel 2:37 applies specifically to Nebuchadnezzar.
9. Account for the prominence of Nimrod.
10. How could Babylon be ‘a cup in the Lord’s hand to make the nations drunken ’?
11-15. Apply the expressions (a) “after thee’’, (b) “another kingdom inferior,” (c) “another third kingdom,” of Daniel 2: 39. Show the harmony therewith of Ephesians 6:12.
16-20. In this image, what was pictured (a) by the “legs of iron”? (b) By the “feet part of iron and part of clay”?
21, 22. How is this image related to the four beasts which Daniel saw in vision?
23. Identify ‘the stone that smote the image’. How is this “stone” related to the “seed” of God’s woman, Zion?
24, 25. What is meant by the statement, ‘The stone was cut out of the mountain without hands’?
26-28. Describe the course which Jesus took by reason of
which he was made “The Stone” which should destroy “the image”.
29, 30. Point out the fulfilment of the prophetic statement, “Thou settest a crown of pure gold upon his head.” Apply Psalm 21: 5-9.
31. How are others received as “living stones” and built up according to the pattern of “The Stone”?
32-34. How was The Stone ‘laid in Zion’? What is meant by the term “a tried stone”? Point out the fulfilment of Isaiah 28: 17.
35, 36. Describe the fulfilment of Daniel 2: 35.
37, 38. How will the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air be affected by the setting up of Jehovah’s kingdom?
39, 40. Just what is referred to in the statement, in Psalm 149: 9, “This honor have all his saints”? How will the fulfilment of Daniel 2: 44 result in the vindication of the name of Jehovah?
YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
(Thirty-minute radio lecture]
THE name “Christ” means “anointed one”. Few people would think of a “body of Christ” other than the body of Jesus which was nailed to the cross. And that body, so most people think, Jesus has now with him in heaven, with its wounds still gaping, raw, and unhealed, after all these centuries, as though it were a badge of distinction for Jesus to have to inhabit a human body bearing unsightly holes and gashes. However, there is no scripture in the Bible which says that Jesus took his fleshly body to heaven to appear in the presence of God with it. According to the Scriptures such a thing would have been impossible. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, ’ ’ so says First Corinthians, chapter fifteen, verse fifty.
Jesus is the great high priest of God, and in his sacrificial work he was foreshadowed by Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews. (Heb. 5:1-5) Aaron made atonement for the sins of the Jews once each year. On that occasion he slew a bullock as a sacrifice ; but he did not take the flesh or any part of the carcass of such bullock into the sanctuary and thus appear before the Lord. He took simply the blood of the animal in a vessel, brought it into the inner chamber or most holy of the sanctuary, and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat there, and so made propitiation for sin. Having successfully done this, he came forth and next killed a goat, with no blemishes, and which had been chosen by lot to be “the Lord’s geat”. But neither did Aaron take the flesh and bones of this Lord’s goat into the most holy of the sanctuary. He carried in merely the blood of the goat and sprinkled it on the mercy seat in like manner as he had done with the bullock’s blood. As for the bodies of the bullock and goat, only specified portions were cut out to be burned on the altar in the court before the sanctuary, after which the carcasses were hauled out beyond the borders of the camp of the Jews to be destroyed by fire.
The value of all fleshly life is in the blood stream. God’s own law, as dictated in Leviticus, chapter seventeen, verse eleven, states: “The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” For this reason the Jews were forbidden to eat or drink blood. Hebrews, chapter nine, verse twenty-two, states: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hence, the high priest’s sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat was a prophetic picture showing that Christ Jesus, as high priest of God, would not take his fleshly body into heaven with him; but by his sacrificial death on the cross as the “just for the unjust” he would give up his flesh as bread for the life of the world (John 6:51), this being pictured by killing the bullock and burning choice parts of it on the altar and the rest of the carcass outside the camp.
Thus Jesus gave up his human nature for ever. At his resurrection from the dead he was not raised with a fleshly body, but was raised a spirit being, a heavenly creature of the divine nature. The Apostle Peter plainly states in his first epistle, chapter three, verse eighteen, that Jesus was “put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit”. (A.R.V.) This explains why during the forty days after his resurrection Jesus was invisible to his disciples; and to appear to them on various occasions he had to materialize human bodies, and thus talked and ate with them. On at least two occasions he materialized in a fleshly body which resembled the one which had been crucified, thereby to satisfy the doubts of his disciples that it was he. But on all other occasions of materializing Jesus appeared in a body which the disciples did not recognize, and he had to make himself familiar to them by some manner of speech or some recognizable way of doing things. All this was to prove to them that he was indeed alive from the dead and was ‘ ‘ this same Jesus”, but no longer a human creature. Jesus’ appearing out of the unseen in this manner to his disciples is no more strange than that in Old Testament times angels materialized in human bodies and appeared to men and talked with them and even ate with them.
As concerns the literal body in which the Lord was crucified, this much may be said: that God miraculously disposed of it according to his own perfect knowledge, likely dissolving it into dust, that thus his ‘‘holy one” Jesus should not be suffered to see corruption. (Acts 2: 22-32) Very wisely God has not preserved that body in a place which is known to any human creature and which we might visit on a pilgrimage. When we think of the stuffed dummies supposed to be the uncorrupting bodies of saints, which used to be worshiped by the peasants in ‘‘Holy Russia”, or when we think of the wars which have been fought over the possession of the so-called ‘ ‘ holy ’ ’ places and buildings in Palestine, we can see God’s wisdom in disposing of Jesus’ human body; how, it is not revealed, nor necessary for us to know.
This much is Scripturally certain, though, that Jesus was neither resurrected in that fleshly body nor taken up to heaven in it, any more than the Jewish high priest took the flesh of the sacrificed bullock into the sanctuary instead of taking only the blood. Since God’s own law declares that the blood represents the life, that which makes satisfaction for sins, it follows that when Jesus was resurrected, he took not up the human flesh as a body for him, but took up that which was pictured by the blood, namely, the value of his perfect human life. This value, merit, or price he could take with him to heaven and with it appear in the presence of God and make propitiation for sinners ; and this Jesus did. From this viewpoint many scriptures become understandable to us, such as these: “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot’’; and, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”—1 Pet. 1:18,19; Rev. 1: 5.
Truly the entire human race can rejoice that Jesus has not taken back his human nature. For thus the value of it can be used as a sin-offering for them and thereby the way be opened for them to be cleared from sin and to come back into harmony with God and be given the priceless gift of human life for ever in sinless perfection. Mark, therefore, that Jesus is not a god-man nor a man-god up in heaven; but that he is now exalted far above flesh and blood, yea, far above angels, in that he is now divine, immortal, “being the brightness of [God’s] glory, and the express image of his person.”—Heb. 1:3.
A grander king than this glorified Jesus could not be appointed to reign over the human family; and to none other than to him who died for mankind has God given the honor of now setting up a perfect government over the earth, and of blessing our dying and unhappy race with peace, perfect happiness, and unending life as human children of God. Jesus is anointed of God to be mankind’s invisible King! Let the people everywhere hail him!
Now note a mystery which it is now due for all mankind to have made clear to them. All the while that the glorified Jesus has been at God’s right hand in heaven, “the body of Christ” as the Scriptures call it has been alive and active on our earth. Manifestly the crucified flesh of Jesus is not what is meant by the expression “the body of Christ”. God used the Apostle Paul to make plain to us this “mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints”. (Col. 1:26; Eph. 3:4-9) Paul ranked himself as being the chief of sinners. He was this before he became a Christian; his name was then Saul. As Saul he was once on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute Christians in Syria. The Bible record of this reads as follows: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? and he said, Who art thou, Lord ? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. ’ ’—Acts 9: 3-6.
It must have surprised Saul to be informed that he was persecuting Jesus. How was such a thing possible, when Jesus was no longer a human creature on earth, but an invisible heavenly being whose person was so glorious that when the light therefrom was miraculously shined into Saul’s eyes he was blinded for three days? Ah! Jesus was in fact up in heaven beyond the reach of all human persecution, but his body members, that is, this mysterious “body of Christ”, was down on earth. Saul was persecuting members of the body of Christ, and in so doing was persecuting Jesus.
Who, or what, then, is this “body of Christ”? In Ephesians, chapter one, verses twenty to twenty-three, the apostle writes that God “raised [Jesus] from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body”. Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians has this introduction in chapter one, verse two: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints”; and in chapter twelve of this epistle to these Christians he says: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Eureka! nowwe have it! The true church of God is “the body of Christ”, and all who are truly Christian are members of it, even while they are still human creatures inhabiting the earth.
“The Christ” of the Bible is not one person, namely, Jesus alone, but is many. God’s own Word confirms this deduction; for in the same twelfth chapter of Paul’s epistle, verse twelve, it is written: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.” Then this chapter goes on to liken the body members of Christ to members of our human bodies; and verse twenty-six says: ‘ ‘ And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” Hence, when Saul was persecuting the members of the Christ body, Jesus the Head over that body was suffering with the rest of the members thereof.
Similar language is used in Paul’s letter addressed to the Romans, chapter twelve, verses four and five, which read: “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Concerning Jesus it is written, in Colossians, chapter one, verse eighteen: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.” Since Jesus is “the head of the body, the church, . . . that in all things he might have the preeminence”, it follows that nobody who lived on earth ahead of Jesus could have been a Christian or member of God’s true church.—1 Pet. 1: 9-12.
The body of Christ began to exist first on the day of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven. But why should that day of Pentecost witness the beginning of the body of Christ ? Because on that day God chose to pour out his spirit upon those disciples who had remained faithful to Jesus. There God anointed them with his spirit, and they began to preach the good tidings of salvation through Jesus’ death and his coming kingdom. That anointing with God’s spirit was their ordination to preach. God did not set up a clergy class to lord it over the rest of his church, nor did he ordain such a class to restrict to themselves the privilege to preach. God poured out his spirit “on all flesh” (Joel 2: 28, 29; Acts 2:16-18), and thereby all the members of the church or body of Christ were ordained of God (not of man) to preach his Word of truth. “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” He knows which ones have truly dedicated themselves to him through Jesus Christ, and them he adopts by begetting them of his spirit as his children. To these children he extends the call to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and be a witness for God and a proclaimer of the good news of a new and perfect government over our afflicted race, which government should be laid upon the shoulder of Jesus at his second coming. Such of God’s spiritual children as respond to this call to be ambassadors for Christ, God chooses or elects, and such he ordains or anoints with his spirit or invisible power and commands them to preach.
Be it remembered that the Greek word “Christ” means “anointed one”. The Hebrew word “Messiah” means the same thing as Christ. The name “Christian” (Acts 11:26) was applied to Jesus’ disciples, and means “one who belongs to the anointed One”. Hence everyone who looks upon himself as a Christian should examine himself, as the apostle tells him to do (2 Cor. 13:5), and see whether he is really a Christian or not. Do not fool yourself any longer about this sacred matter. Do not let anyone else fool you. Only children of God, begotten by his spirit and anointed, not by man, but by God, are in the absolute sense Christians and members of God’s anointed company, the body of Christ. For it is written: “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.” “By one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. ’ ’—Gal. 3: 26-28; 1 Cor. 12:13,14.
Jesus was the first member, and hence the Head, of The Christ. After his baptism in the Jordan river and before he began his public service of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven he was anointed with God’s spirit. This anointing made him Christ, or anointed One. He did not receive the ordination to preach from the Jewish high priest or the religious societies of the day or of any man. That his ordination came not by the laying of any man’s hands upon him he pointedly explained when speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth. Applying the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verses one and two, to himself, he said: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” —Luke 4:17-19.
God had anointed or ordained Jesus to preach as his witness. Therefore no man had the authority to command Jesus to shut his mouth, because no mere man is above the authority which God gives to his anointed ones. Failing to frighten Jesus into silence, the Lord’s enemies at last appealed to the governmental powers. Religious toleration meant nothing to them. Their positions as priests, religious rulers and respected churchmen, were at stake, because Jesus’ preaching was ruining their power and influence over the people. So they intolerantly hardened their hearts and railroaded Jesus to Calvary and the cross. Only by death was Jesus’ mouth shut!
It looked as though Jesus’ enemies had now stopped the preaching both of Jesus and of his disciples; but then along comes that day of Pentecost. The spirit is poured out. The faithful disciples are baptized into the body of Christ by receiving the anointing of the Spirit; and thus ordained or authorized they forthwith opened their mouths in preaching the glad tidings of God’s kingdom. The same religious gang that put Jesus to death now endeavored to gag the mouths of the body members of Christ. They failed. Why? Because Jesus had expressly commanded his followers to preach the kingdom after they received the spirit from on high, and Jesus’ command must be obeyed though all men opposed. But would it not have been proper for those disciples, fishermen some of them were, first to earn a diploma from the religious colleges of that day and get the formal ordination of the titled religious doctors before they went to preaching ? No! they knew that it is not ordination from the hands of religious men which makes one a real preacher for God. Not even the laying on of the hands of the apostles made preachers, but it was the anointing of God’s holy spirit.
God needs no man or self-appointed body of men to ordain anyone to preach for him. God does his own electing or selecting. It is presumptuous for men to pretend to ordain preachers for God. It is equally presumptuous for men to forbid someone who has God’s anointing to preach, just because he has not received his religious education from them and been ordained by them. It is not a secret that today men are being ordained by other men as representatives of Christianity, even though those ordained do not believe in a personal God or in Christ and his miracles or in the infallibility of the Bible, but accept instead the evolution theory and higher criticism. Does God back up such ordinations? I leave you to answer.
Showing that he, an apostle, did not ordain God’s preachers, Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth and said: “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God.” (2 Cor. 1:21) And the beloved apostle John, writing to fellow Christians, said: “You have an anointing from the holy One; you all know it.” (1 John 2: 20, Diaglott) Thus every one who is a Christian in truth before God, has received the same anointing as Jesus, the Head of the body of Christ. Thus all members of the body of Christ are anointed ones. In the ordination of Aaron, the Jewish high priest, the holy anointing oil was poured upon his head and ran down upon his beard and trickled down to his neckband, thus reaching his body. This pictures how the anointing of the spirit which came upon Jesus, the Head of the body of Christ, descended upon the faithful disciples on the day of Pentecost, and thus they were made partakers of the body of Christ. Likewise, all who since then have taken the proper course as laid down in God’s Word have been baptized or incorporated into the body of Christ, and thus the anointing of God flows down upon them from Jesus the Head of the anointed body.—Ps. 133:1, 2.
Those who are faithful to their anointing will be found doing as Jesus did, not meddling in the secular affairs of this world, but devoting themselves to preaching God’s kingdom and standing as witnesses in the defense of the great name of Jehovah God. It matters not what men may do or think or command ; such faithful Christians recognize their anointing from God and their obligation to preach this one thing, the gospel of God’s incoming kingdom, and they will preach it. Death alone will stop their preaching activities.
As the human body has just so many members to make a perfect body, so also with the body of Christ. According to the book of Revelation God has predetermined the membership of the body of Christ to be just one hundred and forty-four thousand. (Rev. 7:4; 14:1) These members are to be made join theirs with Jesus their Head in the heavenly kingdom, and are to reign as kings and priests with him, and thus to bless all the families of the earth, the living and the dead. (Both the priests and kings of the Jews were anointed, this foreshadowing that the offices of both priest and king would be combined in Jesus and his faithful followers.) One of the primary reasons that the kingdom of God was not set up on earth right after Jesus ascended to heaven but has been delayed till the end of the Christian era is this: that God has set aside this period of time to call and choose out from among the peoples of earth those who become members of the body of Christ and who are to govern with him.
Prophecy and all outward evidences in the earth indicate that we have reached the end of the Christian era, and that the full membership of the body of Christ is about selected out. Hence the last members of that anointed body are now on earth. They too are anointed of God to preach. That is why, since the close of the World War, the words of Jesus are being fulfilled, that “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come”. Jesus and his disciples went from one city and town and countryside to another and called at the homes of the people, preaching that ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent, and believe the gospel!’ So too the last remaining members of God’s anointed company are proclaiming this kingdom gospel both over the radio and by knocking at the doors of the homes of the people and offering them books and pamphlets telling the sweet tidings of the kingdom of heaven, that it is indeed at hand with blessings innumerable for the poor and the oppressed and even for the dead who shall in due time be restored from the grave to their loved ones. If anyone of these calls at your door give him a kindly hearing, remembering Jesus’ words: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’’ (Matt. 25:40) What you do unto a member of the body of Christ you do unto Jesus, the Head of the body.
Does anyone speak against this work of thus spreading God’s kingdom message from house to house, and try to hinder it? You may be sure that, even if he “seemeth to be religious”, he is either unfaithful to God or was never anointed of God although he may have been ordained of men. Such would take away the key of knowledge and hinder the people from entering into the benefits which God’s kingdom has in store for our race. To those who would stop this work of God’s faithful witnesses, the Lord’s Word solemnly says: “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” (Ps. 105:15) It is now high time for the people to heed the words of Jesus which find their complete fulfilment at this end of the Christian era: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) But to those members of the body of Christ who are obediently and joyfully proclaiming the truth to the people, Jesus, the Head of the Christ body, says: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. ’ ’—Rev. 2:10.
COLPORTEURING UNDER DIFFICULTIES
SOME time ago the Society provided a boat that the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador could be reached in giving the kingdom witness. Our brethren elsewhere will read the following letters with keen interest. We rejoice with our brethren who have the privilege of carrying the truth to the people in those isolated countries. The Lord cares for his own and blesses every effort to glorify his name.
Inglee, Canada Bay, Newfoundland,
June 15, 1930.
Dear Brethren:
It gives me much pleasure to inform you that we have now reached our destination. Also, our first onslaught has been made for this season, with good results. Besides, after making the long runs necessary to cover the distance, there was not much time left to canvass. Yet, by utilizing every opportunity we were able to put out a very encouraging amount. We trust this will continue.
Our trip last week provided thrills we will not soon forget. Once we were caught in a storm, and with the engine going at full speed ahead we stood completely still for almost an hour. However, after a long time we were able to reach a safe harbor. After being water swept and tossed about it seemed good to be on dry land again. Dense fogs, too, were a hindrance which caused us to turn back twice and wait for clear weather. Then we came in contact with fields of drift ice interspersed with huge icebergs. These ice fields stretched for miles on every side and all we could do was to keep it clear of the Morton with long poles. Ice of this nature has been known to crush the hull of a ship to matchwood. Just for fun I climbed onto a pan of ice and took a snap of the Morton. The natural home of the seal is on ice, and here we saw many of them. They dive and frolic about like a family of kittens and provide an interesting sight.
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