| News and Views | June 1941 |
The Voice of God—Past and Present
THE exact pattern of things to come in the ever-changing scenes of battle, as more and more of the world becomes involved in the life-and-death struggle of what men have called civilization, is difficult to determine. The Scriptures are clear concerning the ultimate outcome, which is the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. The Scriptures also make it clear that God is speaking to the warring nations through the distresses in which they are all involved. The nations do not yet hear the “voice,” but those who are taking heed to the “sure word of prophecy” do hear it, and rejoice that the time will come when the Lord, in His own way, will compel the nations to cease their strife and acknowledge Him as the real Ruler of earth—“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”—Psalms 46:10
Within the last month the world picture has become increasingly dark. The conservative rulers of Great Britain winked at the rearmament program of Nazi Germany in the belief that an armed Germany would serve to protect them against the spread of Communism from Russia. It was a staggering shock, therefore, to the British government when Germany and Russia, in 1939, signed a non-aggression pact. Since then, however, there has been much wishful thinking on the part of the democracies, that Russia would soon break with Germany, to help save the world from Nazi dictatorship, and join hands with the fighting democracies.
But the developments of the last month have shattered these hopes, and there is now evidence that instead of Nazi Germany saving the world from Communism, her rulers are themselves veering to the “left,” and together with Russia will attempt by military might to bring the whole world under the control of their moneyless and Godless new order. This helps to increase the conviction of far-seeing statesmen that there is now little hope of restoring the world to the status quo of the “good old days.” On this point the Premier of Australia, visiting in America, is reported as saying that irrespective of the general outcome of the war, one thing is sure, namely, that class distinction of rich and poor will cease. In evidence of this, he cited the fact that already in the countries at war the taxes being imposed to carry on the fight amounted to a virtual confiscation of wealth.
It would almost seem, then, that the present struggle of the nations for supremacy is mostly for the purpose of being in a position at the end of the war to dominate the new order which they all seem to think is inevitable. What none of the nations know as yet, is that while the Lord is permitting them to destroy the old order, Christ will be the Ruler of the world of tomorrow, and that it won’t be under the domination of any of the kingdoms of this world. The present “melting,” or leveling processes so plainly visible within the nations are said prophetically, to be due to the fact that the Lord is speaking to the nations—“He uttered His voice, the earth melted.”—Psa. 46:6
While the nations of Christendom have, for centuries, claimed to be guided and blessed of the Lord, the Scriptures, however, clearly show that this has not actually been the case. These nations have frequently claimed that God’s voice was expressed through their military might, but in this they have been wrong. It is difficult for the world’s leaders to reconcile this false claim of the past with what is now happening, and the result is that many are wondering if there really is a God who is paying attention to what is transpiring in the world. It is not surprising therefore, that God’s voice is not yet heard above the din of battle.
The truth is that God has not, in the past, been speaking to the nations, but has permitted them to go on in their selfish way until the Gentile lease of power, which was to last for 2520 years—606 B.C. to 1914 A.D.—had run out. In Isaiah 42:13-16 the Lord declares that for a long time He would hold His peace and would not speak to the nations. Here the Lord also explains how, when the time should come for Him to break His long silence, His voice could be identified. He says that He would “cry,” and “roar,” and that He would go forth as a “man of war,” and would stir up “jealousy” among the nations. Finally, the Lord explains, He would bring the “blind by a way which they knew not.”
This last expression is most meaningful. The poor blind world must first be spoken to in very drastic ways before their attention can be gained to listen to the “still small voice” which later will lead them in ways of peace and happiness. So, first of all, the Lord speaks to the nations in the only language they can understand. It is the language with which they have spoken to each other throughout the centuries, namely, of war and destruction. A further hint of the Lord’s method of speaking to rebellious people is found in Ezekiel 38:19-22: “In the fire of My wrath have I spoken, … saith the Lord God … And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood.”
Note also the expression of Isaiah 42:14, “Now will I cry like a travailing woman.” The Apostle Paul explains that the “sudden destruction” which comes upon the world in the “day of the Lord” is “as travail upon a woman with child.” (I Thess. 5:1-4) This, as we know, is in spasms. So we might say that in all the spasms of destructive trouble that have come upon the nations beginning with 1914, the Lord has been speaking to them. As yet, however, they do not heed, although occasionally we hear an expression indicating that some are beginning to realize the significance of what is transpiring.
The late Lord Lothian, when he was British Ambassador to the United States, was quoted as saying that Hitler may well be a scourge in the hand of the Lord to awaken the democracies to a sense of their selfishness and pride. When the people of all the nations begin to think along this line, those of Germany wonder if the democracies are being used of the Lord to scourge them, and vice versa; and when, through the further melting processes they see their idols of silver and gold, their false gods of torment and war destroyed, they will, indeed, be ready to hear the Lord speak to them through the softer and more happifying tones of the Messianic Kingdom arrangements.
As yet, however, the Lord is still speaking to the nations in His “wrath,” and still vexing them in “His sore displeasure.” (Psa. 2:5) And how sorely vexed they are today. Surely the “distress of nations” is great and is increasing. How glad we should be that, through the sure Word of prophecy, we know that the Lord has set His King upon His holy hill Zion, and that soon His rulership over the nations will become manifest to all, and that as a result they will learn and practice war no more.
God spoke to the nation of Israel in Horeb in connection with the inauguration of the Law Covenant. (Deut. 5:22-28) In Hebrews 12:26-28 the apostle refers to this and indicates that it was illustrative of the method by which God would speak to the people in connection with the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom, and the inauguration of the New Covenant. As we study carefully the account of Deuteronomy 5:22-28, it is seen that the voice of the Lord was heard in the fire, the earthquake, the darkness, etc.; that is, these constituted the Lord’s method of dramatically calling attention to His voice.
God spoke to Israel out of the fire, and the message was of a twofold character. (1) It contained the divine law for the people, and (2) it revealed the glory of God. The latter is in the statement, “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.” (Deut. 5:9,10) This is an important illustration to keep in mind, for actually the present distress upon the nations is not alone the voice of God, but that which arrests the attention of the nations to hear the Lord’s voice as He speaks to them out of the trouble.
It is true, of course, that there is a message for the people in the trouble itself, for it is telling them of the futility of human selfishness, and revealing the awful consequences of a program of hate and war. This, in turn, prepares the way for hearing the Lord’s voice outlining His Law, the Law of the New Covenant, and revealing the length, the breadth, the heights and depths of His glorious character. This relationship of the trouble to the voice of the Lord that speaks through the trouble, is shown in the prophecy of Zephaniah 3:8,9. First we are told that God destroys the symbolic earth with the fire of His jealousy, emphasizing that He will not forever permit selfishness and injustice to dominate in world affairs. Then He turns to the people a “pure language” that they may learn to call upon Him and serve Him with one consent.
The apostle indicates that the experiences of Israel in connection with the giving of the Law Covenant are intended to be illustrative of the great shaking time just preceding the establishment of the Kingdom and the inauguration of the New Covenant. This confirms another vitally important truth, namely the presence of Christ as the new Mediator and King. Moses, the Mediator, was present when mediating the Law Covenant, so in the antitype of that picture the prophecies show that Christ will be present. This is one reason why the dramatic time just preceding the full establishment of Messiah’s Kingdom is described in the Bible as the “day of the Lord,” that is, the day when He is present preparing the people by the antitypical and symbolic fire, etc., to accept the divine law of the New Covenant.
It is interesting to, note that the terms fire, clouds, thick darkness, voice, etc., mentioned in connection with the events at Sinai, are also used by the prophets and Jesus, in describing the events of the “day of the Lord.” Remembering that symbolic in Zion is in a sense, the antitype of Sinai, the prophecy of Joel 3:16 is most interesting. We quote: “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake.” In Haggai 2:6 the prophet also tells us of this shaking of the heavens and earth. In Hebrews 12:26,27, the apostle quotes Haggai and applies it to the events associated with the inauguration of the New Covenant. It should be noted that the shaking occurs as a result of the Lord’s “voice.”
The shaking prophesied by Haggai is followed by the “desire of all nations” being realized, showing that the shaking is incidental to the establishment of the divine Kingdom. This, in turn, was illustrated at Sinai by the people’s request for the law and for the life which they hoped to gain by keeping that Law. It is also said that at Sinai the people saw the glory of the Lord, and that God spoke to them face to face. So following the antitypical shaking, the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, and the tabernacle of God will be with men. He will dwell with them and He shall be their God, and they shall be His people.—Rev. 21:3
Now note further, the events associated with the “day of the Lord,” as outlined in Joel 2:1,2: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain [antitype of Sinai]: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” Here we have the symbolic “trumpet,” [divine message]; “thick darkness,” and “clouds,” all of which were realities at Sinai, and pictorial of events associated with the day of the Lord’s second presence, just preceding the inauguration of the New Covenant. There can be no doubt that we are now witnessing these symbolic events.
Another prophecy of the day of the Lord that is strikingly similar in its use of language to those already examined is that of Zephaniah 1:14-18, which reads: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”
In the New Testament the Apostle Peter employs some of these same symbolisms in his graphic description of the “Day of the Lord” which he gives us in the 3rd chapter of his 2nd epistle. In this chapter St. Peter connects these events with the presence (parousia) of Jesus, and the ushering in of the “new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Thus again, does the inspired record give us the definite time application of all the wonderfully harmonious prophecies of the “day of the Lord.”
In Matthew 24:21,29,30,31, Jesus, in presenting the signs of His second presence, describes them as trouble, darkness, heavens shaken, trumpet, and a voice (margin). That these are not signs of the Master’s near coming, but of His actual presence, is shown by the prophecy of Isaiah (63:1-6) where we are again told of the day of the Lord’s vengeance precipitated by One that “cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, … traveling in the greatness of His strength.” In the prophecy the question is raised as to who this is, and the reply is, “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
In this prophecy the One mighty to save is pictured as, first of all, treading the winepress of God’s wrath. In Revelation 19:13 this One is clearly identified as the Lord Jesus at the time of His second presence. In this chapter are depicted the final scenes of the great “time of trouble” which makes way for the establishment of Messiah’s thousand-year Kingdom of blessing.
One of the most interesting prophecies relating to the “day of the Lord,” and one which reveals its outcome in the blessing of the people, is that of Psalms 97:1-7. We quote: “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteouness and judgment are the habitation of His throne. A fire goeth before Him, and burneth up His enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare His righteousness, and all the people see His glory. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship Him, all ye gods.”
Yes, when the present unrighteous “heavens”—spiritual and ecclesiastical ruling powers—are shaken out of their place, and the “new heavens” are fully operative, how wonderfully they will declare His glory, and how clearly all the people will see and appreciate it. Then it will be recognized that the collapse of false religious systems which now seems to be such a calamity, was but the overthrow of “graven images” and false gods. Then, too, it will be seen that the present “melting” of society was occasioned by the Lord uttering His “voice” and demanding to be heard and recognized at the rightful King of earth.
Let us, then, watch the progress of world events with the view of identifying the voice of our God. It we do this sincerely, and with the aid of the inspired prophecies, it will be true of us as promised to Israel of old, that we will know His name, and especially in the day of the Lord will we rejoice in the fulfillment of the divine promise which states, “Therefore, … they shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak: behold, it is I.” (Isa. 52:6) And, having this promise fulfilled to us we will recognize that we, in turn, have a responsibility in proclaiming these glad tidings to others, near and far, as clearly indicated in the next verse, which reads, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”—Isa. 52:7
The blessing stage of the new Kingdom is not. yet apparent, but we should realize that even now our King is riding victoriously over His enemies, and that soon, the kingdoms of this world being leveled and humbled, His voice will be heard by the people, saying, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted … in the earth.” (Psa. 46:10) When the New Covenant is established and its work accomplished there will be no further opportunity to serve as the Lord’s ambassadors among men, for then all shall know Him “from the least even unto the greatest. But now, while the voice of the Lord is recognizable in the world’s affairs only in the melting down of society, it is our blessed privilege to join in the proclamation of the “good tidings” that soon God’s new world of peace, happiness, health, and everlasting life will be established in the earth.