| News and Views | July 1946 |
There Was a Prophet in Israel
NINETEEN centuries ago a prophet in Israel foretold that a time would come in the history of the human race when there would be a widespread distress of nations the underlying causes of which would be so baffling that the people of the world would not be able to find a way out of their dilemma. This prophet also foretold that in connection with this worldwide distress a dreadful pall of fear would hang over the people causing their hearts to fail as they looked forward to the things coming upon the earth. As a climax to this vivid description of conditions tragically common to our day, this prophet said that unless these days of distress were shortened no flesh would be saved. For our comfort, however, he added that the days of distress would be shortened.
The prophet who foretold present world conditions so accurately was Jesus; and the combined efforts of the world’s best statesmen have failed to halt the irrepressible progress of events which daily reveal the increasing accuracy of the prophecies uttered by this outstanding Jew. Take the fact of fear, for example. This fear has been in the hearts of the people since the outbreak of the first World War in 1914. The late President Roosevelt recognized its blighting effects upon human well-being and happiness, and considered it important to include “freedom from fear” as one of the fundamentals in a new world charter.
Hundreds of thousands of the youth of the United States died heroically fighting for this and other so-called laudable objectives. But what happened? Why, the atomic bomb! It blasted the way to “peace,” in the Pacific area; but when the peace came, instead of producing freedom from fear, as many in the United States had hoped it would, the fear of the people was increased, and daily is becoming more intense. Yes, Jesus was a true prophet!
And what about the possibility of the entire human race being destroyed, as Jesus indicated would be the case but for divine intervention? Well, our scientists tell us that this definitely is now a possibility. Prior to August of 1945 it was difficult even for those who had implicit faith in the inspiration of Jesus’ prophecy to grasp a thought of such overwhelming proportions. Many tried to place some other interpretation upon his plain words. But now it is apparent that Jesus knew what he was talking about.
Jesus was the last of Israel’s prophets, and without exception they have explained that the suffering of the people in all the ages has been due to sin. Their testimony is consistent from beginning to end. Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden and sentenced to death because they sinned. The antediluvian world was destroyed for the same reason. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were burned on account of the great sin of the people. And it was because the nation of Israel sinned that God permitted Gentile nations to afflict her.
The entire human race is suffering and dying because of sin. Wherever there is a lack of peace, or unhappiness it is because of sin—not necessarily on the part of those directly involved, although frequently this is the case. Suffering and death reign because of sin which originated in Eden, and which has continued to blight the human race from then until now. Apart from war, suffering and death continue, and will continue until the Creator, the great God of love and power intervenes to stop it—which through the prophets of Israel he has promised to do.
The present distress of nations and worldwide fear foretold by Jesus is revealed in the Scriptures also to be due to sin and selfishness—first on the part of the ruling classes, and also because the people as a whole have tacitly consented to the wrongs which have pyramided to wreck the world. In this Maelstrom the Jews, the people to whom God sent his prophets, have seemingly had more than their share of suffering. Should we expect that the cause of their plight is any different than has been the cause of all human suffering throughout the ages?
Obviously not! Indeed, their prophets, including Jesus, who prophesied the present time of distress upon all nations, foretold their present baffling problems, pointing out the cause to be their national sins, and the remedy, their repentance. All Jews who have faith in their traditions, and are proud of their background may at first reject the thought that their own sins are responsible for the suffering of their people. They are loath to think that their God is not on their side, not fighting their battles for them; yet they are forced by the logic of circumstances to admit that this must be true.
And it is no disgrace to admit this. Gentiles as well as Jews will have to acknowledge their sins and seek divine favor in God’s own way, ere lasting peace, security, and happiness will come to them. This is doubly true of the Jews, for in the days of Moses, they entered into a covenant with God. They promised to obey him, hence are more responsible than the Gentile world. God expects more of them, and is more severe in his retributions because of their enlarged opportunities and self-imposed obligations to obedience:
Today Zionist Jews are working politically and in every other possible way to induce the great powers of earth to guarantee them a national home in Palestine. Are they taking God into consideration? One of Israel’s prophets truly said, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” (Psa. 127:1) Are the plans of God being considered by Zionists today, or are they looking to Great Britain, or Russia, or the United States to do for them what God has promised to do? God has promised Israel the land of Palestine. The time undoubtedly will come for them to possess it. All the rich blessings of the long-promised messianic age are about to be showered upon them; but first they must turn to God for help, rather than to the Gentiles.
Jews Should Face the Facts
Twenty-five years ago, most Jews, especially those who were Zionists, were certain that the Lord God was on their side. Through the Balfour Declaration, Palestine had been virtually turned over to them and they could return to the land of their fathers. Some believed this to be a fulfillment of the prophecies. Others accepted it as the inevitable just solution of their age-long problem of being a wandering and persecuted people without a home. Every Jew who still had in his bosom a spark of faith in his God, accepted that favorable turn of events as further proof that he belonged to a race which indeed was chosen of God.
But it is different now. True, much has been accomplished in Palestine by the Jews. More than a half million of the descendants of Abraham are now living there, but the Balfour Declaration has been vetoed. The British White Paper takes its place. Very few more Jews can return to the Holy Land. And this at a time when the Jew needs his Promised Land most desperately. He needs it as a haven of refuge from the bitter persecution raging against him in so many countries where he is becoming increasingly aware he is not wanted.
Millions of Jews have been slaughtered since those bright and hopeful days of twenty-five years ago. Much as we are loath to admit it, anti-semitism is increasing practically everywhere—even in America. Naturally, the Jews want the United Nations to do something about this. They want the United States to intervene to change British policy towards them. The sheer desperation of their plight makes them long for somebody, somewhere, to do something for them.
Yes, there are facts for the Jews to face—hard, cruel facts. One of those facts is that if Israel’s God wanted conditions different than they are, he could easily change them. Another fact is that since Jehovah God has not changed these, conditions, there must be a very good reason for them. The third fact is that in all probability there is something seriously wrong with the Jews themselves which is causing divine providence to frown upon them.
There was a time when the Lord God of Israel led his chosen people through the Red Sea and across the River Jordan. He fought for them and gave them victories over their enemies. Israel’s God is abundantly able to care for his people. But every Jew who knows his historical background is well aware of the fact that there were times when God did not fight for his people, because they had sinned. Jews are proud of their background, but here is a somber detail of their past which should not be overlooked today as we endeavor to face the facts and discover why God has hidden his face from Israel.
Every Jew also knows that as a nation they have not been blessed with the smile of God’s countenance for now nineteen centuries. This is recognized even in Jewish prayers, one of which implores Jehovah, saying, “O merciful Father, send us thy deliverer speedily in our days, and may we behold the redemption of thy people Israel, when thou wilt return to Zion, thy Holy City, and end the bitter exile of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. AMEN.”
Jewish fast days are intended as national memorials, calling attention to their misfortunes of the past and at the same time serving as a plea to God for the revival of Jewish national existence. Jews know that their fathers sinned against God, and that had it not been for this, they would not have lost their sanctuary and their land. He fasts in an attempt to expiate that sin, and his own sins as well, for he believes that by so doing God’s favor will return to him.
Yes, Jews, in at least a nominal sense, seem willing to face the fact of their national sins and recognize that their plight can be traced to the wrongdoing of their fathers and themselves. They observe their days of fasting and prayers; they have their wailing wall in Jerusalem; they ask God to end their exile of punishment; but he does not answer. Their troubles increase; their persecution becomes more bitter; they are driven from their homes in foreign lands but not permitted to return to their own land. What is wrong?
Does God no longer hear the prayers of his people? or is there something wrong with their praying? The sacred Scriptures of the Jews reveal that in ancient times whenever they. recognized their sin and asked God’s forgiveness, his favor returned, Oftentimes miracles were performed by God in order to answer the prayers of his people, But now, for nineteen centuries, there have been prayers, fastings, sackcloth and ashes, but no miracles. Why?
One of the habitual sins of ancient Israel was the rejection of the prophets God sent to them. The six hundred and twenty-five thousand male Jews who left Egypt under the leadership of Moses failed to enter into the Promised Land because of their unbelief and failure to trust God and God’s leadership through Moses. They murmured against Moses as they did against others of God’s prophets who were sent to them. Every prophecy of the sacred Scriptures of Israel bearing on this subject, and every scrap of historic evidence, as well as the more than eighteen centuries of Jewish exile from their homeland and from the favor of their God, combine to prove that this particular national sin of the rejection of the testimony of the law and the prophets is the one most responsible for their dispersion. And it is this sin which they still refuse to recognize and for which they have not asked forgiveness.
The greatest Jewish prophet of all time, the One who co-ordinated and gave point to all their prophecies; and the One whom God sent to fulfill his prophecies, they rejected. Yes, it was Jesus, the One whom Moses foretold, saying, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things.” (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22) But the Jews as a nation refused to hear Jesus. Incited to frenzy against him by their leaders, they clamored for his life and got it.
In doing this they said, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” thereby accepting the responsibility for the death of this promised Savior and King of Israel and the world. (Matt. 27:25) Every circumstance of Jewish history bears out the truthfulness and reality of what occurred back there. Because the leaders of Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah and plotted to kill him, Jesus said, “Your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38) Nineteen centuries of desolation on the house of Israel, in fulfillment of this prophecy, stamp Jesus as a true prophet of God.
Every Jew knows that the coming of Jesus nineteen centuries ago marked the beginning of their long siege of national calamity. There is no point in trying to hide behind the unchristiaity of professed Christians as an excuse for denying their own national guilt. If God’s protection had been over Israel the nation would not have been scattered and persecuted, for he has been as capable of protecting them throughout the past nineteen centuries as he was in the days of Moses.
The present is no ordinary time. Every national, political, social, and religious circumstance of this generation points to the undeniable fact that we have reached a turning point in human experience. President Roosevelt called it a “rendezvous with destiny.” In this period of fundamental change, no national, political, or social evil will be cured by manmade formulas. Neither will religious problems be solved that way.
One of the most tragic mistakes in the religious world of our day is the attempt to have every religious group maintain its own particular faith and practice, regardless of the great divergence from that of other groups, and all work together under a common banner of hypocrisy and unbelief. This could never be a satisfactory arrangement for Jews. Jews are supposed to believe in one Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and that only through allegiance to this one God can all peoples and nations find unity of faith and worship. It is this that is taught by the sacred Scriptures of the Jews, and by the New Testament of the Christians.
At this time of all times in world history, when there is an attempt to adjust everything that is wrong, no Jew should give his consent to compromise his faith in the one Eternal God. Nor should he be unwilling to accept the testimony of God’s prophets concerning the meaning of Israel’s exile, and the course the nation must pursue in order to take its rightful place in God’s new order of things which, according to the prophecies, is to emerge from the present terrible nightmare of human experience.
Yes, God’s set time to favor Israel has come. One of God’s prophecies concerning this is recorded in Joel 3:1,2,9-21. Verse 1 speaks of a time when God will “bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.” Verse 2 reveals that this would be the same time when the Lord would also “gather all nations … into the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Biblical names nearly always have a definite meaning, and for this reason are frequently used in the prophecies to denote conditions. It is thus with the name Jehoshaphat. This name means decision, or, God has judged.
The prophet is telling us that when God’s time comes to return the captivity of his people Israel, he would then call all the Gentile nations into account. Verses 9-14 show that this would be in connection with a worldwide armament program and a global clash of nations. God’s decision is against the nations. It is the time for the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom, hence Gentile authority is to be set aside.
Turning back to verse 2 of this chapter, we note that one of the points of God’s controversy with the nations concerns the land of Israel. The Promised Land does belong to Israel. The time has come when God proposes to give it to them. The Gentile nations do not wish to give it up. God presses the controversy, and Israel is restored. See verses 18-20.
A Jew who is even casually observing should be able to identify this combination of events in what has been occurring throughout the world during recent years. There has been a movement on the part of Israel to return to Palestine. There has been a worldwide and war-like gathering of the Gentile nations. There has been and still is a dispute over Israel’s right to the Promised Land. In these events we are presented with strong evidence that the time has come for Israel to arouse herself and look to her God for guidance in what she should do, and to depend upon him for help that his will may be accomplished.
In verse 21 of this prophecy God says, “For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.” Here we are reminded that Israel’s return to God’s favor is possible only because they will be cleansed of their sin—sin that is symbolized by blood. God is no respecter of persons. Both Jews and Gentiles must acknowledge their sins and seek forgiveness in order to have his favor. There is no other way to return to God.
God’s love for both Jews and Gentiles is manifested in the wonderful provision he has made through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus. Jews as a people have refused to accept this provision, and today the majority of those who call themselves Christians are turning away from this one and only means of approach to God. They claim that the idea of sacrifice for sins is revolting to twentieth century intelligence.
But no Jew is justified in taking this position. Through the law of Moses as well as by the prophets the idea of sacrifice for sin was kept before Israel. When the time came for God to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, the shedding of blood was required as a precursor of the miraculous exodus there wrought by the power of God. When later the tabernacle was constructed and its services instituted, the shedding of blood as an atonement for sin was a prominent and fundamental part of those services.
The Prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah, describing him as the “arm of Jehovah,” and declaring that the time would come when he would be revealed to the eyes of all the nations, and that all the ends of the earth would then see the salvation of God. But then he appends the query: “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Explaining why he asks this question the prophet declares that this foretold Messiah would first of all be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter.”—Isaiah 52:10; 53
When the foretold Messiah did come many Israelites in the humbler walks of life, and some of the prominent and influential, were delighted with him. The officers sent to arrest him declared, “Never man spake like this man!” (John 7:46) But the religious leaders of his day rejected him, scorned his message, and stirred up the nation against the Prince of life. This led to his sacrificial death. And in their infuriated excitement they said, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” (Matt. 27:25) For this the nation has paid dearly.
But, you may inquire, why should Jews today be held responsible for the sins of their forefathers nineteen centuries ago? It is because they continue to uphold that sin by refusing to acknowledge that their nation was in any way responsible for it. Not until they are ready genuinely to “mourn for him whom they have pierced,” as the prophet points out they will eventually do, will the miraculous power of God become manifested in delivering them from affliction.—Zech. 12:10
The prophecies do not indicate that there will be any wide-scale repentance of the Israelites, or acceptance of Jesus as their Redeemer and Messiah until further trouble is heaped upon them, and they are reduced to a more hopeless plight than they are in today. We call attention to these things, not with the expectation of being heeded except by an occasional one, but as a witness; and to comfort as many as are willing to face the facts and act in accordance with them.
But the time is near when the blindness of Israel will be removed as a result of their repentance and acceptance of their Redeemer and Messiah. And we are assured by the Scriptures that when that time comes God’s abundant mercy will be extended toward them. Besides, the favor of God then will mean more than merely a respite from persecution. It will mean more, too, than possession of the Promised Land and the right to enjoy the benefits of its productivity. In addition to these blessings, Israel’s prophets have foretold freedom from sickness, and even from death. Yea, the promise of God is that those who have died are to be restored to life—the millions who have died in recent years, as well as those who have died throughout all the centuries of the past.
Both Jews and Gentiles who have suffered and died will, in the resurrection, find more than a compensating portion for all the experiences through which they have passed. All wrongs will be righted, and those who repent of their sin and accept the provision of God’s love through the Redeemer’s blood, will enjoy the blessings of health and life forever.