| Highlights of Dawn | December 1952 |
By the Power of God
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” —Isaiah 9:6,7
THE year 1952 is rapidly drawing to a close, and when the bells toll the midnight hour on December 31 the world will be in just about the same situation that it was a year ago.
The issues of the Korean War will not be settled.
The Iron Curtain will still be dividing the nations into two armed camps, each one fighting the other in a “cold war” of nerves. Each side hopes that the other will capitulate before there arises the tragedy of all-out fighting with atomic bombs and other devastating weapons of destruction.
The major Protestant and religious groups of the world continue to pass resolutions and give advice.
The struggle between religion and communism goes on unabated, with no certain end in sight.
In short, the world is just as much in a state of chaos and fear as it was a year ago; even more so, for each passing year drains still further the resources of the earth in the armament race to prevent war, leaving the world more impoverished and suffering more acutely from lack of food, clothing, and shelter. There has also been an impoverishment of hope and confidence; for the longer the civil and religious authorities of the earth continue to fail in their futile efforts to restore the world to a more normal way of life, the less confidence the people have in them and the more hopeless the outlook becomes.
In America it has been a presidential election year. The deterioration of human thinking resulting from the nerve-wracking spasms of the prophetic “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,” was reflected by the low level of abuse, charges and countercharges which each contending party hurled against the other. But now that the Republican party has been returned to power there are few on either side, even of those who so bitterly fought for victory, who really believe that national conditions will be materially changed or improved.
So far as human wisdom is able to penetrate the shroud of darkness which continues to hang over a stricken and dying world, the only hope of the so-called free nations is to continue building up armed strength and thus either to frighten the communists from attacking, or else be ready to give victorious battle when they do. This means that regardless of who is in power in Washington, billions of dollars must continue to be extracted from the taxpayers’ pockets to keep the wheels in the ammunition factories turning. It means also that precious materials sorely needed by the world for civilian uses must continue to provide the sinews of war.
And all the while the hearts of the people are filled with anxiety and fear.
Nor is the fear of atomic bombs the only one that is robbing the world of its sense of peace and security. Almost equally acute is the fear of the economic chaos which would certainly result should the armament race caused by the fear of war suddenly become unnecessary. The tremendous manufacturing potential of the United States alone would be capable of more than supplying the entire world with all its civilian needs. But every other nation this side of the Iron Curtain is likewise geared to the production of war materials, and depending largely on American dollars to finance their efforts.
It doesn’t take an economics specialist to see what would happen if the threat of war were suddenly removed.
In view of all this, it is perhaps overoptimistic to say that the close of 1952 finds the world in about the same situation as it was a year ago, for in every field of human endeavor there have been deterioration and erosion. World finances have been further weakened. Even the America dollar has continued to lose its value, and since the financial interests of other nations are tied to the dollar and dependent upon it, this means a world drift toward bankruptcy. But the further bankruptcy of hope that a way out of the world’s dilemma and distress will ever be found, is perhaps the greatest loss of the year. Not a single major issue which confronted the world a year ago, threatening the uneasy peace, has been settled. This tends to paralyze the optimistic thinking of the people.
And why shouldn’t it?
If an entire year of negotiations in Korea, in Iran, in Paris, in Berlin, in London, in Washington, and in the U.N. headquarters has not settled a single problem which, if not settled, could eventually lead to war, where is there any real basis for hope?
In the Religious World
In the professed Christian world a three-way struggle has continued throughout the year between the Fundamentalists and Modernists of the Protestants, with the Catholic Church opposed to them all. The Modernists have made gains in that a champion for their cause has appeared in Europe who is helping to extend their frontiers of unbelief into Germany and other parts of the European world. His name is Bultmann.
Bultmann’s writings are exciting much interest in German churches, where he is being energetically opposed by the Fundamentalist, Karl Barth. Perhaps the best summary of Bultmann’s modernistic theories is to be found in a parody of the Apostle’s Creed, which his opposers have published with the claim that it represents his unbelief: We quote:
“Bultmann believes in Jesus Christ, not the only Son of God, (yet) our Lord; who was not conceived by the Holy Ghost, not born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; he did not descend into hell; the third day he is (thought to have) risen again from the dead; he did not ascend into heaven; and sitteth not at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he will not come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Bultmann himself will not want to argue against this interpretation of his teachings, for as he frankly urges, the “mythological remains which clutter up Christian belief must be removed.” To him these “mythological remains” include all the teachings of Christianity which go beyond human comprehension. He accepts the historical fact that Christ existed, but denies as “mythological” everything pertaining to him which is in the nature of miraculous, such as his virgin birth, his miracles, his resurrection and glorification.
But Bultmann is not alone in this unbelief. His teachings have made news in the Protestant world during the year simply because they represent the further spread of modernistic unbelief throughout Germany and other European countries. Actually the non-Fundamentalist clergy of America—at least the majority of them—have held similar unbeliefs for many years. And this modernistic group comprises about seventy-five percent of all Protestants in the United States.
The New Bible
During the year, the Bible was given a larger place in the news than usual. Three factors contributed to this. Nineteen fifty-two marked the 500th anniversary of the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg, and the public was dramatically reminded, particularly by the Catholic Church, that the first job Gutenberg undertook on his press was the printing of the Bible. They claimed that this first printed Bible was a Catholic-approved version, the Latin Vulgate. What the church publicists did not tell the people on this 500th anniversary of the first printing of the Bible was that at that time the church was much opposed to the undertaking.
Whether by design or not, the publishing of a Revised Version of the Bible authorized by the Federal Council of Churches in the U.S.A. was timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Gutenberg’s production of the first printed Bible. There also was the much hailed new Catholic translation of the Bible. All in all, this meant much publicity for the Word of God, and we can only hope that it has caused many to take an interest in Bible study who previously have been neglecting the Holy Word.
The advertising campaign which accompanied the publication of the Revised Protestant Bible emphasized some important facts concerning interpolations and the changed meaning of words. We say “emphasized,” for while this information was new to the vast majority of Protestants, the fact of these interpolations and changed meaning of words has been known by some for many years, and profitably used in obtaining a better understanding of the Bible.
The advertising explained that when the King James Version of the Bible was translated, no manuscripts were available which dated back farther than the 8th century; whereas now, there are manuscripts dating back to the 4th and 5th centuries. It was pointed out that as the earlier manuscripts were copied, and the copies, copied, additions were made to the sacred text which could only be detected through comparison with the more nearly original manuscripts now available. In the new Revised Version attention is called to many of these interpolations.
We are glad that the public now has a Bible which calls attention to some of these interpolations in an authoritative manner, and we trust that due consideration will be given to them by all students of the Word. As we have said, the information is far from new. Many Bible students have had a list of these interpolations, and thousands have had the spurious texts marked out of their Bibles for years.
Now at least when attention is called to one or another of these uninspired texts there will not be the same tendency on the part of some to level the charge against us of taking away from the Word of God. Actually, not to take these interpolations into consideration is the equivalent of adding to the Bible.
The situation is somewhat the same in connection with the changed meanings of words in the English language. The English word “hell,” for example, today carries a connotation of fire, brimstone, and torment. But this was not so originally. The old English word was “helle.” Later the “e” was dropped. Its meaning was simply to bury, or protectively conceal.
In England, putting a thatched roof on a house was helling the house.
Burying potatoes in a deep ditch for the winter was helling the potatoes.
When the King James Version was translated, this original meaning of the word hell was probably already beginning to change. At any rate, the translators used it to describe the condition of the wicked dead when translating the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades. Strangely, though, when the text pertained to the righteous dead they usually translated sheol and hades by the English word grave. This led to no end of confusion, and helped to bolster the papal dogma of torture for the wicked.
Nearly seventy-five years ago, attention was called by Pastor Russell and others to these inconsistencies of translation, and to the original meaning of the word hell. This brought down upon them the bitter opposition of both the Protestant and Catholic worlds. However, we are thankful that even at this late date some of these facts are beginning to be acknowledged.
Unfortunately, though, the translators of the new Revised Version did not have courage enough to give a true translation of sheol and hades, but instead have left them untranslated, thus allowing the reader to form his own conclusions as to what they mean.
In this connection, one can’t help but observe that where the vital doctrines of the Bible are concerned the new Revised Version obscures the truth almost as effectively as does the King James Version. Besides, being authorized by the Modernist group of Protestants, it is bound to reflect their viewpoint to some extent. The Fundamentalist groups are fearful of this. In fact, the new Bible had hardly been published when representatives of one of the largest Fundamentalist groups in the United States passed a resolution condemning it, and charging that it was the work of the devil.
This is understandable, since it lists as spurious the only text in the King James Version which even remotely favors the trinity theory. It also fails to substantiate the hell-fire theory of eternal torture for the wicked, which Fundamentalists will deplore.
There are still those who seem to take the position that the King James Version of the Bible came straight from heaven with God’s seal of approval upon every letter and punctuation mark which it contains. We think the proper attitude is to realize that all versions of the Bible, in whatever language they may be, are merely translations, and that it is the responsibility of each student of the Word to determine as nearly as possible how close they come to presenting the thought of the original inspired text. Greek and Hebrew concordances are available for the benefit of those who are not willing to put their full confidence in any of the existing translations.
The Way Out
With all the fanfare and excitement of the year in connection with new translations of the Bible, not a word was heard, or seen in print, from the advertisers and promoters suggesting that the Bible explains the meaning of the present distress of nations, and that it outlines God’s remedy for a world gone mad. One would get the idea that the Bible is merely a piece of ancient literature, or a history of events which have long since lost their importance to the modern world.
The publishing of the new Bible was hailed as the greatest and most sensational Bible news in five hundred years, or since the Bible was first printed by Gutenberg. How much more sensational this news would have been had they also announced that here is the only Book in the world that tells us the cause of world chaos and gives us hope for a better and happier tomorrow. But this did not enter the minds of the promoters. Indeed, leaders of the nominal church world still hold their erroneous belief that the Lord is looking to them to reform the world and to make America and other nations Christian.
Churchianity is still tainted by the principle of church-state unity. This leads to the view that the Lord wants the church to convert the world by reforming civil governments and working together with them. This means continued blindness to the promises of God that through Christ he will set up divine control in the earth and thereby fulfill his promises of peace on earth and good will toward men. Fundamentalists and Modernists alike share in this blindness and unbelief of churchianity.
During the year there have been almost numberless resolutions passed by one or another church group, calling upon governments—local, state, and federal—to do this, and not to do that.
They have resolved both to condemn war and to approve it.
Committees have spent hours and days figuring out ways of stating this or that idea of belief, or of resolve, in order both to affirm and deny the point at issue, but without seeming to do either.
But regardless of their success in sidestepping issues, or of squarely facing them, the world has gone on unchanged. The governments in all countries have given little evidence of being conscious that church groups are trying to steer them in the narrow way of righteousness. The one notable exception to this during the year was President Truman’s backing away from his proposal to send an ambassador to the Vatican. On this issue all branches of Protestantism united, and their voice was heard.
“On His Shoulder”
It can be seriously doubted if even the year-end message of the birth of Jesus, and the reassuring prophetic truth associated therewith will penetrate the thinking of world leaders, in either the religious or political fields. They still are not ready to believe that apart from their efforts, yes, even in spite of them, the “God of heaven” will set up a government on this earth which will break in pieces and consume all manmade kingdoms, and then extend its sphere of influence to embrace the people of all nations.
No, they will start out again in 1953 with the vain imagination that by their wisdom and the cunning of their diplomacy they will overcome the powers of evil and bring peace to a war-weary and fear-filled world. But the end of next year will find them as deep in the miry clay of human failure as they are today.
Let us thank God that our hopes do not depend upon the futility of fallen human endeavor, regardless of how well-meaning it may be! If God, in his goodness, has shined into our hearts by the Gospel, and our faith has comprehended and laid hold upon his promises, then we can and will rejoice to realize that “the government shall be upon his shoulder,” and that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”
This is a simple, understandable, and straightforward statement of truth, yet how few have comprehended its meaning. Those who suppose that God is depending upon frail, human endeavor to convert the world, do not understand it, for they have placed the responsibility for fulfilling the promises of God upon their own shoulders. They think it depends on raising money for missions, for slum work, for lobbying, for temperance work, for civic reform, for evangelistic campaigns, and other activities which have as their objective the betterment of human society and the improvement of social relations.
There is no point in condemning these efforts. Their motive is good, but they are not the means by which the kingdom of Christ will be established and manifested in the earth. The divine plan is different, and the carrying out of that plan has been progressing successfully since the days of Eden. Not at any time has it been marked by failure, or even delay.
It was in God’s “due time” that Christ came at his first advent, and the work of God for that time was accomplished. To those who then misunderstood the divine plan—and even Jesus’ own disciples were among these—his crucifixion, which brought to a close such a short ministry, seemed a tragedy. At the same time, Jesus’ enemies must have gloated in the thought that they had put an end to this dreamer who supposed that he had been born to be a king. But his friends did not understand, and his enemies had not reckoned with the power of God. They did not realize that the King would be raised from the dead.
Jesus’ friends were later assured of this, but his enemies still do not believe it. Today, his modernistic “disciples” doubt it; so how could they believe that a world government could rest upon his shoulder?
But we who believe see in this demonstration of divine power a guarantee of a victorious fulfillment of all the glorious kingdom promises which are centered in Christ, the King. We know from this that his “shoulder” is abundantly able to support the “government” which has been promised by God, and that it will indeed “increase” until all the families of the earth are brought under its beneficent and righteous rule.
The Scriptures reveal that Jesus will have associates in that “government”; those who have faithfully followed in his footsteps. During these many centuries the world has seen little evidence of God’s interest in the affairs of men, but his miracle-working power has been felt in the lives of those whom he has invited to share the throne of the new world government with Jesus.
There was an outward manifestation of that power at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the waiting disciples. His Spirit has continued with his people. It has strengthened them to endure persecution, torture, and death at the hands of their bigoted and Satan-inspired enemies. It has guided them in the narrow way and has kept their feet from stumbling, and from being led astray by the allurements of the world, the deceptions of the devil, and the ease and pleasure-loving tendencies of their own fallen flesh.
When Jesus was threatened by his enemies, he explained that if he wished he could call upon his Heavenly Father and would be given “twelve legions of angels” to protect him. Actually those angels, and probably many more, have been assigned the task of protecting the interests of those “who shall be heirs of salvation.” This protection has been mostly a safeguarding of their spiritual interests. These angels have served by the authority and in the power of God. By their ministry we realize a further manifestation of the power of God, guaranteeing that those who are destined by him to be kings of earth as joint-heirs with Jesus the King of kings, will be brought victoriously to glory with their Master.
True believers in the Word of God, and in his promises, never fail to stand in awe as they contemplate the mighty power of God that was employed to raise Jesus from the dead. No enemies of God or of righteousness can hope to thwart such power as that, or even to fight a delaying action against it. But that was only the beginning.
A measure of that same power has been experienced in the lives of Jesus’ followers throughout the age. And then, at the end of the age, these also are raised from death. They have a part in the “first resurrection,” in order that they might “live and reign with Christ a thousand years.”
The kingdom of Christ will be fully established and exercise its power in the world regardless of human efforts. However, the Lord’s consecrated people are invited to co-operate. We can have a share in that work, but only in the Lord’s way, and that “way” now is to lay down our lives in bearing witness to the Gospel of the kingdom, and in the spirit of full surrender to the Lord, allowing him to work in us both to will and to do his good pleasure by transforming us into his image. If faithful unto death, then we will be associated with him in his all-powerful government which will be the agency of divine power in extending blessings of peace, health, and life to all mankind.
Human Representatives
There will be still another exercise of divine power ere the mediatorial kingdom of Christ comes into full authority in the earth. That will be in the resurrection of the “ancient worthies” to be the human representatives of the divine, invisible Christ. Jesus said that in the kingdom the people would come from the east, west, north, and south, and “sit down” with these—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets. The expression, “sit down,” is from a Greek word which gives the thought of a pupil sitting at the feet of his master. In other words, these ancient worthies will be the recognized teachers of the people, the interpreters of the laws of the divine government.
The Scriptures do not reveal the manner in which divine power will enforce the instructions of these human representatives of the kingdom. But we know that our God is not limited. On many occasions in the experiences of ancient Israel divine power was used directly and effectively in safeguarding the interests of the nation.
A whole army that threatened Jerusalem was destroyed in one night.—II Kings 19:35
When insurrectionists challenged the authority of Moses, the earth opened up swallowed them.—Num. 16:28-33
Water gushed from a rock in time of need.—Exod. 17:6; Num. 20:7-13
Surely God is no less powerful today. He will not need guns and tanks and atom bombs to enforce his laws. All the forces of nature are at his command, should he need to use any of them. And, indeed, in one of the prophecies he hints that any who will not recognize the authority of his government, the human phase of which is symbolized by “Jerusalem,” will be deprived of rain.—Zechariah 14:17
The greatest display of divine power under that government will be seen in the resurrection of all the dead; for during that thousand years ultimately all who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man and shall come forth. (John 5:28,29) Who will want to disobey a ruler who can raise the dead? Those who do, the Apostle Peter tells us, “shall be destroyed from among the people.”—Acts 3:23
Peter may have meant that this destruction would be administered very dramatically. Later, it will be remembered, the inspired Peter, able to read the hypocritical hearts of Ananias and Sapphira, summarily invoked divine power for their destruction. (Acts 5:1-10) When we realize that the entire ancient worthy class could very well be endued with similar authority, it is not difficult to realize the effectiveness of that divine government over which Christ will be the invisible Head.
In our text we are told that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” In the remainder of this prophecy we are reminded that this will mean the re-establishment of the “throne of David (Christ being the antitypical David), and that the “zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” How we should rejoice in his “zeal,” for it is the assurance that all his good purposes shall be accomplished. We need not be concerned over the failures of men, since we can be assured of the success of the divine plan, that the “government shall be upon his shoulder.”
Let this, then, be our daily theme and song. It is the “new song,” the song of Moses and the Lamb. If we have learned it, let us sing it—to our own joy, and for the comfort and blessing of others.