| Highlights of Dawn | October 1955 |
Retrospect and Prospect
IT IS well for us that in the human race there has been planted and transmitted from generation to generation a deep and abiding assurance that no matter what have been the misfortunes of the past week or month or year—whether in connection with the health of the children, or with sales and the business cycle, or even in the relations of nations—“hope springs eternal in the human breast” that the future will be less burdensome and discouraging. And still more fortunate it is that the Creator who “built all things,” and who is responsible therefore for this eternal hopefulness, has also formulated a plan which will fully justify any optimism we may be able to maintain. Of this he assures us, saying in the words of the psalmist, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning!” and that in that morning “the desire of all nations shall come!”
Glad we are for the foregoing assurance as we look back over the history of the last few decades. In the early years of this century, philosophers and friends of the human race were complacently enjoying a period of peace. Great material progress had been made through the application of steam and electricity to transportation and industry; the standard of living in this and some other favored sections of the earth was rising, and the hope of settling international disputes by peaceful means was sanguinely entertained. In the early years of the second decade there seemed to exist the most substantial basis for hope of such great and peaceful progress as the world had never known.
To underscore what great strides have been made let us recall that during the last 100 to 150 years steam and electric powered factories have come into use; petroleum, fuel oil, gasoline; steamships and railroads, automobiles, airplanes, telephones, telegraph, cables, radio; farm machines, sewing machines, electric refrigerators, washing machines, ironers, vacuum cleaners, and many other household appliances; oil lamps, gas lighting, electric lights, cameras, phonographs, motion pictures, power printing, anesthetics, antiseptics, modern scientific medicine, modern chemistry, plastics, vitamins, antitoxins, etc. Take them all away—and we only have to go back one hundred fifty years or less for that—and we have the world about as it was in the time of Abraham or during the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.
It is as if the world had been sleeping for 5,900 years—unconscious of the powers hidden in the earth and its atmosphere—and then became awake! It is as if a man whose life span was seventy years lived sixty-eight and one-half years without these things, and many more that we enjoy today, and then discovered all of them in the final one and one-half years of his life. What does it mean? It is far too challenging to put aside without an effort to find the answer. And is it surprising that the general feeling a generation ago was that we had come into a new era, believing the world was advancing in moral wisdom as well as material, thus being lulled into the comfortable feeling that man would be able to absorb and use for the benefit of the race these great discoveries and inventions?
Something interfered and caused this hope to perish, and there have interposed since, in the brief space of forty years, involved and unsolved problems—their roots, we now see, deep in the past—which have thrown the world into disorder, the solution of which yet escapes our greatest philosophers and statesmen. The discouragement, anxiety, and fear are everywhere evident in all sections of our intelligentsia. And we ask again, as so many have, what has caused this debacle in human hopes and relationships?
That there has been such an obscuration of the cheerful outlook of forty years ago no intelligent observer of that period would deny. The common endowments of the human race are not to blame. The land is the same as at the turn of the century, only far more productive; the water still follows its age-old cycle, only we have learned to use it more effectively. The air, too, remains free and abundant for all, except where industrial operations occasionally produce that new poisonous atmosphere called “smog,” or experiments in the use of the newly discovered atomic power for warfare produce and radiate a far more fatal poisonous atmosphere.
In recent years our candid news-gatherers, editorial writers and commentators have so often told us what the trouble is, and quoted the world’s greatest thinkers to substantiate their diagnosis, that we all know in general terms the answer to our query. It is man’s failure to grow, to advance, to mature—in his moral constitution. But again, we ask, Is man any less noble and reasonable than he was fifty years ago? And the answer is no. Well, has he greater problems to solve than he had then? And again we must answer no. But we do note a difference. We look back there and see that the world-wide problems were there, but they were not recognized, not dealt with; and they were not then pressing, demanding a solution as they are today.
Knowledge, that useful servant, but embarrassing critic, has increased and improved our standard of living and greatly lightened our burdens in parts of America, Europe, and elsewhere. But the great masses of mankind have not shared in these blessings, and now this thing we call knowledge has reached them: and not as with us, to improve their standard of living and lighten their burdens, but to reveal to them how poor is their lot in comparison with ours; how much there is that they could use, and would like to enjoy, but have not and cannot hope to obtain. And they are dissatisfied; and in their justifiable and understandable discontent they are willing to grasp at straws, to accept promises and join in movements which did not and generally do not produce these material good things to which they aspire.
Recently one of our great engineers, Dr. Arthur E. Morgan, expert in water conservation, is reported to have declared:
“More than half the people of the world never have enough to eat. The land they have spoiled would be enough to feed the present hungry population of the world. Starving people are dangerous people. They feel that they have nothing to lose. As Nehru of India often remarks, the problem of Asia is not freedom, but food. People will prefer to eat in servitude than starve in freedom.”
Fortunately for these underprivileged people the more favored nations are being compelled to consider and to endeavor to help solve their problems—compelled for their own safety!
Turning to a forum, the United Nations, where sixty nations are represented and meet to survey and seek solutions for the world’s pressing problems, the representative of one of these nations, a very small one, must feel compelled almost of necessity and becoming modesty to refrain from giving voice to a conviction world-wide in its implications and dating back to the days of Abraham. That conviction is that his people have a special destiny; that they are a special people, destined to be a “blessing” to “all the families of the earth.” Israel is that nation, and of course does not know of the larger purpose of God through the promised “seed,” as explained by Paul in Galatians 3:8,16,27-29.
For the 4,000 years since that promise of blessing was given, the offspring of Abraham, through his son Isaac, to whom the promise was made, have been known as Hebrews, and they are still a distinct segment of the human family. That this feeling of destiny remains we have continual evidence in the writings of Jewish leaders and writers. To the point are these words of former Prime Minister Ben Gurion, recorded in a Jerusalem publication:
“The people of the Book, which today is renewing its national independence, will be required for a long time to concentrate their utmost efforts on the building of the land, the fostering of its economy, its security, and international status. Security and economy, however, are only the means and not the end. We are building the state with prophetic vision and messianic longings, to be an example and a guide to all men. The words of the prophet remain true for us: ‘I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth!’“
Mr. Ben Gurion can be excused for quoting a prophecy which applies to Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world, and applying it to the nation of Israel, for he is reflecting the modernist Jewish viewpoint that Israel is not to look for a personal Messiah, that the nation itself is destined to fulfill God’s messianic purpose in the earth. Besides, he does not accept as authority the words of the One who said, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”—Matt. 21:43
Most casual readers may think of “The Ten Commandments” as practically the sum, as well as the epitome, of the Law given by Moses. To be sure they are, so far as principles are concerned, but the rules and instructions for the application of those principles to the daily living of the tribes of Israel fill many pages of the first five books of the Bible. And few realize what a burden of responsibility has rested upon Israel since that far distant time to be a kind of “pilot nation” to their fellows; to illustrate those great, fundamental principles for the organization of human society.
Today discussion of land, its ownership, distribution, and use, is heard and read everywhere, accentuated by the promulgation and acceptance of a new theory, Communism. In this discussion, in which every member of the human race has a major interest, how important would be the plan for use of the land formulated by the Creator and given to this “pilot” nation! And such a plan was given to them. But, one asks, If God gave Israel a plan and comprehensive instructions for the equitable use of the land—that endowment without access to which man cannot exist—why did not the excellency of that program attract and guide both Israel and all its neighbor peoples? This is a tremendously important question, and we find the answer given in the history of Israel and the prophecies of the Bible.
The story begins when the Israelites entered the Promised Land and the land was distributed among the tribes by Joshua, the successor to Moses. Then the land belonging to each tribe was divided among its families, and thus each family became self-supporting and independent. But what would happen when, through illness, or death or other misfortune, a family was not able to support its members and maintain their independent status? As we should expect in a program sponsored by the Creator, such vicissitudes were provided for, and a family in distress and that thought its interests would be better served, could sell their homestead and go to work for wages.
If the plan stopped here, anyone of us would conclude that to be the reason there are land owners and tenants even among the Jews; their problems were just like the ones we have today, and which have existed for thousands of years past in all civilized lands because of the fact that the more industrious, or stronger, or those with better mental endowment become the owners of the land. And, as time goes on, some families become land wealthy, and some become poor and are dependent upon the land owners for employment and a livelihood.
How remarkable it would have been if God, when arranging for this “pilot nation” had not foreseen that this inequality in mental and physical resources, together with the law of heredity, would result in the “earth which God hath given to the sons of men” being divided among and concentrated in the hands of some members of the race with others having no share in its ownership! But the code given to Israel was simple and effective. It provided that no family could permanently divest itself of its patrimony; but that every fifty years there would be a “jubilee” year in which all debts would be canceled and all families returned to their original homestead. Thus those “sales” were in reality leases, running merely until the next jubilee year, and the value of property was figured accordingly.
The Book of Ruth is a story of the early years of Israel’s national life, and is built around the land laws and other laws given through Moses. It is a beautiful and inspiring tale of a family bereft of support through the death of the bread-winners which through application of those laws was rehabilitated and placed again on a secure basis. But most of the references in the Old Testament writings are not to the blessings received through observing the Law, but to the frequent failures and warnings and the penalties therefore. (Ezek. 46:18; Isa. 5:8; Micah 2:1,2) The failure of Israel to apply their land laws was only a part and portion of their failure to observe the Mosaic code. Their failure cost them much, and finally made of them a nation of exiles from their own land for 1,800 years.
But Israel is here: it is a nation again after an interval of 2,500 years. Incidentally, the prophets of the Bible foretold that interruption in their independent status, indicating both its beginning and its approximate end; and Bible students have been looking for the early organization of a new national State of Israel for the past seventy years. Now the world is accustomed to the thought of a Jewish State as one of the family of nations. But we would lack normal interest in the exceptional and abnormal if we did not inquire, What is to be the future of that nation, the history and current restoration of which is without resemblance or parallel in all history? Do those scriptures which foretold their decline and exile from their land, their scattering over all the earth, their indestructible permanence as a separate people, and their ultimate return to their land and reorganization as a nation tell us their future? And will this remarkable people with their yet more remarkable history have a message for, and an impact upon, the other nations and peoples of earth?
According to those same scriptures we answer yes, but not in her present state. Israel has not yet reached that development where she can be what Mr. Ben Gurion hopes and foresees as her destiny. Indeed, Mr. Ben Gurion does not realize that the once coveted special position of being the Lord’s messianic nation has been removed from the natural house of Israel—“Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election [the elect church of the Gospel age, made up of Jews and Gentiles] hath obtained it.”—Rom. 11:7
To use Jesus’ own illustrations and metaphors in reference to Israel, the “fig tree” leaves are visible, and the buds are swelling, but they must bloom and bear fruit. Israel must be a converted nation, devoted to Jehovah. “Holiness unto the Lord” must be on “all the horse bridles.” (Zech. 14:20,21) Israel must be enlightened by the same “light,” which will “lighten the Gentiles,” and obey that light, before she can be an example, a “pilot nation,” to the rest of the world.—Isa. 42:6; Luke 2:32
First, there must be in Israel a divinely ordered government in which “judgment and justice [has been] laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet”; and “the hail, [the hard, unrelenting truth] shall [must] sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters [of the truth of God’s grace] overflow the hiding place [of the prisoners of death].” (Isa. 28:17) But when Israel has recognized the true Messiah, and The Christ of God has instituted his kingdom with its capital at Jerusalem; when the moral reforms required by the laws of that kingdom have been instituted; when financial, social, and religious questions have been recast in harmony with divine wisdom, justice, love, and power, then Israel will be in a position to demonstrate the superlative advantages of Christ’s kingdom. “Then the nations that are left round about [Israel] shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.”—Ezek. 36:36
And we may hope that Mr. Ben Gurion and the other leaders of Israel who are striving to build up their nation amid the hopes and fears and frustrations of nations, groups, and conferences, even though seeing but indistinctly their destiny, can recall and gain understanding and encouragement from the assurance of Jehovah through the Prophet Micah (4:1-4) who wrote:
“In the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain [kingdom] of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the Law shall go forth of Zion [the spiritual kingdom of Christ and his church], and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem [the earthly phase of the kingdom made up of the resurrected ancient worthies]. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and wider his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.”
The world today is “on fire,” to use the Apostle Peter’s metaphor—a “seething pot,” to use the language of the Prophet Jeremiah. The issues of political and social liberty and justice for all mankind are being tried out and revealed; and the hatreds and fears, the greed and prejudices of centuries, are feeding the flames. The unknown result is causing intense anxiety; men’s hearts are “failing them for fear” of what may follow—will it be better, or will it be worse? Those who have faith in the Bible as the infallible Word of God await the conclusion with assurance—assurance that when this “affliction” has done its work, mankind will hear, and heed the command: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”—Ps. 46:10
Meantime we will do well to keep our eyes on Israel, where these much to be desired changes will first be manifested. God’s order has been to chasten and bless Israel first. But his purpose in the near future is to deal likewise with all mankind. The Apostle Paul explains this, declaring, “God; … will render to every man according to his deeds: … tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; for there is no respect of persons with God.”—Rom. 2:5,6,9-11