| Highlights of Dawn | December 1958 |
This Has Been a Year
NOW that 1958 is drawing to a close, it is fitting that we glance backward briefly over the months to ascertain what sort of year it has been—not from the standpoint of politics, but of the manner in which the chaotic events of “this present evil world” reveal the need of the kingdom of Christ, and as “signs of the times” have indicated the near approach of that kingdom. As is true of every year, 1958 inherited many unsolved problems of the year before, and they are still unsolved. To these have been added other vexing situations which help to maintain and to increase the fear which is in the hearts of the people as they look ahead to the things coming upon the earth.
Nineteen fifty-eight will go down in history as the year in which man succeeded in thrusting several small “moons” into orbit around the earth, although the first feat of this kind was accomplished by the Russians late in 1957. It will also go down as the year in which man attempted to send a rocket to the moon, and almost succeeded, having sent it hurtling toward the moon to the tremendous distance of seventy thousand miles.
As soon as it was demonstrated possible to project missiles beyond the earth’s atmosphere, there at once began much discussion of eventual interplanetary travel, with some jokesters beginning to sell real estate on the moon. This speculation seemed to be welcomed by many, perhaps with the thought that eventually there would be a way to escape the tensions, the chaos, and the fear with which earth’s inhabitants are so continuously plagued.
So far as we know, the prophecies of the Bible say nothing about these modern efforts of man to travel through outer space and to go skipping about among the planets, except that in this “time of the end” there would be a phenomenal increase of knowledge, with many running to and fro. (Dan. 12:4) From this standpoint 1958 has been a remarkable year, in that the increase of knowledge has been further demonstrated.
However, as we have emphasized many times before, this does not imply that man’s intelligence is increasing. It is simply that through modern means of communication, including the printed page, the accumulated knowledge of one generation can be passed on to another, and that which is learned by individuals and groups can he shared, thus adding to the total “know how.” This is true today in all fields of human endeavor.
Because human intelligence is not increasing, the “increase of knowledge” has a direct bearing on the distressing times in which we are living. If the great nations of earth did not possess the many deadly methods of destruction made available by the prophetic “increase in knowledge,” the world would not now be so filled with fear.
Every informed person knows that the ability to put satellites into orbit around the earth, and eventually around the moon, means also the possibility, from thousands of miles away, of sending projectiles of destruction into the principal cities of all nations. And students of history and of human misbehavior know that there is no criterion of the past which would give us any reason to believe that this will not happen. So the nations continue to be distressed, and the fear in the hearts of people increases. For this, 1958 has been outstanding.
The Middle East
Nineteen fifty-eight has been a year in which a major crisis developed in the Middle East, a crisis in which the Arab nations and Israel were the ones directly concerned. But the nature of this crisis was such that the great powers of both East and West took a hand and began “growling” at one another. As is nearly always the case in this day of world trouble, the underlying issues which gave rise to this crisis were not settled, although some of the tension was temporarily lessened.
There are two principal issues involved in these Middle East tensions. One of them concerns the oil-rich land owned and controlled by certain of the Arab nations. In this day of mechanized warfare, oil is one of the most important sinews of war, and the Western powers are determined that the supplies in the Middle East will not fall into the hands of the communists.
Besides this, there is the hatred of Israel by the Arabs. There are weak denials by some of the Arab nations, but fundamentally the entire Arab world resents the presence of the State of Israel in Palestine and has a long-range policy of eventually destroying it. The attempts of Nasser to organize a solid block of Arab nations is related to this policy.
As students of prophecy we are naturally interested in any and all developments relating to the re-establishment of the Jewish people in Palestine. Unlike other “signs of the times,” which have to do largely with the destruction of man’s social order of selfishness, the events pertaining to Israel are in the constructive column. They represent a beginning of the work of the new age in which Christ’s government of peace, beginning at Jerusalem, will extend its righteousness and peace to the whole world of mankind.
The prophecies do not reveal all the details of experience through which the restored Israelites will pass ere the kingdom of Christ is fully established. From Ezekiel 38:21-23 it is obvious that a powerful aggressor will come against the people in Israel, and will be defeated by means of divine intervention.
But just what may happen prior to this intervention by God on their behalf, the Bible does not reveal. However, because we are living in the day when the prophecies pertaining to the restoration of the Jewish people to their own land are being fulfilled, we are vitally interested in all that occurs in that part of the world; and certainly 1958 has been a year in which much has happened in and about the Holy Land.
The Far East
Nineteen fifty-eight has been a year in which a serious crisis developed in the Far East, mainly in connection with the Chinese communists who control the mainland of China, and the Chinese nationalists who control the island of Formosa. The dispute was over the tiny islands just off the mainland of China. These islands are heavily armed by the Formosan government, but the communists want to control them, so a crisis arose.
If this was merely a controversy between two groups of Chinese, the peace of the world would not be threatened. But the Western nations—particularly the United States in this case—are determined to prevent further expansion of the communists, particularly in southeast Asia, so are backing up the Formosan government against the forces of the communist mainland.
Here, again, our interest is not centered in the dispute between the Chinese, but in the extent to which the communist world might get control of Asia, and from there, allied with Russian communists, extend their control farther and farther into the West. It is just this that is feared by the Western powers, and while there has been a temporary easing of the tension in the Far East, as President Eisenhower stated in a national radio and television address, trouble spots are bound to erupt in other places. The communists will see to that.
While the prophecies do not present too many details as to how it will come about, they are explicit in assuring us that all the false religions of the earth are to be destroyed, and not all of these are in Asia. The communists are committed to the destruction of religion; this we know. We deplore their tactics, and basically, their aims are selfish and cruel.
But religions which teach that God is a demon, who has prepared a large place of fire and brimstone in which to torture those who, in their ignorance or confusion, did not worship him before they died, are also merciless and cruel, and it is interesting to watch world developments in this “time of the end” with the view of ascertaining how all the things which are out of harmony with God will be set aside and destroyed. And 1958 has been a year in which there has been much to watch.
The “Exploding” Population
Nineteen fifty-eight was a year in which the United Nations issued a most sensational report pertaining to the rapidly increasing population of earth. It has taken all the thousands of years from creation to 1950 for the population of earth to reach two and one-half billion. According to the report, in just forty short years from then, eight of which have already passed, there will be five billion humans living on this tiny earth.
The UN report reveals that at the present rate of increase, in six hundred years there will be only about one square yard of land surface for every man, woman, and child in the world. Concerning this the UN report observed: “It goes without saying that this can never take place; something will happen to prevent it.”
What that “something” will be the UN does not suggest, and for the very obvious reason that those presenting the report did not knout, But those who know the plan of God, and understand the prophetic meaning of the times in which we are living, this UN population report is most interesting and revealing, for it is one of the strong evidences that we have indeed just about reached the end of the reign of sin and death, and the time when the authority and power of Christ’s kingdom will be manifested in the affairs of men.
When our first parents were created, God commanded them to multiply and fill the earth. (Gen. 1:28) Many have failed to note that this command is limited to the filling of the earth. Tradition has it that the earth is merely a place where humans get their start, and that at death they migrate from here to some other place, such as heaven, hell, or purgatory. The thought is that as long as the earth exists it will continue thus to serve as a sort of human incubator. According to tradition, the population problem will be solved by the destruction of the earth, and also, of course, of the human race itself.
But this is not the explanation given to us in the Word of God. As noted, the command to our first parents to multiply contained a limit, that limit being the adequate filling of the earth. Even if we had nothing more than this to guide us, we would know that there is no danger of the earth becoming overpopulated, for the same great Creator who gave man the ability to reproduce his species can and will, when the need arises, withdraw that power. We do not need to speculate as to just how this may be accomplished. It is sufficient to know that it will be done.
The UN report on population increase did not take into account the divine provision for the resurrection of the dead. While today there is plenty of room on earth for all the living and for all who have died, the fact that in so short a time, with nothing occurring to change the situation, the earth would he overcrowded with only the living, is one of the strongest proofs we have that the kingdom of Christ and the resurrection of the dead are near at hand.
When the Sadducees of Jesus’ day endeavored to trap him with their question about the woman who had seven husbands, asking which one of these would be her husband in the resurrection, Jesus replied, “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are [in this respect] as the angels of God in heaven.”—Matt. 22:30
There are various ages and dispensations in the plan of God leading up to the recovery of mankind from sin and death. These periods of time are properly referred to as “days,” and in a number of places in the Bible the resurrection is foretold as taking place in the “last day.” For example, Mary said to Jesus concerning her brother Lazarus, “I know he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”—John 11:24
This does not mean the “last day” of time, but that final period in the divine plan when mankind will be restored from the dead, and all will be given an opportunity to believe, obey, and live forever in a global-wide earthly paradise. At, or near the beginning of this “last day,” a sufficient number of humans will have been born to fulfill the command to Adam concerning the filling of the earth. There will he no need for those awakened from the dead to continue this temporary function of humans of procreation; so, as Jesus said, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage.
The UN report reveals that in six hundred years from now, at the present rate of increase, there would be only nine square feet of space for each person; but if we accept the Bible’s date for the creation of man, and suppose that the present daily death rate ‘began there and has continued ever since, we could take this enormous total, add it to the present population of the earth, and we would have approximately thirty-three square feet of space for each one, in the state of Texas alone.
Obviously, this method of figuring gives us many times the actual total of the living and the dead. At the same time we have reached that period in human experience, and in the outworking of the divine purpose in the creation of man, as the UN report says, something must happen; and we believe that that “something” will be nothing short of divine intervention in the affairs of men to bring the matter under control. Yes, 1958 has been a year in which we have been forcefully reminded in this way that the kingdom of Christ, and the resurrection of the dead, are near.
A Pope Dies
Nineteen fifty-eight was a year in which the highest dignitary in the largest church organization in the world died, Pope Pius the XII. There seems to be general agreement that the late pope was a good and kindly man—“the Pope of Peace,” as he was styled. There is no other view that we can take except that he was sincere in what he believed and practiced. Time may also show the same true with respect to the newly elected pope.
But sincerity does not mean that one is right. Saul of Tarsus was sincere when he was persecuting the Disciples of Christ, but he was entirely wrong, and in this respect later referred to himself as the chief of sinners, not worthy to be called an apostle. There are millions of sincere people in the world who are wrong. One of the principal goals for which every Christian should strive is to be both sincere and right.
When the late pope died, announcement was made that he was the two hundred and sixty-first in the line of direct spiritual rulers to sit on the “throne of St. Peter.” This was wrong, so very wrong, and for the very simple reason that St. Peter never sat upon a throne, spiritual or otherwise. Peter was a hard-working itinerant servant of Christ in the days of the Early Church, who went about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and emphasizing the Headship of Christ over himself and over all the other disciples.
The late pope proclaimed the dogma of the Ascension of Mary to the throne of heaven, and encouraged all Catholics, perhaps as no other pope had ever done, to pray to and venerate Mary in their worship. The Apostle Peter, on the other hand, in all his reported discourses, and in his epistles to the Early Church, did not even mention Mary’s name.
The late pope reaffirmed the Catholic teaching of purgatory, but the Apostle Peter said nothing about purgatory, either in his sermons or in his epistles. The doctrine of purgatory was unknown in the Early Church, even as was also the even more cruel teaching of eternal torture. These human traditions were developed and introduced in the professed church of Christ centuries after the Apostle Peter fell asleep in death.
Nor were masses said for the dead in the days of the Apostle Peter. Peter did not practice this, nor did any of the other apostles. They knew nothing about it. Jesus had not taught it, nor were any such instructions contained in the Old Testament. Here was another tradition which developed long after the Apostle Peter, the alleged first pope of the Catholic Church, finished his course in death.
Many do not understand the significance of the Mass. With the death of the pope, masses were celebrated on his behalf throughout every Catholic community in the world. To many, this simply signified a tremendous display of respect for the pope and sympathy for his family. But actually, those masses implied that in the belief of the cardinals, bishops, and priests of the church, their beloved Pius had gone to purgatory, and was suffering continuous and excruciating pain, pain that could be lessened and shortened by the saying of masses by his friends still alive on earth.
Even so, purgatory, to which essentially all Catholics go when they die, represents a vast improvement over the Protestant view of eternal torture. When the reformers protested against the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, insisting that it was not taught in the Bible—which it was not—they actually protested against that which did by comparison show a semblance of mercy, and something, moreover, which, as the Catholics saw it, served a worthwhile purpose.
The reasoning on this is that those who go to purgatory, including the popes of the church, are purified by their suffering, and eventually are transferred to heaven. Hundreds of years are usually required for this, but eventually the suffering, having served its purpose of purification, comes to an end, and the purified soul then enjoys peace and happiness forever.
But with the removal of purgatory from their teachings, the Protestants have no alternative for those not good enough for heaven, but think of them as having gone to a place of eternal torture, where no good whatever is accomplished; where sinners shriek curses against God forever. The utter falsehood of this view is highlighted by the Apostle John, when he wrote of the ultimate destiny of God’s human creation, saying, “Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”—Rev. 5:13
Apparently John had not heard of those who some claim are cursing God in a place of torture. None of the apostles had. This blasphemy against God is not taught in the Bible. So, nineteen fifty-eight has been a year in which, by the death of a pope in Rome, we have been led once more to reflect on the beauties of the truth as taught in the Word of God, and to rejoice in the assurance that in God’s due time, which we believe is soon, the true knowledge of God will be caused to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. How the hearts of millions will be caused to rejoice when they learn that the cruel teachings of eternal torture and of purgatory were merely the inventions of man, and that Jehovah, our Heavenly Father, is a God of love and mercy.
As we come to the close of 1958, let us resolve that during the coming year, and as long as we have breath, we will continue to exalt the name of our God among the people by doing all we can to dispel the mists of superstition and the practice of idolatry, which have hindered men and women from seeing and knowing him. May nineteen fifty-nine be a stepping-stone to more self-sacrificing activity in bearing witness to the truth!