| Highlights of Dawn | March 1968 |
Hearts of Flesh
THE general pattern of events in the opening weeks of 1968 continues about the same as in 1967. There is still war in Vietnam, and in many other areas there are festering spots of discontent which could easily erupt into war almost any time. Crime continues to increase; and while there has been a lull in race riots the fear is quite general that with the coming summer these will again flare up possibly beyond what has heretofore been experienced. The influence of organized religion continues on the wane and, despite the Pope’s earnest prayers for peace, the nations seem unable to rise above their national interests in order that mankind as a whole might have the joy of living in a peaceful, prosperous, and happy world.
On the first day of 1968 the people of the United States had another vitally serious problem highlighted for them by President Johnson; namely, the precarious financial condition in which this, the richest and most powerful nation of the world, finds itself. Ever since the close of the Second World War the United States has been sending billions of dollars to shore up the sagging economies of the less fortunate countries of earth. In fact, this assistance began even before the close of the war, as represented in the Lend-Lease program.
Meanwhile, most of the other countries restricted the travel of their citizens to the United States by curtailing the amount of money they could take with them so as to make it virtually impossible to remain here for any length of time unless supported by friends or relatives. At the same time, Americans were free to travel overseas, and could take unlimited amounts of dollars with them to spend in whatever countries they traveled. This was a great economic boon to the countries visited, and every inducement was offered by European and other foreign countries for American tourists to visit them and to spend as many American dollars as possible.
But seemingly this could not last forever; for in his New Year’s Day message the President said that it would be necessary for the American public voluntarily to restrict their travel to the Western Hemisphere. The voluntary aspect of this restriction was emphasized for the moment, but it was made plain that if this did not work the government might have to place restrictions on the amount of money a tourist could take out of the United States. Other proposals were also made to slow down the drain on the United States’ monetary reserves.
This was far from a glittering New Year’s present to the American public. Neither did it spread joy to countries overseas, for any drastic restriction of American tourism to European nations will strike a heavy blow to their economy. Altogether, this development highlights the fact that it will take more than American dollars to lift the world out of its chaos and assure peace and prosperity for all; for now we know that even the United States does not have enough money to do this, even if it could be done by “filthy lucre,” which it cannot.
Transplanting Hearts
Beginning shortly before the close of 1967, and gaining momentum in 1968, has been the use of the new medical science of transplanting human hearts. It consists of removing the diseased heart of a human, and inserting a non-diseased heart of another human, taken from a person who has been killed in an accident or who has died of other causes for which the heart was not responsible. This, to say the least, is a marvelous achievement, and reflects the noble desires of the doctors involved to save the lives of their fellows. It is a bright light in this world which has been made so dark with selfishness and hate.
It is well to remember, however, that this science must always remain limited as to the number of lives it can prolong, for the very simple reason that every sound heart transplanted to take the place of a diseased one means that someone has died of causes not related to the heart. Thus it is evident that this is no general panacea for heart sickness. Nor do we expect that human brilliance and skill will ever be able to find genuine remedies for human ailments, and thus restore the human race to perfect and lasting health and life. Only the Lord will be able to do this, which is just what he has promised to do during “the times of restitution of all things.”—Acts 3:19-21
New Hearts
Through the agencies of the messianic kingdom the Lord will destroy all diseases, so that the people then “shall not say, I am sick.” (Isa. 33:24) During Jesus’ first visit to earth he healed all manner of diseases, and this was done in illustration of the world-wide healing ministry of his coming thousand-year kingdom. This facet of kingdom work will be so effective and so universal that there will be no more pain. Besides, it will be lasting, for then even death itself will be destroyed.—Rev. 21:4
And also vitally important to this healing ministry of the messianic kingdom will be the cleansing of human minds and hearts from selfishness and sin. A promise concerning the restoration of the Israelites to their Promised Land reads, “I will take you from among the heathen [non-Israelites], and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”—Ezek. 36:24-28
This promise is already having a partial fulfillment, for the Israelites are being restored to the land which God promised to their “fathers.” But their stony hearts have not yet been removed, and hearts of flesh have not been given to them. In this promise, of course, as in many other places in the Bible, the heart is used to symbolize one’s emotions and proclivities. A stony heart suggests a bent of mind and disposition that callously ignores and flouts the influence of God’s will and ways.
In the Bible, the true condition of the heart is often contrasted with one’s professions. Isaiah 29:13 reads, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” (Isa. 29:13) Jesus, in referring to Nathaniel, said, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”—John 1:47
In the medical field, physicians are able to determine the condition of one’s literal heart; but no human is able to determine the condition of another’s symbolic heart. However, the Lord, who can read human “hearts,” has assured us through his Word that all “stony” and otherwise symbolically diseased hearts will be removed from the people during the thousand-year reign of Christ. While the assurance of this is given in a prophecy pertaining directly to the Israelites, we know from the Scriptures that the people of all nations have defective symbolic hearts—stony, and otherwise—which the Lord will remove, and in their place implant “hearts of flesh.”
A New Covenant
Another promise pertaining to the far-reaching changes to be wrought in the motives and dispositions of the people is given to us in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This promise is likewise made, in the first instance, to the Israelites but, as we shall see, its blessings will also become available to the Gentiles. The promise reads: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them … out of the Land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
In this promise the thought expressed as God’s writing his law in the hearts of the people has the same implication as taking away their stony hearts and giving them hearts of flesh. When God caused his law to be written on tables of stone, the Israelites agreed to obey it. But generally speaking this obedience was merely an outward form—their hearts were far from the Lord. However, having the law written in the hearts of the people instead of upon stone means that they will be wholeheartedly in harmony with all God’s principles of righteousness and love.
And what a happy prospect this presents! In prayer, Jesus said of his Heavenly Father, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) The promise is when God writes his law in the hearts of the people they shall all know him, “from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” (Jer. 31:34) This means, then, that in addition to attaining covenant relationship with the Lord, the people will gain eternal life.
When literal hearts are transplanted today it is with the hope of extending life for a short while. But even when these transplant operations are completely successful from the standpoint of medical science, the best that can be hoped for will be a few extra years of imperfect life. But when the Lord removes the stony hearts of the people and gives them hearts of flesh they will never die, but have eternal life.
The Dead Restored
Another great blessing which will come to the human race, one which is completely beyond the ability of medical science to bestow, will be the restoration to life of those who have died. In the New Testament this great boon is described as the resurrection of the dead. Paul affirmed the promises of the Old Testament that there would be a resurrection of the dead, “both of the just and unjust.”—Acts 24:15
The word “resurrection” is not used in the Old Testament promises. However, various other words and expressions are used to describe this wonderful provision which the Lord has made for the fallen race—fallen, but redeemed by the blood of Christ. Moses spoke of the fact that God had turned man to destruction, but will in his own due time say, “Return, ye children of men:” (Ps. 90:3) Isaiah wrote that “the ransomed of the Lord shall return … with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.”—Isa. 35:10
Captives Return
In some of the Old Testament prophecies the dead are likened to captives—captives of death, that is. And the Lord promises that these captives will be brought out of their captivity and restored to their former estate. In Ezekiel 16:53-55 promises to this effect are made to the Samaritans, the Sodomites, and the Israelites; Jeremiah 48:47; 49:6; and 49:39 assure us that the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Elamites are all to be brought out of their captivity in death.
The Sodomites and the Samaritans are referred to as “sisters” of the Israelites, and we are assured that when restored to life they will become their daughters—“but not by thy covenant”; that is, they will not be brought into the old Law Covenant, but will be included in the New Covenant—that covenant through which the Israelites, and all mankind, will come to “know the Lord.”—Ezek. 16:61,62
God’s original promise to Abraham was that through his “Seed” all the families of the earth would be blessed. Jesus and his true followers will be this blesser Seed. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) Jesus proved his worthiness to this high position in the plan of God by his faithfulness unto death, thus becoming the Redeemer of all mankind. His followers must also die sacrificially, following in his steps. It is upon the basis of their faithfulness in this that they are brought forth in “the first resurrection, … [and] they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”—Rev. 20:6
The Israelites restored to their Promised Land will be the first to be blessed by these kings and priests—of whom Jesus is the Chief, or Head—and in due course the blessings will reach out to all mankind. All who obey, and receive hearts of flesh in place of their stony hearts, will continue to live forever in the restored paradise. What a glorious plan of salvation!