| Highlights of Dawn | May 1970 |
Today and Tomorrow in Prophecy
MANY of the world’s leading statesmen entertain the hope that the deplorable conditions which exist in earth’s society will in the not too distant future give place to better understanding between nations. Wise men of the world speak of a time when this world of ours will not be divided by strife; will not be divided by national hatreds and prejudices; but will be united as one world, and as one world will function for the common good of all the people who live on the earth.
At the turn of the century Christian nations were assured by their leaders that “within this century’s swinging portals” a new era would be established on the earth—an era of good will toward men—and that this peaceful condition would be our heritage. They based the hope for this peaceful, happy condition existing between people and nations upon the assumption that man had at last learned that war was not the way to peace. They believed men had learned that if ever there would be peace on the earth they would not attain it through war.
It has always been said, “In times of peace prepare for war, and in times of war prepare for peace.” They felt that men had learned their lesson that war would no longer be the way in which men would seek peace. We know that the longing for peace still lingers in the human heart. The majority of mankind, regardless of the nation in which they live, wants peace. But here we are, living in the last half of the twentieth century, and we still do not have the peace that was promised to us at its beginning.
In the intervening, time some of us have lived through two terrible wars. We have also lived through the Korean War; we are living during the Vietnam War. And besides, there have been lesser wars from one end of this earth to the other. So in this century wars have not ceased. No, wars have not abated. Both in the number of people involved and in the power of man to destroy, wars have become more terrible.
So we ask ourselves the question, have we any right ever to hope for peace? We have wanted peace for so long; we have been disappointed so many times; and we now hold within our hands the ability to destroy every living thing that exists on the earth. Are we justified in believing that the future holds peace and happiness for the human race?
Where Is the Answer?
What does the future hold, not only for ourselves, but for our children? All thoughtful people are asking that question today. And where shall we look for an answer? Can the politicians give us the answer? It looks as though the politicians cannot even agree among themselves, and certainly, if that is the case, they could not give us a unanimous answer as to what the future holds for us and for our children. Does the Bible contain the answer? We believe it does. From the prophecies of the Bible we can find an answer as to what the future holds for humanity.
About one-third of the Bible is prophetic. The prophets were inspired men. They foretold many events which they themselves did not understand. They foretold many events that are taking place in the world at the present time, and those prophets also foretold things still future. So if we really want to know what is happening in the world today, and what the future holds for the human race, it is incumbent upon us to take time to study the prophecies of the Word of God.
When we look into the future through the eyes of prophecy, we find a message that is not a fumbling uncertainty. In our study of the Bible we have a right to believe that we will find there a divine assurance based upon certain definite facts. Not long ago, at a meeting of business executives in Los Angeles, one of America’s leading business men said that “unfortunately there is no such thing as a future certainty.” If it has to do with the future of business, the statement is true. If it has to do with the stock market, that would be true. Generally speaking, the future is uncertain.
Bible Gives Definite Answer
But the statement that there is nothing certain as to what the future holds for us and for our children is wrong, because the Word of God gives us definite assurance. God sent prophets to tell us what we could expect as to the future of the human race, and their predictions were inspired by him. These inspired, holy men of God spoke for him with definite assurance as to what the future holds for us and for our children.
In II Peter 1:17-19,21 the apostle makes this statement: “We have also a more sure Word of prophecy [the prophetic Word more confirmed, Diaglott] whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day Star arise in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” In other words, prophecy does not come from the prophet himself, but it comes from God: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
This scripture says that prophecy is a light shining in a dark place, and that is a good definition. Darkness covers the earth today, and gross darkness the people. When you talk to many of them, they do not even know that the great God of heaven has a plan for his creation, and for the future of the human race. People in many lands of the world are in gross darkness concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But just as a lantern aids to show the way in the dark, so prophecy is as a light shining in a dark place.
History in Advance
In verse 19 we read that it is a “sure Word” of prophecy. Prophecy is history written in advance, and only God can write history in advance. And when God writes it, it is sure. Therefore the Bible says that we have in it something upon which we can depend—a sure Word of prophecy—and then it says, “whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.” We know that many today are not taking heed. Many have rejected the Bible. There is the theory that God is dead. Some claim to be wise, and their wisdom has become to them a snare. The Bible says that they are “wise in their own conceits,” and Jesus condemned those wise ones of his day for their inability to see the signs of the time. So in our day the wise of this world are blind, and because of their blindness they are in perplexity and fear as to what the future holds for them and their children.
But the worst of it is that some of those who are blind to the great changes that are impending in the world today, and who have not taken heed to the prophecies, are leaders of science and politics and religion. Some of these leaders feel that they do not need God in the solution of the problems that confront humanity. The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”—Ps. 14:1; 53:1
But one who believes that he could bring in the Golden Age of peace on earth and good will toward men without there having been born “in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” is blind to the prophecies, and doomed to sad disappointment. (Luke 2:11) The Bible says that “the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” (Isa. 29:14) Think of the efforts that have been made by sincere and conscientious people to bring about an ideal society in this world, and ask yourself whether or not the wisdom of their wise men has perished, and the knowledge of their prudent men is hid.
Not Understood
In Daniel 12:8-10 we read, “And I [Daniel] heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
No, even Daniel did not know the prophecy’s fulfilment. And the Apostle Peter also said that the prophets inquired and searched diligently to understand the prophecies which they had recorded as the mouthpieces of God. (I Pet. 1:10) They had been used to lay up treasures of wisdom and knowledge for a future generation. We are that generation.
Therefore it is incumbent upon us to take heed to the sure Word of prophecy, because these prophecies reveal the purposes of God in the affairs and the events of human history. However, some may ask, how can we be sure that these prophecies are accurate? How do we know we can depend upon these writings of the Word of God more than on the prognostications of anyone else?
Fulfilled Prophecies
Let us look at some Bible prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and from them judge whether or not its prophecies concerning the future are accurate and dependable. Let us go back to the Garden of Eden. At that time of the betrayal in Eden God said to Satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15) This is the first prophecy that the Bible recorded, and it had to do with a Redeemer, a Savior, who would help humanity. It was a veiled prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ.
This statement indicates that Jesus was not to be born of Adam’s stock. He was to be “the seed of the woman.” What is the difference as to whether he was Adam’s child or Eve’s child? It makes a great difference! We are children of Adam, because he was our progenitor. We are imperfect, because we were born in sin, and shapen in iniquity. (Ps. 51:5) Being imperfect, no man can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him. Therefore, had Jesus Christ been simply of Adam’s stock, he would have been imperfect, as we are, and could not have died the Just for the unjust. Because of that, he was born of the woman, the “seed” of the woman. That is the reason he was born of a virgin, God being his father, and not Adam.
Now remember that hundreds of years before Jesus was born the prophets of God said he would be the “seed of the woman.” Isaiah 7:14 says, “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” That prophecy was fulfilled, and the seed of the woman came in fulfilment of that prophecy.
But it did not stop there. In Micah 5:2 we read another prophecy: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Bethlehem the Beautiful was to be the birthplace of this One who was to be born of a virgin. Hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was born these prophecies told all about it. These are not opinions; these are facts. The virgin mother, the circumstances of his birth—do you think individuals could have shaped the accomplishment of these prophecies?
But these are only two events in the life of Jesus Christ. There are many more. The death that he should die was one; the draught that he was to drink while upon the cross was another. The sepulchre of the rich man in which he was entombed was also foretold. Could man have shaped the outcome of these prophecies? The length of time Jesus was to be in the tomb was foretold; that he would be resurrected from the dead was foretold, and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost—all these things were predicted and fulfilled, and all were beyond human collusion.
That all of these prophecies were fulfilled in the life of one man is sufficient reason, we believe, for either Jew or Gentile to accept the fact that Jesus Christ was the seed of the woman, the Son of God, and therefore able to give himself as a ransom, a corresponding price, for Adam and the human race in his loins. The sure Word of prophecy has been proven accurate in past performance.
Prophecies of the Present
But what about the present? Are any prophecies being fulfilled in the world today? Yes! One of them is the return of the Jewish people to the land of Palestine. That fact alone is sufficient to prove that prophecy is being fulfilled in our day. Jeremiah 16:14,15 reads, “It shall be no more said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.”
We are seeing that prophecy fulfilled today. If we continue on in this prophecy, it shows us how the Lord has forced them to go back to their own land: he sent fishers to fish them, and hunters to hunt them, and forced them to go back into the land, in fulfilment of prophecy. So if anyone tells you that you are not living in a day when prophecy is being fulfilled, draw their attention to this prophecy and you will impress them with Bible truth.
Let us spend a little time on the prophecy of Daniel 12:1-4. It says: “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” Then it says, “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation,” and that there shall be a running to and fro, and also that there would be an increase in knowledge. And it says that “many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.”
Prophecies can look strange until the time comes for the seal to be broken and for light to shine upon them, but when it is time for a prophecy to be understood the seal is broken, and then our watching and studying is rewarded. The Bible says, “Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 7:7; 5:6) It is true that there are those who can see the fulfilment of prophecy, while others are unable to do so. Some prophecies which resisted deciphering until this generation are now easily understood, because our time fits the prophecy.
Knowledge Increasing
We repeat, the points of this prophecy are an increase in knowledge, a running to and fro, and a time of trouble among the nations. Does our time fit this prophecy? The increase of knowledge has affected practically all the science that we have in the world today. Many text books written only ten years ago are discarded, because knowledge has increased to the point where they have become obsolete.
Many people do not realize that a knowledge of God’s Word is part of the increase of knowledge in this time in which we live. Yesterday it was the creeds that people worshiped, rather than the Word of God. They depended upon the writings of men. Today fewer people do that, realizing that the creeds were written during the darker past to instill, as Robert Burns put it, “the fear o’ hell a hangman’s whip, to hold the rich in order.” That presents it very well. There has been an increase in knowledge so that we know “there’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.” We know that when he promises to bless all the families of the earth he will fulfill that promise.
“Running to and fro”—how wonderfully this prophecy is being fulfilled in the much and rapid travel of our day!
And “a time of trouble.” The Bible says that this time of trouble will come as spasms of travail upon a woman with child. When we read the history of the world from 1914 until the present time, we see these spasms of trouble. Those of us who have lived through the wars and the periods of easement, and the depressions and the periods of easement that have taken place since then, realize this. Yes, the prophecy seems to fit this generation on all three points.
But does prophecy tell us of more than the time of trouble, the increase of knowledge, and the running to and fro? Yes, it tells of more than one class of people to be saved. In verse 3 it says, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” When the church of Jesus Christ is complete, in glory, the prophet looks beyond and says that many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.—vs. 2
Time of Trouble
The prophecy foretold this time of trouble, and it is being fulfilled accurately. In answer to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy presence, and of the end of the world,” Jesus quoted this prophecy when he said, “There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,” and then he added, “no, nor ever shall be.” So, when this trouble is over, when the kingdom is established, Jesus’ words will be fulfilled accurately. This will be the last great time of trouble that the world will ever know. Thank God for that! We are not through it yet—there will be more trouble, no doubt. But nevertheless, when the trouble is over, the new order of society will be born, the order of society that we pray for, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The prophecy foretold the increase of knowledge. The prophecy foretold the running to and fro. We see the fulfilment of these things. The question is, are we able to accept the future part of the prophecy which says, “And many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake”? We can accept what we see. Have we faith to believe the future as foretold in the rest of the prophecy? Just as surely as it prophesied the increase of knowledge, the running to and fro, and the time of trouble, it also prophesied that those who sleep in the dust of the ground shall awake—the resurrection of the dead.
But this only introduces us to other prophecies of the future, of which there are many, and the first of these is a general one. It is found in Psalm 30:5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Here we are assured of a new day—that is what this prophecy means. It says that there is to be a new day when the night of trouble is over, a day marked with the joy of divine blessing.
Isaiah the prophet saw that, and in his prophecy in Isaiah 21:11,12 he says, “Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night.” We are still in the time of trouble—every one of us knows that. According to this prophecy, it is not over yet. But just as surely also, according to this prophecy, the morning cometh, and a new day will dawn. The morning will come when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. Therefore, rejoice in the knowledge that a glorious new day is about to break! Surely the apostle saw that time when he said, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”
Blind Eyes Opened
The time is coming when “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.” This is a prophecy, not just a wish. It is not just some mystical statement, but a prophecy, and it also says that the lame man shall “leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Think of what that will mean!—Isa. 35:5,6
Here is another prophecy: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”—Isa. 2:4
At Christmastime we see people going to church, and hear them singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”; singing of “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke, chapter 2) Then they come out of church after singing that, and they say, “There always has been war, and there always will be war.” They sing of peace, but have little faith in the prophecies of God which promise peace. But nevertheless we know that the nations ultimately will learn war_ no more. The Bible says, “He maketh wars to cease.” That is not all. “Thus 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.”—Jer. 31:33
During the Gospel Age the Lord has been taking out of the world his church, a little flock, “a people for his name.” (Acts 15:14) Then, after that “little flock” is chosen and glorified, this present dispensation comes to an end. Then the age we have prayed for, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” will be a reality, and all of these prophecies that refer to a condition on the earth where man will worship God will be fulfilled.
So when we read what the Master says, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2,3), we know that he is referring to the spiritual reward of those who are faithful during the Gospel Age. Again we read, “They shall build houses, and inhabit them,” and every man shall sit “under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid.” (Isa. 65:21; Micah 4:4) That does not sound like heaven, does it? It sounds like what we have been praying for, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven.” So therefore if we take these scriptures and put them in their appropriate dispensations, we can understand the development of the divine plan of the ages. The church receives the spiritual or heavenly reward, but all the families of the earth will be blessed with life on the earth.
Kingdom of Two Parts
Yes, it is when we get these two dispensations clearly in mind that we can study the Bible with understanding, putting the texts in their respective places. As we do this, we realize that the kingdom of heaven is of two parts—the heavenly phase and the earthly phase. We know every knee does not bow and every tongue does not confess to the glory of God now, but the Bible says the day will come when they will. All the willing and obedient will recognize the power of God in the affairs of mankind. The Bible says they will come “with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”—Isa. 35:10
The prophecies concerning Jesus during his first advent were accurately and definitely fulfilled. The prophecies of our day are being accurately and definitely fulfilled. So the Bible says, that in the new day of Christ’s millennial reign, “all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth” (John 5:28), and that “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” (Dan. 12:2) During that new age there will be a resurrection of the dead, and then will be fulfilled the prophecy of Revelation 21:3-5, which reads:
“And I [John] heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
Before that new day ends, God’s will shall be done as fully in earth as it is in heaven. So let us look forward to the future with definite assurance, and let us realize that our God is worthy of our worship and adoration, because he has arranged for the fulfilment of the promises that he made to Abraham when he said he would bless all the families of the earth.