| Highlights of Dawn | August 1972 |
Evidences of the Changing Order
THROUGHOUT the Gospel Age the Lord’s people have looked with longing hearts for the time when they would be gathered home to be with their Lord Jesus, with God’s kingdom established in the earth—that wonderful time foretold by all God’s holy prophets, when righteousness would reign over the whole world, and God would wipe away all tears, and there should be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, for all these distressing conditions will have passed away.—Rev. 21:1-5
Even before Jesus had finished his earthly ministry the disciples questioned him along this line, asking him, “What shall be the sign of thy presence, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3) They had apparently come to understand that before their glorious hope could be realized Jesus, for some reason, must go away, and then return to establish his kingdom in the earth. One of the significant statements Jesus made at that time in reply to their question was that “then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”—Matt. 24:21
The Brightness of His Presence
This hope of being with their Lord in his kingdom was associated by the brethren of the Early Church with his return; and they yearned the more for that event, as suffering for the faith was often their lot in those trying days. Thus we find the Apostle Paul writing words of encouragement to the brethren at Thessalonica, who were being persecuted, telling them that they and he would indeed be granted a rest when the Lord Jesus would come to be glorified in his saints, and “be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Thess. 1:7,8) But under divine inspiration he cautions them to patience and long-suffering, pointing out that before that day should come, certain events must take place. He explained that there must first come a falling away, and “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [the Antichrist, that counterfeit system made up of a false lord and an apostate church, and styled Christendom], … whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his presence.”—II Thess. 2:3,8
The Renewed Search for Truth
No doubt because it was the due time in God’s purpose for it to happen, there came about in the latter portion of the Gospel Age a remarkable and widespread investigation of Bible teachings, especially as these relate to prophetic truths. This broadened inquiry had its small buddings in the 16th century, with the Reformation, but it came to full flower in the 18th and 19th centuries. Numerous scholars in all parts of the world began delving more deeply into the Scriptures, stimulated by a reawakened interest in the prophecies concerning the Lord’s second presence, the end of the age, and the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.
During the 19th century especially, numerous studies were published which set forth the findings of these seekers after truth, many of them exposing long-held beliefs concerning the immortality of the soul, hell, the trinity, and the mass, as error. One of these earnest Bible scholars was our Brother Charles Taze Russell, through whose ministry the Lord’s people have been so richly blessed with a simple and yet scripturally harmonious exposition of the fundamental truths of God’s Word, and of God’s loving plans and purposes for all mankind.
Down through the long years of the Gospel Age, we cannot know how many of our brethren in the Lord suffered persecution and death at the instigation of that false system described by Paul, as they yearned for and prayed for the Lord’s return, for the purpose of setting up his true and righteous kingdom. But we do know from the Scriptures, and from what is occurring in the world about us, that we are now living in a time when the foretold destruction of that system is near at hand. The mists of ignorance are being dissipated by the present-day enlightenment enjoyed by the masses; the chains of superstition are being broken by the inexorable power of understanding that comes from increased education of the people; and thus the ages-long hold of the ecclesiastical systems on the people is being shaken. Church shepherds are abandoning their flocks, the sheep themselves are becoming less sheepish, boldly questioning and in some cases even disregarding the instructions of their leaders; while some religious institutions confess to financial difficulties, which of course indicates a slackening of support by their constituencies. Thus we see that the ecclesiastical element of the present social structure is weakening; and we must conclude that it is being destroyed, even as Paul foretold, by “the brightness of his presence.”
Civilization—Blessings and Evils
From the beginning of his existence right up till the latter centuries, man’s life here on earth went along century after century without substantial change. For the vast majority it was a simple, rural existence; a matter of cultivating a bit of ground, caring for a cow, some chickens or perhaps a few pigs. Of course there were the ever-recurring periods of wars, famines, floods, and the plague. But by and large, as life had been for the father, so it was for the son, with little variation, for generation after generation. The so-called advance of civilization was barely discernible.
With the arrival of the 18th century, due no doubt to the Lord’s overruling providences, and in accordance with the divine schedule, social and economic change came much more rapidly. Ingenious mechanical inventions suddenly appeared on the scene, encouraging the introduction of the factory system of production of goods, causing inroads on the livelihood of the individual home or small-shop craftsman, and starting the far-reaching social changes attendant upon the trend of the population away from the rural life to the city existence. The working man then became largely dependent for his existence on the long, hard hours put in at the factory; and when the factory was slack, or closed down, he and his family often went hungry and otherwise suffered. He no longer had his small vegetable garden of corn and potatoes, his chickens, to fall back on in time of difficulty.
This unhappy situation might have continued indefinitely except for two things: the latent strength that is implicit in numbers, and the growing awareness of that strength that has come from education and communication as a result of the “brightshining” of our Lord’s presence. Thus, out of much travail, was born the labor union, providing a collective and powerful voice for the laboring man which, regrettably, has not at all times been used wisely, temperately, and unselfishly. And the stage was set for decades of bruising warfare between capital and labor, which has continued to this day.
Armageddon, and Its Many Elements
The ensuing conflict between these two elements of society (capital and labor) was long regarded by many as being the principal, if not the only, source of trouble between men that would eventually explode into the world’s Armageddon. (Zeph. 1:7-9) Considering the pervading selfishness that unfortunately besets all segments of the human race, rich and poor, high and low, there can be little doubt that the continuing contest between labor and capital will indeed play a large part in that destructive period of time spoken of in the Scriptures as the Day of Jehovah.
But today we see that there are many other factors in addition to the capital-labor struggle that will also be involved in that necessary destruction of this present evil world order; factors which were not apparent as recently as a half century ago. Daily, and almost hourly, we are reminded of the perils of continued pollution of the air, the earth, and the waters of this very small (and only) planet on which we live; of the constant, horrifying threat of nuclear annihilation of the civilized world (tenuous international agreements notwithstanding); of the unbridled expansion of the use of drugs of all kinds, which threatens to overwhelm so many of our young people, dooming them to lives of slavery to a hunger that often can be sated only with money gained by violence or murder; of the universal population explosion with its seemingly insoluble problems of hunger, vile housing, vice, and corruption.
These are areas of trouble which did not exist prior to the last fifty years or so; they are the factors that make the present a time of trouble “the like of which has not occurred from the beginning of the world down to the present time—no, nor ever will again.” (Matt. 24:21, TCNT) Implacably and inevitably they are driving the present evil world to the brink of the foretold Armageddon. We are all very much aware of these, for they inescapably confront every one of us every day and at every turn.
A Root of Evil
But there is another area of our civilization that is also showing signs of ill health, and about which we do not hear quite so much discussion as we do about the other ills, possibly because it is less easily understood. However, most of us, and especially our shopping wives, are daily aware of the symptoms of the disease, although most do not discern the basic cause. The symptoms, in this case, are the high and rising prices that everything costs us; the disease itself is inflation of our money supply.
Simply put, we are, as a nation, spending more than we are taking in. To meet the short-fall our federal government “borrows” from the commercial banks by selling them government securities for which the banks pay, in substantial measure, by crediting the checking account of the federal government. This increases the amount of money that is seeking to purchase the materials and services available in the market at a given time, thus exerting upward pressure on the price structure. In short, the purchasing power of money declines.
Part of the budgetary deficit is due to the great sums of money being spent to fight the war in Vietnam. Part is related to the maintenance of armed forces in other parts of the world. It is also due to the foreign aid program supported by this nation under which financial, technical, and material assistance is given to underdeveloped nations. As a result, we are spending many billions of dollars abroad which are piling up, and which exist as a potentially troublesome demand on our financial reserves.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry?
But our financial troubles are not altogether tied to our foreign operations. Here at home, the expense side of the national budget seems almost literally out-of-hand because of costly, built-in programs which go on and on, seemingly beyond control; demands by the states for a larger share of the revenues collected by the central government, rising costs of equipment for national defense, higher welfare and social security payments, a rising payroll for the ever-growing army of civilian workers employed by the government, more money for education and health, and so on, ad infinitum. Annual deficits in the national budget of a size that formerly would have shocked the people and the Congress into alarmed action are now accepted with a minimum of objection.
True, a concerned economist here, or a serious-minded politician there, occasionally raises his voice in feeble protest, to no avail. The fact is, almost everyone likes inflation; for a greater or lesser period of time it induces higher wages, higher stock prices, higher inventory valuations, rising values on real estate and commodities, higher profits for manufactures, middle men and retailers, higher everything. All of this produces a deluding euphoria. What if taxes and the cost of meat, shoes, and automobiles do rise? Another round of strikes followed by another round of wage increases will correct that! Such goes the siren song of inflation.
The fallacy in all this is that the effects of inflation are never felt equally by all; while many do benefit, many others suffer; and the resulting imbalances eventually cause difficult problems, suffering, and distress, falling usually on those least able to cope with them. And the ominous lesson that history teaches is that inflation, if and when it gets out of hand, can bring dislocations that all too often end in general economic depression, with financial disaster and suffering to all.
We do not wish to be misunderstood. We do not say that these evil results are imminent, or inevitable. We will merely wait and watch, to see what, in the Lord’s providences, the future brings. We would say, however, that we in this nation have for some time now been seeing the disturbing impact of inflationary forces on our own communities and on our own lives. We see it in the steadily rising prices for everything we buy. We see it in rising income taxes, real estate taxes, and sales taxes. We see it in the mounting costs of keeping the poor and unemployed from going hungry or cold, or getting restive. We see it in the need for city governments to reduce the number of police and firemen on their payrolls at the very time when crime and arson are rising. We see it in curtailed garbage collections, reduced school budgets, the closing down of hospitals, parks, playgrounds, museums, and libraries. And we see it in the frantic efforts of big city governments all over the nation to balance, by whatever means, their untidy budgets. There are, surely, many more dollars around—but somehow they do not seem to be working nearly as hard as they used to!
In the Kingdom—Money Outmoded!
As we noted earlier, in his reply to the disciples’ question, Jesus said there would be a time of trouble such as there has not been since there was a nation. This time of trouble is elsewhere spoken of in the Scriptures as the day of the Lord [Jehovah]; the day of [God’s] vengeance; the day of wrath. It is a day which betokens the passing of the present evil order, to be replaced by a new and better one. One of these prophecies is given to us by Zephaniah: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty men shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”—Zeph. 1:14-18
Speaking of this same time, the Prophet Ezekiel says, “They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling block of their iniquity.”—Ezek. 7:17-19
These statements by God’s holy prophets indicate that in the final great trouble to come upon the world in the day of Jehovah, one’s gold and silver, one’s money, will have no value. But when the day of Jehovah has done its work, this present evil world will have passed away, and the Lord’s righteous kingdom will be established in the earth. All mankind will be raised from their graves, and brought to a knowledge of the truth. “And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” And all the obedient of mankind shall enjoy everlasting life here on earth. What a glorious prospect!—John 5:25; I Tim. 2:3,4; Isa. 65:21; Rev. 22:17
And there will be no need to be concerned about the shrinking value of the dollar or your savings account; there will be no need to have a checking account, or even a credit card in that glorious new world order. For the prophet says, concerning that wonderful time, “Ho, every one that … hath no money; come, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”—Isa. 55:1