| HIGHLIGHTS OF DAWN | July 1999 |
The Heavens Rolled Together As a Scroll
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“All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.” “The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.” |
DURING THE LAST ONE hundred years, many Bible students have thought of the illustration of a scroll as a sign. This illustration is found in the words of our theme text, Isaiah 34:4, and cited by the Apostle John in Revelation 6:14. This sign would indicate that the long-awaited kingdom of Christ was near, or as Jesus said, “nigh, even at the doors.” (Mark 13:29) The interpretation given to the scroll rolling together was that it involved Christian churches becoming unified. One end of the scroll represented Catholicism, and the other represented Protestantism, with diverse views and teachings. By rolling together they would be unified.
WHY NOT UNITY?
The unity of all Christianity is an exciting and marvelous idea that all wish to see. In accordance with God’s exhortation, we read, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1) Such a desire on the part of Christianity is a good thing. Therefore, every attempt made by Christian groups to remove barriers that keep them apart is looked upon favorably by God, as long as truth principle is not violated. Many sincere efforts are being made in this direction, but none seem to be working. Lifetimes have been devoted to achieving this objective.
But is God interested in unity strictly for the sake of unity? The answer is ‘No!’ There can be unity for doing greater evil, in contrast to having unity for doing good. There can be unity in teaching error, in contrast to unity for teaching truth. The unity which pleases God must be associated with truth and with God’s principles. It is outlined by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4, where he says, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Eph. 4:3-6) Later in this same chapter he tells of the gifts God gave the church in the form of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”—vss. 11-13
DOCTRINAL BELIEFS
The reasons for the many denominations in Christianity is the wide range of interpretation of the Scriptures, and beliefs. This becomes evident as we examine reports in the news media on Christian unity efforts. Talks for achieving unity were undertaken more than thirty years ago by the Church of England and the Vatican. Pope John Paul has declared Christian unity as one of his goals, and he visited with the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1982. In December 1996 the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Pope at the Vatican and the New York Times reported on this visit as follows:
“As they prayed together this evening in a small chapel on one of Rome’s hills, Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, head of the world’s Anglican community, tried hard to cast a harmonious glow over one of the most contentious dialogues in the Christian world.
“Yet at the end of the Anglican leader’s first official visit to the Vatican, there were new signs that the dialogue, under way for more than three decades, has stalled over the difficult, and so far unreconcilable issue of the ordination of women as priests.”
In order to iron out the details, a commission was set up called the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), and in February, 1999, the news media reported as follows on their progress:
“Cardinal Edward Cassidy, who heads the Vatican’s Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, likens the ecumenical dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics to climbing a mountain.
“In the early stages, he says, you are scaling the foothills, which is easy. But as time goes on you reach the final peaks, the steepest and most difficult part of the climb.
“At the final peak is where the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission stands today as it prepares to issue the conclusions of its talks on the key question of who is in charge: the pope or the bishops.”
MORE ATTEMPTS AT UNITY
During this period, in August 1997, the media reported on another ecumenical movement, this one between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and Roman Catholics and also with the Episcopalians. The news media reported on Lutheran Convention proceedings in Philadelphia as follows:
“The nation’s largest Lutheran Church lifted Reformation-era condemnations against the Roman Catholic Church, and decided to try again to establish closer ties with the Episcopal Church.
“Delegates to the biennial Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted 958 to 25 to approve a statement declaring that both Catholics and Lutherans agree all persons depend on the grace of God, and not human merit, for their salvation.
“Meanwhile, a day after leaving the Episcopal Church at the ecumenical altar, representatives of the 5.2 million-member ELCA also voted 995 to 15 to develop a new plan to share ministry with the Episcopal Church.
“Continuing to address the breaches from the great 16th-century divide in Christianity, the church overwhelmingly endorsed a Lutheran-Catholic declaration on justification by faith alone, the issue at the heart of the Reformation.”
While committees are set up to work out agreements to all concerned, an editorial on Ecumenism appeared in the New York Times shortly after this announcement saying in part:
“This week, the 72nd General Convention of the Episcopal Church meets in Philadelphia to vote on a Concordat, or cooperative agreement, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church that would bring the two into “full communion,” a compact that is short of a merger, but not by much. Lutherans will take action on the pact at their Churchwide Assembly on August 17. Together these votes constitute a turning point for American Christianity and the future of the ecumenical movement.
“Ecumenism is the movement to reconcile divided Christian denominations. Though the aspiration for Christian unity can be traced from New Testament times, it has never been so potent as in the 20th century. The major Christian bodies have grown closer doctrinally, and the worship services of mainline denominations are now almost identical. But concrete changes in church structures have been rare.”
The writer later made the statement: “If these two churches cannot achieve a cooperative agreement, can any?”
Early in 1999, the media reported on yet another unity movement, one that has been ongoing for thirty-seven years. Under the heading “Protestants Renew Unity Effort,” the Star-Ledger of Newark reported:
“For four days, ecumenical officials from nine mainline Protestant denominations meeting here (St. Louis, MO) were agonized over the issues that separate them while looking forward to the day when Christianity will show a more united face to the world. Then, improbably, they found a way to keep moving ahead with the Consultation on Church Union, a 37-year-old dialogue that nearly everyone agrees is mired in yet another crisis.”
The article continued telling of the divisive views that hinder unity. Nevertheless, representatives from all nine denominations will continue to meet in an effort to sort out their differences.
THE SCROLL AS AN ILLUSTRATION
In noting these failures of trying to achieve unity in Christianity during the last fifty years, we might ask, “Is the illustration of the two ends of a scroll coming together a picture of unity, or is it something else?” The answer to that question requires examining the illustration. A scroll in ancient times was the book of today; it was opened by unrolling the scroll to the proper place for reading from it, and rolled together to close the book. The invention of movable type by Gutenberg, leading to modern printing, did not occur until A.D.1436.
During our Lord’s ministry we have a good example of the use of scrolls. Jesus went to a synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth on a Sabbath, and they brought the book of Isaiah to him as he stood up to read. The account in Luke 4:16-22 reads, “When he had opened the book.” (vs. 17) We should not think that a modern day book with pages was opened, and the place where Isaiah 61:1 is recorded was found. Rather, Jesus unrolled a scroll to the proper place and read from it. When he finished reading, Luke says, “He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister.” (vs. 20) The two ends of the scroll were rolled together.
Rolling the two ends of the scroll together, then, is equivalent to closing the book. The word scroll, in Isaiah 34:4, is translated from the Hebrew word kaleb. It occurs only once as ‘scroll,’ and almost 150 times as ‘book.’ It literally means ‘a roll.’ Likewise, that one time the word ‘scroll’ appears in the New Testament (Rev. 6:14) it is a translation of the Greek word biblion, which means ‘roll, book, scroll, or writing.’ It is translated 29 times as ‘book.’
The rolling together of the ‘heavens’ as a scroll, is similar to the closing of a book. The word ‘heavens’ is used in many Biblical prophecies to illustrate spiritual ‘ruling powers.’ Some of these rulers are good, some are bad. Satan is one that is bad, and he is called “the prince of this world” (John 12:31); and “the prince of the power of the air.” (Eph. 2:2) The heavens are like a scroll open for people to read. On the scroll is written all the religious beliefs of Christianity and other religions as well. These would include Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Judaism and others. Some of these precepts include good moral principles; others misrepresent God’s character. The leaders of spiritual thought seek by these means to capture the minds of mankind.
CLOSING THE BOOK
What then might be the meaning of a scroll being rolled up? No one knows for certain what forces will be used to accomplish this, except to note that the old heavens must be removed to make room for the new heavens. When atheistic Communism had control of a large part of the world, and control of the minds of many men, atheism flourished; and it appeared the philosophy of atheism would be responsible for ‘closing the book’ on religion. Nowadays it is not a serious factor in world politics.
We note that Isaiah 34 is a prophecy concerning “the day of the Lord’s vengeance.” (vs. 8) The chapter speaks of much “slaughter” taking place because of Jehovah’s “indignation.” (vs. 2) Likewise, the Bible tells of this same day of the Lord’s wrath, and also of the wrath of the Lamb. All the people “hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains (kingdoms),” when this wrath came.—Rev. 6:15-17
The time for ‘closing’ the book of heaven then is at the time of this wrath. Looking ahead to events yet to come, is it possible that the anarchistic forces unleashed as the old order comes to an end will bring about the rolling together of the scroll? Jesus called this event ‘a sign’ when he said, “The powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” (Matt. 24:29,30) There has been much speculation about this ‘sign of the Son of man in heaven!’ Some expect a huge cross to appear in the sky. Some talk of other spectacular manifestations in heaven. Since the ‘heavens’ are symbolic, so also must be this ‘sign.’
It appears that this sign spoken of by Jesus is the same sign dealing with the closing of the symbolic heavens. In Isaiah 34 this event is described as “all the host of heaven shall be dissolved.” In Revelation 6:14 we read, “the heaven departed.” The Apostle Peter uses symbolic fire to describe what happens to these same heavens when he speaks of the day of the Lord, and says, “The heavens … reserved unto fire” (II Pet. 3:7); and “the heavens shall pass away.”—vs. 10
It seems clear that this sign of which Jesus spoke is the loss of religious power worldwide. This is why “all the tribes of the earth mourn” (Matt. 24:30) when religious support is removed, causing great fear on the part of the people who have lost their spiritual guidance.
Peter reminds us that we should look for this event, when he says: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”—II Pet. 3:11,12
The ‘mourning’ of the people will be brief as they see a new scroll unrolled in the heavens, containing the commandments and instructions of God. Peter continues, saying, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” (vs. 13) The closing and departing of the old book is followed by the opening and viewing of the new book, the new scroll, the new heavens. That will be a glorious day indeed!