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XXX - 3(97)
"Watchman,
what of the night?"
"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
Part 3
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I REMEMBER
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Why The Ignorance?
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Editor's Preface
The third part of the series on the Everlasting Gospel discusses aspects of the "hard to be understood" 5th chapter of Romans. In the article itself, we have not sought to deal with the doctrine of original sin which some have derived from this part of Paul's Letter to the Romans. However, we have added a footnote in which we have noted the thinking of some recognized Greek scholars on this point. In the article itself, we have deviated from the standard understanding of the "type" concept usually attached to Romans 5:14, We suggest a careful study of the "type" analogy developed when the comparison is made between Moses and Christ rather than the Two Adams motif.
This part of Paul's gospel introduces the corporate concept, a concept difficult for the individualistic Western mind-set. However, there are some principles which the corporate concept introduces that need to be carefully understood in the light of the controversies which have fragmented the community of Adventism. What is one's corporate accountability as related to his individual responsibility in the present apostasy which has engulfed the Church?
As the old year closed, I had opportunity to do some reflecting on the past. A couple of recent experiences that I had, triggered memories. These have been discussed in the article, "I Remember." It not only triggered memories, but also raised a question which has concerned me on occasion as I have been confronted with it. The background on this point we begin in this issue and will conclude the discussion in the April issue.
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The Everlasting Gospel - 3
There should have been no chapter break between Romans 4 & 5. The same God who promised Abraham has made promise to us. Through Jesus Christ, we are promised redemption not only from the guilt resultant from our transgressions, but from the power of sin itself. He died being made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21), but He was raised from the dead. In that act God gave assurance that our sins which Jesus bore were forgiven and that by believing in Him, I am justified. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5:1)
Jesus is the author of faith, a saving faith. (Heb. 12:2) He believed God's covenant promise to Him that if He paid the penalty for sin by becoming sin itself, God would raise Him from the dead. God kept His promise, and He will keep His promise to us to forgive us and to cleanse us. We yield to be crucified in Him, but continuing to live, we live by the faith of Jesus Christ, (Gal 2:20), a faith that is manifest in a complete child-like trust in God. We are again at peace with God, no longer in rebellion against His Word. It is a willingness to accept the present and the unknown future from the hands of Him who knows the end from the beginning. It is the recognition of the God that is too wise to err and too good to withhold from us any essential thing. How few there are who are willing to accept the crucifixion in Christ which declares - "Father into Thy hands, I commend my spirit," and so saying give up - self. But the peace that results from true justification cannot be found apart from such a crucifixion.
Sin has denied to us the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) The grace of God which promises restoration full and complete is accessed by faith so that we can rejoice once more "in hope of the glory of God." (Rom. 5:2) While our hope is in a deferred reality, we have no reason to be distrustful, because God's reassuring love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (5:5)
The whole aspect of salvation was God's initiative and reveals a love beyond human comprehension. Christ died for the ungodly. While yet sinners, "Christ died for us." If then, God provided for the penalty and guilt of sin, will He not also provide for victory full and complete? Yea, but it is all "through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement." (Rom. 5:11) This at-one-ment is a reconciliation with Him with Whom we have been at war; now we have peace with God. In this reconciliation, I come "just as I am without one plea but that the blood of Christ was shed for me."
Then Paul writes - "Wherefore." Something is to follow, and that which follows, those who in their desire wish to contribute to their salvation, also wish that Paul had not so written. There are those who would opt that these "some things hard to be understood" penned by Paul (II Peter 3:16) could be excised from the sacred Writ, and in its place a modified Tridentine theology substituted. One must acknowledge honestly that in Romans 5:12-21 are some of those "things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also other scriptures to their own destruction."
Rather than concern ourselves at this point with the deductions that have been drawn from these verses, let us just seek to read in a simple way what Paul is seeking to say by what he wrote. To Paul it is a matter of life and death because of righteousness and sin. Death came through the sin of one man; life comes through the righteousness of one Man. Even as death is universal because of the sin of one man, much more the provision of life by one Man was provided for all. We but dimly perceive the magnitude of the provided redemption in Christ Jesus. However, those who "receive" the "abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (5:17)
In Adam all were dead. It had been for Adam, either obey:live; or disobey:die. He sinned, and all that he could pass on to his children was death. From this death no son or daughter possessed the ability to escape. The results of the original sin is seen in every man's experience. Because of the depraved nature inherited from Adam, there is a bias toward evil, a power he is unable to resist, and therefore, from the first years of accountability, he sins. Thus there was a doomed world, a race of sinners cut off from Heaven and under the dominion of Satan. There was only one answer: even as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (I Cor. 15:22) The provision of grace in Christ Jesus is "much more" than the transgression of Adam and its results. But it is "in Christ" and by Him alone that the whole world is to be restored to its first dominion. (Micah 4:8) That is what the whole controversy between Christ and Satan is all about.
It is corporate. We are involved through Adam. In Adam all die. This is simply a fact of life. The
Page 3 "individualism" of the Western mind set makes it very difficult to understand the corporate concept as is clearly set forth in Scripture. For example, the family is a corporate entity. In the Scriptures, the judgment upon, and condemnation of the act of the head of the family fell upon the whole family. This is illustrated in the sin of Achan. (Joshua 7) It is also reflected in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. (Numbers 16) The consequences of this rebellion involved the whole congregation, and its solution involved separation. Within corporate accountability there is an individual responsibility - an individuality, a power to think and to do. So long as we remain "in Adam" we are under condemnation, but to as many as receive "the free gift" (Rom. 5:15), to them is granted the privilege "to become sons of God." (John 1:12) We become "in Christ," and in this new corporate involvement, there is no condemnation. (Rom. 8:1)
We turn next to what Paul wrote in verse 14, and then ask the question, To whom did he refer by what he wrote? The verse reads:
"Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."
Paul introduces a new person into this equation - Moses. In the span from Adam to Moses, he states the norm, and omits the exception - Enoch. The question next arises as to whom does the τνπος (type) refer, Adam or Moses. We might say without question - Adam. True, Christ became the second Adam as head of the race, but this was not God's original intention. In fact, in the setting of this section of Romans, Adam is the antithesis of Christ. Adam brought sin. Christ brought righteousness; Adam brought death, Christ brought life. On the other hand, Moses is revealed as a type of Christ. In Hebrews (3:5) the faithfulness of Moses as a servant over "his house" is noted as a "testimony" of things to come - the house of Christ "whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." There is much more of a parallel relationship between Moses and Christ, than between Adam and Christ when placed against the background of what Paul is saying in Romans 5. While the Two Adams motif may be inferred from Romans 5, it is not so stated. The two Adams motif is reserved by Paul for a discussion of the resurrection, and so explicitly stated there. (I Cor. 15)
Consider now the history of Israel. With the setting up of Israel, God began a new era in salvation history. He entered into a covenant relationship with them as He had done with Adam. God covenanted with Israel based on the concept; Obey, live; disobey, die. (Ex. 23:20-21) Israel accepted this arrangement. (Ex. 24:7-8) Forty days later, they broke it right at the foot of Mt. Sinai. (Ex. 32:1-8) Into this breech stepped Moses, willing to place himself at eternal risk (32:31-32) The result was that God stated - "I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." (Ex. 34:27) This was a repeat of Eden, where because of Adam's transgression, the Logos stepped in and God made a covenant with Him and with humanity. The restoration of Israel with God was via Moses even as the restored of humanity is through Jesus Christ. His house is the new "Israel of God." (Gal. 6:16) While He may be a new Head of humanity, it is a distinct humanity - a humanity saved by grace. The other part of humanity - the greater part - who choose to remain "in Adam" also have a new head, he to whom Adam chose to forfeit the first dominion. (John 8:44)
This whole relationship involving Moses also casts light on why Moses was resurrected, and why he came with Elijah to the Mount of Transfiguration to speak with Christ concerning the "exodus" He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31 - the word in the KJV translated "decease" is the Greek word, exodos)
The added dimension to this picture is the High Priestly prayer of Christ where He thanks the Father for "the men which thou gavest me out of the world." To them He gave God's word which they kept. But a larger group awaited to be gathered into "the house of Christ" even "them also which shall believe on [Him] through their word." (John 17:6, 20) Thus -
As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Rom. 5:21)
(To be continued)
FOOTNOTE
It should be noted that from this section of Romans, the doctrine of original sin is proposed. Romans 5:12 is made to read: Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all man in whom all sinned. The prepositional phrase in question is εϕ ω (eph' ho). Should this be translated as noted above - "in whom" - or as in the KJV - "for that." Thayer in his Lexicon indicates
Page 4 that this phrase is the equivalent of επι τοντω οτι meaning "for that, on the ground of this, that;" and should be translated, "because that all have sinned." With this position, Arndt and Gingrich concur in their Lexicon.
Some interesting comments on this verse are to be found in Alford's Greek Testament. Vol.2. He comments:
There is no reference here, as some Commentators have supposed, to the case of children and idiots ... The aim is to prove, that the seed of sin planted in the race by the one man Adam, has sprung up and borne fruit in all, so as to bring them under death, temporal and spiritual; ... and though sin is not formally reckoned against them, death, the consequence of sin, reigned as a matter of historical fact, over them also.
It is most important to the clear understanding of this weighty passage to bear in mind, the first member of this comparison, as far as it extends, is this: "As by Adam's transgression, of which we are by descent inheritors, we have become (not by imputation merely, but by propensity) sinners, and thus have incurred death." (p.362)
The Expositor's Greek Testament edited by Nicoll, also associates the doctrine of original sin with the question of infants. Concerning those who would interpret Romans 5:12 to be that all sinned in Adam instead of the fact as Paul has previously asserted - "All have sinned" - the author of this section of the Greek Commentary writes:
To drag in the case of infants to refute this, on the ground that παντες ημαρτον (all have sinned) does not apply to them (unless in the sense that they sinned in Adam) is to misconceive the situation: to Paul's mind the world consists of persons capable of sinning and of being saved. The case of those in whom the moral consciousness, or indeed any consciousness whatever, has been awakened, is simply to be disregarded. We know, and can know, nothing about it. Nothing has been so pernicious in theology than the determination to define sin in such a way that in all its damning import this definition should be applicable to "infants"; it is to this we owe the moral atrocities that have disfigured most creeds, and in a great part the idea of baptismal regeneration, which is an irrational unethical miracle, invented by men to get over a puzzle of their own making. (Vol.2, pp.627-628)
Helps
"Many who profess to be [Jesus'] followers have an anxious, troubled heart, because they are afraid to trust themselves with God. They do not make a complete surrender to Him; for they shrink from the consequences that such a surrender may involve. Unless they do make this surrender, they cannot find peace." (The Desire of Ages, p.330)
"Christ, in His life on earth, made no plans for Himself. He accepted God's plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will. As we commit our ways unto Him, He will direct our steps. ...
"God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him." (Ministry of Healing p.479)
"The result of the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man's experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain the ideal which in his inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That power is Christ." (Education, p.29)
"The inheritance of children is that of sin. Sin has separated them from God. Jesus gave His life that He might unite the broken links to God. As related to Adam, men receive from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death." (Child Guidance, p.475)
I REMEMBER
(This was written Christmas Day, 1996)
Two things sparked my determination to write this testimony. In the month of November, I responded to a request to conduct a seminar on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. One study which Brother John Leonce, who sponsored the seminar, requested was - "Jerusalem in Bible Prophecy." In reviewing the material for its presentation, I was struck with the documented evidence in the book, Secrets of the New Age by Kenneth R. Wade and my own experience as it related to the prophecy of Jesus in Luke 21:24. Early in December, I received the History Book Club packet which announced the new books they were offering to their members. One book caught my eye - Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert. Receiving the book a few days ago, I immediately read the "Introduction." There this recognized biographer and historian wrote:
When in June 1967; Jordanian troops, in support of Egypt, bombarded Mount Scopus to the north of the city and Ramat Rahel to the south, the die was cast for Jerusalem to become the battleground for the second time in less than two decades.
The Israeli Government had urged King Hussein not to enter the war. His decision to do so was decisive for the future of Jerusalem. Within two days of his troops opening fire, the former Jordanian sector of the city was under Israeli control. The physical barriers were thrown down " We earnestly stretch out our hands to our Arab brethren in peace," declared Moshe Dayan, Israel's Minister of Defense, "but we have returned to Jerusalem never to part from her again." East Jerusalem, which constituted one-
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fifth of the built-up area of the city, was then incorporated by Israel and given new city boundaries." (p. xi)
Clearly, Jesus' prophecy as recorded in Luke 21:24 was fulfilled in 1967 as had His prophecy of verse 20 been fulfilled in AD 66. The probationary (καιρος) time of the nations was fulfilled. What did this signal? Here enters the documentation from Wade's book.
In the chapter, "Roots of the New Age Movement," Wade writes - "At the core of the current New Age movement is a community called Findhorn. Many if not most of the movement's leaders have visited or lived at Findhorn. The development of Findhorn illustrates what typically happens when people try to meld Eastern and Western religions." (p.23) Beginning in 1953, those who initiated the Findhorn center experienced communication with "spirit beings" they called "devas." Citing a reference from a book by William Irwin Thompson, a prominent New Age leader, Wade writes - "During this time they became convinced that the New Age would begin at the end of 1967." (p.25)
Wade next tells of a visit to Findhorn in 1970 by a David Spangler and his soulmate, Myrtle Glines. The visit extended for three years. During this time Spangler began to receive messages from a spirit which identified itself as Limitless Love and Truth. This same spirit had communicated with other people in England. The messages from "LL&T" formed "the basis for their belief that the New Age began at the end of 1967." (p.27, with references to other sources) It was obvious to the "spirit" world that the "times" of the nations were fulfilled and that the nations were in their hands to work their will. Against this backdrop of history, I remember where I was at that moment in time.
When Madison College, where I was serving as head of the Bible and History Department, closed in 1964, I was invited to come to Minnesota as conference evangelist with the promise that as soon as either the Minneapolis or St. Paul Church opened, I would be assigned to one or the other. This I declined as I wished to complete my graduate work. I was then given the opportunity to go to Andrews University to do so with the proviso that if I added a minor in the field of history, I would return to the Madison campus which was be incorporated into Southern Missionary College and become an adjunct to their nursing program. I was to teach the nursing students their Bible and History. This did not materialize, and following the year at Andrews, I took a leave of absence as a minister in good and regular standing. It was then 1966.
While at Andrews taking class work during the school year 1964-1965, I could not erase from my mind the conviction that the major part of my ministry from that point on would be writing. I did not like to write; I much preferred to organize my thinking in full outline form and speak from those notes. However, I applied myself to a required course, Research and Bibliography, taught by Dr. Lief kr. Tobiassen, which has proved invaluable to me during these years of writing. During the school year of 1965-1966, I completed the Research in Theology requirement - a paper on the Holy Flesh Movement. Then came 1967.
Immediately following the Seven Day War which once more placed Jerusalem under Israeli jurisdiction, I received a letter from a brother in Indiana who had served as a local elder in one of the churches I had pastored there in the late 50s. He asked me what that meant in the light of Jesus' prophecy. I passed it off as I had done in 1948 when serving as pastor of the First Church in Toronto, Canada, and the nation of Israel had once more been constituted. (I still have the notes of the sermon given at that time.) I wrote back to the brother that there was no significance to the event. I had failed to see in 1948 that coming events were casting their shadows before, and that that shadow was a reality in 1967. However, during the Fall the conviction to write bore heavily on my mind, and one morning as I was driving to work (120 miles RT each day), I pulled into a side road, prayed and tearfully committed myself to the Lord, promising that if He opened the way so that I could be freed from the time consumed in daily driving, I would do what He wanted me to do - write. He did, and I began writing at the close of 1967, and released the first issue of WWN as the January 1968, issue. It was not until some five years later that I sensed the significance of the prophecy of Jesus as given in Luke 21:24.
God, in Whose hands are the times and seasons, needed a voice to sound the meaning of a fulfilled prophecy, and he ordered a life, and experiences needful in that life, to begin a work at the very time another work was commencing called a New World Order - an Order in which Satan seeks to implant his will upon the nations. God had given the signal that the probationary time of the nations was fulfilled. A voice needed to be sounded interpreting the significance of the event which marked that time.
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Why the Ignorance?
Whenever Jesus' prophecy as stated in Luke 21:24 is presented to a group of concerned Adventists where I have not spoken previously, or who are unacquainted with the work of the Adventist Laymen's Foundation, the reaction is that they are hearing a new teaching strange to Adventist thought. This ought not to be the case, but why is it? First let us consider the history of this teaching.
In 1898, Edson White wrote in The Coming King:
We also read that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Jerusalem has never come again into the possession of the Jews, and will not until "the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." This will be when the work of the gospel is finished. (p.98)
In 1944, the question of Palestine again appeared in Adventist literature. The Voice of Prophecy published a paperback by J. C. Stevens, Palestine in Prophecy, as their "Gift of the Month" book. The concluding sentence read:
Palestine and Jerusalem do not have a bright future in this present world, and those who are holding the hope of national restoration for the Jews are following a theological will-o'-wisp. (p.95)
This concept was followed in 1947 in another paperback published by the Pacific Press. Written by Roy F. Cottrell, it stated:
The God of heaven who overthrew the city and nation and who because of their apostasy dispersed the inhabitants to the ends of the earth, forever settles the question of a complete return and restoration in old Canaan by asserting that it "cannot be." (p.61)
The very next year - 1948 - Israel did become a nation again, but a nation without Jerusalem under its jurisdiction. In 1952, a Bible Conference was held in the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland. It was attended by Church leaders from around the world as well as theologians, pastors and evangelists of the Church. Arthur S. Maxwell, Editor of The Signs of the Times, presented a paper on the "Imminence of Christ's Second Coming." He listed three "Areas of Unfulfilled Prophecy." One of these was developments in Palestine. He commented:
The recent dramatic restoration of the nation of Israel has focused the attention of mankind once more upon Palestine. ...
There is one prophecy concerning Palestine that we should all be watching with special care. Said Jesus, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Luke 21:24.
Maxwell noted that while the forces of Israel were victorious "in every other part of Palestine, they failed to take the most dazzling objective of all" - Jerusalem. He indicated that Israel was restrained in this objective "as if by an unseen hand." Then he asks what could be the reason, and answers his own question - "Only that the times of the Gentiles are not yet fulfilled."
Citing the history of Israel when they were first promised Palestine, Maxwell commented that they could not possess it "for a certain time because 'the iniquity of the Amorites' was 'not yet full' (Gen. 15:16); that is, not until the probationary time allotted to the Amorites had run out." Then he concludes:
It may well be that the same principle applies today, on a wider scale. If so, then Jerusalem is to remain trodden down by Gentiles till the probationary time of all Gentiles has run out. If this be correct, how much hinges upon the fate of this ancient city and the power that occupies it! (Our Firm Foundation, Vol.2, pp.230-231)
It should be observed that Maxwell returned to the position of Edson White and associated the phrase, "times of the Gentiles," with the close of probation. What both failed either to see or to understand was that the term "the Gentiles" is in the Greek, τα εθνη (ta ethne) the nations as corporate bodies. This one word is translated both ways in Luke 21:24-25 KJV.
When Luke 21:24 was fulfilled in 1967, what reaction is found in Adventist publications? In the 20th Century Bible Course, a series of Bible studies used in evangelistic outreach, Lesson 5 was captioned - "Time Running Out. Question #2 asks - "What sign did Jesus give that would indicate when the destruction of the city [Jerusalem] was at hand? Luke 21:20" A note reads:
The city of Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman armies in A.D. 66. After a period of time the army withdrew and the Christians, recognizing the sign given by Christ, fled the city and did not return. ... They watched for the sign Christ had given and obeyed His instructions. ... Christ foresaw the future and outlined it to His followers so that they could be saved. (Emphasis as in the lesson)
Question #3 asks - "How long did Christ say that Jerusalem would be trodden down? (verse 24)" The note on this question reads:
Old Jerusalem and the temple site has been occupied largely by the Gentile nations until 1967 when the Jews took possession of it in a "lightening victory." This portion of Jesus prophecy was fulfilled in our day!
This is just what we have been holding forth for over two decades, and to many, who hear it for the first time, it is new and strange teaching, and others oppose it - previously published, Biblically based, Church teaching! But should not the same attitude apply to the fulfilled prophecy of Jesus in 1967, as indicated in the Bible Course, marked the Christians in A.D. 66? And is it not equally true in 1967, as stated for 66 - Jesus gave this prophecy to His disciples "so that they could be saved"?
Page 7 In 1980, the Adult Sabbath School lessons for the second quarter were "devoted to the study of the testimony of Jesus as revealed in the book of Revelation." The author of these lessons, Dr. Jean Zurcher, was serving as secretary of the Euro-African Division. As a study help, a book by Dr. Zurcher, Christ of the Revelation, was translated and published by the then existing Southern Publishing Association. In the recommendation of this book as it appeared in the Sabbath School quarterly was the suggestion that "you'll also find out about the 'times of the Gentiles."' (p. 4) What is of real interest in the relationship of these lessons to the prophecy of Jesus is that one month after these lessons were studied, Israel moved its government from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the Knesset reaffirmed that Jerusalem united was its capital. What Zurcher wrote and which the whole Church had opportunity to know was of the utmost significance.
Noting the eschatological discourse of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, Zurcher commented:
We shall not linger over the numerous signs given by Jesus in this discourse. Only one will occupy our attention, the one that especially deals with time. Even in our days it constitutes a critical point in the political world: Jerusalem. In fact, Jerusalem is both the beginning and the culmination of Jesus' prophecy. ... So having predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews "into all nations," Jesus declared, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). (p.71)
He observed that few today would deny the precision of this prophecy. He cites the historical record of the city's destruction in AD 70; the dispersion of the Jews into all nations; the domination of the city by Gentile forces over the centuries; and its present restoration to the control of Israel in 1967. Then he states:
This prophecy of Jesus was a sign for the Christians of the Apostolic Church, who lived at the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, and it remains a sign for us who live at the end of the times of the Gentiles. (ibid.)
Dr. Zurcher then warns his readers that "if we cannot see that Jerusalem is an exceptional sign of the times, then might we not be placing ourselves in the same position as the religious leaders who knew how to 'discern the face of the sky ' but could not discern the obvious 'signs of the times' ?" (pp.71-72)
The detailed analysis which follows this warning needs to be carefully studied. This we shall do in the next issue of WWN as well as to note official church reaction to this prophecy of Jesus.
(To be continued)
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"Nothing is more harmful to a new truth than an old error."
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