The Coming Jubilee by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 8, 1912

The Coming Jubilee

By C. M. S.

THERE are frequent expressions in the Bible which seem to indicate that even the Spirit of Inspiration was unable to find words adequately to express his feelings of exultation over the prospect of the triumph of righteousness and the end of the reign of sin.

Study the significance of these wonderful words:—

“Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. . . . And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. . . . Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit on thy throne, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith Jehovah, Ye were sold for naught; and ye shall be redeemed without money. . . . How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.”

These expressions from the fifty-first and fifty-second chapters of Isaiah reveal in unmistakable language that heaven is intensely interested in the culmination of the controversy between good and evil, between truth and error, between righteousness and iniquity. Heaven is jubilant over the victory which is soon to be accomplished; and this language is only a foretaste of what will be heard in heaven itself when the victory is won and the ransomed of the Lord are gathered home.

We hear an earnest of that strain of praise, spoken of the Redeemer as he returns to heaven with the fruits of his sacrifices on earth:—

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory will come in. Who is the King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory.”

When that being, with the hosts of the redeemed, has passed through the everlasting doors, through the gates of pearl into the city of eternal peace and everlasting righteousness, we are given just a glimpse of the joy-filled host and just a hint of the jubilant song of praise they sing upon the sea of glass around the throne of God.

“They sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages.” Rev. 15: 3, 4.

And again we read:—

“After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Halleluiah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And a second time they say, Halleluiah.”

The same idea is expressed in the appearance of the New Jerusalem which the prophet John was privileged to see “coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”

Then comes that consoling assurance from the Redeemer himself:—

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and he their God: and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.” Rev. 21: 3, 4.

Could any language be more expressive of the intensity of Heaven’s interest in the culmination of the work of the gospel in the world? We have at best but a faint idea of what the culmination of God’s plan for the world means to the universe. If we could realize all that

is involved in it, we would not wonder at Heaven’s intensity, but we would wonder at our own lack of it. We would not wonder that God speaks of spewing a portion of his professed followers out of his mouth; but we would wonder how he refrains from doing this to practically the entire body of his professed people.

When that work is completed, and the trophies of God’s grace are gathered home; when the universe is swept clean of sinners and of sin, and the heritage of man is again in his possession through the work of the second Adam,—there will be such a time of rejoicing as this universe has never known and as human words can not express. If the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy when this earth was called out of nothing into existence, what may we not expect when that same portion of God’s creation is called back out of the clutches of sin into the rightful possession of the ransomed sons and daughters of the Almighty! To have a part in that jubilee will be a more precious experience than the human mind can conceive. To have a part in that jubilee means to have eternal life in the everlasting kingdom of righteousness and to enjoy the association of our Redeemer and of unfallen beings through eternal ages.

C. M. S.