The Kingdom-No. 10 by J. H. WAGGONER

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 9, 1874

The Kingdom.—No. 10.

By J. H. WAGGONER

To show how false expositions pervert the testimony of the Scriptures, and thus cause a departure from truths plainly revealed, we refer to the use which is made of the second Psalm. The eighth verse reads: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” From this it is argued that, as Jesus is a Saviour, when the heathen are given to him he will, of course, convert and save them. But they who reason thus seem to forget that Christ is yet to put off the robes of his priesthood, and to put on the garments of vengeance. Isa. 59:17. It is his prerogative to “take vengeance on them that know not God,” as well as to grant the remission of sins. He ascended on high as a priest or intercessor, and is there to sit at his Father’s right hand till his foes are made his footstool. Ps. 110:1. Then, when his foes are put under his feet, will Ps. 2:8, 9, be fulfilled, as follows: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Surely, no conversion is contemplated in this text. They are given into his hands to be destroyed, or broken, and dashed in pieces. This will be when the great day of his wrath is come, when the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, will endeavor to hide from his presence, Rev. 6:15–17; when he shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1:7, 8.

Thus the intercessory work of our Saviour does not contemplate the conversion of the world as its finality, but it will close with the giving of his enemies into his possession, and making them his footstool, or putting them under his feet. And he will come as King of kings and Lord of lords (of the kings and lords of this world), to destroy them and their armies. Rev. 19. Then, instead of looking for a time of peace when the Lord has not said peace, it would be better to listen to the admonition to be wise, and serve “the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.” Ps. 2:10–12.

We believe in the triumph of the truth, in the triumph of the church of Christ; but not by mere numbers, nor in this present state. The saints will shout their triumph when this mortal puts on immortality. 1 Cor. 15:51–55. They will sing their song of victory on the sea of glass before the throne of God. Rev. 15:2, 3; 4:6. Having thus shown that the doctrine of the world’s conversion is contradicted by direct statements of Scripture, we turn to the examination of another question.

2. The subject of the promise to Israel is a very extensive one, as it stands related to all of God’s revealed purposes, to some extent. In our remarks we shall aim to be as brief as may be consistent with a correct presentation of the truth.

The first point we shall notice is that of the new covenant, not because all who believe in the return of the Jews raise an argument upon it, but because it is necessary to meet the argument which has been based on it, and because a correct understanding of this throws light on all other points. It is really the governing question on this whole subject. The argument as presented by believers in the “Age to Come,” who are specially committed in favor of this form of Judaism, has been given in brief as follows:—

“The new covenant, embracing forgiveness of sins, is to be made with the house of Israel and Judah. This has not yet been done; for the scripture from which the text is quoted (Jer. 31) says, ‘They shall not cease from being a nation before me forever,’ but they are yet rejected and scattered. Hence it must be made in the Age to Come.”

We readily admit that this covenant was to be made with Israel and Judah, for so it is written. But we do not admit that it is to be made in the future, nor that it is for Israel and Judah only. That it has been made, and with them, the Scriptures clearly prove as we shall now show.

The angel said to the prophet Daniel, “Seventy weeks are cut off [from the 2300 days] upon thy people.” This must be understood of Israel and Judah, who were to fall from their pre-eminence at the end of that time. Of the Messiah, the angel said, “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” Dan. 9:24, 27. The last week of the seventy which were determined, or cut off, upon that people, commenced at the commencement of Christ’s preaching, was half expired at his crucifixion, and terminated at the time the apostles turned to the Gentiles. The whole of this week was given to that people.

In fulfillment of this prophecy, at the end of the sixty-nine weeks, Messiah commenced preaching the gospel of the kingdom, saying, “The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:15. And he said, “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matt. 15:24. He sent forth the twelve to preach the same gospel of the kingdom, with this order, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.” Matt. 10:6–8. After his resurrection he commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel, “beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47. This they did, tarrying at Jerusalem till they had received the Holy Spirit of promise, and they went to their brethren in all parts. But after a time, when the Jews contradicted and blasphemed, Paul and Barnabas said to them, “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you.” Acts 13:46.

We cannot believe that salvation was more necessary for the Jew than for the Gentile, or that either could be saved without the gospel: hence this necessity for preaching to them first was solely for the fulfillment of the prophecy and promise to them. Peter said to them at Jerusalem, in the temple, “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” Acts 3:25, 26. Paul said of them, “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants [plural], and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” Rom. 9:4. Also the objection itself is based on a text in Jeremiah which Paul quotes in his letter to his Hebrew brethren, in which he says, “We have such an high priest,” speaking of the new covenant as being already made, in contrast with the old which had ceased; and not only for them, but also for their brethren who had transgressed under the first covenant, was he ministering. Heb. 9:15.

The importance of this subject cannot be overestimated, as the hopes of all center in it. We trust every reader will be interested in the following truths.

No sin was taken away by the first covenant; therefore, it was typical of the new, in which alone sin is taken away. And for this reason, it is declared that Christ is the mediator of the new, for the transgressions under the old. Heb. 10:1–4; 9:9–15. Hence, if the new is not yet made, Christ is not yet a mediator, and there is yet no forgiveness.

The priests of the two covenants cannot change places of ministration; for under the first, or on earth, the priest of the new could not minister; Heb. 7:13–17; 8:1–4; for if he did, he would officiate as a type of himself. And under the new, there is but “one mediator;” 1 Tim. 2:5; and his priesthood is on his Father’s throne in Heaven. Heb. 8:1–5. This excludes all of the order of Aaron.

Under the old covenant there were many offerings, and the priests succeeded one another in office. In the new, there is but one offering, one priest, and he enters into Heaven itself by his own blood, shed once for all.

Christ is the mediator of the new covenant. Heb. 9:15; 12:24. The Scriptures invariably speak of him as being a mediator at the present time. Heb. 8:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Heb. 9:24; Rom. 8:34. They never speak of him as a priest, mediator, or intercessor, in any future dispensation.

Again, the blood of Christ is the blood of the new covenant. Matt. 26:28. As “the life is in the blood,” and man by transgression has forfeited his life, blood is given to make an atonement. Lev. 17:11. Therefore, “without shedding of blood is no remission.” Heb. 9:22. When Paul says, “He is the mediator of the new testament,” he gives a reason, the force of which all must acknowledge as bearing on this question. He says, “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead.” Heb. 9:16, 17. If Christ is not the testator here referred to, then another must die to ratify the covenant. But who will contend for this? Thus it is proved beyond the possibility of contradiction that the new testament or covenant was ratified, or “of force,” when Christ died.

The scriptures which have been quoted to show that it was made with Israel, also show that it was to extend to others as well as to them. Thus, when Christ commissioned his apostles, he said that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name AMONG ALL NATIONS,” “beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47. If this covenant had not been made with them, and the gospel first preached to them, the Scriptures would not have been fulfilled; neither would they have been fulfilled if it had been confined to them. See again Acts 13:46, 47: “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles, for so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” See Isa. 42:6.

Mark well this point: The gospel was first preached to them, and it was not taken from them; they put it from themselves. And from that day to this, it has been preached to them—to all of them who would hear, as well as to the Gentiles. When Paul says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” all say that that includes the Gentiles; but will “whosoever” exclude the Jews?

Now, we see that it is a great error to call this a Gentile dispensation, as is frequently done, and to look for a time when the Jews will be restored to national pre-eminence in order to the fulfillment of the promises to them. The Gentiles were never made exclusive nor pre-eminent heirs of the promises of God in any dispensation. They never had, nor will they ever have, advantage of the Jews, in or out of the gospel. The Jews had a pre-eminence even in this dispensation, so that the promises of the new covenant were termed theirs; but the middle wall of partition was broken down; the difference in privilege abolished, and it was henceforth ordained that “the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body.” Eph. 3:6. What this body was, may be learned from Eph. 2:12–19. The Gentiles were in time past “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.” “But now, in Christ Jesus, ye, who sometimes were far off, ARE MADE NIGH by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made BOTH ONE, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition, . . . for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross . . . Now therefore ye [Gentiles] are NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS [from the commonwealth of Israel], but FELLOW-CITIZENS with the saints, and of the household of God.”

Jesus himself testified to the same thing when he said to the Jews, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD.” John 10:16. Here is a unity of the flock which should not be lost sight of; even as the Saviour prayed for them that should believe on him, “that they all may be one.” John 17:21.

J. H. WAGGONER.