p. 10 | God's Way of Prospering His Work by J. MC AVOY

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 21, 1907

God's Way of Prospering His Work

By J. MC AVOY

J. MC AVOY

The prophet Jeremiah foretold the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, which began 606 b. c. and ended 536 b. c. When the time came for Israel to return to their own land, God had his agent, Cyrus, ready, as foretold by the prophet in Isa. 44:28; 45:15, and the work of restoration was begun. But though they had the help of three great kings, and great zeal and devotion were manifest in their efforts, these are not said to be the source of their success. For they “builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.” Ezra 6:14.

They were called out of Babylon to restore that form of worship that was designed by God to point to the coming of Christ as the sin-bearing Saviour, and

to prepare for his reception; for the seventy weeks of Daniel connects the restoration of Jerusalem with the first coming of Christ. And their rejection of him when he came, brought the final destruction of Jerusalem; for he was the center of all her hopes, and the light of all her types, and when she rejected him, she rejected the object of her own existence.

The Word of God foretold another fall of God's people, and another Babylonian experience that resulted from the same cause—falling away from the truth of God to heathenism (2 Chron. 36:14; Rev. 2:20); and another call is going to the world to come out of Babylon, and restore the true worship of God that points to and prepares for the second coming of Christ. As heathen ideas confused the minds of the people of Israel concerning the first coming of Christ, so ideas of heathen origin have confused the minds of Christians concerning Christ's second coming. As the stones of the city of God had to be restored from “the heaps of rubbish” to prepare for his first coming, so the stones of God's temple of truth have to be restored from the heaps of human tradition to prepare the way for his second coming.

The two thousand three hundred days of Daniel connects these two epochs in the history of the work of God, beginning with the command to restore and build Jerusalem (457 B. C.), and reaching to the world-wide gospel movement of 1844, foretold in Rev. 14:6-12.

When the time came for the former work to begin, God had his agents ready, but the prophet saw Satan standing at their right hand to resist them. Zech. 3:1.

When the time came for the latter movement, God had his agents ready; but this time the prophet sees Satan wroth, making war on those who are working to restore God's down-trodden commandments. Rev. 12:17. His wrath is intensified by the knowledge 'that he hath but a short time,' and his arts of deception are increased by his long experience. As it took the guidance of the spirit of prophecy to lead God's people to victory against Satan's efforts in the former work, so the prophet sees the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, guiding those who keep the commandments of God, in this latter movement; and as we are now living in the experiences of the latter, we can learn valuable lessons from the experiences recorded in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.

We find from the fourth chapter of Ezra, that the adversaries succeeded in stopping the work. Then the prophets prophesied in the name of the God of heaven (Ezra 5:1), and the men who had ceased work began to build again, and the eye of their God was upon them, that their enemies could not cause them to cease. Verse 5. We learn that the real hindrance came from worldliness (Ezra 9:1), selfishness (Neh. 5:1), lack of consecration (Neh. 13:10, 15), and unbelief in the very work they had come out of Babylon to accomplish. Haggai 1:2.

The enemy opposed by mocking and by conspiracy (Neh. 4:2, 3, 8); by trying so to deceive God's people as to draw them away from their work; and by the work of false brethren. Neh. 6:3, 17. Haggai rebuked them for their unbelief and selfishness, and taught faith and vital godliness. And Zechariah showed them God's power over the world, and his purpose concerning it (Zech. 1:19, 21), and the intensity of his love for his people. Zech. 2:8. As their iniquities had caused their fall and had hindered their restoration, he showed them that it was Satan's plan to resist the work of their high priest and keep them in their iniquities. He then revealed to them God's purpose to rebuke Satan and remove their iniquities, and thus lead them to victory (Zechariah 3); and the people believed and obeyed, and thus under the guidance of the spirit of prophecy they labored and prayed and watched by day and by night, defending and building until every obstacle was overcome and the work finished. For they had the assurance of 'the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message' that the Lord was with them. Haggai 1:13.

Likewise in this last building and repairing and restoring (Isa. 58:12) for the second coming of Christ, 'the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message' brings the assurance that God is with this work; and when God's messages of reproof and instruction in godliness and warning against Satan's schemes are received and followed, blessing and success result. Many times and in many ways Satan tries to confuse God's work and lead it away from its definite lines; but the Spirit of God has raised up a standard against him, and we need not be surprised if fierce and unreasonable attacks are made on the person through whom this gift of God comes.

The definite work of the messengers of the gospel for this time is to carry to the whole world a message teaching true godliness and warning against the Babylonian apostasy, as outlined in Rev. 14:6-12. And the speed with which this is to be done is symbolized by flying angels. That this work has been greatly prospered and extended by changing the location of the center of the work, and by reorganizing and extending missionary efforts, and eliminating some circumscribed methods of human origin, is well known; and that this advance movement was guided by the spirit of prophecy is also well known.

It is inspiring to think of the souls who are now rejoicing in the blessed hope of the soon-coming Saviour as a result of thus moving in harmony with the directions of the spirit of prophecy. It was when Zerubbabel, the prince, and Joshua, the priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the instructions of the Lord's prophet that the Lord sent them the assurance that he was with them. Haggai 1:12, 13.

Derby, England.