Hope of All the Prophets
By Florence M. Chrisman
The Central Theme from Enoch to Malachi FOR nearly six thousand years, the inhabitants of this world have been witnessing the results of sin. The curse which God pronounced upon the earth, has been realized; thorns and thistles have come forth in abundance, and all nature has been robbed of its Edenic beauty. Man, who was once “of lofty stature and perfect symmetry,” whose countenance once “bore the ruddy tint of health, and glowed with the light of life and joy,” has lost the beauty and perfection which were his at creation. He no longer represents the Creator, in whose image he was made; for sin has stamped itself upon him. It has marred all of God’s handiwork, and caused “the whole creation” to groan and travail together in pain. Rom. 8: 22. The Theme from Enoch to Malachi
But during this long reign of sin, there has been one abiding hope, which has brightened the pathway of those who love the Lord—the hope of His second coming. This glorious event has been the great theme of all the prophets, and the inspiration of all ages. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, looked forward to it, and prophesied of the time when the Lord would come “with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. By faith Abraham “looked for a city which3hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11: 10. Job longed for the time when he would behold his Redeemer; and in his earnestness he cried out: “O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19: 23-27. The hope of the psalmist was anchored in the coming of the King of glory, at which time all sin and wickedness should cease; therefore he could sing: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. . . . For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Ps. 37: 7, 9. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. . . . And the heavens shall declare His righteousness.” Ps. 50: 3, 4, 6. Isaiah prophesies of Christ’s coming kingdom, and warns the wicked to enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” Isa. 2: 10, 11. But to the righteous he says: God “will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 25: 8. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both prophesied of this great event; and all the prophecies of Daniel point forward to the time when “the God of heaven” shall “set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” Dan. 2: 44. Not the Time for the Kingdom
From the days of Enoch down to the time of Malachi, this event was the absorbing theme of the prophets. From the entrance of sin in the Garden of Eden to the first advent of Christ, the hope of all God’s people was centered in the setting up of this kingdom, which many of them mistakenly thought would take place at Christ’s first coming. But Christ did not come at that time to set up an earthly kingdom. He came to pay the penalty for sin, in order that fallen men might become citizens of this everlasting kingdom; but He is coming the second time, as King of that kingdom which shall never be destroyed.