A Threefold Purpose by R. A. Underwood

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 13, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 40.

A Threefold Purpose

By R. A. Underwood

By R. A. Underwood

THE unfailing word of prophecy is given as a beacon light in a dark, sinful world. It is designed to be a guide, a source of comfort, and a faithful warning to all upon the sea of time.

Never can we prize the Bible as we should, never can we appreciate God’s plan and purpose, never can we meet the assaults of the enemy against the citadel of truth, till prophecy is given its proper and pre-eminent place in Christian study and teaching.

The purposes God had in giving the prophetic parts of the Bible, are of sufficient importance to cause the reverent believer who “trembles” at the Word, the patient student who has searched the records of time, the uncompromising witness who fears not the faces of men, to lift the fallen lamp, which men have cast down to earth, and give it its place as a kingly radiance shining out from the Word of truth, a light indeed to men. Prophecy is unerring history given in advance. It has been said that “history unveils prophecy.” But a clearer statement of truth is that prophecy unveils history before it is made.

1. Revealing God

The prophetic part of the Bible is one of the strongest proofs of its divine authorship. It reveals the true God in contrast to the claim of false gods. Listen: “I am God, there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Isa. 46:9, 10. “I am the Lord; that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isa. 42:8, 9.

To the Athenians, in the presence of more than thirty thousand false gods, the great apostle Paul presents as the climax of his argument the foreknowledge of the Creator, of time and events, as the manifest witness of the true and only God. He said: “Him declare I unto you. God that made the world, and all things therein, . . . seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” Acts 17:23-26.

2. Warning of Evils to Come

The unveiling of the future in prophecy is designed as messages of warning to the children of men, who would otherwise be unable to escape danger and ruin. We have marked examples of this all through the Bible. One or two citations will illustrate this object of God in giving to His chosen people the events of time in advance of their fulfilment.

Christ gave warning of the awful destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as follows: “When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand);” or, as Luke records it: “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains.” The prophet Daniel (chapter 9:26) foretold the awful siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, during which many of the Jewish mothers ate their own offspring. The disciples acted upon the warning given by their Master, and all escaped to places of safety.

Jesus on the Mount of Olives Predicting the Destruction of Jerusalem and His Second Coming

A Warning for Our Day

Prophecy fulfilling in our day has been given by Christ and His apostles to protect the church against the deceptions of Satan concerning the character of Christ’s second advent to this world, and the dream of the world’s conversion before the coming of Christ. Note the warning:

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. . . . The powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt. 24:23-30.

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. . . . But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:1-13.

Heed the warning, and be not deceived.

3. Comfort to God’s People

The Bible presents promises and statements of unfulfilled events which are the prophetic landmarks of time, reaching into eternity. These prophecies form a large part of the written Word of God. The church has ever been called to look for the fulfilment of prophecy, and take comfort in its recognition.

Good old Simeon had long waited and looked, with many others, for the Saviour and the fulfilment of the promise made to Adam in Gen. 3:15, and to Abraham in Gen. 12:1-3. When he saw this partial fulfilment, he could but say, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32. Simeon saw but the beginning of the fulfilment of these promises. The hope of the full realization of this prophecy has been the goal for which the faithful of all ages have waited with expectancy. The mission of Christ to this world has only in part been fulfilled. The promise to Mary was that she should bring forth a Son whose name should be Jesus. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of

His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:31-33. This prophecy will be fulfilled when Christ shall take the throne of David, to reign on this earth forever.

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Object of Prophecy

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Then, and not till then, will the purpose of God as foretold by the lone seer on the Isle of Patmos be realized. Then the sad experiences of this world associated with such expressions as “failure,” “deception,” “disappointment,” “jealousy,” “envy,” “bondage,” “hatred,” “oppression,” “disease,” “sorrow,” “war,” and “death,” must give place to the experiences known by “victory,” “righteousness,” “peace,” “joy,” “equity,” “riches,” “love,” and “life” unending, in the kingdom of Christ, and “glory.” Prophecy unveils the eternal world, and brings hope, which is an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast.