White Robes by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 12, 1873

White Robes.

By James White

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE PROPHETS.

The Spirit of Christ inspired the prophets of the former dispensations. It testified through them of the sufferings of Christ at his first advent, and of the glory that should follow at his second advent. The apostle Peter, speaking of the great salvation through Jesus Christ, says that the prophets had “inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Pet. 1:10, 11.

In this is the harmony of both Testaments of the blessed book of God, that the Spirit of Jesus inspired the writers of both. And while the blind Jew shuts himself up to the Old, and the equally blind Christian virtually shuts himself up to the New, Testament, we thank God for the Bible entire. In the writings of both Testaments we see the entire plan of salvation in all stages of its development, in the several dispensations, and the Spirit of Christ inspiring the divine whole.

The Spirit of Christ was in Enoch, the seventh from Adam, testifying through him: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints.” Jude 14.

Moses was a prophet. The Spirit of Christ was in this leader of the tribes of Israel, and testified, as quoted by Peter, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me.” Acts 3:22; Deut. 18:18. The Spirit of Christ testifies in Moses that Christ, as a prophet, or teacher, was to be like himself. Hence the men of our times who labor to show a wide contrast between the teachings of Moses and those of the Son of God have not in this the mind of Christ.

Christ is the only Redeemer of sinners in all the ages. There is no other. All things pertaining to the grand scheme of redemption, whether in the types or figures of the former dispensations, or in the facts of the present, were revealed to the fallen race by our adorable Redeemer. He is, therefore, no more the author of the Christian, than of the Jewish, system. And those who contrast Moses with Christ, and the Jewish with the Christian system, are virtually arraying Christ against Christ.

It is not true that the apostle contrasts the ministrations of the two systems in the third chapter of his second epistle to the Corinthians. He simply draws a beautiful comparison, which illustrates the degrees of glory in the unit plan of man’s redemption. His words touching this point are so very decisive that we give them in full:

“But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” Verses 7–9.

The typical system, under which the Redeemer was seen only in figure, was glorious. But the Christian system, with the great historical facts of the life, miracles, death, and resurrection, of the Son of God, exceeds in glory. Like the moon, the typical system shone by a borrowed light. Its glory was but the reflection of the light that enshrouds the death and resurrection of the Son of God, and his ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. Paul speaks to the point: “For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.” Verse 10. Without the exceeding glory of the Christian system, the Jewish system would have had no glory, and no significance whatever. In fact, it could not have existed without the Christian system. And to array the two, as if they were independent systems, complete in themselves, and opposed to each other, is the very climax of stupidity and religious folly.

Moses was a prophet of God. Christ was with him and the children of Israel in the wilderness. Paul even states that they “all ate the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. The angel that went before them, Ex. 23:20, 21, 23; 14:19; 32:34; 33:2, 14; Num. 20:16; Josh. 5:13, 14; Acts 7:37, 38, was the Lord Jesus Christ.

The record states, chap. 5:13, 14, that Joshua was by Jericho, and that “he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with a drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I come.” We must not understand by this declaration of the angel that he had come to supersede Joshua in the command of the armies of Israel. No, Joshua was still commander, as is seen by chap. 6:2: “And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.”

But the angel had come to Joshua’s aid, as captain of the heavenly host of loyal angels. The captain of the host of the Lord is the head over angels, or the archangel of Jude 9, and the Lord himself of 1 Thess. 4:16. And while it was appointed to Joshua to lead the armies of Israel around Jericho, a portion of the priests bearing the ark of God containing the ten commandments, and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of God, the Son of God was to lead on the invisible armies. As archbishop is the head over bishops, so archangel means the head over angels. Christ stands at the head of all the holy angels, and thus he is the captain of the host of the Lord. The Revelation, referring to the time when sin was first introduced, says, “And there was war in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.” Chap. 12:7. And as captain of the Lord’s host, the Son of God is represented in chap. 19:11–16, as riding forth from the opening heavens on a white horse, and the armies of Heaven following him.

Joshua had no battering rams with which to break down the walls of Jericho. At his command, the armed men passed on before the priests that blew the trumpets, and those that carried the ark of God. And the reward came after the ark. In this simple display there was no manifestation of physical force. The work of casting down the massive walls of Jericho was left to the invisible hands of the heavenly host, led on by the Son of God.

The day was gained. “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets. And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” Josh. 6:20. And be it known that prominent among the united agencies employed to achieve that grand victory were the ten commandments in the ark, and the leadership of Christ.

And it is not a common angel that is spoken of in Ex. 23:20, 21. “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.” Such language can be applied to no other than the Son of God.

Christ is the angel that was with Moses in the Mount Sinai. In that last address of the holy martyr, Stephen, he bears this important testimony. The words in brackets express our convictions relative to the persons meant. “This [Moses] is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel [Christ] which spake to him [Moses] in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” Acts 7:38.

The work of emancipating, instructing, and leading, the Hebrews was given to One who is called an angel. Ex. 13:21; 14:19, 24; 23:20–23; 32:34; Num. 20:16; Isa. 63:9. And this angel Paul calls “that spiritual Rock that followed them,” and affirms that “that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:4.

The eternal Father is never called an angel in the Scriptures; while what angels have done and said is frequently ascribed to the Lord, as they are his messengers and agents to accomplish his work. It is said of Him who went before the Hebrews to deliver them, “My name is in him.” In all the stupendous events of that deliverance, the mind of Jehovah was represented in Jesus.

The typical system was given to Moses by the Son of God in the Mount Sinai. Jesus Christ, the minister of the “true tabernacle,” showed Moses patterns of it, and of the vessels of the heavenly sanctuary, that he might know how to form the typical. And as Moses is instructed relative to the several parts of the golden candlestick, Ex. 25:31–40, the boards and bars of the tabernacle, chap. 26:15–30, and the altar with its staves, pans, shovels, and other particulars, chap. 27:1–8, he is charged, as quoted by Paul, Heb. 8:5, “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.”

The plan of salvation, by which man is reconciled to God, and God to man, was devised by both the Father and the Son. And in carrying it out, the counsel of peace is between them both. Zech. 6:13. But it was given to the Son to reveal this plan, in the several stages of its development, in the patriarchal, Jewish, and Christian, ages, to the fallen race.

The Spirit of Christ was in Abel, testifying of the sufferings of Christ through the blood of the firstling of his flock.

The Spirit of Christ was in Moses, testifying of the sufferings of Christ through the blood of those beasts which was typical of the blood of the Son of God.

The Spirit of Christ was in Daniel, testifying in his prophecy of the sufferings of Christ in the midst of the seventieth prophetic week. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.” “And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Chap. 9:26, 27.

The Spirit of Christ in the prophet also testified of the glory that should follow in these words: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom.” Chap. 7:13, 14.

Our blessed Jesus had the supervision of giving this important prophecy. In proof of this proposition we first cite the statement of the angel that appeared to Daniel in his vision of the tenth chapter, that “there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” Chap. 10:21. There were only three persons connected with the giving of the prophecy; Daniel, Michael, and another, which chap. 8:16, shows to be Gabriel. “And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” This command to Gabriel to further instruct the prophet Daniel came from Michael, as no other held with him in the things of the prophecy. Hence Michael, or the Son of God, having received the great things of the prophecy from the Father, shows them to the angel Gabriel, with the order for him to reveal them to the prophet Daniel.

There is a striking similarity in the manner in which the prophecy of this book was given, in the Jewish dispensation, and the manner in which the last book of the New Testament was given, in the Christian dispensation. The book of Revelation opens thus: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” Chap. 1:1. They came from the Father to the Son, and both were shown to angels by the Son, to be revealed by them to Daniel and to John, for the benefit of the servants of God. The object of one was to show what shall be in the latter days, Dan. 2:28, and the object of the other is to show the “things which must shortly come to pass.” Rev. 1:1.

The Spirit of Christ was in Isaiah, testifying of his sufferings in these impressive words: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Chap. 53:3, 5.

The Spirit of Christ in Isaiah also testifies of his glory. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever.” Ch. 9:7.

We might continue these quotations from the prophets to almost any length. And we find the same ground briefly covered by these remarkable words of the Saviour: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.” Luke 24:44.

There is a painful blindness and an astonishing narrowness of views with many of the religious teachers of our time relative to the unit plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. In their efforts to get away from the moral law, as far as possible, in order to excuse themselves in the violation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, they will labor to show as wide a contrast as possible between what they call the law, and the gospel, and in treating the subject they often give the impression that the moral law was confined to the Jewish age, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is confined to the Christian age.

These are simply blind leaders of the blind. Some go even so far as to discard the Old Testament altogether, as entirely superseded by the New. We were credibly informed at Tipton, Ind., that a certain camp-meeting was held in that State where the preachers and people had so far rejected the Scriptures of the Old Testament that, during the several days of their meeting, not a single copy of our old-fashioned, blessed Bible, complete, could be found upon the ground, the officiating ministers using copies of the New Testament.

Those who cherish the growing prejudice of our time against the Hebrews, the institutions they revered, and the prophets of the Old Testament, should feel rebuked by the wonderful words of Paul to the Gentile believers of the church at Ephesus. Chap. 2:11–19. The words in brackets are our brief comment on the apostle’s withering rebuke of that narrow-souled bigotry in Gentile believers that leads them to shut themselves up to the New Testament and the apostles, and despise the “commonwealth of Israel,” the “covenants of promise,” and the holy prophets of God. The apostle would not have the Gentile believers forget that, as Gentiles, they were far inferior to the Jews, and that in believing in Christ they had become partakers of benefits which had been enjoyed alone by the seed of Abraham. Hence his especial appeal to them commences with—

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye [Gentiles] who sometimes were far off [from the commonwealth of the Israel of God, and the covenants of promise] are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both [Gentile and Jew] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us [so that the Gentiles may come nigh, and receive the blessings promised to the seed of Abraham through Christ], having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in [typical] ordinances; for to make in himself [Christ] of twain [Gentiles and Jews] one new man [or united body], so making peace. And that he [Christ] might reconcile both [Gentiles and Jews] unto God in one [Christian] body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby; and came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] which were afar off, and to them [the Jews] that were nigh. For through him [Christ] we both [Gentiles and Jews] have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

“Now therefore ye [believing Gentiles] are no more strangers and foreigners [from the commonwealth of Israel and the covenants of promise], but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the [entire] household of God [saved from all the ages of human probation]. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles [of the New Testament] and the prophets [of the Old Testament], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.”

Glory to God and the Lamb for this broad foundation, resting upon the “Rock of Ages,” Jesus Christ, upon which the true church may stand, honoring the whole Bible, and keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. As we contemplate the breadth and the glory of the inspiring theme of salvation through Jesus Christ, our heart beats quicker, and our lips almost

shout, in harmony with the voices of the angels round about the throne of Heaven,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”

In our next, we will speak of the nature and perpetuity of the divine law. J. W.