p. 1 | THE ONE HOPE; by Joseph Harvey Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 23, 1873

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 42, No. 15.

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THE ONE HOPE;

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

Or the Promise to the Fathers.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

(Concluded.)*

TEXT.—“The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s, but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” Ps. 115:16.

The passage last quoted, Eph. 1:13, 14, cannot be explained on the supposition that the earth is not to be renewed, and is not to become the inheritance of the saints of God. There can be no difference between the inheritance and the possession of this text. The token or earnest extends to the fulfillment of the promise; after that the sign or assurance can have no more significance. But the apostle says the seal of the Spirit “is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” The inheritance of the saints, as well as the saints themselves, is waiting for redemption.

Note the similarity of expression in regard to the saints and to their possession. “Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. “Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28. “Denying the Lord that bought them.” 2 Peter 2:1. The purchase price has already been paid for us. It is the precious blood of Christ. But our redemption is future; for that we yet “groan within ourselves.” Rom. 8:23. We shall not be glorified till “Christ who is our life shall appear.” Col. 3:4.

And thus also our inheritance: it is a “purchased possession.” Jesus bore the curse of the earth as well as that of man. The Lord said it should bring forth thorns, because of the sin of man. And when Jesus was “made a curse for us” on the tree, he wore a crown of thorns—the curse of the earth. And the words of the apostle are no more emphatic in favor of the purchase of the earth than of its redemption. No “possession” of man, either present or prospective, needs redemption, except the earth. And that is still “groaning” under the curse. Pain and death, thorns and thistles, are evidences of Satan’s triumph. But it shall not continue forever.

When the earth was created it “was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Gen. 1:2. When first called into existence, it was a chaotic mass, in confusion and darkness. When the old world—“the world that then was”—was destroyed by water, it was turned again to a desolate waste. And among the changes which it is yet to undergo, it will once more be returned to that desolate condition, preparatory to its entire renewal and restitution. David prophesied of this in the following words:—

“Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Ps. 46:8–10.

Thus, and thus only, will wars be made to cease upon the earth: the Lord will destroy the weapons of war in the day of destruction and desolation.

Isaiah foretold these things, as follows:—

“Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. * The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” Isa. 24:1, 3.

Jeremiah gives a vivid description of the condition into which the earth is to be brought:—

“I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. * I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” Jer. 4:19–27.

Though the “destruction” is complete, so far as the works of man and the beauty and formation of the earth are concerned, yet, says the Lord, “will I not make a full end.” As the material was all reserved for future use when the old world perished by water, so will it be in the destruction which is now future. The Lord did not create the earth in vain. He who says: “I am God; my counsel shall stand,” will have his designs ultimately accomplished, whatever may, for a time, interpose.

Ezekiel had a view of the same condition of the earth, though briefly stated in his prophecy:—

“The fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” Eze. 38:20–22.

Other quotations might be given from the Old Testament, but we pass to the New, wherein this overwhelming ruin is located. When the Saviour spoke of his second coming he said:—

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and 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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:29–31.

Here it will be noticed that the Saviour locates the shaking of “the powers of the heavens,” just before his coming. This is the ushering in of that “great day of the Lord,” of which the prophet says:—

“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.” Zeph. 1:15.

The apostle Paul speaks also of this shaking of the heavens, and says it will be produced by the voice of God when he speaks from Heaven. After describing the terror of the day when God spoke his holy law from mount Sinai, he says:—

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Heb. 12:25, 26.

This testimony informs us that the shaking of heaven and earth will be caused by the voice of God speaking from Heaven, and, also, that this will take place but once. Therefore, wherever we find these, or either of these, events spoken of in the Scriptures, we know it is the same that was foretold by the Saviour in Matt. 24, and to occur in immediate connection with his second coming. That the same event is spoken of in Rev. 16 is very evident:—

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” Rev. 16:17–20.

By reading the preceding verses, it will be seen that “the great day of God Almighty” is then near, and—that the Lord Jesus announces his speedy coming. The seventh angel is the last, and this plague finishes the wrath of God upon the last generation of the sinful race. God’s voice is heard from Heaven; the heavens and the earth are shaken; since men were upon earth so great a convulsion of nature had never taken place; the whole face and surface of the earth is changed into wasteness and desolation; “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”

This day of battle, and its effect upon the hearts of the men of this world, who have not secured an interest in the blood of the Life-giver, is described briefly in another scripture thus:—

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14–17.

The terrors of that day are awful to contemplate. Not only that “the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage,” Isa. 24:20, that the convulsion shall be so great that the isles of the ocean shall sink, the mountains be cast down, and the pleasant valleys filled with the wreck of matter; though these would appall the stoutest heart, and overwhelm the bravest with fear; but it is that the day of “the wrath of the Lamb” is come; the terrible thought that, in this hour of the world’s great calamity, there is no refuge—no hope. Few are so hardened but that they are ready to call upon God in the hour of great peril and bitter anguish. Though men revile the name of Christ, there is left in their hearts a consciousness of his availing mercy, which reveals itself in time of danger. But oh! the agony of the soul when the conviction is forced upon the rich, the proud, the great, the admired of the world, that there is no Saviour! that he who has so long plead the sacrifice of his life in their behalf, who has so long beseeched them to turn and live, has “put on the garment of vengeance,” and will no longer listen to their cry.

“Where will the sinner hide in that day? It will be in vain to call, Ye mountains, on us fall, For his hand will find out all, In that day.”

How forcible the question is presented to the rich, the great of the world:—

“And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” Isa. 10:3.

Oh! that we could fully realize that that day of wrath is near to come.

But this is not the final change which the earth is to undergo. During this time of its utter desolation, while it is empty and void without an inhabitant, the saints are in the “mansions” of the “Father’s house” which Jesus ascended on high to prepare for them; John 14:1–3; to which they are taken when “caught up into the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” 1 Thess. 4:17. There they sit on thrones of judgment, the decisions of which are executed at the end of the thousand years. Rev. 20. Of this day of Judgment, Peter speaks and gives most decisive testimony in regard to the future of the earth. He says:—

“There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Pet. 3:3–7.

The apostle here denies the cavil of the scoffers, that all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Great changes have already taken place, of which they are “willingly ignorant,” if ignorant at all. The word of God gives an account of the flood, and the earth itself gives evidence of the fact. As “the fountains of the great deep were broken up,” and the highest mountains submerged, the face of the whole earth was changed by the violence of the storm and the action of the waters. So complete was the change wrought in all nature, that in describing it, inspiration says, “The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” To the eye of the beholder, after the flood only new scenes were presented. The multitudes of men who but a short time before peopled the earth, were all gone. The beasts were destroyed, and the fields were deserted. So terrible was the destruction when “the windows of heaven were opened,” that even the fowls of the air perished. No sound of living thing was there to greet the

rising sun.

The fruitful field was a desolation, and all the workmanship of man was in ruins. Had Noah and his family been transported by the ark to some distant planet, the scene would not, probably, have been so new and strange, nor the contrast with their former home so great, as that which now greeted their sight. Truly, they looked out upon another world. The elements—the materials—were the same. In every other respect all was strange and new.

But another change, as great as any in the past, remains to be effected; not by water, but by fire. Literally it will be melted “with fervent heat.” And to this it is reserved “against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” We have read in Prov. 11:31, that the wicked and the sinner will also “be recompensed in the earth.” And the Revelation says that after the thousand years of judgment, “the rest of the dead”—the wicked will be raised from the dead, and in the midst of their fruitless efforts to wage war against the camp of the saints, “fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.” Rev. 20:9. This chapter also says they receive their portion in a lake of fire, which will literally be fulfilled when the earth is melted by the fire which devours them.

Many efforts have been made to give Peter’s words a figurative application; but all such efforts do violence to the text. It does not refer merely to the change of dispensation, as theorists have asserted; nor is the fire a figure, and the heavens and earth used by metonymy to represent the people. But both the earth and its inhabitants are introduced; and not only “the perdition of ungodly men” is spoken of, but also the melting of the earth and the elements. As the apostle speaks of a literal creation, and a literal flood which changed the face of that creation, so does he speak of a literal conflagration of that literal earth; for figurative fire would not melt the elements of literal earth.

Many scriptures besides those quoted speak of the great “burning day.” To one only will we refer. As Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, in its closing scenes consigns the wicked to a fire which devours them, so does the closing book of the Old Testament leave the wicked under the action of this devouring element:—

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Mal. 4:1.

Thus at once shall the curse, and the accursed, be removed from the earth. Beyond this, another scene is introduced:—

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Pet. 3:13.

The scriptures cited, as well as analogy, show that the new earth will bear the same relation to the earth which now is, that the present earth bears to that which was before the flood. It will be composed of the same material, but in every sense renewed. The Lord said by Jeremiah, as quoted, that the earth shall be turned again to chaos—with-out form and void—yet he will not make a full end. That earth which was given to Adam at first; which Noah beheld under two dispensations; upon which Abraham dwelt as the land of promise; upon which the wicked will receive their recompense in the great day, will be given to the saints of the Most High, when sin and sinners shall be entirely removed from it.

The description of the new earth, in the Bible, is very brief. Whether it were brief or extended, we could never realize its glory. Having always associated with a different state of things; having always had crosses and trials to bear, sorrows and disappointments to suffer, our minds cannot grasp the realities of a world of glory, and of unalloyed bliss. In vision it was shown to John, who says:—

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Rev. 21:1–5.

Whiting’s translation of verse 1 says: “And the sea was no more.” Not as though there were no sea at all in that heavenly state, but that the old sea was no more, even as the former heaven and earth were no more. All was new. Dr. Clarke says:—

“The sea no more appeared than did the first heaven and earth. All was made new; and probably the new sea occupied a different position and was differently distributed, from that of the old sea.”—Com. on Rev. 21:1.

On this new earth the New Jerusalem, which descends out of Heaven from God, is located. It is the capital of the universal kingdom of Christ, who, as the seed of Abraham, is the heir of the world. It is that “city which hath foundations,” which the Lord himself built, for which Abraham looked.

As Abraham offered up Isaac, the son of the promise, so was Christ, the seed of Abraham, the true heir, offered as a sacrifice. Abraham, in the offering of Isaac, was taught the death and resurrection of his seed before they could inherit the promises. So “Christ must needs suffer” before he entered into his glory. And so all the saints must suffer, and await the morning of the resurrection to fit them to inherit a holy and eternal inheritance. Paul says, “Corruption cannot inherit incorruption.” 1 Cor. 15:50. But when the Son of man comes, seated upon the throne of his glory, he will raise the saints immortal, that they may “inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25:34. Micah says:—

“And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8.

To what this refers, we cannot imagine if not to the dominion which was granted to Adam at the first—dominion over the whole earth. That the expectation of the saints takes hold on this promise is shown in their song of anticipated triumph, and of glory to the Lamb:—

“For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5:9, 10.

From this there can be no appeal. Abraham’s promise, Paul’s hope, Christ’s heirship, the saints’ expected triumph, the peaceful inheritance of the meek, all look to the earth made new, redeemed from the curse.

“I long to be there! and the thought that ’tis near, Makes me almost impatient for Christ to appear, And fit up that dwelling of glories so rare, The earth robed in beauty,—I long to be there!”

The particular points of glory and of beauty, as set forth by Isaiah, John, and other inspired writers, I leave with the reader to examine, only adding the view in Revelation of the final song of triumph, when the wicked are destroyed, the curse removed, and all is made new. All the inhabitants of the wide creation of God join in this song:—

“And every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5:13.