NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By G. C. Tenney
To OBTAIN a sense of the true force of the verses which form the basis of this week's lesson it will be necessary to continue the narrative of the circumstances and discourse which led to them. As the Saviour, after his denunciation of the Pharisees, passed out of the temple for the last time, his disciples requested him to give attention to the temple, saying, "See what manner of stones and what buildings are here." Mark 13:1. This temple was built by Herod the Great, to propitiate the Jews, and was of exceeding strength and magnificence. Josephus says that it was built of white stones twenty-five cubits long,202eight cubits in thickness and twelve in breadth, and the doom of the world was no doubt associated in the minds of the people with the idea of its destruction. JESUS startled the disciples with the words, "There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." And when they were seated upon the Mount of Olives the disciples asked him to tell them when these things should be; "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The Master did not rebuke them for prying into the future; but proceeded to answer their questions separately, even though they were considered by the propounders as applying to one event. THE destruction of the temple and the end of the world were evidently two distinct events in the mind of our Lord, separated by a long period of time, and heralded in their approach by different signs. And yet, in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, where the Saviour by a discourse answers the queries of his disciples, for our benefit as well as theirs, there is a blending of the two events to such a degree as leads us to believe that the first event would be largely typical of the final destruction which should attend his second coming. THAT sign which was especially to forewarn the disciples of the destruction of Jerusalem, was given in these words, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, . . . then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Luke gives it more directly, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." This was fulfilled by the Romans under Titus, A. D. 70, and proved to be the immediate forerunner of the utter destruction of both the city and the temple. THE coming of Christ is to be proclaimed by signs just as evidently premonitory. The darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars are signs of that event: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:25, 26. The Saviour says, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." And he fortifies these words by saying, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." COMMENTING upon the state of morality and spirituality in the days just preceding his second coming, Jesus says they will be like those of Noah when it was said of man that "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," and like those of Lot and Sodom. The apostle, in 2 Timothy 3, describes the last days as days of prevailing evil. The Saviour says of this time, "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Every view which the Bible gives us of the last days reveals a time of abounding wickedness in the world, with great spiritual declension and self-pleasing in the church; a time of moral stupidity and insensibility combined with covetousness and pleasure seeking, while Satan will work "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." To counteract these pervading evil influences the true child of God needs to exercise especial watchfulness and vigilance. Hence the force of the present lesson. Upon no generation of the past has this duty been so persistently urged by Christ and the apostles as upon those who should live in proximity to the second coming of Christ. The indifferent professor of religion sees no need of special watchfulness, and says it does not make any difference to him when Christ comes if he is "only ready." But it is certain that Jesus was very solicitous for his people who should live in that day, and warned them to take heed lest "at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." Luke 21:34, 35. AND in harmony with this is the language of the lesson. Verse 42 reads: "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come." We are not to understand by this that we are to be entirely unconscious of the approach of that hour. Verse 36 says: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man," etc. Still, he had just said (verse 33), "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." In 1 Thess. 5:2, 4, we read: "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief." It is evident, then, that upon the careless and unbelieving, that day will come unawares; but the "children of light," the people of God, will perceive its near approach, although they may not know the day and hour. THE illustration introduced in verse 45, of a steward giving to the household over which he is placed by his lord "meat in due season," shows the duty of faithful ministers of God's word, to place before their people that truth which is applicable to them and to their times. In connection with the fundamental principles of obedience to God and faith in Christ, which are applicable in every age, there are also special messages to be borne from time to time. Such was the work of Noah, of Jonah, John the Baptist, Martin Luther, and many others; and such will be the message which will prepare the people of God for the coming of Christ (verse 42). "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing." But to the evil servant, who opposes the message of truth, smites with reproach his faithful fellow-servants, and devotes himself to pleasurable enjoyments, the Lord pronounces a fearful doom. THE great theme of the lesson is watchfulness for the event of Christ's second coming. The faithful Christian will watch and pray for the evidences of his Lord's return. It will be to him an event of joy. He will seek to be ready for it. He will be watchful against the insidious approach of evil which exists to-day in a thousand forms; and will also watch for the many forms of deception which bear the name of religion, and yet serve to close the heart to the truth for these days. Every effort will be put forth by the enemy, to have God's people remain ignorant and indifferent to this great event; and it is said: "And none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Daniel 12:10.