NOT HEARD OF GOD by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 3, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 48.

NOT HEARD OF GOD.

By John Norton Loughborough

BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

A MINISTER, who was zealously advocating that there was to be still a preaching of the Gospel to the unconverted after the second coming of Christ, thought he could make that doctrine "very plain" to me. He said there was "one text of scripture that would settle that." I asked him for the text. He said it was in Isaiah, and then turned and read the following: "And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the gentiles." Isa. 66:19.

I said to the minister, "When I am reading a scripture that mentions countries I like to know a little of the geography of the text; I can then understand a little better what I am reading about. Won't you show me on the map of ancient countries where those countries are?" "O," said he, "I do not know where they are; but this I do know from the text, they are a great way off, and they are nations that never heard of God." "Well," I said, "I shall want to find out where they are, if possible, and that may help me to decide whether they never yet have 'heard of God.'"

I took an hour to carefully look over an ancient map, comparing it with a modern map of the same countries; and here are some of my thoughts of the matter, as I, in my imaginations, went to those countries.

Before we report on our search, however, let us see what those people were to do. "They shall declare my glory among the gentiles." God's glory is his character of love, mercy, and goodness. See Ex. 33:18, 19; 34:5, 6. If these nations are to proclaim the message of God's love and compassion to the gentiles, they will have to hurry up, or some one hurry the light to them; for the gentile age for the Gospel is almost completed. If those nations have not "heard of God" yet, they will stand a poor chance of doing much

in making known the Gospel to the gentiles. But, according to the words of our Saviour, in Matt. 24:14, the Gospel is to be "preached to all nations," "for a witness," before the end should come. And, really, if all nations hear the Gospel before Christ comes, it must be those mentioned by Isaiah must hear it; for they are a part of the ALL. Then how could it be that after Christ comes these nations have "not heard of God?"

In looking for these nations we will take them in their order. Tarshish, that is the country Jonah started for when the Lord told him to go to Nineveh. I see by comparing an ancient and modern map that Tarshish was the southeastern part of Asia Minor. In that country is the city of Tarsus, where Paul was born. Acts 22:3. He lived there some time after he was converted (Gal. 1:21), and the brethren in Judea heard that he was preaching Christ (Gal. 1:22, 23). He also preached at Lystra, Iconium, and Derbe, which were all in that part of Asia Minor. At Lystra an impotent man was healed, and the people were about to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas as gods. They certainly heard of the true God then. Acts 14:15. It was then that Paul was stoned, and the persecutors supposed he was dead, but he arose and went on his way to Derbe. The news of Paul's coming to life, and his preaching, must have stirred that country. It sounds strange to say that people have not heard of God. They may have forgotten him, but the Lord has not promised a second chance to nations that have forgotten him.

We will notice the second nation mentioned in the prophecy—Pul; that is Pul, or Lybya. There were people from that part of Egypt at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and heard, in a miraculous manner, through the gift of tongues, the "wonderful works of God," in their own language, spoken by men that only understood the language of Galilee. Acts 2:5-11. It would be strange if they never heard of God, and that they did nothing to spread the knowledge of these wonderful manifestations to their own countrymen. But they did hear, and proclaim too; for Gospel churches were established in Egypt; so it will not do to say that Pul never has heard of God.

The third nation mentioned is Lud. That is the west part of Asia Minor. There are the seven churches to whom John sent the book of the Revelation. There is also Troas, Assos, and even Antioch, in Pisidia, who all enjoyed the labors of the apostle Paul. In Antioch, one Sabbath, nearly the whole city were out to hear Paul preach. Can it be possible that that country had all these churches in their midst, and all these advantages, and never heard of God's "fame" or were given a knowledge of his character? That sermon of Paul in Antioch (Acts 13) gave the listeners a good opportunity to learn of God, as well as of the power of the resurrection. We see the text will not apply now to Lud, or Lydia, for they had a most glorious opportunity to hear of God in the days of the first churches.

Now let us try the fourth nation mentioned—Tubal. That is Pontus and Galatia. These are in the northern part of eastern Asia Minor. This country was also represented in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. There was a time when the Galatians did not know of God, but it seems, from Paul's letter to them, that they had then heard of God and knew him, but were in danger of turning back to the heathen idea of getting godly favor by their own acts; so it will not fit Tubal to say that they never heard of God, and so an extra chance must be provided for them after the time when it will be said in heaven, "He which is filthy let him be filthy still," and, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:11, 12.

The fifth place mentioned is Javan. That is Greece and Macedonia. There were Greeks also at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and, with the others, heard of the wonderful works of the Lord. The Greeks had an advantage over some of the other nations in that some three hundred years before our Saviour's first advent, the Old Testament Scriptures were translated into their language. As for Macedonia, in a night vision, Paul had an invitation to go to Macedonia and preach the Gospel (Acts 16), so he and Silas went. True they did not do much preaching before they got into prison. But they sang the truth in the prison. The jailer was converted, and they were set free again. The people in that quarter must have heard how the prison doors flew open when the Lord's worshipers were singing his praise. In the seventeenth chapter of Acts we find Paul down in Athens, the great center of learning of the Greek nation. He was stirred in spirit when he saw they had representations in that city of all the false gods of which they had any knowledge, so that it "was easier for a man from any nation to find his favorite god than to find the residence of his friends in the city." As Paul was looking around, he found his text. He saw an altar inscribed, "To the Unknown God." They were in as much ignorance of the true God as any people; so Paul gave them the truth respecting the creative power of the true God, and the worship acceptable to him.

Then, in Greece there is Corinth. They had heard of God, for there was a large church there, and to them Paul addressed two of his longest letters of counsel and instruction. So I do not see how we can say that Javan never has heard of God.

There is one more place mentioned, "the isles afar off." At that time the islands thus called were what we now call "Great Britain"—England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. It is true that in the days of the prophet Isaiah these people were wild, savage heathen, and were worshiping the sun and serpents; but they have certainly heard of God before this time. How would it sound to tell the people of England that they had not yet heard of God, when they organized the first Bible society, in 1804, and now it annually sends out millions of Bibles to all parts of the world.

Seeing we fail to find that any of the six countries in the text have not "heard of God's fame, nor seen his glory," the question arises, What does the text mean? In the days of the prophet Isaiah (between 600 and 700 years before Christ) it was true that those nations mentioned were in ignorance of the true God; but the Saviour has been set as a "sign among them" (see Luke 2:34), and those nations have spread the Gospel to the gentiles. Paul, chosen especially as a gentile minister, was from Troas in Tarshish; Barnabas was from Antioch, and he was Paul's first associate in the work for the gentiles. They were both ordained to the work by a direct testimony from the Lord. Acts 13:2. After a while Paul had Timotheus with him in his labors, and Timotheus' father was a Greek. Acts 16:1. Then, there was that man who was "an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures." Acts 18:24. He was from Alexandria in Egypt—from Pul. He declared the truth to Jews and gentiles.

What need to trace this further? When we consider what the text says, and the countries to which it applies, all is plain, and there is no necessity for such unreasoning as that of the minister mentioned at the opening of this article. "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." Soon the great conflict of the ages will close, and the sinner be left without an advocate. May none of us, in that day, be left to take up the sad lamentation, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jer. 8:20.