p. 3 | The Coming of the Lord by L. A. Phippeny

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 9, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 28.

The Coming of the Lord

By L. A. Phippeny

THE HOPE OF THE AGES.

GOD forgives! It was a momentous event when Adam and Eve surrendered their sovereignty to Satan. Was it less significant when the sorrowing and repentant couple were forgiven for their disloyalty, and received a promise of ultimate restoration, with all their descendants who should prove loyal to God?

Thenceforward the whole course of existence for the human race was changed. Life was not to be endless length of days and unalloyed pleasure; it was to mean hardship, sorrow, pain, and the shadow of death. But from eternity, infinite Wisdom was prepared for the emergency, and infinite Love came now to the opportunity for the fullest manifestation. On the spot, in the presence of holy and fallen angels and fallen human beings, was the marvelous statement made to the usurper: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel."

Wonderful and mysterious promise! Somewhere, somehow, somewhen in "the fulness of time," the seed of the woman,—one from among many,—was to bring deliverance, and the head of the serpent would be bruised unto death. In the midst of the sudden gloom and darkness there appears a ray of hope. And so generation succeeded generation, and age followed age, and in field and forest, in nature's festooned dwelling, in palace and world's mart, from lip to lip passed the promise vital with the Spirit of Him who gave it, cherished deep in the innermost heart by some, wondered at by others, laughed to scorn by the many.

The sons of God and the children of men they were called in ancient days,—those who called upon the name of God and feared Him (Gen. 4:26), and those who were conformed to the character of the enemy, and obeyed him. And so the good and the evil developed side by side, and righteous men looked with longing eyes into the uncertain future, hoping and praying for the appearing of the promised Deliverer. Early in the world's history, even at the threshold of Eden, was inaugurated the significant ceremonial offering with shedding of blood, speaking in red types of One to come whose life's blood should be poured out as an expiation of the act that spread a veil over all nations. Just men lived and died, testifying of a power that even from Eden redeemed from sin and kept from sinning; prophets foretold events to come to pass even in remote ages, and preachers of righteousness rebuked ungodly generations for their ungodly deeds, and warned the world that then was of an impending destruction.

The first age passed, and a new age was inaugurated; but the promise that had buoyed the hopes of the faithful endured, and cheered the hearts of the few who remained of the seed of the woman. And the earth came gradually to be populated again, and the evil developed with the good. Some there were whose spirits were grieved because of the wickedness that was so abundant, and who longed for the spread of righteousness. Among these was Abram, whom God called from among idolaters, because He saw in him the elements of a faithful character. Him God chose and separated from his native land, that through him the knowledge of God and the promises of the Redeemer might be kept pure. Wonderful were the promises made this man from Chaldea:

"Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." And again "the Lord said unto Abram, . . . All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth."

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness."

A new name the Lord gave him,—Abraham, father of many nations, and again the promise came: "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." And to Isaac, after his father was laid to rest, was repeated the significant words: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Still the promise is repeated to Jacob, in after years: "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Not meaningless words these, but full of all the glad hope that spoke to the heart of the two penitent ones in Eden. In the seed, of the seed, there was to be One seed, the hope, the "desire of all nations."

Around the camp-fires of the Israel of old the wondrous promises and the peculiar destiny of the chosen people were repeated and dwelt upon. With prophetic eye the aged Jacob sees the future of his sons, and of Judah says: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet." But more! Again the special mission of Israel appears to his view, and the time has come in the divine plan to designate one from among twelve through whom the promised seed should come, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be."

Foretold by the Prophets.

The centuries passed, and again a prophet under the hand of God speaks these glad tidings: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He

shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. 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." "Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him."

Again a voice is heard in these definite words: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, tho thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Yet again a voice speaks, this time from angel lips to the beloved Daniel: "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." The time was nearing, tho still centuries away, for the dawning of a great day for the world, and it was expedient that the generations to live when the Messiah should come should know Him from the predictions of prophets and divine messengers.

But this is not all. A note of gladness is raised by the prophet Zechariah: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation;" and then that the people of the King's time might know Him there follows the brief description: "Lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

A hundred years pass by, and Israel, long backslidden, listens to a message both solemn and glad,—solemn for the backslidden, glad for the faithful,—a message of double application, but applying for the time: "The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. . . . Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts."

The long-looked-for seed was near to be revealed. Something momentous was soon to occur. Is it enough to say for the present that the event, whatever it might develop, was awaited with longing by a few among men, with anxiety and determination by the hosts of evil angels, with intense interest and exalted confidence by the legions of holy angels and unnumbered worlds beyond?

THIS SAME JESUS... SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN