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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 14, 1856

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 8, No. 15.

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD.—No. 2.

By James White

LETTERS TO BRO. SPERRY.

DEAR BRO. SPERRY:—The points noticed in my letter to you will lead us to an examination of the nature of the kingdom. Here also I would direct your attention to some facts to be borne in mind:
(1.) God reserved to himself the right to choose the king of Israel. He first chose Saul; [1 Sam. ix, 15-17;] next David; [chap. xvi, 1-13;] and finally Christ; [Matt. ii, 4-6; Luke i, 33, 34.]
(2.) It was firstly God's kingdom, and he was ruler himself. Notice what he said to Samuel when the Israelites desired a king:—"they have rejected me that I should not reign over them." 1 Sam. viii, 7. It was David's secondarily, or by the gift of God; who said of David, "I have provided me a king." Chap. xvi; 1. Note this; for many talk as though David had the first right.
(3.) Christ was born heir to David's throne; but partaking of our nature, what he received by birth he lost by death: and his being David's son would have availed him nothing had he remained dead; thus, though born heir, he receives the throne by the gift of God, through the resurrection. See Luke i, 33; 34; Acts ii, 29-31.
(4.) David had many sons; but Christ was superior to David, for he called him Lord; though born son of David, he would have had no special right to the throne had he not also been Son of God. Ps. lxxxix, 27; 1 Chron. xvii, 13; Ps. xlv, 6, 7. Com. Heb. i, 8, 9.
(5.) As he is the Son of the living God, so his throne will be set in the city of the living God. Notice 1 Chron. xvii, 14: "I will settle him (David's seed) in mine house, and in my kingdom for ever, and his throne shall be established forevermore." Again in verse 12: "He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne for ever." This is spoken of by the prophet, [Zech. vi, 12, 13,] where it is stated "the Branch" shall build the temple of the Lord, and in the temple of the Lord he sits a priest upon the Lord's throne, which is in heaven. Heb. viii, 1; Rev. xvi, 17. As the Father's throne is in the Father's house, and he promised to establish the throne of his Son in his house, therefore the throne of the Son will be in the house where he now sits on the throne of his Father. See Rev. xxii, 1. The house of "Jerusalem that now is" was rejected. See Matt. xxiii, 37, 38.
(6.) The declarations quoted make it clear that the first ruler over the kingdom of Israel reigned in heaven; they rejected him, as others have done, and wanted a monarch "like all the nations." 1 Sam. viii, 20. I shall now proceed to show that "he whose right it is" will commence his reign in the same locality. This I shall do by showing where the kingdom is established, and the scene of triumph of the subjects.
1. Notice texts quoted by our opponents to prove its location altogether on this earth. Ps. ii, 6. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." This and other passages are quoted to prove that the kingdom must be set up on this present earth, because Zion is here. So Jerusalem is here; yet they will acknowledge that Jerusalem is in heaven, as there are two Jerusalems, an earthly and heavenly; so there are two Zions. We have the most positive proof that Zion, the "holy hill," is in heaven; the earthly Zion is not holy. Note the following as proof. The Saviour, speaking of the events to precede his coming, says, "the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." Matt. xxiv, 29. Paul says the earth and heaven shall be shaken by the voice of God when he shall speak from heaven. Heb. xii,
26. John says, the Lord will speak from heaven when the seventh vial is poured out in the air, which is immediately preceding the advent, toward the close of the plagues. Rev. xvi, 17. This exactly harmonizes with Matt. xxiv, where it says the powers of the heavens shall be shaken just before the Lord comes. The prophet Jeremiah, describing the same time of trouble, when "the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation," [Rev. xiv, 10,] will be given to all the kingdoms of the world which are upon the face of the earth, which they "shall certainly drink." [Jer. xxv, 26, 28.] says: "The Lord will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout as they that tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth." Verse 30. The prophet Joel, speaking of this same time (compare Joel iii, 12, 13; Rev. xiv, 18-20.) says: "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake." Joel iii, 16. Thus the voice of the Lord is heard from heaven, from his holy habitation, from on high, from Jerusalem, out of Zion, previous to the advent of the Saviour. This as clearly proves that there is a Zion in heaven, as that there is a Jerusalem there: this is the hill of God's holiness. Ps. ii, 6, margin.
That the kingdom is given to Christ before his coming is evident; that is when his enemies shall be put under his feet. The second Psalm says that the heathen shall be given to him, and he shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces. Rev. xix describes the destruction which takes place in connection with his coming, and says, "Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." Verse 15. Ps. cx, 1, 2, says: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; [in heaven, whence he comes,] rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." Now this testimony shows that he sits at the Father's right hand till his enemies are made his footstool; the rod of strength is sent out of Zion, and he rules in the midst of his enemies; his rule over the nations is with a rod of iron; and with a rod of iron he breaks and dashes them in pieces. Those who say that he will have a mild, merciful reign over the unconverted nations, in the midst of his enemies, greatly misapprehend the scriptures. Those scriptures which speak of his peaceable reign refer to his priestly rule on the throne of his Father, when the counsel of peace is between them both; then and there he speaks peace to the heathen. The error has obtained because his priestly kingship has been lost sight of, on the supposition that he was a ruler only on the throne of David; all the scriptures which speak of him as a ruler have been crowded into the Age to Come. But as the scriptures clearly teach that he reigns on two thrones, we can easily determine the nature and circumstances of these reigns. Now from the testimony it is certain that the ruling precedes their being dashed in pieces; but as they are dashed in pieces at his coming, this iron or arbitrary rule is before and in immediate connection with his coming. Our opponents argue that this rule is 1000 years in length, but they assert that without any warrant from the word.
From the fact that the first ruler over Israel reigned in heaven, we learn that there is nothing out of place in the king's commencing his reign in heaven, though his subjects be on earth. That the Lord Jesus is invested with regal honors before his coming is evident, inasmuch as he has his crown upon his head when he comes. Rev. xiv, 14. Paul's view of the kingdom exactly agrees with Peter's view of the inheritance which I shall notice. Heb. xii, 24-28. "For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, how 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. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that may be shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace," &c. Several important points are here brought to view.
God is to speak from heaven. This is immediately before the coming of Christ.
The heavens and earth shall shake. This is parallel with our Saviour's expression that the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. But this cannot refer to the heavens where God himself resides, where Jesus is now ministering; for there is something that cannot be shaken, inasmuch as that which is shaken is temporal and to pass away. It must refer to this earth and to the heavens connected with this earth, as in 2 Pet. iii.
There are some things that cannot be shaken—things that remain. But it will take the grossest kind of spiritualism to read a shaking in this text in Hebrews, or any of its parallels, which would exempt Palestine or Canaan from being shaken! A great effort was made by a recent writer to show that the identical Palestine which the Jews inhabited, is the kingdom. But if he cannot show that it is not shaken when the heavens and earth shake, his theory is wrong.
And this cannot be avoided by them in saying that Palestine cleansed or renewed will be the kingdom, for the Jews did not possess Palestine cleansed or renewed, any more than they possessed the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, or the new earth. To plead for Palestine in its present condition, in view of what Paul has said, is vain; but to admit anything but Palestine in its present state, is to concede the whole ground of difference on that point. And inasmuch as they say Zech. xiv, 4, will be fulfilled at the first advent, it is evident that a very important part of Palestine will not only be shaken, but removed at that time according to their view. To me it is perfectly clear that this removing is to prepare a place for the location of the heavenly Zion and Jerusalem, and judging from the dimensions of the latter given in the Bible, it will, as Zech. says, be a "very great plain." It has been abundantly proved in the Review that the earthly and heavenly cannot exist together; hence the earthly must give place to the heavenly. And as the "holy city" cannot stand on unhallowed ground, when there is a "holy hill" prepared for its location, it is evident that the heavenly Zion on which the new Jerusalem stands, is as much larger than the earthly Zion as the new Jerusalem is larger than the old; and will cause the shaking and removing of all the sin-cursed dominion long held by Jews and Turks.
Zech. xiv, 11, says of this time, "And there shall be no MORE UTTER DESTRUCTION." Now in all seriousness I would ask the advocates of the Age to Come, when, according to their view, will there be an utter destruction? I have never found in their theory any place for any, yet the Bible plainly teaches that there will be; and Zech. shows that it will be before or at the time of which he speaks.
2. These scripture declarations respecting mount Zion in heaven will prepare us to notice the triumph of the saints and their ascension to heaven. This last point is made very plain in the scriptures, and I deeply regret that so much prejudice exists in some minds that they will not examine the evidence with that candor that they call upon the churches of this day to manifest while examining other truths of God's word.
John says he saw a Lamb on Mt. Zion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand. This cannot be used as evidence that it is on the earth, since Mt. Zion is in heaven. Again says John, "I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia." Rev. xix, 1. In verse 2 it is shown that this is after the Lord has judged Babylon, and "hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." In chap. xv, 2, the triumphant company stand on asea of glass, having the harps of God, and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. In chap. iv, 1-6, which is a view of the heavenly temple, and especially of the first apartment, or holy place, the sea of glass is before the throne of God. By referring to the work of Solomon we find that a "molten sea" was connected with the earthly temple and sanctuary. As the work of Solomon, as well as that of Moses, was according to the pattern given, the antitypical sea belongs in heaven, before the throne of God, with all the other articles typified in that work. Here is where the saints sing their triumph, on the sea of glass, before the throne of God, on Mt. Zion, in heaven. We can speak thus with the utmost certainty, because it is what our blessed Saviour has plainly promised.
Said Jesus to the Jews, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am thither ye cannot come." The Jews did not understand him, and said among themselves, "What manner of saying is this?" They knew it contemplated a departure from their midst, and thought perhaps he intended to leave them and go and teach the Gentiles. "Where I am," is evidently used to express the place to which he was going, and not the place where he then was, and where the Jews were, for the Jews would not be able to come where he was when he left them; as Campbell renders it, "nor be able to get thither where I shall be." John vii, 34-36. Many at this day are as blind as the Jews were over this passage, and if they and the Jews had noted what he spake as recorded in verse 33, they need not have queried whether he was going to the Gentile borders, or some remote corner of the earth, for he said plainly, "I go to him who sent me;" and to the Jews he said, thither, or to that place, where he is who sent me, ye cannot come.
Again, in chap. viii, 21 he said, "I go my way and ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins: whither I go ye cannot come." But the blindness of the Jews was proverbial; and again they inquired, "Will he kill himself? because he saith, whether I go ye cannot come." When he told them they could not come whither he went, namely, to him that sent him, they seemed to think he would go to the Gentiles; a supposition forbidden by the fact of their inability to go, as well as his saying where he was going. So in chap. viii, when he told them that they should die, but could not go where he went, they wondered if he would kill himself! a supposition as wild and extravagant as they could have imbibed. If he had killed himself and they had died, that difference implied in the text would have been overcome. By this we are assured that he did not refer to his death. So far as these expressions to the Jews are concerned, all is very clear.
In chap. xiii, 33-36, he used the same expression to his disciples, except that he did not tell them they should die in their sins; but he said, "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot come; so now I say to you." The suppositions of the Jews are here also contradicted by facts. He did not go to the Gentiles, for thither they went. He did not refer to death, for they died, nor yet to a special or particular manner of death, for they also died bearing witness to the truth. But whither he was going he explains in chap. xiv, 12, 28, and xvi, 16; saying, "I go unto the Father;" so had he said to the Jews, "I go to him who sent me." I am desirous that there should be no mistake about the locality referred to by the Saviour, and therefore will notice a few more texts on the subject. At one time he inquired, "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?" John vi, 62. That was the same as going to him who sent him. And to Mary he said; "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God." John xx, 17. That this is fulfilled, it is needless to offer proof, so well is it known, and so generally admitted. Peter preached it on the day of Pentecost, and Paul wrote it, as did all the gospel writers. He ascended to the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. This is a Scripture fact; and though
the theories of men have attached many things unscriptural to his present and prospective position, yet it is so plain, that ridicule respecting sky kingdoms, mansions in the skies, and regions beyond the bounds of time and space will no longer divert the student of the sure word from the fact, or from the sweet, consoling promise based upon it.
That promise is recorded in John xiv, 1-6. He said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." Where he went we have already seen—he went to the Father; to the Father's house, to prepare a place for his saints. But their hearts were troubled, for he had said to them, as he had said to the Jews, that they could not come to the place to which he went. Now he continued, "And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself; THAT WHERE I am there ye may be also." We have seen that "where I am" was used to denote that place to which he went. But it may be supposed that this promise will conflict with his word in chap. xiii 33, "Whither I go ye cannot come;" but the harmony is shown in verse 36 where he said, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but THOU SHALT FOLLOW ME AFTERWARDS." With these very plain statements before us, we can perceive the correctness of Campbell's rendering of chap. xiv, 3, "I will return and take you with me."
But, says one, if the way to heaven itself, where God the Father resides, is open to man, why did the Saviour say to the Jews, "Whither I go ye cannot come?" The answer is plain. He said also to them, ye shall die in your sins; and in chap. xiv, 6, he said, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me."
Now if it can be shown that the Saviour ascended to mid-air, or in the clouds, and then returned immediately to Palestine, there for ever to remain, then will I believe also that the saints will only be taken up in the air and immediately return to earth, without going to the mansions prepared in the Father's house, whither Jesus has gone. But if Jesus has not gone to heaven, to the mansions on high, then the promises respecting him have failed, and he can be no Saviour; and if his saints will not follow him to the Father, whither he is gone, then his promises will fail, and we shall come far short of salvation. But his promise is sure. Let us then steadfastly maintain our position as "pilgrims and strangers on the earth." And as he said to Peter, so he speaks to us now: "Let not your heart be troubled. . . . I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." And what makes this promise peculiarly sweet and precious to us is that he is coming soon. Soon he will take us to himself; soon we shall be where he is now gone, soon shall we enter through the gates into the City.
Corresponding with this is the promise to Abraham's children, which I will next notice. J. H. W. (To be Continued.)