The Kingdom of Glory First and Universal—The Kingdom of Grace Saved Man at the Fall—A Similar Transaction at Sinai
THIS is the first of four very closely related articles by Mr. Porter, on the connection between the kingdom of God's glory and the kingdom of His grace. Any one of the articles will be well worth reading by itself, and we are sure that all who read this one will desire to get the ones that follow. Many people become confused over the question of the “theocracy” of ancient Israel, which has been so much discussed. These articles will help to make clear what the kingdom of God really stands for. EDITOR.
God has always had one plan of redemption. That plan has always embraced His entire family throughout all ages. It has been adapted to conditions at various times, but the plan has always remained the same.
THE TWO KINGDOMS
God has had but two universal kingdoms in the universe. The first, represented in the Edenic kingdom, has always been the kingdom of glory; the second, or the kingdom of pardon, has always been the kingdom of grace. The kingdom of glory has always presented the standard of the kingdom of God in its laws, which require perfect holiness. It has ever demanded obedience or death.
KINGDOM OF GRACE OFFERS PARDON
The kingdom of grace has always offered pardon to sinners, by offering a voluntary Substitute to restore righteousness and bear the death sentence of transgression in the sinner's stead. In Eden the kingdom of glory, with its laws requiring holiness, was established first. When man failed to obey, and his death sentence was to be inflicted that day (Gen. 2: 17), the kingdom of grace, which was provided in the plan of God to meet conditions of disobedience, by offering pardon, restoring holiness, and staying the execution of the death sentence, was revealed and established the day sin entered. Gen. 3: 15.
At Sinai both covenants were regiven, and both kingdoms reestablished in the order in which they had been originally established in the beginning.
REASONS FOR REESTABLISHING THE EDENIC KINGDOM
Israel had been for over two hundred years in Egypt. God had visited them, and redeemed them from bondage, that they might serve Him. Ex. 8: 1. During their servitude in Egypt, they had lost sight of both kingdoms. God began the restoration of Israel to holiness by establishing first the old covenant kingdom with them, as it was originally established in Eden, with its law requiring holiness or death.
ISRAEL CONSULTED
That it was not God's design to force any to enter, or to make in any sense a theocracy to enforce His worship or service, is evident in that at every step in the proceedings for its establishment the whole people were consulted. God did not in the slightest degree use any force to secure their concurrence in making the covenant. Their act was purely voluntary. “And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.” Ex. 19: 7, 8.
The preliminary agreement had now been made between God and the people. God might have been justified in proceeding at once to ratify the covenant according to the agreement, but He is just, and would not ratify the covenant until all the people fully understood and concurred in every detail of His plan, so far as it pertained to that stage of the development of the kingdom. He gave them three opportunities to exercise the right of choice before ratifying the covenant.
GOD PROCLAIMED THE LAW OF HIS KINGDOM
Since God was reestablishing the Edenic kingdom, or the kingdom of glory, with Israel, the first thing we should logically expect would be a manifestation of His majesty in the proclamation of His law. After consulting with the people, and securing their voluntary promise of obedience, He gave them notice that three days later He would meet with them again.
On the third day, God proclaimed the law of His kingdom amid scenes of grandeur such as had not been witnessed on earth since the Edenic kingdom was established by the mighty work of creation. Accompanied by ten thousand angels, He descended upon Mount Sinai in awful majesty. Lightnings like beams of glory from the divine throne flashed from the clouds of darkness that veiled Him from view. Mighty thunderings were heard, and the sin-cursed earth quaked greatly, as the King of glory came down upon it to declare the law of His kingdom to Israel.
“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” Ex. 19: 16-18.
For the time, Mount Sinai was transformed into the throne of God. The sublime spectacle of God's descent to proclaim His law to Israel, suggests the majestic scene of the second coming of Christ in glorious triumph, when the kingdom lost by the first Adam shall be restored by the second Adam.
The law of the kingdom of God proclaimed as His standard of holiness to Israel, was the Ten Commandments. Ex. 20: 1-17. It was the complete law of moral obligations in the kingdom of God. “And He added no more.” Deut. 5: 22. It was holy (Rom. 7: 12), perfect (Ps. 19: 7).
## THE OLD COVENANT RATIFIED
Before the old covenant was ratified, the Lord proclaimed with His own voice, in the hearing of the people, the law of the Edenic kingdom, or the kingdom of glory. Ex. 20: 1-17. The condition of their entering this covenant relation was perfect obedience. Ex. 19: 5. Pardon for transgression was not provided in the kingdom of glory. Ex. 23: 20, 21. This was explained before the old covenant, which reestablished the kingdom of glory with Israel, was ratified.
But Israel, having come so recently from their long sojourn in the midst of heathenism, had little conception of the character of the kingdom of glory. God had given them only a mere glimpse of its awful grandeur, when they said, “Let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Under such conditions of ignorance, God accepted them, and undertook to develop them into a “holy nation,” through whom He would make known His name in all the earth.
## IMPOSSIBLE THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF GLORY ALONE
Before He could get them to see their need of a Saviour, He must convince them that since the fall, obedience is impossible through the provisions of the kingdom of glory alone. After three times consulting them, showing them the utmost freedom of choice as to voluntarily entering the old covenant compact, and after every one, from least to greatest, had concurred in the agreement, He instructed Moses to ratify the covenant with blood, which was its seal of death to transgressors. “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.” Ex. 24: 8.
The blood by which the old covenant was ratified was also typical of life through the death of Christ, but this they were not yet prepared to see. The law proclaimed from Sinai was not the old covenant. The old covenant was the agreement between God and the people “concerning” obedience to the law, under the penalty of death, and God's pledge that they should be a “holy nation” on condition of perfect obedience. The old covenant was no more the commanded covenant (Ex. 34: 28; Deut. 4: 13), the Ten Commandments, proclaimed from Sinai, than a lease is the farm “concerning” which it is drawn.
An instance of one covenant's being made the basis of another covenant is recorded in 2 Kings 23: 1-3. The law of God, or the commanded covenant, was the basis of the old covenant. The old covenant was the agreement which Israel made concerning obeying it. Ex. 24: 1-8. They having voluntarily entered that covenant relation, the law of the Edenic kingdom was reestablished with Israel as the law of the old covenant kingdom. After the old covenant was ratified, the Lord called Moses up into the mount, and gave him a copy of the law spoken from Sinai, written with His own hand, on tables of stone. Ex. 24: 12.362
ISRAEL'S APOSTASY
Israel now stood under the old covenant, related to the kingdom of glory as Adam was in Eden, except that Adam was perfect, and living under perfect conditions, while Israel was imperfect, and living for the time under a covenant that was unaccompanied by the kingdom of grace, and thus adapted only to perfect conditions. As Adam fell in Eden, so before Moses had been in the mount with God forty days, Israel as a body fell to worshiping a golden calf. Ex. 32: 1-6. In this act, they broke the covenant on their part; and as in the days of Adam, according to the demands of the law of the kingdom of glory, which had been reestablished with them, and under which they had agreed to live perfectly obedient lives, they forfeited their lives. According to the demands of the old covenant kingdom, the day of their transgression was the day of their execution. God proposed to Moses to consume them that day, and to make of him a great nation. Verses 7-10.
THE KINGDOM OF GRACE REESTABLISHED WITH ISRAEL
As the Lord had made provision in advance, through the kingdom of grace, to meet the needs of Adam for pardon, which the Lord offered and he accepted on the day of his transgression, so during the forty days that Moses was with Him in the mount, the Lord had instructed him in His complete system of pardon and atonement for sin, and its final removal from the universe. Moses pleaded that through this new covenant kingdom of grace, pardon might that day be offered to Israel, as to Adam in Eden. Verses 11-35. The Lord granted this request, and the kingdom of grace originally established the day of Adam's fall, was reestablished in the nation of Israel the day of their transgression at Sinai. Through the kingdom of grace, pardon was offered to all Israel that day. Verse 26.
THREE THOUSAND REFUSED AND DIED
Three thousand refused the offer, and as they did not accept Christ as their substitute in death, the death penalty was inflicted upon them that day, according to the requirements of the kingdom of glory, which demanded obedience or death. It was through the atonement of the new covenant kingdom of grace, that those accepting proffered pardon through Christ were saved. Verse 30. Through it the law was at that time and forward reestablished in the hearts of believing Israel. “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” Deut. 6: 6.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EXHIBITION
God had now completed the covenant agreement with Israel to place before the world “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” He could not do this until both kingdoms were reestablished with them. The old covenant compact was not, therefore, to establish a civil government, neither was it to establish a civil government theocracy for the enforcement of religion. It was to be a demonstration that, through the kingdom of grace, represented by a priesthood kingdom which the Lord had proposed and now established with Israel, it was possible to place before the world a “holy nation.”
After God had spoken the law of holiness, Moses said, “God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” Ex. 20: 20. The law of the kingdom of glory first established with Israel, dealt with sin. That nation becoming, through grace, a “holy nation,” God was endeavoring to show to the world that sinful men could be developed into sinless subjects of the kingdom of glory. Other nations dealt with crimes and civil affairs. Their kings were liable to err. Israel's king, lawgiver, and judge was the God of infallible wisdom and justice. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” Isa. 33: 22. R. C. P.
THE SPIRIT OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
By J. O. C.
Intolerance Not Confined to the "Dark Ages"—Jews and Protestants, as Well as Catholics, Have Been Persecutors—Following a Wrong Principle Always Brings the Sad Results
MUCH has been said and written about the intolerance of the Dark Ages under the domination of Catholicism. Great stress has, in most of these utterances, been laid on the opinion that the doctrines of the papacy were responsible for the ravages of persecution that made bitter human existence in those days of mysticism.
While this is largely true, yet in some measure the doctrines of the papal hierarchy were the commonly received tenets of Christendom. Reliable history of those times abundantly supports the charges so often reiterated, that the supremacy of the papal church in politics gave nerve to government schemes for the excommunication and death sentence of all who dissented from the religious doctrines and customs adopted by the ecclesiastical establishment of those memorable centuries.
THE JESUITS RESPONSIBLE
This tells that the crusades of the sixteenth century against the gentle, cultivated, God-fearing Vaudois Christians, which drove them over the icy fields of their Alpine solitudes, to the snow-clad summits of wintry hills, there to be mercilessly hacked to pieces, or tossed from projecting crags into some ravine as martyrs to their faith, were, according to Leger (part two, page 72), the work of inhuman Jesuits.
The French Inquisition, with its "apostolical authority" to try and condemn heretics, was created in 1525 with the sanction of Clement VII. By this, all reformers were outlawed, and a royal edict pronounced their extermination. The Bible of the Huguenots was everywhere burned. The sword of the duke of Alva desolated whole cities in the Netherlands in an attempt to stamp out Protestantism, and the Bible that upheld it in opposition to the doctrines of Rome. On the night of August 24, 1572, only five days after the marriage of Henry of Navarre to Marguerite, the sister of King Charles of France, the narrow streets and gloomy lanes of Paris became the scene of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
THEIR HUMAN PREJUDICES DID IT
These revolting items of history are not called up here for the purpose of heated controversy, but are cited merely with the design to reveal the true basis of all persecutions on record. To this end, it may be in place to say at once that the persecutions engendered by Catholics of past ages were not entirely because they were Catholics, but because they had human prejudices in favor of their own religious beliefs, and in support of them gained control of the civil power in behalf of their propaganda. The result was deep-dyed intolerance, as has always been, and always will be, under like circumstances, regardless of the particular doctrine of salvation believed.
THE JEWS AS PERSECUTORS
It was the same in Judea at the beginning of the Christian era. The Saviour of mankind appeared, antagonizing Judaic customs and forms of worship. The Jewish church, holding a large place in political circles, was enabled to compass the death of Christ through the aid of civil government.
Imbued with many of the harsher traits of religio-political Israel, Saul of Tarsus pursued with malicious intent the humble followers of their slain Leader, and stood by to hold the garments of those who stoned to death the martyr Stephen. On his way to Damascus, still bent on his ruthless work, he was converted, and became Paul, the little, and in turn felt the cruel and continuous hand of persecution until slain by pagan decree.
The ardent Peter, the fond and tender John, and the faithful James, all met a felon's fate for daring to differ in religious sentiment from a church that held the reins of political power.
THE JEWS IN TURN WERE PERSECUTED
Lindo's "History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal," Rule's "History of the Inquisition," and Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella," all agree that the lives of the Jews on the sunny slopes of western Europe were made extremely rigorous on the simple ground of heresy. They were driven from their synagogues and from the empire, leaving behind their wealth and offices of trust, to become the spoil of their persecutors. The very elements of decay were363deeply planted in their hearts by a silent terror that rested constantly on the mind. Llorente, volume 1, page 235, relates the awful story of ten thousand burned at the stake during Isabella's reign, under the orders of the terrible Torquemada.
THE PROTESTANTS AS PERSECUTORS
But as before stated, other bodies of religionists besides the papal communion have attempted by civil law to unify the devotional faith of a commonwealth, but always with the same ending. John Calvin, a Presbyterian in belief, sought this end in the city of Geneva, and thus brought about the death of Michael Servetus through civil process, mainly on the charge of heresy.
The Separatists of England, later known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were driven to seek refuge in Holland from the persecution met in their native land. A few years later they emigrated to America, landing on the shores of Massachusetts. There they did their best to establish a theocracy, or in other words, a state-sustained church, the very system of government from which they had fled to seek a home in the distant wilderness. To this end the company signed a compact before landing at Plymouth, in which the agreement was made that no one would be admitted to citizenship among them, except he became a member of their church arrangement. Consequently when Baptists came among them they were whipped and banished. Quakers fared even worse, some of them being put to death, and others sold as slaves to sugar planters in the West Indies.
A MAN-MADE THEOCRACY IS BOUND TO PERSECUTE
It could not have been different under the circumstances; for while a purely secular state may be menaced by rebellion and intrigue inciting to war, a theocracy is under constant peril from any wind of opposing doctrine. A man-made theocracy is therefore bound to persecute, through fear of an unseen foe, which renders it blind and pitiless.
THE DANGER FROM SUNDAY LAWS
It will be the same again in America when the plans of church federation, coupled with those of the many Sunday-law advocates, shall have matured. When certain forms of doctrine, as Sunday observance, and some others, are enforced by civil law, by the demands of the church element, the state has placed itself in the hands of the church as verily as was Europe during the Dark Ages, or as was New England during the reign of the Puritan pioneers. Nothing then can prevent the enactment of scenes similar to those witnessed during those years of church and state union. Then will be assumed the role acted by Jews, pagans, papists, and Protestants, when the state enforced their decrees.
Why will men be so blind as not to see that like causes produce like effects? Some particular phase of religious faith, if not fostered by state laws, can never bring on persecution, however strongly it may be advocated. But when the state unites with the church to enforce its dogmas by civil law, persecution is sure to follow, and that right speedily. Let the people beware of taking the step that will give the church control of the state in matters of religion, which is purely a personal affair. J. O. C.
THE SABBATH HOLDS ITS PLACE
By George B. Thompson
SPEAKING of the Sabbath, the Rev. Benjamin Fields, in his "Handbook of Christian Theology," says: "The law of the Sabbath holds its place among the moral precepts. It is found in the Decalogue, the doctrine of which our Lord sums up in the moral duties of loving God and our neighbor."
In this statement, the doctor is quite correct. Just how he escapes the binding obligation of the seventh day, we are not clear upon, as the Decalogue declares that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. G. B. T.
SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY
By Editor
It is difficult to make comparisons between portions of God's word, for a text that might not mean a great deal to one will be found very helpful to another. But if comparisons were to be made, it might not seem improper to say that the very best part of the book of Isaiah lies before us in our regular weekly reading of the Scriptures. The latter part of the book of Isaiah is especially rich in promise, as well as in prophecy. Study to catch each one of these gems as you are reading the book.
The book of Joshua is also a very inspiring one to read. It tells much of the successful career of the man who was chosen by the Lord to succeed Moses in leading the children of Israel. We have already read, in the twenty-seventh chapter of Numbers, how Moses was directed to set him apart for this work, because of the spirit that was in the man. He and Caleb were the two faithful ones who brought back the correct report when they were sent to spy out the land. God rewards his right spirit and faithfulness with still greater and more useful service. It is well, in our reading of the Scripture, to refer back frequently to portions that we have gone over, seeking to call to mind what we have read. This fixes it in our minds.
Read one chapter in Joshua each week-day and two on the Sabbath. Read one chapter in Isaiah each day. Read one chapter in 2 Thessalonians or 1 Timothy each week-day and two on the Sabbath.
4317—THE COMMUNION
Are the Lord's Supper and the communion the same? And what is the love-feast?
Yes, the Lord's Supper and the communion are the same.
The love-feast was a custom in the primitive church, an occasion at which all the members of a congregation, even a master and his slaves, partook together of a common meal. It probably grew out of the celebration of the Lord's Supper. And while a religious occasion, it was also a social symbol of the equality of the members of the congregation. They ultimately grew, in some places, into entertainments for the rich. In others the rich retired altogether from the meetings, and the love-feast sank into a kind of poorhouse institution. It finally disappeared altogether, about the beginning of the fifth century. Some of the churches in these times have a service that is termed the "love-feast," but it is not the same as the Lord's Supper.
1 Cor. 11:5, 6 reads: "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered."
The custom in the times of the apostles demanded that women should be veiled. No woman but a "bold" woman ever appeared in public unveiled. And any woman who prayed or prophesied without her head covered dishonored her husband, who is "her head." The instruction to the Israelites was that a woman who had yielded her virtue should be shaved, and Paul's reference is to this rule. If she appears unveiled, it is just the same as if she were shaved. Customs have so changed in the New World that it is no longer a disgrace for a woman to go about without a head covering; and yet some understand the apostle's instruction to apply to our duty also, and that a woman should not appear in public without a hat.
For explanation of 1 Cor. 14:34 see "Questions and Answers," page 236, question No. 251.
4319—"EDEN," "TREES," AND "NETHER PARTS OF THE EARTH"
Please explain Eze. 31:18. What does "Eden," "trees," and "nether parts of the earth" mean? Some claim that Eden here spoken of was the garden of Eden, which was cast to the nether parts of the earth, or center of the earth, and that it was the Paradise of God where the souls of the saints are sent, as the Old Testament writers speak of going downward, New Testament upward, until Christ ascended. Then He took this Eden to heaven, or God's throne, to be there when He comes again.
This whole chapter is a prophecy against Egypt. Assyria is cited as a warning to Egypt. As Assyria was overthrown by the Chaldeans, so should Egypt be overthrown. The king of Assyria is likened to a lofty cedar. Verse 3. That the language is figurative is shown by the fact that the "trees of Eden" are said to have envy, and then in the sixteenth verse, where these same trees are spoken of, they are said to be "comforted in the nether parts of the earth."
The central theme of the chapter, as already stated, is the overthrow of Egypt. The prophet makes this matter very plain. It may be difficult to understand the definite meaning of all the figures he uses, but there is no difficulty in understanding the great lesson he is teaching. And here is where one of the great troubles comes in with so many people in the study of the Bible. They allow themselves to be side-tracked from the great lesson that is taught, into the consideration of things that may not be made perfectly plain. Study the plain, clear lessons, and get the depth of their meaning, but do not speculate upon that which is not so clear. For instance, when people begin to say that these trees of Eden were thrown into the nether parts of the earth, and that Christ took them therefrom at His ascension, they are indulging in pure speculation. All of that talk is an imagination of their own mind. They are wholly unwarranted by the Scriptures in making any such statements.
Overcoming Prejudice Against Truth
THE human mind must divest itself of prejudices and the stereotyped opinions which close the mind to the reception of the truth. Otherwise we may be found in the class to which these words of the apostle apply: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." Acts 13:41.
