ST. JOHN tells us that "Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. The most comprehensive definition of law, is "a rule of action." Sin, then, is not an entity or being, but the wrong action of the creatures of God's creation in their deviations and departures from the rule of right God has given for their instruction and government.
In human jurisprudence it is deemed essential for maintaining the dignity of law, that penalties should be affixed to those laws, such penalties to be inflicted upon the disobedient; thus, while the law is made a terror to the evil doer, it is the praise of them that do well.
In the divine economy the revealed law of God has its penalties, and said penalties will not fail of their execution upon the finally impenitent. "The wages of sin is death," "The soul that sinneth it shall die," are samples of Scripture statements of the ultimate doom of the ungodly.
As in human laws, so with the divine, there is time, place, and manner to be considered in the execution of penalties. Rev. H. O. Mackey, of Southampton, in his second sermon on future punishment, told us that "Both heaven and hell are in the soul." He cannot surely mean to be understood that both righteous and wicked are simply to "be left to themselves" with no local habitation; the one to be happy and the other to be miserable as the result of their own reflections. The abode of the righteous called "Heaven," and the kingdom of Heaven we would suppose to be a literal place. We cannot conceive of the existence of a being, although it may be immortal, without a place for such existence. As there is a place of future reward for the righteous, so there must be a place where the ungodly shall be punished. When the Bible tells us "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God," we are hardly prepared to say it means simply that they shall all "be left to themselves."
By the language of Scripture we conclude the wicked are not now being punished, but that punishment is to be executed upon them after the Judgment. The patriarch Job says, "Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:29, 30. From the words of the prophet Daniel we should conclude that this bringing forth to the day of wrath is at the resurrection: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. 12:2. Our Saviour said, "For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29. St. Paul says, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. St. Peter says, "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. 2:9. In the prophetic vision of the Judgment, given to St. John, we read: "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell (the grave—margin) delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20:13-15.
If the wicked dead are raised with literal bodies before punishment is inflicted upon them, it would seem that the body is in some way to be a sharer in the punishment inflicted. If these literal resurrected beings are to be turned into hell, into the place of final punishment, it is important to inquire what and where is this place of punishment. Our Saviour calls it hell: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." Mark 9:43. If, as we admit, "right hand" and "right eye," in the text, mean those earthly things as dear to us as the right eye or the right hand, which must be sacrificed in obeying God, must we, therefore, call hell simply a figure? Shall we not rather seek its meaning by an understanding of the term used? The word used by our Saviour, and here rendered hell, is gehenna. It is the term employed by the writers of the New Testament to designate the place of future punishment of the wicked. What is the meaning of the word gehenna? Greenfield, in his lexicon, says of the term: "Gehenna.—The valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship of Moloch and afterward polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals and dead bodies of malefactors; to consume which, in order to avert the pestilence which such a mass of corruption would occasion, constant fires were kept burning."
Much of our Saviour's teaching was by object lessons. In the vale of Hinnom the consuming flames and devouring worms were accomplishing their work on the carcasses of criminals, and he takes occasion to point his disciples to the fate of the finally impenitent, where there will be no death of the worm, or quenching of the fire, as sometimes happened in the scene before them. There will be no arresting of God's judgement on the ungodly.
When our Saviour said the wicked should go into gehenna, it was not simply into this fire of human kindling, but into that which this represented. What else could it represent, but those fires in which the ungodly shall at last perish. These fires of gehenna were near Jerusalem, and, according to the testimony of St. John (Rev. 20), as he has a view of the ungodly after their resurrection, they came "around the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Is not this then the gehenna of punishment to which our Saviour refers?
As to the place of final punishment for the ungodly, Solomon says: "Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner." Prov. 11:31. Some quote this text to prove that all have their recompense for their good or evil deeds in this life, as they go along. Such claim that if a man is good he will have good things in this world, but if he does evil he will suffer for his evil deeds here, and in the end both classes will be saved. Solomon does not say that the righteous and wicked are recompensed in the earth, as though it were in the present state; but they shall be recompensed—future.
The Psalmist had no idea of the ungodly receiving their recompense in this life when he penned the seventy-third psalm. He says, "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men." Ps. 73:1-5. Though the sinful of the earth may have apparent peace and prosperity now, there is a certain doom which awaits them, of which we read in the same psalm: "As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image." verse 20.
So also in Ps. 37, we read: "Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity," verse 1. The present state is not the time of rewards and punishments; but when the Master returns it will be to recompense to all according to their deeds. He says, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27.
St. John, in the Revelation, has a view of Christ's coming, with its results: "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev. 19:19-21. In the above we learn that the nations are cut off at Christ's coming. We further see,
209as shown in the next chapter, that at the end of the thousand years the wicked rise from the dead, constituting the nations then found in the four quarters of the earth: "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Rev. 20:7-9. The mind of the inspired apostle is then again carried over the scene of the Judgment. This time he calls this place of punishment "the lake of fire," to which all are consigned who are not found written in the "book of life" (verses 14, 15), and all who are cast into this lake of fire die the "second death." Passing this scene of the final execution of the Judgment the next chapter opens with a view of the new earth, where there shall be no sorrow, sin, curse, or death. Taking the subject of these two chapters in connection we learn that the fire and brimstone rained from heaven upon the resurrected ungodly nations of earth who come around the camp of the saints and the beloved city, at the end of the thousand years, constitute the lake of fire, the gehenna of Christ's discourses; and that this same fire in which the wicked meet their doom purifies the earth. This seems also to be the statement of St. Peter in his contrast of the earth, past and present, with the future new earth. Speaking of those who in the last days shall scoff at Christ's coming, he says they shall say, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. 3:4-7.
As the people of the Noachian world were cut off from the earth by water, and as the atmospheric heavens and the earth at that time underwent a change, so the wicked of the earth are to be cut off by fire at the day of Judgment, when the "perdition of ungodly men" shall come, and our present earth and atmospheric heavens shall be changed. "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Pet. 3:10-13.
The manner in which St. Peter has connected his subject shows conclusively that he is speaking of literal things. The earth before the flood with its inhabitants was literal. The present earth is a literal one, so will be the new one in which the righteous shall dwell when, as Solomon said, "they shall be recompensed." The waters that deluged the old world were literal, so the fire that renovates the earth and "devours" the ungodly will be. This is in perfect accord with St. Peter's use of the ensample of Sodom and Gomorrah. Literal fire came from heaven and consumed them on the very spot where they had sinned. So the ungodly in Noah's time met their fate on the same earth where they had sinned. Why should we not conclude with Solomon that the ungodly shall be recompensed on the very earth in which they have sinned and defamed their Maker?
The prophet Malachi makes a plain statement of the case when he says: "Behold the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4:1-3.
In his sixth discourse on "Eternal Hope," Canon Wilberforce said of the inhabitants of the Noachian world and their fate: "If we follow out the mysterious hint given in the first four verses of the sixth chapter of Genesis, they were the worst of sinners, the perpetrators of an exceptional lawlessness, perhaps not known since the flood, perhaps to be known again before the second advent." So much for the people, but what became of them? He also says: "The flood was a signal evidence of His love; seeing man wandering farther and farther from him, in the days of Noah, increasing the separation, aggravating the lawlessness, this love sent the flood to arrest their wanderings from rectitude and to convey them to another sphere of education." It is true the Canon has asserted that God removed the antediluvians to another sphere of education, but where is it asserted in the Scriptures that they were removed for this purpose? Our Saviour said of them, they "knew not till the flood came and took them all away." Matt. 24:39. But he did not say, took them to another sphere of education. God had sent them a faithful warning through Noah. They scoffed at him, slighted his message, neglected a preparation for the flood, and they met the consequences, and "thus," said our Saviour, "shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
We see then that the time of the execution of penalties upon the wicked is at the end of the one thousand years, after their literal resurrection from the dead. The place of execution is on this earth as they are gathered around Jerusalem. The manner is after the ensample of Sodom and Gomorrah, "fire and brimstone" being rained from heaven upon them, and this fire thus brought upon them constitutes the "gehenna" or "lake of fire," and that this fire also renovates the earth and prepares it to be the blessed, eternal abode of the saints. Then is brought in that state of which the Lord said to Moses: "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Num. 14:21. A state of things which had not been brought about in the days of the prophet Habakkuk who spoke of it as an event still future: "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hab. 2:14. The prophet Jeremiah, in speaking of the final results of the new covenant of which Christ is minister, shows to what extent this shall be realized: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Jer. 31:34.
It seems then that on this earth, at least, sin is to end with the purification of the earth, and that this purification is not the conversion of the ungodly, but their destruction.
LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST.—MAY, 14.
Matt. 5:38, to 6:15.—Sermon on the Mount Continued.
LESSON COMMENTS.
A DETACHMENT of the Roman troops was encamped near by, on the sea-shore, and Jesus is now interrupted by the loud blast of the trumpet which is the signal for the soldiers to assemble on the plain below. They form in the regular order, bowing in homage to the Roman standard which is uplifted before them. With bitterness the Jews look upon this scene which reminds them of their own degradation as a nation. Presently messengers are dispatched from the army, with orders to various distant posts. As they toil up the abrupt bank that borders the shore, they are brought near to the listening crowd that surrounds Jesus, and they force some of the Jewish peasants to carry their burdens for them up the steep ascent. The peasants resist this act of oppression, and address their persecutors with violent language; but they are finally compelled to obey the soldiers, and perform the menial task required of them. This exhibition of Roman authority stirs the people with indignation, and they turn eagerly to hear what the great Teacher will say of this cruel act of oppression. With sadness, the sins which had brought the Jews into such bondage, Jesus looks upon the shameful scene. He also notes the hatred and revenge stamped upon the faces of the Jews, and knows how bitterly they long for power to crush their oppressors. Mournfully he says:—
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."
The example of Jesus was a practical illustration of the lesson here taught; contumely and persecution never caused him to retaliate upon his enemies. But this was a hard saying for the revengeful Jews, and they murmured against it among themselves. Jesus now makes a still stronger declaration:—
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in Heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?"
The manifestation of hatred never breaks down the malice of our enemies. But love and kindness beget love and kindness in return. Although God faithfully rewards virtue and punishes guilt, yet he does not withhold his blessings from the wicked, although they daily dishonor his name. He allows the sunshine and the showers to fall upon the just and the unjust, bringing alike worldly prosperity to both. If a holy God exercises forbearance and benevolence toward the rebellious and the idolatrous, how necessary it is that erring man should manifest a like spirit toward his fellow-men. Instead of cursing those who injure him, it is his duty to seek to win them from their evil ways by a kindness similar to that with which Christ treated them who persecuted him. Jesus taught his followers that they should exercise a Christian courtesy toward all who came within their influence, that they should not be forgetful in deeds of mercy, that when solicited for favors, they should show a benevolence superior to that of the worldling. The children of God should represent the spirit that rules in Heaven. Their principles of action should not be of the same character with the narrow, selfish spirit of the world. Perfection alone can meet the standard of God of Heaven. As God himself is perfect in his exalted sphere, so should his children be perfect in the humble sphere they occupy. Thus only can they be fit for the companionship of sinless beings in the kingdom of Heaven. Christ addresses to his followers these words that establish the standard of Christian character: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."
JESUS throws down the dividing prejudices of nationality, and teaches universal love without distinction of race, merit, or rank. A man's neighbor, henceforth, was everyone who needed help, even an enemy. All men, from the slave to the highest, were sons of one Father in Heaven, and should feel and act towards each other, as brethren. No human standard of virtue would suffice: no imitation of the loftiest examples among men. Moral perfection had been recognized, alike by heathen and Jews, as found in likeness to the divine, and that Jesus proclaims as, henceforth, the one ideal for all humanity. With a sublime enthusiasm and brotherly love for the race, He rises above His age, and announces a common Father of all mankind, and one grand spiritual ideal in resemblance to Him.
Almsgiving had been exalted by the Scribes to an act in itself meritorious before God. The words "alms," and "righteousness," were, indeed, used interchangeably. "For one farthing given to the poor," said the Rabbis, "a man will receive heaven." The words, "I shall behold thy face in righteousness," were rendered in the gloss "because of alms." "This money," said others, "goes for alms, that my sons may live, and that I may obtain the world to come." "A man's table now expiates by alms, as the altar, heretofore, did by sacrifice." "He who gives alms will be kept from all evil." In an age when the religious spirit was dead, outward acts of religion were ostentatiously practiced, at once to earn a reward from God, and to secure honor for holiness from men. Religion was acted for gain, either present or future. Against such hypocrisy Jesus warns his followers. "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen by them, otherwise ye have no reward with your Father who is in Heaven." They were to draw no attention to their charity, by having it proclaimed in the synagogue, or by ostentatiously giving it in the streets, to earn praise of men, but were to hide it as if they would not even let their left hand know what their right hand was doing. Sincerity only, gave charity value. The amount was not essential; the spirit was all. Insincerity had no reward but the empty honor from men, got by deceit; sincerity was rewarded by their Father in Heaven, who saw the secret deed.
SPIRITUAL VITALITY.
By Bishop D. W. Clark
WHEN the celebrated Neander was asked the cause of the defection of the German churches from sound doctrine, he replied, “A dead orthodoxy.” There is nothing that can so guard the purity of the Christian faith as spiritual vitality in the church. Alas, for us, when the holy fire ceases to burn upon the altars of our spiritual Israel. We may then have our costly and magnificent edifices of worship, graceful in their proportions, beautiful and imposing in their architecture; their seats may be thronged with refined and wealthy congregations; their vaulted arches may reverberate with the choicest strains of music; the school of human learning may contribute eloquent and refined thought, to feast the intellect and tickle the fancy of the gathered multitude; and the ceremonies of religion be performed with increasing pomp and splendor; but, alas! the whole would want vitality; and under its Lethean influence, souls would be lulled to sleep, and slumber on, till roused by the angry surge rolling up on the dark shores of perdition; the mighty stream of death would lave the very threshold of the sanctuary, and on its bosom multitudes would be borne from the church of God to the gates of hell. May God avert so fearful a calamity from our spiritual Israel!—Bishop D. W. Clark.
THE TEACHERS' MEETING.
By Editor
Do you have a Teachers' Meeting for your Sabbath school? If not, you are losing much; your school is lacking in many respects.
1. Nothing succeeds well without order. System, method, is essential to the success of the school, and if the teachers improve the opportunity to consult with the Superintendent and with one another, they can best secure this end.
2. They will learn the condition of each others' classes, and thus come into sympathy with one another. There is nothing like a well ordered Teachers' Meeting to unite the forces of the school.
3. They will come to their class exercises better prepared than would be possible without the meeting. It is well known to all students that class exercises are more profitable than solitary study. These exercises for the teachers are obtained in the Teachers' Meeting.
4. It insures harmony of sentiment as well as unity in methods. Sometimes questions arise upon which there may possibly be disagreement among the teachers. Such questions should never come up before the school. The Teachers' Meeting is the place to settle them. To argue a point before the full school is certain to demoralize your classes.
If you have a Teachers' Meeting, do all the teachers attend it? If not, why not? It is the duty of each teacher to do all he can to secure the prompt and constant attendance of each member of his class at the school. Even so it is his duty to attend the Teachers' Meetings. Let the Superintendent inquire the reason, personally, of any being absent. EDITOR.
Knowing Oneself Lost
UNTIL a man knows himself to be justly lost he can never know himself to be graciously saved.
A DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER.
"And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." Matt. 9:15.
Fasting is an expression of sorrow. It would not have been fitting while the Lord of life and glory was with his own. It is specially fitting in times of moral declension, backsliding, and when the cause of God is in deep affliction. All through the Bible we have such instances. When Israel fled before their enemies, they fasted. Josh. 7:7; Judges 20:26; 1 Sam. 7:6.
Moses, Elijah, and Christ, fasted even forty days. Ex. 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Matt. 4:2. When God's people fell into sin, and he could not consistently bless them because of this, fasting was one special means of grace to bring them into God's favor. Ezra 8:23; Neh. 1:4; 9:1. The most devoted servants of God, in times of anguish and spiritual darkness, have fasted and prayed for the outpouring of the Spirit. Dan. 9:3; 10:2; Acts 27:33; 2 Chron. 6:5; 11:27.
We have reached an age of great spiritual darkness. The possession of the form of godliness, with little of the power, is that which marks the age in which we live as the "last days" of the earth's history in its present state. In spite of all the light we have as a people, we are deeply afflicted with this spiritual apathy. We are very near the day of God, and do not sense it. We greatly need to humble our hearts before him with fasting, weeping, and earnest prayer. While others are rushing on with carelessness, surfeiting, and love of pleasure, we ought to feel our need of God, and seek him with all the heart.
Our camp-meeting season is just before us. How exceedingly important it is that these meetings should be spiritual seasons of great encouragement. Satan's power to harden the heart and make people unfeeling, seems to be stronger and stronger, so that our sermons do not have the success of former years. We must have, at least, a proportionate increase of God's blessing, to do the work committed to our hands. Our faithful missionaries are struggling hard to break through the barriers of long entrenched error, and let in the precious light of truth, to gladden honest souls. They have a hard battle to fight. They need the prayers and sympathy of all who love God, especially our beloved Bro. Andrews, one of the faithful pioneers in this work, who is struggling with disease which human power can never cure. Consumption seems to have marked him for the grave. But our God is a mighty God. He greatly blessed and strengthened him at the time of fasting last appointed; and we will continue to hope that he will hear the united prayers of our people in his behalf, and spare him to help us in this great work before us. Just at this juncture, when he has learned the language and become familiar with the situation, and has had encouraging success, his loss would be very great. God is blessing him spiritually with great peace and courage. His articles were never more clear or weighty. Shall not our united prayers, as a people, ascend to God in his behalf, for restoration to help as long as he lives? Shall we not fast before God, and humble our hearts before him, that we may not lose the valuable labors of this faithful man?
In accordance with these suggestions, we hereby appoint Sabbath, May 21, as a day of fasting and prayer. We recommend our people, when they can, to assemble in their places of worship, and read such portions of Scripture as relate to fasting and special answers to prayer, and that all our people humble their hearts before God, and seek him with all the heart. Pray that he may forgive our sins as a people, and bless our camp-meetings, encourage our ministers to labor faithfully in the work, and give us an outpouring of his Spirit; that he may bless our missionaries, and especially our beloved Bro. Andrews, if living, and raise him to health again. May God greatly bless this appointed fast to the good of our people everywhere.
GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.
THE LOST TRIBES.
By Editor
WE have received several publications with a request to notice, in which the writers endeavor to prove the “Identity of the British Race with the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.”
Some years ago we spent considerable time in studying about “the lost tribes,” and came to the conclusion that these identity theories are fallacious, and useless if they were not fallacious. And we have never seen reason to change from that conclusion. That they are useless is easily shown.
John the Baptist began his preaching by warning his hearers against attaching any importance to their descent from Abraham. Paul, to the Romans, said he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, but who is one inwardly; that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile as to privileges; that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs of the same promises, (Eph. 3:6;) and that they are truly Abraham’s seed who are Christ’s, Gal. 3:28, 29. Also the new covenant was made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah; Heb. 8:8-10. In the latter verse Israel alone is specified. And in chapter 9 we learn that this covenant was ratified by the death of Christ. By comparing Acts 3:25, 26, and 13:44-46, with the prophecies of Jer. 31, and Dan. 9, we learn that this promise to Judah and Israel has been fulfilled; the covenant was ratified and confirmed to both houses before the apostles turned to the Gentiles.
The Saviour himself taught the same thing. He said they are children of Abraham who do the works of Abraham. He also said to a Gentile that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and when he first sent out his apostles he told them not to go to the Gentiles, nor to the Samaritans, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We believe they fulfilled their commission, and that the ten tribes were lost in the same sense that all mankind were lost, and in no other.
It is of no manner of interest to us to find that we are of Israelitish origin. The Gentiles have equal privileges; are made of the same body; are partakers of the same promises; the Israelites and the Gentiles are constituted heirs of the promises by the same process; for in the gospel there is neither Jew nor Greek, or Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free. Our sole interest is to have assurance that we are Abraham’s seed and partaker of the promises in Christ. All efforts to prove that we are Abraham’s seed by birth, or natural descent, are time and strength wasted on us. And we think the writers, who show so great zeal to prove natural identity, would show a zeal more according to knowledge if they spent their time in leading their readers to become the children of Abraham through faith in Christ. If they value such heirship, or know how to obtain it, we would scarcely learn the fact from their writings.
About the future gathering of Israel we have our views clearly defined in our own mind, in harmony with the truths which we have here so briefly presented. The subject admits of a clear Scriptural solution without resorting to conjectures or even proofs of natural descent.
In looking over a resume of the arguments for that theory, we were sorry to find an expression for which there can be no possible excuse. It is as follows:—
“6. St Peter and St. James in their epistles speak of the Ten Tribes as ‘scattered and dispersed’ in their day. (1 Peter 1:1; James 1:1).”
Peter, in the text cited, addresses “the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” But he says nothing at all about the ten tribes, or the lost tribes. He speaks to these strangers as then known—not lost; and speaks of them as having obtained mercy through faith in Christ. This term, “strangers,” is applied in the Scriptures to those who were “afar off,” that is, those who were Gentiles, not descended from Israel. See Eph. 2:11-22. There is not the least shadow of a reason for saying that Peter speaks of the ten tribes.
And the error is still more marked in the case of James; for the assertion in this resume is a direct contradiction of the words which James wrote. His text cited says: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” Are there twelve lost tribes? Are we not right in saying there is no excuse for such statements as are put forth by the teachers of this identity theory? It looks like mere recklessness—a determination to make a case, though the utility of the case, if it were made, we are unable to discover. If ever we are made to change our faith on this subject it will be by different arguments and methods from any which we have yet seen.
On the return of Israel, and the promises to Israel in general, we may present an argument in the SIGNS when we find more time than we have at present for its preparation.