“9. If Christians are required to keep the Sabbath, how are we to account for the open violation of the law by Jesus Christ, who is our example, unless by saying that the power that made the law can take it away, and that he did it? Matt. 12: 1-8; John 7: 22, 23.”
“Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. Breaking the Sabbath is sin. If it is true that in the life of Jesus there was “open violation” of the law, then he is a sinner, and the plan of human redemption is a failure. Back in the time when Jesus was on earth, his enemies, who finally murdered him, accused him of being a sinner. John 9: 24. It remains for those who seek an excuse for not keeping the Sabbath of the Bible to advance arguments which are equivalent to the same terrible charge against the Son of God.
We refuse to believe either the wicked charge of the ancient Pharisees against the Saviour or the present accusation. We have a sinless Redeemer, thank God. He declares of himself that he kept his Father’s commandments. John 15: 10. The Jews in the scripture cited in the question, accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath. But Jesus defended their action by showing that it was “lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” Matt. 12: 12. He here recognized that there was a law regulating the observance of the Sabbath. There is only one divine Sabbath law, and this law declares that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20: 8-11.
“10. If you keep the Sabbath because, as you think, it was kept before the law of Moses, why do you not practise circumcision in these ages? Gen. 17: 1-14; Gal. 5: 1-6.”
Because in the very scripture referred to in the question, we read, “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” Gal. 5: 2. When some one points us to a similar statement concerning the holy Sabbath, the seventh day, we will stop keeping it. But this can never be done. Instead, the Lord says, “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. 56: 2.
Circumcision was no part of the divine moral law, embraced in the ten commandments. This distinction the opposers of the Bible Sabbath fail to recognize, and though their attention is called to this fact, they continue to confound the two laws, and thus involve themselves in confusion.
“11. When did patriarch, prophet, or apostle, or any one else, command any Gentile to keep the law of Moses? No dodging here. Proof! Proof!! Proof!!!”
One would conclude from looking at this so-called “hard nut” that the author believed in proving things, yet he and the journals that publish these questions keep a day for the Sabbath which has not a scintilla of evidence in the Bible authorizing them to do so. Not a single text can be found commanding its observance. Jesus never kept it, nor did any of the apostles. So far as the record goes, the Son of God never mentioned the day, but during his whole life from the manger to Calvary kept the seventh day. Will the author of these questions kindly prove from the Bible that Sunday is the day to keep? “No dodging here. Proof! Proof!! Proof!!!” One text is all we ask, one precept given by the Saviour, one example, for its observance left by him who declared himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. Why not produce the scripture if it can be found? But it is of no use to ask for proof; for there is none. The Bible is as silent as the tomb on this question.
The learned author of “Binney’s Theological Compendium,” page 171, admits this. He says:—
“Jesus after his resurrection, changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. . . . When Jesus gave the instructions for this change we are not told, but very likely during the time when he spoke to his apostles of the things pertaining to his kingdom. This is probably one of the many unrecorded things which Jesus did.”
Yes, “probably.” We quote this as a sample of the proof usually put forth by learned men as well as by others for Sunday-keeping.
“We are not told” when the change was made. “Very likely;” “probably;” “many unrecorded things,”—what a shaky foundation on which to risk our hope of eternity! What has become of the Protestant rule. “The Bible, the Bible only”? Those who stand on such a foundation built on the sand of human assertion should at least be modest in asking for proof for anything. That the great moral law was designed for the whole human family the church of God has ever recognized. The Sabbath as a part of that law is equally binding with the other commandments on Christians in both dispensations. The same argument which would release Gentile Christians from its claims, would release them from the claims of every other precept of the decalogue. This point is further abundantly answered under other questions.
“12. Paul says the ministration of death written and engraved in stone (Ex. 20: 17; 31: 18; 32: 15, 16; 34: 1-28) was done away. 2 Cor. 3: 1-18. When, where, and by whom was it brought back into force? Name the day, the age, the authority, and give proof from the Book! If your doctrine is true, the great apostle of the Gentiles stands convicted of a mistake.”
The ministration of a law and the law are two different things. A man steals. The law condemns him. The ministration of the law is apprehending the thief and seeing that the penalty of the law is visited upon him. 2 Cor. 3: 1-18 says that one ministration with its glory is done away, and another ministration of more glory has taken its place. The ministration changed, but the same law remained. Nothing is said about the law being either changed or abolished.
“13. If the early Christians kept the Sabbath day, why did they break bread on the first day of the week? Acts 20: 7.”
We are told that the believers “continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Acts 2: 46. If they broke bread “daily,” of course they must have broken bread not only on the first day of the week, but on the seventh day as well.
Then the fact that the disciples broke bread on the first day of the week is not sufficient reason for abrogating the fourth precept of the decalogue, written with the finger of God and handed down from Sinai’s burning top in such majesty and glory as the world has never since seen. There seems to be a determined effort to get rid of the law at all hazards. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8: 7.
It seems to be any position or teaching to get rid of God’s holy day. What we want is a “Thus saith the Lord” proving that the Sabbath of God has been set aside and Sunday put in its place. Where is the text to be found in the Scriptures of truth?
Washington, D. C.
Remember the Sabbath Day
“REMEMBER the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The Roman Catholic Program
By W. W. P.
It is the avowed purpose of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in this country “to make America Catholic.” Instead of making any attempt to conceal this purpose, the leaders of the Roman Church have publicly announced it, and sound it abroad as their watchword.
In confirmation of these statements, we shall quote at some length from Catholic publications some representative utterances upon this subject. The official report of the third Washington conference of Catholic missionaries to non-Catholics was issued from the Catholic University of America, at Washington, with the title “The Mission Movement in America.” The aim of this movement is clearly set forth in an explanatory paragraph, which occupies a page just preceding the table of contents:—
The spirit of this mission movement in America is the spirit of St. Francis de Sales. It excludes all controversy, and it condemns all rancorous religious discussion. At the same time, it devotes itself to showing forth the inner beauty of Catholic doctrine and practise, believing that if the non-Catholic people of America only knew the mother church of Christendom as well as we do they would love her as ardently. Our motto is, We come not to conquer, but to win. Our purpose is to make America dominantly Catholic. [In the pamphlet the words here italicized were printed in full-face capitals.]
There is no occasion for misunderstanding these frank statements. The representatives of Rome have planned a campaign, and will carry it on vigorously. From this time on they will work untiringly to capture America for the Catholic Church.
Among the leading addresses reported in this pamphlet is one on “Church Extension and Convert Making,” by Rev. F. C. Kelley, president of the Church Extension Society. We quote some significant paragraphs bearing upon the conversion of America to the true faith:—
Without a doubt, if American Protestantism were blotted off the religious map of the world, the work of the so-called Reformers of the fifteenth [sixteenth] century, within fifty years, might well be called dead. Protestantism in the United States is a great source of missionary activity in foreign countries. The different Protestant organizations in the United States spend seven millions of dollars per annum in foreign missions, or almost half the spendings of all the rest of the non-Catholic world. Protestantism, then, really may be said to stand or fall on American effort.—Page 72.
From a strategic point of view, America—the United States of America—is our best missionary field.—Page 73.
Again, how many are fond of calling this a Protestant country! Is it? We deny!—Page 77.
We who hope for a Catholic America have as yet come only to the end of the desert. . . . Only has it been given to some among us to enter [the land of Canaan] and gather souls, grapes so sweet and beautiful as to fill us with hunger for other fruits that await the coming of our successors. They will go, Joshuas, to the Jordan, to Jericho, to Hai, and to Jerusalem, and then only will the details of the work become clear. The little chapels the Church Extension movement will build shall be their fortified camps, and the men whom you fathers of the apostolate will send shall be advance-guards to point the way to the new and fertile fields that abound in the promised land.
Quite in harmony with the view set forth in the first paragraph quoted above is an extract from a letter written by a Roman Catholic, and printed, with the approval of the editor, in the Missionary (Roman Catholic) for May, 1910:—
It seems to me that the main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England. The millions subscribed in these two countries keep Protestantism alive. . . . So far as converting to Christianity the heathen is concerned, it is true that the Protestant missionaries accomplish nothing; but they do interfere with and retard the work of our missionaries, and they sow seeds of discord, strife, and irreligion in Catholic countries. If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations predominantly Catholic, we shall have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the whole world to the true faith. . . . A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition. . . . In the course of another century, the [Protestant] sects will be a study for the historian and antiquarian, along with Arianism.
Since these utterances were put into print, there has been no abatement on the part of the Roman clergy of their purpose “to make America Catholic.” On the contrary, the enthusiasm in this mission movement is increasing. This is shown in the sentiments expressed in the columns of various Roman Catholic publications, and in the vigor with which the work itself is pushed forward. As a representative utterance, we take a paragraph from an article entitled “Success to Missions for Non-Catholics,” which appeared in the Missionary (Roman Catholic) for October, 1911:—
“To make America Catholic” is the watchword of this general apostolate, on the part of religious and secular priests combined. The well-disposed non-Catholics can not but be favorably influenced by these efforts made so specially in their behalf. . . . Prejudice, born of misunderstanding the spirit and teachings of the Catholic Church, is fast disappearing, and there is a readiness on the part of a large number of Christians, and of those of no religious belief, to listen to the church’s teaching on matters of religion, as well as to learn of her position on the great social problems that agitate the world at the present time.
This aggressive policy on the part of Rome, her well-planned campaign, and her well-organized efforts to win non-Catholics8to her standard have not escaped the notice of some thinking Protestants who are evidently impressed with the threatening danger. The controversy with Rome has received an unusual amount of attention of late in current publications of nearly all classes, and many articles have appeared treating upon various phases of the subject. Among the contributions to the discussion is one entitled “The Attitude of Baptists to Catholicism, Roman and Greek,” written by Dr. John Clifford, a noted Baptist preacher of London, and printed in the Review and Expositor (Baptist) for July, 1911. Citing some facts which give special importance to his theme, Dr. Clifford includes among them the present aggressiveness of Rome. To quote:—
The second fact is not less significant. It is the invasion of Protestant lands by Rome in a spirit of fierce aggressiveness, resolute determination, infinite craft, rigid exclusiveness, and uncompromising intolerance. Since 1870 the classical land of Italy has been in revolt against the venerable church. Portugal is expectant of release from its grip. Spain seethes with distrust and hatred of its sway. Crowds have left “the faith” in Austria. “Modernism” is eating like a canker at the heart of Rome, and taxing all the skill and patience of the curia and of the Pope to limit its ravages. Therefore the forces of Roman Catholicism are now directed to the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon race. That is the goal of the policy of the Pope. With absolute devotion and splendid zeal, the leaders and representatives of Rome are dedicated to the capture of the progressive peoples. Enormous sacrifices are being made. Nothing is held back. No effort is too great. No expenditure of time and money is regarded as too costly to win the young men from their allegiance to Protestantism. The machinery of education is worked with sleepless vigilance. Superstition is welcomed. The arts of magic are employed to win the unreflecting, and a low morality follows in their track; for as Lecky says, “When credulity is inculcated as a virtue, falsehood will not long be stigmatized as a vice.” It is an hour of special danger to the gospel of Jesus Christ, a menace to the spirituality and power of religion.
With what keenness of discernment and accuracy of description does this writer analyze and hold up to our view Rome’s present program! He states, with an entire absence of bitterness or abusive epithets, facts which ought to quicken the pulse of every lover of the truth, and revive the flagging missionary zeal of any who have grown weary in the work of disseminating the pure principles of the gospel.
But the situation that has been set forth in this whole article ought to appeal more strongly to Seventh-day Adventists than to any other class of people. As a result of their study of the prophecies, they have believed for many years that the Papacy would exercise a great power in this country in the closing years of human history. They have looked forward to that time as a period of special and thrilling interest. They have tried to prepare others for that experience by warning them of what was foretold in the prophetic word. And now what has been a matter of faith is facing them as an actual fact. Let us ask then:—
Shall we continue to talk of these things just as we have for a quarter of a century as still being in the somewhat indefinite future?
Shall we make any special effort to bring the present situation to the attention of all the people?
Shall we give the message against the beast and his image as a teaching now needed to save the Protestant world from the snare being laid for it?
Shall we embrace the opportunity now offered, and meet the situation presented to us in the providence of God?
These questions are worthy of the serious consideration of all who are connected with this great second advent movement. W. W. P.
A Pioneering Agency
By William Ambrose Spicer
The railway is one of those agencies for hastening on the gospel work which came into being as the years were drawing near for the advent message to go quickly to every people of earth. Still it is opening up out-of-the-way regions of earth.
The other day Brother A. Stahl, of Bolivia, sent us a snap-shot photo of track-layers at work on the plains of Bolivia, marking his photograph, “Preparing the way for the message.”
Elder W. H. Anderson writes from the Pemba headquarters of the Northwest Rhodesia Mission, above the Zambesi River:—
The railway now extends into the Kongo State from this side, and I shall try to take a trip up there this winter, and see what the chances are for an opening in that field.
Brother O. H. Maxson, secretary of the Peruvian Mission, sends a copy of the Inca Chronicle, of Peru, giving an account of cruel slavery among the Indians of the upper Amazon River. He adds:—
We are praying that God will open the way for something to be done to help these helpless people. I suppose not much will be done to better their conditions until there is railway connection with Iquitos. As it is now, there are the Andes to cross and several days’ travel by horse to reach this region, and we know how long it took in the United States to rid the Western plains of the “bad men.”
So in Africa and Asia and in South America, regions beyond civilization and difficult of access are being opened by the rapid progress of railway development. It is being pushed forward by commercialism, but at the same time these remarkable world-opening and pace-making achievements have come just at the time for the last gospel message; and we see in it all the direct hand of Providence supplying agencies for the hastening on of the message.
W. A. S.
Worldly Sports
By F. M. W.
The apostle Paul declares that the last days will be marked by a love of pleasure more than a love of God. 2 Tim. 3:1-5. In the world's excitement, in the thrill and sensation of new pleasures, men forget God. Failing to obtain from the service of righteousness and sober, industrious living, joy and satisfaction, because they seek it with perverted hearts, they plunge into wild extravagance and license, in order to gratify their desires. One has only to look out into the great wide world at the present time to see the fulfilment of prophetic prediction. The multitude is becoming infatuated; the wild, mad pursuit of pleasure is apparent on every hand. National games, like baseball, football, boat-races, together with theater parties, and moving-picture shows, to say nothing of the grosser forms of dissipation, like horse-racing, and the wild, reckless sports connected with the more questionable resorts through the land,—all have their devotees. Fortunes in the aggregate are spent every day. The hours of the night are turned from sleep into a wild carnival, health is undermined, reputations blasted, characters ruined.
According to the Christian Work and Evangelist there is spent in New York City every night for pleasure alone the sum of one million dollars. This is divided as follows: For dinners, $125,000; suppers and wine, $125,000; theaters, $175,000; taxicabs, $175,000; hotels, $100,000; cafés, flowers, and in questionable ways, $300,000.
It seems almost incredible that this enormous amount could be spent day after day in one city for pleasure alone. And when we take into account the fact that this is being repeated in every city in the land, although perhaps on a somewhat smaller scale, we can see something of the stupendous amount of money which is being squandered in these ways. But the money consideration is the smallest one after all. To this should be added an education most evil in its influence upon those who participate in this fast life,—an education fraught in too many instances with ruined characters and blasted life hopes.
The Lutheran of August 17 speaks of some of these conditions which exist. Its testimony is so clear as to these evils that we reproduce the larger part of the article:—
Cheap Fun
One who is in a position to observe and judge the nature and effects of some of our popular amusements has spoken in no uncertain notes of warning against some of the tendencies of the day. Among other things he says: “Some have lost their grip on God, and America's greatest danger to-day lies in the onsweep of the fun zone. We are reaching out after the cheapest, lowest kind of fun. The cry for the cheapest brand of fun is robbing this country of its very vitality, and any nation that has young men standing in line for the five- and ten-cent shows would better wake up. Nothing but cheap men are the product of the cheap theaters of to-day.”
Men wish to be amused rather than edified. “It takes effort to think, but the laugh breaks forth of itself.” The moving picture could be the means of a most valuable education, and it is so used; but the prevailing “picture show” is light, frivolous, sensational, and even degrading. Some of them are actually immoral.
Baseball is a national sport. Many get real recreation through it. But it does seem to be a pitiable waste of time and belittling of manhood for thousands of men to stand for hours in great crowds in a hot street to watch a few figures being posted to indicate “the score.”
The average American loves to play. He turns readily from most strenuous duty to most frivolous fun. The cheaper it is, the better for the majority.
Churches have found that if they amuse people, they draw crowds. The preacher has forgotten that he is called to deliver a message, and caters to those who have itching ears. The musical concert, the social hour, the stereopticon entertainment, lawn parties, and picnics are in evidence, and so are the crowds. The church has gone into the amusement business. It is cheap fun. The crowds come not to be saved, but to be amused. Alas! what is becoming of the religion which saves souls?
Paul, the greatest of the missionaries, says: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” The church that will succeed is the church that does not cater to the craze for “cheap fun,” but realizes and fulfils its mission to feed souls, and, convicting men of their sins, brings them to the foot of the cross.
As the Lutheran truly says, the desire9for cheap fun is the prevailing tendency of this age. It has not only pervaded the circles of the world, but has even entered the portals of the great Christian church. The following scripture indicates that this would be so: “Men shall be . . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
It is to be regretted that the professed followers of Christ are so often found aiding and abetting the spirit of cheap fun in the world. We find professed Christians attending the theater, going to the circus, some of them on the specious plea that they must take their children to see the animals, frequenting the moving-picture shows, in the front seats of the grand stand watching the great professional ball games, attending cheap parties of pleasure in their home community. These are the people who prefer the sporting page of the newspaper to the Word of God, who would rather read the latest sensational scandal than their church paper.
There is great danger in these times of evil that some Seventh-day Adventists will be found among the class that find the chief pleasure of life in the cheap fun of the age. Some doubtless feel that sports like baseball, moving-picture shows, and amusements of this character should not be classed with the grosser forms of evil. We are willing to admit that there is a difference in degree, but not in classification. These lie on the border-land of the great sporting evils by which Satan is seeking to lead men to forget God. They are the advance guards, the subtle influences, which seek to prepare the way for their stronger fellows. And the difference in degree is becoming every year less and less marked. The spirit that controls the multitude attending the great national games of baseball, football, etc., is the same spirit that controls habitués of the race-track. No Christian would frequent the latter place; and the child of God who makes a practise of attending the former, will find his love of the sober, earnest things of God and of this message waning in consequence.
There may have been in the past, exhibitions of clean, wholesome moving pictures that were educational as well as entertaining. But few, if any, of these may be found to-day. The great majority of moving pictures presented to the public at the present time are demoralizing in their influence. This can be proved by the testimonies of scores of men and women who have witnessed them in different sections of the country. While some of these forms of entertainment may be less objectionable than others, the fact still remains that on the whole they belong to the great classification of worldly sports. When one begins the downward road, the influence of these times, the spirit of the sport, with the tendency of human nature in seeking something more and more fascinating, make it difficult to call a halt, and check the growing impulse. It is like the young man who takes his first glass. The liquid he drinks may be but slightly intoxicating; but the exhilarating effect, the environment under which it is taken, the association of hail-fellows-well-met have their influence. Something stronger and more stimulating is desired, former companionship is craved, he returns again and again to the old environment; the end is a drunkard's grave.
In the same way the excitement of some outdoor sport, which of itself might be harmless, but engaged in under the influence and fascination of excitement, striving for the mastery, and worldly association, appeals in the end for something still more exciting. Similarly the moving-picture show leads in natural order to vaudeville and theatrical performance.
The direct effect on the one participating in such sports is not the only consideration. The indirect effect, the influence on some other life, may be even more marked with evil consequences. Every Seventh-day Adventist who enters upon these worldly sports gives to worldly sports as a whole his influence. He may attend only the less objectionable, those that he considers clean and wholesome. He may differentiate, and hold himself in check, and not enter upon the more questionable amusements. But a weaker brother, following in his steps, may become dizzy, lose his bearings, and be swept into the great whirlpool of evil dissipation. Thus, the stronger one has unmeaningly and perhaps unconsciously thrown his influence into the whole scale of worldly sports, and has become the cause of his brother's undoing.
For our young men to play by themselves a game of ball is quite another thing than that to which we have referred. The spirit present is entirely different, the association is different. One is harmless, outdoor recreation for physical benefit; the other is mingling with the world, and drinking in the spirit of the world. This we can not safely do. The great national match games, in which there is a striving for the mastery, with the creation of class or party spirit, are evil in their influence on the participants.
We question if any sincere Christian can kneel down before starting to some of the great national sports or attending a theater or cheap moving-picture show, and ask and believe that the Lord Jesus will accompany him to the entertainment. We do not say that no Christian ever attended these amusements. Some, perhaps through ignorance of their character, have at times so far forgotten their high and holy calling as to do so, but they were not led of the Spirit of the Master thus to do.
We recognize the natural demand that exists for relaxation, and for pleasurable recreation. This should be met by such gatherings and outings as will furnish both pleasure and physical and spiritual benefit and at the same time exclude evil influences. Parents and church officers should give careful study to this question as related to local conditions, and while avoiding the license and extravagance of the age, seek to meet consistently the needs of the younger members of the household. Some suggestions will be offered through the REVIEW on the positive side of the question in the near future.
There needs to be sounded, even among Seventh-day Adventists, a warning against permitting the spirit of worldly sports to enter our lives. We are in the world, but may God grant that we shall not partake of its spirit. Needed recreation may be found in harmless ways apart from the spirit of wild excitement and cheap fun that permeates the very atmosphere around us. Let us keep our hearts pure, our lives unsullied, our influence on the side of purity and truth. If we are unable to see now that it makes any great difference, we shall find in the end that it has abundantly paid. In God and in his service we may find sweet and abiding joy.
F. M. W.
Forging New Fetters
By C. M. S.
True and False Theocracies, and What Is Involved in the Adoption of the Theocratic System in America
In view of the fact that there is now a strong movement in this country whose aim is to bring in again the theocratic principle in government, in reality if not in name, it is well that we understand the nature of a theocracy, and be able to distinguish between the true and the false.
A theocracy is a government among men recognizing the immediate sovereignty of God, drawing its governing principles directly from divine revelation. It is a government in which the personal representatives of Jehovah outline the government policy, speaking with all the authority of heaven, and commanding all in the name of heaven.
A true theocracy is the only perfect government. The Author of our being is infinitely better equipped for regulating our most minute affairs than is the wisest body of men this earth has ever known, composed as they are with the infirmities, imperfections, and physical limitations of the human.
The government of heaven is a pure and true theocracy, not that God is there10governing as he has done upon earth, through deputized instruments, but governing direct; and yet the principle is the same. The government of Portugal was until recently a monarchy; so was the government of every Portuguese colony ruled over by a Portuguese governor deputized by the Portuguese crown.
“Forever, O Lord, thy law is settled in heaven.” “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.” That is the center of theocracy wherever it exists throughout the universe of God. There is the mainspring, the actuating impulse, the fountainhead, of that kind of government.
In the true theocracy God himself comes into direct communion with his people. His law is their law, and their only law. It is love regnant and love obedient. Every command of God in that state is a seed that bears fruit in the loving obedience of his people. Is there a need on their part? God fills it. Is there a wish on his part? They fulfil it. That is theocracy. That is what God meant to establish in the earth. It is what he did establish here when the head of the human race was made the true prince of this earth.
But the counterfeiter was there, thrusting himself in between man and his Maker, breaking the established connection, and setting up a rule of his own. That brought about the condition to which this text applies: “In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but” he adds, “with everlasting loving-kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.” Isa. 54:8.
God could not permit the plans of the interloper to triumph over his own, and so, in his own good time he calls out a people who are to be his people, who are to acknowledge his rule, who are to listen to his voice and “be obedient.” He reveals to them his purpose concerning them, and writes his law that they may know what his requirements are. They covenant to keep his commandments and walk in his ways. He covenants to bless them with all spiritual and temporal blessings. The theocracy is set up again, and God is ruling his people through deputized agents. His presence is among them in the glowing Shekinah between the cherubim over the mercy-seat, where righteousness, love, and justice dwell.
But Israel failed, she departed from God, she abused the privileges given her of heaven, until at last the command came forth from the capital of the universe: “And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the miter, and take off the crown; this shall be no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” Eze. 21:25-27.
The miter and the crown, joined in government, clearly indicate a theocracy, a union of church and state in that governmental representative. The miter stood for the spiritual side of the rule, and the crown for the temporal side. The removal of both these symbols of rule indicated the breaking up of that system which God instituted at Sinai; and undoubtedly there is also in the exaltation of the low and the abasement of the high, a divine prophecy of the rule of the people by the people and for the people. For in the government of the people, by the people, it matters not how lowly the birth, the one so born may aspire to the highest office in the nation; and it matters not how long the royal line may be nor how glorious the reign of predecessors, these are not proof against the headsman's ax, or prison walls, or abdication under force, for the reigning monarch.
So there came a time when the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom, and the last form of theocracy on earth recognized by Jehovah came to an end. Then, says the prophet: “This also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” The text does not indicate that God will designate some person or some government to give to Jesus Christ the dominion of the world. But “I will give it him.” Daniel tells us of that event in these words: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14. That is the occasion upon which the Father bestows upon the Son the rulership of the world. He has won the right to rule, and the time has come for the glorious consummation of the great campaign against sin. Then he is given the right to break the rebellious nations with a rod of iron, and to gather unto himself his elect who have made a covenant with him by sacrifice.
But there is another program being carried out in the earth at the same time. Eden's intruder has never learned how to be peacefully indolent. Deception is his vocation; counterfeiting is his trade. He has sought to reestablish in sin what Jehovah overthrew because of sin. He has set up an imitation theocracy, and through the machinations of that system he has elevated the “man of sin” to sit in the seat of the “Sun of Righteousness.” He has set men to hear the confessions of other men who have sinned against God, and has clothed them with authority to forgive those sins committed against God, which God alone can forgive. By that process the one who is not concerned in the matter forgives the sin, and the one who is really wronged is left entirely out of the question.
And yet that system professes to be God's system of government upon the earth. While God is proclaiming the theocracy overthrown the fabricator of that false theocracy is setting that system forth as all that God has for the world to-day; and even professed Protestantism is rising up in confederated power, and demanding, in fact if not in name, the establishment of a theocratic system of government in this country, a system of government in which the church shall dictate the policy of the government and the laws it shall enact. What the result of this movement will be will be set forth in another article.