Please explain the words “pillows” and “armholes” found in Eze. 13:18. How would you compare with the present style of women’s sleeves? C. H.
Well, the present style of sleeves is large and full, and if stuffed with feathers and sewed up at the ends and covered with a pillow case, would look somewhat like pillows in general; but, brother, to answer your last question first, we do not make any comparison; it is not good so to do. The word “pillows” comes from a word which means a pillow or cushion, and the word “armholes” means the joints of the hands or arms. The margin of the common version is “elbows,” and of the Revised Version, “joints of the hands.” Did you ever think that the word might have reference to boxing gloves? The padded cushions and joints of the hands would be appropriate, certainly. But we do not believe the prophet referred to that.
The “wo” is pronounced against a class that lulls souls to ease and indolence and slumber, and so destroys them. Fashion is generally ridiculous and expensive and cruel and health-destroying enough to be condemned by the simple principles of the Gospel of Christ without torturing the word of God into what it does not mean.
No. 327. The Wicked—The Narrow Way.
(1) WHAT will become of all earth’s billions of ignorant wicked? (2) Why did God create that “narrow way” (difficult way) so obscure that few find it, and of the few who do, but a small proportion run to the “end of the race,” for the prize? M. H. W.
1. Those who are “willingly ignorant,” who are satisfied with themselves, will perish with that which they have chosen. Prov. 1:24–33. Those who receive the light, follow the light, with all the heart, even tho it is but the faintest ray, will have a part in the “inheritance of the saints in light.” Col. 1:12. God gives light enough to every man to lead him to salvation. He “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. It is not the amount of light that saves, it is how man uses or treats that light.
2. God has not created the “narrow way” obscure to those who wish to know. Here is an infallible test: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” John 7:17. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” Ps. 25:14. “The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way.” Verse 9. But man can not walk this way in his own strength; and the majority in their pride will not accept God’s power. If they would but do it, there is no such thing as fail; for “there is nothing too hard” for God. Jer. 32:17. The whole thing rests in the choice, the submission, the trust of the sinner.
No. 328. Meats and Idols.
PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 10:23, 25 and 1 Tim. 4:4. Are we to understand from these texts that we are at liberty to eat every kind of meat, if it be received with thanksgiving? A SEEKER AFTER TRUTH.
1 Cor. 10:23, 25, it will be seen by the context, has reference to the question whether it is right to eat things offered to idols or not, and the instruction of the apostle is to the effect that the offering to idols does not hurt the food; but if some brother feels that it does, that it makes the partaker of the food a partaker in idol worship, then do not partake of it for his sake. The Christian, however, of himself, may eat freely so far as the idol’s affecting the food. Read the context.
The expression “every creature” in 1 Tim. 4:4 includes not only animals, but anything created, but, to the writer’s mind, is limited by the expression in verse 5, “Sanctified by the word of God,” that is, set apart for food as declared in the word. For further information see article on “Meats and Drinks,” in SIGNS No. 7, February 13, of the present volume, page 4 (100).
No. 329. What Defiles the Man.
IF you would explain Mark 7:15 to me, I would be very thankful. So many say that that verse says we can eat anything we wish to, so long as we do not eat swine’s meat. J. S.
Mark 7:15 has no reference to foods whatever. This was not the question between Christ and the Pharisees. They did not condemn his disciples for eating foods forbidden by the law, nor did Jesus condemn them because of their strictness or laxness. The question was over washing hands before eating, a “tradition of the elders,” a foolish law, and one impossible to be carried out under all circumstances without suffering. Our Lord answers it by telling them that corruption or defilement is what is cherished in the heart, not what may accidentally adhere to a man outwardly, and thus be placed in his mouth. The will, the desires, the motives, the lusts, the passions, are what make the deed acceptable or evil in the sight of God. For a more general discussion on the meat question, see article “Meats and Drinks,” in SIGNS of February 13, this year.
No. 330. Names of the Days of the Week.
How did the seventh day get the name Saturday, if it is God’s Sabbath? W. L. F.
The present names of the days are all of pagan origin. The name Sunday is the name which sun-worshipers gave to the first day of the week, the day they observed in honor of the sun. The second day of the week was dedicated to the moon, hence the name Moon’s day, or Monday. The third day was called Tuesday, after the god Tyr, another name for Mars, the god of war. The fourth day was denominated Wednesday after the god Woden. The fifth day was called Thursday after the god Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder, war, and agriculture. The sixth day was named Friday after the goddess Friga, another name for Venus. The seventh day was called Saturday after the god Saturn. What men have called the days does not alter their character. Jesus Christ was called a demoniac, a publican, a deceiver, and many other names by men, but that did not change him. So with the seventh day. The Lord calls it, “My holy day,” “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and it is what God calls it, no matter what man may say. The names which the Lord gave to the days of the week were “One to the Sabbath,” “Two to the Sabbath,” etc., till we come to the Sabbath. If5man had always followed the names which God gave, he would never have forgotten the day of the Sabbath.
No. 331. The Day of the Sabbath.
I WOULD like to have you tell me how we know that the seventh day spoken of in Ex. 20:8–11 was Saturday, or Sunday, or for that matter any other day of the week, when God did not name the days. And if he did name the days, please tell me where I can find an account of it. F. T.
God’s names of the days are numbers. See question No. 330. These names are found in Genesis 1, and in the New Testament we have the name “the first day of the week.” See Matt. 28:1. We know that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seventh day now, beginning Friday evening at sundown and ending the following day at sundown, because of the following reasons: (1) God made the Sabbath in the beginning for man (Gen. 2:2, 3; Mark 2:27); it is not therefore reasonable that it should be hidden from man’s knowledge. (2) Twenty-five hundred years after he made it, he pointed it out each week by a threefold weekly miracle. Exodus 16. Had the Israelites lost the Sabbath before, they knew it then. Some among them have kept it ever since; and among all their scholars there is no dispute or question regarding the day. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week according to the Bible beginning and ending of the day. (3) At the time of the crucifixion Inspiration fixed the Sabbath again. It was the day just before “the first day of the week.” See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2; Luke 23:56 and 24:1. The first day of the week at that time was the day that the Romans and other idolaters called Sunday. The seventh day of the week synchronized with the pagan Saturday. There has been no change since.
No. 332. The Restoration of the Jews.
I WOULD be pleased to receive some light on the restoration and gathering of the Jews. B. C.
The writer sends a tract which endeavors to prove that the Jews will or were to be restored to the promised land. These promises are all from prophecies written before Christ, of which (1) some were fulfilled at the restoration from the Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. (2) Some of these promises were conditional, based on Israel’s obedience, fulfilled if Israel obeyed, but void if Israel refused to obey. See Jer. 17:21–27; 18:7–10. (3) The promises to be fulfilled in this dispensation or in the future must be fulfilled through Christ. All in him by faith are Israel, whether born Jew or gentile. The only way that the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament can be understood is from the viewpoint of the New Testament in both spirit and fact. On this point the apostle says: “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery [the Gospel], . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel.” Eph. 3:3–5. All Israel shall be saved by faith. See Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6; 11:20, 23, 26; Eph. 2:18–20; Gal. 3:29.
No. 333. Special Grace and Three Witnesses.
(1) WHAT is the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ? 1 Peter 1:13. Is it that which will prepare us to meet him? (2) What are the three witnesses spoken of in 1 John 5:8, the “Spirit,” “water,” and “blood”? W. W. G.
1. The grace or favor referred to seems to be that which is bestowed at or in the “revelation” itself. It is a change from grace to more grace, from glory to glory. He who progresses in the Christian life is a constant recipient of more grace; it is “multiplied” to him “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2. As we near his coming, and with humble hearts meet the perils of the way, God “giveth more grace.” Before Christ is revealed in his glory, we will be fitted to bear the glory, and in the revelation itself will the change come from mortality to immortality. That is “the end of your faith,” the salvation, the grace to which we are to hope. The “grace” of verse 13 is the salvation of verse 9. A preparation for that event will be assured by a meeting of every event of life, however small it may be, in the Lord’s way. 2. The “Spirit” is the Spirit of God by which his word is given. The Spirit of God witnessed through all Christ’s ministry from baptism to resurrection. The “water,” his baptism, was another witness of his divine power. The “blood,” his crucifixion, was the third witness to the Son of God. And all these are effectual in the believer in regenerating, in cleansing, in adoption into the family of God. See John 3:3–5; Gal. 3:27; 1 John 1:7, and many others.
LOYALTY TO THE LAW IS LOYALTY TO GOD.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he can not sin, because he is born of God.” The standard which is to test every doctrine, every theory, every profession, is the law of God. “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,”—break the law of Jehovah. If a man is born of God, he will respect the principles of the divine government, and will not wilfully transgress the law of God in thought, or word, or action. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.” Jesus prayed that his disciples might be sanctified through the truth, and added, “Thy word is truth.”
The new birth is accomplished by the reception of the word of God; but those who belittle the word of God, those who cast contempt upon the law of Jehovah, place themselves under the banner of the prince of darkness. Satan began the work of rebellion in heaven by opposition to the constitution and government of God; and this is the manner of work he has carried on ever since the fall of man. Through the agency of evil men he seeks to make void the law of the Most High. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Christ vindicated and honored the law of God, declaring that upon the principles of the Ten Commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Those who manifest disrespect for the law of Jehovah, make it evident that they have not been born again, and the truth does not abide in them.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” This statement must be so read as to harmonize with the statement that if we are born of God, we shall not commit sin; for “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in him.” John says, “I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.”
“Whoso abideth in him sinneth not,” that is, does not wilfully transgress the law of God; for “sin is the transgression of the law.” But what conclusion are we to draw from the profession of those who claim to be sanctified, to be living without sin, and yet who openly cast contempt upon the law of God? They claim to possess advanced piety, and at the same time, by thought, and word, and deed, they transgress the law, and teach others by precept and example that they may sin with impunity. John tests their pretentious claims, and says, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Those who claim to be sanctified, and who at the same time openly defame the law of God, are in terrible deception, and are blasphemers of the God of heaven. John says, “Let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness [keeps the commandments of God] is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin [transgresses the law] is of the devil.” God has placed the transgressor of the law in the ranks of the powers of darkness, in the company of the first great apostate.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Even those who are striving in sincerity to keep the law of God, are not always free from sin. Through some deceptive temptation, they are deceived, and fall into error. But when their sin comes home to their conscience, they see themselves condemned in the light of the holy precepts of God’s law; but they do not war against the law which condemns them; they repent of their sin, and seek pardon6through the merit of Christ, who died for their sins in order that they might be justified by faith in his blood. They do not avoid confession and repentance when the neglected law of God is brought to their attention, by exclaiming, as do the self-righteous pretenders to holiness, “I am sanctified, I am holy, and I can not sin.” This is the class whom the apostle rebukes; for he says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” It is evident that where a claim to sinlessness is made, there the law of God has not been written in the heart; for the commandments of God are exceeding broad, and are discerners of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The apostle speaks words of encouragement to those who realize that they are sinners, and says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “If we say we have no sin,” when our thoughts, words, and actions, reflected from the law of God, the great moral mirror, reveal us as transgressors, we make God a liar, and prove that his word is not in us.
The apostle draws a sharp distinction between the condition of the avowed transgressor, who dares to live in defiance of God’s law, and yet make claim to holiness, and the condition of him who, tho yielding his heart to the claims of the law of God, still sees defects in his character, and bows in humility before God to make confession of sin. Paul says: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.” How dangerous is the position of men who, while claiming sanctification, still will not receive the light of the law by which sin is detected! Sanctification is conformity to the will of God, and the will of God is expressed in his holy law. Those only are truly sanctified who live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. How terrible is it to be a false light, and, while claiming salvation through the merit of the blood of Christ, to be sowing the seed of rebellion against the law of God in the hearts of men!
Paul continues, “I was alive without the law once [supposing himself to be righteous]; but when the commandment came [home to his conscience], sin revived, and [the law(?)] died.” This is what many would be glad to have us believe; but it is a fatal falsehood, and we can not believe it in the light of God’s word; for Paul declares: “Sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” The testimony of Paul was in harmony with the words of the Lord in the Old Testament; for he says: “Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein; I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments; which if a man do, he shall live in them.” “And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted; then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.” “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.”
Paul waged no war against the commandments of God because of the sharp work they had done in detecting his sin; but, altho he was condemned to death by the sentence of the law, he exclaims, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Those who wage war against the commandments of God make it manifest that their minds are carnal; for “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh can not please God.” But even when we stand in defense of the law of God, and in opposition to the world, who are making void that law, and who are coming under the temptation of the enemy of God, yet we are not to say that we have no sin, but in meekness repent of sin, and make confession of our shortcomings before the Lord. The law points out our defects of character, but when we see that we have come short, we shall not feel like berating the law which has condemned our sin, we shall not be disposed to call the commandments of God a yoke of bondage, but, like Paul, we shall acknowledge our sin, and self will die. For “if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
IO VICTIS.
By W. W. Story
BY W. W. STORY.
I sing the hymn of the conquered, who fell in the battle of life—
The hymn of the wounded, the beaten, who died overwhelmed in the strife;
Not the jubilant song of the victors, for whom the resounding acclaim
Of nations was lifted in chorus, whose brows wore the chaplet of fame—
But the hymn of the low and the humble, the weary, the broken in heart,
Who strove and who failed, acting bravely a silent and desperate part;
Whose youth bore no flower in its branches, whose hopes burned in ashes away,
From whose hands slipped the prize they had grasped, who stood at the dying of day
With the work of their life all around them, uplifted, unheeded, alone,
With death swooping down o’er their failure, and all but their faith overthrown.
While the voice of the world shouts its chorus, its paean for those who have won—
While the trumpet is sounding triumphant, and high to the breeze and the sun
Gay banners are waving, hands clapping, and hurrying feet
Thronging after the laurel-crowned victors—I stand on the field of defeat,
In the shadow, ’mongst those who are fallen, and wounded, and dying—and there
Chant a requiem low, place my hand on their pain-knotted brows, breathe a prayer,
Hold the hand that is helpless, and whisper, “They only the victory win
Who have fought the good fight, and have vanquished the demon that tempts us within;
Who have held to their faith, unseduced by the prize that the world holds on high;
Who have dared for a high cause to suffer, resist, fight—if need be, to die.”
Speak, history! Who are life’s victors? Unroll thy long annals and say—
Are they those whom the world called the victors, who won the success of the day?
The martyrs or Nero? The Spartans, who fell at Thermopylae’s tryst?
Or the Persians and Xerxes? His judges or Socrates? Pilate, or Christ?
—Blackwood’s Magazine.
Israel and Babylon in Antitype
By I. E. Kimball
ZION AND BABYLON. NO. 3.
BY I. E. KIMBALL.
Israel and Babylon in Antitype.
ISRAEL as a distinct family in lineal succession from Abraham were given up. Babylon also went to the dust. But Israel as a spiritual body, Zion as a spiritual city, and Babylon as a spiritual city also, still continue. All who follow the spiritual life of Abraham and of Christ are accounted for the seed. So “if ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” The commonwealth of Israel continues; for no promise was ever yet made to a gentile as a gentile. He must first be circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and become an Israelite indeed—that is, in the heart; “he is a Jew which is one inwardly.” So he becomes partaker of the promise of the heirship of the world, which was made to Abraham. Rom. 4:13. Hence the true Israel, according to God’s original design, continues on, and Zion, “the holy city,” that is, the church of God, is spoken of as of yore.
So also is Babylon, she is still “that great city,” the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,” still proud and disdainful, haughty and implacable. She is still the oppressor of God’s people, and drunk with their blood, gaudy in attire, the lady of kingdoms, still saying as of old, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Rev. 18:7; Isa. 47:8. Her merchants are the same sorcerers and prognosticators as of old. Rev. 18:23; Isa. 47:13–15. The picture is the same throughout. She is filled with wise men and witchery, and is still the mother of all abominations.
So, as Israel, and even the name of the twelve tribes, are continued in the New Testament (see James 1:1; Rev. 7:4–8; 21:12), we are bound also to recognize Babylon upon the same principle. They who are of the “holy city” now, are Christlike in life and character; they who are of the “great city Babylon,” are of another type, wholly sensual and given up to the delusions of Satan.
Zion and Babylon represent two types of religion; for Satan ruled Babylon through her wizards and wise men. Everybody must be religious. Statute law was very strict. They were in the thrall of lying spirits completely. She was a sorceress, a devout devotee of Baal. In fact, the two types of religion stand out very plainly; the one has the worship of the living God, according to his law, the other the worship of demons, that is, of Satan. Babylon in her spiritual length and breadth and authority has continued on since the literal city went down. And the warning cry of the prophets, as in Isa. 48:20, “Go ye forth of Babylon,” is a prophecy applicable to all time. In the same prophecy we read a little farther on, “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her.” Isa. 52:11. The force of these exhortations will hereafter be shown.
One familiar with the book of Revelation will remember the various references to Babylon, and calls to come forth and flee from her. In Revelation 18 especially, the final call from Babylon is made, and in conjunction with this Zion is restored and everlasting joy extended to her.
But it is needful to glance once again at the two spiritual cities to which I have called attention. Because not literal, some may conceive of them indefinitely. The prophet Isaiah continually mentions Zion as a city and as a woman. Looking forward to the times of Christ, he speaks of her bulwarks of salvation, and her gates of praise, which are swung open day and night that the forces of the gentiles may be brought. These same sons of the strangers are to build up her walls. And she is called “The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord; and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.” This holy people, sought out and gathered “one by one,” is the church of Jesus Christ, as all will probably acknowledge. It is likewise mentioned in the New Testament as “a holy nation,” “a peculiar people,” “the holy city,” and is set forth in Revelation 12 under the figure of a woman, the same as in Isaiah. None will doubt, then, that the spiritual city Zion stands to-day.
Now just what is perpetuated from the ancient Zion which makes the Zion of to-day?—Her God, her ruler, her king, her obedient children, her walls of salvation, her gates of praise, her laws. And yet if you turn to Rev. 11:2, 3, you will find this holy city with her walls and bulwarks broken down for a period of 42 months, or 1,260 prophetical days (meaning years), during which time she is over trampled by the gentiles; the uncircumcised and the unclean pass through her gates. But “in the day that thy walls are to be built,” following this time, “there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.”
And just what is Babylon?—It is that false system of religion which proceeds from Satan, for he was and is her ruler (see Isaiah 14), as it was given forth by her wise men, her sorcerers, and has been passed out in her279golden wine cup—a poisonous draught to all nations. So her ruler, her laws, and her subjects continue; for she has brought all nations under her spiritual sovereignty.
In Revelation 12 the dragon is revealed with seven heads. The dragon is Satan. His spirit and life are in the system; for so the word declares. So the seven heads are Satan’s heads and mouthpieces; but those heads are kingdoms, as shown by the crowns thereon; and, moreover, the dragon becomes metamorphosed into the seven-headed beast of Revelation 13, who possesses the power, seat, and authority which the dragon before possessed. And the seven heads are now explained to be mountains, or kingdoms. Chapter 17:9, 10. These kingdoms come and go consecutively; and five are declared to be fallen. The word also states that the woman Babylon has her seat upon and reigns over these kingdoms. I before said that Satan rules these kingdoms, but as God is an husband unto his people (Jer. 31:32), and we are married to Christ (Rom. 7:4), and consequently Christ and the Father, who are One, come unto us and make their abode with us (John 14:23), so this woman Babylon is the bride of Satan, and they twain are one.
There is reason to believe that the number seven is to be taken literally, not in a figurative sense of entirety or fulness, but that just seven great kingdoms whose animus and life are Satanic will thus appear. One of them appearing twice over makes its reappearance at the last as an eighth head, and yet is the same former beast—one of the seven. It is easy to count the five which are now fallen, as we read (Rev. 17:10); for beginning with Satan’s kingdom of Babylon, the first head, we find a second head in the Medo-Persian Kingdom, and a third in the Grecian, while Pagan Rome constitutes the fourth; and I must now set down the Roman Kingdom of the Dark Ages as ruled by the popes, for the fifth. I am a little forward in this; for, while all will acknowledge the power of Satan in the first four, the fifth, or papal head, which was equally potent with the other four, some conceive to have been the kingdom of God. Now in this connection I can not stop to prove the assertion that the papal kingdom of Rome was wholly Satanic; I will prove this presently.
Paganism, therefore, is the essential feature of Babylon; but I speak of paganism as of Catholicism or Protestantism as a religion. The word originally signified the religion of the peasants. The peasantry of Rome retained their heathen rites and religion long after Christianity was acknowledged in the cities. Paganism is the last extreme from infidelity. Its essential principle is sorcery or dealings with familiar spirits, who come under the guise of the spirits of the dead. It makes no effort to bring about gravity of morals, but is rather the great weight which sinks her devotees into the abyss of pollution.
In the day when Christ appeared among men, it will be remembered that his own received him not. They were proud, haughty, and covetous, doing their works to be seen of men, and devouring widows’ houses; they chose the murderer instead of Christ; for they were murderers. Babylon, who has caused her wickedness to pass upon all the nations, could claim the Jewish nation at that time for her subjects. They were in spiritual Babylon; for their life comported with the Babylonian rather than the God-given standard. They were Satan’s children (John 8:44); unclean demons possessed many, while the Spirit of God possessed few.
As formerly the Babylonian scepter had been stretched out over Judea in a spiritual conquest, so Christ saw the chosen people serving the Babylonian prince—Satan—and opposed to God. “Go ye forth of Babylon,” “go ye out of the midst of her,” was applicable then. As when the Jesus of former days led back Zion’s captives to thy pleasant land, and laid the foundation of the temple under the decree of Cyrus, so Jesus, our Leader and Deliverer, went forth with a multitude of captives, and laid the foundation of the spiritual temple, which shall never be overthrown. “And since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.” Ezra 5:16.
As formerly great sorrow was mingled with great joy at the laying of the foundation, so when the new temple of Christ began to ascend, some who looked to the former glory mourned, while others rejoiced. As the golden vessels of the former temple, for a time locked in the temple of Bel, were again brought forth and restored to the new, so the “vessels unto honor,” who were “meet for the Master’s use,” were transferred to the temple of Christ. All who were anointed by the grace of God, came unto Christ to serve in the new temple. As formerly, they began with abundant powers to finish all the work, but were hindered and hindered by the massed forces of the enemy, who were finally successful, and, under the decrees of the impostor Smerdis the work of building was stayed, and the walls and gates broken down. So the Gospel restoration was hindered, the walls of salvation (Isa. 26:1) thrown down, the gates of praise burned in the fire by the wicked impostor, the antichrist of Rome. But another decree was forthcoming, and a third finished the work. Of these we will hereafter speak.
