The Revelation as God Gave It: 6

 •  5 min. read  •  grade level: 8
 
The next half dozen of the Bishop's paradoxes need not detain us long, though like their predecessors they have often done duty for many who since his day to our own have opposed the premillennial advent of Christ.
Of these the first (or seventh in the entire series) is his objection to the restoration of Israel, i.e., of the ten lost tribes. Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:8, he cites as the apostle's interpretation, delivering us all from slavery to syllables. Jerusalem is built up, said the witty prelate, not in the soil of Jebus, but in the hearts of believers. The answer is simple, clear, and sure. Impossible that the inspired apostle could contradict himself. The Bishop cites Rom. 2 and 9. in opposition to Rom. 11:25, 2625For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:25‑26); which last beyond legitimate dispute declares that “all Israel shall be saved, after the fullness (or complement) of the Gentiles (now being called by the gospel) is come in.” To overlook the marked distinction, to identify the Gentiles now with all Israel then, is to ignore scripture, and contradict the same apostle. Rom. 2 simply insists on the worthlessness of bare name and form, and the value of reality: true now, as well as in that day. Mere fleshly descent from Israel is unavailing. Therefore are unbelievers of Israel rejected now, as by-and -by they shall perish judicially when the Deliverer turns away ungodliness from Jacob.
His eighth paradox is that the saints when glorified should, as he calls it, meddle with earthly affairs. 1 Cor. 6: 2, 3, anticipates and rebukes this unbelief. “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life”? Our Lord had already taught so in Matt. 19:2828And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:28); and so we read in Rev. 2:26, 2726And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. (Revelation 2:26‑27) (to say nothing of Rev. 20:4-64And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4‑6), however mutually consistent and confirmatory); as Dan. 7:18, 2718But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. (Daniel 7:18)
27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. (Daniel 7:27), and Zech. 14 had taught or implied long before. “Meddling” is an unsaintly thought and word; but when a saint slips into unbelief, irreverence follows. It will be a worthy exercise of love and glory which we shall share, and the Bishop too, with Christ the Lord.
His ninth is the living saints mortal and yet sinless. But why should it seem incredible that grace is thus to keep the living saints in a day conditioned by Satan bound, the Spirit poured out on all flesh, and the Lord Jesus reigning in power and glory? Instead of doubts, cavils, or fancies, it were better to weigh such scriptures as Isa. 60, 61, 62, and especially 65. where one at a hundred years is but an infant of days, and only dies then under an inflicted curse. This is not heaven surely, but the earth under the Lord's reign as never yet it has been. It is amazing that any believer should fall short of so blessed an outlook. Let the reader compare Isa. 11:12, 13; 14:1; 19:24, 25; 27:12, 1312And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. (Isaiah 11:12‑13)
1For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. (Isaiah 14:1)
24In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:24‑25)
12And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 13And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:12‑13); Jer. 17; 18 30:3-9; 31:1-9, 31-40; 33:14-26. For Ezekiel chaps. 35., 36. may suffice. The Minor Prophets are plain enough.
The tenth is the fullness of temporal blessing for the thousand years of Christ's reign. Here again it is the unbelief of the plain testimony rendered by the prophets as a whole, on the assumption that we are the people, and that God has no different scheme than the gospel, unless it be its eternal results in heavenly glory. What can be a more overwhelming refutation than the apostle Peter's discourse in Acts 3:19-2119Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19‑21)? It is the more impressive as so soon following the Pentecostal gift of the Spirit to us who wait for Christ and heavenly glory. But he presents also Christ sent from heaven on Israel's repentance to bring in the fullness of blessing on earth according to prophecy; which no Christian ought to deny or despise. Christ is the center of all blessing.
His eleventh is that after all this reign men should be suffered to grow up and defy their governors. Such is the solemn issue of human weakness and of Satan's deceitful power for all not born of God, even after seeing glory for a thousand years (Rev. 20:7-97And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And 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. 9And 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. (Revelation 20:7‑9)). It is a lesson lost for all who explain away these words. Unbelief in Christ's millennial kingdom leaves a gap irreparable, and in various respects of great moment for God's glory, no matter how orthodox we be otherwise.
The twelfth is the paradox of judgment then, especially when the angel before this swore that “time” should be no more. Zeal to censure here betrays gross ignorance; for Rev. 10:66And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: (Revelation 10:6), means not the end of time, but “no more delay or lapse of time.” The mystery of God was to be finished when the seventh trumpet should sound and usher in judgment on both quick and dead. This leaves ample room for the thousand years' reign and more. The worthy Bishop did not understand the passage. There is no paradox.
His last is a supposed determination of a double hell and its place. We only know what God reveals of hell any more than of heaven. But it is undeniable, that, as in the Gospels Hades and Gehenna are not confounded, so in Revelation “the pit” or “abyss” is distinguished from “the lake of fire,” which is final, and out of which none emerges. It is therefore seen contrasted with the new heaven and the new earth, the solemn background of the everlasting state (Rev. 21:1-81And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:1‑8)) which admits of no more change.