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Overland Monthly / OV079 - God's Chosen People (IV. Chastened "Seven Times")
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OV79 IV—Chastened "Seven Times." A Period of 2520 Years
BY C. T. RUSSELL Pastor Brooklyn Tabernacle
WHEN ENTERING into Covenant relationship
with the nation of Israel, God of course foreknew that the nation whose
fathers courageously shouted "All the Lord our God hath commanded will
we do," would really not do those things, but, like the remainder of
the world, would be swayed by the forces of sin and the weakness of
heredity. Consequently, when setting forth to the chosen people the
blessing which the Lord their God would give unto them, if they would
be obedient to his Law and walk in his statutes, God also set forth
what they might expect in the event of their failure so to do. And
incidentally, in connection with the outlining of their punishments for
transgression, the Lord prophetically in a hidden and covered manner,
supplied information as to how long his chosen people would be under
the hand of a chastening providence before being restored to Divine
favor. The period of their chastening is told in the expression, "Seven
Times." The LordÂ’s words are: "And if, even with these things, ye will
not hearken unto me, then will I give forth correction, Seven Times,
for your sins. So will I break your pomp of power and will set your
heaven as iron and your land as bronze; and your strength shall be
spent in vain and your land shall not yield her increase; and the trees
of the land shall not yield their fruit. "If, therefore, ye will go in
opposition to me, and not be willing to hearken unto me, then will I
yet further plague you Seven Times, according to your sins.... And I,
even I, will plague you Seven Times, for your sins, and will bring upon
you a sword that shall inflict the covenanted avenging....And I, even
I, will correct you Seven Times for your sins; and ye shall eat of the
flesh of your sons ....And I will give your cities unto desolation, and
make your holy places dumb, and I will find no fragrance in your
satisfying odour; and I will make the land dumb, and your foes that
dwell therein shall regard it with dumb amazement; when even you I
scatter among the nations, and make bare, after you, a sword. Then
shall your land become an astonishment, and your cities a desolation.
Then shall the land be paid her sabbaths, all the days she lieth
desolate, while ye are in the land of your foes; then shall the land
keep sabbath, and pay off her sabbaths; all the days she lieth desolate
shall she keep sabbath—the which she kept not as your sabbaths, while
ye dwelt thereupon. For the land shall be left of them.
OV80 and shall be paid her sabbaths,
while she lieth desolate without them. They also accepting as a payment
the punishment of their iniquity, because, yea, because my regulations
they refused, and my statutes their soul abhorred."—#Le 26:18-46.
We have made but a brief quotation from this remarkable prophecy which
has been so accurately fulfilled—especially since the time of the
rejection of Jesus. However, be it noted that the prophecy distinctly
intimates that this Divine disfavor is not to last forever, but to be
for "Seven Times." In our next article we will show what their Sabbaths
have to do with the matter and how the prophecy of the desolation of
the land, the paying of her Sabbaths, has already been fulfilled. Here
we want to notice the "Seven Times" or seven symbolic years of
chastening—where they began; where they will end; and the fact that
they are symbolical and not literal years. Evidently the various
translators who have handled these verses have been perplexed, and
therefore have caused our Common Version improperly to read Seven Times
more.
This could not mean Seven Times more than
the sins would deserve, for God would not be thus unjust; neither could
it mean Seven Years more, because IsraelÂ’s punishments, for sin were
not marked off in periods of seven years. As a matter of fact, on
account of idolatry, the nation went into captivity to other nations
round about some eighteen times, the periods varying from a few months
to eighteen years.
Even the captivity which came upon them
in the days of Zedekiah, and which lasted for seventy years would not
wholly fulfill the spirit of this prophecy. Besides, could we suppose
that God would specifically mark out the little captivities, etc., and
absolutely ignore IsraelÂ’s great period of disaster and desolation of
the land and scattering of their people among all nations? The Seven
Times here repeated with such emphasis evidently marked the great
indignation of God against Israel; and the prophesied restoration of
his people to Divine favor is evidently to be at the end of those Seven
Times. Then God will remember his Covenant and fulfill all of its
gracious provisions. St. Paul foretold this, saying, "Hath God cast
away his people?
God forbid!...God hath not cast away his
people which he foreknew! ...Blindness in part is happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in....For this is my
Covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning
the Gospel they are enemies for your sakes; as touching the election,
they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes."—#Ro 11:1-2,25-28.
Note the facts before us:
(1) God foreknew and foretold the rejection of Israel for a time, but not forever.
(2) He declared and reiterated that the period of their rejection would be Seven Times.
(3) Those Seven Times or years cannot be understood literally, because IsraelÂ’s rejection has lasted many times seven years.
(4) Whatever period those Seven Times signifies, that period is not yet fulfilled.
(5) There will be two possible places for the beginning of those Seven Times.
Surely it was as far back as the time of
the destruction of Jerusalem A.D. 70, following the rejection of
Messiah and his message. Yes, it was further back than that event; for
at that time they were under the Roman yoke, and even their great King
Herod was not a Jew, but an Edomite of the family of Esau. This fact
would carry us several centuries further back to the time when the last
Jewish King was on the throne. Apparently those "Seven Times" of
IsraelÂ’s disfavor began with the dethronement of Zedekiah, the last
King of Judah.
Take Off the Crown"—"I Will Overturn It.
As a matter of fact, we find that
IsraelÂ’s Seven Times of disfavor began on that fatal day of which the
Prophet wrote respecting their last king, Zedekiah, "O thou profane and
wicked prince, whose time has come that iniquity shall have an end;
remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not be the same! I
will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more; until he
come whose right it is, and I will give it him. (#Eze 21:25-27.)
"The Seven Times," which began on that day, are due to end October,
1914—Seven Times or seven symbolic years, according to Jewish counting.
OV81 The lunar year of three hundred and
sixty days is scripturally used as a symbolic "Time" or year, in which
each day represents a year. (#Eze 1:6.)
Hence, Seven Times would represent symbolically (7 x 360) 2520 years.
We therefore have from this standpoint the Divine prophecy or
prediction that GodÂ’s disfavor upon his chosen people would last Seven
Times, or 2520 years. We have already shown what overturning the crown
indicates. We have demonstrated that this period of disfavor began at
the dethronement of Zedekiah, the last Jewish king. We have already
quoted Ezekiel’s prophecy respecting the incident—that the kingdom
would be overturned, overturned, until Messiah would accept it and
raise up Israel out of the dust to fulfill to her, and through her to
all nations, the glorious things prophesied to Abraham and confirmed to
Isaac and to Jacob by the Divine oath—"In thee and in thy Seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed."—#Ge 12:3.
Our space forbids that we should enter
into the details of the chronology; but those desirous of obtaining it
we will be glad to serve, if advised. Briefly, the chronology from
ZedekiahÂ’s dethronement runs thus: Captivity to Babylon lasted seventy
years; restoration to the land, but not to kingly power and honors, was
proclaimed to the Jews A.D. 536 by Cyrus the Persian King. Thus the
period from Zedekiah to A.D. 1 was (70 plus 536) 606 yrs. Deduct 606
from the total of 2520 years, and the remainder shows a balance of 1914
years of IsraelÂ’s disfavor during the period which we term Anno Domini.
In other words, by the full end of the year 1914 (Jewish reckoning,
October), IsraelÂ’s Seven Times of chastisement and correction from the
Almighty will have been fulfilled. Then will begin toward Israel Divine
favor, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, uplifting from the
dust, and all the New Covenant privileges and blessings declared by
Jeremiah (#Jer 31:31  .)
The terms will be the same as under the Law Covenant instituted by
Moses. But the New Covenant will be better for Israel because of its
better Mediator—Messiah—The Christ—The Antitype of Moses—Jesus the Head
and the Church which is his Body—the Spiritual Seed of Abraham through
whom all of GodÂ’s blessings are about to come upon the natural seed of
Abraham.—#Ga 3:29.
Is it not very wonderful that this period
is ending now, and that Zionism is blowing its bugle note around the
world, calling upon GodÂ’s chosen people to go up and reclaim the
promised land and to hope again for Divine favor? It is more than
remarkable. It is in keeping with all of GodÂ’s dealings with his chosen
people. "God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew." "The
gifts and callings of God are things he does not repent of." All of his
gracious promises which belong to Israel in the flesh must yet be
fulfilled to them. True, they are being re-gathered without a knowledge
or appreciation of Messiah. But this also is in accord with the
Scripture account, which shows that the opening of the eyes of that
nation to discern the Redeemer will take place in Jerusalem at the time
of their return to considerable prosperity, when they will be in the
midst of their final struggle with the Gentiles. Then, says the
Prophet, "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and mourn."
Then will God pour upon them the spirit of prayer and supplication and
acknowledgment of Jesus."—#Zec 12:10.
The Times of the Gentiles.
Now let us look at the subject from a
different angle. Let us note that God through IsraelÂ’s prophets
foretold that the world would be given into the hands of the Gentiles;
and that Israel, both natural and spiritual, would be subjugated and
more or less oppressed by the Gentiles. And wonderful, too, is the fact
that this period of.Gentile domination is likewise stated to be "Seven
Times." And the wonder increases when we find that these Gentile "Seven
Times" began and will end at exactly the same dates which mark the
Jewish "Seven Times" of disfavor. This is certainly remarkable to the
extent of being astounding. Yet it should not astound us that the God
of all Grace would hide or secrete this information in the Bible until
about the time of its accomplishment, and then make it known only to
those, both Jews and Gentiles, who have "a hearing ear" and who "hunger
and thirst after righteousness."
OV82 Now for the prophecies. King
NebuchadnezzarÂ’s army overturned the Jewish Kingdom in the days of
Zedekiah. As the Scriptures show, this overturning was done by Divine
decree. The Jewish prophets tell that God gave Nebuchadnezzar
permission to control the world, in very much the same language that
the commission was first given to Adam. During the time that GodÂ’s
Kingdom was established in Israel—during the reigns of David and
Solomon and others down to Zedekiah’s day—it was the only Kingdom
recognized by God in the whole earth. As we read, "Solomon sat upon the
throne of Jehovah in (the room or) stead of his father, David." (#1Ch 29:23.)
The authorization of Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, paralleled exactly the
withdrawal of the Divine favor and the crown from Zedekiah and from
Israel, the holy nation. Following this, NebuchadnezzarÂ’s Government
increased and became universal; and it was followed by other Gentile
Governments exercising universal power—the Medes and Persians, the
Grecians, the Romans. A lease of earthly dominion was made to these
Governments, which cover this interim of time from the overthrow of the
typical Zedekiah until the establishment of MessiahÂ’s Kingdom in 1915.
Two pictures of this period of Gentile domination of the earth are
given; first, a picture from the human standpoint; and second, a
picture from the Divine standpoint. The view from the human standpoint
was given to Nebuchadnezzar by the Lord in a dream which, by Divine
power, repeated and interpreted by the Prophet Daniel. (#Da 2:29-45.)
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great image
representing earthly power during this period known as "the times of
the Gentiles." His own Government was represented in the head of gold.
The universal empire of the Medes and Persians, which followed
Nebuchadnezzar, was symbolized in the arms and breast of silver. The
universal rule of Greece under Alexander the Great was symbolized in
the belly and thighs of brass. The Roman empire was pictured in the
legs of iron. The entire arrangement made it possible that if Israel
had accepted Jesus as King, the Messianic Kingdom might have been
established there.
But foreseeing that Israel would fail in
the day of her visitation, God pictured the extension of Gentile
supremacy in the feet of the image, which from iron gradually merged
into a combination of iron and clay, dividing into ten toes. The
commingling of the iron and clay represented that blending of Church
and State known as the Holy Roman Empire. This commingling of civil and
religious authority amongst the nations in the exercise of Gentile rule
still continues; and to-day we have the division of the nations known
as Christendom, Protestant and Catholic, as represented by the toes of
the image. The image has stood nearly as long as was Divinely
intended—seven symbolic times or years—2520 literal years, expiring in
October, 1914. What will happen then? Let the same prophecy continue to
tell its story to a consummation. It tells that the glorious image of
autocracy and worldly empire, which God has permitted to be in the
hands of the Gentiles, will fall a mass of ruins at the end of the
Gentile times—in 1915 A.D. It tells that the God of Heaven, who gave
over the dominion of earth for "Seven Times" to the Gentile governments
of this image, purposes that at the close of those "Seven Times" he
will wipe them out of existence. During the period of their domination,
under Divine guidance, a Stone has been cut out of the mountain,
without human hands, without human authority or power. That stone is
the Church of which Jesus is the Head and the Apostle and all the
saints of this age of every denomination are members. The cutting of it
out will soon be completed. That Stone represents Messiah on the larger
plane, Jesus the Head and the Church His body; for we are all members
in particular of the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Not until the
Church shall have been completed, not until the last member shall have
been changed from earthly to heavenly conditions; not until the
glorified Christ shall have taken unto himself His great power to
reign; and not until the end of Gentile times, will this heavenly power
be hurled against the image. It will not strike the image in its head
or breast or loins or legs; for these have passed long ago. It will
smite the image
OV83 on its feet—its present
development—"Christendom" so-called. That impact is prominently noted
throughout the Scriptures as "a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation." The Scriptures give vivid pictures of the Gentile
Governments in the world, then "the gold, the silver, the brass, the
iron and the clay, became like the chaff of the summer threshing
floors, and the wind carried them away and no place was found for them.—#Da 2:35.
Such is the graphic description given us of the end of Gentile
Governments, in which to-day many of us take such pride, and which have
their good intentions and good qualities. But these also, be it
remembered, were recognized and authorized by God to occupy the seat of
Government and to hold in check human affairs—"until he comes whose
right the Kingdom is," and to whom it will be given—The Christ—the Head
and the Elect Church his members; the Kingdom for which we pray, "Thy
Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven"—the
Millennial Kingdom, which is to bless all the families of the earth
through the channel or medium of Israel—God’s chosen people.
Great Ravenous Beasts.
We have intimated that NebuchadnezzarÂ’s
dream of the great image represented autocracy and world sovereignty
from the human viewpoint of grandeur. We now come to examine the same
governments as seen from the Divine viewpoint. How different! Now,
instead of appearing great, noble and wise, these are pictured as
ravenous wild beasts, which tread down and devour the earth. In this
picture, which was given to Daniel for himself and for all of GodÂ’s
people, the symbolisms are these:
(1) Babylonia, the head of the image, is symbolized by a lion;
(2) Medo-Persia, the breast and arms of the image, is symbolized by a bear;
(3) Greece, the belly and thighs of brass in the image, is here symbolized by a leopard;
(4) Rome,
the iron legs of the image, is here pictured as a great and terrible
beast, for which no name could be found, and the like of which had
never been known in the earth before. "It brake in pieces and devoured"
everything. Nothing could withstand its power. How wonderful a figure,
illustrative of the ferocity which has marked the kings and Governments
and wars of these Gentile times!
(5) The feet and toes of the image, representing the Papacy and the commingling of State and Church domination, we find pictured in the ten horns of the terrible beast.
These beasts are to rule the world until
the end of Gentile times of world domination, October, 1914, which will
also be the end of the Jewish times of Divine disfavor.
Then the dominion will pass from these
beasts, and their bodies or organizations as Governments will be given
to the burning flame—turned over to destruction. The Prophet pictures
the end of Gentile times and the manifestation of the Ancient of Days,
whose throne was like a fiery flame and who caused the judgment to sit.
It was at that time that the words of the last beast came into
judgment—the great words uttered by the horn that had eyes and a mouth
and that spake great, swelling words, —claimed by nearly all expositors
of the past to represent Papacy and its boast of infallibility, etc.
Then the beast was slain—the great and terrible beast, and his body.was
given to the burning flames. This is still future and therefore
prophetic, and we may not too positively declare how it will be
fulfilled. Apparently it signifies the overturn of the civil and
religious systems of our day, especially of Europe. It seems to
symbolize the destruction of all earthly government and authority. This
would mean anarchy, the most terrible curse upon society imaginable.
Then it was that Daniel was given a vision of the Son of man in glory,
receiving the authority of the dominion of earth. "And there was given
him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, 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." —#Da 7:14.
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