SYNOPSIS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
Continued
ROYAL CITY OF THE KINGDOM.
Moses said to Israel, “When ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye shall dwell in safety; then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his Name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you”—Deuteronomy 12: 5, 16. The time for making choice of this city arrived, when the Lord had given the kingdom to David, and rest from all his wars. David sought out the place, and Jehovah approved it. He “found it in the fields of the wood.” He found it in a manner he did not expect. The Ark of the Covenant had been removed from Obed-edom’s to the City of David on Mount Zion; while the Altar of burnt sacrifice continued at Gibeon. Now David having been moved by Jehovah to number the people who had sinned, seventy thousand of them fell by pestilence in the country parts in three days. At length an angel of the Lord arrived at Jerusalem to destroy it, and as he was destroying, Jehovah said to him, “It is enough, stay now thy hand.” At this crisis David discovered the angel standing near the threshing-floor of Ornan, or Araunah, the Jebusite, between the earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. David having confessed his sin in numbering the people and prayed that the plague might be stayed, the angel commanded Gad, David’s seer, to tell David to go up and set up an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel, he would have gone to Gibeon where the Mosaic tabernacle was to inquire of God before the altar there; but he was afraid because of the angel’s sword which crossed the way. David must have been greatly relieved, therefore, when Gad delivered the angel’s message to him in the name of Jehovah. Without delay he went to “the fields in the wood,” or district of the forest, where the threshing-floor was situated, and purchased it for six hundred shekels of gold by weight; and built there an altar to Jehovah. When it was finished, he offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon it, and called upon the Lord, who answered him from heaven in consuming the sacrifices by fire from thence, and in commanding the angel to sheathe his sword—1 Chronicles 21.
Ornan’s threshing-floor was on Mount Moriah, where Abraham had offered up Isaac, and through the substitute provided, received him from the dead in a figure. This appears from the testimony that “Solomon began to build the temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the angel appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite”—2 Chronicles 3: 1. The Ark of the Covenant, which is a New Testament name for Jesus, the royal Son of David, was placed in the City of David on Mount Zion, where it remained forty years preceding the building of the temple by Solomon. This long residence of the Ark on Zion, distinguished Zion as the place of the throne of the kingdom; as the building of the altar on Moriah designated it as the place of the Temple. Moriah and Zion are not to be confounded as one city. They are two distinct mountains, and the sites of two cities; though in after times they came to be surrounded by one and the same wall, and to be vernacularly styled Jerusalem. The Temple was in Jerusalem; and the Throne in Zion, the city of David’s house. They are the subjects of distinct prophecies, though oftentimes associated together; and these prophecies relate, not to a visionary mount “beyond the skies;” but to Zion, “the hill of God,” (hor-Elohim, the hill of Gods,) the royal city of David’s kingdom, in 31 degrees 50 minutes north latitude, and 35 degrees 20 minutes east longitude from Greenwich, about 25 miles west of Jordan, and 42 east of the Mediterranean, where David dwelt; “the hill which God (Elohim, Gods,) desireth to dwell in; yea,” in which “the Lord (Jehovah) will dwell for ever”—Psalm 68: 15-16. Of this city “glorious things are spoken;” for “all God’s springs are in her”—Psalm 87.
God has dwelt in Zion in ages past—Psalm 74: 2. He dwelt there when the Ark rested there; for He dwelt between the outstretched wings of the Cherubim representatively by the glory which they sustained—Psalm 80: 1; and in speaking to Moses and the High Priests, caused his voice to be heard as if proceeding from the lid of the ark called “the Mercy Seat,” which was overshadowed by the glory—Numbers 7: 89. The Ark, the Mercy Seat, and the Cherubim of glory, were representative of the Christ; who is therefore termed “the ark of God’s strength,” “the ark of his testament,” “the mercy seat” (hilasterion,) and the bearer of the glory, in the scriptures old and new. When he comes in “the glory of the Father,” he will “build the temple of the Lord, and bear the glory, and sit and rule upon his throne, and be a priest upon his throne”—Zechariah 6: 13. When this comes to pass, Jehovah will dwell in Zion again, and “shine forth” through Jesus there, as the Lion of the Cherubim of his glory; and in speaking to men will cause his voice to proceed from him, as the blood-sprinkled seat of his mercy, divinely overshadowed with the brightness of his majesty.
“When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” “He hath chosen it; he hath desired it for his habitation. This, saith he, is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation; and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. THERE will I make the horn (keren, horn, strength, power,) of David to bud; I have ordained a Light for mine anointed. His enemies (the foes of this Light,) will I clothe with shame; but upon Himself shall his crown flourish”—Psalm 132. “The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and make thee glorious; the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister to thee; for the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. I will make thee, the place of my feet, glorious. The sons of thine oppressors shall bow down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee THE CITY OF JEHOVAH, ZION, THE HOLY OF ISRAEL—ir Jehovah, Tziyon, kedosh Yisraail. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations”—Isaiah 60. This testimony is sufficient to prove that the Royal City of the Kingdom under the Old and New Covenants, is Mount Zion, “the joy of the whole earth,” when “Jehovah shall reign over Israel there from henceforth even for ever”—Micah 4: 7.
ARISTOCRACY OF THE KINGDOM.
By the aristocracy is meant the princes of the state. In the commencement of Jehovah’s kingdom these were Moses, Aaron for the tribe of Levi, and eleven others, one for each tribe. The sons of Aaron also were sacerdotal princes; to whom may be added the Levites of the houses of Kohath, Gershom, and Merari. Besides these, Moses selected the chief of the tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over them, captains over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among their tribes. “And I charged your judges at that time, said he, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.” These were they who possessed the kingdom. Flesh and blood, mortal and corruptible men. So that Jehovah’s kingdom under its first constitution may be defined a divinely organised system of government in Israel administered by sinful men under sentence of death.
INTERREGNUM.
This is a long period of time, extending from the destruction of the Royal City and Temple by the Romans, A. D. 74, to the return of Jesus to Mount Olivet, to fight against the nations under Gog, which shall then have assembled against Jerusalem to battle; and, having defeated them with a terrible overthrow, to restore the kingdom again to Israel, and become the king over the whole earth—Zechariah 14: 1-9; Ezekiel 38 & 39. This interval will have occupied about 1796 years, calculating the birth of Jesus at 4 years before the Vulgar Era. We style it the interregnum, because it is an interval of time between the kingdom in its past existence under the Mosaic Covenant, and its future existence under the Christian Covenant, called “the New.” During the continuance of the interregnum the kingdom does not exist. “It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it him,” saith Jehovah—Ezekiel 21: 27. The kingdom and throne are in ruins, and the royal city and temple are trodden under foot of the Gentiles, even the worst of them. But, saith the Lord, “I will return, and build again the dwelling of David (eth-succath Daivd, that is, Zion, the city where he dwelt,) AS IN THE DAYS OF OLD”—Amos 9: 11; Acts 15: 15. All things are now tending to this crisis. The present policy of the Gentile powers is working out a result, which will manifest itself in Gog, the Prince of all the Russias, possessing himself of Jerusalem, “the city of the great king.” When the saints see this, let them rejoice greatly; for the interregnum will be about to end in the deliverance of the Holy City, which shall become thenceforth “the throne of the Lord”—Jeremiah 3: 17; and the glorious things spoken of Zion, accomplished facts.
It is very common for sectarian theologists to style this interregnum, “the Christian Age,” “Messiah’s Age,” “the Christian Dispensation,” &c.! But these misnomers belong to the language of Ashdod; and savour of Rome, and not of Jerusalem. The interregnum is a part of “the Times of the Gentiles”—“the Court which is without the Temple of God, cast out away (ekbale exo,) and unmeasured”—who “tread under foot the Holy City,” or “them who worship in the temple”—Revelation 11: 1-2. The christian, or Messiah’s age, or economy, is the Age to Come. The interregnum belongs to Antichrist, as any one may see, who is capable of seeing by the light of truth. It is the time of the ascendancy of that cruel, devilish, and satanic power, which is to prevail against the saints until the Ancient of Days shall come—Daniel 7: 21-22; Revelation 13: 7. They, however, cannot see this, in whom dwells the wisdom that is from beneath; because both they and the power are energised by the same spirit. Woe, helpless and hopeless to the nations, if the Christian Age has no more happiness for them than they have experienced in this! It may have been a millennium of bliss to the earthly, sensual, and devilish rulers of mankind, who have wallowed in lust, and grown fat upon the groans and torments of the people. Emperors and kings, popes and cardinals, “lords spiritual and temporal,” priests and pastors, have revelled in the blessedness of their kingdom, upon which they have blasphemously invoked the name of Christ; but to the saints it is a hated kingdom; a kingdom that oppresses them; a kingdom they desire to see destroyed; and therefore in the interregnum, an age of hypocrisy, diabolism, and sham, they pray to their Father in heaven that his kingdom may come, and break in pieces and consume the power of them that destroy the earth. “Christian Age” indeed! An age which belongs wholly and solely to “the Devil and his angels,” for whom utter destruction is preparing, that the Day of Christ may be introduced.
During forty years preceding this interregnum, the gospel, or glad tidings to Judah and Jerusalem were proclaimed, announcing that David’s throne and kingdom should be re-established under a New and Better Constitution than the Mosaic; and inviting all Jews of whatever class or condition in life, to become the heirs with Christ of the gory, honor, incorruptibility, life, priesthood, power, and majesty of the kingdom, on condition of believing the things of the New Covenant, recognising Jesus as “the Seed” of the Covenants, made with Abraham and David, acknowledging his blood as the blood of the New Covenant, and of becoming the subjects of repentance and remission of sins through his name, being united to it by baptism. This proclamation was made to procure rulers and priests for the kingdom, upon the principle of righteousness imputed on account of faith in the promises of God contained in “the Covenants of promise.” Those who embraced the proclamation became kings and priests elect, although descended neither from Aaron nor David; and received a title to the blessings of the Covenant, to be enjoyed by them in a higher sense than they will be possessed by the Twelve Tribes when it shall be delivered to them as the constitution of the kingdom restored again to Israel. Thus the heirs now elected have now the remission of their past sins, and then possession of the kingdom with everlasting life; whereas the Tribes will then only attain to remission, with great temporal blessings, and the hope of eternal life at the end of 1000 years. The elect are now sanctified by the blood of the Covenant, and in their case there is no further need of sacrifice for sin; they have been washed, and will therefore require to be washed no more. They are complete in Christ with whose blood they have been sprinkled, and in whose name they have been washed. They only need eternal life, and to be like the king and priest of their communion now at God’s right hand, and they will be perfect; and efficient for all the duties they have to perform when promoted to the honor, glory, and offices to be bestowed upon when the kingdom is restored.
But the official necessities of the kingdom are greater than can be supplied by the faithful of Judah and Jerusalem. A sufficient number of Jews have not accepted Jehovah’s invitation to fill his house. He requires more kings and priests for his kingdom than he succeeded in obtaining from Israel by the preaching of his apostles. It became necessary, therefore, to turn to the Gentiles, and to invite them to enter his house, or kingdom, upon the same terms as the Jews. The invitation commenced at the house of Cornelius, and has been sounding out, more or less loudly and extensively, to the present time. We should judge from the little interest that exists in the kingdom of God, that a sufficient number of saints has been obtained to answer all the necessities of the case. We do not know that it is so; but we think it probable, that as many men and women have been procured from Judah and the nations, as the kingdom will have use for in the Age to Come. We hope the best, but fear the worst. We should rejoice in the conviction that thousands would yet embrace the gospel of the kingdom; but we sorrow in the belief that few will do it. They turn a deaf ear to it, and those that hear seem too generally incapable of understanding. There is less faith in the gospel of the kingdom among the Gentiles now, than there was among the Jews when they were “broken off because of unbelief.” The Gentiles stand only by faith in the goodness of God exhibited in the gospel; but if they continue not in his goodness they also shall be cut off. This is their position now. They have become “wise in their own conceits.” Their fulness is almost, if not quite, come in; for they have turned their backs upon Jehovah’s goodness, and are about to fall—Romans 11.
The work of separating men and women from the nations for the purposes of the kingdom by preaching the glad tidings concerning it, has prolonged the interregnum to the present time. It was necessary “to take out from among the Gentiles a people for the Lord’s name;” and therefore time was required to accomplish it. But, we doubt not, that had there been saints enough to administer the affairs of the kingdom, the kingdom would have been restored to Israel at Christ’s resurrection; in which case no Gentiles would have shared it with the Jews; but would have been brought into subjection to it, as they are yet to be in the era of regeneration, or restitution of all things pertaining to the kingdom, and compatible with its existence under the New Covenant. But Judah’s loss was our gain. By their partial and temporary rejection, the Gentile kosmos that believes is reconciled, and become heirs of the kingdom, the gospel of which Judah despised because it was preached in the name of Jesus. But they will not continue always in unbelief; for blindness has only in part happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And then all the Tribes of Israel will be saved. For God will graft them into their own Olive again, and that too on the principle of faith in Jesus, which will be life from the dead to the world. The interregnum will then be brought to a close. The 144,000, the representative number of the saved, will then be complete; and nothing will be wanting but the setting up of
THE KINGDOM UNDER THE NEW COVENANT.
To accomplish this, Jesus Christ, “THE REPAIRER” and “RESTORER,” must return to Jerusalem; the land of Israel must be wrested from the Gentiles; the Twelve Tribes must be resettled in Jehovah’s domain to be expelled no more; and the kings and priests elected for the kingdom must be raised from the dead that they may enter upon the administration of its affairs. The kingdom cannot be re-established before the resurrection of the saints; because from the nature of the priesthood and the ordinances connected with it, none can discharge the functions of it before God, who are not constituted priests “after the power of an endless life,” as the Lord Jesus was before them. The kingdom under the Mosaic Covenant was inherited by flesh and blood. Its kings and priests were all mortal men, men who died and saw corruption. It was “left to other people.” Aaron and his sons, and David, and Solomon, and all who possessed the honor, glory, and power of the kingdom, died and left them to successors. They were physically corrupt, and inherited corruption, or that which was to be abolished. The flesh profited them nothing. For though descended from Israel according to the flesh, though circumcised the eighth day, though priests and kings by hereditary descent, these advantages gave them no right to the eternal priesthood and royalty of the kingdom under the New Covenant, which has been dedicated by the precious blood of its immortal high priest and king. The kingdom under this covenant partakes of the nature of its king whose blood has purified its constitution. It is incorruption—a kingdom which can “never be destroyed,” “an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.” If the reader understand these things, he will fully comprehend the saying of the apostle, that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither can corruption inherit incorruption.” It is a physical impossibility. Can mortal men possess an everlasting kingdom, the priesthood and royalty of which are not to be left to successors? Men whose lives rarely exceed seventy or eighty years cannot hold office for ever, or even a thousand years. Now the offices, &c., of the kingdom under the New Covenant are inheritable for not less than a thousand years, and some of them for ever. They cannot be possessed for fifty years by one set of men, and then vacated that they may be held by another set for fifty more. No, they who are promoted to them at “the Regeneration,” or Restoration, will possess them always; for the priesthood and royalty are unchangeable; are non-transferable—cannot be left to other people. This being the nature of things, the immortality of the heirs of the kingdom is necessitated. The kingdom cannot exist, the administration of its eternal and foreign affairs cannot be carried on, its ecclesiastical and civil ordinances will continue a theory, an unaccomplished prediction, so long as Christ sits at the right hand of God, and “his fellows,” the “joint-heirs” of his glory and power, the copartners of his “joy,” are sleeping in the sides of the pit wherein is no water, the unconscious, undreaming tenants of the tomb. “Corruption cannot inherit incorruption.” The “heirs of the kingdom” are either now in a state of corruption, or corruptible. So long as they continue thus, they cannot possess the kingdom. It is folly, namby-pamby, trashy absurdity, to affirm they can. None but those “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,” would declare it. How can they, however, utter aught else but foolishness, who are ignorant of the nature of the kingdom of God? And is it to be wondered at that the old heathens should have plunged into such unfathomable nonsense about souls and Elysium, seeing that they were intensely dark upon the things of the kingdom of God? The doctrine was the farthest possible remote from their conception, that immortality was life manifested through corporeal incorruptibility, for all those, and those only, who should by faith and practice be accounted worthy of an indestructible kingdom in the land of Israel, that should not be left to successors. They knew nothing of such a divine purpose as this, neither do the heathen of modern times, who eulogise the old philosophy, and approve the speculations of Plato on “the immortality of the soul.” They are ignorant and faithless of the gospel of the kingdom of God, in which the true doctrine of life and incorruptibility has been proclaimed; and being ignorant of this, there is no absurdity so ridiculous they are not liable to embrace.
