The greater part of the first fifty verses of the prophecy of Joel is taken up with an awe-inspiring prophecy of doom and of Israel’s ultimate rescue from disaster. The symbolism takes the form of a description, powerful and portentous, of a locust invasion. Some go so far as to say that nothing more than a plague of locusts is being described and that to see anything else in the prophecy is to go beyond what the language warrants. Not improbably the basis in the prophet’s own day may have been some national calamity of that character, but it is blameworthy carelessness to overlook such phrases as: “a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number” (1: 6); “spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them” (2: 17); “I will remove far off from you the northern army” (2: 20) — in the days when locusts used to make their inroads into Palestine they certainly did not come from the north!

A fair amount of Bible evidence can be assembled to support the conclusion that the original “locust” invasion described by Joel was the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib. The verbal contacts with the early chapters of Isaiah and with the history of Hezekiah’s reign are very striking. Just as Isaiah so frequently ranges forward from the calamity and deliverance of his own days to the time of Messiah’s kingdom, so also, undoubtedly, does Joel. It is this latter aspect of the prophecy that now engages attention.

IRRESISTIBEE INVADER

This mighty invasion is described as “the day of the Lord … a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness … there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it.” These words suggest — indeed, require — equation with Daniel’s “time of trouble such as never was,” and the Lord’s “great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”1^[6] “A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness.” In other words, it is “as it was in the days of Sodom,” for Sodom was “as the garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13: 10), but it ended in a sea of flame.

The picture builds up through a long vivid paragraph (2: 4-11). This is an army countless in its numbers, remorseless and eager in its pressing forward for conquest, irresistible in its power. All attempts to withstand the unceasing pressure and to stem the onward rush are as futile as King Canute with the tide at his feet.

Mention of “the northern army” (v. 20) has led many to equate this prophecy with the Gog-Magog invasion, “from the uttermost parts of the north,” described in Ezekiel 38. But in chapter 18 hereof reasons are advanced for setting the fulfilment of that Scripture after the coming of the Lord, whereas this in Joel must necessarily be before his return. Also, if the figure of a locust army is to be given its due force, it must be remembered that locusts never come “from the uttermost part of the north” but (in Palestine) from the desert. With an obviousness, which almost shouts, the figure of locusts describes an Arab invasion. The interpretation, once popular, which takes Joel 2 as a description of immortal saints advancing remorselessly against the enemies of the Lord, is fairly clearly disallowed by Nahum 3: 15-17.

INEVITABLE DESOLATION

The northern invader of Ezekiel 38 goes into Israel because he sees something desirable to be appropriated — “to take a spoil and to take a prey” — but with these locusts “the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness.” Today every one knows that when the Arabs do overrun Israel, they will go in to smash and to destroy, for the sheer joy of doing this to the long-hated enemy. That which now blossoms as a rose they will turn into desert.

But if this prophecy describes Arab desolation of the Land, why is the attacker described as “the northern army” (v. 20)? Probably, it is suggested, because the inspiration and real strength of the attack is northern. The whole world knows that without Russian arms and technical skill, Russian

encouragement and Russian chess-playing subtlety, the Arabs could never mount a successful onslaught on Israel.

One result of the complete military defeat suffered by Israel will be a wave of utter despair and wretchedness through all the survivors of that time of horror. There will be no powerful friend to come to their aid. Britain, now bereft of all real influence in world affairs, will not dare to interfere. America will wish to do so, but will write off Israel as expendable in face of the risk of escalation to nuclear war.

In such dire circumstances Israeli survivors will be called upon to endure such horrors of implacable remorseless Arab savagery as will make them sigh for the comforts and kindnesses of Auschwitz and Belsen. The only thing, which might ameliorate the terrors of this time of trouble, will be the prayers of those with the Hope of Israel in their souls who intercede as Abraham did for Sodom. In the hearts of all

who read these words should be the earnest inclination to pray without ceasing that Jerusalem and its people may be at peace with their God. This is the real meaning of the words of Psalm 122.

REPENTANCE

Accordingly, in Joel 2 there follows a long-sustained appeal to Israel to manifest a repentance long overdue:

Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him (Joel 2:12-14).

The moving five-fold appeal is matched by an even more moving five-fold reason emphasizing the graciousness of the God they have acknowledged with centuries-long indifference. This appeal is most probably the call to repentance to be made by the Elijah-prophet whom God has promised to raise up in the Last Days.^[7] His name ( = “The Lord my God”) has its counterpart in Joel’s repeated: “Turn unto the Lord your God.”

Another detail of special interest comes in here. The call to repentance becomes peremptory: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly.” This is the language of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement (the only God-appointed fast in the Jewish year: Leviticus 16: 31). Then can it be inferred that this appeal to call in the aid and forgiveness of God will be made at that time of the year — in other words, that the final defeat of Israel will take place in late September? In an earlier study of the prophetic periods of Daniel^[8] it was pointed out that if, applying them literally, and not on the year-for-a-day principle, they are made to begin at the Feast of Trumpets, they conclude at Passover and Pentecost — the times of deliverance (Joel 2: 32) and of outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2: 28).

HELP FROM GOD

The heavenly response to this change of heart in the Chosen People will be immediate and drastic: “Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people … Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith (what connection here with the Third Seal?): and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.” Such language can only mean that this is the final desolation of the Land of Israel (compare the even more emphatic language of Ezekiel 36: 12-15). “And my people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2: 27).

The divine intervention is even more drastic against Israel’s enemy: “I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the eastern sea (the Dead Sea), and his hinder part toward the western sea (the Mediterranean).” This intimates, as plainly as anything can, a flight of invaders from Jerusalem, the city newly wrested from Jews who themselves proudly celebrated in June 1967 that Jerusalem was nevermore to be “trodden down of the Gentiles” (an irony of history, this, which has deceived many a Christadelphian also).

The prophet does not indicate what will bring about this rout of a triumphant enemy, but the most obvious explanation available is: the manifestation of the Shekinah Glory of God in His Messiah, suddenly appearing at Jerusalem. Zechariah 14: 1-4 explains: All nations (round about) are gathered against Jerusalem, the city is taken, then the Lord goes forth, his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives — “and the earth shines with his glory” (Ezekiel 43: 2). It will be the Glory of God, more than the earthquakes, which will rid Jerusalem of its enemies.

SYMBOLIC? LITERAL?

However, it is not to be assumed that this great deliverance will take place as soon as Jerusalem comes under the heel of the invader. The mission of Elijah is significantly mentioned as being three and a half years (Luke 4:25; James 5: 17; but where in the O.T.?). During that period, “I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars (literally: palm trees) of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.”

Here, by any scheme of interpretation, is a picture of drastic dramatic happenings to terrify the hearts of the bravest. Of course the words cannot be taken literally, but it seems not at all unlikely that they describe some mysterious phenomena in that time of chaos. The symbolism of Bible prophecy has a marvellous knack of taking on something approaching literal fulfilment as well. These, then, are the “fearful sights and great signs from heaven” which Jesus spoke about along with “wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes” on a scale never known before. That phrase “palm trees of smoke” is especially ominous, for who can read it without conjuring up in the mind the grim picture of a radioactive mushroom cloud filling the sky? And since, in Scripture, palm trees appear to have symbolic association with Gentiles, there is perhaps added reason here for regarding this section of the prophecy as a description of God’s retribution on the Gentiles also.

The repentance of Israel will bring immediately the lifting up of God’s countenance upon them: “I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” In the Law of Moses it was specifically prohibited that “upon man’s flesh (i.e. a layman, one not consecrated to the priesthood) shall the holy anointing oil not be poured” (Exodus 30:32). But now such distinction will be swept away when Israel at last begins to fulfil its true destiny by becoming “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19: 6). This will also be the fulfilment of the great Elijah prophecy in Malachi 4. The hearts of the fathers shall become as little children, and the hearts of the children shall be changed to be like that of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (an impressive contrast with Isaiah 3: 5).

This “calling on the name of the Lord” will bring spiritual and physical deliverance, “for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be those that escape, as the Lord hath said (when Joel wrote, it already stood written in Isaiah 4:3), and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”

[6] Comparison of Joel 2:2 with Exodus 10:14 provides another clear proof that Joel is not describing literal locusts.

[7] It is a serious error, surely, to apply Malachi 4 to the conversion of the Gentiles. Every phrase in the context shouts for application to Israel. And John the Baptist the prototype of this Elijah-prophet, certainly preached to none but Jews, Edomite Herod being the dishonourable exception.

[8] “The Last Days” chapter 6.

The concluding section of Joel’s prophecy is mainly concerned with a more detailed expansion of the threat of divine judgement against the inveterate enemies of Israel, a judgement that has already been pronounced in chapter 2: 20, 30, 31. The reason for this anger is given with detail and indignant emphasis. Israel has been ravished by a host of enemies—Tyre and Zidon, Philistia, Egypt, Edom (vv. 4, 19). Neither the mighty Assyrian nor the barbarian northern tribes are hinted at, but only those names, which represent the Arab nations, round the state of Israel in the twentieth century.

The picture is one of savage inhuman treatment meted out to Land and people alike. The Land is divided up amongst the invaders (v. 2) and ruthlessly plundered (v. 5), the people are exported to far-off lands as slave labour1^[9] (vv. 6, 8) and are even used as currency to purchase self-indulgence (“they have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine”)—and all this to work off a grudge and a spite against the Jews. Yet this sanctification of a Holy War (v. 9) is really an attempt at reprisal against God: “will ye repay a deed of mine?”(v. 4) It was God who brought Israel back to their land. Then how can Arabs hope to set themselves against the plan of the Almighty?

AN ANCIENT DFLIVERANCE

God in His indignation will bring these adversaries into “the valley of Jehoshaphat,” the valley where Jehovah is One who metes out judgement. It is a mistake to seek a geographical identification of this valley, even though there are plenty of maps, which confidently, though for no good reason, place it to the east or south of Jerusalem. The allusion is to God’s marvellous deliverance of His people in the days of king Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). On that occasion a great confederacy from Ammon, Moab and Edom (v. 22) came against a king and people who abandoned all trust in themselves and who instead leaned for help on the God of their fathers. So the “Lord sent liers in wait” against the enemy, and there was a great overthrow. These “liers in wait” were evidently angels who, unseen, set the invaders against one another (v. 23), as in the day of Midian (Judges 7: 22; Isaiah 9: 4).

This will happen again. In response to the prayer: “Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord,” God will send not only His Gabriel (the Mighty One of God) but also His Messiah—El Gibbor (Isaiah 9: 6).

The ensuing judgement of the nations is pictured in graphic language. There are “multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.” This Hebrew word translated “decision” is the same as “consumption” in Isaiah 28: 21, 22 which foretells a time of divine intervention when God will “do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act … for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.”

GRIM HARVEST

The Isaiah and Joel passages have another link, for the word “act” is used in the same context to signify “labour in agriculture.” Accordingly the Joel prophecy proceeds: “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down (or, perhaps, tread ye the grapes), for the winepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” The Septuagint version here suggests that two separate harvests of judgement are foretold, for the word “sickle” is plural. This is the interpretation given in Revelation 14 where “one like unto the Son of man” (that is, according to a familiar Bible idiom, one who is the Son of man), wearing a golden crown and carrying a sharp sickle, is seen coming on a white cloud—the radiant Cloud of the Shekinah Glory. This divine Being—the Messiah—is urged by an eager angel of glory to begin his work of judgement: “Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Immediately after this an angel similarly equipped with a sickle, is bidden: “Thrust in thy sharp sickle (as the Son of man has done), and gather the clusters of the vine of the land.” When this is done, and the winepress is trodden “without the city (of Jerusalem),” the blood flows forth “even unto the horse bridles” which are “holy to the Lord” (Zechariah 14: 20, 21), “as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” Here is a ghastly River of Death, to contrast with the loveliness of the River of Water of Life, which is to proceed from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1 and Joel 3:18). Its dire effects carry through a distance of two hundred miles, almost exactly the length of the land from Lebanon to Kadesh, as it is described in a powerful Psalm of Judgement (29: 6, 8; compare also Ezekiel 47: 15, 19).

It is a time not only of wrath but also of deliverance. “The Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem”—the judgements of Revelation 14 are the seven thunders, each introduced by “an angel with a great voice” whose shout is “as a lion roareth”; “and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people (the saints), and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.”

PUNISHMENT AND BLESSING

This double element of retribution and redemption is well suggested also by the promise: “a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” Here, once again, it would be a mistake to seek a merely geographical meaning. The valley of Shittim was where Israel committed fornication with the women of Moab to the honour of Baal-peor (Numbers 25). That iniquity — and all such sins of apostasy in Israel — is to be washed away, as it was by the water that came from the smitten rock after the idolatry of the golden calf (Deuteronomy 9:21). Shittim was also the scene of vengeance against these Moabite (Arab) enemies of Israel. The Land will be washed clean of all the defilement, which they have brought in.

And not only Moab: “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.” It is impossible to believe that in the last days Egypt and Edom will be punished for their spiteful treatment of Israel thousands of years earlier. This “violence against the children of Judah” must be something recent and specially vile. It is not clear whether the words: “because they have shed innocent blood in their land” refers to what these Arab enemies have done or to what the Jews have done. If the latter—and all Biblical associations of the phrase “innocent blood” point to this interpretation—then the sin referred to is the crucifixion of Jesus. “His blood be upon us and upon our children” is a prophecy, which must continue to be fulfilled until Jewry acknowledges its guilt. But as soon as that repentance is shewn (compare the parable of the prodigal son), “I will cleanse (hold as innocent: RVm) their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.”

The prophecy could have no finer climax.

[9] Compare here the comment made on page 24, on Isaiah 19:18, 20.

All the students of Bible prophecy as having reference to the Last Days recognize the concluding section of this long prophecy. Yet it presents many problems, and accordingly has received many diverse interpretations.

The general shape of the prophecy is this:

Beginning (v. 2) with four kings of Persia (Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius Hystaspes, and Xerxes), it goes on to mention briefly (vv. 3, 4) the Grecian empire of Alexander, and then settles down to give great detail about the ensuing rivalries between the Seleucid kings of Syria (the king of the north) and the Ptolemys who ruled in Egypt (the king of the south). The varied fortunes and interplay of policy of these two powerful neighbours of Israel are traced through a long section, the meaning of which is given in clear detail in the commentaries (and also by Dr. Thomas in “Exposition of Daniel,” pp. 48-55 [1947 edition]).

Then, all at once, the prophecy unmistakably moves to the Last Days. There is a repeated mention of “the time of the end” (vv. 35, 40); and since the prophecy clearly runs on without break into chapter I2 (note 12: 1: “And at that time shall Michael stand up …”), the clear allusion in 12:2 to the resurrection makes imperative the application of the end of chapter 11 to the Last Days. Thus, the characteristic which is discernible in the other prophecies of Daniel (ch. 2, 7, 8, 9) is even more evident here—they all consist of a continuous historic prophecy of some detail, followed by a discontinuity which leaps a great span of years, and the rest relates to the Last Days.

CRUCIAL PROBLEM

Who is the king of the north? The two interpretations most commonly advanced are: (a) Turkey; (b) Russia.

The first of these may have seemed not unreasonable in the time of World War I, but since then Turkey’s role has dwindled away in importance as seen against the backcloth of the momentous events which have transpired since 1917. That Turkey should be given such prominence in the prophetic panorama whilst other happenings of much greater importance in the developing purpose of God should be passed over without mention, is not easy to understand. Briefly, then, this interpretation is not big enough to accord with the vital importance of the prophecy.

Nor is the identification with Russia free from difficulty. It has already been indicated that there is greater probability of Ezekiel 38 finding its fulfilment after, and not before, the coming of the Lord. Also, if the prophecy is about Russia there are two details very difficult to harmonize with the current situation: the defeat (vv.42, 43) of Egypt, which ever since Suez, 1956, has been firmly subordinate to Russia in its economic and foreign policy; and the “escape” of “Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon”— is it possible to imagine a Russia which can sweep through Israel and yet not be able to dominate the feeble state of Jordan also? In any case, is it not obvious that any power, which invades Israel, will, by that very fact, become the dear political ally of all the Arab states, including both Jordan and Egypt?

A further difficulty in the way of both the identifications mentioned is the interpretation of the corresponding role of “king of the south.” Especially is this the case if Russia is the “king of the north,” for the prophecy plainly implies that Egypt is the headquarters of his adversary. Thus to equate “the king of the south” with either Britain or America becomes near-absurdity. Since 1956 they have been almost ceaselessly at loggerheads with Egypt.^[10]

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY

A careful re-examination of Daniel 11:40 brings to light the possibility of a different interpretation of this section of the prophecy which imparts to it an almost startling relevance to modern developments, an interpretation which is now submitted with all diffidence and consciousness of fallibility.

There can be no question whatever that in the earlier part of this prophecy “the king of the south” is the current Pharaoh of Egypt, the ruling Ptolemy, whilst “the king of the north” is the contemporary king of Syria, Antiochus II or Antiochus III (the Great) or—from verse 21—Antiochus IV (Epiphanes). In the

later section, then, the most reasonable interpretation would be to make “the king of the south” Egypt

and “the king of the north” Syria, continuing the earlier meanings unchanged.

“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind…” What is the picture presented here? Is it that of the two kings pushing at each other, or of both of them pushing at Israel, the buffer state between them? From the language used, either idea would seem to be possible. But if the identification just proposed for the two powers be adopted, then that conclusion becomes decisive in requiring that each be regarded as attacking Israel.^[11] Thus the “him” is identified. Israel’

PROPHECY UP TO DATE?

If now the pronouns in the succeeding verses are similarly referred to Israel, the relevance of this prophecy to the brilliant Israeli blitzkrieg of June 1967, is positively startling: “he (Israel) shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over (this Hebrew word is “hebrew”).” This describes an overwhelmingly successful campaign. “He shall enter also into the glorious land (the rest of the land of Israel not occupied as yet), and many shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” The Israeli advance against the state of Jordan stopped at the river Jordan (though it need not have done), and the territory formerly occupied by these ancient neighbours has gone untouched.

“He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over … all the precious things of Egypt.” Does the poverty-stricken land of Egypt have anything more precious than the Suez Canal of which that lightning campaign by Israel brought about a long-lasting closure?

“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas (i.e. the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean) in the glorious holy mountain (that is, in Jerusalem).” This can be nothing else but the capture of the ancient portion of Jerusalem. “Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” Evidently the initial sensational success is to be swallowed up in a crushing defeat of the brittle state of Israel. Everyone knows that whilst the Israelis can mount a more efficient swift-moving attack than any other small nation in the world, they simply do not have the military or economic resources to sustain full-scale war for even a couple of months. So when “tidings out of the east (Jordan) and out of the north (Syria) trouble him,” a last desperate attempt to crush all surrounding enemies will be made, and will fail.

Then will begin for Israel “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a Gentile.” And when the frightful experience of the Jews in the times of Titus and Hitler are considered, this must mean horror past present imagining. The Arab enemy, ever unsympathetic to the softer virtues of mercy and compassion, and smouldering with bitter resentment over three ignominious defeats within twenty years, will give full expression to long pent-up hatred and the sudden savage delight of at last having his superior foe at his mercy. He will sweep into the efficient trim little country, which for a generation has been a standing exposure of Arab sloth and backwardness, not to take it over as a going concern, but to smash, ruin and destroy. This will be done with insatiable ruthlessness and with all the delight of teenage hooligans joyously and destructively flouting the forces of law and order. The Arab locusts will let the desert in. Those of Israel who survive will moan in helpless hopelessness. Now, at last, indomitable Jewish optimism and self-reliance is utterly quenched: “our bones are dried, our hope is lost.”

DELIVERANCE

It is at such a time, when all Jewish self-confidence is gone and when the faith that depends on the God of Israel is being re-born that “Michael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.”

This divine deliverer with the name: “Who is like God,” is commonly assumed to be Jesus because the name is so apt. Is this adequate reason for such identification? The angels also are like God in their glory and immortality. And why should this approach be adopted regarding Michael and not Gabriel (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), for his name is the same as El-Gibbor, one of the distinctive titles of Messiah (Mighty God; Isaiah 9: 6)? Also what commentator can be found (Christadelphian or otherwise) who is prepared to interpret the earlier mention of Michael in Daniel 10: 13, 21 as meaning the Lord Jesus Christ? There has been a lack of consistency regarding the exposition of some of these Scriptures. It would seem more reasonable to read the reference to Michael as a reminder that the angel of God’s presence who was with Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 23: 20) and who blessed their conquest of Canaanites (Joshua 5: 13-15) will be with them once again in their greatest hour of need.

It is appropriate to link with this angelic aid brought by Michael a further detail of the prophecy which has been badly mauled by interpreters over the years: “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” All kinds of unworthy guesses have been made as to the Last Day fulfilment of this prophecy. Fast travel—two generations back it was locomotives and automobiles, now it is jet planes and lunar rockets. And the increase of knowledge has been (undeservedly) credited to the scientists. The variations on these unwholesome themes have been many. Interpreting Scripture by Scripture takes the student of these things in a different direction.

Amos 9 is marvellously detailed prophecy of the rejection of Israel. Very briefly:

One basket of summer fruit (v. 1) in the temple court, when there should have been thousands (Deuteronomy 26: 1-11) tells of a nation wholly unacceptable to their God. It means that there is only one Man whose service is approved. Therefore (v. 2) “the end is come upon my people of Israel.” The Hallelujahs of the temple are reduced to howlings (hellilu). The entire Place (Sanctuary) is littered with dead bodies (all this in A.D. 70). The Land trembles, and all the people mourn (v. 8). The sun goes down at noon (v. 9; Mark 15: 33), there is darkness over all the Land, whilst the Passover feast (v. 10) is turned into mourning for The Only Begotten Son (v. 10; Luke 23: 48). From this time on there is a famine among the people of Israel of hearing the Word of the Lord (v. 11). Instead they wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east (v. 12), and do not find it. They run to and fro seeking the Word of the Lord, yet their young men and maidens faint for thirst (v. 13).

Joel supplies the complement to this last detail with his prophecy (2: 28) of the Last Day outpouring of the Spirit on sons and daughters, young men and handmaids. And Daniel 12 has the complement of their fruitless running to and fro in a picture of many in Israel running to and fro now to experience a vast increase in Knowledge of the Word (and the Logos), which has eluded them for two milleniums. It is another prophetic anticipation of the repentance of Israel in their great time of trouble. When it is realized that “running to and fro” is used to describe Israel gathering heavenly food in the wilderness (Numbers 11: 8 — same word in Hebrew), the seemliness of this interpretation will be more apparent.

“And at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book.” There may be a distinction here from “the children of thy people” who are saved by Michael. This is made more likely by the phrase: “everyone that shall be found written in the book” — in the Lamb’s book of life, the burgess roll of the New Jerusalem (Isaiah 4: 3). In that case, this Scripture is comparable with the promise in Isaiah (26: 20) of protection for the saints (Gentile or Jew) in that epoch of desperate trouble.

JESUS AND DANIEL

It is noteworthy that Jesus makes no less than four allusions to this block of three verses: Daniel 12: 1-3:

Thus, even if the language itself does not patently require reference to the Last Days, it is not to be denigrated as the symbolic idealism of a crazy mixed-up apocalyptic visionary, for Jesus took it seriously and found an important place for it in his own teaching. The witness of the verses just quoted provides clear demonstration that Daniel 11:4-12:3 refers to the coming of Christ’s kingdom and the events immediately preceding the Lord’s return. If the interpretation suggested here is incorrect, one can only assume that other dramatic events will be set in train very soon to provide a more relevant fulfilment. But those who would learn from Daniel regarding these things must come prepared to be taught.

[10] There is, of course, always the possibility of a dramatic change in the pattern of Middle East politics, which would turn Egypt into an enemy of Russia and a friend of Britain. But the indications of other prophecies and current events hardly support this.

[11] The phrase “with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships” could apply to both invaders.

All diligent Bible readers, and especially those who give much attention to prophecy, are impressed with the frequency and importance of the allusions to the heavenly bodies. Traditionally the sun has been taken to stand for human government and dominion, the moon for ecclesiastical authority, and (somewhat vaguely, it must be admitted) the stars for lesser political lights. It is not to our credit as a community of Bible students that for a century this approach (culled in the first instance from orthodox commentators!) has been uncritically accepted.

It is agreed that some sort of case might be made for the sun as a symbol of human political government, although even this result can only be achieved by ignoring a number of inconvenient examples (e.g. Micah 3: 6, Luke 23: 45, Isaiah 30: 26, Revelation 21: 23 etc.). But for the idea that the moon represents the ecclesiastical powers of the Gentile world, no Bible evidence worthy of consideration has yet been advanced. Until it is, the notion should be viewed with mistrust.

CONNECTION WITH ISRAEL

Over against the dearth of evidence in favour of these ideas can be set a group of obviously symbolic passages^[12] where a figure of the people of Israel is clearly intended. Sometimes the symbolism runs on to include the spiritual Israel also. This is only to be expected.

For example, in Joseph’s dream the sun, moon and eleven stars (or constellations? — the signs of the zodiac) offering worship to Joseph’s star were immediately perceived to be symbolic of the family of Israel. Children in the Sunday School do not need to have this meaning explained to them.

Appropriately, the seed of Abraham are compared to the stars of heaven (Genesis 15: 5 and 22: 17) not only in number, but also in glory (Daniel 12: 3). By contrast, those who forsake the Hope of Israel and follow false ideas are called “wandering stars” (Jude 13). When God “causes the sun to go down at noon” (Amos 8: 9) it is because He is bringing judgement on Israel: “I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head.” When, “the sun goeth down over the prophets” (Micah 3: 6), they lose their power of spiritual direction of Israel, not their political authority. If, as seems likely, the Shulamite in the Song of Songs is a type of spiritual Israel, then it is understandable that she should be described as “fair as the moon, clear as the sun,” even when she flees in confusion (Song 6: 10).

JEREMIAH AND THE OLIVET PROPHECY

It is especially in the Olivet prophecy and in the book of Revelation where an accurate understanding of this symbolism is important. What are the “signs in the sun, moon and stars … the sea and the waves roaring,” about which Jesus spoke (Luke 21: 25, 26)? It is a matter of some surprise that the allusion here to Jeremiah 31: 35, 36 has not been either recognized or taken proper account of: “Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever” (Jeremiah 31: 35, 36). So far as is known, this is the only other place in Scripture where mention of sun, moon and stars is combined with allusion to the roaring of the waves of the sea; and the pointed connection here with Israel will be immediately evident to all readers. By contrast, any attempt to read the more usually received meanings in this passage looks particularly unconvincing.

It surely follows, then, that in the Olivet prophecy Jesus was saying to his disciples: Keep your eye on Israel! When there are sensational developments in Israel as a nation, learn that the time is near.

It may well be that the other familiar phrase there should be read: “and in the land (of Israel) distress of peoples.” The form of the Greek phrase allows of this, but it cannot be insisted on.

EVIDENCE THE OTHER WAY

The nearest approach to Bible support for the more usual view concerning sun, moon and stars comes from a group of three passages (Isaiah 13: 10 and 34: 4; Ezekiel 32: 7), which appear to use these symbols where Israel is not in reference at all. Yet a careful re-examination of these passages suggests the possibility of harmonizing them with the others already considered.

For instance, some details in Isaiah 13 suggest that verses 6-12 (or 6-16, perhaps) are really a prophecy about Babylon’s treatment of Israel, hence the judgement pronounced in turn on Babylon in the rest of the chapter: “the day of the Lord cometh … to lay the Land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” This structure of the prophecy is not unique. Isaiah 17, the burden of Damascus, has only two verses about Syria, and all the rest is about Israel. Also, Isaiah 18 apostrophizes Egypt in the first two verses, but the rest of that prophecy is about Israel. Similarly in Isaiah 13, the inclusion of a judgement against Israel adds point to the denunciation of destruction upon Babylon, God’s instrument that vaunts itself against the Almighty.

Again, Isaiah 34 is a sombre picture of divine wrath against “all nations” round about Israel, with special reference to the Arab enemy Edom (v. 6). All this is “the controversy of Zion” (v. 8). Appropriately, then, verse 4 gives the reason for this heavenly vengeance—the ruthless destruction of the Chosen Race: “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll (in Hebrews 1 similar language is used with reference to the passing of the Mosaic order; see John Carter’s “Hebrews”), and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine (another symbol of Israel).”

Ezekiel 32: 7, 8 concerning Egypt is the only remaining problem, and no very great one: “And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 32: 7, 8).

The emphasis here is not so much on the symbolism of sun, moon and stars as on darkness. The plague of darkness with which God afflicted Egypt in the time of Moses is to have its counterpart in the experience of the Egyptian enemies of God’s people in the Last Days. Symbolically, and probably in a very literal sense also, Egypt is to be made to feel the hand of God in the days

to come; compare the allusion to the plague of the slaying of the firstborn, in Zachariah 14: 18, and to the smiting of Egypt’s waters, in Isaiah 19: 5-10.

It is believed that there are no other passages of Scripture, which even remotely appear to offer support to the use of this symbol regarding human governments and ecclesiastical powers. On the other hand, there are several that take on a fresh and much more satisfying meaning when read as symbolic of Israel.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Joel 2: 10 very plainly refer to the desolation of Israel; “The earth (the Land) shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” The same is true of the other familiar verses in Joel 2: 31 and 3: 15: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come”; and, “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Peter used the former of these two passages at Pentecost (Acts 2: 20) with evident primary reference to God’s overthrow of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. And the latter is closely associated with the “multitudes in the valley of decision’’ who desolate Israel (sun and moon darkened) and who themselves come to destruction when “the Lord is the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”

The same ideas can be traced in the Sixth Seal which, whatever its past historic applications, certainly has reference to a day yet future when “the wrath of the Lamb is come”: “The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind” (Revelation 6:12).

The language of the Fourth Trumpet is very similar (Revelation 8:12). The third part of the sun, moon and stars are smitten and darkened. Is this the third and worst of the overturnings of Israel foretold in Ezekiel 21:27 before the coming of “him whose right it is”? Many other Old Testament allusions throughout these Trumpets support this conclusion.

Similarly a very luminous exposition of Revelation 12 with reference to the Last Days becomes possible when the woman “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, is taken as a figure of Israel who is seen first in heaven (i.e. in covenant relationship with God) but later on the earth, in the wilderness, in fact; persecuted, and yet ultimately saved from her enemies. From this point of view many of the details are very impressive.

There remains the apparent paradox involved in Isaiah’s superb picture of the kingdom: “The sun shall no more be thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.” The meaning here is now seen to be quite simply and appropriately this: Israel is to continue as God’s glorious nation throughout this age of blessing, yet always and in every respect this glory will be subject to, and indeed dependent on, the greater glory of God.

[12] Not all allusions to sun, moon and stars are symbolic.

Traditionally the four beasts of Daniel 7 have been expounded with reference to the four “world empires” of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. This is, of course, perfectly correct. And yet, at the same time, it can be — and has been — misleading. The tendency has been to put emphasis on them as world powers, whereas they were hardly that. They did not even dominate the known civilization of their time. Babylon never expanded as far as Lydia and Greece; it gained only a temporary foothold in Egypt, which was as much the centre of civilization as Babylon itself was. Persia failed to conquer Greece and never touched other centres of Mediterranean culture. Alexander’s empire only lasted as long as Alexander. And even though the might of Rome went as far as the north of Scotland, in the east it stopped at the Euphrates, and only for short periods was it effective so far.

But in a Biblical sense these four great powers were all-important, for all of them in turn controlled the fortunes of God’s Land and People. It is from this point of view, and from this view only, that Rome “devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.” Normally this was not the character of Roman conquest. The legions did not conquer in order to destroy but in order to civilize. Wherever Rome went, law and order followed —the pax Romana. In this respect the Land of Israel was an outstanding exception. The Jews did not want any Roman peace. So at last, against all normal Roman policy, that troublesome country was “broken in pieces, and stamped with the feet of it.”

ISRAEL AND THE EMPIRES

This view of Daniel’s four beasts has good, but much neglected, Biblical support: “Their (Israel’s) heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself” (Hosea 13: 6-9).

There is good evidence in Daniel chapter 9 alone that the prophet was in the habit of poring over the Scriptures already written, and that his Bible included at least the Books of Moses, Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah. So it is not unreasonable to believe that he had also pondered this passage in Hosea and that the revelation of God’s continuing retribution against his wayward people was made in terms of what he was already familiar with. This Hosea passage describes the great powers as raised up for the punishment of Israel. The extent of their dominion over the centuries is a matter of little importance—so little, in fact, that it is not mentioned once throughout Daniel 7 (verse 23 is not the exception to this which it appears to be). No wonder then, that the vision of an everlasting kingdom “given to the people of the saints of the most High” left Daniel not reassured or elated but “much troubled” and with “changed countenance” (v. 28); for he saw clearly that this long sequence of ravagers boded much ill for Israel before peace should come to Jerusalem.

In this view of chapter 7 — and of the prophecy as a whole — there becomes evident the reason for the long gap which exists in all of Daniel’s prophecies (see “The Last Days”, chapter 3). These revelations take no account of the long period during which Israel have been scattered from their land. They all resume in the Last Days when Israel are back in the land preparatory to the setting up of Messiah’s kingdom.

TEN KINGDOMS

This concept helps considerably to impart unification and coherence to the various prophecies in Daniel. The ten toes (ch. 2) and the ten horns (ch. 7) belong to the Last Days, and not to the long period from the decay of Rome to the twentieth century. They are to be equated with the ten kings of Revelation 17 who make war with the Lamb and are overcome by him. For the stone smashes the feet of the image. The horns also are ten powers in the Last Days and not before, for they are there when “the Ancient of Days came.” The strange leaps in the visions at 8: 23 and 11: 40 (or is it 11: 36?) from prophecies long fulfilled to the Last Days are also now readily accounted for.

But one further conclusion follows. The revelation regarding the little horn of the fourth beast will have its true and detailed fulfilment in the days to come. In “The Last Days,” chapters 4, 5, a variety of additional reasons were given for this view. The incompleteness and partial character of the “Papal” interpretation may be summarized in the following brief statements:

1. The usual application assigned to the three uprooted horns is so woefully insignificant as to condemn itself. Why should the transfer to Papal authority of three obscure little provinces (little more than counties) in Italy, be the subject of one of the most powerful Old Testament prophecies of the Kingdom of God?
2. “Made war with the saints.” What saints? Anyone who has read the systematized creeds of Waldenses, Abigenses and Huguenots will hesitate to apply the prophecy to such. The Book of Daniel applies this Hebrew word to Israel (8: 24 and 12: 7; same word—and see Psalm 79: 2), and also to angels (8:13). Obviously, in chapter 7, the former is the proper reference.
3. “prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came …”. The persecuting power of the Papacy stopped long before the manifestation of Messiah.
4. “they (the saints) shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Even granting, for the sake of argument, the “year for a day” principle (although there is no hint of it in Daniel^[13]), the fact still has to be faced that long before 1868-70 (the standard termination date) the Pope had lost all persecuting power, and has been without it now for nearly two centuries. Yet the prophecy strongly implies a sudden change from the persecuting horn of the everlasting kingdom of the most High.
5. Does the Pope “speak great words against the most High?” At least, he honours Christ, after a fashion—a thing that is hardly to be said about the Jews at any time in their history or about modern scientific rationalism (a much greater enemy to the Truth than the Pope can ever be).

A GAP

It is suggested, instead, that the Last Day interpretation calls for a gap in the prophecy (as in chs. 2, 8, 9, 11), and read the details of the little horn as having reference to the Last Days when Israel are back in their land. It is known from such Scriptures as Zechariah 14: 2, 3 that before the coming of the Messiah, the state of Israel is to be smashed to pieces by assembled enemies. Daniel 7 gives a vivid picture of the final and most terrible oppression in the land, lasting for three and a half years. This tyrant “shall be diverse from the former,” that is, from Rome, Greece, Persia and Babylon, who were all Gentiles and blatantly imperialist. By contrast this persecutor will be himself an Arab son of Abraham seeking revenge rather than power, or he will be a Gentile co-ordinator of Arab hostility. He will speak great words against the most High by taunting the Jews regarding their vaunted national destiny.

It is useful to note that every period of three and a half years traceable in Scripture describes a period of increasing tribulation for men of God, culminating in vindication and triumph.^[14] Elijah’s exile in Zidon during three and a half years of drought ended on mount Carmel. Antiochus Epiphanes’ desecration of the temple had Maccabees rebellion and triumph as its climax. The ministry of Jesus was followed by his resurrection and ascension. The forty-two stages of Israel’s pilgrimage in the wilderness (Numbers 33) led to the Land of Promise. The forty-two generations from Abraham (Matthew 1: 17) brought the birth of Messiah. Here in Daniel 7 is perhaps the most striking example of all.

DANIEL AND REVELATION

In Revelation 13 the very phrases used in Daniel 7 to describe the persecuting horn are applied to the Beast of the sea (vv. 5, 6, 7) which heads up the ten kings who make war with the Lamb (17: 14) and are overcome by him. The oppression of the “saints” — God’s holy people, Israel — described in Revelation 13 is evidently an apocalyptic expansion of the corresponding details in Daniel 7. The language is highly appropriate to Israel: “He that leadeth (Israel) into captivity shall (himself) go into captivity” — where does the Bible ever speak of saints in Christ going into captivity? — “Here is the patience and faith of the saints,” i.e. this especially is when God’s people will need patience, as three and a half bitter years drag their weary course.

This last-day Antichrist has as his “high-priest” one who is described as a lamb-like “beast of the earth,” called also in 19: 20 “the false prophet.” Again the Old Testament helps towards identification. One of Ezekiel’s prophecies of the restoration of Israel has these details: “And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely (Ezekiel 38: 11!) in the wilderness and sleep in the woods (i.e. in open country — without walls, having neither bars nor gates) … And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the earth (Revelation 13: 11) devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid” (Ezekiel 34: 24, 25, 28).

There is much that is difficult about the details of Revelation 13,^[15] but in conjunction with Daniel 7 it appears to teach fairly plainly that its grim picture of oppression and blasphemy will find ultimate fulfilment in the terrible sufferings of Israel through three and a half years of ghastly horror when their state is overrun by Arab enemies headed up in a Power or a Man (Revelation 13: 18).

The ready harmonization of these prophecies with others of a similar tenor, already expounded, will not be lost on the reader.

[13] Not even in the Seventy weeks prophecy, when attention is given to the proper meaning of the Hebrew for “week.”

[14] If this view is justified, what about the “papal” application concluding in 1868?

[15] Inevitably so, once it is agreed that the detailed fulfilment of this part of the vision lies in the future.

The last chapter of Zechariah has many powerful details of the consummation of the Lord’s work among His people, some of which are by no means easy to understand. Nor is it altogether clear how this prophecy is to be pieced together chronologically.

It begins with a successful attack on Jerusalem by “all nations.” Clearly this phrase is not to be taken literally. It puts too big a strain on the imagination to picture the Fiji Islanders and the Eskimos, the pygmies of Africa and the Communist Chinese, all combining together in a savage onslaught on the city

Some have sought a way out of the difficulty by calling in the United Nations. But even then a solution to the problem is still far away, for the aim of any such activity by that effete hypocritical organization is to separate combatants by means of a peace-keeping task force. But these attackers in Zechariah ravage and spoil without mercy.

As soon as the Bible idiom of “all nations round about Israel” (compare 1 Chronicles 14: 17, 2 Chronicles 32: 23; Ezekiel 32: 12) is recognized, the difficulty ceases to exist. These, as in so many other prophecies already considered, are the Arab enemies of Israel who will never rest content until they have ground their Jewish neighbours into the dust. These Arab invaders may be confidently depended on to rifle houses and ravish women. In the third Arab-Israeli war a Jewish citizen stated in a newspaper article that if the Arabs had won he would have shot his own wife and family and then

himself. “There would have been another Masada.” This, at least, shews what the Jews expect when they lose the struggle against these inveterate foes.

That they will lose is plainly intimated in one Scripture after another. “The city shall be taken … half the city shall go forth into captivity.” This must mean slavery for a big proportion of the population, as Joel 3 and Isaiah 19 have already been seen to require.

THE MESSIAH

“Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.” In the time of crisis and despair, and because Israel turn in their helplessness to the God of their fathers, deliverance will come in a way to amaze the world. How the Lord will fight is explicitly stated: “And it shall come to pass in that day that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour” (v. 13).

The great plague with which these enemies will be smitten is described in language which makes the blood run cold: “Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth” (v. 12). All kinds of suggestions have been made as to how this might come about. Bubonic plague, the deadly incurable aftermath of nuclear radiation such as is caused by hydrogen bombs, some hitherto unused secret weapon of germ or chemical warfare perfected by the back-room scientists — many guesses of this sort have been ventilated. One thing seems to be clear: the words indicate an escalation of the attack on Jerusalem into war on a massive scale involving much more than the tiny Holy Land.

At such a time the Messiah himself will appear. It was promised by the angels “he shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Since he went away in a cloud of divine glory (Acts 1: 9), it may be confidently expected that he will be manifested accompanied by that same Shekinah majesty. This is implied in Zechariah: “and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee.” Here the “saints” or “holy ones” coming with (and not to) the Messiah are the angels (see Matthew 24: 31, 1 Thessalonians 4: 16; Jude 14)^[16] Also, the Messiah will return to the same place from which he ascended: “his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.”

EARTH QUAKE

At that time this Mount of Olives will be split in two by a mighty earthquake (v. 4), which will create a great valley running east and west. It is only in recent times that geologists have discovered the existence of a great geological east-west fault in the structure of the Mount of Olives. It is as though ages ago the Almighty prepared the ground for the vast changes soon to take place.

The result will be a formation similar to that, which already exists at Shechem (Nablus), where mount Ebal and mount Gerizim flank a deep east west valley. It was here where Joshua assembled the people of Israel with the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, in the midst, to hear recited the blessings and the cursings which would come upon them (Joshua 8: 33, 34). Apparently, then, the mount of Olives will be prepared that it might be the scene of a similar declaration of the divine will concerning the saints in Christ. They will be assembled in the divine presence of a more glorious Jesus-Joshua, and set either on his right hand to hear the wondrous invitation: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom,” or to be thrust away to the left: “Depart from me ye cursed.”^[17]

At the time of the earthquake men will flee “as from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah” — fleeing “from before the terror of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” (Isaiah 2: 19—a passage based initially on the experience of Uzziah’s earthquake, but appropriated in the New Testament to describe the terror of the coming of Christ: 2 Thessalonians 1: 19; Revelation 6: 16).

This “valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel,” a place no one can identify. Perhaps once again the allusion is not geographical but spiritual intended to recall Azazel, the scapegoat, which, with sin laid upon it, was for utter dismissal (see RVm in Leviticus 16: 8) from the presence of the Lord.

Thus, with both the unworthy in the ecclesia of Christ and the wicked among the nations purged out, the kingdom of Messiah will come in with glory and righteousness: “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one,” that is, “the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”

MESSIAH’S KINGDOM

The prophecy is rounded off with two vivid pictures of the transformations brought by Messiah’s reign. “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left, of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.”

That which in ancient days was a unique combination of national holiday, Bible School, and re-dedication for the people of Israel, will be extended to take in all the nations of the world. The feast will be held all the year round, members of all the diverse peoples going up to the Holy City in rotation, for instruction and guidance in the ways of God (Isaiah 19: 23-25).

The phrase: “every one that is left of all the nations” is ominous. The implication is unmistakable that a big proportion of the world’s teeming millions, now presenting such a problem to scientists and world planners, will not survive to see the wonders of the coming age.^[18] But for those whom the grace of God preserves there will be opportunities of blessing past imagining.

Yet, such is human nature, even under the benign conditions which Christ’s reign will bring, some stubbornness and recalcitrance is bound to happen. Those unwilling to be integrated in the divine family of nations will find themselves without rain: and in particular Egypt, if rebellious, will be visited once again with the plague which broke the spirit of that nation in the days of Moses. Jeremiah indicates that where there is persistent stubbornness, the plague will not stop at the firstborn: “And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth … then shall they be built in the midst of my people (here is a true UNO, built round and in Israel, the people of God’s choice; see also Isaiah 2: 3). But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 12: 16, 17).

In contrast to this picture of intransigence, so characteristic of human nature, is another of Jerusalem and its people utterly transformed in character: “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holy to the Lord.” The very bridles which have been bathed in blood (Revelation 14: 10) will now be as holy in the work of the city of peace as the garments of the High Priest (Exodus 28: 33, 36). “And the (earthenware) pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the (golden) bowls before the altar.” Here is further symbolism too instructive to be neglected. Those who are earthen vessels filled with the treasure of the Lord’s message (2 Corinthians 4: 7) will themselves become as valuable and permanent in God’s service as the treasure itself.

“And there shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of the Lord.” Not only is this an assurance that the centuries-long Moslem sway over the holy city shall be swept away for ever, but also it is an indirect but yet emphatic way of insisting that the promises God made to Abraham will be finally and completely fulfilled. For, when ‘‘Abram passed through the land … the Canaanite was then in the land;” but when “the Lord made covenant with Abram,” he promised: “Unto thy seed have I given this land … Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, Jebusites” (Genesis 12: 6 and 15: 18-21). Abraham himself will see it fulfilled.

[16] It has to be remembered that in Scripture the word “saints” may describe three separate groups of people:

1. the angels, God’s holy messengers;
2. Israel, God’s holy nation
3. those sanctified in Christ, God’s holy remnant.

[17] Each occurrence of the word has to be judged on its merits, in the light of the context. ~ Compare the way in which the travail of Jesus in the garden on the mount of Olives led to men being set on his right hand and his left, blessing and cursing, blessed and cursed.

[18] On this question see also Jeremiah 25: 33, 44: 14, 27; Isaiah 24: 5, 6; 66: 16, 19; Matthew 24: 22.

Matthew 24

On the face of it the Lord’s Olivet prophecy is in three easily separable sections: (a) concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 — this in response to the question: “When shall these things be,” when not one stone of the temple is to be left upon another? (b) the Last Days, the time of the Lord’s return—in answer to the question: What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (c) exhortation to preparedness, and warning regarding the day of judgement.

Such an analysis of Christ’s discourse actually over-simplifies it. There is fair reason for believing that the A.D. 70 section of the prophecy will also find another fulfilment in the Last Days. In other words, the brethren of the first century saw the fulfilment of the first part of this prophecy in their day, and were able to profit from the knowledge of it; the brethren of the twentieth century will see the entire prophecy fulfilled from start to finish.

Even apart from the Bible evidence, which is available, pointing to such a conclusion, this may be deemed reasonably possible or even probable, because this is the character of such a big proportion of Bible prophecy. The idea is familiar, to the point of obviousness, that the prophets were inspired to utter words which mostly had some kind of fulfilment in their own time or soon after, but which were also prophecies of the consummation of the age. Psalms written by David about his own experiences were also Psalms about the Messiah (Acts 2:30, 31). Isaiah based many of his prophecies on the suffering and glory of good king Hezekiah, but these were also prophecies of Messiah (John 12: 41). So it would be strange indeed if the greatest prophecy of the greatest prophet of all time did not have a similar double application.

A SECOND FULFILMENT

Here, then, are six more reasons educed from the text itself why the first section of the Lord’s Olivet prophecy should be re-studied with reference to the Last Days:

1. “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes” (Matthew 24: 17, 18). In Luke 17: 31 Jesus had already used almost identical words concerning “the days of the Son of man.” If this fact stood by itself there might be some (though not much) justification for the assumption that the Lord used the same language because there was the same urgency about the occasions. Those who have really absorbed the spirit of Bible prophecy will know how inadequate such a view is. But in any case there are corroborative reasons.
2. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew. 24: 21). Yet the Old Testament prophets had already made the same portentous declaration over and over again regarding the Last Days! One recalls Daniel’s “time of trouble such as never was” (Daniel 12: 1) and the extreme emphasis of the words of Joel: “there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations” (2: 2). Either the words do not mean what they say, or they are to be reconciled by being applied to the same occasion.
3. It is in this section of the prophecy also that the words come: “But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved” (24: 13). There is more innate difficulty in this saying than has generally been conceded. If “the end” is A.D. 70, was Jesus saying: He who keeps the faith till the temple is destroyed shall be saved? Or did he mean: He who keeps the faith to the end of his life shall be saved? But this is a truism valid for every disciple in every age. Had Jesus said: “He that shall endure in the time of the end (of the Mosaic dispensation), the same shall be saved,” there would have been little difficulty. But he did not say that. On the other hand, reference to the Last Days allows the words to be taken literally, at their face value.^[19]
4. Verse 29 begins: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days …” This word “immediately,” the meaning of which has been evaded by a variety of tortuous or inaccurate devices (e.g. by suggesting that it does not mean “immediately” but “suddenly”) requires a very close connection between the tribulation Jesus has already foretold and the time of his second coming.
5. “Then let them which be in Judæa flee to the mountains” (v. 16). This is the experience of Lot over again: “Escape for thy life … escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19: 17). In Luke 17: 28, 29, 32 Jesus pointed to an emphatic parallel between the Last Days and the deliverance of Lot. So it is hard to believe that here also in his Olivet prophecy he used similar language without intending a similar idea.
6. “And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24: 14). In the first century these words had their fulfilment in the matchless work of Paul who in humble truth was able to write about “the hope of the gospel … which was preached to every creature under heaven” (Colossians 1: 23). “And then shall the end come”—about a year after Paul was beheaded, the three and a half year’s Jewish War began in Judæa. Yet as the words of Jesus are read and pondered, there is a finality about them that suggests a grander fulfilment. In this twentieth century, in spite of the blameworthy lethargy of God’s elect, the message of the imminent return of Christ goes out from scores of radio stations. Today in a much more universal fashion than was true in Paul’s day the gospel is being preached in all the world, even though it be mixed with error.

MEANING FOR THE LAST DAYS

The foregoing assembly of Bible arguments will surely predispose any earnest student of prophecy towards re-examining this part of the Lord’s discourse with a view to learning more concerning the time of his coming. The following are some of the details specially worthy of re-consideration.

1. Verses 9, 10 speak of persecution and bitter hatred of the faithful. At the time of writing there is no sign of this. Would God there were, for the Household of God needs the bracing influence of external adversity to save it from the eroding effects of a soft materialistic civilization and to provide it with new and better opportunities of evangelism. This could well come.
2. “And then shall many be offended … and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24: 10a, 11, 12). The words plainly mean that many will openly renounce the Faith, many others will pervert it, but many (most) will just drift. To the modern mind these seem to be incompatible with what has just been mentioned. Yet Jesus saw no incompatibility.
3. An “abomination of desolation” is to stand in the holy place (v. 15). This means: an abomination which desolates the holy city, Jerusalem. Such a conclusion is indicated by the parallel in Luke 21: 20: “And when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies …” Since Jesus adds: “whoso readeth, let him understand,” it is a reasonable inference that the great sign of the imminence of the Lord’s return will be the desolation of Jerusalem, lately freed from nineteen centuries of Gentile domination. In Daniel 12 the prophecy already quoted continues: “And from the time that … the abomination that maketh desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days;” whilst in Luke 21 the prophecy already quoted continues: “and Jerusalem shall be trodden down until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” This suggests that “the times of the Gentiles” which Jesus had in mind were not the long centuries of Gentile mastery of the city but the “time, times and a half,” a period of literally three and a half years when the city is laid desolate just before the coming of the Lord.
4. “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24: 22). There are several impressive examples to be found in Scripture of a divine fore-shortening of evil days. The three days’ pestilence in which David preferred to fall into the hand of God was shortened, by grace, to less than a day—again, for the sake of the elect. David prayed for the people and took the guilt upon himself (2 Samuel 24: 13, 15, 16, 17). The siege of A.D. 70 was shortened, in the mercy of God, to five months precisely (Nebuchadnezzar’s siege lasted the whole of a terrible year). This also was for the elect’s sake: Revelation 9: 5 and 8: 3, 4. Similarly it may well be that the times of the Gentiles which are still future will be shortened through the faith and prayers of the saints who discern the pattern of God’s working and influence it by their intercession as Abraham did in the days of Lot.

Tentative conclusions such as these may be momentous. The possibility of such sensational developments has perhaps not been ventilated and discussed as fully as it might be.

[19] Readers may like to probe further and seek an answer to the question why Jesus chose to include these words here and not in a later section of his discourse where they seem to be so much more appropriate.

The prophecy of Zephaniah is very evidently connected closely with the events of the prophet’s own time — the reign of Josiah. Two possibilities present themselves. Either the prophet is foretelling events soon to happen, and the prophecy is so framed as to have reference also to events of the Last Days (much in Jeremiah and the early part of Isaiah is like this); or, recent events are being used (as in the later chapters in Isaiah) to provide prophetic pictures of bigger events in the time of the end. It is difficult to say with any confidence which of these modes of interpretation is correct, but the pointed allusions to Josiah’s Passover in 1: 7, 8, 12 suggest the second.

A FUTURE FULFILMENT

Apart from the language of the prophecy itself, there seem to be two clear reasons for a Last-Day application of it. First, there are the quotations from the prophecy of Joel: “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near … a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm” (1: 14-16). This is Joel 2: 1, 2. Some of the phrases are quoted word for word. If Joel may be applied with confidence to the Last Days, then surely Zephaniah also.

The concluding section of the prophecy (3: 14 20) reads very convincingly as a picture of events still future. But there is also this: in John’s account of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the familiar quotation from Zechariah 9:9 is prefaced with two phrases from Zephaniah: “Fear not, daughter of Zion” (3: 16, 14)—the words are not found in Zechariah. And the context in Zephaniah 3 is: “the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee … The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will Jesus thee” (vv. 15,17). The triumphal entry of Jesus was, of course, a kind of dress-rehearsal of the kingdom. The Lord was asserting his right to come to Jerusalem one day as its eternal king.

The shape of Zephaniah’s picture of judgement and blessing in the Last Days is worth noting. Chapters 1, 3 are, in the main, pronouncements of wrath against “Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” Chapter 2: 4-13 is against neighbouring enemies: the Philistines, Moab, Ethiopia, Assyria. The prophecy ends with the lovely picture of the kingdom, already referred to.

HEEDLESS ISRAEL

The prophet describes Israel as given over to idolatry and the pursuit of material prosperity. They have no mind for anything else. Making due allowance for the fact that Zephaniah necessarily has to use the language of his own day, the description is appropriate to the Jews now in the Land: “them that are turned back from the Lord, and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for him … that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil.” Today the Jews in Israel are, for the most part, godless in outlook. There is little acknowledgement of the blessing of God in the building of their vigorous new state, and little thankfulness to Him for the victories they have won. Instead, there is a rather cocksure dependence on their own powers and a glorifying of their own admittedly remarkable achievements. “She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God” (3: 2). Princes, judges, prophets, priests are all castigated as unworthy of their office (3: 3, 4). Yet “the just Lord is in the midst thereof,” unrecognised; “morning by morning (through the signs of the times?) doth he bring his judgement to light” (3 :5), but these men who are skilful in “discerning the face of the (political) sky, cannot discern the signs of the times.”

Soon God will rise up early, sending His prophet Elijah among them, but the nation will continue to “rise early, and corrupt their doings” (3: 7). The appeal is made, therefore, to the faithful remnant “before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you” (2: 2); “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger” (2: 3).

Appeal is made to the nation to see God’s hand in the events of their own time: “I have cut off the nations (Egypt, Jordan, Syria): their towers are desolate; I have made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man” (3: 6). Yet still the lesson that God controls the affairs of His ancient people goes unlearned: “I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction” (3: 7). But no! Israel appears impervious to true wisdom.

However, inexorably the day draws near when the lesson will be learned: “In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings…for then I will take away out of the midst of thee thy proudly exulting ones, and thou shalt no more be haughty upon my holy mountain,” as Israel has certainly been since June 1967.

The enemy nations round about will also be involved in this dramatic transformation. Judgement and desolation will come upon them who have been used to bring desolation and judgement on Israel (2: 4, 9, 13-15; 1:17,18). All this because “they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts” (2: 10). Up to the present day there has been “reproach” in plenty. But until Arab utterly defeats Jew in battle, there is little ground for “magnifying themselves.”

A GREAT TRANSFORMATION

During the evil time referred to here, “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” when the Arabs—with formidable Russian help—are able to gloat in triumph over a people they know to be their superiors in everything except barbarism, there will be a faithful remnant who will be saved through their repentance and faith in God: “I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord” (3: 12).

Then the Lord will “take away thy judgements” and “cast out thine enemy”; from this time on “the king of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more” (3: 15). Retribution will be visited on the enemies of this nation beloved for their fathers’ sakes. Jews who have endured affliction and dispersion yet again will once more be gathered to their homeland. Now for the last time in all their fantastic history they will come from all parts to inherit the Land, this time forever. No contempt, opposition or hatred now, for God has “made them a name and a praise among all the people of the earth” (3: 20). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in person will beckon them back to a Land lately associated in their minds with fear and horror. “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem” (3: 14). The exhortation to indulge in unrestrained gladness will be needed, for the startling change which will then come over the fortunes of this stricken people will surely reduce them to stupefied silence and awe.

“Then will I turn to the peoples a pure lip, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent” (3: 9). The words have often been interpreted as a prophecy of the reversal of Babel, the institution of one common language (Hebrew?) in the kingdom of God. That this will assuredly happen may be taken as axiomatic. But whether that language will be Hebrew and whether this passage is a prophecy of that much-to-be-desired achievement is doubtful.

This famous Zephaniah passage is more fundamental than any of these considerations. Here, as in a great many other Old Testament passages “the peoples” are the tribes of Israel; and the “pure lip” is not so much the language they will speak as the ideas they will express — “calling upon the name of the Lord” and “serving him with one consent” — a condition which has never been achieved in Hebrew history since the days of Abraham. Now, at last, Israel will not only say: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do,” but they will do what they say.

In 1967 the writer of this collection of studies in Bible prophecy published an earlier series, written in 1964, under the title: “The Last Days.” They were little more than brief summaries, to suggest lines of investigation. The present compilation, written in the Fall of 1967, is an attempt to dot a few i’s and cross a few t’s.

In recent years there are certain distinctive attitudes discernible regarding the study of Bible prophecy. One school of thought saves itself from thinking and from hard personal Bible study by nailing its colours to the mast and refusing to consider any interpretation more recent than the nineteenth century.

Another trend, also to be deplored, is the picking up of isolated verses here and there from prophetic passages in order to weave them together, with a confidence altogether unwarranted, into a detailed prophetic time-table. Anything, which is attempted in this direction, should always be done with great diffidence. One foresees the possibility of serious strains on personal faith when over-confident schemes of interpretation are turned topsy-turvy by the hard facts of a year or two.

Yet another fashion, understandable but not to be encouraged, is the rambling political commentary, decorated with an occasional knowing allusion to some prophecy or other. This tendency to turn Bible prophecy into a kind of political game — the only kind of politics valid to Christadelphians — is of little spiritual profit. It is especially undesirable when it steers the attention of the Lord’s watchers to the Far East or Africa or Western Europe or the Papacy, and away from Israel. There is no single lesson to be learned by the student of Bible prophecy of more importance than the almost self evident: Watch Israel! By comparison all the rest is negligible.

The present series of studies is a rather miscellaneous sequence of brief expositions of more or less familiar chapters in the prophets. They are essentially Biblical studies. Allusions to current politics are few. Many of the conclusions reached — especially in considering such chapters as Daniel I1, Amos 1, 2 — are very tentative. The writer is prepared to see some of his expectations proved to be mistaken by the events of the next few years. In that case he will be in good company.

Two themes, both of which have suffered unwarranted neglect over the years, were given some prominence in “The Last Days”: the repentance of Israel, and Arab hostility. It will be observed that in these further excursions into prophetic fields, the same motifs (deliberately recapitulated in chapter 2) constantly recur — not because they have been sought, but because they are inescapable.

It is, of course, well recognized that most, if not all, of the prophecies considered here have already had some kind of fulfilment in or soon after the prophet’s own time. But this is not to say that further fulfilment in days yet future must be ruled out. Almost no allusion is made in these pages to any primary fulfilment, but the reader is assured that where such application of the prophecy has been known, it has been borne in mind in order to help towards a harmonious exposition of the later, and now more important, fulfilment.

Some will be disappointed at the paucity of references in these pages to the Book of Revelation. Such readers are assured that there has been no culpable negligence. The present writer has a complete commentary on that remarkable book in manuscript. Perhaps one day it may be possible to make this available for perusal, but it is fervently hoped that the rapid development of events in these Last Days will soon make the further study of the Apocalypse unnecessary.

The re-gathering of Israel to the Land of their Fathers as a sign that the Last Days are upon us is a fact familiar enough to all who read these words. It is familiar both in Holy Scripture and in modern politics. The thing is past argument. Why cannot others see it as plainly as we can?

And the future of Israel is just as plain. They will come through the chapter of tribulation which yet awaits them, saved by the advent of the Messiah whom they have refused for many centuries; they will then acknowledge him, yielding humble submission, and thus will find themselves exalted to be the head of the nations, and not the tail; the glorious Kingdom of God now brought in will be essentially a Kingdom of Israel, the splendour and power of the Davidic era raised to the nth degree.

It is the purpose of this chapter to suggest that, whilst the fore-going summary is entirely correct, the emphasis is wrong. A subtle distortion has crept in which has resulted in serious loss of perspective.

The key factor is the repentance of Israel. All our thinking regarding this vital element in the divine purpose has been dominated by the familiar passage in Zechariah 12: 10:

“And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

An inference, not wholly justified, has been readily made that the inevitable conversion of Israel to faith in Christ will follow instantaneously when they set eyes on Jesus. The stigmata of his sufferings, inflicted by their own race and now displayed before them, will bring full conviction of their national error and sin, and they will prostrate themselves in wretchedness before him.

Such a reading of the passage is weak in two points. Misled by the familiar words of the King James Version, readers have assumed that this transformation in stony-hearted Israel is brought about by the actual evidence of their senses, as was the conversion of hard-headed Thomas: “they shall look upon me… and they shall mourn.” But the Hebrew text is not so explicit. The expression means literally: “they shall look unto me,” and it would be unwise to press the more familiar meaning. The same is also true of the New Testament version of these words in John 19: 37. Incidentally, it is well to be clear also that the allusion in John is not to the piercing by crucifixion but by the spear-thrust of a Roman soldier: yet John’s intention is that this shall be seen as brought about by Jewish malice: “him whom they pierced.”

A further difficulty (to the present writer, though he is aware that many take this in their stride) is the astonishing paradox of a great national mourning in the very moment of redemption and triumph (see, by all means, Zechariah 12: 11-14).

It is well that the fact should be recognized that this picture of a national repentance of Israel at sight of their crucified Messiah stands almost alone. Revelation 1:7 is nearly the only parallel passage:

“Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

Ezekiel 36: 24-28 and 37: 23 should perhaps be read in harmony with this idea, but this cannot be taken for certain. Romans 11: 26 is fairly explicit on this:

And 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.

Yet even here the original text in Isaiah 59: 20 is markedly different in its implications, suggesting that the repentance of Israel must come before the manifestation of the Redeemer:

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.

This repentance of Israel is a frequent theme of the prophecies concerning the Last Days. The Bible passages concerning it are numerous and explicit. It would appear to be a facet of the prophetic Scriptures, which has suffered from unwarranted neglect. Here is a block of four of these passages.

1. “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23: 39).
2. “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they have trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26: 40-42).
3. “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30: 1-3).
4. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11: 15).

These passages call for only brief comment. Their main idea — that the Chosen Race must shew a change of heart before its final redemption can take place — seems to be carried on surface.

1. For many many years the faithful remnant among the Gentiles have said: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” But not so Israel. Nor at the moment is there any clear sign of such conversion. Nevertheless the force of the word “until” here is inescapable.
2. Here the full realization of the covenant promises to the Fathers is made explicitly dependent on the contrite heart of the nation.
3. In the passage from Deuteronomy 30 the word “when” is very forceful. So also is the context in verses 11-14—verses which Paul expounds in Romans 10 with reference to the gospel of faith ignored by self-sufficient Israel.
4. Romans 11:15 is almost like a proportion sum in arithmetic. Paraphrased the words mean this: Just as Israel’s rejection of the gospel has led to their casting off by God, so also their repentance will lead on to the Kingdom of God and the resurrection from the dead.

With such Scriptures as these the case surely stands proven. Nevertheless for the benefit of those who would make doubly sure, another block of four passages may not be amiss:

5. “I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me early (earnestly), saying, Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight” (Hosea 5:15-6:2; and see v. 3 also). It is almost as though the nation must re-enact in its own experience the suffering and glory of the one whom they pierced.
6. The great Zechariah prophesy concerning Joshua-Jesus, “the man whose name is the Branch” who is to build the temple of the Lord and sit and rule as a priest upon his throne, concludes with these words: “And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Zechariah 6: 15).
7. The margin of the Revised Version correctly re-shapes Jeremiah 4:1, 2 to read thus: “If thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, and wilt not wander, and wilt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgement and in righteousness; then the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory — which surely means that the coming in of God’s Kingdom depends on Israel turning to Him in repentance.”
8. Peter’s speech to the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 3) carries the same exhortation. In the Greek text the point is made explicitly, but is less obvious in the Authorised Version: “Repent ye therefore”—that three results may follow:
   1. “that your sins may be blotted out;”
   2. “that there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the
   3. “and that he may send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you” (Acts 3: 19, 20).

Omitting (1) and (2) for the moment, Peter’s appeal runs thus: “Repent ye therefore …that he may send Jesus Christ.” The plain implication here is that, in the inscrutable purposes of God, the coming of Messiah’s Kingdom somehow has the repentance of Messiah’s people as a necessary pre-requisite. Perhaps this is the point, easily over-looked, of the familiar fig-tree parable: “When her branch is now become tender” may well be a prophecy of stony Jewish hearts becoming hearts of flesh. In other words, the intention of the parable could be spiritual rather than political — in which case this long foretold revival of the “fig-tree” has not yet begun!

FURTHER EVIDENCE

The catalogue of prophetic Scriptures, which have to do with this theme, is by no means exhausted. For the benefit of those who may care to investigate further, the following are added:

9. Isaiah 17: 6-8.
10. Psalm 81: 13,14.
11. Jeremiah3: 14-I8.
12. Jeremiah 29: 12-14.
13. Deuteronomy 4: 27-31.
14. Amos 5: 15.
15. I5. 1 Kings 8: 47-49.
16. Genesis 18: 19.
17. Zechariah 13: 9.
18. Joel 2: 12-20.
19. Ezekiel 20: 42-44.

The last of these is especially interesting as an explicit prophecy that the return to the Land is to precede the change of heart, which is the recurring theme of so many prophetic testimonies.

One caution is necessary here. It would be a mistake to assume that the Scriptures cited require that there be a wholesale conversion of the nation. So far as can be seen, there is nothing to indicate such a conclusion. Rather is it to be expected (on the basis of Ezekiel 20: 42-44 and other passages to be cited

later) that Operation Fig-Tree — a divine surgical operation (as will be seen by and by) — will concern the Jews in the Land of Israel. The Dispersion may go almost completely unaffected by it. But of this one cannot be sure.

HOW WILL IT HAPPEN?

A further question inevitably arises here: If the Jews in Israel are to undergo such a change before the irresistible conviction which the manifestation of their Messiah is sure to bring sooner or later (and sooner rather than later), then what or who is the power that will bring it about?

There are those who have dreamed of big-scale Christadelphian campaigns in Israel. “Why should not such a project achieve success?” it is asked; “our message would not be blocked by insuperable Jewish prejudices against an orthodox Trinity. ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One’ is our enthusiasm as well as theirs. And would not our appeal be entirely to their Law and Prophets? Who is more qualified than we to open the message of Jewish Scriptures to Jewish ignorance? More than this, the Jews are prejudiced in our favour. Of all believers in Jesus, none stand higher in Jewish regard than do Christadelphians. And what more fitting than that Israel after the flesh be brought to Christ through the ministrations of Israel after the Spirit?”

Expressed in these terms the thesis is an alluring one, and almost convincing. But, alas, it overlooks a vital fact, which completely outweighs all other considerations.

And that is the stark truth that Jesus failed to convert Israel, and Peter and Paul failed! Then what hope that a team of twentieth century Christadelphians might succeed? It is not for nothing that the Bible’s summary assessment of the Chosen Race is this: “children in whom is no faith”!

THE STATE OE ISRAEL DESTROYED

So far as one can discover, Israel’s change of mind will be brought about by a combination of two divinely controlled factors.

The first of these will be the crash in ruin of the State of Israel. For generations now it has been the confident assumption of all our expositors that this will be attempted by the Northern Invader but will fail at the outset because of the divine destruction, which will be poured out in the last great vindication of the authority of God against the puny might of man.

There are certain unresolved difficulties inherent in this view. Whereas the familiar Ezekiel 38 seems to imply an intention —“Thou shalt think an evil thought, and thou shalt say …” — and an attempt – “Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel”— with Jerusalem as an island of safety in a Land swiftly overrun — “in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,” as in the days of Hezekiah and his Assyrian enemy — other prophecies (Zechariah 14: 2; Ezekiel 36: 2, 3) imply a lengthy occupation of the Land, with a time of grievous affliction for the Jews and a settled occupation of the Land by their enemies.^[1]

The effect of such an experience on modern Jewry will be utterly devastating. It needs little exercise of the imagination to picture Jewish reaction to such a cataclysm. A generation, which was beginning to congratulate itself on its steady assimilation into Gentiledom, came suddenly under the full fury of Hitler’s persecution. Millions of them died in misery. Many others fled to the Land of their Fathers. There, surrounded by Arab squalor and backwardness, they fashioned in record time a new state of Israel, a model to all the smaller nations of the world in its drive, efficiency and cocky self-assurance. When Arab attempts were made to wipe the Jews off the map of the Near East, they were defeated with a dedicated swiftness, which made the world marvel.

Today, so far as Arab relationships go, the Jews continue supremely confident. They have beaten the Arabs three times and would positively welcome an opportunity to do so again. Yet all the Biblical indications are that in the next clash between Jews and Arabs, the pride of Israel will be humbled.

The emphasis in the prophets on this sensational development in Israel’s history is itself sensational. Yet in our traditional enthusiasm for searching out the truth of Bible prophecy it has suffered from unwarranted neglect. All eyes have been on Ezekiel 38 (which may well have its fulfilment after the coming of the Lord, and not before: So Dr. Thomas in Eureka Vol. 2 p. 557, 558. Vol. 3 p. 405, 602, 611), with only the most cursory of glances thrown in the direction of other Scriptures equally forthright and exciting — and certainly more numerous.

Here is another block of four to illustrate the truth of what has just been written:

20. Psalm 83 presents a picture of Israel in dire straits, beset by enemies who “have taken crafty counsel against thy people” saying: “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” So successful is this evil scheme that God’s faithful remnant are driven to appeal to Him for aid: “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.” The list of confederate enemies is given: “the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Asshur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot.” Almost all, without exception, occupy what is now Arab territory. This fact is emphasized by allusions to Arab oppressions in ancient days: “Do unto them as unto the Midianites — Sisera and Jabin…Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, Zeba and Zalmunna.” Lest it should be thought that this psalm is of purely historic reference and is here being blithely misapplied, its climax should be noted: “Let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.”

If it stood entirely alone, this Scripture would be impressive in its relevance to the modern Jew-Arab problem, but in fact the theme recurs constantly in the prophets.

21. The prophecy of Obadiah against the Edomites (Arabs) ends in this explicit fashion: ‘‘Saviours^[2] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (cited in Revelation 11: 15). The body of this short oracle includes these details: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever…Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity…nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity…For the day of the Lord is near upon all nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee … as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually … and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness … And the house of Jacob shall be a fire … and the house of Esau for stubble.”

Whatever references this prophecy may have had in ancient days; there is every reason in such phraseology for believing that its true and bigger fulfilment is still to come.

22. Ezekiel 35, 36 is a long and powerful prophecy of judgement concerning Edom,8^[3] “because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end.” The theme is one of divine retribution in the Last Days. “Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries (i.e. the territories of both Jew and Arab) shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there: therefore, as I live, saith the Lord, … I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord … When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee” (35: 5, 10, 11, 14, 15).

Chapter 36 continues in the same strain. The inveterate Edomite enemy is pictured as gloating over securing possession of “the ancient high places” and the mountains of Israel. The balance is set right by an alluring contrast — Israel re-settled, blessed, and prosperous in their rightful heritage. One feature of this description is especially interesting. The recent conflict with Edom is to be the last oppression of their age-long experience: “Because they say unto you, Thou land (of Israel) devourest up men, and hast bereaved the nation; therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave the nation any more, saith the Lord God. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou hear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God” (36: 13-15).

23. Joel’s great prophecy of the Last Days has this unexpected detail in its climacteric description of the new Kingdom: “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Israel, because they have shed innocent blood in their land” (Joel: 3: 19). There is little point in this expression of divine wrath except it be as retribution for what has just lately been perpetrated against the Jews. Indeed if these words are not to be referred to some oppression in the Land in the Last Days which has not yet taken place, their application must be sought more than two thousand years earlier.

Readers are now in something of a position to judge whether or not there is good reason to expect a fourth Jew-Arab conflict in the near future in which the brash self-confident swagger of the modern Israeli is reduced to abject terror as he is called upon to face the worst chapter in all his long and bitter history.

ARAB HATRED

If indeed this comes to pass, the condition of mind of the Jews can well be imagined. Their fine new state of Israel, so efficiently built by Jewish brains, sweat and resolution is rubbed right off the map as though there had never been even a single kibbutz. Their vindictive enemies vent upon them all the pent-up jealousy, exasperation and hatred which hitherto has found expression only in futile vituperation and Fatah bomb explosions. The foulest horrors of occupation and slavery multiply in the Holy Land as with fiendish glee Arab out-Hitlers Hitler. And Jewish wails and groans go out to distant lands in vain. For hard political reasons nations like America and perfidious Albion find it advisable to shake their heads sadly—and do nothing. Little Israel is expendable, especially if there is the threat of nuclear escalation.

In such an extreme and desperate situation what aid these poor sons of Jacob who, like their notable forefather, have ever been slow to learn the futility of self-dependence and the wisdom of leaning upon Jehovah can seek? In all their history before God and men, they have believed in justification by their own works. Always they have had plenty of confidence in their own powers and little in the God of their fathers. But here, at last, is the final demonstration of the folly of their historic philosophy. Now they are without a friend in all the world. No one will lift a finger to help them—and this at a time when they suffer as never before.

In such circumstances—and only in such circumstances—will these hearts of stone show any sign of yielding to the appeal of heaven. Here in their bitter disappointment, and their most horrific suffering of all time, is the grace of their God most tangibly evident as He forces them to their knees in supplication and faith for the aid and solace which can come, as they now at last realize, from no other.

ELIJAH THE PROPHET

This repentance of Israel, so vital to the furtherance of the divine purpose and so patiently awaited over long generations, will now be helped forward in this crucial hour of their need by divine help of a sort they neither expect nor implore — the appearance of a prophet of repentance!

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers …” (Malachi 4: 5, 6).

John the Baptist, an Elijah-like prophet, was sent to bring Israel to repentance and failed (Matthew 11: 14 RVm and 12: 43-45). Now the prophecy will have its second, true, fulfilment. Whether this time it will be Elijah in person, or John the Baptist in person or, as is most likely, some other prophet also in the character of Elijah, is of little consequence. This prophet of the Lord will be manifested just when Israel needs him most and for the first time in milleniums is minded to heed a call to godliness.

What do the words of Malachi mean? It is difficult to be sure, but perhaps this Elijah will turn the hearts of the fathers to be like those of children, for no man can achieve true repentance except by such a change — ”Except ye become as little children”, said Jesus. And the hearts of the children — this last generation of natural Israel — he will turn to their Fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) that they might learn to emulate their faith.

HOW LONG?

The guess may be hazarded — if indeed it is a guess — that this ministry of “Elijah” will continue through a period of three and a half years of Jewish wretchedness. Jesus emphasized that the vital part of the first Elijah ministry was three and a half years (Luke 4: 25). This fact is not traceable in Old Testament history. Did Jesus get it by direct guidance of the Holy Spirit, or did he, with divine insight into Scripture, infer it from the mysterious prophetic periods of Daniel? — the time, times, and dividing of time which are to bring in Messiah’s kingdom. And are these times the “times of the Gentiles” which the Lord spoke about with such ill-omen and fair promise in his prophecy on Olivet?

Whether these tentative piecing together of intriguing Scriptures follow the divine pattern and programme is a thing to be learned through personal experience before many years are past. But there does seem to be good ground for believing that (a) there will be a repentance of Israel, at least in part, before the coming of the Lord; (b) Israel will face complete defeat at the hands of the Arabs (aided, doubtless, by more formidable allies) and will suffer as never before — “the time of Jacob’s trouble”; (c) the promised Elijah prophet will lead the people back to God; (d) when they say: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” then he will come.

[1] See also chapters 5, 7,13; and “The Last Days” chapter 8.

[2] An intensive plural for “the Messiah”?

[3] Some are inclined to question reference of Edom prophecies to the Arabs. Who else can they apply to? Dr. Thomas’s principle, letting geography, and not national character, settle the issue, is decisive. Is there any Biblical ground whatever for the strange idea, recently published, that the Edom prophecies refer to Russia?