JEHOVAH GOD does not employ coercion to induce men to obey him. God is love, and his plan is to teach his creatures that love is the only proper motive for action. Love is unselfishness expressed. The way to everlasting life God has pointed out. There is no other way. He who loves God will obey him. The man who is prompted by love to walk and obediently goes in the way that God has pointed, will ultimately receive the prize of everlasting life. This is the lesson that God would have man learn.
Satan, by fraud, deceit and coercion, induces men to obey him. Thereby Satan turns the minds of men away from God and leads them into the way of death. Man must have an opportunity to choose the way of righteousness or the way of unrighteousness. Such opportunity was given to Adam, and he chose the evil way. To this time most men have gone in the same evil course. Only those who have trusted in the Lord and faithfully endeavored to serve him have escaped the fruits of unrighteousness.
It grieved Jehovah that the mass of mankind had turned to wickedness. By the great flood God would teach his intelligent creatures that his power is unlimited, and that the workers of iniquity must ultimately suffer complete defeat. Hence he destroyed the evil ones in the flood. The great flood was not an expression of vindictive malice on the part of Jehovah, because God does not possess malice and therefore could not express it. Malice is that condition of heart which induces one
to act recklessly and in utter disregard of the rights or welfare of others, and is wilfully bent on doing irreparable injury. The flood was for the vindication of God's holy name and for the ultimate good of his intelligent creation, particularly man. This will be clearly seen when the divine plan is understood by men. The great flood was a necessity, and it was an act of Jehovah's prompted by love on the part of Jehovah.
Can it be said then that the creation of man was a failure? So far as man is concerned, yes; so far as God is concerned, no. Had man been obedient to God, in due time the earth would have been filled with a race of perfect creatures. Being drawn away by the influence of the evil one, and yielding thereto, man became a failure. Those few men who have done their best to obey and serve God because of love for him were not and are not failures. God's provision to meet the emergency shows that the creation of man from his viewpoint was not a failure. In his own due time God will demonstrate the wisdom of the course faithful men have taken. His plan understood will demonstrate to all men that everything Jehovah has done is just and right.
God's plan concerning man was in no respect a failure. He made his plan to meet every emergency. Although he saw that it was wise to destroy the world because of the wickedness of the creatures thereof, the power of God is not limited; and in his own due time he will bring good out of that disaster. From the very beginning he made provision and knew what he would do in the event man yielded to the evil influence. It is written: "Known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world." (Acts 15:18) It is manifest that God would have found more pleasure in the full obedience of man to his law, but the fact that his creatures have disobeyed his law in no wise argues
against the wisdom of his creation nor of his plan relating to creation.
After the flood God commanded righteous Noah and his sons to multiply and replenish the earth. (Genesis 9:1) They proceeded to do so. But was Noah righteous? He was an imperfect man, because he was an offspring of Adam; but his heart was right and he had faith in God and manifested that faith, and because of his faith he was counted righteous. Being the descendants of Adam it was impossible for Noah and his sons to produce a perfect race.
If the human race is ever to enjoy life everlasting, some power greater than human must be employed. A man cannot by his own boot-straps lift himself over a great mountain top. Neither can man by his own efforts make himself perfect. The evolutionists display the same amount of "wisdom" that the man does who tries to lift himself over the mountain by his own bootstraps. Many men belong to this foolish class who think they can perfect themselves. Men have to be taught the truth, and God has made ample provision therefor.
Long centuries ago God began to foreshadow the means he would employ to bring obedient ones of the human race back to a state of perfection, and that means that he foreshadowed a "new creation". This does not mean that all the human race must be destroyed and a new race created; but it means the creation of something new, that through this creation the human race may be redeemed and restored.
After the flood Noah and his sons settled in different parts of the earth. Japheth and his descendants took up their abode in Europe. Ham and his sons dwelt in North Africa. Shem and his offspring remained in Asia. Concerning Shem Noah prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem." Thus he indicated that God had in store some special blessing for the descen-
dants of Shem. The Scriptures disclose that this is what he did mean.
Two years after the flood Shem begot a son and named him Arphaxad. (Gen. 11:10) Terah was a descendant of Arphaxad and of Shem. (Gen. 11: 24) In due course a son was born unto Terah whom he named Abram. Afterwards God changed his name to Abraham. (Genesis 11:27) Terah and his family dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees. Abram was married to Sarah. "But Sarai was barren, and she had no child." (Genesis 11: 30) Terah took his family, including Abram and his wife Sarah, and went forth to go into the land of Canaan. From the Biblical account it appears that he would journey along the valley of the Euphrates to Haran; and there Terah dwelt, and his family together with him, until he died.
Abram was now the most important man of the company dwelling in Haran. He had faith in God, and God had for him a duty to perform. "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." — Genesis 12:1-3.
In obedience to the command of the Lord Abram gathered together all of his substance, including what he had taken to Haran and what he had accumulated there; and he took his wife Sarah, and Lot and his family, and departed out of Haran. Behold, a caravan of camels and asses, cattle and sheep, men servants and maid servants, women and children, with faithful Abram riding in the van, journeying to the south and west into a strange land! Over the trackless desert and over
barren and rugged hills they went. It was a long, slow and tedious journey; and the importance of that journey could not then be fully appreciated by Abram. They were moving in regular order. What did the march to that land, unknown to Abram, mean? The great God of the universe was now moving his faithful servant into action and beginning a moving picture which would reflect and foreshadow a new creation and the formation of a perfect nation and government, which would be God's means used for the blessing of all the families of the earth.
For a continuous period of approximately two thousand years Jehovah, from time to time, caused his faithful servants to produce various portions of his moving pictures, here begun by Abram, by which means he would teach mankind the way that leads to endless life. It is exceedingly interesting and instructive to visualize these pictures made long ago. The men who performed their respective parts therein did not fully understand, but they knew that Jehovah was the great Director and Commander; and for them that was sufficient. (1 Peter 1:10, 12) A record thereof was made, that those living at the end of the world, where we now are, might learn and understand God's way and be comforted by this knowledge. — 1 Corinthians 10:11; Romans 15:4.
God was now sending Abram on this journey to the land of Palestine, where the Lord in due time would complete his pictures; and that part of the earth has become sacred and holy to all those who love the Lord. The events that transpired in the land of Palestine and adjacent territory, foreshadowed the unfolding of the divine plan.
The eastern frontier of the land of Palestine is guarded by a range of beautiful mountains. The entire range might well be called Pisgah, because of
the vision had from the heights thereof. As Abram's caravan approached from the east he would halt upon the crest of the mountain range, because from that point he would have the first view of the promised land. He would feast his eyes upon the marvelous scene that lay before him, and where soon was to be the place of the making of the greatest picture ever made on earth, and later the place of its fulfilment in completion.
From his vantage point on the crest of that mountain range Abram would behold Lebanon, the Sea of Galilee, the plain of Esdraelon, Mount Carmel, the deep shade of the Jordan valley, and the rivers of less importance that empty into Jordan's turbulent waters, Mount Moriah, Mount Zion, and all the hills of Judea, and on to the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. Travelers who have since journeyed this way, upon reaching the heights of this mountain range have in ecstasy exclaimed: "The most wonderful and beautiful view in any part of the earth!"
There, as Abram beheld the wonderful scene spread out before him, he would call to mind the promise that God had made to him. The importance must have impressed Abram, but it was impossible then for him to understand the full import of the promise and what he was doing in connection therewith. The promise which God made to Abram was: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." In this picture Abram represented Jehovah God, from whom proceeds every good and perfect gift, and by whom all of mankind who obey God shall in due time receive his blessing.
Descending from the mountain heights Abram journeyed on and entered into the land of Palestine and passed through it to the plain of Moreh. "And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land." (Genesis 12: 7) This prom-
ise indicated that God in his due time would give to obedient men the earth as an everlasting abiding place. God made the earth for man's habitation, and in due time man shall inherit it in the fullest sense. — Isaiah 45: 12, 18.
Abram journeyed on to the south, through the land, and then went into Egypt. Later he returned from Egypt and pitched his tent in the plains of Mamre. There the Lord appeared unto him and said: "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee." (Genesis 17: 5) This promise must have sounded strange to Abram, yet he believed God. Sarah was now ninety years of age and was yet barren, for she had no children, and here the promise was that Abraham should be made the father of many nations. Later God said to Abraham that he should have a son by his wife Sarah, and that his name should be called Isaac. — Genesis 17:19.
When Abraham was one hundred years old, true to the promise that God had made, a son was born to him by his wife Sarah; and he called his name Isaac. (Genesis 21: 5) It must have cheered greatly the heart of Abraham and his wife Sarah when the son was born. The words of Sarah indicate that it was a time of joy to them. A son was born in whom they could center their hopes for the fulfilment of the promise which God had made. "And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." — Genesis 21: 6-8.
The Great Picture
The time arrived for Jehovah to make the picture foreshadowing his plan for the saving and blessing of the human race. The chief actors in this picture were Abraham and his beloved son Isaac. In the picture Abraham represented God, while Isaac, the only son of Abraham, represented the beloved and only begotten Son of God, Jesus, whom Jehovah brought into the world to be the Savior of mankind. Abraham could not know that this was a picture of something to take place in the future. It therefore must have been a great test unto him; and it is recorded that it was a test of Abraham's faith.
Jehovah gave directions to Abraham:
"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." (Genesis 22: 2) Isaac was the dearest treasure of Abraham's heart, because he was the only begotten son of Abraham by his beloved wife; which son he loved. His love for God, however, was greater because he had faith that God would make provision for his son. — Hebrews 11:19.
In obedience to God's command Abraham provided himself with the things necessary to make the altar, and with wood for the fire; and, together with his son Isaac and his servants, he journeyed from the vicinity of Hebron to Mount Moriah, the present site of Jerusalem. There Abraham built an altar, bound his son Isaac and laid him upon the altar, and raised his knife to strike dead his beloved son Isaac that he might offer him as a burnt offering. At this crucial moment God, through his angel, spoke to Abraham and commanded that he should go no further in the picture. "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any
thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." — Genesis 22:12.
The faith exhibited by Abraham on this occasion was pleasing to God; and so he spoke to Abraham again through his angel and said: "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son; that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice." — Genesis 22:16-18.
Why was this the greatest picture of all made on earth? Because it foreshadowed that the promise of God, pictured by Sarah the wife of Abraham, would produce a "seed" and that this "seed" would be the means of blessing all the families of the earth. The offering of Isaac foreshadowed that at some future time God would give his dearly beloved Son as a great sin offering for the world, and that that Son would constitute the Savior and Deliverer of mankind. — John 3:16.
The original promise that God made to Abraham was: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Now the promise made to Abraham at the time, of the offering of Isaac, and there made for the first time, was: "In thy seed shall all the nations of earth be blessed." These promises, in connection with the picture here enacted, foreshadow that the blessing must proceed from Jehovah and that the beloved Son Jesus will be the channel of blessing. — Romans 9:7; Heb. 11:17-19.
The tendency amongst many has been to attribute all blessings to Christ Jesus, when in truth and in fact all blessings proceed from Jehovah God; and Christ Jesus, his beloved Son, is his chief Executive Officer in
carrying out these blessings. This is clearly indicated by the promise made to Abraham, above mentioned. Isaac, being the only child of Abraham and his beloved wife Sarah, would therefore picture The Christ. That he did picture Christ is plainly stated later in the Scriptures. — Galatians 3:16; 4: 28.
The time came for Isaac to take unto himself a wife. Abraham selected the wife for his son Isaac. He did not send to Egypt for a wife, nor did he take a wife from the peoples of the land of Canaan. Abraham sent his servant back to his native land, to the house of his brother Nahor, and there selected Rebecca to be the wife of Isaac. (Genesis 11:29; 24:1-67) The fact that Rebecca was of the household and kinsmen of Abraham would indicate that she was of the same faith of Abraham. Rebecca became the bride of Isaac. In this we have another beautiful picture.
Abraham represents Jehovah God, and Isaac represents God's beloved Son, Christ Jesus. Abraham selects Isaac's bride. Jehovah selects the bride of his beloved Son; and the bride and Bridegroom together constitute the new creation, which is here foreshadowed. This picture also indicates that those who are selected to constitute the bride of the beloved Son of God must be those who are of the same faith of Abraham, and that only those who have and maintain that faith will ultimately become a part of the new creation. This is the construction that the Apostle Paul puts upon it when he says concerning the selection of the bride of Christ: 'For he laid not hold upon angels; but he laid hold upon the seed of Abraham.' (Hebrews 2:16) "Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." (Galatians 3:7) As the husband and the wife are one in the sight of God, even so Christ Jesus and his bride, constituting the new creation, are one; and they together constitute
the seed of Abraham according to the promise. (Galatians 3:16, 27, 29) This new creation is "the seed" through which the blessing must come to the peoples of earth.
Isaac became the heir of all that Abraham possessed. (Genesis 25:5) This indicates that the One whom Isaac foreshadowed would become the "heir of all things". The Apostle Paul states concerning Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of God: "Whom he hath appointed heir of all things." (Hebrews 1:2) The faithful ones who participated in making these pictures could not understand the meaning thereof; necessarily they would expect that God's promised blessings would come through the natural seed of Abraham. God intended the true import of these pictures to be understood in the future, and he intended them to foreshadow greater things than were then understood. — 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 10:1.
Jehovah continued these pictures foreshadowing the development of his plan. His promise was renewed to Isaac. (Genesis 26:4, 5) In due time there were born to Isaac and his wife Rebecca two sons, who were twins. They were named Esau and Jacob. Naturally Esau was in line for the blessing of his father; but God intended that Jacob should be the one favored and should receive the blessing. These two sons foreshadowed in this picture two classes of professed Christians.
Esau represents those Christians who merely profess to be obedient to the Lord, and who seemingly are in line for the Lord's blessings; while Jacob pictures or foreshadows those professed Christians who continue faithful to the Lord and who become recipients of his blessings and become a part of the seed of promise. Esau persecuted Jacob; and true to the picture the merely professed followers of the Lord throughout the
Christian era have persecuted the true followers of the Lord, The merely professed ones, represented by Esau, are in fact a part of the world, which is the Devil's organization. The true and faithfully obedient ones unto God are a part of his organization.
After Jacob had fled from home because of persecution, he lay down at night to sleep on the hillside. There God gave to him a vision in a dream. Jacob beheld a ladder set upon the earth, the top reaching into heaven; and upon this ladder he beheld the angels of God, who were ascending and descending. In this picture the Lord foreshadowed that in his own due time he would establish communication between his creatures on earth and his creatures in heaven, and that through the new creation he would accomplish this end. It was on this occasion that God renewed the promise to Jacob concerning the blessing of all the families of the earth. — Genesis 28:11-15.
Jacob, whose name the Lord afterwards changed to Israel, was the father of twelve sons, and these became respectively the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel; which tribes, at the death of Jacob, became the organized people of God on earth. God organized this people for a purpose, and one of the purposes was to foreshadow the unfolding of his plan with reference to the new creation. When Jacob was about to die be called his sons before him that he might tell them of the things to come to pass in the remote future. God's invisible power moved the mind and tongue of Jacob at that time to utter a great prophecy foreshadowing the coming of the mighty Ruler and Prince of Peace.
Amongst other things uttered by Jacob on this memorable occasion were these words: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." (Genesis 49:10) This
prophecy shows that the promised seed, through whom the blessing must come, would be a descendant of the tribe of Judah. The sceptre is a symbol of authority to rule. Shiloh means tranquil, peaceful, happy and prosperous one. Unto that mighty Law-giver and Governor should be granted the power and authority to gather together all the peoples of earth, and to bless all according to God's promise. Through this mighty One all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. This prophecy was a restatement of the promise which God gave to Abraham, and forms a part of the great picture foreshadowing the coming of the great Blesser.
The Israelites were then domiciled in Egypt. Prior thereto the beloved son of Jacob, Joseph, had been sold into Egypt and by the grace of the Lord had become a mighty man in Egypt, next to Pharaoh the king. The blessings that the Lord brought to the people of Egypt through Joseph foreshadowed how the great One, whom Joseph prefigured, would bless the peoples of the world. After the death of Joseph there came to the throne of Egypt another emperor, one who had no respect for God, who had forgotten the goodness that God had bestowed upon Egypt through Joseph, and who showed his evil condition of heart by persecuting the Israelites, God's chosen people.
It was during that period of persecution that Moses was born. The decree of the wicked king of Egypt had gone forth to kill all the male babes of the Hebrew women. (Exodus 1:16, 22) But God miraculously preserved Moses. When the babe was three months of age his mother made an ark of bulrushes, put the child into it, and hid it in the still waters of the Nile River. The babe was discovered by a member of the royal family, and without doubt by an arrangement of the Lord. Moses' own mother was employed to nurse the child.
Moses grew up as a member of the family of the royal house of the king; but when he attained his majority he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Rather did he prefer to be associated with the people of God, of whom he was a part. (Hebrews 11:24) It was his faith in God that led him to take this position, and doubtless Jehovah was directing his course. The oppression of the Israelites in the land of Egypt continued. This was another part of the picture, from which man can now learn. The then wicked ruler of Egypt represented Satan, the Devil, oppressing the peoples of the world.
Many have thought that all the peoples of earth, except those who belong to some church, are a part of the world; but this is not true. The world is represented in the governing factors that rule the people. The government of Egypt, of which Pharaoh was the head, represented the Devil's wicked organization, by which the people are oppressed. God now began the making of a picture which foreshadowed how he will deliver the people from the hand of the oppressor, Satan the Devil. Jehovah sent Moses to be the deliverer of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Moses, in this picture, represented or foreshadowed the Mighty One, the Messiah, who shall deliver the peoples of earth from the oppression of Satan and all of his agencies, and bring the people into a condition of blessing.
When the time came for God's chosen people, the Israelites, to leave Egypt Moses led the march. Six hundred thousand men on foot, with their women, children and servants, made an imposing company marching out of Egypt. In this picture Moses represented Christ the Messiah, the great Deliverer, leading the people to safety; while those who followed Moses represented all of those who shall ultimately accept and follow Christ as the great Executive Officer of Jehovah
God, the One whom God has provided for the deliverance of man.
The wicked Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, with his army, followed after the Israelites with the purpose and desire to destroy them. He would have succeeded in carrying out his wicked designs had not God intervened and protected the Israelites and directed them, through Moses, which way to go. (Exodus 12: 37, 38; 14:1-5) Pharaoh and his hosts pursuing the Israelites picture the Devil and his agencies which he uses in his effort to destroy those who love the Lord.
When the Israelites reached the Red Sea, and the hosts of Egypt were pressing hard after them, God sent his angel to protect the Israelites; and the Lord placed a pillar of cloud between the two hosts to hide the Israelites. Then the Lord God directed Moses what to do; and in obedience to the Lord's command Moses stretched forth his rod over the sea, and the Lord caused the waters of the sea to stand apart on either side so that the Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, crossed over on dry land. When in pursuit Pharaoh and his hosts marched in between the walls of the sea the waters overflowed them and they perished. (Exodus 14:13-30) This picture foreshadows that God in his own due time will deliver all who obey him from the oppressive hand of Satan, and that he will completely destroy Satan's organization and ultimately Satan himself; and that in this great work the One whom Moses represents, to wit, Christ the great Executive Officer of Jehovah, will perform the work.
When Moses and the Israelites were in safety across the sea they sang together a song of praise unto Jehovah God, and amongst other things in this song is written: "Thy right hand, 0 Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, 0 Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." (Exodus 15: 6) This foreshadows that when
the people are fully delivered from Satan the oppressor they will recognize that in the exercise of his loving kindness God has made provision for their salvation. Then the people will sing as they did then: "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation."
The demonstration of Jehovah's power in the overthrow of the Egyptians, and the miraculous preservation of the Israelites, was for the purpose of keeping before the minds of that people that Jehovah is the only true God, and that from him alone can blessings proceed. These things occurred and were recorded not for Israel alone but particularly for the peoples of earth who seek righteousness in the end of the age, where we now are. (1 Corinthians 10:11) God intended that his people now, in this twentieth century, should receive comfort and encouragement by getting a mental vision of this picture. This divinely provided picture foreshadows that God intended from the beginning to provide a seed or new creation which would be fully in harmony with him, and have all faith and confidence in him, and that this seed would be his means of blessing mankind.
Government Foreshadowed
After the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea the Lord God made another series of pictures, by using his chosen people. These pictures foreshadow a just and righteous government, by and through which the human race may be brought back into harmony with Jehovah. Moses pictured or represented the new creation, which will constitute the just and righteous government or official authority, while the people of Israel pictured the peoples of earth desiring to return to full harmony with God. A study of these pictures now, in the light of fulfilled prophecy, greatly strengthens the
faith of every one who is looking for a better and happier time for the human race.
The tents of Israel were pitched in the wilderness or desert, in the vicinity of Mount Sinai. Moses, leaving the people in their tents, went up into the mountain. The record reads: "And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel." Then God proceeded to tell Moses what to say. (Exodus 19:3) Moses at that time was invisible to the Israelites, while receiving instruction from Jehovah. Thus the picture foreshadowed that the new government of righteousness will be invisible to the peoples, and will receive full authority from Jehovah God. When Moses came back and spoke to the people he there foreshadowed the visible representatives of the new government.
God instructed Moses to say to the people the following: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine; and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." (Exodus 19:4-6) In obedience to God's command Moses laid before the people these words. "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." (Exodus 19: 8) Thereby a covenant was entered into by Jehovah and by the Israelites, with Moses as the mediator between God and the people and as the legal representative of both Jehovah and the people.
The Israelites were God's chosen people from the time of Jacob's death. His law to that people began to be given at the time of the passover, when they left Egypt; but at Mount Sinai God inaugurated his covenant with that people to establish a government, which foreshadowed the government to be composed of the new creation and through which, in God's due time, blessings will come to the people. Otherwise stated, God is foretelling in pictures what he intends to do in his own due time. Neither Moses, nor the people of Israel who took part in the making of those pictures, understood the full import thereof because God did not intend them to understand at that time.
When we find in the New Testament an interpretation of the record made in the Old Testament we may be sure that such interpretation is correct. It is written concerning the members of the new creation: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2: 9, 10) By these inspired words of the holy record we know that the people of Israel, acting under the leadership of Moses and the direction of Jehovah, represented the new creation.
It was on the third day after Moses went up into the mountain and received instructions from Jehovah that the covenant was inaugurated. This part of the picture foreshadowed that in the early part of the third thousand-year day after the selection of the new creation, God would inaugurate the New Covenant or the new government for the benefit of the people. It is written in the New Testament that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day". (2 Peter 3:8) Thus the time of the inauguration of the covenant with the great Messiah is indicated. The Lord has placed many other things in his Word to corroborate this conclusion. The third thousand-year day is now begun.
The inauguration of the covenant and government at Mount Sinai, which foreshadowed the Messianic government, was attended with great convulsions of the elements. "There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled." (Exodus 19:16-18) This foreshadowed the conditions that shall exist at approximately the time of the inauguration of the government under the new creation. The Apostle Paul mentions this incident in connection with the inauguration of the kingdom of Messiah, and quotes what occurred at Mount Sinai, and shows that the same foreshadowed what is to take place at the time God's government of righteousness, under the great seed, the new creation, is inaugurated. — Hebrews 12:18-27.
Jehovah then gave to the people the law by which they should be governed, and emphasized the fact that the blessing of the people depended entirely upon that people's recognizing, accepting and serving Jehovah as the only true God, and recognizing that there is none other. Then he announced the rule that the blessing of the families of the earth will depend upon a full and complete recognition of Jehovah as the only true God, and that there is no way of getting everlasting life except by and through the way which Jehovah has provided. The statutory provisions of the covenant at Sinai foreshadowed what will constitute the rule of action by which the peoples must be controlled under the new and righteous government of Christ, the new creation. — Exodus 20:1-17.
That the inauguration of the government of the Israelites, with Moses as the head thereof, foreshadowed a greater government with Christ as the Head thereof. there is left no doubt. This was clearly foreshadowed by the prophetic words which God caused Hoses to record: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken: ... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." — Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.
That the inauguration of the governmental organization of Israel, and the law, statutes and ordinances given to that people concerning meats, drinks, keeping of the Sabbath, etc., were shadows of "things to come" there cannot be the slightest doubt, because it is written in the Scriptures: "Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." — Colossians 2:17.
The promise of God was that the mighty Ruler should come through the tribe of Judah. (Genesis 49:10) David, the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, was of the tribe of Judah. At the direction of the Lord he was anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. (1 Samuel 16:12, 13) David became a mighty king. (2 Samuel 5:10) God established David upon the throne of Israel. He caused his prophet to say to David: "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." (2 Samuel 7:l6) The Jews expected David to fulfil the promise that God had made, to bring blessings to the peoples of earth through him and his reign.
It is manifest that David was not the promised "seed" that should establish the everlasting government of righteousness, because David died and his kingdom did not endure for ever. The name David
means beloved. The beloved One of God is his only begotten Son, whom he sent into the world. David foreshadowed that beloved Son and foreshadowed The Christ. David had a very stormy experience, from the time he was anointed king until his death. In this picture he foreshadowed the anointed ones of God; that is, the new creation in course of preparation.
David wrote and sang many prophetic songs which related to the Mighty One whom he foreshadowed. For instance, David wrote: "The Lord [Jehovah] said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." (Psalm 110:1, 2) Thus David spoke words relating to the beginning of the reign of the Mighty One, the Head of the new creation. For this reason members of the anointed read the Psalms understandingly, and with great comfort and joy.
Many centuries passed from the time God made the promise to Abraham, and then Jesus came to earth. He was born of a woman. In the natural course of events he was of the tribe of Judah, and the son or offspring of David. He was a perfect man, and in him there was no sin. At the age of thirty Jesus was anointed King. He was presented to Israel as King. The nation of Israel rejected him as King. Shortly thereafter he suffered an ignominious death upon the cross.
Some of the honest and faithful descendants of Abraham expected Jesus to be the king of Israel and to bring the long-promised blessings. Two of these faithful men remarked after his crucifixion: "We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." (Luke 24: 21) He was then the anointed King; but it was not yet God's due time for his government to be established; and
these faithful disciples did not then understand. But at Pentecost they began to understand. For centuries Jehovah had been making pictures which foreshadowed the coming of events of far greater importance than could then be understood. And now the time had come for the beginning of the fulfilment of these pictures.
If a righteous government had been established on the earth, and if the people had accepted that government and put forth their best endeavors to keep the law thereof, could they have received the blessings promised? The answer is, No. The reason is, all the peoples of earth were imperfect and therefore sinners because of the inherited imperfection resulting from Adam's sin. All were under condemnation. They were not convicts, as has been suggested. Only Adam was tried and convicted. His offspring had not been tried and convicted. The Jews had entered into a covenant with God and had failed to keep it. But all the human race stood disapproved before God, because they are imperfect. God cannot approve an imperfect thing. The word condemn or condemnation means to judge adversely. God must judge all men adversely, because all are descendants of Adam and therefore all are imperfect. Such disability was not because of any direct act on the part of the individuals.
Even the faithful men named, Abraham and others of like faith, could not receive the promised blessing. They put forth their best endeavors to obey the Lord, but they "all died in faith, not having received the promises". (Hebrews 11:13, 39) The Apostle Paul states why they could not receive the blessing. "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." In this scripture "us" refers to the new creation. (Hebrews 11: 40) That the whole human race stood disapproved of God,
because of sin, is made clear by these Scriptural statements. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:6) "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." — Romans 5:12.
All being born sinners, therefore standing disapproved or judged adversely by Jehovah, it follows that some provision must be made to remove this disability before the blessing could come. Neither the new creation nor a righteous government could remove that disability and bring an everlasting benefit to the people. There must be a great sacrifice for sin, and this sacrifice must be one exactly equal to the perfect man who had sinned in Eden. The law of God provided 'a life for a life'. (Deuteronomy 19:21) God's law is just and must stand. There can be no deviation therefrom. God had sentenced Adam to death because of his wilful infraction of his law, and that judgment must be enforced.
Since the imperfection of all mankind resulted from that judgment there must be a provision made in harmony with God's law to remove this disability before the promised blessing could come. Consistent with his law Jehovah could permit another man equal to Adam to willingly take Adam's place in death, and thereby provide for the removal of the disability standing against all of Adam's offspring. The very terms of the divine law clearly imply that such could be done, when it is written: "A life shall be given for a life." But in all the earth there was no perfect man who could meet this requirement of the law. It is written: "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." (Psalm 49:7) The reason therefor is because all were the descendants of Adam.
Was the promise of God then to fail because there was no man to meet this legal requirement? No, for the reason that in the exercise of his wisdom and loving kindness God made provision to meet this very emergency. In his Word it is written: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death." (Hosea 13:14) This promise of God to redeem man from death and ransom him from the power of the grave must be kept, because God's Word is always kept. (Isaiah 55:11) It is at once apparent to the student that the great pivotal point of Jehovah's plan for the blessing of mankind is right here. Then might we expect the pictures foreshadowing God's plan to foreshadow this point also. That marvelous provision for the great ransom and sin offering for and in behalf of man is foreshadowed, and is recorded in the Word of God. Such pictures or shadows were made by Jehovah by the use of his chosen people, to enable the honest and faithful seeker for truth at this time to understand God's great plan. With the understanding thereof the Christian sees that God in truth is love, and that he has made ample provision for blessing all the families of the earth.
It has long been the practice of clergymen to arrogate to themselves the sole ability to interpret the Scriptures. They say that anyone by his own efforts can bring about his own salvation. Their argument is that Jesus was a great example to men, but that there is no efficacy in his shed blood. These men, by their false philosophy, have destroyed the faith of many in the Word of God, and have been used by the Devil to blind men to the most vital part of the divine plan with reference to the human family.
The pictures examined in this chapter show that Jehovah God foreshadowed a "seed" which is the new creation, and the establishment of a just and righteous
government for mankind, but that before these could come into existence and function the great ransom sacrifice must be performed and the offering made for sin. This is so clearly set forth in the Scriptures by pictures foreshadowing the great ransom and sin offering that there is left no room for doubt. As one sees it he greatly rejoices at the manifestation of the unselfishness of Jehovah in providing a way for man's salvation. Not only has he provided therefor but he permits the honest seeker for truth now to look back upon what he caused to be done centuries ago and see the majestic forward movement of the unfolding of the great divine program. The student now, with keen interest, will examine the pictures foreshadowing the great ransom and sin offering, which follow in the next chapter.
