The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

AND HERALD OF CHRIST$ PRESENCEVol. XLIII November 15, 1022 No. 22DIVINELY-GWEN CHRONOLOGICAL PARALLELISMS ( BART I )"Bz~t the God'of all grace, who hatk called as unto h4s eternal glory by Chrisi Jesus, after that ys have sugereda while, mab you perfect, stablhh, strengthen, settle you."-1 Peter 6:10.'IT HAS been shown in a preceding article that the "SEVEN TIMES" AND "SEVEN TIhfES MORE"parallel datcs of present-truth chronology are proof PiInch of the study of timcs and scasolls is itccassarilyof divine forel\uo\vledge, and that they demonstrate given to the minutiz of cvidencc. It is rclrcshingl tl~crethatthe systcm is of divine origin. Man invents a fore, to behold how the All-wise Onc has disl~l;r.~ccl hismachine, but clisco~~ers the law of gravitation. The abolmding forekno\vlcdge and* u~~scnrcllablc n.latlo111 inone is man-made, the other is of Cod. So present- chsonological pictures which, in a bolcl s~vec1.1, take intruth chronology is not an invention, but a discovery. the cntirc stretch of the setfen thousand ycars of sin andIt is of no small moment to the new creature to see rcdemption. It is evident j11 such vest alC;til.s thatclcarly how his faith in thc truth is divinely confirmed. Jehovah knew the cnd from the beginaiag-nay, it~iltFew other things can so lift up the fainting spirit, and before he brought forth the things that are, he concc~vedso strengthen atid stt~ldish the heart, and render moreeffectual the defence by thc sllicld of faith. Knowingof s certainty that he posscsscs the approbation ofAlmighty Cod in being kept thus far in the narrow way,the Christinll renews his consecl.ation, and with unwontedpoiver goes forth to mect the enemies of Jcl~ovahand in divinely-impa~~ted strength to overcome them.To one \vho is nssmcdly on the side of the Eternal,mhnt n~attcrs it that thcrc come trials and tribulittjsns !Not eve11 death can scl~arate such an one from the Godwhom he trusts and loves with all his heart and mindand soul and strength. To the wholly consecrated, inthese, the days of the presence of the Son of Man,death is the portal to the heavenly kingdom of God.Since by many iniallilde proofs we discern that thesethings are of God and that we ~vho hold them as aprecious trensure are the people of God, what mannerof men ougllt we to be! JIThat holy lives ure should live 1Ho\v attc~lticely we dloulcl follow the cuclmple of ourSavior! IIow circumspcctly so to walk as to glaildcn85 i5the entire plan of thc ages. It is n~anilcsthat tl~roughouttllc extended interval of sis tho~~smd years 01' sin,darkness and degmclation, he has Lcell sllcl~ll y \vorl; i ngout his grad purposes, which now at Ihc elltl al theworld he has for the first time unfoldcd to tllc visionof the consccratec~.When Jehovah foretold to the Hebrews tlic punish-ments dcstlnecl to come upon thcm, if they ~v~ckcdly andg~osdy disobeyed the law which Bc gave tllem nl Sinai,and which they solemnly covcnclntccl to licep, hc informedthem that he ~vould punish them "sevcn timcs"for their sins. Four timcs in one chapter is this ~ranlingrepeated, each time in a manner to indicatz increasingseverity. (Leviticus 26 : 18,21, 24, 28) In synlbolicdlanguage seven is a symbol of divine completeness,and the expression "seven times" conveys Ih? ideaof a divinely thorough, lasting, and terrible chastibarncnt.At the same time it couveys a11 idca of the lc11gLJ1 oftime during which the Hebrews should suffcr uatlonaldiscipline; and this predicted period is distinctly shownin the Wfillment of the prophecy, now a mntt2r ofthe heart of our1 Fathcr !-2 Corinthiaias 7 : 11 ; Ephesiarls5 : 16-17 ; 2 Peter 3 : 11,14; Psaln~ 116 : I 6. his to~ic- record.Not nll of the consecrated are familiar with thr: cntire The syml~olic prophetic year was one of t\vclvechro1io1ogical system of present truth. For this mason, months of thirty days each. Scveil "times", or years, areand because it is edifying and insp;ring to nI1 new 2,520 cloys, which, interpreted on the pl-inciplc of n claycreatures in Christ Jesus to have the things of God for a year, make 2,620 years. The complete ptmisl~rncl.~tbrought to remembrance, we prcsc11 t in this art rclc n few was 10 cutlure for seven timcs, the same b~ici~al :IS thatof the divinely-given chro~~olo~icnl pal-nllcllwns. Mi\lnch of the gentile dominion fo~ctold through the proplletof the research by \\-hiell tl~esc n:crc cIiscove~cci was Daniel (Daniel 4: 16,23, 25,3%) ; for the nat~o~lal pencarriedon bv the late Brothcr Dr. John 1311gar and by alty upon the Jews consisted in the afllictions put uponBrother 110i.i.o~ Iiklgnr, of Glasgow, Scotlanil, and pub- them by the gentile kingdoms ruling over thcm pitllcsslyJjsl~ccl in their book, "Grcnt I'ymmid Pa~sngcs, Volmne for 2.520 3eni.s. This started in GO6 B C. encl bcgan2." !l.'he foundation was laid by Pastor Rilsscll in the to cnd m 1914 r1.D.: rThcn through the World IVnr thefirst three volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTUBES. first getit step was divincly instituted toward the oust-