The Personal Message for Us

There is a very intimate and personal lesson for the Lord’s people in this beautiful parable. Should you ever find yourself alienated from God and feel a cloud of separation between you regardless of the cause, regardless of what you have done, regardless of shortcomings and weaknesses involved, if you ever think of your Father’s house, and long to return: go! Do not hesitate for a moment! If you are repentant and say to the Lord, “I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight,” you will be heartily and compassionately received. As the father of the parable ran to meet his son, God will meet you more than half way. There will be no reproaches, no rehearsing of the sins of the prodigal, no questions. Only rejoicing that the lost was found. You will feel the forgiving embrace of the Everlasting Arms around you.

The Praise of the Wrath of Men

“Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” Psalms 76:10

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Hebrews12:3

ALTHOUGH Jesus went about doing nothing but good and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the chief priests, elders, scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill him. Jeremiah has said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9) These men truly had deceitful and desperately wicked hearts. To conspire to kill a depraved and sinful man is bad enough. Such an act might be rationalized by saying: “After all, he deserves to die.” But to conspire to kill one who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, who has perfect love, whose every waking hour is spent doing good that is an evil, and culpable thing.

Yet these evil men, who held such high and honorable positions and wielded such great power in the Jewish nation, in spite of all their efforts, did not seem to succeed in their conspiracies against Jesus. When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, we read: “Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” (Matthew 12:14) Nothing happened.

On another occasion Jesus told the chief priests and Pharisees the parable of the vineyard. He told them about the wicked husbandman who killed the son and heir. He had read their murderous hearts. They knew he spoke of them and they were highly insulted:

“And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parable, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude.” Matthew 21:45

Again they could do nothing.

Then there was the occasion when Jesus cleansed the temple, casting out them that sold and bought, overthrowing the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves. He told them bluntly they had made his father’s house a den of thieves. This statement was unpardonable in their eyes. He had not only interfered in a profitable business arrangement of theirs, he had also publicly implied they were thieves. This hurt their dignity so they “sought how they might destroy him.” (Mark 11:18) But they were not able to do it.

On another occasion a helpless cripple, who had been in that condition for 38 years, was made by Jesus to arise, take up his bed and walk. The leaders of the Jews objected. What was so bad about that? It was done on the Sabbath! It did not matter that a poor cripple had been gloriously healed. Their interpretation of the law had been violated. “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him.” (John 5:18) This desire to kill was even more than before! But Jesus still lived.

In Nazareth although they tried to throw him headlong over a cliff, something went wrong because, “he, passing through the midst of them, went on his way.” (Luke 4:30) On another occasion they sent a band of hired officers to take Jesus and bring him before the counsel, to be condemned and killed. The officers came back empty-handed, giving as the reason for their failure: “Never man spake like this man!” (John 7:46) Failure again.

One day in the temple the Jews bragged about Abraham being their father. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” “Then they took up stones to cast at him.” (John 8:59) Action! Not just scheming, counseling and secret plans to kill Jesus. They had the stones in their hands and Jesus was there before them. They were furious and they were in the mood. But they must have suddenly gotten something in their eyes because they never threw those stones. Jesus simply walked out of the temple.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they got desperate. This was such a mighty display of power. “What shall we do?” they said. “If we let him alone, all men will believe on him.” So we read, “From that day forth, they took counsel together, for to put him to death.” (John 11:53) But their counsel came to nought.

Wickedness Does Not Always Prevail

Why were they always unsuccessful in their plans to kill Jesus? They were crafty men and held high and powerful positions. They were willful men, used to having their own way. They were callused men, utterly devoid of conscience. They saw the good works of Jesus including his healing miracles, yet they sought to kill him simply because he was in their way. They surely had the means to take him. They had their officers and their own private army or police force.

Yet Jesus seemed to always slip from their grasp. Why? John gives us the answer. On one occasion Jesuswas teaching in the temple.

Many accepted him as the Messiah. Some said, “Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?” How little they knew the kind of men their rulers really were! Because they asked this question, their rulers were consumed with jealous rage.

“Then they sought to take him; but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” John 7:30

There is the reason. It is repeated in the next chapter. Jesus had publicly rebuked the Pharisees for not acknowledging he was from God. This made them very angry and they longed to kill him, but:

“No man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come.” (John 8:20)

What is meant by the statement, “His hour was not yet come”? I believe there are two meanings. Jesus had a specific work to do on earth. When Pilate asked him if he was a king, he said:

“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” John 18:37

Jesus had come to offer himself as Israel’s king, their Messiah, but as a nation, they rejected him. So he turned to individuals to “everyone that is of the truth.”

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe on his name.” John 1:11,12

He opened up “a new and living way.” (Hebrews 10:20) He established his church of Israelites indeed–Spiritual Israel. He selected apostles and disciples who would carry on the work after he had left the earthly scene; he glorified God on earth. Until he finished this work, “his hour was not yet come.”

Another meaning is that he had come to offer himself as a ransom sacrifice, to be killed as the antitypical Passover lamb in fulfillment of prophecy at a certain specific time and date, not before. No matter how the chief priests and elders, the lawyers, scribes and Pharisees schemed, no matter how carefully they constructed their plans, no matter how much power they had, it came to nothing because “his hour or time was not yet come.” All the power of Almighty God protected him from harm until it was time. Jesus himself confirmed this directly. He had just been betrayed with a kiss. This time he voluntarily surrendered himself to those whom the chief priests, scribes and elders had sent. One of his disciples, in his zeal, sought to defend him with a sword. Jesus rebuked him saying: “Thinkest thou, that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels”? (Matthew 26:53) Do you know how many angels that is? In those days a Roman legion was 5,000. So 12 legions would be 60,000 angels! These were not human soldiers with fleshly limitations, subject to defeat, but powerful spirit beings with supernatural powers and irresistible strength! Do you fully realize the tremendous potential of even one angel? Moses said:

“And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt.” Numbers 20:16

“And the angel of God went before the camp of Israel.” Exodus 14:19

The might of Egypt was destroyed by one angel!

There is an occasion when the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel by an angel of the Lord: “And there died of the people, from Dan even to Beersheba, 70,000 men.” (See 2 Samuel 24:15,16) Again, this was just one angel!

Then we have the incident in Isaiah chapter 37 when Sennacherib, the Assyrian, sent a profane letter to Hezekiah, king of Judah, demanding surrender and insolently mocking them for trusting Jehovah. Hezekiah did a wonderful thing. He took that letter “and spread it before the Lord, and he prayed. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.” 185,000 men died!

This was the work of one angel!

You can see how much power is represented in 12 legions (60,000) of angels. Of course the schemes and plans of the enemies of Jesus failed. This also accounts for Jesus’ calm assurance throughout his ministry on earth. He knew they were scheming against him. He knew every thought they had and every move they made. He could read them like a book. He had the power to read their minds:

“Jesus perceived their wickedness.” Matthew 22:18

“And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye those things in your hearts?” Mark 2:8

“Jesus perceived their thoughts.” Luke 5:22

“But He perceived their craftiness.” Luke 20:23

He wasn’t fooled a bit. But it means that almost every moment of his ministry he was conscious of plots against his life. He always knew who was plotting, why, and where. I think of the words of the hymn: “I know not what awaits me, God kindly veils mine eyes.” And the words, “O blissful lack of knowledge, ‘Tis blessed not to know.” That applies to us. We don’t know and it’s better for us not to know certain things so we won’t have to worry about them.

Jesus did know. He knew they would eventually kill him and he knew how they would kill him. He knew he would be crucified:

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” John 12:32,33

In Matthew 20:19 and 26:2 he told his disciples plainly that he would be crucified. You may be sure he knew exactly what crucifixion meant. Death by crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. More than once on his journeys he must have passed such victims of Roman “justice” writhing, tortured beings, nailed alive to crosses and waiting piteously for release in death, a death that might not arrive for days. But Jesus knew they could do nothing to him before the time, and even then, not unless permitted by his heavenly Father. He knew that 60,000 angels were always available to carry out his Father’s will. So he calmly and openly went about his work.

The Father’s Protection Is Over Us

Let us see how those things apply to us. Jesus’ hour finally came and he was about to leave his beloved disciples. With his heart overflowing with love for them, he prayed a beautiful and inspiring prayer, recorded in John chapter 17. Lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said to his heavenly Father:

“Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may also glorify thee. I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

Then he prayed for those the Father had given him. These were his beloved apostles and disciples. But he didn’t stop with them; he prayed for some others as well. He prayed for each one of you! “Neither pray I for these alone [that is, his apostles and disciples], but for them also which shall believe on me, through their word.” Isn’t that you? Of course it is. Haven’t you believed on him through their word? I have.

Let us see what he specifically asked God, on our behalf, and what therefore must be ours. Knowing that in just a few hours he would leave the world in death, he said:

“And now I am no more in the world; but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me. … I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.”

This prayer contains such marvelous implications as to stagger the imagination. He said, in effect:

“Dear Father, my hour is now come. I have glorified your name on earth, and have finished the work you gave me to do. I am about to leave the world, and come back to you. But these you have given me, these apostles and disciples and those that shall, in the future, believe on me through their word. They will stay in the world after I am gone. The world will hate them just as it has hated me. Although those of the world hated me, they could not touch me because, until now, my hour had not yet come. I always had your complete protection, dear Father, knowing that if I asked, you would send 60,000 angels to my assistance. I won’t need this protection any more, but they will because they are staying in the world. Holy Father, keep them through thine own name. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil, just as you kept me from evil.”

Do you see the wonderful thing that is implied here? It would almost seem as if this prayer of Jesus, made just before his death, was a sort of “Last Will and Testament.” He asked the Heavenly Father to give us the same watch care and protection he himself had enjoyed when on earth. He asked that it pass on to us! This would surely include God’s constant leading and direction in every affair of life and, over it all, his loving, protecting care, delivering us from evil. The measure of this protection is the 12 legions of angels should it ever become necessary. Just as Jesus’ enemies could not touch him or take his life before his “hour” had come, we have that same protection.

When Jesus was before Pilate, he did not defend himself. “He opened not his mouth.” Pilate was exasperated. He said to Jesus: “Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not, that I have power to crucify thee, and power to release thee?” Jesus calmly answered: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” (John 19:10,11) Although Pilate represented all the power of the mighty Roman Empire, he did not have the power to crucify Jesus before his time had come, before his hour had come, before his heavenly Father withdrew his angelic protection and allowed him to be taken. So it is with us as well.

The Wrath of Man Praises God

During his ministry Jesus continually suffered the “wrath of men” and the “contradiction of sinners against himself.” The scribes, Pharisees, elders, doctors of the law, and others hated him, opposed him, attacked him, and tried to discredit him. Our text says, “Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee.” How was God praised by these attacks? “Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.” What can be gained from such a consideration? It was the attacks upon Jesus that brought forth some of the most precious truths of our Lord’s ministry. In this way the wrath of men resulted in the praise of God. Let us now consider two of these attacks and the lessons they taught.

The enemies of Jesus spied on him day and night to find occasion against him. One thing they accused him of, over and over again, was his supposed desecration of the Sabbath. Why do you suppose they emphasized this so much? Was it because they loved God and God’s law so much that they felt impelled as God’s champions to defend every letter of the law? Or was it because they loved the people so much that they felt the supposed bad example of Jesus and his disciples should not be permitted to deceive them? If these were their motives, we could respect them for it. Mistaken as they might be, these would at least be honest motives. But they had murder in their hearts. They were not honorable men. What was their overwhelming interest in Sabbath-keeping? Why did they continually accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath? The ancient penalty for Sabbath-breaking was death by stoning. (See Numbers 15:32-36.) These wonderful champions of the law wanted to catch Jesus doing something punishable by death. Then they would be rid of him legally, without soiling their hands, so to speak. Of course if all other methods failed, they could still take him with hired killers. But that would only be as a last resort. First they would try finesse.

The Walk Through the Wheat Field

Consider an incident recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. We will reconstruct the scene from their brief accounts. One Sabbath morning, as the Pharisees were spying as usual, Jesus and his disciples walked along a path through a wheat field. They were on their way to the synagogue where Jesus would teach. Jesus was deeply engrossed in his thoughts and if he was hungry, he was not conscious of it. His disciples were hungry so they picked stalks of fresh wheat as they walked, rubbed them between their palms to remove the chaff, and ate the grains. The Pharisees immediately pounced upon them! “What you are doing is unlawful,” they cried with righteous indignation. Jesus stopped and looked at them. “Why?” he asked. “Your disciples are working on the Sabbath,” they said. “How so?” “When they pick the wheat, they are reaping; when they rub off the chaff, they are threshing; when they blow the chaff away, they are winnowing. These are acts of labor and are forbidden on the Sabbath!” Jesus knew their evil motives, but answered them patiently:

“But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungered, and they that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath [that is, by working] and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath Day.” Matthew 12:3-8

This seemed to silence the Pharisees, not because they agreed with Jesus, but because they knew their position was weak. Undoubtedly by this time a crowd sympathetic to Jesus had gathered. The scribes and Pharisees had a healthy respect for Jesus’ keen mind and had no desire to match wits with him before the people. They always came off second best in such encounters. Anyway, they could not use this incident against Jesus personally. He had not plucked and eaten any wheat and it was Jesus they wanted to entrap and kill. So they retreated for the moment.

There was another reason for their withdrawing. They knew he was on his way to the synagogue and they had set a trap for him there, a trap that would involve Jesus personally. Then they would stone him. They had found a man with a withered hand and stationed him at the entrance to the synagogue. If Jesus healed him on the Sabbath, they would accuse him. They considered such healing a breach of the law which forbade any activity on the Sabbath. There would be plenty of witnesses because a crowd would be waiting, as usual, to accompany Jesus into the synagogue to hear him teach.

This incident is also recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. I will read portions from the different accounts. This is from Mark chapter 3: “And they watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him.” If they had hoped to take Jesus by surprise, they were mistaken. He knew exactly what was happening. The poor man with the withered hand was huddled in a corner. The scribes and Pharisees had probably told him if he stayed there, he would be healed; he trembled in hopeful anticipation. Jesus was angry, not just because the scribes and Pharisees had sought to entrap him, but because they had hypocritically used this poor, innocent man to bait their trap. They had enticed him with the promise he would be healed; yet they fully intended to condemn the Master for healing him! They had hearts of flint! Jesus knew all this, because he knew their thoughts.

We now read from Luke chapter 6:

“But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand: Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? To save life, or to destroy it?”

They dropped their eyes. They could not answer. If they replied that the law forbade a good deed, their answer would be repeated all over town, eagerly passed from mouth to mouth by the common people. It would cast discredit on these proud defenders of the law. So they “held their peace.” Then from Matthew’s account:

“What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much, then, is a man, better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.”

They would not answer, so he answered his own question. The crowd was spellbound with the drama being enacted before their eyes. Every eye was upon Jesus, the strong, perfect man, the great teacher and healer, who literally radiated energy; and also on the pale, shrunken man, standing before him, with one good arm and the other a short useless appendage hanging limply at his side. The scribes and Pharisees began to feel nervous. Things were not working out quite as they expected. They sensed that somehow, they themselves were about to fall into a pit they dug for Jesus. We continue from Mark’s account:

“And when he had looked round about on them, with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man: Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out; and his hand was restored whole as the other.”

Their plot against Jesus had completely collapsed. They had known, of course, that Jesus could heal the man with the withered hand. As soon as he did it, they had intended to loudly accuse him of Sabbath- breaking before all the people. They had expected to harangue and stir up the people against Jesus. They probably had hecklers planted in the crowd who would, at the right moment, cry out: “Stone him! Stone him!” They may even have had stones heaped nearby so before anyone knew what was happening, Jesus would be dead. It was a beautiful plan, but it just didn’t work out that way. Something went wrong. Jesus had taken the initiative away from them completely. The crowd now looked on them with hostility and contempt. So they sullenly slipped away. Matthew says: “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” Mark: “And the Pharisees went forth and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” Luke: “And they were filled with madness; communed one with another, what they might do to Jesus.” The phrase “filled with madness“ certainly describes “the wrath of men.”

The Wrath of Man Educates

Now consider how these instances of the “wrath of men” resulted in teaching us precious truths to the praise of God. The disciples of Jesus plucked and ate wheat while walking through the wheat field on the Sabbath. To interpret this simple act to be reaping, threshing and winnowing, and hence a violation of the Sabbath is manifestly absurd. It was such absurdities that Jesus combated, not the true keeping of the commandment. Jesus himself kept the law in every respect. But over the years Jewish religionists had evolved a long and tedious list of prohibitions regarding the Sabbath which were ridiculous and burdensome. For example, if a man scratched or hunted for a flea on the Sabbath, he was violating the Sabbath. Why? The man was “hunting” as truly as though it were a buffalo or a lion! It was also argued that if anyone walked upon the grass with nailed shoes on the Sabbath day, he would violate the law because he would inevitably trample out some of the grass seeds. That would be threshing. It was even debated whether or not a fresh egg should be eaten on the first day of the week since it implied work on the part of the hen on the seventh day, the Sabbath. Such ridiculous trivialities irked Jesus. The law says:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all the work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.” Exodus 20:8-10

“And [Jesus] said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27

The Sabbath Blesses Man

It is clear that the Sabbath was given for the benefit of mankind, for man’s physical, mental and moral rest, recuperation and strengthening. A day of rest, whether the seventh day or another day, is absolutely necessary for humankind. After the French Revolution, when a wave of irreligion swept France, they enacted a law abolishing rest on Sunday. “We will accomplish much more without a day’s cessation of labor,” they said. After a while, there were wholesale physical and nervous breakdowns among the people and a day of rest had to be restored. So aside from its typical significance, the fourth commandment was an eminently wise law. Originally it was to be purely a day of rest. Now it had become a day of worry over trivialities. They had complicated and perverted it. Instead of relaxing and refreshing them, the Sabbath built up their anxieties.

They asked themselves: “Am I, without knowing it, reaping, or threshing, or winnowing, or hunting, or eating an egg produced on the Sabbath?” The time came when it was such a chore to keep the Sabbath with all its formalities and fears, that the people dreaded its coming and were glad when the sun set upon it so they could relax in the normal pursuits of a working day. These were the conditions Jesus found, and combated during his ministry. It was just another case of Satan subtly and gradually perverting the laws of God, holding them up to ridicule.

On this occasion Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees: “But if ye had known what this meaneth: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” Mercy was something they conspicuously lacked. Jesus brought this out forcibly on the next occasion. Pointing to the man with the withered hand, he said:

“What man, shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?”

What an eloquent illustration of mercy! A man has only one sheep, his sole possession. He has no great wealth, not a vast herd just one sheep. If that one sheep falls into a pit on the Sabbath and cannot get out, and it looks up at its Master and cries piteously, will not the man, out of simple mercy, lift it out, whether it be the Sabbath or not? Or will he, for the sake of the Sabbath, sacrifice the sheep by letting it die in the pit? Jesus gave the answer by quoting his Heavenly Father’s words: “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” Then to the man with the withered hand he said: “How much, then, is a man better than a sheep.”

What a beautiful illustration this is of humankind who, like poor sheep, have fallen into the pit of sin and death. They are utterly unable by their own efforts to raise themselves out. They look up and cry piteously to their Master for help, seeking after God, if haply they might find him, groaning and travailing in pain together. How happy we are for the great mercy that will lay hold on that sheep during the Sabbath Age, the Millennium and lift it out!

Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day.” What does this mean? Immediately following the commandment relating to the Sabbath, we read:

“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11

Of course these six days of creation were not 24-hour days; each was thousands of years in length. Having established his human son in Eden as ruler of the earth at the end of the sixth day, Jehovah God rested from work on the seventh day, a period of 7,000 years. To whom then, did he entrust the affairs of humankind? Who became Lord of this seventh day or Sabbath extending 7,000 years from the creation of man to the restoration of man at the end of the Millennial Age? He appointed his son Jesus Christ to be this Lord of the Sabbath, TO CARRY OUT HIS WILL, to redeem and rescue humankind, to select his bride and church, to lay hold of the sheep and raise it out of the pit, to conquer and subdue all evil, and finally present it all faultless to his heavenly Father. As Paul expresses it:

“Then the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power; for he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet; and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death; for he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith All things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son, also, himself be subject unto him that put all things under him; that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

When Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees he was “Lord of the Sabbath,” he did not mean that he had the right to set aside the requirements of the Sabbath. Quite the contrary. He was telling them, although they could not understand it, that his work was in fulfillment of the larger meaning of the Sabbath, that the entire 7,000-year Sabbath was under his control and command.

While the seventh day was beneficial to the Jew as a day of rest, it was given for another very important reason. It was also typical. It typified the Christian’s rest of faith, a close heart-relationship to the Lord, a complete and utter reliance on him, a complete love for him. Instead of demanding one day out of seven, as the Jewish law did, the law of love controls and regulates our entire time. Seven days each week we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Seven days each week we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Seven days each week we are to rest rest from our own works, rest by faith in the finished work of Christ, rest in the love of God, rest in the peace of God which passeth all understanding, ruling in our hearts continually. As the apostle explains the matter:

“Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For we which have believed, do enter into rest.. There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest.” Hebrews 4:1,3,9-11

While enjoying this Sabbath of rest in advance, how we long for rest to come to the world, when all cruelty, viciousness, heartbreak, hopelessness, fear and despair will come to an end, when the nobility and dignity of man will be restored, and kindness, helpfulness, love and hope will fill the earth! What joy it brings to know we will have a part in bringing it about!

The Prayer of Hezekiah

“Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.” 2 Chronicles 32:22

HEZEKIAH was king of Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem. He was a good king, and the Lord loved him. It is written of him: “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him, was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.” 2 Kings 18:3,5

Hezekiah eradicated idolatry from Judah, breaking the images and cutting down the groves of heathen worship. He went even further than that. Do you remember the times during the wanderings of the Children of Israel, that fiery serpents bit them, and many died? On that occasion, at God’s direction, Moses made a brazen serpent and set it upon a pole in the midst of the camp. If anyone was bitten, all he had to do was to look at the brazen serpent and he lived. This, of course, represented Jesus, raised up upon the cross, to whom those bitten by sin and death may look and live. The brazen serpent was a fascinating object. The children of Israel, who had so often turned to idolatry, had done something very characteristic of them. They preserved that brazen serpent over the centuries and at the time of Hezekiah it was enshrined in the temple at Jerusalem. Now that would have been all right if they had merely regarded it as an interesting historical relic. But no! They had to make an idol of it– they had to worship it–right there in the very temple of the Great God of Heaven! They ignored the Creator in His own house and worshipped a piece of brass instead! So we read that Hezekiah:

“Brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for in those days the Children of Israel did burn incense to it. And he called it Nehushtan [a piece of brass].” 2 Kings 18:4

It took a lot of courage to do that. This serpent was a revered object. Destroying it was the breaking of ancient tradition. But Heze kiah’s devotion to the Lord was such that he could not tolerate the adoration of this object even though it had been made by the hand of Moses at God’s direction. We read of Hezekiah in verses 6 and 7:

“He clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.”

In those days, the king of Assyria was on the march. Assyria was rapidly becoming a world empire. The Assyrian armies, with their expert archers and their chariots and horsemen, had conquered one nation after another. They appeared to be aiming for the conquest of Egypt, but they must first eliminate the nations in the way. Logistics made this necessary. Their supply lines must be protected. So, in the course of their military aggression, they invaded and conquered the northern or ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, which had a separate government from Judah, and they carried the Israelites of those tribes captive to Assyria (verse 11). Now the kingdom of Judah, of which Hezekiah was king, was the last country in the way between them and Egypt. So they marched on and conquered the outlying fenced cities of Judah too. Then they turned their eyes on Jerusalem itself, the capital city of Judah.

Because of their reputation of terror, the Assyrians expected Hezekiah to surrender upon demand, giving them a quick and easy victory. But Hezekiah refused to submit. The scriptures say that “he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not.” (2 Kings 18:7) Then, in his effort to avoid war, Hezekiah made a mistake and did a foolish thing. Perhaps he was influenced by his advisors against his better judgment: he offered to pay tribute to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and he asked the king to name the amount! In effect, he signed a blank check. The king was quick to press his advantage. He demanded 30 talents of gold and 300 talents of silver as his price for not attacking Jerusalem. One talent weighs about 125 pounds.

Just imagine the value at today’s prices! But according to ancient Assyrian historical records which exist today, written on tablets and cylinders of baked clay, Sennacherib actually got 800 talents of silver or 100,000 pounds in weight, in addition to the gold. This may be correct, because the scripture says:

“And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid; and gave it to the king of Assyria.” 2 Kings 18:15,16

Sennacherib Lies to Hezekiah

In effect, he stripped and robbed the house of God. So what did Sennacherib do as soon as he had gotten this tremendous treasure? He promptly sent a great host against Jerusalem! Do you see how foolish it was for Hezekiah to try to do business with Sennacherib? He paid for peace and got war just the same.

Bro. Russell suggests that there is a lesson in this for us, for spiritual Israel. We should not attempt to negotiate with Satan, to purchase deliverance and peace with things consecrated to the Lord to compromise the truth, for instance, if threatened with the disfavor of friends, or neighbors, or others, by taking a more worldly course; taking from our time, influence, or means, which are consecrated to the Lord, any great portions for worldly service, perhaps to secure domestic peace, or social advancement, or earthly prosperity. If the Lord’s consecrated people do this, it may well be, as in the case of Hezekiah, that the Lord will permit to come upon them the very difficulties which they, by so doing, seek to avoid.

There is another very encouraging lesson we can learn from this incident too. Serious as his mistake was, the Lord seems to have completely forgiven Hezekiah, and caused to be written of his reign: “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.” The events transpiring after this incident show the Lord’s abundant favor upon him, as proof of his forgiveness. We can take heart from this. If we have been guilty of errors of judgment (and who has not been), even serious and costly blunders, even tending to compromise the truth, and seeing the error of our way, we cry to the Lord for forgiveness, he is willing to forgive completely. Hezekiah knew this; and he himself said, as recorded in Isaiah 38:17,

“Behold for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

Do you know what this means: “For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back”? It means that when our sins are forgiven, they no longer come between us and God. They are behind his back, not before his face, when he looks upon us. This is a blessed condition. As David put it:

“Blessed is he, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” Psalms 32:1,2

Hezekiah Shows No Fear

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib, king of Syria, was determined to fight against Jerusalem, he gathered the people of the city together in a great open-air meeting, and said to them, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 32:7,8:

“Be strong and courageous; be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there is more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.”

“For there is more with us, than with him,” Hezekiah said. That was a surprising thing for him to say. The hordes of Sennacherib were like locusts. They covered the earth. Hundreds of thousands of armed men, superbly drilled and disciplined: charioteers, horsemen, lancers, archers, swordsmen, foot-soldiers. Engineers, skilled in laying siege against walled cities with scaling ladders, catapults, battering rams, and enormous bows for shooting flaming arrows all in charge of proficient and seasoned commanders with decades of successful military campaigns behind them, with a record of no defeats.

On the other hand, there were only a few thousand men in Jerusalem. No standing army, but only a militia of civilians over which some military captains had been hastily set (verse 6). Still Heze kiah could say: “There is more with us, than with him”! What an astonishing thing for him to say! But then, he explained himself in the next verse: “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.” Under the circumstances, it took tremendous faith to say that real faith.

You know, theoretic or untested faith is easy. You sit down, safe and sound, surrounded by every material comfort, and simply use your reason. You say: “God is all-powerful. He made heaven and earth.

All things are under his control. No one can successfully resist Him. And I am his child. He has promised help in every time of need. He has said that no evil shall befall me. He has given his angels charge over me. So what have I got to be afraid of?”

That kind of faith is easy, when everything is going reasonably well, when there is no immediate or serious threat. But with Hezekiah in Jerusalem that day, it was different. When he said these words, he could practically hear the tramping feet of hundreds of thousands of approaching soldiers, the neighing of thousands of horses, the rumble of war chariots, the deliberate tread of great war elephants, bringing up the battering rams, the infernal sounds of a frightful military machine, coming closer and closer all with the object of destroying Jerusalem. He could see their dust and almost smell their sweat. THIS was no time for theorizing. This was IT! This was a test of real faith. Hezekiah proved that he had it. He trusted the Lord completely in the face of real and imminent danger. It made him strong and courageous, so strong and courageous that his speech carried power and conviction. He was able to imbue the people with his own spirit and confidence. We read that “the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.” The margin says that they “leaned upon” his words. They believed and depended upon his words and it gave them rest and serenity in the face of great peril. They were ready when the Assyrians (called in 2 Kings 18:17 “a great host”) arrived before Jerusalem.

The Conversation at the Wall

The huge Assyrian army stopped a short distance from the city and three pompous emissaries, generals of Sennacherib, approached the main gate. They called for King Hezekiah but instead of coming out himself, Hezekiah sent three representatives to talk to the Assyrians. Excitement ran high. The men of Jerusalem crowded upon the top of the wall to see and hear the proceedings. I’m going to paraphrase the conversation that took place, from the record found in 2 Kings 18:19 to 35. General Rabshakeh, senior general of the armies, was the spokesman for Sennacherib, King of Assyria. We can imagine that he looked with haughty disdain upon the humble civilian representatives King Hezekiah had sent out to him. Using the Hebrew language, he arrogantly said: “Speak ye now to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king.” Notice he didn’t say “Speak to king Hezekiah,” but just “Hezekiah.” But of Sennacherib he said: “Thus saith the great king, the King of Assyria.” Then he quoted Sennacherib, saying in substance,

“Whatever made you think you could rebel against me? In what do you put your trust and confidence? Perhaps you are expecting my enemy, Egypt, to come to your help. But he is like a bruised reed, a stem of grass that has been bent, entirely unreliable. If you put your trust in Egypt’s chariots and horsemen to come and help you, I will save you a lot of time and trouble. I’ll give you 2000 horses myself, if you have that many men that can ride them, and still I’ll defeat you. Why, with your contemptible army, you couldn’t whip even one of my captains and his men. But maybe you say to me: `We trust in the Lord our God.’ (2 Kings 18:22) Every one of the hundreds of nations I have conquered trusted in their gods, too. Not one of those gods delivered his country from me. They all fell like rotten apples into my hands.”

All the while the men of Jerusalem on the wall were listening. Hezekiah’s represen tatives did not want them to be demoralized by the Assyrian general’s speech so they said to the Assyrian, “We understand the Syrian language; speak to us in Syrian instead of Hebrew. There’s no need for the men on the wall to hear what we’re saying.” But General Rabshakeh refused. Raising his voice, he said: “I want them to hear! I was sent to tell them too. They’re the ones who will suffer in the siege, dying through lack of food and water.” Now he spoke directly to the men on the wall, shouting out his words:

“Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, the LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah.” (2 Kings 18:28-31)

Then he said, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 32:13-15:

“Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out ofmine hand? Now therefore, let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?”

Then he spoke a big lie, found in 2 Kings 18:25. He said:

“Do you think I have come against Jerusalem without your God’s approval? The fact is that your own Jehovah God himself sent me against you. He said to me: `Go up against this land, and destroy it.’|“

This lie was calculated to completely demoralize the people of Jerusalem, to knock out the last prop from under them, to destroy their last hope, to get them to rebel against Hezekiah, and to open the gates of Jerusalem to the enemy, to save them the trouble of a siege. (2 Chronicles 32:11) But much to General Rabshakeh’s disappointment, the strategy didn’t work. We read: “But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word.” (2 Kings 18:36) Seeing this, the three Assyrian generals turned on their heels and returned to their encampment.

Hezekiah’s Seeks God’s Guidance

When the conversation with the Assyrians was reported to Hezekiah, he reacted with grief and humility. We read:

“And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.” 2Kings 19:1

Isaiah was prophet in those days, and Hezekiah sought his counsel and received his encouragement. Meantime, General Rabshakeh, leaving his troops outside of Jerusalem, reported back to the king of Assyria, saying that Hezekiah still defied him and still trusted in Jehovah God and refused to surrender Jerusalem. This enraged Senna cherib who was busy with other campaigns, and he wrote a railing and insulting letter to Hezekiah in which he reiterated what General Rabshakeh had told him and said:

“Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed.?”–2 Kings 19:10-12

When the messengers bearing the letter arrived at Jerusalem, tension was running high. The noise from the Assyrian encampment nearby could be heard day and night. Preparations were being made for the siege of Jerusalem. Troops had to be drilled and horses exercised.

These sounds were a constant reminder of the presence of the enemy. The messengers of Senna cherib rode up to the gate and demanded to see the King to deliver the letter personally. Then we read in 2 Kings 19, starting with verse 14:

“And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O Lord God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, Thou are the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth.”

What a beautifully spontaneous gesture this was! The letter was probably written on parchment, and was in scroll form. Heze kiah unrolled it, and spread it before the Lord. Did he have to do that? Don’t you think the Lord already knew what was inthat letter? Of course he did. Hadn’t he seen Sennacherib write it? Hadn’t he read the evil thoughts of Sennacherib’s mind, even before he wrote it? Was it really necessary for Hezekiah to spread it before Him like this? But by doing so, Hezekiah demonstrated the intensity of his feelings. He showed his nearness to God, the intimacy and reality of his communion with God, enabling him to converse with God on a personal basis, to reason with Him. God invites us to do that: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 1:18)

So Hezekiah spread the letter out and said, in effect: “Lord, just look at this insulting letter! Just hear the words of that man Sennacherib, reproaching you!” He probably read the letter aloud, tracing the words with his finger. “Look, Lord, what he says here! See what he says about you!” As the record has it:

“LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear; open, LORD, thine eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God!”

Then he continued:

“Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now, therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.”

These details of Hezekiah’s prayer are given for a purpose. As 1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “They are written for our admonition.” This is a model prayer a prayer that reached the Lord, and the Lord heard it, was moved by it, and had regard to it. The Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer in a most stupendous and spectacular manner.

Listen to 2 Kings 19:35:

“And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”

The mighty Sennacherib, king of Assyria, conqueror of the world, was utterly defeated, in one night, without a battle because Hezekiah had frankly and openly spread his problem before the Lord.

Bringing Our Problems to the Lord

We can learn an important lesson from this. Do we always spread our problems before the Lord? Do we lay them on the table, so to speak? Do we repeat them and trace them to the Lord when making our requests for help? Or do we say, “Oh, the Lord knows all about it; he knows all the details already”? Suppose Hezekiah had said that? Do you think he would have gotten the spectacular demonstration of power he did? I doubt it very much. So let us learn from Hezekiah’s example. Let us lay our problems before the Lord, rehearsing every detail. Let us do so boldly and confidently with faith, believing that the Lord is able and willing to do what is best for us. As Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” David said in Psalm 62:8, “Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” Pour out your heart! Tell the Lord everything you think and feel and God will be a refuge for you. We read of Jesus in Luke 6:12, “And he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” All night! Why did it take Jesus so long? Didn’t his Heavenly Father know all about it already? Wasn’t He always watching over Jesus? Didn’t He already know just how Jesus felt? Of course! But Jesus poured out his heart just the same. He probably went over every incident of the day. He spread it all before the Lord.

Someone may say, “I find it difficult to identify myself with Hezekiah, in this case. When he prayed, he was in real trouble, desperate trouble. A segment of the mightiest army in the world was marching on him, poised to attack. His own life was in danger, and the life of every man in Jerusalem was threatened. When he prayed, he had tremendous problems to lay before the Lord. Although I, too, have problems, and have requests to make of the Lord, they seem so small and petty. They aren’t urgent and desperate and earth-shaking, as Hezekiah’s were. The comparison makes me feel ashamed.”

To one who feels this way, I would say, Perhaps your petitions to the Lord are more vital and important than you think. I assure you they really are a life-and-death matter. They really do warrant a complete laying before the Lord, just as Hezekiah’s did. Let us see why.

Opposing Hezekiah was a great military force, headed by a powerful and wicked ruler, bent on destroying him. As for us, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) Knowing that we are so opposed by Satan and his evil forces that our eternal welfare is at stake, should we not make it a subject of the most earnest prayer? Aren’t we in deadly danger, too?

Let us carry the comparison still further. The Assyrian army that threatened Hezekiah was noted for its archers and swordsmen. We, too, have archers and swordsmen threatening us. So we can join with the prayer of David:

“Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: that they may shoot in secret.”– Psalms 64:2-4

“For lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.” Psalms 11:2

In Psalm 91 David speaks of “the terror by night” and “the arrow that flieth by day.” David also said:

“As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me: `Where is thy God?’“ Psalms 42:10

These enemies are Satan and his evil instruments. They shoot us with their arrows, and thrust us with their swords. Bitter and evil thoughts are introduced into the mind. “Where is thy God?” they ask, just as Sennacherib did. In other words, they suggest, “God isn’t dealing with you; he has abandoned you. You are being afflicted and he is not helping you. All things are not working together for your good; therefore you are not one of the called according to his purpose. Where is thy God?”

All the Lord’s people are sometimes afflicted with such thoughts. They are dangerous thoughts a peril to the new creature. So when we are threatened by these bowmen and swordsmen of the enemy, let us do as Hezekiah did: let us spread the matter before the Lord. How can we do this? We can do it by recalling to the Lord in prayer all his loving providences in our behalf from the beginning of our Christian careers to the present moment, individually and particularly, naming them, and repeating them to the Lord, even though he already knows them all. In this way the sword-thrust of Satan “Where is thy God?” will fail just as the swordsmen of Senna cherib failed against Hezekiah.

Then there were the chariots of Senna cherib, riding against the City of God. We have chariots to contend with too. Bro. Russell suggests that a chariot is a symbol of a worldly organization. We must necessarily live under the rule of earthly governments, but there are many worldly organizations we can and should avoid.

The Assyrian army had tens of thousands of horsemen. Bro. Russell suggests that horses are a symbol of doctrines, particularly false doctrines. Sennacherib’s horsemen lay in wait outside of Jerusalem; Paul in Ephesians 4:14 refers to “every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” The child of God must ever be on the alert against false doctrines, prayerfully seeking the Lord’s guidance. Since chariots are pulled by horses, we can combine the two symbols to give us an organization, drawn by false doctrines. All the nominal systems fall into this category, but their doctrines are so obviously false and contrary to God’s loving character that the true child of God can hardly be deceived by them. But there is one I particularly have in mind, an organization or society which formerly enjoyed the full light of truth, but which has been pulled aside, and away, by the horsemen of false doctrine. Its doctrines are such an insidious mixture of truth and error that itis a real threat to the children of God, many of whom are imprisoned there. We can pray for these;

Jeremiah 51:19,21 encourages us to do so:

“The LORD of hosts is his name. With thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.”

And we can pray for ourselves, too. Psalm 20:7 expresses our sentiments:

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

Carrying the picture still further, the besieging Assyrians had flaming arrows to shoot over the walls of Jerusalem and set the city afire. This was a real threat since the water supply was limited and fires on the flat roofs of the city would have to be beaten out by hand. This was something for Hezekiah to lay before the Lord. We have a similar situation. Paul admonishes us:

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”–Ephesians 6:16

If our faith is weak and sometimes fails causing us to “panic,” so to speak, let us spread our need before the Lord, telling the Lord all about it. The very act of laying everything before the Lord will increase our faith.

Other Lessons from Hezekiah’s Prayer Since the prayer of Hezekiah is a model prayer and is “written for our admonition,” let us consider it further. 2 Chronicles 32:20 tells us that Hezekiah “prayed and cried to heaven.” This shows intensity

of feeling, an opening of the heart, an imploring and pleading. We shouldn’t be afraid of showing our emotions to the Lord to cry to the Lord. Then Hezekiah said, as recorded in 2 Kings 19:16: “LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see!”

David, who lived so close to God, expressed a very similar thought:

“The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” Psalms 34:15,17

“In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.” Psalms 18:6,16,17

The similarities here are striking. Hezekiah faced a strong enemy. So did David. Hezekiah cried to the Lord. So did David. Hezekiah pleaded for the Lord to see and hear. So did David. Both of them prayed successfully. We can learn from this. After pleading his need, Hezekiah pleaded God’s glory. He said:

“Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee; save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” 2 Kings 19:19

In other words:

“This man, Sennacherib, has classed you in with the idols of the other nations, which are nothing but sticks and stones. He has spoken thus of you, the Creator of Heaven and earth! All the kingdoms of the earth have heard of his defying you; and they are watching. If you will now save us out of his hand, if he fails in his attack on Jerusalem, all nations will know you are the Only True God!”

This is pleading God’s glory. David used this plea in a situation very similar to Hezekiah’s. As Hezekiah was confronted with Sennacherib and the armed might of Assyria, David faced Goliath and the host of Philistia. Before David faced Goliath he must have privately made a prayer very similar to Hezekiah’s. We know, by what happened afterwards, that he laid the matter before the Lord, saying in effect:

“In defying the armies of Israel, this monster, Goliath, is defying you. He is doing it in the name of his god, exalting him above you. He has been defying you for 40 days. All the surrounding nations have heard about it, and are watching. If you will now deliver him into my hands, and let me prevail against the Philistines, every one will know that you alone are God.”

This put the matter completely in God’s hands. We know he must have prayed thusand received the assurances of the Lord because, before killing the giant, he boldly said to him:

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands. 1 Samuel 17:45-47

Moses also pleaded God’s glory. The account is in Numbers 14:12-16. Because of their constant ingratitude and murmurings and idolatries in the wilderness, even in the face of mighty signs and wonders, the children of Israel provoked the Lord. When they approached Canaan, the land of promise, God suggested to Moses that Hewas tempted to disinherit and destroy them and, instead of them, make of Moses a mighty nation, mightier than they. On that occasion, Moses pleaded God’s glory. We read:

“And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them); and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land; for they have heard that thou, LORD, art among this people, that thou, LORD, art seen face to face; and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying: `Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.’|“

Do you see the force of this argument? Joshua used this same argument in Joshua 7:7-9; Elijah used it in 1Kings 18:32-38; Daniel used it in Daniel 9:15-19; Jehosha phat used it in 2 Chronicles 20:5-12. They all pleaded God’s glory. God heard and had respect to their prayers. So let us also plead God’s glory in our prayers.

How We Can Plead God’s Glory

“How can we do this?” someone may ask. “Would it not be presumptuous? Our needs seem to be so insignificant, compared to those ancient men of God.” Let us see if this is so. God is doing a mighty work in the world right now. It is the harvest work. It is so important that Revelation 7:1-3 tells of four angels, holding back the four winds which are to hurt the earth and the sea; and another mighty angel “saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” These are tremendous events. Whereas, back there, only a few nations were involved when those patriarchs pleaded God’s glory, now the entire world awaits its greatest crisis, waiting for just a few more a very few more servants of God to be sealed with the truth, and to make their calling and election sure. So our prayers concerning the furtherance of the harvest work are extremely important, and in these prayers we can certainly plead God’s glory.

How? For example, God has raised up the radio and television work, a modern miracle, by means of which the truth is made available to millions of people every week, passing through every barrier. When we ask the Lord to bless the brethren carrying on this work, stimulating their minds to present the truth in the proper manner, we can plead God’s glory by saying: “Lord, if you do not supervise and overrule and bless the efforts of our brethren, and if confusing doctrines are promulgated, it will bring reproach upon you; because they are doing this work in your name. So let thy pure truth continue to be put forth, so that all that hear may glorify Thee.”

In the same way we can plead God’s glory for the other activities of His service, by every class, saying: “Bless their efforts that many may hear of Thy plan, and Thy name may be glorified.”

Much of our prayers are for personal guidance, involving personal problems. In these too we can plead God’s glory. We can say, in effect: “Lord if I fail in this, if I do not receive your promised grace to help in every time of need, Satan will gain an advantage over me. And since I am your child, this would be a reproach to you.” Then we can say, in the words of David, “Therefore, for thy name’s sake, lead me, and guide me.” Psalms 31:3

After Hezekiah had spread Sennache rib’s letter before the Lord, and prayed over it, and pleaded God’s glory, the angel of the Lord “smote in the camp of the As syrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand.” As 2 Chronicles 32:21,22 says:

“And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.”

What a wonderful expression that is “and the Lord guided them on every side!” Do you want the Lord to guide you on every side? Then do what Hezekiah did.

As Hezekiah “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” let us, in the language of Titus 2:12, “live soberly, righ teously, and godly, in this present world,” faithfully maintaining our consecration.

As Hezekiah eradicated idolatry from among the children of Israel, let us as Paul says,

“Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

As Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel, let us, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 As Hezekiah departed not from keeping the Lord’s commandments, let us never leave the basic doctrines of the truth for so-called “new light.”

As Hezekiah, in his desperate need, took his problem “and spread it before the Lord,” let us, as Paul said, “Come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) Let us not hesitate to “pour out our hearts before him.” Psalms 62:8

As Hezekiah pleaded God’s glory, let us do so as well.

If we do these things, the Lord will “guide us on every side.” Then will be fulfilled in us the prophecy of Psalm 107:28-30:

“Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.”

The Prophetic Significance of the Miracles of Jesus

ALL those familiar with the Bible know of the miracles of Jesus. A record .of them is a prominent part of the four gospels. All who read of Jesus’ .miracles are impressed by the compassion, love and mercy he exhibited for poor, suffering humanity. His heart went out to all those in bondage to sin, sickness and death, and he used his mighty power liberally on their behalf. Few realize that these miracles had great prophetic significance as well.

The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was a prophetic picture or preview of a future general resurrection of all the dead during Christ’s kingdom on earth because Jesus said on that occasion:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” John 11:25,26

Jesus performed many other miracles that are prophetic of what will come to pass during the kingdom of God, the “times of restitution.” Let us read some of the accounts of the other miracles of Jesus to see how they fit in with the ancient prophecies of restitution. First, we have cases where Jesus healed the blind.

“Two blind men followed him crying and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us! Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened.” Matthew 9:27,29,30

There is a record of two blind men pleading to be healed:

“So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight.” Matthew 20:34

There are many other instances where Jesus restored sight to the blind. Jesus also healed the deaf and dumb:

“And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech. … And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well. He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.” Mark 7:32,35,37

Jesus also healed those with maimed limbs, and who were lame:

“And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and laid them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them. Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. And they glorified the God of Israel.” Matthew 15:30,31

Let us turn to one of the holy prophets who spoke of conditions during the “times of restitution” and see that all these wonderful miracles of Jesus were samples of what the whole world will then enjoy.

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Isaiah 35:5,6

In the kingdom of God on earth not only will literal blindness and deafness be cured, but also blindness and dullness of intellect.

People will then learn to do right instead of wrong.

“When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9

Mankind is to be restored to mental as well as physical perfection. Here is a summation of Jesus’ work on earth:

“The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Matthew 11:5

“Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” Matthew 9:35

Although he healed the people to attract them to him, his mission was to proclaim his kingdom to come when there would be “times of restitution.”

At one time he sent out seventy of his disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom in every city of the land, telling them to “heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” (Luke 10:9) By this he meant that those miracles of healing were a foretaste of what the kingdom of God will bring. In other words: “When you see them, you have seen in advance what will happen in the wonderful times of restitution to

come.” At that time, “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.” (Isaiah 33:24) We also read, “Then shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” (Malachi 4:2) Mankind will not grow old any more. Although retaining their wisdom, old people will become physically young again. Wrinkles will disappear, strength and beauty of youth will return.

“His flesh shall be fresher then a child’s. He shall return to the days of his youth.” Job 33:25

There will be no more wars or violence of any kind. Men will no longer injure one another. Fear will be a thing of the past. Micah says of Christ who will then be king:

“He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:3,4

Then he describes a peaceful time, saying:

“But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.”

Nations and peoples of every kind and temperament will live peacefully with each other. Even the lower animals will no longer prey on one another. This is described by Isaiah:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:6-9

In those “times of restitution” oppression and exploitation will not be permitted. No one will enrich himself at another’s expense. Each man will enjoy the work of hisown hands; personal worth and dignity will be restored. Strict justice will prevail. The days of a man’s life will never end. The prophet describes it thus:

“They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days of a tree are the days of my people; and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:21-24

It is to be a time when every problem of mankind will be solved. There is to be a restoration of everything lost by the disobedience of Adam, a “restitution of all things.” Life will be restored in its fullness. Even the dead will return to life. All physical disabilities will be eliminated. There will be freedom from fear and oppression. Peace and plenty will be restored to mankind. All the willing and obedient shall live forever in health and happiness upon the earth.

This has all been assured by the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is the king in these “times of restitution.”

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that . .. a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” Jeremiah 23:5

The king is already here and the benefits of that kingdom of God on earth will soon be manifest to all mankind.

The Secret Place of the Most High

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalms 91:1

WE ARE living in a terrible time, and yet a wonderful time. It is a terrible time because we see before our very eyes a world collapsing and disintegrating. It is a wonderful time because we are on the very threshold of the mediatorial kingdom of God when all nations shall be blessed. It is a time tersely described in Haggai:

“For thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come.” Haggai 2:6,7

There will never be another time like this. This is the culmination or focal point of all ages. The fruit of the first age is reaped because the sin of Adam is come to the full; it is as it was in the days of Noah.

The fruit of the Patriarchal Age will be reaped by the realization of all the grand and gracious promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whereby all the families of the earth are to be blessed. The fruit of the Jewish Age will be reaped when, very soon now, upon the completion of the church, the ancient worthies will come forth to take over the visible rule of earth. But the grandest harvest of all is the reaping of the Gospel age, the completion of the church. This is what the whole groaning world has been earnestly waiting for.

Without knowing what it is, they have yearned and longed for this event to take place, for the church to be manifested and to bring life to the dying world. It is somehow, subconsciously, expected.

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God.” Romans 8:22,19

Soon the two physical blessings of the Millennial Age will begin to flow to the people and, in the words of Daniel, those “that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” Then Paradise will be restored.

We are living in the time of the converging of all the ages. It is of us Paul speaks when he used the expression, “Upon whom the ends of the ages are come.” (1Corinthians 10:11) For us it is a joyful time because we know where we are in the plan of God. We know our part in it. We see what is happening. We know the meaning of these events. This gives us a lift as described in the words of Jesus:

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28

Immediately after saying this Jesus told the parable of the budding fig tree which refers to the resurrection of the nation of Israel and is a sure sign of the times. It is a thrilling time for us. We see all our hopes about to be realized.

To the world it is a different time. To them it is a time of worry and terror as they see the clouds of trouble gathering, “a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” (Joel 2:2) Jesus described this time:

“Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” Luke 21:25,26

The “powers of heaven” here referred to are the present ruling powers, civil and ecclesiastical. They are worried and shaken at the possibility of worldwide atomic warfare for which every preparation has been made. They are justifiably fearful because they know that the power to kill every animal on earth is in the hands of a few sinful men. Jesus further described these days:

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved.” Matthew 24:21,22

The prophet Daniel also saw these days:

“There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.” Daniel 12:1

Paul described the present fearful anticipation of imminent destruction and the frantic efforts to establish peace:

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3

The World Remains in Terror

The present terror of the world reminds one of the legendary story of Damocles. At a grand banquet given in his honor, when everything seemed to be going so well, he happened to look upward and was horrified to see an enormous naked sword suspended over his head by a single hair and liable to fall at any moment. It is indeed ironic that at the time of the greatest increase of knowledge, when giant strides have been made in the arts of medicine, science of all kinds, rapid travel, instant communication, psychology, human relations and statesmanship skills which one would think would knit the nations closer together it is ironic that this time of man’s greatest attainment, which normally should result in his greatest security, should precisely be the time of greatest insecurity and fear!

Nothing seems to be working right for the leaders of the world. Old formulae no longer seem to apply. Painstaking plans, based upon the experience of centuries, no longer work as intended but often have the opposite effect. This is true of all the nations of the earth, the old as well as thenew emerging nations. It is true of the United Nations.

Although they do not realize it yet, the nations will soon realize that things are as they are because the Lord’s hand is in it, that his voice is being heard:

“The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations. He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.” Jeremiah 25:30-32

When fear and terror are felt, the first human impulse is to flee, to get away, to find a secure place and hide from the danger. As the time of trouble, which has already started, gets worse, the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled:

“And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold; which they made, each one for himself to worship; to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks [or, as Leeser renders it, `into the hollows of the cliffs’] for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” Isaiah 2:19-21

All this is symbolic language. What does it mean? It means that men will try to find shelter and security in various human cooperative schemes. Mountains are governments; hills are lesser worldly organizations of various kinds. Hosea says, “They shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us [or over us].” (Hosea 10:8) Jesus repeated this prophecy when he referred to these last days: “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.” (Luke 23:30)

The most concise description of these coming days is found in Revelation:

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us [or over us], and hide us from the face of him who sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” Revelation 6:15-17

This takes in just about everybody. The “kings” are the heads of government. The “great men” are the statesmen, politicians, and religious leaders. The “rich men” are the financiers, the “chief captains” are the military leaders, and the “mighty men” are the military forces. “Bondmen” could refer to union members and “freemen” to non-union workers. Commenting on this scripture, Bro. Russell says:

“As the trouble increases, men will seek, but in vain, for protection in the `dens’ and `caves,’ the great rocks and fortresses of society: Free-Masonry, Odd-Fellowship, and Trade Unions, Guilds, Trusts, and all Societies, secular, and ecclesiastical, and in the mountains (governments) of the earth.” Studies in the Scriptures, volume 2, page 139

There Is No Escape

But will they hide successfully, will they find refuge from the Lord’s wrath? Jeremiah answers:

“Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:24

No, they will not escape. But we know it is all for a benevolent purpose. All selfish human schemes must be discredited and eliminated to make way for the full establishment of God’s glorious kingdom on earth.

The scriptures indicate that the final and most severe phase of the time of trouble will not come until the body of Christ is complete. This is brought out in Revelation:

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand.” Revelation 7:1-4

This does not mean that we will escape the entire time of trouble. We are in it now and it is worsening every day. But unlike the world, we are not afraid, we are not terror-stricken. We do not frantically seek to hide in the dens and caves of the earth.

Why not? It is because we have a refuge the world does not know about, a safe and secure hiding place which the Lord has provided for us. He invites us to enter into it, particularly at the present time when the old world is being removed to make way for the new, when governments are being shaken and overthrown, when mankind is getting restless and rebellious. Having entered in, we have no fear of what is going on about us.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Psalms 46:1-3

Doesn’t that describe the present time precisely? Psalm 32 describes our God:

“Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” Psalms 32:7

Does this mean that we will be miraculously preserved from every physical aspect of the time of trouble? If there are food shortages, will we have an abundance? If war decrees the restraining of human liberties, will we remain free? If the atmosphere is polluted with atomic and other poisons, will we breathe pure air? Of course not! These things, affecting only the fleshly body, are comparatively inconsequential. It is in the things that really matter that we will be preserved. Even in famine there will continue to be an abundance of spiritual food. It will not be rationed. We will continue to “stand fast … in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” free from human creeds and concepts. (Galatians 5:1)

These are the things that really count. Even in a disordered and disintegrating world, even in lawlessness and anarchy, nothing will be permitted to happen to us that is not for our highest spiritual welfare. Although we walk about and intermingle with our neighbors, sharing their hardships, in reality we will be segregated, in a secret place where no real harm can befall us, where everything we really need is supplied. Psalm 91 beautifully describes this condition:

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91

Dwelling in the Secret Place

Where is this wonderful “secret place”? It is not a locality, but a condition. It is a relationship, a standing before the Lord, a condition of consecration and acceptance, a condition of justification and spirit-begettal, it is a living with the Lord. Jesus described this condition:

“If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23

It doesn’t make any difference where we live, or where we go we can still be in that “Secret Place.” David sang of it:

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in the grave, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalms 139:7-10

No matter where we are physically or geographically, we can still be safe and secure “in the secret place of the Most High.” What a great and unusual privilege this is!

“O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Psalms 31:19,20

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock.” Psalms 27:4,5

This seems contradictory. It seems to say that we are hidden from view in a secret place and yet set up, in full view, upon a rock. But it is all beautifully harmonious to those who understand the symbols. We are members of God’s household, of those who are justified and spirit-begotten. This precious relationship is firmly based upon the rock, Christ Jesus. This stone and its power to protect and preserve is referred to as: “Elect, precious; and he that believeth on him should not be confounded.” (1 Peter 2:6) We read of it:

“And upon this Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

It is through Jesus, our ransom, Saviour and advocate that a relationship with God is established and maintained. This is how we come into and remain in the “secret place of the Most High.” There is no other sure refuge or defense at this time; it can only be expected from God.

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock, and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation, and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.” Psalms 62:5-8

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the Lord is my rock; in him will I trust. He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation; my high tower, and my refuge; my saviour. Thou savest me from violence.”–2 Samuel 22:2,3

Compared with the frantic scurrying of the world to find peace and safety, how wonderfully blessed we are. We are safe and secure in the “secret place of the Most High.”

The Snare of the Fowler

The “snare of the fowler” refers to the deceptions of Satan, that the world is in its present fearful condition and is shaken to its foundations. Isaiah describes this time:

“Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.” Isaiah 24:17,18

How accurately this describes present and impending conditions! Greatly fearing the pit of atomic destruction, the people of the earth feel trapped. Some are ready to accept any solution, any form of government, any tyranny, in an attempt to preserve their lives, to climb out of the pit of destruction. Some carry banners, suggested by a British philosopher, saying “Better Red than dead.” How fortunate we are to be beyond the reach of this snare, safely hidden as we are in the “secret place of the Most High.”

There is, however, another “snare of the fowler” that does endanger us. It is Satan’s attempted deception of the Lord’s people to draw them from the truth. Paul warned us of this snare and then told us how to keep out of the trap:

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived; but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of; knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” 2 Timothy 3:13,14

Of whom have we learned the truth? Whose mind did the Lord enlighten at the end of the age to make the truth clear to us? Whose books do we use in our Bible studies? What reprints do we consult? What manna text comments do we read each morning? Peter also warned us:

“There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction; and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” 2 Peter 2:1,2

These damnable heresies, or unsound doctrines, are what are described as “the snare of the fowler” and “the noisome pestilence.” The Lord’s true people are delivered from these because they take Paul’s advice: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of; knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” The truth is our heritage forever; we should never let it go and revert to error. The psalmist expresses our resolve:

“The wicked have laid a snare for me; yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” Psalms 119:110,111