Two views of history
The first address upon a religious subject which Dr. John Thomas ever gave* was an attempt to expound the prophecy found in Dan.2. Some twelve months later he began to publish his first magazine, “The Apostolic Advocate”, one of the stated objectives of which was to exhibit: “The fates and fortunes of the kingdoms of the world foreshown by prophecy”. In the first number there commenced a series on “The Kingdoms of Europe” – an exposition of Rev.17 which showed both the historical development of the then situation from the time of the Roman Empire and the course of events yet to come as set forth in the Apocalypse.
It is therefore evident that from his earliest days with the Campbellites, Dr. Thomas regarded the prophetic scriptures as being capable of illuminating the minds of men concerning the course of events yet to occur in certain areas of the world scene. That is to say, he used Bible prophecy to gain knowledge and understanding of things yet to come. In his expositions over the years he paid particular attention to the prophetic time periods and endeavoured to ascertain their true starting and finishing points in relation to world history, in order to try to establish a proper framework for his expositions.
By contrast with this approach, a modern Cbristadelphian writer has advanced the following view:
“It is suggested that Bible prophecy, in the sense of prediction, and especially its time-periods, are given to make us wise after the event” (emphasis added).
Since this is the first series on predictive prophecy to be published in “The Bible Student” for some time, and since there is some evidence of changes in attitude towards prophecy within the Brotherhood, this study will commence with a brief prologue on the purpose of prophecy, to establish from the scriptures the foundation upon which the rest of the series will be built.
What saith the Scripture?
The Apocalypse opens with a statement of its purpose:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev.1:1).
This statement is repeated in the final chapter, together with a commandment that the “sayings of the prophecy” were not to be “sealed” (22:6-10) because of the nearness of the time.
To take another passage, Jesus clearly intended that the Olivet prophecy should be used to gain knowledge in advance of coming events – both by his servants in Jerusalem in AD70 and by their successors in the latter days:
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains …” (Lk.21:20-21);
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh (v.28).
It is evident that Jesus expected his followers to understand that there would be a certain sequence of events, and that when the first events in that sequence were seen to take place in harmony with the prophetic testimony, then the disciples should take the appropriate action, in the assured knowledge that the sequence would be completed.
A living example of these principles at work is found in the prophecy of Daniel. Daniel was himself a prophet and received great visions concerning things to come – yet he had another source of information: “In the first year … I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the LORD God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes …” (Dan. 9:2-3). Here is a very detailed lesson for us: Daniel used the written scriptures (not the gift of prophecy), he studied the time period relevant to his day, he understood that the time was nearly at an end, and this understanding moved him to spiritual exercises with the objective of beseeching God to accomplish his revealed purpose. What was God’s opinion of all this activity? “0 Daniel …thou art greatly beloved” (v.22-23). The inference is clear; God favourably regards those who will study the prophetic scriptures with the objective of understanding His purpose so that they may the more diligently seek its accomplishment – what better incentive could we have?
Objectives
The scope of this series will be to attempt an in-depth examination of Bible prophecy concerning the latter-day return of the Jews to the land of promise and the events related thereto: that is to say, consideration will be given to the nature and timing of the Gogian invasion and the role of the Arabs in Bible prophecy; also, the series will deal with the return of Jesus in relation to Israel and the establishment of the Millennial kingdom and temple. Events relating t3 European nations and the papacy (although important subjects in their own right) are outside the sphere of the current study.
Some attempt will also be made to make a historical review of Christadelphian prophetical expositions which are relevant to the theme of the series. The writer very much regrets that this aspect of the study will not be very comprehensive due to his being insufficiently widely read, but certain interesting facts have come to light and it is hoped that readers may be able to make further contributions in this and other areas as the study proceeds.
The Return of the Jews
The earliest reference which the writer has been able to trace in the writings of Dr. Thomas (then still a Campbellite) to Jewish matters is in “The Apostolic Advocate” Vol.1, No.6 (Oct.1834). Under the heading “The Hope of the Jews” is quoted a paragraph from a book by an American Jewish writer who wrote longing for: “…the restoration of Zion, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the temple on Moriah, and the re-assembling of the tribes of Israel.” To this paragraph Dr. Thomas subjoined the following comment:
“All these items of Jewish hope, do we, the despised Nazarenes of the apostolic order, earnestly and ardently long for. But, 0 Jews, remember that the Banner will be lifted up, Zion restored, Jerusalem rebuilt, and the Temple reared, (see Ezek.) by the power of Jesus the Nazarene, our Master, whom your fathers crucified, and upon whom you shall hereafter look and mourn.”
In “Elpis Israel” (1848) Dr. Thomas, having now come to understand “the things of the kingdom and of the name” and having been baptised upon that understanding, exhibits a remarkable comprehension of the prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel. In a number of details (to which reference will be made later in the series) he precisely foresaw, with the aid of the word, several of the major factors relating to the re-establishment of the State of Israel. His expositions of these subjects continued in “The Herald of the Kingdom” and in
Other articles
Other Christadelphian writers have continued to expound the same theme from those days to this. In the latter years of the last century there was an interest within the Brotherhood in Jewish affairs which was so intense that “fanatical” would perhaps not be too strong a word to describe it – particularly at the times when Sir Moses Montifiore, and later, Theodore Herzl were actually seeking to do something about promoting the return of the Jews to Palestine. The writer has no ready access to issues of “The Christadelphian” for 1917, but no doubt when the Balfour Declaration was issued there was a similar uprise of enthusiasm.
Between the end of the Second World War and the time of the actual establishment of the State of Israel, however, there were some contrasting strands of thought in published writings on the signs of the times. On the one hand there was a natural and eager consideration of every step which led towards the formation of a Jewish State; yet on the other, there was a somewhat worried concern that the sequence of events which was developing (particularly in relation to the British withdrawal from Palestine) was very different from that which had been foreseen by brethren of former days. In the Editorial section of the July 1948 “Christadelpian”, under the heading “Our understanding of prophecy”, the questions were asked: “Where do we now stand in prophecy?” and “What is essential, and what merely incidental or speculative?”
The writer’s own earliest recollections of Christadelphian meetings are of public lectures on Bible prophecy in which the subjects of the recent establishment of the State of Israel and what the future held for it were paramount. Eze.37 and 38 were regularly referred to,but his young mind was puzzled as to why expositions of ch.37 always seemed to stop at v.14 and why two quite different views of ch.38 were given from the platform.
To bring this brief and sketchy review up to date, the Brotherhood (in the U.K. at least) seems to be suffering from a surfeit of new “expositions” of the Apocalypse, while at the same time the subject of prophecy seems to rankle with many speaking brethren when they are considering subjects for Bible and public lectures – to the point that some ecclesias are experts in obtaining speakers to fulfil specific commitments in this area. The State of Israel has now been in existence for nearly 36 years—time enough for us as a community to have gone over and over the prophetic scriptures concerning her restoration so that we clearly understand what has so far occurred and what is yet to come—yet where is the evidence of such clear-headed analysis in many of our current speakers and writers?
An attempt is going to be made in this series to open up some of these matters for consideration in the pages of “The Bible Student”. The writer freely confesses that he does not have all the answers and hopes that his readers will be able to supply at least some of them. He is conscious,too, as he enters upon this subject, of the wisdom of the following words of bro. John carter, penned at the time of the declaration of the Allied victory in the Second World War:
“It is easy to cease to be students of the prophets and assume the office of prophets. We also need to guard against the hasty trimming of a broadly based interpretation to fit a fresh development in events. The application of phrases without regard to context is to be deprecated” (“The Christadelphian”, July 1945, p.68).
* In 1833 – see “Dr. Thomas, his life and work” p.14 for details.
* Ibid. p.20.. Vols. 1 & 2 of “The Apostolic Advocate” reprinted and bound together are available from “Bookshelf” – see inside back cover.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One