Brother John Thomas’s Elpis Israel (The Hope of Israel), which is, according to its expanded title, An Exposition of the Kingdom of God with Reference to the Time of the End, and the Age to Come, is a book based upon the Scriptures, and was instrumental in the revival of the Truth in these last days of the Gentiles.
For that very reason it is a book which every Christadelphian should possess and should read, and preferably should have done so prior to baptism. This does not mean, however, that other books of a similar nature do not also have their place and purpose, and such is the case with the book now under review.
It is published by Light Bible Publications, the Christadelphian Dawn Fellowship publishing organisation, and is an excellent book which soundly sets forth, in a straightforward and clear way, what has been the Brotherhood’s understanding of the Kingdom of God upon earth since the days of Brother Thomas—until recently, at least, because Thine is the Kingdom came into the reviewer’s hands only a few days after reading a very different article on the same subject in the Endeavour magazine.
Brother Southgate’s book, in fact, came as an antidote to that article which, to say the least, is misleading and dishonouring to the Word of God. In reviewing the book opportunity will be taken, where appropriate, to contrast certain things which the writer in Endeavour has said.
The author and his purpose
According to a note on the back cover of the book, Peter J. Southgate “has had a career both in industry and in the academic field, but he will say that his most important qualification is that he has been a student of the Bible all his life. This has resulted in an unshakable belief in the authority of the Bible, the Word of God”. He has apparently written a number of articles on religious topics, but this is his first full-length book, the theme of which, it is said, is the gospel—the good news—of the “real Kingdom of God for which Christians daily pray, ‘Thy kingdom come—. It is significant that the supplementary title of the book is The Message of Original Christianity, and the book closes with an appendix which is headed “A Summary of First-Century Christian Belief”. This consists of twenty-four paragraphs which bring together in a positive way the chief aspects of the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith and the Doctrines to be Rejected.
The author says on page 1 that he is writing primarily for those who believe that there is a God but who cannot make sense of what is happening in the world, and who are unsure if or how they have a part in what He is doing. From this it will be seen that the book is intended primarily for those outside our community. It also sets forth Bible teaching concerning the truth about the Kingdom of God on earth in a comprehensive way. The author has the ability to explain difficult passages of Scripture in a straightforward way, and to make statements in a few simple words, some of which are so obvious and yet so profound and telling. For example, in demonstrating on page 22 that there is no difference between the “kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 3:2) and the more usual “kingdom of God” (Mk. 1:15) the author draws attention to the fact that Matthew’s phrase is “kingdom of heaven” and not “kingdom in heaven”. Rather than the Kingdom being in heaven, he points out that during the reign of Christ the state of things on earth will approach those now existing in heaven.
The basis of the book
As may be judged from the title, the book is based on the opening words of what has come to be known as The Lord’s Prayer’, and in the foreword the author includes the closing words of the prayer: “Thine is the kingdom … for ever”. He also tells us that his case is presented on the basis of the message drawn from the whole Bible. He has also very sensibly used the Authorised Version, but with a limited number of quotations from the RV, RSV and NIV, where it is considered that the intended meaning is made clearer. In contrast to this he says on page 76: “It is one of the disadvantages of modern translations that in an attempt to use more modern language the underlying meaning of some passages has been lost”. This is said in connection with Abraham’s “seed”, and most, if not all, modern versions make the Word of God contradict itself between Genesis 22:17 and Galatians 3:16, as well as in a number of other cases.
The book is also based on Daniel 2, which is dealt with in chapter 1, where the author includes a map of the Babylonian Empire of King Nebuchadnezzar and also a drawing of Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Daniel 2:44 is described as “one of the most revealing verses in the whole Bible”, and it is discussed in detail.
In his foreword the author says he makes no apology for the literally hundreds of Bible quotations that appear in his book, sometimes bridged by only a few words of explanation. In this connection there is an index of 570 different Scripture references, sixty-seven of which are quoted more than once. One amendment requires to be made, however, in both the text and the index, because the reference on page 84 to 2 Kings 2:12 and 6:1 should be to the same verses in 1 Kings.
The true Kingdom of God
The writer of the article in Endeavour, entitled “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, says: “The view that Dr. Thomas had of the millennium as the future kingdom is incorrect. The kingdom is not the future theocracy to be set up at Christ’s return but a more intangible thing that exists alongside the kingdoms of this world. You are in the kingdom of God if Christ is your king. It is among you. It is within you”. Luke 17:20,21 is then quoted. This is entirely opposed to Bible teaching, as is demonstrated by Brother Southgate, who gives a masterly exposition of Luke 17:20-25 in chapter 8 of his book, which is appropriately headed, “The Kingdom lost sight of”.
Up to that point he has shown “that the golden thread running through the whole of the Old and New Testaments is the plan to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, ruled over by Jesus, bringing glory to God in the highest, and exquisite peace and happiness to man”. A Manual of Instruction for Members of the Anglican Church is mentioned, which was written about the turn of the century, consisting of over 400 pages, and setting out in detail the history, practices and beliefs of the Church of England, without any entry at all under the heading “Kingdom of God” in its very comprehensive index of about 600 entries.
His conclusion is that it cannot be disputed that the return of Christ to the earth to set up God’s Kingdom is no longer the central message of the church that bears his name. The reviewer, who came from the Church of England, can confirm that this is indeed the case. The author points out in his book that this is what the apostles and Jesus himself warned would happen, and that we are seeing the fulfilment of the prophecies associated with such warnings (Acts 20:25-32; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; Rev. 2:14-16,20; 3:1-3).
A résumé of the declining place in church teaching of a belief in the Kingdom of God as taught in the Bible over the first six centuries is given on the basis of Dr. Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History. From Scripture being the rule and standard, as was the case in the first century, this beautiful simplicity was effaced by vain fictions, pagan rites, Platonic philosophy and superstition, until by the sixth century it was nothing more than a motley mixture of human inventions.
An alternative kingdom was found—the church itself—a view which causes the author to ask whether a system that deliberately introduced Greek philosophy, pagan beliefs and ritual into primitive Christianity, and later engaged in tyrannical rule over men’s minds and bodies, even to the extent of intrigue and murder, could in any way be regarded as the reign of Christ on earth, bringing glory to God in the highest, and peace, joy and happiness to mankind. He suggests that it was this very inadequacy which caused the advance of the idea that the Kingdom of God is a reign of grace in the heart of the believer in Jesus which Luke 17:21 is considered to support. In dealing with this view it is pointed out that verses 20,21 are addressed to the Pharisees, and that, rather than the Kingdom of God being within them (in the sense of In their hearts’), what Jesus really saw within them is that which is stated in Matthew 23:25-28. As the Pharisees asked Jesus questions to trap him, so he never gave them a straightforward answer, and his reference to the Kingdom not coming by “observation” was a comment on their “observation” or watching” of him (see Mk. 4:11,12).
The author quite correctly points out that the word “within” has the meaning of ‘among’ or In the midst of’, and he quotes Luke 10:9,11 and 11:20 to show that this refers to Jesus. These verses clearly state that the performance of miracles by Jesus, and by those who had been granted that power, was equivalent to the nearness of the Kingdom of God. People had received the opportunity to hear and accept the teaching about it, and had witnessed the great power by which that Kingdom would be established. Hebrews 6:5, in which the Spirit through Paul describes miracles as the powers of the world to come”, is also quoted in this connection.
Jesus had previously told his disciples that it was for them to “know the mystery of the kingdom of God”, but that there were those who saw but would not perceive, and heard but would not understand (Mk. 4:11,12). The disciples were now told that they would not have to “observe” or “watch closely” for the coming of the Kingdom. When it finally came it would be obvious to all, just as the brightness of lightning.
The author warns against the “grave danger” of basing our beliefs on just one verse of Scripture. At the same time he agrees that “it is quite evident that there is a sense in which God can and does dwell in the hearts of men and women. .. One of the themes of the Epistles is the spiritual temple of God founded in Christ, in which God dwells in a spiritual sense now, and will dwell in a much greater sense in the future”, when it will be said that “the tabernacle of God is with men” (Rev. 21:3).
We have seen how the author speaks of the Kingdom of God as being a golden thread that runs through the Bible, and one cannot help but appreciate how this is brought out in the book with the quotation of many references to the Kingdom by Jesus during his ministry and after his resurrection; by the apostles, and the writers of the epistles; and of course again by Jesus in the Apocalypse. In this connection the author links Revelation 20:6 with 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; and if the writer of the article in Endeavour had done the same she would have had no difficulty in understanding the Millennial reign of Christ to be a reign on earth with his saints.
The author constantly uses the term Kingdom of Men rather than Kingdoms of Men. Although the plural is used in the AV of Revelation 11:15, it is singular according to the Diaglott. There are many kingdoms of the world, but they have one king over them, and his name is Sin. Thine is the Kingdom shows how the Kingdom of Sin is to be replaced by the Kingdom of God under a righteous ruler, pointing out that there must be obedience and true worship before that Kingdom comes.
Will you seek the Kingdom?
The book consists of thirteen chapters, and, after dealing with the Kingdom of the Bible on the basis of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ and Daniel 2 in the first chapter, the ultimate result is described in chapter 2. The author says, however, that this chapter may be read after chapter 12 by readers who prefer to follow the process through to the end without looking at the last few pages to “see how it ends”.
So the succeeding chapters deal with the existence of a sovereign, all-powerful God in creation Who has always been in full control of it (chapter 3); the authority of the Bible and the evidence of its inspiration as the “textbook of the Kingdom” (chapter 4); the promises made to Abraham and David (chapters 5 and 6); the preaching of the Kingdom and evidence of Jesus’s endorsement of the Old Testament concept of the Kingdom of God (chapter 7); and the entering of sin into the world and how entrance to the Kingdom is made possible through the obedience and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ (chapter 9). Chapter 10 is headed, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”, and deals with the necessity for belief, repentance and baptism, to be followed by a faithful walk, and resurrection at the return of Christ. The chapter ends with the appeal, “Will you seek the Kingdom?”.
Chapter 3 is headed, “The King of the universe”, and includes scientific details (pp. 33:4) which indicate what are probably the author’s academic qualifications. In this chapter he also explains the difference between the Spirit of God and the Holy Spirit. The latter term gives rise to another of the writer’s most appropriate illustrations, in which he likens the action of the Holy Spirit to the rays of the sun being focused through a lens “into a small spot of intense heat that is much more powerful than when the same energy was spread over a larger area”. Chapter 4, which is headed, “The textbook of the Kingdom”, contains three mythical quotations concerning Creation which are compared with the Biblical account, and which show how God’s people, the Jews, stood out among the nations by belief in the truth of a Divine Creation.
The establishment of the Kingdom
The final chapters deal with the return of Christ and the signs of the times on the basis of the current state of society and the position of Israel and Russia. Ezekiel 37 and 38 are considered, and in connection with the latter there is a quotation from the archaeologist Ragozin, who apparently found evidence that there was actually a chief of the Scythians by the name of Gog during Ezekiel’s lifetime. The modern Gog is then fitted into place both in the text and in the form of a map (pp. 190-4).
The author agrees that we cannot be certain of the exact sequence of events at Christ’s return, but he emphasises that the destruction of the northern invader of Israel is connected with that return (p. 194). In chapter 12 he puts forward the sequence of events which has generally been understood by Christadelphians on the basis of Scripture, with the judgement of the saints followed by the relief of Israel from the Russian Gog, which is to be followed by the judgement of the nations.
On page 210 we read: “It might be expected that a world in which hundreds of millions claim to follow Jesus will welcome him back with open arms and willingly submit to his rule; but the Bible dispels such comforting thoughts. Christ’s claim to be the new ruler of the world will be hotly contested”. Scriptural support is given by quoting Psalm 2:1-6.
It might be considered that the author is not very direct or specific because he avoids mentioning the Roman Catholic system ; and if this omission seems appropriate, given the purpose for which the book was written, it can be said that the reading of Elpis Israel, with its strong criticisms of Christendom, by the reviewer prior to baptism did not prevent him leaving the Church of England for the Truth, and indeed confirmed the necessity for him to do so.
Two other criticisms are, first, that although the year 1917 is mentioned on page 187, and the effects of the First World War are referred to on page 189, the author does not relate that year to the 2,520 years from 604/3 B.C., the period which marks the beginning of the end of the times of the Gentiles, which the reviewer sees to be an important and impressive landmark in the events of the time of the end. Secondly, there is an apparently unconscious lapse on the part of the writer on page 42, where he makes reference to “our Heavenly Father”, a term which is not appropriate for those for whom the book is primarily intended.
The conclusion
The book ends in a wonderful way, by comparing Revelation 22:1-5 with the beginning of Genesis, showing how everything lost on man’s expulsion from Eden is to be restored in far greater measure in the perfect Kingdom of God. Finally, the reader’s thoughts are brought back to the opening words of the ‘Lord’s Prayer’, and the reader is exhorted to allow the Bible to open his eyes to the true Bible teaching about the Kingdom of God, so that he may repeat its concluding words, not only with understanding, but also with joyous hope of eternal life: “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever”.
The book deserves a wide readership, and it is apparent that there are those who might be brought back to sound doctrine by reading it. There are also those who would find it helpful thanks to the historical and other information which the author has included, as well as its exhortational appeal. The reasonable price of the book puts it within the range of most to obtain– and, when possible, to lend or give to the interested stranger who shows serious interest in our preaching.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)