Category: Prophecy

The Remnant of Israel

The gospel does not occupy itself with the earthly blessings of the Jews. This is matter for the Old Testament prophecies. Our blessings flow from the presence of Christ, the Son of David, a consequence of the new covenant. Whereas we know God as Father, through Grace, the Jews know Him as Jehovah the King – through His righteous judgments.

In the history of the Jews, we see Jehovah’s glory. The Jews are the people by whom, and in whom, God sustains His Name of Jehovah, and His character of judgment and righteousness. The remnant will be brought to the Lord of hosts, ”to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.” (Isaiah 18:7).

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.10 – The Remnant of Israel

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

A summary of the 10th Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘Same subject as the preceding and Manner of its Accomplishment.’

 

In Jewish history, we see Jehovah’s glory

 

The Old Testament prophecies are occupied with the earthly blessings of the Jews;  the gospel is not occupied with earthly blessings at all.  Our blessings flow from the presence of Christ, the Son of David, a consequence of the new covenant.  Whereas we know God as Father through grace, the Jews know Him as Jehovah the King – through His righteous judgments.

 

God acting in Grace

  1. To the Jews, it is the character of Jehovah the King – known by His judgments – by the exercise of His power on the earth.  Their affairs are very dear to our God and Father.
  2. To the church, it is the character of Father, revealed to our souls by the gospel, by the spirit of adoption. 

The gospel is a system of pure grace – a system which teaches us to act towards others as we have been acted on by the Father:  ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5:48). The people of Christ, now the children of God, ought to follow the example of the Saviour (that is, not to expect or wish judgment now, but to be gentle and humbly suffer wrong).

God’s faithfulness, changeableness, His almighty power, and His government of the whole earth are all revealed in His relationship towards Israel. The history of Israel gives us an insight into the character of Jehovah.  God would reason with His earthly people:  ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:  but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.   And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.  Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness’  (Isaiah 1:18-20).

 

God acting in Judgment

Jehovah will bless the nations; but the character of His kingdom is, that ‘judgment shall return unto righteousness’ (Psalm 94:15). At the first coming of Jesus Christ, judgment was with Pilate, but righteousness with Jesus; but when Jesus returns, judgment will be united to righteousness.  On the other hand, Jehovah will console His people by acting in righteousness in their favour ‘By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God’ (Psalm 65:5), and He will re-establish them in earthly glory. The Jews will be the people by whom, and in whom, God sustains both His name (Jehovah) and His character in judgment and righteousness.

After the church has been Raptured, the first to be gathered will be those who had rejected Jesus and were guilty of His death.  As unbelievers, they will find an alternative to their true Messiah, and become subject to the Antichrist.  The Israelites (two tribes) may be returning to their land (far more so now than in JND’s time), but God takes no notice of them[1].

 

The Remnant

 

Now Israel is buried as a nation among the Gentiles. In its revival, God will stand up for His people in their time of distress and deliver a remnant. 

There will be an uninterrupted chain of blessings from Jehovah.  Jehovah will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. This will be the case when the judgment of God falls upon the nations.

‘Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her… And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt … And I will betroth thee unto me for ever … And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.’ (Hosea 2:14-23). 

‘Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days … after that they shall seek Jehovah and David – the well-beloved, or Christ.’ (Hosea 3:4, 5)  ‘And I will bring again the captivity of my people . . . and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up.’ (Amos 9:14, 15.)  

This is of course yet to come, and the words, ‘in that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen,’ (Amos 9:11) are quoted in Acts 15:16, to prove that God always had determined to have a people (a Jewish residue) from among the Gentiles.

God is said to be ‘silent in his love’ (Zephaniah 3:17). He lavishes all this on the Remnant.  A few verses earlier the prophet said, ‘The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies, neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid’ (v.13).  The spirit of grace and supplication shall be poured out upon the Remnant of Israel – ‘ all the families that remain’; (v14) and ‘they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn.’ (Zechariah 12:10).

Nevertheless, the Remnant shall ‘be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn in pieces … to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion’ (Isaiah 18:7).

This prediction, delivered by Jesus Himself, gives us the assurance that Christ will restore Israel here, and reign in her midst: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, … your house is left unto you desolate …till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ (Matthew 23:37-39.).  Israel will see Jesus,  ‘The stone, which the builders refused, is become the head stone of the corner.’ (Psalm 118:22)

When the Lord entered Jerusalem there was only a partial fulfilment of the prophecy ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee’’ (Zechariah 9:9 and John 12:15).  In John, the Holy Spirit omits, ‘He is just, and having salvation’.   Far from saving Himself, He saved us.

The Ten Tribes

However, the first to be gathered are those who rejected Jesus, those who were guilty of His death. (The ten tribes were not guilty of this crime.)   Those who rejected Christ will be subjected to the Antichrist; they will make ‘a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell’ (Isaiah 28:15), but their covenant will shatter all their hopes.  Having united themselves to Antichrist, they will suffer the consequences of this alliance, and at last, will be destroyed.

The two tribes are representative of all twelve.  Given the above, the two tribes will also be lost and will need to be born in a day.  Darby does not go into a nation born in a day – the coming together of the 10 tribes.

After His appearance, (therefore just before the Millennium – the Day of the Lord), the Lord will gather together the elect of the Jewish nation, from among the Gentiles. This will be a time of great happiness. (See Matthew 24 31; compare Isaiah 27:12-13, and Isa. 11:10, 12.) – especially the latter (See Chapter 4.9, above).

 

[1] A strong statement but those are JND’s words.  He goes on, Israel is abandoned to the nations,

 

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God’s Promises to Israel

In Romans 9 Paul explains how God has acted towards both the Jews and the Gentiles; (vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles – v23-24). Now chapter 11 starts with the question, “Hath God cast away his people?”

As we study the history of both the church and the four beasts, we see that the Jews are put aside. The gospel has appeared in the world to save sinners, both Jews and Gentiles, in order to reveal the hidden mystery of a heavenly people. Hence, “unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” (Ephesians 3:10)

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.8 – God’s Promises to Israel

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

A summary of the Eighth Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘Israel’s First Entry into the Land was the Result of Promise’

After These Things

4.8  God’s Promises to Israel

Israel Remains God’s People

Israel and the Church

Replacement Theology or Supersessionism

Adam and Noah

Idolatry and the Call of Abraham

Promises to Abraham and Israel

Israel’s Relationship with God

Law and the Promises to Abraham

The Promised Land

 

 

Israel Remains God’s People

 

After dealing with God’s relationships with men in the first eight chapters of Romans, Paul, a Jew, turns his attention in the next three chapters to Israel.  He asks the question, ‘Hath God cast away his people?’  The answer ‘God forbid’ (Romans 11:1)[1]

In Romans 9  Paul explained how God acted towards both the Jews and the Gentiles;  (vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles – v23-24).

As we study the history of the church and also the four Gentile empires (Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome), typified in the four beasts of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (see Daniel 2), we see that the Jews are set aside nationally.  The gospel has appeared in the world to save sinners, both Jews and Gentiles, to reveal the hidden mystery of a heavenly people.  Hence, ‘unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by the church the manifold wisdom of God.’  (Ephesians 3:10)

Although the Jews are enemies as to the gospel, the nation remains God’s people according to the flesh, and beloved on account of the fathers. (See Romans 11:28). God has not rejected His people.  ‘The gifts and calling of God are without repentance’.  (v.29)

 

Israel and the Church

In the present dispensation, we have the calling of a heavenly people.  Consequentially, God puts aside His earthly people, the Jews.  The Jewish nation never enters into the church, though of course, many individual Jewish people do so.  Indeed,  ‘Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in’ (v.25).  This will be until the addition to the Church of the last of the children of God.

Replacement Theology or Supersessionism

Many Christian denominations espouse what has come to be called ‘replacement theology’.  That is the teaching:[2]

  • That the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan.
  • The many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian church, not in Israel.
  • The restoration of Israel to the Promised Land is not physical, but spiritualised or allegorised promises of God’s blessing for the church.
  • The New Covenant through Jesus Christ supersedes the Old Covenant, which was made exclusively with the Jewish people, and that the New Covenant applies to the Church.

This lecture countered this erroneous teaching.

Adam and Noah

God chose Abraham and his family according to the flesh.  Among Abraham’s descendants, Israel serves as the depositary of God’s promises demonstrating God’s choice.  Nevertheless, to understand the root of the promises, we must look at the preceding dispensations.

Adam – Man left to himself after the fall.  The world was full of violence and corruption, and

Noah – God makes a covenant with Noah and with the creation; and gives the rainbow as a witness. ‘The Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground’ (Gen. 8:21).  This covenant was given immediately after Noah’s sacrifice – typically the sacrifice of Christ.  But Noah failed when he became drunk.

Every dispensation has ended in the failure of man.  What is lost through human folly is recovered at the end in Christ, whether it be blessing to the earth, prosperity to the Jews, or the glory of the church.

Idolatry and the Call of Abraham

Satan presents himself as God and makes himself the god of this earth.  It is written, ‘The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God’ (Deuteronomy 32:17).  The Lord reminded the Israelites,  ’Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river in old time . . . and they served other gods.’ (Joshua 24:2 Darby and others).  This is the first time that we find God marking the existence of idolatry.

However, the true God separated a people to preserve the truth.   All the ways of God towards men turn upon God’s calling of Abraham and his posterity to be the depositary of this one great truth: ‘There are none other gods but one’ (Deuteronomy 4:35).

Promises to Abraham and Israel

The promises that God made to Abraham were without condition.  In Genesis 12 and 15, Abraham received both earthly and spiritual blessings.   He received an unconditional covenant, an absolute gift of the land.

We are told, ‘Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed’ Genesis 12:1-3.

God reconfirmed it in chapter 15.

God told Abraham that he was going to have a numerous posterity: ‘Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said to him, So shall thy seed be!’ (v. 5).  He was even given the exact limits of the country.  Abraham believed God. God renewed His promise in Chapter 17, and re-confirmed it to Isaac (Genesis 26:3) and Jacob (Genesis 35:12).

Thus, God made Himself ‘the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob’, (Exodus 3:15), and His people became the heirs of the promises, pilgrims upon the earth, but God’s boast. The faithful in Israel were to find their confidence in that.

Israel’s Relationship with God

Until Exodus 19 the promise had been unconditional.  However, Israel placed themselves in relationship with God in the opposite way, that is based on their own righteousness on the principle of the law.    They acknowledged obedience to God and undertook to obey the law in their own strength.  Therefore, the covenant at Sinai was founded on the principle of obedience.

In this covenant, we have an ‘If…’. ‘If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation’ (Exodus 19:6).

The Israelites should have said instead, ‘It is true, most gracious God, we ought to obey Thee; but we have failed so often, that we dare not receive the promises under such a condition.’ Instead of this, they said ‘All the words that the Lord hath said, will we do.’ (Exodus 19:8).  They rashly bound themselves to fulfil everything that Jehovah had commanded they received the promises under the condition of perfect obedience.  We all know what happened: The Children of Israel had made the golden calf before Moses had even come down from the mount.

Like Israel, we fail at the first hurdle, and we realise that we are lost because we have violated the covenant.  If as sinners, we engage ourselves to obey God, we forfeit the blessing if we fail.  Our answer should always be, ‘We are lost’.  That is the answer that grace expects.  That is why Paul said, ‘A mediator is not a mediator of one.’ (Galatians 3:20-21).  If there is a mediator, there must be two parties – God and man.  Moses mediated in the wilderness; Christ is our Mediator now.  We see the sovereignty of grace.  Had God not been sovereign, He would have to have destroyed the people.

Law and the Promises to Abraham

The law did NOT annul the promises made to Abraham (Gen 12-15) and confirmed to Isaac (Gen 26) and Jacob (Gen 35).

  • Numerous posterity.
  • The land.
  • Earthly blessings to Israel.
  • Blessing to the nations.

In Exodus 32:13, we see how the promises made before the law were never repealed. Aaron and the people had made the golden calf.  Moses interceded with ‘Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.’

In Leviticus 26:27-31, there is the threat of all the chastisements which were to follow the unfaithfulness of Israel. ‘And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.  And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.  And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.  And I will make your cities waste . . . (v. 27-31).  However, in v. 42: ‘Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; . . . and I will remember the land.’.  God returns to His promises made unconditionally long before the law.

God’s promises here have never changed: they are valid now (despite Israel being set aside), and will continue to the last days.

The Promised Land

Thus, we get the principle on which they entered into the land of Canaan.  Before the law, God had unconditionally promised the land to Israel for a perpetual possession.  God promised, Moses mediated, Israel was spared and at last enjoyed the land.

Israel failed in the promised land and ultimately fell.  First, the ten tribes were taken into captivity and lost.  Then Judah[3]  was taken captive seventy years, but in God’s providential ways, their identity was preserved.

We now await the re-establishment of all the promises made to Abraham.  Although the people had failed in every possible way towards God, the prophets show us clearly that God  promised to re-establish them in their land, under the Lord Jesus Christ as their King.  Every promise made in the prophets will be fulfilled.  Knowing this, it is small wonder that the disciples asked the Lord following His resurrection, ‘Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’ (Acts 1:6).

 

[1] In the Greek the answer is ‘μὴ γένοιτο/me genoito’ – ‘Never may it be!’ – (Strong’s translation).

[2] The Wikipedia article on ‘Supersessionism’ gives the position of various denominations on this subject.

[3] With the tribe Benjamin and the Levites who were among them.

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The Judgment of the Nations

Evil reaches its height in the eighth head of the beast, which goes down to destruction in the apostasy of the civil power of the fourth monarchy. He goes along with the false prophet, who, having seduced the world to do homage to the beast and to take his mark, is destroyed with him.

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.7 – The Judgment of the Nations

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

A summary of the Seventh Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled The Judgment of the Nations, which become the Inheritance of Christ and of the Church

4.7 The Judgment of the Nations

Evil reaches its Height

The Judge

His Judgment

The Lord’s Ru

Evil will reach its height in the eighth head of the beast,  the fourth (Rome) monarchy.  It will go to destruction along with the false prophet who seduced the world to do homage to the beast and take his mark.

The scene is now extended.  God will have judged the Antichristian beast and the evil nations, making His power felt:  it is the moment of His wrath.

All that is high and lifted up will be brought low by the power and glory of God, so that God, in full blessing, may enjoy the kingdom, and may have the inheritance of all nations – ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

The Judge

At the birth of Christ, Herod showed his fury at the least thing that could challenge his royalty. He tried to get rid of Him by slaying the infants in Bethlehem.  Thirty-three years later, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the true King over the whole earth, was presented to the Gentiles (in the person of Pontius Pilate), and to the Jews (in the person of the High Priest Caiaphas).  Both rejected Him.

Now we have the Son anointed, King upon Zion, God’s holy hill.  Zion is His throne; the (heathen) nations are His inheritance.  ‘Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession’ (Psalm 2:8).

Will the nations then, at last, listen to the invitation made to them to submit themselves?   No! – So God can, and will, judge them.

His Judgment

Christ will be Judge, but this is not the last or general judgment (or the Great White Throne, or judgment of the dead).  Everybody existing on the earth at the end of this time (seven years) will be either subject to Christ, and therefore saved and sent to life eternal, or in rebellion and condemned to eternal punishment.   It is the judgment of the living nations on this earth: those who will people the earth during the Millennium.  The dead will be raised for judgment after Christ’s millennial reign.  ‘Before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.’ (Matthew 25:32).  The judgment of the living (or ‘quick’ -as in KJV) is as certain as that of the dead.

How God deals with the nations is entirely different from the gospel: ‘Thou shalt break them with a sceptre of iron’  (Psalm 2:9 – Darby).  In the gospel, the sceptre of Christ is a rod of goodness and love, sweet and powerful.  The gospel is not a sceptre of iron.

‘The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands’ (Psalm 9:16).  This is not the language of the gospel; it is the righteous demand for justice.   Christians who do not understand the difference between the dispensations often find these scriptures challenging.  In the gospel, the grace of God is presented to the wicked, and God calls for repentance.  Once the gospel has run its course, Christ will demand righteous judgment[1].

Christ invites the kings of the earth to submit themselves to Him. However, they follow their own ways; their policy settled according to the wisdom of man.  Hence, if God were not to execute judgment, evil would only grow worse and worse without any consolation for the faithful.  It is the time of judgment, and Christ is the Judge. ‘The Lord is King for ever and ever; the heathen are perished out of his land.’ (Psalm 10:15, 16)  and Thou hast rebuked the heathen; thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.’ (v.5).  JND notes that the ‘wicked’ refers to the Antichrist.

God will assemble the nations, and pour upon them His indignation: ‘Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation’ (Zephaniah 3:8).  The Lord will manifest Himself in this act of power in Israel[2].

The next verse (verse 9) tells us ‘For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD’.  This blessing, when the earth will be full of the knowledge of God, will come to pass only after He has executed judgment and put away the evildoers.  This passage is a very explicit revelation.  It is judgment, not grace.

The Lord’s Rule

Having accomplished this, Jesus sits down at the right hand of God the Father: ‘The LORD (Jehovah) said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ (Psalm 110:1).  After that come the words, ‘Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.’ (v.2) The Lord will now start to exercise His power on earth.  This, of course, begins the Millennium.

[1] Christians are sheltered from the approaching storm.  The church’s place is with Christ, accompanying Him.  The church has the privilege and glory of union with the Lord Jesus Christ.   It comprises a single body of both Jews and Gentiles. It was not revealed in the Old Testament.  Hence, it is not in Zion that we are to look for the church because the church has the same portion as Christ, being His body:  if we seek it, we will find Christ Himself.

The church’s place is not in the midst of the nations that are to be broken in pieces, but to be united to Christ, enjoying the same privileges as Christ.  There is nothing true, as regards Christ, in the glory which He has taken as Man, which is not also true of the church.  It is a precious thing for us to understand our place, that of joint-heirs with Christ. And the more we think of this, the more our strength will be increased, and the more our minds will be detached from this world, which is under judgment.  The world comes under judgment because it has rejected Christ, The Saviour.  ’Righteous Father, the world hath not known thee’ (John 17:25).  Just as unbelief separates men entirely for all eternity from Christ, grace by faith has united us wholly and forever to Him; and we ought to bless God for it.

[2] We should note\:

It is at Jerusalem principally that all this disaster will take place; secondly, God has named in His word all the nations who will participate in it. We shall see all the descendants of Noah, of whom we have the catalogue in Genesis 10, reappear on the scene at the moment of this judgment of God

We shall find nearly all of them under the beast or under Gog (See Ezekiel 38) – essentially, they are the children of Japheth.

Darby drew on William Hale’s Analysis of Chronology, republished 2012 by Nabu Press, available from Amazon

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Ecclesiastical Apostasy and Civil Apostasy

.These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. … Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.6 Ecclesiastical and Civil Apostasy

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

Beast, Antichrist and False Prophet

 

A summary of the First Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘The Two Characters of Evil: Ecclesiastical Apostasy, and Civil Apostasy‘

4.6 Ecclesiastical and Civil Apostasy

The Two Characters of Evil

The Beast

The Antichrist

The False Prophet

The Mystery of the Woman and the Beast

Ecclesiastical Wickedness is always the Worst

Civil apostasy will have its time of manifestation

Relationship with the Jews

Persecution of the Jews

The War in Heaven

Armageddon

A Word to the Believer

 

The Two Characters of Evil

There are two characters in the evil which manifests itself on the earth:

  1. Ecclesiastical apostasy, that of the Church
  2. Civil apostasy, that of human government and organisation.

The angel gave Daniel the interpretation of the vision of the four beasts

  1. The lion Babylon
  2. The bear Persia
  3. The leopard Greece
  4. The ‘dreadful and terrible beast’ Rome

‘These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.   But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.  … Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings’ (Daniel 7:16-27).

The principal subject of the above scripture is  fourth great beast.  This represents the Roman Empire who exalts and elevates itself against the Most High God.

The Beast

The civil power will rise against Christ, whom God will establish King over the earth because all government belongs to Him.

‘I … saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. … And I saw one of the heads, as it were wounded to death.’  (Revelation 13:1-3).  Although the imperial form of the Roman Empire collapsed centuries ago, the wound has been healed.  The governing institutions the Roman empire can be re-established.[1]. The imperial beast will reappear, and the European ‘kings’ (whether monarchs or presidents) will willingly hand over their power to the beast.

The Antichrist

The course of Christianity takes place during the time of the fourth beast, Rome.  At the same time, there is moral rebellion.    The ecclesiastical power assumes the position of God.  It takes away faith, putting aside natural religion, corrupting and perverting the revelation of God, so that men should have no other objects than themselves.

However, the ecclesiastical power will itself fall victim to the violence of the human will.  By its pretensions to religion, it will  openly serve Satan.  It will provoke crimes which the the civil power will execute.

The corruption of the church is the worst of all corruptions.  The Antichrist will deny that Jesus is the Christ; he will ‘deny the Father and the Son’ (1 John 2:22).  Satan will work directly by him. It will be a sort of satanic imitation of what God has done.

In the way that the Father has given the heavenly throne to the Son; the dragon (Satan) will confer the throne in the evil world to the beast.

The Spirit acts in the church, according to the power of the Son before Him; similarly, the second beast, the Antichrist will exercise all the power of this last beast (civil authority) before him.  ‘And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed’ (Revelation 13:12).

Christendom is practically apostate. Darby said this in 1840 – what is its state now?

The False Prophet

There is also another beast (not the Roman Empire) which exercises all the power of the first beast before him.

‘I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; … And he doeth great wonders, … and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth’ (Revelation 13:11-14). This second beast, the false prophet, will seduce the inhabitants of the earth (the Jews accepting a Satanic form of Christianity[2]).  This has the appearance of Christ’s power, but it is Satan’s.   The false prophet, who will have lost secular power, will cause them to follow the first beast, that is the civil power of the Roman Empire.

Satan, having been cast out of heaven, will come down to the earth in great wrath.  Then, under his influence, the beast (the Roman Empire, the civil power) will resume his strength and form.  Instead of being in submission to God, it will take on the character of Satan in open revolt against the power of God.  Instead of replacing it, ten kings ‘shall give their strength and power unto the beast’. (Revelation 17:13).  ‘Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women[3], nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all’ (Dan 11:37).

There will be the eighth king, yet to come.  In essence, this will be the beast himself, the imperial head under a new form.  He will re-unite ten kings, who will give him their power.  The kingdoms will continue in existence but as a confederation.  After dealing in an idolatrous and apostate way in Jerusalem, he will find his end with that first beast – they will go down to destruction.  (See Revelation 13, Daniel 11:36-45).

The Mystery of the Woman and the Beast

We get the woman clothed with scarlet (the whore).  She represents the ecclesiastical power.  She is mounted on the beast, which is the civil power.  After that, ‘the ten horns[4] which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to … give their kingdom to the beast.’ (Revelation 17:12-13)

The civil power turns on the ecclesiastical, resulting in the evident destruction of the latter

‘I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not[5]; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is[6]’. (v. 7-8)

Ecclesiastical Wickedness is always the Worst

The ecclesiastical power will no longer be wielding the secular arm, riding on the beast, and ruling it.   It will take on a more mysterious and dangerous form.  Its occult influence will continue, deprived of its outward splendour.   The church’s revolt begins when, instead of being subject to Christ, it gives itself over to the will and power of man, leans upon man for aid, and renounces truth to follow error.  When the church is not guided by the Holy Spirit, it is not subject to Christ, Christendom becomes completely apostate.

Because the ecclesiastical power is no longer a political power with the ability to depose kings and presidents, there is a temptation to suppose that it has disappeared.  However, its moral influence survives.  It seduces the inhabitants of the earth so that they acknowledge and worship the beast, at the same time urging the civil power to revolt against God.  This will lead to its ultimate destruction (see below).

Civil apostasy will have its time of manifestation

Scripture teaches us that civil power is of God. ‘Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God’ (Romans 13:1) – also 1 Peter 2:13-18.

Now, in the same way that the church will rebel against God, the civil government will be found in a state of revolt and apostasy.  Instead of confessing allegiance to God, the source of its authority, it sets itself up against Him.

At the end of the present dispensation, the civil power will be found in this same state of revolt as the church.  In the civil power, apostasy will be more manifest and prominent than it is in the church.   This will take place in the bosom of Christendom, and ecclesiastical wickedness will be its motivating power.[7]

Those who will have revolted ought to have instructed the church and represented the wisdom of God, reminding governments of their duty towards God.   They will conceal the truth, seduce the world, and lead the civil power to depart from God[8].

Relationship with the Jews

The beast, or the civil power of the fourth monarchy, sets himself in revolt against God.  But this monarchy will establish a relationship with the Jews.   This re-introduces the history of God’s people.

The unconverted Jews will have returned to their own land, though without being converted[9].  The Jews will find themselves in a relationship with the fourth beast who exalts himself against God, putting himself in direct opposition to Christ.  Indeed, he will assume the rights that rightly belong to Christ, namely those of being the King of the Jews.

Persecution of the Jews

If we consider the history of the Roman beast comprehensively, both in its pagan form under the Roman emperors such as Tiberias Caesar, or in the form of the corrupted Christianity of the Middle Ages, we see there have always been persecutions against the faithful Christian saints.  ‘And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth,’ (Revelation 18:24).

However, after the Rapture of the church and the breaking of the Antichrist’s covenant with the Jews, the civil power will revolt openly, and persecutions will fall on God’s earthly people, the Jews.  Remember, Christ remains King of the Jews.  Of course, the church will be entirely out of the scene at the time of these persecutions.

The War in Heaven

The Word of God puts in contrast

  1. The world and the Father,
  2. The flesh and the Spirit,
  3. Satan and the Son of God.

Satan is now in heaven accusing the children of God.  He aims to destroy Christ, and in doing so, destroy the church.  However, Satan has no power over our consciences, his accusing power being rendered null by virtue of the blood and work of Jesus Christ.  However, half-way through the seven years between the Rapture and the Appearing, there will be a battle in heaven – see Revelation 12:7-9.   Michael will prevail; Satan will be cast out into the earth but will not yet be chained to the bottomless pit.   It is said, ‘the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.’ (v.12)

Having been cast down to the earth, Satan will act through the terrestrial agency of the Roman Empire, though he will unite all the characters of the three previous beasts.

The authority of the dragon (Satan) becomes established in the Roman Empire. It is seen in the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

 

Armageddon

At Armageddon, the false prophet falls along with the beast. From the beginning to the end, there is always a beast, and with the beast a false prophet. It is the one or the other who guides the rebellion. But in the end, the beast takes the lead, as being able to act more directly and freely: thus, it is the beast that becomes the direct object of judgment.

Christ will finally exercise His rights as King of the Jews.  He will come down from heaven, destroy the fourth beast together with the Antichrist.

A Word to the Believer

In the short time there, Paul had spoken a good deal about what was coming to the saints in Thessalonica.  He had taught them to expect the Lord’s coming.  After his departure, Satan tried to terrify them, by telling them that the day of the Lord had already arrived.  So Paul said,  ‘Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind’   (2 Thessalonians 2:1)

Those who love the truth will not be deceived by Satan’s activities.  When the Lord calls His own, they will be caught up into the air.   In time, the false prophet, (the second beast), will be thrown into the lake of fire along with the first.  Then all those who have ‘not received the love of the truth’ (2:Thessalonians 2:10) will be judged.  We need to warn people: may some be led to consider the word of God.

We may ask the question as to why all this is announced to us, the children of God, who thankfully, will see none of these things.  It must surely serve to wean us from involvement with, and the influence of, what will come under judgment. May we be separate from all that drags men on to destruction!

May God make us attentive both to the character and the end of man’s pride!  May God’s name of grace and glory be eternally blessed; and may He engrave these things upon our hearts! He will preserve His church from all these evils which menace the world for His church is united to Him.

 

 

[1] One can see that this would be quite easy when erstwhile sovereign states have already ceded much power to the European Union (established by the Treaty of Rome).  However, let us not mix current affairs with prophecy – they are NOT the same.  Darby likened Napoleon’s efforts to the Roman empire and that fell apart.

[2] I ask – what about the Muslims too? – Darby makes the point that the false prophet could not be Mohammed.

[3] An interesting question – what is meant by the desire of women? 

[4] i.e. the ten kings.

[5] i.e the Roman civil power.  The bottomless pit is the positive power of Satan.

[6] Darby reads ‘shall be present’, a better translation of the Greek παρέσται/parestai/Strong 3918 meaning present or near.

[7]When Darby says ‘the end of this dispensation’ it can be confusing as to the period he is referring to.  Whereas most would see this dispensation ending at the Rapture, and the seven years either another dispensation or a transitional period, Darby considers this dispensation (as Savage did – see Chapter 1.3) to ending till the Lord’s coming to reign.  That is why he refers to the ultimate apostasy of the professing church as belonging to this time.

[8] This is what Darby described when living in in Victorian England.  How much more apt are these things now when ‘alternative lifestyles’ are promoted and offered to young children, homosexual marriage, abortion and divorce on demand have all gone in the face of God’s thoughts for mankind.  And the church acquiesces to all of this.

[9] It is easy to regard the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 as the fulfilment of prophecy.  Whilst you could say that it was laying the scene for what is to come,  there is no reason why this event along with the revival of the ten lost tribes could not be have been fulfilled after the Rapture.  After all, the nation is in unbelief as to Christ, is secular in constitution and comprises only two of the twelve tribes.

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The Judgment of Evil

e must expect evil to increase in the world, particularly in Christendom, both secularly and religiously.

However evil does not come under judgment until the end of this age; that is, of the dispensation closed by the coming of Christ.

The knowledge of God will then fill the earth. How? By the judgment of God, which must begin at the house of God.

Three sorts of apostasy are brought together typified by Cain, Balaam and Korah. The beast will exalt himself above all that is called God. This must happen before the day of the Lord comes.

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.5 – The Judgment of Evil

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

Evil on the Earth Increases

A summary of the Fifth Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘The Progress of Evil on the Earth’

4.5  The Judgment of Evil

A summary of the 5th Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 – entitled The Progress of Evil on the Earth

4.5  The Judgment of Evil

The Progress of Evil on the Earth

Evil increases, especially in Christendom

The Wheat and the Tares

The Apostasy

The Beasts or Gentile Empires

The Rejection of Christ

The Lord coming to Judge

Little Result from Preaching the Gospel

Signs of the Times

Darby’s Conclusion

 

Evil on the Earth Increases

We must expect evil to increase in the world, particularly in Christendom,  both secularly and religiously.  However, evil does not come under judgment until the return of Christ at His Appearing.  The knowledge of God will then fill the earth.  How?  By the judgment of God, which must begin at the house of God.

As evil increases, Christians see the proximity of judgment, piety increases and Christians withdraw from evil.  They preach the gospel, but there is little result.

Evil increases, especially in Christendom

The notion that things will continually improve is totally contrary to what we are taught in scripture.  We are deluded if we think that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord before He exercises judgment.   Instead of hoping that good will continue to progress in the world and the church, we must expect evil increase.  We are to expect increasing evil until it becomes so flagrant that it will be necessary for the Lord to judge it.  Sadly, this is the received wisdom in much of Christendom at large  and in secular society.[1]

This is the character which this wickedness will take, as an external, secular power:

  1. Evil will go on increasing until the end.
  2. Satan will urge it on until the Lord destroys his power.
  3. The apostasy will take place in Christendom.
  4. The Antichrist will fall and be ruined.

The Wheat and the Tares

We should draw on the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30).   Satan had put evil in the field where the good seed of the word had been sown.  This will remain there and ripen.  Christians will not enjoy the result of its removal, because the evil is to remain until the day of judgment:  ’Let both grow together until the harvest.’  The harvest is at the end of this age; that is, of the dispensation closed by the coming of Christ.

The tares are evil things such as heresy or the corruption of the truth.  The enemy sows these after Jesus Christ had sown the good seed.   But the Lord says it should remain until the harvest. The evil which Satan has produced by a corrupted religion will exist until the end. Our efforts ought to be directed – not to pluck out the tares but to gather in the children of God – to assemble the co-heirs of Jesus Christ.

It is worth remarking that the tares were already sown in the days of the apostles; and in one sense it is a happy thing for us since we have both the warning and the evidence in scripture.

Now, in God’s dealings, we have to do with grace and not with judgment.  It is not for us to judge the world.

The Apostasy

Apostasy will be fully developed in the ‘last time’; when the Antichrist also will have been revealed. (See 1 John 2:18).  This development will be after the departure of the Church and the restraint of the Holy Spirit.

God says:

  • ‘The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy … .’( 1 Timothy 4:1).
  • ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come … .’( 2 Timothy 3:1-5).

In Timothy. ‘Men shall be lovers of their own selves,’ etc. These are not pagans; they are nominal Christians.  It is written about them, ‘Having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. … They shall wax worse and worse.’ (2 Timothy 3:5,13)

‘For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.’ Compare these words with Acts 20:29-31: ‘I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock; also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.’   1 Peter 4:17.  This state of things began during the lifetime of the apostles.

Jude’s epistle is a treatise on the apostasy. We get three sorts of apostasy brought together upon which last judgment will fall.  We are told of those who have ‘crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v.4).  These have brought in (v.11):

  • Natural apostasy – the character of Cain – hatred and unrighteousness.
  • Ecclesiastical apostasy – e.g. Balaam – teaching wrong things for reward.
  • Open revolt – g. Korah, who set himself up against the rights of the priesthood (Aaron) and of royalty (Moses).

The great whore (the ecclesiastical system) will rule the beast whose self-will and blaspheming character will be fully manifested in the last apostasy.  Meanwhile, Christians desire the destruction of the whore’s influence.   In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 it says, ‘That day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God.’

All this must happen before the day of the Lord comes.

Darby points out that it is evil – not the gospel – that will unite the characters of wickedness which have appeared from the beginning:

  1. Man has always wanted to have his own will.
  2. He has exalted himself against God.
  3. He has put himself under the guidance of Satan

The Beasts or Gentile Empires

There are four successive beasts in Daniel 7.




      1. The empire of Babylon (lion with eagle’s wings).
      2. The empire of the Persians (bear).
      3. The empire of the Greeks, or Alexander in particular (leopard – split into four heads).
      4. The Roman Empire (a dreadful and terrible beast with marks altogether peculiar to itself).

     

    Following the destruction of the last king of the Jews (Zedekiah in BC599), earthly dominion passed to the Gentiles in the person of Nebuchadnezzar. He began by establishing a false religion by force.  He made a statue that all the world was to worship, and he became lifted up in heart and ravaged the world to satisfy his will.   So, he was made to become like a beast for seven years.

    The Rejection of Christ

    The chief priests, who were in God’s view, the representatives of religion upon earth, and Pontius Pilate, the representative of earthly power, joined in league together to reject and put to death the Son of God. Thus, the fourth monarchy became guilty of rejecting the Messiah.

    The Jews are set aside.  If God permits the Jews to return to their country for a short time, it is that His Son might appear at the re-commencement of the fourth monarchy.

    But as to that which concerns the church on earth, we have seen it marred by the seed of the wicked one, and the apostasy which resulted from it;  (Dan. 7:9,11), ‘I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of days did sit…. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning’.  The Roman Empire has continued; it has even become ‘Christian’.

    The Lord coming to Judge

    Daniel 7:13-14: ‘I saw … one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.’

    The kingdom is given to the Son of man when the fourth beast is destroyed. The judgment and destruction of the fourth monarchy have not yet taken place, as we know from Daniel 2:34-35: ‘Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and day, and brake them to pieces…. and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.’

    It is after the total destruction of the statue that the stone begins to grow; which signifies that the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, which is to fill the whole earth, will not begin to spread until after the fourth beast has been judged and destroyed.

    ‘The beast that thou sawest was, and is not’ (Revelation 7:8): is the Roman Empire.[2] As an empire, it no longer exits. However, it will come out of the pit, with a diabolical character; it will be a full expression of the power of Satan.  This king will assume all the rights and privileges of Christ, arrogating them to himself: ‘I will ascend into heaven’ – what Christ only has done; ‘I will exalt myself above the stars of God.’ (Isaiah 14:13-14).  Even the Jewish nation will receive him who comes in his own name.

    Little Result from Preaching the Gospel

    The church’s task was to proclaim the glory of Christ everywhere.  Many evangelical Christians, therefore, hope that, through better evangelical endeavour, the gospel will spread itself all over the world during this dispensation. However, in these times, we can only expect poor results.  There will be blessing, but there will be those who slip away

    God told Noah that He was going to destroy the world.  Did this prevent his preaching to his fellow mortals?   This animated him, so that he might gain those who had ears to hear.   And the result – eight, just his family.

    Yet we preach the gospel – the only means of causing men to escape the righteous judgments which threaten them.   God gives, at the same time, the power to the testimony that would separate the good from that which is under judgment.  I believe this to be God’s usual mode of procedure.

    When we see evil increasing, and God drawing away believers from that evil, it may be taken as a sign that the judgment of God is nigh.

    Signs of the Times

    There are two signs of the proximity of judgment:

    1. Piety increases
    2. Christians withdraw from evil

     

    In the word of God, we see that the present economy will have an end.  Evil will progress to a greater and greater height until the wicked one is destroyed by the coming of Christ.

    Let us conclude with the warning which the Saviour gives us: ‘Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.’ (Romans 11:22.)

    Darby’s Conclusion

    ‘Has the church kept itself in the goodness of God?  Christendom has become completely corrupted; the dispensation of the Gentiles has been found unfaithful, with no hope of restoration. As the Jewish dispensation was cut off, the Christian dispensation will be cut off too. May God give us the grace to continue steadfast in our hope, and to rest upon His faithfulness.

    [1] Darby wrote in the 19th century – he saw the trend.  Now we in the 21st century see the prevalent religious view that we should labour to build the kingdom of God here.  Apart from being futile, it sets aside what Christ has done.  It is depicted in that rousing , popular (at least in Britain) but doctrinally perverse song by William Blake, ‘Jerusalem’.

    In secular society progress has been regarded in the throwing aside of moral values promoting ‘alternative lifestyles, indiscriminate abortion, sexual perversion to the point where Christians can be criminalised for doing or teaching what is right, and much of the public church supports it.

    [2] One cannot escape thinking of the liberal, Godless view of the European Union.  Satan will take control of this institution.

     

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The Second Coming of Christ

Acts 1, The promise of the Lord’s return is set forth as the only hope of the church. The disciples desired to know when and how God would restore the kingdom of Israel, but the answer was going to be hidden in God, as times and seasons belonged to the Father who had put them in His own power.

Additionally, the Holy Spirit was about to come, and because of that, they were to expect the return of Christ. So Christ’s return ruled the intelligence, sustained the hope and inspired the conduct, of the apostles.

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.3 – The Second Coming of Christ

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

A summary of the Third Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘The Second Coming of Christ’

4.3  The Second Coming of Christ

In Acts 1,

The Lord will return to the Earth

The State of the Church

The Joy of the departed Soul

God will gather together all things in Christ

We (the Church) will come with the Lord

Asleep in Jesus

The Mystery of Iniquity

An Appeal – Darby’s own Words

 

In Acts 1,

  1. The Holy Spirit was about to come.
  2. The Lord was going to return.
  3. The kingdom of Israel would be restored to Israel, but the answer as to when going to be hidden in God. Times and seasons belonged to the Father who had put them in His power.

The promise of the Lord’s return is the hope of the Church.   Christ’s return ruled the intelligence, sustained the hope and inspired the conduct, of the apostles.  Sadly, the expectation of the Saviour’s return has been lost sight of in the church. Hence the public position has declined spiritually.

The Lord will return to the Earth

Most of Old Testament prophecy, and therefore the disciples understanding, centred around the Lord’s actual return to earth and the redemption of Israel.  It is not surprising, therefore, that this was the question that they asked the Lord after the resurrection.

According to Matthew 24:30, His coming will be a great public event.

  • The Son of man will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
  • The tribes of the earth shall mourn.
  • The Jews ‘shall look on him whom they pierced’ (John 19:37; see also Zachariah 12:10 and Revelation 1:7).

In one of the first preachings, Peter said, ‘Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord … whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things’ (Acts 3:19-21). Both the initial preaching of Peter and the Lord’s words in Matthew 24 and 25 (correspondingly in the other synoptic gospels) relate to Israel.  Darby makes this clear in his ‘Synopsis[1]’, though in his ministry he applied it to the poor state of Christendom.

The State of the Church

Let us now see how both the Lord Himself first, then the Holy Spirit, have continuously directed our attention to His return.

The degree of expectation of the Lord’s return is gauged (as with a thermometer, so to speak) as an indicator of the life of the Church.  In Matthew 24, the evil servant was not prepared for the Lord to return. ‘My lord delayeth his coming;  And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites’ (v. 49-51).  ‘Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh’ (v. 44).

After appeals at the start of the church period, Stephen, the first martyr had to tell the religious leaders that they would not repent and continued to resist the Holy Spirit; See Acts 7:51.

All the virgins in Matthew 25 were in the same state; the wise ones (the true saints) as well as the foolish ones, who lacked the oil of the Holy Spirit, slept and forgot the immediate return of Christ. What woke them up was the midnight cry that He was coming[2].

Christendom is in a state worse than that of the Jews or pagans, in that it has had more advantages.  The evil which Satan has caused by heresies, false doctrines and false religions, continues to increase, and ripen.

The Joy of the departed Soul

This is seen in four scriptures:

  1. ‘To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.’  (Luke 23:43).
  2. ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’; (Acts 7:59)
  3. ‘To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5:8).
  4. ‘For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better’ (Philippians. 1:22, 23).

It is far better to expect the glory and to be present with Christ, than to remain here below[3]:

The Lord says, ‘If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself.’ He, Himself will come for His church, so that the church may be there, where He is.

God will gather together all things in Christ

In the early preaching, Peter said, ‘He [God] may send Jesus Christ … whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.’ (Acts 3:20-21)   The work of the Holy Spirit is not to re-establish all things here below, to rebuild creation (which sadly many Christians are trying to do) but to announce the return of Jesus, to whom every knee must bow.

We (the Church) will come with the Lord

‘For our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory’ (Philippians 3:20, 21 Darby).  This scripture demonstrates that our relationship with the Lord is in heaven – that is where our citizenship is.  We are aliens here. I have added this.

‘When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.’ (Colossians 3:4.) – Obviously, in order to come with Him, we shall have had already to have been taken to be with Him.

The two epistles to the Thessalonians focus on the coming of Christ.  It is remarkable that this church, one of the most flourishing of those to which Paul wrote, should be the one to which the Lord chose to reveal, with the most detail, the circumstances of His coming. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.’ (Psalm 25:14.).  Such was the faith of the Thessalonians that it was spoken of in all the world.  They expected the Lord from heaven.  May we have this same faith that the Thessalonians had!

We, pre-millennialists, expect the Lord before the thousand years.  If Paul had not been a pre-millennialist too, and had expected a Millennium of the Holy Spirit before the coming of Jesus, how could he ever have said, ‘We who remain until the coming of Christ’?  There was, then, in his soul, a continual expectation of the coming of Christ.  He did not know the moment, but he expected it imminently.

The believers in Thessalonica (modern Thessaloniki) had the hope of the return of Christ to such a degree that they did not think of dying before that event; and when one of them departed, his friends were afraid that he would not be present at that happy moment.  Paul reassures them by asserting that those who sleep in Jesus will be brought back with Him.

Asleep in Jesus

In passing, we should note that when somebody is taken, we often hear it said, ‘He/she has gone to glory’.  Paul did not see it that way.  The person was ‘asleep in Jesus’ or ‘With Christ’.  Our outlook is to be with Him if we are taken before the Rapture.  It is not to ‘go to heaven when we die’.

‘Therefore we are always confident; knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.’ (2 Corinthians 5:6) .  I have already the life of Christ: if I depart, I shall be with Him.  Paul will enjoy the fruits of his waiting.

The Mystery of Iniquity

The mystery of iniquity, which was already working in the time of Paul, was to go on until the manifestation of the man of sin.  He will be destroyed at the glorious Appearing of Christ Himself[4].

The Appearing of Christ is not at the end, for at the end, He will have delivered up the kingdom.  In reality, the kingdom takes place at His Appearing.

We shall only be like Him when He appears for us (i.e. at the Rapture), not before[5].  ‘But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.   And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.’  (1 John 3:2)     A heart that is full of this hope conducts himself accordingly – he purifies himself.  Knowing that when Jesus appears, I shall be like Him. I ought to like Him now.

An Appeal – Darby’s own Words

‘May the Lord apply these truths to our hearts, on one side, to detach us from the things of the world, and, on the other, to attach us to His coming – to Himself in Person; and we shall purify ourselves even as He is pure.  There is nothing more practical, nothing more powerful to disentangle us from a world that is to be judged, and to knit us to the One who will come to judge it.

Certainly, there is nothing that can serve better to show us where our purification comes from.  There is nothing which can console us, invigorate us, and identify us more with the One who has suffered so that we might reign with Him, co-heirs in glory.  Surely, if we were expecting the Lord any day, there would be seen in us a self-renunciation rarely seen among the Christians of the present age.  May none of us be found saying, ‘My Lord delayeth his coming’! (Matthew 24:4).

 

 

[1] IN the Synopsis on Matthew 24, Darby writes as to verse 30, ‘The Lord gives the history of the testimony in Israel, and that of the people themselves, from the moment of His departure until His return; but the length of time, during which there should be neither people nor temple nor city, is not specified. It is this which gives importance to the capture of Jerusalem. It is not here spoken of in direct terms the Lord does not describe it; but it put an end to that order of things to which His discourse applies, and this application is not resumed until Jerusalem and the Jews are again brought forward’.

 

[2] Note that Darby makes it clear that this applies to the Lord’s second coming (the Appearing).  It is not:

Death (that is not the Bridegroom),

The coming of the Spirit (not the Bridegroom either).

The aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 (The Bridegroom did not come then).

 

[3] Really our expectation is to be with Him. We are out of the reach of sin, and we enjoy the Lord apart from it.

 

[4] Now, in such a state of things where is the place for such a post-tribulation Millennium?  Indeed, where is the scriptural justification for suggesting that the church will still be here when the man of sin is revealed?

[5] Note that we are not told what a body of glory will be like (See also Philippians 3:21).  Scripture is not to satisfy our curiosity.

 

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What the Father has done in Grace for the Church’s Glory

Christ is exalted, sitting on the “right hand of the majesty on high”, waiting for the resurrection of the Church. The Church has already been reconciled to Christ, the earnest of this being in the presence of the Holy Spirit in us believers. Reconciliation of all things to Him is future.

In the dispensation that will start at the Saviour’s coming, the heirs will have the enjoyment of their inheritance. All things will be subjected to Christ, and to His church, united to Him and manifested with Him.

‘After These Things’ Chapter 4.2 – What the Father has done in Grace for the Church’s Glory

From our book ‘After These Things – Summaries of John Nelson Darby’s Papers on Prophecy – and more…’ Compiled by Daniel Roberts. For more about this book click on the picture or CLICK HERE

The Name of the Father

A summary of the Second Lecture by J N Darby on the Present Hope of the Church – Geneva 1840 entitled ‘The Church and its Glory’

Our Inheritance

The Name of Father

Ephesians  1

The Resurrection of the Church

Jesus Exalted

Reconciliation of all Things to Christ

Heavenly Places

Conclusion

Our Inheritance

Christ is exalted, sitting on the ‘right hand of the majesty on high’, waiting for the resurrection of the Church.   The Church has already been reconciled to Christ, the evidence of this being in the presence of the Holy Spirit in us believers.  Reconciliation of all things to Him is future.

In the dispensation that will start at the Saviour’s coming, the heirs will have the enjoyment of their inheritance.  All things will be subjected to Christ, and to His Church, united to Him and manifested with Him.

‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ…and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.’  Ephesians 1 (see the whole chapter)

The Name of Father

Our hope goes far beyond escaping the wrath to come).  It involves our participating in the glory of the Son, as it is said in John 17:22, ‘And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them’.  In this scripture, there is a message to the world that the Father loves us as He loves Jesus.  By the Holy Spirit, we are full of joy and intelligence as to those riches in glory.

Considering the Church and its glory leads us to the name of Father – how God has revealed Himself to us.  The Father has given the Church to Christ as His bride, with a view to its full participation in all His glory.  In adopting us as His children, the Father has bestowed on us nothing less than the dignity and glory of the Son, ‘firstborn among many brethren’ (Romans 8:29).  As the bride of Jesus, we enjoy all the privileges that belong to Him, because of His incomparable love to us.

Ephesians  1

God presents Himself as ‘our Father’ (v. 2), and ‘the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (v. 3).  In v.4-8, we have salvation, ‘accepted in the beloved’.  We are predestined to be the Father’s children having redemption through Christ’s blood.  How great are the riches of God’s grace!

In v. 8-10, we see the actual power of grace, introducing us into the knowledge of the purpose (or decree) of God.  God treats us as His friends and calms our souls to see the end of all man’s agitated efforts.  God will ‘gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.’ (v.10).

Furthermore, we have the sealing by the Spirit and our future participation in the glory: ‘Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory’ (v. 13).

The remainder of the chapter is a prayer for the faithful to understand their hope in an exalted Christ, to whom the church is united, and that they might appreciate the power that works towards them as believers.

The Resurrection of the Church

Christ is sitting on the ‘right hand of the majesty on high’ (Hebrews. 1:3), waiting for the resurrection of the Church. He does not even know (as Man) when this should take place since as a Servant He waits entirely upon His Father.

Currently, Christ is glorified.  But as yet, all things are not yet subjected to Him.  We acknowledge His rights as Creator, as Heir of all things, as Head of the body, the Church.  He is both Firstborn of every creature and Firstborn from the dead.

Christ will take the inheritance of all things as a Man, so that the Church, bought with His blood, and purified, should inherit all things with Him.

There are two fundamental points:

  • Christ possesses all things.
  • The Church, the bride of Christ, participates in all that He has, and in all that He is, except in His eternal divinity.

Jesus Exalted

We see in Ephesians 1:23:

  • Jesus as the Head of the Church, His body.
  • Jesus highly exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
  • All things under His feet.
  • The Church introduced into the same glory.

We see in 1 Corinthians 15:

  • The glorification of Jesus.
  • All things subjected to Him.
  • Head of a kingdom which He will possess as Man and which He will eventually deliver up to God the Father, with God all in all.
  • The time for His being invested with royal power will have arrived, God having put His enemies as a footstool under His feet.

Reconciliation of all Things to Christ

We see in Romans 8:19-23 that the deliverance of creation will take place at the same time as the manifestation of the sons of God.  Christ will be sitting at the right hand of God.  He becomes Possessor of the heavens and the earth in fact, as He is that now by right.  Were there, for example, a blade of grass that was not subjected to His power in blessing, Satan would have got an advantage over Christ, His rights, and His inheritance.  Clearly, ‘all things’ relates to things in heaven and earth, not to sinners in unbelief.

The things of earth and heaven will be reconciled later, by the efficacy of His blood.  ‘And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you … now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh, through death’ (Colossians 1:20),

The present creation is in misery and bondage.  We sigh and groan because of that.  All may be in disorder here, but we know Him who has redeemed us and made us heirs of all things. He has introduced us into the enjoyment of the love of the Father, enjoying the privileges as heirs.

When He comes, Christ will be the source of joy to all creation.  All the righteous titles of Christ will be vindicated.

Heavenly Places

One of the spiritual blessings that we have now is to find our abode in the ‘heavenly places’. What we enjoy now in hope, though hindered in many ways, will be for us in actuality.  The earth will feel the effect of that.  ‘Wicked spirits in heavenly places[1]’ (see margin, Ephesians 6:12), will cease to be the continual cause of misery and chaos of a sinful world made by sin, the ruin and of the iniquity of the first Adam.  Their place will be filled by Christ and His Church, reflecting His glory.  She will beam upon the earth in blessing, and the nations will walk by her light.  She will be the worthy and happy instrument of His blessings, the living demonstration of their success.   God has done these things, ‘that in the ages to come, he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:7).  The earth will enjoy the fruits of the victory of the Christ, the last Adam.  The joy of joys will be the communion of the Father and the Bridegroom for ‘God is love.’

Conclusion

Darby concludes ‘I have detailed to you, briefly and feebly, what is the destiny of the church.   We live under the dispensation during which the heirs are gathered together.  In the dispensation which will start at the coming of the Saviour, the heirs shall have the enjoyment of the inheritance of all things.  All things shall be subjected to Christ, and to His church, united to Him and manifested with Him.

What is to follow that is not our business now.  In that last period, God will be all in all, and Christ Himself, as Man, will be subject to God; and Chief, of a family, eternally blessed in the communion of God.  God has loved that family, and His tabernacle will be in the midst of it – God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternally blessed. Amen.’

[1] The KJV translation is ‘spiritual wickedness in high places’, whereas the Darby version ‘spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies’.  I cannot find a reliable translation which says ‘wicked spirits’ but Darby and others (Stoney, Raven etc) use the expression ‘wicked spirits’ in ministry.  The Greek is ‘τὰ πνευματικὰ/ta pneumatika (spiritual things) τῆς πονηρίας/tes ponerias (of evil)  ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις/en tois epouraniais (in heaven, or the celestial sphere) – See Strong.  I cannot find the margin reference to which Darby refers.

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