ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM FAITHFUL WORKERS.
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:—I have been thinking about 1 Thes. 4:16. As noted in DAWN [Vol. II, p. 146], the word "shout," as per concordance, means "a shout of encouragement." I believe the word from which "shout" is here translated does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. In looking at the word rendered "Jubilee," I notice that the meaning is given as "time of shouting" or "shout."
It has occurred to me that possibly the word "shout" in 1 Thess. 4:16 might mean the same as jubilee, and that Paul, possibly, there conveys the idea of an antitypical jubilee. The jubilee of old, I believe, was ushered in by the priests, the trumpet and the shout. Might it not be a jubilee shout? Might it not be possible that this passage is a proclamation of the Great Antitypical Jubilee? In Psalm 89:15 we read, "Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound [shout]." (See concordance for this word "sound" and also "joyful sound.") "They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." Isaiah 27:13 says:—"And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown." Zech. 9:14 says:—"And the Lord shall blow the trumpet."
Should there be any such connection between the "shout" in 1 Thes. 4:16 and the word jubilee, then the other scriptures I have named would appear to be specially significant.
In the type, if I am correct, the first day of the Jubilee year was also the Day of Atonement. "In the Seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls." (Lev. 16:29.) From this it would appear to be a day of sorrow rather than gladness. Is it not probable that the trumpet did not sound until evening? Then the afflicting of the soul was over, the great atonement completed, the High Priest had entered within the veil and returned alive, all transgression had been symbolically carried away. In the evening, therefore, joy and triumph might well be in order.
Do the Scriptures indicate just when the trumpet was blown?
On the supposition that the shouting and sounding of the trumpet took place in the evening, it might follow that the antitypical trumpet might be looked for later than 1874. If October 1874 is the date of the commencement of the Antitypical Jubilee, then when would the Antitypical Trumpet be due to sound?
I have thought that possibly the Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, might be a type of the thousand years or times of Restitution. Doctor Smith's Old Testament History says (pages 264, 265 and 258), "The Pentecost was the Jewish Harvesthome." "The Pentecost is the only one of the three great feasts which is not mentioned as the memorial of events in the history of the Jews." "It was doubtless after the sacrifices of that solemn day were ended, that the trumpet of Jubilee pealed forth its joyful notes," etc. I would be pleased to have your views regarding this in your own time and way.
[We are in full agreement with the various propositions above set forth. The Gospel age has been the antitypical "Day of Atonement," in which Christ Jesus our Lord redeemed the world and in which, also, the Church as his body "fills up that which is behind" of his sufferings. (See TABERNACLE SHADOWS OF BETTER SACRIFICES.) The Millennial age, we understand, was typified by the "Feast of Tabernacles." It will be a time of rejoicing but not a time of fixity, because that which is perfect will not fully come until the end of the Millennium, when the unfit who have neglected to hear the great Prophet, the Christ, will be destroyed from among the people, and the age of everlasting and fully established perfection amongst men will begin. The "harvest" (Oct. 1874 to Oct. 1914) is the lapping time in which the Gospel age ends and the Millennial age begins. The Jubilee trumpet we identify as one with the Seventh Trumpet and Trump of God. (See MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. II., page 197.) The Apostle Paul was a prophet as well as an Apostle and the "shout [of encouragement]" (1 Thes. 4:16) should be understood to be the people's response to the Jubilee trumpets blown by the priests.—EDITOR.]
DEAR BROTHER RUSSELL:—Our number here is holding its own, and we have been quite successful in scattering the truth. A great many appear to see the reasonableness and scriptural authority of the "Plan," but Oh! so few are willing to sacrifice and must simply be driven by the fiery troubles to give up their love for the god of this world. Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory; his kingdom for which we have prayed is coming, and his will will soon be done on earth as it is in heaven. It seems that if the people would only open their eyes and ears they could not fail to understand (see) the Christ presence casting Satan out of his high ruling position. Let us work on, fight on, suffer on; the time is not much longer; and he is faithful and just for whom we labor, and will reward us bountifully. J. C. GAULT.
DEAR BROTHER AND SISTER:—From an article in a late TOWER I find I had anticipated your ideas, for I had been teaching the same to my children and had set forth the same sentiments to a few special friends, in regard to the perpetuation of the lives of children of Christian parents; holding out the idea to them, as gathered from the Scriptures, that they, above all others, would have the special protecting care of God in this great battle of the day of God Almighty which is now being waged. While I recognize that they will have special protection thrown around them, yet, if they would enjoy the full benefits of his grace or favor, and live over into the full of the Millennial kingdom, when none will die except for wilful sin, they themselves have a work to do, after arriving at the years of accountability; viz., it is necessary that they live a righteous life, and the only difference between their relationship with God, and that of the children of the unrighteous, consisted in the more abundance of grace supplied them, which would the better strengthen them, and support them in this hour of trial; that God could not, nor would not, look upon sin with any degree of allowance in any one; but by his grace or favor, for their parents' sake, in Christ, the Father would be more liberal in supplying his grace to the children of Christian parents. I have told my children in my talks to them that if they did not live on and on forever it would be because they resisted the leading of the spirit, and persisted in living an unrighteous life.
Will you bear with me while I relate two instances in point, relating to my own family, in brief. My business called me from home. I received intelligence that my youngest child was dangerously ill. I immediately took it to the Lord in earnest prayer. This was about 8 P.M. The spirit's leading was so plain in the matter that next morning, before any further advice in regard to the condition of my child had been received, I wrote a card, saying that though the child had been very sick it was better and would be all right soon. The next evening I received a card from home which had been written before mine reached them stating that it was greatly improved and that there seemed to be a sudden change for the better about 8 o'clock the night previous. This is a matter of record.
The second case is that of my daughter. When she was a child (she is now 18) her eyes became affected so she could not see her way, and had to be led about. I sent her to an oculist, and she remained there for about three months; she came home considerably improved. We continued his treatment for some time after her arrival at home, until finally the medicine seemed to lose its effect, and she became worse. I carried the case to God in prayer; and she is now comparatively well. While this case is not so well marked by immediate results, it is plainly the work of restitution.