659
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
October 1927
sying, breath came into these lifeless bodies and imparted life to them, and they stood up, an exceeding great army. I nterpretation of the V ision Had the prophet stopped at this point we would not know the- significance of the symbolism. The interpreta tion of this vision is found in verses 11-14. The same principle obtains with the Biblical symbolism which is cur rent among us at the present day. When God once uses a symbol and gives us the significance thereof, every time he uses the same symbol it has the same significance. “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Is rael.” This statement gives the official, inspired, symbolic significance of the vision of dry bones. This usage is the same as that used by Christ when He, in speaking' of the literal bread and fruit of the vine, said, “This is my body,” and “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:26-28), A good example of the use of symbolism is seen in the case of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream con cerning the seven fat and lean kine and the seven.good and lean ears of corn (see Gen. 40:1 f.). Joseph gave the symbolic significance of these two dreams in the following words; “The seven good ears are seven years; and the seven good kine are seven years; the dream is one.”, “The whole house of Israel” means the twelve tribes, notwith standing the fact that there is some controversy concern ing “the ten lost tribes.” It appears from the New Testa ment that all twelve of the tribes were in existence in the first century (Acts 26:7; James 1 :1). The question arising at this point is, “To what time in Israel’s long checkered history does the vision of dry bones refer?” The answer is found in the following words: “Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost: we are clean cut off.” From this line it is apparent that the vision pertains to Israel only when such a despond ent outlook is the dominant note of the nation. T he D espair of I srael T oday When one begins with the life of the Jewish nation and studies thoroughly its history to the present time, he never finds this despairing note as the universal cry of the nation until he comes to our own day and time. The nation with few exceptions through the past centuries has looked hopefully for the coming of the Messiah who would restore them to their own land; but in more recent years throughout Jewry “Our Hope” is dying out very rapidly. The nation is like a drowning man, grasping at a straw, and is taking hold of the illusive hope promised by Zionism to do for it that which the prophets of old said the Messiah would do. The synagogues have largely lost their attraction for the great masses of the people through out the world, with the exception of the densely settled or thodox sections in Europe. Even there the ancient hope is rapidly on the wane and Judaism is undergoing a great transformation. This drying up of the spiritual life and hope which has animated the nation for nearly four thou sand years, no longer stirs the Jewish heart. Hence, with out speculating one may be certain that the prophet looked forward to our day and time in this vision. In connection with the thoughts of verse eleven must be discussed the noise and earthquake mentioned in verse seven above. As stated there, when the noise and earth quake in the vision occurred, the bones came together. The question to be determined at this point is, “What is symbolically represented by ‘the noise’ and ‘the earth quake’?” A glance at recent Zionism appears to the writer to afford the answer. The inception of Zionism
A Loud Honk f r o m Mr. Horn! Glendale, Calif. Aug. 1, 1927.
“I have a kick to register against your K ing ’ s B usi ness . My physician says I must have a lot of sleep. I was getting on nicely until the new editors began to
polish up T h e K ing ’ s B usiness and exalt and honor our Lord Jesus Christ. Now when I get a copy, I have to sit up late nights until I get everything read. There are no stop signals visible. I like it and I know many others who feel the same way. May our lóving Father continue to be with you. Sincerely yours, W. A. Horn.
...th en comes this
(L est we should be exalted above measure.)
“The last few issues of T h e K ing ’ s B usiness remind me of Samson— a fte r he had his hair cut. H e thought his strength was still with him—but— !” (F rom Exeter, Calif.) Both of these brethren are staunch Fundamen- talists. Somehow—we can’t please ’em all! was at the Basle Conference in 1897. From the first day up to the war the movement slowly but steadily gained in power and .numbers. Quite a bit of work had been accomplished at the beginning of the world war in 1914, but that disaster all but brought to an end what had been accomplished. During the later days of the war and dur ing the post-war period the Jew learned as never before that he is an unwelcome guest in every land. Anti-Semitism began to take on more frightful pro portions throughout the world and has become a most terrifying spectre to the Hebrew race. It was these and other conditions brought on by the war that proved to the Jew that there is but one thing for him to do, namely, to establish a place of refuge for the down-trodden race in the land of their fathers. Hence, it is a personal convic tion with the author of this article that the world war which has just passed and the conditions arising there from are the things which are symbolized by the noise and the earthquake, which make the bones come together, bone to his bone. This re-gathering, which is going on before our eyes, and will continue to go on in the future, is the thing which is symbolized by the coming together of the bones, the appearance of the sinews, flesh, and skin, as is seen in the vision; but this regathered body is but a life less corpse. Furthermore, this is the gathering of a na tion without a desire or longing for truth (Zeph. 2 :l-3).
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