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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
April, 1940
I N hermeneutics, the science of Scrip tural interpretation, there are two paths whereby the meaning of a word may be sought. One path leads to the dictionary and the other to the con cordance. The former may suggest the more modem usage, but the latter has the commendation of both Scripture and experience. The Pauline principle, “com paring spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Oor. 2:13), always bears precious fruit. A knowledge of Hebrew and Greek may mean little or naught, but a real love of the ^ery wqrds of Holy Writ will enrich the life and service of both minister and layman. Turning to the dictionary path, we discover that the word “until” may be used as a preposition meaning “up to the time of” or “at any time before” ; or, it may be used as a conjunction meaning "up to the time that or when.” My dictionary illustrates the prepo sitional use of the word thus, “to remain until evening,” and the conjunctional, “he struggled until he loosed the knot.” The word "until” in its simple con junctional , sense is heavily freighted with implications in three selected pas sages of Scripture: Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25, and Psalm 110:1. I. Jerusalem Will Be Trodden Down “ Until”— Luke 21:24: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Fourteen years ago, I spent more than a month in Jerusalem; last sum mer, one week. On both visits, I ob served that Jerusalem was decidedly in the hands of the Gentiles. History in forms me that this has been largely the story of the centuries since the sack of the oity by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B. C. My fellow traveler and I were given a threefold warning by the Director of the American School of Oriental Re search: Do not go alone within the wall of the old city; do not go alone to the Mount of Olives; be back in the school by seven o’clock every evening. One could not secure a military permit to go south of Bethlehem, nor would authorities permit any traveler to be routed through Samaria. Only after the third attempt were we granted permis sion to spend a few hours at Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Even then, we were stopped, our passes were exam ined, and we were given warning sev eral times. Twice, between Nazareth and Galilee, we were almost turned back by motor lorries filled with Brit ish Tommies. The top floor and roof of the most -luxurious hotel of Jerusalem, the King David Hotel, just outside the west wall, was occupied by military authorities. While seeking a few moments of soli tude in the garden of the hotel, viewing the city over which our Lord wept
The Prophetic
e Gentiles are in e v i d e n c e t h r o u g h o u t “the land” . . twenty thousand British sol diers in Palestine.
Century B. C., saw, in the last days of the “times of the Gentiles,” Israel re turning in unbelief to her land (Hos. 3:4, 5). Paul witnessed the unbelief, the partial blindness, of Israel in his time and wrote,' “But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart” (2 Cor. 3:15). A study of Isaiah 6:9, 10, Mathew 13:14, 15, and Acts 28:25-27 leads one to the conclusion that Israel, to this day, is suffering penal blindness for rejection of both the prophets of God and the Son of God. The word of the Lord through Hosea was, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowl edge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early” (Hos. 5:15). During the summer we saw the land of the Book as an open commentary on the Book of God. When our hearts were saddened by things we heard and saw, we meditated on the prophetic significance of the little word “until.” III. The Son Shares the Father’s Throne “ Until”— Psalm 110:1, R. V.: “Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy foot stool.” This is one of the very few Old Testa ment instances In which the name of “Jehovah” designates the first member of the Trinity. This fact, however, does not invalidate the teaching that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament. This Messianic P§alm contains the second of three references to the Melchizedekian priesthood of Christ. Genesis 14 and Hebrews 5 to 7 contain the first and the last. We cannot re frain from calling attention to this evidence of the inspired unity of Scrip ture. These are three consistent refer-
(Lk. 19:41), 1 was suddenly disturbed by a soldier, gun and all, on guard duty crossing my path. “Gentile” soldiers are in evidence throughout the land. Last summer there were twenty thousand British soldiers in Palestine; in October of 1938 there had been forty thousand. One judges that the '“until” of this Lukan passage has not yet been con summated. We are living in “the times of the Gentiles,” according to Scripture, and a visit to Jerusalem today will assur^ one that the Son of God looked down 'through the centuries and most correctly portrayed the age of the church with respect to that city. II. Israel Will Be Blinded in Part “ Until”— Romans 11:25: “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” The Zionists returning to Palestine have established fifty cooperative com munities throughout the land. Last summer I spent some time in Givath* Brenner, which is one of the largest. It has a population of eight hundred— there are six hundred adults and two. hundred children. This particular com munity is located just off the highway between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem, near the older Rehoboth. On inquiring as to the religious activities of the community, I was in formed that, in keeping with the prac tice of almost all the communities, neither private nor public services were held. One day in seven was allotted to rest, none to worship. I was further told the reason was not that the in habitants of the kibbutzim, as the com munal villages are called, were atheistic, but rather that they were indifferent. Some were agnostic and some skeptical, but they were mostly indifferent. The prophet Hosea, contemporary of Amos, Isaiah, and Micjih in the eighth
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