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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
October, 1941
Four Or a t o r i o s of the R e v e l a t i o n
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six thousand years in which a choice, though relatively small, sphere within God’s universe “lieth in the evil one” (1 John 5:19, R. V.) and has as its “god” Satan, the adversary of God (cf. * 2 Cor. 4:4). It is with this parenthesis in .the ful fillment of the eternal purpose of God, “that in all things he might have the # preeminence” (Col. 1:18), that the Scrip ture is largely concerned. It gives the history of how things went awry in the first place and records tthe direful re sults proceeding therefrom. It tells of how in a world dominated by His adver sary, Godjias consistently maintained a testimony to Himself in spite of the usurper’s unceasing attempts to obliter ate it. It sets forth the culmination of this testimony in the personal Incarnation of God Himself in the Person of His Son, and describes the redemptive transaction accomplished in His death and resurrec tion. And it also outlines what we are to expect in the interim until He returns to terminate the period of rebellion and Satanip rule and to restore the divine, order. The ultimate objective of the divine program, as indicated by the inspired writers through the whole of the Book, is the restoration of the divine govern ment on earth. Any theology that does not take cognizance of this essential fact will mislead more than it will en lighten. It is to declare and herald the im mediate arrival at the divine destination that the great voices in hfeaven burst forth into this wonderful chorus: “The kingdoms of this.world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign t o t ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). The wily adversary during the days of Christ’s flesh had challenged Him on a high mountain. He had shown Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and had offered, on his evil terms, to cede them back to the Son of Man from whom he had originally filched them through the temptation and fall of Adam. But Christ in the very beginning had had all things put under Him! Thus if He had done obeisance and offered worship to Satan in ex» change for the kingdoms of this world, He would have traded him all the rest of the universe for them, and the failure of the last Adam would have been vast ly greater than that of the first. Christ in effect admitted Satan’s temporary ownership, but denied his terms of redemption. He went to Cal vary and, with the price. of His life blood, He bought back what Adam the first had lost. The Lord Jesus Christ will' come back and will rule over that which He has redeemed, and without any con- [ Continued on Page 399]
T h e V ind ication o f G od ’ s R ighteousness The third song cannot properly be called an oratorio in itself. It is rather a solo or a recitative. It is found in Revelation 16:4-7. The setting of this song is the time of the outpouring of the wrath of God, in the period of the Great Tribulation. In chapter 5, we learned that each of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders had a golden vial or bowl in his hand. They were each “full of odors, which are the prayers of saints” (5:8). We read again in Revela tion 15:7 that one of these living crea tures gave to each of the seven,angels who had issued from the “temple of the tabernacle of the testimony” (15:5) a golden vial full of the wrath of God. It is very significant- that the wrath of God as well as the prayers of saints is contained within- golden bowls. The receptacles of judgment are of just as fine quality as the containers of grace, and those who pour it out are as spot lessly clothed as those who herald the tidings of peace. . The third angel has poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they have all been turned to blood. That which happened on a very restricted scale to the river Nile and the waters of Egypt will come to pass on a world-wide scale when God pours out His judgments on a world that has rejected the grace o f His Son and has crucified Him. It is in the presence of the deep physical - distress occasioned by this plague and in a pause between the triumphant choruses of the heavenly choirs that the Angel of the Waters comes forth to sing his dolorous song. This solemn recitative we may call “The Song of the Vindication of God’s Right eousness in Judgment.” Let us observe that it is the angel Whom God has appointed to preside over the waters-that comes forth to. sing the song. This angel now sees the waters turned to blood and comes forth to de clare the righteousness of God in this judgment, “Thou-are righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, be cause thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,' and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy” (16: 5, 6). They have chosen to be the subjects of a murderer and have themselves be come the murderers of saints and prophets, the »beloved of the Lord, and in so doing they have crucified the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame. The blood of Jesus Christ is “upon” every single individual in the world for one thing or the other. Either the blood is upon him for cleansing and
absolution from all sin, or it is on him. for responsibility. Either the blood of Christ cries out from the altar for the forgiveness of the believer, or, if wasted, that blood, like the blood of righteous Abel of old, cries opt for vengeance from the ground. The perverted mind of an unregener ate humanity lays the false comfort to its soul that a God of love will not visit in condign judgment. But the inspired Scriptures repeatedly declare that He will in no case acquit the wicked, and the holy angel echoes his song over the expanse of blood, as men perish with thirst, “Thou are righteous, O Lord, . . . because thou hast Judged thus, . . . for they are worthy” ! In the previous ora torios we have heard that God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is worthy of all praise, and here we find out that man is also worthy, but onlÿ of judg ment and punishment. God has vindicated Himself by send ing among the people saints and prophets to call them to repentance and salvation, but they have spurned His grace and slain His saints and prophets; so He gives them blood to drink, and the angel avows that He is righteous in so doing. Next there comes an- echoing voice from out of the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments” (v. 7) . Th e O ra torio o f the K in gdom We hasten on to the last in the selected series of oratorios being dis cussed in this article. It is found in 11:15-17 and can be called, “The Ora torio of the Kingdom.” This great chorus looks to the con clusion of the purpose of God in the earthly reign of His Son. The period covered by the Holy Scrip tures may be called the period of “tirtie” as distinguished from eternity. The first two chapters of Genesis deal with a con dition of things before sin entered, and the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation deal with hn order of things after sin will have been removed. The period of “time,1'’ roughly speak ing, is that stretch between two eter nities in which the government of God has not been universally accepted and recognized. It is that hiatus of at least
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