WHEN THE FIG TREE PUTS FORTH LEAVES By Elmer H. Nicholas
the promise was later repeated to Abra ham in a slightly different form, and God declared that, in Abraham’s seed, should all nations be blessed. Paul seizes upon this as a conclusive proof of the inspiration and accuracy of the Old Testament and points out that the num ber used in Genesis 22:18 was singular and not plural. The word used, says Paul, was seed, not seeds, and therefore could only have referred to Christ (Gal. 3:16). Since Christ is the promised seed, the Gentile believer, being in Christ, is ipso facto an inheritor of the blessing promised to Abraham (Gal. 3:29) and the law has no dominion over him. So unreservedly does Paul accept the cor rectness of Genesis that he hangs a complete section of his thesis on the number of the word used. Abraham’s exodus from his own land in obedience to God’s command (Gen. 12:1) is cited as a historical fact in Hebrews 11:8. Abraham “believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness” runs Genesis 15:6. This statement is Repeated several times in the New Testament without any ques tion as to its accuracy (Rom. 4:3, 9, 23; Gal. 3:6; Heb. 11:8; Jas. 2:23). The promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations (Gen. 17:5) is again quoted confidently by Paul as authoritative (Rom. 4:17). The miracle of Sarah’s childbearing in old age (Gen. 18:14) is quoted in Romans 9:9 and Hebrews 11:11 as a historical fact. The specific pledge in Genesis 17:21 that the promises of God should be ful filled in Isaac is quoted in Romans 9:7 and Hebrews 11:18 as unquestioned, and the latter verse also confirms the offer ing up of Isaac, described in Genesis 22. The expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, as recorded in Genesis 21:9-14, serves as the illustration of divine principles in Paul’s argument against Judaism in Galatians 4:30. Obviously no doubt arose in Paul’s mind as to the reliability of the sacred record. So far as the New Testament writers are concerned, Genesis is historically accurate, theologically sound and com pletely authoritative. They have pat ently the utmost confidence in its state ments and not the slightest doubt as to its authenticity. The doctrines of the New Testament are rooted in the soil of the Old Testament—and particularly in the ground of Genesis. Destroy confidence in this book and the facts it records, and the authority and honesty of Christ are thrown into disrepute, theology is evacuated of its vital doctrines, and the Scriptures are robbed of their foundation. But here is a book, which is God- inbreathed, which is authentic and ac curate, which accords with the findings of science and the teachings of the New Testament, a book in which we may place our implicit confidence without fear or tremor of doubt. This is, in fact, authentic, history: it is the living oracle of God.
I N the Pentateuch there are several references to the minerals and riches which were in the land of Canaan, such as, “ a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass,” or a free translation, “a land where iron is in the stones and you can dig copper out of the hills” (Deut. 8:9). Little has been done to develop the digging and smelting of iron or of cop per in Palestine, not even in the reign of Solomon, the most aggressive of Israel’s kings. He had a copper smeltery in the south, but he imported much of the ores and minerals from other lands. Many minerals used today were not utilized in that ancient time. Since Sol omon’s day, under the mismanagement and misrule of two thousand years, earth’s riches in Palestine have lain locked up for the day when the Jew returns to dig, plant, and build. Prime Minister Ben-Gurion of Israel says, “ I trust my Bible,” when he referred to the finding of these treasures of nature. The discovery of almost all the needed minerals and chemicals for modern in dustrialization includes iron ore, copper, manganese, materials for ceramics, phosphates for fertilizers, peat and mica. When they find oil in paying quantities it is stated that Israel will become self- sustaining. What does all this mean in terms of God’s promises for a restored Israel? The land is being restored, but on the whole it is not being restored because the people are looking for the Messiah. It is being rebuilt as a national home for the Jews who have been strangers in foreign lands for so long. The thou sands who have returned, some in planes which flew as doves to the window (Isa. 60:8), are symbol or token returns which presage a day when Israel will return not only by plane, but by ships and every known conveyance, a greater exodus from all comers of the earth. The time of trouble which Jews and the nations went through within World War II and the beastliness of Hitler and his gang was merely a foreshadow ing of that last great trial called the great tribulation. If those days were not to be shortened, no flesh on earth would be saved (Matt. 24:22). What is being done now is the fore cast of the day when the real building of Jerusalem and the land will take place. “ The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,” Isaiah stated. How strangely the United States has been linked with what is going on now and shall take place in the future! But it is not yet, for as long as the enemies of
Israel hold part of the city, we know that the time of the Gentiles has not really ended. The poor Arabs who are in part of Jerusalem are victims of a blindness which Satan only could produce causing them to stand in the way of Israel and peace. But this treachery of Satan is made to praise the Lord, for out of it works the pattern proving more and more the truth of Daniel and the malice of the critics who hate the book. One day the bondage shall be broken and those who have tried to prevent the ful filment of prophecy by their puny efforts will give way in the face of God’s pur poses. While events continue to press upon time, pressures are also building up in other parts of the world. The effort to settle the boundary dispute between Poland (that is, the Soviets) and Ger many seems to have come to a stale mate. It is a good question to ask, “ Can Germany recover her eastern areas?” The real answer is found in another question, “Was this area a part of the Roman Empire?” We ask the question, for if we are right that the area of Roman rule is to be revived to create kingdoms of the end-time, when the false beast rises to power, then eastern Germany is outside that zone. If the Roman Empire went only to the Rhine, then most of Germany is likely to be swallowed up by the bear when the ten-kingdom power arises. What is almost unbelievable about the present restoration of Israel is the speed with which it is being accomplished as though there was not much time. In less than five years, whole towns have sprung up, and the thirsty Negev which has scarcely produced a sprig of grass for thousands of years, is beginning to produce. Huge concrete pipes are being laid to carry water from the Yarkon River above Tel Aviv down to the northern Negev. But the water mains are not the fulfilment of God’s promise, “the heaven to give rain unto thy land in his season” (Deut. 28:12), so that day is yet to come. There is yet to be a more astonishing show of God’s part in the return for there is yet to be fulfilled the verse, “all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD” (Deut. 28:10). There is another remarkable point about the rejuvenation of Palestine—the spirit with which the Jews enter into their work. In spite of the wide diversi ties because of the countries from which they have come and difference in local customs, these many groups show un usual adaptability in getting along with T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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