"He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh:
The Lord will have them in derision."
And we remember that, in these Revelation pages, it is always with the
sword of His mouth that the Lord Jesus is said to fight, as we read on:
"Then will He _speak_ unto them in His wrath,
And vex [or trouble] them in His sore displeasure; [saying]
'Yet I have set _my_ King
Upon my holy hill of Zion.'"
Then the Son speaks:
"I will tell of the decree:
Jehovah said unto me, 'thou art my Son;
This day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'"
And the writer of the Psalms closed with a word of earnest counsel to
the kings of earth:
"Now therefore be wise, O ye kings:
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve Jehovah with fear,
And rejoice with trembling [awe],
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way,
For His wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all they that take refuge in Him."
Thus it is seen that these seven views describe (1) the general
characteristics of the tribulation time; (2) the way in which it comes,
that is, by the withdrawal of restraint and so the loosing of evil; (3)
the faithful witness being borne throughout the period; (4) the great
evil leader and the character of the persecution he wages; (5) the
visitation of judgments upon earth with the great gathering of nations
to battle against God; (6) the world system of evil; and (7) the coming
of our Lord Jesus to judge evil and set up the kingdom.
Still He Waits.
It will at once be noted that these things group up, naturally and
easily, under _three headings_. First, there is a terrible _persecution_
of God's people. This will end in a _visitation_ of _judgments_,
including great plagues. There will be a gathering of the armies of all
nations, and a great battle. It will end in a decisive defeat for them
by the personal coming of the Lord Jesus, and will be accompanied by a
terrific earthquake and an equally terrific shake-up of the heavenly
bodies connected with the earth, sun, moon, and stars. Then comes the
establishment of the _Kingdom of God_ upon earth. These three things
stand dominantly out.
It comes as a surprise to one who has not been thinking especially about
it, to find how these three things are the same three that stood out so
prominently at the close of the study of future items in the old
prophetic books. It is natural that it should be so, of course, since
the Book of God is one in its essential unity.
But there is a great fascination in finding the parts to come together
so simply and naturally. As we gather up the Old Testament pages these
three things sift out and group together as distinctly not yet
fulfilled, and so future. As we listen to our Lord Jesus talking, again
these same three items are emphasized by Him. And now the same three are
found here.
Dr. A. F. Schauffler tells of a striking experience he had in connection
with his mission work in New York City. A letter came to him from a
stranger in Germany. It said: "I know you are a city missionary. I am
sending a trunk in your care. Inclosed in this letter you will find a
piece of paper cut. A man will come and present to you a piece of paper
matching this piece. Please give him the trunk." And enclosed in the
letter was a piece of paper cut in zigzags.
Letter and paper were laid away to await developments. Some weeks later
a stranger came in and presented a queerly cut piece of paper, saying:
"I think you have a piece that matches this." Dr. Schauffler got out his
piece of paper, laid the two side by side, found that they matched, and
said to his visitor: "There's your trunk."
Even so these prophetic pages of the New Testament are found to fit
exactly the pages of the Old, written centuries before. It is not
surprising, however. One hand cut the paper into two pieces in Germany,
and naturally they fitted when put together in New York. One Hand has
guided the men writing in both Old and New.
When Jeremiah was first called to his work as God's messenger he was
shown in vision the branch of an almond tree. The almond tree is the
earliest of all trees to wake from its winter's sleep at the first hint
of spring warmth coming. And so it was called the "watching" or
"watcher" tree. Then God said to Jeremiah: "Even so, I eagerly watch
over my word to bring it to life and fruitage at the very earliest
opportunity."[165] And so the word of this watching God and its
fulfilment match, regardless of the thing we call time, even running
into centuries.
And it is very helpful for those of us who have had a sort of dread of
prophecy as of a vague something that we can't understand, to find after
all how simple it is. Just three great items stand out of these
prophetic pages that are waiting fulfilment.
Such is the seven-fold view, which is taken up almost wholly with the
clearing-up storm in the King's realm. But all this is still future. We
are still in that waiting time. Our Lord Jesus still stands among the
candlesticks. Still He is waiting for His Church to be faithful. He
still waits for each of us who is a bit of His Church. He is depending
on us to be faithful, by His grace, day by day, during this waiting
time. And while He waits _all His limitless power is at our disposal_,
as we follow His leading. We may take as much as we need. But the taking
must be with the life.
A dear missionary friend told of a simple experience that meant much to
him. We were walking together in the town in Korea where his mission
work is. His school was the centre of the recent troublous times in
Korea, and the storm seemed to rage about his own person at its
outburst. As we talked all his native teachers and several of his older
students were in prison. The experience he told me was of earlier days
in this country, but had come back to his memory as a great refreshment
during the troublous times.
He was a professor in a small college in our Middle West. Special funds
were being raised, for extension. He was to ask a certain man of wealth
for a large donation. He planned and prayed much, and at last went to
see the man in another city by appointment. He had a keen sense of the
responsibility of his task.
As he entered the building where the man's office was he was greeted
cordially by a young man whom he remembered as a former student, to whom
he had been friendly in some time of minor need. But he had not
connected him in his mind with this wealthy man, whose son he was. Now
as the former student learned of his professor friend's errand, he said
with all the confidence of a son on good terms with his father:
"Come right in; father's here."
As they stepped into the man's office the son said, simply:
"Father, this is an old friend of mine. He's all right. Give him
whatever he wants."
And the father, busy at his desk, with barely a look at the appointed
visitor, reached one hand over for his checkbook, and simply said:
"How much do you want?"
My friend, taken completely by surprise at the unexpected turn of
events, managed to name the large sum he had been thinking and praying
over so much. And before he could quite recover from his surprise, he
found himself outside walking up the street with the coveted check in
his pocket, praising God for such an answer to his prayers. It had been
years before, but as we walked and talked it all came back with a fresh
flush of feeling.
The present is a waiting time. It may seem to some as though they are in
the wilderness. Clear and distinct comes a quiet voice:
"What'll you have? Whatever you choose to ask, for My Son's sake."
May we reach out to take as much as He is reaching down to give. But the
taking must be with the life.