Birth of the founder.-- In the twelfth chapter of Revelation is brought to view a "woman" giving birth to a "man child," who was to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and who was later "caught up unto God, and to His throne." The woman was clothed with the "sun" and had the "moon" under her feet. The same woman fled into the "wilderness," where she remained 1260 days, or "a time, and times, and half a time," which, according to the laws of prophetic interpretation, indicates 1260 years. We assign this time as beginning 538 A. D. and ending 1798. A. D. That this interpretation is sound will be demonstrated in a later article. In this connection the query unavoidably arises, Since the woman went into the wilderness in 538 A. n., where was she from Pentecost, 34 A. D. to 538 A. n., a period of five hundred years? This question will likewise be dealt with in another article.
The expression "woman" is a figure of speech, or a symbol, and as such means the church, according to accepted prophetic interpretation. But it could not nlean the Christian church, for that did not yet exist. Therefore, it must mean the Jewish church. The "man child" born could not be any other than the Lord Jesus Christ, for He alone shares the throne of God. He was born of the virgin Mary, and was the "only begotten" Son of God from the days of eternity. He was not only the Saviour of the world, but also the Founder and Organizer of the Christian church through His Ambassador, the Holy Spirit.
The First Foundation.—When the Saviour stood before Pilate, who asked Him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" He answered, "My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence." John 18:36. This is a most important verse. Let us analyze it. First, the Greek verb egonizonto, is in the third person plural imperfect, and could be translated with the words, "Then would My servants be fighting," etc. Christ, as leader of Israel fifteen hundred years before His incarnation, had appeared before Joshua with a drawn sword in His hand. He came as Captain of the Lord's host, outside the walls of Jericho, and Joshua had fallen down before His face and worshiped Him. No angel in heaven is worthy of nor will accept worship (Rev. 19:10), hence the inevitable conclusion that it was the Lord who talked with Joshua, for Joshua asked, "What saith my Lord unto His servant?" Joshua 5:14. The Captain of the host of the Lord gave him instruction as to how to proceed to take Jericho, and throughout the following centuries the Prince of the Lord's host instructed Israel when to fight for the preservation of the throne of David, which was also the throne of the Lord, (See Joshua 5:13-15; 6:1-7.)
The Greek word huperetal is in the nominative plural, and is translated "officers" in John 18:3, 12, 18, 22, thus denoting that the Saviour had attendants who would fight for Him, if He would but say the word, that He should not be delivered up to the Jews. But He knew that the Jewish government would soon renounce all allegiance to Him, their rightful King, and promise loyalty to Caesar, and this they did when they shouted, "We have no king but Caesar." Christ refused to wield the sword for the protection of His throne, as some had done in the past. Instead, He rebuked Peter, and told him to put his sword into its scabbard, when he drew it in defense of his Master before His arrest. Christ came to establish a spiritual kingdom or church, entirely separate from the state. Hence He renounced all claims to temporal sovereignty in the Jewish commonwealth, and forever separated His servants from the use of the sword in upholding His spiritual kingdom wherever established. John 18:30 marks the dividing line between church and state for all subsequent time.
The Second Foundation.—The first Christian church was composed largely of converted Jews. From the time that the Jews rejected Jesus as their king to the completion of the allotted four hundred ninety years was three and one-half years, during which period the gospel was to be preached to the Jews only. That time was given to call out all honest souls to be Christ's acknowledged servants, and these constituted the original Jewish Christian church. Converts of other nations joined them in Jerusalem, but all the apostles were Jews (with possibly one exception), and they were the original founders of the church. Before they had any kind of organization, the Holy Spirit,—the Ambassador of their spiritual King, Jesus Christ,—descended from heaven and manifested Himself on the day of Pentecost in the semblance of "cloven tongues like as of fire" over the heads of the apostles, thus manifesting again the visible presence of God that once dwelt between the cherubim in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary. The gift of the Holy Spirit was the second foundation of the church.
The Third Foundation.—When God delivered His people from the bondage of Egypt, Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, was the instrument used to introduce the judiciary department in the government of Israel, under which were appointed rulers and judges over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. (See Ex. 18:12-23; Deut. 1:15-18.) Later, when occasion required a further addition to the government, God instructed Moses to select seventy elders of Israel who were to serve with Moses in bearing the burden of the people. These seventy constituted a national council in the administrative affairs of the nation, and with a more or less fluctuating existence, remained to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 A. I).
In like manner, while still in Jerusalem, the disciples laid the foundation of a church organization by first choosing seven deacons who were to attend to the temporal affairs of the church. (See Acts 6:1-7.) Later on, deaconesses were also added. (See Rom. 16:1.) There were two classes of elders or presbyters: First, those who had the oversight of a local church, such as in Ephesus. (See Acts 20:17.) Then there were the apostles, who also were elders, engaged in preaching the word in the field, raising up new churches. As the church grew in numbers, other officers were added to the government of the church, such as teachers, evangelists, etc. Hence we conclude that organization was the third foundation.
The Fourth Foundation.—Anciently God delivered His holy law to His people, the Jewish commonwealth, and they became His chosen depositaries of that law in contradistinction to all other nations surrounding them. (See Dent. 4:5-9.) The results of disobedience to that law were wars, destructions, disharmony among the people (2 Chron. 15:3-5), whereas obedience to that law brought peace and harmony not only in Israel but also among the neighboring nations. (See 2 Chron. 17:8-11.) By faith in a coming Saviour they were able to keep this law.
Even so, the Christian church became the depositary of God's law and the gospel. There was no change in the decalogue. The same standard of conduct was brought before them as had been from times immemorial, i. e., from the fall of Adam. What had been typical in the Old Testament was a reality in the New Testament. What was a shadow in the old ministration became the substance in the new.
The cross of Christ was the unanswerable argument of the immutability of God's law and the reconciliation of a lost world to God by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. The fourth foundation was therefore the law and the gospel.
The Fifth Foundation.—To the children of Israel the Spirit of prophecy was a safe guide so long as they followed the instruction given to them. There were two classes of prophets. The first was composed of prophets who left behind them the inspired record of the Bible. Among them are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, usually called the major prophets. Then there are the twelve minor prophets, beginning with Hosea, Joel, etc. The writings of these prophets make up a considerable portion of the Sacred Canon. Other inspired writers wrote the rest of the canon.
Some writings of prophecy composed by other prophets have not been preserved for us; among these are Ahijah, Nathan, and Iddo. (See 2 Chron. 9:29.) The second class of prophets were those who did not write their prophecies, but who nevertheless performed a very important function in conveying God's messages to kings and rulers. Among these was the prophet Gad, who was named King David's seer. (See 2 Sam. 24:11.) Oded gave messages to ISrael. (See 2 Chron. 28:9.) Micaiah prophesied the downfall of Ahab, king of Israel. (See 1 Kings 22.) So long as the prophets remained, the church of God did not depend upon human tradition in the interpretation of the Scriptures.
The Spirit of prophecy was restored to the early Christian church, and the same two classes of prophets were given to the church. We have first the prophets who wrote the canon of the New Testament, such as Paul, who wrote the epistles, and John who wrote the Gospel, his three epistles, and the book of Revelation.
Secondarily we have the other class of prophets who gave personal messages to the people, such as Agabus, who predicted that Paul would be delivered to the Gentiles by the Jews. Acts 21:10, 11. There were also other prophets, such as Judas and Silas, who were present at the council held in Jerusalem. (See also Acts 15:32; 13:1-4.) This evidence goes to show
that the church had need of oral as well as written instruction, and so long as the prophets remained they were not in need of human interpretation of the Scriptures, but rested securely on divine revelation as emanating from the prophets. The Spirit of prophecy was the fifth foundation.
The Sixth Foundation.—The Jewish church had a typical priesthood and a sanctuary service, but the Christian church was made "a royal priesthood" here on earth. (See 1 Peter 2:8, 9.) Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is the minister of the sanctuary in heaven, which is the antitype of the earthly sanctuary, the services of which ended when Christ died on the cross of Calvary. As a royal priesthood we are the spiritual ambassadors of Christ, speaking to the world in Christ's stead and pleading, "Be ye reconciled to God." (See 2 Cor. 5:18-21.) The church must not become engrossed in pursuits other than those which rightly represent the Master. The "royal priesthood," separated from paganism in every form, was the sixth foundation.
The Seventh Foundation.—We have now reached the foundation which, if obeyed, would have kept the Christian church a "royal priesthood," and a united organization forever. The same essential restrictions that were given to the Jews were imposed on the Christian church, as we shall see. The apostle Paul seriously and emphatically admonishes the Corinthians not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers," for Christ has no concord with Belial. A believer has no part with an infidel. The temple of God has no agreement with idolatry. The sacrifices of the Gentiles were made to devils, and the Christians could not be companions of devils. (See 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 1 Cor. 10:14-21.) Thus was sounded again the clarion note, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." 2 Cor. 6:17.
Whether by marriage or business enterprise we become partners with unbelievers and infidels, we have transgressed the command of God and must bear the consequences. The next restriction reads in the original, Aphilarguros ho tropos arkoumenoi tois parooesin. Literally translated it reads, "A non-silver loving manner of life." The American Revised Version reads: "Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for Himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee." Heb. 13:5.
Let us note one more text in the Greek: (See PDF text for Greek) . Literally it reads, "For a root of all evils is the love of silver." (See 1 Tim. 6:8-10.) Silver, of course, was the medium of exchange in commercial enterprises the same as was gold. The Revised Version reads, "The love of money is a root of all. kinds of evil." This principle of separation was the seventh foundation of the Christian church. God intended that they should be a people separate from the world in domestic as well as in business pursuits.
Retrospect
No endeavor has been made to give a lengthy elucidation of this sevenfold foundation of the Christian church. We have sought only to show that the same foundation principles upon which the commonwealth of Israel was built, were again introduced or restored to the Christian church with the same promised blessings if obeyed, and, if disobeyed, the same dire calamities threatened that befell Israel.
The Jewish church was wrecked on the rock of wealth and luxury. Just before the ten tribes went into the Assyrian captivity, the prophet Amos said that they slept on ivory beds and drank wine in bowls, but were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. (See Amos 6:1-7.) Moral laxity is a sure result of wealth and lavishness. Judah fell into the same pit, and went over to Babylon.
When they came back from Babylon, they were forever cured of idolatry, but they had drunk of "the wine of Babylon" and were intoxicated with an insatiate greed for money. They practiced usury, charging extortionate interest for the money loaned to the people. Read Nehemiah 5. Babylon perished in the same slime pit of luxury and wantonness. Media and Persia followed in the same wake, and likewise Greece. When Paul wrote to the Hebrews and to Timothy, Rome was wallowing in the accumulated wealth of the world, and was finally destroyed by it. Will the developing Christian church of our future studies escape the same fate? We shall see.
Washington, D. C.
