4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

We can see how from a divine point of view this must be the case. We cannot give anything to God in the absolute sense, since all things are His. The munificence of the intention must be the measure of all offerings to Him.

Judged by this rule, the widow gave more than the rich, because she gave more in proportion. By the same rule, it is in the power of the poorest to be large doers for God though their gifts may be paltry by human comparisons.

"It is reckoned according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not."

(1 Cor 8: 12)

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

Your redemption draweth nigh

There was a moment when these words were fresh out of the mouth of Christ. That moment was when he and his disciples were resting on the western brow of the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, and the temple outspread at their feet. They had just come from the city, and in passing through the temple Jesus had said something that excited the curiosity of the disciples.

When called on to admire the beauty of the buildings, instead of joining in the conventional sentiment, he said the time was not far off when the whole structure of the temple would be in ruins. As the disciples were

"expecting that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:11),

this was naturally a difficult intimation for them to understand. So when seated together on the ascent of Olivet, they asked him about it. In answering the question, he embraced the opportunity of outlining to them in a brief way the course of events from the destruction of Jerusalem onwards to his coming again in power and great glory. He had before spoken of his absence being for "a long time."

...Now, had we been there, should we not have felt strong in his words? Standing by his side, should we not have looked forward with him to a long period of confusion and darkness, at the end of which things would show themselves that would justify the saints then living in "looking up and lifting up their heads," because of the manifest approach of the Kingdom of God?

There is no doubt that such would have been our feelings under the influence of all that we should have seen and heard, in company with the other disciples, during the three years and a-half journeying with the Lord in Galilee and Judea.

Under the shadow of Christ and his very loving presence, we should have felt very bold and confident, and regarded everything as it appeared to him. It is very certain that as we looked forward and thought of the people that should be living in the world at the end of the times of the Gentiles, that we should have felt that it wouldn't matter in the very least what they might think about Christ and the Kingdom of God.

We should very likely have said, "Very likely the people living then will think the Kingdom of God a dream, and the coming of Christ an impossibility; but that will only be their ignorance, however much they may know about other things."

...Now then, we are not there but here. We are living at the end of those very times of the Gentiles that Jesus spoke of, and not in the first half of the first century looking forward to that end. We are just where Christ contemplated some of his disciples would be when events would show that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Everything that has happened since then has proved the truth of what he said. See the temple demolished in less than forty years afterwards; see Jerusalem laid in ashes, and its teeming population decimated by the sword; see the city "trodden down of the Gentiles" from that day to this...

Seasons 2.88

6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

They had recently been renovated by Herod, and according to Josephus, they were enriched by the expensive ornaments of worshippers from all lands. Built of marble and spiked with gold, it looked, say they who saw it, like a glittering pile of snow.

The Jews took a pride in it; so did the disciples who at this time shared the feelings of the nation. The response of Christ was not at all in harmony with the national feeling.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

that is, the occurrence of these great tribulations, instead of being a damper and a discouragement to them in the work which they would have in hand as witnesses for him, would be a confirmation to them that they were in the right way; because they would be a fulfilment of the word which he was now speaking to them; and would strengthem them to endure.

They would be specially helped in the rigours that would assail them. Jesus himself would help them, though invisible to them.

"I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able

to gainsay nor resist."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

[The] saints, [firstfruits of the apostolic preaching] as the Star-Angel of the Ecclesia in Rome (Apoc. 1:20) were infallible teachers and rulers, whose infallibility was not of themselves, but of Holy Spirit ministered to them by Peter and the Eleven. This guided them into all the truth, and brought all things to their remembrance; so that thus they acquired a mouth and wisdom from Christ, which all their adversaries were not able to gainsay or successfully to resist

Eureka 13.13.

20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

The notion that the duration of the abomination was to be dated from A.D. 70, is derived from the English version of Daniel twelfth chapter and eleventh verse. It is there written,

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate be set up, there shall be 1290 days''.

In the Hebrew the italic words are not in the text. Leaving out these words, or rather, giving a more literal version without supplying any words at all, the passage appears intelligible enough.

"And at the time of vengeance the daily shall be taken away, in order to set up an abomination that maketh desolate a thousand two hundred and ninety days."

This rendering agrees with the facts in the case. The daily was taken away at the time of vengeance (Luke 21:22), [AD 70] and 461 years after [AD 531], an abomination was set up which continued 1290 years, ending A.D. 1821. Desolation, it is true, still continues, but this is no objection to their termination then.

We are not to suppose that the 1290 years being ended, internal improvement was to begin the year after. All it justifies is the expectation that when they expired "that that is determined" should begin to be "poured out upon the desolator;" an expectation that has been literally verified in the opening of the sixth vial upon the Ottoman empire in the epoch of 1820-3.

Elpis Israel 3.4.

21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

Flee to the mountains

(on the east side of the Jordan: which ecclesiastical history tells us they did -- escaping to Pella).

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

Disciples of the faithful class would observe the tokens and keep themselves in harmony with the work to be done; others would say they saw nothing divine in the public affairs of the time, but the mere natural workings of things as they had always been.

The watching class would point to the drift of things as antagonistic to the Jews: the others would have it in their power to point to cases in which the Jews got the upper hand—particularly as the great crisis itself approached, when Cestius, the Roman general, was overpowered and driven out of the country, and the whole nation rose in a war of independence.

It is instructive to look back and see how amid all the vicissitudes of public affairs, the day of vengeance slowly crept over Israel by natural means, and at last broke into destructive fury and obliterated almost the very existence of Israel from the earth.

The Ways of Providence - Ch 24

The Roman Emperors

Galba, A. D. 68 to 69, was elected to the throne during Nero's life, but endeavouring to check the licentiousness of the army and prætorian guards, who had raised him to so dangerous an eminence, he was murdered by the soldiers, after a reign of seven months.

Otho, A. D. 69, plotted against the life of his predecessor, and was the companion of the early debaucheries of Nero. He was invested with the imperial purple by the legions in Spain. But he was scarcely acknowledged at Rome, before the legions in Germany elected a competitor. Supported only by the prætorians and an undisciplined crowd, he was defeated by Vitellius, his rival, and committed suicide, after reigning three months and five days.

Vitellius, A. D. 69, trod in the steps of his patron Caligula. He consumed in mere eating with his associates, at least 30,000,000 of dollars, in about seven months. He was severe toward his enemies. He was put to death while preparing to meet Vespasian, who had been proclaimed emperor by the Roman legions in Palestine, where he was spreading his toils around Jerusalem. He reigned seven months.

Vespasian ascended the throne, A. D. 69, from a region in which "there was great tribulation" at the consummation of which, astonishment seized the world.

"There was great distress in the land of Israel, and wrath upon the people."

He had been sent thither by the emperor, to quell the insurrection which had spread to Syria, Egypt, and the neighboring states. For five or six years past there had been "wars and commotions."

"Nation had risen against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

There had been "great earthquakes in divers places, famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs from the (political) heaven" of the empire.

"Upon the earth there was distress of nations, with perplexity."

Blood was shed in the streets of Rome in civil tumult; the splendid temple of Jupiter on the Capitol was consumed by fire; Gaul was in rebellion; the frontiers were threatened by the Germans on the Rhine, and by the Parthians on the Euphrates. Under Claudius Felix, who trembled before Paul, Judea began to be filled with robbers and murderers. Gessius Florus, A. D. 64, the worst of the Roman governors, was tyrannical, cruel, and insatiably avaricious. He caused

"men's hearts to fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which were coming upon the land; for the powers of the heavens were shaken."

He murdered 3,000 people in Jerusalem, 20,000 at Cæsarea, 2,000 at Ptolemais, and 2,500 at Ascalon; but when he carried his insolence so far as to attempt with his soldiers, to "stand in the Holy Place, where he ought not," the fury of the people was aroused; and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who did not remember the warning Jesus gave them in his prediction of these sorrows, and depart from the city, rose in arms against him, and took possession of Jerusalem.

Cestius Gallus, the prefect of Syria, who endeavored to recover the capital, was defeated with great loss. The Christ[adelphian] Jews, who still remained, having at length "seen the city encompassed with armies" of Roman legions, and thereby knowing that "the desolation thereof was nigh" of a truth, took advantage of the retreat of Cestius, and withdrew to Pella beyond the Jordan, where they lived in peace, free from the horrors of the war raging around the Holy City.

In 67, Vespasian was sent with 60,000 men to crush the rebellion. After subduing the revolted provinces, he was concentrating the Roman "Eagles" a second time around The Holy, when, as already noticed, he was elected emperor; and departing for Rome, left his son Titus to continue the campaign.

Jerusalem fell A. D. 70. After this peace was restored to the Roman world, and during nine years, Vespasian used his extensive power with moderation. He associated Titus with him in the government after the oriental war. He died in the midst of many valuable reforms, and left the empire to the conqueror of the Jews.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1861

Is it Lawful for Christadelphians to bear Arms‭?

Our conviction is that Christ[adelphians] should leave the devil to fight his own battles; and that if he sought to compel them to serve in his ranks, they ought to refuse to do so. He may fine them or put them in prison; but in these times, and in a Protestant and "free country," will hardly venture to put them to death.

The devil* cast some of the Smyrneans into prison for disobeying him, which was allowed of God that they might be tried—Rev. 2:10; and the like may be permitted again. But it is better to pay his fines, or to be imprisoned by him, than to serve him in his wars. Let the potsherds of the earth strive together, and Christ[adelphians] stand aloof.

Shall the devil draft me into his United States armies, and brother Lithgow into his British force, and we, brethren in Christ, meet in deadly conflict to slay one another in the devil's interest? Perish the thought! Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Campbellites, Papists, and such like, can slaughter one another for their country's good; but Christ[adelphians]? No, never!

We have no "patriotism" and are "loyal" to no Gentile government under the sun. Patriotism is love and zeal for one's native or adopted country right or wrong; and loyalty is firm and faithful adhesion to a king or sovereignty.

Our love, zeal, and loyalty for the British daughter of the Italian Jezebel found expression some twenty-five years ago in a solemn renunciation of her authority; and in obeying the gospel of the kingdom in 1847, we gave in all the love, zeal, and loyalty we had at command, to Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

As Christ[adelphians], therefore, we are his slaves; for he has bought us and all we possess, with his life-blood. We have no love, zeal, and loyalty for any other country and government than his. We only temporarily sojourn under Gentile governments as necessary evils for the time being; desiring no honours, or emoluments at their disposal; willing to render to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and living peaceably under his supremacy until King Yahweh Tzidkainu appears in power and great glory, when we shall heartily unite with him in grinding them to powder, and sweeping them as chaff before the tempest.

Yahweh kings and priests ought not to be marshalled with the sinners of the world, whose "dearest interests" for the which they fight, are the things which perish. Their dearest interests may be worth their fighting for; but they are too inconsiderable for Christ[adelphians] to regard. If ever there was an occasion when the patriotism and loyalty of Christ[adelphians] might seem to be in demand, it was when the Romans invaded Judea and besieged Jerusalem. Did Jesus in predicting this event, exhort Christ[adelphian]ized Jews to be patriotic and loyal to the State, and defend with their lives and fortunes, on the Gentile principle dulce et decus pro patria mori? ["It is sweet and proper to die for one's country." ] Nay. On the contrary he said,

"Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains; let him who is upon the housetop, not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him who is in the field return to take his clothes."

Thus they were exhorted to abandon all in their houses, property and kin, and flee for their own lives, which, being Christ's, were much more precious than the unbelievers they left behind. If an enemy come against Halifax, Edinburgh, London, or New York, no doubt God will have sent him for the well-deserved punishment of the devils they contain. Shall we Christ[adelphians] assist said devils, al as "rowdies," "dead rabbits," "plug uglies," "owls," "hungry and trading politicians," papists, and all the adherents and supporters of all the names and denominations of Protestant blasphemy—shall we assist them with pike and gun to resist the hand of God that smites them so deservedly?

Nay, verily. Let us leave them to their deserts and flee. We might lose our property, but no matter. We save our more precious lives, and are not punished with such a base and ignoble multitude.

When the King comes we will be patriotic for the land covenanted to the fathers. The Holy land is ours, and for that we shall fight; and in the conflict "tread the wicked as ashes under the soles of our feet"—Mal. 4:3. Until then, we shall give Cæsar, or the devil, his due; but not our patriotism and loyalty, which are God's, to defend his perishable goods, chattels, and effects.

But then, says one, they will call us cowards? Who? The blind subjects of Satan's kingdom? What enlightened and independent Christ[adelphian] would care a straw what such poor miserables say? Any dog of a Gentile, whether a street or congressional rowdy, has brutality enough to bark and bite for the gratification of his malignity; but few, very few, of mankind have the moral courage to face authority, and refuse to fight because God for a time forbids it, either for the avenging of ourselves, or the defence of property against the public enemy.

There is neither glory nor profit in dying for Satan; therefore our sentence is, refuse all soldiering in the devil's ranks, and leave the consequences to God.—Editor.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Mar 1860

24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

...that is, when their times are accomplished, or the times allotted to them during which they are permitted to rule the world in wickedness, shall have an end, Jerusalem, which is now as a captive woman sitting on the ground in poverty and wretchedness, shall arise and stand upon her feet; a position that will be terrible to her oppressors.

This standing up is synchronical with the appearance of her King; so that the sign of that appearance is the sign of her deliverance. Hence, Matthew tells us, in effect, that the sign of her approaching redemption will appear in the heaven, because, he says,

"In the heaven shall appear the sign of the Son of Man."

The sign of the one is, and can only be, the sign of the other. The recognition of this truth will help us to understand the nature of the sign, and to discern it when it exists. It must therefore be a sign in which things concerning Jerusalem must find place.

... the aggregate signs should be in sun, moon, and stars pertaining to the habitable, occupied by nations in perplexity; that is, in the heavens of Daniel's Fourth Beast, the symbol which represents the Powers having dominion over the territory inhabited by the Greek Papal nations.

While the sun, moon, and stars of the Gentile world are shining, and contemporary with a time of perplexity and distress, and when the times of the nations are verging upon their close, signs would be observable in those politico-celestial orbs, importing to the mashkillim, or instructed, that the Son of Man was on his journey from the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens to his beloved Jerusalem.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1855

Jerusalem trodden down by the Gentiles

Jerusalem was taken by Titus A. D. 70, when 1,100,000 Jews perished, and 97,000 were carried away captive.

A. D. 132, it was taken by Barchochab, who rebelled against the Romans, and claiming to be the Messiah, had 300,000 followers, and committed great slaughter.

In the year 135 it was re-taken by the Emperor Adrian, who destroyed 50 castles, 800 cities, and slew 530,000 Jews.

Constantine built many churches in Jerusalem, and favored it highly.

Julian favored the Jews, and commenced to rebuild the Temple, setting 10,000 men at work to clear Mount Moriah, intending to make it a rival of Mount Calvary; but his projects failed by special interposition of God, the workmen being driven from the foundation by balls of fire issuing therefrom and soon after, he died.

Chosroes, king of Persia, in the year 614, aided by 24,000 Jews, sacked the city, killing 90,000 Christ[adelphians].

Heraclius recovered it by treaty, after defeating the king of Persia, year 628, and it remained under Roman and Christ[adelphian] control till the rise of the Arabian impostures.

In 637 it was taken by the Kalif Omar, who by treaty allowed the Christ[adelphians] a right to the holy sepulchre, and built the splendid Mosque of Omar on Mount Moriah, on the site of Solomon's Temple.

Achmet, a Turk, took it in 868.

The Kalif of Bagdad took it in 906.

Hakem of Egypt took it and burnt the church of the holy sepulchre, 1009.

Soon after, Mohammed Isched, a Seljukian Turk, conquered it.

Ortok took it in the same century.

Malek Shah next, 1076.

The successors of Ortok recovered it soon after.

The Fatimites of Egypt soon after recovered it, and burnt the Church of the holy sepulchre, which was soon rebuilt.

The Crusaders took it in 1099, slew 70,000 Mohammedans, and elected Baldwin king.

In 1187, Saladin, the Turkish sultan of Egypt, took it.

In 1192, Richard of England defeated Saladin in several great battles, with immense slaughter, and by treaty recovered the freedom of Jerusalem for the Christ[adelphians].

Melek Moadin of Damascus demolished the city's walls in 1219.

In 1229, Frederick II, Emperor of Germany, with an army of 40,000, entered Jerusalem in triumph, and by treaty secured it to the Christ[adelphians].

Toleration was secured for the Mohammedans in the mosque of Omar, and for the Christ[adelphians] in the church of El-Aksa. But this treaty was soon violated by the Turks; for David of Kerac destroyed the city and slew the most of the people; and when the Earl of Cornwall arrived, the Christ[adelphians] were in great oppression; but by his energy they were reinstated, by treaty, in the enjoyment of their rights, 1243.

The Sultans of the Carismians took it in 1244.

It was recovered in 1247.

It was surrendered to Bibars of Egypt, a Mameluke conquerer of Antioch, at which time he slew 40,000 and carried away captive 100,000. He besieged Acre with an army of 200,000, sacked it, and ended the kingdom of the Crusaders in Palestine.

Jerusalem was taken in 1382 by the Tartars, and yielded to Tamerlane about 1400. It soon fell under the Mamelukes of Egypt, and the Othmans took it in 1517, under Selim I. The present walls were built by his successor, Solymon the Magnificent, in 1542. The church of the holy sepulchre was burnt in 1808, and the present one built in 1810.

In 1832, Mehemet Ali took possession of it without war, but in 1834 it revolted, in the general insurrection of Palestine, but was soon brought into subjection. In 1842 he was deprived of all his Syrian possessions, and since that it has been under the Sultan of Turkey,—Russia, France and England having rights in it.

Almost all nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, have trodden Jerusalem under foot.

How true the great prophecy of Christ!

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1859

The time... for collecting together the nobility of the kingdom is almost elapsed. It has been continuous with the desolation of Jerusalem. She was to be "trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). These times are almost accomplished. Only a few more years remain, and then ''the accepted time and day of salvation" will have passed. The door into the kingdom will be shut, and no more can obtain a right to enter in.

Men who may survive the worse than Egyptian plagues coming upon them, may live in the future age in hope of immortality when the age has passed away; but in the glory and honour of Shiloh's "everlasting dominion," they will have neither part nor lot in the matter.

Elpis Israel 2.5

Times of the Gentiles

It is very common for sectarian theologists to style this interregnum, "the Christian Age," "Messiah's Age," "the Christian Dispensation," &c.! But these misnomers belong to the language of Ashdod; and savour of Rome, and not of Jerusalem.

The interregnum is a part of "the Times of the Gentiles"—"the Court which is without the Temple of God, cast out away (ekbale exo,) and unmeasured"—who "tread under foot the Holy City," or "them who worship in the temple."—Rev. 11:1, 2.

The christian, or Messiah's age, or economy, is the Age to Come. The interregnum belongs to Antichrist, as any one may see, who is capable of seeing by the light of truth. It is the time of the ascendancy of that cruel, devilish, and satanic power, which is to prevail against the saints until the Ancient of Days shall come.—Dan. 7:21, 22; Rev. 13:7.

They, however, cannot see this, in whom dwells the wisdom that is from beneath; because both they and the power are energized by the same spirit.

Woe, helpless and hopeless to the nations, if the Christian Age has no more happiness for them than they have experienced in this! It may have been a millennium of bliss to the earthly, sensual, and devilish rulers of mankind, who have wallowed in lust, and grown fat upon the groans and torments of the people.

Emperors and kings, popes and cardinals, "lords spiritual and temporal," priests and pastors, have revelled in the blessedness of their kingdom, upon which they have blasphemously invoked the name of Christ; but to the saints it is a hated kingdom; a kingdom that oppresses them; a kingdom they desire to see destroyed; and therefore in the interregnum, an age of hypocrisy, diabolism, and sham, they pray to their Father in heaven that his kingdom may come, and break in pieces and consume the power of them that destroy the earth.

"Christian Age" indeed! An age which belongs wholly and solely to "the Devil and his angels," for whom utter destruction is preparing, that the Day of Christ may be introduced.

***

During forty years preceeding this interregnum [Times of the gentiles], the gospel, or glad tidings to Judah and Jerusalem were proclaimed, announcing that David's throne and kingdom should be re-established under a New and Better Constitution than the Mosaic; and inviting all Jews of whatever class or condition in life, to become the heirs with Christ of the glory, honour, incorruptibility, life, priesthood, power, and majesty of the kingdom, on condition of believing the things of the New Covenant, recognizing Jesus as "the Seed" of the Covenants, made with Abraham and David, acknowledging his blood as the blood of the New Covenant, and of becoming the subjects of repentance and remission of sins through his name, being united to it by baptism.

This proclamation was made to procure rulers and priests for the kingdom, upon the principle of righteousness imputed on account of faith in the promises of God contained in "the Covenants of promise."

Those who embraced the proclamation became kings and priests elect although descended neither from Aaron nor David; and received a title to the blessings of the Covenant, to be enjoyed by them in a higher sense than they will be possessed by the Twelve Tribes when it shall be delivered to them as the constitution of the kingdom restored again to Israel.

Thus the heirs now elected have now the remission of their past sins, and then possession of the kingdom with everlasting life; whereas the Tribes will then only attain to remission, with great temporal blessings, and the hope of eternal life at the end of 1000 years.

The elect are now sanctified by the blood of the Covenant, and in their case there is no further need of sacrifice for sin; they have been washed, and will therefore require to be washed no more.

They are complete in Christ with whose blood they have been sprinkled, and in whose name they have been washed. They only need eternal life, and to be like the king and priest of their communion now at God's right hand, and they will be perfect; and efficient for all the duties they have to perform when promoted to the honour, glory, and offices to be bestowed upon them when the kingdom is restored.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Sept 1851

The times [opportunity] of the gentiles

A new Israel had begun with the founding of the ecclesia at the death and the resurrection of Christ. Israel phase 2 had already been established in the providence of God, before Israel phase 1 came to an end [in the last days - AD 70]. It is like an overlay, that before the first stage finished the second phase had begun, so that the blue line could carry on through time. Babylon [red line] phase 1 came to an end we suggest, around about BC. 293

About 40 years before, Babylon phase 2 had already begun, and in the providence of God, Babylon would finish in one place and begin in another place, in its second life or second phase, and it would be a crossover! This controversy would never stop down through time; it would cease in one place or with one people, but it would reappear elsewhere.

....the seed of the woman's side, for the side of Israel phase 1 and 2. Luke 21 verse 24,

'they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be lead away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled'.

There are two Greek words for 'times', one word is the word 'chronos' (5550) which means 'a fixed period of time', and the other is 'kairos' (2540) which means 'a season of time'. In Luke 21 verse 24 the 'times of the Gentiles' means the 'season' of the Gentiles. That word 'kairos' is also translated 'opportunity', they might have had an opportunity to do this, etc. and the question is, what was the opportunity of the Gentiles? What was the season of opportunity? The answer is, it was their opportunity to become part of Israel.

Romans 11 - Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles', that is the overthrow of Israel phase 1 until the season of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Verse 25,

'For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel (phase 1), until (the word from Luke) 'until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in',

That is the season of the Gentiles, when they have the chance to be grafted in to the Israelitish hope!

Verse 26 says, 'So all Israel shall be saved'. That phrase 'all Israel' includes both Jew and Gentile who have all become part of the commonwealth of Israel and are treated as part of the blue line at the time of the end - the sealing of the servants of God in the New Testament era and they include Gentiles - and yet in Revelation 7 it was 'like the sealing of all the children of Israel' - they were Gentiles [many of them], but Revelation says they're part of Israel.

'At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world - but now ye are no longer strangers or foreigners, but are fellow citizens with the saints'.

Paul writing to Gentiles calls them 'the Israel of God' - Gal 6: 16. That is Israel phase 2. Not phase 1, because the nation of Israel had been cast into captivity [AD.70].

As Israel first came to Sinai, they were described as a peculiar people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation; and now Peter would write in 1 Peter 2 to Gentiles and call them 'a kingdom of priests, a holy nation and a peculiar people', and will use the very expressions in Exodus 19 that first applied to Israel phase 1, and will talk about the Gentiles with exactly the same language, because the Gentile ecclesia must be Israel phase 2 in the New Testament era, but still the Israel of God as far as God is concerned.

Israel phase 2 is a proxy for the seed of the woman's community in the New Testament era. So God's blue line continued in that way.

Notes from 'The foundation of the world' by Bro Roger Lewis

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [tumult, panic, and terrible apprehension of coming evil] - Isa 17; 12-14.

...there is a key by which any symbols in Scripture may be safely and clearly explained; and that is by interpreting the figure by the plain declaration, and not by straining the plain declaration to make it agree with the figure.

We have for an example of this rule, signs spoken of in this verse as to take place in the sun, moon, and stars: this may mean either literally those material luminaries themselves, or some other things of which they are only symbols; but when we read further, we find that there is also distress of nations upon the earth, with perplexity, we can have no doubt that the latter is literal, and the former figurative.

We know from the words of Balaam, Daniel, and of the Lord Jesus himself, that the stars are symbols representative of great and distinguished personages, ecclesiastical and civil, and the sun and moon, therefore, being homogeneous symbols with the stars, must represent constitutional elements of their system, ecclesiastical and secular.

It is amongst these, then, that we must look for the signs which are here foretold, and not in the physical heavens, which is expressly forbidden in the Word. In the same manner we learn that the sea, and the waves roaring, represent tumultuous assemblages of the people.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, April 1855

First, there is "distress of nations"-"evil going forth from nation to nation"-and "men's hearts failing them for fear," etc. - which may be designated as the natural stage; and second, a divine manifestation in the person of the Son of Man (who is "the name of the Lord") accompanied by sweeping judgments of fire and sword which will destroy large masses of mankind: which may be considered as the supernatural.

The former precedes the latter. Hence, as the first indication of the approach of the end, we must look for times of trouble and commotion on the earth.

Christendom Astray L15

28 And when <If therefore ye may see> these things [the signs in the Gentile heavens, &c. But they were not permitted to see them] begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

The knowledge of "the times and the seasons" was unknown to all other intelligences, than the Father. These he kept concealed within himself. Therefore said Jesus,

"Of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father only."

For anything, therefore, that was then known, the "these things" might all come to pass in rapid succession, and the Son of Man be enthroned in Jerusalem in the life-time of the apostles. So they thought; for before the day of Pentecost arrived, they asked the risen Jesus if he would not at that time restore again the kingdom to Israel? But he told them that the times were still a secret.

They might, or they might not, witness the accomplishment of all things. All he was able to tell them was, that some of them should be put to death; that their generation should not pass away till all spoken against it should be fulfilled; and that he would be absent for "a long time."

If therefore "ye may see (ιδητε, idēte, subj.) these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh."

See what things? The things last mentioned—the signs in the Gentile heavens, &c.

But they were not permitted to see them. It pleased the Father that the return of his son should not be till remoter times; so that not seeing the signs, (for they had not then been revealed,) they died without the earnest that the redemption in the kingdom was at hand.

But since the dissolution of the Mosaic heavens, and the melting away of the earth over which they ruled, the times, and seasons, and signs, have been revealed by the Father to the Son, that he might communicate them to his servants.

This communication was made, according to Eusebius, who figured in the court of Constantine, about the a.d. 96, at the close of the reign of Domitian, emperor of Rome. It was sent to the apostle John while he was an exile in Patmos, on account of the word of God and his testimony for Jesus Christ, about 61 years after the crucifixion.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June, 1855

When ye see these things come to pass

If there is one class of prophecy that more than another proves the divinity of the predictions of the prophets and apostles, it is that in which the corruption of the work of Christ is foretold. The natural tendency of speculation would have been to anticipate progress, improvement, reform. Start a powerful civilising agency of any kind, and the ordinary probability is that it will work like the path of the just:

"Shining more and more unto the perfect day."

In the unparalleled performances of Christ, the words of Isaiah received an incipient fulfilment:

"The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

What was more likely than that the Word of the Gospel having received such a tremendous impetus that it would go on from strength to strength till it had brought the whole world into enlightened and happy subjection to God?

Such an anticipation would have been in harmony with the universal idea of the millennium being brought about by the gradual prevalence of the gospel principles. It is such an anticipation as the apostles left to themselves would doubtless have indulged in.

Instead of this, the Spirit of God by them forecast the gloomiest failure-not only declension but monstrous abortion; not only apostasy but abomination, repudiation, and spiritual folly, comparable only to inebriation. Consider the combined prophecies of Paul, John, and Daniel. According to Paul,

"evil men and seducers"

-already active in his day-were to "wax worse and worse." Believers were to turn away their ears from the Truth and turn unto fables. There would be a falling away so complete that a public official would be developed who could only be fitly described as

"the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition,"

lording it over the consciences of mankind, and giving himself out as the representative of God upon earth (2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Thess. 2:3-8). According to John, a false church (symbolised by an unchaste woman) would be established at Rome, holding close relations with the governments of Europe, and constituting in alliance with them, a destroying tyranny (comparable only to a wild beast), which should exercise power over

"all peoples, nations and languages,"

and use that power hurtfully against the saints of God for 42 months or 1260 days or years (Rev. 13:5-8; 17:1-5, 18). According to Daniel, an ecclesiastical sprout should shoot forth from the head of the fourth beast (or Roman universal monarchy), and subvert three secular governments, and

"make war with the saints and prevail against them"

for time, times and the dividing of time, which is reducible to 1260 days or years (Dan. 7:19-25).

Seasons 2.88

29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer [time of harvest threshing] is now nigh at hand.

31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God [proximity of the prince] is nigh at hand. [For as the lightning <Vespasian's armies>, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day [ he will come with his eagles with the suddenness of the lightning's flash] - Lk 17: 24

The kingdom was nigh in the sense in which James said, the Lord's coming was nigh; but not in that of his "coming in his kingdom," mentioned by the thief on the cross; or of "his appearing and kingdom," referred to by Paul.

King and kingdom are often used interchangeably in the scriptures. For instance, Luke says, that

"when Jesus was come nigh to Jerusalem riding on the ass's colt, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice, saying,

"Blessed be the king that cometh in Yahweh's name;"

while Mark in narrating the same event, says that they cried saying,

"Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of Yahweh."

I conclude then, that "the kingdom of God was nigh at hand," when "the king," though invisible, was supervising the operations of the seige of his rebellious capitol.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Jesus did not limit his work or his coming to the destruction that was to overtake Jerusalem. He went far beyond that event. He spoke of "the times of the Gentiles" as a long period during which Jerusalem would be downtrodden, at the end of which redemption was to draw nigh. When the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled, a sign of the impending appearing of Christ should be "on earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth," &c.

When, therefore, Jesus said, "This generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled," we must not think that he meant things which he expressly excluded from the lifetime of "that generation" by placing them at the expiry of the times of the Gentiles, and which could not occur in that generation by his own description of their scope. The history of the case is the interpretation of the case. That generation did not pass without witnessing the "these things" about which the disciples asked. Forty years afterwards, the temple was destroyed, and Jerusalem laid in ashes.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 48

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

The Roman Eagles commanded by Titus were marched from the east against Judah, whom they devoured, and scattered; and no power was found able or willing to fray them away. When they did this, Jesus was near; and his presence, though unseen, was recognized by those who discerned the signs he had given.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, May 1855.

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Pray Always and Faint Not

It is the duty, the safety, and the glory of every believer to pray for the coming of the Lord's Anointed in judgment upon the adversary of his Ecclesia—to pray always, and not to faint; and those who have so little discernment as not to dare to pray for the downfall of the oppressor, the casting out of Satan, the destruction of Babylon, have neither lot nor part in this matter.

Those who will not pray for Christ to come, who feel shocked at the thought of the rending bolt which bears him, and the arrowy shower of lightning which goes before him; those who have not their peace made with him, and are hanging in doubt whether they be his or not; those who love father, mother, brother, sister, or life, more than him; those who love traffic, wealth, goods, estate, more than him; those who are not ready to take wing, like doves to their windows; those who are not, like old Jacob, waiting for their salvation; those who have a divided heart, like Lot's wife—what shall be said of such?

That they shall not enter into his kingdom!

Do these words strike home to the quick; to the deepest recesses of the soul? Do they pierce the heart? It is fit they should, that men might be loosed from the fetters that bind them to the craft by which their destroyers are enriched; and that being freed, they may put on the linen vestment and burn incense in the sanctuary, and, without fainting pray always for the appearing and kingdom of the Lord.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1860

The uncertain element

Shall we be counted worthy of so great a salvation?

Is our attitude towards the Eternal Majesty of the heavens sufficiently acceptable before Him as to ensure for us an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

Are we obedient, loyal, devoted, self-sacrificing, enthusiastic servants of this coming King of kings, and Lord of lords, who is now to us an absent Lord, to whom as stewards we shall give account?

Do we show ourselves his friends in carrying his cross and upholding his name and keeping his commandments? Are we sufficiently wise to love him more than the things the world loves, and more than the things that we loved in the days of our ignorance?

Upon the answers to these questions, which will be infallibly given one day soon, will hang our destiny in this great matter. Suppose the Judge say,

"Not worthy of me,"

what grief, what vexation, what consternation, what unavailing tears of repentance, what horror of soul, what awful desolation will be ours!

...Better weep now. Let the mind be sobered by the word and prayer. Realise thus what it is that Christ requires of us in all holiness and godly conversation,

"denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works."

Then shall we assure our hearts before him

"that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming."

The Christadelphian, Sep 1874