(20) Zephaniah foretold that the Lord will starve all the false gods to death; for all men will worship the one only and true God, even including the heathen we have worried so much about (Zeph. 2:11); that after the present inequitable condition of society has passed away—been devoured, not with literal fire but with the fire of the Lord's jealousy—there will be no more sectarianism, but all the people will be taught the pure Truth and worship the Lord with one consent; the liar and deceiver will no longer be abroad in the land and the people will eat and rest without fear of disaster, dispossession or death.—Zeph. 3:9, 13.
(21) Haggai was the next one of the holy Prophets, and he says in Hag. 2:7, “The desire of all nations shall come.” In Rom. 8:19-22, the Apostle tells us what is the desire of all nations. He says, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, waiting for the manifestation [showing forth] of the sons of God.” It is in the plural, and means not Jesus only, but all of the Little Flock. The groaning will not be in vain; for in the same passage the Apostle says the outcome will be that the groaning creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into a glorious liberty from sin and every evil thing.
(22) Zechariah prophesied that many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that Day and be His people and He will dwell in the midst of them (Zech. 2:11); that when every man dwells under his own vine and fig tree every man will love his neighbor and his brother (Zech. 3:10); that the coming Kingdom will be a Kingdom of Truth, the people will be God's people and He will be their God in truth and righteousness; the ground shall give its increase and the heaven its dews and the Lord will do well to the people and remove their fears (Zech. 8:3, 8, 12, 15); that the inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts and to pray before the Lord (Zech. 8:21; 22); that the battle bow [pg 095] shall be cut off, that the Lord shall speak peace to the people; corn shall make the young men speak, and new wine (better doctrines) the maids (Zech. 9:10, 17); that the Lord shall be King over all the earth and men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction, but all shall be holiness unto the Lord.—Zech. 14:9, 11, 20.
(23) Malachi foretold that from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same the Lord's name shall be great among all peoples; and in every place heart adoration shall be offered to His name (Mal. 1:11); that the devourer will be rebuked and not be permitted longer to destroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field; injurious parasites, germs and microbes will be a thing of the past. Crops will be abundant everywhere (Mal. 3:11); and The Christ, Head and Body, will arise with healing in their beams, nourishing and bringing the willing to perfection with the same care as is given to stall-fed cattle—now receiving more attention than human beings.—Mal. 4:2.
(24) John the Baptist was the next and last of the holy Prophets, for Jesus said, “The Law and the Prophets were until John.” And John, we are told, turned and looked at Jesus, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29; Matt. 11:9, 11.
4:11. Thou art worthy, O Lord OUR LORD AND GOD.—“The proper view of the matter shows us the Heavenly Father perfect in all the attributes of nobility of character; perfect in Justice, so that the just sentence of His righteous Law cannot be infracted, even by Himself; perfect in wisdom, so that His plan and arrangement, not only with respect to man's creation, but also with respect to man's salvation, the Atonement, etc., were all so complete that no contingency or failure could arise, nor any necessity for change of the Divine Plan; as it is written, ‘I am the same, I change not, saith the Lord,’ and ‘Known unto the Lord are all His works, from the foundation of the world’; perfect also in His Love, than which there could be no greater love possible, and yet that Love is in full balance and accord with the other Divine attributes, so that it could spare the sinner only in harmony with the just program marked out by Divine Wisdom; perfect also in Power, so that all His good purposes, good intentions, just program and loving designs, fully co-ordinated, shall be executed, and bring the originally designed result; as it is written, ‘My Word that goeth forth out of My mouth shall not return to Me void; it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.’ (Isa. 55:11; Mal. 3:6; Acts 15:18.)”—E. 37, 34.
To receive glory.—All the glory, Greek.
And honor and power.—“Could this Scripture ever be fulfilled, could the Divine character ever be appreciated by intelligent, honest, just and loving hearts, if in any corner of the Universe there were such orgies and tortures of His creatures as the creeds of the Darker Ages have set forth? Surely not!”—B. S. M.
For Thou has created all things.—The all things, the Universe, Greek. “Across the vista of ages He saw in His purpose the glory of an intelligent creation in His own likeness, established in righteousness and worthy of His gift of eternal life. He therein foresaw the mutual pleasure of the Creator and the creature, and with a peaceful patience He resolved to wait for the glorious consummation.”—Z. '95-154.
And for Thy pleasure they [are and] were created.—“He desired that love should respond to love, admiration to admiration, virtue to virtue, and grace to grace, in the Creator and the creature, as face answers to face in a glass. In this natural attitude of the Creator and the creature generous benevolence and filial gratitude combine in mutual happiness. God is happy in the realization and in the exercise of all the noble traits of His glorious character, which happiness is enhanced by appreciation of the same on the part of His creatures, and by manifestation in them of the same qualities and dispositions of mind and heart. And likewise man must both realize and exercise the noble endowments of his nature and form a character modeled after that of his Heavenly Father and meeting His approval, if he would find that true happiness which consists in the approval of his own conscience and of his Creator and Judge, in whose favor is life, and at whose right hand there are pleasures forevermore.'—Psa. 16:11.”—Z. '95-167.