[453]The world is madly rushing on now to this time of trouble. It is the time spoken of by the prophet Haggai, who says: "And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts". (Haggai 2:7) And when this great shaking is over, then the desire of all nations and peoples will come, namely, an honest, righteous government, administered in behalf of mankind under the supervision of the great Messiah. The apostle Paul refers to this time as a time of great shaking, which immediately precedes the full establishment of the Messianic kingdom. (Hebrews 12:18-28) The Lord by his presence is bringing to light every hidden thing. The Apostle foretold it would be thus, saying: "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts".—1 Corinthians 4:5.
[454]Thus the Lord is letting the light of truth shine out, and by the truth is binding Satan, which means the great adversary, the devil, and his various agencies and influences in the earth. And this is further evidence of the Lord's presence. Truly Satan's house is divided against itself and cannot stand. It is going to pieces. Jesus in his revelation to St. John caused to be written these words: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season," (Revelation 20:1-3) This is the time that Jesus foretold when the nations shall be "as vessels of a potter, ... broken to shivers". (Revelation 2:27) Satan soon shall be restrained and his empire completely and forever destroyed. (Isaiah 34:1-4; 51:6) Thus shall the Lord be revealed to the world, and they shall know of his presence by the fiery time of trouble which shall take vengeance upon the unrighteous systems and things of the earth. (2 Thessalonians 1:7,8) This is the day of God's vengeance and his fire will continue to burn until all parts of the Satanic order are destroyed. The Prophet wrote concerning this first work of the Messiah: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel". —Psalm 2: 9.
TO RECEIVE HIS BRIDE
[455]Jesus is likened unto a bridegroom, while the church is likened unto a bride. (John 3:29; Revelation 21:9; 2 Corinthians 11:2) Many beautiful word pictures or types appear in the Old Testament, which God caused to be made for the purpose of teaching his great plan to those who would search for the truth. One of these pictures is that of Isaac and Rebekah. Abraham the father of Isaac sent his servant Eliezer into a distant land to find a wife for his son Isaac. The servant took ten camels and went into Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. There he found Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, a virgin very fair to look upon. Eliezer "took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold". Rebekah agreed to accompany Eliezer to become the wife of Isaac. "And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man [Eliezer]," who brought her unto Isaac. "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's, tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife," after his mother Sarah's death.—See Genesis 24.
[456]In this picture Abraham is a type of Jehovah; his wife Sarah, a type of the Abrahamic covenant, from which the Messiah springs; Isaac, the son, a type of Jesus Christ; while Rebekah is a type of the church, the bride of Christ. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, is a type of the holy spirit, whose mission it is to invite the church and to assist her, and ultimately to bring her and her companions to the antitypical Isaac, the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom. Before Jesus departed from the earth he said to his disciples: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, ... even the spirit of truth.... I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also," (John 14:15-19) Eliezer here pictures the comforter, the holy spirit, which was given at Pentecost, at which time the way was opened and the invitation was given to men who love the Lord to become followers of the Lord Jesus and be of the bride class. The ten camels which Eliezer took with him represent the Word of God, the ten strings of the harp. The golden earring presented to Rebekah represents the blessed and pleasing effect of hearing the call to be the bride of Christ; while the two bracelets picture the happy effect of responding to the divine call and doing with our might what our hands find to do.
[457]The call to become members of this glorious bride class is beautifully pictured by the Psalmist thus: "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him". (Psalm 45:10,11) Responding to that call, one consecrates his all to the Lord, is begotten of the holy spirit, and henceforth being borne up by the spirit of the Lord through his Word grows in the likeness of his Master and prepares for the coming of the beloved Bridegroom. The death of Sarah, Abraham's wife, pictures the end of the Sarah-Abrahamic covenant, from which springs the bride of Christ; and Isaac receiving Rebekah and taking her as his wife after his mother's death foreshadowed the complete union of Christ Jesus the bridegroom and the church his bride at the end of the world.
[458]Throughout the entire gospel age from Pentecost until now the Lord has been preparing his bride, the church. Many have been called, but few have been chosen, and still fewer will be faithful; but only the faithful ones will he receive. Just before his departure at the time of his first advent he said: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."—John 14:2,3.
[459]Here, then, is one of the positive statements that one of the chief purposes of the Lord's return is to receive unto himself his bride. Since his appearance, therefore, he has been doing the harvest work, namely, gathering unto himself those who will constitute the bride class.
[460]The Lord gives a picture in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew of this kingdom class. (Matthew 25:1-13) Here he speaks of ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. A virgin means a pure one. Lovers of the Lord Jesus, the bridegroom, long for his return. These took their lamps. The lamp represents the Word of God; as the Psalmist says: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet". (Psalm 119:105) Part of these virgins were wise; therefore they took oil in their vessels. The wise represent the bride class, the faithful ones; while the foolish ones picture a class of greater numbers who will not be of the bride class, but will be born on the spirit plane. While these have waited for the coming of the Lord, the foolish ones have been indifferent. They have had no oil, have not had the spirit of the truth, the loving zeal for the Lord and his cause; hence they have been negligent. Whereas the wise virgins have been watching and have kept their lamps trimmed and burning; which means they have studied the Word of God and watched the fulfillment of prophecies, striving to develop the fruits and graces of the spirit and to be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom. As these, then, of the bride class come to a knowledge of the fact that the bridegroom is present, they join in the cry: "Behold the Bridegroom!" And they hasten to prepare to meet him. During the time of the harvest of the gospel age, during the second presence of the Lord, members of the wise virgin class coming to a knowledge of the truth of his presence have rejoiced greatly because the Lord has returned; and the joy of the bride class has increased as the members have marked the ever-increasing evidence manifesting the Lord's presence and the preparation for his kingdom. And as they have cried out, "Behold the Bridegroom!" they have been zealous in presenting the message of truth to others, that their hearts might be refreshed. The Lord has a special reward for those who love his second appearing, as the Apostle plainly stated. (2 Timothy 4:8) There will not be a great number of this bride class. On the contrary, they are small in number. Jesus said there would be but a little flock. (Luke 12:32) Through the Revelator he designates the number as 144,000.—Revelation 14:1.
[461]Some of these dear saints, however, have been developed from time to time throughout the gospel age, beginning with the apostles at Pentecost. These have died and waited for the return of the Lord. Since the Scriptures show that the dead know not anything until the resurrection, it would be reasonable to expect the Lord to do something for these who had died faithful to their covenant and to expect that he would do something for them early in the time of his presence. St. Paul says: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."—1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.