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David—Numbering The People.
Question (1969)—Wherein did David sin when he numbered the people of Israel, as recorded in 2 Sam. 24 and 1 Chron. 21, seeing that nothing is said about Moses sinning when he numbered them, as recorded in Ex. 30:11-16; Num. 1, 2 and 26? Answer.—Moses census described in Ex. 30:11-16 was for a different purpose, and God told him to make it (vs. 11, 12; Num. 1:1, 2). Every male Israelite 20 years old and upward and able to go to war was enrolled for military service (v. 14; Num. 1:3), and was assessed a half-shekel as a ransom (Heb., kopher, a cover, an expiation) for himself (vs. 12, 13, 15). This atonement money was used “for the service of the tabernacle” (v. 16; compare 38:25-28), “that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.” It will be noted that whereas this numbering was taken prior to the building of the tabernacle, for which the silver thus provided was used, it was not until a month after the tabernacle was completed (Num 1:1, 18; compare Ex. 40:17) that the enrollment was finished according to the tribes, fathers’ houses, and families. The number of the males given in Num. 1:46; 2:32 is the same as that given in Ex. 38:26. Note that the later census, mentioned in Num. 26, which God directed Moses to make after certain plagues had come upon Israel (vs. 1, 2), shows a slightly lesser number (Num. 26:51). Moses did not sin in numbering the people as God commanded. However, King David’s numbering was for a different purpose, and God did not direct him to do it; it was done without consulting God. It was brought about by a temptation from Satan (2 Sam. 24:1, margin; 1 Chron. 21:1), which David did not resist sufficiently, even despite the protest of Joab, his commander-in-chief, who apparently saw through the king’s intention and sought to dissuade him from doing this wrong thing. David’s sin occasioned God’s anger to come again (the previous manifestation was probably the three years’ famine—2 Sam. 21:1) against Israel (which was also involved in the matter, as well as earlier in the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba against the Divinely established government of David). The numbering evidently came from David’s fleshly desires, in what form the Scriptures do not state. The sin may have been a desire to effect a military organization that was in some way inconsistent with the Theocratic constitution of Israel. He may have wanted to know the number of his subjects, especially of those “that drew sword” (1 Chron. 21:5), for the sake of appraising his military power—it may be that instead of trusting sufficiently in Jehovah and His mighty power, David sought rather for the strength and glory of his kingdom in the number of the people and their readiness for war. We read (2 Sam. 24:10) that “David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done.” He asked God’s forgiveness, which was granted, but a severe punishment came upon the people (v. 15). David graciously requested of God (v. 17) that the punishment should not come upon the people, but upon him and his family. Finally the plague was stayed. ’69-47; ’86-75 Dead—Are Asleep . . . Harmonize This With “Absent From the Body” And “Present With The Lord.” Question (1969)—In the April B.S. many Scriptures are cited to show that the dead are asleep in the unconscious condition of death and will not be awakened from the dead until in the resurrection day, the day of Christ’s appearing. But does not the Apostle Paul’s expression “We are confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8) prove that when a person dies he continues in a conscious existence? Answer.—If we were to draw such a conclusion from this passage, it would contradict many other Scriptures—and we know that God does not contradict Himself. Furthermore, this Scripture does not warrant any such conclusion. In order to understand what St. Paul really meant in 2 Cor. 5:8, we should note carefully the context. We will then see that the Apostle was not speaking of people in general, but only of the Church, New Creatures, who “have this treasure [the Spirit-begotten new nature] in earthen vessels [human bodies]” (2 Cor. 4:7). Note that in v. 16 he speaks of this treasure as the inward man that is renewed day by day, and of the earthen vessel as the outward man that perishes. Only those who are Spirit begotten, who are New Creatures (though still under development in human bodies, preparatory to their Spirit birth in the resurrection), have both an outward man and an inward man. St. Paul discusses the inward from three standpoints: (1) as “clothed with an earthly tabernacle,” the natural body, i.e., in the present life (2 Cor. 5:1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9); (2) as “unclothed” “naked” “absent from the body” and “absent from the Lord,” i.e., in the death condition, awaiting the resurrection (2 Cor. 5:3, 4, 8, 9); (3) as having and being in “a building of God,” “clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,” “clothed” and “present with the Lord,” i.e., in the resurrection condition (2 Cor. 5:1-4, 8). If we keep in mind these three standpoints as well as the meanings of the expressions “inward man” and “outward man,” we will recognize that the Apostle here says nothing at all about the consciousness of the dead. In 2 Cor. 5:1 the Apostle addresses the Church, the New Creatures, who in the resurrection will have “celestial bodies” (1 Cor. 15:40). He here assures them that even though their earthly house (the body of flesh, their temporary abode) be dissolved (Greek, taken down, i.e., goes into death), they nevertheless have awaiting them a building of God, a new house, a glorious heavenly body, which becomes theirs in the resurrection, during Jesus’ Second Advent (Matt. 16:27; Luke 14:14; John 14:3; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; Col. 3:4; 1 Thes. 4:16, 17; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:3-5, 13; 5:4; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 22:12). It is for their glorious heavenly bodies that the Church in the flesh during the gospel age has longed (2 Cor. 5:2). It was not the death state for which they longed; for during the time of unconscious sleep in death, the New Creatures—the new heart, mind and will—is naked, i.e., has no body. But when clothed with the new spirit body, the New Creature is no longer naked. The Diaglott translation gives the though of v. 3 very well: “And surely, having been invested, we shall not be found destitute.” The R.S.V. translates it: “So that by putting it on we may not be found naked.” Vincent’s “Word Studies in the New Testament” gives as the equivalent: “We shall not be found naked because we shall be clothed.” While tabernacling in the flesh during the Gospel Age, the New Creatures, “the inward man,” is burdened, not longing for the unclothed, naked condition—the unconscious disembodied death condition—but for the clothed condition, when mortality is “swallowed up of life,” in the new house, “eternal in the heavens” (vs. 1, 4; 1 Cor. 15:54). It is God Himself who has been working in His New Creation the character transformation needed to fit them for their heavenly inheritance; and He gave them His holy Spirit, His holy disposition, as an earnest—a down payment or pledge—that, if faithful, they would receive in the resurrection their new spirit bodies (v. 5). The two Greek words that in v. 6 are correctly translated “at home” and “absent” are respectively endemeo (from en—in and demos—people, meaning to be among one’s people) and ekdemeo (ek—from, the word meaning to be away from one’s people.) There is here (and in v. 8) a play upon the words, which might be expressed by at home and from home. Referring to what was just said, especially in v.5, the Apostle infers that this gives New Creatures even here the confidence (courage, A.R.V., R.S.V., Rotherham, etc.) that enables them to walk by faith and not by sight (v. 7) while at home in the body (the inward man dwelling in the flesh, the earthen vessel, the earthly house of this tabernacle) and absent from (away from home with) the Lord (literally, from home from the Lord). The object of faith emphasized here, as indicated in the entire context, was to behold the Lord’s glory and to be at home (to dwell) with Him (John 17:24; Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:10-12). This was especially longed for and was expected when the Lord would come again and takes His saints home to Himself in the resurrection (Matt. 16:27; Luke 14:14; John 14:3; 1 Cor. 15:49-54; Col. 3:4; 1 Thes 4:16, 17; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 22:12). This “end of faith” for the saints is described also in 1 Pet. 1:4-9, 13. Therefore, keeping this object of their faith in mind, and realizing that God was working in them and preparing them for their eternal home in the heavens (vs. 1, 2, 5), the New Creatures in Christ Jesus have been confident (courageous) and willing (literally, well-pleased) that in harmony with God’s arrangement they in due time would enter into death (be absent from the body—from it as their home or dwelling place; ekdemeo--from home) and later, in the resurrection (when Jesus in His Second Advent would come again and receive them to Himself—John (14:3), be present with the Lord (v. 8; “at home with the Lord”—A.R.V., R.S.V.; endemeo—at home) This glorious hope enabled them to labor in the interests of God’s cause for the perfecting of their New Creatures (the “inward man”) in Christlikeness until death, so that they might be pleasing to Him, whether present (endemeo—at home) with Him in their resurrection bodies at the time of His Second Coming, or in death absent (ekdemeo—from home) from Him and from their fleshly bodies (v. 9). They were ever conscious that they must all appear (Greek, be made manifest, as in v. 11) after their resurrection at the Judgment Seat of Christ for their rewards, which would be increased by their good deeds and decreased by their evil deeds (v. 10); Matt. 16:27; Rev. 11:18). How clearly 2 Cor. 4:16—5:10 interprets itself as applying only to New Creatures—only to those begotten by God’s holy Spirit to a spirit life, “partakers of the heavenly calling” (Heb. 3:1)! This passage has no reference at all to mankind in general. It says not one word about anyone being conscious in death. It does not teach that in being absent from the body one is then present with the Lord, though some pervert 2 Cor. 5:8 in trying to prove that this is the case. On the contrary, this verse, like all other Scriptures treating of the subject, shows that to be absent from the body—to be in the death state, without a body, “naked,” “unclothed”—is quite another thing than being present with the Lord. Two distinct conditions are here indicated: “[1] to be absent from the body, and [2] to be present with the Lord.” The former begins at a New Creature’s death; the later at his resurrection awakening, in the Judgment Day, during Jesus Second Advent. ’69-54 Dead—The Unsaved. Question (1972)—Does the Bible hold out hope for any of the unsaved dead? Answer.—We answer Yes to the question, first, because of the promises of God (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; Isa. 60:14, 15; 29:18, 24; Luke 2:10, 34; John 1:9); second, the Ransom (John 12:32, 33; Rom. 5:18, 19; 1 Tim. 2:4-6); third, the forgivableness of all sins, except sins against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28, 29; Matt. 12:31, 32); fourth, the reformability of the characters of most of the dead, in view of God’s character and the Ransom (Rev. 15:3, 4); fifth, the object of election (Rom. 11:25-32); sixth, the double experience for mankind (Rom. 8:20, 21; 11:32; 5:18, 19); seventh, the facts of the case (Ezek. 16:46-63). ’72-71 Dead—God’s Provision For The Unsaved. Question (1974)—Will the unsaved dead have a chance to be saved to everlasting life? Answer.—Obviously, all of Adam’s race have not been given the opportunity in this life to benefit from these three great favors. Most people have died without ever hearing of them, let alone deriving therefrom their intended blessing. This is manifest from many facts. All the heathen who died before Christ came, and almost all of them who have died since He came, never heard of God’s love for them unto salvation, of Christ’s death for them unto salvation, and of the Spirit’s work for them unto salvation, and therefore never benefited therefrom; for there is no salvation possible apart from hearing and accepting the Gospel. Many hold that these as a result have been condemned unto eternal torment; and they even affirm of those of them who died before Christ came and of the majority of the Jews who died before Christ came, that though He later died for them, yet they will never get any benefit therefrom, but that at the time of Christ’s death for them were irretrievably lost in eternal torment. From such a standpoint, what possible purpose could He have had in dying for them; if beforehand they were irretrievably lost? But not only the vast majority of the heathen never heard of these three favors; but many others likewise have died in the same condition. Three-fourths of the human family died in infancy, and therefore never derived the blessings of these favors. Many others died in childhood, not enjoying these blessings. Untold numbers of insane persons lacked them also, while Judaism and Mohammedanism have blinded many other billions to these favors. Sectarianism has darkened these subjects so that still other billions have been so confused on these matters as to have gotten but little of the intended blessings there from. Thus we see that the vast majority of the race died in ignorance of the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved, if saved at all—Acts 4:12. Therefore, in this life they had no opportunity of obtaining the blessings that these three favors vouchsafe every human being. Nor can they obtain these blessings while dead; for the Scriptures expressly teach that in death there is no change or reformation, or opportunity of salvation: “In the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be” (Eccl. 11:3). There is no change in the death state for the good reason that “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave” (Eccl. 9:10). It being a condition in which nothing is known, seen, felt, done, received, or endured (Eccl. 9:5, 6), there can be no change there. Consequently, for the billions who have died without Christ, without hope and without God in the world, as strangers from the covenants of promise (Eph. 2:12), in ignorance or confusion as to the only name whereby salvation is possible, if they are to have an opportunity at all to obtain the benefits of God’s grace for all, Christ’s death for all and the Spirit’s work for all, in order to their salvation, this must be after they are awakened from the dead—during our Lord’s Second Advent and the Judgment Day, i.e., during the Millennium. And it is to make possible to the billions of earth’s non-elect, who died without having had such an opportunity, that God must have made some kind of arrangement such as we believe the Millennial Kingdom will be, in order to give all a fair chance for gaining everlasting life. Let us not be misunderstood; we are not advocating a second chance. Emphatically we say that the Bible does not teach a second chance for the individuals of the human race. Aside from the fact that they lost their first chance collectively in Adam, they would not have an individual chance at all unless that chance, wrecked by Adam before his descendants were born, would be followed by another chance, which would be the first chance for the individuals of the human race to gain salvation. But while we do not teach a second chance for the individuals of the human race, apart from Adam and Eve, we do not teach less than one chance for each individual. The difficulty with those who seek to make the above teaching opprobrious by calling it a second chance, is that they do not teach even one individual chance for everybody. They claim that whoever did not have an opportunity to obtain salvation in this life will get none at all. Therefore they teach that the overwhelming majority of the race will never get a chance at all, despite the Biblical teachings that God’s love, Christ’s death and the Spirit’s work are for all men in order to salvation! And to them this means that these untold billions are at death handed over to fireproof or otherwise torture-proof devils for eternal torment! Theirs is the opprobrious doctrine, not ours. We teach, in harmony with the Bible, only one individual chance for all Adam’s descendants. We further teach according to the Bible that a small number of the race, the Church of the Firstborn, gets that chance in this life, that all who make shipwreck of the present opportunity to gain life are everlastingly lost, and that all others are debarred from the present salvation, because they lack the necessary kind of faith to qualify them for becoming of Abraham’s pre-Millennial Seed. We also teach, according to the Bible, that all the rest—the non-elect—will get their chance—their first individual, not their second individual, chance—after the elect are all in the Kingdom with our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Unless some such arrangement should prevail, it would be impossible for the practical application of God’s love, Christ’s death and the Spirit’s work, to all for salvation. And God is too practical, as well as too wise, just, loving and powerful, not to have arranged a feasible way of realizing for all an opportunity for those whom He in the present life excluded from opportunity of the elective salvation with the express purpose of giving them one later (Rom. 11:30-32). Such an opportunity we must all recognize is fair and Godlike, and therefore is certainly to be expected from God’s love, Christ’s death and the Spirit’s work for all men unto salvation. ’74-70 Dead—Explain “For All Live Unto Him” Luke 20:37, 38. Question (1978)—How do you harmonize Luke 20:37, 38, especially the last clause, “for all live unto him [God],” with the Bible teaching that those who have died “know not any thing” (Eccles. 9:5, 10), that they are in the unconscious sleep of death? Answer.—These two items are thoroughly in harmony with each other. It will be noted that the entire section in Luke 20 treats of the resurrection of the dead—not of the consciousness of the dead. The connection shows that the Sadducees came to Jesus attempting to refute the doctrine of the resurrection by the question, whose wife of the seven husbands that a certain woman had would she be in the resurrection (vs. 27-33)? As easily as a housewife brushes aside the cobwebs that have accumulated in some neglected corner of a room, Jesus overthrows the basis of their argument by showing that in the resurrection people will not marry nor be given in marriage, because they will be like the angels—sexless (vs. 34-36). Thus having refuted the argument by which the Sadducees hoped to overthrow the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus proceeds to give a proof—not of the consciousness of the dead—but of the resurrection of the dead, in vs. 37 and 38. He quotes God as saying to Moses at the bush (Ex. 3:6) that He is “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Jesus reasons from this statement that the teaching of the Sadducees to the effect that the human dead are dead like beasts, never to have another life, is evidently false, because God would not have called Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, if they would be eternally dead; for by calling Himself their God He declared Himself to be in covenant relationship with them, according to which covenant He designed to use them to bless all nations (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; 28:14); therefore they could not like beasts be dead for ever. “He is not a God of [one in covenant relations with] the dead, but of the living.” The fact that Jehovah as their God was in covenant relations with them proves, as Jesus reasons, that they will have a resurrection, that some day in harmony with the covenant they would be awakened from the dead, and thus live again, and in their second life bless the nations according to God’s covenant with them. Let us again emphasize the fact that Jesus cites this passage to prove—not that the dead are conscious, but that the dead will be resurrected, that they will have another life after stay in the unconscious sleep of death is ended. If the dead were conscious, it would not necessarily follow that they would have a resurrection, even as the ancient Greek philosophers, the most logical heathen that ever have lived, held that the dead were conscious, but denied their resurrection (Acts 17:32). Thus no logical deduction for a resurrection of the dead can be drawn from the doctrine of the consciousness of the dead. On the contrary, if the dead were conscious, there could be no such thing as a resurrection, because (1) the Scriptures deny that the body will be resurrected (1 Cor. 15:35-38); and because (2) the Scriptures teach that the soul is to be resurrected (Acts 2:24-32; Psa. 16:10; 30:3; 49:15; 89:48). Hence the doctrine of the consciousness of the dead contradicts the doctrine of the resurrection, even as the Greek philosophers because of their faith in the consciousness of the dead denied the resurrection. But it is the last clause of v. 38—“for all live unto him”—that the advocates of the consciousness of the dead quote as a proof that the dead are alive, and therefore conscious. To their use of this passage we reply as follows: The expression, “All live unto him,” must mean one of two things: (1) that all have devoted themselves to God and thus have given their all, yes, their very lives, to Him, in living service, or (2) that all are in His sight as though they were alive. Evidently the former thought is not true of all: for the most of mankind live for sin, for self and for the world, and not for God; nor, if conscious, would the wicked dead be living to God in the sense of serving Him. The second thought evidently is correct, namely, that in God’s sight all are as though they were alive. The Diaglott renders the clause in harmony with this thought: “for all to Him are alive.” See also Rotherham. How, then, can God reckon all as alive? Our answer is that as on account of Adam’s sin he reckons all as dead (Matt. 8:22; 2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 2:1, 5; Rom. 5:12, 15; 1 Cor. 15:22), though all have not yet entered the death state, so on account of Christ’s Ransom as the Purchase-price, guaranteeing the awakening of the dead, God, in view of their sure awakening from the dead, reckons all of them as alive, though those of mankind who have died have not yet been awakened from the dead. Therefore God speaks of their condition in death as a sleep (Dan. 12:2; Acts 7:60; John 11:11-14). In this sense and in no other all live unto Him. Thus in view of the Ransom, God “quickeneth the dead [reckons them alive] and calleth those things that be not as though they were (Rom. 4:17), because of what He purposes to do for them, i.e., raise them from the dead. This thought will become very clear as the correct meaning of these words, if we emphasize the expression, “unto him,” as follows: “all live unto HIM.” And this is evidently the thought of Jesus, for He gives the expression, “for all live unto him,” as the proof—not of the consciousness of the dead, but of the resurrection of the dead. The Ransom guaranteeing for all men another life, after their stay in death is ended, God can very properly consider them; reckon them, as alive in an anticipatory sense. Accordingly, this passage contradicts the thought of the consciousness of the dead by proving the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. ’78-31 Death—“To Be Carnally Minded Is Death” (Rom. 8:6) Does This Refer To The Adamic Or The Second Death. Question (1952)—We read (Rom. 8:6), “to be carnally minded is death.” Does this refer to the Adamic or to the Second Death? Answer.—For several reasons, it obviously refers to the Second Death. Notice that St. Paul addressed these words “to all that be in Rome, . . . called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). Since he wrote this epistle to saints, who had already passed from (the first, or Adamic) death to life (1 John 3:14) and not to the world of mankind in general, who are under the Adamic curse, he must in Rom. 8:6 have been referring to the Second Death. This statement seems clearly to refer to the utter, complete and eternal annihilation, which will come to any new creature who lives after the flesh, as v. 13 shows. The translation of this verse in the A.V. is not very clear, for it can lead one to infer that the death (which comes as a result of sin—Rom. 6:23) consists, solely and only, in being carnally minded. The Greek word sarx, rendered carnal in Rom. 8:6, occurs 139 tines in the New Testament, and only twice is it blindly rendered carnal (in Rom. 8:6 and Heb. 9:10). It is generally translated flesh, in the A.V., as in vs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12 and 13 of Rom. 8. Other translations of Rom. 8:6, e.g., Rotherham’s the Diaglott and the American Revised Version, also render sarx by the word flesh. It does not mean sinful at all, nor sinful flesh; it means flesh, simply and only, and is used in reference to Adam and Eve before they sinned (1 Cor. 6:16), as well as afterward; and 25 times it refers to our Lord’s flesh, which was perfect, spotless, without blemish (see John 1:14; 6:51-56; Heb. 10:20; 1 Tim. 3:16). Therefore, in Rom. 8:6, “carnally minded” signifies merely the mind or will of the flesh. The sense of this verse is not difficult to discern if it be read in connection with the chain of discourse (Chap. 7:18—8:15) of which it forms a part. St. Paul well knew that the saints, as well as all mankind, had fallen flesh with which to battle; but more than this, the saints had to mortify (v. 13) those tastes and desires of the flesh which are right and proper for the natural man to enjoy, even as Jesus (who never had any fallen flesh to combat) had to overcome the inclinations of His flesh whenever they tended to interfere with His doing God’s will, in order to gain life eternal as a new creature, thus avoiding the Second Death. Thus we see clearly that the death mentioned in Rom. 8:6 is not the Adamic death, but the Second Death. ’52-86: ’74-62 Death—1 Cor. 15:26 Does This Refer To Second Death Or The Adamic Death. Question 1954)—Does not 1 Cor. 15:26, “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death,” prove that the Second Death is to be abolished? Answer.—We think not. The connection in which this passage occurs shows that St. Paul is describing the millennial work of the Lord Jesus as destroying the effects of the Adamic curse (1 Cor. 15:21-25). V. 24 assures us that the end of this Mediatorial Reign will not come until He has overthrown every effect on the race of Satan’s rule, authority and power through sin. V. 25 is a quotation given to prove that such is the purpose of Jesus’ reign. All the effects of Satan’s rule, authority and power are spoken of in this verse as Jesus’ enemies; and v. 26 naming death as one of these enemies, we are thus given the understanding of what all of them are. These enemies are thus shown to be the devastating effects of Satan’s reign over the earth—sin, error, sorrow, pain, death, and hades. These are the enemies of Jesus because they injure the race that He died to redeem. Hence we see that the enemies here referred to are all the effects of Adam’s sin; and the Adamic death is the first, not the Second Death. The thought of 1 Cor. 15:24-26 is given in other language in Rev. 21:3-5; 22:3; and the death and curse which are there spoken of as being no more are undoubtedly the Adamic death and curse. Moreover, the Second Death is not an enemy of Jesus or of the human family, but is rather a friend and servant, that will swallow up their enemies, even as the type of the Second Death—the Red Sea—was a friend and servant of Moses and Israel, when it afforded protection to the Israelites in their passage of it, but swallowed up Pharaoh and his pursuing hosts, leaving Israel safe and triumphant on its eastern shore. We see, therefore, that the expression, “the last enemy” in 1 Cor. 15:26, does not refer to the Second Death; it refers to the Adamic death—the First Death. The expression, Adamic death, includes every vestige of imperfection that Adam’s sin has brought upon the race. Evidently the expression here does not mean the Adamic death state; for long after all will have returned from the tomb, from the Adamic death state, there will still be imperfection in the human family. The Adamic death process is therefore here meant by the term “the last enemy.” When the last vestige of imperfection resulting from Adam’s sin shall have been wiped out of existence by Christ’s all-conquering restitution power and works, the “last enemy” will have been destroyed, which will end the restitution work. ’54-55 Death—Not Merely Separation From God. Question (1974)—Is Adamic death merely a separation from God, with the Second Death merely an eternal separation from God? Answer—No! This is the reasoning of Satan and of men, based on the errors of the Dark Ages, such as the inherent immortality of the human soul, which claims that man must live on for ever somewhere, either in bliss or in torment. Such reasoning invented the false teaching that death is merely a separation from God. But the Bible does not so teach; rather, it plainly declares that life and death are opposites, each the antithesis of the other. Note how clearly the following passages show this: “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil” (Deut. 30:15, 19). “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23; 5:21). “If ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 6:8). “These shall go away into everlasting punishment [Greek, kolasin, cutting off; not punishing]: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). The Scriptures teach clearly also that the Second Death is not merely an eternal separation from God, for they make it plain that eventually all the incorrigibly wicked will go into utter, complete and eternal annihilation. In our May issue (a copy free on request) we showed from Heb. 2:14 that Satan will be annihilated. Many Bible passages show this also as to the rest of the wicked, when they go into the Second Death (see, e.g., Psa. 9:5, 6; 37:38; 145:20; Isa. 1:28; 1 Cor. 3:17; 1 Tim. 6:9; 2 Pet. 2:1, 12; Rev. 21:8). ’74-62 Death—Seven Miracles And Recovery From. Question (1981)—In your book entitled The Bible, p. 231, we read: “The fact, apart from seven cases miraculously recovered from death, that the dead remain dead, is proof of man’s inability to bring back the dead.” What are these seven cases miraculously recovered from death”? Answer.—The seven cases of those miraculously recovered from actual death (not merely clinical death) by God’s power exercised through man seem to be the following: The widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24), the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:18-37), the dead Moabite robber (2 Kings 13:21), the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-15), Jairus’ daughter (8:49-56), Lazarus (John 11:11-44) and Dorcas (Acts 9:36-42). Some might add Eutychus, but we do not believe he was fully dead as a result of falling, because the Apostle Paul said, “His life is in him” (Acts 20:9, 10). ’81-30 Desert—Shall Blossom As The Rose. Question (1961)—How will Isa. 35:1 be literally fulfilled in deserts such as the Negev? Answer.—This may be done largely by the desalination of salt water and by irrigation. The groundbreaking ceremony for the first industrial-sized plant for water desalination using the process invented by Alex Zarchin, an Israeli engineer, was held in Eilat on March 29. It is expected to start production in 1962, with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters (220,000 gallons) of fresh water daily, produced appreciably cheaper than by any other existing method. The process is one of the many marvelous harbingers of millennial blessings soon to come; it has been described as “a new dimension in science” and “one of the great scientific breakthroughs mankind has been waiting for since time immemorial.” ’61-79 |
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