Matthew Chapter 24

VERSE 29 continued, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

Having taken a look at some of the literal fulfillment of this verse let us now examine,

The (ongoing) Symbolic Fulfillment

“While the literal signs served their designed purpose in drawing general attention to the Time of the End, we believe that the symbolic fulfilments are no less striking and even more interesting to those whose mental and spiritual perceptive is awakened so as to enable them to appreciate them.

1) The sun as a symbol represents the Gospel light, the truth–and thus Christ Jesus.

2) The moon as a symbol represents the light of the Mosaic Law. As the moon is a reflection of the light of the sun, so the Law was the shadow or reflection beforehand of the Gospel.

3) The stars as symbols represent the inspired teachers of the church–the apostles.

4) The heavens, as already shown, represent the ecclesiastical powers of Christendom.

A combination of all these symbols is found in Revelation (12:1) where the “woman” symbolizing the early Church is represented as clothed with the sun, that is, resplendent in the full, clear light of the unclouded Gospel. The moon under her feet represents that the Law which supports her is nevertheless not the source of her light. The twelve stars about her head as a crown represent her divinely appointed and inspired teachers–the twelve apostles.

With this outline of the meaning of these symbols before our minds, let us examine afresh this feature of our Lord’s great prophecy of the signs which are to indicate the end of this age.

Wherever we look we can recognize the fact that while God’s consecrated people are being specially fed and enlightened at the present time, yet with the nominal church it is not so. Its sun is being darkened; its moon is being turned into blood; and its stars are falling. The center of the Gospel light has from the first been the cross of Christ, the ransom; and however boldly Papacy set up the competitive sacrifice of the Mass, the saints of God have always held fast to this blessed center of all God’s promises and of all his people’s hopes. They have held to it, even though its philosophy has been almost entirely hidden from their view.

 True, there have been a few all along whom, not understanding the ransom, and unable to harmonize it with other truths, and especially with their most cherished errors (viz. the Trinity, the immortality of the Soul, and eternal torment as the wages of sin), rejected it. These, however, were rare exceptions to the rule.

But since A.D. 1878–the very point of trial-time indicated in the Scriptures —the parallel to the time of Christ’s rejection at the first advent, when the cross of Christ became to the Jew a stumbling block–the stumbling here has made great progress, until today only a small minority of the professed ministers of the cross recognize its value or preach it. On the contrary, much of the teaching now aims to disclaim and disprove that we were “bought with a price, even the precious blood of Christ,” and substitutes for this the theory of Evolution, claiming that Christ’s value to the sinner consists in his words and example merely.

Thus the sunlight of the Gospel is daily becoming more and more obscure; and although this denial of the value of the precious blood as our redemption price has not so generally extended from the pulpit to the pew, yet, false doctrines long held sacred, together with reverence for leaders and learning, have made the way so easy that a large majority of all who get sufficiently awake to consider the subject fall an easy prey to this doctrine of Evolution, which denies the Scriptural doctrine of a primal fall and of a ransom from it. The Scriptures variously forewarn us of this great falling away, as well as of this darkening of the faith of the Church at this time; so that the Son of Man when he cometh will find the faith very scarce on the earth. (Luke 18:8)

A psalm describing this period declares: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee [the faithful saints, members of the body of Christ, whose elect members will now shortly be completed].” Psa 91:7

As the sunlight of the ransom becomes obscured, so the moonlight of the Mosaic Law, which in its sacrifices foreshadowed the ransom, must of necessity become obscured also. It is no longer uncommon for public teachers to refer to the bloody sacrifices of Israel, required by their Law, as barbaric. Once, when they saw by the true light of the Word of God, they appreciated the Apostle’s statement that Israel’s sacrifices were foreshadows of the “better sacrifices” for sin; but now, refusing the antitype, the ransom, and denying original sin, and all need therefore of sacrifices for it–the typical sacrifices are repudiated also and esteemed barbaric. Thus the darkening of the Gospel sunlight results in the darkening of the moonlight. (Just as it literally happened on May 19, 1780 when the sun was first darkened and then the following night though the moon was full it still gave no light).

“The moon shall be turned into blood.”

And Joel (2:10) adds that “the stars shall withdraw their shining,” which signifies that when the Gospel light is obscured, and the Law comes to be regarded merely as a meaningless and barbaric ceremony of blood, then the teachings of the God-ordained twelve stars of the Church (the apostles) will also fade from view–cease to be recognized guides or lights.

As we have seen, God has recognized or appointed twelve apostolic stars for the Church. From these and the moon and the sun all the enlightenment of the Church was to proceed. And from these the true light, which has blessed the true Church, has proceeded.

But Papacy, assuming ecclesiastical lordship of earth, has placed or “ordained” various stars, lights, “authorities,” “theologians,” in her firmament; and the various Protestant denominations have done likewise, until the whole number is innumerable. But God, while providing helps, evangelists and teachers to his true Church has not ordained any of them with the authority of lights or stars. On the contrary, all of his faithful followers are instructed to accept as light only those rays of truth seen to proceed from the sun and moon and twelve stars ordained for that purpose.

All the others of God’s people are during this age to be burning and shining lamps, and are not to put their lamps under a bushel, but to so shine as to glorify their Father in heaven.

The word star (Greek aster) is not used respecting any of the faithful (outside the apostles) in referring to them in this present life; but it is used with reference to those who depart from the truth, and become “heady,” false teachers, “vainly puffed up,” aspiring to be considered authorities (theologians) in the same sense as the apostles, and who are styled “wandering stars,” “false apostles.” 2 Cor. 11:13; Rev. 2:2; Jude 13

On the contrary, the Scriptures everywhere hold out the promise that the faithful, humble lamp-light-shiners of this present time shall by and by with Christ be the glorious and honored seed of Abraham–“as the stars of heaven.” But NOT in the present “heavens” which shall shortly pass away with great commotion, will these shine–no, but in the “new heavens“–the new ecclesiastical kingdom of the Millennial age. Of the same class, and of that same resurrection time, the Prophet Daniel (12:3) says, “They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.” The Apostle Paul also speaks of the Church’s future glory in the first resurrection, saying that their glories will differ “as star differs from star in glory.”

Now if God ordained only twelve stars as lights for his Church, as represented in Revelation (12:1), is it not a great mistake for popes and bishops to regard themselves as successors of the apostles–stars also?

And is it not a fact that certain of the so-called “higher critics” regard themselves and are regarded by others as the equals or indeed the superiors of the apostles, as light-shiners, stars?

And do not they and others show this, by preaching their own ideas (their own theories); shining out their own light on various subjects, without considering it necessary to consult or to give as proof the words of the inspired apostles?

And if they quote or refer at all to the light of the true stars, the twelve apostle’s teachings, is it not rather to have them CONFIRM their views or light, rather than to show that the teaching is light from the apostolic stars?

And indeed the light of these false stars, “wandering stars,” is usually so opposed to that of the inspired twelve, that they can scarcely so much as find a suitable text from their writings. Not without a fair amount of wrestling and twisting that is.

Continued with next post.