CHAPTER I

THE FACE OF THE COVERING CAST OVER ALL PEOPLE, AND THE VEIL THAT IS SPREAD OVER ALL NATIONS

Veil lifted after Christ's second coming-Christ's throne in Zion Restitution of all things-Israel under Christ's reign-Christ's rule over the nations-So-called " End of the world". What is the "Veil"- The natural man - Invisible things of God-Veil before the flood-"Sons of God"- Duration of world-Final end- Veil after the flood - An expected end-Veil in times of Christ and apostles.

This remarkable statement concerning the spiritual condition of all the nations of the earth, found in the prophecies of Isaiah, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament Scriptures, who spake of the sufferings of Christ and the glory which is to follow, is worthy of our careful attention and scrutiny, especially when we consider the gravity and magnitude of the subject stated, and when it is remembered that the authenticity and importance of his prophecies and sayings have the unqualified endorsement of Christ and his apostles, who quoted freely from his writings and unfolded the doctrines and teachings contained therein.

The nations of the earth are now, have been in the past, and will remain under the veil until the latter days and the coming of Christ the Lord to reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously, and until the resurrection of the dead; for that is the period in human history of which the prophet in the twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twentyseventh chapters of his book is speaking; for when he says, " He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people and the veil that is spread over all nations," he adds, "He will swallow up death in victory." This is the key to the whole subject, because this is done by the resurrection of the righteous dead, for so Paul interprets this Scripture. For in showing to persons in the church at Corinth who said that there was no resurrection, how the dead are raised up and with what body they come, namely that they are raised incorruptible, and come again with angelic or heavenly bodies, he concludes his argument by saying, "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written (Isa. 25: 8), Death is swallowed up in victory."

The veil, therefore, that enshrouds the nations of the earth will not be rent asunder and destroyed until after the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of his brethren, who are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, and who, with Christ, are to execute the judgments written upon both Jew and Gentile; for the righteous having been sown in weakness and raised in glory will do as it is written of them in the hundred and forty-ninth Psalm

where it is said, "Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgments written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord."

Now that the righteous after their resurrection from the dead are to be associated with Christ in executing judgment upon the ungodly, and to be engaged in subduing and bringing the nations of the earth under subjection to the king who will then reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, is evident to any one instructed in the Holy Scriptures, and who is not spoiled by philosophy and vain deceit; for it is written in Jude that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying, “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Again, Paul taught this doctrine to the churches. The Corinthians knew it, and so Paul appealing to their knowledge says (I Cor. 6: 2), "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" Judging, as employed here, means to rule or govern as judges over men, and to execute judgment, even as Jesus showed and promised to his apostles, as it is written in (Luke 22: 28-30), "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

The time when the twelve apostles of Christ are to enter into their inheritance and upon their office as is here promised, is testified of elsewhere by the Lord in reply to a direct question by Peter, who said, "Behold, we have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" And Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). With reference to the judgments that Christ and his brethren are to execute in that day upon Jew and Gentile, and the results that will follow, Isaiah says (26:9), "When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness," and they will never learn it till then. Again, in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, referring to the same time and the same judgments, it is written (Rev. 15:4), "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."

CHRIST'S THRONE IN ZION

The place from which this veil is to be rent asunder is Mount Zion in Jerusalem, says the prophet. And why does he speak of this mountain as the place where this veil which covers the nations is to be destroyed? We answer

that they who understand the fortunes of Mount Zion, past, present, and future, as it is written of her, will have no difficulty in answering that question. Zion is the place where David and Solomon reigned and the throne that was established there is called the throne of the Lord, and kings of his selection reigned there, as his agents, as it is said (I Chron. 29: 23), "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." This is the throne, and Mount Zion is the place where Christ is to reign,1 for Christ is the heir of David's throne and kingdom. Consequently, when the Angel Gabriel announced his conception and birth to Mary, he said that she should call his name Jesus, saying, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:31-33). Isaiah says of Christ, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders... and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:6-7).

The

Peter said on the day of Pentecost, "David being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (that is, the grave), neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus (adds the Apostle) hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." The throne of David, therefore, is to be occupied according to these testimonies by a resurrected person, a man who lives forever; death, we are assured by Paul, hath no more dominion over him.

When Jesus did some of his mighty works in the presence of the people, they sought to take him by force and make him a king, being ignorant of the Scriptures that Christ, when he came in the flesh, came not to reign nor to judge the world, but to save the world and to give his life a ransom for many; but Jesus departed from among them, and neither did his twelve apostles know, until after his resurrection, that he was to die and rise again from the dead on the third day and so enter upon his glory, for we are told by Luke (18:34) that these things were hid from them. Neither had the time come when he was raised from the dead to enter upon the throne of his glory, for his apostles asked him during the forty days that he remained with them after his resurrection, saying, "Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus replied, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power."

The Scriptures would have been broken if Christ had entered upon his reign over Israel and the nations of the earth at that time, for it was testified of him in the sixty-eighth Psalm, verse 18, " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men." The captivity which he led captive is noted by Matthew, who says (27: 52), "Many bodies of saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, That this reign is invisible and through mortal agents, see p. 176.

where it is said, "Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgments written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord."

Now that the righteous after their resurrection from the dead are to be associated with Christ in executing judgment upon the ungodly, and to be engaged in subduing and bringing the nations of the earth under subjection to the king who will then reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, is evident to any one instructed in the Holy Scriptures, and who is not spoiled by philosophy and vain deceit; for it is written in Jude that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Again, Paul taught this doctrine to the churches. The Corinthians knew it, and so Paul appealing to their knowledge says (I Cor. 6: 2), “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" Judging, as employed here, means to rule or govern as judges over men, and to execute judgment, even as Jesus showed and promised to his apostles, as it is written in (Luke 22: 28-30), "Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

The time when the twelve apostles of Christ are to enter into their inheritance and upon their office as is here promised, is testified of elsewhere by the Lord in reply to a direct question by Peter, who said, “Behold, we have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" And Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28). With reference to the judgments that Christ and his brethren are to execute in that day upon Jew and Gentile, and the results that will follow, Isaiah says (26:9), "When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness," and they will never learn it till then. Again, in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, referring to the same time and the same judgments, it is written (Rev. 15:4), “Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."

CHRIST'S THRONE IN ZION

The place from which this veil is to be rent asunder is Mount Zion in Jerusalem, says the prophet. And why does he speak of this mountain as the place where this veil which covers the nations is to be destroyed? We answer

that they who understand the fortunes of Mount Zion, past, present, and future, as it is written of her, will have no difficulty in answering that question. Zion is the place where David and Solomon reigned and the throne that was established there is called the throne of the Lord, and kings of his selection reigned there, as his agents, as it is said (I Chron. 29: 23), "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." This is the throne, and Mount Zion is the place where Christ is to reign,1 for Christ is the heir of David's throne and kingdom. Consequently, when the Angel Gabriel announced his conception and birth to Mary, he said that she should call his name Jesus, saying, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:31-33). Isaiah says of Christ, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders . . . and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:6-7).

Peter said on the day of Pentecost, "David being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (that is, the grave), neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus (adds the Apostle) hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." The throne of David, therefore, is to be occupied according to these testimonies by a resurrected person, a man who lives forever; death, we are assured by Paul, hath no more dominion over him.

When Jesus did some of his mighty works in the presence of the people, they sought to take him by force and make him a king, being ignorant of the Scriptures that Christ, when he came in the flesh, came not to reign nor to judge the world, but to save the world and to give his life a ransom for many; but Jesus departed from among them, and neither did his twelve apostles know, until after his resurrection, that he was to die and rise again from the dead on the third day and so enter upon his glory, for we are told by Luke (18:34) that these things were hid from them. Neither had the time come when he was raised from the dead to enter upon the throne of his glory, for his apostles asked him during the forty days that he remained with them after his resurrection, saying, "Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus replied, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power."

The Scriptures would have been broken if Christ had entered upon his reign over Israel and the nations of the earth at that time, for it was testified of him in the sixty-eighth Psalm, verse 18, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men." The captivity which he led captive is noted by Matthew, who says (27: 52), "Many bodies of saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, 1 That this reign is invisible and through mortal agents, see p. 176.