A Vindication of the Seventh-Day Sabbath and the Commandments of God: With a Further History of God's Peculiar People from 1847-1848Bates, Joseph
Religion
A Vindication of the Seventh-Day Sabbath and the Commandments of God: With a Further History of God's Peculiar People from 1847-1848
Bates, Joseph
Sabbath; Seventh-Day Adventists -- Doctrinal and controversial works
sealed and redeemed from the earth, in company with the Lamb—the Lord
Jesus. From the 6th to the 14th verse, he gives the outline of what they
had been passing through, and the mighty host with whom they had been
engaged. It will here be remembered that this message, or proclamation of
“the hour of his judgment,” has gone to every nation and tongue, and
people; therefore as Jesus has stated that his elect are to be gathered
from the four winds, or from one end of heaven to the other, then his
144,000 will be composed of all nations, particularly the poor ignorant,
but honest hearted Slaves of this doomed country. But more especially
those described in the 12th verse, walking out in their faith of all the
living _present truth_.
An objection may arise with some; still, supposing that the 144,000,
because they are named after the tribes of Jacob in the 7th chapter, they
cannot mean the Israel of these last days. Micah, speaking of Jesus, says,
“He is _to be_ the ruler in Israel.”—v: 1-2. Gabriel said he would “reign
over the house of Jacob _forever_.”—Luke i: 33. Paul says “they are not
_all_ Israel that are of Israel;” “If ye be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s
seed and heirs according to the promise.” When John was afterwards giving
a description of the holy city, he even saw the names of the twelve tribes
of the children of Israel inscribed on the twelve gates. This agrees with
the description in the 7th chapter, and makes a perfect harmony when we
understand that this vision was sixty years after the introduction of the
gospel, when the church was the whole Israel of God. The other view would
give the literal seed of Jacob full possession of the city; the gates
being theirs by the titles on them. This would make a division wall there,
and God would be a respecter of persons. The gentiles could have no claim
there; thus their joint heirship with Christ would fail and so would this
Revelation; for John was directed to “show (us) things which would shortly
come to pass.”—i: 1; and to “write the things which thou _hast seen_, and
the things which are, and the things which _shall be hereafter_” in the
churches, in the future.—xxii: 16. So we see this vision was all of the
present and future; besides the tribes of _literal_ Israel had before this
been rejected and were to “be trodden down until the times of the gentiles
were fulfilled.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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