The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-07-16
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL,
Pastor Brooklyn
Tabernacle.

ave" OfieanS, La, July 1ltn.-faS-
tor Russell, Of Brooklyn Tabernacle,
preached here to-day. He said:
AS the city Of Babylon represented
the Empire Of Babylon, so the city Of
Jerusalem represented the Jewish ma
ton. The Scriptures refer to the fact
that centuries before our Lords day
the Jewish Kingdom had been over
thrown-had passed to the control Of
the Gentiles-and in our text our Lord
declares that this subserviency would
continue until certain times of the
Gentiles, certain years or periods of
their control, would pass away. When
we read that certain times will be
fulfilled, we are justified in thinking
that these times have been fOret0ld.
And In looking for the statement Of
the matter in Holy Writ, we notice
the facts Of the case as follows:
God established the Jewish nation
as his representative nation, or King
dom, in the world, with the under
standing that in some manner and at
some time that nation would> be the
channel of divine blessings to all the
families of the earth, in harmony with
the original Oath Bound Promise made
to Abraham. After precarious ex-
istence of nearly six hundred years,
the star of Jewish Empire set, and it
has not re-arisen since. The particu-
lar date at which the Typical King
dom passed away is clearly marked in
the Scriptures. The solidarity Of the
Empire in the hands Of King David,
and his son, King Solomon, was lost
in its division in the days Of Solomon's
successor. Nevertheless, in harmony
with the Divine prediction, the royal
line continued in the tribe Of Judah;
as it is written, 1.-THE sceptre shall not
depart from judah, nor a law-giver
from between his feet, until Shiloh
come" Genesis xix, 10).
OF the last king Of Judah, Zedekiah,
the Divine declaration was, "And thou,
profane and wicked prince Of Israel,
whose day is come when iniquity shall
have an end, Thus saith the Lord God,
Remove the diadem, and take of the
crown; this shall not be the same. -
1 will overturn, overturn. overturn it;
and 1t shall be no more until he come
whose right it is; and I will give it
him" ezekiel xxi. 25-2D. That state
ment was made just prior to IsraePs
captivity to Babylon, B.. G. 606. And
the crown and sceptre have been orer
turned since then, and will continue
so to be until Messiah himself. at his
second advent. shall take the throne as
the Antitypieal Son Of David.
The interim of Time.
The interim of time between the
overthrow of the crown in the days Of
Zedekiah and the establishment again
of the crown In Messiah's Kingdom at
his second advent is Scripturally
termed the Times Of the Gentiles'-
that is to say, the gears of the Gentiles;
the years in which the Gentiles would
bear rule over Israel and all the earth;
the period in which God would have
no representative nation in the world.
Some may inquire, Were not the Is
raelites restored from the Babylonian
captivity? Yes, we answer, but they
did not receive back the Kingdom;
they were thereafter subject to the
great dominant kingdoms Of the world.
First they were subject to the Medo-
Persian Empire, whose Emperor, Cy-
rus, restored them to their own land
as a subjectnation. Subsequently
they were subject to the Grecian ma
ton. And in the time of our Lord
they were still a subject-nation to
Rome. PLATE represented the Roman
government. and so did Herod. the
King of Galilee. Anyway, the Herods
were not Israelites. but Edomites.
While it is true that an outward
form of Jewish Kingdom was main
tanned subject to the Roman Emperors
for time, the last vestige Of this au-
thority passed away with the destruc
ton of Jerusalem by the Roman army
in A. d. 20, and the Jews have never
been able to re-establish themselves in
their own land up to the present time.
Now, in harmony with the Scriptures
which foretell Israels restoration to
Palestine. and their re-esta blishment
as the earthly representatives Of Gods
Kingdom. the Zionist movement is
coming forth with good hopes Of soon
effecting a Jewish Kingdom. We
may be sure, however. that the declar-
alton Of our text will come true to the
very INSTRUMENTATION shall be trod-
den down Of the. Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fulflled"-or,
filled full.
Let us look backward and note what
the Scriptures declare respecting earth
Iy empires and the period Of their DOM
nation. If possible. let us ascertain
when the Gentle times began, and
when they will end, giving place to
the Kingdom Of Messiah, the spiritual
Kingdom. the Church glorified, whose
work will be the ruling of the earth,
the blessing of all nations. and the up
lifting Of the human family out of sin
and death conditions to all that was
lost through Adams disobedience, to
all that was redeemed through the
obedience Of Christ Jesus.
The Scriptures very particularly
draw to our attention King Nebuchad-
nezzar Of Babylon. Very carefully
does the Prophet explain that Nebu-
chadneZzar had vision of deep inter-