Milford chronicle., 1909-07-16
Sermon by
CHARLES T.
RUSSELL.

preached mere To-Day. he sdlus
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 a precarlous ex-
istence Of nearly six hundred years
the star of Jewish Empire set, and 1t
has not re-arisen since. The particu-
lar date at which the Typical King
dom passed away is clearly marked ia
she 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 1t is written. THE sceptre shall not
depart from judah, nor a law-giyer
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 off the
crown; this shall not be the same. .
I will Overturn, Overturn. Overturn it;
and it shall be no more until he come
whose right it is and | will give #
him" ezekiel xxi 25-20. That state
ment was made just prior to Israers
captivity to Babylon. B c. COG. 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 Antitypica Son Of David.
The Interim of Time.
The interim Of time between the I
overthrow Of the crown in the days of |
Zedekiah and the establishment again /
of the crown In Messiahs Kingdom at /
his second advent is Scripturally .
termed the Times Of the Gentiles"-
that is to say the years 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 BabyiOnian
captivity? Yes we answer but they
did not receive back the Kingdom;
they were thereafte 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 subject-nation. Subsequently
they were subject to the Grecian ma
ton. And in the time Of our Lord
they were still a subiect-natiOn to
Rome. PLATE represented the Roman
government. and so did Herod. the
King of Galilee. Anyway, the Herods
we're not Israelites. but Edomites.
While it is true that an outward
,orm Of Jewish Kingdom was main
aimed subject to the Roman Emp4rors
or a time. the last vestige of this au-
hority passed away with the destruc-
ion of Jerusalem by the Roman army
n A. d. 20, and the Jews have never
Deen able to re-establish themselves in
heir own land up to the present time.
low, In harmony with the Scriptures
which foretell Israers restoration to
Palestine, and their re-esta blishment
IS the earthly representatives Of Gods
Kingdom. the Zionist movement is
Oming forth with good hopes Of soon
fecting a Jewish Kingdom. We
nay be sure, however, that the declar-
tion of our text will come true to the
cry letter-"Jerusalem shall be trod-
EN- down Of the Gentiles, until the
ines Of the Gentiles be fulflled"-or,
lied fuH
Let US look backward and note what ,
be Scriptures declare respecting earth
7 empires and the period Of their dom ,
lation. If possible. let as ascertain
lhen the Gentle times began, and
rhen they will end, giving place to i
le Kingdom Of Messiah. the spiritual ,
-ingdom. the Church glopifed. whose
-ork will be the ruling Of the earth, J
le blessing Of all nations, and the up ,
fling Of the human family out Of sin !
I'd death conditions to all that was :
st through Adams disobedience, to :
] that was redeemed through the
Of Christ Jesus.
The Scriptures very, particularly /
aw to our attention King Nebuchad- I