Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1911-07-13

hell he lifted ND
bis eyes. being In torrents. and seeth
Abraham afar OF and Lazarus In his
bosom duke xvi. 2s). Addressing
the public under the auspices of the
international Bible Students Associa-
ton. he said:-
Heallz1ng that great mass Of super
suuon and erroneous Interpretation of
Gods Word acts as an earth born cloud
to hide the Heavenly Father from our
eyes OF faith. continually address my
self to the removal of this barrier.
Time and again. after delivering an al
Dress setting forth the Divine Plan of
the Ages from the Bible standpoint,
have been approached by Christians
who said. What you say. Pastor Rus
sell, is cheering, God-like, just what
our hearts are hungering and crying
Tor. but cannot accept It because of
the Lords Word respecting the Rich
Man and Lazarus. y
Litera! or ParaboIic, which,
Ii our text be a statement of literal
facts then all the facts must be taken
literally This would mean that be-
cause q certain man was rich and Jared
bounhfully and was clothed in. purple
and tine linen he would go to an eter-
nifty Of torment. without single
charge being made against him along
the lines of murder, injustice or bias
phemy, for in the account nothing of
the kind appears Furthermore, moth.
ing is said of the poor man as being a
godly man, but merely that he was
poor. full of sores which the dogs lick
ed and ate the offal from the rich mans
table
If those be the grounds upon which
any of US have hope for eternal bliss.
surely comparatively small number
could claim it. Did we ever have such
experiences? If not. what ground have
we. according to this teaching, for a
hope of reaching Abraham's bosom?
The "rich man" of the parable repre-
sented the Jewish nation The fine
linen he wore represented the typical
justification granted that nation under
the Law Covenant made with Israel at
Mt. Sinai The rich mans purple pic
tured the royalty which belonged tc
Israel as Gods typical kingdom. Jesus
recognized this kingdom dignity as still
belonging to that nation when he said:
'"The Kingdom shall be taken from
you and be given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof
The rich mans bountiful table rep
resented the glorious promises which
were theirs primarily, and granted to
no other people until after they had re-
jected Jesus and crucifed Him. st.
Paul refers to this table and quotes
Isaiah the Prophet, saying. Let their
table become a trap and snare and a
recompense unto them"
The Jewish nation has been dead
nation since that time. 1t is in hddes.
the tomb. But this implies its resur-
rection in due time. for the figure OF
the tomb. hades, does not represent q
perpetual condition, but temporary
one. from which Messiah will grant a
release. and hades will be destroyed.
Dives In Torment.
But the parable declares that Dives
was in torment! How could this be.
seeing that the word hGdes signifies
the death state. the unconscious con-
dition? We answer that. nationally.
they are dead or asleep. but as peo-
pie they are very much alive. 1t is as
people that they have been suffering
the tortures of persecution during the
past eighteen centuries, while as ma
ton they have been dead, buried, and
are awaiting a resurrection, of which
the present '.Zionism" is an advance
token. Soon IsraeIs prosecutions will
end, when Messiah's glorious Kingdom
shall take its power; and then will
come their national resurrection. for
they are to be actively and specially
identified with the Messianic Kingdom.
shortly, as its earthly and visible rep
resentatives.
AS the two tribes, Judah and Ben
jamin, were represented in the 'rich
man. the other ten tribes, scattered
amongst the surrounding nations,
would. at a like proportion, represent
his five brethren '"They have Moses
and the prophets. let them hear them. :
This could not be applicable to any ex-
cept Israel. for they alone had Moses
and the prophets
Finding the Lazarus Class.
/ Lazarus represented a God-fear1ng
class outside the pale OF Juda1sm-cer.
tain Gentiles. concerning one Of whom
Jesus said. Il have not found so great
faith, no, not in Israeli" The Jews
were in the habit of speaking of the
Gentiles as dogs" These could, al
that time, eat only the crumbs which
fell from the Jewish table But later
the Jews were cast off from favor dur
ing this Age and the Gentiles received
instead. Each died TO his previous con
lditfon ff-,..,ke XII. 70: E'.snans Il. 1887.