The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-14
"As He was SO are We

III luis WOrlQ.
THE Rich Man" OF the parable rep
resented the Jewish nation. The fine
linen he wore represented the typical
justification granted to that nation un.
der the Law Covenant made with Is
rael at Mt. Sinai The Rich Mans"
purple raiment pictured the royalty
which belonged to Israel as Gods typ
ical kingdom in the world. Thus we
read. Solomon sat upon the throne Of
the kingdom Of the Lord. in the room
Tor stead) of his father David" Jesus
recognized this kingdom dignity as
still belonging to that nation when He
said. THE Kingdom shall be taken
from you and shall be given to a ma
ton bringing forth the fruits thereof
(Matthew xxi, 49,.
The Rich Mans bountiful table
represented the glorious promises of
God which were theirs primarily. and
granted to no other people until after
they had rejected Jesus and crucifed
Him. st. Paul refers to this table in
this way and quotes David the Prophet
saying. Let their table become a trap
and snare and recOmpense to
them" This was because they did
not rightly appreciate their glorious
promises and live up to the conditions
which they required. The death Of
The Rich Man represented the cut
ting off of national Israel from all
those special privileges and advan-
tages every way which had been theirs
for centuries. The Rich Man" the
Jewish nation) began to sicken from
the time Of the crucifixion-from the
time that Jesus said. Your house is
left unto you desolate; henceforth We
shall see Me no more until that day
when We shall say. Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord"
The sanity few were gathered out
of Judaism into relationship with
Christ at Pentecost. and THE Rich
Man." the nation. continued to be sick
and finally died in the year A. D. 20.
when Titus. the Roman general. cap
tured Jerusalem. the entire land of
Palestine being laid waste
The Jewish nation has been a dead
nation since the year A. D. 20. 1t is in
hodes. in the tomb. But this implies
its resurrection in due time. for the
figure of the tomb. h0des. does not rep
resent perpetual condition. but tenn
porary one. from which Messiah will
grant a release. and hades. in every
sense Of the word. will be destroyed.
Dives In Torment.
But the parable declares that Dives
was in torment How could this be.
seeing that the word hades signifies
the death state. the unconscious con-
dition? We answer that the Jewish
people have double aspect. in the
parable and out of it. Nationally, they
are dead or asleep, but as people
they are very much alive-no other
people more SO. 1t is as a people that
they have been suffering the .tortures
of persecution during the past eighteen
centuries, while as nation they have
been dead. buried. in hadcs. and are
awaiting a resurrection. of which the
present Zionism is an advance token.
Soon Israels prosecutions will end.
when Messiah's glorious Kingdom shall
take it's power: and then will come
their national resurrection, for they
are to be actively and specially ident-
fed with the Messianic Kingdom
shortly. rs its earthly and visible rep
resentatives.
AS the two tribes of Judah and Ben
jamin were represented in THE Rich
Man" in q very special sense. the 9th
er ten tribes. scattered amongst the
surrounding nations, would. at like
proportion. represent his five brethren
Gods dealings with the Jews will be
the same wherever they are-no pref
erence will be shown-"They have
Moses and the Prophets. let them hear
them" This could not be applicable
to any except these two tribes and the
other ten tribes of Israel. for they
alone had Moses and the Prophets.
Tho Rich Man Tornented In Hades.
All scholars will concede that the
Greek word hudes and the Hebrew
word sheol. rendered hell in our COM
mon version. really signify the death
state, the tomb Various Scriptures
tell us of the silence of sheol and h0des
and that there is neither wisdom nor
knowledge nor device there; that the
dead know not anything. Scholars
therefore. have been perplexed greatly
at the statement Of this parable that
The Rich Man lifted up his eyes i'm
hades. being in torments.
The difficulty dissolves as soon as
we have the proper Interpretation to
the parable and see that the Jewish
people died as nation and were
buried as nation. but did not all die
individually. The people Of Israel. out
cast from their own land among al.
the nations of earth. are very much
alive. socially and personally. having
suffered for all these centuries.
Only very recently we have had an
exhibition OF how this Rich Man U.s.
raeD, dead as nation. but alive as a
people, has appealed to Father Abra
ham to have Lazarus cool his tongue
with drop Of water. OF course. the
thought would not be that a spirit
finger would take drop Of literal wa
ter to cool a literal tongue. A drop OF
water on the tip Of finger would not