The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

IV. Solemn Procession of Prophetic Witnesses Testify

1. PANORAMIC SURVEY OF OLD TESTAMENT WITNESSES

As we have already observed, the prophesied “time of the end” (Daniel 8:17, 19), climaxing with the “day of the Lord,” is that final segment of time leading up to and terminating with the “end”—the end of the age, or present world order. It therefore leads to and through the time of God’s judgments, the close of human probation, the Second Advent and resurrection, the final rewards and punishments, the conferring of the covenanted immortality upon the righteous, and the utter destruction and dissolution of sinners forevermore—and thus the ending of the sin problem. CFF1 135.1

A score of Old Testament prophets proclaim the coming of the “day of the Lord” with all of its involvements—embracing the eternal overthrow of wickedness and the everlasting establishment of righteousness. There are about eight categories of frequently reiterated events that are stressed: (1) The coming of the Lord in power and glory, (2) the resurrection of the righteous, (3) the convulsions of nature, (4) the attendant fire and destruction, (5) the resultant desolation, (6) the judgment and punishment for sin, (7) the kingdom of blessedness; and (8) the new heavens and the new earth. This sequence of tremendous events of course involves divine interposition in the affairs of mankind and the physical world. CFF1 135.2

It may well be noted that many of the characteristic New Testament expressions in this field are drawn directly from the Old Testament. There the coming and the kingdom of Messiah are constantly stressed by Inspiration, far beyond the narrow provincial concepts increasingly envisioned and adopted by the Jews. Jehovah as the righteous judge and the future kingdom of God for the regenerate of all peoples were constantly portrayed in vivid phrasings. CFF1 135.3

Let us now take a sweeping survey of the witness of the Old Testament prophets, and note their testimony. CFF1 135.4

2. CONSTANT SUCCESSION OF ESCHATOLOGICAL GLIMPSES

The climax of human history has intrigued men throughout the centuries. But, far more significantly, it has engrossed the thoughts and pens of God’s prophets. Eschatological glimpses of the last things appear in constant succession in their inspired writings. Here are some of the many Old Testament declarations: CFF1 136.1

(1) Job—tells of the great resurrection day, when the heavens depart, and the Life-giver calls forth the sleeping dead: CFF1 136.2

“Man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep .... All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee” (Job 14:12-15). CFF1 136.3

(2) DAVID—declares that judgment by fire from Heaven has been prepared for sinners: “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup” (Psalm 11:6). CFF1 136.4

(3) SOLOMON—sets forth the expectation of a judgment at the end of the world: CFF1 136.5

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments .... For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14). CFF1 136.6

(4) DANIEL—gives a multiple testimony. Among other points he forewarns: CFF1 136.7

“And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:1, 2; cf. Matthew 25:46). CFF1 136.8

(5) EZEKIEL—passing over Isaiah for the moment, we find that Ezekiel stresses the responsibility of the soul to God, then declares, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). And he emphasizes the resurrection of the body in his graphic portrayal of the vision of the dry bones reclothed with flesh by God’s command, and filled again with the “breath,” or “spirit,” of life (Ezekiel 37:5, 6, 14 especially). CFF1 136.9

(6) HOSEA—holds forth the hope of the future triumph of righteousness in the Messianic kingdom, and affirms the hope of the resurrection: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hosea 13:14). CFF1 137.1

(7) JOEL—looks forward to the latter day, when there will be “wonders in the heavens and in the earth” and celestial signs seen “before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come” (Joel 2:30, 31). Then he assures that a “remnant” will be delivered, and the nations judged, as the Lord shall “roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem” (Joel 3:16). And finally, a new Jerusalem will become God’s dwelling place forever (Joel 3). He pictures the dark antecedent “day of the Lord” in vivid terms: CFF1 137.2

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.” “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:1, 2, 11). CFF1 137.3

(8) Amos—attacks the popular current concept of the day of the Lord as vindicating not merely Israel but righteousness. And he cries, “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18). And he likewise warns of celestial signs—how the Lord of hosts “in that day ... will cause the sun to go down at noon, and ... will darken the earth in the clear day” (Amos 8:9). CFF1 137.4

(9) HABAKKUK—foretells the glad time when, with all tribulations past, “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). CFF1 137.5

(10) ZEPHANIAH—warns of the approaching “day of the Lord” (Zephaniah 1:14): “A day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Zephaniah 1:15). CFF1 137.6

But when the tempest is past then all the righteous will serve God “with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:8, 9). CFF1 138.1

(11) ZECHARIAH—presents both the gloom and the glory of the “latter days,” as well as the Messianic Era, in which the Gentiles are to be converted (Zechariah 2:11). CFF1 138.2

(12) MALACHI—tells of the “messenger of the covenant” who will “suddenly come to his temple,” but comes in judgment: “Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:2). CFF1 138.3

His final chapter describes graphically “the great and the terrible day of the Lord”—the day that “shall burn as an oven,” consuming the wicked like “stubble,” reducing them to “ashes,” and leaving them “neither root nor branch” (Malachi 4:1). Then shall the eternal “Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). CFF1 138.4

These all portray, in various inspired phrasings, the “last things,” the events of the “latter days,” “time of the end,” and “great day of the Lord.” That is Old Testament eschatology. CFF1 138.5