Basic HTML Version
Man’s Sin and the “Fullness of the Time”
23
death,” men sat unsolaced. With longing they looked for the coming
of the Deliverer, when the mystery of the future should be made
plain.
Outside of the Jewish nation there were men seeking for truth,
and to them the Spirit of Inspiration was imparted. Their words of
prophecy had kindled hope in the hearts of thousands of the Gentile
world.
For hundreds of years the Scriptures had been translated into
the Greek language, then widely spoken throughout the Roman
Empire. The Jews were scattered everywhere, and their expectation
of the Messiah’s coming was to some extent shared by the Gentiles.
Among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had
a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the
Messiah than had the teachers in Israel.
Some who hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin endeav-
ored to study into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the Jews,
intent on maintaining the separation between themselves and other
nations, were unwilling to impart the knowledge they possessed con-
cerning the symbolic service. The true Interpreter, the One whom
all these types prefigured, must come and explain their significance.
Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity.
Christ must come to utter words clearly understood and to separate
truth from the chaff which had made it of no effect.
Among the Jews there were yet steadfast souls through whom
a knowledge of God had been preserved. These strengthened their
faith by dwelling on the assurance given through Moses, “A Prophet
[22]
shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like
unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say
unto you.”
Acts 3:22
. They read how the Lord would anoint One “to
preach good tidings unto the meek,” “to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and to declare the “acceptable
year of the Lord.”
Isaiah 61:1, 2
. He would “set judgment in the
earth” and the isles would “wait for His law.”
Isaiah 42:4
. Gentiles
would come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His rising.
See
Isaiah 60:3
.
The dying words of Jacob filled them with hope: “The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come.”
Genesis 49:10
. The waning power of Israel tes-