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 Nation Shall Rise Against Nation

by
J. W. Whitney

Matthew 23 records the last sermon that Jesus preached to the Pharisees, unbelieving Jews who had rejected Him. He told them that it was His last sermon to them.

"Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:34-39). When He finished speaking to them, He went out; as far as He was concerned their house was left unto them desolate.

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple" (Matthew 24:1). They were human and so no doubt were pleased with the temple and the other buildings that belonged to the temple. They thought that the Master would be just as pleased. But He said, "See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2). Of course, that coming from the Master aroused their curiosity.

"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:3-8).

The disciples asked Him, "When shall these things be?" They also asked the Master for the signs that the people of the world were to look for at the time of His second coming. No doubt the first question referred to the destruction of the temple that Jesus told them would happen. Jesus ignored that question and answered the second question. Some may say, "Why did He ignore the first question?" Frankly, I do not know, except that the Bible does not give dates. To have answered the first question, He would have had to give them the date.

If Jesus had not wanted to answer the second question, He would have ignored it just as He did the first. Instead, He answered the second question and made it so plain that any believing student of the Bible should understand it.

The disciples were warned that there would be wars and rumors of wars. He no doubt mentioned that to them so they would not be deceived. Then He gave them a concrete sign.

You may say, "Have we ever had the war that the Master described in this message?" Yes, and you will understand when, as we closely examine what He said. If you are too young to remember, just look in our U.S. history and compare what you see there; you will find that the war from 1914 to 1918 fully described what He was talking about. You can search the history of all the wars prior to that time, but you will not find another single war that the seventh verse describes. Let us examine that verse.

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." There never was a war before the First World War that involved so many nations. The war affected almost every nation on the globe, if not all of them. Some of them tried to be neutral, but they were affected in one way or another. Many kingdoms fell, including Spain, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and most of the Balkan states. France had a hard time keeping its government together, not to mention Italy. It was properly called the First World War, and let us bear in mind it is not over yet. If we will examine history, we will see that we are still in the First World War and will be until Jesus comes. There never has been a time since that war when there hasn't been war going on in some part of the world. Yes, we are still in the First World War.

Next, let us consider famines. Many started in that war, and we still have famines with us today. Truly the Master never makes a mistake. He said, "For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always" (Matthew 26:11).

That is the greatest trouble with America. We do not have the blessed Lord with us as a nation. May the good Lord help us to see this and get back to the old paths. When we do that, we need have no fear of Russia or anybody else. Yes, we still have the famines with us. We are compelled to send aid to most of the nations over there, and that is our duty. We are compelled to furnish a good part of the money to carry on the wars against communism. We are just on the verge of destruction, and why? Because we have forgotten God. Instead of following Him and depending on Him for help, we have turned to science and our own efforts. This country was born in a struggle for religious liberty; as long as we lived as our founding fathers did, no nation was able to stand before us. We were at one time a Christian nation. Now, instead of following the Lord and taking Him into our councils, we--like Israel of old--have taken up the ways of the nations around us. I am sure that if this nation had put its trust in God and spent as much money to evangelize the heathen nations as it has spent for implements of destruction to destroy them, we would have evangelized the world at least to the extent that there would be no use for all the weapons of war. Plenty of places in the Bible will bear out that statement.

What about pestilence? Did we have any pestilence during the First World War? Yes, we did. After the fighting ended, we had one of the worst pestilences that the world has ever known. That pestilence killed more people than the war did. That was the worldwide epidemic of influenza. Since then we have had the epidemic of polio, and it is still with us--as is the flu, although in a milder form.

How about the earthquakes in diverse places? I do not have to remind you about them. We have had some of the worst earthquakes that we have ever known, plus volcanic eruptions that have covered up whole cities.

Everything in the seventh verse that the Master told His disciples to look for can be found in the First World War. The Master made this prediction over nineteen hundred years ago, and it is being fulfilled to the letter. I do not see how any Bible-believing Christian could doubt it, especially when the prediction was made by Christ Himself, and He is the One that has the principal part in its fulfillment.

God had told Israel when He brought them out of Egyptian bondage (before the twelve tribes were divided and while they were still in the wilderness) that when they came into the land and were settled in it, if they would keep His commandments and keep His Sabbaths, He would bless them.

"Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright" (Leviticus 26:1-13).

If they did not keep His covenant, He warned that He would punish them severely and for a long time. This is recorded in the next 14 verses of Leviticus where He tells them no less than four times the length of time of their chastisement.

"But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins" (Leviticus 26:14-28).

A time is one year of 360 days--12 months of 30 days each. Counting each day for a year, a prophetic year would be the equivalent of 360 years. In Ezekiel 4:6 we read, " . . . and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." In the case of the spies that went over into Canaan to spy out the land and then came back with an evil report, we read that they were over there for 40 days. Then God turned the Israelites back into the wilderness for 40 years for their unbelief--a year for each day that the spies were spying out the land.

Since a prophetic year was the equivalent of 360 years, and the word time was one year, then seven times would be 2,520 days or 2,520 prophetic years. This was the length of time that Israel was to be punished for their sins. In order to find out when the time of their punishment would end, we would have to find out when it started. Almost all students of prophecy agree that the time was when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and carried the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin captive into Babylon. (See Daniel 1:1-2.) Almost all agree, too, if they are also students of history, that that event was 604 years before Christ. It was 604 years from the time that the Lord gave Jehoiakim, King of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (who took Jerusalem and carried the Jews away captive) until the time of Christ. The year 1917 AD is 2,520 years after Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem.

We all know that on December 9, 1917, the British General Allenby took Jerusalem from the Turks when he came up before Jerusalem and besieged it and sent a telegram to the high command asking what to do. He did not want to take the responsibility of shelling the city and all of those ancient buildings. The high command sent back word for him to use his own judgment. General Allenby demanded their surrender. About that time, British planes flew over the city, striking terror to the hearts of the Turks. They surrendered the city to the British general, so Jerusalem and Palestine passed into the hands of the British.

I would call attention to the fact that another prophecy was fulfilled in the capture of Jerusalem. In Isaiah we read, "As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it" (Isaiah 31:5). So when the British planes circled over the city, the Turks ran up the white flag; and Jerusalem passed from the Turks to the British. This prediction of Isaiah was made about 2,600 years before the surrender. The British took the city without the loss of any of the ancient buildings.

Let us examine the words of the prophecy a bit:

"As birds flying"--The prophet did not say that they were birds, but he said, "as birds." He couldn't tell what they were, but he could describe them. There was a time in my life that I would not have known any more what they were than Isaiah did. I am quite sure that if I had tried to describe them, about the first thing I would have said would have been that they looked like birds.

"So will the Lord . . . defend Jerusalem . . . he will deliver it."--The planes flying over caused the Turks to surrender the city.

"Passing over he will preserve it."--Passing over (not through). Isaiah described it so minutely that there should be no doubt.

Here is something else that will make it even more plain. The capture of Jerusalem was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel as well. I want to read what the prophet said: "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you" (Ezekiel 36:24-25). In chapter 37, the prophet states, "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land" (Ezekiel 37:21).

When Allenby captured Jerusalem, it passed out of the hands of the heathen into the hands of the British for the first time since it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar 2,520 years before. The Prime Minister of England issued a proclamation giving Palestine to the Jews for a national home, and the British Parliament ratified the decree.

The Jews started back to their home land in the early twenties, and there has been war between the Jews and Arabs almost continually since. After the Second World War, the Jewish nation of Israel was established. The Jews have continued going back from many countries around the world, and they have built a great university and are building railroads and cities. They have not yet gotten possession of the temple, but they will. Remember that when David was appointed king over all Israel after the death of Saul, he went up to Jerusalem where the Jebusites were in possession.

We believe that the war of 1914 to 1918 was the war that the Master had in mind in His message to His disciples, and I believe every child of God can see that it is the beginning of the end of the reign of the Gentiles. Jerusalem had been in the hands of the Gentiles ever since Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, took the kingdom of Judah in 604 BC. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

The time that the Gentiles began to reign over the nations of the world, including the kingdom of Judah, was at the same time that God began to punish the Jews for their sin of idolatry. That reign will last until the Lord has punished the Jews sufficiently. The Gentile nations are getting so corrupt that God is going to call out all of his children into the air, while all of the communists and the modernists and the ungodly church members and all of the antichrist elements of the world are going to start the most cruel and unholy war the world has ever known. That is when Christ will call the saints of this dispensation into the air; and according to the Scriptures, the war is to last three and a half years. At the close of the war, Christ will gather all of the angels from one end of heaven to the other, and "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . . . . Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:31-34, 41).

In the last days things will happen quickly. Christ will call the first resurrection, after which the Jew, or rather Israel (for both tribes will be united at the time), will seek the Lord. "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all" (Ezekiel 37:22).

"In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers" (Jeremiah 50:4-7).

If you doubt my word on this subject, just turn to any of the Scriptures I have given and read the whole chapter; and you will see, I believe, why I am so sure of the ground on which I base my opinion. For instance, check all of Ezekiel chapters 36-37 and all of Jeremiah 50.

I am just as confident as I ever was of any thing that when this next war starts, Christ will call all of His people of this dispensation that have been saved and are blessed and holy. Let us remember that we are told in Revelation 20:6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

Now, that I might not be misunderstood, let me explain what I believe the prophet meant by the words blessed and holy. Of course he meant just what he said. He knew that, but I wonder if we know. Let us remember that before we are saved we are dead spiritually, and then the Spirit of God must strive with us and convince us that we are sinners. We cannot know this unless the Spirit reveals it to us. "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him . . ." (John 6:44). When we are drawn by the Father and we come to Christ accepting Him as our Savior, we are born again. Then just as long as we walk in every ray of light, we will be classed with the blessed and holy. The Bible teaches that "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

* * * * *

I am writing this message and expect to include it in the notebook that will be left. I hope it will be read after I am gone. I will have to answer for what I have written, so I am very careful what I say. That is the reason why I give so much Scripture in all of the messages I write, for I will not be here to answer the questions that might be asked. I am praying I might have said some things that may point someone to the Lamb of God. Amen.

It isn't likely that I will be here when these things come to pass, and I say Amen. I pray that everyone that reads this message will compare it with the conditions as they may appear. May the good Lord bless.

_____
© 1957 J. W. Whitney

Click here if you have a question for Pastor Elvin Dillard (great grandson of J. W. Whitney).

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV).

For clarity and ease of reading, this sermon has been edited and condensed by Barbara Carpenter and Wynona Haun (granddaughters of J. W. Whitney) with special help from Elvin Dillard and Marie Haun. The author's primary message remains.

Please feel free to duplicate the sermon for nonprofit purposes, and be sure to include the credits and Web address on all reproductions. You are welcome to contact us with questions and comments.

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