〉 Chapter 58—Darkness Precedes the Dawn
Chapter 58—Darkness Precedes the Dawn
Through the long centuries from the day our first parents lost their Eden home to the time the Son of God appeared as the Saviour, the hope of the fallen race was centered in the coming of a Deliverer to free men and women from the bondage of sin and the grave. (SS 353.1)
Hope was given first to Adam and Eve in Eden when the Lord declared to Satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15. As the guilty pair listened, they were inspired with hope, for they discerned a promise of deliverance from ruin. They need not yield to despair. The Son of God was to atone with His own blood for their transgression. Through faith in the power of Christ to save, they might become once more the children of God. (SS 353.2)
By turning man from obedience Satan became “the god of this world.” 2 Corinthians 4:4. But the Son of God proposed not only to redeem man but to recover the dominion forfeited. “O Tower of the flock, ... unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8. (SS 353.3)
This hope of redemption has never become extinct. From the beginning there have been some whose faith has reached out beyond the present to the future: Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through these the Lord has preserved the revealings of His will. To the chosen people through whom was to be given the promised Messiah, God imparted a knowledge of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of His beloved Son. (SS 353.4)
The promise was made at the call of Abraham, and afterward repeated: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3. The Sun of Righteousness shone upon Abraham’s heart, and his darkness was scattered. When the Saviour Himself walked among the sons of men, He bore witness of the patriarch’s hope: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56. (SS 354.1)
This same “blessed hope” was foreshadowed in the benediction pronounced by Jacob on Judah: (SS 354.2)
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until He comes to whom it belongs;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Genesis 49:10, RSV
(SS 354)
Again, the coming of the world’s Redeemer was foretold by Balaam: (SS 354.3)
A star shall come forth out of Jacob,
And a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
Numbers 24:17, RSV
(SS 354)
Through Moses also, God’s purpose to send His Son as the Redeemer was kept before Israel. Moses declared, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren ...; unto Him ye shall hearken.” Deuteronomy 18:15. (SS 354.4)
The sacrificial offerings constituted a perpetual reminder of the coming of a Saviour. Throughout Israel’s history each day the people were taught by types and shadows the great truths of Christ as Redeemer, Priest, and King. And once each year their minds were carried forward to the closing events of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The earthly sanctuary was “a figure for the time then present.” Its two holy places were “patterns of things in the heavens,” for Christ is today “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 9:9, 23; 8:2. (SS 354.5)
When Adam and his sons began to offer ceremonial sacrifices ordained as a type of the coming Redeemer, Satan discerned in these a symbol of communion between earth and heaven. During the long centuries it has been his constant effort to intercept this communion, to misrepresent God and misinterpret the rites pointing to the Saviour. The archenemy of mankind has endeavored to represent God as one who delights in men’s destruction. The sacrifices designed to reveal divine love have been perverted as means whereby sinners have vainly hoped to propitiate the wrath of an offended God. At the same time, Satan has sought to strengthen evil passions in order that through repeated transgression multitudes might be led far from God and hopelessly bound with the fetters of sin. (SS 355.1)
In the parchment rolls of the Old Testament Scriptures Satan traced the words that outlined Christ’s work among men as a suffering sacrifice and as a conquering king. He read that the One who was to appear was to be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter,” “His visage ... so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” The promised Saviour was to be “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: ... smitten of God, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:7; 52:14; 53:3, 4. These prophecies caused Satan to tremble, yet he determined to blind the people to their real significance in order to prepare the way for the rejection of Christ at His coming. (SS 355.2)
Preceding the Flood, success had attended Satan’s efforts to bring about a worldwide rebellion against God. After the Flood, with artful insinuations he again led men into bold rebellion. He seemed about to triumph, but through the posterity of faithful Abraham, divinely appointed messengers were to be raised up to call attention to the meaning of the sacrificial ceremonies, and especially to the promise of the One toward whom all the ordinances pointed. (SS 355.3)
Not without determined opposition was the divine purpose carried out. In every way possible the enemy worked to cause the descendants of Abraham to forget their holy calling. For centuries preceding Christ’s first advent, darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Multitudes were sitting in the shadow of death. (SS 356.1)
With prophetic vision David had foreseen that the coming of Christ should be “as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds.” 2 Samuel 23:4. And Hosea testified, “His going forth is prepared as the morning.” Hosea 6:3. Quietly and gently the daylight breaks on the earth, dispelling the darkness and waking the earth to life. Isaiah exclaimed: (SS 356.2)
Unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given:
And the government shall be upon His shoulder:
And His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
(SS 356)
The steadfast among the Jewish nation strengthened their faith by dwelling on these and similar passages. 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. Yet with sadness and deep humiliation of soul they traced the words in the prophetic roll: (SS 356.3)
He is despised and rejected of men;
A Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
(SS 357)
Surely He hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted ... .
(SS 357)
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned everyone to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on Him
The iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3-6
(SS 357)
As the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was to suffer under divine justice. Through the psalmist the Redeemer had prophesied of Himself: (SS 357.1)
Reproach hath broken My heart;
And I am full of heaviness:
I looked for someone to take pity,
But there was none;
And for comforters,
But I found none.
They gave Me also gall for My meat;
And in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.
Psalm 69:20, 21
(SS 357)
He prophesied: “They pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.” Psalm 22:16-18. (SS 357.2)
These portrayals of the bitter suffering and cruel death of the Promised One, sad though they were, were rich in promise; for “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” and put Him to grief, in order that He might become “an offering for sin.” Isaiah 53:10. (SS 357.3)
Love for sinners led Christ to pay the price of redemption. None other could ransom men and women from the power of the enemy. In His life no self-assertion was mingled. The homage which the world gives to position, to wealth, and to talent, was to be foreign to the Son of God. None of the means that men employ to win allegiance was the Messiah to use. His renunciation of self was foreshadowed in the words: (SS 358.1)
He shall not cry,
Nor lift up,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall He not break,
And the smoking flax shall He not quench.
Isaiah 42:2, 3
(SS 358)
In marked contrast to the teachers of the day was the Saviour to conduct Himself among men. In His life no noisy disputation, no act to gain applause was ever to be witnessed. The Messiah was to be hid in God, and God was to be revealed in the character of His Son. Without divine help, men and women would sink lower and lower. Life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world. (SS 358.2)
The Son of God was to “magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Verse 21. He was to free the divine precepts from the burdensome exactions placed on them by man, whereby many were discouraged in their efforts to serve God. (SS 358.3)
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; ... with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.” Isaiah 11:2-4. (SS 358.4)
A fountain was to be opened “for sin and for uncleanness.” Zechariah 13:1. The sons of men were to hear the blessed invitation: (SS 358.5)
Incline your ear, and come unto Me:
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
Even the sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 55:3
(SS 359)
In word and deed the Messiah was to reveal the glory of God the Father, to make known to fallen humanity the infinite love of God. (SS 359.1)
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd:
He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And shall gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah 40:11.
(SS 359)
And those who err in spirit will come to understanding.
And those who murmur will accept instruction.
Isaiah 29:24, RSV
(SS 359)
Thus God spoke to the world concerning the coming of a Deliverer from sin. Inspired prophecy pointed to the advent of “the Desire of all nations.” Haggai 2:7. Even the place of His birth and the time of His appearance were specified. The Son of David must be born in David’s city. Out of Bethlehem “shall He come forth ... that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” Micah 5:2. (SS 359.2)
And thou Bethlehem, ...
Out of thee shall come forth a Governor,
Which shall be Shepherd of My people Israel.
Matthew 2:6, RV
(SS 359)
The time of the first advent was made known to Daniel. “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Daniel 9:24. (SS 359.3)
A day in prophecy stands for a year. See Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6. The 70 weeks, or 490 days, represent 490 years. A starting point for this period is given: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore [sixty] and two weeks” (Daniel 9:25)—69 weeks, or 483 years. The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem by the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus went into effect in the autumn of 457 B.C. See Ezra 6:14; 7:1, 9. From this time, 483 years extend to the autumn of A.D. 27. According to the prophecy, this period was to reach to the Messiah, the Anointed One. In A.D. 27, Jesus at His baptism received the anointing of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 4:27; John 1:33), and soon afterward the message was proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled.” Mark 1:15. (SS 360.1)
Then, said the angel, “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week [seven years].” For seven years after the Saviour entered on His ministry, the gospel was to be preached especially to the Jews; for three and a half years by Christ Himself, and afterward by the apostles. “In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Daniel 9:27. In the spring of A.D. 31, Christ, the true Sacrifice, was offered on Calvary. Then the veil of the temple was rent (see Mark 15:38), showing that the time had come for the earthly sacrifice to cease. (SS 360.2)
The one “week”—seven years—ended in A.D. 34. By the stoning of Stephen the Jews sealed their rejection of the gospel. The disciples “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4), and shortly after, Saul the persecutor became Paul the apostle to the Gentiles. (SS 360.3)
The prophecies concerning the Saviour led the Hebrews to live in an attitude of constant expectancy. Many believed and confessed that they were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Hebrews 11:13. The promises repeated through patriarchs and prophets had kept alive the hope of His appearing. (SS 360.4)
Not at first had God revealed the exact time of the first advent; and even when the prophecy of Daniel made this known, not all rightly interpreted the message. (SS 361.1)
Century after century passed away. Finally the voices of the prophets ceased. As the Jews departed from God, hope well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. Those whose faith should have continued strong were ready to exclaim, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” Ezekiel 12:22. But in heaven’s council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman.” Galatians 4:4, 5, RSV. (SS 361.2)
Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. The Messenger of the covenant must be heard in His own temple. The author of truth must separate truth from the chaff of man’s utterance. The plan of redemption must be clearly defined. (SS 361.3)
When the Saviour finally appeared “in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7), Satan could but bruise the heel, while by every act of suffering Christ was bruising the head of His adversary. The anguish that sin has brought was poured into the bosom of the Sinless. Yet Christ was breaking the bondage in which humanity had been held. Every pang of anguish, every insult was working out the deliverance of the race. (SS 361.4)
If Satan could have induced Christ by one act, or even thought, to stain His perfect purity, the prince of darkness would have triumphed and gained the whole human family. But while Satan could distress, he could not contaminate. He could cause agony, but not defilement. He made the life of Christ one long scene of conflict and trial, yet with every attack he was losing his hold on humanity. (SS 361.5)
In Gethsemane and on the cross, our Saviour measured weapons with the prince of darkness. When Christ hung in agony on the cross, then indeed His heel was bruised by Satan. But that very act was crushing the serpent’s head. Through death He destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14. This act made forever sure the plan of salvation. In death, in rising again, He opened the gates of the grave to all His followers. Our Redeemer has opened the way so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised may find access to the Father. (SS 362.1)