The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 3: "The Fullness of the Time"
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God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem them that were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption of sons. — Galatians 4:4-5
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"When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son, . . . to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4, 5. {DA 31.1}
The Saviour's coming was foretold in Eden. When Adam and Eve
first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment. They joyfully
welcomed their first-born son, hoping that he might be the Deliverer. But the
fulfillment of the promise tarried. Those who first received it died without
the sight. From the days of Enoch the promise was repeated through patriarchs
and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing, and yet He came not. The
prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly
interpreted the message. Century after century passed away; the voices of the
prophets ceased. The hand of the oppressor was heavy upon Israel, and many were
ready to exclaim, "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth."
Ezekiel 12:22. [32] {DA 31.2}
But like the stars in the vast circuit of their appointed
path, God's purposes know no haste and no delay. Through the symbols of the
great darkness and the smoking furnace, God had revealed to Abraham the bondage
of Israel in Egypt, and had declared that the time of their sojourning should
be four hundred years. "Afterward," He said, "shall they come
out with great substance." Genesis 15:14. Against that word, all the power
of Pharaoh's proud empire battled in vain. On "the self-same day" appointed
in the divine promise, "it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord
went out from the land of Egypt." Exodus 12:41. So in heaven's council the
hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time
pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. {DA 32.1}
"When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
His Son." Providence had directed the movements of nations, and the tide
of human impulse and influence, until the world was ripe for the coming of the
Deliverer. The nations were united under one government. One language was
widely spoken, and was everywhere recognized as the language of literature.
From all lands the Jews of the dispersion gathered to Jerusalem to the annual
feasts. As these returned to the places of their sojourn, they could spread
throughout the world the tidings of the Messiah's coming. {DA 32.2}
At this time the systems of heathenism were losing their
hold upon the people. Men were weary of pageant and fable. They longed for a
religion that could satisfy the heart. While the light of truth seemed to have
departed from among men, there were souls who were looking for light, and who
were filled with perplexity and sorrow. They were thirsting for a knowledge of
the living God, for some assurance of a life beyond the grave. {DA 32.3}
As the Jews had departed from God, faith had grown dim, and
hope had well-nigh ceased to illuminate the future. The words of the prophets
were uncomprehended. To the masses of the people, death was a dread mystery;
beyond was uncertainty and gloom. It was not alone the wailing of the mothers
of Bethlehem, but the cry from the great heart of humanity, that was borne to
the prophet across the centuries,—the voice heard in Ramah,
"lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Matthew 2:18.
In "the region and shadow of death," men sat unsolaced. With longing
eyes they looked for the [33] coming of the Deliverer, when the
darkness should be dispelled, and the mystery of the future should be made
plain. {DA 32.4}
Outside of the Jewish nation there were men who foretold the
appearance of a divine instructor. These men were seeking for truth, and to
them the Spirit of Inspiration was imparted. One after another, like stars in
the darkened heavens, such teachers had arisen. Their words of prophecy had
kindled hope in the hearts of thousands of the Gentile world. {DA 33.1}
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. There were some who
hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin. Philosophers endeavored to study
into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the bigotry of the Jews hindered
the spread of the light. Intent on maintaining the separation between
themselves and other nations, they were unwilling to impart the knowledge they
still possessed concerning the symbolic service. The true [34]
Interpreter must come. The One whom all these types prefigured must explain
their significance. {DA
33.2}
Through nature, through types and symbols, through
patriarchs and prophets, God had spoken to the world. Lessons must be given to
humanity in the language of humanity. The Messenger of the covenant must speak.
His voice must be heard in His own temple. Christ must come to utter words
which should be clearly and definitely understood. He, the author of truth,
must separate truth from the chaff of man's utterance, which had made it of no
effect. The principles of God's government and the plan of redemption must be
clearly defined. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men.
{DA 34.1}
Among the Jews there were yet steadfast souls, descendants
of that holy line through whom a knowledge of God had been preserved. These
still looked for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers. They
strengthened their faith by dwelling upon the assurance given through Moses,
"A Prophet 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. Again, 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. They read how He would "set
judgment in the earth," how the isles should "wait for His law,"
how the Gentiles should come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His
rising. Isaiah 42:4; 60:3. {DA
34.2}
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 testified
that the Messiah's coming was at hand. The prophecy of Daniel pictured the
glory of His reign over an empire which should succeed all earthly kingdoms;
and, said the prophet, "It shall stand forever." Daniel 2:44. While
few understood the nature of Christ's mission, there was a widespread
expectation of a mighty prince who should establish his kingdom in Israel, and
who should come as a deliverer to the nations. {DA 34.3}
The fullness of the time had come. Humanity, becoming more
degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer.
Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and
heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened [35] men in
sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish
His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction. {DA 34.4}
Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God,
to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own
kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. It
is true that in every generation God had His agencies. Even among the heathen
there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their
sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them
suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world
grew deeper and deeper. {DA
35.1}
Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from
God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By
contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a
knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel.
The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation
of every heathen religion; it had now [36] become
the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted this principle.
Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin. {DA 35.2}
The message of salvation is communicated to men through
human agencies. But the Jews had sought to make a monopoly of the truth which
is eternal life. They had hoarded the living manna, and it had turned to
corruption. The religion which they tried to shut up to themselves became an
offense. They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit
of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the
salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction. {DA 36.1}
The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground
of the truth had become representatives of Satan. They were doing the work that
he desired them to do, taking a course to misrepresent the character of God,
and cause the world to look upon Him as a tyrant. The very priests who
ministered in the temple had lost sight of the significance of the service they
performed. They had ceased to look beyond the symbol to the thing signified. In
presenting the sacrificial offerings they were as actors in a play. The
ordinances which God Himself had appointed were made the means of blinding the
mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for man through these
channels. The whole system must be swept away. {DA 36.2}
The deception of sin had reached its height. All the
agencies for depraving the souls of men had been put in operation. The Son of
God, looking upon the world, beheld suffering and misery. With pity He saw how
men had become victims of satanic cruelty. He looked with compassion upon those
who were being corrupted, murdered, and lost. They had chosen a ruler who
chained them to his car as captives. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving
on in gloomy procession toward eternal ruin,—to death in which is no
hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning. Satanic agencies were
incorporated with men. The bodies of human beings, made for the dwelling place
of God, had become the habitation of demons. The senses, the nerves, the
passions, the organs of men, were worked by supernatural agencies in the
indulgence of the vilest lust. The very stamp of demons was impressed upon the
countenances of men. Human faces reflected the expression of the legions of
evil with which they were possessed. Such was the prospect upon which the
world's Redeemer looked. What a spectacle for Infinite Purity to behold! [37]
{DA 36.3}
Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part
of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the
hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before
the universe that, apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted. A new
element of life and power must be imparted by Him who made the world. {DA 37.1}
With intense interest the unfallen worlds had watched to see
Jehovah arise, and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth. And if God should
do this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan for securing to himself the
allegiance of heavenly beings. He had declared that the principles of God's
government make forgiveness impossible. Had the world been destroyed, he would
have claimed that his accusations were proved true. He was ready to cast blame
upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the worlds above. But instead of
destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. Though corruption and
defiance might be seen in every part of the alien province, a way for its
recovery was provided. At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph,
the Son of God came with the embassage of divine grace. Through every age,
through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race.
Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually
exhibited. And when the fullness of the time had come, the Deity was glorified
by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be
obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled. {DA 37.2}
Satan was exulting that he had succeeded in debasing the
image of God in humanity. Then Jesus came to restore in man the image of his [38]
Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by
sin. He came to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came to lift
us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His
divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory. {DA 37.3}
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"Unto You a Saviour"
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