Observations with Brooks Alden November 2017
The Lost Sheep
Christ instructed His apostles to go in preference to the lost sheep of Israel (Matt. 10:6). But, why?? Because He knew that Judah would reject Him and therefore lose the spiritual part of the Covenant, which would be handed over to the branch of Israel owning the temporal part. “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you (i.e., from the Jews) and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43).
Who was that nation? Perhaps this will enlighten us. Sir William Willcocks, KCMG (27 September 1852 in India – 28 July 1932 in Cairo, Egypt) was a British civil engineer during the high point of the British Empire. He was an irrigation engineer who proposed and built the first Aswan Dam, the scale of which had never been attempted previously. He later undertook other major irrigation projects in South Africa and in Arab regions of the dying Ottoman Empire. Here are his comments.
“A nation—one nation—in the singular. Ephraim means “bringing forth fruits,” or as “Aids to Students” has it, ” Fruitful.” The nation to whom Christ committed the oracles of God was evidently Ephraim in exile. Being ordered to work in the vineyard he refused, but afterwards repented and went. The so-called Anglo-Saxon race have translated the Scriptures, in whole or part, into hundreds of different languages, and have done it because it was right to do it, and ignorant of the fact that they are the special people to whom the work of spreading Christianity was entrusted. It is their own special work, and their national prosperity depended greatly upon the thoroughness with which that work was performed”.
Where was the Garden of Eden?
Again, according the then new Biblical theories of Sir William Willcocks, the well-known engineer of the late 18th century and early 19th century, the original site of the Garden of Eden may have been located at Hawlah, a lovely and flourishing oasis in the delta of the Euphrates, about two hundred miles north-west of the city of Baghdad. The Sunday Newspaper was quoted as saying that Sir William declared the greater part of the valley of the Euphrates and the Tigris and of the area between these rivers to be as rich as the valley of the Nile.
From Michael Clark
Interesting little tidbit out of the UK from the office of the president of BIWF, “I do feel this will be a most important gathering as we seek to build the Faith of our Members for the significant days ahead. The Conservative Party Conference was brought alive today with a speech by our Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, entitled ‘Let the Lion Roar.’ It was a B-I address in all but name!
Our Canada of Yesteryear
You know, perhaps we don’t toot our own horn enough but this great country north of the 49th parallel is a pretty special nation. I often recall the astute Bible scholar, David Strong, suggesting that God has a special purpose in mind for this immense land with a small population and perhaps we won’t have long to wait to see if this is so. Over 100 years ago, a British magazine, “The Banner of Israel” ran a long story headed “The Romance of Canada”. Canadians understand this romance and while not openly boastful, they express their love in many ways. Her contribution to the world scene has been far more impactful that her numbers and whenever duty calls, she is there side by side with her great neighbour to the south. Indeed, the pride of every Canadian shows through when they sing that powerful line of the National Anthem, “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee”.
Space doesn’t permit a re-print of the entire Banner article but the first four paragraphs provides a flavour of a wonderful beginning.
“CANADA has had a rapid growth since the period of her real consolidation—a process which took many years, during which the careless observer might have thought that little progress was being made.
The paper union had to be made a real union. A vast country, extending over 3,500 miles, much of it lying waste and totally unorganised, divided by hundreds of miles of mountain heights, and a large area of rugged country to the north of the lakes had to be joined together by long and expensive lines of railway, built when the country was very sparsely settled and comparatively poor.
Next, these wide spaces had to be organised into provinces and territories; lands had to be surveyed and experimented upon; difficulties of climate and inexperience had to be met and overcome. This took many years in the organisation, and with little possibility of showing results.
Settlements followed railway construction, and experience taught the farmer how to manage western lands. When the latter were found to be good, settlers flocked in, towns and villages were founded and grew apace”.
From A Reader
We have a good friend and reader in South Carolina and we asked him to comment on Hurricane Irma as it passed through that state. Here are his comments “We thank God for all the prayers that were given when Hurricane Irma came thru—Since we were on the eastern side of the hurricane on Monday, we received wind gusts up to 53 mph and sustained winds of 35 mph and without any damage. We were very fortunate in comparison to those along the coast of South Carolina especially near Beaufort, Hilton Head and Charleston. These cities were impacted with extremely high tides and flooding in many areas downtown. Water damage and trees down along with loss of power for 5-7 days are the major areas of concern for these coastal towns.
I wish I had a better report for Florida, but there the brunt of Hurricane Irma and what 150 + mph winds can and will do when you use water in conjunction with wind. As of last count according to NBC, this will cost the USA 200 + billion dollars in order to rebuild Florida and Texas. Isn’t this ironic that these are two of the largest states in land mass and then you look at the size of Irma and how it engulfed the state of Florida and affected 4 states around them—it does show me that we are truly pieces of sand on a very large beach”.
Elizabeth
Received a note from a reader enquiring about the name of Elizabeth. He wrote, “I’ve been trying to get the origin of the name Elizabeth. All the resources I’ve found go to the Hebrew as coming from sheva – not beth. I’m pretty sure that’s wrong, but can’t prove it. Can you help?”
Well, our Bible answer man, Pastor Jory Brooks, had this to say, “Elizabeth is Greek form of Hebrew Elisheba, the Oath of God, or God’s Oath. Your correspondent is confused because it was not transliterated identically from Hebrew to Greek”.
Ultimate Peace?
What say the Scriptures? “Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquities: the earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain.”. (Isaiah 26:21). It’s God’s indignation because Zephaniah 3:8 tells us, “Therefore wait ye upon Me, saith the Lord, until I rise up to the fray, for My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them My indignation, even all My fierce anger, for the whole earth shall be devoured by the fire of My jealousy, saith the Lord. But Isaiah (63:4) declares, For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.” So, despite the anguish, Christians will be saved.
The prophet Daniel (12:1) echoes a similar “There shall he a time of trouble, such as was not since the world began to that same clay, no, nor ever shall be. In that time thy people shall be delivered.”
So, great trouble is soon to come upon us but the good news is the Christian body will be saved, Our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ told us so . “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)
The time is indicated by the prophet in the words: “In the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.” (Jeremiah 23:20) What we have to think about, “are these the times”. So much is taking place in the world that is satanic. If they are the times, we must adhere to the preceding verse 20 of the opening verse of Isaiah 26:2,1, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast”. One study Bible refers to this as the believers being preserved supernaturally from the great tribulation. (Based on a W.H. Mason article).
Toronto Conference
Your editor had the pleasure of speaking to the British-Israel-World Federation Annual Conference on September 23rd. Like ourselves, they are a small group but very knowledgeable and enthusiastic one. Their youthful president, Kent Purvis, is a speaker of note himself and earlier this year spoke at the BIWF Conference in Buxton, England. The keynote speaker at the Toronto Conference this year was our correspondent and astute historian, Pastor Jory Brooks.
