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| 1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
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| 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
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The scribes – Writers. E351
Sit in Moses' seat – The Pharisees were the principal sect of the Jews, and our Lord declares them the successors and representatives of the Mosaic Law. E351
Our Lord recognized the scribes and Pharisees as the legitimate instructors of the people, even though he often upbraided them as hypocrites who deceived the people. C152
Until the casting off of the Jewish house in AD 33; antitypically, the synods, conferences, etc., did likewise until 1878 when Babylon was cast off. C152
God had committed to them special responsibilities, blessings, privileges and knowledge. R5749:3
As representatives of God and the Law. R2969:2[R2969:2]
As the husbandmen, or caretakers, of the Lord's vineyard, Israel. R5504:6, 4678:3
Thus they were acquainted with the Law and the Prophets. R342:5
Representing "orthodoxy" so-called. R559:3
Moses still had his seat as Mediator of the Law Covenant, and he was represented by those who came afterwards. Q498:3
To settle disputes, etc., as The Christ will do during the Millennial age. B182
Ecclesiastical powers of today are professedly sitting in the seat of Christ. R5750:1
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| 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
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Observe and do – Yet Christ came "preaching the Gospel." Hence it is not surprising if the Gospel age and the age of restitution also lap a little. HG55:5
The Jews properly follow the guidance of their leaders in setting the date of the Passover, instead of each trying to fix the date according to his personal knowledge. R4127:6
Say, and do not – They were unjust in their dealings with the people. R5749:3
So filled with a misconception of their proper attitude toward God that they merely banded themselves together to enjoy the divine promises and gave up the remainder of their nation as publicans and sinners. R3332:6
If any man does not submit his own heart to the leading and teaching of the Lord, he has no authority from him to teach others to do so. R1922:1
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| 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
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For they bind – The Roman Catholic clergy use such cords as the confessional, holy candles, holy water, holy burial grounds. R1137:3
Heavy burdens – Exaggerating the Law, making it burdensome. Q725:7
The scribes and Pharisees had added to the Law a mass of forms and ceremonies so complex and bewildering that those who attempted a strict observance of them found them extremely burdensome--a yoke of bondage. R1540:2
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| 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
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Do for to be seen – As far as outward conditions of morality were concerned, they were shining examples of righteousness. Q756:4
Broad their phylacteries – Put on a brassy front. R2716:3
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| 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
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| 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
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Rabbi, Rabbi – Gradually coming to regard their position as an office rather than a service, and seeking each other's companionship in councils as clergymen. R1135:1
Roman Catholics are expected to address their clergy, "Your Reverence," and treat them as superiors in every respect, as holy men, whom to offend might jeopardize eternity. R1136:6
When Protestant denominations began, they were so full of the spirit of Christ they claimed no high-sounding titles, but were merely John Knox, Martin Luther, etc. R321:6, 65:2
A prominent characteristic of the Beast, copied by the Image, is the honoring of the special class, the clergy, with special titles and honors. R321:6, 65:2
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| 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
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Be not ye – Those in position as elders in the Church. R1895:1
We have no evidence that the early Church ever regarded the apostles as lords in the Church, or that the apostles ever assumed such authority and dignity. R1523:5; F230
Called Rabbi – Doctor, Reverend, etc. These hinder some even of God's true servants from faithfulness. D61; F203; R1487:4
A great man or master. R1895:1
In the voluntary association of the consecrated, there is no imperial authority, and no lording over God's heritage should be permitted. R1574:2
It was flattery of the leaders of the Reformation that stayed the progress of that good work and caused many of them of understanding to fall. (Dan. 11:34,35) R1895:2
One is your master – Teacher, Schoolmaster, Director, Supervisor, Caretaker, Instructor. R4380:5
One is your truly reverend Lord and Instructor, even Christ. R1487:4
We should not follow man, nor man-made creeds or systems. Individual study of the Bible seems indispensable, but we must not ignore the aids to Bible study which God has providentially furnished. Q844:2, 3
All ye are brethren – Without official titles or peculiar garb; not lords of God's heritage. F211; R5765:3; OV126:1, 160:5
Comrades, fellows, associates; not clergy and laity. CR316:2; OV126:1; R5765:3
Members in particular of the Body of Christ. SM15:T
The apostles were more important brethren than we are; still we are brethren. R5670:4
Of like passions and all subject to infirmities. R1895:2
Each royal priest is the peer of each other in authority and dignity of priesthood, though in talent and intelligence, and therefore in fitness, they are not all equals. R1137:4
A clerical class is entirely ignored as respects any superiority. NS63:5, 615:3
The one who serves belongs to no higher class than his brethren who chose him to thus minister or serve. R1137:3
In proportion as the Lord's spirit of love pervades our hearts, it overrides and obliterates all division of country, race, sex, and language. R4105:2
Awake to the principles of the Reformation, to a recognition of the right of individual judgment upon religious questions. R1136:4
All ye are ministers, servants of Christ; all ye are preachers, declarers of the good tidings; all ye are priests, not of human ordination, but by divine acceptance as members of the body of our Great High Priest. R1101:1
All the brethren were to exhort one another, all were to seek ability to prophesy or teach publicly, and all were surely to be living epistles of God. R984:4
One body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. (Eph. 4:1-6) R1278:1-6
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| 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
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Call no man your father – Papacy violates this command directly. D160
Spoken to the congregation of his people. R1895:2
We have already done so, to some extent, in refusing to own as our masters the various heads of the great nominal church. R1487:5
The foundation of the great Apostasy, Papacy, was laid in the separation of a class, called the clergy, from the believers in general, the laity. R1134:6
The object of Rome in establishing a clerical class, as separate from what she terms the laity, was to gain and hold full control of the people. R1136:5, 359:6*
Those who applied this to protest the establishment of Papacy were commended, in the Pergamos period of the Church, under the symbol of "Antipas, my faithful martyr" (Rev. 2:13). In the Greek, anti means against and Papas signifies father. R5993:2, 491:3*
One is your Father – A very emphatic statement of our dear and close relationship to God. R297:2
It is far from honoring the Master, as many appear to think they do, when they contradict his direct teaching, affirming that the Father and Son are one and the same being, equal in all respects. R369:6
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| 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
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Called masters – Neither give nor receive titles of any kind. R1895:1
No marks or badges of distinction or flattering homage of any kind may be tolerated in the body of Christ. R1895:2
Papacy exalts a man-ordained priestly class to rulership in the church, in opposition to this teaching. D160
One is your Master – No matter what may be the relative importance of some, only the one Lord and Head is to be recognized. F229
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| 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
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He that is greatest – The character and faithfulness of the servant should mark the degree of honor and esteem that should be rendered to any in the ecclesia of the new creation. F253
Rank and honor in the Kingdom will be proportionate to humility and service here. R309:4*
Be your servant – Greek, diakonos, deacon, minister. F253
Even the apostles and prophets who were elders in the Church were all deacons, or servants. F252
Unpretentious, like Jesus and the apostles, they were intent on serving God and therefore became the servants of the Church. R321:6
The extent to which we enter into our future mission is measurable by our present efforts to prosecute the work to the extent of our present ability. R875:5*
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| 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
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Shall exalt himself – Pride is selfishness gone to seed. R1486:3
To aspire to advancement for self-glory or self-gratification, to desire personal preferment above others, is contrary to the spirit of God's plan, which is love. R875:4*
It was to ambition that Satan tempted Eve, saying, "God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods." (Gen. 3:5) R875:1*
In the days of Constantine, the church sought influence with the civil power, and that successfully, though to her injury and apostasy. R1093:4
Shall be abased – As illustrated by Satan. A189; R1686:3, 875:1*
Inflated values must at some time come down to a solid basis. R1486:6
What degradation can await such self-exaltation, as is shown in the utterances of Papacy. B313
He assures us that he who exalts himself shall be brought low in due time. Our attention is called to the great Adversary. R2585:5
Not only a warning to the individual seeking preferment in the church, but also an instruction to the Church to accept as its servants only such as he here describes. R875:4*
The warnings go forth, and convictions of duty and privilege fasten upon many minds; but, alas! all is of no avail; they go unheeded. D60; HG715:3
Here, as in other instances, the Lord shows us that his ways are not man's ways, but higher, as the heavens are higher than the earth. R2585:5
Humble himself – As Christ did to become man's Redeemer. E425
Humility is the essential of all who would be of the Lord's family. R5704:4
By facing popular opposition and enduring popular reproach. R1487:2
Humility is the underlying principle of the divine government. R3537:2
Jesus was a perfect illustration: humbling himself, first, to become a man; and then, when a man, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of a cross. R875:1*
We have no intimation that either Jesus or any of the angels that kept their first estate ever aspired to anything beyond the sphere to which divine wisdom had appointed them. R875:1*
The man who underrates his worth comes much nearer to the truth than the man who overrates. R1487:1
Especially important for a person who has naturally little of reverence for God and holy things and who is naturally coarser and more self-centered and self-satisfied. R3987:4
Shall be exalted – He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, in due time, as illustrated by Jesus, our dear Redeemer. R2585:5, 1686:3, 875:1*
But not necessarily to the highest position. A189
The Church should follow this general rule in selecting elders. F296
It would be the very height of presumption on the part of any human being to aspire to the divine nature if he were not invited to that position by God himself. R875:2*
The exaltation of any individual or class is always for the purpose of blessing others who are not exalted. R1487:4, 422:4
"Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." (1 Pet. 5:6) R3079:2
The work of redemption was given to Jesus as a mark of special confidence and because of the honors which, according to divine law, must attach to so great obedience, humility and self-sacrifice. E424
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| 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
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Woe unto you – True love was the cause of the anger--love for truth, love for God and love for the people who were being deceived by the error. R439:2
Jesus was full of the love of God, but he spoke most emphatically against evil-doers. How differently the Lord's rebukes affected his loving disciples and the proud Pharisees. R664:1*, 416:1*
It is as much the duty of the Body of Christ now to point out present hindrances to growth--the teachings, theories and influences of the nominal church--as it was for Jesus to do so. R559:6
And Pharisees – Jesus called out no one of them by name, but merely denounced them as a class. R5679:4
The word means "God's holy people." R3552:2
Hypocrites! – It is much the same today: an outward veneer; a drawing near with the lips while the heart is far from him; busy with fashion, dress, pleasure and money-making idolatries, if not with grosser sins. R3552:2, 2872:5
Ye neither go in – The elder son would not go in (Luke 15:28) to greet the returned prodigal. "The publicans and sinners shall go into the kingdom before you." (Matt. 21:31) R1460:2
The news was so new to them and so good that the Pharisees and religious leaders could not believe it to be true. R241:3
By their course of action they say, Bring us no new unfoldings of truth, however beautiful. R1136:3
Let us spend less time and effort on sectarian-blinded ministers, and more upon the weary and heavy-laden common people, among whom are still some Israelites indeed. R1035:5, 1001:6
Neither suffer ye them – Objecting to his telling the poor prodigals anything about the love of God and his willingness to forgive them and to welcome them back home again. R1460:2
Seeking by every means in their power to obstruct and counteract the Lord's teaching. R1735:6
Seeking to prevent the Lord's sheep from recognizing the Shepherd. R2441:1
Ministers of all denominations are much less amenable to the truth than their consecrated sheep; not only so, but they are the greatest enemies of the truth. R2640:2
By false teachings and misrepresentations, putting darkness for light and light for darkness. R2693:4
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| 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater condemnation.
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Woe unto you – This verse added by unknown parties somewhere between the fifth and tenth centuries. R1536:6
Devour widows' houses – By taking advantage of circumstances to buy them cheaply at forced sale. R3316:2
By some technicality of the Law; and because they had no natural protection. R5338:6, 5470:5, 5389:3, 5094:5, 4795:2, 3552:2
The sin of selfishness, avarice, indicates a lack of the Spirit of the Lord. R4795:2
So today, some scheme to eat the substance of their neighbor, being cannibals in spirit. R5094:5
Make long prayer – Merely an outward, perfunctory observance. R5470:5
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| 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of Gehenna than yourselves.
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Pharisees – The "holiness" people of that time and nation. F641
Hypocrites – Their hypocrisy consisted in pretending to do for God's glory what was really for their own honor among men. R559:3
Few will deny that donations, labors and sacrifices are more for their sect than for God's Church. R559:5
Ye compass sea and land – With your missionary activity. F641
They had sent missionaries throughout all the civilized world, and had missions in all the principal cities of the earth. R559:3
Judaism was not without success, for the whole civilized world was beginning to respect it; and to its holy feasts came devout men yearly out of every nation. (Acts 2:9) R964:3
The fault lay not in the zeal, but in the false ideas by which the zeal was inspired, which evidently was, in great measure, sectarian pride rather than love. R1071:3
Make one proselyte – One convert to your false and, therefore, injurious, doctrines. F641
A convert to Judaism. NS169:6
There is a great zeal shown for the traditions of men, for the propaganda of men's theories, for the advancement of denominational interests. R5631:1
We are in close sympathy with the missionary spirit, but not with the missionary effort as at present operated by the nominal church. R559:5
Twofold more – Would they not be two-fold more fit for destruction than they were in their original heathen superstition? C178
The Jewish proselyte is far worse than before they touched him. R5631:1
In many instances those brought to a measure of repentance and then fall away are in a worse condition, more difficult to be reached by the Truth, than if they had not had their conversion experience. Jesus referred to the first-advent counterpart of these in Matt. 23:15. NS169:6
The few reached will have the more to unlearn when the times of restitution begin. F641
Less likely to receive Christ as their Redeemer than if left in heathen darkness. R1071:6
The poor heathen will be better off to hear nothing in this age and wait for the age to come to spread true knowledge of God, than to be confused and prejudiced against God by the usual misrepresentation of his character and plans. R559:6
The evil consisted in the false ideas which they spread among the Gentiles, teaching that circumcision and the keeping of Moses' Law justified to life, thus missing the main point of the Law, to point to Christ. R1071:3
Their teaching was not of a nature to greatly improve the morals: the Pharisees believing in the immortal soul and eternal suffering, and the Sadducees not believing in the resurrection. R432:6*
The majority of heathen who bare the name of Christ have evidently neither part nor lot in the matter. R1851:2
So now, it is far better to let the world alone than to get them into sects which will only blind them to the truth and misrepresent to them God's character and plan. R983:1
The child of hell – Greek, gehenna, destruction, the second death. F641; R2603:3, 2601:1
Than yourselves – The effect of the preaching of the bungling arguments of sectarianism in India has been to abolish all religious faith and to make the people infidels. C178, C177
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| 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
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Ye blind guides – This was not retaliation against something they had said to him. R5679:1
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| 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
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| 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
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Swear by the altar – Type of the ransom sacrifice. T22
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| 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
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The altar that sanctifieth – Therefore the Ancient Worthies could not be presented before God as a sin offering, nor as a sacrifice at all, before the altar (Christ) had been set up. R1872:4
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| 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
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| 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
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| 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
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| 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
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Hypocrites! – The Lord passed by the criminality of murderers and thieves as insignificant compared with the hypocrisy of this class. CR473:6
Ye pay tithe – The Law which says "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt. 22:39) is more important than the giving of tithes. R5094:4
They were great sticklers for the various features of the letter of the law. Q756:4
Of mint and anise – The very smallest of seeds, for an outward show. R2485:5, 5389:3
Have omitted – To ignore the claims of human brotherhood is meanly selfish and inhuman. R1940:4
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| 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
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Strain at a gnat – As, carefulness to avoid things strangled. R5389:5
The observance of the mere letter of the Law. Q757:T; R5338:6
Swallow a camel – Of hypocrisy and injustice. Q757:T
Being careful about the little things, but disregarding God's Law on the weightier matters. R5389:5, 5338:6
A strong hyperbole, a figure of speech, showing their inconsistency. R5389:5
Some are ready to find fault with everything that an elder may do, however faithful he may be. R4930:1
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| 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
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Clean the outside – The cleansing of our minds is far more important than the cleansing of our flesh. We might succeed measurably in cleansing the flesh while the mind might still be impure. R3986:1
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| 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
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| 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
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Whited sepulchres – Outwardly clean, but inwardly full of death, corruption, uncleanness, unholiness. R5389:5, 2716:4
Today many are outwardly Christians, but inwardly skeptics; covetous, extortionate, unjust. R5389:6
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| 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
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Appear righteous – Deceiving their own selves probably as much or more than they deceive others. R2716:3
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| 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
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| 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
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We would not – Nevertheless our Lord and the apostles were treated worse by them than were the prophets by their fathers. OV59:3[OV59:4]
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| 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
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Ye are the children – Thus do the Protestants who conciliate, imitate and cooperate with Papacy condemn themselves. D26
If Pilate, Herod and the Roman soldiers had some responsibility for Christ's death, the multitude who cried "Crucify him" had more, the better-enlightened Pharisees and priests yet more, and Judas the most. R4909:2, 1962:5
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| 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
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The measure of your fathers – You are actuated by the same animosity today toward those of the same faith and spirit with the prophets. NS135:4
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| 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the judgment of Gehenna?
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Ye serpents – This was not retaliation against something they had said to him. R5679:1
Generation of vipers – Greek, gennema, race. D603
Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees to the second death. HG617:1
How can ye escape – Unless you change your course. R2603:3
Not the poor, degraded outcasts of society, but the most strict religionists, the most popular and refined theologians of their day--having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. R521:6
He perceived in them so much dishonesty and hardness of heart that he prophesied that they would have a hard time to reform character, even under the favorable conditions of the Millennium. HG617:2
Not that they were already doomed to it, but rather that, from their present attitude and course, they were in great danger of it. R1557:6
When a course is adopted and persistently followed, when conscience is stifled, when reason and Scripture are perverted to selfish ends until the heart is deceived and judgment overcome--who can predict the repentance of such a one? R3674:1
Those who cultivate a spirit of opposition to righteousness are trifling with a dangerous propensity to evil which will render it next to impossible for them to turn back to righteousness and truth. R1424:5
Each violation of conscience weakens character. Character weakened, degraded, can be reconstructed only with proportionately great difficulty. HG616:6
Every step in the direction of willful blindness and opposition to the truth makes return more difficult, and the wrongdoer more and more of the character God abhors. R2603:3
Damnation of hell – Judgment of Gehenna, destruction, second death. R2601:2, 2603:3, 521:6
Not condemnation to torment. CR434:6
They were wickedly resisting God's grace and such a course, if pursued, must eventually end in condemnation to the second death, Gehenna. R2603:3
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| 34 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:
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| 35 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.
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Upon you may come – The penalty for. R4015:6
Of that age, that generation, God would require expiation. R5462:5
Let us not confuse these national and generational judgments with individual judgments. R1702:1
In no way involves future retribution of the people of that generation. Then they will not be judged nationally, nor as a generation, but be held individually responsible for their own conduct. R1702:1
Does not this put them in the attitude of the scapegoat, receiving the sins at the hands of the priests? R151:1*
The righteous blood – To square accounts for the wrong deeds done by mankind not due to Adamic weakness. R5874:3, 4428:5; Q299:T
The "wrath to the uttermost" which came upon Jerusalem squared up the account so far as the past was concerned. R5874:3, 5390:4, 5256:2, 4651:6
A new beginning was made there, just as a new dispensation began. R4651:6
Similarly the remaining accounts of the world will be squared during the great time of trouble. R5874:4, 4428:5; Q299:T
The Lord keeps a very strict account of the world's affairs, and every injustice cries out for vengeance, retribution, penalty. R4428:5
Israel being a typical people, we expect similar things upon the closing generation of this Gospel age. R1702:4
All the blood of God's holy ones, from the beginning of the Gospel age, will be required of the present generation in the "great time of trouble such as never was." (Dan. 12:1) R5462:5, 5256:2, 4015:6
As a punishment equivalent to all past ones combined was exacted of the closing generation of typical Israel, so it will be with the closing generation of this Gospel age. R1702:4
When Babylon's fall is complete, after God's people have come out of her, then in her overthrow will be found "the blood of the prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth." (Rev. 18:24) R1702:5
These partially willful sins of the world are not fully covered by the sin-offerings. R5462:5
Righteous Abel – Who typified Isaac, Jacob, spiritual Israel and the wheat class. R2778:2-5
Not that Cain will be excused from further responsibility after his children suffered, for it would be as unjust to let the real culprit go unpunished as it would be to punish him and his children for the same sin. R1701:3
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| 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
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Verily I say – Not Jehovah, but Jesus, Adonai, for the Father "hath committed all judgment unto the Son." (John 5:22,27) E48
Because the judgment is in my hands. E48
All these things – The trouble at the end of the Jewish dispensation was a type, a parallel, of the great trouble coming at the end of this dispensation. R5469:5; D49
For sins other than those of heredity, willful sins, there will be satisfaction rendered in the great time of trouble. R5240:2
Come – Greek, heko, signifying "to have come, be here", not future tense, but present. R591:4*
Upon this generation – Greek, genea, people living contemporaneously. D603
The one in which our Lord lived. R1701:6
Fulfilled about 37 years later when civil strife and hostile invaders accomplished the fearful recompense. D48
The generation addressed by our Lord had much advantage every way over its predecessors, and failed to profit thereby. OV59:3
As it had more advantages than all previous generations combined, so its punishment is equivalent to the punishment visited upon past transgressions all combined. R1702:1
The present generation has much advantage every way. All the accumulated wisdom and experience of the past are added to its own, but the great moral lessons have been very generally disregarded. D50
Because the chief light of each age comes at its close, and sinners against such light are worthy of more severe judgment. R5462:6, 4016:1
As a legitimate effect from preceding causes. D47, D50, D51
The Great Company will be allowed to suffer for the partly willful sins of the world. R5462:5
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| 37 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!
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Jerusalem, Jerusalem – The ancient city of Jerusalem suffered 32 wars in all, was stormed and taken seven times, and was twice totally despoiled. R1297:1*
How often – For three and a half years he had been declaring that the Kingdom of God was at hand; and six months in advance, John the Baptist had similarly preached. NS780:1
Even as – Greek, hon tropon, in like manner. R341:1*
Under her wings – For safety. R4669:6
And ye would not – Having stumbled through unbelief. R2518:6
Unworthy! Unappreciative! NS779:6
It is not for us to mourn that they were not ready, but rather it is for us to realize that the plan of God was not thwarted or hindered by their unreadiness. R3538:6
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| 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
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Your house – The Jewish nation. B70
The house of servants. R5470:3
Up to this time the Lord had blessed and more or less used the priests, Levites, Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees. R3883:6
The nominal church: rejected in 1878 as, in the shadow, in 33 AD. R224:6
It must be an individual matter. Neither sects nor parties will be acknowledged in this testing time, only the "Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile." (John 1:47) NS633:1
Unto you desolate – The favor which has been exclusively yours is now withdrawn. B70; A72, A223; R5470:3, 2746:5
"Even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee." (Zech. 9:12) B225; NS695:5
Ending the 1845 years of Israel's national life and favor. B213, B226; OV74:19; NS695:5
The Jewish age ended with the death of Christ, when he gave them up, weeping over them. R532:4, 271:6; A223; OV28:T
There, at Jesus' death, a new age began--the Christian age or Gospel dispensation. A72; HG540:1
The Kingdom privileges first offered to natural Israel were transferred to spiritual Israel. R4593:6
Instead of showering the blessing of restitution upon natural Israel at that time. R4463:6; CR58:4
The nation was adjudged unworthy of any further trial. OV38:1
Abandoned by the Lord during this Gospel age. R2746:2
The utter destruction of that nation as a people, as a result of their rejecting and crucifying the King. R1373:3
Being found wanting, it was cast aside. R3539:2
As soon as spiritual Israel was begun, the earthly was set aside; yet the first opportunity for membership in spiritual Israel was given to that people. R4781:5, 3105:6, 2620:5; A223; NS606:5
Before that time, they were God's people, as distinguished from all other peoples or nations, the household of faith; yet among them were only a few Israelites indeed. R821:2*; NS268:1
Now, too, the command, "Come out of her" (Rev. 18:4) is not given until after the announcement, "Babylon is fallen." (Rev. 18:2) R457:4*
Not set aside forever, but merely until spiritual Israel had been selected. R4781:5; CR58:4
It was three and a half years after the death of Jesus before the individual favor to the Jews terminated. Q195:2; B70; R5454:2, 2931:2, 271:6, 224:3
Rejected at the time of the crucifixion, but all the period from then down to their utter destruction in AD 70 was the period of testing to that people. R3105:6
A prediction given five days before Jesus' death. OV74:19; R805:4, 465:5, 224:3
Symbolized when the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. R5163:3
These words, our Lord's first act on assuming office as King of the Jews, AD 33, typified the rejection of nominal spiritual Israel at the corresponding point of time, AD 1878. B246; C151; R5772:5
All the laws and regulations given to that people governing their exercise of God's vengeance were here abrogated and made null and void. R3609:3
When Israel's typical sacrifices were repudiated by the Father. R5967:1; Q721:2
The rich man (Luke 16:22), the Jewish nation, took sick; and the dying process began. For 37 years they gradually died to all the privileges and blessings which had been theirs as God's peculiar people. HG428:6; NS819:3; PD60/72
Ever since, like the blighted fig tree (Mark 11:13,14), Israel has been desolate as a nation. But there is a promise that this blighted fig tree shall live again, become a living tree, a living nation. R5920:6
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| 39 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.
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Henceforth, till – That day when. R4669:6
The Millennial day. Q107:2
The great Millennial day when all the world is to be blessed, when the "glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." (Isa. 40:5) NS252:1
That day has not yet come. NS780:1
Showing that the desolation was not everlasting. HG161:3
Indicating our Lord's absence during the period of the selection of spiritual Israel. R3539:2
Meantime the Kingdom is not abandoned, merely delayed. PD65/77
Ye shall say – From the heart. B226
As prophesied by David in Psalm 118:26. D639
Indicating that when that day shall come the blindness of natural Israel shall be turned away. R3539:2
At his second coming as the King of glory. R4463:6, 4670:1, 2746:5; Q107:2; OV38:1; PD65/77
Blessed is he – "The stone which the builders refused is become the Head stone of the Corner!" (Psa. 118:22,26) D639
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