The Restitution Times
"Whom heaven must receive until the Times
of Restitution of all things" Acts
A series of papers devoted to the restoring of
original truth.
By Arthur & Rosalind Eedle
Oxleigh,
Home page www.oxleigh.freeserve.co.uk
No. 17. The Vail of Darkness
Let us take
the subject of "The Final Battle" one stage further, and investigate
what the Bible has to say about the Vail of Darkness. Isaiah's prophecy is
clear, and it also contains a glorious promise. (25:7) "He will
swallow up in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and
the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; and the rebuke of His
people shall He take away from off all the earth; for the Lord has spoken
it."
Before
getting too excited about this, we must stop and ask ourselves what this
"vail" represents. Isaiah, in chapter 60, speaks again about it in
the following terms, "Behold darkness shall cover the earth, and
gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory
shall be seen upon you, and the nations shall come to your light, and the brightness
of your rising." The earlier prophecy spoke about this
event from the viewpoint of God's sovereign act, but now we are being told that
He fulfils His word via enlightened humanity. Light and Darkness. These are the
two operative words, but as yet we haven't cracked the code of this figure,
what it represents.
Matthew
quoted Isaiah 9:2 when referring to the coming of Jesus. (
These texts
provide us with a Standard, by which all other thoughts may be tested. Our Lord
is the True Light. A further indicator has also been provided. If a man
follows Him, he emerges from darkness into His light. That is a thought worth
pondering. Now we must look at something else John said. "Light is
come into the world, but men love darkness rather than the light because their
deeds are evil. Everyone who practises evil hates the light, and shrinks from the
light lest his deeds should be exposed to view." (John 3:19-20)
Gradually we are obtaining a clearer understanding of the "vail." The
vail shrouds the world from God's light, centred in Jesus Christ. The shroud is
maintained by the preponderance of "evil deeds" of mankind. The few
who follow Jesus become little lights shining in the surrounding darkness, and
their light derives from the Son of God Himself. We are getting nearer to the
truth.
Let us take
this one step further. John, in his first letter, speaks as follows, "God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with
Him, and walk in darkness, we are lying and not practising the truth. But 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 cleanses us from all sin." (1
Jn. 1:5-7) The operative word here is truth. Darkness is equated
with lying; light is equated with truth. This is a most important discovery.
John then explains that it all hinges on cleansing from sin, and the
possibility of true fellowship.
The Vail is
therefore a canopy of lies, and Satan has been a liar from the beginning, from
the very time he strove with our first parents to turn them away from true
fellowship with God. Now he has created a vail round the earth to prevent the
light of God's Salvation from reaching humankind. When the word
"Vail" is used, one gets a mental picture of a flimsy gossamer-like
garment such as might be used by a bride at the time of her wedding. But the
same word is used of the curtain that divided the
How then
will God accomplish this task? What part shall we be asked to take? The true
disciple of the Lord will be one who walks in the Truth. By definition, the
Truth is not a collection of creedal statements, but none other than the Lord
Himself, who declared Himself to be "the Way, the Truth and the
Life". Christian dogma has its place, and one cannot deny the
importance of "studying to show ourselves approved unto God,
workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dispensing the word of God." (2
Tim.2:15) But "walking in the light" is a practical
exercise, showing forth the character of the Son of God, and being unashamed to
do so publicly. It is a matter of testifying before mankind and the powers of
darkness the degradation of sin, and the way to Life through Jesus' shed blood.
This was exactly the thrust of the message given to Saul of Tarsus on the
I would
like to share with you a word I received from the Lord way back on
Faith is the key to the accomplishment of my purposes, says the Lord.
Where is the faithful man who will hear my word
and receive it, who will ponder my word and let it become part of himself, who
will eat and digest my word, and then speak it forth as part of himself?
Truly I say to you that my word will transform
him into the image of God. For by the confession of the mouth the heart of a
man is declared, and a man is known by his heart. And the principalities of
darkness tremble at a man's confession of faith. It is like a sharp knife that
rips through their curtains of darkness, rending the vail that is spread across
all nations, and allowing the pure light of sin's forgiveness to reach mankind.
For truly I say to you, the Archangel of Darkness daily repairs the rents in
his canopy, seeking at all costs to prevent the light of the Holy spirit from
penetrating the gloom to cleanse the world.
But when the Spirit of God comes, there is
light, and the light brings conviction of sin, revitalising dying consciences,
and causing man to respond to the revelation of my presence.
Therefore take the word that I have spoken. Let it become the confession
of your mouth, the outpouring of your heart, that this vail may be rent. For I
say unto you this day, that if my people were to awaken from their sleepy state
and act in this matter, they could cause a great enough gash in his canopy to
prevent any further repair from being effective. And the new light would
engender more faith, until the darkness would pass away altogether.
This is the day of enlightenment that I seek.
These are the latter rains that I long to send, to prepare the world for my
coming. These are the seven good years when I shall bare my arm before
all mankind, that he who passes through days of famine may have bread to eat.
Pray therefore for the manifestation of the sons of God. Seek my face
continually for my Josephs who languish in prison. For I long to bring them out
of their dark houses of trial and testing to interpret my dream, to enlighten
mankind, to draw forth the latter rains in abundance and cause earth's desert
places to blossom like the rose.
It is not in my heart, says the Lord, to judge
man in his present ignorance. It is not my will to starve man of heavenly
manna, for I am a God of mercy, righteousness, and great longsuffering.
And I say unto you this day, I forbid the coming
of antichrist before the showers of mercy. I hold back the angels of
destruction before the outpouring of power from on high. But how much longer
shall I wait for my children to respond to my word, that these purposes may be
enacted, says your Lord and your God?