Bible

The Ten Commandments, Part II: No Other Gods

by

Before beginning this study of Deuteronomy 5, I would like to share, as an illustration, a personal experience.

When my wife and I moved from Washington State to the Los Angeles, California, area, our two dogs accompanied us. We were fortunate to find a house with about an acre and a half of land, which was fenced on two sides. One of my first tasks, when we moved into the house, was to fence the other two sides of the property, so the dogs would have plenty of room to run without having to be chained or cooped up in any way.

Interestingly, even with all of this space, the dogs kept trying to find a way out of the yard. We would frequently notice them running the fence, looking for an opening. They were unsuccessful, until one Sabbath. Returning from church that day, we found a note on our front door from an Animal Control Officer stating that he had been called, because our dog had been struck by an automobile and, not finding anyone at home, he was taking it to the veterinary hospital. I rushed to the hospital, and actually arrived before the Animal Control Officer. When he appeared, I told him that I was the dog’s owner and would gladly take her home and closely monitor her condition.

Arriving at home, I felt the dog all over and found no broken bones, but her back feet were scraped so badly that she could hardly walk. She would eat and drink, but it was obvious that she was very sore. She could not sit or lie down; she could only stand, hang her head, and whine, because of the pain. We gave her some Tylenol for the pain and tried to comfort her as best we could. Each day she showed signs of improvement, until, after a short period of time, she was doing quite well.

As I reflected upon this experience, I thought of how true this is of the way God deals with us. He has put a fence, the Ten Commandments, around us, and if we stay within this fence, there is safety to be found. We, like the dog, sometimes think that it is better to be outside of God’s fence to explore what is beyond. We want to see if there is something out there of interest to us, but we then find ourselves in the devil’s traffic. Many times we run headlong into a moving vehicle of the devil’s design.

The Whole Duty

Moses, on two occasions, brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountaintop. Upon his return the first time, he found the children of Israel cavorting around a golden calf, committing idolatry and adultery. He threw down the stone, upon which the Ten Commandments were written, and broke it.

The second time Moses went up on the mountain, God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, became the established covenant between God and His people. They stood, during those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, as the very center of the sanctuary service, which God had instituted for His people.

All too often, we feel that we subscribe to the Ten Commandments, and we think that we know everything there is to know about God’s Law. After all, how much difficulty is there in reading the Ten Commandments? How much intelligence do we really have to have in order to understand ten precepts? Well, there is much more to God’s Ten Commandments than just reading them from Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5. We need to be reminded of just how important God’s Law is, because we are tricked, by our own sinful natures, into thinking that we can go contrary to what those ten precepts say.

The Bible says, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.”

Our Duty

The first table of God’s Law contains the four commandments, which reveal man’s whole duty or responsibility to his Maker. The second table, with its six precepts, sets forth man’s whole duty to his fellow man. Jesus said that on these two tables, defining our love to God and our love to man, hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:40.) So, if we are to fear God and keep His commandments, this being our whole duty, and upon these commandments hang all the Law and the prophets, what was Jesus saying? He was saying that the Ten Commandments are that for which we are to be responsible to God.

The rest of the law—the five books of Moses—dealing with the sacrificial system, the civil laws, and the health laws, is ultimately based on the Ten Commandment Law. The words and writings of the prophets are nothing more and nothing less than dealing with man and his sinful waywardness concerning the commandments. The issues involved are centered on idolatry, waywardness from God, oppression of the poor, and the failure of man, which directly relate to God and to his fellow man. We often have the tendency, which the prophets tried to clarify, to simply look at how the prophets dealt with problems, to the neglect of a deeper study of the law.

As soon as Adam was created, the first table of the law began to govern and to regulate his duty toward his Creator. As soon as he was made, this law came into being, as far as he was concerned. Eve’s creation constituted another relationship, which had to be defined by law; the second table of the law came into being and became operational. It is quite evident that, as long as the Creator and any of His creatures are in existence, both tables of the law must continue in force.

Consider this for a moment. As long as there is a God, and as long as there is more than one creature, there has to be a law which governs how that creature relates to his Creator and to one another. This is why the law is eternal. This is why the law originated in the heart and mind of God, and as He began to create, this law became greater and greater in its application.

Written on Our Hearts

The Lord, at creation, wrote the principles of His moral law in the mind and upon the fleshly tables of man’s heart, and before sin came into the world, they operated naturally and spontaneously, as the laws of nature do in the physical world. It was as natural for man to do the will of God as it was for the birds to fly, for the trees to grow, and for the flowers to bloom. It was just as natural for man to respond to God through the law. But when Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s temptation, man’s nature was changed from righteousness to sinfulness. It was as though man had slipped on a long, slick slide, which would carry him away from the God who had created him and from the keeping of the divine law, which was to regulate his life and to make it productive and happy. But although sin has changed man’s nature, the Law of God has not been entirely erased from his mind, from the fleshly tables of his heart.

We see the evidence of this when we read Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he says, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.” Romans 2:14, 15.

Here the fact is stated that the law was placed in the heart of man in the very beginning when God created him, and man responded. When sin came along, it did not totally erase the obligation in man’s mind concerning the need to keep the law. This is why we find, in the realms of the world today, religions of every size, shape, and description, for man has a sense of sin and, to the best of his ability, he is trying to find some relief for this sin.

This is the reason there will be people in heaven who may never have heard the name of Jesus Christ or may never have known about the God of heaven. If they respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who is bearing witness with their consciences, God will continue to sanctify their lives, even though they know nothing of the law, because they are responding to the little bit of an impress of the law which is written in their hearts. When they get to heaven, they will inquire about the scars in Jesus’ hands and the scars on His head, and Jesus will tell them the story of salvation for the first time.

Righteousness by Faith

Perfection, keeping the law, is defined as “righteousness by faith.” Often times the definition of “righteousness by faith” is “doing right by faith” or “right doing.” But this meaning gets the cart before the horse. You cannot do right until you are right! Righteousness is, first of all, right being, which is far more fundamental and important than right doing. Right doing is the fruit, if you please, of right being.

We must be right, before we can do right, and if we are right, we will do right. The devil has tried, down through the ages, to turn this thing around and have people do right and then have them believe that they are right. Of course, this is nothing more and nothing less than salvation by works.

If Christians and/or heathens believe that they are right because they do right, they have really missed the boat. They first must be right, before they can do right and be accepted by God. This is why those who are right, because of their acceptance of what Christ has done for them, can say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law [is] within my heart.” Psalm 40:8.

This should be the experience of every Christian. The law is not to be done away with. The law is to find its proper response in the hearts of men. Our God, the One who created us, is ever seeking to help us live in harmony with the great principles of the heavenly government. None of His laws are arbitrary, but they are eternal principles—perfect and eternal as the Creator and Lawgiver Himself.

Brief but Complete

The Ten Commandments are both brief and comprehensive. They were given in a written form 3,500 years ago, yet, interestingly, there has never been a need for those ten laws to be altered or changed in any degree. They have never needed to be amended in the least particular. The Ten Commandments are just as current and applicable to the needs of mankind today as when they came from the mouth and the hand of the Creator Who gave them. This, in itself, is enough to convince us of the perfection and holiness of the law and of its divine origin.

It is estimated that man has enacted some 35 million laws, in an effort to regulate his conduct, but he has never yet attained the perfection of the Ten Commandments. The laws of men must be continually corrected and updated, often requiring change. Not so with God’s Law. God’s law was written in stone 3,500 years ago, and it is just as up-to-date as if it were written yesterday.

Recently, one bill passed through Congress which repealed more than 1,000 old and out-of-date laws. They did not apply any longer. Not many people need to be fined today because they have tied their horse to a hitching post and neglected to put a grain bag on it! There have been attacks on the Law of God, but the Bible tells us, “The law of the Lord [is] perfect,” and “The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment; all his commandments [are] sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done in truth and uprightness.” Psalms 19:7; 111:7, 8.

The Devil’s Purpose

There is a spirit in the world which never tires of attacking God’s Law or God Himself, but these efforts, which are put forth, are for the purpose of deceiving and causing potential candidates of the kingdom of heaven to be lost. This is the devil’s number one purpose.

If a law can be changed in a man’s mind, then that which the Lord uses to point out sin will no longer do its work, and mankind can never develop a character like God, because the Law of God is a revelation of the character of God. This is why it is important that we obey and keep the Law of God. By so doing, our characters are changed.

Law as a Tool

The law is a tool, or instrument, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, by which men are convicted of sin. Sin is divinely declared to be the “transgression of God’s Law.” 1 John 3:4. The law and the gospel work hand in hand in the redemption of sinful man. The law cannot take away sin. It is only a mirror to point out the sin, to let us see how dirty our faces are. All it can do is convince us that we are guilty sinners and that we are under the penalty of eternal death. Pardoning and cleansing have to come through Christ and the gospel.

Before a sick man can seek a remedy, he must first understand that he has a sickness. He must be convinced that he is sick. Before man can realize his need of a Saviour, he must first realize that he is a sinner and that he is in need of help, because the law convicts him.

Original Presentation

Let us look at the circumstances when the Ten Commandments were originally given. Mount Sinai was located in an area where there was a large, sandy plateau, 4,000 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. The plain, about two miles long and one-half mile wide, was large enough to hold some two million people, who were there at the time the law was given.

Looking up, a granite mountain could be seen, rising up some 2,200 feet high out of this plateau. Isolated, precipitous, fissured, altar shaped, it was the mountain of Jehovah’s Law, the sublime throne from which the King of kings proclaimed the Ten Commandments of the covenant with His people.

In the midst of these craggy slopes, Moses had kept the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. Here he had twice fasted, 40 days and 40 nights. Here Elijah found refuge from the wrath of Jezebel. Here it was that Paul spent three years preparing for his gospel calling.

It was here, on Sinai’s mountain, that Moses mediated between Jehovah and Israel. The words came down: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and [how] I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth [is] mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Exodus 19:4–6, first part.

These were the words of God which came down to them, and as the people heard these words, they responded: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” Verse 8.

Solemn Grandeur

On the third morning, after the ceremonial purification, came lightnings, thunders, a thick cloud, and the voice of a trumpet growing louder and louder until the mountain began to quake and smoke began ascending, like the smoke of a furnace. All of this made the preparation for the delivery of the law on Mount Sinai a scene of unparalleled solemnity.

Somehow we have lost sight of the awe and the solemnity with which we should look at the Law of God. We take for granted that the Ten Commandments are rules and regulations by which we are ordered to live, and we do not grasp the meaning of the grandeur and the solemnity with which this law was given.

The Covenant

“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount).” Deuteronomy 5:1–5.

God made the covenant, at Mount Sinai, with the children of Israel. After they had been camped around the mount for two years, they began to make their way toward the Promised Land. They sent their spies over into that land and decided, from their report, that they did not want to go in because of the giants. So, the Lord turned them back into the wilderness, and He told them that all of them would die there. (Numbers 14:22, 23; 26:65.) Indeed, in the next 38-year period of time, they all died in the wilderness, with the exception of two—Caleb and Joshua.

What is meant by: “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day”? Is there something wrong here? No. It is all right, and it needs to be understood. “The law was not spoken at this time exclusively for the benefit of the Hebrews. God honored them by making them the guardians and keepers of His law, but it was to be held as a sacred trust for the whole world.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 305.

Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with many employees. Ford Motor Company is still operating today, but the first generation of employees has all died. One charge, which was made to the first employees, in 1903, is still a charge to today’s employees: Create an automobile of excellence.

Corporateness

God instills the idea of corporate-ness within every generation, and it never changes. It is a tribal concept. We are all individuals within the tribe, but there is a sense of corporateness, and God expects us to corporately respond to it.

This is one of the reasons why unity is as much a command of God as is obedience to the Ten Commandments, because the concept of unity has to be there in order for us to be His covenant people. This is why Jesus prayed, “Father, I want them all to be one, like You and I are one. I want them to understand that I am in You and You are in Me and I am in them and they are in Me.” (John 17:22, 23.)

There is a sense of corporateness in which God intends His people to participate and to understand. This is one of the reasons why there is absolutely no room for racial discrimination, for class distinction, for differences—as far as salvation is concerned—between male and female or between Jew and Greek. God made all of this clear. He wants us, more than anything else, to come into such a state of unity that we will be able to be one body, one corporate unit. Until we reach this point, we are never going to be able to have a part in the covenant, which God has for us.

This was the preamble which Moses gave in Deuteronomy 5:3. He was stating that the generation with which the covenant was made was dead and gone. And even though the current generation was not yet in the position of accountability when the covenant was made, they had matured to the point where the covenant now applied to them. They were as much there, in a corporate setting, as were we when Adam first sinned. How is it, do you think, that we are born with a sinful nature? It is because of what our father did. There is the sense of corporateness with which we, as a people, must come to grips, before we can come into a unity where we can keep God’s commandments, as He wants us to do, and thereby be found in a state of sanctification and holiness so the end can come. As long as we are fracturing, as long as we are at odds with one another, as long as we think that we are so important we cannot reconcile these differences, as long as we cannot come to terms with these feelings that we have about one another, we are as lost as if we had never come to Jesus. If we are harboring those kinds of feelings one for another, because we are not part of the covenant, we are not part of the corporate group. Those with such feelings are in that group which will come before the Lord and say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? Have we not cast out devils in Thy name? Have we not done many wonderful things in Thy name?” And the Lord will turn to them and say, “I beg your pardon. What is your name? Do I know you? I am sorry; I do not know you at all. You are not part of the corporate group who are in unity, who are truly obedient to My Law; therefore, depart from Me, you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22, 23.)

“I am the Lord”

Deuteronomy 5:6 says, “I [am] the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

When we look at the phrase, “I am the Lord,” the word Lord is translated from the Hebrew word Jehovah or Yahweh. Today, a number of people are making a tremendous issue out of what they term “holy names.” If we do not pronounce the name of God correctly, according to them, they do not want anything to do with us. They believe in keeping all of the Ten Commandments, but they do not want to have anything to do with anyone who, they think, incorrectly pronounces the name of God. We are not a part of their fellowship, and we are lost, as far as they are concerned.

I would submit to you, first of all, that we do not even know how to correctly pronounce God’s name. This was lost centuries ago. Hebrew was made up strictly of consonants, and many centuries after the Hebrew language was developed, vowel points were inserted so we could pronounce the words. By this time, the pronunciation of God’s name was lost. All that was left were consonants—Yhvh.

For instance, look at the consonants grnd. There are no vowels. This is like God’s name, which has four consonants and no vowel points. If we were to insert the a vowel, we could spell grand. We could, instead, insert the i vowel, and we would spell grind. But then we could remove the i and replace it with ou and spell the word ground.

The one thing we need to understand about those four consonants is that this was the name of God, and it identified something about His character. It means that He was the eternal, self-existing, ever-living, ever-acting One. If we can understand this aspect, we do not need to know whether it is an a, an i, an ou, or whatever. All we need to know is that there is a God who is in control of everything; He always has been, and He always will be.

While Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, along one of the creek beds near the foot of Mount Sinai, there suddenly appeared before him a burning bush. You are familiar with this story. Out of it came a voice saying, “I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. . . . Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:6, 10.

One God

Moses remembered that his countrymen had long been exposed to the debasing effects of servitude and that they were still living in a polytheistic (multi-god) Egypt. He ventured to respond to God, “Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them?” Verse 13.

And God told him: “i am that i am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, i am hath sent me unto you.” Verse 14. This is what the word Jehovah or Yahweh or those four consonants mean: “I am.”

The Israelites, who were listening at this moment to Jehovah’s voice, numbered close to two million, yet God addresses them as an individual corporateness with a singular “you,” not a plural “you all.” God regarded His people as a single, colossal personality or a corporate unit. It was this divine conception of the Jewish people as a single, corporate personality that gave Israel such a unique position among all the nations of the earth.

This concept has not really changed today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How He relates to us is the same. Where, before, He related to the children of Israel as a corporate nation, He now relates to them as a bride—not brides, but bride.

We, as a people, must understand this concept of unity, in the laying aside of our differences and in the coming together. If we do not, we are in no better shape than the sinner who is without Christ.

No Other Gods

“I [am] the Lord thy God, . . . Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 5:6, 7.

There is a reason why God gave this precept in this way. We are told, in Exodus 20:5, that He is a jealous God. Jealousy, to the human mind, is not a good thing, but there is nothing wrong, from a godly perspective, with being jealous. There is such a thing as good jealousy, such as being jealous for the things of God.

God says, “I am a jealous God.” Why is He jealous? Is it because He has some internal, selfish need to be pumped up, that He has the same feelings of jealousy that we have? No. It has nothing to do with this.

Those of us who are parents know what it means to be jealous of our child in the right way, in the watchful, careful guarding or keeping of that child. This occurs when we want the very best for that child, and we do not want any outside influences coming in to ruin that child’s life. We, as parents, have created that child; we do not want any interference of any kind destroying that child.

This is the kind of jealousy that God has. He sees His people, and He says, “I am a jealous God. I do not want to have second place to any other god.” Why? because there is only one God. Any other god has an evil intent, and God says, “I will not put up with it; I will not cooperate with it. I will not share you with anything. I am to be supreme, because I am the Creator; I am the One who called you into being as a corporate nation, and I want you as my bride in the kingdom of heaven.”

God said this, knowing that the children of Israel were coming out of the polytheistic country of Egypt and going to the polytheistic country of Canaan. In some places in Canaan, there were as many gods as there were villages. There were multitudes of gods—Baal, Ashteroth, Molech, and Dagon, to name a few. Israel, as far as their heritage was concerned, came out of a polytheistic society.

The Bible tells us, in Joshua 24:2, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, [even] Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.”

God says, “Look, we are going to correct this whole situation. We are going to bring you into a corporate unity where I am the only God that you are to worship.”

What About Today

How can we relate to this today? Who truly is this Jehovah God about which the Bible speaks? From the New Testament, we know this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. (See John 1:3; Hebrews 1:1, 2.) It was Jesus who was on Mount Sinai, according to Nehemiah 9:6, 13. It was Jesus who spoke the Ten Commandments. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

When Jesus came as a babe to Bethlehem’s manger, the angel had told His parents that they would call His name Jesus, because He would save them from their sins. He is known as the Alpha and the Omega. The name Emmanuel means “God with us.” And the beauty of the gospel message is the fact that the God of heaven is ever working to restore us into fellowship with Himself. He loves us. He died for us. He was the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, and His plans have never changed.

“I am the Lord, your God.”

Singularly. Personally. The fact that Jesus is a personal God, individually and corporately, is expressed in the concept that the church is called the bride of Christ. The church is also called the body of Christ. This same unity is still the high calling for the church today, as it was for Israel of old. The requirements of unity are still the same.

Law Passing Away

Is the law passing away? Heaven forbid! Can you imagine where we would be if we were worshipping other gods? What could they do for us? Oh, they can bring us the pleasure of sin for a season, but they cannot bring us salvation. They are totally impotent, unable to accomplish a thing for us.

The first commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me,” had its application to Israel as they were traveling from Egypt to Canaan, but it also has application to the church today. Nothing is to take God’s place in our lives.

We live in such a materialistic society today that there are things that are clamoring for our worship on every level. The Bible says that if we are angry with our brother, we have already committed murder. (1 John 3:15.) He is making a spiritual application. There is a spiritual application of the first commandment as well. Anything which commands our attention above and beyond God becomes something in the place of God.

There is an old saying, seen on bumper stickers, which reads, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This is the mentality of people today, in this materialistic world. That person, in fact, is the loser, because when we take the spiritual application of this commandment, it calls us to turn our eyes upon just one God—the One who created us and redeemed us.

As we continue through the commandments, in Deuteronomy 5, we will review the original, physical application, and we will also learn the spiritual application.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Sitting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

by

While in a bookstore recently, some books containing pictures of the past caught my eye. I looked at pictures of the Civil War, covered wagons, miners in California, and various groups of people, all of which were very interesting to me, because it is history which was lived, and now it is gone. Although a reality at one time, it is passed away, but pictures are left behind which help us see what the people and their lives were like.

Man can produce pictures of the past. We have the technology to produce pictures of the present, but God is the only One Who can produce pictures of the future. A picture of the future is given in Matthew 8:11: “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Here is a picture of reality. Jesus pulls back the veil, and He gives us a picture of what is going to happen. Someday, “Some of you are going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in My kingdom.” Do you want to be there in that day?

The Future is Reality

In Matthew 22:31, 32, Jesus categorizes Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob among the living: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Jesus says that God is a God of the living, not of the dead. But then He says that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These patriarchs of the Old Testament are dead. How, then, can He identify them among the living?

Romans 4 explains how God is able to do this. God looks at things differently than you and I look at things. Remember, through Isaiah, He says, “My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8. “Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might be] by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:16, 17.

God calls those things which are not right now, as though they are. He views reality—past, present, and future—all in the perspective of the living. So, He views Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as living even though they are not, because some-day they will be living. The picture of the future is reality. God deals in the reality of what has been, what is, and what will be. The question we may ask ourselves, at this point, is, Would it not be well for us to view life as God does? Yes, it would.

Real or Imaginary

“On a certain occasion, when Betterton, the celebrated actor, was dining with Dr. Sheldon, archbishop of Canterbury, the archbishop said to him, ‘Pray, Mr. Betterton, tell me why it is that you actors affect your audiences so powerfully by speaking of things imaginary.’ ‘My lord,’ replied Betterton, ‘with due submission to Your Grace, permit me to say that the reason is plain: It all lies in the power of enthusiasm. We on the stage speak of things imaginary as if they were real, and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.’ ” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 255.

God wants us to wake up to the reality of the past, the present, and the future, because God is dealing in reality. If we are going to walk with God, we are going to have to deal in the same. How is it with us when we talk about salvation, when we talk about Jesus, when we talk about Calvary? Is it real? How is it when we talk about heaven? Is it real? If it is, it will be sensed in our voices; it will be seen in our expressions; it will be heard from the pulpit.

Sitting with Jesus

Jesus gave us a picture, in Matthew 8:11, that someday the redeemed would sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—very notable men—and there will be others with whom the redeemed will sit, but I want you to know there is Someone else. A picture of the future—a reality which will be: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:21. Where is Jesus today? He is sitting at the right hand of His Father. Not only will the redeemed sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they are going to sit with Jesus also.

Do you want to sit with Jesus Christ someday? Do you want to be in this picture? When you are looking at family pictures, and you see yourself in the picture, there is a special feeling about being included. God wants you in His picture. This verse tells us how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the rest of the redeemed will eventually sit down with Jesus in His kingdom. How did they obtain an experience, which will eventually place them in the picture of the future—namely, eternal life? There is one word; they were overcomers! In their lives, they overcame, and this gives them the reward of someday sitting with Jesus and the rest of the redeemed in the picture of eternity.

One Author

It does not matter whether you read James, 1 Thessalonians, Romans, Isaiah, Ezekiel, or any of the other various books of the Bible; one Author inspired every book. It is the same One who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. We are not listening to Paul; we are listening to Jesus. We are not listening to Isaiah; we are listening to Jesus. We are not listening to Moses; we are listening to Jesus. And may I say, we are not listening to Ellen White; we are listening to Jesus Christ! The testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.

Endure Temptation

“Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12. God places Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the future picture, because they overcame temptations in their lives. They will receive their crowns, because they endured the temptations to sin. Did they sin at one time? Oh, yes! But did they eventually gain victories? Yes, they did. If we are going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, we are going to have to learn to endure temptation as did they, living in a world of trouble, sin, and temptation.

Jesus said, very clearly, that we will never endure without Him. “Without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5. Not a thing!

Overcomers

If we cannot endure temptation, we are going to sin. If we sinned this past week and we know that we have, it is because we disconnected ourselves from Jesus. If we are walking with Jesus, we will not sin; we will be overcomers.

Overcoming is merely coming over. It is coming over to Jesus and to His side of the issue in the great controversy. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. When we respond to this invitation, we then have made the decision to walk with Jesus. We then have the ability, through His grace, to endure temptation, just as surely as did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are attributes to help us overcome, and I would like for us to consider three of them. Three men with three things in their lives which, if we incorporate them into our lives, will give us the victory over temptations which they experienced, and thus give us the privilege of someday sitting with them in the kingdom of God!

Faith of Abraham

Let us start with Abraham. He is a tremendous example of faith. God called him and told him, early in his experience, that he needed to leave his hometown. Did he obey? Oh, yes, he did. Abraham had faith in God, and he responded to Him. Notice what God tells us about Abraham, through the writings of Paul. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” Romans 4:1. Abraham found something, which we need to find, and if we have found it, we need to hold on to it. Continuing, in verse 3: “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It was accounted unto him for righteousness because he believed God. Abraham had more than just faith—he had a living faith. A living faith is a faith which acts!

James says that faith without works is dead. (James 2:20, 26.) We know, by God’s testimony of Abraham, that he had a faith that worked. The kind of faith Abraham had is the kind of faith that we need, if we are going to someday sit in God’s kingdom.

Notice what motivated his faith: “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corin-thians 13:2. The kind of faith, which Abraham had and God rewarded, was motivated by love. This is why James tells us that Abraham became the friend of God. You and I can be God’s friend, if we respond to His love with love. Love begets love, and God has taken the initiative to love us, even though we are unlovely. God commended His love to us, in that while we were yet transgressors of His law, Christ, His Son, died for you and me. (Romans 5:8.) He has demonstrated His love, not merely professed it, and He wants us to have the kind of faith that will act. Abraham had the kind of faith which was motivated by love.

On what was Abraham’s faith focused? Romans 4:20, 21 says, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” You see, Abraham focused on God’s Word—His promises. He not only focused, but he also believed what God said would be. He chose to cooperate with God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3.)

The living faith, which is motivated by Christ’s love, becomes a living reality and can do wonderful things. We find Abraham doing something that would be impossible without such faith. “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten [son].” Hebrews 11:17. Abraham was privileged to illustrate the plan of redemption to fallen man by taking his only son, Isaac, up to Mount Moriah and willingly offering him as a sacrifice at the command of God. Did it take faith for Abraham to do this? It took a great deal of faith. He knew God’s voice, and he knew Who had asked him to do this nearly impossible thing. But he was willing to do it, and he exercised faith, which God rewarded.

If we have the kind of faith Abraham had, we will be able to do the impossible! What we think is impossible, we can do, by God’s grace, if it is His will and His command—just as Abraham did the impossible by taking Isaac to Mount Moriah. He never hesitated. This is why he is called the friend of God. If we have any hesitation in our experience with God, in believing His promises, we still have room to grow—and all of us have room to grow in faith.

We can have this kind of faith! “It is not the capabilities you now possess or ever will have that will give you success. It is that which the Lord can do for you. We need to have far less confidence in what man can do and far more confidence in what God can do for every believing soul. He longs to have you reach after Him by faith. He longs to have you expect great things from Him.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 146. We need to focus on His promises.

God wants to do great things for us, but He cannot do them unless we exercise faith, because He will not compromise. He does not have to compromise. He has made Himself well-known to humanity, if humanity chooses to respond through the avenues by which God has made Himself known. All that He did for Abraham, He will do for you and me, for God is no respecter of persons. If we are not there in the day when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sit down with Jesus, it is not against God. It has nothing to do with any arbitrary decree on the part of God. It will be our own choice. Just because we are in church every Sabbath does not mean that we are safe and secure. We are marked men and women. “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.” Revelation 12:17. We can choose to be God’s wheat, or we can choose to be the tares. Jesus told us they are growing together. We can all be wheat, if we so choose.

From Abraham, we learn a main attribute. If we are going to be in God’s kingdom someday, we have to exercise a living faith—a living faith that is motivated by love; faith that is a personal experience with God; an experience that causes God to call us His friend.

Isaac’s Obedience

Now let us look at another attribute from the life of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Did Abraham raise Isaac right? Oh, yes! We are going to see that he did. I can tell you that the majority of young people today, whom I see in the world around me, would not have reacted as Isaac did that day on Mount Moriah. It has everything to do with how a child is raised. “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” Genesis 22:9.

Was Isaac struggling all the while? Was he saying, “Dad, Dad, do not do this; it is wrong”? No. Isaac was told by his father, Abraham, what God had told him, and Isaac said, “Father, may God’s will be done. Tie me up.” We need to think about this for a moment. Did Isaac have faith? Oh, yes, he had faith. But he also had obedience—obedience which was more than mere obedience.

Remember, the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus enumerated some of the Ten Commandments, and the rich young ruler said, “I have done all of those since I was a child.” (Mark 10:17–20.) Did he have the obedience which would allow him to someday sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? No. He had obedience, but he did not have the kind of obedience that Isaac had.

Isaac had what we would call sacrificial obedience, which is the putting of self aside and obeying God, no matter what. Do we have this kind of obedience—actually dying to self and doing God’s will instead of our own, turning away from the inclinations of the flesh, the desires of our own, natural hearts and choosing God’s will no matter what? Jesus had this kind of sacrificial obedience to His Father when, in Gethsemane, He said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Luke 22:42.

Isaac had what Jesus had—sacrificial obedience. If you and I are going to sit someday with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we are going to have to go beyond obedience. We are going to have to have sacrificial obedience, a willingness to die to self.

What motivated Isaac on Mount Moriah to allow his father to bind him and put him on the altar? “And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3. Isaac was motivated by love to offer the sacrifice of obedience. How is it with us?

“Isaac believed in God. He had been taught implicit obedience to his father, and he loved and reverenced the God of his father. He could have resisted his father if he had chosen to do so. But after affectionately embracing his father, he submitted to be bound and laid upon the wood.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, 107. This is inspired commentary. Sacrificial obedience is what we see in the life of Isaac. “All true obedience comes from the heart. It was heart work with Christ. And if we consent, He will so identify Himself with our thoughts and aims, so blend our hearts and minds into conformity to His will, that when obeying Him we shall be but carrying out our own impulses.” The Desire of Ages, 668.

Do we not want to have this kind of obedience? Jesus is the only One Who can give it to us, but it is all based upon our consent, our willingness to do. “The will, refined and sanctified, will find its highest delight in doing His service. When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience.” Ibid. Did Isaac know God? Yes, but he was a young man. You might ask how he knew God. He knew God from his father, but then he came to know God himself, choosing, individually, to respond to his heavenly Father. So not only did Abraham know God personally, but Isaac also knew God personally.

We can never offer sacrificial obedience to God without first knowing Him. We can offer obedience without knowing Him, but never sacrificial obedience. We have to know Him from the heart.

Jacob’s Persevering Determination

Finally, what does Jacob teach us? What attribute from the life of Jacob will help us to be ready to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and him in God’s kingdom someday?

The conflict of Jacob’s life is recorded in Genesis 32. You and I are going through little conflicts, little tests, right now. A river Jabbok is just before each one of us. The conflict of our lives is just before us, as God’s professed people. Each one of us will be tested, closer and closer. How are we doing on the quizzes?

As Jacob struggled with the Angel—Jesus—from midnight to dawn, He said, “Let me go, for the day breaketh.” And Jacob responded, “I will not!” Have you ever told God this? Every time we fall into sin, we are saying, “God, I will not!” But we can say, as did Jacob, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Genesis 32:26.

I can remember that, when I came back after the apostasy I went through, I struggled with things in my life. It is not an easy thing to come back, but it is not impossible either. I remember giving in to temptation and sinning, then weeping and going to my Father, thinking, “It is impossible! Give it up.” But the Lord inspired me with a thought, and I prayed it more than once, because it took more than once. I remember praying to my Father, “Please forgive me; I choose not to give up, but to get up!”

Jacob said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Verses 26–28. We have something to learn from Jacob’s experience. It is called persevering determination. How much do you press toward heaven?

In 11 Peter 1:10, Peter says, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence [give determination] to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” May I add, if you do not do this, you will fall! He goes on to say, “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Verse 11. We must have this attribute—persevering determination—to continue to press on.

Paul said, “[This] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14. [Emphasis supplied.] He pressed; he was determined. Paul was a determined man, because he realized that the pictures, which God put before him of the future, were reality. He knew the pictures of the past were reality. He knew what he was going through was reality.

Jacob was a determined man. What motivated Jacob? Paul speaks about love in 1 Corinthians 13:7, 8: “[Love] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.” Did Jacob have this kind of love, this kind of motivation? Yes, he did. He was determined. His faith endured. Jacob knew his quest was real, not imaginary.

“Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded.” The Great Controversy, 621. This is
a wonderful promise. What Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob experienced, we can experience. It must be our experience if we are to someday sit with them in God’s kingdom.

The Final Picture

Someday soon, Jesus and all of His angels will come to this earth. He is coming for those who have had the living faith of Abraham, the sacrificial obedience of Isaac, and the persevering determination of Jacob. Of them, Jesus says, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13. We need to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Combining the attributes of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with love, we will have victory! We will secure a seat in the kingdom. We will be part of this picture!

Craig Meeker is Director of the Bible Correspondence School at Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: craigmeeker@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Man Who Would Not Give Up, Part II

by

When the time came for Jacob to return to the land of his father, he approached the country of his birth with trepidation, anticipating the welcome he would receive from his twin brother, Esau. To help soften his brother’s heart and to appease him, Jacob sent expensive gifts to him. He did everything he could, but he knew that it was not enough, and it was not enough. Esau was on his way with 400 armed men.

Jacob learned something, friend, that you and I need to learn. He was shrewd; he knew how to make business deals. But he was in a situation now where those skills were useless. There was no business deal that he could make, which would get him out of this. He knew that unless the Lord intervened, it was going to be all over.

Plea for Help

So, Jacob went to the Lord in prayer: “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah. You said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your kindred, and I will deal well with you: I am not worthy for any of your mercies which you have done with your servant.’ ” Genesis 32:9, 10.

Jacob had divided his family into two camps, thinking that if the people in one camp were killed, the people in the other camp would be able to flee on horses or mules and get away. Then he had crossed over the Jordan. His plea to God continues in verses 11 and 12: “Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; because I am terrified lest he should come and strike me and the mother with the children. And now, You said, ‘Indeed, I will deal well with you, and I will make your descendants, your seed, as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

We do not know the entire contents of his prayer; all that is recorded are those few verses in Scripture. He was, no doubt, praying there for hours, pleading with the Lord. From these verses, you can understand the gist of his prayer. He said, “Lord, You promised. You are the One Who told me to come back here, and You said that You would deal well with me. You said that my descendants would be like the sand of the sea, which could not be numbered for multitude. Now we are all about to get killed.”

Jacob kept praying into the night hours. He was alone and unprotected, having sent his family and everything that made life dear to him a distance away. He was there all by himself. In describing the region where he was praying, Ellen White wrote: “It was in a lonely, mountainous region, the haunt of wild beasts and the lurking place of robbers and murderers. Solitary and unprotected, Jacob bowed in deep distress upon the earth. It was midnight.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 196.

Midnight, and his mind is still filled with doubts and questionings: “Maybe the Lord cannot fulfill His promises to me, because I am such a bad sinner. I am a crook and a liar. Maybe, even though He promised this to me, it will not happen, because I am so sinful, and now all my children, my wives, and everything will be killed, because of what I have done.”

If you are a father, you can understand Jacob’s anguish. For most fathers, it would be easier to die themselves than to watch their children get killed. This is why, during the Dark Ages, to torture the Waldenses, the agents of Rome would kill their sons before them, cut off their heads, tie them to the necks of their fathers, and then march the fathers to their deaths.

Bless Me

“He arose in that night and took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven sons and passed over the Brook Jabbok.” Genesis 32:22. Verse 23 says that he “sent them over the brook,” and verse 24 emphatically states that “Jacob was left alone.” He was left alone, all by himself. No one else was around. While Jacob was praying, all of a sudden, “There wrestled with him a man until the breaking of day. And He saw that He did not prevail against him, and He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh went out of joint as He was wrestling with him. And He said, ‘Send Me away, because the dawn is coming.’ And he said, ‘I cannot send You away unless You bless me!’ ” Verses 24–26.

You see, when his thigh was touched, Jacob realized instantly that he was dealing with a supernatural being, with someone from heaven. He was not dealing with another man. If you were struggling with another man and the man just touched you with his finger, your hip would not go out of joint. He knew, then, with Whom he was dealing.

“And He said, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Jacob, Heel Grabber.’ And He said, ‘Not Jacob shall be called anymore your name, but rather Israel; because you are a prince with God and with men you will prevail.’ And Jacob asked and said, ‘Declare, please, Your name.’ And He said, ‘Why is this that you ask My name?’ And He blessed him there.” Verses 27–29.

The Meaning

What is the meaning of this story? During this night, Jacob struggled with the Lord Jesus. Jacob called the name of this place Peniel, which means “The Face of God,” because he said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive.” Verse 30.

Jacob wrestled as hard as he could wrestle. What lesson can we learn from this? Have you ever met someone who has wrestled hard to overcome sin in his or her life, and he or she says, “I can never do it; I guess I will just have to be lost”? Jacob was fighting to overcome. He thought he was fighting Esau, one of Esau’s men, or a robber or a murderer who was going to kill him. He was determined to overcome, but he found that he could not. If you have a besetting sin in your life, you cannot overcome it anymore than Jacob could overcome. You cannot overcome unless you are blessed.

Confess and Forsake

Over and over again this night, it came to Jacob’s mind that he had stolen from his brother, and he had lied to and deceived his father. It kept coming back to him, and he told himself that was why he was going through this. But in the midst of it all, he had to keep fighting or, he thought, he himself would be killed.

While those sins kept coming to his mind, he also thought to himself, “But I have repented. I have told the Lord over and over again for 20 years that I am sorry, and I want to be forgiven. I do not do those things anymore, and I will not do them anymore. The Lord has promised me . . .”

The promise is very clear in the Bible. Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who hides his rebellions, his transgressions, will not prosper. But the one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Jacob’s transgressions were rebellions. They were deliberate transgressions against the Law of God. They were not sins of ignorance.

Although the Book of Proverbs had not yet been written in Jacob’s time, he knew the principle. He knew that if a person confessed and repented of his sins, God had promised mercy. And he kept saying, as he was fighting, “Lord, I have repented. I have confessed. I have tried to do everything I know to make it right. I am not living like that anymore.”

This experience was also recorded by Hosea, in Hosea 12:4: “He wept and pleaded.” For what was he pleading? He wanted the assurance that his sins were pardoned and that they would not be held against his account. He continued to weep and plead until, it says, “He had power over the Angel and prevailed.”

This is quite a statement, that a human being would have power over an angel! And this was the Angel of the covenant, whose name we know as Jesus Christ! Jacob was fighting with Jesus Christ!

No Excuse for Sin

This is the story of a sinful human being who, by humbling himself, by repentance, and by self-surrender, prevailed with the Majesty of heaven. He did not come to the Lord and say, “Lord, You made a promise before I was born that my older brother would serve me,” even though God had made this promise before he was born. He did not come to the Lord and say, “Lord you know that Esau is a profane person”—and Esau is called a profane person. (See Hebrews 12:16.) Jacob did not use either divine promises or the character defects of his brother to excuse his own sin. Remember this. A confession is not an excuse; there is no excuse for sin.

“Satan is jubilant when he hears the professed followers of Christ making excuses for their deformity of character. It is these excuses that lead to sin. There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God.” The Desire of Ages, 311.

There is no excuse for sin. I cannot come to the Lord and say, “I sinned because so and so did this wrong.” This is not a confession. This is an excuse. Jacob did not do this. He did not say, “Lord, my brother did something . . . .” No, he just confessed his own sin and said, “Lord, I need to be cleansed from what I have done.”

Time to Come

This story about Jacob and the Angel—called “Jacob’s Time of Trouble”—when a helpless, unworthy person pleaded God’s promise of mercy to repentant sinners, is used in the Bible as a symbol of future events. In Jeremiah 30:5–7, we read, “Because thus Jehovah said, ‘A voice of trembling we have heard of dread, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, if a male bears a child. Wherefore do I see every male with his hands upon his loins as a woman giving birth to a child, and they have turned all faces into paleness? Alas! Because that day is great, so there is none like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he will be saved out of it.’ ”

If you look at the whole context of this prophecy, you will understand that this is a prophecy about the end of time. We are approaching the time when the plan of salvation is going to be completed.

The Book of Hebrews teaches that Christ is our High Priest. He is an all-powerful mediator. Even if you are the worst and weakest of sinners, you have an all-powerful Mediator who, if you call upon Him, can help you. He specializes in helping people who other people consider helpless, and this is what the strongest of Christians have to learn too. This is what Jacob had to learn.

Time of Jacob’s Trouble

There is coming a time when Christ’s work as a mediator in man’s behalf is over. What happens next? The Bible says, in Revelation 22:11, 12, “He who is unjust, shall be unjust still; and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; and the righteous one, let him do righteousness still; and the holy one, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every one according as his work shall be.”

Soon after this pronouncement is made, the time of Jacob’s trouble is going to begin, because the plan of salvation will be over. It is the end of probation. Soon after this pronouncement is made, if you are filthy or unjust, you are going to stay this way forever. If you are righteous and holy, you are going to stay this way forever. When this pronouncement is made, then the time of Jacob’s trouble will begin for all of God’s children.

Bible prophecy tells us, in Revelation 13:15, that there is coming a time when, if we do not accept the mark of the beast or do not worship the beast, there will be a death decree against our lives. It will be just as it was with Jacob. Was Jacob in danger of losing his life? Yes, he was. Every member of his family was in danger of losing his or her life. If the Lord had not worked a miracle on Esau’s heart, they all would have lost their lives.

Jacob knew that the only way he would be saved was if he received the mercy of God. This is the only way you and I are going to be saved too.

Repent and Confess

Almost driven to despair, Jacob began to plead for deliverance. Imagine having to wrestle with someone from midnight until almost dawn! He held on. He would not give up. This is going to be the experience of God’s people who are alive during the last days, in their final struggle with the powers of evil spoken of in Jeremiah 30:5–7. It will seem to each person that his or her case is hopeless. Did Jacob’s case look hopeless? It looked absolutely hopeless.

God’s people will have a deep sense of their shortcomings. We all have shortcomings. If we look at our pasts, we are tempted to lose all hope. This is the feeling the devil tries to impress upon people. If the devil can convince us to believe we are absolutely hopeless and our hold on God is broken, then he has us. The people of God are going to do the same thing as did Jacob, when they know the greatness of God’s mercy, and they know that they have repented and confessed their sins.

My dear friend, right now is the time. If you have any sins on your record, which the Holy Spirit brings to your remembrance, say, “Lord, I want to be through with sin.” Repentance means that you are sorry for your sins—sorry enough to not keep repeating them. Confess the sin. If it is a private sin, confess it to the Lord. If you have injured someone, go to him or her and make it right. Jacob had to make things right with Esau.

Just think of coming to the end of the world and realizing the devil can point at you and say, “This sin you have concealed; you have never repented of it; you have never confessed it!” If this is true, what will happen? You will lose salvation. Now is the time to make sure there is nothing on your record for which you have not repented and confessed.

Remember, the other person’s sin does not excuse your sin. You can never say to the Lord, “I sinned because he sinned.” He does not accept this excuse. No matter what the other person does, you are not responsible for it, but you are responsible for what you say and do.

Assurance of Salvation

Are you going to be as persevering in your Christian walk as Jacob was in his struggle? If you are willing not to give up, then it is absolutely guaranteed that you are going to be saved, as is Jacob.

Mrs. White penned a very encouraging statement about Jacob’s experience. “Jacob’s history is an assurance that God will not cast off those who have been betrayed into sin, but who have returned unto Him with true repentance. It was by self-surrender and confiding faith that Jacob gained what he had failed to gain by conflict in his own strength. God thus taught His servant that divine power and grace alone could give him the blessing he craved.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 202, 203. Jacob learned that he could not do it on his own. This is what we must learn.

“Thus it will be with those who live in the last days. As dangers surround them, and despair seizes upon the soul, they must depend solely [only] upon the merits of the atonement. We can do nothing of ourselves. In all our helpless unworthiness we must trust in the merits of the crucified and risen Savior.” Ibid., 203. Acknowledging that we are unworthy, we must put our trust in His merits. If we do this, we are given the promise: “None will ever perish while they do this.” Ibid.

What good news! If you realize that you are helpless and you put your complete trust and confidence in Him, you cannot perish, because you serve an all-powerful Mediator.

“The long, black catalogue of our delinquencies is before the eye of the Infinite. The register is complete; none of our offenses are forgotten. But He who listened to the cries of His servants of old, will hear the prayer of faith and pardon our transgressions. He has promised, and He will fulfill His word.” Ibid.

Greatest Need

Many people believe that we need more talent, more education, more money, or more manpower to finish God’s work. I want to tell you that we will never finish God’s work with all the talent, education, money, or manpower in the world. Where must we go to gain the victories that we need for ourselves and as a church?

“The greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those that are gained by talent or education, by wealth or the favor of men. They are those victories that are gained in the audience chamber with God, when earnest, agonizing faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of power.” Ibid.

Do not say, “We need more money; we need more education; we need more talent; we need more manpower.” It would be nice to have all of those things, but what we need more than anything else is people who will go to the audience chamber and pray, as did Jacob, “Lord, I am not going to quit asking until a change happens in my life.”

When God sees that you are serious, a change is going to happen in your life. He said that, if you lay hold of God’s promises, “I am going to take away your stony heart, and I am going to give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26. Claim this promise and say, “Lord, I must have a change in my heart or I am lost, and I am not going to give up. I am going to keep asking. I am going to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and I am going to plead with you for this until I have it.”

John Knox went to the Lord and said, “Lord, if you don’t give me Scotland, I am just going to die.” He kept praying, and Scotland became a Protestant country as the result of one man’s prayers. Just think what could happen if people went to the Lord and said, “Lord, I am like Jacob. I am helpless. I am vile, and I am wretched. I know I must have a change in my heart or I will be lost, so I am not going to quit asking. I am coming to you, because I have a great need. I want to be ready for heaven, and I want you to change my heart and my life.” God would gladly hear and answer such a prayer! He heard Jacob’s cry for help, and He is no respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34.)

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Illogical Logic

by

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18.

Here is both a comfort and a challenge. We appreciate the fact that the Lord offers to reason with us, but He also shows us that there is something wrong with us. We have sins as red as scarlet, and He offers to forgive us and wash these away. Consequently, we are invited to reason with the Lord, but not as equals. We cannot, because we are not like Him, nor are our minds like His mind.

Earlier in the same chapter, Isaiah puts our condition into perspective: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” Isaiah 1:2–5.

God calls us to reason with Him, but He also warns us that our heads are sick and so we have to reason with sick heads. This is the best we can do. We just do not have good sense anymore. Let us get that established right at the beginning.

With our true condition in perspective, I would like to study with you how many down through the years have considered human reason, and the effects this has had on Adventism today.

I want to pose to you a question that I will seek to answer in this article. That question is simply this: How does it happen that a Bible scholar of our own faith, a respected man, will announce to us, “Folks, the prophecy of Daniel 8 does not say or mean what we have been thinking it said or meant?“

To answer this, we must go back a long, long way and start at the beginning, at the time when God gave man the ability to reason. (For God’s invitation for us to reason with Him indicates that He has given human beings reasoning powers.) There is no one in the world today that has good sense in comparison with Father Adam. Everything you see in any human being as a gift or attribute is something inherited from Adam.

For instance, some people have perfect pitch. They can name any musical tone, no matter what they have just heard. Others have a sense of perfect time. They can tell you what hour of the day it is without looking. Still others can work through complicated mathematical problems in the flash of a few seconds.

But think about Father Adam. He had all these abilities, and many more. He never needed written records to keep him from forgetting things. His head was not sick. I think if Adam were here today, he would probably say, “These people should not be running around loose. They ought to be locked up before they hurt each other!” He would be right, too, because we are continually hurting each other because of our sick heads.

Now let us move on from the very beginning. Let us just begin to reflect about the problem of human reason. Just look out at the world today. There are people with the very best of training, the very best minds that disagree about science, politics, or the best way to do just about anything.

Some years ago, when I was pastoring the Honolulu Central Church, I had a very illuminating experience. There was a severe problem with the public address system at the church. When the system was turned to normal levels out came shrieks and squeals and everything went wrong. So I looked for an expert to tell me what was wrong. The gentleman from the University of Hawaii gave me one opinion and the gentleman from the sound system downtown gave me an altogether different opinion. Finally, a gentleman came along who worked on organs. He said, “I think I can tell you what to do.” So he told me, we tried it, and it worked. I learned from that experience that even the best experts are often wrong, and they are constantly disagreeing with each other. This says that there is something wrong with human reason.

Insanity versus Stupidity

There are people in the world today who are mentally disabled. However, these people seldom deceive us. Their disability is self-evident, and it is usually uniform. A person who is retarded in mathematics is usually also retarded in social sciences and in a lot of other things.

Another problem of human reason is what we call insanity or mental illness. We must carefully distinguish between this and a mental disability. Retardation is usually uniform, but it is possible for a very brilliant mind to be off in certain areas.

I experienced this difference between insanity and stupidity some years ago. I was called to perform a ministry at the chapel of the mental hospital in Kaneohe, Hawaii. I had never been there before, and the grounds were large. I was running a little bit late and as I approached the grounds I was saying to myself, “I do hope I can by chance encounter some workman or attendant that knows where the chapel is, because I need to get there fast. And these grounds are huge.”

I parked my car and raced to the front steps of the main building. Just as I had hoped, a man came down the steps carrying a broom. I thought, “Ah, how wonderful. I have found one of the workmen.” I said to him, “Can you tell me where the chapel is.” “Oh, yes,” he said, “Come with me. It is easier to show you than to tell you.” So he led me up through the building and as we walked along, he talked in a very intelligent manner. We went through several hallways and finally to a back door.

Then he took me outside and said, “The chapel is in the trees up there.” I thought, “Oh, how fortunate! I am not going to be late.” I expressed my gratitude to him and he said, “Oh, that is all right. I should know where the chapel is, I am the Virgin Mary!” I was a little taken aback. Here was a very intelligent person, as far as I could see, but he had himself confused with the Virgin Mary. You see, stupidity is not insanity and insanity is not stupidity.

A friend once told me another story to illustrate that point. This man had a flat tire while driving past a mental hospital with large fenced in grounds. He pulled off into the tall grass between the road and the fence to change his tire. He removed the wheel; laid the hubcap behind him and placed each nut in the hubcap. But he put it too close to the road, and a car came by and hit the hubcap. It flipped and those five nuts flew in all directions into the tall grass.

Now he was stuck, with a wheel off the car and no way to fasten it on. Realizing that he had to find the nuts, he got down on his hands and knees and started searching through the tall grass. He finally found one, but that was not enough to hold the wheel on. He kept searching. As he was crawling and peering into the grass, he heard a voice from inside the fence saying, “Friend, may I make a suggestion?” He looked up in surprise and said, “Why, yes.” The man inside the fence said, “I would like to suggest that you remove one nut from each of the other three wheels, that will leave four there and that will give you four for the wheel that is off now. That is enough to get home on. Then you can buy some more nuts and put them back.”

What a beautiful idea! Why had he not thought of that? So as he started to do that, he said to the man, “Thank you. I presume you are one of the workmen or attendants here?” The gentleman inside the fence shook his head sadly. He said, “No, I am an inmate here. I may be crazy but I am not stupid!”

Driven by Emotions

Another problem of human reason is our emotional involvement. The human mind should be scientific and handle evidence objectively, as a computer would, and not be influenced at all by any emotional considerations, prejudices or biases. However, as good as that sounds, it is not fact.

There is no such thing as an objective human mind. Do not be misled when you hear the statement made, “we must follow evidence wherever it leads.” Evidence leads no where. Evidence simply exists. It is the interpretation of evidence that leads somewhere. And the interpretation of evidence is always, to a greater or lesser degree, subjective and influenced by emotional attitudes. There is no way that I can step outside of myself and say, “All right, mind, you sit on the shelf and work like a computer and do not pay any attention to me.” The mind is always influenced by the environment.

A History of Bible Interpretation

With this sketch of the problems that exist, let us move down through a specific area of human thought—the area of interpretation of the Bible. Beginning with Origen in the third century and moving down to the time of the Reformation, there were two ways of dealing with Scripture.

The first, and the one most likely to influence us, was what was called the allegorizing method. This method was acquired from the pagans who had the concept that an intelligent person can see hidden meanings in what he reads. A person who does not have that kind of intelligence would just see simple stories in the Bible, but if one was truly intelligent, he could read a passage and know much more. He could know, for instance, that this man’s left hand represents the Garden of Eden. His right hand represents the New Earth. The top of his head represents the Throne of God and his feet represent the Lower Regions.

This was Origen’s thinking and because he was a great leader of the church, these ideas spread and became the fashion on the common level. On a different level there was the philosophic method, which is the idea that if there is truth in the Bible, it should be possible to prove it through human reason. It was taught that truth did not need to be accepted on the authority of God, but that human reason could prove what truth is. First promoted by Plato, Socrates, Aristotle and the ancient philosophers, it was later held by Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotious, Peter Abaelard. So you have these two levels of how to interpret the Scriptures coming along side by side—one on the scholarly level and the other on a popular level.

The Reformationists reacted strongly against both the allegorizing and the philosophic methods. Martin Luther said that allegorizing put a nose of wax on the Bible that can be turned in any direction one chooses. And they spoke with equal strength against the philosophical study of the Scriptures. They said that it is too dangerous because the history of philosophy shows far too many unsuccessful attempts, to be given such infallible authority. They taught that the Word of God is revealed to man through the authority of the Holy Spirit. And it is not mans job to try to decide whether it is reasonable.

A new system of Bible interpretation developed in the Reformation days. It was called the systematic study of the Bible. In this system, if someone proposed that something was truth, he must give supporting texts from God’s Word in order for it to be accepted and believed. That is called Systematic Theology, systematic interpretation of the Bible. A truth should be stated in a proposition supported by proof texts. That was the Reformation style.

Next to come upon the scene was the Rationalistic School, which started in Germany and spread all over the world. The Reformers believed that God had revealed Himself in His Word, out of mercy to man, through revelation. In contrast, the presupposition of the Rationalist School was that the Bible is just like any other book. This is called the historical critical method.

If the presupposition of this method is accepted and the scholar must deal with the Bible as he would deal with any other book, there are certain things that immediately follow. First, no other book is inspired by God, therefore the Bible cannot be inspired. Next, since there is no such thing as long range prophecy found in other books, it cannot be found in the Bible. This conclusion is not the result of an examination of the evidence of the predictions and findings in the Bible, but this conclusion is required by the presupposition that there is no such thing as a difference between the Bible and any other book.

It is important that we understand the effects that presuppositions have on human action. To illustrate this, consider this situation. A pile of bones and rocks are sitting on a table. These bones are unmistakably half man and half monkey. That is the evidence. The evidence proves nothing. The interpretation of evidence might prove something. And the interpretation of evidence will reach back to the presuppositions.

The evolutionist says, “That is the proof that the monkey was developing into a man.” The creationist says, “That is the proof that the man was devolving into a monkey.” These two men can look at the same bones and come out with two different conclusions. Why? Because of their presuppositions.

The conclusion is not based on the evidence. The conclusion is based on the presupposition, which is unproven and unprovable in most cases. So the man who starts out with a presupposition that the Bible must be dealt with like all other books, well, how do you prove that? You cannot prove that. It is unproven and unprovable.

This problem with human reasoning can lead to some very interesting ways of thinking.

A man will say, along with his rejection of systematic theology, “Truth cannot be stated in propositions.” He has just stated, as a proposition, that truth cannot be stated in propositions! You would be astonished at how many times you encounter this same illogical logic in the halls of higher learning.

I once sat in on a class at Harvard University, where theological students from seven theological seminaries from around the area, came to listen to one of the great scholars of our time as he gave a most moving address. It seemed to me that he was very sincere. His line of reasoning went something like this: They have developed a new strain of wheat that will produce ten times as much as the old strains. We have to change our theology. They are sending men flying into space. We have to change our theology. As I listened to that for a while, I felt a little sarcasm creeping up in my mind and I thought to myself, “And old Bessie, the cow, is giving more milk than she used to. We must change our theology!”

Then he moved on to where he felt the strongest. He said: “Change is resisted by those who feel that some things ought not to change. We call them absolutes. But all absolutes must go.” I questioned in my mind, isn’t what he just said an absolute? I listened to a man again at Harvard, a learned professor from another university saying, “All value judgments are dangerous and moral value judgments are the most dangerous of all.” Isn’t that a value judgment?

A young man, at Atlantic Union College, came from a philosophy class into a religion class that I was teaching. Something he heard in the philosophy class bothered him. He challenged me with it. He said, “Listen, in philosophy there are no absolutes.” I said, “Is that absolute?” The class started to laugh and he started to grin and the expression in his eyes said, “I have been had. Nobody will hook me like that again.”

So you see, what we must watch out for is presuppositions, which are unproven and unprovable, upon which men base their conclusions. This is not evidence! It is just presuppositions.

A Muddy Mixture

Karl Barth developed the next major school of thought, during the early part of this century. He had learned the historical critical approach, that the Bible is like all other books. Yet, he still wanted to believe that the Bible was a revelation from God, so he tried to invent a theory to merge the two ideas.

What he came up with can be illustrated like this. Suppose a bee stings a man. The man screams. The scream tells you that a bee stung him, but you would not analyze the scream to find truth. If thirty bees sting thirty men and all thirty men scream, you know that thirty men got stung by bees but you would not compare their screams to see if they agreed with each other. And so he said that in the Bible we find overwhelming evidence that the Holy Spirit of God inspired men to write, speak and do things. But all we should learn from that is that God inspires men with His Holy Spirit. We should not analyze words of Scripture looking for truth.

This is the new orthodoxy school, in which Barth tried to hang on with one hand to the Bible being the revelation of God to man and still not reject the philosophy of the higher critical school, and so the historical critical method continues on.

These two schools of thought are prevailing in the theological seminaries of today. A more liberal theological seminary will not waste much time with Karl Barth and his thinking. They simply teach the higher critical approach. Other seminaries follow the Barthian approach and try to combine the two.

The results of these ideologies can be seen even in Adventism. A well-known Seventh-day Adventist scholar spent many years in Bible study. After attending one of these seminaries to get his advanced degree, he said, “Friends, we must recognize that Daniel 8, ‘Unto two thousand three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,’ does not mean what we used to think it meant.”

What did he base his conclusion on? Had he discovered that the verse says something different than we used to think it said? No! Had he read in the book of Daniel something to give him that opinion? No! His basis was the presupposition that God would not speak to a man in one generation about things that are going to happen many generations later.

I feel very uncomfortable with that facet of the historical critical method, which presumes to tell God what He can and cannot do. Suppose that God did intend to give Daniel information that would not make any sense at all to him, but would make sense to the generations that would come along later. Should God apologize to those doctors because He did not follow their presupposition. How ridiculous! Who do we think we are? I do not feel comfortable trying to tell God how He can exercise His will to reveal something to man!

Have you realized yet the fact that man reasons poorly? Because of that fact, God has given us revelation through His Word. In addition to the Bible, He has given us the writings of Ellen White, to deal with the minutia, the small things of life. God does not give counsel where no counsel is needed. And that says something to us about our sick heads that we would rather not hear. If you and I need to be counseled about the minutia of life, that implies that we cannot even handle those questions very well, on our own, by human reason. Is that an insult to our intelligence, or an act of mercy showing how much God cares for us? I prefer to believe that God has sent me counsel on the minutia of life because He loves me. Even though my head is sick, He still loves me.

Unfortunately, many do not think that way. Once I pointed out to a seminary professor a discrepancy between what he taught the class and a certain page in the writings of Ellen White. His response was, “Look, man, we ought to be able to think for ourselves. We should not need to run to Ellen White every time something comes up.” That terrifies me! Here is a man who insists that he has a good mind, when actually his head is sick and handicapped. He is likely, in his unwise self-confidence, to make wrong conclusions.

We must realize that we have sick heads, and flee to the counsels of God for help at every point where decision making is needed. I feel no shame in running to the counsels of God that came to us through Ellen White. I treasure them. I have found them dealing with the minutia of life in a way that helps me very much and I plan to continue that way.

The Lord’s gracious appeal to us is, “Come, let us reason together,” remembering the indications that we are not well. But, nevertheless, the Lord’s mercy and love are indicated and I believe that the twenty-five million words that came to us through Ellen White are words of love and mercy, an indication of God’s love for us. I believe that in my loyalty to them I find my truest freedom. I am not ashamed to submit my reason to the reason that comes to me from God—the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

This article was taken from a message given by Elder Larson some years ago while he was pastor of the Campus Hill Church at Loma Linda University.

A Root out of Dry Ground

by

God’s Word contains the word of life. When Jesus was in the wilderness, He said to the tempter, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. Every word of the Bible is pure and true, but there are some portions that we are especially admonished to memorize. One such chapter is Isaiah 53. In this chapter we see a picture of Christ, the Lamb of God, and His great sacrifice for us.

It begins with these words: “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Isaiah 53:1. A news report that is unbelievable is in this chapter. Here the story is told of the manifestation of the power of God to save humanity. And this unleashing of God’s power through humanity is unbelievable! The arm of the Lord is a symbol of His power. He said, “My arm is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is My ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your sins have separated between Me and you so that I cannot reach out and save you.” (See Isaiah 59:1, 2.)

In this chapter, Isaiah gives a description of this Person and the qualifications He has that allow the power of God to work through Him. The first one is tenderness: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant.” Verse 2. Are we tender? Are our hearts soft towards each other? Jesus’ heart was tender. He was not hardhearted. His heart was touched with the feelings of others.

How did people respond to Christ’s tenderheartedness? Isaiah says He was “as a root out of a dry ground.” Ibid. Jesus did not fit in. He was misplaced like roots growing on top of the ground.

“He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 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.” Verse 3.

Jesus lived on this earth with people like you and me. He went to a synagogue, He worked in a carpenter’s shop and He worked and talked with people. But, despite all that He had in common with these people, He was not accepted. They rejected Him and scorned Him. (See The Desire of Ages, 84–92.)

What is so very amazing is that the Scripture says, “He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows.” Verse 4. He carried the grief and sorrows of the very ones who mocked and derided Him. And what did He receive in return? “Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Ibid. Seeing Him burdened with the heavy load of our sins, we looked at Him and scoffed, saying that God must have given Him this heavy burden to carry to punish Him! But it was not His burden; it was ours.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes, we are healed.” Verse 5. I need to be healed from the scars of sin, and there is healing through His stripes. That is a promise that each one of us can claim. I do not understand the working of the divine agency, but I know it works because I have experienced it. He heals the broken hearted and brings comfort and joy.

“All we like sheep have gone astray.” Verse 6. Who is this chapter written to? It is written to all of us, because we have all gone astray. Do not let the devil tempt you into thinking that you are in such a bad condition that Christ’s stripes cannot heal your sins. His stripes can bring each one healing and joy—no matter how low we have fallen. What wonderful news!

“We have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” Verse 6, 7. When you are oppressed and ridiculed do you give a quick and angry reply? Whenever you are tempted to do this, think of Jesus before His persecutors. He did not open His mouth to speak a word in retaliation.

“He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death.”Verses 8, 9. How was this Scripture fulfilled? The wicked was the thief on the cross who never repented. The rich is described in a beautiful passage in The Acts of the Apostles, 104: “At this time of peril, Nicodemus came forward in fearless avowal of his faith in the crucified Saviour. Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin and with others had been stirred by the teaching of Jesus. As he had witnessed Christ’s wonderful works, the conviction had fastened itself upon his mind that this was the Sent of God. Too proud to openly acknowledge himself in sympathy with the Galilean Teacher, he had sought a secret interview.” Nicodemus asked for a secret interview because he was proud. He did not want anyone to see him, one of the top leaders in the nation, associated with Jesus. “But when at last Christ had been uplifted on the cross, Nicodemus remembered the words that He had spoken to him in the night interview on the Mount of Olives . . . and he saw in Jesus the world’s Redeemer.” Ibid.

Another man, who before Christ’s death had been too proud to associate with Him, was Joseph of Arimathea. “With Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus had borne the expenses of the burial of Jesus. The disciples had been afraid to show themselves openly as Christ’s followers, but Nicodemus and Joseph came boldly to their aid. The help of these rich and honored men was greatly needed in this hour of darkness. They had been able to do for their dead Master what it would have been impossible for the poor disciples to do; and their wealth and influence had protected them, in a great measure from the malice of the priests and rulers. Now, when the Jews were trying to destroy the infant church, Nicodemus came forward in its defense. No longer cautious and questioning he encouraged the faith of the disciples and he used his wealth in helping to sustain the church at Jerusalem and advancing the work of the gospel. Those who in other days had paid him reverence, now scorned and persecuted him.” Ibid.

Nicodemus was experiencing the steps in Isaiah 53. He, too, became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And besides being scorned and persecuted, “he became poor in this world’s goods, yet he faltered not in defense of his faith.” Ibid.

All the prophecies about the life of Christ were fulfilled just as the prophets gave them. “And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” Isaiah 53:9.

The next phrase stuns your mind. It is the type of passage that I often feel that the angels should read, because it is far above mortal humans to understand the great love of God it portrays. It reads: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” How can this be? The Father and Son were closer than any human beings have ever been on this earth. They loved more because they had more to love with. And yet, the Lord loves you and me so much that it delighted Him to send His Son to save us. He made a way of escape for us through the only way possible—the death of His precious Son. This is what our Redeemer did to save us.

“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” Isaiah 53:10.

What is the pleasure of the Lord? Jesus said, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. In other words, in His hand there is all the power that is needed to bring you and me into a condition to inherit His kingdom.

“He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:11, 12.

What a touching representation of Christ’s love is given to us in this chapter. No wonder inspiration tells us: “This chapter should be studied. It presents Christ as the Lamb of God. Those who are lifted up with pride, whose souls are filled with vanity, should look upon this picture of their Redeemer, and humble themselves in the dust. The entire chapter should be committed to memory. Its influence will subdue and humble the soul defiled by sin and uplifted by self-exaltation.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4, 1147.

If you are struggling to follow the meek and lowly Savior, then memorize this chapter and let your mind contemplate it word by word. If the truth it contains becomes a part of your life, your heart will be melted and changed into the likeness of our meek and lowly Savior.

Water From a Different Source

In the remainder of this article I would like to focus on just one phrase from this chapter. It is found in verse 2. It says that Christ was as “a root out of a dry ground.” Consider this carefully. When you pull up a weed, throw it on the ground and leave it in the sun for a few hours, it wilts. Why does it wilt? Because, it no longer has a water supply, and the cells in the plant begin to wither and die.

Jesus was looked upon as a root out of dry ground because He did not draw His nourishment from earthly sources. Jesus’ source of nourishment was streams of heavenly origin. Streams that those who were blinded by worldliness did not want to see. Because they could not see, they could not understand where He derived His strength. To them He was as “a root out of a dry ground.”

What characteristics did Christ have that showed that His nourishment did not come from earthly sources? “Our Redeemer did not come to our world with outward display.” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, July 19, 1887. He was not trying to dress, eat, live or to speak so as to draw attention to Himself. The people who rejected Him saw nothing of heaven in His appearance. “They could not see hidden beneath the humble disguise of humanity the world’s Redeemer. They saw before them a ‘Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’” Ibid. And that is not what they wanted to see.

What is it that they wanted to see? Luke 17:20, 21, records a conversation that Jesus had with the Pharisees on this very subject. “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation (outward show, margin), neither shall they say, Lo, here! or lo, there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” These people were looking for something on the outside of Him, but Jesus came to do something to the inside of us. He said, “My kingdom is not with outward show.”

“The afflicted, suffering ones who saw Christ as their helper, were charmed with the divine perfection, and beauty of holiness, that shone forth in His character. But the Pharisees could see no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. His simple attire, and humble life, devoid of outward show, rendered Him to them as a root out of dry ground.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, 1111.

They wanted a king, dressed with the latest and the most expensive clothing as they were. But this was not Christ’s way. “Through all the lowly experiences of life He consented to pass, walking among the children of men, not as a king to demand homage, but as One whose mission it was to serve others.” The Mount of Blessing, 14.

Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, you cannot know God. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14. “The kingdom of God comes not with outward show. The gospel of the grace of God with its spirit of self-abnegation can never be in harmony with the spirit of the world. The two principles are antagonistic.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 14.

Each one of us will have only one of these two principles (roots) operating in our lives. The root is the foundation of a plant. From the root, moisture and nutrition are gathered for the plant to give it life. While the plant is growing, you cannot see the root, you can only see the leaves and the fruit. But it is the root that determines the character of the plant. Each one of us will be one of two kinds of roots. We have our choice. Either we will be self-denying and thinking of the good of others or we will be self-serving.

The Tie of Worldly Associations

There was another reason why the Jewish people rejected Jesus, and the same influence causes many today to reject Him. “Worldly associations attract and dazzle the senses so that piety, the fear of God, faithfulness, and loyalty hath not power to keep them steadfast. The humble, unassuming life of Christ seems altogether unattractive.” Adventist Home, 461. If our lives are knit with worldly associations, the life of Christ will not appear attractive to us. It does not make any difference what theory we claim to believe. If we associate with those who love the world, His life of self-abnegation will be to us as a root out of dry ground. We will not want Him, because the people we are associating with have not accepted His invitation. They love the things of this world just as the Pharisees loved pomp, power, fancy clothes, and the admiration of other people. They have the root of the Pharisees instead of the root of Christ.

What is the root of the Pharisees? Evangelism, 633 says, “There is nothing that so much retards and cripples the work in its various branches as jealousy and suspicion and evil surmisings. These reveal that disunion prevails among the workers for God. Selfishness is the root of all evil.” The root of the Pharisees produced a plant with lots of pretty leaves. But that root built up self at the expense of others.

Christ’s own disciples were influenced by this root of selfishness. Inspiration tells us: “Even His disciples were so blinded by the selfishness of their hearts that they were slow to understand Him Who had come to manifest to them the Father’s love.” The Mount of Blessing, 25.

They could not understand the nature of Christ because they still had the root of selfishness in their hearts. With this mindset it was easy for them to accept the theory of the Pharisees that told of a great kingdom where they would rule the earth. This should be a warning to us. We cannot understand the Word of God in its fullness until selfishness is rooted out. If it has not been, then we can interpret any part of the Bible to build ourselves up.

Roots and Their Fruits

How deceptive the devil’s kingdom can be. Since the root is buried, how do you know the root of the situation? “For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16.

You cannot have a holy root that grows thorns and thistles. If the root is holy, then the fruit is holy.

How can we know for certain what is good fruit and what is bad? Have we been told exactly what Jesus’ root is, so that there can be no mistake? In Christ’s Object Lessons, 128 we read: “Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declared, ‘They are they which testify of Me.’ John 5:39. In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both parts are of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root.”

With the law as the root, the gospel is the fruit. In the new covenant, Jesus said, “I will write them [My laws] in their hearts.” Hebrews 8:10. “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

If the law is written in our heart and is the foundation of our life, then the fruit will be humility and meekness. David said, “Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97. If we want the root of selfishness and pride uprooted from our hearts, we must love God’s law as David did and allow it to purify us completely.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees how the root of selfishness could be removed from their hearts. He said, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:10.

A tree cannot be changed by picking off its bad fruit. The axe of God’s Word needs to be laid to the root of the problem. (See Hebrews 4:12.) The root of selfishness needs to be removed. There is no reformation program for the Pharisees plan of action that will make it acceptable to God; a total change must be made.

John the Baptist told the Pharisees, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” Matthew 3:9. They claimed to be the heirs of His kingdom. Let us call them the Seventh-day Adventists of their day. When these leaders came to John he looked them straight in the eye and he said, Do not even think of calling yourselves Seventh-day Adventists. Until the root is taken out, you can call yourself whatever you want, but profession is nothing. It all depends on the fruit.

John the Baptist continued: “For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now, also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Matthew 3:9–11.

Here is a promise you can claim if you want the root of selfishness taken out of your heart. This prophecy of Christ says, “Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12.

Get down on your knees with this verse under your fingers and say, “Lord, I want the floor of my heart clean. I want the axe laid at the root of selfishness. I want selfishness, covetousness and the love of money pulled out.” God will answer your prayer. However, when you surrender your sinful self to God you must understand that you will be treated as Jesus was. Do not look for worldly acclaim, for it will not come to you.

On the hills of Palestine, our heavenly Father planted a goodly vine and He Himself was the husbandman. He had no remarkable form that would at first sight give an impression of its value. It appeared to come up as a root out of dry ground and attracted but little attention. But when attention was called to the plant, it was by some declared to be of heavenly origin. The men of Nazareth stood entranced as they saw its beauty. But when they received the idea that it would stand more gracefully and attract more attention than they could, they wrestled to uproot the precious plant and cast it over the wall.

The men of Jerusalem bruised the plant and trampled it under their unholy feet. Their thought was to destroy it forever. But the Heavenly Husbandman never lost sight of His plant. After men thought that they had killed it, He replanted it on the other side of the wall and hid it from the view of men. May you be as humble as Jesus was, and may you have joy as Jesus did. And when you are persecuted, may you endure it as Jesus did, and someday may your future be as glorious as His.

The Ten Commandments, Part I: Hear, Listen, Keep, and Do

by

When we refer to the Ten Commandments, we generally think of the Book of Exodus, chapter 20. However, in this series, I would like to study with you chapter 5 of the Book of Deuteronomy where the law is given again by Moses to the children of Israel, just before they cross over into the Promised Land. Forty years earlier, while they were camped at Mount Sinai, God came down in awful grandeur and spoke the Ten Commandment Law to the children of Israel. That law was to govern every moral aspect and attitude of their lives until they died. In conjunction with that, statutes and judgments were handed down to Moses, written down, and put into the side of the ark in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. The Ten Commandments were housed in the interior part of the ark.

Morality and the Law

There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law, and then there is the morality that makes the law work. It is our morality that allows us to have freedom under the law. The less morality that a people have, the less freedom those people enjoy. That may sound like a strange statement, because many people think that if they are involved in immorality—which is no morality—they have all the freedom they could ever want, but, in fact, they are in slavery. This is why James calls the royal law, the Ten Commandment Law, the law of liberty.

Many of you will recall that just a few years ago there were reports concerning presidential scandals in the United States. As the scandals began to unfold in the news media, the reporters took polls to ascertain how the public was responding to the scandals. Interestingly, after the first couple of days, the report came back, “Do not tell us any more. We have heard enough. Leave us alone. We do not care what the President has done.” It seemed that the more information that was provided to the public, the higher were the ratings of the President. All the while, the reality was that the freedom in morality was vanishing. The less morality the people have, the less freedom they can enjoy and still have a civilization.

Do Not Indoctrinate

Too many of us have the idea that if something does not affect us directly, it does not concern us. This, I think, can be said of many, many issues of life. How did we come to a position where we accept this kind of thinking? It goes back a long way and a lot is involved. We cannot go through all the various stages and steps that brought us to this place, but the gist of it is that it started with the principle taught to young people that directs: Expose them to the ideas, but whatever you do, do not indoctrinate them. Give them the idea, and let them then make their own decisions. Let them do what they want to do. If they want to stay up late at night, let them stay up late at night. If they do not want to help with the chores, do not force them to help with the chores. Do not indoctrinate them.

In many areas, this is the popular thinking of today, especially, it seems, in regard to the bringing up of children. It has produced a generation that does not care about anything that does not directly affect them on a personal level.

Keep the Light Burning

The light is rapidly going out for the United States. The only hope that we have is to keep the light burning brightly in our own lives and then to try to share that light with others around us so they will see the light. That is basically Steps to Life’s mission. That is why the study of the Scriptures is so vitally important, because it contains for us light that we can, in turn, share with other people.

We know that we are in the last days, because the signs given to us in the Bible indicate that we are in that period of time when darkness is prevailing upon the earth. From what we read and hear concerning the daily events around the world, and as we look out on the horizon of society, we cannot doubt that we are living in the final time period of earth’s history. Therefore, it is important for us, as Seventh-day Adventists, to go back to the Bible—our foundation of morality and our foundation of freedom. There we find what God would have us to be and have us to do, so we can, with peace in our hearts, be ready to meet Jesus when He comes.

What to Say

This was the burden of Moses as he stood upon the mountain, knowing that he had lost the blessing of entering into the Promised Land. God had already told him, “Do not talk to Me anymore about this issue. It is over; it is settled. You are not going over.” So Moses had a burden. He searched for the words to say to those with whom, for the past 40 years, he had been in the wilderness. He wanted to share wisdom and encouragement, assuring that many would be in the kingdom of heaven with him when the saints would be resurrected. (He did not know that he was soon going to be raised and taken to heaven.)

“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire. (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount).” Deuteronomy 5:1–5.

This is the second Sabbath message delivered by Moses. In this message, similar words are repeated over and over to try to emphasize the point. There are some people who become tired of hearing the same thing over and over again, but there is a need to repeat these things, because sin has clouded their minds. These words, spoken once in the Garden of Eden to Adam and to Eve, would never have been forgotten. We, on the other hand, can have things said to us and two minutes later ask, “What was it you said?”

We Quickly Forget

I was visiting with someone in my office recently, and as we stepped through the doorway, he said, “Oh, I think I left my water bottle in your office.” He turned around, went back into the office, did not see it, but then discovered he was holding it in his hand. The frailty of our minds necessitates the repetition of things. We cannot remember like we should. The lot of humanity has a tendency to forget all too quickly the leading of God.

Look back on your own life. You know that there were times when God met you right where you were. He performed a miracle for you right when you asked. Yet, when faced with another trial, on down the road, you have a tendency to forget that there even is a God in heaven. “Is God really here?” you question. “Is He really going to take care of me?”

There is a familiar hymn that describes the kind of experience God wants us to have: “Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty; Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.” P. P. Bliss, “Sing Them Over Again to Me,” The Church Hymnal, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., 1941, 574.

This is the kind of experience that God wants us to have. This is the kind of experience that Moses desired for the children of Israel.

Four Steps

Notice how Moses began: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.”

There are four steps given here that we are to apply to our walk with the Lord, so we will not develop the “I do not care” attitude. The first step is to have open ears. The second step is to learn what we hear. The third step is to keep what we hear and what we learn. And the fourth step is to do it. These steps are very essential for the Christian life, because they form the very foundation of all that we are to become through sanctified living.

Open Ears

First, Moses says that we are to have open ears, so we can hear. You see, if we have open ears, we also have open minds. There is nothing more dangerous to our spiritual well-being than to have closed minds.

How often have we gone to an individual to try to clarify an issue, but he or she has closed his or her mind, not wanting to hear? That closed mind is indicative that there are other areas of difficulty and problem. The way that God works in our hearts and minds is that our minds are to be open continuously, to hear all the counsel that comes and to then measure that counsel by the Word of God. If it fits with the Word of God, it needs to be incorporated into our lives. This is why the Bereans were so much nobler than those in Thessalonica. The Bible says that they received the word with all readiness of mind. They were willing to listen to what the apostle Paul had to say, but they did not leave it there. They received the word with all readiness of mind; then they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.

Let me tell you something. If someone comes to you with a particular message, when you begin to search and study the Scriptures in regard to this message, the promise is that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction as to whether it is true or whether it is false. This is what happened to those in Berea. “Therefore many of them believed.” Verse 12.

That is the kind of experience God wants us to have. So, we are to have open ears, which are indicative of open minds.

Learn What We Hear

We know that God had called Israel to a teaching ministry. That was the great gift that God gave to the entirety of Israel. Oh, He had His prophets; He had His pastors, but the great gift that God had given to Israel was that of teaching. The very first step in teaching is to find those who have open ears to hear the word. When Israel failed, God gave this teaching ministry to the church, and that teaching ministry is still to be operational today.

Ezekiel 12:2 says: “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they [are] a rebellious house.” God wanted them to have open hearts and minds, so He could, through the prophets, pour His truths into them. Then they, in turn, could go out and teach what they learned to all the surrounding nations. But instead of having open minds, they rebelled and turned away. They closed their eyes and ears, because they were convinced that they would be all right if they followed their own way.

“Let Him Hear”

Jesus speaks to this problem, in Matthew 11:15, when He says: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus uses this same theme throughout all of His teaching. It was a little catch phrase to those who were listening to Him speak. He used it to get their attention.

If you have heard Pastor Kenny Shelton, of Behold the Lamb Ministries, speak, you probably remember him asking, during his sermon, the question, “Are you listening?” This device is similar to what Jesus used to capture the attention of the people. Usually what is spoken next is of tremendous importance, and Pastor Shelton wants to make sure the people hear it, as did Jesus.

Many times, throughout the gospels—in Matthew, Mark, and Luke—when Jesus taught a parable, He ended it by saying, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8; 14:35. (See also Matthew 13:9, 43; Mark 4:23; 7:16.) Then, of course, in Revelation we find the same phrase in the messages to the seven churches. Direct, stern counsel is given in those seven messages, and seven times the words are repeated: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.

It is important that we have open ears, which open the minds to hear. The cleverest thing that the devil can do to God’s church is to get them to close their minds to truth. If he can accomplish this, he then has them right where he wants them, because by closing their minds, he has very effectively closed them out of the kingdom of heaven. Now that is an awesome thought, but it is a true thought. Just stop and think it through for a moment. If you have a closed mind, is that godly? No. A godly mind is an open mind. A closed mind is a devilish mind, and a devilish mind is going to be closed out of the kingdom of heaven, because communication between heaven and earth cannot take place.

We need to hear, and then we need to learn what we have heard, to become acquainted with what God has told us.

“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.

“The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 19.

In order for us to fill this important position, we need to hear, and then we need to learn the lessons so that we can pass them on to others.

Jesus Was a Learner

Jesus was a learner. In studying His life, we read, in the Book of Luke, how He was born in Bethlehem’s manger, and then his parents fled with Him to Egypt to spare His life. After that, there is a period of silence. Ellen White tells us that, during these years, Jesus learned the Scriptures from His mother. (See The Desire of Ages, 70.) During those formative years, Jesus learned the great principles of God’s Word. The next reference to Jesus finds Him in Jerusalem during the Passover. When His parents began to make their way back to their home in Nazareth, they had to retrace their steps, looking for Him, and they discovered Him at the temple, confounding the Doctors of the Law concerning the things of God’s Word.

Jesus was a learner. He heard the words from His mother, which were words of life, the principles of Scripture. When it was time for Him to be called upon to share the things He learned, He did it in a marvelous way. Jesus has left for us an example.

Learn the Lessons

“Untried character is not reliable. We are to be tried by temptation in order that we may learn to seek wisdom from God, and to flee to the stronghold in time of trouble. He alone will be successful in resisting temptation who finds help and grace from God. Individually we stand as did our first parents—face to face with manifold temptations that solicit mind and heart. All heaven is watching with intense interest, to see whether we will look unto Jesus and submit ourselves to his will, or whether in the temptation we shall follow the inclinations of the natural heart and the solicitations of the evil one. O, how often you have lost the battle because you have acted independent of him who has made you his own by creation and by redemption!” The Youth’s Instructor, September 26, 1895.

How does that happen? Because we have not learned the lessons that God has for us.

“Restrain every hasty speech that struggles for utterance. Before you speak that fretful, impatient word, stop and think of the influence that, if spoken, it will exert upon others. Remember that the ears of children are quick to hear every word and to mark every intonation of the voice. Remember, too, that angels hear the words you speak. You are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Follow a course that will be an honor to Jesus, a course that will bring holy angels to your side. Let your home life be such that Christ can enter your dwelling as an abiding guest. Let it be such that people will take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of him.” The Southern Watchman, January 19, 1904.

These are the things that God wants us to learn, so we can develop a character that will rightly represent the life of Christ to others. This is the sequence that Moses was outlining to the children of Israel. Remember, Moses had what we might call a vested interest in the children of Israel. He loved them. He desired, more than anything else, for them to be unified and all together in the kingdom of heaven. But what happens to most people, most of the time, happened to them as well.

Keep It

Many people will listen, and they will learn and remember what they hear. Many can even repeat back what they have heard. Some attendees at evangelistic meetings will have others ask them, “What are those Seventh-day Adventists teaching?”

The attendees will reply, “They are teaching that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and the text they are using is found in Exodus 20.” They heard it; they learned it; they can repeat it.

God wants the truths we learn to be in our hearts, so we will keep them. What does it say in Psalm 119:11? “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” That is why the Ten Commandment Law, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is to be written on our hearts. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15.

You cannot keep anything that is spiritual unless you love it. Jesus did not say, “If you love Me, hear My commandments.” He did not say, “If you love Me, learn My commandments.” We have to hear; we have to learn, but we also have to keep.

Keepers are Doers

“Some are hearers of the word but not doers. They receive the heavenly benefits, but feel no responsibility to advance the cause of truth and save souls by their personal efforts. The divine command is two-fold, to not only be hearers, but doers, of the word. We are to receive the word ourselves and impart to others the precious light we have received. As we accept the truth, we virtually pledge ourselves to be workers with Christ . . . .” The True Missionary, February 1, 1874.

Here, Ellen White is telling us that we, at the time we accept these words, enter into a covenant with God that involves more than just being hearers. We “pledge ourselves to be workers with Christ, and to be consecrated to his service, and no longer live to do our will, and serve ourselves, but to be faithful servants of the Master to whom we have yielded ourselves servants to obey. The commission of Christ to his disciples was, to go and preach the gospel to every creature.” Ibid. Then she says, “We have a world-wide message.” Ibid.

So, in this whole process that Moses was trying to get across to the children of Israel, they were to hear; they were to learn; they were to keep; and they were to do. If we put those all together, the process that God has ordained, which should take place in our lives, results in character transformation for us. Character transformation does not come from just hearing or from learning. Character transformation comes when all of the four steps are incorporated and put into process, so they can do something for us and for others as well.

God was giving to the children of Israel, and is giving to us, the calling to share this message.

Deuteronomy 5:2–4 says, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.”

Tribalism, Corporatism, Congregationalism

There may be some who question the need to review these happenings from times of old, but we need to remember that each new generation has to hear, has to learn, has to keep, and has to do. It is an experience that each generation needs to have for themselves.

When the people were gathered to hear Moses’ message to them, he said, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.” An interesting dynamic is coming into play here—the dynamic of tribalism or corporatism. The people hearing this needed to feel a part of something larger than just their group. The accountability of those who were hearing Moses’ spoken words at Horeb was not as great as the accountability of those who had originally listened at Sinai. Those of the current generation may not even have been old enough to comprehend what had happened at Sinai. They could sense something great was transpiring there, as far as their parents were concerned, but many of them did not have the ability to grasp that God Himself was speaking to them out of the cloud.

Now Moses is telling them, “Listen, what you, in this generation, need to understand is that you, the children of Israel, entered into a covenant with God at Sinai.” That means that there was a much larger feeling of congregation than what is sometimes understood.

Importance of Congregation

Let us consider this in today’s terms. There are times when we cannot meet together in a congregational setting. God honors us when we meet at home, but I do not believe that God is going to bless us if we have the opportunity to meet together as a church and we neglect that opportunity. The Word of God teaches that we are to come together to worship. (See, for example, Matthew 18:20; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:42; Psalm 66:16.)

Here, I believe that a tribal concept applies. Even though you may be a young member of a tribe, you are just as much a part of the benefit, the blessing, and the curse of the whole tribe, as if you were an adult, because the time will come when you will grow into adulthood. Then, as a part of the tribe, you will buy into the program as a whole, and you will own it as a tribe.

Bigger Than the Individual

Moses was trying to get across to the children of Israel that this thing was bigger than anyone of them individually.

“The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.” That did not happen in fact, but corporately, tribally, it did. They were a part of the whole group.

This is why, I believe, when the apostle Paul was working so desperately for the Jewish people, he said, “All Israel shall be saved.” Romans 11:26. There is something that is corporate. There is something that is tribal, which is bigger than just the individual. God wants to deal with us on a congregational level.

I realize that we are not saved congregationally or tribally. We are saved individually. But there is something to be said about the congregational aspect that we read about in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, it is called the church—God’s called-out ones who are gathered congregationally in a hall.

Frequent Review

We need to understand these things. This is why, in Deuteronomy 6:6–9, we are told: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” Children buy into the corporate structure and will be taught and raised up so that when they are adults, they are able to have a part in the whole concept of the congregation. “. . . and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

Those things were to be repeated over and over again, including the covenant that God had made with the children of Israel. I do not know of anyone, including myself, who has fulfilled the fullness of this instruction. The Jews, in later years, took this to an extreme, and turned it into a system of works. The Lord does not want that to happen. But the point here is that we are to be willing to have every aspect of our being constantly instructed and love to have it so. We must have an altogether different experience, if we are going to come through this life as God desires.

The Lord wants us to have open ears so we can hear; He wants us to learn; He wants us to keep; and He wants us to do. If we do these four things, we will be part of a tribal concept, a congregational concept where God can pour out His blessing upon His people. When we have such an experience, then we are going to have an attitude of caring rather than an attitude of “I do not care,” and God is going to be able to work for us and through us.

In the next article of this series, we will begin going through the commandments that God gave on Sinai. We will note the differences in the commandments, as recorded in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5, and find out why those differences exist.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Man Who Would Not Give Up, Part I

by

Several examples are given in the Bible of men and women who would not give up. One outstanding example of a man who would not give up is given in the Old Testament, and because he would not give up, you will meet him in heaven someday, if you are saved. You can be saved, if you determine to never give up. The Holy Spirit is working on your heart, but you have to make the decision. There have been (and are) people who have found themselves in a situation where they could be saved, but they gave up, and they lost out. There are several such examples in the Bible, but, in this study, we want to learn about the person who would not give up, and who was saved as a result.

This Bible story is about one of the most well-known men in the entire Bible. If you have started to read your Bible through, you have probably read the story of his life, because it is found in the Book of Genesis. This man was a miracle child. His father’s wife had been unable to have children. After his father and his mother had been married for about 20 years, his father prayed, “Lord, you have promised my father and me that we are going to have children, and through us all of the world is going to be blessed. My wife cannot conceive. What am I going to do?” The Lord answered his prayer. (Genesis 25:21.) His wife not only became pregnant, but she carried twins. While she was pregnant with these twins, they began fighting inside her womb. She talked to the Lord about it, and the Lord told her what it meant. (Verses 22, 23.)

When these twins were born, the coloring of the first one was red. That is why he was named Edom [Esau]. (Verse 25.) In the Hebrew language, Edom means “red.” When the younger one was born, the Bible says that his hand grabbed hold of the heel of his older brother. He was named Heel Grabber. Yàaqob in the Hebrew language means “the heel grabber.” In English, he is called Jacob. How would you like your name to be Heel Grabber? What does that name imply? It implies that a person is cunning, a person of which to be wary, because he will take advantage of you. That is exactly the kind of person Jacob developed into being. He was named correctly!

When I, as a young boy, first read the story of Jacob, I thought that Laban was the fellow of whom to be scared. But the more I read the story, I discovered that Jacob was actually just about as dangerous as Laban. I really do not think that I would have wanted to do business with either one of them.

Firstborn Responsibilities

Until modern times, it has been the custom—not just with the children of Isaac and Abraham, but throughout that part of the world—that the firstborn had certain responsibilities, which the other children did not have. For example, the firstborn child was always expected to be responsible for the welfare and well-being of his or her parents when they became old. When the firstborn child became an adult, that child was expected to resolve any of the problems of the other brothers and sisters, as well as to support the parents in their old age. Because the firstborn child had these extra responsibilities, it was an ancient custom that, when the father’s inheritance was divided among his children, the firstborn was to receive a double portion.

Isaac had only two children, so it is easy to calculate. If the firstborn received a double portion, it would mean that the firstborn would receive two-thirds of the family estate and the other child would be given one-third of the family estate. Jacob was just a few minutes younger, but he was a heel grabber. He was a smart businessman. He knew how to take advantage of circumstances. He knew when the opportunity was ripe.

Theft and Deceit

One day, Jacob, who was caring for the flocks and herds, had cooked some lentils. Esau, who had been hunting, returned ravenously hungry and, smelling the savory dish Jacob had prepared, said, “Please give me something to eat. I am so hungry; I am about to die.”

Jacob recognized a golden opportunity, and he responded: “I will give you a bowl of lentils, if, for it, you will sell me your birthright.”

Talk about a deal! Isaac was a very wealthy man. One-third of his estate would be worth several hundred thousand dollars in today’s money. How would you like to double your net worth for a bowl of lentils? That is one of the most expensive bowls of food mentioned in the Bible. Esau was so hungry that he said, “I will do it.” It was a foolish thing for Esau to do, but it was a sharp thing for Jacob to do, although not very righteous. In fact, it was not righteous at all. It was very wicked.

Are you aware of the meaning of the eighth commandment? If I sell you something for much more than it is worth, because you are ignorant and do not know any better, I have stolen from you. And if I buy something from you for much less than it is worth, because you do not know its worth, I have stolen from you. Jacob stole from his brother. He was a thief in the worst sense, because he stole from his own family. But it got worse. He eventually deceived his own father.

Jacob stole from his brother, and he deceived his own father. Do you not agree that those are heinous sins? It is terrible to steal from your own brother, and it is just as bad or worse to lie and to deceive your own father. God did not keep Jacob from having to bear some very terrible consequences for those two sins. He bore consequences all the rest of his life.

When reading the Bible, people read about the chief characters and say, “These are the chief characters of the Bible, and look at all of the awful things they did.” But what they are not looking at is that the chief characters of the Bible paid a terrible price for the terrible sins they committed. The Bible teaches that there are consequences for sin.

Esau became very angry with Jacob. It is not difficult to figure out why he became so angry. How would you feel if you had just lost several hundred thousand dollars to your brother—cheated out of it because you were nearly out of your mind with hunger? Would you become angry? I have seen people become angry for a lot less than that!

Jacob had to flee from home, because his brother said, “I am going to do away with him. If I do away with him, instead of getting one-third of the inheritance, as I am now supposed to receive, I will get the whole thing.” Incidentally, that still happens.

The Whole Inheritance

I remember when the very first airliner with a bomb on board crashed, in 1955. At that time, it was not mandatory for air travelers to go through security before boarding an airplane. A passenger bought his or her ticket, deposited their baggage, walked through a door, and got on the plane. I have done that, and I have seen my father do it many times. The world then was not as wicked as it is today.

This airplane came down in a field near Longmont, Colorado, within ten miles of where my family lived. A bomb in the baggage compartment had exploded, killing everyone on board. An investigation revealed that a man, whose mother was traveling on this plane, had hidden a bomb in her luggage. He had a time clock on the bomb, timed to explode over the Rocky Mountains. He planned that the plane would go down in the Rocky Mountains, and it would be considered just an accident. Everything would be in smithereens; nobody would know what had actually happened. But the plane was late. You see, Longmont, Colorado, is located about 15 or 20 miles east of the Rocky Mountains. Since the plane was late, when the timer went off and the bomb exploded, instead of going down in the Rocky Mountains, it went down in a field.

Why had this man performed such a deadly act? He wanted to receive his mother’s life insurance right then. He did not want to wait for her to die a natural death. He wanted his inheritance—the whole thing—immediately.

That was Esau’s problem. He wanted his inheritance, and he thought, “Jacob stole my inheritance from me. I will not only get back a double portion; I will get the whole thing.” Consequently, Jacob had to flee for his life. He went to his mother’s brother, Laban, and served him for 20 years. That is another story, which we will not study now. You may read it in Genesis 28–30.

20 Years of Guilt

We will pick up the story in Genesis 31. Jacob had been serving Laban for 20 years. He had been a fugitive. He had come to Laban with nothing, but the Lord had blessed him, and he had become a very wealthy man. Laban’s sons were jealous of all the wealth that Jacob had acquired. They said, “He has taken all of our father’s wealth.”

Laban had deceived Jacob, so instead of having one wife, he had two. Some men would say that two wives are twice as bad as one. I would not want to put it that way, because then it would seem like one is bad, and I am not trying to intimate that, but Jacob’s entire life was troubled, as a consequence of having two wives. He was in this situation as a result of his sin, and he knew it. He knew that the reason he had two wives instead of one, and the reason he had trouble with Laban, was because of his sin.

The sin that he had committed against his brother and the sin against his father bothered his conscience all those 20 years. That entire time he thought, “I would not be in this situation if I had not deceived my father. I would not be in this situation if I had not robbed my brother.”

Return to Your People

Then the Lord gave Jacob instruction to return to his people: “Jehovah spoke to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.’ ” (Verse 3.) Jacob knew where that land was. It was where Esau lived. “Return to your own kindred and I will be with you.” The Lord promised to be with him.

Jacob called Rachel and Leah out into the field and talked with them. They agreed that Jacob, along with his household, should follow God’s counsel. (Verses 4, 14–16.) But he was afraid Laban would not let him go, so he decided to leave secretly. While Laban was in another place shearing his sheep, Jacob left, with his two wives, eleven sons, all of his livestock, and his servants. Because of the thousands of cattle, sheep, and goats, they were unable to travel very fast, so when Laban learned they were gone, he was able to overtake them. God had intervened on Jacob’s behalf regarding Laban, and the two parted peaceably.

Close to Home

Can you imagine the tumultuous thoughts in Jacob’s mind, as he drew close to his journey’s end? Think this through. For the last 20 years, he had been gone. During that time, what expectation would his brother, Esau, have had should their father die? How much inheritance would he have thought he would receive? He would have gotten it all. So Esau, for 20 years, had thought that whenever his father died, he would inherit everything.

But now Jacob returns. Jacob owns two-thirds of the inheritance. Esau’s net worth is going to drop by over 60 percent when Jacob comes home. This is on Jacob’s mind. He knows that the reason he is in this difficult situation is because of his own sin. He knows what is going to go through Esau’s mind.

Interests of Brothers

Let me tell you the difference between Esau and Jacob. Both Esau and Jacob wanted the birthright. The birthright involved more than a double portion of the family’s wealth. It also involved a blessing, that being that the one holding the birthright would become the progenitor of the Messiah. That is what Jacob wanted. Esau wanted the double portion of the property. He wanted the worldly wealth. Jacob wanted to be the progenitor of the Messiah.

Jacob, actually, in spite of all his character deficiencies, was a very, very remarkable person. Jacob was a person who chose spiritual blessings over temporal blessings. People like that are quite rare in this world. In spite of his faults, he was an exceptional person. Have you ever met someone who, if given a choice between receiving a lot of money or receiving a spiritual blessing from the Lord, would choose the spiritual instead of the temporal? Have you ever met someone like that? They are very, very rare.

Jacob knew that, when he returned, it would excite fear in Esau’s heart, because Esau would think, “My brother is coming to claim the inheritance.” Jacob knew that Esau could do him great injury. He thought that Esau could decide even now to kill him, and if he did take revenge and kill him, then, of course, he could have the whole inheritance.

Gifts of Appeasement

So, as you may read in Genesis 32, Jacob tried to appease Esau by sending him some very expensive gifts. Even today these gifts would be worth many, many thousands of dollars.

As I was driving recently to Independence, Kansas, I drove past the house where, several years ago, I had purchased one of the dogs that we now own. I noticed a sign in the front yard, as I drove past. The owner of the home has been raising cattle, and he has some good breeding stock for sale. He is advertising them for $800 to $1,200 each.

Good breeding stock is worth money, and Jacob gave a large herd to Esau as a gift that was worth many thousands of dollars. But when the servants who had delivered the gift returned, they reported that Esau was on his way, with 400 men, to meet Jacob. (Verses 3–6.) “Jacob was afraid exceedingly.” (Verse 7.) Terror pervaded the whole encampment. His wives, his children, and his servants knew that, in less than 24 hours, they could all be dead.

Jacob did everything he could. He sent expensive gifts to try to appease his brother. He divided his family into two camps, thinking that if the people in one camp were killed, the others would be able to flee on horses or mules and get away. He did everything he could, but he knew that it was not enough, and it was not enough. Esau was on the way. He was on his way with 400 armed men.

Divine Help Needed

Jacob learned something, friend, that you and I need to learn. He was shrewd; he knew how to make business deals. But he was in a situation now where those skills were useless. There was no business deal that he could make that would get him out of this. He knew that unless the Lord intervened, it was going to be all over.

The sooner we learn what Jacob learned that night, the better off we are going to be. Did you know, friend, that you cannot save yourself? You cannot be good on your own. You cannot keep God’s Law on your own. You cannot get ready for heaven on your own, even if you are as smart and clever as was Jacob. The Bible speaks of this in Psalm 33. It says that a horse is a vain thing to think on for security. It says that the king is not saved by the multitude of his army. (Verses 17, 16.)

Jacob realized that unless he had divine help it was all over. We have a better chance of being saved, friend, if we realize that we cannot ever save ourselves by anything we do. We do not have the ability. We must have divine power operating in our lives or we are lost. The Bible is very clear about this. You may try your whole life, but you will never be able to develop enough self-control, enough power, enough might to be a good person.

I have been a preacher for some time, and I learned a long time ago that I am a lot more scared for the good people than for the bad people. People who think they are good do not realize that, as the Bible says, the “heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9. The bad people at least know they need help.

Jacob was a smart man, but the Lord allowed him to get into a situation where he recognized that unless he had divine help, it was all over. The sooner that you and I learn that lesson, the better off we will be.

To be continued . . .

[Bible texts quoted are literal translation.]

Pastor Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by e-mail at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Lessons from the Children of Israel, Part V

by

The word chode is an Old English word, the past participle of the word chide. If we were to give it a modern application, we would probably say that it means to oppose noisily with the exhibiting of bodily violence. When the people chode with Moses (Numbers 20:3), loudly making their requests for water, their faces probably turned red, and the veins on their necks protruded. They were most likely gesturing with their hands, and they perhaps threw dust up in the air, as they demanded, “Why have you brought us out here?”

Have you ever heard anyone say, “I just wish I could die”? The children of Israel expressed this desire: “Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!” Numbers 20:3. They were referring to the incident when the earth swallowed up Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their supporters. (See Numbers 16.) They whined, “Those people all died; we wish to God that we had died too.” They were not concerned about anything but themselves. When this is the case, watch out!

When all of this complaining and all of this bitterness began boiling up and manifesting itself, what happened? Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle, where they knew there would be protection, and they fell on their faces. They probably covered their heads with their hands and said, “Lord, the fire is going to fall. We do not want to be a part of this.”

Lessons to Learn

One lesson we can learn from this experience concerning the children of Israel is that a discontented heart makes for a very reckless tongue. Forty years of divine chastisement had taught them absolutely nothing. They could not see the hand of God in their leading. They could only see Moses and Aaron; they could not see God.

Do we have those kinds of things happening today? I think so. When things are not going the way they should—or the way that we think they should—we begin to complain about that which is visible to us. That which we can see is that which we blame. Should we not be asking ourselves, “Does God have a hand in all of this?” Is He not the One to whom we should be appealing for help?

There is another lesson in all of this for us, and that is to answer the question, Is God leading, or is He not leading? I would like to suggest to you that perhaps, in the not too distant future in the historic movement, because the number of leaders are dwindling and the focus of attention is more and more upon those who remain, there may come about circumstances in which the water will stop. What are we going to do then? Are we going to focus on the leaders and cry, “You have led us on a merry chase; would to God we had stayed with the denomination; you got us out here in the wilderness to kill us”? I would like to suggest to you that something similar could happen in the very near future. We need to ask ourselves, Where am I going to be found in all of this? On whose side am I really going to be? Am I going to focus on the leadership and chide them, or am I going to carry my problem to God who will be merciful and will supply my needs? It is something to ponder.

Selective Hearing

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together . . . .” This is the rod that Moses had used to perform miracles before Pharaoh. “. . . thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.” Numbers 20:7, 8.

You see, sometimes we have to make sure that we are rightly dividing the word of truth. Moses, perhaps, only heard part of what God told him. The part he heard was, “And thou shalt bring forth to them water.” Moses should have known that the source of the water was God and not himself.

There is a tendency for us to hear only certain kinds of things in our distress. We have to make sure that we do not allow a discontented heart to bring forth a reckless tongue, because Moses, in this regard, was just as guilty as were the children of Israel. The people had been pressing on him for so long and he had been through so much with them, that this became, as we say, “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” But, even so, there was no excuse.

Here is where Moses failed. He did not follow the counsel that God gave to him. God told him to speak to the rock, and it would bring forth water. Moses received a test here, which shows us that we never reach a point in our Christian experience where we are beyond the point of testing. We never reach a level or an age where we are not presented with decisions and tests. Many times we like to believe that God passes us by without a test, but He does not. How are we going to relate to such testing?

“Take the rod, Moses, and go over to that rock with the rod in your hand and speak to that rock.” Moses was naturally an impatient person, and he had 80 years previously failed that same test. He killed the Egyptian, because he was impatient and angry at what was taking place. (See Exodus 2:11–14.) God was going to work out every last bit of this part of his nature, so He said, “I want you to go and speak to this rock.” But Moses “lost his temper.” The people had raised his blood pressure. They had rebelled against God once again, and Moses was angry. Moses went out to the rock after hearing God speak, probably fully intending to do what God had told him to do. But when he was actually confronted with the situation, he failed the test.

Moses’ Sin

If Moses had a problem, he should have gone into his closet alone and complained to God. God would have listened to every complaint Moses had, if he would have gone to God alone. When you go into your closet, you can tell God anything you want to tell Him. You can pour out your heart, even if it is filled with bitterness. He is able to deal with it in a way that is altogether different than if you pour out your bitterness in front of people.

This was Moses’ sin. God was not sanctified before the people by what Moses did. He knew what God told him. He did not have any question about it, but perhaps, because of his anger, he heard only a part of it, and then he moved ahead. The Bible says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17.

It was a sin of greater magnitude than if the congregation had done the same thing, but Ellen White wrote that Moses and Aaron “were not chargeable with willful or deliberate sin; they had been overcome by a sudden temptation, and their contrition was immediate and heartfelt.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 419. As soon as Moses struck the rock—twice—instead of speaking to it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit was there, and Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please forgive me.” Mrs. White said that their contrition was immediate and heartfelt. “The Lord accepted their repentance, though because of the harm their sin might do among the people, He could not remit its punishment.” Ibid.

No Respecter of Persons

“The transgression was known to the whole congregation; and had it been passed by lightly, the impression would have been given that unbelief and impatience under great provocation might be excused in those in responsible positions.” Ibid., 420. Consider that for just a moment.

Suppose that was the case. Suppose that somehow there was “Exemption 102” that said it was all right for a leader who was under great provocation and stress to lose his or her self-control—but only under great stress and provocation. Can you imagine the effects that such behavior would have on the congregation of God’s people? (We think we have turbulent spirits now!) “But when it was declared that because of that one sin Moses and Aaron were not to enter Canaan, the people knew that God is no respecter of persons, and that He will surely punish the transgressor.” Ibid.

No one is going to escape. It does not matter how your past faithfulness has been. Ezekiel 18 says that all the righteousness that you have done will never be mentioned, and all the sin that you have sinned is going to come back upon you, if repentance does not take place. (Verses 24–26.)

The moral of the story is given in the words of the Spirit of Prophecy: “But few realize the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Men flatter themselves that God is too good to punish the transgressor. But in the light of Bible history it is evident that God’s goodness and His love engage Him to deal with sin as an evil fatal to the peace and happiness of the universe. . . .

“Past faithfulness will not atone for one wrong act. The greater the light and privileges granted to man, the greater is his responsibility, the more aggravated his failure, and the heavier his punishment.” Ibid.

Our Responsibility

In 1 Corinthians 10:11, we are told: “All these things happened unto them for ensamples . . . upon whom the ends of the world are come.” So we may ask, “What is our responsibility in all of this?” Well, the responsibility we have is in the acknowledgement that there is a Saviour who is able to save to the uttermost. In the process of salvation, not only is there justification for the past, but there is also sanctification for the present. By going through that process of sanctification for the present, we begin to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ that would, or should, bring us to the point where we are not repeating these historical failures. This applies especially to those in positions of leadership.

We need to begin to train our thinking so that we will be able to relate to this in the right way—not flattering nor exalting those in positions of leadership, but realizing that those who are called into positions of leadership are going to have far greater accountability than those who are within the congregation. Therefore, everyone in the congregation is responsible for contributing to the peace, prosperity, and safety of those who are in positions of leadership. The members of the congregation should not endeavor to throw stumbling blocks in the way of leadership.

Some people say, “You are just trying to pad your own place.” No, I am not padding my own place. I am just trying to make it into the kingdom of heaven with the calling that God has given to me. I know that Pastor John Grosboll is in that same category. He is trying to make it into the kingdom of heaven with the calling that God has given to him, as well. We are not going to be able to do it without your help. There must be a supportive aspect of the congregation saying, “We are behind you. If you step off the path, we are going to have a visit with you concerning it, so we all stay on the path together.”

This is why Ellen White tells us that the work will never be finished until the laity and the ministers work together. “The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their efforts with those of ministers and church officers.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 117.

I see the passage of Scripture, Numbers 20, as outlining these very things and showing us how to again get back on track. We see the failures that took place with the children of Israel. We do not want to repeat their history, but we are destined to repeat it unless we learn the lessons that are there.

Consequences

“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” Verse 12.

I would like to say, “Poor Aaron,” but I cannot do that. Aaron had his own set of problems. It was not because of what took place with the golden calf that Aaron was closed out of the kingdom. It was because he had an association with Moses when they went to the rock. He was Moses’ mouthpiece. It was here that he should have nudged Moses and said, “Let me do the talking for you.” Aaron had an opportunity, but he was silent. He had known his brother for 120 years. He could probably tell when Moses’ temperature gauge was rising, and he should have said, “Shh, let me do the speaking for you. Rock, bring forth water.” Perhaps both Moses and Aaron could have gone into the Promised Land. But Aaron, as the helper of Moses, did not speak when he should have spoken. Was it because he was afraid of Moses? No, I think that Aaron just did not respond when he should have.

Wisdom to Counsel

This leads us to yet another lesson. When we have been placed in the position of counselor to someone, we need to give counsel in God’s wisdom so that our associates do not experience failure. With the Lord’s help, we need to be on a level of communication that we can share things without becoming worked up or upset about them. Doing this may prevent us from a greater failure down the road.

As it was, Aaron climbed the mount Hor, and his clothes—the priestly robes—were removed and placed on Eleazar, and Aaron died. Verses 25– 28. Moses, though he pleaded with the Lord, was not going to enter the Promised Land either.

There are some tremendous object lessons in the story of the children of Israel for us. The thing that we need to ask ourselves is, “Are we up to learning the lessons?” I pray that we are.

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Lessons from the Children of Israel, Part IV

by

There are very few passages of Scripture that can be classified as sad passages, but Numbers 20, for several reasons, is indeed a very sad chapter.

First of all, it is sad because two of Israel’s leaders die. A third leader is told that he will die at a later point in time. This chapter is also sad because of the rebellion that once again manifests itself in the lives of the children of Israel and provokes Moses to such an extent that he loses out in going into the Promised Land. This is to stand as an object lesson not only to people throughout the ages but also to those in positions of leadership throughout history, that every aspect of decorum, attitude, and demeanor must be above all reproach.

It is one thing to kick a hole in a wall of your home, while you are there by yourself, because of the frustrations that you have encountered, but it is completely another thing to kick a hole in a wall while the congregation is watching. Such an action will be held in altogether a different light as far as God is concerned. If there is anything that this chapter tells us, it is that very fact.

As we study this chapter, there is one thing that repeatedly comes through: How are the chosen of God going to react to adverse circumstances? Have you had any adverse circumstances come your way? How did you react to them? The older we become and the more experiences we have, the greater is our accountability in developing refined, Christian characters, so that those who are looking to us for words of encouragement and help will find the highest levels of example. At least it should be that way.

In my experience, as I have watched the adverse behavior of church members, I do not find myself nearly as disappointed as when I see such behavior in those of leadership. When I see those to whom I have looked and held in high esteem fail, because of their own internal passion in how they relate to issues, I am much, much more disappointed.

“Then came the children of Israel, [even] the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.” Numbers 20:1. We need to remember that at this point in time there was almost an entirely new congregation than the one that found themselves at Kadesh when the ten spies gave their reports after scouting the Promised Land. (See Numbers 13.) At the time of their first stop in Kadesh, members of the present congregation were 20 years old or younger. The children of Israel made their wanderings; they experienced the manna falling in the wilderness on every day but the Sabbath day, with a double portion on Friday. Their shoes never wore out, nor did their clothes. This generation experienced all of these miracles and then found themselves back at Kadesh.

“And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it [is] no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither [is] there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts [also]. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This [is] the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.” Numbers 20:2–13.

This rebellion occurred because the children of Israel had not yet learned the lessons God wanted them to learn. This generation that now finds itself at Kadesh is a generation that has to go through its own particular test.

Often, we who are parents, having raised our children in the Lord, think that there is a special blessing due us by God. He is expected to work a miracle because of our faithfulness in providing them occasions of worship and rehearsing to them the stories of God’s miracles. We often think that they should, as a result of what we have done, be able to develop Christian characters and be ushered into a life of righteousness without going through their own testing times. It never works that way. Every generation must go through its test. Every individual must be tested, to see if he or she has learned of God to the extent that his or her character is ready for the kingdom of heaven. No one enters into the kingdom of heaven just because they are born of a certain line—their parents are in ministry or in medical work or in church leadership or whatever—without going through the test. Every generation has to have its test. The 40 years, which had been decreed upon the children of Israel as a punishment, were almost over.

Death of Miriam

As the camp was assembled there at Kadesh for the second time, Miriam passed on to her death and was buried there. There is little reference to this. Miriam, of course, was a prophetess of God. Remember, she was the one who, as the older sister of Moses and Aaron, led the singing on the shore of the Red Sea when Pharaoh and his hosts were thrown into the deep. As nearly as we can tell chronologically, Miriam was about 130 years old when she died. There is not much more recorded concerning her life. There may be a reason for that. Like Aaron, Miriam had also sinned greatly in her jealousy regarding Moses. She was probably about 90 years old at that point in time. She should have been old enough to know better.

There is one true lesson in this, even for Moses, and that is that one’s age does not prevent one from sinning. Some people, when referring to righteousness by faith, have jokingly called it righteousness by senility, in that, upon becoming old, an individual becomes unable to have the grasp or comprehension to distinguish between right and wrong. Therefore, they reason, the Lord looks upon the past life and governs accordingly. I do not think that is how God views this situation.

Accountability of Leadership

There is a great deal of significance placed upon the sins of leaders, and those sins bring a greater penalty than the sins of the members of the congregations. I have for some time now been pondering about how we are to relate to leadership today. One of the greatest needs in the historic movement is that of true leadership and organization.

In Scripture, I find that those who have been called to positions of leadership are going to be held to a greater accountability. They are going to be held to a greater accountability, because they have been placed in a position of leadership over the congregation, and they are to lead that congregation in the right way under any and all circumstances.

“The sins of good men, whose general deportment has been worthy of imitation, are peculiarly offensive to God. They cause Satan to triumph, and to taunt the angels of God with the failings of God’s chosen instruments, and give the unrighteous occasion to lift themselves up against God.” The Story of Redemption, 168. Leaders hold a special place in the eyes of God. Not only are they accountable for their own sins, but they are also accountable as to how they influence their congregation and the stands that they take. The congregation is not held to that accountability.

As we read this story of Moses and the children of Israel, there is the tendency for us to look at what Moses did, and say, “I just don’t see it as that bad of a situation.” We have a tendency to make the same rationalization regarding Eve at the tree. “I just don’t see that it was that bad.” But God sees the example that it sets, and we see the consequences of the disobedience. Concerning whether or not Miriam, will be in the kingdom of heaven, the Scriptures are silent. It just says that Miriam died and was buried there. She failed to enter into the Promised Land.

Blinded by Unbelief

The next part of the narrative reads as though there had not been any interval of years. One may perceive that it was the old generation that was at Kadesh just a short time before, but it was a different generation—a generation that had not learned the lessons of the previous generation.

“Just before the Hebrew host reached Kadesh, the living stream ceased that for so many years had gushed out beside their encampment. It was the Lord’s purpose again to test His people. He would prove whether they would trust His providence or imitate the unbelief of their fathers.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 413.

As mentioned before, being raised in a good Seventh-day Adventist home does not guarantee for you a place in the kingdom of heaven. You have no guarantee just because you had the benefit of being raised in that type of home. You must have your own tests. You will be brought through trials to test your own individual experience. God is going to prove every person. If you do not meet a test, if you fall and fail in a test, God is going to bring you right back around, and you will find yourself at the very same place again.

This is basically what happened with the children of Israel. Where had they before failed? The first generation failed at Kadesh. The whole congregation had moved through the experiences of the numerous times God had provided every possible example for them of faithfulness, bringing them around again and again to the same, exact place. God will do that.

These people who had rejoiced that the water was available to them day by day by day, should have rejoiced when it stopped. Why should they have rejoiced when it stopped? Because they were going to enter into the Promised Land. They should have seen this as evidence—a sign to them. This was a sign that they should have understood, just as Jesus tells us, in Matthew 24, “These are the signs that are going to come to pass. Watch for this; watch for that. When you see these things, lift up your head.” They should have known they were getting close to entering the Promised Land. Their wilderness wandering was nearly over.

“Had they not been blinded by their unbelief, they would have understood this. But that which should have been an evidence of the fulfillment of God’s promise was made the occasion of doubt and murmuring.” Ibid. 414. Here, for a short while, was an opportunity for them to walk by faith instead of by sight, but the first trial developed the same, turbulent, unthankful spirit that had been manifested by their fathers. No sooner was the cry for water heard in the encampment than they forgot the hand that had for so many years supplied their wants, and instead of turning to God for help, they murmured against Him.

Missed Learning Opportunity

What a situation for a learning opportunity! It was this generation’s first occasion to be tried, but they had the history of their parents’ generation. When the Israelites had set up camp, during the early days of their freedom, they found that they were without water. (See Exodus 17.) They came to Moses, and at the Lord’s instruction, Moses struck the rock in Horeb and water flowed. Paul says that Rock followed them. That Rock was Christ. (See 1 Corinthians 10:2–4.) Had God supplied their need there? He certainly had.

Now this generation was experiencing the same trial, but something was wrong. They repeated the same sin. That tells me that there was a failure on the part of the older generation to instruct the younger ones as to the blessings of God. It tells me that they perhaps did not have worship together as they gathered around the campfire each evening. They neglected to recount the blessings of God in their past history.

This generation did not know; they did not have enough instruction, so when they faced an experience similar to that of their parents, they did not know what to do. This can happen. Parents can fail to instruct their children as to the faithfulness of God. When the children are brought into trying experiences, they do not know what to do.

There was also a problem with the younger generation that should have been seeking for knowledge—What can you tell me about the faithfulness of God—Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Grandpa, Grandma? What can you tell me? What has been your experience? You have lived much longer than I. They did not learn, nor were they taught.

Discontented Hearts; Reckless Tongues

One thing is for sure. As far as we know, there was a failure. Numbers 20:3 says, “And the people chode with Moses.” They do not just come to Moses with a plea for water. “Moses, I am thirsty. Moses, my animals are panting.” It says, they “chode with Moses.”

To be concluded . . .

Pastor Mike Baugher is Associate Speaker for Steps to Life. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mikebaugher@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Spirit and Power of Elijah, Part II

by

As we read of the experience of Saul sparing Agag and the best of the sheep, when he had been commanded to utterly destroy all that the Amalekites had (1 Samuel 15), let us give heed to the admonition, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Romans 13:14.

We are reminded of that significant passage in Joshua 17:12, 13 where it is said that the children of Israel could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, “but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.” The whole story of their subsequent failure and captivity is told in that one brief sentence, “The Canaanites would dwell in that land.” But they had no kind of right to dwell there. They were dispossessed. The cup of their iniquity was filled up, and God had said, “I will drive them out.” But they would dwell there; that is to say, they wanted to, and so Israel let them; a compromise was formed, and Israel did not utterly drive them out.

Let us apply these same principles to our spiritual warfare. Have there not been in all our lives all these years those besetting sins of fleshly lusts that would dwell with us, and in some instances have held their own, notwithstanding we have known that they had neither part nor lot with the soul redeemed by Jesus Christ? Let us not condemn too strongly ancient Israel, lest we condemn ourselves. Surely the words of Joshua are as applicable to us as to them: “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?” Joshua 18:3.

Abundance of Rain

Returning again to the scene of Elijah’s triumph over the prophets of Baal and their false system of religion, we find him saying to Ahab, “Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” Surely it was not the rumbling of the great thunderstorm that was soon to break upon them. For after this he went up on top of the mountain and cast himself down on the ground, and prayed seven times before there was seen even a cloud as large as a man’s hand. (1 Kings 18:42–44.) The preceding verses tell us that when all the people saw the manifestations of God’s power in the consuming of the sacrifice, they said, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.” Their hearts had been turned back to God again. This to Elijah was the sound of abundance of rain. The apostasy of the people of God was the thing that had shut up the heavens, and their return to God was the only thing that would open them.

And so it is in our own day. If we are walking in dry places, it is because we have departed from God. If we would enjoy the copious showers of the latter rain, we must repent of our backslidings and turn again to God with all our hearts. Then we shall receive largely of His Spirit.

“What doest thou here?”

The sad story of Elijah’s failure is told in 1 Kings 19, and proves beyond question that he was a man subject to like passions as we are. On the night following his mighty triumphs of faith on Mt. Carmel, where he had stood alone against the wicked king and all the prophets of Baal and a whole nation that had apostatized from God, he arose and fled for his life before the threats of one wicked woman. “When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life.” Verse 3. The story of his defeat is told in that brief clause, “When he saw that.” As long as he kept his eyes upon God, he was invincible; but when he looked away from God and saw that woman Jezebel threatening him, “he arose, and went for his life.” Terrified, he ran away to the desert, and requested that the Lord would take away his life.

Notwithstanding his cowardice, the Lord did not forsake his servant. Angels provided him food and drink, and he went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights, until he reached Mt. Horeb. This wild and rugged portion of Arabia had once before been the training ground for one of God’s chosen servants. (See Exodus 3:1.) And long after Elijah had finished his life work and gone home, it was for a time an asylum for the great apostle to the Gentiles. (See Galatians 1:17.)

When Elijah had finally put a journey of 40 days and 40 nights between himself and the scene of his recent triumphs, he reached the mount of God, and crawled into a cave and lodged there. “And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9. It would be well if God’s children would always hear that same voice saying, “What doest thou here?” whenever unbelief has separated them from God, or the allurements of the world have enticed them into some pleasure resort or some questionable place of amusement.

Whisper of Conscience

“And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” Verses 11, 12. God would teach Elijah that he would not always work through the elements, as during the years of famine, and those scenes that he had recently witnessed on Carmel’s height. Doubtless Elijah was depending too much upon the miraculous and spectacular methods to restore his people to their allegiance to God, feeling that it could be accomplished only by some unusually striking manifestation of God’s power. But these signs had failed, and he was now told that in these signs, in the highest sense, God was not—not in these, but in the still, small, gentle whisper of conscience, and solitude was the surest token that God was near him.

Life is filled with sharp and varied experiences. We think of Moses on the mount with God for 40 days, and then his return to the plain and the golden calf; of Christ at His baptism anointed with the Holy Ghost, His Father proclaiming from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and then His temptation in the wilderness; of Christ on the mount of transfiguration talking with Moses and Elias, and then down in the valley to meet the demon-possessed boy; of Elijah on Mt. Carmel, carrying into effect in one day the greatest program for God of which we have any record, and then, before the excitement and inspiration of that eventful day were over, fleeing, panic-stricken, at the threat of the wicked queen.

Elijah had doubtless concluded that because God was not any longer working as he did on Mt. Carmel, he was not working at all. However, that was not God’s chosen way of saving Israel. There had been a more gentle and loving ministry going on that Elijah knew nothing about. The special message to Elijah was that the wind and the earthquake and the fire might pass before him, but God was not in them. But deep down in the heart of the nation, in the caves of Carmel, unknown to him, unknown to one another, were 7,000 who had not by word or deed acknowledged the power of Baal. In them God was still present. In them was the first announcement, often repeated by later prophets, of “an Israel within Israel,” of a remnant within all the great movements of God. This remnant embraced the true hope of the future.

Faith and Courage Renewed

Elijah was now instructed to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his stead. We do not know just what time elapsed between Elijah’s return from Arabia and his translation. Possibly it was about ten years. We catch only an occasional glimpse of him during those times. But again the old-time courage and faith had come back to him, and before his translation, he was brought over the same ground, and tested again on the very same point where he had signally failed.

Ahaziah, who was reigning in the place of his father, Ahab, had fallen down through a lattice in his upper chamber, and was very sick. When he learned that Elijah was in the country and had prophesied that he should surely die, he sent for him, doubtless to do him harm. (11 Kings 1:2–9.) There was just as much danger involved in his appearance at the court of Ahaziah, the son of Jezebel, who was still living, as there had been on a former occasion. Still Elijah went boldly down with the messenger through a crowded capital into the palace of his foes and announced to the king his doom. (Verse 16.) As he nears his reward, he no longer fears the wrath of man, for he is once more standing before his God, and is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High.

Before our final leave-taking of this wonderful prophet, let us remember that he was a man of like passions with ourselves, and the secret of his marvelous deeds was to be found, not in any inherent qualities that he possessed, but in the fact that he was filled with the Holy Ghost. It was by his consecration and faith that he “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, . . . escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness . . . [was] made strong. Women received their dead raised to life again.” [Hebrews 11:33–35.] Is it too much to suppose that God will again give unto us the spirit and power of Elijah in the closing years of this generation? In fact, has God not always through all the ages shown Himself strong toward those whose hearts were perfect toward Him?

Absolute Surrender

When D. L. Moody was a young man, he read somewhere that the world had yet to see what God could do through a man who was fully surrendered to Him. Mr. Moody was greatly impressed with the statement; and although he had a very humble opinion of himself, he reasoned that he was a man, and if it was not so much a question of who it was if only the surrender was complete, he was willing to pay the price if only God would use him. His choice was made, and his unsurpassed record as an evangelist and soul-winner for nearly half a century shows what one man may do in one brief life if only he is willing to surrender absolutely and unconditionally to God. While Mr. Moody was a man of rare gifts and a born leader of men, yet the secret of his power was unquestionably due to the fact that he was a man full of the Holy Ghost and of faith.

“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” Christ said to His disciples; and their lives from that time became a never-ceasing record of mighty signs and wonders done in the power of the Spirit. [Acts 1:8.] Stephen, we are told, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Charles G. Finney was so filled with the power of the Spirit that as he entered a mill, the operatives fell upon their knees in tears before the mere presence of the evangelist before he had uttered a word. There is no limit to the usefulness of those who are willing to put self aside and live a life wholly consecrated to God. One has well said that “there is nothing the church of today needs so much as spiritual power, and there is nothing that we can have so easily, if only we are prepared to pay the price.” It is of no use to exclaim in despairing tones, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” He is here waiting to do as much now as for the illustrious saints of olden times.

O for that flame of living fire

Which shown so bright in saints of old;

Which bade their souls to heaven aspire,

Calm in distress, in danger bold!

Where is that spirit, Lord, which dwelt

In Abram’s breast, and sealed him thine?

Which made Paul’s heart with sorrow melt,

And glow with energy divine?

Is not thy grace as mighty now

As when Elijah felt its power?

When glory beamed from Moses’ brow,

Or Job endured the trying hour?

Remember, Lord, the ancient days;

Renew thy work, thy grace restore;

And while to thee our hearts we raise,

On us thy Holy Spirit pour.

~ Wm. H. Bathrust

The Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, October 19, 1916; October 26, 1916