August 15, 2010 – August 21, 2010
Key Text
“Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours. … their prophesying is in force for us. … Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel … spoke of things that … reached down to the future, and to what should occur in these last days.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 338, 419, 420.
Introduction
In our last lesson, we saw clearly that the failure of ancient Israel to promptly see the temple through to completion, would be repeated by Modern Israel. In this lesson we investigate the implications should this situation be protracted. We conclude by drawing from the history of the church in Christ’s day to see where our current situation could lead.
1 Could God’s professed people return to captivity, as happened with the Jewish church in Christ’s time? How could it end?
Apply It:
The Scriptures that could be brought to bear on such large questions are indeed extensive. Below are Scripture excerpts, largely from Isaiah and Jeremiah, which provide a sampling of potential answers to these questions.
“… O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err … The Lord will enter into judgment With the elders of His people. … ‘For you have eaten up the vineyard’ … and she [Zion] being desolate shall sit on the ground.” Isaiah 3:12, 14, 26.
“What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then … Did it bring forth wild grapes? I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall … I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned … I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. …Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge … Therefore as … the flame consumes the chaff, So … their blossom will ascend like dust.” Isaiah 5:4-–-7, 13, 24.
“… you have polluted the land With your harlotries … Therefore … there has been no latter rain. … Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the Lord.” Jeremiah 3:2, 3, 20.
“ ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours. Declare this in the house of Jacob … among My people are found wicked men; As a cage is full of birds … Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord. ‘ Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’ … The prophets prophesy falsely … And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” Jeremiah 5:19, 20, 26, 27, 29, 31.
“My people do not know the judgment of the Lord … For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are plundered!’ “Jeremiah 8:17; 9:19.
“I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. … Many pastors have destroyed My vineyard … They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. … No flesh shall have peace … be ashamed of your harvest.” Jeremiah 12:7, 10, 12, 13.
“Give glory to the Lord … Before He causes darkness. … If you will not hear it, My soul will weep … Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.” Jeremiah 13:16, 17.
“I will bereave them [this people] of children; I will destroy My people, Since they do not return from their ways. … And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword.” Jeremiah 15:7, 9.
“Woe to you who are at ease in Zion … who put far off the day of doom … the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. … Israel shall surely be led away captive. … The end has come upon My people. … They shall wander … seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.” Amos 6:1, 3; 7:9, 11; 8:2, 12.
“And many among them [both houses of Israel] shall … be snared and captured. … They will be driven into darkness.” Isaiah 8:15, 22.
“O daughter of Zion … you will go to Babylon.” Micah 4:10.
“In all the vineyards there shall be wailing … I do not savor your sacred assemblies … Take away from Me the noise of your songs … therefore I will send you into captivity.” Amos 5.
2 Based on history, what could the start of captivity look like? Should we expect the captivity to be widely recognized?
3 Has a return to captivity already commenced? How would you determine whether or not God’s professed people are in captivity?
4 Has the Seventh-day Adventist church participated in the sins that called for the ancient captivity of God’s people? Should SDAs expect to repeat these sins with different, more positive results?
Apply It:
- It is united with the world formally and informally.
- Its people are without knowledge because …
- The prophets have been despised.
- It is led by false shepherds, crying peace and safety while the judgment closes.
- They have united with the state to persecute other Christians through courts of law.
- Sins such as idolatry and Sabbath breaking are common, and unrebuked.
The full investigation and explanation of the above claims is left to the student. But as a guide to some of these claims, here are some facts that may be investigated.
- 1 At least one of the official outreach entities of the SDA church is united legally in business under the auspices of a Roman Catholic institution.
- 2 As with other corrupt religious institutions, the SDA organization has for years used legal and/or physical force in many parts of the world to further its plans.
- 3 The SDA church has, in various places and at various times, formally and informally united with and supported a cacophony of religious organizations.
- 4 In practice, the Elijah prophet (Ellen G. White) has been rejected, and the resulting ignorance has seen confusion enter on every biblical point, from the Creation story to the Mark of the Beast.
- 5 In general, many churches have for years left unchecked open sins within their borders.
- 6 In general, a message of peace and safety has been preached to heal slightly the wounded consciences of God’s professed people.
5 Does the Seventh-day Adventist church bear the hallmark characteristics of the captivity of the Jewish church in Christ’s day?
- Does the SDA church, as the Jewish church in Christ’s day, continue to function, maintain real property, pursue converts, and maintain a system of education—despite the deep divisions of a conservative and liberal class?
- Are there many pastors, and yet—are the sheep as without a shepherd?
- Are there many schools, and yet—are there none where the child Jesus could attend?
- As in Christ’s day, is the work of those outside the official recognition of the organization automatically viewed with suspicion, or even opposed?
- As in Christ’s day, are people taught to place their trust in the temple (church organization) and that to be put out of the synagogue (disfellowshipped from a church body under the auspices of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists) is to be put out of the saving fold of Christ?
6 How does Ellen White compare the condition and outcome of modern Israel, Seventh-day Adventists, with ancient Israel, and the Jews in Christ’s time?
Apply It:
“In His word the Lord declared what He would do for Israel if they would obey His voice. But the leaders of the people yielded to the temptations of Satan, and God could not give them the blessings He designed them to have, because they did not obey His voice but listened to the voice and policy of Lucifer. This experience will be repeated in the last years of the history of the people of God, who have been established by His grace and power. Men whom He has greatly honored will in the closing scenes of this earth’s history pattern after ancient Israel.” Manuscript Releases, 13, 379. [Emphasis supplied.]
“Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people. Many idols are worshiped, even by professed Sabbathkeepers. … A blessing or a curse is now before the people of God. … The sins and iniquities of rebellious Israel are recorded and the picture presented before us as a warning that if we imitate their example of transgression and depart from God we shall fall as surely as did they.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609. [Emphasis supplied.]
“The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God’s peculiar people. … No semblance of nearness to God, no assertion of connection with Him, will be accepted from those who persist in dishonoring Him by leaning upon the arm of worldly power.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1155, 1156. [Emphasis supplied.]
“My heart aches day after day and night after night for our churches. Many are progressing, but in the back track … They must face square about. I know what I say. Unless they shall become Christians indeed, they will go from weakness to weakness, divisions will increase, and many souls will be led to perdition … The sin of ancient Israel was in disregarding the expressed will of God and following their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern Israel are fast following in their footsteps, and the displeasure of the Lord is as surely resting upon them.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 93, 94. [Emphasis supplied.]
“The same danger [reference to Jeremiah’s time] exists today among that people who profess to be the repository of God’s law. … They refuse to be reproved of evil, and blame God’s servants with being too zealous in putting sin out of the camp. A sin-hating God calls upon those who profess to keep his law to depart from all iniquity. Neglect to repent and obey his word will bring as serious consequences upon God’s people today, as did the same sin upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which he will no longer delay his judgments. The correction of God through his chosen instruments cannot be disregarded with impunity. The desolation of Jerusalem stands as a solemn warning before the eyes of modern Israel.” The Signs of the Times, February 12, 1880. [Emphasis supplied.]
“The Lord sorely chastised his people Israel, revealing their hypocrisy and rebuking their presumption, and thus left upon the pages of history the testimony for all future ages, that the iniquities of his professed people will not go unpunished. The greater the knowledge of God’s will, the greater the sin of those who disregard it. God is not dependent upon men to cause his name to be feared and honored in the earth. He accepts the labors of those who walk in faithfulness and humility before him, but he will reject all who profess to serve him, and yet follow in the course of the unrighteous. God can carry forward his work in the earth without the co-operation of those who would pervert or disgrace it.” Ibid., December 22, 1881. [Emphasis supplied.]
“There is a deplorable lack of spirituality among our people. … I have seen that self-glorification was becoming common among Seventh-day Adventists and that unless the pride of man should be abased and Christ exalted we should, as a people, be in no better condition to receive Christ at His second advent than were the Jewish people to receive Him at His first advent. … Their history should be a solemn warning to us.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 727, 728. [Emphasis supplied.]
“I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies of warning, encouragement, and reproof is shutting away the light from God’s people. Unbelief is closing their eyes so that they are ignorant of their true condition.
“I saw that the reason why visions had not been more frequent of late is, they have not been appreciated by the church. The church have nearly lost their spirituality and faith, and the reproofs and warnings have had but little effect upon them. Many of those who have professed faith in them have not heeded them.” Ibid., 674.
“Please read the third chapter [of Jeremiah]. This chapter is a lesson for modern Israel. Let all who claim to be children of God understand that He will not serve with their sins any more than He would with the sins of ancient Israel.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1154. [Emphasis supplied.]
Studies prepared by John T. Grosboll, PE. John T. is a mechanical engineer living near Vancouver, Washington. His secular employment includes several years of experience in primary metals and transportation-related industries. He, along with his wife Teresa, is actively involved in the work of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be reached at: grosbolls@yahoo.com.