Earlier text: All the WayMRS. E. G. WHITE
By Ellen G. White
Lessons From the Apostasy at Sinai—No. 1
SATAN is the leader of every species of rebellion to-day, as he was the originator of rebellion in the courts of heaven. Standing next to Christ in power and glory, yet he coveted the honor that belonged to the Son. He desired to be equal with God. To carry out his purpose, he concealed his true designs from the angels, and worked deceptively to secure their allegiance and honor to himself. By sly insinuations, by which he made it appear that Christ had assumed the place that belonged to him, Lucifer sowed the seeds of doubt in the minds of many of the angels; and when he had won their support, he carried the matter to God, declaring that it was the sentiment of many of the heavenly beings that he should have the preference to Christ. We shall not at this time follow the immediate results of Satan's rebellion and his expulsion from heaven, but let us consider how his deceptive work is being continued to-day among those who profess to be the loyal people of God. In the hearts of many church-members there is being carried on to-day the same work of rebellion and disaffection, and the result is injury and weakness to the church. The artful foe has found a place in many hearts that should have no room for the selfish, ambitious principles that are being promulgated. For years the enemy has been seeking to bring false theories into the churches; and God alone can help us to meet his work successfully. Satan sought to produce the same results among the people of Israel as they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. God took Israel from the bondage of slavery, and under his own guidance brought them into the promised land. Moses, their visible leader, received instruction for them directly from God. But in spite of the wonderful evidences the people received that God was working in their behalf, they continually murmured and rebelled. God gave positive evidence that he ruled in the heavens; again and again rebellion was punished with death. Only two of those who as adults left Egypt, saw the promised land. The wanderings of the people were extended until the rest were buried in the wilderness. To-day Satan is using the same devising to introduce the same evils, and his efforts are followed by the same results that in the days of Israel laid so many in their graves. Let us study the record of how Israel, in the sight of the mount on which they had shortly before seen so wonderful a display of God's power, were led into idolatry. While Moses was in the mount with God, receiving the sacred oracles, the people, in Aaron's charge, were worshiping a golden calf, while their leading men proclaimed the sacrilegious message, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf; and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. “And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” From this record we may learn how little dependence can be placed in men who trust in men, and do not make God their reliance. Those who are living in these last days are in the greatest danger of placing their confidence in men rather than in the true and living God. The Lord has given instruction that the history of the apostasy of Israel is now to be presented, because men who in the past have had great light have become self-sufficient, and are looking to men, trusting in human leaders, who are themselves practising evil. Men who ought to stand as firm as a rock to principle are treading in the same path that the Israelites followed. “Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” This is the snare that has come into our ranks. There are wrong sentiments that have to be met. There are men who are acting the part of Aaron at the very time when every soul should be working to seal the law among God's disciples. They are building up the very things that God has specified should not be built up. A great deal of time and labor and anxiety are required to counterwork the ingenuity of satanic agencies that are pressing their way among those who are ready to accept wrong philosophy, to cause confusion and division. Every jot of influence is needed to discern the great evils of Satan's devisings, and to keep souls from being drawn into the net of the modern Aarons who are saying, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Long before, the Lord could have told Moses what was taking place. He could have revealed that Aaron could not be depended upon. But for wise and holy purposes he permitted the evil to develop. He suffered this shameful representation to come to its height. Then when the leading men had done all that it was in their power to do, he sent Moses down to punish the transgressors. The Lord sees what is in the hearts of men. At times he permits evils to take place that he may prevent still greater evils that would appear unless he permitted the designs hidden in human hearts to work out. Mark God's words to Moses concerning this apostasy. They “have corrupted themselves,” he said; “they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.” Every man is tempted when he is drawn aside by his own lusts. The fact that Aaron had been blessed and honored so far above the people was what made his sin so heinous. It was Aaron, “the saint of the Lord,” that had made the idol and announced the feast. It was he who had been appointed spokesman for Moses, and concerning whom God himself had testified, “I know that he can speak well,” who had failed to check the idolaters in their heaven-daring purpose. He by whom God had wrought in bringing judgments both9 upon the Egyptians and upon their gods, had heard, unmoved, the proclamation, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” It was he who had been with Moses in the mount, and had there beheld the glory of the Lord, and who had seen that in the manifestation of that glory there was nothing of which an image could be made,—it was he who had changed that glory into the similitude of an ox. He to whom God had committed the government of the people in the absence of Moses, was found sanctioning their rebellion. “The Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him.” But in answer to the earnest intercession of Moses, his life was spared; and in penitence and humiliation for his great sin, he was restored to the favor of God. If Aaron had had courage to stand for the right, irrespective of consequences, he could have prevented that apostasy. If he had unswervingly maintained his own allegiance to God, if he had cited the people to the perils of Sinai, and had reminded them of their solemn covenant with God to obey his law, the evil would have been checked. But his compliance with the desires of the people, and the calm assurance with which he proceeded to carry out their plans, emboldened them to go to greater lengths in sin than had before entered their minds. Of all the sins that God will punish, none are more grievous in his sight than those that encourage others to do evil. God would have his servants prove their loyalty by faithfully rebuking transgression, however painful the act may be. Those who are honored with a divine commission, are not to be weak, pliant time-servers. They are not to aim at self-exaltation, or to shun disagreeable duties, but are to perform God's work with unswerving fidelity. Waiting
By Ella M. Robinson
ARE you waiting, idly waiting
For your Master to return,
While in indolence and pleasure
His unfinished work you spurn? Waiting, only idly waiting,
While vast millions grope in night,
And your candle burns but dimly
In a land of gospel light? Waiting with your golden treasure
Stored so carefully away?
Can it buy one soul’s salvation
In God’s awful judgment-day? For the “latter rain” art waiting?
See, the showers are falling fast,
And the gospel fields are ripening—
Soon the harvest will be past. Will you stand before your Master
With no sheaves your arms to fill?
When he comes, O, will he find you
Waiting, idly waiting still? He alone who sows in sorrow,
He alone who sows in tears,
To the harvest feast is welcomed
When our coming Lord appears. The Second Angel’s Message
By GEORGE I. BUTLER
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him, that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Rev. 14: 6-8. In the recent past several articles have appeared in the REVIEW bearing on various points in connection with the first angel’s proclamation. We quote it again, as we are about to consider the second angel’s proclamation, to show the close connection between the two, and the result to those who rejected the great light of the first message. The reader should ever remember that these three messages, taken together, form a series; for the one following the second message begins with this statement: “And the third angel followed them.” This language absolutely demonstrates that the three form one series, and that, taken together, they form the great platform of truth upon which the people of God will stand who are prepared for Christ’s coming. The first is given as a grand announcement, showing the close of prophetic time, and the beginning of the judgment period; the second shows the consequences of the rejection of light, and the condition of the vast body of professed Christians before the second advent of our Lord and Saviour; while the third message presents a glorious reform which will serve to prepare a people for that grandest of all events. This series, then, of three messages, composing the great last-day proclamation to the world of grand facts necessary for it to know in order to be ready for Christ’s coming, is emphatically “present truth” for the last days. The first announces the close of prophetic time, and the beginning of the great judgment period preceding the coming of Christ, when the final decisions fixing the eternal destiny of all mankind will have been rendered. The first message of the three will be continued in its proclamation till the close of probation. What could be of greater importance to the world than a knowledge of the fact that the last great judgment of mankind had already begun? Babylon is mentioned in the book of Revelation five or six times in a figurative sense, as a worldly, proud, apostate form of politics and religion combined in one system. The name Babylon is very suggestive. It originated at that interesting period when Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, was the head of a rebellious movement among the descendants of Noah. The Lord had designed that the descendants of Noah should spread abroad and repeople the earth. But they said, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” Gen. 11: 4. Here were seen the beginnings of human ambition to be great and powerful and independent of God. So they began their city and proceeded to erect their proposed tower, “to reach unto heaven,” with the evident design of providing against destruction from any future flood. This attempt was in reality a rebellion against God, and the Lord here confounded their language, so they could not understand one another in building. Hence, great confusion resulted, and their ambitious project was a failure. Here was the origin of the many languages and dialects spoken on our earth. The whole scheme of the building of the city,—the object in view,—was contrary to God’s designs for them; hence this fearful judgment of confounding their language, which absolutely destroyed their rebellious schemes. Here also can be discerned the “confusion” in religious matters. The “gate of God” became a mixture of pretentious service of God, with really a terrible apostasy, paving the way to the whole train of heathen religions. Then again in later years Babylon became the oppressor of God’s people. The Babylonian captivity resulted in mixing into the Jewish religion heathen conceptions and doctrines originated by Satan, the great apostate angel who brought sin into the universe. Thus commenced “the great controversy” between God and Satan, which has largely had its seat in our world. In his infinite wisdom God has permitted one exhibition of the result of sin and its awful train of evils in his universe, to show to all worlds the result of disobedience and rebellion against God, and also to show his wonderful love by the gift of his Son, man’s Saviour and glorious benefactor. Sin is abnormal and evil; one exhibition of its terrible consequences will be enough to all eternity. It will soon be destroyed forever by the second coming of Christ. The terms Babylon and Egypt are used to represent the sources of the evils which corrupted the religion of holy origin. Egypt was the most conspicuous source of idolatry in our world. From it the Greeks and Romans derived much of their knowledge of idolatry. Their great philosophers went there to learn its mysteries. When Israel came from Egypt to Canaan, the whole mass of the people was permeated with the idolatrous ideas of the Egyptians. The first prominent act of rebellion against God—the making of a golden calf—showed the result of Egyptian teaching and example. During all the history of Israel, God warned them against Egypt and its teachings and abominations. The seventy years of captivity in Babylon resulted in greatly corrupting the Jewish religion. Only a few comparatively, ever returned to Canaan. The ten tribes were absorbed in the mass of heathenism. As tribes, they largely disappeared. And those who did come back were affected more or less by the Babylonian doctrines. In the book of Revelation, the term Babylon is frequently used. It can not refer to the literal city of that name, for that was then in ruins. It must be used in a metaphorical sense. It is a descriptive term, suggested by the original root-meaning of the word, “confusion,” mixture; an attempt to blend truth and error (things which can not mix, any more than can oil and water) into a religious system, claiming the right to control men’s consciences, and tyrannically forcing people to bow to its dicta. The Babylon of the apocalypse is a family affair: “And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.10 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.” Rev. 17: 1-6, A. R. V. This scripture has an easy solution. In symbolic prophecy a woman is often used as a symbol of a church,—a pure woman as a symbol of a pure church, and a corrupt woman of a corrupt church. This corrupt woman is represented as riding upon the beast of seven heads and ten horns; that is, the Roman power ruled over by the papal church,—in short, papal Rome,—Rome ruled by the popes. For many ages this was the condition of things. The Roman Catholic Church is therefore the woman here described. Babylon the great, the mother of other corrupt churches, is most forcibly brought to view. The daughters are religious bodies which came forth from her communion, and carried with them more or less of her false doctrines. We reserve for another article many additional facts. W. E. HASKELL
By W. E. HASKELL
The Greatest Reconciliation— No. 2
HERE is the problem which God alone could solve. Love demands that, for the safety and good of all, sin be dealt with exactly as it deserves. Love also demands that, if possible, the sinner be treated better than he deserves. In both cases it is love. In one case it is called justice, and the psalmist speaks of it as truth and righteousness; in the other case he calls it mercy and peace. Ps. 85: 10. But how can God manifest in full his hatred of sin without making impossible the exercise of mercy? Or how can he extend mercy in full to the sinner without making impossible the punishment of sin? How can truth and righteousness be satisfied, which, for sin, demand death, and yet mercy and peace be satisfied, which plead that the sinner may live? Is there any way by which these conflicting claims can be adjusted, by which justice and mercy can both be satisfied and meet together in perfect agreement? Yes, if sin can be punished apart from the sinner, and the sinner die to sin; if a substitute, of his own free will, will take the sinner’s place,—take the penalty, or punishment, for sin upon himself. In all the universe there is but One who is sufficient for this. Will he offer himself? and will the Father accept the sacrifice? “Yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.” “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” “Who gave himself for our sins.” “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” and “hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” 2 Sam. 14: 14; John 3: 16; Gal. 1: 4; 1 Peter 2: 24; Gal. 3: 13. That the blessing might come upon us, Jesus took the curse upon himself. That the sinner might be treated better than he deserves, Jesus, the Son of God, took upon himself in fullest measure exactly what sin deserves. But consider what this must mean to him. Sin separates from God. Isa. 59: 2. On the sinner’s part this separation is the result of his unbelief and rebellion in departing from God. On God’s part it is the expression of his hatred of sin. So the great gulf of the world’s sin, broad and deep, separated Christ from his Father. Infinite love is infinite hatred of sin. And Christ in that awful, mysterious experience of taking the sinner’s place—taking the sins of the world upon himself—must of necessity step into the very channel where all the storm and flood of God’s hatred and loathing and abhorrence of sin must beat upon and overwhelm himself. David’s words were prophetic of this when he wrote, “Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.” “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.” “All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” Ps. 88: 16, 7; 42: 7; 69: 1, 2; Luke 24: 44. To save man, the Father must treat his beloved Son as his worst enemy—as if he were sin incarnate. “For he hath made him to be sin for us.” 2 Cor. 5: 21. In that awful time all that the Son could realize from the One who was dearest to him was his Father’s displeasure and wrath, the withdrawing of all expression of his love and approval. Out of this horror of great darkness he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” It was this that killed the Prince of Life. He died of a broken heart. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; . . . and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53: 5, 6. Christ “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” that God “might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus,”—that he might be both just in dealing with sin and merciful in dealing with the sinner,—just in that sin is punished in Christ exactly as it deserves; merciful in that a way is opened for sinners who die to sin, to be treated just as Christ deserves. Thus between the conflicting claims there is perfect agreement. Justice and mercy are reconciled. The problem is solved. In this supreme act, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Ps. 85: 10. The cross reveals to the uttermost, blended in perfect harmony, both the infinite justice and the infinite mercy of God. Support of Gospel Workers
By WILLIAM COVERT
Invitation and Admonition Though men have gone far from the Lord, and have in a multitude of ways and instances appropriated for their own use that which belongs to God, they often express great surprise if charges are preferred against them relative to these things. In seeming innocence they inquire, “Wherein have we robbed thee?” The Lord’s answer is prompt and pointed. He says the robbery is in “tithes and offerings,” and declares, “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” There is no use trying to deny the charge; it is so, and the books which God has kept will show it. Since the Lord is so positive that the charge is true, and since he has volumes of evidence to prove it, all will do well to follow his advice. He says: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 3:10, 11. Why do not men cease their transgressions, and return to the Lord? The blessings promised are sure to follow in the footsteps of obedience, but the calamities predicted will just as surely come if the disobedience is continued. Do not the disasters now taking place in all parts of the earth show that the protecting hand of God is being withdrawn from the homes, the lives, and the property of men? Do not the mass of mankind live and talk as if they did not believe in God or in his providential care? But while the words and conduct of the non-professed world are stout against God, should not those who profess to be getting ready for the Saviour’s second coming have all their misdeeds corrected and all accounts settled? Some may assume that the Lord does not mean all that he says about returning the tithes and offerings to the treasury where they belong. But he does mean it. The Lord of hosts does not prevaricate nor deceive; and if man does not believe God’s word in this matter, then he can not believe him in anything.11 The tithes and the offerings that have been withheld must be paid. It will be vastly better and easier to do as the Lord commands than not to do it. With some it may be inherited property that should be tithed. With others it may be property gathered by their own labor, which has never been tithed. With still others it may be both acquired and inherited property that should be tithed. In any case, adjustment should be made where the tithing has been neglected. For the Lord says: “Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?” The Lord then answers the question of how one may return to him, by saying to the questioner, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.” Then follows the advice to bring all the tithe, the whole tithe, into the storehouse. The Lord knows how the account of each individual stands, and each one can know how his case stands related to this question in the books which God is keeping. Do we possess property that has never been tithed? Then let us tithe it. Read carefully and ponder the Lord’s words on this question, as given in Mal. 3:1-18, and then heed the advice given. Study the question of offerings, together with the question of tithing, and settle all with the Lord. “Besides the tithe, the Lord demands the first-fruits of all our increase. These he has reserved in order that his work in the earth may be amply sustained. The Lord’s servants are not to be limited to a meager supply. His messengers should not be handicapped in their work of holding forth the word of life. As they teach the truth, they should have means to invest for the advancement of the work which must be done at the right time, in order to have the best and most saving influence. Deeds of mercy must be done, the poor and suffering must be aided. Gifts and offerings should be appropriated for this purpose. . . . If all the professed people of God, both old and young, would do their duty, there would be no dearth in the treasury. If all would pay a faithful tithe, and devote to the Lord the first-fruits of their increase, there would be a full supply of funds for his work.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 384, 385. The foregoing testimony relative to the tithe fund being reinforced by the offerings of the first-fruits of our increase is abundantly taught in the Bible. The charges set forth in Mal. 3:8 are claims charged up and carried forward in the books of heaven because both the “tithes and offerings” have been withheld from the Lord’s treasury. These are to be brought in to replenish the reserve fund which has been taken. When the children of Israel were before Mount Sinai, receiving instruction upon practical things which were to be done in the land whither they were going, this word was given them: “The first of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the house of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 23:19. And again he said: “Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Lev. 23:14. In harmony with this requirement, we find Hezekiah, when righting up affairs in the Lord’s cause among the Israelites, commanding “the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.” 2 Chron. 31:4, 5. After the people had been responding to this request for some time, Hezekiah questioned the priests about their supplies; and the chief priest answered: “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store.” Verse 10. It is an honorable thing for men, when their store of material substance is increased, to acknowledge the favor by giving an offering to the cause of the blessed Giver. Therefore the following admonition is given: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Prov. 3:9, 10. The Lord is constantly bestowing favors upon men, and he is endeavoring to draw them to himself by loving-kindness. Every good gift that man enjoys comes from God, therefore let the first-fruits be offered as beautiful expressions of gratitude for the bounties received. We always share our good things with our nearest and dearest friends, and we give to them the first and the best of all that we have to enjoy. And indeed we could not, with any degree of satisfaction, consume heaven’s bounties upon ourselves, while our friends are unsupplied, and in need of the things which we are using. How, then, can we expect to be happy and feel justified while consuming upon ourselves all the bounties which heaven puts into our hands, including tithes and the first-fruits, while the cause that heaven holds most dear on earth is pleading for the share which God says this cause should have?