Earlier text: A Time for Prevailing PrayerInter-Church Federation Conference
By C. H. Edwards
LAST week we gave a list of those who took an active part in the church conference which gathered in New York, November 15-21. This week we desire to notice the aims and work of this council. After the usual opening, several committees were appointed. At a later session the committee on plans submitted the following report as the basis of their federation:— Whereas, In the providence of God, the time has come when it seems fitting more fully to manifest the essential oneness of the Christian churches of America in Jesus Christ as their divine Lord and Saviour, and to promote the spirit of fellowship, service, and co-operation among them,6 the delegates to the Inter-Church Conference on Federation assembled in New York City, do hereby recommend the following plan of federation to the Christian bodies represented in this conference, for their approval:— 1. The name of the body shall be the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. 2. The following Christian bodies shall be entitled to representation in this Federal Council on their approval of the purpose and plan of the organization:— [Then follows the names of thirty-two denominations]. 3. The object of this Federal Council shall be— (a) To express the fellowship and catholic unity of the Christian church. (b) To bring the Christian bodies of America into harmonious service for Christ and the world. (c) To encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel concerning the spiritual life and religious activities of the churches. (d) To secure a larger combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social condition of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation of human life. (e) To assist in the organization of local branches of the Federal Council to promote its aims in their communities. 4. This Federal Council shall have no authority over the constituent bodies adhering to it; but its province shall be limited to the expression of its counsel and the recommending of a course of action in matters of common interest to the churches, local councils, and individual Christians. It has no authority to draw up a common creed, or form of government or of worship, or in any way to limit the full autonomy of the Christian bodies adhering to it. 5. Members of this Federal Council shall be appointed as follows:— Each of the Christian bodies adhering to this Federal Council shall be entitled to four members, and shall be further entitled to one member for every fifty thousand of its communicants or major fraction thereof. The question of representation of local councils shall be referred to the several constituent bodies, and to the first meeting of the Federal Council. 6. Any action to be taken by this Federal Council shall be by the general vote of its members. But in case one third of the members present and voting request it, the vote shall be by the bodies represented, the members of each body voting separately; and action shall require the vote, not only of a majority of the members voting, but also of the bodies represented. 7. Other Christian bodies may be admitted into membership of this Federal Council on their request if approved by a vote of two thirds of the members voting at a session of this council, and of two thirds of the bodies represented, the representatives of each body voting separately. 8. The Federal Council shall meet in December, 1908, and thereafter once in every four years. It will be readily seen that at this time there is no outward declaration of forming a universal creed for the churches, in fact, that design is distinctly disavowed. Over and over again the speakers were emphatic in their declarations that there never could be any spirit of coercion in this great and mighty movement. What, then, is there in this federation? What is its great object? From a mere reading of the basis of the federation one does not get all that is involved in the words. The one great, all-absorbing sentiment throughout the entire council was the expressed desire to fulfil the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is done in heaven.” As one speaker expressed it, when the great Christian church awakens, and fulfils her duty, religion will permeate every fiber of the nation, and the saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ,” will be fulfilled. The operations of the system were explained by one speaker like this: There should be a federation in a town where there were but two churches. In that town, perhaps, there might be several social evils, such as gambling, the liquor traffic, and Sabbath desecration. The public sentiment might be strong in favor of those things, and the churches too weak to counteract them, but if the entire county of churches were federated, they unitedly might bring pressure to bear upon the town, and thus cause a cessation of those evils. In case this failed, he argued, the entire State, when federated, could clean not only the towns, and counties, but also the State as well. When the States were federated, they would uphold the national federation which they were then forming, and then this great country would become a glorious “Christian nation.” Another speaker gave the practical working in one of the New England States. There are many small towns where there are two or three small, struggling churches. They spend double the money to keep two churches running; they take the time of two men. When united, there would be only one fair-sized congregation, and only one man to support. One object of this federation was to remedy this, and to bring about such a union that instead of two or three small churches with their expenses, there would be only one, and that one a union church. Again: when a new settlement is opened, or a town built, no federated denomination shall enter that territory without counseling with the federation. The ground will be carefully considered, and whichever denomination shall give the most people who lean toward it, or are actual members of the denomination, that is the one which shall settle in that place, and all others shall not establish a church or maintain a place of worship therein. Should this agreement be violated by a denomination, then it would rest under the implied censure of all the other federated churches. To us it is absolutely plain that this will eventually turn into as despotic a boycott as we have ever seen in the federation of laboring men, which we call “unions.” Is it not plain that when a people have a special message to give to every “nation, kindred, tongue, and people,” and they shall feel called of God to deliver that message anywhere and everywhere, then they will have to give that message under the protest of the entire federation of the churches? Suppose the people with that message should enter a small town, and, after giving their message, should find believers, and desire to establish a church. How would they be considered by the federation? To-day they disavow repeatedly their intention of ever interfering in the least with the freest exercise of religious action. We do not question their sincerity in this, but we do say that they are setting in operation a huge machine which, if controlled by a few despotic bigots, can be used as one of the most merciless institutions outside the Catholic Church. When it is demonstrated that a “united church” can have “whatever it demands,” as one speaker said, then their demands will be larger than they are to-day. Let us ask what their demands will be? The answer to this is given in the speech of one who illustrated the needs of a federated church, because there were “social evils,” such as “promiscuous divorce,” “the liquor traffic,” “all forms of gambling,” and “Sabbath desecration.” Although this gathering was but a council merely for the purpose of forming the federation, yet they were besieged on all sides to adopt resolutions relating to each of these issues. It may be seen that these issues, which they denominate as “social evils,” are so closely interwoven that in combating one all must be opposed. Hence should a people arise, and declare that what they term “Sabbath desecration” is not “Sabbath desecration” at all, that anything which is legitimate on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is as legitimate on Sunday, that people would most certainly be accused of favoring each of those “social evils,” as they are considered a unit by this federation. Thus Sunday legislation will follow as surely and as logically as any conclusion must follow the consideration of a legitimate syllogism. Need we say that for many years Seventh-day Adventists have known that some day a mighty movement would be launched in some way, somehow, that7 would raise the spurious sabbath into a position where it would demand the homage of the nation? In this mighty movement we have that toward which we have looked. From this council have gone the seeds of federation which will bear fruit in the near future. Into nearly every State and Territory the delegates have gone, inspired with the idea that through the federation of the churches they may usher in “the kingdom of Christ.” In the fourth century the churches tried the same plan, and instead of establishing the kingdom of Christ, they ushered in a kingdom of tyranny, which ended in the papacy. This, while ostensibly for the purpose of bringing the kingdom, will end in tyranny, and the perfect image of the papacy. To us this ought to be the signal to work, and to do the work quickly. Soon we shall know the meaning of the admonition given us some time ago: “The work which is left undone now must be done under circumstances which will try men’s souls.” Shall we not gird on the armor anew, and as one man carry this precious message to the world, and thus truly hasten the coming of “the kingdom”? The world is looking at a great federated machine, but we need a Spirit-filled church—not machinery and civil power, but a united, purified church, clothed with the power of God. O that it may be so! Why shall it not be thus? Echoes From the Inter-Church Federation Conference
BISHOP JOHN H. VINCENT, the founder of the Chautauqua movement, made the closing address, in which he declared there was room in the federation for everybody’s individual beliefs. Rev. Dr. Mackay, referring to the scope of the federation, said: “Just because I am sure of the divinity of Christ, I am willing to federate with any one, be he Brahman, Hindu, or Hottentot, if he is willing to agree, however imperfectly, in the kingship of Christ, and to work with him for the betterment of humanity.” The chairman of the Inter-Church Federation Conference said, in part: “This is one of the most notable assemblies of believers in Jesus Christ that has ever been seen. John Calvin wrote to Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, and declared he would cross any sea to make such a union effective. The dream of the great reformer and the great archbishop has met with realization in these latter days.” At a reception given at the Waldorf-Astoria, in New York, subsequent to the conference, Lieutenant-Governor Bruce said: “When Christian people are stirred up and get together, they can have whatever they want. They can put down polygamy, do away with lax divorce laws, and curb intemperance. They want good government, and Christian people can get it. If we have it not, it is our own fault.” The Literary Digest of December 2, in a report of the Inter-Church Federation Conference, makes the following reference to an article written on the subject for the New York Sun by the Religious Liberty Secretary of the New York Conference: “A correspondent of the New York Sun expresses fear of the federation of churches as a ‘church trust’ which will eventually tyrannize over the religious conscience.” Dr. William Hayes Ward, editor of the Independent, writing in his own magazine, says: “It is a fact not sufficiently considered, that the spirit of unity has grown out of the zeal for evangelism. These are the two notes of the church of the present day—evangelism and union—which distinguish it from the church of a century ago. The sense of the duty to convert the world, and the sense of the duty to come together that we may convert the world—that they may be one, ‘that the world may know that thou hast sent Me.’” The Catholic Mirror, the organ of Cardinal Gibbons, of December 2 publishes an article on Christian unity by Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, in which he says: “The desire for the reunion of Christendom is a striking characteristic of our times.” He says that desire for unity and peace finds expression “in the co-operation of the Catholics and non-Catholics in temperance, sound politics, and charitable work; in the cordial invitation extended from time to time by the heads of various Protestant educational institutions to representative Catholic clergymen to explain some points of Catholic doctrines; in the success of missions to non-Catholics.” “These are surely evident signs that religious strife and dissensions are rapidly passing away, and that we are nearing Christian unity.” The Literary Digest of December 2 further says: “The Inter-Church Conference on Federation, of which the plans and aim have been already outlined in these columns, is declared by a conservative Philadelphia clergyman to mark ‘the greatest epoch in the life of Christianity within the past five hundred years.’ It is generally admitted that the actual results of this conference can not be immediately estimated, and that meanwhile its chief interest is as a sign of the times.” What Is Your Response?
By A. G. Daniells
EVERY month brings cheering reports from our mission fields in all parts of the world. Our missionaries at the front tell us how the hand of the Lord is opening doors for service in many directions. They are working to the utmost of their strength, and their labors are being blessed of God. But the vast unentered fields about them appeal for help which they can not render; so they pass the appeals on to their brethren in America. As these earnest, well-founded calls for help come to us, we thank God from the depths of our hearts for the abundant resources he has provided in America to help the whole world. We are profoundly grateful that America, where we have sixty thousand believers, is not passing through the shocking revolution now going on in Russia. What could we do for a perishing world under such circumstances? God has given us the tranquillity and prosperity we are now enjoying in the United States, that we may be able to render the greatest service possible to benighted souls in the darkness of all lands. No other people on the earth are being prospered as are the people in America, and Seventh-day Adventists must take a broad view of their obligations. It is proper to thank God for his gifts, but he requires a right use of them. They are bestowed upon us to impart to our fellow men. Our Father does not give so abundantly that we may retain and consume all upon ourselves. We are to share with those less favored than ourselves. Will this now be done by our people in America? The week of prayer is here. On the last day of this season of worship we are to make the offering of 1905 to the mission fields. What sort of offering will it be? Shall we give as God has prospered us? Shall we give according to our abundance and the pressing needs of men and women dying in heathen lands without hope? Or will the gifts be made in obedience to the selfishness of the natural heart? This year has been one of great financial prosperity in America. Every sunset during the year has added three million four hundred thousand dollars to the wealth of the farms of this country. Indeed, Mr. Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, in his report issued in November, says that every sunset during the last five years has added this enormous amount to the wealth of our farms. With this there has come like prosperity to all classes. There is a profound conviction in the minds of many of our ministers that now is the time for our people in America to make large gifts to the cause, that the purpose of God in giving this prosperity may be realized, and that this favor may be extended to us by the Lord to enable us to finish his work in the earth. Brethren, let us be wise. Let us discern the hand of the Lord. Let us unite with him in his plans. Let us pour the means he has given us into his treasury, and thus pass on to others the gifts intended for them. Who can be satisfied to make small gifts when he is abundantly able to make large ones? Who can have a clear conscience in giving a dollar when God has enabled him to give one hundred? The mission fields of this denomination are your fields. They never presented a more encouraging outlook. But they8 never appealed more earnestly for help. The Mission Board never needed money more than now. What is your personal response to this situation? May God help you to make it. The Medical Missionary Convention
By A. G. Daniells
According to arrangements, the Medical Missionary Department of the General Conference held its first convention at College View, Neb., November 21-26. Over one hundred persons registered as delegates or regular attendants. These were composed of twenty-four physicians, forty nurses, twenty-four ministers, and twelve or more deeply interested persons who attended the meetings regularly. These representatives came from all parts of the United States and from Canada. This was a larger gathering than some of us had looked for. When arrangements were made to hold the convention, it was thought that there would not be a very large gathering. That was not a prominent feature of the purpose in holding the convention. There was little opportunity when the department was organized at the General Conference for the members of the committee to formulate a working, progressive policy, and it was thought that a small convention this fall would be necessary in order to get the work of the department clearly outlined, and well under way. The presence of one hundred physicians, nurses, ministers, and interested laymen was not only a very pleasant surprise, but a very great encouragement as well. In opening the convention the chairman, Dr. W. A. George, emphasized the importance of making a meeting of that character truly spiritual as well as instructive in technical lines. In view of this, it was arranged to have either a prayer or a preaching service each day. Each day was pressed full of earnest work—reading and discussing papers dealing with important medical questions, passing recommendations concerning the work of the department, and reading important Testimonies from the spirit of prophecy bearing upon the most essential features of what constitutes our gospel medical missionary work. All the discussions and exchange of views were harmonious and dignified. Not a discordant note was struck. Every one was granted the fullest liberty of thought and speech. The ministers present expressed the deepest interest in the medical missionary work, and extended to the physicians, nurses, and general helpers in this department the best and heartiest co-operation which they were capable of rendering. The physicians repeatedly expressed appreciation of the deep interest of the ministers in the medical work, as shown by their presence at the convention, and the brotherly part they were taking in the proceedings. One of the most impressive and helpful features of the convention was the earnest study given to the Testimonies which came from Sister White after the meeting convened. These communications set before us in very clear, pointed, unmistakable language the dangers which threaten us at this time, and the course to be pursued in order to have the approval and blessing of God. The Testimonies made a profound impression on the minds of all who heard them, and nearly all expressed their full confidence in the divine source of this instruction, and their full purpose of heart to follow it faithfully. As this confidence and determination were expressed, light came into our meetings. The mists and clouds of doubt, perplexity, and confusion rolled away. Our hearts were united in the bonds of Christian love, our courage was renewed, and our hope was revived. This meeting has brought a new experience to many who were present. It has marked the beginning of a new era in the medical missionary work of this denomination. It was a better meeting in some respects than we had looked for. The proceedings will be published in pamphlet form for all who desire a full report. The officers of the department will now push the medical missionary work forward in all the union conferences. It is hoped that the interest of our people will be increased in this phase of our message, and that they will unite in an earnest effort to make known to all others the light that has come to us showing us how to live. If the eighty thousand believers in this message will do the little that each can do to hold up this light, a great flame will be kept burning in this dark world. A vote was passed requesting the officers to arrange to hold another medical convention next year. The Educational Department will very likely hold a large and important convention during the summer of 1906. Owing to the close relationship of the educational and medical missionary lines of work, it is thought that the departments can very profitably hold a joint convention. If this can be done, we may look for a grand convention of teachers and medical workers. The chairman of the Educational Department has already begun the preliminary work for the convention. Thorough preparation should be made for this joint meeting, so that the greatest possible benefit can be obtained for the development of these most important phases of our cause. And now let us all pray and work for the advancement of our medical missionary interests, that many sick, suffering, hopeless souls may be blessed and saved by the light God has given us. Present and Future Strife
By L. A. S.
THE political and industrial upheavals of the times, so conspicuous in Europe to-day, afford ground for much speculation as to what new alignment of the contesting forces, what new weapons of warfare, and what unlooked-for events, the immediate future may disclose. We hear rumors of general coalitions of workingmen’s organizations and universal strikes to enforce the demands of one class against the other. In the industrial world we find, on the one hand, a union of all the employers’ associations of the country, formed not long ago at Chicago, arrayed against the labor unions on the other hand. A general coalition of these labor unions is contemplated. Advocating such a coalition, Eugene V. Debs, the political and industrial agitator, said in a recent speech:— Intelligent workers have decided to follow the example set by capitalists, and combine their forces into one great industrial union, so that all may at all times work together in harmony for the good of all. . . . The new national organization, which we are to bring into existence in Chicago . . . will be based on absolute antagonism of the two classes [capitalists and laborers]. It will recognize the class struggle, and will use all its power to overthrow the capitalistic class and abolish the wage system. Will the spirit of revolution which is spreading in Europe extend to the shores of the Western hemisphere, aided, perhaps, by another period of hard times? It is worth noting here that Mr. John D. Rockefeller is quoted by a Boston journal as having recently said:— The American people are about to suffer from their greatest panic. . . . Where there were three million men out of work in 1893, there will be ten million in idleness when the next attack of hard times comes upon us. A world-wide uprising of the discontented classes against the possessors of wealth and the forces maintaining existing political and industrial regimes, is a vision of a large class of industrial agitators. A noted individual of this class, speaking of coming revolution, said: “The revolution will be joined by the workers of every country; . . . a general, popular uprising. This we regard as inevitable.” It requires no great stretch of imagination to see a connection between these things and the picture of world-wide confusion and strife which has been presented through the spirit of prophecy as the condition which will soon be reached in the world. It requires no extraordinary vision to discern the signs of the times. The Perils of Prosperity
By Ellen G. White
Lessons From the Life of Solomon—No. 13
In the midst of Solomon's wonderful prosperity, lurked danger. The sins of his father David's later years, though sincerely repented of and sorely punished, had emboldened the people in transgression of God's commandments. Through association with surrounding nations, evil influences were gradually permeating the kingdom that had been so remarkably blessed. God was not inquired of. Wealth, with all its temptations, came in Solomon's day to a rapidly increasing number of the people. “The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.” Throughout the ages, riches and honor have been attended with much peril to humility and spirituality. It is when a man is prospered, when all his fellow men speak well of him, that he is in special danger. Man is human. Spiritual prosperity continues only so long as man depends wholly upon God for wisdom and for perfection of character. And those who feel most their need of dependence upon God are usually those who have the least amount of earthly treasure and human honor on which to depend. There is danger in the bestowal of rich gifts or of words of commendation upon human agencies. Those who are favored by the Lord need to be on guard constantly, lest pride spring up and obtain the supremacy. He who has an unusual following, he who has received many words of commendation from the messengers of the Lord, needs the special prayers of God's faithful watchmen, that he may be shielded from the danger of cherishing thoughts of self-esteem and spiritual pride. Never is such a man to manifest self-importance, or attempt to act as a dictator or a ruler. Let him watch and pray, and keep his eye single to the glory of God. As his imagination takes hold upon things unseen, and he contemplates the joy of the hope that is set before him,—even the precious boon of life eternal,—the commendation of man will not fill his mind with thoughts of pride. And at times when the enemy makes special efforts to spoil him by flattery and worldly honor, his brethren should faithfully warn him of his dangers; for, if left to himself, he will be prone to make mistakes, and reveal human frailties. In Solomon's day, as in ours, the very ones who praised and flattered and glorified the man of ability were the ones who failed to recognize and glorify God for the blessings he bestowed upon them through the human instrumentality. They praised the man; God was dishonored; and soon the Lord found the vessel he had ordained and used in his sacred service, becoming unclean. The sentiments, the spirit, and the likeness of the natural man began to appear, and he who once was doing God's will, became corrupted through human exaltation. Then the feebleness and weakness of man was revealed by the choice of injudicious friends, whose course helped the tempter to ensnare the man. The Lord allowed him to be ensnared, because he would not be counseled; he would walk in his own way. The Lord places men in positions of responsibility to carry out not their own will, but God's will. He gives wisdom to those who seek him, and who depend upon him as their counselor. So long as men represent the pure principles of his government, he will continue to bless and maintain them as his instrumentalities to carry out his purposes concerning his people. He co-operates with those who co-operate with him. It is to the interest of all who act any part in God's service, to labor with exactitude and fidelity; for with distinctness is to be revealed the line of demarcation separating his people from the inhabitants of the world. He who remains true to principle will never be left by the Lord to become weak and discouraged. The Lord's word to Solomon is applicable to every man who consents to assume responsibilities in any place in the Lord's work. Strength of character is to be honored by those who claim to keep the commandments and statutes of God. The solemn charges and appeals and promises, so large and full, that were made to Solomon, are made to every man who will stand in his lot and place to do the work that God has appointed him to. In the Valley of Humiliation
It is not the empty cup that we have trouble in carrying; it is the cup full to the brim that must be carefully balanced. Affliction and adversity may cause much inconvenience, and may bring great depression; but it is prosperity that is dangerous to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth, and has the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption. Our prayers need most to be offered for the men in high places. They need the prayers of the whole church, because they are entrusted with prosperity and influence. In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to teach them and to guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But let every one who has a living connection with God pray for the men in positions of responsibility,—for those who are standing on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because of their exalted position, are supposed to have much wisdom. Unless such men feel their need of an Arm stronger than the arm of flesh to lean upon, unless they make God their dependence, their view of things will become distorted, and they will fall. The History of Bethel
By S. N. HASKELL
WHEREVER the cause of God centers, there is the sharpest conflict between Christ and Satan. Bethel, twelve miles north of Jerusalem, was such a place; it was a strategic military and spiritual center. The city was anciently called Luz, meaning “almond tree.” It was under these almond trees, no doubt, that Jacob “had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him.” Hosea 12:4. When Jacob knew of a surety that his peace was made with God, and his sins were forgiven, he lay down and slept sweetly with only hard stones for a pillow. Then it was that the Lord revealed that wonderful vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and the Lord gave him that wonderful promise, “I am with thee.” Truly Jacob could say as he awakened, “The Lord is in this place.” The presence of the Lord was of more importance than the presence of the almond trees, and Jacob changed the name from Luz, almond tree, to Bethel, the house of God. Gen. 28:12-19, margin. In speaking of Jacob’s experience at Bethel, the prophet Hosea says the Lord found Jacob “in Bethel, and there he spake with us.” We should ever remember that in the history of Bethel God is speaking to us. Hosea 12:4. The first mention of Shiloh is in10 Joshua 18:1, where it is stated that the tabernacle was set up at Shiloh when Israel entered the promised land. Jer. 7:12. It was in Shiloh that lots were cast, and the land divided among the tribes of Israel. Why the tabernacle was placed at Shiloh instead of Bethel, we are not told, but there always seemed to be a close connection between these places, for in locating Shiloh it is spoken of as north of Bethel. Judges 21:19. Israel assembled at Shiloh to attend the yearly feasts. 1 Sam. 1:3, 24; 2:14. While the record states that the tabernacle was set up at Shiloh, the ark, a portion of the time, was in Bethel, and special services were held before it in Bethel in the days of Phinehas. The Hebrew word translated “house of God” in Judges 20:18, 26, is the same word that is translated Bethel in other places. The Septuagint Version, Young, Jewish versions, and others give the translation of the word as Bethel. We quote Judges 20:26, 27, from the Septuagint as follows: “The children of Israel and all the people went up, and came to Bethel; and they wept, and sat there before the Lord . . . for the ark of the Lord was there in those days, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days.” In 1 Sam. 10:3 we find men going up to Bethel with kids and other things necessary to make their offerings before the Lord, showing that Bethel was a center of worship. See 1 Sam. 7:16. In the days of David the ark was taken to Jerusalem, and ever after Jerusalem was the center of worship, the place the Lord regarded, until they rejected the Saviour, and their house was left desolate. We can readily see how Bethel, humanly speaking, would still claim to be the spot chosen of the Lord. This feeling existed, but did not come to a crisis until the days of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. At that time there was an insurrection in Israel, headed by Jeroboam. They came to Rehoboam saying, “Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” 1 Kings 12:4. The king sought counsel in the matter. “The old men, that stood before Solomon . . . spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever. But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him. . . . The young men . . . spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips; but I will chastise you with scorpions.” 1 Kings 12:6-11. From that time Israel was divided, but Jerusalem was the center of worship. Jeroboam soon saw that if those following him went up to Jerusalem to worship, they would be won away from him, and to prevent this, he set up a rival worship in Bethel and Dan. A golden calf was set up in each place, but from the record it seems that Bethel became the center of this false worship. God did not at first utterly forsake Bethel, for in the days of Elisha there was a school of the prophets at Bethel; there was also a rival worship and education. It was youth from the Bethel schools that taunted Elisha with the translation, and were destroyed. These youth were in marked contrast with those in the Bethel school of the prophets, who were in such close touch with God that they knew the day Elijah would ascend. 2 Kings 2:3, 23, 24. Ahijah, the aged prophet of the Lord, lived in Bethel in the days of Jeroboam, and although the prophet was old and blind, he could not be deceived, but was led of the Lord as in the days of his youth. At this time the prophet states, “There is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” 1 Kings 14:13. The Lord sent a prophet to Bethel with a special message against the false worship Jeroboam had established, and when Jeroboam stretched forth his hand against the prophet, the Lord withered the hand of Jeroboam. Instantly he entreated the prophet to pray for him, and in answer to the prophet’s prayer the king’s hand was restored. 1 Kings 13:1-6. The controversy was not simply a political one, it was a controversy waged between the powers of light and darkness. Notwithstanding the fact that the worship of the calves continued in Bethel, God had men in that city that feared him. For many years the two houses of Israel were in controversy. Sometimes it resulted in open war, as in the days of Baasha, when Asa the king of Judah used the treasuries of the Lord’s house to secure help against Baasha king of Israel; and Asa “took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and King Asa built with them” other cities. There was never the same financial strength after the division. From the days that the shields of gold with other treasure were taken into Egypt, and Rehoboam substituted shields of brass, there was financial trouble until they ceased to be an independent nation. In the days of Amos the call came for all to forsake Bethel. Amos was the father of Isaiah, and lived in the days of Jeroboam II, about one hundred and seventy years after the golden calf had been set up in Bethel. One of the principal burdens of this prophet seems to have been against the false worship at Bethel. Amos says, “I will also visit the altars of Bethel. . . . I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end.” Amos 3:14, 15. In Amos 4:4-11 the prophet graphically depicts the result of heeding the call, “Come to Bethel.” He continues: “For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: but seek not Bethel. . . . Bethel shall come to naught.” Amos 5:4-6. The message was rejected in Bethel; for “Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. . . . Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.” Amos 7:10-13. It was in Bethel that the prophet Amos said, “I was no prophet.” The Lord had not forsaken the house of Israel; for Amos was especially chosen as a prophet for the house of Israel, and in rejecting his prophecies they brought evil upon themselves. God never forsook either faction, but sent warnings and reproofs to both the houses of Israel until they both learned in the school of captivity and persecution the lessons he would have taught them in a time of peace if they had harkened unto his voice through the mouth of his prophets. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Rom. 15:4. “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be: and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” Eccl. 1:9. “I WILL commit my way, O Lord, to thee,
Nor doubt thy love, though dark the way may be,
Nor murmur, for the sorrow is from God,
And there is comfort also in the rod. “I will not seek to know the future years,
Nor cloud to-day with dark to-morrow’s fears;
I will but ask a light from heaven to show
How, step by step, my pilgrimage should go. “And if the distant perils seem to make
The path impossible that I must take,
Yet as the river winds through mountains lone,
The way will open up—as I go on. “Be still, my heart, for faithful is thy Lord,
And pure and true and tried his Holy Word:
Through stormy flood that rageth as the sea
His promises thy stepping-stones shall be.”