Godsloveandlaw's Blog

Every now and then we are so very fortunate to meet someone who we connect with so closely and the mutual respect is truly a God given gift. Such is the case with bro. Mark Tambatamba, from Zambia. Recently we were shocked to learn that he was found dead in his home city. There are suspicious circumstances of foul play and the investgation isn’t completed yet.

The Lord told us through our prophetess —

“The battle cry is sounding along the line. Let every soldier of the cross push to the front, not in self-sufficiency, but in meekness and lowliness, and with firm faith in God. Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more.” (Testimonies vol. 7, p.17) 

Brother Mark joined our Facebook group called Truth Tellers many years ago and was an active participant in our studies and especially our bi-annual questions and answers test. He showed a good knowledge of the message he loved so much — the Lord’s final message of Elijah (aka the Shepherd’s Rod message).

We often spoke by chat message on FB and never once did we have anything but friendly and supportive communication. When the news hit this week, I immediately felt a large hole in my being. We have done much active work during the last 10 years or so, and I have felt such great reward in knowing that our group and ministry helped motivate our brother to love the Lord through His sealing message.

God’s Word says —

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

We often don’t understand the reasons why we lose someone so close, especially one who by all accounts was so faithful to the Lord. Yet we know that His Word tells us that they will be raised up soon to either “take up the work once more” or “rest in the time of trouble”. One way or another it will be great joy to see him again in the kingdom of God.

Our prophetess showed that in a vision from the Lord, that some may rest during the time of trouble —

“God gave me a vision last Sabbath night which I will write, I saw that she (Mrs. Hastings) was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the earth, and would be with the 144,000. I saw we need not mourn for her; she would rest in the time of trouble, and all that we could mourn for was our loss in being deprived of her company. I saw her death would result in good.” ( 2 SLM p. 263)

So obviously we don’t know which time the Lord would raise the faithful but we can count on one or the other. One thing to consider is unlike Mrs. Hastings for example, bro. Mark does know about the message that is to join the third angel’s message to give it power and glory. So if we are logical thinkers and close reasoners, we would say the Lord may raise him up to take up his work once more. But regardless, there will be a resurrection indeed for the faithful!

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” ( John 11:25-26)

The Lord gives us hope for the faithful —

“It was at midnight that God chose to deliver His people. As the wicked were mocking around them, suddenly the sun appeared, shining in his strength, and the moon stood still. The wicked looked upon the scene with amazement, while the saints beheld with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Signs and wonders followed in quick succession. Everything seemed turned out of it’s natural course. The streams ceased to flow. Dark, heavy clouds came up and clashed against each other. But there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, shaking the heavens and the earth. There was a mighty earthquake. The graves were opened, and those who had died in faith under the third angel’s message, keeping the Sabbath, came forth from their dusty beds, glorified, to hear the covenant of peace that God was to make with those who had kept His law.” (EW, p.285)

From a personal point of view, brother Mark was one of our best members who always showed a keen interest in the message. We sent him many “present truth packages” as they are known, complete with Tracts, TG’s, Charts, CD’s and DVD’s. His dedication was quite extraordinary.

From what we heard from brethren in the area, he was a team leader, guiding, encouraging and studying with many brethren. His work had a good influence on many. He will be so very missed!

Nevertheless, despite what we as humans see as a loss, it is no doubt a perfect God inspired plan for our brother.

The Lord said we shall know them by their fruit (Matt. 7:16) and from what we saw the Lord’s promise as spoken in Psalms 37:28-29 seems very befitting our beloved brother —

“For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.”

Rest in peace our brother as we shall joyfully see you in the kingdom soon–Lord willing.

This entry was posted on May 22, 2021 at 4:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.