SHINTOISM AND NON-PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY

November 16, 2019

TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, FEBRUARY 7, 1948
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS

TEXT FOR PRAYER

“Bring Forth Fruit”

I shall read from “Christ’s Object Lessons,” pg. 60, the first two paragraphs:

“God bids us fill the mind with great thoughts, pure thoughts. He desires us to meditate upon His love and mercy, to study His wonderful work in the great plan of redemption. Then clearer and still clearer will be our perception of truth, higher, holier, our desire for purity of heart and clearness of thought. The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought will be transformed by communion with God through the study of the Scriptures.

“‘And bring forth fruit.’ Those who, having heard the word, keep it, will bring forth fruit in obedience. The word of God, received into the soul, will be manifest in good works. Its results will be seen in a Christlike character and life. Christ said of Himself, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.’ ‘I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.’ And the Scripture says, ‘He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.'”

What shall we now pray for? — Pray for power to enable us to meditate upon His love and mercy and thus cause our perception of Truth to become higher and holier; pray to realize that the soul that dwells in the atmosphere of holy thought is transformed; pray to learn by experience that the Word of God received into the soul, does manifest Itself in good works.

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SHINTOISM AND NON-PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY

Our text for this afternoon’s study is found in–

Jer. 10:23 — “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”

In this verse we are told that the way man should go is not in himself, that he of himself does not know how to direct his steps. Someone else must direct them if he is to go in the right direction. For this very reason God’s people are led by a prophet and are preserved by a prophet. (Hos. 12:13.) So it was that through the medium of the prophets God led and preserved the Church of the Old Testament, and by the same Spirit He founded, led, and has to this day preserved the New Testament Church, although the spirit that rebelled against God’s leadership anciently, is still in the Church today.

Naturally men are unconscious of the fact that they cannot direct their own steps even after God starts them out as a father starts out his little son. We should never forget that when God’s ancient people rejected the prophets, including John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles, when He could no longer lead them, their feet slipped in every direction,

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they fell from grace and lost everything. Only the followers of the prophets remained with God and they only composed the Christian church in its beginning. No other than God did direct their steps into the Church.

Let us take another example: The world at large today, with but a few exceptions, is Buddhist, Mohammedan, or Christian. Two-thirds of the world’s population is still following in the steps of Buddha, who lived about 550 years before Christ. Think of it! Two-thirds, a little less than a billion of the world’s inhabitants are still followers of Buddha!

And who was Buddha? What kind of a man was he — good or bad? Was he a deceiver or was he a teacher of righteousness?

To find the answer, let us first take into consideration the kind of people he was in contact with. He was not in touch with the Hebrews, nor with the Christians, but only with degraded people of the Orient. And those who did not come in contact with Buddha’s teachings, — those of the south sea islands in particular — are to a large extent still cannibals.

Taking these facts into consideration before passing judgment we may ask, What did Buddha deceive his followers from? — From nothing is the overall answer. And what did he lead them to? History gives this answer; “What he taught the people was that they should seek salvation not through the observance of religious rites and ceremonies, but through honesty and purity of heart, through charity and tenderness and compassion toward all creatures that have life.” — “General History,” p. 66.

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Since Buddha’s kind of teaching certainly does not come from the Devil, and since he led his followers from bad to better, he could not have been a deceiver. Buddha, moreover, not only taught good morals, but, if history is reliable, he himself lived up to what he taught. Finally, in keeping with his great influence he could have been a rich man, but he died poor. And if standards of living have any virtues at all, Buddha’s standards, if lived up to, could have lifted the people of the Orient higher than the level of many so-called Christians in our day.

Buddha therefore appears to have been a preacher of righteousness in his day, for his standard of behaviour was practically the standard of the ten commandments, the standards of the Bible. Where did he get such a standard? Certainly not from the Devil. We may now ask the question, Was God in Buddha’s day interested only in the Hebrew nation? Did He entirely neglect the rest of the world? And did He deliberately permit a third of the earth’s inhabitants to be led by Buddha from bad to worse? or did He see that they be led from bad to better?

There is but one answer that we can honestly and wisely give: That God through Buddha did for the heathen that which could not have been done through Moses or through any of the Hebrew prophets.

Comparatively speaking, God through Buddha raised the heathen from the pit in which they were as many inches up, as Moses raised the Hebrew’s from the pit in which they were. The Hebrews, of course, rose much closer to God than the followers of Buddha because the pit in which Buddha found the heathen was much deeper than the pit in which Moses found the Hebrew nation.

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Buddha himself never thought that after his death he would be worshipped as a god by his followers — no, no more than the prophets, the Apostles, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, thought they would be worshipped after their death.

You can now see that while Buddha was directing the steps of his people, the people were led closer to the standards of the Bible and to the ideals of Christ than they were before his day. Since this is so, then Buddha was not a deceiver.

As soon as Buddha died, though, his followers ran against a wall as it were, and their progress toward God, the Bible, and Christ, stopped where Buddha stopped. Indeed they could not have advanced further for they made the death of Buddha become their block against progress toward God. How did they do it?–

It is a known fact that when people give credit of a Divine deed to a finite being, then their hope of another as great, or greater ever coming to help them is forever gone. They do not believe that God lives, that he will raise another even greater to lead them further, but believe that there is no need of another and no need for more Truth. Consequently as they do not expect another, when one comes they reject him. Thus the Buddhists put a stop to their spiritual progress. So you see that when the light that is in you becomes darkness, “How great is that darkness!” Matt. 6:23.

Judging from the experiences of the past, the freedom of a nation and the assassin’s bullet this year are likely to bring forth another god — Mohandus K. Gandhi. He is likely to become the Buddha of today. Yes, the Hindu millions are already giving to Mr. Gandhi the

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credit for all his good and Godly deeds.

He, like Buddha, certainly was a good man, with high standards and good morals, the standards and morals of the Bible and of Jesus Christ.

This brings us to another hard question to answer — Since Gandhi lived in the Christian era why did he not become Christian? — Perhaps he would have, but I suppose he took into account that to become a Christian and join the Christian church would lower rather than lift his standard of behaviour.

As he saw it, it looked to him that a so-called Christian nation was sapping the blood of his people, that she was abusing and treating them as inferior human beings. In fact, he himself, for his stand on national decency and national freedom spent about twelve years in jail. These are the things that most likely kept Mr. Gandhi from joining the Christian church and people. He certainly did not turn away from Christianity to avoid any sacrifices, or to indulge in any sin.

Gandhi’s theory, moreover, for freedom by non-violence, by neither sword nor gun, succeeded and freed over 400,000,000 people who had been servants of the strong for nearly 200 years! This he accomplished while the Christians were killing one another by the thousands! These are some of the things which most likely kept Mr. Gandhi from becoming a Christian.

Let us now for a moment consider Mohammed, to whom something like 220,000,000 people bow. What kind of man was he? Was he a deceiver? or was he a teacher of righteousness? — Let us also consider

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the people who were taught by him. They were the descendants of Lot and Abraham, — Moabites, Esauites, and Ishmaelites, etc., all of them bitter enemies of the Hebrews, and their religion.

Since Mohammed led millions of Arabs closer to the Hebrew-Christian religion than the so-called Christians in his day would have led them, it is hardly possible that he was a deceiver. He led his followers to a higher moral standard of living, modesty, cleanliness, regularity of prayer and Biblical diet than the Christians of his day would have led them. Mohammed’s theory of religion according to history, and as Mohammedanism has it now is this:

“Mohammedanism, the name commonly given in Christian countries to the creed established by Mohammed. His followers call their creed Islam (entire submission to the decrees of God), and their common formula of faith is, ‘There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.’ The dogmatic or theoretical part of Mohammedanism embraces the following points: —

1. Belief in God, who is without beginning or end, the sole Creator and Lord of the universe, having absolute power, knowledge, glory, and perfection.
2. Belief in his angels, who are impeccable beings, created of light.
3. Belief in good and evil Jinn (genii), who are created of smokeless fire, and are subject to death.
4. Belief in the Holy Scriptures, which are his uncreated word revealed to the prophets. Of these there now exist, but in a greatly corrupted form, the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Gospels; and in an uncorrupted and incorruptible state the Koran, which abrogates and surpasses all preceding revelations. (See Koran.)
5. Belief in Gods prophets and apostles, the most distinguished of whom are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. Mohammed

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is the greatest of them all, the last of the prophets and the most excellent of the creatures of God.
6. Belief in a general resurrection and final judgment, and in future rewards and punishments, chiefly of a physical nature.
7. The belief, even to the extent of fatalism, of God’s absolute foreknowledge and predestination of all events both good and evil.” — “Twentieth Century Cyclopedia,” p. 507.

In view of the fact that Mohammed led his people closer to the religion of the Bible than they had been before, could he truly be called a deceiver? If so, tell me what did he deceive them from?

Since Mohammed was so near to believing the Christian religion, we may ask, Why did he not become a Christian? — Let us consider the possibilities that could have prevented him from so doing:

Mohammed lived in the seventh century of the Christian era, in the midst of the Dark Ages of religion, when the Christian church was deepest in idol worship, graft and immorality, practices that are prohibited by the Scriptures. If nothing else could have kept him from joining the Christian church, then idol worship along with the prevalent use of swine’s flesh, practice that is against all Bible religion, was enough to turn Mohammed from Christianity.

Mohammed, I believe, did the very best he could, considering that in his time the so-called Christian church was at a very low ebb, and that his morals and behaviour were much higher than were the morals and behaviour of the Christianized pagans. In view of all this, who can say that Mohammed was a bad man, that he was a deceiver?

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Are we still inquiring why God permitted Mohammed to teach his religion to millions of the earth’s inhabitants? And do we still wonder why he did not become a Christian? — If so, here is a second answer: God permitted him because Mohammed was making the people better than they were, and because Mohammedanism in that day brought one closer to the religion of the Bible than could have paganized Christianity. But why are the Mohammedans still Mohammedans? — Mohammedans are still Mohammedans, for the same reason that Buddhists are still Buddhists; that is, because after Mohammed died, they did just what the Buddhists did: In the progress of religion the Mohammedans stopped where Mohammed stopped — at his tomb.

They stopped there to make sure that their followers would never join another sect. They taught the people that there was to be no other prophet, that Mohammed was the last, that there was no need for another, that they had all the Truth to lead them to the pearly gates. Thus corrupt Mohammedanism drilledthis false idea into the minds of the common people then, and still more corrupted Mohammedanism of today, like all other sects, including corrupt Adventism, still does the same. Thus it is that no sect as a people, but only as individuals, has ever accepted an additional message and this is the reason for the multi-sectarian world.

So to ask why Mohammedans and Buddhists are still Mohammedans and Buddhists — why have they not advanced since Mohammed and Buddha died, is like asking why Catholics have not yet become Lutherans, why Lutherans have not yet become Presbyterians, why Presbyterians have not yet become Methodists, why Methodists have not yet become Baptists, why Baptists have not yet become Seventh-day Adventists, and why Seventh-day Adventists have not yet become

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Davidian Seventh-day Adventists? The overall answer is that each successive denomination has failed to keep pace with the progress of Truth because each has failed to climb higher than the height of the founder of each respective denomination could possibly have led them in his life time.

The Jews never rose higher than the height to which Moses led them. When Moses died, they as it were died with him so far as spiritual progress was concerned. Thus it was that they rejected and killed the prophets that came after Moses, not sparing the Son of God.

The same spirit prevailed in the Christian church. She never rose above the level on which the Apostles left her, and for a time she even fell almost to the bottom of the pit. And she would have dropped out had God not again visited His people in the persons of Luther, Knox, Wesley, Campbell and the other reformers, through whom the Lord brought to light certain parts of Bible Truth that had long been trampled under foot.

But did the Christian world as a whole see the Light? And did all walk in It? No, indeed not, not as a people, but only as individuals. This is what accounts for the present multi-sectarian world; that is, as it became necessary for Christ to organize a new church, the Christian, separate from the mother church, the Jewish, in His day, just so the reformers found themselves cast out from the mother churches, and necessarily were obliged to organize the followers of advancing Truth into a new denomination, one after another.

In this light, you see the spirit which keeps the Jews still Jews, the Buddhists still Buddhists, the Mohammedans still Mohammedans, the Catholics still Catholics, the Lutherans still Lutherans, the

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Methodists still Methodists, the Baptists still Baptists — the very same spirit is today working within our own denomination, the Seventh-day Adventists, presumptuously believing that they are rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing more. It, too, thinks that its dead founder was the last in the line of the prophets, that there is no need of another. It feels certain that the light and energy in its ship, Zion, is sufficient to take it to the shore of the Kingdom, though they well know that their message, the Judgment for the Dead is not the last, but that the Judgment for the Living, the which they do not yet have, is the last!

This spirit of sliding back rather than going forward, of opposing spiritual growth, and at the same time fostering the spirit of lukewarmness, is successfully working with many in spite of the fact that the prophecies of the Bible which point to our day, are to them still mysteries. They care not to know them.

There is therefore yet a great work to be done, not only for all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples, but for the Church herself, if any are to be saved from the coming doom. According to Jeremiah’s prophecy, corrupt Christianity is nothing short of a form of Shintoism:

Jer. 10:1-5 — “Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot

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do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”

The widely used Christmas tree, on the 25th of December — a tree cut down from its source of life and fastened up by nails — does not symbolize a birth, but rather one’s death and a futile effort to make him live. By cutting down the tree, to the heathen it symbolized their dead chief, and by propping it up, it symbolized life though one be dead. Now the fact that the spurious Christmas tree is widely celebrated not only by Christians, but also by non-Christians, the world by this act is worshiping the dead, a form of Shintoism. Worshiping the dead prophets and killing the living ones, is a brutal effort to block the progress of Truth, to deceive self and others.

Finally, had it not been for the fact that some wide-awake ones throughout the ages have dared take up their cross and follow God through His prophets in order to be led from one height of Truth to another, the world would not have stood this long.

There is no doubt, the Church from creation till today has been led and preserved by the prophets, and she can continue in no other way from here on.

Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 26, page 23

 

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Special Video and Audio Presentations

November 9, 2019

Image result for Working in the Lord's vineyard

In these very last days, the Lord has pulled out all stops to reach His people before the  ‘great and dreadful day of the Lord”. As we have reported so many times in our blog, the Lord is first to perform the following in front of the world —

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? “( 1 Peter 4:17)

Thus it behooves us Seventh-day Adventists to “get down to business” in the Lord’s vineyard if we want to be part of the last great work God has for His people. In this light, we have compiled some of the best videos and audios in existence, that help with different areas of the Lord’s final message (Ejiah message –Mal. 4:5-6). Please sit back, relax on your favorite chair or sofa and watch “meat in due season” and be blessed!

1 —  “The 144,000 who are they?”  (AUDIO)

This audio will always have a special place in my heart. It is the presentation the Lord sent me that began my knowledge of His last message back in May of 2011. Compiled by the Davidian SDA organization  “Mountain Dale” of New York.

2 —   “The Great Image of Daniel 2 ” (VIDEO)

Absolutely one of the best and in-depth videos on Daniel 2 in existence. Again, this is by Mt. Dale and although they don’t produce many videos, this one will enlighten you to know what Daniel 2 prophecy is all about. This presentation is 4 parts.

3 —  “Why Stand Ye Idle” A Sermon by brother Decarius (VIDEO)

Brother Decarius has been a long-time worker in the Lord’s vineyard and is with the DSDA group –Waco organization. We have not heard a sermon like this often and the Holy Spirit surely was guiding in this most helpful “how to” sermon, on today’s work in His vineyard.

4 —  “Who is Victor Houteff and the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists?”  (VIDEO)

One of our own YouTube channels. We heard from the Lord last year that there needed to be a good basic video explaining simply about Victor and the DSDA. Many are not truly knowledgeable about them, due to the fact that the SDA leaders have for years spread falsehood and distortion about them. You will have a good basic understanding of them from this presentation.

5 —  “Thy Kingdom Come”  (AUDIO)

An audio presentation that enlightens the knowledge of the pre-millennial kingdom based on the Lord’s prophetic word all throughout the Scriptures. It is to be set up in Israel for the final Loud Cry headquarters. Mt. Dale’s brother Anthony Hibbert breaks down this highly important teaching that is spoken of by so many of the prophets.

6 —  “The 4th Angel — Wonderful or Dangerous?” (VIDEO)

Another one of our YouTube presentations. We go into the subject of how the 4th Angel message is ignored and even dismissed largely by our SDA leaders. Evidence is brought to bear that there is a end time message from the Lord to His people, yet the SDA as a church body will declare it “dangerous” and not to be heeded.

7 —  “The Judgment and the Seven Seals” (VIDEO)

This video was made by the Waco organization, with brother Jimmy Kakouri as the speaker. Jimmy is gifted as a presenter of many YouTube videos on present truth. This study is excellent and explains much on the seven seals.

May you be blessed as you listen and watch these timely present truth presentations!

Posted in Daniel's Vision (chapter 2), Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, Our Lord's kingdom, Prophecy study, Revelation teachings, The 144, Victor T. Houteff, Who are the 144K? | Leave a Comment »

Understanding Progressive New Light (Part 2 of 2)

November 2, 2019

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In part 2 we’ll look at three areas where, if one surface reads what SOP says and then what the Rod says, they would possibly think one is error and one is truth. But we learned from part one that they can be reconciled because of the understanding of progressive new light.

The Spirit of Prophecy message brought by our prophetess Ellen White, did not have much light on the pre-millennial kingdom. One of  SOP’s quotes concerning this topic is as follows –

First example — (The Pre-Millennial Kingdom)

WILL OLD JERUSALEM BE REBUILT?

Question No. 43:

How do you reconcile “The Shepherd’s Rod” teaching that the Davidian Kingdom is again to be set up in Palestine, with “Early Writings,” pp. 75, 76: “Old Jerusalem never would be built up”?

Answer:

The context of the Early Writings’ statement reveals that it refers to the Jewish Zionist Movement, and it shows that the Movement’s avowed purpose to re-establish a national Jewish Homeland, centered in Jerusalem proper, will never be realized; that never will Old Jerusalem be rebuilt in accordance with the Zionist interpretation, and never will the non-Christian Jews be the subjects of the Kingdom. (See Tract No. 8, Mount Sion at the Eleventh Hour.) (Answerer, vol.2, Q-43)

But despite Ellen White not being given much light on this important Loud Cry headquarters, she still showed in other ways that God would establish it.

“That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today. He has “let out His vineyard [714] unto other husbandmen,” even to His covenant-keeping people, who faithfully “render Him the fruits in their seasons.” Never has the Lord been without true representatives on this earth who have made His interests their own. These witnesses for God are numbered among the spiritual Israel, and to them will be fulfilled all the covenant promises made by Jehovah to His ancient people.”(PK, p.714)

One of the most repeated and surest covenant promises made by God , was the returning of the Holy Land to His people.

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” (Jer. 30:1-3)

The Rod speaks many things about this kingdom, this was one of the primary reasons the Lord sent His Rod message (Micah 6:9)

For a study outline of the pre-millennial kingdom see this link —

http://www.shepherds-rod-message.org/outlines/kingdom.pdf

Second example — (Church judgment –Ezekiel 9)

There is sometimes the mistaken idea that our prophetess showed that Ezek. 9 takes place in the time of the plagues. She indeed does say that in one of her references but, again her limited light of the pre-millennium kingdom kept her from disclosing the final message of Elijah, which did have the blazing light on the kingdom and the church purification  (Ezek. 9).

SLAUGHTER BEFORE OR AFTER CLOSE OF PROBATION?

Question No. 145:

“If the slaughter of Ezekiel Nine takes place in the church before the close of probation, then why does ‘The Great Controversy’ p. 656 say: ‘Now all have made their decision; the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against God…The mark of deliverance has been set upon those ‘that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done?’  Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given….The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people.’

“Does not the above reference, which seems to place the slaughter of Ezekiel Nine after the close of probation, refute the teachings of ‘The Shepherd’s Rod’?”

Answer:

The query reveals that the questioner has not thoroughly studied or understood what “The Shepherd’s Rod” teaches, for “The Great Controversy” does not refute “The Shepherd’s Rod,” but rather strengthens it.  It has been proved that before the close of probation there are two “fruits,” the 144,000 and the great multitude (Revelation 7:9), to be separated at two different times–the former’s taking place before the close of probation while “the door is closed to those who would not enter,” and while “His hand is still stretched out to save.”  (“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 9, p. 97), thus showing, as does “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 3, p. 266, that the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand is the closing work for the church, whereas the sealing work for the great multitude is the closing work for the world. 

Thus, while, in the time of God’s destructive judgments before the close of probation, the door is closed to one class, it is open to another class for whom “His hand is still stretched out to save,” clearly showing that probation closes first for the tares in the church.  Moreover, as the time is that of God’s destructive judgments–the separation of the tares from the wheat–the slaughter of Ezekiel Nine is that which severs the wicked from among the just. (Matt. 13:49.)

Therefore, as there are two separations, there is a double fulfillment of Ezekiel’s slaughter: one in the church before the close of probation, and the other in the worldly churches after the close of probation, when everyone has made his decision.  The unfaithful spiritual guardians, or the false watch-men, of the people are the first to fall in the worldly churches, just as the “ancient men” who are in the S.D.A. church are the first to fall.  (“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 5, p. 211.)  This is the only explanation that will harmonize every statement on this subject found in the Spirit of Prophecy and in the Bible. (Vol. 3   Symbolic Code   No. 1. page 8.

IS THE SLAUGHTER OF EZEKIEL NINE LITERAL?

Question No. 25:

“The Shepherd’s Rod” teaches that the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is literal. Could it not be a destruction such as is caused by so-called “acts of God”–earthquakes, famines, pestilences, the seven last plagues, or the like?

Answer:

The five agents that destroy the wicked in the church are not forces of nature but men with slaughter weapons in their hands. They are supernatural beings, not natural elements. Hence they cannot fittingly represent earthquakes, famines, or the like.

Neither can they be the seven angels with the seven last plagues, for these angels are seven in number, not five. Furthermore, they do not have “slaughter weapons” in their hands, but vials. Still further, the plagues fall in Babylon (Rev. 18:4), whereas the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 takes place in Judah and Israel (Ezek. 9:9).

Ezekiel 9, whether literal or figurative, effects a separation between the good and the bad, the tares and the wheat, in the church (Judah and Israel), just as the plagues finally do in Babylon (Rev. 18:4). And as the plagues are literal, then how can the slaughter be any less literal?

The angel with the writer’s inkhorn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who sigh and cry for the abominations, then the destroying angels are to slay both old and young (Ezek. 9:4-6).

“The church–the Lord’s sanctuary,” is “the first to feel the stoke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who had stood as guardians, of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestations of God’s power as in former days. Times have changed.

These words strengthen their unbelief and they say, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. He is too merciful to visit his people in judgment. Thus peace and safety is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs, that would not bark, are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children, all perish together.”–Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211.

As in The Great Controversy, p. 656, only an indirect parallel can be drawn between the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 and the falling of the plagues, because a common end (death) befalls both the wicked in the church of Laodicean and the wicked in the churches of Babylon. And only those who say, “We need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God’s power as in former days,” think the slaughter is not literal. (Answerer, vol. 2, p.43)

So we see that Ellen White’s limited light on the subject was later expanded upon, in the form of His promised Elijah message. Let us remember that the last message of Elijah was to be as the type — a message to go strictly to God’s people. A message to warn them of judgments to come to the House of God first (1 Peter 4:17).

Third example — (Jacob’s time of trouble)

This subject has probably the most divergent teachings between SOP and the Rod. But once again, we know that they are reconcilable when we remember SOP’s limited light on the pre-mil kingdom. Progressive light beautifully adds and expands this doctrinal teaching.

This subject is based on the following Scripture —

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jer 30:7)

SOP has many references about this trouble, here are a couple important references about it —

 

“Jacob’s experience during that night of wrestling and anguish represents the trial through which the people of God must pass just before Christ’s second coming. The prophet Jeremiah, in holy vision looking down to this time, said, “We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. . . . All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:5-7.

When Christ shall cease His work as mediator in man’s behalf, then this time of trouble will begin. Then the case of every soul will have been decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin. When Jesus leaves His position as man’s intercessor before God, the solemn announcement is made, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11.

Then the restraining Spirit of God is withdrawn from the earth. As Jacob was threatened with death by his angry brother, so the people of God will be in peril from the wicked who are seeking to destroy them. And as the patriarch wrestled all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau, so the righteous will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the enemies that surround them.

…Such will be the experience of God’s people in their final struggle with the powers of evil. God will test their faith, their perseverance, their confidence in His power to deliver them. Satan will endeavor to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless; that their sins have been too great to receive pardon. They will have a deep sense of their shortcomings, and as they review their lives their hopes will sink.

But remembering the greatness of God’s mercy, and their own sincere repentance, they will plead His promises made through Christ to helpless, repenting sinners. Their faith will not fail because their prayers are not immediately answered. They will lay hold of the strength of God, as Jacob laid hold of the Angel, and the language of their souls will be, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”(Patriarch and Prophets, p.201-203)

“When Christ stands up, and leaves the most holy place, the time of trouble commences, the case of every soul is decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin and pollution…Those who live in the last days must pass through an experience similar to that of Jacob. Foes will be all around them, ready to condemn and destroy.” (Signs of the Times, Nov.27, 1879)

There is no doubt that SOP describes this time of trouble after close of probation. We should also remember that EGW had much more light on the “second fruits” than what would happen to the first fruits (144,000) because she was not able to relate their final destination here on earth–the pre-mil kingdom in the Holy Land. So in that limited light, it appears that she is describing JTT for the second fruits, the Great Multitude (Rev. 7:9).

The Rod backs this summation up —

 

Question No. 37:

If God’s people are in the Kingdom during the Loud Cry, how can they be put in prison or driven to the mountains during that time, as the Spirit of Prophecy asserts they will (“The Great Controversy,” p. 626) ?

Answer:

When it is understood that the 144,000 are but first fruits, the forerunners or advanced guard of a great multitude of second fruits, the difficulty in question is immediately resolved. The first fruits stand with the Lamb, safe on Mt. Zion (in the Kingdom). Thus those who shall find refuge in the mountains, and those who shall be put in prison, can only be from among the second fruits–those who shall accept the message during the Loud Cry, but who shall not yet at that time have reached the Kingdom. (See our Tract No. 12, The World Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow 1941 Edition, pp. 45-49.) (Answerer, vol. 2, p.66-67)

But the Lord’s Rod message speaks about this JTT  —

Jer. 30:4-6 — “And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.  For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.  Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?  wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”

The cause of the fear here forecast is fundamentally needless and unnecessary, declares the Lord.

Jer. 30:7 — “Alas!  for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”

The people that have come to this antitypical time of trouble are returning to the homeland, are comforted.  Apparently it is bad enough to frighten all, but God’s encouraging counsel is, “Fear not.”

   Plainly, the burden of this chapter is concerning the antitypical returning to the homeland.  Though terrible the trouble may seem, yet the outcome of it is to be the same as in the type. (Timely Greetings, volume 1, no.47, p.14)

The message clearly shows that the first and primary application of the JTT, is the 144,000 on their way home to the Holy Land, the pre-mil kingdom. Our type (Jacob) was going to the land of promise, and the latter-day application shall also show the saints experiencing this trouble on their way to God’s kingdom promised in the Holy land at the end of time.

Thus we have seen three examples of progressive light that expand our knowledge of God’s final plans for His people. May you continue to study His word knowing that the light comes progressively and that all the prophets spoke the truth but were later expanded upon to give the particular “present truth” for us today. We serve a wonderful God that gives details to be shown when we can know them and benefit from them! Amen.

 

Posted in Elijah Interpretations, Jacob's Time of Trouble, Our Lord's kingdom, Present Truth, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Understanding Progressive New Light (Part 1 of 2)

October 26, 2019

Image result for Progressive new light from Scriptures

As faithful Bible students, we all should know the idea of progressing “new light”.  In other words the Scriptures are an evolving scroll of truth, allowing us to gain more and more understanding as we go through Its pages, front to back.

For example, in the time of Moses we saw that the Lord spoke through him to enlighten the people of the sacrificial and sanctuary services and its significance in pointing to Christ as the final and fulfilling sacrifice for humanity. The scroll soon unrolled further to say that, unlike in Moses’ time, the ceremonial services would no longer be needed in order to obey the Lord and His new progressive light (Truth). Apostle Paul makes that clear —

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,  having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” (Col. 2:13-17)

Ah, but did you see something in that light that would later be adjusted and straightened out for God’s people today? As we read that we see a perfect example of progressing light from one time to another and even something that would be clarified in detail later (today).

Paul, at that time, was living among God’s people who were free to eat “meat”. At that time God allowed it to be partaken of. But progressive light later came through prophetess Ellen White and prophet Victor Houteff, as we see below.

“Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of meat-eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Many who are now only half converted on the question of meat-eating will go from God’s people to walk no more with them….. A diet of flesh meat tends to develop animalism. A development of animalism lessens spirituality, rendering the mind incapable of understanding truth.“(Counsels on Diet and Foods, p.382)

“Vegetables, fruits, and grains should compose our diet. Not an ounce of flesh meat should enter our stomachs. The eating of flesh is unnatural. We are to return to God’s original purpose in the creation of man.”—Manuscript 115, 1903 (Counsels on Diet, p.380)

“..while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God provided them with manna. But when they murmured against it, and attributed its phenomenon only to circumstances, claiming that it was impossible to obtain flesh foods in the desert, He literally and angrily heaped quail upon them. At what price, though! Thousands died in order to teach the lesson that the manna was not the mere result of circumstances but rather a purposive Providence. For “while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.” Num. 11:33.

Because the Exodus movement was to fit up a people to take the promised land and to set up the kingdom then, as we are now, they were charged to abstain from all flesh foods. And because John the Baptist bore an important message in his day (“Repent ye: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”–Matt. 3:2) similar to ours today, his diet was of honey and of the fruit of the locust tree. How much more important, then, as our types teach, that we who have the culminating message of the gospel, and who are the vanguard of the hosts of the eternal kingdom, defile not the temples of our souls with that which our types were forbidden to eat.” (Answerer, vol. 5, Q-148)

Thus we see that progressive light illuminated down through the ages to today. Our truth is not necessarily their truth, yet both were/are –truth.

Inspired Counsel

There is a real need among us advanced students of the unrolling scroll to know how we can understand certain difficult areas of the message.

The following shows some relevant quotes that the “restoring message” tells us about understanding difficult passages within God’s word (including SOP and the Rod). Here will be our basis on how to decipher and comprehend seemingly difficult and sometimes seemingly contradictory statements that we’ll show in part two.

“As no prophet’s writings ever predicted the entire Truth needed by the church to carry her clear through to the Kingdom, and as other prophets followed, either enlarging upon or adding to the prophecies already recorded in the Scriptures, then for anyone to turn down the good tidings of the Kingdom on the grounds that this phase of the Kingdom is not found in Sister White’s writings is for him to take the same inexcusable and fatal stand as did the Jews. It is to say, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” Rev. 3:17. It is this attitude that compels God to spue out of His mouth the lukewarm, satisfied Laodiceans.” (Answerer, vol. 2, p.77)

“...any statements incidental to a subject that is still out of sight in the unrolling of the scroll are made only in terms of truth as it is seen, or as it is commonly understood, not in terms of truth not seen. And if the understanding of that be wrong, the writer cannot be responsible for that which he has necessarily borrowed.

This circumstance is natural and common to every writer treating of present truth, even to the gospel writers, and will thus continue until every component part of the Truth is made known.

For example, John the Baptist’s message was to proclaim, not the setting up of the Kingdom, but the coming of the King. But while announcing the one, he incidentally had to make mention of the other. When speaking of the coming King, he expressed himself in terms of revealed truth. But when circumstantially alluding to the coming Kingdom, on which there was no light, he necessarily expressed himself in terms of the subject as then commonly understood.

Nevertheless, when the further unrolling of the scroll revealed that the Kingdom was not to be set up at that time, then the honest truth-seeking ones did not accuse either John or Christ, but joyously watched the scroll unfold, and jubilantly marched on with the Truth. Not so, though, with the vast majority of the Jews. Their pride of opinion forbidding them to forgo their errors and to embrace advancing Truth, they went deeper into error, rather than rising higher in truth!” (Sym. Code, vol. 7, no. 7-12, p.21-22)

“…the end-products of Inspiration fall into one of two categories– either Inspiration of words or Inspiration of ideas. To illustrate specifically: an angel appears and says to one, “The Lord is at such and such a time to do thus and thus with His people. Speak unto them this message, and show it unto them from the Scriptures of truth, for the prophets have therein spoken it of old.” The angel’s message must be delivered with fidelity to the idea; though obviously the choice of words, aside from the quotations, is necessarily left to the messenger. Consequently, anytime he sees the possibility of making the inspired idea stand forth more clearly and powerfully, the messenger is under deepest moral obligation to revise his language. Only thus can the stream of inspired ideation become progressively more lucid and beautiful.

Still further, there are circumstances in connection with certain aspects of every message which necessitate clarification. Such clarification, however, can be no greater than the light which shines at the time. And the light may come solely from within the message itself, or, again, it may derive from a limited understanding common to the time “then present”–an understanding which the messenger himself shares….Inspiration, moreover, always brings the messengers of God into perfect harmony, never into division.” (Answerer, vol. 1, p.48-49,51)

 

“ Let us remember always to observe the inviolable rule that an interpretation of one inspired statement must harmonize with all other related statements.”(Answerer , vol. 3, question 56)

“While Ezekiel calls them “men,” John says they are “virgins.” (Rev. 14:4.) Now, if we should take the position that Ezekiel means men only, then we can as well say, John means women only. Can it be possible that one writer should contradict the other? No indeed.”(Shepherd’s Rod. vol. 2, p.167)

  Wow, now that is so much information and counsel in understanding progressive light! Let us breakdown the main points we learn —

1. No prophet wrote all the light for us.

2. Later prophets came and either enlarged upon the light given or they added to it.

3. Prophets sometimes make writings that agree with the “commonly understood” understanding of that day. Though this may not be the full light on that subject which comes later.

4. Inspired messengers are harmonious, not divided. In other words, we must strive to see the underlying harmony that exists.

5. Interpretation of one inspired statement must harmonize with all other related statements. One writer of God’s inspired writings should not contradict the others.

With this counsel, we shall look at three areas of the Lord’s Rod message next week, in relation to SOP that sometimes makes people scratch their heads, even throw up their hands and say “well one is wrong the other is right..” Or they say “one had correct light the other had incorrect light”. Both of these lines of thought are not in harmony with our above divine counsel. There is a right way to understand these difficult areas according to Inspiration.

More Counsel for us —

“But no man, however honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the divine purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God would accomplish by the work which He gives them to do; they do not comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in His name.” (GC, p.343)

“Some who are anxious to risk Present Truth on the weight of what one inspired statement seems to say or imply, are thereby presumptuously or very ignorantly overlooking the “weight of evidence.” Others are doing this through shortsightedness, while still others are doing it to prop up certain cherished ideas of their own.” (Answerer ,vol. 3, p.41-42)

 

Next week, God willing, we’ll conclude with part 2 ….

 

 

 

 

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Nations see Edom perish, Desert bloom, and a highway to Zion

October 19, 2019

TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH, APRIL 5, 1947
MT. CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO, TEXAS

TEXT FOR PRAYER “Do Ye Even So To Them”

Our reading this afternoon is found on pages 192 and 193 of “The Mount of Blessing”–

“On the assurance of the love of God toward us, Jesus enjoins love to one another, in one comprehensive principle covering all the relations of human fellowship.

“The Jews had been concerned about what they should receive; the burden of their anxiety was to secure what they thought their due of power and respect and service. But Christ teaches that our anxiety should not be, How much are we to receive? but, How much can we give? The standard of our obligation to others is found in what we ourselves would regard as their obligation to us.

“Every one who has been made a steward of the manifold grace of God, is called upon to impart to souls in ignorance and darkness, even as, were he in their place, he would desire them to impart to him….

“So also with the gifts and blessings of this life: whatever you may possess above your fellows, places you in debt, to that degree, to all who are less favored.”

What shall we pray for this afternoon? — That we may imbibe the great principle of the Golden Rule, and realize that our concern should not be as to how much we are to receive, but as to how much we can give. Let us pray for understanding that the standard of our obligation to others is found in what we personally would regard as their obligation to us; and also that whatever we possess above our fellowmen places us to that degree in debt to those less favored.

NATIONS SEE EDOM PERISH, DESERT BLOSSOM, AND A HIGHWAY TO ZION

Our subject for this afternoon is found in Isaiah 34 and 35. Last week, you recall, we studied the thirty-third chapter, the Lord’s burden concerning the church as she approaches the time of “harvest,” — the time the “wheat” is put into the barn, and the “tares” burned (Matt. 13:30); the time the “good fish” are put into “vessels” and the “bad fish” cast out (Matt. 13:47-49) as are those who have not the “wedding garment” on (Matt. 22:1-13). Continuing now into the thirty-fourth chapter, we there see that God invites the nations of the world to draw near and to hear His mighty work of refining:

Isa. 34:1-3 — “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.”

Why does God invite the nations of all the earth to draw near and to hear? — That they might consider His indignation against the wicked in His church and know what to expect when His Judgment spreads out among all nations; that they might know what to expect when His refining work begins among them; that they might therefore beforehand count the cost. His judgment, He declares, is already pronounced upon the armies of the world — “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”–1 Pet. 4:17.

Isa. 34:4 — “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”

While verse 3 points out that the solemn events of this chapter take place in a day of gigantic world-wide armament program, verse 4, being parallel with Revelation 6:14, it reveals that they take place in the period of the sixth seal, in the days of the sealing of the 144,000 and the gathering of the innumerable multitude out of all nations, the seal that we are now living in. The sixth seal may overlap the seventh.

Isa. 34:5-11 — “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of My curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.”

The immediate curse, we see, rests upon Idumea. Antitypically speaking, it is the land of the antitypical Esauites — those who by rights should have kept the office which the antitypical Jacobites take away from them. They so underestimate its value that they, like Esau of old, sell their rights for a dish of red pottage as it were. (For further study on the subject, see “The Shepherd’s Rod,” Vol. 1, pp. 52-111.)

Isa. 34:12 — “They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.”

Evidently after the destruction falls upon Idumea, none of her so-called nobles shall be found there to participate in the exodus (Isa. 11:11) to the antitypical Kingdom (the church purified), and her princes shall be as nothing. Then, it must be that those who escape and enter into the Kingdom are mostly from among the common people, those from the streets and the lanes (Luke 14:16-21).

“…In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self- sufficient, independent of God, and he cannot use them.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 5, pg. 80. “…Only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it [the Third Angel’s Message] when it shall have swelled into the Loud Cry.” — “Review and Herald,” Nov. 18, 1908.

Isa. 34:13-15 — “And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.”

God does not forsake the earth. He does not forgo His power nor His interest in Truth and righteousness. He does not let the world go into oblivion. What He does do, though, is make examples of some in order to save many others, for when the judgments of God are upon the earth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness. (Isa. 26:9.)

Is it armament then that the nations of today need for peace and security? Is atomic war to be their fear? — What they need to fear is “the sword of the Lord,” for His “sword shall be bathed in heaven,” “it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of [His] curse.” They need not fear anything if they fear the Lord. Let them make Him their fear, their dread and protection (Isa. 8:13). So He commands:

Isa. 34:16 — “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for My mouth It hath commanded, and His Spirit It hath gathered them.”

God here counsels us to search the Bible and to implicitly believe that not one of Its prophecies shall fail, — no, not one shall fail to follow another in its turn. And why should we have this confidence? — Because God Himself has commanded, and because His Spirit, not the wisdom or efforts of men has gathered into a single volume, the writings of the prophets of old, “the book of the Lord” — the non-sectarian Bible as we know It today.

Isa. 34:17 — “And He hath cast the lot for them, and His hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.”

Regardless whether we take this verse to say that the wild beasts “shall possess it forever,” or whether we take it to say that those who seek “out of the book of the Lord” “shall possess it forever,” our greatest concern must be to personally acquaint ourselves with the Lord and His Truth if we would gain His favor and find a shelter in this time of trouble.

“Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isa. 32:1, 2.

Now we shall go on into the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, which is but a continuation of the thirty-fourth.

Isa. 35:1 — “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.”

What a difference when God manifests His power and purifies His church! Then the lands of the Gentiles (the wilderness) and the land of the heathen (the solitary place) shall both be glad to see God’s holy people. Finally as God’s Truth for this time penetrates throughout the lands where there are no Christians at all, the desert places shall blossom as the rose, so to speak, and thus yield an abundant harvest of souls.

Isa. 35:2-4 — “It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; He will come and save you.”

This great commission and opportunity to proclaim God’s soon coming vengeance are ours. We must not fail to take advantage of these privileges. With the mighty message for this time we must strengthen the weak; we must make firm the knees that are giving out. Those who are unable to stand up and to hold their own must be strengthened. We must reassure the fearful that God is to come with vengeance against the unbelieving and with recompence for the faithful.

Isa. 35:5, 6 — “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams [of truth] in the desert.”

When these things take place, then it will be just as natural for the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to leap, and the dumb to sing, yes, as natural as blossoms are followed with fruit. God’s Truth for this time is to spread everywhere and reap a great harvest of souls.

“I saw jets of light shining from cities and villages, and from the high places and the low places of the earth. God’s word was obeyed, and as a result there were memorials for Him in every city and village. His truth was proclaimed throughout the world.” — “Testimonies”, Vol. 9, pg. 28. If but one soul saved from every city and village there would be several times 144,000 living souls.

Isa. 35:7 — “And the parched ground [the places which are now entirely devoid of Truth] shall become a pool, and the thirsty land [the land that thirsts for God’s Truth] springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.”

There shall be fruitage, you see, even where the dragons lie.

Isa. 35:8 — “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.”

None shall be left in the “wilderness,” for there shall be a highway for all the followers of God’s Truth. Matters not what the faithful be, illiterate or otherwise, they shall not err therein. Indeed, all the “wheat” shall be gathered and put into the “barn,” the Kingdom. (See Tract No. 3, “The Judgment and the Harvest.”)

Isa. 35:9 — “No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.”

Once the hypocrites are taken out, they shall not be allowed to return and to endanger the peace of God’s people. Only the redeemed shall walk on the Highway of Holiness. And where does the Highway lead? — The next verse gives the answer:

Isa. 35:10 — “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Yes, the Highway leads to Zion. With songs and everlasting joy shall the redeemed enter therein, never more to sorrow or to sigh. “For He cometh, to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His Truth.” Ps. 96:13.

Brother, Sister, the sacrifices we may be called to make are as nothing in comparison to the privilege of heading for Zion via the Highway of Holiness. Ponder upon this, then act. Let nothing deter you from complying with God’s Truth for this time — the day in which the nations see Edom perish and the desert blossom. Act now while the highway to Zion is in preparation.

“We all went under the tree and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Brethren Fitch and Stockman, who had preached the gospel of the kingdom, and whom God had laid in the grave to save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping. We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out, ‘Alleluia, heaven is cheap enough!’ and we touched our glorious harps and made heaven’s arches ring.” — “Early Writings,” p. 17. (Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 35, page 18 – page 26)

 

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Update on the Middle East – Iran’s back pushed to the Wall

October 12, 2019

Sardar Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

As many present truth believers know, we are right in the middle of a precautious situation, even a perilous one to be sure. The hotbed known as the Middle East is ready to explode. This one area, we are told, is to be our focus right now. The message tells us so —

 “O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”

   Here in prophetic utterance is not only a promise to purify the church when modern Assyria is being crushed, but also a suggestive statement as to what constitutes “meat in due season” for men today; and as to what movement they are to enlist in if they would make sure of salvation.  They are enjoined to fix their vision upon the feet of him who brings “good tidings” (message from the Lord), who publishes “peace” (the peace of Christ’s Kingdom), and who declares that while the powers of earth are engulfed in a gigantic war, the wicked in the church shall be cut off, no more to pass through her.” (Tract 14, p.22) 

So this being so, we thought we would look at the latest developments in the area. Just a few days ago President Trump announces the complete pullout of  US armed forces in Syria. Announcing that we are done with our mission to eliminate ISIS there (although it was Russia who actually defeated ISIS) and to let the local nations take control of their area.

As we have posted before the area has basically two opposing Blocs, the Western and Eastern Blocs. Nations forming together, even loosely, to take a stance on which side they stand. One of those Eastern block countries–Iran, we believe will play a major role in the upcoming gigantic war.

For a quick update in the nations forming sides, we see Iran, Syria, and Turkey being the regional Eastern Bloc leaders. Of course, they have their “firepower” fellow Eastern Bloc nations–Russia and China as their “big brothers” so to speak.

Recently Turkey met with Iranian and Russian diplomats to work out a “final settlement” for the war in Syria. However, a recent report by Ilan Goldenberg, a former senior official under the Obama administration and now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank, said —

“The real power brokers in Syria are Iran and Russia,”

As we said make no mistake about it, Iran will turn out to be a key player in the Lord’s final prophecy of the following —

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hidden in the day of the LORD’S anger. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.” (Zeph. 2:1-5)

The Eastern Bloc is prophesied to win this gigantic war, and Iran, along with Russia, Syria, Turkey, China, and others shall be victorious in achieving the Lord’s desire to return His land to His people. The USA has been complicit with the “King of the North “.The message tells us whoever controls the Holy Land is the King of the North. For a good 100 years the Rothschild’s dynasty, from Great Britain, has ruled the Holy Land (the Zionists). But the Eastern Bloc shall soon destroy the current controllers.

However, the Eastern Bloc does not experience the victory for themselves but are used as tools for the Lord’s purposes. Let us read —

 

“And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.

Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

And the Lord shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.” (Zech. 1: 14-21)

 I lifted up my eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.  Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:

 For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her. Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”(Zech. 2:1- 13)

Back to Iran, we see the “screws” being tightened hard. The US sanctions are certainly straining their oil income to very low levels. As we spoke before on this, the GB/USA Hegemony is upset that Russia, Turkey, and Iran have basically defeated them through their takeover attempt on Syria and their surrogates–ISIS.

The following was reported by The Western Journal —

 

“Top leaders in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps are lobbing fresh threats at Israel, with the commander of the IRGC saying Iran now has the ability to wipe Israel off the map.

Gen. Hossein Salami made his threats against Israel on Monday in a speech to fellow IRGC leaders, according to Fox News.

“This sinister regime must be wiped off the map and this is no longer … a dream (but) it is an achievable goal,” Salami said.”

Iran’s intentions are clear if they are pushed much more they have every intention of targeting Israel. And if this is done we know the USA, being Israel’s closet friend will not sit idly by. A snowball effect will occur and that “gigantic war” predicted in God’s word will happen.

Let’s keep our eye on the ball. This hotbed could ignite at any moment.

 

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Faith in the Prophets

October 5, 2019

A THOUGHT FOR PRAYER   I shall read from The Mount of Blessing, page 168, beginning where we left off last Sabbath.

   “The one thing essential for us in order that we may receive and impart the forgiving love of God is to know and believe the love that He has to us.  Satan is working by every deception he can command, in order that we may not discern that love.  He will lead us to think that our mistakes and transgressions have been so grievous that the Lord will not have respect unto our prayers, and will not bless and save us. 

In ourselves we can see nothing but weakness, nothing to recommend us to God, and Satan tells us that it is of no use; we can not remedy our defects of character.  When we try to come to God, the enemy will whisper It is of no use for you to pray; did not you do that evil thing?  Have you not sinned against God, and violated your own conscience?  But we may tell the enemy that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’  When we feel that we have sinned and can not pray, it is then the time to pray.  Ashamed we may be, and deeply humbled; but we must pray and believe….”

   Here is seen that it is Satan’s studied purpose to discourage us, to make us think that God does not love us, and that He cannot save us from our sins.  We are therefore to resist the whisperings of the Enemy.  When we see ourselves as sinners, then is the very time for us to come to God, and to accept His love and to fully believe in Him.

   We should now pray for an absolute realization that God is in business to save sinners, of whom we are chief.  That it matters not how deep in sin we may be, if we but depart from evil and choose to do good He will gladly grant us forgiveness.

 

THE JEWS AND THE CHRISTIANS’FAITH IN THE PROPHETSTEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTSSABBATH, NOVEMBER 16, 1946MT. CARMEL CHAPELWACO, TEXAS   Let us turn to the writings of the gospel prophet whom the Jews so maliciously sawed asunder.

Isa. 1:18, 19 — “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.  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.”

   With this Divine recommendation for God’s professed people, the gospel prophet was instructed to introduce his book. And now that we are living in the present-day application of his prophecies, we dare not neglect to comply with Inspiration’s sound and fair recommendation.  Our first step shall be to honestly and unbiasedly consider the successes and the failures of those who have gone before us.

   Let us beforehand refresh our minds with the Jews’ attitude toward the prophets: Rather than going with the purpose of learning and reasoning, the Jews went to the prophets with prejudiced minds, with malice, with hatred in their hearts, and with instruments of cruelty.  (We must not.)  This evil spirit was prevalent among the Jews throughout their history.  It was manifested even against Moses although for forty years he led the Hebrew host with Divine signs and wonders all the way from the brickyards of Egypt to the borders of the promised land.

   The remnant finally crossed the Jordan only because they whole-heartedly believed that Moses was God’s mouth piece, and because they ceased murmuring, took and obeyed orders.  The Hebrews ever after deeply cherished his writings, and this reverent regard for the Pentateuch continued among the Jews even to the days of Christ.  As a man of God and as the nation’s emancipator and founder of its sacred ceremonies, Moses was highly esteemed by all.

   Ironically, though the prophets that followed after Moses were rejected by the Jewish nation as a whole.  Those who survived in the Babylonian captivity did accept the prophets Haggai and Zechariah only because they were the founders of the movement then on foot as was Moses in his day.

   The Jews, according to their own way of reasoning, were honest, though blind, in concluding that they had no need of prophets, because as they saw it, Moses’ writings were complete, there was nothing lacking in them: They contained both the civil and religious laws.  They, therefore, saw no need for greater light and no need of another prophet.  Through their unbelief in the prophets, they failed to see that their kingdom was only a type of a greater one to come, they failed to see that God’s Truth is progressive and ever unfolding, that each generation has to have added Truth especially adapted to meet their particular needs.  Their blindness to this was their basic sin that led them on to ruin.

   While the Jews boasted of their faith in Moses’ writings, Jesus reprehended them by saying: “…had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me.” John 5:46.  He had reference to–

Deut. 18:15 –“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.”

   Of the coming Messiah Zechariah also wrote:

Zech. 9:9 — “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

   Though they professed to believe in both Moses and Zechariah yet they gave no heed to any of these passages, and ever since a curse has rested upon them.

   In rejecting the prophets the Jews thought they were surely keeping out of deception, and thought that they were thus actually loyal to Moses’ writings and consequently to God.  This they believed as much in Jesus’ day as Israel believed in Elijah’s day.

   Let us now note that they fell into ruin only because they refused to give heed to the prophets who were sent to reform their ways, to correct their erroneous interpretations of Moses’s writings and to lighten the path of their feet the rest of the way — clear to Paradise.  Having deprived themselves of the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy by doing away with the prophets, they completely cut off Heaven’s communication line and were thus left in gross darkness and led into error, fanaticism, and crime.  They became self-sufficient, proud, boastful, and high minded.

They felt rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing more.  Thus it was that their perversions of the Scriptures by their uninspired interpretations of them caused them to lose the way, and finally to reject and even to crucify their own long-expected Redeemer.

   Of Moses’s writings the Jews made a mighty weapon against Christ and the prophets of that day.  They were, however, at one time or another forced to acknowledge that their dead fathers were guilty of the blood of the prophets.  The same is true today.  Many admit that sectarianism is thriving on uninspired interpretations of the Scriptures, yet they expect no inspired interpreters for this day.  They thus reject the antitypical prophet Elijah even before his appearance though the Scriptures definitely predict his coming before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, before the Judgment of the Living commences.

   If we accept Inspiration’s counsel and come and reason together while we are examining our own standing with the prophets, then an excellent place to begin is

Gen. 49:10 — “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

   Here Moses wrote that the gathering of the people shall be unto Judah, and that when Shiloh comes, Judah shall have a king and a lawgiver of her own.  Do we as Seventh-day Adventists believe in this particular part of Moses’ writings?  If not, then we have no better standing with Moses than did the Jews.

To examine our standing with the rest of the prophets, we need not depart from the subject which Moses has introduced in the scripture just quoted.  Mark that between the writings of Moses and of Isaiah, the Bible contains the records of history, the judges and the kings.  Isaiah, then, is the next prophet after Moses that we shall go to.

Isa. 2:1, 2 — “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”

   Not to Takoma Park, not to Mt. Carmel Center, not to some other place, but to house of Judah and Jerusalem shall the final converts from all nations flow.  Isaiah you plainly see absolutely confirms that the gathering of the people shall be unto Judah.  Do you?

   Jeremiah being the next prophet to Isaiah, we shall read

Jer. 31:6 — “For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God.”

   “Mount Ephraim,” you know, is the location of the ancient ten-tribe kingdom, Israel.  According to this scripture, the kingdom of Israel, which is still lost among the nations, shall some day emerge from the four corners of the earth and gladly join the kingdom of Judah.  So shall the gathering of the people be.

Jer. 31:7, 8 — “For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel.  Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.”

   Jeremiah discloses that the gathering unto Judah shall be from the four corners of the earth.  Indeed, Jeremiah, Moses and Isaiah, all three, speak alike on the subject.  The question is, Do you believe what they say?  If not, are you then better than were the Jews?

   Next we are to test our standing with the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezek. 36:17-27 — “Son  of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their  own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings:  their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.  Wherefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed  upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: and I scattered them among the  heathen, and they were dispersed  through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.   And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of  His land.   But I had pity for Mine holy name, which  the house  of Israel  had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

   “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.  And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.  For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. 

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.  And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”

   What more could Inspiration say to make the subject clearer?  God plainly and solemnly promised to recreate and to rebuild the ancient kingdom, to set it up in its own land.  This He is to do after Judah and Israel are scattered among the Gentile nations, and assimilated by them — after they have lost their racial identity — then as Christians, not as Jews, He is to gather them from the four corners of the earth and to bring them to their own land.  (And moreover, the Scriptures teach that they are as the sand of the sea for multitude.)  This He is to do, you note, not because they are worthy, not because they had been good before or during their dispersion among the Gentiles, but because He is anxious to sanctify His Own name among the heathen.

   Still further, after He gathers them from all countries and brings them into their own land, then it is that He promises to cleanse them eternally from their filthiness and from their idolatry — to remove all the defects that sin has wrought upon them.  Then it is that He gives them a new heart, puts His Spirit upon them and enables them to unavoidably keep His judgments.  Mark carefully that regardless of our ideas and opinions all these things take place after God’s people return to their father’s land.

   The 144,000 descendants of Jacob, whose fathers were assimilated by the Gentile nations and who thus down through the centuries lost their racial identity, are the first fruits, the first to be gathered unto Judah.  They are those who stand on “Mount Zion with the Lamb.” Rev. 14:1.  The faithful descendants of the Jews who composed the early Christian church, and who also lost their national identity by naming themselves Christians (Acts 11:26), are also to be gathered from everywhere and brought unto Judah.

   Finally, if these prophecies are not to be fulfilled, as the angel of the Laodicean church supposes, and if God’s people are not to return to their homeland, then how will they ever be cleansed from their filthiness since the cleansing is to be done there only?  How will they ever have their hearts changed?  And what is to make them keep His statutes and judgments unless, as promised, beforehand receive His Spirit in the Promised Land?  Indeed, if these prophecies fail, then how will God’s people ever be able to stand before a pure and holy God? 

And how will they ever obtain immortality and be on schedule for translation if they do not comply with the prophecies, with His expressed will and plan for His people?  And if they ignore these prophecies, the fulfillment of which is during the Judgment for the Living, the harvest, the gathering time, what chance do they then stand to survive that great and dreadful day of the Lord?

To be more specific, if the denomination fails to recognize and accept these promises, then where are the laity to be led from here on?  Certainly not to the Kingdom if their leaders do not believe in It.  Do you now believe in Moses, in Isaiah, and Ezekiel?  Or do you rather still believe in fables devised by men?

   Next to Ezekiel is the prophet Daniel.  Incidentally, let us remind ourselves that to begin with, Daniel did not prophesy to the Jews, but to the Chaldeans and to the Medes and Persians.  The Jews accepted him as God’s servant only as they saw his prophecies fulfilled.  The great question before us, however, is, Do we fully believe in the prophet Daniel’s writings?  Let us see.

Dan. 2:44, 45 — “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”

   On Daniel’s own word, the stone is symbolical, not of something else, but of the Kingdom, the which in the parable of the wheat and tares Jesus calls “barn,” the place into which He is to put the wheat (saints) after it is separated from the tares (Matt. 13:30).  Now mark carefully that according to Daniel’s interpretation the stone depicts the Kingdom, the which God shall set up not after the days of these kings, but in their days, and that the stone Kingdom Itself, not something else, shall break the great image.  If our interpretation of the stone contradicts Daniel’s interpretation of it, then we do not only reject Daniel’s inspiration, but even misconstrue the Word of God!  We better not.  We now come to the prophet Hosea.

Hosea 1:11; 3:5 — “Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel…. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”

   Can one believe Hosea on the subject of the Kingdom if he does not believe in the former prophets who taught exactly as he? — Of course not.

   We are now at Joel’s prophecies.

Joel 3:1, 2 — “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted My land.”

   When God frees the antitypical children of Judah and of Jerusalem, the church of today, and takes them back to their own land, then it is, you note, that He gathers all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat.  There He is to judge them — to separate the good from the bad, (Matt. 13:47, 48), the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32).  And this work you must know is the work of the Judgment for all the living. 

Are we to reject Joel along with the prophets before him, and consequently the message of the Judgment for the Living after having for over a century preached the Judgment for the Dead?  Ponder over what the Scriptures say and thus make up your mind to forsake all other voices.  And what about your belief in the prophet Amos?  Let us read

Amos 9:9-15 — “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.  All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.  In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by My name, saith the Lord that doeth this. 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.  And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.  And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.”

   Since Amos with even greater emphasis bears the same testimony as all the prophets before him, and since the language on the subject is crystal clear as is the language of all the prophets before him, so much so that it needs no comments, what shall we do with him?  We are now to read Obad. 1:15-18 —

“For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.  For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.  But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.  And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.”

   In harmony with all the prophets before him, and in perfect clarity, Obadiah, too, relates that in the day the Lord destroys the heathen, in the day of harvest, or judgment, otherwise called the cleansing of the Sanctuary (Dan. 8:14) and the purification of the church (Mal. 3:1-3), and also the great and dreadful day of the Lord, there shall be deliverance upon Mount Zion, and the house of Jacob shall possess the wealth of the heathen.  Do you now believe in the testimony of Jesus through His prophets?  If not, then how can you say that you speak according to the “law and to the testimony” (Isa. 8:20)?  Ever remember that the law and the testimony always go hand in hand.

   The prophet Jonah is next in line, but we shall consider his prophecies when we come to the prophet Nahum.

   We shall now see what is to be done with the prophet Micah.

Micah 3:12; 4:1, 2 — “Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest:… But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

   As emphatically as all the prophets before him, Micah declares that after the destruction of the Lord’s ancient “mountain,” (the kingdom), comes the reestablishment of it in the last days, and that peoples and nations shall flow unto it because the Law and the Word of the Lord shall go forth from Zion and from Jerusalem.  Shall you now close your ears and eyes against this promise?  or do you as servants of God intend to get there with the first fruits?  I hope it is the latter.  We now come to the prophecy of Nahum:

Nah. 1:12, 13, 15 — “…Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.  For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder…. Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!  O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”

   Nahum’s burden is concerning the restoration, and the fall of Assyria, the powers which rule them in the day He restores the latter-day Kingdom of Judah; in the day He breaks the Assyrian yoke, in the day He bursts asunder the bands that bind His people.  In that day He sends His messenger to bear good tidings to His people, tidings of peace while the world is upset with wars. Through His messenger He is urging His people to perform their vows, for He is to take away the wicked from among them.  Assyria is to vacate and give room to Judah.  “For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” Isa. 30:31.  Now He pleads:

   “Turn ye unto Him from Whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.  For in that day [in the day Assyria falls] every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.  And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem.” Isa. 31:6-9.

   The purification (Judgment), here you see, is conducted from Zion and Jerusalem.  And through Malachi asks the Spirit, “But who may abide the day of his coming?  and who shall stand when he appeareth?  for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi [the ministry], and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3:2, 3.  Do you accept Nahum?  And since Jonah’s prophecy is a counterpart of Nahum’s, then if you reject Nahum, you automatically reject Jonah, too.

   The prophet Habakkuk was told to “write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run who readeth it.”

Hab. 2:3 — “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

   Then Habakkuk prayed, saying,

Hab. 3:12, 13 — “Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.  Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointed; Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.  Selah.”

   Can we in faith pray for the same thing Habakkuk prayed? — That the Lord go forth for the salvation of His people, that the vision be fulfilled without delay, and that we run to proclaim the good tidings?  If not, then truly we spurn Habakkuk also.

   Let us see what Zephaniah has to say concerning the latter day house of Judah — the mountain of the Lord.

Zeph. 2:5-7 — “Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites!  the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.  And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.  And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.”

Since Zephaniah’s prophecy is also definite that the Lord is to re-establish the kingdom of Judah, and since it, too, needs no comment, we shall quickly pass to Zechariah’s prophecy.

Zech. 1:20, 21 — “And the Lord shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do?  And He spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.”

   Once God raised “horns,” nations, to scatter His people throughout the Gentile nations, but those “horns” in the restoration of “all things,” are seen to become “carpenters,” so that while they as horns at long last cast the Gentiles out from the promised land, they are as carpenters to build for Judah.  Thus Zechariah, as do all the prophets before him, prophesies of the restoration of the kingdom of Judah.  Now we shall read from Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets.

Mal. 3:1-3 — “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.  But who may abide the day of his coming?  and who shall stand when he appeareth?  for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

If, in the face of the plain and unquestionable teachings of all the prophets, we as Seventh-day Adventists fail to give heed to the truth of the Purification of the church (the Kingdom here dealt with), the message of the Judgment for the Living and of the restoration of the kingdom of Judah — the sanctuary for the purified ones, — then certainly others will have to take our places in proclaiming it.  Then along with the Jews we will have to bear the guilt of rejecting all the prophets since the world began.  Why? — Because unless we actually believe all that they have written, our merely pretending to believe in them means as much to Heaven as the faith of the Jews in the writings of Moses meant to the Lord.  What!  Preaching the gospel of the Kingdom but denying the Kingdom Itself!

   In closing I shall read from Early Writings, in the chapter entitled “The Loud Cry.”

   “This message [that is the message that makes the Loud Cry] seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining it as the midnight cry joined the second angel’s message in 1844.” — Early Writings, pg. 277.  And on page 118 we read: — “I then saw the third angel.  Said my accompanying angel, ‘Fearful is his work.  Awful is his mission.  He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner.  These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.'”

   The author of these statements makes clear that the Loud Cry is not made by a lot of noise, but by an additional message, and that the third angel’s message in the end of the world, not the end itself, selects the wheat from the tares.  Who among you would be foolish enough to close his eyes and ears to the testimony of the prophets, and at last in consternation cry out, “The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Jer. 8:20.

   Now, if we as a church do not even so much as expect an additional message, besides rejecting the former prophets, then how much better is our attitude toward God and His prophets of today as well as of yesterday?

   The Jews wanted a kingdom of their own, a kingdom of this world (saint and sinner in it).  Yes, they wanted a kingdom on earth, but none in Heaven.  What is more, they wanted it two thousand years ahead of schedule.  Now, ironically, in the time of the restoration of the Kingdom, the Denomination takes an opposite attitude: It wants a kingdom in Heaven, but none on earth.  Indeed, it wants to board the “chariot” from Takoma Park.  And besides while the Lord says He is to save nations, the Denomination says “He is to save only 144,000 living sons of Jacob,” and consequently none of the sons of other nations!

   The Jews wanted nothing but what they wanted, and nothing is just what they got.  So it will be with the Denomination if this clear cut and extra Biblical Truth, and the example of the Jews does not help her see that she has drifted “to sea without chart or compass.” — Christ Our Righteousness, pg. 37 (1941 edition).  If she continues to want nothing but what she wants, it is certain that nothing is what she can expect.

   Pray tell, what more should one expect to get from partial belief in the prophets, from private human interpretation of the Scriptures, from a system of explaining away the Scriptures, of making mysteries of simple passages by the use of unknown manuscripts and sectarian translations?  Let us hold to “the book of the Lord” which His mouth hath commanded, and which manuscripts His “Spirit…hath gathered….” Isa. 34:16.

   Say anything you wish against the Jews, but my study tells me that we as Seventh-day Adventists are outdoing them in mischief.

   Moreover, it is now seen that our study of this afternoon is a summary of the message to the Laodiceans, who think that they are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing more, though they have need of everything.  They had better awake to their poverty.

   To be sure, the present state of affairs does appear gloomy. Yet seeing that this dark and cloudy day holds forth a future of unsurpassing glory, let us with the prophet Habakkuk say: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Hab. 3:17, 18.  Thus, just as the apostles defeated the enemy of the church in their day, likewise shall we defeat him in our day.

(Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 15, p.2-21)                        

Posted in Proper teachings, Prophecy study, Victor T. Houteff | Leave a Comment »

Burning Hellfire Forever?

September 28, 2019

Image result for Hell fire

One of the most profound and disturbing teachings that exist among so-called “Christians”  today is the idea that if one rejects Christ in this world, he is destined to burn alive forever and ever and ever. No escape from the scorching heat throughout eternity!

There is so much wrong about this, that one hardly knows where to begin. But we can be assured the Lord’s Word soundly rejects this Satanic teaching when one carefully studies the Scriptures and His end-time prophetic writings.

Recently a brother and I discussed this hell teaching and I was somewhat amazed that such short-sightedness and downright ignorant teachings can exist and be promoted. In our discussions, I made the point that I have often made in a real human life perspective on this eternal burning idea. In other words bring it home in a practical and human reasoning way.

How many of us have ever accidentally grabbed a kitchen pot handle that we forgot was very hot?  I am sure many of us have experienced this. We recoil back in great pain in our hand. Hopefully, we didn’t hold it long and make a scar.

Now imagine in your mind that same feeling over ALL YOUR BODY FOR ETERNITY! Yes, try and grasp that thought! Not for a day, not for a week, but for eternity, never-ending in other words. This thought just cannot be fully comprehended, try as we may. Yet this is what Satan has promulgated upon those who are hoodwinked by him.

This teaching alone, if the truth is told has probably done more to push people away from God than almost any other teaching. Why , they ask, would one want to serve a vindictive God who punishes souls for rejecting him in our short 70-80 years here on earth, with eternal burning forever and ever?

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. (Gen. 3:4)

This was his very first lie, and it has been promulgated ever since. The idea that we are never-dying souls, either to live forever or to burn forever is built upon this first lie. But God’s word clearly says —

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:19)

The Word is full of confirmations that we cease to exist at death, and only a resurrection of life or death follows —

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die..”(John 11:25)

“His breath goeth forth, he returneth to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalms 146:4)

“The soul who sins is the one who will die.” (Ezek. 18:20)

Apostle Paul also let’s us know that death is as one “asleep”.

“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” ( 1 Cor. 15:17-18)

But some of the proclaimers of Satan’s trick, say that the following reference saying “worm” means human souls.

“And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” (Isa. 66:24)

The Lord’s message of Elijah shows us that the worm context means as follows —

“Although the preceding verses of this chapter are not studied much by any, the last two have often been discussed and debated upon by many. To some they mean that there is to be an eternal torment. But does the scripture at all sustain such a thought? — No, it does not. The definition of “carcasses” is “lifeless bodies.” And the prophet Malachi says: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 4:1-3.

The carcasses at first and the ashes at last of the unfaithful servants being under the feet of the saints, can hardly indicate that the unfaithful are pushed into “hell fire,” there to live forever. Moreover since only the righteous are given eternal life, then the wicked must be given eternal death. Furthermore, “second death” (Rev. 20:14) cannot mean “second life.”

The theory of eternal torment has been superficially derived from the statement, “their worm shall not die.” “Their worm,” the worm that gorges on their carcasses, though, cannot possibly mean the souls of the people. At least it cannot mean such to him who digs deep into the well of salvation, and that can think and reason for himself. Such a one reads between the lines and notes the full value of each word. If “worm” means anything, then it means that the worm thrives on the carcasses, that it is the agency which reduces the constituents of the carcasses to their original elements.

Indeed, “the worm shall not die”; it shall certainly accomplish its consuming work; the carcasses shall He bring down to dust, “for dust thou art,” says the scripture, “and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:19. It is this disintegrating agency, the consuming worm that does not die. Moreover, we are told that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezek. 18:4).

It is plainly seen that the preaching of eternal suffering in hell fire rather than eternal death, is prompted by unscrupulous so-called soul winners endeavoring to drive their audiences into church by fright. But if they knew that only the born-again through the love of the Truth are given the right to enter into the Holy City, if they knew that those who must be frightened in are excluded from it, if they knew that anything which maketh a lie is also not given the right to enter therein, — if they wholeheartedly knew all these, they would perhaps stop preaching eternal life in hell fire, and begin to preach eternal love of the Truth.” (1 TG, no. 45, p.21-23)

Let us discuss a good example of “eternal fire” as used in the Bible  —

And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day, as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7)

Peter under the Holy Spirit describes and interprets Jude’s hellfire comments —

“He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, having reduced them to ashes, having set an example of what is coming on the ungodly..” (2 Peter 2:6)

Are those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah now burning with “eternal fire”? Of course not but they are utterly destroyed to ashes, their souls and their works! This, the Scriptures say is “an example” –-total destruction–the end of living forevermore.

Another inspired Word of God showing an important point in our discussion–

“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” (Ecc. 9:5)

The message expounds on this important Word —

 

“Take for example the Revelator’s statement: “…I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God,…and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood?” Rev. 6:9, 10.

   The literalist on the one hand, would interpret this scripture to mean that the souls were conscious and actually crying out, though the Bible is very explicit that “the dead know not anything.” Eccles. 9:5. And, too, were the souls under the altar literally crying out for vengeance on their murderers, then, to be consistent, the Lord’s statement, “the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10), also the statement, “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isa. 55:12), likewise must be interpreted literally in spite of the fact that it is impossible physically for blood to cry out and for trees to clap hands.

   If all, however, are obliged to admit that Abel’s blood could not literally cry out, and that trees can only figuratively clap hands, then, again to be consistent, the person given to extreme literalizing should easily take hold of the actuality that “the dead know not anything,” and that they are “asleep” — unconscious.” (Tract 3, p.89-90)

Once we truly understand that the dead are dead, and not alive (until the resurrection) the idea of going directly to heaven or hellfire ceases to be as divinely plausible, much less –truth!

To be sure, there will be burning and damnation cast upon the sinners, but NOT eternally! The message gives us a beautiful mental pictorial presentation of the final hellfire that will come to past —

 

Satan Is Loosed For a Little Season.   By the resurrection of the wicked dead, “…Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Rev. 20:7, 8.

   Concerning this “little season” in which Satan will be allowed to deceive the nations, the prophet Isaiah heard the Lord say:

   “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.  But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” Isa. 65:17-20.

   The reader will observe that when the Lord creates  the new heavens and the new earth, then from the time that the wicked arise from their graves to the time that they are destroyed  forever by the second death, — the “little season,” — “there shall be no more thence [among them] and infant of days [no more births], nor an old man that hath not filled his days [no more deaths before man’s days are fulfilled]: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Both the old and the young (that is, those who remain in their graves during the millennium) will afterward come forth together, each to live “an hundred years” — “the little season” in which Satan will again deceive them.  There will be neither death nor birth, but all the wicked will then be forever accursed by

The Second Death.   That portion of the new earth which the feet of the wicked have trodden and defiled during the “short season,” will be purified by the fire’s coming “down from God out of heaven” and burning them and their works, while those who will inhabit the new earth for eternity, will be shielded in and about “the holy city.” Rev. 21:2.

   “And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:9, 10, 14, 15.

   Since not only Satan, but also “whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the lake of fire,” the fire in the lake simply continues the same destruction wrought by the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven.” Rev. 20:9.  After the thousand years, in other words, the fire which comes “down from God out of heaven,” results in “the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10) and in eternal extermination of all sinners. 

Of this final destruction, a pre-millennial demonstration is to be given when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the “lake of fire” — their grave for the thousand years.  And as the fire does not, of course, keep burning during the thousand years, the statement, “the devil…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,  where the beast and the false prophet are” (Rev. 20:10), shows therefore that there are both a typical and an antitypical destruction; the lake of fire before the millennium, being a type of the one after the millennium. (Tract 9, p.37-39)

In closing, as we announce to the World that we are “Christian” let us teach and proclaim the TRUTH about our eternal life and sadly for many–eternal death. Burning forever and ever is Satan’s trickery upon those who are NOT being guided by the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13). Let’s humbly submit to His Word and the preponderance of evidence showing what will befall us (life or death).

 

Color Code :  Orange — the Lord speaking,  Blue — Scripture or SOP speaking, Brown — Elijah message or Lord’s Rod (Micah 6:9) as brought by Victor Houteff  Red– special highlight of Inspired Words

Posted in Delusion, Proper teachings, Satan, Truth telling vs. lying | 1 Comment »

God’s Meat — Prophecies

September 21, 2019

Image result for meat of the word

The Elijah message tells us —

“He who controls the Scriptures is able to reveal present truth to His people at a time when needed. Therefore, though such truths are originally prophetic, they become new, and stand as a direct letter from God to men at the time revealed. “Thus saith God the Lord,… Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” (Isa. 42:5, 9.)”(SRod, vol. 2, p.9)

Let’s face it, prophecy is sometimes so deep and mysterious that many throw up their hands and say “Well, there are more important things to know about God than prophecies. They are not so important as Jesus taught about love and that is what we need to concentrate on.”

True, God is all about love and His unfailing Word to us is about salvation and how His Son enables us to live forevermore. Amen! But the Scriptures tell us Jesus is the –Word (John 1:14), and as such the Scriptures are Him — the Word–ALL of it. Thus all of the Word, including the prophecies are about Him.

To say that one part of His Word is needed and not the other is to short change ourselves about learning about the Lord’s plans for mankind. The prophecies guide us to know about end-time events and what to expect in the future.

Our post was motivated by Brother R who recently seemed to say that prophecies are not the real focus, and that doing His will is the key. True, Commandment keeping is first and foremost, but doctrine is equally important–hand and glove as they say —

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Tim. 4:16)

 

To be sure, prophecies are sometimes complicated and involve symbols. The message tells us —

“These prophetic symbols of beasts, wings, horns, heads, crowns, etc., prove to be most perfect symbols in revealing the truth represented by them and when correctly applied it is certain that their meaning cannot be misconstrued.” (SRod, vol. 2, p.10)

We are to grow in our spiritual walk not remain stagnant. The Word tells us about growing up–

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly–mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able.” ( 1 Cor. 3:1-2)

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12)

Here we see that spiritual growth is expected of us. We need to advance in our knowledge of God’s Word. We need to ultimately eat “solid food” and not stay on “milk” like a stunted baby all our spiritual life.

Unfortunately, some want to stay as a baby just speaking and knowing the elementary things of His Word, not attempting to take some solid food for nourishment. And once we start eating this solid food –wow, we really feel deeply satisfied and know for certain God is truly brilliant and able to show us great and wonderful things in His Word and prophecies! Symbols become understandable, end-time events come into focus.

If anyone steers clear of prophecies due to the deeper and more complicated nature of them, the Word gives us a simple solution to know them more clearly —

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5)

Parables also are filled with symbols and the message explains more —

“The reason these wonders were portrayed by symbols is the same as that which caused Christ to teach by parables. “And the disciples came, and said unto Him [Christ], Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” (Matt. 13:10, 11.) “But the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12:10.)”

Thus we see that symbols are not freely given to be understood, but only by those who it is “given”. Those who do the will of God and receive His gift — the Spirit of Truth.

“However,  when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.”(John 16:13)

Did you read that?? The Spirit of Truth shall show us —THINGS TO COME–Prophecy! Thus prophecies will be correctly understood and we shall know what to expect. The Word will then become a roadmap guiding us to know where we are going. No longer we will have this fuzzy “well I am just waiting to go to heaven” or “I am just waiting for Jesus to come in the clouds”, etc. No! We will know His plans for the end times and what His servants (God willing we will be one) are to do in the last days.

But God has perfect timing. His prophecies are meant to be understood at their proper time. For example, the Jews had in the Scriptures the following prophecies such as —

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for Me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2).

“My people, hear My teaching; listen to the words of My mouth. I will open My mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old” (Psalm 78:1–2)

“But 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.” (Isaiah 53:5)

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zech. 9:9)

Yet they did not dwell or teach on them as significant prophecies. They were only revealed as timely truth once His Word was ready to be understood after Christ ascended. But even then only some understood due to their willing reception to understand prophecy! The searchers of truth thus rewarded!

“The prophecies, we all know, are Heaven’s light to our feet.  If we fail to open our eyes and hearts to them at the time the Lord would have us profit by the unrolling of the Scroll, how then shall we escape being like the blind leading the blind?” (WHR, p.27)

“Truth is ever timely, ever unfolding as time goes on.  So it is that our knowledge of one phase of a message is followed by God’s revealing another phase of it.  How glad and how anxious, then, ought we to be to keep pace with the unfolding of the Scroll, as we keep pace with time.” (WHR, p.29-30)

So why do we need to know prophecies today? As mentioned they provide a roadmap of where we are going. For example, much of the Christian world does not know that Jerusalem shall be seriously devastated soon and then rebuilt quickly by the Lord for the final Gospel Loud Cry headquarters, let us read —

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” (Zech. 14:1-5)

A gigantic war is soon to happen over Israel. And those of us watching the news daily know that the middle east is a powder keg, ready to explode. This is all the Lord’s doing to bring back His people, beginning with the 144,000 and then the Great Multitude (Rev. 7:1-9). Prophecy confirms the ultimate purpose of the great war —

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:2-3)

What will those who have ignored certain areas of His word–especially the prophecies, think when they see these things come to past? Well just like the Jews, they will have a decision to make. Search the Scriptures to see what God revealed or stay stuck on limited ideas (milk) not letting the Lord’s prophetic movements guide you as it should–just like the Jews! The Spirit of Truth either works or He doesn’t, the choice is ours.

So we see a clear map to end time events. 1) gigantic war 2) the 144,000 and great multitiude go back to the Holy Land  3) the Word of the Lord comes from the headquarters–Jerusalem.

In closing, let us be grown men and women, who are able to feast on meat in due season. We grow up for a time on milk, but soon our growth needs more to keep spiritually fit and strong.

Posted in General thoughts, Loud Cry, Our Lord's kingdom, Present Truth, Proper teachings, Prophecy study | 1 Comment »

The Great Paradox of the Ages

September 14, 2019

The following was a sermon given by brother Victor Houteff on January 10, 1948, be blessed.

TEXT FOR PRAYERBreak Up The Fallow Ground   I shall read from page 56 of “Christ’s Object Lessons”:

   “Throughout the parable of the sower, Christ represents the different results of the sowing as depending upon the soil.  In every case the sower and the seed are the same.  Thus He teaches that if the word of God fails of accomplishing its work in our hearts and lives, the reason is to be found in ourselves.  But the result is not beyond our control.  True, we can not change ourselves; but the power of choice is ours, and it rests with us to determine what we will become.

The wayside, the stony-ground, the thorny-ground hearers need not remain such…. The soil once overgrown by thorns can be reclaimed only by diligent labor.  So the evil tendencies of the natural hear can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus.  The Lord bids us by His prophet, ‘Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.’  ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness; reap in mercy.’  This work He desires to accomplish for us, and He asks us to cooperate with Him.”

   We shall now kneel and pray that we may ever be awake to the Voice of the Spirit of God; to know that although we cannot change ourselves, yet the power of choice is ours; to ever remember that God has created us free moral agents, that we ourselves are responsible for our hardness of heart; to let Him break up our fallow ground so that we may sow to ourselves righteousness; to know that through prayer and study we can keep awake our desire for spiritual things.

 

THE GREAT PARADOX OF THE AGESTEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTSSABBATH, JANUARY 10, 1948MT. CARMEL CHAPELWACO, TEXASZech. 6:1-8 — “And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.  Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord?  And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four Spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.  And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and He said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth.  So they walked to and fro through the earth.  Then cried He upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the noth country have quieted My Spirit in the north country.”

 

Zech. 6:18

THE CHURCH TO AND BACK FROM THE WILDERNESS

   The paradox in this prophetic symbolism is with the fourth chariot, you see: It is hitched to two teams, the grisled and the bay, one team trying to take it in one direction (south), and the other in another direction (to and fro through the earth)!  What is to become of the chariot, and which of the teams is likely to take it?  That is the paradox, for they cannot both have it unless they walk together.  As this is a paradoxical symbolism, it has been a mystery ever since the prophet wrote it, and as it is now disclosed for the first time, Inspiration obviously is forewarning someone of something very serious that is taking place at this particular time.  What can it be?–

   The prophet Zechariah was as anxious to know as we are, for he asked, “What are these, my Lord”?  And to his question came the answer, “These are the four Spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of the whole earth.”

   The angel’s answer is positive.  The chariots, He declared, are the Spirits of the heavens, Who stand before the Lord, and Who are sent to go to and fro through the earth.  Plainly, then, these four teams and chariots symbolize four messages (four Spirits) sent from God’s presence.  And since all the messages from God are carried to and fro through the earth by the Ministry and the Church, the chariots and their teams, therefore, are seen to symbolize the church at work in four different periods.

   The next question is, Where in the stream of time shall we look for this message-laden and trouble-burden church?  in our time, in the past or what?  The brass mountains give the clue, for the chariots came from between them.  We should, therefore, first find out what the mountains symbolize, and where they stand in time.  And as the chariots came from between the mountains, one standing to their left (in the future) and the other to their right (in the past), it is necessary to locate them first.

The Biblical interpretation of a symbolical mountain is as follows: “Jerusalem shall be called a city of Truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain.” Zech. 8:3.  The mountains in Zechariah’s prophecy, therefore, as elsewhere in the Bible, are seen to symbolize two governments, churches, very similar in nature (both of brass) and at two different times (one to the chariot’s right and one to their left).

Being of brass, a metal that has everlasting qualities, that does not deteriorate, shows that they represent something eternal.  Moreover the mountains being of the same symbolical material as that which the feet of Christ (Rev. 1:15) were shown to be (brass), it locates the mountains in the Christian era.

   The only such holy governments of God in the Christian era, one in the past and one in the future between which the path of the chariots lies, are the church of the Pentecost with the 120 Spirit-filled disciples, symbolized by the mountain to the chariots’ right, and the church at the second Pentecost (Joel 2:28, 29, yet future) with the 144,000 Spirit-filled disciples standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1), symbolized by the mountain to the chariots’ left.

   It is well understood that the church of today is made up of all kinds of materials, not of solid brass — not of true Christians only, but commingled with good and bad — wheat and tares.  The truth is therefore obvious: There is to be another such sin-destroying and sinner-sifting Theocracy as the one in the day of Ananias and Sapphira who for sinning gave up the ghost as they fell at the apostle’s feet (Acts 5:1-11).

   Plainly, the chariots symbolize the church militant at work between the two Pentecosts.

   The fourth chariot being the last, it is to be found operating just before the second Pentecost.

   Since the chariots are led by horses, the horses themselves must symbolize the chariot’s (church’s) leadership, and the passengers in the chariots must symbolize the laity.

   The symbolism, though, is to disclose the paradoxical situation that exists with the fourth chariot, the last, and hence the Laodicean church with the Judgment message, as her name itself indicates.

   The first chariot, you remember, is led by red horses; the second by black horses; the third by white; and the fourth by two kinds — grisled and bay horses.  The color of each horse being a mark of species, it must be indicative of their natural and consequential circumstances.  And as afore-noted, they are symbolical of the ministry in each segment of church history.  The red evidently signifies martyrdom; the black signifies captivity; the white signifies freedom; grisled (an indefinite color, neither black nor white) symbolizes ministers that are neither true Christians nor true Gentiles — hypocrites.  The bay, however, denote strength, as the marginal reference points out.

   This symbolical prophecy is seen to corroborate history.  It points out that the Christian Church at first suffered martyrdom, shown by the color, red.  Then followed the Dark Ages of religion when the church was in captivity (black).  Following these came the Protestant period, the period of religious freedom (white team).  And at last comes the fourth chariot with its bay and grisled teams.

The teams are seen to have a controversial struggle over the chariot.  Grisled being an indefinite color — neither black nor white, denotes hypocrisy, the kind of which is heretofore unknown, whereas the color, bay, denotes spiritual strength (margin) the kind heretofore unknown.

   Since the Church originated in Asia, Jerusalem in particular, the first chariot is seen to have remained there, for it went nowhere.  The “north country,” geographically north of Palestine is where the other chariots went; that is, the countries which the Christian nations are now inhabiting.  The fourth chariot, though, is supposed to go to and fro through the earth — to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people.  But contrary to this, the grisled horses “go forth toward the south country” which, figuratively speaking, would be spiritual Egypt — worldliness.

   God’s Spirit having been silenced in the north country, must denote that the messages of God in the north country were generally rejected, especially the one of the forth chariot, which caused the Spirit of Truth to turn away and to bring Truth no more through them — to be silent there — and that, therefore, there is not to be expected any Truth through them.

   The double team of horses, and their two kinds of colors, pulling in two different directions are immediately seen to symbolize a double set of church leaders (the Seventh-day Adventist leaders and the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist leaders) unlike in character and aim.  Symbolically speaking, the grisled horses, those that appeared first on the prophetic scene, are leading the chariot into Egypt — the worldliness from which they ought to come out rather than go back into.

The bay horses, though, are endeavoring to pull away from it and go to and fro through the earth as commanded — to finish the gospel work in accordance with God’s plan.  But this cannot take place so long as both teams are hitched to the chariot, for the chariot cannot possibly move in either direction while one team pulls in one direction and the other in another direction.

   The immediate necessity, therefore, is to unhitch (discharge) the one, so that the other can be free to go to and fro through the earth as soon as they are told to “Go.”  When this happens the paradox will be a paradox no longer.

   What put two different kinds of leaders working at cross purposes? — I shall let the Spirit of Prophecy give the answer.  Here follows the description of one set of church leaders:

   “…Those who have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so-called,’ will not be the leaders then.  Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent, will not then stand at the head of rank and file.  They did not keep pace with the light.  Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock…” — “Testimonies,” Vol.  5, pg. 80.

   Obviously, these self-important leaders, who love to slumber in a lukewarm country, are represented by the grisled horses.

   We shall now read of the leaders whom the bay horses depict, the ones that come on the scene last:

   “…The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view.  There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal.  They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you.  But, it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed.  In the daytime we look toward heaven, but do not see the stars.  They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them.  In the night we behold their genuine lustre.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pp. 80-81.

   This is exactly what is happening right now: Those who are rejecting the message that is announcing the Judgment for the Living; those who “did not keep pace with the light,” and are satisfied to stay in antitypical Egypt; the Seventh-day Adventists’ ministry are to be discharged (unhitched); and the “hidden” ones, those represented by the bay horses, the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists’ ministry, are coming to the front.  They are now being “disclosed to view,” and are getting ready to take the chariot!  Then as soon as they are told to “Go,” they will unhesitatingly and speedily move on “to and fro through the earth” with the message of the hour, the Judgment for the Living.

   Now let the founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination concretely explain what and where the south country is:

   “I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people…. The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt.  Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power.  Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere.  Satan would have it thus.  Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus.

The testimonies are unread and unappreciated.  God has spoken to you.  Light has been shining from his world and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded.  The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 217. (Underscored words ours.)

   What will unhitch the grisled horses from the chariot? — Isaiah the prophet has the answer:

Isa. 66:16, 19, 20 — “For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many…. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.

And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.”

   Here is projected a slaughter, taking place among those who have been instructed to abstain from unclean meats, but among whom many are violating God’s command.  The disobedient, those whose bellies are their gods, including those who sanctify and purify themselves, (the self-righteous) in the gardens behind one tree (behind their Truth-hating minister, Isa. 66:17, margin), are by the Lord Himself removed from among His Truth-seeking ones.

   After the transgressors are thus removed, then those who are left, the “remnant,” the escaped ones, become the servants of God and are sent to all the nations, especially to those who have not as yet heard either of God’s fame or the good news of His Kingdom.  These escaped ones are to bring to the house of the Lord all their brethren, all that will be converted to Christ — “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.”  They shall stand “before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Rev. 7:9.

   Thus will the Gospel be finished by those who escape from the Lord’s slaying (Isa. 66:15,16) and God’s people be quickly gathered from the four corners of the earth, happily brought as an offering to the house of the Lord (Isa. 66:19, 20).

   Now is everyone’s chance to decide to be either on the one side or on the other, either to reform and be led by the faithful bay horses, or to cling to the self-important grisled horses and stay by them in the south country, there to perish.  Here is indeed a momentous decision to be made by every member of the Denomination.  It calls for action that will decide the future destiny of the laity as well as of the ministry.

   Now is your opportunity to act, and it is my wish and prayer that you, and every member of the Denomination, chooses to be on the side which this unveiled paradox of the ages plainly and definitely instructs you to be on.  Do not let the grisled horses deceive you any longer.  Meet their fair speeches with “Thus saith the Lord.” You take them to task on this strictly Biblical Truth. (Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 22, p.16 – 27)

 

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