Dr. B.B. Beach's Adventist Review Article on Ecumenical
Participation--A Study Into SDA Double-Speak Click
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Dear Reader, The
World Council of Churches/Seventh-day Adventist Conversations and Their
Significance 3.
Channels of Communication While prior to 1965 the channels of
communication between the SDA Church and the WCC were not non-existent, they were very weak and spasmodic
Today, largely as a result of the Consultations, a number of actively used channels of
communication are entertained, especially with the General and Faith
and Order Secretariats. Information once ignored or difficult to come by, is
now regularly communicated. In addition the SDA/WCC Conversations were at
least partly instrumental in opening new channels for contacts between the
SDA Church and other confessional bodies of churches. Note by Ron: Active communication and
conversations is not indicative of mere observer status, which is the line we
are so often given by SDA leaders. End note. 4.
WCC Statement Concerning SDA Church A very useful product of the Conversations
is the statement regarding the SDA Church which was published in the January,
1967 issue of the Ecumenical Review. While
the statement was prepared by the Faith and Order Secretariat, the SDA
participants in the 1966 Conversations had the opportunity to discuss the
draft statement and make some useful observations. After incorporating some
relatively minor suggestions, the document was published substantially as
originally written. The statement has had a wide distribution, not only
through the Ecumenical Review, but
as a Faith and Order paper. Seventh-day Adventists consider this article as
one of the fairest and finest statements published by non-Adventists about
Adventists. Note by Ron: “We are in the greatest peril
when we receive praise of one another, when we enter into a confederacy to
exalt one another. The great burden of the Pharisees was to secure the praise
of men; and Christ told them that that was all the reward they would ever
receive.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, p.
133. End note. 5.
Participation in Meeting of World Confessional Families Since 1968 the General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists has been actively
represented at the annual meeting of “Secretaries of World
Confessional Families.” This
participation is largely
the result of the WCC/SDA Conversations
and contacts that were made at the time of the Uppsala Assembly. It
is hoped that expanded cooperation
will ensue between the World Confessional Families in the vital realm of
religious liberty. Note by Ron: Active representation and
participation in conversations and contacts and a hope for expanded
cooperation is hardly mere observer status. End note. 6.
Observer and Advisor Status Since the Conversations got under way, it
has become the accepted procedure for the SDA Church to be represented at
various EWCC meetings, including the Assembly, by observers. These observers
have not just been present pro forma,
but have taken an active interest
in the meetings they attended. Note by Ron: The Assembly is meetings of
the Central Committee of the WCC. It is the highest echelon of the WCC as far
as participants are concerned. Here we see B.B. Beach’s double speak at its
most blatant. In one sentence he says SDA’s attended as “observers,” and in
the very next sentence he says they were not merely present pro forma, but
have taken an active interest in the meetings. An active interest is
participation, not just observer status. End note. And additional step was taken when the
General Conference, as a world confessional body or church, was represented
by an advisor in Canterbury at the 1969 meeting of the WCC Central Committee. Note by Ron. Again, the WCC Central
Committee is the highest order in the WCC. End Note. So SDA’s have taken an
active interest (participation) within the highest committee of the World
Council of Churches. End note. 7.
SDA on Faith and Order Commission An evident result of the Conversations was
the appointment of a Seventh-day Adventist as a MEMBER of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council
of Churches. While it is clear that churches are not members of this Commission
and theologians selected for MEMBERSHIP are chosen in their personal
capacity, and therefore the SDA Church is not a member of the Faith and Order
Commission, it does meant that the Commission will have the benefit of
hearing a bona fide SDA voice, and the Seventh-day Adventists would have the
opportunity of learning from the discussions of the Faith and Order
Commission. Signed B.B. Beach with the following
annotation: *Dr. B.B. Beach, General Conference of
Seventh-day Adventists, is the Secretary of the Department of Public Affairs,
Northern European Division, United Kingdom. End Adventist
Review Article Note by Ron: This notion of personal
capacity membership is a sham. B.B. Beach was paid by the SDA church for
every minute he served as the Secretary of the Department of Public Affairs,
Northern European Division, United Kingdom. Under item 6, above, Beach said:
“Since 1968 the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has been actively represented at the
annual meeting of “Secretaries of World Confessional Families.” Every member
of the church who knew that this active representation in Babylon, was
corporately responsible, especially the church leadership who were aware of
such. The following statement applies: "The plain
straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest
upon His people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their
sins. God holds His people,
as a body [corporately], responsible for the sins
existing in individuals among them." Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 269. The excuse of religious
liberty is often intoned, but God says not to fear their fear, Isaiah 8:9-13,
and not to join them in association, counsel and confederacy because of fear. Some
Pertinent E.G. White Statements “The central power of the earth is a demon.
His throne is in the midst of the world, where should have been seen the
throne of God. He has been patronized by the church, for the church has been
conformed to the world, and is living in transgression of the holy law of
God. E.G. White, Letter 78, Jan 20, 1900, to Brother and Sister Haysmer. The Jewish leaders loved the praise of men
more than they loved God. EW, 195. “By studying how they can adopt the plans
of worldly policy in their work for God, men disarrange God’s plans of
humility and simplicity, which He desires shall be followed in advancing His
kingdom.—E.G. White, Manuscript 53, June 30, 1901. Untitled Manuscript—The Upward Look, 196. “For the Lord spake thus to me with a
strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this
people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people
shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify
the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your
dread.’ ‘To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.’ Isa. 8:11-13, 20. The world
is not to be our criterion. Let the Lord work, let the Lord’s voice be
heard.” E.G. White, Life Sketches, p. 322. “Those employed in ANY DEPARTMENT of the
work whereby the world may be transformed, must not enter into alliance with
those who know not the truth. The world know not the Father or the Son, and
they have no spiritual discernment as to the character of our work, as to
what we shall do or shall not do. We must obey the orders that come from
above. We are not to hear the counsel or follow the plans suggested by
unbelievers. Suggestions made by those who know not the work that God is
doing for this time, will be such as to weaken the power of the
instrumentalities of God. By accepting such suggestions, the counsel of
Christ is set at naught….” E.G. White, Life
Sketches, p. 322. “Does anyone suppose that the messages of
warning will not come to those whom God reproves? The ones reproved may rise
up in indignation and seek to bring the law to bear upon God's messenger, but
in doing this, they are not bringing the law upon the messenger, but upon
Christ, who gave the reproof and the warning. When men endanger the work and cause of God by their own wrong course
of action, shall they hear no voice of reproof? If the wrongdoer only were
concerned, and the work reached no farther than him, he alone should have the
words of warning; but when his course of action is doing positive harm to the
cause of truth, and souls are imperiled, God requires that the warning be as
broad as the injury done. The testimonies will not be hindered. The words
of rebuke and warning, the plain "Thus saith the Lord," will come
from God's appointed agencies; for the words do not originate with the human
instrument; they are from God, who appointed them their work. If a suit is
instituted in earthly tribunals, and God suffers it to come to trial, it is
that His own name may be glorified. But a woe will be upon the man who gives
himself to do this work. God reads the motives, whatever they may be. I pray
that the Lord will teach our brethren to be straightforward, and make no
compromise in the matter. The cause of God has been bruised and wounded by
any such men connecting with it, and the sooner they are separated from it,
the better. . . . {2SM 152.4} “We are in the greatest peril when
we receive praise of one another, when we enter into a confederacy to exalt
one another. The great burden of the Pharisees was to secure the praise of
men; and Christ told them that that was all the reward they would ever
receive.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, p.
133. “The enemy is buying souls today very cheap. ‘Ye
have sold yourselves for nought,’ is the language of Scripture. One is
selling his soul for the world’s applause, another for money; one to gratify
base passions, another for worldly amusement. Such bargains are made daily.
Satan is bidding for the purchase of Christ’s blood and buying them cheap,
notwithstanding the infinite price which has been paid to ransom them.” Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 133. “There is to be no compromise with those who are
worshipping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with
those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining,
when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told
that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference
between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first
day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the
time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors.” Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 385. “ The light
we have received upon the third angel's message is the true light. The mark
of the beast is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be. Not all in regard
to this matter is yet understood, nor will it be understood until the
unrolling of the scroll; but a most solemn work is to be accomplished in our
world. The Lord's command to His servants is: "Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and
the house of Jacob their sins." Isaiah 58:1. {6T 17.1} “There is to be no change in the general features of
our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with
the world, supposing that by so doing we could accomplish more. If any
stand in the way, to hinder the advancement of the work in the lines that God
has appointed, they will displease God. No line of truth that has made the
Seventh-day Adventist people what they are is to be weakened. We have the old
landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense
of our principles, in full view of the world.”{6T 17.2} B.B. Beach told me over the phone in 1988, that we
joined the Radio and Television Commission of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. in order to receive a cheaper broadcasting
rate. This is going to Satan for assistance: “God has given us plain directions
regarding our work. We are to proclaim the truth in regard to the Sabbath of
the Lord, to make up the breach that has been made in His law. We are to do
all that we can to enlighten those in ignorance; but we are never to confederate with men of the world in order to
receive financial assistance.” {9T 233.3} “God has permitted apostasies to take place
in order to show how little dependence can be placed in man. We are always to
look to God; His word is not Yea and Nay, but Ye and Amen.—Selected Messages, Book 2, p. 395. “There is no time now to range
ourselves on the side of the transgressors of God's law, to see with their eyes,
to hear with their ears, and to understand with their perverted senses. We
must press together. We must labor to become a unit, to be holy in life and
pure in character. Let those who profess to be servants of the living God no
longer bow down to the idol of men's opinions, no longer be slaves to any
shameful lust, no longer bring a polluted offering to the Lord, a sin-stained
soul. {LS 330.2} September 23, 1873 The Laodicean Church “In the case of the sin of
Achan, God has shown how he regards sin among those who profess to be his
commandment-keeping people. Those whom he has especially honored with
witnessing the remarkable exhibitions of his power, as did ancient Israel,
and that will venture to disregard his express directions, will be subjects of
his wrath. God would teach his people that disobedience and sin are
exceedingly offensive to him, and not to be lightly regarded. He shows us
that when his people are found in sin, they should at once take decided
measures to put the sin from them, that his frown should not rest upon all
his people. But if those in responsible positions pass over the sins of the
people, his frown will be upon them, and the people of God, as a body, will
be held responsible for the sins that exist in their midst. God, in his
dealings with his people in the past, shows the necessity of purifying the
church from wrongs that exist among them. One sinner may diffuse darkness
which will exclude the light of God from the entire congregation. When the
people realize that darkness is settling upon them, and they do not know the
cause, then they should earnestly seek God in great humility and
self-abasement, until the wrongs which grieve God's Spirit are searched out
and put away from among them. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 1} “If wrongs exist among the
people, and the servants of God pass on indifferent to them, they virtually
sustain and justify the sinner, and are guilty alike with the sinner, and
will receive the displeasure of God just as surely as the sinner; for they
will be made responsible for the sins of the guilty. Those men who have
excused wrongs have been thought by the people to be very amiable, and of
lovely disposition, simply because they shunned to discharge a plain and
scriptural, duty. The task was not agreeable to their feelings; therefore
they avoided it.” {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 2} “The
spirit of hatred which has existed with some because the wrongs among God's
people have been reproved, has brought blindness and a fearful deception upon
their own souls, making it impossible for them to discriminate between right
and wrong. They have put out their own spiritual eyesight. They may witness
wrongs, but they do not feel as did Joshua, and humble their souls in
humiliation because the burden of souls is felt by them.” {RH, September
23, 1873 par. 3} The true people of God, who have the
spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart, will ever
view sin in its real, sinful character. They will always be on the side of
faithful and plain dealing with sins which easily beset the people of God.
Especially in the closing work for the church, in the sealing time of the one
hundred and forty-four thousand, who are to stand without fault before the
throne of God, will they feel most deeply the wrongs of God's professed
people. This is forcibly set forth by the prophet's illustration of the last
work under the figure of the men, each having a slaughter weapon in his hand.
One man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his
side. "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city,
through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men
that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst
thereof." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 4} Who are standing
in the counsel of God at this time? Is it those who virtually excuse wrongs
among the professed people of God, and murmur in their hearts, if not openly,
against those who would reprove sin? Is it those who take their stand against
them, and sympathize with those who commit wrong? No, indeed! These, unless
they repent, and leave the work of Satan in oppressing those who have the
burden of the work, and holding up the hands of sinners in Zion, will never
receive the mark of God's sealing approval. They will fall in the general
destruction of all the wicked, represented by the five men bearing slaughter
weapons. Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth,
wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the
man in linen, are those "that sigh and cry for all the abominations that
are done" in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory
of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of
sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying.
Read Ezekiel, chapter nine. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 5} But the general
slaughter of all those who do not thus see the wide contrast between sin and
righteousness, and do not feel as those do who stand in the counsel of God
and receive the mark, is described in the order to the five men with
slaughter weapons: "Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not
your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay utterly old and young, both maids,
and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the
mark; and begin at my sanctuary." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 6} God said to
Joshua (in the case of Achan's sins), "Neither will I be with you any
more except ye destroy the accursed from among you." How does this
instance compare with the course pursued by those who will not raise their
voice against sin and wrong; but whose sympathies are ever found with those
who trouble the camp of Israel with their sins? Said God to Joshua, "Thou
canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the accursed thing
from among you." He pronounced the punishment which should follow the
transgression of his covenant. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 7} Joshua then
began a diligent search to find out the guilty one. He took Israel by their
tribes, and then by their families, and next, individually. Achan was
designated as the guilty one. But that the matter might be plain to all
Israel, that there should be no occasion given them to murmur, and to say
that the guiltless was made to suffer, Joshua used policy. He knew that Achan
was the transgressor, and that he had concealed his sin, and provoked God
against his people. Joshua discreetly induced Achan to make confession of his
sin, that God's honor and justice should be vindicated before Israel.
"And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the
Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou
hast done. Hide it not from me." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 8} "And Achan
answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of
Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly
Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of
fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they
are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So
Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid
in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them out of the midst of
the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel,
and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took
Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of
gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his
sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the
valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall
trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them
with fire, after they had stoned them with stones." {RH, September 23,
1873 par. 9} God said to Joshua, that not only had Achan taken the things which he
had positively charged them not to take, lest they be accursed, but had
stolen, and also had dissembled. The Lord said that Jericho and all its
spoils should be consumed, except the gold and silver, which was to be
reserved for the treasury of the Lord. The victory obtained in taking Jericho
was not through warfare, or the exposure of the people. The Captain of the
Lord's host had led the armies of Heaven. The battle was the Lord's. The
children of Israel did not strike a blow. It was the Lord who fought the
battle. The victory and glory were the Lord's. The spoils were his. He
directed it all to be consumed, except the gold and silver which he reserved
for his treasury. Achan understood well the reserve made, and that the
treasures of gold and silver which he coveted were the Lord's. He stole from
God's treasury for his own benefit. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 10} There are many
who profess to keep the commandments of God who are appropriating to their
own use the means which the Lord has entrusted to them, and which should come
into his treasury. They rob God in tithes and in offerings. They dissemble,
and withhold from God to their own hurt. They bring leanness and poverty upon
themselves, and darkness upon the church, because of their covetousness, and
in dissembling, in robbing God in tithes and in offerings. {RH, September 23,
1873 par. 11} Those who work
in the fear of God to rid the church of hindrances, and to correct grievous
wrongs, that the people of God may see the necessity of abhorring sin, and
that they may prosper in purity, and the name of God be glorified, will ever
meet with resisting influences from the unconsecrated. Zephaniah describes
the true state of this class, and the terrible judgments that will come upon
them. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 12} "And it shall
come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and
punish the men that are settled on their lees; that say in their heart, The
Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil." "The great day of
the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day
of the Lord; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of
wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a
day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of
the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
And I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured
out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold
shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole
land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a
speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." {RH, September 23,
1873 par. 13} It is in time of
conflict when the true colors should be flung to the breeze. It is then the
standard-bearers need to be firm and let their true position be known. It is
then the skill of every true soldier for the right is tested; shirks can
never wear the laurels of victory. Those who are true and loyal will not
conceal the fact, but will put heart and might in the work, and venture their
all in the struggle, let the battle turn as it will. God is a sin-hating God.
And those who will encourage the sinner, saying, It is well with thee, God
will curse. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 14} Confessions of
sin made at the right time to relieve the people of God will be accepted of
him. But there are those among us who will make confessions, as did Achan,
too late to save themselves. God may prove them and give them another trial,
for the sake of his people to evidence to them that they will not endure one
test, one proving of God. They are not in harmony with right. They despise
the straight testimony that reaches the heart, and they would rejoice to see
every one silenced that gives reproof. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 15} The people of
Israel had been gradually losing their fear and reverence for God, until his
word through Joshua had no weight with them. "In his days did Hiel the
Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his
first-born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according
to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." {RH,
September 23, 1873 par. 16} While Israel was
apostatizing, Elijah was a true prophet of God. He remained loyal and true to
God. His faithful soul was greatly distressed as he saw that unbelief and
infidelity were fast separating the children of Israel from God. Elijah
prayed that God would save his people. He entreated that the Lord would not
wholly cast away his sinning people, but by his judgments, if necessary,
arouse them to repentance, and not permit them to go on to still greater
lengths in sin, and thus provoke him to destroy them as a nation. {RH,
September 23, 1873 par. 17} The message of
the Lord came to Elijah to go to Ahab, with the denunciations of his
judgments, because of the sins of Israel. Elijah traveled day and night until
he reached the palace of Ahab. He solicited no admission, and waited not to
be formally announced. All unexpectedly to Ahab, Elijah stands before the
astonished king of Samaria in the coarse garments usually worn by the prophets.
He made no apology for his abrupt appearance, without invitation. He raised
his hands to heaven, and solemnly affirmed by the living God, who made the
heavens and the earth, the judgments which would come upon Israel:
"There shall be neither dew nor rain these years, but according to my
word." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 18} This startling
denunciation of God's judgments because of the sins of Israel fell like a
thunderbolt upon the apostate king. He seemed to be paralyzed with amazement
and terror; and before he could recover from his astonishment, Elijah,
without waiting to see the effect of his message, left as suddenly as he
came. His work was to speak the word of woe from God, and he instantly
withdrew. His word had locked up the treasures of heaven, and his word was
the only key which could open them again. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 19} The Lord knew
that there was no safety for his servant among the children of Israel. He
would not trust him with apostate Israel; but sent Elijah to find an asylum
among a heathen nation. He directed him to a woman that was a widow, who was
in such poverty that she could barely sustain life with the most meager fare.
A heathen woman, living up to the best light she had, was in a more
acceptable state with God than the widows of Israel who had been blessed with
especial privileges, and great light, and who did not live according to the
light which God had given them. As the Hebrews rejected light, they were left
in darkness. God would not trust his servant among his people who had
provoked his divine anger. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 20} Now there is an
opportunity for apostate Ahab and pagan Jezebel to test the power of their
gods, and to prove the word of Elijah false. Jezebel's prophets are numbered
by hundreds. Against them all, stands Elijah, alone. His word has locked
heaven. If Baal can give dew and rain, and cause the vegetation to flourish,
if he can cause the brooks and streams of water to flow on as usual,
independent of the treasures of heaven, in the showers of rain, then let the
king of Israel worship him, and the people say he is God. {RH, September 23,
1873 par. 21} Elijah was a man
subject to like passions as ourselves. His mission
to Ahab, and the terrible denunciation to him of the judgments of God,
required courage and faith. On his way to Samaria, the perpetually flowing
streams, the hills covered with verdure, the forests of stately, flourishing
trees, everything his eye rested upon, flourishing in beauty and glory, would
naturally suggest unbelief. How can all these things in nature so flourishing
be burned with drought? How can these streams that water the land, and that
have never been known to cease their flow, become dry? But Elijah did not
cherish unbelief. He went forth on his mission at the peril of his life. He
fully believed that God would humble his apostate people, and through the
visitation of his judgments would bring them to humiliation and repentance.
He ventured everything in the mission before him. {RH, September 23, 1873
par. 22} When Ahab
recovers in a degree from his astonishment at the words of Elijah, the
prophet was gone. He made diligent inquiry for him; but no one had seen him
or could give any information respecting him. Ahab informed Jezebel of the
word of woe that Elijah had uttered in his presence, and her hatred against
the prophet was expressed to the priests of Baal. They unite with her in
denouncing and cursing the prophet of Jehovah. The news of the prophet's
denunciations are spread all through the land, arousing the fears of some and
the wrath of many. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 23} After a few
months, the earth, unrefreshed by dew or rain, becomes dry, and vegetation
withers. The streams of water that have never been known to cease their flow,
decrease, and the brooks of water dry up. Jezebel's prophets offer their
sacrifices to their gods, and call upon them night and day to refresh the
earth by dews and rain. But their incantations and deceptions formerly
practiced to deceive the people do not answer the purpose now. The priests
have done everything to appease the anger of their gods, and with a
perseverance and zeal worthy of a better cause, have they lingered around
their pagan altars, while the flames of sacrifice burn on all the high
places, and the fearful cries and entreaties of the priests of Baal are heard
night after night through doomed Samaria. But the clouds do not appear in the
heavens to cut off the burning rays of the sun. The word of Elijah stands
firm, and nothing that Baal's priests can do will change the word spoken by
Elijah. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 24} An entire year
passes, and another has commenced, and yet there is no rain. The earth is
parched, as though a fire had passed over it. The flourishing fields become
as the scorched desert. The air becomes dry and suffocating, the dust storm
blinds the eyes, and nearly stops the breath. The groves of Baal are
leafless, and the forest trees give no shade, but appear as skeletons. Hunger
and thirst are telling upon man and beast with fearful mortality. {RH,
September 23, 1873 par. 25} All this
evidence of God's justice and judgment does not awaken Israel to repentance.
Jezebel is filled with insane madness. She will not bend or yield to the God of
Heaven. Baal's prophets, Ahab, Jezebel, and nearly the whole of Israel,
charge their calamity upon Elijah. Ahab had sent to every kingdom and nation
in search of Elijah, and he required an oath of the kingdoms and nations of
Israel, that they knew nothing in regard to the strange prophet. Elijah
locked heaven with his word, and had taken the key with him, and he could not
be found. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 26} Jezebel then
decided, as she could not make Elijah feel her murderous power, that she would
be revenged by destroying the prophets of God in Israel. No one who professed
to be a prophet of God should live. This determined, infuriated woman
executed her work of madness in slaying the Lord's prophets. Baal's priests
and nearly all of Israel were so far deluded that they thought if the
prophets of God were slain the calamity under which they were suffering would
cease. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 27} But the second
year passes, and the pitiless heavens give no rain. Drought and famine are
doing their sad work, and yet the apostate Israelites do not humble their
sinful, proud hearts before God. But they murmur and complain against the
prophet of God who has brought this dreadful state of things upon them.
Fathers and mothers see their children perish with no power to relieve them.
And yet they were in such terrible darkness that they could not see that the
justice of God was awakened against them because of their sins; and that this
terrible calamity was sent in mercy to them, to save them from fully denying
and forsaking the God of their fathers. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 28} It will cost
Israel suffering and great affliction to bring them to that repentance
necessary in order to recover their lost faith, and a clear sense of their responsibility
to God. Their apostasy was more dreadful than drought or famine. Elijah
waited and prayed in faith through the long years of drought and famine, that
the hearts of Israel through their afflictions might be turned from their
idolatry, to allegiance to God. Notwithstanding all their sufferings, they
stood firm in their idolatry, and looked upon the prophet of God as the cause
of their calamity. And if they could have had Elijah in their power they
would have delivered him to Jezebel, that she might satisfy her revenge by
taking his life. Because Elijah dared to utter the word of woe which God had
bidden him, he has made himself the object of their hatred. They could not
see God's hand in the judgments under which they were suffering because of their
sins. They charged them to the man Elijah. They abhorred not the sins which
had brought them under the chastening rod, but hated the faithful prophet,
God's instrument, to denounce their sins and calamity. "And it came to
pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third
year, saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the
earth." {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 29} Elijah hesitated
not to start on his perilous journey. He had been hated, and hunted from city
to city by the mandate of the king, for three years, and the whole nation had
given their oath that the prophet could not be found. And now Elijah, by the
word of God, is to present himself before Ahab. Through the apostasy of all
Israel, the governor of Ahab's house has proved faithful to God while his
master is a worshiper of Baal. He had, at the risk of his own life, preserved
the prophets of God, by hiding them by fifties in a cave, and feeding them.
While the servant of Ahab is searching throughout the kingdom for springs and
brooks of water, Elijah presents himself before him. Obadiah reverenced the
prophet of God, and as Elijah sends him with a message to the king, he is
greatly terrified. He sees danger and death to himself and also Elijah. He
pleads earnestly that his life might not be sacrificed; but Elijah assures
Obadiah with an oath that he will see Ahab that day. The prophet will not go
to Ahab, but as one of God's messengers to command respect, he sends by
Obadiah a message, "Behold, Elijah is here." If Ahab wants to see
Elijah, he has now the opportunity to come to him. Elijah will not go to
Ahab.
“The peculiar work of the third angel has
not been seen in its importance. God meant that His people should be far in
advance of the position which they occupy today. But now, when the time has
come for them to spring into action, they have the preparation to make. When
the National Reformers began to urge measures to restrict religious liberty,
our leading men should have been alive to the situation and should have
labored earnestly to counteract these efforts. It is not in the order of God
that light has been kept from our people--the very present truth which they
needed for this time. Not all our ministers who are giving the third angel's
message really understand what constitutes that message. The National Reform
movement has been regarded by some as of so little importance that they have
not thought it necessary to give much attention to it and have even felt that
in so doing they would be giving time to questions distinct from the third
angel's message. May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus interpreting the
very message for this time.” {5T 714.2} “The people need to be aroused in regard
to the dangers of the present time. The watchmen are asleep. We are years
behind. Let the chief watchmen feel the urgent necessity of taking heed to
themselves, lest they lose the opportunities given them to see the dangers.”
{5T 715.1} “If the leading men in our conferences do
not now accept the message sent them by God, and fall into line for action,
the churches will suffer great loss. When the watchman, seeing the sword
coming, gives the trumpet a certain sound, the people along the line will
echo the warning, and all will have opportunity to make ready for the
conflict. But too often the leader has stood hesitating, seeming to say:
"Let us not be in too great haste. There may be a mistake. We must be
careful not to raise a false alarm." The very hesitancy and uncertainty
on his part is crying: "'Peace and safety.' Do not get excited. Be not
alarmed. There is a great deal more made of this religious amendment question
than is demanded. This agitation will all die down." Thus he virtually
denies the message sent from God, and the warning which was designed to stir
the churches fails to do its work. The trumpet of the watchman gives no
certain sound, and the people do not prepare for the battle. Let the watchman
beware lest, through his hesitancy and delay, souls shall be left to perish,
and their blood shall be required at his hand. {5T 715.2} God bless all who search and heed His
Word, Ron Also see: https://omega77.tripod.com/egwisaiahchap8.htm
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