Home/Chat /Discussion /Links /Search /Resources /Order Form /SHRod /Audio /Contact us/ Espanol
Timely Greetings, Vol. 1, Nos. 31, 32
THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND
Volume
1
Numbers
31, 32
Copyright,
1953 Reprint
All
rights reserved
V.T.
HOUTEFF
The
Old Family Tree
Fathers Preferred Deceit their Children Given Grace
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
1
I shall read from "The Mount of Blessing," beginning on page
188, the last paragraph.
M.B., pg. 188 -- "Jesus...earnestly desired that the great
multitude might appreciate the mercy and loving kindness of God.
As an illustration of their need, and of God's willingness to give, He
presents before them a hungry child asking his earthly parent for bread.
'What man is there of you,' He said, 'whom if his son ask bread, will
he give him a stone?' He appeals
to the tender, natural affection of a parent for his child, and then says, 'If
ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask
Him?' No man with a father's
heart would turn from his son who is hungry and is asking for bread.
Would they think him capable of trifling with his child, of tantalizing
him by raising his expectations only to disappoint him?... And should any one
dishonor God by imagining that He would not respond to the appeals of His
children?
"...The Holy Spirit, the representative of Himself, is the
greatest of all gifts. All 'good
things' are comprised in this. The
Creator Himself can give us nothing greater, nothing better...."
If we do not believe what God tells us, if we do not believe what He
says He is, then we dishonor Him. He
is very anxious to give us gifts, but only if we want them.
He is particularly anxious to give us the greatest gift -- the gift of
the Holy Spirit. Naturally, with
this gift all other gifts are given. It
was this gift that Solomon asked for, and with it he was liberally given all
the other gifts. Let us likewise
pray for this great gift. It is
just what God wants to give us if we will only wholeheartedly and honestly
promise -- positively to use the gift in the way He would have us use it.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
2
THE
OLD FAMILY TREE
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MARCH 8, 1947
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
Let us turn to the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and begin our study with
the first verse.
Isa.
11:1 -- "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots."
Here is a family tree in which three persons are introduced.
This verse does not say whom the rod represents; it does not say whom
the Branch represents; but it does say that the stem is Jesse, the father of
king David. The rod, of course,
which came out of the stem, could be none other than the son of Jesse --
David, the king of ancient Israel. The
verses following this verse explain that the Branch is the Lord Himself.
Clearly, then, this family tree represents Jesse, David, and Christ.
The remaining verses of the chapter are concerning Christ, His work,
and His kingdom.
Isa.
11:2 -- "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."
Upon this one gift -- the gift of the Spirit -- all things
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
3
hinge.
Isa.
11:3, 4 -- "And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of the
Lord: and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall He judge the poor,
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the
earth: with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He
slay the wicked."
These verses, I am sure, need no comment save to mention that "the
rod of His mouth" and "the breath of His lips" must mean God's
Word, His Truth. This very Truth
to which we are listening this afternoon will, therefore, on the one hand slay
those who reject It together with those who are disobedient to It, but on the
other hand save those who give heed to It, and who comply with Its
requirements. The one consequence
is as natural as it the other. For
example, did not the preaching of the gospel of Christ save the Apostles, but
at the same time cause Judas to commit suicide?
And did it not save the disciples but destroy all the unbelieving of
Jerusalem in 70 A.D.?
In the Kingdom here predicted, not only are men to be at peace with
men, but men with beast, and beast with beast as well.
The reason given for such perfect peace is that the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Knowledge, then, is what we need, and
shall we turn it down now when it is so freely brought to our doors?
Just as soon as God's people obtain this knowledge of the Lord, just
that soon shall the kingdom appear. So
it is that while learning of God and of His wisdom,
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
4
we
are at the same time bringing peace on earth.
Plainly, then, those who have not this knowledge of the Lord cannot
become citizens of His kingdom. How
essential, then, that we study for ourselves; how essential that we know what
is Truth through our own personal experience, not through the experience of
others!
Isa.
11:10 -- "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall
stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest
shall be glorious."
That is, in the day of the Branch (in the Christian period), in the day
this family tree is completed, then it is that the kingdom of peace (the
church purified) sprouts, so to speak, from the ground up.
It then stands for an ensign to the people, and to It shall the
Gentiles seek for salvation. Plainly,
then, this old family tree, Kingdom, is to be set up while probation lasts.
Moreover, the place where It is to stand (rest) shall be glorious.
It is therefore to have Its own location, and Its own boundary line.
It is to be for the gathering of the people, the ark of today as was
Noah's ark in Noah's day. So we
are again brought to the same truth which Isaiah, chapter 2, and Micah,
chapter 4, teach:
Isa.
11:11, 12 -- "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall
set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which
shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the
sea. And He shall set up an
ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
5
of
the earth."
The Lord is to recover the remnant (those that are spared) of His
people in the day this Kingdom is set up; that is, the Kingdom is set, then
those who are left behind among the Gentiles, those who seek after the ensign,
the Lord is to recover them. This
second recovery of His people declares Inspiration, is to be from the four
corners of the earth. The first, as you know, was from Egypt only.
Isa.
11:13-15 -- "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries
of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not
vex Ephraim [--there shall be no sinner among them].
But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the
west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand
upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and
with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite
it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod."
Both kingdoms, Israel (sometimes called the house of Ephraim) and
Judah, are to be restored and united in the antitype.
They shall never again envy or vex each other. And through Ezekiel
commands the Lord:
"Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the
stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his
fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.
And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their
eyes. And say
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
6
unto
them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from
among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side,
and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the
land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and
they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two
kingdoms any more at all: neither shall they defile themselves any more with
their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein
they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I
will be their God." Ezek. 37:19-23.
Thus it is that "...in the days of these kings [not after their
days] 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 [the
kingdom] 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." Dan. 2:44, 45.
If the Kingdom is to destroy all these kingdoms, then It must be set up
before these kingdoms are destroyed. The
stone that is cut out of the "mountain" in the days of these kings,
is itself to become a great mountain, and It, the Kingdom, is to fill the
whole earth (Dan. 2:35, 45).
In the days of Moses the Lord smote but one stream, the Red Sea, and
one nation, Egypt. But now the
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
7
Lord
promises to smite every stream (all "seven") and cause His people
from the four corners of the earth to reach their land without so much as
getting their feet wet. Although
today as in Moses' day, such a thing seems utterly impossible, yet it is
certain that just as God made it possible then, He will now, too.
The battle is the Lord's, the will is ours.
We have nothing to do but to obey His voice.
That is our only duty Brother, Sister.
There is no Bible Truth plainer than this, and there is no truth as
important at this time as is this Truth.
These are the very reasons that it either saves or destroys -- to
accept It is to have all your sins blotted out; to reject It, is to sin
against the Holy Ghost. "Today
if ye will hear His Voice, harden not your [heart]" is God's counsel for
you and for me. You well know now
that this Truth is irrefutable. Try and see for yourself.
Isa.
11:16 -- "And there shall be an highway for the remnant of His people,
which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he
came up out of the land of Egypt."
After the first fruits and the Lamb are gone to Mount Sion, there shall
be a highway for the second fruits, for those who are still in
"Assyria," the world. In
other words, all obstructions shall be removed.
Our faith shall not fail us, and our hope shall not be in vain, for God
has not forsaken the earth. He
Who rules and guides the stars in their unerring path, is able to lead us
safely to our own land. Indeed, just as not one of them fails in its course,
so not one of God's promises shall ever fail to materialize.
Let no one deceive you in this. Study
verse by verse, word for word, read, stop and think,
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
8
do
not hastily pass by this positive, most urgent Truth, for as it was in the
days of the flood so shall it be now, says the Lord (Matt. 24:37).
The first born (firstfruits) who failed to paint the door post with the
sacrificial blood in the first exodus, the type, perished.
So any of the firstfruits of today who fails to comply with the demands
of the message for today, will as certainly perish at the angel's slaughter
weapons (Ezek. 9:5, 6).
Isa.
12:1-3 -- "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee:
though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou
comfortedst me. Behold, God is my
salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my
strength and my song; He also is become my salvation.
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of
salvation."
"In that day," that is, in the day His people are being
gathered from the four corners of the earth, in that day are they thus to
praise Him, because they will plainly see that His anger has been turned away
from them. They will positively
know that He is their salvation, their fear, and their strength. They will
therefore with greater joy drink in the freshly revealed truths of the Bible.
Isa.
12:4 -- "And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon His
name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is
exalted."
"In that day," that is, in the gathering time shall they
encourage one another to praise the Lord, to call upon His name, and to
declare His doings among the people. They
will then whole-heartedly and with knowledge be doing real and profitable
missionary work.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
9
Isa.
12:5, 6 -- "Sing unto the Lord; for He hath done excellent things: this
is known in all the earth. Cry
out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in
the midst of thee."
You certainly will not let anything hinder or stifle your voice now
that God commands to cry out and shout.
"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.
No, this is not what popular theology teaches, but you admit that this
is what the Bible teaches, and that It we must believe rather than men.
Thus far faith in God's promises has not failed us, and why will He
fail us now? -- Never. Faith
mixed with works will bring everything in due season.
The adversaries of Truth shall fail, but Truth shall triumph, and the
faithful with It.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen. For by it the
elders obtained a good report. Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that
things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
"By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
By faith Enoch was
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
10
translated
that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated
him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he
condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing
whither he went. By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
"Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive
seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged
Him faithful Who had promised. Therefore
sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the
sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things, declare plainly that they seek a
country. And truly, if they had
been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. But
now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
11
ashamed
to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he
that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it
was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able
to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a
figure. By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph;
and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the
children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his
parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of
the king's commandment. By faith
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the
recompence of the reward. By
faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as
seeing Him who is invisible. Through
faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest He that
destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
"By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which
the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed
about seven days. By faith the
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
12
harlot
Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the
spies with peace.
"And what shall I more say? for
the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of
Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens.
"Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not
worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of
the earth.
"And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect." Hebrews 11:1-40.
Now while the eternal records are being made, will you not cause your
name to be written among the great heroes of God?
How can you afford to eternally lose out at such a late hour?
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 31
13
FATHERS
PREFERRED DECEIT
THEIR
CHILDREN GIVEN GRACE
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MARCH 15, 1947
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
We shall study the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah, beginning with the
very first verse.
Here, as in other chapters of Isaiah's prophecy, you will notice that a
part of the chapter (in this instance, the first seventeen verses) speaks of
the sins of ancient Israel, the fathers of antitypical Israel, and of their
fall from power. But the
remainder of the chapter speaks of Israel in the latter days, the days in
which antitypical Israel rises to power.
Let us now consider
Isa.
30:1, 2 -- "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take
counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not
asked at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to
trust in the shadow of Egypt!"
Evidently God's people in those days were guilty of these sins.
Instead of trusting in God to deliver them from their enemies, they
trusted in Pharaoh. What a poor
support to lean on! As a result
they were plainly told:
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
14
Isa.
30:3-7 -- "Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the
trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an
help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and
anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying
serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and
their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit
them. For the Egyptians shall
help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their
strength is to sit still."
This, as you know, is exactly what befell God's ancient people.
How much better it is to sit still, to wait on the Lord for help when
you are helpless, than to solicit the help of His enemies!
Isa.
30:8 -- "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever."
True, they killed the prophets for warning the people of their sin, but
God decreed that the prophets' writings against the existing sins must remain
intact to be read as object lessons by the generations that were to follow
thereafter. God's people of
today, therefore, have no excuse for repeating the mistakes of their
predecessors. If they do repeat
the sins of those who have gone before them, however, then their guilt will
bring upon them even greater doom than was brought upon the Jews.
And if no one can deny that Isaiah's prophecies against the Jews were
fulfilled, then who can dare say that they will not be fulfilled
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
15
against
us if we fail as they did?
Isa.
30:9, 10 -- "That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children
that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and
to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth
things, prophesy deceits."
By killing the prophets for their frank speaking, God's ancient people
were in effect saying, Prophesy unto us deceit.
Tell us smooth things, we do not want to know the truth about us.
Does this thing still exist among us? -- Let me tell you an incident
that will quickly answer this question.
Just the other day from a brother minister I received a very kindly
written letter, in which he sincerely expresses his opinion of our literature.
He very politely explained that all he has against it is that in it we
speak of the sins and mistakes which the leaders of the church commit.
If you have love for them he said, you will speak only good of them.
I do appreciate this brother's sincerity in this matter, but I do not
appreciate his judgment on it. If
he will re-examine the literature, I am sure he will find that we have said
nothing but only what the Scriptures say on the subject for our time.
Therefore his burden in actuality is directed, not against us but
against God Himself!
Our business, Brother, Sister, is not to find fault with either the
ministry or the laity, but to truthfully bring to light what the Scriptures
have to say to God's people of today. We
cannot do otherwise, God helping us. Ezekiel's
charge is our charge:
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
16
"When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou
givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way,
to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood
will I require at thine hand." Ezek. 3:18.
When the Jews found fault with the prophets for speaking of the sins in
which the priests were indulging, they actually said:
Isa.
30:11 -- "Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the
Holy One of Israel to cease from before us."
Spiritual blindness is a cruel thing.
Its victims can hardly be made to see either their sins or the
righteousness of God. They
misinterpret and misapply everything that is intended for their own good.
Isa.
30:12, 13 -- "Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye
despise this Word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling
out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant."
If the spiritual eyes of God's ancient people could possibly have been
opened, if they could have seen that their sins were undermining the
foundation upon which they were standing, they would not have spit upon the
faces of the prophets for warning them of their plight.
Indeed not. Instead, they would have welcomed the prophets.
Isa.
30:14 -- "And He shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel
that is broken in pieces; He shall not spare: so that there shall not be found
in the
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
17
bursting
of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the
pit."
Who dares deny that their kingdom thus fell?
All these things came upon them only because they refused to hear the
prophets.
Isa.
30:15-18 -- "For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In
returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be
your strength: and ye would not. But
ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We
will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five
shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as
an ensign on an hill. And
therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore
will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of
judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him."
Because there was nothing that could have been done to save our
ancestors from shame, the Lord let the nations beat His people and scatter
them to the four winds. He
nevertheless left a promise that He would wait until they as a people have
gone through their period of prodigality, until they as individuals discover
their mistakes and give the Lord opportunity to display His grace to them.
Those who wait for Him are certainly to receive His blessings.
With the eighteenth verse comes the dividing line between the account
of God's ancient people and the forecast of His people's future in the latter
days. Up to this point is the
record of the former; now concerning the promises to the latter, we read:
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
18
Isa.
30:19 -- "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt
weep no more: He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when
He shall hear it, He will answer thee."
What is the reason that God so patiently waits?
and why does He promise His grace so abundantly to His people? --
Because He is determined that they shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem.
His aim is to take them back there, and to give them rest.
His purpose is to end their weeping, to hear their prayers, and to
grant their needs.
So it is that while God's ancient people faced destruction, punishment,
and desolation, we now are facing restoration, pity, and grace.
Today we have the same promise that the people had in Moses' day --
yes, greater.
Isa.
30:20 -- "And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the
water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any
more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers."
Although God anciently permitted the peoples' teachers (their prophets)
to be pushed into a corner, abused, and slaughtered, He will permit it no
longer. The eyes of His people
shall see their God-appointed teachers as they are brought to the front.
Isa.
30:21 -- "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is
the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to
the left."
There is therefore no need for any of us to go wrong.
There is no excuse for making mistakes which we ought not make.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
19
Isa.
30:22 -- "Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them
away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence."
No, God's faithful people will not hold to anything that displeases the
Lord. Not only will they cast
away all idolatrous things, but they will actually hate them.
Isa.
30:23 -- "Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow
the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat
and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures."
When we comply with all God's requirements, then it is that we will
prosper. Then it is that the
devourer shall be rebuked, and the curses kept back from us.
We should therefore now realize that prosperity does not depend merely
upon one's ability, but that it depends even more upon God's approval of one's
deeds.
Isa.
30:24 -- "The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall
eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the
fan."
If our cattle are to have clean feed, then how much more important that
we ourselves have spiritual food that is winnowed by the Spirit of Truth.
This they are to have.
Isa.
30:25 -- "And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every
high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall."
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
20
Obviously, when God's waters of salvation cover the earth -- even to
the tops of the mountains, so to speak -- then the watch towers (the pulpits),
which the people have on their own initiative built, will fall.
Doubtless the day of slaughter is the great and dreadful day of the
Lord. So again we are brought
face to face with the reality that Truth does one of two things -- if It
cannot save, It destroys.
This Truth to which you are listening today will verily spread
throughout the world as fire spreads in stubble.
Matters not who attempt to stop God's Truth, I know that all such will
stumble and fall and not be found, but that the Truth shall cover the earth.
Isa.
30:26 -- "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the
sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days,
in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the
stroke of their wound."
Were this not a figure of speech, were the sun actually to become seven
times hotter than it is, then the earth itself would go into flames.
Obviously the sun in this instance is used figuratively to illustrate
that the light of God's Word now while He is binding the "wound" of
His people, is to increase sevenfold -- all the light that there is will burst
upon the earth as does the sun after a cloudy day.
Moreover, the moon (the church), the agency which reflects the rays of
the sun into the dark places of the earth, will as a result accommodate the
people, not much better than she has heretofore, but perfectly.
Already we see the light of God's Word rising higher and higher with
each passing week.
Isa.
30:27 -- "Behold, the name of the Lord cometh from
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
21
far,
burning with His anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: His lips are full of
indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire."
Look! commands the Lord,
the unveiling of these truths indicates but one thing -- that we are
approaching the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the day in which there
shall be but one Lord, and His name one.
Isa.
30:28 -- "And His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the
midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity and there
shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err."
The Lord's breath, His written Word, will rise (revealed Truth will
increase) up and up until It shall reach to the "midst of the neck,"
as it were, to sift the nations. The
vain shall fall, but the humble, those that wait for the Lord, shall stand.
Isa.
30:29 -- "Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is
kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the
mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel."
Yes, the rejecters of God's Word may lament and gnash their teeth in
outer darkness, but the obedient, those who wait for the Lord, shall sing as
when a holy solemnity is kept, and shall, as it were, play with a pipe
instrument "to come into the mountain [kingdom] of the Lord."
Isa.
30:30 -- "And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and
shall shew the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger,
and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and
hailstones."
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
22
God is about to thus manifest His power and vindicate His cause.
The days of His silence are almost past.
Isa.
30:31-33 -- "For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be
beaten down, which smote with a rod. And
in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay
upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will
He fight with it. For Tophet is
ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; He hath made it deep and
large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a
stream of brimstone, doth kindle it."
If God's people in ancient days had believed what the prophets told
them, what a difference it would have made!
Their mistakes must now become our knowledge, our stepping stones of
escape.
"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was
faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his
house.... Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering
into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the Word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
It. Again, He limiteth a certain
day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye
will hear His voice, harden not your hearts." Heb. 3:1, 2; 4:1, 2, 7.
Our forefathers preferred deceit.
We, though, ought to now gladly respond to Mercy's plea, and thus
obtain grace.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 1, No. 32
23