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Timely Greetings, Vol. 2, Nos. 36, 37
THE ONLY PEACE OF MIND
Volume
2
Numbers
36, 37
Copyright,
1949 Reprint
All
rights reserved
V.T.
HOUTEFF
Democracy,
Communism, Catholicism, Or Protestantism--Which Rules Next?
History
And Prophecy, Commandments And Statutes--The Bible
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
1
TEXT
FOR PRAYER
Christ
Reproduced In His People
Christ's Object Lessons, page 69, beginning with the first paragraph:
"'When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the
sickle, because the harvest is come.' Christ
is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church.
When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His
people, then He will come to claim them as His own.
It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to look for, but to
hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly
the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel.
Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come
to gather the precious grain."
Here is truth that tells when we may expect Christ to come and gather
His own: "When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in
His people."
We should now pray that we put forth the effort to grow as Christians,
to love and work for others, to reproduce Christ's character in us, then this
old world will come to an end, and the new world will for us commence.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
2
DEMOCRACY,
COMMUNISM, CATHOLICISM,
OR
PROTESTANTISM--WHICH IS NEXT
TO
RULE THE WORLD?
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
MAY 15, 1948
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
Are the nations from now on to live in two worlds? Man may guess, but he cannot predict. God alone knows the future. And if He does not tell us, then we shall never know ahead of time.
PICTURE
Daniel
7; Revelation 13, 17
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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On this charted symbolism is seen the world in prophecy from the
prophet Daniel's time down to our day, and beyond.
In this symbolical prophecy, therefore, we must search to see if there
is any information given on the subject in question.
We and the majority in Christendom commonly believe that the lion
represents the ancient empire of Babylon, the bear Medo-Persia, the leopard
Grecia, and the non-descript beast in his two phases the empires of Pagan and
Papal Rome. But as to the
leopard-like beast, and the scarlet-colored, we may not hold views alike.
And that is why we need to study now as never before if we are to know
the Truth.
If the beasts of Daniel, the first four beasts on the chart, represent
four periods of time, one following the other, then why should not the last
three likewise represent three periods of time, one following the other? --
Logically they should. We need
not, however, wholly depend upon logic, for the symbols themselves should
define the time and the systems they portray.
In contrast to the crownless horns on the non-descript beast (Daniel's
fourth beast) you see the crowned horns on the leopard-like beast of
Revelation 13.
Why crowns on the one and no crowns on the other? -- The only logical
and scriptural answer that can be given is this: The angel explained to Daniel
that the horns on the non-descript beast symbolize kings that had no kingdom
as yet, that they would someday arise, take up their crowns and reign.
(Daniel 7:24). And history
records that
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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this
happened when Pagan Rome fell, and that the kings that then took their crowns,
kingdoms, are the kings who reach down to our day.
These kings have now almost dwindled away, their thrones are being
taken by Fascism, Communism, or by some form of Republicanism.
The leopard-like beast, therefore, having his horns crowned, definitely
denotes that he comes into being after the career of the non-descript beast,
after the fall of Pagan Rome, and during the time the kings receive their
kingdoms, for crowned horns denote crowned kings.
Moreover, the leopard-like beast blasphemed God and His tabernacle
forty-two months, which is exactly the same length of time in which the little
horn power of the non-descript beast was to speak against the Most High and to
wear out the saints. He was to do
this for a time (one year), times (two years), and dividing of time (half
year) equal to forty-two months (Dan. 7:25).
Both the leopard-like and the non-descript beast in the second phase,
were against God and His people for the same length of time -- forty-two
symbolical months.
Plainly, then, the leopard-like beast reigns contemporaneously with the
second phase of the non-descript beast.
Still further, the leopard-like beast is a composite beast of all the
beasts before it! His mouth of a
lion, feet of a bear, body of a leopard, and ten horns are marks which
identify him to be a descendant of the four ancient world empires -- Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. He
is therefore the symbol of the world of today, the fifth symbolical beast.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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Now the fact that the wounded head of the leopard-like was to have his
wound healed, and also the fact that the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation
17 is a beast that has the same characteristics as the leopard-like beast,
having ten horns and seven heads but no wound on any of them, proves that the
latter beast is symbolical of the time after the deadly wound is healed, of a
seventh period of time for the two-horn beast comes before the scarlet-colored
beast, and he is the one who makes an image of the beast before it.
We are now ready to see by means of this symbolical beast, the seventh,
the kind of world we are entering into, -- whether Democracy, Communism,
Catholicism, or Protestantism, is next to rule.
Light on the subject can be seen from the horns, and from the woman
that rides, rules, the beast.
Let us first determine whom the woman represents.
The first clue is in the widely known fact that Inspiration never
symbolizes civil governments by a woman, but It does repeatedly symbolize a
religious institution, a church, by a woman, one that brings converts to its
creed. The beast, as do all other
symbolical beasts, we have seen, represents the world, while the horns
represent the rulers. The horns,
ten in number are, moreover, significant of universality as are the ten toes
on the great image of Daniel 2, and the ten virgins of Matthew 25.
The heads, seven in number, also signify completeness, the whole.
Now the fact that the horns have no kingdom as yet, while the woman
rides the beast, also the fact that the woman rides it, rules it, is
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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evidence
enough that the world is next to be ruled by an ecclesiastical body, not
purely by Democracy or by Communism.
That the woman riding the beast symbolizes the world in this day and
age is evident from the fact that the ten horns, the civil powers that be
during the reign of Babylon, hate the woman, the Church.
Communism being the only world-wide ruling power since the world began
to hate religion, the Church, is itself solid proof that the ten horns are
symbolical of Communism, and that the beast represents a period of time in
which Communism is about to dominate the world's seat of government.
God is nevertheless to intercept by putting it in their hearts to
"give their power and strength unto the beast," "and to give
their kingdom unto the beast, until the word of God is fulfilled."
Thus they receive power one symbolical hour with the beast, they
themselves not having a kingdom of their own.
And in the end of the "hour" they "make her desolate and
naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." Rev. 17:16.
Since the woman is a "mother of harlots" (Rev. 17:5), it is
obvious that other sects have sprung from her.
We have now seen that the world is next to be ruled not by Democracy,
not by Communism, not by Protestantism, nor by Catholicism.
It is to be ruled by a system of religion in which all her daughters
participate -- a church and state government, which is to be an image or
likeness of the leopard-like beast before it received its deadly wound.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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Soon, Brother, Sister, we are to enter into this period of persecution,
and how thankful we should be that there is no need to fear, no need to be
taken off guard. For with the
Light now shining on our pathway we should know what to expect and how to cope
with the situation. Truly
"unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Ps. 112:4.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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The
Lord Is Coming
The
Lord is coming! seas, retire!
Ye
mountains, melt to liquid fire!
Ye
oceans, cease to ebb and flow!
His
stately steppings ye should know.
The
Lord is coming! Who shall stand?
Who
shall be found at His right hand?--
He
with the righteous garment on
Which
Christ our glorious King hath won.
The
Lord is coming! watch and pray!
So
shalt thou hasten that glad day;
So
shalt thou then escape the snare,
And
Christ's eternal glory share.
--Anon.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 36
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TEXT
FOR PRAYER
The
Good And The Bad Seed
I shall read from Christ's Object Lessons, beginning on page 70.
"'The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good
seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among
the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also.' 'The field,' Christ said, 'is the world.'
But we must understand this as signifying the church of Christ in the
world. The parable is a
description of that which pertains to the kingdom of God, His work for the
salvation of men, and this work is accomplished through the church.... The
good seed represents those who are born of the word of God, the truth.
The tares represent a class who are the fruit or embodiment of error,
of false principles. 'The enemy
that sowed them is the devil.' Neither
God nor His angels ever sowed a seed that would produce a tare.
The tares are always sown by Satan, the enemy of God and man."
According to this reading, our prayer this afternoon should be that we
realize that God through servants of His own appointment accomplishes His work
for the salvation of souls, that neither He nor His angels ever sowed a tare,
but that Satan, the enemy of God and man, sows the tares.
Let us pray, too, then that we ourselves be of the good seed, those
born of the Truth, and not of the bad seed, not of those who are the fruit of
the flesh, devoid of the Spirit.
Timely
Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 37
10
HISTORY
AND PROPHECY, COMMANDMENTS
AND
STATUTES--THE BIBLE
TEXT
OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER
OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
JULY 17, 1948
MT.
CARMEL CHAPEL
WACO,
TEXAS
What a gloomy life this would be if there were no history -- if there were no possible way of knowing the past. And still worse would it be if there were no prophecy -- if there were no way of getting an idea what the future holds. But worst of all would it be if there were no light on the present.
Let me illustrate: Suppose you should look out of your windows both
toward the east and toward the west, and you should see the land lighted for
miles around, even to the horizon, but there were no light at all in your own
home! Again, suppose you should
wish to drive somewhere, and you had a flood of lights both on the rear and on
the front of your car, but the motor would not turn over.
What good would the car be to you?
and what good the lights? That
is the exact predicament you would be in if you understood history and
understood prophecy, but knew nothing about your own spiritual condition, knew
not that you were being overcome by the fiery darts of the Devil.
It would be like walking over a bridge which, unbeknown to you, was
collapsing.
You will agree, I know, that it is absolutely
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 37
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necessary
to know both history and prophecy, absolutely necessary to know the past and
the future. But this in itself
will not profit you if your soul is languishing in darkness, if you are
spiritually dead and do not know it; -- no, this will not profit you anymore
than would a car with a flood of light before and behind but with the motor
dead. The life to your soul, and
the light closest your feet are, therefore, of first importance.
And how are these to be obtained?--
The Bible, you know, consists of three parts: (1) History, (2)
Commandments and Statutes, (3) Prophecy.
The Psalms and the Proverbs, along with The Song of Solomon, come under
these same categories. History
tells the past, and prophecy tells the future, but the keeping of the
commandments and the statutes brings the blessings that should be ours today,
enlightens the soul, and shields the body.
Indeed, Jesus in the commandments and the statutes is our only
salvation. Am I speaking the
truth? -- Let us see what Jesus Himself has to say:
Rev.
22:16, 13, 14 -- "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these
things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the
bright and morning star.... I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,
the first and the last. Blessed
are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of
life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Matt.
5:17-22, 27, 28 -- "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 37
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break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called
the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard
that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is
angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.... Ye
have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit
adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after
her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
Only those who do God's commandments, you see, are able to enter the
Holy City. None others are thus
privileged. No, Jesus did not
come to bring crime and lawlessness, but rather to bring righteousness and
peace by blotting out the sins of all who repent of breaking the law.
To be saved involves much more than merely calling Him Lord and Saviour
and shouting halleluia.
"Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to Me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?
and in Thy name have cast out devils?
and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I
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profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Matt.
27:21-24.
Jesus said: "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed
Me." John 5:46. To believe
in Moses is to believe what he wrote; to believe in Jesus is to believe what
He says. If you cannot believe in
Moses, then you cannot believe in Jesus.
And how much shall we believe? -- Jesus answers: "O fools, and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Lu. 24:25.
If we are to believe all, then let us first read--
Mal.
4:4, 5 -- "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded
unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord."
You know by now that Malachi, chapters 3 and 4, prophetically speak to
the people of today, to the people just before the great and dreadful day, to
the people to whom antitypical Elijah the prophet is sent.
And what wise counsel does the Lord give through Malachi? -- He says,
"Remember ye the Law of Moses My servant."
Which law? -- The law of "statutes and judgments" which the
Lord commanded "in Horeb." Since
this is God's faithful advice to His people of this day, we would do well to
restudy this law of Moses, and to remember it, for we cannot disregard His
counsel and still expect His blessings.
Broadly speaking, the law of Moses consists
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of
three parts. The first is the
Ceremonial law, the law of the temple -- the sacrificial law.
This law, of course, we today must not observe, except in antitype, for
it foreshadowed things to come, particularly Christ's first advent.
Thus it is that if we had lived in Old Testament times and had failed
to comply with the sacrificial law and system of that day, we would thereby
have demonstrated unbelief in Christ, Who was to come.
But since we are living in the Christian era, if we should now observe
the typical sacrificial law and system, we should thereby demonstrate unbelief
in Christ, Who has come.
And so, as this law was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14), we need not,
and must not, observe it now.
The second part of Moses' law, is the law by which Israel was to rule
its people, the civil, or legal law, -- the law which defines what penalty the
government should impose upon those who are caught stealing, killing, or the
like. Now, since we as Christians
do not have a government of our own, but are still under the governments of
the nations of today, we personally, or as a group are not required to enforce
the legal law of Moses either.
The only law of Moses, therefore, that we can possibly be admonished to
remember, is the third part of his law: the moral law, which consists of the
things that pertain to us as individuals, the things that we as individuals
must perform, the things that perfect our character, the things that make us a
peculiar people. We therefore
need to search out and do the things contained in the moral law of Moses --
"The commandments, and the statutes and the judgments." Deut. 5:31.
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 37
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And the surest way to select these moral essentials from among those
things which pertain to the sacrificial and the legal systems, is to go to the
book of Deuteronomy. This book is
the summary of all the laws and statutes which Moses spoke to ancient Israel,
his last words.
We shall begin with his prediction of our own situation, of our
sojourning in the land of the Gentiles, as it is this day, the certification
of the fact that in the counsels of Moses' writings we, too, are included.
Deut.
4:26-31 -- "I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that
ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to
possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be
destroyed. And the Lord shall
scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the
heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone,
which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find
Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee,
even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be
obedient unto His voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) He will not
forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers
which He sware unto them."
Here Moses predicted the disintegration of the kingdom then expected,
and the dispersion of the people of Israel throughout the nations, the
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Greetings, Vol. 2, No. 37
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exact
situation in which we are today. He
also herein predicted our visitation in the latter days, our time -- the time
we as Christians find ourselves as fugitives and sinners among the nations,
the time we are visited by Inspiration and are advised to "turn to the
Lord," to "be obedient unto His voice."
And if we obey, He will hear us and save us.
We should, therefore, now give ear to His voice, and whatsoever He
commands we must do if we want His blessings upon us.
Remember we anciently lost the Kingdom because of disobeying His
commandments and statutes, and it is certain that he will not take us back
into it so long as we neglect to take heed to His voice.
And here is the Voice which rings in our ears today as loudly as it did
in the ears of the people in Moses' day:
Deut.
5:11-21 -- "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for
the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.
Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify It, as the Lord Thy God hath commanded
thee. Six days thou shalt labour,
and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in It thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy
maidservant may rest as well as thou. And
remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy
God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm:
therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.
Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded
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thee;
that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou
shalt not kill. Neither shalt
thou commit adultery. Neither
shalt thou steal. Neither shalt
thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou
covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant,
his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's."
Deut.
6:5, 8 -- "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.... And thou shalt bind them for a
sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."
Deut.
7:6, 12, 15 - -"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the
Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all
people that are upon the face of the earth.... Wherefore it shall come to
pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord
thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which He sware unto
thy fathers:... And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will
put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but
will lay them upon all them that hate thee."
According to these verses most of our diseases are caused through
disobedience. And the very fact
that there is so much disease in our time is evidence in itself that the world
is reaping a full harvest for its disobedience.
Hence, the longer we continue in our sins the worse off we will be.
Deut.
10:12, 13, 19, 20 -- "And now, Israel, what doth
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the
Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His
ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good?... Love ye therefore the stranger:
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him
shalt thou cleave, and swear by His name."
Deut.
11:26-28 -- "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a
blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command
you this day: and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord
your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go
after other gods, which ye have not known."
Deut.
12:32 -- What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add
thereto, nor diminish from it."
Deut.
14:3 -- "Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing."
Deut.
18:10-12 -- "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his
son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an
observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a
necromancer. For all that do
these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these
abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."
Deut.
22:5-11 -- "The woman shall not wear that
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which
pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all
that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on
the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the
young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: but thou
shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be
well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.
When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for
thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from
thence. Thou shalt not sow thy
vineyard with diverse seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown,
and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen
together."
In this particular catalogue of commandments and statutes, you see that
God is particular what His people wear and what they eat.
He expects them to be kind to animals.
He wants them to be careful not to leave traps for the unaware to fall
into or for anyone to be hurt in any way.
Then, too, God's people are to farm in accordance with His wisdom if
they would have His blessings upon their labor, and if they would obtain
health from the food they eat.
Deut.
23:19-23 -- "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of
money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: unto a
stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend
upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest
thine hand to in the land whither thou
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goest
to possess it.
"When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not
slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it
would be sin in thee. But if thou
shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.
That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a
freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which
thou hast promised with thy mouth."
Deut.
24:6, 10-15 -- "No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to
pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge....
"When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into
his house to fetch his pledge. Thou
shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the
pledge abroad unto thee. And if
the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge: in any case thou shalt
deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his
own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before
the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not
oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy
brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: at his
day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for
he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the
Lord, and it be sin unto thee."
God's people are here told not to pledge their means or tools (not to
pledge "the nether or upper millstone") with which they make a
living. And they are not to be
exacting with
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their
poor brethren. They are not to
collect by force, and they are not to delay paying wages to the poor.
Deut.
25:4, 13-16 -- "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the
corn.... Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a
small. But thou shalt have a
perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy
days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an
abomination unto the Lord thy God."
Deut.
27:17, 21, 24, 26 -- "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's
landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.... Cursed be he that lieth with
any manner of beast. And all the
people shall say, Amen.... Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly.
And all the people shall say, Amen.... Cursed be he that confirmeth not
all the words of this law to do them. And
all the people shall say, Amen."
Deut.
28:1-4, 6, 15-22, 27, 35 -- "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt
hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do
all His commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will
set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall
come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou
be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground,
and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy
sheep....
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"Blessed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest
out....
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the
voice of the Lord Thy God, to observe to do all His commandments and His
statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon
thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt
thou be in the field. Cursed
shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed
shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy
kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest
out. The Lord shall send upon
thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto
for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly, because of
the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He have
consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and
with an inflamation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with
blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish... The
Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with
the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.... The Lord
shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot
be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head."
These verses need no comment. The
requirements are plain to all.
Deut.
30:15 -- "See, I have set before thee this day
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life
and good, and death and evil."
1
John 1:4-6 -- "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be
full. This then is the message
which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in
Him is no darkness at all. If we
say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth."
James
2:19, 20 -- "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, and tremble. But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
Your obeying "all the commandments, and the statutes, and the
judgments" of the moral law of Moses, you see, is your evidence that you
have been born again, that you have been endowed with power from above, that
you are enabled to choose the good and to refuse the evil, that you are the
children of God. Keeping the
commandments and the statutes in the Lord, then is the light and shield of
your life. It is the outward sign
that by the life of Christ you have overcome the Enemy of your soul and body.
This system of worship, therefore, is truly the Righteousness by faith
that brings the righteousness of Christ in the people of God.
Let us now with ears wide open hear the crier's bell:
Isa.
52:1, 7 -- "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy
beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no
more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.... How beautiful upon
the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto
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Zion,
Thy God reigneth!"
Nah.
1:15 -- "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."
Here the prophetic Word of God plainly declares by both Isaiah and
Nahum the prophets that when we see these good tidings published by him whose
feet are seen upon the mountains (and this is now taking place for the first
time since the prophets wrote), it is to be a sign that the wicked, the
violators of the laws of Moses, are soon to be cut off from among God's
people.
And now, since you are priviledged to hear all these things,
"happy are ye," says the Lord, "if ye do them." Job 13:17.
For the summary of our study, I would have you seriously look at this
illustration. Look at it, store
it in your mind, and study it at your leisure.
Yes, be convinced of the truth which I have tried to present to you,
for it is your life, your prosperity, your health and happiness, your
eternity.
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