Luke 21:8

Christian, Be Not Deceived!

CHAPTER III.

BIBLE PRINCIPLES ARISE OUT OF THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF THE GODHEAD.


As Creator, God is Supreme, and to Him should be rendered trustful obedience. The great controversy between Christ and Satan is a clash of principles. Before the inception of sin, God's creatures were governed by the principle that God was supreme, and that His will, being perfect and holy, should be obeyed without hesitation or question. So long as that principle was maintained peace, harmony, and joy prevailed throughout God's limitless kingdom. The thoughts of the sinless children of God were God- centred, not introspective and "self"-centred. The bliss of heaven was marred by Lucifer's principles of pride and "self"-exaltation, which led to revolt against God's supreme authority.

Repeatedly, Jesus stated that the purpose of His coming to earth was to reveal the character of His Father, and to teach the principle of implicit trust and, obedience to the will of the infinite God—"our heavenly Father." John 4:34; 5:30; 6:3; Matt. 26:39-44; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8.

Actuated by the principle of humble obedience to the will of God, the church has faced hostile forces following the principles of Satan's kingdom. In describing the final acts in the great drama of the conflict between the forces of good and evil, God's servant declares: "The Sabbath is to be the issue in the great final conflict in which all the world will act a part. Men have honoured Satan's principles above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the spurious Sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. . .. It is our work to lead people to understand this." 6T. 352, Thus we are instructed to deal with the Sabbath from the viewpoint of the principles involved. It is not a matter merely of a day, but of the principle of perfect trust and obedience to the will of a loving, all-wise, and Almighty God "a faithful Creator." 1 Peter 4:19.

The Third Angel's Message is based upon definite principles governing the interpretation of the Scriptures. In his opposition to God, Satan has devised a system of interpretation which, if followed, will blind people to the Third Angel's Message.

That the Sabbath is still binding is evident from the principle that God has made all vital matters pertaining to His work on earth a subject of prophecy. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. All texts in the Bible must be interpreted to agree with this fundamental principle. God's nature causes Him to clearly reveal His will. God did not predict that He would change His Sabbath day; therefore, the fourth Commandment is still obligatory on all mankind.

The perpetuity of the Law of God is established upon the principle that God's law is the expression of His character. As God's character is unchangeable, so is His law.

The teaching of an eternally burning hell in which sin would be perpetuated throughout eternity is contrary to the nature of God. God "canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13), and, therefore, would not make provision to behold sin throughout eternity. All texts dealing with the punishment of the wicked must be interpreted to agree with this principle. Other doctrines, also, may be sustained by well-defined Bible principles which have their origin in the character of God.

Because of God's holiness sinners cannot live in His kingdom. "The wages of sin is death." God's character also prompted the "unspeakable gift" (2 Cor. 9:15) of His Son. In order to give us eternal life Jesus was obliged to die. In the plan of redemption life comes from death. See John 12:24, 25. To receive new life from Christ the believer, too, must die–die to the "old man," the old nature. Rom. 6:11-13, etc. The more we die to sin and self, the more strength we develop in the new life. As in nature new life springs from the dead, so we obtain new life spiritually now, and literally at the resurrection. Therefore, from God's holiness arises the principle of life from death caused by sin. This oft-repeated Bible principle must guide in the interpretation of prophecy. There cannot be a millennium of peace and blessedness on earth to follow as the harvest from a world steeped in sin and iniquity. The doctrine of a desolate "dead" earth and the cleansing of the earth by the fires of the last days alone harmonizes with the principle of new life—a new world—emerging from death.

God, by nature, is a great Giver—but nothing is wasted, nothing uselessly destroyed. Throughout His kingdom there is a conservation of energy—even when things are apparently wasted. Dead leaves may fall from the trees, but they become life in the soil for next year's growth. Fruit that is not picked and eaten by man either becomes the birthplace and food supply for new plants, or rots and nourishes the soil. The substance that locks up energy may be destroyed, but the energy released serves some other purpose. Even the wicked who are destroyed in the fires of the last days are turned back to ground from whence they came. Mal. 4:1, 3. All nature agrees with Revelation that man's struggles after righteousness are not for nought. The God Who brings new growth, new life from decay, will certainly bring forth immortal life out of a life pleasing to Him. If He did not, it would be wasted effort. God permits nothing to waste. This world, itself, though marred ‘by sin, will rise from the cleansing fires to be the saints' abode and the place of the Lord's throne.

In nature we also see evidence that God has more than one object in view. The flowers provide the bees with honey, but the bees in seeking for the honey carry the pollen for reproducing the flowers. The flowers not only attract the bees and the insects, and thus reproduce themselves, but they gladden the heart of man with their beauty. In the spiritual realm, also, we see this principle. By destroying the wicked, God preserves the peace and happiness of His children. In sending Jesus to save the people of this world, God demonstrated to all the worlds on high that He is a God of goodness and righteousness and deserving of all their confidence and love. Thus He met Satan's false accusations against His character. God plans that man shall be instrumental in saving his fellowman because in helping another he helps himself.

God wastes nothing in nature, and He has more than one purpose in all that He does. Similarly, we see the principle that nothing is wasted in the Scriptures, and that God has more than one purpose in the experiences of ancient Israel: all that pertained to literal Israel is now useful to the church–even the conditional prophecies (such as Ezek. 38-48, etc.) which were not fulfilled in the experiences of literal Israel because of their failure to meet the conditions necessary for their fulfilment.

Jesus commands His followers: "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." John 6:12. The "fragments" filled twelve baskets. By heeding Bible principles of interpretation we are able to fill our "baskets" with what many regard as mere "fragments" of little value. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4.

In the prophecies (such as Joel 3; Zech. 14; Ezek. 38, 39; Rev. 16:12-16; 19:11-21) outlining "the final conflict," God does not waste valuable space in His Word referring to specific nations, for these prophecies relate to the church and her spiritual enemies. "The final conflict" concerns only the two opposing forces of good and evil.

The Godhead is a Trinity, and therefore the Scriptures constantly employ the number three–not only in the many instances where such use is plainly stated, but also intricately woven into the very warp and woof of the words and structure of Holy Writ.

In the Apocalypse (where the principles of interpretation for the whole of the Scriptures are found), Jehovah is mentioned three times in relation to the three divisions of time: "the Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come." Rev. 1:4, 8; 4:8. The name Jehovah signifies God's eternal existence: "The I AM" of the past, "The I AM" of the present, "The I AM" of the future. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." Heb. 13:8. Not only is time divided into three–past, present and future–but space is also divided into three planes–above, our plane of existence, and below. As in time and space it is the central, or second division and plane in which we live, so the second Person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, incarnate Deity, visibly contacted our time and mortal plane. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father)." John 1:14. "That which was from the beginning . . which we have seen with our eyes ... and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life." 1 John 1:1-3.

In the plan of redemption, Jesus is the visible manifestation of the Deity to man, and because of this the New Testament reveals the principle that the literal interpretations of Scripture are applicable when and where His literal Presence is manifested: (1) in the days of literal Israel, (2) in heaven now, (3) in the eternal kingdom on earth. Wherever Jesus is, there will be found the literal, the real, the tangible.

In dealing with national Israel, God spoke audibly to His people, and the evidences of His Presence were literally seen by them. When on earth, Jesus was literally seen, but with His death the period in which God revealed Himself through literal things – temple, priests, sacrifices, etc. – ended (Matt. 27:50, 51, etc.), and "the dispensation of the Holy Spirit" (T.M. 511) was ushered in. During this "dispensation of the Holy Spirit," the things of the kingdom of grace are based upon the spiritual and the invisible. Jesus declares: ". . . Even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not." John 14:17.

Jesus visibly appeared to man, and ministers among literal things: the Holy Spirit invisibly represents Christ to man, and glorifies Christ (John 16:14) by spiritually interpreting literal things. While Jesus is ministering in "the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched" (Heb. 8:2)—the literal temple in heaven—the Holy Spirit is ministering in the spiritual temple-the church-on earth. Ephes. 2:21. 22; 2 Cor. 6:16, etc. While Jesus is ministering among the seven candlesticks (Rev. 1: 12, 13) in the heavenly temple, the Holy Spirit is ministering among the seven spiritual candlesticks in the spiritual temple. "The seven candle- sticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." Rev. 1:20. The principle of the literal wherever Jesus is, and the spiritual now, while the Holy Spirit represents Jesus, gives rise to the principle of the triple application of the Scriptures, whereby the things relating to Israel must be interpreted to be: (1) literal before the cross; (2) spiritual on earth after the cross and the subsequent rejection. of the Jewish nation; (3) literal after the second advent. This triple application establishes the certainty of the Third Angel's Message. For further consideration of the triple application, see later chapters.

From the principle that the literal things are always grouped around Jesus, and the spiritual things are grouped around the Holy Spirit while He represents Christ, arises the principle that other things in the Scriptures are also grouped together. In the days of literal Israel things were grouped on a literal, national basis: in the times of spiritual Israel things are spiritually grouped together. Jerusalem, which was God's centre, and Babylon, Satan's centre, and all that were grouped with them, are brought into the New Testament and applied in a spiritual, world-wide sense.

As stated in my "Christ Conquers," pp. 76, 77: "When a person, place, or battle mentioned in the Old Testament is applied in the New Testament in a spiritual, or antitypical world-wide sense, the whole of the picture presented in the Old Testament narrative becomes an imagery in the antitypical application—even though all the associated features are not separately applied. Thus, once we see Babylon, the literal city which was built upon the literal river Euphrates, applied spiritually, or antitypically, as it is in the Apocalype, then we know that the river Euphrates, in Rev. 16:12, also must be applied spiritually, or antitypically—which is, of course, world- wide. Things in the antitypical application must stand together in the same relation as they did in the literal setting... The same principle operates in relation to Elijah and Jezebel. Both of these Old Testament characters are typical. In the Apocalypse there is no specific antitypical application of Elijah to the last message of God now about to sound with its loud cry. . . . But, the very fact that Rev. 2:20 applies Jezebel, Elijah's opponent, in an antitypical sense, is quite sufficient for us to see that all of the factors involved in the Old Testament presentation of the conflict between Elijah and the sun- worshiping forces in his day, are to be antitypically applied in the last days in connection with the world- wide spiritual conflict. Having drawn our attention to the fact that Jezebel is to be understood in an antitypical sense, the Lord expects us to see that the whole of the Old Testament picture is to be applied in exactly the same way....

"Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed that Ahab (the king and husband who introduced sun-worship into Israel to please Jezebel his wife) is typical of the State that will enforce Sunday keeping, to please the antitypical Jezebel, the apostate church; but such is the obvious application because of the fact that Jezebel, in Rev. 2:20, is applied by the Lord in an antitypical manner. An antitypical application of one of the features of the Old Testament narratives is an indication from God—the principle revealed—that all that is associated with it should also be understood in a world-wide, antitypical sense."

The book of Revelation is a divine example of this principle of things being grouped together, for all the places, proper names and designations are employed symbolically. By this group-principle we know that, as Babylon in Rev. 16 is interpreted spiritually, so the Euphrates and Armageddon, which are grouped with her, must also be interpreted in a spiritual, world-wide sense.

Prophetic interpretations must harmonize with clearly-stated principles which are based on the nature and work of God.