God First!

Continued

March 7, 1897

The Apostasy of Israel. - No. 5.

(Sunday Evening, March 7, 1897.)

Now the Lord says of us that has delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The kingdom of God is established again among his people, and "the kingdom of God is within you," and it is among you by being within each one and all. Now then, the kingdom of God is a perfect kingdom, because the king is a perfect king, because the law of that kingdom is a perfect law. Then is a perfect king, and a perfect law, and a perfect kingdom, sufficient for you? Is it? Is that enough for a man?-O yes, assuredly! Ought it to be enough for a man? 

And if all that is not enough for a man, is the trouble with the kingdom, or with the man?-

You know that the trouble can be only with the man. But suppose the man professes to be a Christian. Is the trouble still with the man, or with the kingdom? 

(Voices) With the man. 

Suppose he professes to be a Seventh-day Adventist, and the kingdom of God is not sufficient for him; suppose you get a crowd of them together, and the kingdom of God is not sufficient for them, but they must have a kingdom of their own, another kingdom; they must set up a government, must tax themselves, choose off rulers from among themselves to govern themselves; are they God's children? Is God's perfect kingdom enough for them? Do they belong to the government of God? Is God's government enough for them? Is the kingdom of God in them? Is it? How can it be, when the perfect kingdom, and the perfect king, and the perfect law, is not enough for them? 

You see, then, that separation of church and state, even among Seventh-day Adventists, begins in the heart; and it must begin there with every man, everywhere, or there can be no separation of church and state where he is. If no man in the fourth century, in the Roman Empire, had had a union of church and state in his own heart, there would not have been a papacy formed in the fourth century. If he had had only the church, the church alone, in his heart, and none of the state, none of principles of the state, only the church,-God, his kingdom, his law, his righteousness, he alone ruling there,-could there ever have been a papacy? 

(Voices) No. 

Then what is the thing that is essential always to avoid?-Any union of church and state in the heart. What, then, is the only sure safeguard against a papacy? It is to love God with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength. It is to "get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house." It is to turn your back upon Egypt. It is to "dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations."

 

I read now from "Empires of the Bible," page 152 and onward, some quotations that I inserted there from "Patriarchs and Prophets," with scriptures, upon this very connection. First I read some of my own words; but I will tell you when I read the words of "Patriarchs and Prophets:"- 

"Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." The Lord never intended that his people should be formed into a kingdom, or state, or government, like the people of this world. They were not to be like the nations around them. They were to be separated unto God "from all the people that were upon the face of the earth." "The people shall not be reckoned among the nations."

Now if I reckon myself as belonging to the state of Germany, then am I reckoning myself among the nations? If I reckon myself as belonging to the government of England, a part of it, a loyal and patriotic citizen, who would fight for the flag, am I reckoning myself among the nations? And if I fight for that flag, my flag, my British flag, and my Seventh-day Adventist brother over here belongs to the United States, and is loyal and patriotic, and the two nations get into war, and he must repel invasions, and there is a conflict, then I am on one side, and my brother is on the other, and brother is fighting against brother. Has God ordained that?-You know that he has not. Then did he ever mean anything when he said that the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations? 

I read on a little of my own writing in "Empires of the Bible:"- 

Their government was to be a theocracy pure and simple-God their only King, their only Ruler, their only Lawgiver. It was, indeed, a church organization, beginning with the organization of "the church in the wilderness;" and was to be separated from every idea of a state. The system formed in the wilderness through Moses, and continued in Cainaan through Joshua, was intended to be perpetual. 

Now I read from "Patriarchs and Prophets:"- 

The government of Israel was administered in the name and by the authority of Jehovah. The work of Moses, of the seventy elders, of the rulers and judges, was simply to enforce the laws that God had given. They had no authority to legislate for the nation. 

Who had no authority to legislate for the nation? 

(Voices) The church. 

How many composed the church? Did that take in one, or two, or ten, or twelve, or any fifty?-Yes. Then did they, or any of them, have any authority to legislate for the rest, or even for themselves?-They did not. 

Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add aught unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it. 

Quoting again now from "Patriarchs and Prophets:"- 

This was, and continued to be, the condition of Israel's existence as a nation. 

Then when Israel departed from that, and took the step to-The loss of existence. Do not forget that. 

Now another paragraph which I have written, and which I want to repeat now:- 

The principles of the government of Israel were solely those of a pure theocracy. In any government it is only loyalty to the principles of the government on the part of the citizens, that can make it a success. 

That is universally held to be so. What government are we considering here? The government of God. Of what government were they citizens?-The government of God. Then loyalty to the principles of that government was the only thing that could make that government and that rulership a success, even with God. 

It was only by the constantly abiding presence of God with Israel, that the government there established could possibly be a success. Loyalty to the principles of that government, therefore, on the part of the people demanded that each one of the people should constantly court the abiding presence of God with himself, as the sole King, Ruler, and Lawgiver, in all the conduct of his daily life. But "without faith it is impossible to please Him." It is "by faith" that God dwells in the heart and rules in the life. Therefore the fundamental principle, indeed the very existence, of the government of Israel, lay in a living, abiding faith on the part of the people of Israel. 

Continued…

Choosing God's Law

March 7, 1897

The Apostasy of Israel. - No. 5.

(Sunday Evening, March 7, 1897.)

IN the lesson the other evening I stated that I had never seen until lately a copy of the ten commandments published by Seventh-day Adventists, outside of the Bible, that was as God spoke them. I am glad that the time has come when Seventh-day Adventists can have a copy of God's law as God gave it. I am glad that Brother Howe has gotten out copies of the law of God, as God gave it. And now let us not leave ourselves open any longer to the same charge as others, of leaving out part of the law of God, when we go before the people. 

You can see plainly enough that the man who first gave out that copy of the law of God that nearly everybody else uses, was an Egyptian. It says, "I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." But he said to himself, That does not apply to me, nor to anybody living nowadays; for we have never been brought out of Egypt. That was only for the Jews. He therefore left it out and printed the rest of the law, and thus presented to the world a mutilated copy of the law which the Lord himself gave. He thus caused it to appear that the only document that the Lord ever spoke from heaven began without telling who was the author of it, without even introducing him, but began just in a blunt, indefinite way "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The question might well at once arise, Who in the world are you? Who is it that is talking? Well, when the law is taken as it was given, God tells who it is that is talking. "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." That is who it is that is talking; you shall have no other gods before me, "who am able to redeem from the bondage of Egypt."

Another thought just here is important: When the law is printed without the introduction that the Lord himself spoke, as it usually is on charts and cards, it is found necessary to place at the head of it the words, "The Law of God." This shows that men realize the necessity that there shall be some sort of certificate as to whose law it is, and who it is that speaks these commandments. And, seeing this necessity, men put at the head of the law of God their certificate that it is the law of God. 

But if they would only print the law as the Lord gave it, they would have the Lord's own certificate that it is the law of God, and that it is he himself who speaks these commandments. He says: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me," etc. And when men can have the Lord's own certificate that it is his law, surely there will be no need of any man's certificate that it is the law of God. 

And is not the Lord's certificate this is his law, better than the certificate of any man or of all men together? And when men leave out the Lord's own certificate that this is his law, and put their own certificate there, could there be any clearer case of men putting themselves in the place of God? O, let us put away this highhanded, bungling work; and let us take the holy law as its holy Author spoke it and wrote it! "I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Amen. Let it be so. 

Having there all that the Lord spoke, the law of God then presents to the world both the Redeemer and the Creator. It then tells all men that he who is the Author of that law, that he who calls man to its observance, is both Redeemer and Creator. This is shown by the law itself. And when they leave out the part that reveals the Redeemer, it is no wonder that they are willing and ready to leave out the part that reveals the Creator of man. Satan always wanted to get rid of the law, and to hide from men its importance. He started with having the Redeemer left out of it; and now he ends with having the Creator left out of it. But the Lord wants us to know that it is he who delivered us from Egypt, so we shall be able to see both the Redeemer and the Creator in the law which he gave for man. 

Another thing. When you and I can see, and do see, that Israel, when they went into the land, did not go at all into the land that the Lord intended for them, but missed it altogether, we can see how it was a disappointment to Moses not to go there. Now when it appears, as it does to some people, that Israel went into the land the Lord had prepared for them, and that that was exactly where the Lord wanted to take them, and then see that Moses died and went to heaven, they say that Moses had the best of the bargain after all; and that it was not so much of a disappointment to take him out of the land and take him to heaven. 

But when we understand that the Lord wanted to take him into his holy habitation, into the place he had made for himself to dwell in, into the sanctuary that his hands had established; then we can see how it was a disappointment even for Moses to die and go to heaven without entering into that land. When he could see that it was his sin that had something to do with keeping them out of the blessed land of promise; when he could see that Israel had missed what the Lord had for them; when he saw the glorious land, as he did from the top of Nebo, and was obliged to contemplate the long ages of wandering, of apostasy, and of trouble, through which the cause and people of God were to pass, and know that he had even a little to do with causing that long course of wandering; it is easy enough to see what a grievous disappointment it was to him not to enter that land without dying at all-even though he was taken to heaven from the grave. 

One other text, if any one were needed to settle the fact that Israel did not get out of Egypt as long as they were in the wilderness, is found in the book of Joshua. You remember the passage,-after they had crossed Jordan, then they were circumcised,-it is written, "This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you." Those people, you see, who left Egypt, never got out of Egypt till they had crossed Jordan; for not until then was the reproach of Egypt taken away. Then they were all converted men. That whole nation crossed Jordan by faith. It was a nation that believed God, and there was not a dissenting voice nor a doubting thought,-then they were out of Egypt. Thus you see that it is perfectly evident that spiritual Egypt is the literal Egypt of the Bible.

Now we turn to the text for to-night. This is Num. 23: 9. I begin to read with the seventh verse. It is Balaam as he is prophesying for Balak, king of Moab. 

And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: LO, THE PEOPLE SHALL DWELL ALONE, AND SHALL NOT BE RECKONED AMONG THE NATIONS. 

This text is spoken to us here to-night. This is present truth. This was God's expressed will concerning his people when they were on the border of the land to which he wanted to take them when he had called them out of the land of Egypt. They had wandered in the wilderness forty years, and now had come to the border of the land. And this is his will concerning them, that they should dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations. 

The fundamental reason for that, or one of the reasons, we would better say, you will get hold of by turning to the seventh chapter of Acts. Stephen was speaking that day, and told that the Lord brought the people out of Egypt, out of the land of bondage with wonders and signs, and in the thirty-seventh and thirty eighth verses you have these words; in the thirty-eighth verse is the particular passage:-

This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness. 

Then what was Israel in the wilderness?-The church. What was it to be when they had crossed the river and had entered the land?-The church. What was that saying but that there should be a separation between church and state?-just as, when he brought Abraham out of that country, the Lord taught the world separation between church and state, and just as he showed by Abraham that separation of church and state must begin in the heart of the individual. 

If I am not separated in my heart from the state, there will be a union of church and state wherever I am. And so, even though I do not hold office in the state, or run for office there, I will be a politician in the church; and I will run for office there, and wire-pull there. So that if a man is not in heart separated from the state, and yet belongs to the church, he would better take part in the politics of the world and be a politician there, than to run his politics into the church. 

So when the Lord called Abraham, he said, first of all, "Get thee out of thy country." And now that Abraham has increased and become the church, and that church is about to enter the special service of the Lord before the nations, he declares that that church should not be reckoned among the nations; they should dwell alone. You can see how the Lord wanted the people to hold to that, because he knew what the nations were; and he knew how the nations had reached that condition. He wanted his church to dwell alone, to have no ruler but himself, no law but his law, no legislation of any kind but the Lord's word, no government but the Lord's. 

God intended, when he brought them into the land, to be the head of the church. Jesus Christ was the head of the church, of course, just as really as he is now. You know from the lessons we have studied, how the people got into kingship, monarchy, and so on; it was by departing from him, by failing to recognize God as their only Ruler, his law as the only law. They became idolators, and so lost the government of God over themselves, and the power of his law upon them; and having separated from God, there had to be a government among them to satisfy the ambition of those who wanted to rule their fellows, and to protect them from themselves in their savagery, because of having departed from God. 

But the Lord separated Israel from all people and governments, unto himself. The Lord started Israel now just where he started Abraham, to be separated from the kings and rulers all around them, from all sorts of earthly government round about them. He wanted his people to dwell alone, and not to be such as could be reckoned among any of the nations, so that when the nations looked on them, they should see that Israel could not be reckoned as of their kind. 

He wanted Israel to stand before the world so distinctly-and this would make them distinct from all other nations-that all the nations looking upon them would say, That is singular; that is not the kind of government ours is. They have no king; each one just seems to get along without any ruler. And they would begin to inquire into that; they would say, What is the cause of this? How is it you get along without all this paraphernalia of a king, and armies, and taxes, and all these things that we have to endure? The answer would be, Why, God is our king. And it doesn't take nearly such an expense to run his government as it does yours; for we don't have any such troubles as you have. Yes; we have no taxes, and he is so good that we love to give to him everything we have, to support and spread abroad the blessings of his government.

 

And when his people should tell the heathen that, the heathen would say, Surely this nation is a wise and understanding people; and what nation on the earth is so great, that hath judgments so wise, so good, as all this law? And what nation has God so nigh unto them as the Lord thy God is, in all things that we call upon him for? That is what the Lord intended. And he said, Israel "shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." He intended to teach all the world a separation of church and state, not only in the church, but among the nations, as respects the states, and also as respects the church itself. 

Just look here at the scripture, and you will see that. Deuteronomy 4. A few verses tell the whole that I have sketched. Beginning with the first verse, reading to the eighth:- 

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations; which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

 

Then was there any place for the making of any kind of law or legislation among Israel?-"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it." They were to do just that. Their laws were all made for them. Their legislation was all completed, and was perfect; and as long as they had that, they needed no other, and just as soon as it came about that they needed another, that was evidence itself that they had forsaken God. 

So long as they needed any kind of legislation, of themselves, among themselves, that was evidence that they had forsaken God, that his law was not enough for them any more, and that his government was not sufficient for them any more. That is precisely the way it is with all the rest of the heathen. That is the way with all the nations. That is how they became heathen. And you know that Israel went over that very same course. They forgot God and went into idolatry, and then said, We must have a king, so that we may be like all the nations. But do not forget that they had to reject God before they could have a king; and in rejecting God, that they might be like the nations, like the heathen, that is what the literal thought is,-in rejecting God that they might be like the nations, they became like the nations that rejected God. You know this by all the following history. 

It is perfectly plain, therefore, that it is not God's will, it is not for the interests of his people, that they shall be like the nations. It is not the will of God, it is not for the good of the people, that they shall have any kind of government like the nations that are around about them. You know these did not arise from following God, but they arose from apostasy. From all this, it is perfectly plain that God did not intend that his people should set up a government of themselves among themselves. 

The Lord did not intend that they should set up a government like the nations around them. When he says, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it," you can see that he thus shut them off from any law-making of any kind, from any shadow of legislation of any sort, and thus prohibited them from ever setting up any form of government among themselves. 

And from this it is perfectly clear that when they found the need of any sort of government among themselves, in which they must have laws and rulers other than God, that of itself was proof positive that they had forgotten God; that they had gone away from him; that his government was not enough; that his power was not upon them to hold them, and so they must make and establish some form of government of their own, to protect themselves from themselves. 

Thus you see that it was not according to the Lord's will that his people, dwelling alone, should have a government of their own among themselves. It was not his will that they should dwell among the nations, and have a government like the nations; because when they should undertake to make a government of their own to govern themselves among themselves, that would be just like the governments of the nations, because they were all human, and humanity is all alike. So when Israel did undertake to set up a government to govern themselves, it was like these around them, and it could not be anything else. It was heathenish. And it always will be heathenish wherever it is attempted. 

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." God intends that his commandments, his law, his government, shall be enough for his people. And it is enough for his people. That is settled. It always will be enough for his people. But it is not enough for those who do not have it; it is not enough for those who separate from God and from his law and government. His government is not enough for them, then, because they do not have it; and then if they make one of their own, it is just like that of the heathen. 

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations. 

"This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations." Not simply in my sight; but do this, and all the nations, the heathen, will say you are wise. The nations, the heathen, will say you have good sense. 

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb. 

Do not forget what you have seen and heard, but especially do not forget what you heard when you stood before Horeb that day. What did they hear?-O, the law of God; the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus they heard that day; a voice from heaven proclaimed redemption and creation, that men should sin not. But Israel forgot God, and became idolatrous, and said, Make us a king; make us a king, like all the nations. But of that time, while they were undefiled, the Lord said afterward (Ps. 81: 13-16):- 

Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured forever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. 

I'm Called Out of Egypt.

March 5, 1897

Spiritual Egypt. - No. 4.

Continued…..

But what was in the hearts of Israel that caused their unbelief?-Egypt, Egypt, Egypt. What, then, has been in the hearts of these people that has caused this unbelief and this holding back from God?-Egypt, as certainly as Egypt ever did over yonder. Spiritually that which is Egypt-the world, idolatry, darkness, which is unbelief. The word "unbelief" expresses it all. You know that the very word "Egypt" is a symbol of darkness. 

Look again at this passage?

If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844 had received the third angel's message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. 

As the Lord wrought mightily with their efforts in the beginning of the work, what is the reason of the lack?-Lack of the Holy Spirit. The only lack is the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what gives us the power, and what works the mighty works. It is the Holy Ghost; and if that had been received, "a flood of light would have been shed upon the world." 

This is what is stated in Revelation, the eighteenth chapter; "Another angel came down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory." That is precisely the same that is pointed out here. What keeps back that flood of light? Has that flood of light been waiting to burst forth upon the world, ever since that time?-Yes. What has kept it back after 1844?-Unbelief.

What has kept it back since?-Unbelief. Is it not time, then, that we found deliverance from Egyptian bondage? O think of it! The message would have been proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit; the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts; a flood of light would have been shed upon the world; years ago the inhabitants of the world would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of his people! O let us then no longer delay! Why shall we not have deliverance from Egypt, and from all that is implied in the word,-spiritual Egypt? Let the Holy Ghost be given and bring that mighty power to work for sinners; that that flood of light may lighten the world; that the world may be warned; that Christ may come; that we may be redeemed from this world of sin and sorrow. 

Now you see the situation so far. Egyptian darkness and bondage has been upon us all these years, as certainly as it was upon Israel after they had crossed the Red Sea, and while they were in the wilderness. And God has offered to feed this people also with bread from heaven-bread that he can approve, bread that he can give to them that will bring about such a condition that he can bless them with every spiritual blessing. But here so many even yet say, O, our soul loatheth this light bread. Let us go back to Egypt where we can have onions and leeks and garlics. If that is health reform, I don't want any of it. Where have we been?

Shall we allow the Lord to feed us? Shall we accept the bill of fare from God? Or shall we long for the leeks and onions and garlics, and the flesh-pots of Egypt? That is the question? 

You have agreed now that that is the situation, that Egyptian bondage is the cause of all this, and that unbelief is the cause of the Egyptian bondage. You have agreed that we need not now, as the others needed not, to wait longer to be delivered from Egyptian bondage. Now we will study a moment, how that deliverance shall be; and the key of it is in these words: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." 

Let us turn to the commandments of God, and look at them a moment, in the twentieth of Exodus. If any further evidence was wanted that we are yet under the influence of Egyptian bondage, certainly this thing is the cap-sheaf that fixes the evidence. Till very lately, you and I never saw a copy of the ten commandments, issued by the Seventh-day Adventists, that had all the ten commandments in it. I never did until very lately. And yet we have talked about keeping the commandments; we have preached to other people about the commandments; we have pointed out how Rome has changed the commandments and left out the fourth and divided the tenth, while all the time we ourselves, from our published copies of the commandments, or the ones that we bought that somebody else had published, have left out a part of the commandments ourselves. 

God spoke his law from heaven. Did he speak more than belongs with the commandments? Did he speak too much? Did he speak more than was needed?-No; for it was perfect, and there was nothing to be added when he ceased speaking. Well then, as there was nothing to be added when he ceased speaking, did he begin before he needed to? As there was nothing to be added when he ceased speaking, is there something before he began to speak directly to us for our good? In other words, did he speak a word too much or a word too little?-No! no! no! 

Let us see, then, what he said. Here it is: "And God spake all these words, saying, . . . Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." Is that where he begins? Does he begin speaking with, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me?-No. Have you begun there? You know you have. Well, if God did not begin there, and you and I do begin there, don't we leave out something that he said, that is essential for our good, too? Where did he begin? Read it. "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God. which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." 

Don't you see that we have left out the very thing that shows deliverance from Egyptian bondage? And why have we left it out? O, because we have considered that we have not been delivered from Egypt,-and that is so. We have considered that we never were brought out of the land of Egypt,-and by our unbelief that is so. We have thought, "We were never in bondage to any man." But we were. We were in bondage to ourselves, to the power of sin-to spiritual Egypt. But there is deliverance from Egyptian bondage to-night, and God calls you and me to this deliverance from Egyptian bondage. And he says to you and me to-night, with a voice thundering as it did from Sinai, with the salvation of Jesus Christ in it, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Will you come out? Will you allow that he has delivered you from the land of Egypt? from the house of bondage? If not, why not?

 

Our enemies are throwing it at us,-O, those commandments are not for me. I never was brought out from Egypt. The enemies of the law of God, the enemies of the salvation of God, cast that at you. They have said it to me-to all of us-that that law is not binding on anybody but the Jews, because nobody was ever delivered from Egyptian bondage but the Jews. They say, O, you need not preach that to me, I never was brought from Egypt. That is true enough, of course; but that is no credit to them. You and I are to stand up like those that are redeemed from Egyptian bondage, and answer that thing with, Thank the Lord, I have been brought out of Egypt; and, my poor, forlorn brother, unless you are delivered from Egypt, you will perish in the corruption of Egypt. 

Of course no one can keep that law while he is in Egypt. They could not do it. God delivered them from Egypt that they might keep the law. To be in Egypt is to be in sin, and no man can keep the law of God in sin; for sin itself is the transgression of the law. Of course you can't keep the commandments while you are in Egypt. You can't; I can't. But let the Lord deliver us, and then we can keep the commandments, and not until then. The Lord knew that well enough; therefore, when he wanted Pharaoh to let the children

of Israel go, he said, "Let my people go, that they may serve me." Of course they could not serve God in Egypt. He wanted them delivered, not only bodily, but spiritually. And then, when he would give them his law to keep, the first thing that he says to them is, "I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," so that they might keep it. 

What kind of law is this anyhow?-A spiritual law.

"We know that the law is spiritual." What Egypt is it, then, in the first verse of the law?-It is spiritual Egypt. "The law is spiritual." The Egypt, then, named in the law is spiritual Egypt, and it means to you and me deliverance from spiritual Egypt, which is deliverance from the bondage of sin. 

S. H. Lane.-You think they were spiritually out of Egypt for a while? 

It is hard to say. Moses was always, of course; Caleb always was ; Joshua always was. 

E. J. Waggoner.-The seventy elders saw God. 

Yes; they saw God. It is hard to tell, though, about the people being out of Egypt. Moses always was. Even while he was in physical Egypt, he was spiritually out of it. Caleb and Joshua were always spiritually out of Egypt. In the triumphant song at the Red Sea, the whole denomination, I have thought, were spiritually out of Egypt, if they had held fast to that. As the Lord said, "O that my people had harkened unto my voice and walked in my laws, then I would have speedily subdued their enemies under them." But when their faith was tried, in the very first step they took, when they were at Marah, where there was bitter water, they threw their faith away, and wished they were back in Egypt again. When we come to a bitter experience, shall we take it as an evidence that the Lord has forsaken us?-No; thank the Lord that that bitter experience is for our good, and God is able to turn the bitter into sweet. 

(Voice) Pardon me, Brother Jones, but here is a verse-the twenty-seventh verse of the eleventh chapter of Hebrews-which shows that Moses did turn away from Egypt right there in Egypt. 

Assuredly. So that while bodily in Egypt, he was spiritually out of Egypt. 

E. J. Waggoner.-The ransomed of the Lord shall come with singing into Zion. 

Yes; and if they had kept on singing the song of Moses, and in the faith with which they sung it then, they would have gone on singing into the land. And that is what God wants us to keep in our minds. He wants us to put our hearts over in that good land; and then, our hearts being there, the longing of our lives will be there. And then God can soon fill our lives with the joy of that blessed land. And that is, God with us.

 

You know well enough that even now, instead of the heart being over in that land, it is here in this land. To some of our own folks, to ask a person to separate from this country seems like treason. To ask a person to separate from this country, and go over into that land, and let the offices and politics of this nation alone, seems to them almost like an imposition. That people are in Egypt, but God has called them out of Egypt, to set their hearts upon the better country, place all their affections there, and work for that country with every energy of their being; so that the streams of joy and glory from that land may flow into their hearts; so that all the world and all the universe may know that God is their God of a truth. When that is done, it will take but a short time for the work to be accomplished, and the Lord to come. 

When the children of Israel were at the Red Sea, the power of God there manifested, astonished the nations, insomuch that when the spies went into the land, Rahab said: The fear and the dread of you is upon all the land, because we have heard what God has done for you, and the hearts of the people are melted. That is true. Another thought as to spiritual Egypt: It is written of Jesus, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Why is that written about Jesus? Why did Jesus go into Egypt? Why was he taken into Egypt? He could have escaped the slaughter of the children that were slain in Bethlehem, by going a short distance away from that place, and would not have had to go nearly so far as to Egypt. All of the little children in Palestine were not slain when the decree of Herod went forth. It was only Bethlehem, and its coasts, and its suburbs. Bethlehem was only six miles from Jerusalem, and the children in Jerusalem were not slain; so the Lord could have escaped if he had been taken ten or twelve miles away. 

Then why was he taken into Egypt?-O that it might be fulfilled that was written, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." He was ourselves; yourself and myself. He was ourselves; and as God met his people in Egypt and led them out, so our Saviour came to where we are, and was as we are, and was called out of Egypt, thus showing that whoever would be as he is, must likewise come out of Egypt.

He was the Son of God, and was called out of Egypt, thus showing that all who will be sons of God must also come out of Egypt; for it is written of all as of him, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Are you a son of God? "Out of Egypt have I called my son."

A little while ago we saw that we must be brought out of Egypt, in order to keep the commandments of God. Now we see that in order to follow Jesus, we must be called out of Egypt. To keep the commandments of God, demands that we be brought out of Egypt; faith in Jesus demands likewise that we be brought out of Egypt. And both these are expressed in Rev. 14: 12: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 

Thus you see that from beginning to end there is a spiritual Egypt; and the whole plan of salvation is simply deliverance from Egyptian bondage by the power of God; it is being called out of Egypt into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Shall we then come out of Egypt, that we may serve the Lord indeed? Shall we have it so that we may in truth keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? What shall we do? Shall we go away from this Conference in Egypt? Shall we remain at this Conference and remain in Egypt? O shall we not be delivered wholly from Egypt and all that is implied in the word?

 

Deliverance is free for us, it is given to us. O then, let every heart be opened, every soul be turned to God, and seek him by confession of sin, that we may be delivered from darkness; and thus that we may, before the Conference closes, be delivered into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God; for, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." That is what he waits for. Shall we keep him waiting? And when that comes, this word will be fulfilled; the third angel's message will be proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit; the Lord will work mightily with our efforts; a flood of light will be shed upon the world; soon the inhabitants of the world will be warned; the closing work will be completed; and Christ will come for the redemption of his people. O, we are nearer to the time when God will deliver us than we have ever dreamed, I am thinking. God's deliverance is so near to us! Shall we walk into the land! Israel failed because they did not believe. They did not see wondrous things in his promises. Those promises are now for us. They are to be as real to you and me as they were to him when he gave them to Israel, to whom they were not real. 

You know it is written:- 

And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God. 

Ah, but the song of Moses, the servant of God, was the song of deliverance from Egyptian bondage; and those that get the victory over the beast and his name and his image and the number of his name,-from what are they delivered? They are delivered from Egyptian bondage, as surely as was Moses. And they sing the song of Moses, because they, too, are delivered from Egyptian bondage. The Bible is full of it. Spiritually we have been in Egypt, and O, may God deliver us out of it. Then shall we sing this song unto the Lord: - 

I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him a habitation.

Will you? will you? I will dwell in them, and walk in them; they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

But, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." 

[He is] my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchest out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed. 

That is what it says: "Thou hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed." Has he redeemed you? Redeemed from what?-Redeemed from sin.

And sin is spiritual Egypt. 

Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. [Let him.] The people shall hear, and be afraid. 

The time has come to sing the song of Moses. Shall we sing it? But we shall not sing it in Egypt. You cannot sing it if you are in Egypt, because they could not sing it until they were delivered out of Egypt. 

The people shall hear, and be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed: the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in. 

Who shall he bring in? What do you say? Who shall the Lord bring into his habitation? You? Are you out of Egypt? "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Thou shalt "plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in." Then we will dwell there with the Lord, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  In the sanctuary. O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

"Out of Egypt have I called you," saith the Lord, and out of Egypt we have come. Now he says, I am your God, and you are my people. "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;" and, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." And this is what it means today when it says: Here are they, here are they, "HERE ARE THEY which keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 

Congregation sings:-

Redeemed! how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through his infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.

Kept From the Promised. Land.

March 5, 1897

Spiritual Egypt. - No. 4.

(Friday Evening, March 5, 1897.)

IT slipped my mind to mention in the previous lesson that the history that I sketched is all in "Empires of the Bible." From page 77 onward to page 150, you have the history of Egypt, and the ground that was covered in the sketch that I gave last night. 

The text for to-night is Rev. 11:8:- 

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

I have read this verse for the one single purpose that you may see that there is such a thing as spiritual Egypt, and that the word of God reveals that which is "spiritually called Egypt." 

Spiritual Egypt is indeed the literal Egypt, because spiritual things are the most literal of all things. There is, as there always has been, a physical Egypt over there in northern Africa, through which the river Nile flows; but that is not the literal Egypt; the literal Egypt is spiritual Egypt. 

Turning now to the lessons last night on the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, we will follow their course again from the point where the song of Moses was sung. When they had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, between the walls of ice, and stood on the shore triumphant in the destruction of the Egyptians, who, essaying to follow their course, were drowned, they were delivered bodily, physically, from physical Egypt; but there was a deeper Egypt than that, from which they were not yet delivered.

 

You know that step by step in their experience, their hearts were in Egypt; and when anything occurred that disappointed them, they exclaimed, Let us go back to Egypt! When they had reached the borders of Canaan, and the Lord wanted them to go in, they exclaimed, "Let us make us a captain and go back to Egypt!" Where were their hearts then?-In Egypt. The first thing in their thoughts was always Egypt. 

As they stood at Mount Sinai, after they had heard the voice of the Lord, waiting for Moses to return from the top of the mount with the law of God, they made themselves an idol and worshiped it; and what idol was it?-The calf of Egypt. Then, after they had listened to the voice of the Lord from the top of Sinai, proclaiming the word of his law, and heard the voice of the trumpet sounding louder and louder, and saw the top of the mount altogether on a smoke-after all this, you can see plainly that Egypt was so largely in their hearts that they turned to the idolatry of Egypt rather than wait until Moses returned from the top of Sinai with the message of God. And when they had been turned back from the borders of the land, and were obliged to wander in the wilderness, you can see that it was because of this very Egyptian bondage that held them, and from which they were not free. You note that when the Lord was feeding them daily with bread from heaven,-angel's food,-they were so far from him, and so entirely wrapped up in Egypt, that they said, O that we were back in Egypt where we had leeks and onions and garlic! 

I need not cite you to another instance; this is enough to call your attention to the fact that Israel were not completely out of Egypt when they stood on the shore of the Red Sea and sang the song of Moses. Bodily they were out of Egypt, but spiritually they were not. They were delivered from Egyptian bondage of the body, but they were bound by Egyptian spiritual bondage; and the trouble is they never did get out of Egyptian bondage. They died in Egyptian bondage. When the Lord spoke his law from Sinai, Moses said to them that it was that they should sin not. Now read again Heb. 11:25, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." But we saw in our other lesson that the pleasures of sin there referred to were but the pleasures of Egypt. Moses being heir to the throne of Egypt, all the wealth of Egypt, all the glory of Egypt, and all the power of Egypt were ready to fall into his hands, as he needed simply to step upon the throne and enjoy it. These were the pleasures of Egypt; but the record says they were the pleasures of sin.

Then what is spiritual bondage of Egypt? and what is spiritual Egypt?-The bondage of sin. 

There is another way we can reach this, merely by a sketch. God called Abram, you remember, out of Chaldea into a land that he would show him. He had not yet given him the land; there was a famine in the land where he was, and he went down into Egypt, and there Sarai obtained an Egyptian maid by the name of Hagar. God promised Abram that his seed should be as the stars of heaven. Through unbelief, the promise was not fulfilled as soon as they expected, and Sarai said to Abram, The Lord hath restrained me from bearing; the promise has not been fulfilled; here is my Egyptian maid; take her, and peradventure the Lord will give us seed by her. That was done; Ishmael was born; and the Lord said to Abram that Sarai should have a child indeed, should bear a son, and they should call his name Isaac. And Abram said in response to that, "O that Ishmael might live before thee!" 

That Egyptian maid was a bondwoman; and her son was a bondson, a bondservant. Now, when Abram said, "O that Ishmael might live before thee," he was praying that Ishmael might be counted by God as the promised seed through whom deliverance and freedom should come to the sons of men and all the children of God. But could freedom come to any person through a bondman? Abram was himself free. He must be redeemed by the promised seed. If now his son, being a bondson, should be accepted as the promised seed, Abram himself would be brought into bondage, instead of being delivered from bondage. And all who would become subject to Ishmael would also be brought into bondage. But what bondage?-The bondage of sin. But his mother was an Egyptian bondwoman. And Ishmael being a bondson, it was Egyptian bondage. Don't you see, then, that there was Egyptian bondage-a spiritual Egypt-in the family of Abram? 

Turn to Galatians, and we shall see plainly that the Lord brings out that point. You remember the passage in Gal. 4:22-24:-

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 

Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 

Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

 

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 

This, you see, points right back to the family of Abram, and to Hagar, the Egyptian. That covenant, he says, gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. Hagar, in the family of Abram, represents, in the allegory, the covenant from Sinai. That covenant gendered to bondage. Hagar was an Egyptian. Then what bondage is represented in the covenant at Sinai?-Egyptian bondage. But it was spiritual bondage. Therefore there was then a spiritual Egypt.

 Read verses 25, 26:- 

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia; and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

So when Abram said, "O that Ishmael might live, before thee," he asked that a bond-servant should be accepted as the promised seed. He asked that God, and all mankind, and the whole universe should go into Egyptian bondage in spiritual Egypt. Egypt is the symbol of darkness, and also the symbol of sin, as we have seen. Sin also is darkness itself. Egypt, then, representing sin and darkness, it is plain that sin and darkness is spiritual Egypt. 

The Lord could never accept a bond-servant as the promised seed. So the Lord answered Abraham with these words:- 

Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 

Isaac was the promised seed. And just think! Isaac never was in Egypt. You remember that. There was a famine in Egypt, and he started to go there, but the Lord said to him, Do not go into Egypt. Abraham was in Egypt; Sarah was in Egypt; Israel was in Egypt, but Isaac never was in Egypt. He was the child of promise, born of the spirit, from the beginning. Again we read:- 

Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

 

And who are we?-"If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Isaac was the child of Abraham,-the child of the promise. And when we become Abraham's seed by faith in Christ, delivered from the bondage of sin,-from spiritual Egypt,-we are as Isaac was; and he never was in Egypt. 

Thus you see that Egyptian bondage and Christian freedom were in the family of Abraham. Ishmael was born after the flesh, and represented Egyptian bondage. Isaac was born after the Spirit, and represented the children of God by faith of Jesus. 

Joseph was born, and in his youth went out to see his brethren, and the Ishmaelites came along and bought Joseph and carried him down into Egypt and sold him there. And afterward the house of Jacob went down into Egypt, and finally were delivered from Egyptian bondage. This is enough to enable you to see their whole course, from the call of Abraham up to the time when they reached the borders of the promised land. You see that there was a spiritual Egypt as well as a physical one; and that when the people were delivered physically from Egypt, there was a deeper Egypt from which they must be delivered if they would be the children of God. 

Now I read the passage that I referred to last night. It is in "Great Controversy," Vol. IV. page 457, of this large edition:- 

The history of ancient Israel is a striking illustration of the past experience of the Adventist body. God led this people in the Advent movement, even as he led the children of Israel from Egypt. In the great disappointment their faith was tested as was that of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. 

Then, in the great disappointment of the Advent people, where in the history of Israel did they stand? 

(Voices) At the Red Sea. 

God wanted Israel at that time, as we read last night, to go right straight through into the land he had promised to Abraham-to his holy habitation, the place he had made for himself to dwell in; in his inheritance; in the sanctuary that his hands had established. And it was only eleven days' journey from Egypt to that land. But it took them forty years. And only four of those who started ever got there. 

(Voice) Four, or two? 

Four. Didn't you know there were four? There were Caleb and Joshua, and the two priests, the sons of Aaron-Eleazar and Ithamar. Of course it is always spoken of as two,-Caleb and Joshua,-but the two priests went in also. 

(Voice) They may not have been twenty years of age. 

Yes; they were thirty; for they were anointed to the office of the priesthood. So, then, at the great disappointment, the Advent people stood, as it were, at the Red Sea. 

Had they still trusted to the guiding Hand that had been with them in their past experience, they would have seen the salvation of God. If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844 had received the third angel's message, and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of his people. 

When? 

(Voices) Years ago. 

Where, then, have that people been since the disappointment? 

(Voices) In the wilderness. 

As verily as Israel was before. But why were Israel of old kept in the wilderness?-Because of unbelief. They didn't see what the Lord had for them. And the reason they did not see, was because they did not believe God. If they had believed God, they would have seen what they did not see. And that is the trouble with this people here. We have not believed the things that were said to Israel of old. They are said to us as well as to them. Precisely the same gospel is preached to us as was preached to them. 

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. For we which have believed do enter into rest. 

Heb 4:1  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. 

Heb 4:2  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. 

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 

So then, what kept them out of the land is precisely what is keeping us out of the land. And, as I said last night, we have no business here at all by right, because we ought not to be in the world. As Israel had no business at all in the wilderness forty years, so we have no more business being here in this wilderness. Listen:- 

It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the wilderness; he desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But "they could not enter in because of unbelief." Because of their backsliding and apostasy they perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the promised land.

In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed, and his people should remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work which he had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays his coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning, and find in him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out. 

It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed, and his people remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow, Ah, we are responsible for that. Is not that so? Where does the responsibility lie? In what thing are we guilty?-Unbelief.

But what was in the hearts of Israel that caused their unbelief?-Egypt, Egypt, Egypt. What, then, has been in the hearts of these people that has caused this unbelief and this holding back from God?-Egypt, as certainly as Egypt ever did over yonder. Spiritually that which is Egypt-the world, idolatry, darkness, which is unbelief. The word "unbelief" expresses it all.

To be continued….