Transcendent, Holy Kinship; The Immortal, Unequivocal Ministry Of Moselijah

Moselijah...  A fictitious name of course, but I made it up because Moses and Elijah share a special sort of ministry which heaven has preserved through canon and their trans-glorification, in Elijah's case, without seeing death.  But Just how are these two connected in the scriptures?  Let's find out:

Mal 4:4  Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

In the above passage, the calling forth of Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord is connected in close proximity to the "law of Moses my servant".  Why do you suppose this is?  What did Elijah do in his ministry?  Elijah called the people to choose the God of their rightful worship by great signs and wonders.  Elijah's greatest gift to the human race was his call, "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him."  Moses called the people to choose the God of their rightful worship by great signs, wonders, and by the receiving of the law of God, His statutes, judgments, and precepts. 

There are many rumblings of an Elijah messenger in Adventist circles but do we really fully understand what this is?  I can admit I am not fully aware of the full glory of what the text in Malachi is referring to.  I do understand that the greatest commandment calls attention to the fact of the clear understanding of the personality and presence of God, and how our love must be kept full toward Him through it with all our being. 

Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children...

Have we done this?  Have we taught our children this ONE greatest of all commandments?  Have we accepted the admonition in Malachi to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children through the teaching of this great commandment?  What do we teach them now?  Do we teach them of three "coequal", "co-eternal" persons?  How is this "The Lord our God He is one Lord"?

This is not a fulfilling ministry of the fathers to the children.  Therefore, the people must hearken again to the Elijah, the Elijah that came, the Elijah that was to come, and the Elijah that now is:

Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

So, who were/are/is this/these Elijahs?  I would count the first to be Enoch, the second to be Elijah, the third to be John the Baptist. 

The way the modern Christian counts Elijah is through the enforcing of a creed, the preaching of a law nailed to a cross, and a dim recollection of what he thought he might have been should he have done what was right with respect to the law.  This is not the white garments being offered through a full understanding of the righteousness given through the power of the spirit of God, the fulfilling of the law in Christ. 

Have the ministers of this Christian world preached the fullness of the law, the statutes, ordinances, and the sum of the Christian duty in the keeping of them?  Have they brought Elijah to the people with the law of Moses in their hearts and between their eyes?  Very few have, and very few will.  Broad is this road, and large is this gate...  The narrow way is not narrow because of men being closed-minded, but because they have chosen to reject the largeness of the way of the world and its many modes of forgetfulness of the spirit and power of Elijah.  Where does your broad road end and your view of the narrow way begin?

When Christ was transfigured before his disciples, there appeared before him Elijah and Moses on the mount.  Why did this happen?  It is recorded in Matthew and Mark:

Mat 17:10  And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? 17:11  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. 17:12  But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. 17:13  Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

What was restored by Elijah?  A proper regard for the worship of God and His law?  ""Make His paths straight"  What does this mean?  Is it the narrow paths?  Surely it must be, and these through the first and greatest commandment that the Lord is one Lord! A crooked understanding of God and Christ will not make the paths of the Lord, as narrow as they are in the human mind, straight.

No wonder these men were translated to heavenly glory!!  They were preaching a message that would call the ire and unquenchable indignation of the haughty worldly kingdoms against them.  The authority of worldly potentates was broken in their worship and submission to the commandments of God.  There would be no getting rich off the Hebrew nation.  There would be no ignorant subjugation of the people of God.  But this could be accomplished only insomuch that the people would carry out the designs of their Lord to the letter of His mercy.

What are these letters of His mercy?  Let us check the Spirit of Prophecy, since we believe in prophets like Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and others of significant note in the Bible:

Thou shalt make no covenant with them." God's servants in responsibility realized that the line of demarcation between his people and the people of the world is ever to be kept unmistakably distinct. They refused to be guided by the counsel of those who for years had known the requirements of God's law, but who had refused to yield to its claims.  {RH, April 25, 1907 par. 11}     The principles set forth in Deuteronomy for the instruction of Israel, are to be followed by God's people to the end of time. Our prosperity is dependent on the continuance of our covenant relationship with God. In no instance can we afford to compromise principle by entering into covenant with those who fear not God.  {RH, April 25, 1907 par. 12}     There is constant danger that professed Christians will come to think that in order to have influence with worldlings, they must conform to the world to a certain extent. But although the propositions of Satan may appear to afford great advantages, as did the offer of the Samaritans to assist in the construction of the temple, they always end in spiritual ruin. God's people must guard against every subtle influence that is seeking entrance by means of flattering inducements from the enemies of his truth.  {RH, April 25, 1907 par. 13}

What is so important about Deuteronomy?  I mean, isn't the grace message of Paul a negation of the Old Testament understanding of the law?  Aren't those statutes and judgments part of what was abolished at the cross?   Apparently not according to our Bibles and our sacred literature from God through Ellen White.  Let us take, for example, a statement of Paul's which conveys a fuller understanding of our duty:

1Co 5:9  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 1Co 5:10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

So since our understanding of the law of God only includes the ten commandments, which are clearly included in Paul's list of peculiar thou shalt not's, where is the commandment against drunkenness or railing?  These are not explicit in the moral law, yet Paul calls them out just the same.  So then what are they if they are not commandments?  They are statutes and judgments.  And these are spelled out in Deuteronomy.  This is why it is important to take care who we fellowship with, listen to, allow to instruct our children, etc... 

Where is the commandment to abstain from swine's flesh, if, in fact, there is no point in regarding the law of Moses?  Isn't it just fine to eat this food since the law of Moses was supposedly nailed to the cross per Colossians 2:14?  What about strangulated animals and food sacrificed to idols?  Why did Paul have any writings at all with respect to these if the grace of God was covering all this foolishness of men? 

If Daniel was only an example of extremity and legalism, why then are we to abstain from certain foods listed unclean in the Old Testament? Why is the health message of a vegetarian diet so important and what are the theological and spiritual consequences of it? 

This doesn't even address the issue of the keeping of the feasts.  But is this important too?  Decide for yourself, but do as the prophet says and go and learn from Deuteronomy. 

What then was ended at the crucifixion of Christ?

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

There is nothing here about the statutes and judgments of God ending as a result of the sacrifice of Christ.  This is why Malachi brings up Elijah in connection with Moses.  The law and love are only complete in Christ, but without the law can there ever be love? Not according to the Bible.  Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength.  His strength, the strength of perfection, is made perfect in our weakness.  Our strength is perfected in his righteousness and by beholding the fullness of his law.  We cannot show forth the love of God without a regard for His ways, which are His commandments, statutes, and judgments.

"If you love me, keep my commandments."

The trap of Prince Immanuel, God with us. To understand what I am about to present to you, please read Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, Chapter 5, The Lord's Prayer. "The heavenly gates are again to be lifted up, and with ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy ones, our Saviour will come forth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jehovah Immanuel "shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one." "The tabernacle of God" shall be with men, "and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Zechariah 14:9; Revelation 21:3. A couple of things here... Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. This is referring to the shema, which is: Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. In Deuteronomy 6:4 the word ONE is speaking of the unity with The Father, which we know from this scripture: John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one. John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. It might be important here to comment on the fact that in Deuteronomy 6:4, the word "IS" has been inserted, so the verse literally reads: Hear, oh israel: The Lord God one Lord. In English. Let's take a look at how it reads in Hebrew to see if there is something there we cannot detect in our native tongue: Shema Y'Israel, Adonai eloheynu, adonai echad... Notice here the repetition of "adonai". To me, and I may be dead wrong, when that is repeated, it says, The Father who brought forth His son. Adonai, and adonai. Adonai beget adonai, and they are one. Remember the verse where David says: The Lord said to my Lord? Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Doesn't that make better sense when we understand the scriptures in the context of itself? What about John 1:1? In the beginning was THE WORD, and the word was with God (still in His bosom, waiting to be brought forth), and the word was God (one with God in glory and purpose but not necessarily in person/personal identity). Still fits with Deuteronomy 6:4 right? So, when the term Immanuel is used, literally interpreted, with us God all as one Hebrew term, it does not mean that there is no separate identity between Father and Son. It means that there is unity which lends no differentiation of character, no separation of will, and no individuality that leads to betrayal of purpose or message. The mistake I see and hear people making is that this term, Immanuel, is justification for a doctrine that destroys the personality of God by calling God a Trinity. Yes, God WITH us, or WITH us God, but not THREE GOD's in one WITH us. Don't be trapped by mistaken notions of popularity foisted upon us by the wrong element. Can you free your mind? Immanuel can.

Be Careful What You Express by Your Silence...

It has been said that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18) ... The conclusion that many have reached as the result of a fresh look at their selves is that it is better to stay silent when there is a form of godliness ruling the people. There is great danger in arriving and remaining at such a conclusion. While the Bible expresses praise for men of principle and meekness in humility, it also expresses the danger in doing nothing in a religious crisis.

The spirit and power of Elijah is what preceeds the coming of the Lord. What was Elijah's message? Was it not:

1Ki 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.

And what was the response of the people?

And the people answered him not a word

Why do you suppose the people were silent? Was it because they were humble and meek, waiting on the Lord in patience? If these people had known a thus saith the Lord, they would have born witness without fear of the wicked dealings of Jezebel and the prophets of Baal. But no, they did not know their God, and were seeking a sign. What does the word of God proclaim?

Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

There are many theories as to what this "sign of Jonah" is... Some say it is Christ not having seen death in the grave, some say that it was Jonah's being in the dark for three days and nights bearing witness of being eaten up in darkness, others say other things.

But the word of God explains the meaning in Luke chapter 11:

Luk 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 11:36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

If you noticed, it says the light of the body is the eye. What do you see? Do you see the doctrinal utopia that Leroy Froom outlines in his book "Movement of Destiny"? Or is there a problem? Are the people halted between two or more opinions? Is every wind of doctrine blowing? YES!!! And this is because the people fail to cherish the light which has shined on them in their beginnings. There is no vision, and the people are perishing. There is a famine in the land, not for food, but for a thus saith the Lord. And when there is famine, there is the sign of Jonah.

The abomination for professed Seventh-day Adventists is that they have had the light all around them and they seek after something that is not coming. What they will receive is the call for repentance or they will be taken in the destruction the magnitude of which the world has never known.

Have you found a thus saith the Lord in silence? Why are you silent? Is it because you are resting content in what a denominational structure provides you? A doctrinal false sense of security which finds its strength in the trident of Babylon? How will you then expect to find a different end than their fathers? In silence?

If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime, and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God. Testimonies vol. 3, pg. 281.

So it might be argued that we are not in a religious crisis. To this I can only respond with another quote:

The enemy of souls, has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result?—The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. Letter 242, October 1903 & Special Testimonies, Series B #7, p. 36-42

I personally cannot think of a worse religious crisis than to conceive of a religion founded by the holy spirit to have been changed. It is supposed that the church the people occupy who call themselves Seventh-day Adventists has not changed from the first fifty year teachings. A careful and thorough investigation will put all such supposition to rest.

Where will you go for a thus saith the Lord? There are lots of places you can go, but is the counsel of the Godly there?

Upside-Down Good & Right-Side-Up Bad

Death is sin...

Many may balk at the idea that death and dying is a sin... But the very fact that people are dying and have died throughout the existence of humanity is a testimony against the fact that we were created in the image of a pure and holy God who never meant for death to be our inheritance. Beings whose immortality is conditional upon obedience to the counsel of God reveals the progression of darkness and sin in this corrupt age. We have come to regard death as a natural consequence of life... This was not so from the foundations that were laid by the son of God. Here is a statement by Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.

Christ Became sin so that Death Could become Life for sinners...

I have heard lately in preaching that Abraham's being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac is/was proof that the old covenant was somehow defective... Can we really say that the Old Covenant was not sufficient? It would not be sufficient for us since we were not born under that covenant. For the Jew, who was born under the law, there was no other way was there? But when Jesus came, he made the new requirements: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice".

Well now, if God really wanted Abraham to know what the Old Covenant was like, He would have let Abraham sacrifice his son. Right? But no, this would not have been sufficient, nor right. It would have been unnecessary. What was the point of the test then? It was to test the faith of Abraham, not Abraham's understanding of the law. Where was the law saying "thou shalt not kill" when Abraham was asked to kill Isaac? It was not yet written right? The law pointing to Christ had not yet been etched on stone tablets with the finger of God.

But one was coming to put down the sin of death forever. This was the point of the New Covenant. Faith is what leads us to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. If we cannot be sure that we will sacrifice everything, even our own flesh and blood, for God and Christ, what can we be sure of? There would be nothing at all left for this life except misery and halting between two opinions. This, I believe, was the test for Abraham, and through this testing of Abraham's faith, we are tested as Christians. For in this test, Abraham was asked to sacrifice the one thing that took him nearly a lifetime to acquire. Surely the weight of familial expectations in the heart of Sarah and those who have ever raised children would remind us of the depth of emotional responsibility that was invested in this dear promised child. God gave the promise of the child, and then He asked Abraham to give it up. Can you see the lesson for us? Where do the parallels lie?

Even the promises of God must be laid hold of through bitter experiences in our flesh. We must not only know of the promises of God, but be able to withstand the temptations of Satan to make the promises invalid. This was true especially for Christ.

He was the object of illustration in Abraham's experience. There was more at stake in Christ's case though. Christ had the sins of humanity past, present, and future to cause the anxiety of sweating great drops of blood. More than this, he had to become sin so that sin would not rise up a second time. Christ was getting ready to condemn sin in his flesh. This could only be done if Christ became sin itself.

Christ became death on the cross so that in his life we might be brought back from the death of sin. Christ gave his life on the cross so that his resurrection would contain the power of life for the sinner. The life of Christ was not for men to take, it was his to give. The men could cut his flesh, but they could not sever his faith in the Father to give life. There was no taking the life of Jesus without the Father's will being exercised. It was death and sin that died on the cross, which is the penalty of the law. The penalty is made mercy in the crucifixion, and the sacrifice becomes eternal for the penitent.

But this was not identified by the common Jew. The Jews assumed their traditions and system was to extend until their own views were fulfilled, not the promises of God. The Jews clung to the system of sacrifices as a means of life rather than clinging to the one who was the fulfillment of the system. In this, they turned the truth upside down and turned error right side up so that their traditions would be proffered instead of the commandments and promises of God. Bad had become their good, and good had become their bad. Righteousness and peace had become strange bedfellows and in this attitude, they desired to take the life of the person in whom all their hopes in the truth had rested.

The Third Angel Followed...

Revelation 14:9
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand,  10   The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:  11   And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 



Why is Rome dubbed the "New Babylon"?   It is because the ancient rites, secret religious teachings and practices were conferred upon the new Roman world at the time of the setting up of their world conquest in history.  The Babylonian priests who were scattered because of the fall of their kingdom, went out into the world and spread their teachings and mysteries and Rome became the new dispensary of that religion. 

Why was the religion of Babylon a mystery?  What purpose was mystification serving if the religion was legitimate and for the glorification of the only true God?  The reason is because it was to glorify Satan through the worship of the dead, animals, planetary bodies, and man himself in the persons of kings and queens, etc...  This is where the worship of departed loved ones began, and why when the LORD lead the Israelite people of old, the Babylonians fashioned a counterfeit to counteract it.  It was a direct threat to their way of life, and the reason Semiramis mystified it was because Satan inspired her to draw the minds and attention of men through the temptation of curiosity.  When something becomes mysterious through exclusion of the common people, the priests of the religion become honored and venerated and their word is regarded as sacred and god.  Whomever they confer the blessing of being worthy of worship, the people follow suit and give homage and honor and glorify as god.  This is where the whole idea of popedom came from.  This is why it is called, the New Babylon.  This is why the woman riding the beast in Revelation has, "MYSTERY BABYLON THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS" written on her forehead.