The Tabernacle Pulpit by A. J. B.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 20, 1901

The Tabernacle Pulpit.

By A. J. B.

DR. A. J. READ occupied the Tabernacle pulpit Sabbath, August 17, preaching an excellent discourse from Jer. 31:29, 30: “In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” The speaker showed the far-reaching results of both heredity and environment upon the child, and that cultivated tendencies are transmitted from parents to offspring. That tendencies acquired by the parent may become a part of the heredity of the offspring is proved by the fact that Adam’s descendants inherited all the evil tendencies and habits acquired by himself and Eve. Had his descendants inherited only his natural traits given to him by the Creator, they would have been born perfect, even as he was at first perfect.

God has permitted us, even invited us, to call Him “Our Father.” We are created in His image, and take from Him all the good tendencies existing in our nature. The evil in our natures is both acquired and inherited evil. The exhortation is: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The fact that God’s traits of character are, to an extent, repeated, or reproduced, in us, should be a source of encouragement and uplift to every human being. It is God’s nature to forgive. Such is also the characteristic of little children. They quarrel one instant, but easily forgive each other, and forget. The older they grow, however, the longer it takes for them to forgive an injury. This is because of their imitation of older people in this respect.

The evil effects of heredity may be largely overcome by proper environment, or associations. Children taken from the slums of our great cities, with all the evil tendencies of wicked parents in their natures, may become Christian men and women, providing they are surrounded with such influences as will enable them to acquire good habits and tendencies. This is illustrated in the animal kingdom by the fact that instinct may be changed by a new environment. For instance, an Englishman once took to Australia some eggs of birds from his native land. Upon hatching, in Australia, the young birds at once abandoned the method of building nests common to their parents and relatives in England, and, instead of constructing covered nests, made theirs with an open top, as do the birds of Australia.

The idea of the fatherhood of God, the sonship of man, is one that elevates mankind, bringing all men nearer to their Creator and Father. The statement that God made man in His own image does not mean that he was made thus only in an outward, a physical sense. He also inherited his Maker’s traits of character. ‘And, though it is true that this high and noble inheritance has been vitiated by the passing down, from generation to generation, of Adam and Eve’s acquired evil tendencies, still the promise is that it shall no more be said that “the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” While God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate Him (Exodus 20), still He shows mercy “unto thousands” of them that love Him and keep His commandments.

A. J. B.