A Lesson from Ancient Israel
By C. W. Flaiz
When the Lord had delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, and led them to the borders of the land of Canaan, he committed to them the work of driving out the six nations of the land. “And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.” Ex. 33: 2. Referring to Deut. 7: 1, we find seven nations are mentioned. The apparent discrepancy is explained in the fact that one of the nations—the Girgashites—was situated on the other side of Jordan, so that there were but six nations in possession of Canaan. These the children of Israel were commanded to dispossess and drive from the land. The Lord gave special instruction regarding the thoroughness with which the work was to be prosecuted, and also the consequences resulting from a failure to comply with the instruction given. “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures; and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.” Num. 33: 51-53. But the Lord particularly commanded them to make no covenants with these nations, and to contract no marriages; “for,” said he, “they will turn away thy sons from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” Deut. 7: 1-4. “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” Num. 33: 55, 56. With the blowing of trumpets Israel crossed over into the land of Canaan, and began the work of dispossessing the people of the land, but soon they forgot the instruction upon which their very existence depended, and formed covenants and contracted marriages with the people, and Israel’s troubles immediately began. The people of the land became snares and traps unto them,—thorns in their sides, and pricks in their eyes,—and their troubles never ceased until they perished miserably, and lost their inheritance in the land. They were instructed to drive out those six nations. They were not to permit them to remain within their borders. As long as a single one remained, the work would be incomplete, and Israel would be subject to calamities which the Lord said would surely come as a consequence of disregarding the principle of implicit obedience.7 Many illustrations of this principle are found in the Scriptures. Through his prophet Samuel, the Lord instructed Saul to “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The instruction was explicit, but Saul and the people spared Agag, the king, and the best of the sheep and the oxen, and the Lord immediately said of him: “He is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.” Saul tried to justify himself, but his kingdom was taken from him, and he was fairly started on the downward course that ended in a violent death at his own hands—a victim of despondency, brought on by his failure to follow God-given instruction. There is in all this a lesson for modern Israel. When the Lord commits to his people a special work, and gives them a plan by which it is to be accomplished, he will in no wise hold them guiltless unless the work is completed according to the specifications given. Let us apply this principle to the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” The Lord has given us a special work. We are to roll away the reproach of a $300,000 debt by the sale of this book. Every member of the church was to have a part in this work. This was God’s plan. He himself gave it to us. Estimating the membership of the denomination in the United States at 50,000, and the debt upon the schools at $300,000, it can readily be seen that each member would be responsible for the sale of six books. It will soon be two years since we began the work of putting out these six books, and it is proper for us to inquire as to the progress made. A little more than 160,000 books have actually been sold, and the money turned over to the schools, leaving 140,000 still in the hands of the people. Now what are we doing with these 140,000 books? Are we doing everything we can to place them where they will be a blessing to the people? It is not probable that any of us would calmly study the situation, and deliberately decide to let them remain in our possession in disobedience to the Lord’s express instruction that they should be sold, but we just as truly thus decide by a course of sinful inactivity that produces the same result. God is surely testing his people. Let every conference president, every laborer, and every member of every church see to it that they stand in this hour of test. Get out those books, my brethren, my sisters, and hasten them to the world before it is too late. Soon it may be said, Let him alone; he is joined to his idols. It has been proved over and over that the books can be sold. It is being proved at the present time in various portions of the United States. The world needs them, and our people greatly need the experience that results from taking this book to the people. The books that remain in the hands of the brethren at the close of this campaign will be snares and traps unto them—scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes, and shall vex them in the denomination in which they dwell.