TEACHING REBELLION by G. B. Thompson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 30, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 44.

TEACHING REBELLION.

By G. B. Thompson

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for My people, saith the Lord; because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. Jer. 29:32. “Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord.” Ch. 28:16.

It is a grievous sin which calls from the heart of Jehovah such denunciations of wrath. And the sin which calls this forth is teaching rebellion. And surely this is a wicked thing. It is so regarded in nations, and in the government of God it is as much worse as the government of God is purer and better than the nations of earth. To teach rebellion is anarchy, and this wicked thing should be shunned and hated wherever found. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” 1 Sam. 15:23.

The Saviour stated the same important truth in Matt. 5:19. He says, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

The commandments here spoken of are the moral law, the Decalogue, of which He says that not one jot or tittle shall pass away while the heavens and the earth remain. That law is eternal, as fixed and as unchangeable as the throne of the universe. It not only contains the whole duty of men on this sin-cursed planet, but is the rule of moral rectitude for all the beings on the numberless worlds in space which have never fallen. The kingdom of God takes in all His beings wherever found, and this kingdom has but one law. Ps. 103:19-21. So any revolt against the law of God is rebellion against the divine government.

Yet notwithstanding these plain statements from the Author of truth, men do not regard the divine precepts as they should. Regardless of the dire consequences which will surely follow in the wake of disobedience, men openly disregard the law of the Lord, and dare to trample upon the commandments of Jehovah. Everywhere we see the precepts of the Lord, which were handed down amid the thunders of Sinai, broken and scoffed at.

And worse still, there are some, even so-called ministers of righteousness (I write it with shame) who from the pulpit advocate the doctrine of antinomianism, and open the flood-gates of lawlessness through teaching that the law is abolished and no longer binding on mankind. Some do not go so far as this, but teach that one command, which says that the seventh-day is the Sabbath of the Lord, has been abrogated, and a day of pagan origin has taken its place. But the Lord, who uttered the predictions quoted at the beginning of this article against teaching rebellion, has not changed, and tho vengeance against an evil work be delayed, it will none the less surely come now as well as then. All the precepts of the Lord stand fast forever (Ps. 111:7, 8), and to the obedient the Lord promises that they shall eat the good of the land, and feed on the heritage of Jacob our father. Isa. 1:19; 58:12-14. G. B. Thompson.

Rome, N. Y.