THE WILL OF GOD by W. A. Sweany

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 7, 1906

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 32, No. 10.

THE WILL OF GOD

By W. A. Sweany

God's Right to Rule.

GOD had, in the wonderful deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and again at the Red Sea, demonstrated to them His wisdom, love, and power, His ability and right to rule, and their obligation to obey. Yet they must needs be tested and tried, to prove whether they would walk in His law or no. Psalm 105; Exodus 6 to 14; 16:1-5. Once more, therefore, Moses rehearsed to them the principles of the ancient, but long-neglected and well-nigh forgotten, Sabbath institution, instructing them concerning the proper application of its prohibitions and requirements to the existing circumstances and conditions. Then and always, before and since, the Sabbath commandment called for daily labor for the supply of daily needs, with a preparation on the sixth day for complete rest throughout the seventh day.

In Egypt they had murmured and complained most bitterly under the added hardship heaped on them by their oppressors because of their attempt at Sabbath observance. Exodus 5. But no such excuses or complaints could now be made, for those cruel conditions had been swept away with their oppressors. But altho there was given them daily a sufficient supply of "the corn of heaven" for the needs of the day, with a double portion on the sixth day for the needs of the Sabbath, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, and found none.

This entirely needless and unreasonable disregard of divine direction called forth from the Lord

The Significant Question

"How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" Intelligent, candid minds can not fail to discern in this expression that their disregard and disobedience of divine law and especially of the Sabbath precept, was of "long" standing. Ex. 16:1-29. And altho constrained for the present to conform to the command of God (Ex. 16:30), they were soon murmuring and complaining again (Ex. 17:1-7), until the Lord wearied of their oft-repeated refusal to recognize the authority of His Word when transmitted to them through human agencies. Then He said unto Moses, "Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may HEAR when I speak with thee, and believe thee FOREVER." Ex. 19:9.

The thoroughness and significance of the preparation they were required to make, and the precautions requisite for their safety, were calculated to convince them that the impending event was to be one of unparalleled importance. Ex. 19:10-15. And so, indeed, it proved to be; for fire, lightning, and glory, flashing and shining through smoke, clouds, and darkness, while the thunder tones of Jehovah's voice caused the earth to quake, combined to create a scene of sublimity and grandeur which must forever stand unequaled and unapproached in the annals of earth's history until the Lord Himself, in the plenitude of His power and unveiled glory, with "all the holy angels with Him," "shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God." Ex. 19:16-19; 20:18; Deut. 4:11, 12, 32, 33; Heb. 12:18-29; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

Even tho no word of explanation had been given, it would seem that the meaning of that mighty event could not be misunderstood or misconstrued. But its visible, unmistakable significance was emphasized by the plainest possible declarations that the doings of that day were designed to demonstrate to all men, henceforth and forevermore, the enduring nature and binding obligation of Jehovah's "Ten Words." Deut. 4:9, 10, 36-40.

And so, while the sacrificial, ceremonial, sanitary, dietary, and civil statutes were, as before, communicated to Moses in private, and by him written in a book to be read and taught to the people, the Ten Commandments alone were spoken by the lips of the Lord Himself, in the hearing of all the people, and written with His own hand on tables of stone, and kept in the ark, separate from the subsidiary laws. Ex. 20:1-22; Deut. 5:1-22; 4:1-19; Ex. 25:16, 21; 40:20; Deut. 10:1-5; Neh. 9:13, 14; Deut. 31:9, 24-26. Thus in origin, form, object, location, and application, the difference between the fundamental and subsidiary commandments was plainly set forth, leaving entirely without excuse those who persist in trying to combine the temporal and the eternal. Compare Leviticus 23, especially verses 37, 38, with Colossians 2, especially verses 14-17, and then read and heed 2 Tim. 2:15. It is well to remember that combining what God has separated is as dangerous and destructive as separating what He has united. Matt. 19:3-6.

The Spirit of Prophecy.

The significant and sublime testimony of Sinai to the importance and necessity of obedience to God's law was continually emphasized by the ministry of the prophets, it being the primary and paramount purpose of every true, Heaven-sent prophet to exalt Jehovah's "Ten Words." 2 Kings 17:13; 1 Kings 18:17, 18; 2 Chron. 15:1-8. The gift of prophecy and the law of God are inseparable; they flourish or fail together. "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Prov. 29:18. When the law is no more, prophets "find no vision from the Lord" (Lam. 2:8, 9), and when there is no vision, the law disappears and is "precious," or scarce. 1 Sam. 3:1; 2 Chron. 15:3. And even to the end, the commandments of God and the Spirit of prophecy go hand in hand. Rev. 12:17; 19:9, 10. Attitude toward the law of God is therefore an infallible test of the claims of every prophet. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20.

Where Israel Failed.

But Israel did not learn the lessons of Sinai; so they mocked the messengers of the Most High and sinned exceedingly until there was no remedy, and the rod of affliction and punishment fell heavily upon them, and exile, captivity, and bondage overtook them. 2 Kings 17:1-23; Jer. 17:15-27; 2 Chron. 36:1-21. And even worse than their downright disobedience was the misinterpretation, perversion, and additions of their own devising—the doctrines and traditions of men—which "caused many to stumble at the law," rendered their worship vain, and made void the commandments of God. "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Mal. 2:7, 8; Matt. 15:1-9; Jer. 2:12, 13.

The Gospel Remedy.

Into the midst of all this confusion and contention, discord and debate, God sent His Son to expound, illustrate, and emphasize the requirements of His law. The life of God is His law for His creatures. Matt. 5:48; 1 Peter 1:15, 16. "God was in Christ," "manifest in the flesh." 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 14:6-11. The law was written in His heart; "the Word was made flesh," and thus He was a living edition of the law and word of God. Ps. 40:7, 8; John 1:1-14. Moreover, as our pattern and example, He is an illustration of what we become as we fully enter into new covenant relation with Jehovah, and His law is written in our hearts and lived in our lives by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as it was in Him. Jer. 31:31-33; Eze. 36:25-27.

Let us, therefore, look unto Jesus, for "we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 12:1-3; 3:1, 2; Acts 3:19-26; Matt. 17:1-5.

"My blest Redeemer and my Lord, I read my duty in Thy Word; But in Thy life, the law appears, Drawn out in living characters. "Be Thou my Pattern; make me bear More of Thy gracious image here; Then God, the Judge, shall own my name Among the followers of the Lamb."