Jeremiah 2:27
Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
The verse pictures people giving to wood and stone the devotion due to a father and the credit for bringing them forth into life, while turning their back toward God instead of their face. To turn the back in this sense is to reject the light sent through God's messengers and to fail to recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as precious gifts of grace. For impenitent sinners it means rejecting Christ and refusing the pleading of the Holy Spirit.
For those in responsible positions at Battle Creek it means despising the light of the third angel's message that is to fill the whole earth with its glory, pouring contempt on the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and indulging the attributes of Satan. Such rebellion grieves the Spirit of truth and shuts out the light of the Sun of Righteousness, so that the rebels reap darkness. The condition calls for earnestly seeking the Lord with a cleansing of heart, feelings, sympathies and words about the Lord God, eternity and truth.
It also calls for treading carefully and reverently as on holy ground. There is danger that some who have turned the back in this way have gone too far to return and repent.