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Four Seventh-day Adventist Sins That Prevent the Advent, Pt. 1: He Could Not Fulfill His Covenant With Them
Larry Kirkpatrick, Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, April 16, 2005
Document URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kir-4sdasinspt1.php
Who Were These Men?
Who knows who these men were: Shammua, Shapat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel? They were leaders in Israel. They had been slaves in Egypt, but God delivered them. In fact, Christ delivered them. He was there. He was present. By the hand of Moses He led them forth toward Canaan. Paul reminded his listeners of this in 1 Corinthians 10:1-6:
Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples (1 Corinthians 10:1-6).
But maybe Shammua, Shapat, Igal, Palti, Gaddiel, Gaddi, Ammiel, Sethur, Nahbi, and Geuel will be easier to identify if I remind you of two of their fellow leaders.
Their names were Caleb and Joshua.
And now you know the story at hand.
Forty Extra Years
But few of those who left Egypt actually entered the promised land. Our Lord Jesus Christ warned that there is a wide way by which many trample about in their journey, and there is a narrow way that few find and traverse. Back in the time of the Exodus God’s people came right up to the very border of the promised land, and had to turn back. For 40 extra years they camped in the wilderness. Hear the clarity of inspiration:
Long has the Lord borne with His people. He has forgiven their wanderings and waited for them to give Him room in their hearts; but false ideas, jealousy, and distrust have crowded Him out (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 155).
We need greater faith in the progress of the cause of God. When the Lord gives us a work to do, let us not stop to inquire into the reasonableness of the command or the probable result of our effort to obey. Workers for Christ are never to think, much less to speak, of failure in their work. Though the outward appearance may be unpromising, energy and trust in God will develop resources (Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, May 20, 1902).
God blessed Caleb and Joshua. While cowardly Israel were turned back into the wilderness to fall into graves in the desert, Caleb and Joshua were spared to enter into the goodly land; for they had correctly and nobly reported for God. Our power is not in our talents of education or means, neither is it in our popularity; it is in self-sacrifice, our willing obedience to Jesus Christ. Those who truly surrender all to Him, will carry a weight of influence, and will carry others along with them, because they walk in the light. Brain power will be inefficient, purse power of little account with God; but heart power, thorough godliness, humble fidelity, will bear a weight of influence that will be irresistible (Ellen G. White, Youth’s Instructor, September 6, 1894).
While the people were cherishing doubts, and believing the unfaithful spies, the golden opportunity for Israel passed by. The inhabitants of the land were aroused to make a determined resistance, and the work which the Lord had prepared to do for them to manifest His greatness and His favor to His people could not be done because of their wicked unbelief and rebellion.
Shall it be thus in these last days, just before we enter into the heavenly Canaan, that God’s people shall indulge the spirit that was revealed by ancient Israel? Men full of doubts and criticisms and complaints can sow seeds of unbelief and distrust that will yield an abundant harvest. The history of Israel was written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (See Heb. 3:7-14) (Heb. 4:1, 2) (Ellen G. White, Paulson Collection, p. 142).
You will recall that they journeyed right to the border, but then God required them to turn back. A two week journey became forty years. Well then might we today be instructed by statements such as these…
I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan (Ellen G. White, General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903, Evangelism, p. 694).
If every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 29).
Let us turn to the Scripture account and go gleaning! We will consider Numbers 13:1-14:45:
13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
13:2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
13:3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.
13:4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
13:5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori.
13:6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
13:7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.
13:8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.
13:9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu.
13:10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi.
13:11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
13:12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.
13:13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael.
13:14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi.
13:15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
13:16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.
13:17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:
13:18 And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;
13:19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;
13:20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.
13:21 So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.
13:22 And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
13:23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
13:24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.
13:25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.
13:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
14:1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
14:3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
14:7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
14:11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?
14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
14:13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy might from among them;)
14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that Thou LORD art among this people, that Thou LORD art seen face to face, and that Thy cloud standeth over them, and that Thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
14:15 Now if Thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying,
14:16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness.
14:17 And now, I beseech Thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying,
14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
14:19 Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
14:20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to Thy word:
14:21 As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
14:22 Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice;
14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it:
14:24 But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
14:25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
14:26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
14:27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against Me.
14:28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you:
14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against Me,
14:30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
14:31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
14:32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
14:33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My breach of promise.
14:35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against Me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
14:36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
14:37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
14:38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
14:39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
There is our tale.
God had committed to His people a work to be accomplished on earth. The third angel’s message was to be given, the minds of believers were to be directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ had entered to make atonement of His people. The Sabbath reform was to be carried forward. The breach in the law of God must be made up. The message must be proclaimed with a loud voice, that all the inhabitants of earth might receive the warning. The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming.
Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith…. Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history!
It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed. God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there a holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was first preached, went not in ‘because of unbelief.’ Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His covenant with them.
For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord’s professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years (Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pp. 695, 696).
This brings us fully to our purpose in these next sermons. On a very practical level, how can we take special care to avoid these four specially listed sins?
If Jesus Defeated Satan…
Many Christians today look to the blessed hope—the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Two and three centuries ago, the primary Christian viewpoint was that the world would get better and better and then Jesus would come. But Seventh-day Adventists were among the first heralds of the view that is now more popular in the Christian world. It is called premillenialism. Bible prophecy tells us that the world, rather than getting better and better, becomes worse and worse, until the return of Christ. Before Revelation’s millennium in chapter 20, the earth comes to final crisis and Jesus returns. A century and a half ago, we taught the imminent return of Christ.
But with the passage of so long a time, some ask of us an explanation: Why are we still here? Author Herbert Douglass puts the question well:
If Jesus defeated Satan at every turn, if all heaven and unfallen worlds saw Satan unmasked when Jesus died, why isn’t the war over? (Herbert E. Douglass, God at Risk, p. 110, 2004).
A powerful question. Much of the answer comes with a clearer understanding of the biblical doctrine of the atonement. But there are other factors too. The example in Bible history of a delay caused by God’s own people is recalled in the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and their leaving slavery to travel to the promised land. This provides a warning and a template for us.
On a very practical level, how can we take special care to avoid the four specially listed sins that, so far, have kept God’s people out of Canaan? A century ago these sins kept the work of the gospel from being finished: unbelief, worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among ourselves. Imagine. Jesus could have come! Sin and suffering on planet earth could have been ended then. And imagine today. If these four sins especially prevented the completion of the work of the gospel, what will be the result if we can take notice of them now and do what rests in our power to avoid them? The door is opened for the end of the world to come. Next week then, we address the issue of worldliness. GCO
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