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XXVII - 04(94)
"Watchman,
what of the night?"
"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you,
the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
THEOLOGY OF THE SANCTUARY - III
The book of Hebrews "has long been neglected by the people of God. We rightly place stress on Christ as our high priest, yet there is a tendency to neglect the only book in which this work is emphasized. In all the rest of the New Testament there is no discussion of His priestly work; in fact, outside of the book of Hebrews the term 'high priest' is not even once mentioned as referring to Christ. On the other hand, in chapter after chapter in Hebrews is Christ as high priest the subject, and ten times the title is applied to Him directly; in seven other
instances He is compared or contrasted with the high priests on earth, besides numerous incidental references. Deprived of this book, Seventh-day Adventists could not easily maintain their doctrine of Christ, or present Biblical confirmation for certain positions on the sanctuary question."
M. L. Andreasen
"Understand ... at the time of the end, the vision."
Three times a year the males of Israel were to appear before the Lord. (Exodus 23:14-17) These were the three major feasts in the religious life of the nation: the feast of unleavened bread which began with the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month (Leviticus 23:5-8); the feast of the first fruits, or Pentecost, which came fifty days later (23:15-17); and finally the Feast of Tabernacles beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (23:34). Connected with these feasts were "holy convocations." On these days, "no customary work" was to be done (23:7-8, 21, 35 NKJV).
Besides these annual feasts to which the males of Israel were commanded to
appear, the seventh month had two other convocations, one on the first day noted
as "a memorial of blowing of trumpets." (Lev. 23:24-25) Again no "customary
work" could be performed on that day. On the tenth day of this month was the
"day of atonements." (23:27 Heb.) Different from all of the other "holy
convocations" was the command - "Ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonements, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God." (23:28) 1 Connected with this were two anathemas: 1) If a person did not enter into the "soul affliction" required, he was to "be cut off from among his people" (23:29) and 2) If anyone did "any work," God would destroy him from among his people (23:30). This day was appointed as the day on which in the Year of Jubilee, the trumpet proclaiming liberty was to be sounded. (25:9-10)
Apart from the Passover, none of the convocations have the ritual connected with their services given in as much detail as the service performed on the Day of Atonement. (See Exodus 12 & Leviticus 16) Yet in the entire Old Testament, there is not a single reference to the celebration of this day. This is not saying that
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the Day of Atonement was not observed, but simply that its observances were not recorded. The Passover, on the other hand, was celebrated and the events connected with each of its recorded celebrations noted. After its inauguration in Egypt, it was observed again "in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt." (Numbers 9:1) The next record of celebration is as Israel "encamped in Gilgal" after crossing the Jordan River. This convocation coincided with the cessation of the manna, and the eating of the "corn of the land." (Joshua 5:10-12)
The Passover was used to initiate revivals in Israel because it appealed to the national spirit of Israel as well as being a call to religious rededication. After the northern kingdom had been taken into captivity, Hezekiah called for a passover, sending messengers "throughout all Israel from Beersheba unto Dan." However, because "the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently," the passover was celebrated one month late. (II Chronicles 30:1-5) As a result of this passover, a religious revival followed in which all the symbols of idolatry were removed from the land. (31:1)
In the days of King Josiah, another passover celebration is recorded. This one, however, followed an extensive purging of the land from idolatry under the direction of the king himself. Of this passover, it is recorded: "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor the kings of Judah." (II Kings 23:22)
In the New Testament, there is one positive reference to the Day of Atonement, and that merely to date the time during the voyage to Rome. (Acts 27:9, margin) Nowhere is recorded that Jesus ever joined in the observance of the Day of Atonement. The closest contact to the day was his attendance at the Feast of Tabernacles in A.D. 30. (John 7:2) Even in this recorded episode, He went up late. (7:9-10) Such an attitude on the part of Jesus is not difficult to understand. He had no sin of which to be cleansed. His soul affliction was not to be for Himself, but His would be in Gethsemane when He struggled to yield Himself to accept the cup He must drink for the redemption of man.
In the book of Hebrews where both the daily and yearly services are noted as
a part of the ritual in which the priests "serve unto the example and shadow of
heavenly things" (8:5), the emphasis is placed on the daily. Every Old Testament
reference in the book of Hebrews is from the Septuagint (LXX). Its use of words
for sanctuary designations varies. For example: In Leviticus 16, in speaking of
the most holy place, the Greek word used in the LXX is hagion, the neuter
singular of the adjective, hagios, meaning "holy." In Hebrews 9:1, Paul uses this same Greek word and applies it to the earthly sanctuary as a whole as does also the LXX in Exodus 30:13 and Leviticus 21:23. This would be confusing to the Christian Jewish reader of the Epistle, if the writer desired to distinguish between the two apartments of the sanctuary. The LXX was "the first Christian Bible" and the Old Testament of "the early Christian Church" molding "the religious vocabulary of the New Testament." (The SDA Bible Dictionary,
p. 1149) Since the same word was used in different ways in the LXX, for Paul and
his associates to use variants of that word to express their thoughts required
some defining. Having used the neuter plural of the word, hagia, to describe Christ as "a minister of holy things" (8:2), Paul proceeds to define his continued use of that word. He writes:
"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the
candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread, which is called Hagia." (9:2)
Then he adds - "And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called
Hagia Hagion" (9:3).
Throughout the rest of the Epistle, the word, Hagia, is used in reference to the first apartment, whether typical or antitypical. 2
The defined term for the most holy place, Hagia Hagion, is not used again. Paul does note that the high priest did go "once every year" (hapax tou eniautou) into the "the second" tabernacle. (9:7) This was in contrast to the sacrifices "offered during the year (kat' eniauton)" which could not make those offering such sacrifices perfect. (10:1) 3
After describing the second tabernacle or apartment with its ark of the
covenant and "over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat," Paul
wrote, "of which we cannot now speak particularly." (9:5) And he didn't.
In the light of this declaration, and his defined use of hagia, we find a probable allusion to the Day of Atonement. He writes:
"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the hagia by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God; let
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us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;...and let us provoke one another unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more as ye see
the day approaching." (Heb. 10:19-25)
"The day" is not designated as "the day of the Lord" as is used in other
references when the esehaton is meant. (See I Thess. 5:2) It is called simply -
he hemera - the day. The context is full of sanctuary imagery - "sprinkled," "washed," "a high priest over the house of God" - and even the concept of "judgment" is introduced. (10:27) This latter concept had been introduced previously. Having spoken of the sacrifice of
Christ, Paul stated - "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." (Heb. 9:27-28) There was to be a judgment for the putting away of sin. In the context of Hebrews 10:25-27, that judgment is connected with "the Day." Typically, it was the day of Atonement.
"The Day of Atonement was the great day in Israel. It was peculiarly holy,
and on it no work was to be done. The Jews called it Yoma, The Day." (The Sanctuary Service, p. 170) "The idea developed also in Jewish circles that on the first of Tishri [the seventh month], the sacred New Year's Day and the anniversary of creation, man's doings were judged and his destiny decided; and on the tenth of Tishri the decree of heaven was sealed."
(Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 281)
We ask why the silence in both the Old and New Testaments in regard to the Day of Atonement and its projection into the future. The early church could not then speak in particular concerning the services of the most holy place. It was "the day" that was approaching. Their immediate concern was to enter into the "holy place" with boldness by the new and living way which Jesus had made through His flesh. There they would find "the throne of grace" so as to obtain mercy. (Heb. 4:16) They could speak of the first "veil" but into the "second veil" went the high priest alone. The concepts of its meaning must await the hour of the transition.
In the type, the Day of Atonement was to be a day of cleansing. A prophecy in
Daniel set the time for its cleansing (8:14). When that time came, the message
of "the hour of God's judgment" was entrusted to a people marking them and their
theology - the theology of the sanctuary - as unique. The silence of Scripture
with its projection into the future of The Day, and the coming of a people to proclaim the typology of the Hebrew sanctuary service was not an accident, but the unfolding of the scroll as the Spirit of truth continued to guide "the house of God" into all truth. "Understand,
O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.' (Daniel 8:17)
Notes: 1 -- The same regulation regarding work on the Day of Atonement, was also the requirement in the Law of God in respect to the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:10) The first Angel's Message of Revelation combines "the hour of [God's] judgment" and the worship of Him as the Creator. The memorial of that creation is defined in the Law itself as the Sabbath (Ex. 20:11). The facts of history speak loud and clear. When God raised up a people revealing to them the unique theology of the sanctuary, He also gave to them His Sabbath as their day of worship. The relationship of the cessation from labor on the Sabbath - the "entering into His rest" (Heb. 4:1, 10-11) - has not been studied as it should be in the light of the Day of Atonement. The book of Hebrews introduces the consideration of "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (3:1) with His ministry "over His own house" (3:6) and the admonition "to labor to enter into that rest" as provided by the High Priest. (4:11) Into this picture is introduced the cessation from works, and the Sabbath. (4:10, 4)
2 -- After the definition of Hagia in Hebrews 9:2, the word is used six more times. Honesty requires that its use in these six times be consistent with the defined intent of the writer. These six times are as follows:
1) "The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the hagia was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing." (9:8)
Paul had defined the sanctuary as a whole by the word, hagion. (9:1)
For each section which we term either as the holy place or most holy place, the
word, "tabernacle," is used. Now he uses the term "first tabernacle" as he used
it in verse 2, meaning the first apartment. The force of the phrase, "was yet
standing," is well translated by Knox as meaning - "as long as the former
tabernacle maintained its standing." Norlie renders it - "while the old covenant
was still in force." It is the "first" or "old" covenant which is the subject of
this section (9:1). The "old" covenant ended at the Cross, hence the way was
opened for Christ's ministry in the Hagia.
2) "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His
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own blood, He entered in once into the hagia, having obtained eternal redemption for us." (9:12)
This verse is the last of one complete sentence in the Greek which includes also verse 11. The main verb is, "entered in," in the aorist, or Greek past tense. There are two dependent participial clauses in the same past tense; one, "being come" or "appeared" (RSV) in verse 11, and the second, "having obtained," in verse 12. While the Greek aorist participle is most frequently used to denote action prior to the time of the main verb, there is, however, a use of the aorist participle, called, "identical action," in which the action is identical with the time of the main verb. In such cases, as in this verse, the main verb is in the aorist indicative. This sentence is translated in RSV as follows:
"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of good things to come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."
The KJV renders this verse in such a way as to indicate a completed atonement at the Cross, which would violate the type. While an atonement was made at the Altar in the Court resulting in forgiveness, there was to be a final atonement mediated by the High Priest in heaven itself, resulting in eternal redemption.
3 & 4) "For Christ is not entered into the hagia made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into
the hagia every year with the blood of others." (9:24-25)
Two clauses in the above verses are misunderstood. Both are interpreted to
mean that the word, hagia, does not mean, 'holy place," but rather "most
holy." The first, "to appear in the presence of God" is seen as a declaration
that Christ entered into the inter sanctum where abode, in the type, the
Shekinah glory. But within the book of Hebrews as the priestly ministry of
Christ is considered, it is urged that we come "boldly unto the throne of
grace." (4:16) The "throne of grace" is not "the throne of judgment." The
"throne of grace" is the place to which the "new and living way" leads that
Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, consecrated for us through His flesh.
(10:20) This was prefigured in the Table of Shewbread, representing the Bread of
Life which came down from God. This bread, His flesh, (John 6:51) dwelling in
humanity, was full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) Jesus was also to be a priest
upon His throne, with the counsel of peace between both He and His Father.
(Zech. 6:13). This throne of grace is further illustrated in Revelation in
sanctuary symbolism. There before the throne were the "seven lamps of
fire", and "in the midst of throne...stood a Lamb as it had been slain." (Rev. 4:5; 6:6) As for the clause, "entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others," see Note # 3.
5) "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the hagia by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. (10:19-20)
In the sanctuary type, the penitent had limited access to God. He could come into the court to the Altar, but beyond this, he was denied access. Now through Christ, through "His flesh," the believer can go one step further, to the Throne of Grace, where the counsel of peace is ministered. The first veil has been opened, and we can enter in. Our hearts are "sprinkled from an evil conscience" ("purged from dead works" - 9:14), and our bodies washed with pure water" even as the typical priests washed before entering the tabernacle. (9:22) We look, however, for "the day" (9:25) when the second veil will be swept aside, and we enter into God's presence, cleansed. This is the objective of the final atonement.
6)"We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the
tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the
hagia by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp." (13:10-11)
This language accords with the type. When the blood was taken into the sanctuary by the high priest as a confession of sin, the whole body was "burned without the camp." (Lev. 4:12) While the same rule applied to the victims used in the Day of Atonement ritual (16:27), the contrast in these verses is with the altar at which Christians may eat, and which those who serve "the tabernacle" have no right to eat. This is the Communion Table of the New Covenant whose emblems typify the sacrifice made on the Cross. The typical lesson is drawn for a needful experience at that time. Even as the body of the typical sin offering when the blood was carried into the sanctuary, was burned without the camp, so Christ whose blood would be ministered in the Heavenly Sanctuary, "suffered without the gate." (10:12) The admonition was simply that the believing Christian should separate himself from those who in reality could not fellowship with him, and go out unto Christ "without the camp, bearing His reproach." (10:13)
3 -- Throughout the discussion in the book of Hebrews where the word hagia
is used, it is associated with "the blood of goats and calves," or "the blood of bulls and goats." (9:12, 13, 19; 10:4) This is inferred as the description of the ritual on the Day of Atonement. It is true that two goats and one bullock were used, but only the blood of one goat, and the blood of the bullock were taken into the most holy place. Goats (plural), bulls (plural), and calves (plural) were a part of the daily sin offerings, but the blood of only one goat, and only one bull entered the ritual for the Day of Atonement.
The differentiation between the yearly service and the daily is further
heightened by the Greek used. When the factual information is noted, of the high
priest going "alone once every year" into the second apartment (9:7), the Greek
wording is hapax tou eniautou monos.
However, when Paul refers to the daily ministry which would involve the high
priest, the KJV gives an interpretive translation - "entereth into the hagia
every year with the blood of others" (9:25; see also 10:1). The Greek text reads
differently than in the 7th verse - kat' eniauton - meaning simply
"during the year." The Day of Atonement eisegesis cannot be sustained. The
exegesis is clearly that hagia is used just as it was defined to be used - denoting the first apartment of the sanctuary.
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LET'S TALK IT OVER
Four days ago, just before the old year closed, Yossi Beilin, Deputy Foreign Minister for Israel and Msgr. Claudio Maria Celli, Vatican Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, signed an historic pact which will establish diplomatic relations between the two governments. (This is being written January 3, 1994) This is but another step in the steady tread toward the fulfillment of Daniel 11:45. Since 1948 when Israel once again became a State, a series of events have occurred, some of which have fulfilled Biblical prophecy, and some, as this most recent happening, have been merely the shadow of coming events.
I remember well the events in 1948 when Israel once again became a nation. It
sent shock waves through the Church. Just the year before, the Pacific Press had
released an evangelistic paperback, The Jews and Palestine, by Roy F. Cottrell. He had written - "The God of heaven who overthrew the city and nation [of Israel] and who because of their apostasy dispersed the inhabitants to the ends of the earth, forever settled the question of a complete return and institution in old Canaan by asserting that it 'cannot be."' (p. 61) But it did happen! At the time I was pastor of the First Church in Toronto, and still have the notes of the sermon I preached the Sabbath following the re-establishment of Israel as a nation.
At the 1952 Bible Conference, Arthur S. Maxwell, in his presentation, acknowledged the historical fact, and while stating it did not of itself fulfill prophecy, there was a prophecy of Jesus in Luke 21:24 which needed to be carefully considered. His exact words were:
"There is one prophecy concerning Palestine that we should all be watching with special care. Said Jesus, 'Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.' "
(Our Firm Foundation, Vol. 2, p. 230)
It was perceived by Maxwell that by this prophecy, Jesus meant the close of all probationary time. When in 1967, Jerusalem again was brought under Israeli control, the Church found themselves without an answer. So the way out was a denial of any significance to the fulfillment of the prophecy, or to the event which cast its shadow before. At
the North American Bible Conference in 1974, Dr. Herbert Douglass declared - "Adventists do not see theological importance in the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 or the annexation of Old Jerusalem in 1967." ("The Unique Contribution of Adventist Eschatology," p. 6)
Thirteen years passed, and then in 1980, the Knesset of Israel voted that Jerusalem, as one united city, was the capital of all Israel. The government of Israel was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Now another thirteen years have passed, and a pact has been signed with the Vatican. The significance of this act is the objective that Rome has in regard to the city of Jerusalem.
On June 30, 1980, the Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Vatican to the United Nations lodged with the President of the Security Council a statement of the position of the Holy See on the status of Jerusalem. This statement was circulated as a document of the Security Council. It called for the "territorial internationalization" of Jerusalem. "The Holy See considers the safeguarding of the Sacred and Universal character of Jerusalem to be of such primary importance as to require any Power that comes to exercise sovereignty over the Holy Land...to not only protect the special character of the City, but also the rights connected, on the basis of an appropriate juridical system guaranteed by a higher international body."
While in the present pact signed by Israel and the Vatican on December 30, 1993, the status of Jerusalem was not addressed, it was not dropped but merely passed to "the peace process" for decision. Rome has not changed its objective.
On April 20, 1984, John Paul II addressed an Apostolic Letter to the Roman Catholic
Church on "the city of Jerusalem, the Sacred Patrimony of all believers and the desired meeting place of peace for all peoples of the Middle Fast." He described Jerusalem as "the historic site of the biblical (sic) revelation of God, the meeting place, as it were, of heaven and earth, in which more than in any other place the word of God was brought to man." (Did not God speak from Mt. Sinai? But are we not told that in "the last days" it would be declared that "the word of the Lord [would go forth] from Jerusalem"? Isa. 2:2-3)
The Pope also wrote that "Jerusalem stands out as a symbol of coming
together, of union, and of universal peace for the human family . . thus making
Jerusalem the living sign of the great ideal of unity, of brotherhood and
agreement among peoples according to the illuminating
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words of the Book of Isaiah: 'Many peoples shall come and say: 'Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' (Isa. 2:3)"
Only a totally blind Laodicean is unable to see where this pact signed between Israel and the Vatican is leading. While the other events in the saga of modern Israel from 1948 to the present ranged in increments of time from nineteen to thirteen years, the final movements will be rapid ones. The final fulfillment of Daniel 11:45 is not a decade from now, but in the immediate future. The Revelation of Jesus Christ calls for the "spirits of demons" to gather "the kings of the whole world" to "the place which is called in Hebrew, Har-Magedon." (Rev. 16:i4, 16 ARV) That place is Har-Mo'ed, Mount of the Congregation, and forms a part of the objectives of Lucifer. (Isa. 14:12-13)
If one has eyes to see, he surely must be aware that Satan, who "has long
been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world," will reach his
objective "in the last remnant of time." In connection with this, the "messenger
of the Lord" quoted Revelation 16:13, 14, and added - "Except those who are kept
by the power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be
swept into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a
fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God."
(Great Controversy, pp. 561-562)
Beyond Daniel 11:45 is the ominous event - "And at that time shall Michael stand up." (12:1) "Coming events cast their shadows before." (DA, p. 636) The establishment of the Jewish State in 1948 without Jerusalem foreshadowed what took place nineteen years later in 1967, and 1967 foreshadowed what took place thirteen years later in 1980. Now after another thirteen years, comes the event of December 30, 1993 foreshadowing the fulfillment of Daniel 11:45, but it will be a short shadow. Then in a rapid chain of events, Daniel 12:1.
If this is not enough to startle a lukewarm Laodicean, added to this picture is the immediate prospect of a false latter rain and loud cry promoted by a segment of the "independent" ministries. Unable to perceive the meaning of fulfilled events which have taken place, they now are launching a multimillion dollar project to give "the loud cry" and receive "the latter rain." This is in clear contradiction to where and how Jesus said the final Spirit-filled witness will be given.
As a part of His eschatological discourse, Jesus said:
"But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
"And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
"But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand
what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given
you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit." (Mark 13:9-11)
It should be obvious that those who bear the final witness will be filled
with the Holy Spirit to the extent that their very voice apparatus will be used
by the Holy Spirit; in other words, they will have the Spirit of prophecy - they
will speak for God in "a testimony against them." Further, this final witness
comes after the gospel has been published to all nations, not as that gospel witness.
We may think, however, there is still a great work to be done. When God gives His sign that "the times of the nations" are "fulfilled," then those who are living "through faith in His word," will alter their program and thinking to come into harmony with that revelation.
In connection with the closing events of probationary time is the final atonement in the Heavenly Sanctuary, and on earth there is to be "soul affliction," not a multi-million dollar extravaganza to satisfy an ego mania. As gross darkness covers the inhabitants of earth under the cloak of an angel of light, perhaps we need to be seeking to understand the meaning of the counsel that the Lord gave through the prophet Isaiah which reads:
"Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (26:20-21)
whg
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DO WE MATTER?
The orb that governs life on earth, Our glorious, dazzling sun
Is seen by the astronomers
To be more than one
Among a hundred billion stars
Within the Milky Way,
A galaxy of medium size
Of which the experts say,
There are two hundred billion more,
All functioning as the base
Of myriads of spinning stars
That wheel, propelled thru space.
We are but individuals lone
Upon a planet speck
Within a solar system small,
Part of the pathless trek
Of just an average galaxy
Whose stars one corner fill
Of an unbounded universe
That is expanding still.
Our forays into space are like
Our dabbling into a pond
While conscious of infinitude
Of ocean just beyond.
It is a sober, humbling thought
To grasp how small we are
Within a boundless universe
Of galaxy and star;
And in the greater scheme of things
We fear we count for naught:
How could we matter to the One
Who into being brought
Creation of stupendous size,
Complexity and scope?
So what is man? the Psalmist asked;
What grounds have we for hope?
We'd have no grounds whatever,
No answer to our plea,
Did we not know that God once chose
To become small as we;
We could not comprehend beyond
Immensity of space,
So God stooped low to become one
With our poor, fallen race;
He came not to the great ones,
He came to me and you,
Whate'er our lowly station,
Its heartache, pain He knew.
He wept with those who sorrowed,
He shrank from pain as we:
He was the Suffering Servant
Whose stripes would set us free;
Emmanuel, God with us,
Knew every load we bear,
He suffered our afflictions,
So ask not, Does God care?
For Jesus is the answer,
Look in His lovely face:
A visage marred, but pitying still,
And full of truth and grace.
Sheila Stavert
Ms. Stavert is the Executive Secretary of the Adventist Laymen's Foundation of Canada. *****
"By giving His only begotten Son to die on the Cross, God has shown the estimate He placed on the human soul."
Ms 29, 1899 (Extra File)
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