June 5, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
BEWARE OF OUR OLD SUPERSTITIONS & FEARS
As the Israelites impatiently waited for Moses (reminding us of how impatiently the first king of Israel, Saul, waited for prophet Samuel, and committed his first apostasy), something happened that lead worst things:
“Feeling their HELPLESSNESS in the absence of their leader, they RETURNED to their OLD SUPERSTITIONS.
“The ‘mixed multitude’ had been the first to INDULGE murmurings and impatience, and they were the LEADERS in the APOSTASY that followed.
“Among the objects regarded by the Egyptians as symbols of deity, was an OX or CALF; and it was the suggestion of those who had practiced this form of idolatry in Egypt, that a calf was made and worshiped.
“The people desired some image to REPRESENT GOD, and to go before them IN THE PLACE OF MOSES.
“God had given no manner of similitude [likeness or image] of Himself, and He has prohibited ANY material representation for such a purpose.
“The mighty miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were designed to ESTABLISH FAITH in Him as the INVISIBLE all-powerful Helper of Israel, the only true God. And the desire for some VISIBLE manifestation of His presence had been GRANTED in the [visible] PILLAR OF CLOUD AND OF FIRE that guided their hosts, and in the REVEALING OF HIS GLORY UPON MOUNT SINAI.
“But with the cloud of the Presence still before them, they TURNED BACK IN THEIR HEARTS to the idolatry of Egypt, and represented the glory of the invisible God with the similitude of an ox! See Exodus 32.” Patriarchs & Prophets, p. 315,316.
As we prepare to meet the invisible Lord of the Sabbath tomorrow who is not only at the highest point of literal Mt. Sinai in earth but “secret place of the Most High” in the most holy place of the sanctuary in heaven, still interceding and mediating while continuing His closing work of blood atonement and pre-advent judgment, let us examine our hearts and see if we have, in any way, “returned in our hearts” to any of our previous superstitions and fears of our past. Remember that we are never beyond temptation while still alive. Death placed us beyond it.
Have a blessed Sabbath as we meet tomorrow “at the same time, same website of ours.” Invite others, share, spread and proclaim the present truth with others! NMF