“Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (2 John 1:3). It seems few realize the truthfulness and importance of knowing that Jesus is “the Son of the Father, in truth and love.” Many call the sonship of Christ a metaphor, but the Bible says it is truth. Those who overcome will believe this is a fact, not fiction (1 John 5:5, 10). 

2010 West Virginia Camp Meeting: It will be held at the Smyrna Chapel in Welch, West Virginia, June 15-19. Call 304-732-9204 for more information. 

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Proposed 2012 Calendar 

There has been a lot of publicity concerning the year 2012, and specifically December 21, 2012. This is the last day of the Mayan calendar, and the day which many believe will begin a drastic worldwide change. Whether or not that date is when things will change, the Bible tells us that the world will face many changes shortly before the second coming of Christ. It is critically important that we are prepared to face these changes by completely yielding our lives to Jesus Christ. Do not be tricked into believing that Christians will be secretly raptured before the tribulation. (For a thorough study on the rapture, please read the February 2009 issue of Present Truth, available on our website or by request.) 

While there has been a lot of focus on climactic changes in the world, there is another possible change that you may not be aware of. There are some who are lobbying for a change in the calendar that could deceive people regarding which day is the Sabbath. 

God created the world in six days, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:2, 3). When God blessed the seventh day of the week He forever altered that day to make it holy and blessed. This blessed day cannot be reproduced by man, nor can the blessing be reversed. King David said, “thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever” (1 Chronicles 17:27). 

When God wrote His Ten Commandments with His own finger on stone, and spoke them from Mount Sinai, He placed the Sabbath at the heart of it. He said, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11). When God spoke these words, He intended them to last forever. God said, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips” (Psalms 89:34). 

God blessed the seventh day of the week, forever changing that time to be holy time, and then commanded us to keep it holy. Regardless of how hard a man may try to keep another day holy, it is impossible, for there is only one day that is holy, the day that God blessed and sanctified. No other day has ever been blessed and made holy. God calls it, “My holy day” (Isaiah 58:13). 

Many times in history men have attempted to obliterate the Sabbath by changing or disrupting the seven-day weekly cycle, yet they have always been unsuccessful. God has faithfully preserved the knowledge of the seventh-day Sabbath throughout the ages. As the God of heaven who commanded the keeping of His holy day, and who even imposed the death penalty for its violation (Numbers 15:32-36), it is God’s responsibility to make sure the knowledge of His holy day is preserved for those who wish to obey Him. 

Different Weekly Cycles 

Historically there have been different weekly cycles among various cultures. The ancient Chinese and Egyptians had a ten-day week. France, when it openly rebelled against God and banned the Bible, also used a ten-day week for a period of only nine years, finally abandoning it for the seven-day week. Pagan Rome had an eight-day week, which they finally abandoned for the seven-day week. Communist Russia tried to use a five-day week, then a six-day week, and finally abandoned these unbiblical weeks, after only twelve years of use. Russia switched back to the seven-day week in 1940. Throughout history many calendar changes have been made, but none of them have succeeded in eradicating the seven-day weekly cycle instituted by God at creation. Throughout every generation God has had His faithful people who remembered the seventh-day as the Sabbath of the Lord. 

The unbroken seven-day weekly cycle has been preserved in many languages and cultures in the world. For example, in English we have two words for the seventh day of the week, Saturday and Sabbath. In Spanish, as well as in many other languages, there is only one word for the seventh-day of the week. In Spanish Saturday is Sabado, which means, “Sabbath.” In Ghana, Africa, there is an ancient custom of naming every child by the day of the week in which they were born. They have seven different names they give children in addition to their first and last names. I was born on Saturday, so my name would be Kwame (The Ghana day name for people born on Saturday). The Ghana people believe God has special regard for Saturday so they call God, Kwame also. This ancient practice demonstrates the long standing seven-day weekly cycle in Ghana tradition. There are similar stories like this about other cultures who have preserved the seven-day weekly cycle throughout the ages. (See http://oneinmessiah.net/4thSab.htm for more information on the Sabbath in different languages.) 

Calendar Changes 

Julius Caesar implemented the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, which had 365 days in a regular year, and a day added to the end of February every four years. The Julian year was 365.25 days long, slightly longer than an actual solar year (the time it takes for the earth to complete one rotation around the sun). This calendar was used for over 1,500 years. Over that time, however, the days of the year fell out of sequence with the annual seasons by 10 days. Pope Gregory instituted the Gregorian Calendar in 1582 which removed 10 days from the calendar. The last day of the Julian calendar was Thursday, October 4, 1582, and the following day was the first day of the Gregorian calendar, Friday, October 15, 1582. With this change, the seven-day weekly cycle was not affected. The Gregorian Calendar also removes three leap years in every 400 year period from the Julian calendar, thus making the Gregorian year on average 365.2425 days long, which is more closely equal to an actual solar year. This is still not exactly in harmony with the actual solar year of 365.2422, but much closer than the Julian calendar. 

As things are now, the seven-day week cannot possibly harmonize with the solar year without intercalations (when days, weeks, or months are added to certain years, such as a leap year). It is possible that before the flood the years perfectly coincided with weeks. 52 weeks is exactly 364 days. The years now are 365.2422 days long, so dates in a solar year do not always fall on the same day of the week. Your birthday, for example, continually shifts throughout the week. 

A Perpetual Calendar 

Some people wish to have every date of the year always fall on the same day of the week every year (thus your birthday would always be the same day of the week). This sequence may help business flow more smoothly because it provides the same number of work days in each quarter and each quarter starts on the same weekday. There was an ancient calendar proposed by the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch that would allow each date of the year to always fall on the same day of the week. This calendar is 364 days long (exactly 52 weeks). This proposed calendar had to include an extra week every few years to keep it in harmony with the solar year. So instead of having leap years when one day is added there would be leap years when one week is added. The Enoch calendar preserved the seven-day weekly cycle and allowed every date of every year to fall on the same day of the week. 

This calendar was proposed in the Book of Enoch which has been purported to be written by Enoch, “the seventh from Adam” (Jude 1:14). Yet, this book, at least in its entirety, could not have been written by Enoch. Enoch lived before the flood of Noah’s time. Up until Noah’s time there was no rain nor water of any kind that came from the sky (Genesis 2:5, 6). So the real Enoch never saw rain or snow, yet the book of Enoch speaks of them both, as well as the four seasons as we have them today. These things did not exist in Enoch’s time, so he could not have written about them. Nor could he have written the section dealing with the calendar, for there it speaks of winter and summer. Western scholars today claim that the Book of Enoch was written from 300-100 BC, long after the real Enoch was taken by God (Genesis 5:24). 

Regardless of its author, this historical document proposed a calendar that preserved the seven-day weekly cycle as well as allowing dates to always fall on the same day of the week. Yet, this calendar, along with the Julian and Gregorian, ignores the moon as the marker for the beginning of months, as the Bible describes, and as the Jews still recognize to this day. In the Hebrew language, the word for new moon is the same as the word for month. The tenth day of the month is the tenth day from the new moon according to biblical reckoning. The fact that the Enoch Calendar proposed months that were completely disconnected from the moon did not make it popular among the Jews, for all of their annual feasts were determined by the new moon, and shifted throughout the week from year to year. The appeal of allowing the feasts to always fall on the same day of the week did not outweigh the desire to keep in harmony with the Biblical way of reckoning a month, so it was never adopted by the Jews in general. 

The World Calendar 

In our day there is a push for another calendar that will allow every date to fall on the same day of the week every year. This is called “The World Calendar” and its promoters hope to have it instituted on January 1, 2012. The reason they want it to be implemented in 2012 is that January of that year in our current Gregorian calendar perfectly coincides with January of the World Calendar. Letters have been sent to the current Pope Benedict to try to get him to support it, and if so it would be flatteringly called, “The Benedictine Calendar.” 

This same calendar was presented by Mr. Kee to the House of Representatives in the United States as Bill HR1345 on January 27, 1947. At that time the proposed date for the implementation of the World Calendar was January 1, 1950 because January of that year also coincided with January of the World Calendar. This calendar was rejected in 1947 for a very important reason. Unlike the Enoch Calendar, the World Calendar does not preserve the seven-day weekly cycle. Instead the weekly cycle is disrupted once every year and twice every leap year. 2012 is a leap year so it would disrupt the weekly cycle twice, once on June 31st, and again on December 31st. This disruption of the seven-day weekly cycle was rejected by Jews, Christians, and Muslims who believe that the seven-day weekly cycle was instituted by God Himself and cannot be altered. 

The World Calendar proposes four equal quarters to every year that consist of 91 days each. This would make a 364-day year. To bring the total to 365.25 days, an extra day is added at the end of each year, and an additional day added every four years. These added days are not counted toward the week, the month, nor toward the year. They are considered holidays and given the title, “World Day.” This would make an eight-day week at the end of every year, and two eight-day weeks in each leap year. If this calendar were to become accepted to be used on January 1, 2012, then June 31, 2012, would be the first day to throw off the weekly cycle. The real seventh-day of the week afterward would fall on Friday, and then would continue to fall on Friday each week until December 31, 2012, when it would be thrown off another day, and would then fall on Thursday every week during the year 2013. At the end of 2013 the true Sabbath would then be pushed back another day and during 2014 the Sabbath would fall on Wednesday. In 2015 it would fall on Tuesday, and so on. Keep in mind that this would only happen IF the new World Calendar is accepted. It is a calendar designed to confuse people regarding the true Sabbath day. This could be deceptive for those who wish to worship the Lord on His only holy day, the seventh-day of the week. 

Regardless of how man organizes a calendar to make it appear that the seventh day of the week actually falls on another day, it does not change the actual seventh-day of God’s week. There can never be an eight-day week. As soon as an eight-day week is included in a calendar, that calendar becomes invalid as far as telling you which day is the seventh-day of God’s week. As followers of God, we must oppose the World Calendar, and if it is put into general use, God’s people will have to be able to discern which day is the true Sabbath apart from the World Calendar. It is not a difficult thing to know which day is the Sabbath. You can make your own calendar that does not interfere with the week, or it is quite certain that calendars will be readily available for those who refuse to abandon the seven-day weekly cycle. Alternatively, you can take up an old practice of tying knots. You can tie one knot in a rope each day, when you have come to the seventh knot, untie them and start over the next day. Each seventh knot is the Sabbath. God will always preserve the knowledge of His holy day for those who really want to know it. 

The Work Week Calendar 

There is another calendar that has confused some into worshiping on the wrong day. This calendar is called “The Work Week Calendar” and places Monday as the first day of the week instead of Sunday. This calendar is used today along with our current calendar and does not disrupt the week, yet it has succeeded in confusing some into worshiping God on the first day of the week instead of on the Sabbath. Some people have concluded that if they see a calendar that places Sunday in the seventh position on a calendar then it must be the Sabbath. Yet, that is not the case. The current Work Week Calendar lists Sunday, August 1, 2010 as the first day of August, just as our calendar does today. Both calendars are identical as far as dates and the names of the days of the week. The seven-day cycle has not been broken by the Work Week Calendar because there has never been a week that was eight days long, nor six days, nor any length other than seven. Until a week is included in a calendar that is longer or shorter than seven days, it has not disrupted the seven-day cycle. 

Some have mistakenly concluded that since the Work Week Calendar lists Sunday as the seventh-day of the week that we should keep Sunday instead of Saturday. They think that someone has come and actually changed the name of the day we call Saturday to Sunday, and then changed the name of Friday to Saturday, etc. Yet, for this to happen there would have to have been a six-day week at some time in the calendar and it would no longer coincide with the common calendar. All the Work Week Calendar has done is taken the Sunday column and moved it over to the seventh position in the graph. This did not actually change the fact that Saturday is the Sabbath, it just made it appear that Saturday is the sixth day of the week. Yet, Saturday is still the seventh-day of God’s week. 

Because there was never a week longer nor shorter than seven days in the Work Week Calender, the dates in a regular calendar always perfectly coincide with the Work Week Calendar, and always fall on the same weekday. For example, if you were using the Work Week Calendar, and I was using the standard calendar, and I asked to meet with you at 8 a.m. on Monday, August 2, 2010, we would both arrive at the same time on the same day because the two calendars are identical except for the first column being shifted to the last position. The seven-day cycle is not affected except in appearance only. Saturday is still the Sabbath of the Lord on both calendars. 

The Lunar Sabbath 

Some have decided to abandon any continuous seven-day cycle and instead begin calculating the Sabbath from each new moon. With this reckoning the Sabbath could fall on any day of the week. Some months the Sabbath would be on Monday, the next month it may be on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it continues to change from month to month. This would happen because the lunar cycle is approximately 29.5 days long, so the lunar month is alternately 29 and 30 days long. Since from one new moon to the next is not evenly divisible by seven, at the end of every month there is one or two extra days—this is what causes the lunar sabbaths to change every month. Days 1 and 30 in a lunar sabbath calendar are said not to count toward the week. This causes a gap between the last Sabbath of the month and the first Sabbath of the next month to be seven or eight days every month. That is unusual compared to the six-day gap between all other sabbaths. 

The lunar Sabbath reckoning disrupts the continuous seven-day weekly cycle and is just as dangerous as the World Calendar. There is nothing in the Bible that directly instructs us to calculate Sabbaths by observing the moon, nor to observe them on specific dates of the month. This is a very compelling biblical fact that must be considered when examining this issue. In Leviticus 23 God listed all of His appointed times for worship. The first one on the list is the Sabbath. It says, “Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings” (Leviticus 23:3). It simply mentions six working days followed by the Sabbath day of rest, wherein no manner of work is allowed. No date of the month is given for its observance. Then God continued to outline the annual feast days, being very particular to list the precise dates that these things should be observed. They are as follows: 

• 14^th day of the first month (Nisan): Passover 
• 15^th-21^st days of the first month: Feast of Unleavened Bread (The 15^th and 21^st days are rest days but not Sabbaths – only servile work was prohibited.) 
• Day after the first Sabbath in the feast of Unleavened Bread: Wavesheaf 
• 50 days after the wavesheaf: Day of Pentecost 
• 1^st day of the seventh month (Tishrei): Feast of Trumpets 
• 10^th day of the seventh month: Day of Atonement 
• 15^th-22^nd day of the seventh month: Feast of Tabernacles (The 15^th and 22^nd days are rest days but not Sabbaths – only servile work was prohibited. In the KJV these days are incorrectly called sabbaths.) 

Everything in this chapter is given a specific date of the month except for the weekly Sabbath, the wavesheaf and the Day of Pentecost. The reason no date is given for these events is that they shift dates. The Sabbath does not always fall on the same date each month. If God expected us to keep the Sabbath on the same date every month, it is His responsibility to tell us. He could have said, “On the 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, and 29^th days of every month shall be Sabbaths for you.” But He did not do this, nor anything similar to these instructions. Instead He said, “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:3). There is never any indication that any week ever consisted of eight or nine days, which would be the case every month if you calculate a week based on the moon. Instead, biblically, every seventh day is the Sabbath, from the creation until now. 

One of the arguments given in favor of lunar sabbaths is that man-made calendars are confusing and cannot be relied upon to tell us what day is the Sabbath. They conclude that the moon is more reliable and can be depended upon to tell us which day is the Sabbath. Yet, counting Sabbaths by the moon is actually very unreliable. 

If you go by observation alone, you will certainly be off at least one or two months in a year. That means you would miss the Sabbath at least 8-16% of the time, and it is quite possible for this number to be as high as 50% of the time, or even 100% of the time depending upon whether you count the new moon by the visible crescent or by the conjunction (the darkest phase of the moon). This is very unreliable and it disrupts the seven-day weekly cycle every month. I have a friend who keeps the lunar sabbath cycle, and he told me that he called one of his friends across the country who also keeps the lunar sabbath cycle, and said, “Happy Sabbath.” His friend replied, “Today is not the Sabbath, tomorrow is.” They looked at the moon differently that month so they were keeping their supposed “sabbath” on different days. They could not possibly both be right. 

A website providing a list of lunar sabbath fellowships has a disclaimer that reads, “Please note that lunar sabbath fellowships may, and often do, differ in their understandings of the how they believe the count works and other varied opinions related to it” (lunarsabbath.com/lunar_sabbath_fellowships.htm). Understand that this means they keep different days as a sabbath because they count them differently. This demonstrates how unreliable the lunar sabbath calculations are. There is no biblical instruction to know how to do it. 

On this same website a note from a reader said, “Been keeping scriptural shabbath 4 years with out a calendar or a computer just by sheer observance so some months I’m off give or take a day but I’m hoping to get correspondence from fellow believers.” (ibid.) Even if a person is fortunate enough to guess at the correct way to determine a month, they still end up getting off on some months. Friends, we cannot afford to be off by a day when trying to figure out the true Sabbath. There is only one day that God blessed, the seventh day of the week. 

The half moon, which is supposed to be the most reliable indicator, can look almost identical two days in a row. My wife and I were looking at the full moon the other day, and trying to decide whether it was completely full or not. I told her, “I am very glad I do not have to rely upon moon cycles to determine which day is the Sabbath.” Sometimes the lapse between new moon, half moon, full moon, then half moon, is six days, sometimes eight days. It is a very unreliable manner of keeping the Sabbath. If you count the new moon by the visible crescent, then you will have a half moon on day 5 or 6 of the month, throwing off the supposed 8, 15, 22, 29 day cycle. 

The Karaite Jews begin their months on the first sighting of the new moon in Israel, and ignore the laws of postponements used by Rabbinic Judaism. Therefore their months can start on different days than other Jews. Some Messianic Jews count the new moon from the first visible crescent in their location, while others count it from the darkest part of the lunar cycle (the opposite of full moon). With the various forms of calculating the new moons (and none of them having a clear biblical prescription) there can be up to four days difference between one person’s calculation of the new moon and another’s. If God expected us to count the weekly Sabbath from the new moon, He is obligated to tell us of that fact, and also to tell us which formula to use to calculate the new moon. Otherwise we are left with uncertainty regarding which day is the Sabbath, and we would just have to guess at it and hope we got the right day. If you use the observation of the crescent method to calculate the new moon, environmental conditions could cause you to miss the new moon sighting, which would throw your whole month off. Certainly God would not leave His holy Sabbath day to such uncertainty. Remember, God only blessed one day of the week, and to be off by one day causes a person to lose the blessing that God placed in that day, and causes the worshipper to transgress God’s command not to work on His holy day. 

For a thorough study on lunar sabbaths, please contact us and request our four-part DVD series entitled, “Lunar Sabbaths.” You can also view this series on Youtube using the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU5gfNecmA0. 

Conclusion 

Satan has worked tirelessly to confuse people regarding God’s true holy Sabbath day, and his hatred toward God and His people will continue to drive him to try to get people to ignore or to be ignorant of God’s Sabbath. Yet, God has faithfully preserved the knowledge of His Sabbath day throughout all the ages of time from creation until now. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Luke 21:33). The same is true with God’s Sabbath. God will not allow the knowledge of His holy day to pass away from this earth. 

The Sabbath is closely connected with the worship of our creator. It is the day God has added to the end of the week to be set aside especially for worship and communion with God. He blessed this day, forever changing it to holy time. He wants us to remember that day and meet with Him for fellowship. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). 

The Sabbath is more than just a day of the week. It is also symbolic of the rest that God wants us to have by committing our lives to Him. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Only in Christ can we truly find the rest that God wants us to have. In Him, the weekly Sabbath will be a delight. “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words” (Isaiah 58:13). 

God wants us to cease from our own ways, to stop speaking our own words, and finding our own pleasure on His holy day. This is a teaching tool to get us to practice this total surrender every day of the week. How many days of the week did Jesus seek his own pleasure, speak His own words, and do His own things? He said, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). Everything Jesus ever spoke or did was at the direction of His Father. He said, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). He said through David, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalms 40:8). 

Christ’s life demonstrated the life a man completely submitted to God, and this is the rest He offers to us. When Jesus was in the carpenter shop He always did the things that please His Father. He always maintained the attitude of seeking God’s will and submitting to whatever God asked of Him. Even though Jesus kept every day in total surrender to God, which is the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath, He still physically rested from labor on the seventh day of very week. Entering into God’s spiritual rest does not eliminate our duty to rest physically on the Sabbath. God delights to spend time with us on His holy day. 

God has given us His holy Sabbath day, in part, to teach us the lesson of total surrender to Him every day of the week. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of [the Jews’] unbelief (Hebrews 4:10, 11). May you find, treasure, and enter into the blessing of God’s day of rest. 

Help the Hershbergers! 

by Dea Davis and Don Blaylock 

On May 2, 2010, a horrific and deadly flash flood swept through Pleasantville, TN, and surrounding towns. There are many tragic stories to relay, ours is of a brave and faith filled Amish family that is dear to my heart. They lived near the clear rippling waters of Cane Creek. This location was where they grew the organic vegetable crops which were to provide their financial means for the whole year. Abraham and Mattie Hershberger, along with their four children tended the crops and lived a simple off-the-grid lifestyle as do most Amish families. 

Because Abraham and his family chose to follow God and His word as the Bible instructs, especially concerning the seventh-day Sabbath and the truth about God, Abraham was shunned within the Amish community a few years ago. The Amish make it a practice to shun anyone who does not follow their teachings to the letter, after they have been baptized into the Amish church. When an Amish person is shunned they are marked and all Amish, including relatives, are prohibited from buying, selling or trading with them. Abraham could go to the bishop today and clear all this up by denouncing what the Bible says and follow the traditions of man. This would enable him to get back his inheritance including land, barns, equipment and his livelihood by being able to trade again in the Amish community. Abraham has chosen to put all his trust in the Lord and not man. Gods’ people should band together and help anyone who is willing to stand up to any form of religious persecution. 

The morning of Sunday, May 2, was the second day of heavy rains and the creek was rising continually, when at last they came to the conclusion that they must abandon their home, it was to the nearby caves that they retreated on foot, as they do not have the normal means of transportation as most of us do (they travel by horse and buggy). So on foot they set out for safety, and it was a good decision that they did because the waters rose to a level that swept their wood frame house from its block foundation and into the adjacent field and beyond. Their house and the contents thereof were scattered among the tree/fence lines some three hundred feet away. They lost their barn, all of their furniture, much of their household belongings, stored food, their green house, buggy, and saddest of all their two beloved work horses which Abraham used to work the fields. The buggy horse was spared.  

The fields in which their crops were recently planted were overcome by the rushing current, uprootiaveng all in its path including their income for the year. 

We thank God and praise him for his goodness as the family members have all been saved alive. And it was through this great disaster that Abraham helped s the life of a neighbor who was stranded in the rushing water clinging to the body of his dead wife. Abraham prayed and went forth into the rushing water, at the risk of his own life, to grab hold of the neighbor and with gentleness and firmness he convinced the man to let go of his wife and save himself from a sure death. 

Our friends are brave and an inspiration to us and others around – their faces still alight with a joy that must be deep rooted in their hearts, their faith shines in their eyes, and their willingness to accept inconvenience and hardship is remarkable. We pray that hearts will be open to help this dear family. They have a long road to recovery, and your financial help could hasten the process. In fact, an anonymous donor has offered to double your donations by matching up to $30,000! For more information on how to donate to this dear family please see the website: www.helpthehershbergers.com or write them directly at: 3344 Hwy 438, Pleasantville, Tennessee 37033. The Hershbergers are living out on the property for now in tents so they can dedicate more time to picking up the pieces. Above all include them in your prayers.
 

? 

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 

(2 Corinthians 9:7) 

You May Freely Eat? 

by Jim Raymond 

(Brother Jim Raymond has been a food scientist for many years, and has agreed to share some of his knowledge with us.    Editor) 

Why are You Playing
with My Food? 

One of my purposes for the “You May Freely Eat?” column, is to keep controversial food and nutrition related topics or products from sneaking over the hill on our readers. I’ll keep PT readers informed of potential concerns within all fields of food and nutrition science, and food processing and manufacturing that may affect your physical or spiritual well-being and integrity. Because of the pace of this sort of “progress” within the food manufacturing industry, I’m sure to miss a few. If you discover any, please share them with me. 

In her impassioned plea for funding for food science education and research, the current president of the IFT made this confident statement: “A strong need has emerged for food scientists to pull it all together—to make food from the science.… The future of food is in the science, and the future of food science is in the funding.” 

Food Technology Magazine shares what the future of what bread might be if it comes “from the science”. Here’s the news: “New bread ingredients— Scientists have ramped up efforts to develop breads made exclusively from oats or barley that provide antioxidants, fiber, and protein as well as other ingredients not found in whole wheat bread, such as hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) which will be used as a substitute for gluten. HPMC is also being investigated for potential cholesterol-lowering effects. Preliminary experiments showed that whole oat and whole barley breads formulated with HPMC have demonstrated this effect.” In this new bread, to be born of science, HPMC, which is a highly refined (empty calorie) plant-derived carbohydrate, will be used as a substitute for gluten (a protein)—not always a good trade in bread. To the best of my knowledge every whole-grain product has demonstrated a cholesterol-lowering effect. It may be that HPMC is a solution looking for a problem and science is coming to the rescue. 

Herein lies a powerful spiritual lesson. Oats and barley are good God-made stuff, and akin to whole wheat, in that they all inherently “provide antioxidants, fiber, and protein.” Unless the miller or the baker does more than merely grind the grain into flour, these things pass directly into the bread. These things which were inherent in the wheat remain inherent in the flour and will become inherent in the bread. What happens to these things when we eat the bread? Yes! They pass to us! Here are only five of several Bible passages in which this analogy illustrates the vital Biblical principle of the indwelling Christ, as our righteousness. 

Please read these texts as a faithful miller-baker and let the truth of the words fill you with lasting joy—so may it be. 

John 17:17-23—
Life in the Father and His Son Perfect in Oneness 

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” 

1 John 1:3-7 & 1 John 3:1-9—
Sinless in the Father and His Son 

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 

John 6:47-58—
Living Bread Within 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” 

Romans 6:2-7—Freed From Sin 

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” 

Galatians 2:20—
Christ Lives in Me 

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” 

When I think about what I’ve learned from the study of one of the nutrition pages in the Creator’s Book of Nature about how the physical nutrients “pass” from the physical food source into our physical bodies it fills me with awe. When I read these passages in the brightness of this physical truth, how can I escape the reality that spiritual nutrients—love, grace, divine spirit, eternal life—pass from the Father to me when I spiritually eat and drink the Son. His spirit, His life, His righteous nature becomes mine as His “seed” remains in me. Though a literal reading of these promises seems impossible to believe, I dare not make God a liar by disbelieving any of his promises (Romans 3:3,4; 1 John 5:10). So, I accept them as true and thank Him daily for the death of my carnal spirit and my new life in His Son, as I pick up my cross, and by His grace step out to follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). 

May the blessings of this assurance be yours. 

Blessings!  JR 

The National Sunday Law (Part 18) 

by Alonzo T. Jones 

(The following is a portion of an argument of Alonzo T. Jones before The United States Senate, December 13, 1888, opposing the Blair Bill that promoted a Sunday law.    Editor) 

Remarks by John B. Wood 

Mr. Wood: Mr. Chairman. As a member of the society of Friends, a Quaker, I should like to say a few words. 

I have a great deal of sympathy with people who talk about the right of conscience. I do not think the United States Government has any right over the conscience. We, as Friends, deny their right over our consciences while we act in accordance with the revealed will of God, the Bible. 

In looking at this Sunday question, I see nothing in the Bible — there is no word in it — in which it is stated that we shall have to work on the first day of the week. Therefore, I do not think the Seventh-day Baptists have any right to object to the proposed legislation. The only thing they lose is one more day’s work out of the week. 

The society of Friends has always denied the right to fight. The result has been that in the United States they have never lost a life by that means, not even during the last war. The Lord Jesus Christ has always protected them. 

I think that any Saturday Baptist who believes honestly that the Sabbath is Saturday, can depend upon the Lord’s providing for him in five days of the week just as well as if he worked six, and he will have two Sundays instead of one, and be that much better off. 

REPLY 

Mr. Jones: In answer to the question raised by Mr. Wood, that conscientious convictions do not require us to work on the first day of the week, one of the six working days, I wish to say: 

First, we deny his right, as well as the right of the State, to assume the prerogative of deciding for us what the Bible teaches, or what our conscientious convictions do, or do not, require. 

Secondly, we deny the right of the State to cause us to lose the whole, or any part, of a day’s work out of every week. And I turn this point upon him as I turned it upon the others, Why have we not as much right to ask for a law compelling them to rest on the day that we keep, as they have to compel us to rest on the day which they keep? “The only thing they would lose is one more day’s work out of the week.” Then they could “have two Sundays instead of one, and be that much better off.” Why is it not as good for them as it is for us? Or is this a benefit reserved solely for those who do not keep Sunday? How this invades the Constitutional right of acquiring and possessing property, and does deprive us of property without due process of law, I have already discussed. 

Thirdly, upon this point I wish to read Judge Cooley’s opinion. 

Mr. Wood: I referred to the Bible. 

Mr. Jones: The Bible says, “Six days shalt thou labor.” While I do not insist that this is an absolute command that we shall actually work the whole six days, I do insist that it is a God-given permission, and therefore our God-given right, to work six days of every week. And we deny forever the right of the State to forbid us to do that which, to say the very least, God has given us the express right to do. 

As this is a matter of legislation and therefore of law, Judge Cooley’s opinion is of weight upon the subject. He says: 

“The Jew [and the seventh-day Christian as well] who is forced to respect the first day of the week, when his conscience requires of him the observance of the seventh also, may plausibly urge that the law discriminates against his religion, and by forcing him to keep a second Sabbath in each week, unjustly, though by indirection, punishes him for his belief.” 

I have shown… 

Senator Blair: He says “plausibly.” That word plausibly indicates that there are some counter views somewhere. 

Mr. Jones: As to the exact sense in which he uses the word plausibly, of course we cannot tell without consulting Mr. Cooley himself; but I do not see why we should put the strongest meaning into the word, especially as farther on he shows that the argument of the Seventh-day keeper is unanswerable. I am inclined to think that the Judge uses the word there in the sense of fairly, rightly, or feasibly. 

Next he says: 

“The laws which prohibit ordinary employments on Sunday are to be defended, either on the same grounds which justify the punishment of profanity, or as establishing sanitary regulations based upon the demonstration of experience that one day’s rest in seven is needful to recuperate the exhausted energies of body and mind.” 

That is one of the pretended grounds of this petition for this national Sunday law; but the answer of the Supreme Court of California to that is this: 

“This argument is founded on the assumption that mankind are in the habit of working too much, and thereby entailing evil upon society; and that, without compulsion, they will not seek the necessary repose which their exhausted natures demand. This is to us a new theory, and is contradicted by the history of the past and the observations of the present. We have heard in all ages of declamations and reproaches against the vice of indolence; but we have yet to learn that there has ever been any general complaint of an intemperate, vicious, unhealthy, or morbid industry. On the contrary, we know that mankind seek cessation from toil, from the natural influences of self-preservation, in the same manner and as certainly as they seek slumber, relief from pain, or food to appease their hunger.… If we cannot trust free agents to regulate their own labor, its times and quantity, it is difficult to trust them to make their own contracts. If the legislature could prescribe the days of rest for them, then it would seem that the same power could prescribe the hours to work, rest, and eat.” — Ex parte Newman, 9 Cal. 509, 518. 

And Judge Cooley’s answer to it is this: 

“The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania have preferred to defend such legislation on the second ground rather than the first, but it appears to us that if the benefit of the individual is alone to be considered, the argument against the law which he may make who has already observed the seventh day of the week, is unanswerable.” 

To be Continued… 

(This article was taken from pages 162-165 of the book entitled, The National Sunday Law, by Alonzo T. Jones. Some editing was done for this publication.    Editor) 

The Gospel in Creation (Part 16) 

by Ellet J. Waggoner 

The Sixth Day: What is Man? 

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3,4). Thus spoke the psalmist, and thus must every one feel who has any just sense of the works of God. It is common for men to have a high opinion of themselves and of their merits; so much so that they forget their dependence upon God. It is natural for man to feel independent and to imagine that he supports himself and can even continue his own existence. 

The drift of men’s minds is aptly described by the historian when he says of the ancient philosophers that in the sublime inquiry concerning human nature, “Their reason had been often guided by their imagination, and that their imagination had been prompted by their vanity. When they viewed with complacency the extent of their own mental powers; when they exercised the various faculties of memory, of fancy, and of judgment, in the most profound speculations, or the most important labors; and when they reflected upon the desire of fame, which transported them into future ages, far beyond the bounds of death and of the grave, they were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts of the field or to suppose that a being for whose dignity they entertained the most sincere admiration could be limited to a spot of earth, and to a few years of duration” Decline and Fall, chapter xv, par. 18. 

Even so are they described by the apostle Paul: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” Such was their pride and self-conceit that “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:21-23, 28). 

Far different is the disposition of one who is truly wise. King David also carried on some investigations in human nature, but from a different point of view. His desire was to know what God would say of him. “My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psalm 39:3-5). 

Again: considering the pit which the heathen had made for themselves, and into which they had sunk, and how they were boasting against God, he prayed, “Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men” (Psalm 9:20). Just think of it! “But men!” The nations would make their boast in the fact that they were men and would consider themselves competent to dispense with God altogether; but God’s word says that they are only men. Man is nothing in himself, and can be nothing only as God gives him opportunity and power. 

Let us stop a moment to read what the Scripture says of the origin of man: “And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” Genesis 1:26, 27. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [living creature]” (Genesis 2:7). 

Like the beasts, he was taken from the ground. He is but “dust and ashes.” He cannot boast at all, not even over the beasts that are placed under him; for it is simply by the power of God, who can make of the same clay a vessel unto honor and one unto dishonor, that he is any different from them. The earth is the source whence all animate creatures spring. “All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again” (Ecclesiastes 3:20). After death and decomposition the dust of the prince cannot be distinguished from the dust of the pauper, nor even from that of his dog. If at the last he does not share the fate of the beasts, and go into oblivion, it is only because he has had humility enough to accept the wisdom that comes from God; for “man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:20). “Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?” 

Man is made from the dust, that he may remember that he is nothing in himself; but also in the image of God, that he may know the infinite possibilities before him—association with God Himself; of himself having no more might than the dust upon which he walks, but capable of the greatest things through the power and goodness of God. And, strange as it may seem, his capabilities are the greatest when he is most sensible of his weakness. “When I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). Not even here can man claim superiority. The beasts of the field breathe the same air that he does. It is also to them, the same as to him, the gift of God. Indeed, the very fact that his breath is in his nostrils is a proof of his frailty. “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:22). It is the breath of life which God has given him, but how feeble a hold he has of it. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). 

How can this be, since the life was given him from God? It is not that life from God is a slight thing, but because man has so slight a tenure of it. In the hand of God is the breath of every living thing, and at His pleasure He can take it to Himself. “If He set His heart upon man, if he gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath: all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust” (Job 34:14,15). “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Not yet have we found anything in which man can boast. 

How natural it is for men in extremity to turn for help to some other man, or to human power. And yet no man on earth has the power to make any change in his own physical condition. He cannot change the color of his hair, nor add an inch to his stature. “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches: none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psalm 49:6, 7). Therefore the exhortation comes, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:3,4). Whom should he trust? “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth forever” (Psalm 146:5,6). 

There is no life but from God. “For with Thee is the fountain of life” (Psalm 36:9). But life is righteousness; “for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Sin is death, and is from Satan, and the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Sin is at last to be utterly blotted from the universe, and of necessity those whose lives are still sin must be blotted out with it. If they cling to their sinful lives, they must be destroyed with sin. Christ is the righteousness of God; for God alone is good, and in Christ is all the fullness of God. Therefore only those who have Christ can have any hope of life hereafter. In fact, they have no real life now. “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (John 5:11,12). Nay, more than this: “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life” (John 3:36). 

It is true that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust, but only the righteous will be raised to life; they that have done evil come forth from their graves to the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28, 29). Their lot will be to “be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Since they have not the righteousness which alone is life, there is nothing by which their existence can be continued. 

All this is to teach men that there is hope only in God; that He is supreme, and that power belongs alone to Him. Not only a single man, but “all nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity” (Isaiah 11:17). But while this should make man humble, it should in no wise discourage him. Indeed, it is for our encouragement, for God made the universe from nothing, and so He can take the man who trusts Him, and make of him what He will. To the end “that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29- 31). Surely man should not be ashamed to acknowledge his lowly origin, since through Christ he may do all things. 

One more lesson of encouragement may be learned from the frailty of man, which shows that only in humility is true exaltation found. Since all things come from God, man can be at his highest state only when he gladly acknowledges that he is nothing, and yields to the loving power of God. The fortieth chapter of Isaiah contains the message which is to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord in glory. It is a message of comfort, because it tells of the power of God. Here is the message: 

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever” (Isaiah 40:1-8). 

That which is to prepare men for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, when He comes to reward every man according as his work shall be, is the full acceptance of the message that man is nothing, and that God is everything. His alone is the power, and His word works effectually in every one that believeth. The works that will stand the test of the judgment are the works that are wrought in God. “All flesh is grass”; but we have seen how the power of God is most wonderfully shown in the grass. It was the word of God that said, “Let the earth bring forth grass,” and that is the word which liveth and abideth forever, and which is by the gospel preached unto us. We have seen how the power of that word causes the tiny blade of grass to push its way to the surface and the light, in spite of the heavy clods that would hold it down. Infinite power is exhibited in the frail thing. Even so does the word of power work in those who heartily believe it. He who acknowledges himself to be nothing—frail and helpless as the grass—will be strengthened to do mighty deeds, and will be lifted above the clods of earth, into the sunlight of the presence of God. 

To be Continued… 

(This article was taken from pages 140-150 of the book entitled, The Gospel in Creation, by Ellet J. Waggoner.
    Editor) 

Something for the Young at Heart 

We would like to give you an interesting and easy way to study the Bible, so we are including a crossword puzzle for you. In order to maintain the flow of the study, this crossword puzzle is not split into Across and Down sections—Across or Down is indicated at the end of each line. (The KJV is required.) 

The Divinity of Christ (Part 1)

• Peter declared to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the ____ of the living God.” Matthew 16:16—7 Down 
• Jesus responded, “…upon this ____ I will build my church.” Matthew 16:18—20 Down 
• To overcome the world we must believe “that Jesus is the ___ ___ ___.” 1 John 5:5 (3 words)—10 Down 
• God appointed His Son to be ____ of all things. Hebrews 1:2—6 Down 
• Jesus is the ____ image of his Father’s person. Hebrews 1:3—18 Across 
• Jesus was made so much better than the ____. Hebrews 1:4— 14 Down 
• Jesus has by ____ obtained a name. Hebrews 1:4—4 Down 
• God said to His Son, “Thou art my Son, this day have I ____ thee.” Hebrews 1:5—1 Down 
• God brought His ____ into the world. Hebrews 1:6—9 Across 
• God said, “Let all the angels of God ____ him.” Hebrews 1:6—11 Down 
• The Father said to His Son, “Thy throne, O ____, is for ever and ever. Hebrews 1:8—17 Across 
• The Father continued, “God, even ___ ___, hath anointed thee…” Hebrews 1:9 (2 words)—22 Across 
• The Father is “the God of our ____ Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:17— 19 Across 
• Jesus said His Father is “the ___ ___ God.” John 17:3 (2 words)— 3 Down 
• Jesus is the Son of “the ___ ___ God.” Mark 5:7 (2 words)—16 Down 
• The Father is “the only ____ [the only supreme ruler].” 1 Timothy 6:15—13 Across 
• There is “one God and Father of all who is ____ all.” Ephesians 4:6— 2 Across 
• “There is ____ other God but He” Mark 12:32—21 Across 
• The “one God” of the Bible is “God, the ____” 1 Corinthians 8:6— 5 Across 
• Jesus is “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the ____ tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:2—8 Across 

Note: Moses was commanded to build a tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him upon Mount Sinai. This tabernacle was a replica, a duplicate, of the original tabernacle that God pitched. The Greek root word alhqinoV that was translated true “contrasts realities with their semblances.” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) The tabernacle on earth was not a false tabernacle, nor was it the original—it was a likeness of the original in heaven. The original tabernacle is distinguished from its likeness by using the word “true.” 

• Jesus is “the ____ of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4—15 Across 
• Jesus is “the image of the ____ God.” Colossians 1:15—12 Down 

Note: An image is never the original, but always a likeness or duplication of the original. Christ is the Son of God, and therefore the express image of His Father. It would be incorrect to say that the Father is the image of His Son, because the Father is the original. In like manner it would be incorrect to refer to Christ as the true or original God, since He is the image of the true God. 

Answers to Last Month's Crossword Puzzle

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