Treasuring the Privilege of Fatherhood
I used to be a drunkard,” a gentleman once confessed to one of our colporteurs who knocked at his door. “One day I took my empty bottle and went to the tavern to buy some liquor,” he said. “After refilling the bottle, the bartender couldn’t find a cork with which to seal it, so he tore off a few pages from a book, folded them, rolled them up, and stopped the bottle. At home, after having had a long draught, I got curious to see what was in the pages of that book. I unrolled the makeshift cork and realized that those pages were from a Bible. I felt sorry for the profanation. As soon as I started reading, my eyes fell on the following verse: ‘Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10).
“When I read the phrase ‘nor drunkards,’ terror struck into my heart. By the help of God, I decided to stop drinking, because I do not want to be shut out of the kingdom.”
Not only drunkards, but also gluttons, will miss their way to the kingdom. The Bible says that those “whose God is their belly” are among the “enemies of the cross of Christ,” and their “end is destruction” (Philippians 3:18, 19).
It is true that “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). In a translation in modern English we read: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit.” And quite a few Christians have wrongly interpreted this scripture, saying that eating and drinking have nothing to do with salvation. One verse would be sufficient to disclose their misunderstanding: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, . . . do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). All inglorious, ignominious, infamous habits of eating and drinking should be conquered by the grace of God. How about meat eating in our days?
What is the plan of God for us today? Someone tried to convince me with the following argument: Abraham, our father in the faith, was a meat-eater (compare Galatians 3:7 with Genesis 18:1-8). Then, he said, it must be all right for us to follow his example. My answer: Abraham was a bigamist (Genesis 25:6). King David, a man after God’s own heart, was even a polygamist (1 Samuel 19:11; 25:39, last part). Does God want us to follow their example today?
Men of God and even angels sometimes carried a sword (1 Samuel 15:33; Numbers 22:31-33). Should we follow their example today? Every Bible student should understand that the time element is a decisive factor in the plan of God for His people. Things that were permitted and practiced in the past are proscribed today. Why? In the answer of Jesus to the Pharisees, when they asked Him whether it was lawful for a man to put away His wife, He put the original ordinance of God (“At the beginning” He “made them male and female” and ordained that “they twain shall be one flesh.” “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”) above the temporary concession contained in the legislation of Moses. When the Pharisees evoked the law of Moses, Jesus said: “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so” (Matthew 19:3-8). Since it is the purpose of God to restore the conditions that existed in Eden, not only the original diet prescribed for man, we should ask, What food did the Lord provide for Adam and Eve at the beginning?
When the Israelites were brought out of the land of Egypt, it was God’s purpose to restore among them the pristine institutions of Eden. He wanted to introduce them into the Promised Land as a people observing the original Sabbath (Genesis 2:2, 3; Exodus 16:29), the original holy matrimony (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6), and the original diet (Genesis 1:29). Before reaching the land of Canaan, the people of Israel needed a period of reeducation along these original institutions. But, due to the hardness of their heart, the seeds of the truth were sown, to a large extend, on stony ground. They rebelled against God’s plan and demanded meat. They vociferated: “Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely. . . . But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Numbers 11:4-6).
What was the result of their rebellion? Because of the hardness of their heart, God decided to give them what they were lusting after. He said to Moses: “Say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh. . . . Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord” (verses 18-20). “And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea. . . . and they gathered the quails. . . . And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague” (verses 11:31-33).
Now let us listen to the argument of those who are not convinced that the Lord did the right thing when He punished the Jewish people for demanding meat (flesh) to eat on their way to the Promised Land. These objectors place themselves inadvertently among those people and ask: Didn’t the Lord say to Noah, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” (Genesis 9:3)? And didn’t Abraham serve meat to the three heavenly visitors (Genesis 18:1-8). Then why did God, in His wrath, strike the people with a great plague when they demanded meat?
This way of thinking is common among those who do not understand that the plan of salvation is “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Not only humanity was lost. The Edenic conditions, including Adam’s original diet, were also lost. And that which was lost must be restored in these last days as part of our preparation to enter into the kingdom. If diet reform was important for ancient Israel before they could take possession of earthly Canaan, how much more important must it be for modern Israel before entering heavenly Canaan!
In line with these considerations, meat eating in itself was not a sin for him or her who was ignorant of the plan of God, particularly in a time when there was no prohibition from the Lord. But when God was trying to reeducate the Israelites, seeking to restore among them the Edenic diet, so they could possess the land of Canaan as a special people, then their rebellion against the plan of God, on their way to the promised land, became a sin for them. As they rejected the plan of God for them, they “despised the Lord” (Numbers 11:20).
“And they sinned . . . against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
. . . He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. . . . So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them. . . . For all this they sinned still” (Psalm 78:17, 18, 27, 29-32).
There is a parallel between ancient Israel traveling to reach earthly Canaan and modern Israel on their way to heavenly Canaan. We believe we are on the borders of the Promised Land. This is the time that Jesus had in mind when He made a second application of the prophecy of Malachi 4:5, 6. He assured His disciples: “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things” (Matthew 17:11). The apostle Peter referred to this time when he said: “And [God] shall send Jesus Christ,. . . whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:20, 21).
The apostle Paul made a comparison between ancient Israel and modern Israel, saying that, when the “end of the world” should come, we should be careful not to repeat the negative experience of the Jews who rebelled against God by lusting after that for which they lusted. “[Our fathers] lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert” (Psalm 106:14). Paul’s warning to us reads: “With many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. . . . Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:5, 6, 11).
The words of the apostle Paul are evidently related to an Old Testament prophecy referring to our days. Isaiah the prophet writes:
“And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.” “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant”. . . and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isaiah 22:12-14, 20-22, emphasis supplied).
“In that day” - this is a specific time in the ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary, when He shut the door to the holy place and opened the door to the most holy place. “These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth.” And when He opened the most holy place, “there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament” (Revelation 3:7; 11:19) with its content, the holy Law of God.
There is a parallel between ancient Israel and modern Israel not only with reference to the preparation required, including diet reform, but also with regard to the rebellious spirit manifested by the professed people of God then and now. Isaiah the prophet wrote about those who ignore the dietary restrictions on the eve of Christ’s second coming: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:15-17).
Christ died to purify humanity (Acts 15:9; 10:28, 43; 11:7-12), not the unclean animals, like the pig, the rat, the snake, the frog, the vulture, and the like. These were declared impure (very toxic) and unfit for human consumption when the flesh of less toxic animals was tolerated for a time in the dietary laws (Leviticus 11) when the Jewish people rebelled against the plan of God. Those who ignore the prohibition and insist on eating pork should consider the warning (Isaiah 66:15-17).
In our day - since we are living on the eve of Christ’s second coming - even the flesh of clean (less toxic) animals is proscribed.
Since the most holy place in the heavenly temple was opened to our understanding, and since we have seen by faith the ark of the covenant containing the Law of God, a new responsibility has been placed upon us - to work for the preparation of a people described in these words: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).
This preparatory work, in which all the commandments of the Law of God are to be restored, goes hand in hand with the restoration of the original diet (reread 1 Corinthians 10:5, 6, 11; Isaiah 22:12-14, 20-22). Why? Because the people referred to in Revelation 14:12 must be fitted to live in a place where there is no bloodshed.
The peaceable kingdom of Christ is described in these words: “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:5, 6, 9).
“And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely” (Hosea 2:18).
This day is not far off. Jesus is coming soon. Are you ready?