good news 1957 (vol vi no 12) dec.pdf

8/10/2019 Good News 1957 (Vol VI No 12) Dec.pdf

1/12

I

n t e r n

a

t o n

a

o f

T H E C H U R C H O F G O D

M a g

a

z i n e

DECEMBER,

1957

OL. \I,

N U M B E R

12

Why

Build

the

NEW

TABERNACLE

Near

Gladewater

?

H o w cuu

w e

k n o w

where the t2ew tabertiacle ought

t o

be locaied?

IVhnt

Bible authority d o

w e

haue

for keepi92g

the Feast

of

Tctber-

ucicles

ilz O N E

place

in

Gladewater , Texas? Here is what the Bible

reveals about it

b y

Hermau

L. H o e h

T IS TI ME n.e understood exactly

Ivhnt

t h e

Bible

r.ei,eals about bui ld-

Was there a

mistrike

made in bui lding

t lx . tircr rahrrnncle which

we

have now

I ng the NEW Tabernacle

cc.in1- .rely ou tg ro w n?

W h a t N EW

TESTAMENT

reason is

there f o r bui lding a tabernacle and

for

assembling in utze place t o

keep

tile

Feast

of

Tabernacles?

Here .ire the answers

NOT

R e t u r n i n g to Ceremonies

Some. whe n they hear that the Church

has built

a

tabernacle near Gladewater,

Texas. ,lsjume that

w:

are returning to

t h e rituals of the Law of Moses-assume

that we are coming under bondage to

t ha t old law

Granted that the

Old

Testament does

have something to say ab0ut a taber-

nacle; but there is ;I vital

NEW

TESTA-

h4ENT reason w h y

:I u e i r

tabcrnacle must

be built-and why it mn.rt be near

Gladena te r

No.

we are not turning

to

t h e c u e -

inonic< of thr a d d r d l a w nf

Moses

Those ceremonies were temporary. The

Levitical priesthood was temporary. The

t a b e r n d e e re ct ed b y

Moses

was

for

t h i t

timc-tlot f o r todir l

Moses tabernacle was fo r an entirely

different purpose than

ours

Notice the description of the taber-

nacle which Moses was commanded to

erect. It is found in Hebrews 9:l-9.

Only the Levitical priests were permitted

c o enter that tabernocle (verse

6 ) .

Thc

common people were not allowed.

The Mosaic tabernacle had two coni-

partments-the holy place and the holy

of

hol ies (Heb.

7 : 3 - 4 . In

the second

compartment, only the Levitical high

priest was allowed. The purpose of that

tabernacle was to provide a sanctuary for

Israels God--. . . let them make Me

a

snnctuary, that 1may dwell a m o n g t hem,

According to

.

.

. the pat tern

of

the

tabernacle, thereof,

even

so shall ye mak e

i t (

Exodus

25 :

8-9 .

Our tabernacle

is

for the people in

Gods Church to meet in. Moses taber-

nacle was not. It was merely a

co$y

of

the heavenly things--of the throne of

God ( H e b r e w s

9:23.)

Today

we

may have access

by

prayer

to the holy place in heaven itself--Hav-

ing therefore, brethren, boldness to e nter

into the holies by the blood

of

Jesus

(Heb. 10 : lg ) .

And,

Let I / S therefore

with boldness approach the throne

of

grace

( H e b . 4 : 1 6 . W e a re a royal

priesthood ( I Peter

2 : 5 ,

9 ) t oday. W e

have no Mosaic copy crf rhe throne

of

God . W e have the reality in heaven i t -

self

No, t h e tabernacle a t Gladewater is

not a cont inuat ion of the Mosaic taber-

nacle. N or is it patterned after it Th e

God

of Israel is in heaven, not in a

bui lding made

of

wuucl UII earrh

W h a t You P r o b a o l y D i d n t K n o w

The majority of you brethren prob-

ably have not known how we came to

build the tabernacle in Gladewater. And

many who were then with

us

have prob-

ably forgotten

The first report on the tabernacle ap-

peared in the February 1953Good News,

page 10. In that article Mr. Armstrong

wrotc that the purpose

of

the tabernacle

was three-fold: 1 as a local place for

the Church around Gladewater to meet

every Sabbath; 2 ) as a building to house

the grade and high school;

3

j

as a center

of meeting

for

the annual spring fes t i -

vals-Passover, th e Day s of Un leave ned

Bread and Pentecost.

Bu t it was

not

originally built for the

Feast of Tabernacles

Go d had not yet revealed-in the early

part of 1953 --whcrc wc should

holcl t l ~ c

Feast of Tabernacles.

But why did we call

i t a

tabernacle?

Because it was that kind

of

building

W e couldnt cal l

i t a

school,

for

i t was

not built l ike a school. Neither could we

call i t a church, for i t is not built


2/12

Page 2

December. 1 o i -

International magazine

of

THE CHURCH OF GOD

ministering to

its

members

scattered

abrond

VOI.. \ N U M B E R

12

Herbert W. Armstrong

Publisher and Editor

Executioe

Edi to r

Roderick C. Meredith

Garner Ted Armstrong

ssociate Ediiors

Herman

L.

H o e h

Address comm unications to the Editor,

B a x I , Pasadena, California.

Copyright, December,

1 9 5 7

By the Radio Church of G o d

l ike the or d ina r y chur ch . I t w as bu i l t

w i t h a large a d i t o r i u n z - a n d W e b s t e r

defines a tabernacle as a chur ch w i th a

large auditor ium.

T h a t

is

why we cal l i t a tabernacle

That is what i t is .

When originally

buil t , the tabernacle

pr ovided sea t s f or an an t ic ipa ted num-

ber

of

1000 w h o w o u l d b e a t t e n d i n g t h e

spr ing fes t ivals

of

G o d .

It

was never

built bpecifically ro house those ar tend-

ing the Feast of Tabernacles because

God had not yet revealed where the

Feast should be held.

I t

was absolutely essential, however,

that the tabernacle be bui l t in 1953 for

the school and the local church and the

spring festivals. It has amply served i ts

or iginal purpose.

B u t

God

in tended tha t i t w ould se rve

even a gr ea te r pur pose

W h y G l a d e w a t e r C h o s e n f o r F e as t o f

T a b e r n a c l e s

In Levit icus

23:2-4--iiz

t he v e ry c hap -

t e r whe re t h e annual fest iva ls

are

m e n -

t ioned-God orders Hi s minis ters

to

convoke assemblies . One of the com-

manded assemblies is the Feast

of

Tab-

ernacles ( Lev. 23:

3 4 ) .

But the min is t r y cannot command a

mee t ing unles s the min is te r s know

?ishere the mee t ing i s

to

be he ld

God has not lef t

LIS

f ree

to

choose for

our se lves w her e w e w ant

to

m e e t . G o d

is the On e who chooses the place: Seven

days sha l t thou keep a so lemn f eas t un to

the Lor d thy G od I N

T H E P L A CE W H I C H

T H E L O R D

S H A L L

CHOOSE

( D e u -

te r onomy 16 :15 ) . In verse 6 of th i s

same chapte r God further tells us tha t

i t

mus t be the p lace w hich the Lor d

thy

God

shall choose

TO PLACE HIS

N A M L

I X . I t

must

havc


3/12

More D e a c o n s

Ordained

Gods

Chrirch

coiitiirues

t o

G R O W Let ris REJOICE i is

uie see

1310re

iii ir

irrrd uwwieir beirrg

directly used

iir

Gods

Church-prepari i zg

-

f o r

H i s kirirgdoiir

b y Roder i ck C

M e r e d i t h

A

tos.1

happy cvcnt took place

on

t h e S a b b a t h . N o v e m b e r

2 3 , in

the San D iego Chur ch of

God.

I t

insp i r ed the br e thr en the r e

to

realize

more fu l ly

tha t J esus Chr i s t cont inues

to w o r k

throug h Hi s body-His Chu rch

--here on enrtli. I t should ins pire

all

of n.r

T h i s h a p py

evcnt ~ V J S tic

o r d i n z i o n

o f

tw o deacons

i n

the

Sail

D i e g o C h u r c h

-Mr.

H ar old Jackson , and Mr . H ar r y

Fr ahni . I n one

sense,

i t was unexpected.

I n anothe r w ay, pc r haps .

i t

was

long

overdiie.

T h e s to ry a n d m e a n i n g b c l ~

nd

this

ordinat ion service i l lus trate some very

impor tan t p r inc ip les of

bov

G o d w o r k s

t h r o u g h H i s C h u r c h .

Q u a l i f i c a ti o n s f o r a D e a c o n

I n G od s gover nnien t in

His

Chur ch ,

a

i n a n m u s t b e

prepirred, qualif ied,

cofz-

. re i ra ted,

and tes ted bef or e he can be

given any r esponsib le pos i t ion .

A s

most

of

you know , Mr. A r ins t r ong

had some tragic exper iences in his ear ly

minis t r y w hen he t r i ed

t o

work

w i t h

othe r men w ho w er e e i the r no t f u l ly

converted--or else \vere

?lot t r : iwd

a n d

qo~lifierl

o

serve as ministers, elders

or

cieLicons. In recent pears, Go.1 liiis led

1i.m- .ind all of us in

Gods

minis try

-to see mor e c l c d y the necess ity of

b e i n g

A B S O L U T E L Y

SURE-a~ far as

i t

is

hum anl y possible-that any ina n is

thoroiighly qiialified and

consccrated

to

Chr is t before he is given an of f ice

of

responsibi l ity i n God s Chu rch.

Thus , w e have been

i h b l j ,

carefu

in recent years nbout ordaining elders ,

deacons and deaconesses . And

so

zie

. r /~o i ( /d

b,.

Th e apost le Pai il

n.as

insp i r ed by

God

to set for th the qualif icat ions for e lders

and deacons

so

tha t G od s Chur ch today

~ v o u l dk n o w

how

to proper ly car ry out

His

gov ernm ent. Af ter discuss ing elders ,

Paul s ta tes : Likewise must the deacons

b:

grave, not doubletonguecl , not given

t o

much w ine . no t

greedy

of filthy lucre;

hold ing the mys te r y

of

the f a i th in a

pure conscience.

Atiil let these iil.ro f irrt

/ I C rixovm [te:iteill: then let them use

the of ice

of

n d e a c o n , b e i n g f o u n d

bJmcless

( I

T i m .

.5 :8 - 10 ) .

Notice T hese Qualifications:

A

deacon mus t be J

.reriozis.

p / / r p o i a

j / / /

ltYOU

Illay be \ V U l [ h y

Of ,qlVCZl r s J p l l 7 L


4/12

Y

Rdoice in Gods Sabbath

1 14 ieed

to

k i iow H O W

t o k e e p t h e

Subbath as God

ititeizded

He r e ur e

t h e

A N S W E R S

to

d a l auestiom

about the

Sabbath

thut

O U hlAY

be iniss ing out on some

of

the greatest blessings of life

t h r o u g h

ipzorujzcee

In th is chaotic , hel l-bent age in which

w e l ive, man N E E D S a r igh t u nder s tand-

ing

of

t h e l a w s of

pelice

and joy tha t

A lmighty G od has se t in mot ion . Many

lack th e enthusiasm -the zest for life-

that would make their l ives real ly ful l

and c omplete . Every day is the sam e old

thing you hear

so

many people say.

But G od has g iven

us

one bless ing

which doesn t make every day al ike,

which-when rightly used-will mak e

o ~ i r i ve s m o r e

j oy f u l

and

abundant ,

and g ive

us

a

zest

for

l i fe me otherwise

lack. This is the Sabbath day.

O n c r

Y C J l l

ful iy unders tand and appre-

c ia te the

blessiizgs

a n d

opportuni t ies

afforded by this day, you will literally

REJOICE

in

keeping i t .

Far too m a n y

conver ted people look on the Sabba th

as a day when they can t d o this or

that.

BLIL

F

yuu really wunt

to draw closer

to

G o d a n d

do

H is w i l l , then begin to

look

on

the Sabba th as the day w hen

you

C A N

take t ime for needed prayer ,

s tudy, meditat ion, spir i tual fe l lowship

and r est . W he n v iew ed in th i s l igh t the

Sabbath is

a trenzendotcs

BL E S S I N G

S a b b a t h M a d e

to

S e rv e M a n

Chr is t said, The sabbath was made

for man a n d n o t

inm

for i ~ sabba th

( M a r k

2 : 2 7 . He

didn t

say

it w as inacle

for the Je w, b ut for MAN-for all man-

kind in o the r w or ds . A nd i t w as made

f o r h i m a blessing.

K e e p this pr inciple in mind. I t was

m a d e f o r jou,

to

he lp y o u . to enable

yo24 to l ivc a happier and more godly

life.

G od s t rue Sabba th i s one

of

the

greates t bless ings that has ever been

bes tow ed upon mankind . I t

signifies

tha t the Cr ea tor i s our G od and

we

ar e

H is ch i ldr en .

O ur Cr ea tor knew tha t w e w ould

need

a

per iod of rest e very sev en th d y,

and th i s

is

o n e

of

many oppor tuni t i e s

the Sabbath af fords . Each of

us

t ends

to

become over ly absorbed in our dai ly

ca res dur in g the w eek. bu t G od f oresaw

this , and set as ide the Sibbath as a t ime

when we can completely forget our

r out ine w or k and

get c loser to God

in

. r t d y ,

meditatioiz, a n d pruyer .

T h e w o n d e r f u l p a r t

of

it all is that

w e can keep th i s pe r iod

of

rest and

m m y

of y o n

h a r e

receii t ly

asked .

hy

R oder ick

C. M e r e d i t h

spir i tual revival with complete conf i-

dence tha t G od w i l l bless and

prosper

us

because we have don e this If we

would quit working every few days and

take a needed res t , we might natural ly

exprct

r o

get behind in ou r f inances and

material pursuits. B u t God has said just

the opposi te

So i f

w e keep H is

Holy

Day, we can rest assured that it will

be

guiu

instead uf loss, eve11 looking a t

it

materially.

Do

you real ize what this amounts

to?

God is

g i z ing

us

n paid uacution

every

seventh day

H u m a n r e a s o n i n g m i g h t n o t g r a s p

this r ight at f irst. But God has

promised

this , and the e x p e r i e m e s

of

hundr eds

of

people have show n tha t

Go,:

meant

w ha t he sa id . You may not be prospered

im m e d ia t e l y i f you begin keeping Gods

c o m m a n d m e n t s

and

paying

y o u r

t i the

faithfully

as

H e h a s c o m m a n d e d . B u t

in H is w ay and t ime , God will begin

to

bless and prosper you in ways that you

may never have expected.

In Isaiah 58:13-14 , God inspired

Isaiah to write that

zf

we kept the Sab-

bath and del ighted in i t , we would re-

m e m b e r H i m a n d H e w o u l d c a u s e

us

to have l i fe in abundan ce, spir i tual ly and

mater ial ly. Notice ;hat we are not

to

.seek

o w o wn

p len s i i re on

the S ibba th .

Y e t .

w e a r e

to de l igh t

in i t . Th is means

that we qhould be so busy d o i n g g o o d

to other. . , and getting closer to G o d i n

prayer and srudy, that we wil l not even

desire to seek any ear thly amusements .

We

will be

HAPPY

because we are able

to

rest, to w or ship G od w i th peace of

mind, and because

we

have

a

special

t i m e

to

d o g o o d .

This same passage says we are a o t to

.rpeuk o w own zoord.r on

the Sabbath.

W h a t d o e s t h i s m e a n ? I t s h o w s t h a t

w e should not spend the Sabba th in id le

talk, but should be reading, discussing

a n d m e c l i t a h g

upon

G od s w or d . Then

we wil l be dr inking in the ideas

of

G o d

instead

of

m e r e h u m a n n o t i o n s . W h a t

a pr ivi lege i t is

to

have a whole day

in which we can read and discuss the

way

of l i f e that

is

revealed to us i n t h e

Bible

I n or de r tha t

we

m a y

have

our

minds

f r ee f r om last minute du t ie s on t h e

Sabba th , G od has commanded tha t w e

pr epar e f or i t the day be f or e . Exodus

1 6 : 2 2 - 2 5 shows tha t

we

should

do

any

b a k i n g or t ime-consumiilg boil ing be-

fore the Sabb ath. Long hou rs

o f

cooking

and s tew ing should

u e l e r

clut ter up

Gods day.

So do all your sprucing up and

any heavy cooking

011

Friday, the prep-

arat ion day. Then at sunset Fr iday eve-

ning , w hen the Sabba th bcgins , y o u

will have put all worldly cares aside and

wil l be able to enrer thc Sabbath in ;L

spir i t of rejoicing and worship ton.xrd

God.

D u t i e s o n S a b b a th

Y our t ime should never dr ag on

God s Sabbath Some people exper ience

this when they first begin to keep the

sabba th , bu t

i t

certainly isnt the way

Gnd intended.

When

we under s tand

i t

properly, the Sibbatll will bc filled with

interest a n d joj , .

The t r ue Sabba th is aot

A

irr,qatiw

th ing

Chr is t set

us

an example

of

how

t o

keep

it.

I n Mar k

2 : 2 3 to

i:i

esus

showed that it was

all

r ight

to

procure

food

on the sabba th

i

it

is necessary.

He

told the Pharisees rhat

He

was

Lord

of

the Sabbath-not Sunday Th en

Christ healed an infirm

m a n

on the

Sabbath, and showed that it

is

lawful

to

do good on that day.

W h a t

kind

of

good

should

n - e

d o

o n

the Sabba th day2

G od commanded in Exodus

70:10 ,

that we should

n o t w o r k

on the Sab-

bath. So the k ind of good tha t w e do

on tha t day is not the kind of hard physi-

cal labor which we might

do

o n o t h e r

days . Doing good is not

t o

be used

as an

EXCUSE

for per forming thoce ma-

ter ia l duties , however helpful

to

others ,

which can jus t

as

well be done some

other day. There is one exception

to

this prohibi t ion.

That

is in

the case of

an ox in the d i tch ( Luke 14: T h i s

refers

to

a

genuiize evrergencj ,

not some

mater ial duty you put off unti l the

Sabbath.

Th e pr incipal example of doing good

on the sabba th tha t Chr i s t gave us was

that

of

healing the sick or infirm that

c a m e t o Him ( M a t t .

1 2 : 9 - 1 3 , .

H e d i d

NOT

go abr o id seeking them. A lso ,

w e f ind tha t H e w as cons tan t ly mee t ing

with others and teaching

them Go:is

ways on this day.

W e c a n a ll use the Sabba th as a t ime

to

comfor t and minis ter

to

those w ho

are sick and infirm

o n

this day. But

this does not mean that we should bur-

den ourselves with purely material serv-


5/12

The GOOD

NEWS

Page 5

ices.

J ~ S L I S

idnt \vhen

he

helped the

sick according

t o

their faith. Kemernber

what he told Mar tha: Tho u art care-

f u l .md troubled ah o i i t m a n y things .

Ihi t one thing is needful : and Mary hath

chosen that

good

part, which shall not

b e t ak en a wa y f r om h e r h k e 10:41,

4 2 ) .

W e

houlci especially try

to

help

those \ v h o are interested in the true

teachings of the Hible, because in this

way

\ve

can minisccr to thein both

bpirirually and physically.

A W o n d e r f u l O p p o r t u n i ty

STLUU

the word of

God ( I 1

Tim.

2

: 1 5

)

This should L I S L I ~ I I ~e your first

duty on the Sabbath. Then you will be

reircl~ t o answer the questions of those

~ O L I

rc

t r y i n g t o help

( I

Peter -3:

1 5 ) .

Many of you brethren desperately

N E E D

to spend much m o r e t i m e in

earnest. prayerful Bible study. And most

of

y o ~ i

1ant

to

do it, buc say rhac you

just dont find the time.

Well. learn to

T A K E

t ime on the Sab-

bath. In this d.iy y o u have

a

wonderful

opportuni ty to s tudy in tensive ly . to

pray

and n ot feel rushed or that you oiight

to

be

doing something else. USE this

opportuni ty Be THANKFUL for it

Th e Sabbath is the day when you can

and SHOULD study the Bible, study the

Correspondence Course, and review the

hack

i s i i e s

o f The P L A I N TRUTHnd

The GOOD NEWS. n this day you can

discuss points of truth and Christian

living with your wife or husband, and

y o u can

have

a

Bible study

sessioii

wirh

y o u r ibilrlren.

Y e s ,

the Sabbath

is

the day on which

p i A N do all these things th:it most

o f y o u want and need

t o

d o anyway-

but .rimply cant f r cnotigslii

r f o r

d i ( r in g

the

week.

Remember that the principal com-

mand is to rest from our usual rout ine

on the Sabbath, and to worrhip God and

remember him as Creator . Th e Bible

r ~ v c n l r .

hat doing good on the Sab-

bath is serving others in a way that

shows the power. of God in our lives.

Chris t didnt 1:ibor for several hours to

heal the sick on the Sabbath. Instead.

H e invoked the very power of th?

Creator to release others from the bonds

o f

sickness.

So

we should

NOT

sDen.1

most of the Sabbath caring for the

Dhysical needs of other people. By draw-

ing closer to God on this day, we will

then be able to help others in

a LASTING

wav through the power of Gods Snirit .

Sewing for charity and other phys-

ical services may be worthy at t he moper

timc.

bur

such

routine

labor slrould

1101

f i l l D Gods Sabbath day.

Physical things will perish with the

using.

So

use the Sabbath primarily to

lenrn Gods

ways

and make them a part

o f

y o u r character-and hel p othe rs to

do the same. The Spiri t of God in you

will last forever

Rejoice i n the Sabta th as a wonderful

OPPORTUNITY for the physical

ra t , and

for the

s tudy,

prayer and spiritual

fellozu-

.rhip you need

A C o m m a n d e d

Assembly

In

Luke 4 :16, we find that Christ

custornarily met with others on the Sab-

bath an d read fro m Go ds word. Lev.

23: l -3 te l ls us that the Sabbath

is

to be

a holy convocat ion

for G ods people. A

convocation is a commanded assembly .

God

commands you

to

convoke or meet

with other true believers umhenezer

this

is

possible

on the Sabbath.

Howev er, this does

not

mean that you

are to meet on that day or any other

day with those who are blinded to Gods

truth and refuse to keep all His com-

mandments . Paul commanded Chris tians

in

I

Cor. 6:14, Be ye not unequally

yoked together with unbelievers:

for

what

f e l l owsh ip

bath

righteousness

with

tmrighteousness and wha t commr, i ion

hath l ight with darkness?

Christian fellowsh ip should be with

other people ONLY through God and his

Spirit . God gives the Holy Spirit to

them that

obey Him

(Ac t s

5 : 3 2 ) .

So

remember that you cannot have true fel-

lowship through Satan, or his ministers,

or his churchcs

who

rcfusc

to

ob-y Cods

commandments .

W he n i t was impossible to meet with

others in a church on the Sabbath day,

the a postle Paul and his helpers went

ouc of the city by a river side, where

b r a y e r

was wont to be made (Acts

16: 13

)

. This is an admirable example

for many of

L I S ,

because getting closer

to the natur. handiw ork of the Creator

brings one closer to God. The hand of

God is seen

in

everything gond and

beautiful. Notice that instead of going

to the r iver to fish, as

so

many do on

the day of the Sun, Paul went to a

river

to help others seek God in graver.

H o w to Be a L i g h t to t h e W o r l d

Christ told his followers, Ye are the

l ight of t he wor ld (M at t . :1 4 ) . Hov

much the world needs people who will

fearlessly show it the way out of this

spiritual darkness

Bat can you b e a l ight to other

people while cont inuing; in th e same

man-made doctrines and practices they

do?

NO you cant Yo u must live b v Gods

word to show forth the t rue l ight that

will eventually turn people from dark-

ness . You must be DIFFERENT from

o t h e r m o p l e by o b e y h g God-by hav-

ing his

SIGN.

Most Deople wont like

you for doing this. Christ said in John

3 :

19.

And this is the condemnat ion.

that light is come into the world, and

m e n loved t l i irkness rather than light,

because their deeds were evil . Men were

so

steeped

in their own c u s m n s , then

as

now, that the

true

l ight of

the gospcl

offended them.

So you can see that real Christianity

is not the way to be popular with men

But do esnt this show what an im -

portan t ligh t your keeping of the Sab-

bath can be to others? It is

a

SIGN

that

sets you apart from those following the

broad w a y that leads to clestruction.

Y o u r S p e c ia l P r o b l e m s ?

It is easy to use the latitude and

privileges of the Sabbath as a means to

abuse i t . You should

not

be overly strict

or self-righteous

l ike

the Pharisees. On

the other

ha nd , humans

ale

usual ly

i l l -

clined to stretch the freedom God

gives us and begin doing our own work

or pleasure o n th e Sabbath.

Taking a walk on thr Sabbath is hne

s o long

as

i t doesnt turn into

a

hike.

Some people ask about the ment ion

of

a sabbath days journey in Act; 1:12.

There is no special command m y w h e r e

in the Bible limiting travel on the Sab-

bath. This sabbath days journey was

a custom of the Jews and is not

a

biblical com mand . However, you certain-

ly shouldnt walk or drive so far on the

Sabbath as to tire yourself unduly o r to

interfere with

youi~

w o i s l i i p ol God.

After sitting in church or studying for

some t ime, a leisurely walk is very re-

freshing and beneficial. Also,

a

lengthy

drive is sometimes necessary to enable

you to meet with other t rue worshippers

on the Sabbath. Within reason, this is

not wrong. It serves

to

strengthen you

spiritually and therefore glorifies Cod.

4ere is another problem. Should you

kindle a fire on the Ssbbath day?

The command in Exodus 3 5 ;3 was in-

serted in connection with instructions

regarding w ork o n the tabernacle. It was

chiefly intended to forbid the kindling

of a

fire to melt metals

or

sliarpen tools.

However, it certainly can refer to un-

necessary work done in preparinq food

which could be prepared on the day

before.

So i t would not be breaking the spir i t

of the law to light a fire for heat in

wintry weather or to warm u p a pre-

viously prepared food.

Feeding and watering stock

is

neces-

sary on the Sabbath and permissible

(

Luke 13:

1 5 ) . But

i f you arc raising

so manv cattle or chickens that your

chores add up to three or four hours

hard wo rk, then you had bet ter cut down

on the number of your livestock or else

change occupations. Our age of spe-

cialization, when a few farmers become

virtual slaves

to

provide food for h w -

dreds

of

city dwellers, is izot God s way.

(P le ase c on t inue on

PaRe j


6/12


7/12

PREVIEW OF THE

1958

ENVOY

student residence-1

9 5 6 .

2 .

Recreotion Room and

Sunken Gardens.

3. Anrbussudvr

Hul l ;

t i vw

being prepared

as

the

classroom building-1 9 5 6 .

4. Formal ltolian Gardens.

5 High School Athletic Field

1 9 5 7 .


8/12

Pagc

8

December , 1957

The

SABBATH

(

C o t h d

r o N 2 p L 1 pj )

No

nxin should bc t ied down t o

his

occupation as so many are today.

DONT

ry to jus t ify breakin g the Sab-

h:ith by saying that yo ur occu pati on re-

quires it

Remem ber tha t th i s w or ld ly ,

competi t ive system

IS

called Babylon

in the Bible and you are commanded

t o

C O I I K o u t

of he r ( Rev .

18:1 - 4 ) .

H o w

t o I n s t r u c t C h i l d r e n

God inspired Solomon

t o

w r i te t r a in

u p

a

chi ld in the w ay

he

should

go

and

when he is

old,

he w i ll no t depar t f r om

i t ( P r o . 22: 6 . This comniand w ould

certainly

apply

to teaching

y o u r

child

to keep the Sabbath. However , you

should reinernbcr that even sweet little

children are

by

no means conver ted.

lhey are basically selfish, and usually

lack the und ers tanding and wil l power

to

keep G od s law as an adult .

Rit t they cho l i ld he rsi ight t o rest

f r o m

their routine work or play on the Sab-

ba th as much 3s poss ible . They should

be ins tructed in a kindly and s traight-

forward manner that the

sevexllh

day

is holy

to

their Heavenly Father , and

tha t they can show the i r love f or H im

by ref raining f rom their usual play on

that day and by thinking and learning

about God, ins tead.

Your children should be taught these

t h i n g s

gradually and only

as

their age

makes i t poss ible for them t o under -

stand.

If

t ra ined proper ly f rom infancy,

a ten or twelve year old child should

have eno ugh respect fo r Gods Sabbath

that he does not spend his t ime reading

f unny

books or

l is tening to radio

ser ials on that day.

IMPORTANT

ANNOUNCEMENT

This

year w e

i n v i t e

all the

m e m b e r s

of the

C h u r c h

o f G o d

to

s h a r e t h i s w o n d e r f u l e x p e r i c nc c .

ETTER

than a personal v is i t to the

B

Ambassador College campus, in

man y ways -you share with these un -

ubual young peop le the i r l i f e on

the

A m -

bassador campus . . at work, and at

play-their jam-packed intere sting lives

and experiences in study, in field trips,

in social activities, in recreation and ath-

letic-held activities, and in the wonder-

ful fe l lowship of college and Christ ian

I,te

M i n i c t e r s

T o

B e

lnclrrried

This yea r The ENVOY wi l l con ta in

protessional pictures

of a l l

students , fac-

ulty members, and for the f irs t t ime in-

dividual pictures of o u r A L U M N I , f o r -

mer g radua te s

o t

Ambassac or. man y

n o w serving you in the min istry .

Th e goa l

of

the Staff this year: to send

out 1000 E N V O Y S , a t h o u sa n d A m b a s -

sadors of fr iendship and good will to

our Church membersh ip . The even tua l

goal, to s e n d a n E N V O Y to each Chris-

t i an home to bu i ld un i ty and fe l lowsh ip

be tween the Church and i t s young men

The ENVOY S ta f f :

YES1

I

w a n t

to

receive my copy of The ENVOY enclose the sum

of

FIVE

Please mak e al l checks poy abl e to: The

ENVOY

:

DOLLARS ( $5 .00 )

which pays the subscript ion price

in

fu l l .

I

(Print street and number)

I

I

(Print name)

cit y Zone State

and women being tra ined for posit ions

of

responsibility in the work of spread-

ing the gospel. This is your invita t ion

ti) share with us the magnificent campus

God

has given

us

to share in the activ-

ities, the life

of

preparatir,n of Ambas-

sadors graduates

of

tomorrow.

ACT

NOW

4 n increase in s ize and quali ty are

certain to ma; th is new ENV OY su r -

pass by far any

of

the previous issues.

The price per book remains $5.00 . . .

and that price is the c omp l e t e pr ic e-

including the increased cost

of

postage,

wrapping, and

so

f o r t h . T h e E N V O Y

will be ready for mail ing in early June,

bu t the p r in te r s mus t know mon ths in

advance the exact number

of

b m k s t o

be printed.

Just fill in the coup.m below o r P R I N T

thc

required

in format ion in

u f e t ter

and

send

it

I M M E D I A T E L Y t o T h e E N -

VO Y, at Post Office Box 11

1 ,

Pasadena,

California Please use the enclosed en -

velope.

Love and chastening must go hand in

hand in this training. Hut a child so

trained

in

Go ds ways woi d hav e

a

priceless

advantage in

h i c knnwledge

of

life and its real mea nin g in relation

to

the

Creator.

I t Is

HOLY Time

In Exodus 2 0 : 8 , we f ind the or iginal

command, Remember the sabba th day

t o

k e e p

t

HOLY. N ever f or get tha t G od

has made the seventh day ho l j , tzme.

Y ou and I ar e commanded

to k e e p i t

that way.

We have already found in

Gods

word

tha t w e a r e no t

to

do our ow n w or k .

pleasure, think our own thoughts , or

speak our o w n w or ds on G od s Sabba th

day. Ttr k e e p

[he

Sabbath day

boll

You can t spend

a

lot of t ime in

wor ldly vis i t ing or shooting the breeze,

o r

even cour t ing your gir l .

You

cant be r unning dow n

town f o r

a

c u p

of

coffee or an ice-cream soda.

T h a t k i n d

of

pr ocur ing

food

is

euLiwlj,

You can t spend several hours l is ten-

ing

to

worthless radio programs or read-

ing the f unnies .

You

cant wait

uiiril after

sunscr

o n

Fr iday evening to begin your cleaning

up and pre par ing for the Slbb ath, unless,

of course,

a

ge nu ine emergency has in-

ter fered.

I

could

go

on, bu t

I

think you should

ge t the po in t and gr asp the princ ip le in -

volved.

I J N N E C E S . q A R Y

Lets

NOT kid

ourselves

W h e n G o d s a i d to put the Ssbba th

day

to

a HOLY use, H e means

e.udctl1.

what He said. B u t we

should

1c.iin t o

be

3

happi ly employed in do ing the

p

od things prescribed

for

that day, that

we wil l have no t ime

o r

inclination

to

violate the prohibi t ions anyway.

So le ts keep the Sabbath in a POSITIVE

way Use the Sabbath as

a

day to rest

f rom wor ldly labor . to get closer to God

in prayer and study . Take t ime to d o

good

to others ,

to

care for the sick,

to

visit the afflicted. Assemble with other

trite bcliczsers on the

Sabbath

i f

this is

possible. Th en you will truly bz a ligh t

to

those around you.

The Sabba th

S E P A R A T E S

t r ue Chr i s -

t ians f rom this wor lds churches with

their pagan holidays and day

of

the

sun. And

it

gives the true children

of

the L iv ing G od an oppor tuni ty

for

rert,

. , t i d y , prayer

and worship-for

D I R E C T

and SUSTAINED contact with their Cre-

ator

which they would otherwise not

en oy.

s o

K E E P HOLY

t h e d a y G o d

m a d e

holy

R E J O I C E

in the blessings a n d

opportuni t ies that the Sabbath af fords ,

and remember that i t is an identifying

S I G N o f direct relationship

be tw een you

and your Creator .


9/12

How Much Can YOU Do?

Aluriy of y o i d n i a y be

dowricast-mrry

NOT R E A L I Z E

the grcu t

GOOD

you

persoizally are capable

of

accomplishing Heres

ulhat

can

be

d o ~ 2 e ,

H R O U G H

YOU

by

Garirer

T e d

Ariirs troi ig

OMETIMES

I feel Im n o t worth

very much, writes one member

S

o us.

I

know Im not very

important ,

an d

not much help, said

another.

FAR

FROM IT

Perhaps

NONE

of you brethren have

truly visualized the great

POWER y o ~ i

can potentially wield in the work of

God.

W o u l d

Y


10/12

Page

I 0

Why New Tabernacle?

J

( Contitiiteit f t o n i

p i r i j

2 )

w ho can w or k

wi l l

be prospered in these

next crucial months .

Th e ext r a th ings w e w anted

to

buy in

these next f ew months f ade in to in -

s ign i f icance w hen compar ed w i th the

need of the Chur ch fo r the tabernacle .

W h a t w e d o i n t h e s e n e x t m o n t h s w i l l

last

us

here in Amer ica and Canada for

'd l t h e

remniiziizg y e a n we

have left

in

w hich to comple te th e spr eading of the

gospel as a witness .

N o w

i the tivie t h a t w e

izeert

the n e u

~ ' / b e r ) i ' z i ~ l e .

ear ly two sevenrhs of the

people had

to

remain seated outs ide the

tabernacle this past year

This cannot happen aga in next yea r .

W e w il l c o nt i n u e

to L I S ~

he present

tabernacle for dining faci l i t ies . There

w as

v o

n ~ i s t d e a d e i n b u i l d i n g

i t .

I t

w i l l cont inue

t o

serve us every year

So

let 11s all willin gly a nd ge nero usly

contr ibute our special of fer ings

EACH

M O N T H FRQhi N O W ON L r N T I L T H E

NEW A~lD1YOIIIIJM I S 1 ULI.Y PAID

ro l l

W h y Hold

Feas t

of

T a b e r n a c le s i n

Only

ONE

P l a c e

?

M a n y

of

you brethren have so recent-

l y

come in to the t r ue Chur ch

of

God

t h a t y o u may never have heard us ex-

p ain

W H Y w e

hold the Fe:ist

of

T a b e r -

nacles in only

o?ie plli1-e in

the Utiiteil

S'tdtt'J.

W h y do w e not a l so hold the o the r

festivals

o n l y

in

o n e

place, the

s:iriie

:is

w e d o t h e F e a s t of Taber nac les?

W h a t e x a m p le s i n t h e

Old

a n d N e w

Tes taments

do

w e h a v e ?

A l though

there arc ser'en ~ ~ i i i t i ~ de.rti-

rals, w e

ar e co in inanded to appea l

:fore

God

three t imes or seasons in the year .

N o t i c e : "Z'bree times in a year shall all

thy males"-the wom en are also includ -

ed-"appear befo re the

Lord

t h y G o d

in the place which

He

shall choose; in

the feas t of unleavened bread. and in the

feast of weeks, and i n th e feas t

of

t abe r -

nacles"

(

D eut .

16:16 ) .

Th e passover is here considered as an

integral par t

o f

the D ays

o f

U nleavened

Br ead . The sepua te f es t iva l s

of

T r u m -

pe ts and A tonement a r e no t inc luded

ns

they are usually held wherever the local

chur ches mee t on the w eekly Sabbi th .

This ve r se in D eute r onomy c lea r ly

show s tha t w e a r e no t f r ee

to

meet

w her ever

we

p l e m e , but, ra ther ,

to

meet

w her ever

it

pleases G od. H e chooses the

place w e mee t an d H e r evea ls

i t to

H i s

minis ters who convoke the assemblies .

Notice rh? r

in r hr Ro o k

o f

Zechar iah

the one f eas t w hich a l l w i l l be r equi r ed

to

a t tend

in one

p l ~ i r e

s

the Feast

of

Tabernacles "And

it

shall c o m e

to

pass

tha t cvery

one

that is

left

o f

all the

na-

t ions which came against Jerusi1eni"-

and al l nat ions

will

come agnins t

Jeru-

salem--"shall even

go up

from

year

to

year . . t o k e e p

thc

F l u s t of 7 t i h t ) v -

tzdcles" ( Z e c h . 14:

16 .

I n the mi l lennium the G ent i l e s

\vill

be required

to

assemble

1 1 2

om

p k e -

Jerusalem-to ke ep the Fenst of Ta be r-

nacles.

N o w h e r e i n S c r i p t u re

do

we f ind that

al l the nat ions wil l be required

to

attend the other two inzjor fes t ivals a t

jerusalem . Only the Feast of Tabernacles

i s ment ioned

Tha t m eans tha t G od w ould p lace H is

n a m e i n m o r e t h a n o n e p l a c e f o r t h e

Passover season and Pentecost.

N ut ice the Bib le pr oof in Exodus 20:

24 ,

las t par t

of

verse, where the God of

Israel is personally quoted

: I n all

places

w her e

I

record My name I wil l come

unto thee and

I

will bless rhee."

H ow clear Th ree t imes a year we

mus t mee t w i th the br e thr en w her ever

des igna ted , bu t on ly

o:ci'e

a

year--nc-

cor d ing to the example of Scr ipture-

a r e A L L c o m m a n d e d

to

meet together in

one pluce for the Feast of Tabernn 'es

Here ' s why

I n the mi l lennium the ea r th w i l l be -

M E A N S OF T RAVE L ,

gover ned

by one

K ingdom- the K ingdom

of

G od . S ince

the Feast of Tabernacles is a rnernorial

of God's

Plan f or the mi l lennium, w e

zre all to come toge the r in O n e place tn

celebrate

i t

That is a per fect type

G od per mi t s the o the r f e s t iva l s to be

held in

more thaiz

oize

locality at t h e

r a m e t ime

because the spr ing fes t ivals

p ic tur e

God's

Plan FOP

THIS PRESENT

O ur ea r th i s now

a

divided ear th, and

the Passover and D a y s of Uiileavrnrd

Bread and

F

i tecost arc inemor ials

of

G od ' s P lan n o w be ing ca r r ied out on

this divided ear th

Why Feas t of T a b e r n a c le s i n L o n d o n ?

But if there is only

to

be on e p lace f or

the Feast

of

Tabernacles . why do we hold

the Feas t in London, Eng land , a t the

same t ime w e hold one nea r G ladew atc r ,

Texas? A n d w hy w i l l w e la te r p robably

be celebrat ing the Feast

of

Tabernacles

in Austral ia and South Afr ica at the

s a m e t i m e w e

do

h e r e i n N o r t h A m e r -

ica?

COIne one W o r h ,

U N I T E D BY E F F I C I E N T

AGE-THIS DIVIDED WO RLD OF M A N ,

The answer is plain

T h e r e

is

an as tounding Biblical renson

w hy Mr . A r ms t r ong has been led to

sanction a Feast

of

Taber nac les in Lon-

don . Cons ide r :

W h e n t h e e a r t h b e c o m e s o n e w o r l d

in thc mi l lennium, then the r e w i l l

b:

only one place in the World Tornnrmw

for the Feast

of

Tabernncles-Jerusalem,

the geogr aphic and communica t ive cen-

ter

of

t h e c o m i n g age.

BLT

T ODAY

T H E

EARTH

IS DIVIDED I N T O SEVERAL GEO-

G R A P H I C A N D C O M N I - N I C A T I V E VJ OR LD -

A RE A S These inc lude N or th A mer ica ,

Europe. Austral ia , South Afi ica

aiicl

South A mer ica . I t i s imposs ib le f inx-

cially f o r the vast majority of people

to

t rave l

f reely f rom one of these ar ea -

kngland , f o r exuip le - to ; ino the r area

--Americn, for example .

E A C H OF T H E S E W O R L D - A RE A S

r epr e -

sents, for Christians living i n these areas,

what the wor ld tomorrow wil l be l ike

dur ing the mi l lenniur n . I n each

one

of

these separate geographic areas on our

ear th, there can bc only

o m Feasc of

Tabernacles held

What wonderful types of the ini l len-

n m i

Today , N or th A mer ica

is

ONL:

WOKIL-

A R E A .

Eur ope

is

d n o t h e r world-area.

Australia is vet a third; South Africa is

s t i l l another . L I K ~

n e

of

t h e J e

a r e ~ i s i

ii

t j ' p e

o the WORLD

TOMORROW

Therefore, in each area only

otze

F e w

of

Tabernacles can be held according to

the p la in exam ple

of

Scriptiire

In whatever geographic wor ld-area

you brethren are located, there can be

only o n e Feast of Tabern,lcles. In Amer-

ica that oae placc

is

Cladcwatir. In

Europe, i t is London.

N o place in Scr ipture can you find th e

Feast

of

Tabernacles held in more than

one p lace in any one geogr aphic w or ld-

area. But you can f ind numerous exam-

ples of the other festivals being held in

New Test : iment t imes in numerous sec-

ondary local i t ies within an area wher-

e~er the c i r c t inw ances pc r mi t ted .

N o t i c e

c5e

Jewish custom in P d r s -

"According to the prescr ibed regula-

t ion," wr i tes Hayyiin Schauss

in

the

. l e i i , i i h

Fe.rtzr.alJ,

p.

172, "every male

hnd

to

make

the

jouiiiry U

Z

grrar san c ru a ry

a t

I I

three festivals. I t was difficult for

the Jewish peasant to leave his vi l lage

at Passover and Pentecost .

. .

. H e w as

able to leave

O N L Y

a t the au tumn f est i -

val"-the Feast

of

Tabernacles-to keep

i t at Jerusalem Jewish Chr ist ians fol-

lowed this pract ice in apostol ic d ay $

N e w T e s t a m e n t E x a m p l e s

I n N ew I 'e s tament t imes the Medi te r -

ranean region, where the apost le Paul

preached, was divided into several geo-

graphic and Communicat ive areas . Paul

was guided by the Spir i t of

God

to

take

spesial

joiirney.r-falsely called "mis sion -

ary journeys"-to each

of

these separate

areas. In a sense Mr. Armstrong

i s doinq

the same today

by

pr eaching

to

N o r t h

America, to Europe, to Austral ia , to

South A f r ica, to I nd ia . E ich one

of

these

regions is as separate as were the u e a r

in which each

of

Paul's

joiivnej,s

took

h i m .

I n N ew Tes tament t imes , Pa les t ine

was one

geogr aphic

a i d coriiiiitiriicarivc

region. All the people l iv ing the r e kept

the

Fern of

Tabernacles in Jerusnlein

tin :

Let

us

notice the examples .


11/12

j u s t ;IS Jesus d id ( Jolui y : .

I n addi t ion .

m:uiy

LvcaIthy

J C W S

froin

far-away areas c a m e to Jerusnlcm

(

Acts

2:+

1 1 ) ( 1 1 Icpl(,.lriiti,tjie.c f r om those

dis tant geograp hic are; is where the feasts

\vere also

be ing

held.

This

\v.is a coiii-

nmn pract ice since the days of

Ezri

and

Nehcniiah. Similar ly, we hnvc f rom

time to t ime representatives f rom abroail

u.ho will mee t with 11s in No rt h Ame rica

:it Gladewater. At this last festival we

had a young inan f rom I .ondon with us.

History records that uncircumcised

G ent i l e s w ere no t pe r mi t ted by the J m s

in Pales tine to c o m e to Jerusalem t o ob-

serve the fes t ivals . When Paul was seen

in JerLualem in 56 A . D . w it h o n e Gem

t i le about the t ime of Pentecost, the Jew s

near ly ki l led him (Acts 2 1 2 7 - 3 0 ) , T h i s

means that

the

Church was observing

the festivals elsewhere than in Jerusalem,

as Jesus prophesied they would

(

J o h n

4 : L I ) .

Paul s Ministry P r o v e s I t

Notic e the proof f rom Pauls life. Paul

kept the festivals o f

God.

Yet for near ly

4 years he w t i ~

~ k i z o i i i zj ,

fdce u n t o

the chur ches of Judaea w hich w er e in

Chr is t :

but

t h e y hnd

henrci only,

That

he

w h i c h p e r s e c i d us in t imes past

n o w

pr eache th the f a i th w hich once he

destroyed

( G nln t ians 1 22- 23 ) .

Paul

a.as not keeping rhc fe;isrs

If J c i - u ~ a l r i i i

or he cer tainly would have been know n

by

face.

W h e r e w a s P a u l s p e n d i n g h i s t i m e

dur ing those years?

I came, he said, into the regions

o f

Syria and Cilicia

(

G al .

1 :

2

1 ) .

T h a t

is

where they were Paul an i l Rarnnha5

spen t inany ycnrs preach ing there before

be ing sen t o n their journeys . The center

of the r eg ion of Cilicia and Syr ia was

A nt ioch . A t A nt ioch i t came to pass,

that a whole year they assembled thern-

selves with the chur ch , and taugh t much

people. Paul , then, r .ould have ob-

served the Feast of Taber nac les in A n-

t ioch because he was

there

a whole year

R r : ~ l Accs

1 1

135-26; S C C map

bclow.

In Acts 1 3 2 Paul and Bar nabas w er e

chosen to preach

to

a new area-differ-

ent f rom Syr ia and Cil ic ia . This t ime

they carry the gospel to Cyprus, Lycia,

Paniphylia, Pisidia and Lycaonia-soine-

t imes cal led South Galat ia . See Acts,

chapters 1 3

and 14, and the m ap above .

The major cen te r of this area was the

ci ty Antioch in Pis idia , where we find

Pouls

Second Aporfolic Journey with

geographic reglonr centering about

PHIL IPP I on

MaCedonlo and obaul

Paul en te r ing the synagogue on the

D a y

of

Weeks-Pentecost T he literal,

insp i r ed , o r ig ina l G r eek of Acts

13:14

reads: They came

to

A nt ioch in Pisidia,

and w en t in to the synagogue

on

the D ay

of

Weeks , and sa t dow n. The G r eek

word translated sa bbath can also mean

w eek. But

here

i t is

in the p l z t r d , . a n d

o u g h t

to

be translated weeks. This

same expression has been incorrectly

translated three different times in the

N e w T e s t a m e n t .

Pentecos t is called the

Fetr.it

o /

W e e k J

i n t h e O l d T e s t a m e n t ( D e u t .

16:9-10).

W h en the t r ans lators s aw the

Greek wording here, they could not

imagine Paul obse r v ing the D ay of

Pentecos t or the D ay of W eeks w i th the

Jews in

A nt ioch of Pis idia But that is

what h e was doing Af ter this , Paul

preached in other c i t ies , re turning to

Antioch in Pisidia about the t ime of th e

Feast of Tabernacles.

Th is city-Antioch in Pisidia-wns

the cen te r of a world-area in Pauls day.

The spr ing fes t ivals were undoubtedly

held locally in the other cities

of

this

area.

Festivals

H e l d

in

E u r o p e

O n the next apos to l ic jour ney the

apos tle Paul w ent in to Eur ope . H e came

to

Philippi in Macedonia-exactly

1)

years af ter the Holy Spir ir had come on

the day

of

Pentecost in 3 1 A .D . A nd

w hat do you supposed happ ened?

A nd w e w er e in tha t c i ty ab id ing

certain days-there we re

so

few Jews

in Phi l ipp i tha t the r e w as no r egula r

synagogue, only a pldce of prayer . And

on the D a y

of Weeks we

went out o f

the ci ty by a r iver s ide where we sup-

posed there was a prayer place; and wr


12/12

Page

1 2

December. 195-

S A ~ own a d spokc

un to rbc

I o t j ~ e / f

which

came

together"-so

rends

the

original Greek . Ho w plain Exactly

19

years after

the gospel begm to be

preached on Pentecost by the

Church

in

Asia, it began to be pre;iched in Europe

on

the

D:iy

of

Pentec ost-the Day of

Weeks, the Feast of Weeks o r Pente-

Paul then journeys to Coritith, in

South Greece, 111 the province of Achaia.

"He

continued there a year and SIX

months, teaching the word of God

among them" (Acts 18:11

) .

That ac-

counts for two more Feasts of Taber-

iiacles,

this time, it would seem , spent

i n Corinth. See map, page 11, bottom.

Those converted in Paul's first journey

i n the region of Galatia and P isidia were

probably keeping the festival in Antioch

in Pisidia. Distances were

so

great in

those days that it would have taken two

weeks to

a

month just

to

travel to

Corinth f rom Antioch in Pisidia.

At the same time, converts in the

geogm phic area of Syria and Cilicia were

probably observing the Feast

of

Tabcr-

nacles in Antioch in Syria. Jews in

Pdest ine were observing i t in Jerusalem

as always. Each of these places was the

o n e

central location in

a

geographic,

communicative area.

W e f o l low t h e

s n m e e x a m p l e today

Paul obviously was guided by t he Holy

Spirit to spend each separate journey in

different cornmunicative areas, nearby

the central city of which would be the

place

for

the Feast of Tabernacles.

The third journey took Paul into the

district of Asia, which was subdivided

into Mysia, Lydia and Caria. The ce ntral

location

of this region was Epli t -~~ib,

where

Pitul

preached for at least two

years and three months ( Ac ts

19:s-10).

The Feast

o f

Tabernacles was probably

held here during this time.

Spr in g Fest ivals Held Locally

Early in the year 56 AD., we find

the Feast o f Unleavened Bread held in

the secondary cities of Troas and Assos.

Notice it in Acts

20:

4-7,

1 1 ,

13-14:

L u k e

and other ministers stayed in

Philippi until "after the Days of Un-

leavened Bread." Paul, however, accom-

panied by seven others , went to Troas

in Asia (verse

4 ) .

Therefore Paul was

observing the Passover and Feast of Un-

leavened Bread in the city of Troas while

the others accompanying Luke were ob-

serving

i t

in Phil ippi in Macedonia. Im-

mediately after the last day of Unleav-

ened Bread-which, in 56 A.D.,fell on

3 weekly Sabbath-Pat11 left

fnr A s ~ s

This would certainly seem

to

indicate

that the brethren in Assos were not there

at Troas when Paul was at Troas. They

probably

were

keeping the Feast

of

Un-

leavened Bread at Assos, some 30 miles

distant by foot.

cost.

Tlir ket-ping

uf tlic

Feast

~l

U i i 1 ea~-

ened Bread in

so

I I I ~ L L I ~ inor towns

clearly siibstaiitiatcs the practice of the

Church of

God

today when we hold the

same festival

in

nuiiieroiis

local

'ireas

But nowhere in thc Book of Acts can

you find one place where

thc.

Fcmt

of

Tabernacles was ever heid in any but

the one place which was the center

of

communications

fo r

an entire geo-

graphic area in which Paul prexhed.

J e su s ' O w n E x am p l e

Jesus

is

our example. W e know that

H e observed the Feast

of

Tabernacles

in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the

Church in Palest ine. But did He ever

observe the spring festivals in any other

city than Jerusalem?

H e d id

Notice what [he Scripture says. Jesus

began to preach the gospel

at

Nazareth.

He read from the hook

of

Isaiah where

i t is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is

upon Me, because H e hath anointed Me

to preach the gospel to the poor

. .

_

(Lukc 4 :1 7 ) .

Considcr the

fact

that

up

until this tim e Christ was merely calling

disciples and teaching them in private.

When Nicodemus acknowledged that

Jesus was "a teacher come from God' '

( Jo hn 3 : 2 ) , Jesus now had the tacit

approval of a Sanhedrin representative

to publicly preach. Then Jesus goes to

Nazareth in Gali lee to begin preaching.

And when did H e start preaching pub-

licly in the synagogues?

"And He came to Nazareth, where He

had been brought up: and, as His cus-

tom was,

He

went into the synagogue on

the Day

of

Weeks, and stood up for to

read"

( L u k e 4 :1 6 ) . Here

again

t l w

original Greek has been misunderstood

Jesus began preaching, not merely on

u

sabbath, but on

a particitlar

sabbath-

the annual Feast of Weeks o r Pentecost

It was

His

custom to observe that

Feast in Nazareth.

You

will never find

Jesus in Jerusalem on the Day of Pente-

cost. He was setting us an example that

the sp ring festivals are not required to

be held in only

o n e

place

It

was

often the practice of the

Jews

living in Galilee to attend services on

the spring festivals in Nazareth

or

other

Galilaean cities.

( S e e

T h e L i f e

and

7'ime.r of Jesu s th e Messiah

by Eder-

sheim.) Because the disciples had often

been accustomed to keep Pentecost in

Galilee rather than Jerusalem-for

they we re Galilaeans-Jesus had

to

command them in 31 A.D. to remain

in Jerusalem till Pentecost. God pur-

pnsrd

t n

give them His Holy Spirit nf

the Headquarters Church in Jerusalem

as

a

witness to all the Jews and the

world.

T h er e

is strong

evidence that

Jesus

also once observed the Feast of Unleav-

ened Bread in Gali lee. Turn to Matthew

I L

1-9. 0 1 1

J

\veekly sabb,1[11 "at that

sexion" the Pharisees wrongly accused

Jesus of bre'iking the subba th. Th is event

appears to have

mc-urred

itz

Guli lee ,

ac-

cording to the account in Mark

:

7,

where Jesus \vithdraws nearby to the

Sea

o f

Galilee..

But notice what the original Greek,

written by Luke, calls

thur

sabbath:

"And

i t

came to pass on a

secoictl

h i g h ~ u b b a t h

hat H e was going through

the cornfields" ( L u k e

6: 1 .

If you look in some Bibles you will

see that the translators have awkwardly

rendered the Greek words "second sab-

bath after the first." Actually, the Greek

expression means that the weekly sab-

bath that year was also the second high

day, an ann ual sabbath-a day of first

ran k. An d in tha t very year--29 A.D.-

the Sacred Calendar proves that the

second

H o 1 ~Day

in the days of Un-

lpavenrd Bread

fell

on a weekly sab-

bath

So Jesus was ke p i ng the Days of U n-

leavened Bread

i n

all probabilit.

Cali lec

that

year -not in

Jerusalc-in.

the place where the Feast of Tabernacle:

was always held in Palestine.

Jesus

Leads Our Church T o d a y

Jesus leads Hi s Church-this Chu rch.

We are the Chu rch of God. Since Jesus

never changes we find Him leading the

Church today in exactly the same man-

ner as He did in apostolic times.

He is

leading His ministers today to know

where the

festivals of

God ought

;o

be

held, just as He led the apostles and

ministers in olden times to know where

God's people should meet.

God

waiiis

the peuple LOappear before

Him . Therefore He wants the spr ing

festivals of Passover and Unle aven ed

Bread and Pentecost to be observed

where the greatest number of people can

gather together throughout the country.

But God provided in His law for

us

to save the SECOND TITHE

so

that we all

could journey to

one ceiztral place for

the Feast

of

Tabernacles. Gladewatcr

is

that place here in North America. It is

centrally located from east

to

west. Eco-

nomically

it

is centrally located from

north to south, for the vast majority of

our

brethren w ho have low incomes

l ive

in the region of the Southern States.

Certainly God is an all-wise God w hen

we fully grasp how He has worked out

all these things for us

Now we know w h e r e and

why

God

wants us to build the

fzetu

tabernacle or

auditorium. Let's put

our

whole hearts

into our

prayers for its

comnletion

in

the

next eigh t months-and liberal, extra

offerings for the special tabernacle

fund which must be separate and apart

from our

usual

tithes and offerings.

This is our

BIG IM M ED IA TE

resmnsi-

bility, brethren. Let us not shirk it

good news 1957 (vol vi no 12) dec.pdf

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