Jeremiah
Jeremiah faced perhaps the most consistent and spiteful attacks because of his refusal to compromise in relaying the message of God for his time. Jeremiah stood alone. He had no worldly commendations, he had no great wealth, he did not have the backing of any great institutions, and he had no governmental support. Jeremiah’s message was a message of repentance and a call to return to the Lord and follow His ways. Jeremiah warned of a coming judgment on the nation of Israel.
“And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle” (Jeremiah 19:3).
The people did not want to hear what he was saying by the word of God and accused him of preaching gloom and doom. The people of Jeremiah’s day persecuted him, imprisoned him, and generally made his life miserable. “Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD” (Jeremiah 20:2). And lest we think this was an isolated incident, Jeremiah 37:15-16 records,
“Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison. When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days.”
Still Jeremiah stood alone, refusing to compromise, warning of the destruction that would come upon the prized institutions of Israel. And because of his refusal to compromise the message and mission God gave him, the governmental leaders wanted to kill him.
“Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die” (Jeremiah 26:8).
Israel was not trusting in a power outside of themselves. They were trusting in their military, their institutions and men of wisdom that told them they had nothing to fear, that they would not be taken captive. This was all in the face of Jeremiah’s warning that all would be taken away and the people would go into captivity. He had prophesied God’s rejection in Jeremiah 12:7,
“I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.”
Yet the people and their rulers refused to listen and the judgments of God were visited upon them. They trusted in themselves, in their institutions, their government, their wealth and national status. They trusted that they were the people of God. Yet they could not, would not, repent of the apostacy that was about to bring on their ruin.
Jeremiah succeeded and Israel failed. Jeremiah had nothing worldly going for him, but Israel thought they had everything, including God, on their side.
As Jeremiah prophesied, Jerusalem was attacked and fell. No status, wealth, institutions, army or governments could save them. Many of the people of Israel were taken captive to Babylon. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego were some of those captives. Early on in their training in Babylon, they, along with Daniel, had to take a stand on diet. But that was not their only test.
Showdown at Dura
King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image on the plain of Dura. He required all the leadership of the kingdom to be present at its dedication. Among those leaders were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Daniel 3:3 records what happened.
“Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. . .”
The assembly of leaders gathered around the image. They were commanded to bow in homage at the sound of the music. But these three men chose not to compromise and bow to the image, even at the threat of death. They stood tall while others bowed.
Then the king was informed about their defiance.
“There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:12).
When they refused to bow, these men lost the support of their government, they lost the support of the institutions they previously represented. Any wealth they possessed became immaterial, and their standing among their peers became worthless. Yet they still refused to compromise, despite the threat of losing everything. Daniel 3:16-18 records their reply to an enraged monarch,
“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Because of their refusal to compromise, they were thrown into the furnace. But their apparent defeat became a marvelous victory. They relied not upon fame, wealth, institutions, education or governments. Their faith was in something outside of themselves. Their faith was solely in God who brought victory out of apparent defeat.
Our Lord
The Jewish nation during the time of Jesus was under the oppression of the Roman government. They had a beautiful temple that was the focus of their religion. They lived for the day that the Messiah would come and would restore their status as a superior nation. They looked for a Messiah that would again make prominent their wealth, their institutions and their government. It was in these things they put their trust.
While they were trusting in these worldly things, the Messiah came. But the Messiah they were looking for was one that would give them what they wanted, earthly prominence. When Jesus came, He had no standing in the world. He was simply a poor, insignificant carpenter who “hath not where to lay his head.” He had no wealth, no institutional backing, no governmental support, and was even opposed by the Jewish leadership. His disciples were poor fishermen, tax collectors, and generally men of no account. Yet Jesus and these uneducated disciples set the world on its edge.
But Jesus’ work was not without opposition. The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees were opposing and attacking Him from every side. They even plotted to kill Him. “And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people” (Luke 22:2). It must have been discouraging to Jesus and His disciples at times. Yet Jesus refused to compromise on the message and mission He had been given from God. His faith was in His Father, a power outside of Himself, to accomplish what He had come to do.
A Narrow Road
Unfortunately, many today are looking for the same thing Israel was when Jesus came. Ellen White sums it up this way:
“Reformers of the present time will meet with the same discouragements as did their Master. Men are no more favorable to Bible simplicity or to practical godliness than in Christ's day. Few accepted the world's Redeemer; few will now accept the message of his servants. Though the multitude eagerly flocked around him to receive temporal blessings, yet Christ sadly declares, ‘Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.’ Thus the mass of mankind are today seeking earthly good, to the neglect of eternal riches.” {ST, March 16, 1882 par. 3}.
Jesus and a few poor, uneducated men, without anything to commend them to the world, carried the message of salvation to millions of people. The church grew and prospered despite persecution that followed.
When Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the Apostles continued to preach Jesus. These were unlearned men with nothing to commend them to the world except that they had been with Jesus. They had no wealth or great institutions backing them, they had no governmental support, they were entirely dependent upon a power outside of themselves.
Their message struck a chord with many hearts and thousands began to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. This angered the religious leaders and they confronted the Apostles. They were thrown into prison in an attempt to silence them. But the angels of God were sent to free them and instructed them to go and preach to the people in the temple. They were summarily brought again before the religious leaders and again commanded not to teach about Jesus.
The reply of Peter indicates the determination of the Apostles not to compromise the message they were given. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:27-29).
These men were then beaten, again told to cease preaching in the name of Jesus, and released. They rejoiced that they had been accounted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. They continued to preach and teach and spread the news of Jesus far and wide.
But the Jewish nation, despite their belief to the contrary, would lose all they held dear. In 70 AD, all their hopes of temporal wealth, status, institutional glory, and national prominence perished. Jerusalem, the temple, and all they held dear was destroyed.
Many centuries passed.
“The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless deportment and unswerving faith were a continual reproof that disturbed the sinner's peace. Though few in numbers, without wealth, position, or honorary titles, they were a terror to evil-doers wherever their character and doctrines were known. Therefore they were hated by the wicked, even as Abel was hated by the ungodly Cain. For the same reason that Cain slew Abel did those who sought to throw off the restraint of the Holy Spirit, put to death God's people. It was for the same reason that the Jews rejected and crucified the Saviour,--because the purity and holiness of this character was a constant rebuke to their selfishness and corruption. From the days of Christ until now, his faithful disciples have excited the hatred and opposition of those who love and follow the ways of sin.” {GC88 46.1}
The church grew to a position of great prominence in the world. And as the apostolic church grew, compromise crept within its walls. It amassed great institutions of learning, it published great written works and gained the support of governments. It began to depend upon itself rather than the God who established it. The truths taught by Jesus and the Apostles were perverted and many were lost altogether.
The Reformation
Then came the reformation. This movement was led by men, many of them poor, with no great standing in the world. They had no great wealth, no publishing institutions, no great centers of learning of their own. They were the common folk of their day. Most did not have the support of the governmental leaders, and in fact, they were opposed, threatened, imprisoned, persecuted, and even put to death by the governments of their day. Yet these few men refused to compromise their stand for truth.
One of the greatest of these reformers was Martin Luther. He was called before the counsels and commanded to recant his statements for the truth and against the organized church of his day.
“The Reformer answered: ‘Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen.’” {GC 160.2}
Luther refused to compromise the truth of God to please any man. His steadfastness was a witness to many. Eventually some of the governmental leaders began to throw their influence behind the reformers.
“But a few years had passed since the monk of Wittenberg stood alone at Worms before the national council. Now in his stead were the noblest and most powerful princes of the empire. Luther had been forbidden to appear at Augsburg, but he had been present by his words and prayers. "I thrill with joy," he wrote, "that I have lived until this hour, in which Christ has been publicly exalted by such illustrious confessors, and in so glorious an assembly. Herein is fulfilled what the Scripture saith, 'I will declare thy testimony in the presence of kings.'" {GC88 207.2}
The reformation grew until the church, totally apostatized, received a deadly wound in 1798. The Papacy lost its worldly status, it lost its wealth, its worldly institutions, its governmental support. For all practical purposes the medieval church was dead.
The reformation was a movement that let people back to the pure truth of God’s word. Not fifty years after the deadly wound to the Papacy, another movement began that was to become one of the most rapidly growing Christian movements of its day. When it began, those preaching the Advent message had no worldly standing. They had no wealth to commend them to the world. They had no institutions of learning, they had no publishing houses, no large medical institutions. The Early Adventist Church was poor. Their support came from something outside of themselves. They depended solely upon God to give them the courage, means, and wisdom to give the message God gave to them.
But it was not without opposition. There were those of other faiths that ridiculed them. Many of the Advent believers were removed from membership in churches where their families had been for generations. Yet they refused to compromise their message. Even when the prediction that Jesus would come on October 22, 1844 failed, the true believers refused to give up their faith. They rested upon the promises of God like those in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Though they were few, they held on to their faith in God’s word.
They discovered their error and realized they must not give up. They were encouraged by passages like Revelation 10:11, “And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” As they began to spread the message of the three angels of Revelation 14, the church began to grow rapidly. God blessed them greatly. They developed a publishing ministry that led to the establishment of a large publishing institution. The health message was the inspiration for a large sanitarium. Schools were established to train young people to be able to spread the message that God had given. Those institutions have continued to prosper and grow.
Today the Seventh-day Adventist Church has the largest protestant school system in the world that trains young people to be witnesses for God. We have one of the largest hospital and medical ministry systems in the world, which is to be the opening wedge for the gospel. And our publishing houses are printing millions of pieces of literature that are used to take the message God has given us to the world.
****
Victor Vaughn
