Good News 1952 (Vol II No 11) Nov

8/10/2019 Good News 1952 (Vol II No 11) Nov

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T h e N a t i o n a l M a g a z i n e o f

A M B A S S A D O R

C O L L E G E

~ ~~

VOL. 11, N U M B E R 11

N O V E M B E R ,

1952

How

Would

JesusVote

for

PRESIDENT?

T h i s m a y b e th e most fa te ful Presidentia l e lect ion in American Histo-

ry , Christs Message was concerned w it h the governm ent o f nations.

Christ ians are those

zuho

follozu

Christ . Heres iuhnt H e U J O Z J ~ ~o

by

Herbert W . Armstrong

HE PRESIDENTIAL campaign is on

full blast. Th e issue of surviv al of

T

he nation will fall squarely on the

shoulders of the next president.

World war is now a daily threat.

Fr ightful atomic war. W a r that means

annihilatioq of civilization. America this

minute is in grave danger.

In H i s Steps

In such a momentous presidential

year, what would Jesus Christ do about

this election if H e were here as a native-

born American?

W ould He vote for Eisenhower?

Wo uld H e use His great influence to

keep the Democrats at the helm in this

world-crisis?

Many of you undoubtedly have read

the

famous hook, I n His Steps, by

Dr.

Charles M. Sheldon. It has been one of

the all-time best-sellers. It is the story

of an entire congregation which set out

to do, in all circumstances daily, just as

Jesus would do-to follow H is steps,

as we are admonished by Peter. My only

criticism of th e book is that its charac-

ters, like most people who think they

follow Jesus, acted as they supposed

Jesus would act instead of study ing the

Bible to find out how H e did act.

The Apostle Paul said:

I

m cruci-

fied

with Chrisr. nevertheless I live; yet

not

I,

but Christ liueth

in

me. (Gal .

2 : 2 0 . ) H e admonished, Let this mind

be in you, which was also in Christ

Jesus. (Phil. 2 : 5 . )

A

person Z not

really a Christian

unless

he follows

Christ-acts as Chris t wou ld act-un-

less Christ is living his life for him.

Christ

Was Interested in

GOVERNMENT

Few realize it, because they do not

hear it today, but the GOSPEL OF CHRIST

-the Gospe l Jesus brought from Go d

and preached, was a message about gou-

ernment

Yes, Jesus was interested in govern-

ment. His Message was about a govern-

ment to RULE THE W O R L D , and br ing us

WORLD

PEACE

But to understand it, we must take a

quick, condensed flash-back uf llir gov-

ernm ents of this world f r o m its founda-

tion until now. This is necessary for a

t rue perspective. W e are prone to view

politics, government, and world events

from the standpoint of this present

world.

In the beginning, God created the

heavens and the ear th (Gen. 1 : l ) . In

rulership over this ear$ Go d sent an

archangel who sealed up the sum-total

of perfection, wisdom, and beauty. H is

throne was in Eden. He was ruler over

a peaceful world populated by beings

superior to humans-spirit beings called

angels. (Ezek.

28:

12-15.)

But as this brilliant shining Star of

the Dawn-Lucifer-contemplated his

glory, pride lifted him up, ambition

seized him, and suddenly

h e

became dis -

satisfied with a rulership limited to one

single planet. He became jealous of

God, set his heart to rival the Eternal

Creator Himself, and left this planet in

a war of conquest, in which a third of

his angels followed him, attempting to

conquer and rule the universe. (Isa

14:12-15;

Rev. 1 2 : 4 . )

But he was cast back down to earth

in defeat, disqualified even as earth ruler

rho not t o

be dethroned until

a succes ror

is

both

qualified and innugurdted in

o f

fice.

Just as the sins of the antediluvian

world brought physical destruction to

the earth by a flood; just as the fornica

tion of Sodom and Gomorrah brough


2/16

Page

2

The GOOD NEWS

November,

1952

founded on the idea of huddling people

together in crowded cities.

Since it is the system of strife and

competition, each of the four phases of

thi s civilization-political, econ om ic, re.

ligious, and social-has striven constant.

ly to dominate and rule. In ancient

Rome the politicians ruled over the

Church , Business, and Society. The n aft-

er

554

A.D., the Church ruled over the

State, Business, and Society. In America,

where we are supposed to rule ourselves,

it has been a constant struggle for dom-

inance between Big Business and the

politicians. In Russia today a small gro up

of

godless atheistic Marxists have set up

a political Dictatorship manipulated by

stirring up class hatreds, inducing the

laboring class to feel downtrodden

enough to put in the saddle this Dic-

tatorship pretending to rule for the ben-

efit of t his on e class.

But regardless of the particular form

of administration, this CIVILIZATION

which holds the entire world in its or-

ganized grip today is the same old

BABYLONISH SYSTEM started at the

original

BABYLON

by Nimrod

Babylon means C O N F U S I O N . Com-

petition and strife have produced con-

fusion in the world. And God is

not

the

aathor of confas ion ( 1 Cor. 1 4 : 3 3 ) .

Should Christians Strive to M a k e

T h i s a B E TT E R W O R L D ?

Now we come to the reason for need-

ing a true perspective.

Most churchmen today, viewing

everything from the perspective of THIS

W O R L D

TODAY,

blindly assume this is

Gods world. They

see

certain forces of

evil in it, and these they feel they must

oppose. They see the Christian duty to

be that of working

to

make this a better

world.

That concept i s a wrong vtewpoint

altogether.

This is not a world of Gods making

This is SATANS world Satan is the in -

visible god of this world. He is the

author of its organization, its basic phi-

losophies, its systems of government ,

business, society-yes,

AND RELIGIONS

This thing we boast of as

CI VI LI ZA-

TION is, in actual fact, Satans handi-

work, not Gods Strange as it may

seem, that is true

Al l nations-not just the heath en

powers, but all nations, inrl7ding OUTS,

are

DECEIVED,

swayed, led, by Satan.

(Rev.

12:9; 18:3; 20:2-3 . )

The Bible

speaks

of

this world as this present

E V I L WORLD. (Gal . 1 : 4 . )

physical destruction and chaos to those

cities by fire; just as the sins of the pres-

ent evil world have doomed it to physi-

cal destruction once again

by

fire,

so

the sins of the angels caused thc face of

the earth to suffer great violence, and it

became chaotic, in confusion, waste and

empty (Gen.

1 : 2 ) .

Fi rs t Chance a t World Rule

Then in s ix days God Almighty

brought order out of chaos, created the

present vegetable and animal life, and

created upon earth a new race, the race

of human mortals. Adam was given rule

over th e lower species-animals. Luci-

fer, an archangel, had been given rule

over angels. But, while man was made a

little lower in status than angels, he was

made in the image of God with possi-

bilities, thru conversion, of being born

of

God, and changed into imm ortal spir i t

beings, higher in order tha n angels.

In the Garden of Eden was the tree

of Life-symbolic

of

the Holy Spiri t

of

God Himself , by which Adam could

have been raised to this higher immo rtal

and d ivine level.

First, Adam was given opportunity to

qualify as

WORLD RULER.

H e could have

become successor to the former Lucifer,

now re-named Satan (meaning Adver-

sary, Rival, Aggressor). Adam was put

to t h e test

to

determine whether he

would obey God and prove able to RULE

with Gods Laws.

In the fateful test with Satan, Adam

disobeyed God, accepted the rule of

Satan over him-yielded to hu ma n prid e,

lust and greed. Thus he placed himself

and his children under th e rule of Satan.

He failed to overthrow Satan. He failed

to prove he could obey God and carry

out GODS government over those God

should have placed under him.

Had Adam obeyed God and proved

able to defe at Satan in this test, he could

have partaken of the Tree of LIFE-

he would have been begotten

of

GOD,

later B O R N

of

God, changed from m ortal

human to immortal and divine God, of

the very family-the

KINGDOM-f

GOD

All earths mortals, as his children,

would have been under his rule. He

would have become world ruler forever

But

Adam placed himself and his

children

U N D E R T H E

R U L E

OF

SATAN.

Adam was driven from the Garden of

Eden lest he tak e of the tree of life, and

ga in immor ta li ty (Ge n.

3 : 2 2 ) .

T h u s h e

never received im mortality, which is the

gift

of God by and thru H is Holy Spiri t .

Satin thus retained his rulership, thru

invisible sway of influence, temptation,

and deception, over the world.

H o w

Our

Present System Started

Jusr how Satan manipulated human

mortals in the ways of government on

earth during the first 1600 or 1700

years, there is no historic record. We

know merely that with very few excep-

tions humans under Satans invisible

sway followed the course of human pas-

sions, the wickedness of man was great

on the earth, and God destroyed all but

eight souls by the Flood.

No ah an d his descendants should have

learned their lesson, but they didnt.

Satan found in one of the great-grand-

sons of Noah, Nimrod, the grandson of

Ham , a very able and powerful man wh o

could b e use d politically. Th ru Satans

influence, instilling great ambition thru

greed and pride, this Nimrod organized

the people into a system of human gov-

ernment ,

by

which man ruled over man

contrary t o th e princ iples established by

God. Such government never could be

good or bring blessings

to

humanity, but

the Eternal purposed to permit man to

learn that lesson by hard expericncc. W e

are learning it still, and havent learned

it yet.

Now not ice how the present worlds

society became organized.

Nimrod organized the present worlds

first governm ent-the city of

BABYLON.

Later he organized Nineveh and orher

cities. He instituted the system

of

regi-

mentat ion, whereby on e or a few at the

top,

by

directing their efforts, profit from

the sweat and labor of others.

Thus the B A B Y L O N I S H system of gov-

ernment was s tarted. Soon there were

many cities, each ruled by a king. Then

an ambitious king, swayed by Satans

philosophy, seeking more worlds to con-

quer, organized a portion

of

his man-

power into a fighting force and by ag-

gression ruled ove r adjo inin g cities.

Thus nat ions were born, and then Em-

pires.

This

BABYLONISH

principle

of

gov-

ernment , intertwined w ith economic ma-

nipulation, has ruled the world ever

since. It has ruled under various forms

-whether called oligarchy, monarchy ,

dictatorship, autocracy, democracy, com-

munism or nazism-but its the same

old

RABYLONISH PRINCIPLE

under

slightly different modes of administra-

tion.

And this is the origin of what we call

CI VI LI ZATI O N.

Its forms of adminis-

tration have undergone change in the

constant struggle and turmoil-in the

rise and fall of empires, of cultures, of

rival modes of political, economic, re-

ligious, or social administration. But its

basic principle has remained the same-

the p r in c ip l e

of compaJtion

and

strife.

based

upon

greed and wanity.

Regardless of the form in which it

appears here or there, it is a system

based upon exploitation

of

the people,

aggression, regimentation, delusion and

deception. And the entire system is

Did Jesus Com e

to

M a k e T h i s

a B E T TE R W O R L D ?

Into such a world, in His own due

t ime, God sent forth His ow n Son, born

Please con tinae o n page 13


3/16

HOW and

WHEN

Church

Festivals were Changed

H er e

i s

the as tonishing eye-opening

history,

thorough ly

documen ted , now published

for

the f irst t ime.

by H e r m a n

L.

H o e h

OR

C E N T U R I E S

a

continuous and

violent controversy has raged over

F he observance of religious days.

This controversy sti l l exists today.

Multitudes of conflicting sects claim

that Sunday, with i ts eu ch ar i q comm un-

ion

or

Lords supper, is a divinely insti-

tuted day for Christians.

Controversy exists over Easter, Christ-

mas, sainrs days, Pentecost

or

W h i t -

sunday, All Souls.day, the feasts of the

Annunciat ion, the Assumption and oth-

ers as sacred occasions. Are all, some, or

n o n e of these, Christia n institu tions?

This problem is vitally important. I t

involves the f undamen ta l teachings and

traditions of opposing religious denomi

nations which claim to follow Jesus

Christ. For c enturies the Catholic Church

deemed it essential to salvation that

many days and feasts be held sacred.

Protestants are in great confusion as to

exactly w h i c h days are obligatory and

h o w these days came to be observed. A

few affirm the sanctity of the Sabbath

but reject the Holy Days given by God

to His people.

Bur

the disagreement is not simply

among the millions who believe it is es-

sential to observe special days. There

are thousands of individuals and groups

which maintain that it is absolutely

wrong to celebrate

any day whatever.

Certain other sects, which pass tracts on

m e e t

corners, contend that

it does not

matter which days are to be regarded

as sacred.

Th e Scr ipture CANNOT SUPPORT each

v / theJe

contrarEic~ory

dea5.

What i s the t ru th?

WHY

Churches Disagree

Certainly the contradicting tracts,

pamphlets and books cannot all be cor-

rect. False teaching m u s t have crept

into Christianity a t

some

t ime

dnce

Jesus founded the original, true church.

Every sec t dm i t s th i s.

Each believes that at swpe particular

time certain teachings contrary to

irs

particular tenents crept into Christianity.

Whez

did these errors arise and

b y

w h o m ? What denominations are teach-

ing error today? What is the fai th

which was once delivered unto the

saints? (Jude

3 )

These are questions

that must be answered

How to Find

t h e

TRUTH

It is our purpose to examine and ex-

plain the historical records

of

the Bible.

Scrip ture gives the only inspired

ac-

coun t of the practices of the early church

because it was

written

by the inspired

Leaders of that church. The letters of

Paul were recognized by Peter

to

be in-

spired scripture ( 2 Peter

3: 1 6 ) .

Then the councils and early writings

of the Catholic Church

must

be searched

to reveal the practice and heresies of

so

called Christianity in the fo l lowing cen-

turies. This is one of the most misunder-

stood portions of hisrory ever t o be r e

corded.

Most Catholics and Protestants

never learn what occurred in those early

church councils.

Also the findings

of

secular history,

which are often disputed by certain

sects, will aid in determining exactly

what teachings bear the sramp of Bibli-

cal truth, and which are errors and

superstitions veiled under the n ame of

Christ.

Too

often it is the policy of certain

church teachers to confu.re people. Min-

isters KNOW that if they can keep their

followers confused, that they will con-

t i nue in the rel ig ious customs learned

fro m chi ldhood. These leaders know that

human beings are not inclined to change

religious beliefs when their minds are

in confusion. Churches perpetuate faulty

creeds rather than allow their adherents

to examine with an open mind the fol-

lowing facts

of

Scripture and history.

But no one needs to remain in doubt

or ignorance. T h e fac ts can be known.

Tn neglect these facts is tantamount to

rejecting the Bible revelation.

The time has come to present the

truth, from whatever source it may be

obtained. Instead of seeking to prove

special preconceived arguments, the dec-

laration

of

the apostle Paul must

be

fol-

lowed:

Prove all things;

hold fast that

which is good ( I Thess.

5 :

2

1 .

Common Teachings False

The vast numbers of pamphlets and

books written on the observance of re-

ligious days are utterly lacking in

truth. They deceive the people because

most

readers are unable to distinguish

the true facts

from

the wished-to-be-be

lieved facts or preconceived notions.

False doctrines are often due to unwill-

ingness on the part

of

many writers

to

examine

all

sources

of

information. The

reason for this lack

of all

the facts is the

fear that creeds and dogmas will not

stand the full light of penetrating re-

search.

Modern critics follow the trend of the

age. They do not accept or trust the

Scripture as the revelation

of

God

t

man. That is why they have not present-

ed the correct answers with all their

scholarliness and abundance of facts.

They grope in the darkness

of

conflict-

ing historical evidence without any sure

foundation.

Even those

f e w

books which contain

PART of the tru th are highly inadequate.

Half the truth can be as misleading

as

total error, for the very reason that it

SCCIIIS to be 1 near the truth.

HOW

to

L ea rn t h e Wh o l e

Truth

Where did Christians acquire the cus-

tom of observing Christmas, Easter, the

Assumption, Ha lloween an d other days?

The only way to understand the truth

about church days and

fesrivals

is

to

find the origin of the pre sent differences

of practice. The very begi nnin g of hu-

man civilization is involved. Strange as

it may seem,

the

observance vf days did

NOT start with the church in the N e w

Tes tamen t .

Without examining ancient civiliza-

tion, and th e days held sacred by heathen

nations, it is impossible to arrive at the

correct conclusions. Why? Here is the

answer

Many of th e holy days in the religious

calendar of Christendom were borrowed


4/16

Page 4

The GOOD NEWS

November, 1952

as is well known, from the public festi-

vals, of ancient nations (W cbs tcr, Rest

Days ,

page 3 0 6 ) .

The quest ion of tradit ion must be

examined. Catholics and even many P rot-

estants acknowledge that Christian prac-

tice cannot be understood without it.

Many Protestants hold that the Bible

should be the only standard. By others,

tradition is accepted in determining

church festivals. if t radition, then w h i c h

traditions are correct? There is much

disagreement on this point between

Protestants and Catholics . The former

accept only a small portion of the mul-

titudinous traditions of the Catholic

Church.

Did Jesus give the apostles the right,

as Catholics believe, t o i n t roduce d i f -

lerenr dayJ from those He Himself

ob-

served? H o w f ar are Ch ristians expected

to follow the example of the life of

Jesus?

W as Pau l commissioned by Jesus t o

alter the days that the Gentile churches

were to hold sacred?

Thc Protcstant at t i tudc is that the

Catholic church has n o t preserved the

truth

of

the Bible whole and inviolate.

The reformers supposedly purified the

faith.

Then ,

why al l th is d isagreement

among Protestants? Are they really con-

tinuing false practices instead of the

fai th once delivered?

Also bear this in mind. The practice

of the Christian world has never been

the same through all ages. The Bible

teaches that it

does ma t t er

what one be-

l ieves. W e must know

once and for a l l

t i m e , exactly what festivals the Bible

declares to be right, and which tradi-

tions, if any, are to be followed.

T h e C h u r c h i n t h e H e a t h e n World

The early church developed under the

guidance of the apostles during the dec-

ades when the Rom an Em pire was at i ts

full power. She had to meet the great

Roman civilization with its civil, social

and religious customs that were often

diametrically opposed to the teachings

of Jesus. T o convert men a nd wome n

steeped in heathen rites necessitated the

power of God and an understanding of

the ideas of the surrounding heathen

world.

W ha t was that world, with

i t s hea then

holidays, really like? Did the church

meet i t with

compromiJe?

N o one can fully understand today

h o w the early Christians dealt with

paganism until it is first grasped what

those pagan customs were and how they

developed. W ha t was basically wrong

with heathenism?

Origin

of

H ca t h cn i s m

Modern evolutionists and skeptics

picture heathen ideologies as the pro-

gressive cultural acts of man as he de-

veloped beyond his bestial tendencies.

Nearly every child has been indoctrinat-

ed in the first years of grammar school

with fascinating stories supposedly ex-

plaining his own primitive ancestors

superstitions when the magnitude of

creation was first visualized.

If the truth would be known, civiliza-

tion did not dev elop in this way. Rather,

the overwhelming evidence of history

and archeology verifies a different-a

surprising-account of the ori gin of

heathen civilization. It began forty-two

centuries ago with Nimrod and his asso-

ciates in the Middle East. Not tens of

thousands of years previously, as evolu-

tionary theories purport to explain.

The apostle Paul, in the first chapter

of Romans, gives a precise, vital sum-

mary of the real begin ning of heathen-

ism-those customs tha t surrounded the

early church in the days of the Roman

Empire. Her e is wha t he writes about the

wise and dignified ancients and pagan

philosophers :

Because that, when they knew G o d ,

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 l ike to corruptible man

. . .

W h o changed th e t ruth

of

G o d i n t o

a lie, and worshipped and served the

creature more than the Crea tor .

. .

And

even as t hey d id not l i ke

to

retain God

in t he i r knowledge , God gave t he m over

to a reprobat e mind

.

. .

(Romans

1:

Here is the origin of Roman society

It was developed by men who knew

God. W ho changed the t ru th of God

into a l ie. W h o did not l ike to retain

God in their knowledge. G o d

W M

NOT

t l n k n o w n by the ancients.

Notice that the apostle Paul pictures

the founders of civilization as doing this

in their hum an wisdom. They wanted to

glorify God in t h e i r o w n w a y . It seemed

right to them. Paganism is not a society

of deliberate evil, but of what appears

to be r ight to the natural man. Heathen-

ism is what men w a n t to do, not what

they

ozlght

to do.

I t

is a mixture of

good and evil.

There was not a single phase of life

that remained untouched by human con-

tamination-the desire on the part of

human beings to develop a society in

opposi t ion to Gods way. Heathen cus-

toms

ever since the building

of

the

tow-

er of Babel (G ene sis 11) have affected

the social, political, economic and re-

ligious life of a ll people t o th is very

day.

Th e great men who founded an-

cient civilizations liberated men from

God. They received in return honor and

21-32 .

even w orship as mighty leaders before

or

in placc

of

thc Lord (Ccncsis

10.

9 ) . They w ere later deified as gods,

says Alexander Hislop, in The T w o

Babylons.

tat ion didn t want to retain God in their

knowledge, their understanding became

perverted The y garbled and perverted

stories of the creation, of the garden of

Eden and life before the deluge. These

traditions were combined with the lives

of chose heroes and became the m yths of

antiquity. M odern sceptics believe m y t h -

ology

is mans first effort to know his

God (Bullfinchs A g e of Fable, p. i x ) .

In reality it is the

degraded

and corrupt-

ed remains of the recorded episodes and

exploits of men who, knowing God,

turned thc truth of God into a lie These

deified heroes were soon clothed with

the splendor of the stars and planets

that were symbolic of their attributes.

Thus the heavens bear the names of

heathen deities or heroes to this day.

T h e H ea t h en K n ew A b o u t t h e

Sabbath

The Bible records the fact that an-

cient nations at one time knew of God

before they descended in to gross idol-

atry with the rebellion at the tower of

Babel. T h e y k n e w He was the Creator.

One of His acts in being Creator, ac-

cording to the second chapter of Gene-

sis, was the hallowing of the seventh

day. 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

:

3

) .

Jesus declared

to

the Pharisees that

the Sabbath was made for man . N a t

the Jews alone, but for man and hence

at mans creation. Man was not made to

serve the Sabbath, but the Sabbath

was

made

to

be a blessing for man (Mark

2 : 2 7 ) . In declaring His law, God told

the Israelites to remember the Sabbath

day, to

k e e p

it holy. . . .

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 Lard

blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed

it (Exodus 20:9-11 . The Sabbath day

that God blessed according to Genesis

2

was the seventh duy. It was hallowed

at creat ion for man, not just Israel only.

Now, the Bible declared that the Sab-

bath was

f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g ,

not just

f rom the t ime of Moses. Since Paul says

that the heathen originally knew God

but turned the truth into a lie afterward

then there ought to be some record

wherein the ancient heathen nations

recognized that at creation, long before

Moses was born,

God ser apart the sev-

enth day as 2 rest or holy day. Is there

such a record?

Because the ancient founders of civili-

Yes


5/16

November, 1952

The

GOOD

NEWS

Page

5

says Hislop in Th e T w o Baby lons, p. 97.

W hy d o these peculiarly pagan CUS-

toms now prevail among Christians at

the

I i m e

time of yeur

Yes, why? Did the original pure

church which abhorred idolatry finally

graft idolatrous customs into the church ?

Together with Nimrod was Semira-

mis, his wife, the self-appointed Queen

of heaven. In the Old Testament she is

termed Ashteroth; in Assyria she was

called Ishtar; by the pagan Germans,

Ostara; by

our

Anglo-Saxon ancestors,

Eastre

(Hislop, pp. 103-1 1 3 . At Rome,

where her name was Cybele, spring fes-

tivals were held in her honor, accom-

panied by the customary use of buns

and dyed eggs (Hislo p, p.

108).

Today

these

same customs prevail in

Chris tendom

at the same time

of

year.

Why? Are these customs part

of

the

faith once delivered? Or were they add-

ed afterward in an apostatizi.ig church

age? The truth of history which will

follow makes the answer

to

&is ques-

t ion

so

plain that there shall be no doub t

in anyones mind.

Tam muz , an illegitimate son of Sem ir-

amis, became

the

grear mediatorial

son

of the sun-god, supposedly begotten of

the spirit of Nimrod after his death.

Semiramis and Tam muz were the origi-

nal

Mother and Child

which have be-

come

20

prominent in Catholic worship.

After the death of Tammuz, a Lent of

forty days was

held in the spring in

the Roman Empire, as elsewhere, in

commem orat ion of him (His lop , p.

105

)

. Th e prophet Ezetiel saw this very

idvlarrous practice occurring in Jerusa-

lem (Ez. 8: 1 4 ) .

By whose authority is this same forty

day period of Lent celebrated in

so

many churches in honor of the death of

Christ instead of Tammuz? Did Paul

teach this adaptio n of idolatrous CUS-

toms? Or did he forbid i t? How did the

original true church in the days of the

apostles regard these days

that were then

celebrated by the pagans in the Roman

Empi re?

H u n d r e d s of Festivals

The major feasts just mentioned were

but a minu te num ber of the hundred s of

idolatrous and licentious occasions

ob-

served in the pagan world into which

the early church spread. Most festivals

had their real origin in Babylon from

whence they travelled eastward and

westward engulfing all civilization.

These holidays, now found in Chris-

tendom, were Satan-inspired memorials

of pag an traditions-memorials which

anticipated by two thousand years the

beginn ing of the true plan of G od. Th e

average Rom an, of course, saw no harm

Please continue on page

16

In the library of Asshur-bani-pal of

Assyria, many clay tablets have been

found relating the epic of creation ac-

cording to the limited knowledge of the

Babylonians. One of these tablets reads:

O n the seventh day He appointed a

holy day, and to cease from all business

H e c o m m a n d e 4 ( H e n r y H. Halley,

Pocket Bible Handbook, p. 6 4 ) .

Here is absolute proof from the an-

cient records collected by this Assyrian

King that the Babylonians knew God set

apart the seventh day as a holy day at

Creation, not at the time of Moses.

But how long did they observe or

preserve the knowledge of i t ?

I Heathen Lose Sabbath

It has long been the fancy of sceptics

and critics that

M o se s

derived the Sab-

bath from ancient Babylonia. This idea

has been almost totally abandoned as

morc truth comes

to

light. God gave the

Sabbath to the world at creation, but the

world after the deluge

lost

it.

Wi t h i n a

few generations the seventh day, which

was originally ordained for joy and rest

from physical labor, became a day of

superstition in the f e w heathen nations

in which it

was

remembered.

Here is what happened. The Sabbath

was disassociated-separated fro m the

true week-according to most modern

scholars.

It

became connected with the

month. The early Babylonians divided

th e first 2 8 days of each month into four

weeks terminating respectively o n the

7th, 1 4th, 21st, and 28 th day, and by

mak ing the first week

of

the new month

always begin with the new moon. The

seventh day

of

each Babylonian week

was called a shabattum, the pagan cor-

ruption of the Sabbath. Kings, doctors

and others were

to

refrain from certain

labors as displeasing to the deity on the

7th, 14th, 21st , 28th and certain other

days of each month. (Encyclopaedia

Biblica,

T. K. Cheyne and

J.

Sutherland

Black, editors, pp. 5 290, 4179 .)

Thus the t rue Sabbath was changed

into periods

of

i l l omens. And no won-

der Th e heathen originally knew the

jus t judgment

of

God against those

who violated His laws (Romans

1

2 .

When once the t rue Sabbath was

changed, God became the Unknown

One. Displacing Him from their minds,

the nations began

to

fear their hero-

gods on days they made for themselves.

With passing centuries all semblance of

the true Sabbath was lost to the h eathen,

although many near eastern nations did

preserve

R

corrupt form of a seven day

week.

Of this preservation of

a

form of the

week

among middle eastern nations,

Smiths

Bible

Dict bnary, page 745, says:

Its antiquity

is

so great, its observance

SO widespread.

. .

that it must probably

be thrown back as far as the creation of

man. The week and the Sabbath are

thus as old as man himself.

The Roman civi l izat ion at the time

of the early church was just beginning

to recover a knowled ge of the week and

of the Sabbath (through the dispersed

J e w s ) . T h e Romans had previously de-

parted so far from God that they lost

the week. Any period of time less than

a month was measured by the lunar

ides, the kalends and the nones. ( W e b -

ster, Rest Days,

p.

170.)

T r u e

Origin

of

Church

Festivals

The early Christians encountered

scores of festivals in the Rom an Em pire.

These days had their idolatrous begin-

ning two thousand ycars prior in Meso-

potam ia, wh ere the original Babylon was

located. Pagan feasts with their many

customs were

commemorat ive

festivals

ordained to th e honor of the heroes who

founded human civilization contrary to

the ways

of

God, and who formed their

own religious beliefs by turning the

truth of God into a lie.

These holidays depicted episodes in

the lives of the apostates Nimrod , Semir-

amis, Tammuz and others. Under the

influence of Satan, they organized a

counterfeit plaa of redemption to de-

ceive the world in order to acquire pow-

er for themselves. This Babylonish sys-

tem of rel igion and government was

secretly explained by the ancient

mys-

teries against which Paul warned the

true church ( 2 Thessalonians 2

:

7 ) . This

ancient pagan system had to be mysteri-

ous.

The patriarchs were still alive.

T h e

truth of G o d wus known, as Paul states,

( R o m a n s 1 : 2 5 ) .

Th e t ru th had to be

turned into a lie with stealth.

Th e glory of the planets and stars was

soon connected with the glorious ex-

ploits of these leaders whose names

are s t i l l aff ixed to them (Deut . 4:19).

Hence the pagan commemorat ive fes t i -

vals were associated with the movement s

of th e heaven ly bod ies very early in his

tory . Nimrod became Baal the sun-god,

ment ioned so frequently in the Old

Testament . This szln-worship covered

all nations

of

heathendom.

Thc

Family

of

N i m r o d

The dea th of Nimrod and his t radi-

tional rebirth through Tammuz, the son

of

t he Queen

of

heaven, according to

the lying mysteries, was commemorated

at the winter solstice when the rebirth

or annual r is ing of the sun occurs in the

heavens. This festival of Babylon even

reached Rome where it was called the

Saturnal ia (December 17-24) and pre-

ceded the Brumalia (December

2 5 ) .

Associated with this festival were ever-

green t rees , the f i r in Rome ana the

pnlm in Egypt, and the giving of gifts,


6/16

Page

6

T h e GOOD NEW S November, 1952

0

The national magazine of

AMBASSADOR COLLEGE

ministering

t o

The Church

of

God

scattered abroad,

and

report ing

on

campus happenings

VOL. I N U M B E R 1 1

Herbert W. Armstrong

Publisher and Editor

Herman L. Hoeh, Executive Editor

Rod Meredith, Norman Smith,

Raymond Cole, Marion McNair,

Raymond McNair, Wayne Cole

Associate Editors

Calvin Allen, Campus Editor

Kenneth Herrmann,

Science Editor

Dick Armstrong,

Picture Editor

Sent free on personal request, as the

Lord provides. Address communica-

tiuns

to the

Ediror,

Box I 1 Pasadena.

California.

Copyright, October, 1952

By Ambassador College

Heart

t o Heurt

Talk

With the Editor

W O NDE R how many of my readers

are like one who said to m e recent-

I

ly: Well, Ill tell you why Im

not a Christian. It isnt that I dont

believe in God

or

in being converted-

I believe it, all right-and Ive often

wan ted to be a Christian-but somehow

it just all seems

so FAR OFF-SO

UN-

REAL.

Tonight

I

cut a large slice

of

water-

melon and ate it. It was delicious-and

I was sure it was real. It didnt seem far

off,

mysterious, unreal. The things we

see, and handle, come in constant

daily contact and association with all

seem REAL.

Yes, this slice of watermelon was

real. But I thought, as I worked to ex-

tricate the seeds,

W ha t caused these seeds

to

grow in-

side this melon? Out of t he ground,

from another seed, sprouted a vine, and

on the vine a tiny watermelon began

to form, and as i t grew these seeds de-

veloped inside it . And if we keep on

plant ing and growin watermelons for

will sprout more watermelons, will con-

tinue to develop inside every water-

melon.

ten thousand years t1 se seeds, which

W H Y? Her es a living, m oving, real

phenomenon. W ha t causes i t? How did

the process get started? What keeps the

process perpetually in motion?

Is

there

not a Great Mind, a Supreme Intelli-

gence, an Om nipo tent Power--more real

than this thing H e produces and causes

to grow in such marvelous manner-

actually present, and acting

upon

these

very real things, keeping them alive and

in m otion.

Everywhere we see

l ife,

motion, RE-

ALITY

Here i t is, close and real-and

living An d most wo nde rful of all is

your ow n self-the mar velou s mecha-

nism of your body, and still more won-

derful, your mind-perform ing all its

functions. And about

you

is e v e ry need

to keep you fed, breathing, living. Did

this all happen by accident?

Out of the ground grows vegetation

-food. On or out of the ground comes

water. A layer of air is provided around

the so lid ea rth. W h a t - o r Who-pro-

vided rhis? Did the air produce the man

who needs to breathe it? Or did the

man produce the food to satisfy his

need? Or the food provide the water to

accompany it in sustaining the life of

the man? Did any

of

these provide the

RADIO LOG

The WORLD TOMORROW

Herbert W . Armstrong analyzes to-

days news, with the prophecies of

T h e WO R L D T O MO R R O W

TO

THE

N A T I O N

&

C A N A D A :

XERF--1570

on

YOUK dial (extreme

top of dial) every Sunday

night, 7:15 P . M . Central

Standard

time.

XEG-1050 on your dial, every night,

8 : O O P.M. Central Standard

time.

XELO-800 on your dial,

every

night,

9:OO

P.M.

Central

Standard

time.

(8:oo

Mouncain Stand-

ard time.)

H E A R D O N P A CI FI C COAST:

XERE -50,000 watts-1090 on dial

- 7 : O O

P.M.

e v e r y

night.

KALI-Los Angeles-1430 on

dial-

7 :30

A.M. every

morning.

KXL-Portland-10,OOO patts. 750

on dial-2:30 P.M., Sundays.

KVI-Seattle-Tacoma-570,

first

on

dial-10:30 P.M.

Sundays.

O T H E R S T A T I O N S

WAIT-Chicago-820 on dial-1 :00

P.M. Sundays.

KMAC-San

A n t o n i o - 6 3 0 o n d i a l

-7 :00P.M. Sundays.

KVSM-San Francisco-1050 on dial

-3:00 P.M. Sundays.

sunshine,

also

n e ce ss a ry ? H e r e w e

have

ma n, air, wate r, food, sunshine-all nec-

es saq in harmonious association. Yet no

one of these had any thing

to

do with

bringing about the presence of any oth-

er. H ow did all these-and many other

necessary factors-all com e to be pro -

vided an d joined togeth er on this planet

in exactly the mann er required to supply

your needs, that you may live, accom-

plish, and find happiness?

How,

unless

an All-Wise, All-Powerful, Benevolent

and REAL God planned

it,

created it, set

it in motion, and now kecps it going?

There are things that

YOU

need

Among them are fresh air, sunshine,

water, and food. And these things are

all active-the very Power who created

them keeps t hem in m . o t i o n - N O W T h e

Creator is active, TODAY He i s

REAL

Is He not mo re real than that H e pro-

duces and acts upon?

Of

course

But there are many other things you

need Ho w about the need of wisdom

and guidance when important decisions

which may alter your whole life are at

stake? How about needing a Great Pow-

er that can, and will if you are in con-

tact

a n d

ask

it:give you

favor

in the

eyes of another when disfavor could

cause you great trouble? How about the

need of an all-powerful Friend to de-

liver you from real

or

threatened calam-

ity or loss? How about One to turn to

when you are about to

lose

a loved one,

or

in time of grief? How about the

need of One who

is

both able and will-

ing to prosper you, cause things to turn

out right for you, guide you and protect

you through life?

How

about the need

of O ne who has inherent imm ortality

and is able and willing to impart

ETER-

N A L L I F E

to you as His gift?

Yes, there are other things you NEED

You stand in greater NE E D than you

probably ever stopped to realize An d

the One who sends the rain-and the

sunshine-upon the just and unju st alike

-who provides food, and air, and other

basic necessities for all, is more R E A L

than what Hc provides-and

just

as

able and willing to establish PERSONAL

CONTACT and continuously supply your

every othe r need as well-including de-

liverance from every trouble, wisdom,

guidance, faith in place of worry, assur-

ance in place of doubt, security

in

place

of uncertainty, favor in the sight of oth-

ers, healin g whe n sick-all these and

countless other needs H e stands com-

mitted

t o

supply, because HE HAS PROM-

Isn-upon coiirlitiun you beco me Hi s,

establish and maintain contact, trust

Him and obey Him

GOD is more real than you or I - o r

any of the things ab ort us .

Why , then, does H e seem

so

far away,

until i t seems He has faded in the dis-


7/16

November 1952

The GOOD

NEWS

Page

7

made it seem

so

difficult (the power of

the devil) , will let loose, and YOULL

B E FREE-YOU~~ know you are now

GODS-the co ntac t wi ll be

ESTABLISHED

You call

ialk

LO Him, and HE

WILL

HEA R You can p our out your heart to

H im , and H e will LISTEN-and com-

fort, and come close and give you what

YOU

NEED.

Jesus Christ came into this world and

died to reconcile YOU to God the Father

-to join you to Him-to establish con-

tact for you Accept this, and know the

G R E A T

PEACE that will come over your

soul

Th en you must be baptised-not into

any religious denomination or organiza-

tion, but into

CHRIST JESUS.

If there

is no one locally in your town who can

do this for you the Bible way, write to

me. I will help you i f I can.

Then God PROMISES to put H is spir i t

in you-to give you, and radiate from

you a

LOVE

you never had, a new FAITH,

PATIENCE,

UNDERSTANDING.

T h r u H i s

Spirit you will be given power for self-

mastery. Power to understand the Bible.

You accept Christ, and receive Gods

Holy Spir i t

by

FAITH. Believe you are

now His-KNOW it-and th en keep

f d r p th e contnct now

established

You

do

this thru constant daily Bible study and

prayer. God talks to you thru H is W ord.

You talk to Him in prayer. I t is a two-

way conversation. Thru it you BECOME

ACQUAINTED-get to KNOW God, and

where once H e seemed far away and

unreal, He will now seem close, and

real KEEP IT UP Youll experience

an inner joy you didnt dream could

exist-youll hav e a HELP that is real in

every time of need.

You wont be perfect all at once

Youll still have your SELF to wrestle

with. Trials, tests, afflictions, persecu-

tions will come-but now youll have

an ever-present HELP and deliverance-

a constant Source of insp iratio n, and

courage, and power-an inne r peace and

faith-and youll live the full and A B U N

D A N T life for the first time, with assur-

ance of LIFE ETERNAL. Dont become

discouraged and give up, though, when

you have made a slip. Youll be starting

out as a spiritual BABE in Christ. Babies

stumble and fa l l down many times be-

fore they learn to walk. Do nt let tha

discourage you-get u p and try all the

harder. And, as you continue the

C H R I S

TIAN

LIFE

the Bible and Gods way

will become a new, and the supreme

INTEREST of your life

The main thing is, dont let ANY

THING cause you to hesitate

or

delay

Just ta ke the bull by the horns.

GO

AND DO IT

NOW

tance? Wh y does H e seem mysterious

arid unreal?

Why

do the objects with

which you come in daily contact, your

frien ds, your pleasures, seem more real

-when actually they are less

so?

You may say, Because I can see, feel,

and

hear

these thing s or people.

But that is not really the reason at all.

You

dont see the air you breathe, but

it seems very

real

to you. You cannot

see, or hear,

or

feel the power of gravity,

yet it seems very real to you, and you

know that if you slip it will pull you

down in a fall that might hurt you-

you know that

if

you let go of and drop

a sack

of

eggs the power of gravity will

pull them down and break them.

Perhaps you say, well, these things

are real to me because they are close to

me. But that is not the reason. GOD

is

as

clos e as any of these-He, too , is REAL,

and He i s CLOSE Yet H e seems unreal

and far away

Now let me tell you the R E A L RE A-

SON.

If you are away from a childhood

chum

for 35

or 40 ycars, ncver hear

from or about that person in all that

time-totally out of contact-he finally

seems like a faint, dim, far-off dream

or

figment

of

imagination. H e doesnt

seem R E A L any more.

But, if there is another childhood

chum you

also

have not seen in the

same

35

or 40 years, but w ith w hom you have

kept constantly in touch all these years

--constantly corresponded, even talked

over long distance telep hone frequently,

heard about from mutu al friends who

have been

w i t h

this old chum-then

that friend, even tho you have not seen

him, will seem still real, and close.

God seems unreal and far away only

t o

those who have not established, and

are

not actively maintaining close pe r -

sonal contact It is not a matter of dis-

tance or visibility-it is a m att er of

Even though you read the Bible, and

pray-if

you

have not established per-

sonal contact with God, you just wont

understand much of the Bible or be

much interested in it, and your prayers

will not seem to

go

as high as the ceil-

ing You cant keep ap a contact which

has never yet been established

Yet Go d is the SOURCE of everything

-of your EVERY N E E D I n HIM you

must live, and move, and have your be-

ing-and you have neve r yet BEGUN to

really live until you are living in Him

You are now making mistakes you would

not make if you had I I i s guidance-

mistakes which are costly, and from

wh ich you suffer Yo u are suffering

pains, heartaches, fears, troubles, because

you have not established contact with

the only One who can help you You

CONTACT.

NEED HIM

And you can find H im , if youll seek

Him-youll find H im CLVSJZ not far

away. But something has been standing

BETWEEN

you and Him-a far greater

barrier than a literal iron curtain.

Y o u r

sins

nave formed an impregnable wall,

so

that you cant establish contact-cant

/reach-cant enjoy comm union with the

On e you need most of all An d your

sins are your transgressions of His lov-

ing LAW-His gre at imm utab le spiritu al

Law given in love to bring to mankind

success, accomplishmem, peace, happi-

ness, and joy In breaking the law you

have severed yourself from these goals,

too

TERED DOWN-instantly-NOW There

need be no delay. God in His wisdom

and mercy k n e w you would sin and

separate yourself from Him. He pro-

vided a way for you. H e GAVE Hi s only

begotten Son to pay the penalty you

have incurred in your stead

It matters not how

B L A C K

your past

has been.

No

matter how terrible are

some of these seem bins you have never

confided to anyone. They dont need to

stand between you and your greatest

NEED,

which is God. Jesus Christ was

made f lesh, and H e w ho never s inned

died to pay the penalty of all your guilt.

W h y

then should you carry this guilt

around on your conscience any longcr?

Why let it separate you from God? It is

every bit of it P A I D

IN

F U L L , by the

blood of Jesus Christ-His very life -

blood. But God Almighty resurrected

Him to eternal

LIFE,

and today He

lives

as

YOUR

LIVING

SAVIOUR

f rom

your guilty past,

if

you

will

accept

Him

as such

If you want to find God-be a Chris -

tian-you can-and heres ho w: First,

old life of sinning, and surrender your

S E L F

wholly to God-give your life to

Him, to serve Him and to l ive by His

perfect laws and right ways that will

brin g you only blessings. Youll have to

be IN EARNEST,or no one can deceive

God . Then , ACCEPT

JESUS

CHRIST as

your personal Savior. Don t put it off.

Dont say, I dont know how, but DO

IT

NOW Take the bull by the horns

and

DO

IT-you kn ow you ou gh t ro:

so exercise your WILL and D O IT Just

go to a room ALONE-close the door-

and with no one else around, except just

you and God alone-GIVE YOURSELF

TO HIM, ask H im to FORGIVE all your

past sins-confess them to H im ( no t to

any

humdn beiIlg)-and the n just say

-yes,

SAY IT:

I here and now accept

JESUS CHRIST as my Personal Saviour.

Everything may be H A R D , until you SAY

THAT-but th e m in ut e you say those

words, the unseen power th at has caused

you to hesitate, and put it off, andt has

Yet THAT GREAT WALL CAN B E BAT-

youll have

to

REPENT-turn

from

the


8/16

WHY Must Men

Suffer?

rrMany re the af lc t ions of the righteom, Jays Scripture.

W H Y ?

I am the Eternal

. . . I create evil,

says

Isa, 45:5,7.

H O W ca n t hi s be? W h o wa s

responsible

f o r Adams sin? Did Satan thwart Gods purpose? W a s God unable to

prevent i t? The

real meaning

o f

the

story

of

J OB

brings the true answer,

b y Herbert W . Armstrong

H Y DOES God perini t war? WHY

does God allow human suffer-

W

ng and misery?

If

God is

GOO-if G od is LOVE-if H e is MER-

CIFUL,

He

would not wish for people

to suffer, is the reasoning of many hu-

mans. And i f He is ALMIGHTY,hey

conclude, He could, and would prevent

It.

Whats wrong with this reasoning?

Is

GOD Author of E V I L ?

Years ago a post-office clerk came to

me with a question.

I have asked every preacher in town

to explain this Scripture, he said, and

not one of them can. Lets see if you

can.

Then he quoted from the 45th chap-

ter of Isaiah.

I am the

E T E R N A L ,

. . . there is no

God beside me. . . . I form l ight and

create

darkness: I make peace und create

evil: I the ETERNAL do all these things.

There he exclaimed. G od says he

creates evil. Ho w do you explain th at?

I gave him the t rue explanat ion,

which I now give you in this article. It

is also the explanation of what is called

t h e original fall.

The common idea is that God created

the first man perfect, complete, immor-

tal. But wh en G od w asnt looking, Satan

entered, succeeded in overthrowing the

man, wrecking Gods perfect creation,

thwarting Gods purpose, upsetting

Gods plan. Consequently God was

forced to figure out some new plan for

repair ing the damage. R edemp tion, peo-

ple believe, is that plan-Gods effort to

restore

man back

to

a condition as good

as Adam before the fall .

W h a t M e n D o n t U n d e r s t a n d

Either this common idea is true, or

the only altern ate possibility, -that Go d

knew in advance that Satan would

tempt , and A dnm would sin-that it was

all

a part

of G ods original PU R PO SE and

PLAN-that Go d expressly pe rm itted it,

and that God therefore is

RESPONSIBLE

And the preachers, the churches, and

the professing Christian people

of

this

FOR

IT

world simpiy cannot believe this Yet,

to reject it makes Satan more cunning,

more powerful than God. The common

idea represents Satan as outsmarting

God.

What men do not unders tand is

GODS PURPOSE, nd GODS PLAN for ac-

complishing His great purpose.

Yes , God

Li

responsible And being

responsible, God will see t o it-He and

He alone is responsible for accomplish-

ing His great original

purpose.

All that

has happened is a necessary part

of

that

great design. Satan can do nothing God

does not allow. My purpose shall stand,

says God.

There is NO CONTEST being waged

between Go d and the devi l. God reigns

SUPREME, and every

creature

and every

being stands subject to Gods will

Becoming the Sons

of

G o d

What the world does not grasp is that

God is reproducing Himself-creating,

in mortal humans, His very own divine

CHARACTER-permitting hu m an s to

learn by experience, for character can-

not be automatically

or

instantaneously

created, imparted or imputed-it must

be developed, and this only thru EX-

PERIENCE,

and experience requires

time.

W e humans mus t have our part in the

development of righteous and holy char-

acter. W e mu st first come to realize the

true values, and to thoroughly repent of

the fake way. We must come to se e k ,

with our whole hearts and minds, Gods

true way of righteo us character. W e must

set our wills in tune with Gods will .

T h e n

we

must come to realize our

utter helplessness, and learn to rely on

God, in l iving FAITH, for the power,

the s t rength, the unders tanding, the

righteousness we ourselves are incapa-

ble of attaining.

W e receive eternal life, and all right-

eousness,

from GOD.

But wc have o u r

part to

do

W e m u st c o m e to desire it

abo ve all else-to seek it wi th all our

might-to

yield

ourselves. utterly to

God s will , and to tru st implicitly and

unswervingly in HIM. In no other man-

ner could w e become the supreme char-

acters which it is Gods

PURPOSE

to

make

o f

us.

To this end, we must now be begotten

as

Gods own children, inheriting His

divine nature. Thru His power, thru

feeding on His Spiri t , we

GROW

in

grace and knowledge and spiritual char-

acter, until, at the resurrection, we shall

be BORN of God as His very SONS-

elevated to

HIS

plane and level

Thats Gods supreme purpose. It can

be achieved orily thru EXPERIENCE, and

in process of TIME. And men LEARN

by suffering.

Jesus suffered.

For

i t became Him,

. . . in bringing many sons unto GLORY,

to make the captain of our salvation

(Chris t ) perfect through mfferings.

( H e b . 2:

10) .

Again,

Though

He were

a Son, yet learned H e

OBEDIENCE

by

the things which H e suffered. ( He b.

5 : 8 ) .

Now see how Jobs experience ex-

plains all this.

LETS UNDERSTAND

IT

Jobs Experience Explains I t

Thousands of years ago, there was

a

man named Job. Youve heard of the

man. H e l ived, as

you

live today, for a

PURPOSE. And the solution of this whole

question is made clear by the life-exp eri-

ences of Job. Many know the story, but

few unders tand i ts MEA NING

This Job was a wealthy man-the

wealthiest in all the East. Solomon may

have possessed greater wealth. But, as

Solomon was the wisest man who ever

lived,

so

Job was the

most

righteous

So lets glimpse, briefly, this thrilling

story and its revealing lesson.

Th ere was, begins th e scriptu ral

record, a man once in the land of Uz,

whose name

was

Job; and that man was

perfect and upright, and one that feared

God and shunned evil . He had seven

sons and three daughters; also in live-

stock he possessed seven thousand sheep

and goats, three thousand camels, five

hundred pair of oxen, and five hundred

she-asses, besides a very large ho usehold;

so that this man was the greatest man

in all the East. (Job 1:1-3, Moffatt

translation.

)


9/16

November,

1952

The

GOOD NEWS

Page 9

Now there was a day when the sons

of God came to present themselves be-

fore the

ETERNAL,

and Satan came also

among them.

Arid the ETERNAL said unto Satan,

Whence comest th ou? Then Satan a n-

swered the

E T E R N A L

and said, From

going to and f ro in the ear th, and f rom

walking up and down in it.

And the

E T E R N A L

said unto Satan,

Has t thou considered my servant Job,

that

there

is

none

like

h i m

in

th e ear th,

a perfect and an upr ight man, one that

fears God and shuns evil? (Verses

6-8,

A.V.)

Saran answered, But is it for no th-

ing that Job reverences God? Have you

not hedged him safely in, his house and

all he has?

You

have prospered him in

his business, and his flocks are teeming

on the land. Only put

out

your hand,

touch whatever he possesses, and see if

he will not curse you to your fac e

(Verses 9-11.)

Th is Wor ld s Ph i losophy

Notice, please, Satan couldnt point

out one imperfection in the mans

righteousness. Even God said it was per-

fect. Yes, undoubtedly Job was the most

righteous man who ever lived.

But Satan tried to get around it. He

argued that it

paid

Job to be righteous.

So,

Satan argued,

just

takc

away

f rom

him what

he

has, and the man will lose

his temper and start cursing God

Well, God deliberately

PERMITTED

Satan to take away Jobs possessions,

and put Job to this test.

Then said the

ETERNAL

to Satan,

There I leave all he has within your

power:

but

lay

no

hand

u+on

t h e m a n

himself

. (

Verse 12.

)

Notice, will you, Satan did this with

Gods

permission

Satan was the active

agent. But he did it with Gods express

permission-he could go just as far, in

inflicting evil, as God permitted, and

no

further G o d

set

a

Limit

on how far

Satan could

go

The re is no contest here

between Go d and Satan-no equality.

GOD

I S MASTER

OF

THF SITUATION

H e gives the orders, grants permission,

sets the limitations

So,

away went Satan from the Fres-

ence of the ETERNAL.

W h a t H a p p e n e d to Job

Then one day a servant came running

to Job with the startling news that

Arabs in a foray had carried off all his

oxen and asses. Even while he was skill

talking, in dashed another servant shout-

ing that lightning had just struck and

burned up all the sheep, goats, and shep-

herds. While he was yet speaking an-

other rushed in breathlessly announcing

three parties

of

Chaldeans in a raid upo n

the camels had carried them

off,

slaying

all

the servants except the one who

escaped to bring the news.

And even he was yet speaking when

in burst another.

Your sons and daughters, he ex-

claimed, were eating and drinking w ine

in the house of their eldest brother,

when a whirlwind swept across the

desert and struck the four corners of

the house, till it fell upon the young

folk; they are DEAD And

I

alone escaped

to tell

you (Verses 12-19 .)

Well, now Job was stripped of all

his grea t wealth-wiped out W ors e,

all his children were killed

Did Job blame this i l l - for tune upon

GOD?

Did he lose his temper and curse

God? Did he sin, as Satan expected?

Th en Job rose, tore his tunic, shaved

his head, and dropped upon the ground

in humble worship, crying, Naked I

came from my mothers womb, and

naked I must return: the

Eternal gave,

t S e

Eternal

has

taken-blessed be the

Eternal In

all

this Job did not sin,

nor did he give offense to God. (Verses

20-22.)

Notice, Job attributed

ALL

to God.

The wealth he had had,

G o d

gave.

T h e

good-the prosperity-all cam e fro m

God. But also The

ETER N A L

has

taken

The Eternal, tm was responsible for

th e disaster NOTHING happens contrary

to

Gods purpose

Satan Tr ies Again

O ne day the sons of God again came

to present themselves before t he E ternal,

and among them came Satan.

W here have you be en? said the

Eternal to the Adversary; and the Ad-

versary answered, Roaming here and

there, roving about the earth.

Th en the Eternal said

to

Satan, Have

you noticed that there

is

no one like my

servant Job on the earth, a blameless

and an upr ight man, who

reverences

Go d and shuns evil? H e still holds to his

loyalty: it was idle of you to en t ice me

to undo him. But the Adversary an-

swered,

* He

has saved his own

skin A

man

will let all he has go, to preserve his

life. Only put out your hand, touch his

flesh and bones, and see if he will not

curse you to your face (Job 2: l-6.)

Notice, there is no contest here be-

tween two equals. God sits ih authority

supreme. Satan cannot do one thing

without permission from God

And here, in this heavenly court, God

permits Satan

to

advance his arguments

-even to

put them

to

the

t e ~ t f

e x

perience

on the most r ighteous human

on earth It is a thrilling dram a here

being enacted-a drama with great pur-

pose-tremendous meaning

So the Eternal said to Satan , H e is in

your power; only

spare his

life

Notice again,

ALL

AUTIIORITY c o m a

from God. It is

GOD

who put poor Job

in Satans power. Satan was permitted to

devise his most cunning and cruel afflic-

tion-with but one restriction: Spare

his life, commanded God. Satan could

go no further than God specifically

authorized And G od did permit this

evil WHY, we sha ll soon see

SO

Away went the Adversary from

the Eternals presence, and he smote Job

with painful ulcers

from

the sole of his

foot to th e crown of his head, till Job

took a potsherd to scrape himself.

As he sat among the ashes, his wife

said to him, Still holding to your loy-

alty? Curse God, though you die for it

Was

G o d J u st a n d F a i r ?

But Job retorted to his wife,

Y O U are talking like an impious

fool. Are we to take good from Gods

hand, and

not

evil too?

Notice, all the GOOD had come from

God. Also

all the

evil Beside Him there

is no God-no power equ al or superior

to His. God is responsible for

EVERY-

THING-both good an d evil, because

Gods power is SUPREME-absolute

Is

this a sin to charge the EVIL, as well

as

the good, to God?

In all this, answers Gods Word,

Job

sinned f i o t

with his lips. Charging

this evil

to

God, then, was no sin-no

error. It was the

TRUTH

J o b s Fr i en d s H av e an A r g u m en t

No w, when Jobs three friedds heard

of

all

the trouble that had befallen him,

they came, cach from his own home,

Eliphaz

from Teman,

Bildad from Shuah,

and Zophar from Maan; they arranged

t o go and condole with him, to comfort

him. But when they caught sight of him

at a distance and could not recognize

him, they wept aloud; every man

of

them tore his tunic and flung dust on

his head. For seven days and seven

nights they sat beside him on the ground;

none said a word to him, for they saw

how terrible was his anguish. (Job

2 5 - 1 .)

Here is human suffering to compare

with the horrors of W orld W ar

11.

Here

is anguish almost beyond description

Satan inflicted it. But God

permitted

z t

and therefore is RESPONSIBLE

Now in the long conversation that

followed between Job and his three

friends-a conversation occupying the

next

34

chapters in the Bible-Jobs

friends blamed it all on JOB. Their idea

was

a good den1 like many people

bc-

lieve today. Since God is GOOD, it was

impossible to attribute this evil

to

GOD.

But Job continually denied his friends

allegations. Continually HIS

OWN RIGHT-

EOUSNESS he upheld and maintained.

H e a ttributed it all, r ightly, to God-


10/16

Page

10

yet , wi thout imput ing any b l m e or

fault to God.

JOB

UNDERSTOOD GODS

GREAT

P U R P O S E

being worked out here

below

And it is imp ortant that w,e under-

stand For here Job, as one single indi-

vidual, is used as an illustration f or our

learning TODAY, typical of all thc mass

suf feri ng we see about us in this world

today

God Enters

t h e A r g u m e n t

Finally, after all these long conversa-

tions run themselves out, God Himself

takes a hand in the conversation.

Now we begin to see WHY this afflic-

tion had come to Job.

Then the Eternal answered Job out

of a storm, saying:

Who darkens

MY DES I GN

with a

cloud of thoughtless words? Confront

me like a man; come, answer these

My

yuestions. (Job 38:

1-3.)

Let me interrupt here with an inter-

esting side-light explanation which

throws light on the conversation to fol-

low. Some authorities believe that Job

was the architect and director

of

the

building of the Great Pyramid-still

today rhe largest huilding

on

earth, and

prior to the construction of the Wool-

worth building the tallest. Tha t Job was

proud

of

his righteousness is plain. That

he also

miglir

have

been

puffed up over

constructing the worlds greatest build-

ing clears up much that God says now

to him.

Job was too well aware of his right-

eousness. God now proceeded to deflate

his ego. Can it , then, be possible God

now compares His creation

of

t h e earth,

and all that is, to the comparatively in-

significant accomplishment of building

the Great Pyramid? Its interesting

to

keep this possibility in mind.

Wh e n I founded the earth, God

opened up on Job, w her e were you,

then? Answer me that, if you have wit

to know W ho measured

o u t

the earth?

-do you know that? W h o stretched

the builders line on it? What were its

pedestals placed on? W ho laid the cor-

ner-stone, when the m orning-stars were

singing, and all the angels chanted in

their joy? (Verses 4-7.)

It is significant

t h a t

a

pyramid is the

only kind of building

o n

earth where

the corner-sfone is the

t o p

stone-the

last stone

i d - a t

the

COMPLETION

of

the building An d here God represents

the symbolic corner-stone of the

E A R T H

as beins

l n i d a t its

completion-

when the angels shouted

for

joy

And

so

God continued to deflate poor

Job. Job may h n e been the most r ight-

eous man o n earth-yet how insignifi-

cant

h e

was, c o m p < ~ w d

o

GOD

Man was crexed t o need GOD

M a n

cannot live his full life, fulfill his mis-

The GOOD NEWS

November, 952

sion, or be happy, unless he keeps him-

self in his right relationship with

GOD

That is the

v e r y

first

l e s s o n man

needs

to learn and keep

ever

in

mind

A first princ iple in character-in the

PURPOSE of

our

existence-is to exalt

and worship only GOD, to hgmble the

self,

to realiLe mans utter helplessness,

and his total

DEPENDENCE

upon GOD

W ho helped shut in the sea,

God

asked, *..

.

when I swathed it in mists

and swaddled it in clouds of darkness,

when I fixed its boundaries

.

. . saying

Thus jar ,

and

no farther He re your

proud waves shall not pass

*

Have you ever roused the morning,

given directions to the dawn? . . . W h a t

path leads to the home of Light, and

where does Darknesb dwell? Can you

conduct them to their fields?

. . .

Have

you grasped earth in all i ts breadth?

How large is it? Tell me, if

you

know

that

C an you bind u p the Pleiades

(cluster of stars) in a cluster,

or

loose

the chains

of

Orion) Can y o u direct

the signs of the Zodiac, or guide the

constellations of the Bear? Can you con-

trol the skies? Can you prescribe their

sway over thc earth?

GO D does all these things.

HOW

MIGHTY is God An d how little, how

weak, how impo tent an d insignificant is

man-yes, even the most righte ous man ,

Job How Job must have begun to

shrivel up in his own estimation

Smaller and smaller Job shrank, as God

continued. Job didnt seem

so

important,

now

W h o , t h e n , G o d is not through

yet-

is

able to stand

bcfoLe

ME?

Who

hath prevented me, that

I

should repay

him ? W hatsoever is under th e whole

heaven IS MINE. . . I * And so God con-

rinued to brin g dow n Jobs self-righteous

importance-and to show the un-

matched, awesome MAGNITUDE of God,

thru four whole chapters, before He

finished.

And by the time God finished, Jobs

estimation of himself was exactly nil.

All through his conversation with his

three friends, Job stoutly maintained his

own righteousness-his self -impo rtance

Even though Satan had taken away his

wealth, his children-even tho reduced

to a pitiful sight, covered with nauseat-

ing boils-Jobs own righteo usness he

stoutly maintained

Job was able to maintain his case

against Satan-against his friend s. But

now he could not answer

GOD

J o b s

trouble w q not what he had dolzc, but

wh at he was-SELF-RIGHTEOUS T h e

sel f

in Job had never died

In just 5verses

of

Jobs conversation

h e used the persuiial pronoun 1 5 times;

and in. the 29th chapter alone,

he

used

i t 50 times

Now,

for

the first t ime, he began

to

realize th e TRUTH-he beg an to catch

a vision of GOD

The

Lesson Learned

Then Job answered the Eternal, and

said,

1

know that thou canst do ev-

erything, and that no thought can be

withholden from thee.

I

thoughtlessly

confused the issues; I spoke without in-

telligence, of wonders far beyond my

ken. I had heard of thee by hearsay, but

now mine eyes have seen thee; where-

fore I ABHOR MYSELF, and

REPENT

in

dust and ashes.

That was Jobs S U R R E N D E R to Al-

mig hty God-a surrender every hu ma n

must make before he can be converted

-before Gods PURPOSE in him can be

fulfilled A man may be naturally

GOOD

-but even rhe self-righteousness of a

Job, God says, is like a filthy

rag

to Him

The only righteousness that is really

good is the Righteousness

of

GOD,

im-

parted

to

us

BY

FAITH

Job

a t

last had learned his lesson Jus t

human goodness is not enough.

GOD

is

all in all. And the only goodness that is

good

is

Gods

own

goodness, imparted,

thru Gods Holy Spirit , within us All

true righteousness comes from GOD.

AL L humans have this great lesson to

learn. Its the one supreme lesson

of

life

To learn it, and conform to it, is

the PURPOSE of human existence

Jobs calamity an d great suffering

proved a great blessing to him, in the

end Actually, great good, double

pros-

perity, and eternal happiness, came of

it

For,

after he repented, and came to

really know God, he was given another

seven sons and three daughters, and

twice the material possessions he had

had before

So the Eternal blessed the latter end

of Job more than his beginning, it is

wr i t t en ( Job 4 2 : 1 2 ) . And verse 11

speaks of all the ev il that the Eternal

had brought upon him.

Saran Never Altered

GODS

PURPOSE

So

notice this Satan has never upset

God s program-ewer altered Gods

purpose In Job 42:2, the alternate mar-

ginal translation of the original inspired

Hebrew words is:

no

purpose of thine

can be restrained.

Almighty God is

S U P R E M E

in the uni-

verse Suprem e not only in Love, and

in Power-but in

WISDOM

There was

divine WISDOM in Gods permit t ing

Satan to afflict Job. Out

of all

this ex-

perience of suffering, Job was humbled,

his ego deflated, his self-pride removed.

It hurt, to have these things torn out

of

his character-Job suff ered -ev en as

Please continzie

on

page

15


11/16

0

Inside

COMMUNIST

Yugoslavia

W h a t is i t real ly l ike in a Comm unist State? Are the peo ple h appy

and prosp erous under a Peoples Government

as

the propagandists

say? W h a t about the freedom of rel ig ion in Yugoslavia?

by Herman

L.

H o eh

U R

HUNDREDS of

miles of travel

in Yugoslavia has been an

astounding revelation to

us.

U n -

less

one has been here he cant imagine

how different life is-so regim ente d, so

poverty stricken,

so

sad.

Yugoslavia is the only communist

country in the world which has broken

out of the Russian Iron Curtain. Titos

brand of com munism naturally would be

slightly different from Stalins.

But

it is

still communism O n t h e cap of every

solcliei, U I I liuxidreds

uf

public build-

ings, is the infamous red star. Over fac-

tories the red hammer and sickle pro-

trudes high into the sky.

W e could not enter Yugoslavia unti l

we obtained the proper visas at Trieste.

W e spent an entire day, s tanding in

a

room

crowded with people who

wcrc

also waiting for visas. This was only a

little foretas te of the bu reaucratic

red

tape that we saw everywhere in Com-

munist Yugoslavia.

With the visas proper ly s tamped in

our

passports, Dick Armstrong and I

boarded

a

t r a i n for Belgrade, the capital

of

Titos communist state. At Sezana,

a

small customs station, we had our first

encounter with

a Communist

spy

sys-

An Amazing Spy System

In

our

train car as we were stationed

at Sezana, we experienced first hand a

communist spying system. It all began

with the collection

of

our passports.

Armed communist

officials

i n t h e

most unkempt uniforms appeared at

our

seat. There wasnt just one man, but

several On e fellow collected

our

pass-

ports. Next to him stood another fellow,

poker-faced, watching

to

see that the

first official really did collect

our

visas

and

passports

His only duty

was to

spy

on the other official. And a third looked

on to see that the other two did their

jobs

Later another official, armed and in

a soldiers uniform , appeared. W ha t

did he w ant? You guessed i t , he wanted

l eY /L .

to

know if we still had

our

passports

The same lengthy procession of offi-

cials continued for over an hour. After

the passport routine was over, the same

spying system appeared again, this time

to exchange our dollars into

dinars,

the

currency of Yugoslavia. One governm ent

representative gave us dinars, then a

few minutes later another appeared,

wondering how we acquired the dinars

So

i t went with

our

train tickets and

with the customs checking. Every o6cia l

is an armed government representative,

almost always in special uniform. It is

the excessive use of officialdom and the

military that makes Yugoslavians fearful

of one another. An d think of the tre-

mendous tax burden to support

all

these

employees, most of whom carry their

pistols and

cvcn

bayoncts

to

dcmonstrate

their authority.

From Sezana we proceeded through a

most desolate and rocky area, hardly

fit

for pasture and grazing land. Much of

this resulted from a droug ht that plagued

the country this year. God was indeed

frowning on Titos communism.

For

another eighteen hours we continued

to

travel, passing through the major cities

of Ljubljana and Zagreb.

W e spen t an en t ir e n igh t in the

crowded compar tment of the train.

There was only

room

for six persons in

the compar tment, but there were nine of

us

trying to catch

a

wink of sleep. Every

compartment was so overflowing with

people that the entire length of the aisle

was filled with peop le standing

or

seated

on their suitcases. Almost everyone was

in rags or dirty suits. In our compart-

ment

a

poor barefoot lady, her feet hav-

ing sores on them, tried to console a

sick child.

As if this were not all, at every train

stop, officials would

go

through the

en-

tire length of the train. W e were awak.

ened at least every hour by army officers

carrying kerosene lamps. They wanted

to check our tickets to see if we be-

longed on the train.

Travel

is

amazing in Yugoslavia. Al-

most everyone has to go by rail to travel

any distance. And sad to say, the poorly

paid natives have to pay twice

as

much

as foreigners for the same distance. Tito

wants to attract tourists and the eco-

nomic friendship of the Western na-

tions.

Farmers

Merely Ser f s

on Land

T h ey

O n ce Owned

As we passed the countryside during

the eighteen hours of travel to Belgrade,

we watched the toiling peasants

of Cro-

atia and Serbia ( tw o districts of Yugo-

slavia). Just imagine yourself once hav-

ing owned a farm, but now having to

work on it for the Peoples Govern-

ment which took it away

from

yw

That is the state

of

most people in

rural

Documents

Good News 1952 (Vol II No 11) Nov