The Gospel Herald -- Promoting the fundamentals of the 1888 message.

 

APPENDIX A
The 1888 View of the Two Covenants

VI. ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS

  1. "Jones’ and Waggoner’s later history invalidates their view of the two covenants."

          Ellen White said that their possible downfall would not be the result of error in their God-given message, but would largely be due to "unchristlike persecution" inflicted on them by their unbelieving brethren. They might not be able to endure it (see Letter O19, 1892; S24, 1892; GCB, 1893, p. 184).

          Neither ever gave up his faith in Christ or his belief in the Bible; neither stopped keeping the Sabbath; the night of his death Waggoner wrote a letter breathing faith in Christ and love for his brethren, and shortly before his death Jones wrote a letter expressing firm faith in "the third angel’s message," including the gift of prophecy in Ellen White (Letters, May 16, 1916; May 12, 1921). In today’s climate of church fellowship, both would remain church members.

          The ultimate truth of the two covenants does not depend on them or even Ellen white, but on Scripture evidence.

  1. "Leading children to make promises to God may help anchor them from backsliding."

          As with adults, children do not realize the sinfulness of their human hearts. When they inevitably break their promises to God, the resultant discouragement becomes a powerful incentive to apostasy (see SC 47).

          In the light of Revelation 3:14-21, Christ is calling the Seventh-day Adventist Church to reformation in the principles of child evangelism. Much more abounding grace must be ministered to them, which alone can hold them.

  1. "God expressed Himself as pleased with the people’s promises at Sinai. ‘The Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee ["we will hear it and do it"]: they have well said all that they have spoken.’" (Deuteronomy 5:28).

          It is unthinkable that God would approve of a program that would "gender to bondage" for His people (Galatians 4:24). He disapproved of Abram’s plan to adopt Eliezer as his heir and thus "do works" for the fulfillment of God’s promises (Genesis 15:2, 3). Why would He now approve of a works program for Abraham’s descendants?

          In the next verse God expressed His real dissatisfaction with the people’s response: "Oh that there were an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!" (vs. 29). The people had made their promises without the involvement of their heart. If their heart had been deeply moved as was Abraham’s, they would have responded as he did with a fervent, humble "amen" of appreciation for their deliverance from Egyptian slavery.

          God’s supposed approval can be understood as divine irony: That was a great speech the people made. I just wish they had a heart that would make it possible for Me to bless them now and always as the nation of Israel! If they had the heart-faith of Abraham their father, there would be no need for the backsliding history that must come in future centuries. They would always be the head and not the tail.

          Divine irony has often been expressed in Scripture. When the unbelieving king Ahab asked the prophet Micaiah, "Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear?" the inspired prophet answered with biting sarcasm and irony: "Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand" (2 Chronicles 18:8-14). The king’s response indicates how well he understood the humor: "How many times shall I abjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?" (vs. 15). Then the prophet delivered a devastating prediction of disaster couched in irony: "I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd." The story goes on with more biting irony (vss. 18-21). Speaking through Amos, the Lord asks Israel, "Have ye offered unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?" knowing fell well that the answer had to be negative (Amos 5:25). Another example of irony or even of sanctified sarcasm is the Lord speaking to Israel: "‘Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. ... Brag about your freewill offerings — boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,’ declares the sovereign Lord" (4:4, 5, NIV).

          Jesus often used irony. One example is His remarks on the eve of His crucifixion as He speaks to His disciples. The NEB captures it: "He said to them, ‘When I sent you out barefoot without purse or pack, were you ever short of anything?’ ‘No’, they answered. ‘It is different now’ He said; ‘whoever has a purse had better take it with him, and his pack too; and if he has no sword, let him sell his cloak to buy one. ...’ ‘Look, Lord,’ they said, ‘we have two swords here.’ ‘Enough, enough!’ He replied" (Luke 22:35-38). It’s unthinkable that our Lord was being serious. (In a few minutes He rebuked Peter for using a sword.) For God to commend the Israelites’ unbelief at Sinai is equally unthinkable. The alternative is to view Him through the eyes of the Dispensationalists as experimenting with different methods of saving His people.

  1. "Ellen White urges us to make old covenant promises to God as the basis of denominational revival and reformation."

          In Patriarchs and Prophets (1890) she had upheld the Waggoner view (pp. 370-373), as well as writing enthusiastic endorsements of it in her letters to Uriah Smith the same year (Letters 30, 59, 1890). When we find 14 years later what appears on the surface to be an about-face on her part, we need to examine the contextual evidence closely. Her 1904 statements are as follows:

  1. "The covenant that God made with His people at Sinai is to be our refuge and defense ... ‘And all the people answered together and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.’ This covenant is of just as much force today as it was when the Lord made it with ancient Israel" (Southern Watchman, March 1, 1904).

          This seems indeed to indicate that the Lord wants us to join ancient Israel at Sinai in renewing the old covenant! But let us consider her context. She is quoting Exodus 19:4-6 which indicates God’s purpose to renew with Israel the same new covenant which He made with Abraham — His promises. If Israel will respond as he did, then all these blessings will be theirs to enjoy as a people. Our "refuge and defense" in these last days must be His promises to us, says Ellen White, not our promises to Him.

  1. In another statement quoting verses 7, 8 which contain the people’s promise, Ellen White said: "This is the pledge that God’s people are to make in these last days. Their acceptance with God depends on a faithful fulfillment of the terms of their agreement with Him. God includes in his covenant all who will obey Him" (RH, June 23, 1904).

          A careful reading of the entire article reveals that Ellen White was by no means pleading for a return to an old covenant relationship with God, even though it may superficially appear as though she is. The over-all thrust of the article is an appeal to dedicate ourselves to "our work" of proclaiming the gospel in all the world. "Christ calls upon the members of His church to cherish the true, genuine hope of the gospel," she adds; nothing in the article suggests she wants to disparage righteousness by faith or to retract what she endorsed 14 years earlier, or what she said in Steps to Christ regarding our "promises" to God (p. 47). All perplexity is removed if one will understand her use of the word "pledge" to mean commitment, dedication, choice. "What you need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You can not change your heart, you can not of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will." This is what Ellen White in 1904 is urging the church to do.

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