Some folks may have wondered about the different permissions, instructions, and what may seem on the surface to be a disconnect between what God’s stated ideals are, what He has permitted in certain instances, and what He expects of us now. Added to this conundrum, there are some who use the Bible to support their preferred views, and there are folks who may quote scripture in defense of a very strict adherence to the letter.
Therefore, without the knowledge, and the proper understanding of why God does what He does, we may find ourselves adrift upon an open sea, which accommodates liberal and conservative views, and everything else in between. It is thus necessary for us to study the Bible with a humble spirit, willing to be instructed by the sacred oracles, and making room for any discretionary moves God makes, or may have made to suit specific circumstances.
So, let’s give a very brief synopsis of the pertinent issue: The human race began in Eden, when God created man, and gave us His ideals for godly living. Sin came along, and ruptured our relationship with God, ushering in the interim period, in which there is back and forth, pulling and tugging between the will of God and our own desires, God permitting us to do things He did not necessarily agree with.
Salvation is then instituted and put in place through the death of Christ, thus paving the way for all who so desire to believe and prepare for the new earth. It is summed up in four words, From Eden To Eden. That said, it is without a doubt that different texts have sent different messages at times, and thus, we who are now living in the last days of earth’s history must have a clear understanding of what the will of God is for our specific generation.
The following are just a few illustrations of what is being referred to, and they will be divided up into three main categories: [1] God’s original ideal. [2] Everything else in-between. [3] His will for the “Now generation”. As we read, let us not grasp at any so-called loopholes, neither let us make provision for the flesh, rather, let us with an earnest spirit, seek to be aligned with God’s will for us now. Some of the passages make for difficult reading. Let’s read:
[1] Marital and social relationships:
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…
Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
[2] Diet and foods:
Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
The Sabbath and worship:
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 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.
[2] Everything else in-between:
Deuteronomy 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
2nd Samuel 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
Exodus 21:7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
8 If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
Genesis 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
Genesis 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
Genesis 30:9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
Deuteronomy 12:20 When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
Deuteronomy 14:21 If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:
25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose:
26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household.
Leviticus 11:2 These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.
4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but
divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Exodus 16:28 And the Lord said, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
Ezekiel 20:13 But Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted.
[3] God’s will for the “Now Generation”:
Revelation 2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Here are just some of the reasons why we may see what may look like a disconnect between what God originally ordained, and what He permitted and did during the in-between period. Although we may not know every specific reason, yet, as a general rule of thumb, God honors the freedom of choice that He has blessed us with, even when it may go contrary to what is best for us. So, the following are the main reasons, why he permitted or did certain things that may seem contrary. Let’s read:
[1] Continual resistance to God’s revealed will:
Ezekiel 20:24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.
[2] Insisting on having our own desire:
Deuteronomy 12:20 When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
Psalms 78:29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire.
Genuine ignorance of God’s revealed will:
Numbers 15:2 And if ye have erred, and not observed all these commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses,
24 Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor unto the Lord, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering.
26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
Therefore, believers who were living in adulterous relationships for many years, with several wives, such as Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and the many other thousands of otherwise faithful people of God in times past will be saved in God’s kingdom, while those who are living in the “now generation”, who are standing as it were on the brink of eternity, will be lost eternally if we were to practice the same things as what Abraham and David did.
Those who have opportunity to make the needed changes through repentance, and a turning away from sin, but who point to the previous scriptural examples of God’s circumstantial permissions, to sustain themselves in a wrong course of action, will find themselves on the opposite side of the fence when Christ comes. In other words, David, Jacob, Abraham and Solomon will be celebrating with their harps, while those from the now generation who followed on in their footsteps will be lost.
Again, many Sunday keepers from days gone by will be saved in God’s kingdom. Such Christians may run the entire gamut, from Martin Luther, Zwingli, and John Knox to Calvin. They may include some of our own relatives and friends who were otherwise true to God, but upon whom the light of the Sabbath did not yet dawn. They will be saved when Jesus comes because they sincerely followed Jesus to the best of their knowledge.
However, after the truth about the Sabbath goes viral world-wide, and there remains no doubt as to its obligatory claims, then, if the “now generation” were to point to those past Christians, as a reason why they should continue worshipping on the first day of the week, then they will be lost in the final conflagration, for to whom much is given, much will be required.
Again, on the issue of diet, whatever we may have read in the Bible concerning God’s permissions for His people in former years, and whatever Paul may have wrote for the people of his day, if it is not in harmony with the health message for the “Now generation”, and if it is conflicted with information God has revealed through His servant for our day, it will become a snare whereby many will stumble and fall.
Thus, we must close with a passage of scripture which every true believer should observe, for it pertains especially to our generation, to whom the full glory of God’s will has been revealed. Let’s read:
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
God bless!