Sabbath School Today
With the 1888 Message Dynamic
Ezra and Nehemiah
Lesson 7: Our Forgiving God
At the 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, Jesus came knocking at the door of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He in effect said, "Because I came and took your sinful flesh upon myself, I already know you and I want to marry you. I have already given Myself to you for eternity, but because you don't know Me well enough yet to surrender yourself fully to Me, I'm going to give your leaders a 'most precious message' that reveals Me as I truly am. Based on this 'light' that reveals My character--the 'beginning' of the loud cry--I'm going to let your leaders decide whether or not you will open the door and surrender yourself to Me. If you open the door we will be intimate. I will come inside and sup with you and you with Me."
The beautiful biblical description of the relationship between Christ and His church as that of a Groom and His Bride has never been more vividly illustrated than in the 1888 experience. The advances of the Groom were rejected at Minneapolis and at our insistence He has remained outside the door knocking. "We" did not appreciate what "we" heard and what "we" saw. By rejecting this light, we insulted His Spirit and treated Jesus in a manner similar to that in which the Jews treated Him. [1]
This is a brief and true history of the 1888 message as revealed in the Bible (Song of Solomon) and in the Spirit of Prophecy. Tragically the centennial year of this "insult" to the Holy Spirit and the rejection of the "beginning" of the loud cry is what "we" as a corporate body chose to celebrate at Minneapolis.
We believe our history needs to be repented of--not "celebrated." It is our conviction that celebrations of the Minneapolis meeting are a modern day re-enactment and endorsement of what took place 100 years ago.
God's faith in His people is on trial at this time. Does He have a plan for how we should remember our history in the light of the 1888 message? The Bible provides the answer.
As Nehemiah studied the prophecies of Daniel and Jeremiah and realized that the time for the end of the Jewish captivity was at hand, he did something for the release of their bondage through prayer and fasting (Daniel 9). Even though there is no written record that Nehemiah individually contributed to the sins of Israel which caused their punishment, in his prayer he identified himself as part of the problem. In effect he led Israel to say, "We have sinned, ... neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets," ... "but unto us confusion of faces," ... "we have rebelled against Him," "... neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord."
In his plea for corporate forgiveness, He wrote, "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers" (Neh. 9:2).
Like Israel of old, we have been in bondage. Their captivity lasted 70 years; so far ours has continued over 130 years. It is time for our release. But the Lord can't release us unless we want to be freed.
Unlike Nehemiah, through the sin of continued lukewarmness each one of us has entered into the same rebellion against the Holy Spirit which was manifest in the 1888 episode. If the record books of heaven record sins that would have been committed had there been opportunity [2], and if the guilt of the crucifixion of Christ rests upon every sinner [3], then each one of us was represented by Peter denying his Lord, by the crowd at Jesus' trial choosing Barabbas over Christ, by the soldier nailing Jesus to the cross and by our brethren at the 1888 Minneapolis Conference, and the Holy Spirit's "beginning" of the Loud Cry has been rejected.
Repentance is not a ritual we go through for personal gain or to escape punishment. It is a gift from Christ to His church given through the Holy Spirit. No one should feel worthy of this deep repentance. In fact, some may feel this call to fasting and prayer is unnecessary. But as Nehemiah led the people anciently and fasted and prayed, we repent not because we are worthy but because we know Christ is worthy. Our repentance is for the glory of God that He might be justified when He speaks and be cleared when He is judged (Psalm 51:4; Isa. 5:16).
Like Nehemiah of old, we have an opportunity to place ourselves where the Lord can choose if this is the time to grant us the beginning of His gift of repentance. Only He can turn a seeming defeat into a glorious victory!
--Paul E. Penno
Endnotes:
[1] The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, vol. 4, p. 1479.
[2] Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p.1085.
[3] Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 745.
Notes:
Pastor Paul Penno's video of this lesson is on the Internet at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXRIrnRUfXs
"Sabbath School Today" is on the Internet at: http://1888message.org/sst.htm
