Basic HTML Version
God relates, "all Israel had a chance
to see my power firsthand and the
glory of my presence with them in
the wilderness. Yet, would you be–
lieve it - after I delivered the Law
to them with thunderings, lightning,
the noise of a great trumpet, and the
smoking mountain - a suitably im–
pressive event - the people said
they couldn't take it!
"Tbey called for Moses to speak
wi th them," adds God, "being
afraid that if
J
spoke with them any
more, they would die [Exodus
20: 19]. Yet even with the memory of
my presence so fresh in their rninds,
they somehow conveniently forgot
about me- again. Moses was not in
the camp, so those Israelites, the
people to whom
1
had most clearly
revealed myself, made an idol to
worship and held an orgy [Exodus
32: 1-6]. I set them straight on tbe
matter, but they still wanted to go
back to Egypt and follow that wbole
wretched pagan way of life I had
helped them escape [Numbers 14:4].
"Years later, Israel demanded a
human king, so I gave them Saul. I
comforted my prophet at that time,
Samuel, by explaining to him that
the people had not rejected him as
their ruler, but that in demanding a
human king, they were rejecting me
and my rulership over them.
It
was
the same old story."
(J
Samuel8:7.)
You pause in your note taking
and remember the story of Saul well
enough from childhood to .t:ealize
that he was a loser. He, too, ulti–
mately rejected God, and David
was anointed king in bis place.
David was truly unusual,
~a
man af–
ter God's own heart - but his son
and successor, Solomon, eventually
veered away from God's way, even
though he knew better
(1
Kings
11:
1-11
).
After Solomon's death, the
nation never again wholeheartedly
followed God's laws.
You recall that ancient Israel re–
jected the prophets God sent, killing
them rather than heeding their mes–
sages. Tradifion even says tha
t
Isaiah was sawn in half on king Ma-
32
'
nasseh's orders. Jeremiah would
have probably been killed on sev–
era! occasions
if
God had not di–
rectly intervened. Yet God did not
stop revealing Himself, His plan
and His purpose through the proph–
ets, even though no one wanted to
listen. In fact, many of their mes–
sages were recorded in the Bible for
later generations and are especially
applicable today.
A Case of Mistaken ldentity
"I stopped revealing myself
through the prophets," said God,
"and carne to earth
in
person to live
as a human being almost two thou–
sand years ago."
This simple statement hits you
like a two-ton truck. You almost
drop your pen as you stutter a few
clurnsy comments: "Wait a minute
. .. if
1
properly understand what
you are saying, then you must be–
I mean,
1
thought you were . . .."
"Yes, you're right ," He smiles, a
litt1e amused at your constemation.
"I am the one you know as Jesus
Christ, but I am also the one you
think of as the 'angry God' of the
Old Testament. Since the beginning,
I have been with the One·you know
as ' the Father.'
I
am
the Word or
Spokesman for Him, the one who
did the actual work of creating the
world, working together with my
Father according to His plans.
1
be–
carne His son about 2,000 years ago
by being boro of Him and a human
mother.
1
to1d you all about that in
Jobo 1: 1-3 and Ephesians 3:9.
"I
was the one who walked with
Adam and Eve in the garden.
J
was
the one who was with the lsraelites
in the Sinai wildemess, working
miracles on their beha1f.
1
was their
Rock, as you can see in
I
Corinthi–
ans 1Ó:4.
I
am the one to whom
Abraham paid one tenth of bis in–
come. That's mentioned in Hebrews
7:1-3.
"I now occupy the position of
'High Priest,' having qualified for
that job through my perfect life on
earth as a human being. I am now,
of course, spmt, but having once
been human, I am personally ac–
quainted with human feelings and
drives and can intercede with my
Father on behalf of men, whenever
they pray to Him. That information
is found in Hebrews 4: 14-1 6.
"If you want to talk with my
Father, you can do so at any time
through prayer - and you should.
do so often - but
if
you want an
in–
terview with Him, you' ll have to
wait for a little more than a thou–
sand years. Then He, also,
~ill
be
available for direct comment when
He moves His headquarters - the
new Jerusalem described in Revela–
tion 21 :1-3 - to the new earth.''
God in Person
This information has crumbled
sorne of your lifetime concepts
about God - but there will be
plenty of time later to think these
things over. Right now, God - Jesus
Christ, as you have discovered - is
continuing to explain how it was
when He fully revealed himself to
man around two thousand years
ago.
"I frankly don't know how much
more open I could have been with
everyone - how much more
1
could
have revealed myself to a doubting
humanity. I pulled no punches in
telling the religious leaders of the
day where tbey were wrong.
1
worked miracles through my
Father's power, healing the sick,
even raising the dead.
1
revealed to
those who would listen the plan we
have had in mind for humanity all
along - that all mankind can even–
tually become part of God's family
- can literally become 'sons ofGod'
[John 1:12]. My life, death and res–
urrection are revealed in the books
of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Yet , even if you haven't read those
books, you have undoubtedly heard
what happened."
Yes, you are quite familiar with
that story about how mankind was
responsible for crucifying Him. He
explained that his death and con-
PLAIN TRUTH Morch 1973