Basic HTML Version
promise. as sorne
men
count slack–
ness...."
Here is the key-the key of tim–
ing. of the schedule God has in
mind. The key which unlocks the
puzzle of the frust rating question:
" lf God is a ll-powerful and all-lov–
ing. why has He allowed so much
human sutfering all these thousands
of years?" Why was God not as
merciful in each succeeding genera–
tion as Moses was towa rd his own
generation?
Our time sense as human beings
is very limited . God is eternal- and
He can atford a patience humans
find difficult, if not impossible.
What's a thousand years to God? To
give it sorne kind of meaning to us
humans, God inspired Peter to say
it 's just like a day to us. But Pete r
sort of "stole" his idea about thi s
God-time concept from much ear–
lier writings: the Psalms. In Psalm
90 you will fi nd the source of Peter's
statement in the New Testament:
"For a thousand years
in thy sight
are bu t as yesterday when it is past.
and as a watch in the night" (verse
4). In o ther words. the time factor.
which is so very urgent and real to
us human beings. is to God a re la–
tive thing.
Now many people assume tha t
the Psalms were written by David–
and indeed David did write the ma–
jority of them. But Psalm 90, if you
will notice in your Bible, has a dif–
ferent author. The entire psalm
deals wi th time and men. T hat fa–
mous quote about " threescore years
and ten" (a 70-year average. which
you will find is most modern) al–
lo tted to mos t men comes from that
psalm. lmmediately after that fa–
mous quote comes a most inter–
esting statement (verse 10): " lf by
reason of st rength they be
fourscore
years ...." Moses is the author.
And Moses was
fourscore
years old
when he learned from God this
most important lesson about time-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977
when Moses lea rned patience. when
Moses learned about
how
and
when
a nd , mos t importantly.
why
the
great God
YH VH
planned to exer–
cise His merey and grace!
The Seventh "Day"
The week is composed of seven
days. G-od is the a utho r o f time, by
virtue of creation. And He a rbi–
trarily chose a seven-day week. "Six
days
thou
shalt labor. a nd do a ll
thy
work,"
YHVH
said to Moses and all
Israel. "but the sevcnth day is the
sa bbath of the Lord [
YH V
H]
thy
God: in it
thou
shalt not do any
work ..." (Deut.
5:
13- 14).
The meaning is clear when all the
scriptures a re put together. God al–
lotted six days- six thousa nd years
the way man reckons time- fo r
ma nkind to do whatever he chose,
witho~t
interference from Him. and
God also allowed Satan to intluence
the actions of men for that time
(most men, but not a ll). But the sev–
enth day. one thousand years- the
millennium. if you picase- is re–
served for God alone. a time He
reserves for His work. His labor, His
doing, His plan; a time when men
must cease from
their
works and
a llow the completion of His g reat
work; a time during which Satan
will be bound, helpless. inaccessible
to man (and
that
restful Sabbath is
just about here!).
Paul gives us another glimpse at
the plan: "And so ALL Israel
sha/1 be
saved:
as it is wriuen. There sha ll
come out o f S ion the Deliverer [Sav–
ior), and shall turn away ungodli–
ness from J acob: for thi s is my
covenant unto them. WHEN
1 sha/1
take away their sins.
As concerning
the gospel (the good news], they
are
enemies for your sakes: but as
touching the election [the ultimate
judgment of their eterna! fate}, they
are
beloved for the fa thers' sakes.
Fo r the gifts and calling of God are
without repentance" (Rom. 11:26-29).
PART
"ALL Israel
sha/1
be saved"?!
Could that possibly include that sin–
fui generation God sought to
"de–
stroy" and Moses sought to "save"?
YEs! " For to this end Christ both
died, and rose, and revived,
that he
might be Lord both of the dead and
living"(Rom.
14:9).
A Physlcal Resurrectlon
But how can dead people receive
salvation? We've always been told
by most of the Christian preachers
that if you don't get "saved" during
your lifetime. you'll go to that ter–
ri blc
other
place forever: hell!
Would you believe that the good
news Jesus told Moses is
beller
than
the "gospel" preached by so ma ny
today- in His name? Those "Chris–
tian " preachers could learn a lot
from Moses. the friend ofGod!
Who made life anyway? Who
gave Adam his first breath? Who
molded Adam from the dust and
buil t Eve from Adam's heart side?
Who is the Giver of life-and can
death
stop Him from restoring life?
l f He can make a man once. ca n He
make him again, just as he was be–
fore he died? Do we Christians be–
lieve in the resurrection? Is there
on ly
one
resurrection to spiritual
life-or does the Bible speak of o ther
resurrections? ls there a
physical
res–
urrection spoken or? YEs!
And. for those who might leap to
the conclusion that thi s is a "second–
chance theory." forget it! These
people ne.ver had their
first
chance!
Surely you have heard of the
"valley of dry bones." A Negro spir–
itual in America makes this a tune–
fu i truth tha t mos t happily sing
while ignoring the meaning of the
words!
Ezekiel 37 tells the story: bones.
sinews. flesh, skin and the breath of
life-and that is a
physical
resurrec–
tion- are g iven to all the
dead
of the
enti re "house of Israel" !
"They
say.
Our bones are dried, and
our hope is
27