Why Stay Part Ten
Here, in the midst of corruption, theft, and immorality, God heard Hannah's prayer for a child, and blessed her. In perhaps the greatest irony of all, God allowed that child to grow up in the household of this corrupt family -- and we know that child today as the great prophet and servant of God, Samuel. [FN13: The Scriptures give us an indication of the similarities between that period of time and our own, with the comment "... the word of the Eternal was rare in those days..." (I Sam. 3.1). God has worked through worse than these.]
The reason God rewarded Hannah with a miracle is because He was still working in that place where He had put His name. He would not have answered her prayer if He had abandoned that Place because of the abominable sins of the leadership. Throughout God's relationship with the Church in the Wilderness and the established nation of Israel, we see that there is only one location where God "places His Name", or Ha-Shem. It was the pagans who had multiple locations for their gods -- never did God work through multiple "houses".
The "Place," sometimes referred to as "Moses' seat," is where He speaks to His people, where His judgment was rendered (Mt. 23.2-3 records that even the Pharisees held clout there) and it was to that place that God commanded His people to go up three times a year. Even Paul wanted to get back to Jerusalem for the Feast days in Acts. There is again in the Millennium just one place, the Holy Mountain of the LORD, and a road from the Gentile nations leading people to it. The Word of the LORD will go out from that one place, Jerusalem. God is the same in all times; He has not decided that in the current epoch circumstances require Him to work through numerous governments and quasi-organized groups which reject the idea of top-down governance. He has always worked in one place, and will continue to do so.
Jacob and God's Will
Many of the comments about the impossibility of staying in the Church have been phrased in the first person singular. For example,
Ë "I don't think God would want us to sit there and hear heresy every week."
Ë "I needed to go where I could be fed."
Ë "I wanted to attend a service where I could smile."
Ë "I was so angry -- I would have been kicked out for getting into arguments, so I just left preemptively."
On the other hand, while the GRUMPs by no means wanted to experience the discomfort, outrage, or nausea that the Heresies have brought them, they simply couldn't find Scriptural grounds for leaving. As a result, when they discuss their reasons for staying, they speak about what God says, what God is teaching us, and what His stated Will is. Rather than saying, "I thought ...", they often say "God says ... [any number of statements mentioned in this paper] ... and I just have to figure out how to obey that".
The story of how Jacob gained his birthright addresses the underlying issue here, namely, what do we do when it looks like God's promises to us will fail unless we intervene?
Of his two sons, Isaac preferred Esau (Genesis 25.28), and Esau had been born first (25.25), so Isaac intended to pass the birthright blessings on to Esau. However, when they were young men, Esau lost respect for this profound Abrahamic birthright, and surrendered ownership of it to Jacob for the sake of hearty meal (25.33). Hebrews 12.16-17 tells us that this thoughtless act by Esau was taken seriously by God -- it was a profane act against God.
So, following that forfeiture, Jacob expected to receive the blessings that Abraham had passed on to Isaac. Unfortunately, Isaac wasn't privy to the forfeiture known to Jacob, Esau, and God. So, how was Jacob to receive the blessing that he knew he had coming? Perhaps the right thing to do would be to come before his father and respectfully present the matter -- let Isaac sort out the mess. After all, Isaac was a righteous man, and would likely have brought the matter before God for resolution.
Instead, Jacob was underhanded, dishonest, and disrespectful. He figured out with a carnal way to bring about the blessing that he knew was rightfully his. But he didn't dream up the unrighteous scheme on his own -- he was under the tutelage of his mother Rebekah. She is the one who warned Jacob that the blessing was about to be given to Esau (Genesis 27.6-8). Jacob literally only did what his mother "commanded" him (v.8). It wasn't just Jacob coming up with a selfish, deceptive plan to get around the challenge: it was actually the devising of someone whom he respected and was in some degree required to obey.
Well, what is the result? Jacob received Abraham's blessing all right, but he was in physical danger for twenty years after his sin, unable to live in his own land, for fear that Esau would kill him (27.41; 32.6-8,11; 35.3). He should not have worked things out humanly. He should not have listened to someone who advised him to break God's Law to get something he deserved. He should not have been thinking about himself ("I need ...", "I have a right ...", "How can I change these circumstances ...") Instead, he should have kept every principle of God's Law and trusted God to work things out for him. Now, we'll never know how God was going to deal with Esau's disregard for the birthright and pass on the birthright through Jacob's line. We can be sure that God had it figured out, though.
[ITALIC]"Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie -- indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. --Revelation 3.9-11
<end of part 10>
