The Hard Way
(All Bible texts are in the NKJV Bible unless otherwise indicated)
Sabbath Afternoon
Memory Text: Isaiah 8:17
17 And I will wait on the Lord,
Who hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I will hope in Him.
Sunday – Prophecy Fulfilled (Isa. 7:14–16)
Isaiah 7:14-16
14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. 15 Curds and
honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good,
the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.
Isaiah 7:1, 2
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
7 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of
Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of
Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but
could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David,
saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart
of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
Isaiah 7:4-9
4 and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted
for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and
Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of
Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against
Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and
set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— 7 thus says the Lord God:
“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,
So that it will not be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”
Isaiah 7:23-25
23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.
Isaiah 7:21, 22
21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
2 Kings 15:29, 30
29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came
and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and
Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
30 Then Hoshea the son of Elah led a conspiracy against Pekah the son of
Remaliah, and struck and killed him; so he reigned in his place in the
twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
2 Kings 16:7-9
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am
your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of
Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.” 8
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord,
and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent it as a present to the
king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria heeded him; for the king of
Assyria went up against Damascus and took it, carried its people captive to
Kir, and killed Rezin.
1 Chronicles 5:6
6 and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria carried into
captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites.
1 Chronicles 5:26
26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that
is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites,
and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor,
Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.
Isaiah 7:8
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,
So that it will not be a people.
1 Peter 1:13-25
Living Before God Our Father
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope
fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus
Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former
lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also
be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am
holy.”
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to
each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in
fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like
silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your
fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who
through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
The Enduring Word
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a
pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24
because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
Monday - Foreseen Consequences (Isa. 7:17–25)
Isaiah 7:17-25
17 The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your
father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed
from Judah.”
18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.
20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor,
With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.
21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.
Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 322-327.
Chapter 27—Ahaz
The accession of Ahaz to the throne brought Isaiah and his associates face
to face with conditions more appalling than any that had hitherto existed in
the realm of Judah. Many who had formerly withstood the seductive influence
of idolatrous practices were now being persuaded to take part in the worship
of heathen deities. Princes in Israel were proving untrue to their trust;
false prophets were arising with messages to lead astray; even some of the
priests were teaching for hire. Yet the leaders in apostasy still kept up
the forms of divine worship and claimed to be numbered among the people of
God.
The prophet Micah, who bore his testimony during those troublous times,
declared that sinners in Zion, while claiming to “lean upon the Lord,” and
blasphemously boasting, “Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon
us,” continued to “build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.”
Micah 3:11, 10. Against these evils the prophet Isaiah lifted his voice in
stern rebuke: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto
the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord.... When ye come to appear before
Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?” Isaiah
1:10-12.
Inspiration declares, “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much
more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” Proverbs 21:27. The God of
heaven is “of purer eyes than to behold evil,” and cannot “look on
iniquity.” Habakkuk 1:13. It is not because He is unwilling to forgive that
He turns from the transgressor; it is because the sinner refuses to make use
of the abundant provisions of grace, that God is unable to deliver from sin.
“The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear
heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you
and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not
hear.” Isaiah 59:1, 2.
Solomon had written, “Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child!”
Ecclesiastes 10:16. Thus it was with the land of Judah. Through continued
transgression her rulers had become as children. Isaiah called the attention
of the people to the weakness of their position among the nations of earth,
and he showed that this was the result of wickedness in high places.
“Behold,” he said, “the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from
Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread,
and the whole stay of water, the mighty man, and the man of war, the judge,
and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and
the honorable man, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the
eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes
shall rule over them.” “For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen:
because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord.” Isaiah 3:1-4,
8.
“They which lead thee,” the prophet continued, “cause thee to err, and
destroy the way of thy paths.” Verse 12. During the reign of Ahaz this was
literally true; for of him it is written: “He walked in the ways of the
kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. Moreover he burnt
incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom;” “yea, and made his son to pass
through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the
Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 28:2, 3; 2
Kings 16:3.
This was indeed a time of great peril for the chosen nation. Only a few
short years, and the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel were to be
scattered among the nations of heathendom. And in the kingdom of Judah also
the outlook was dark. The forces for good were rapidly diminishing, the
forces for evil multiplying. The prophet Micah, viewing the situation, was
constrained to exclaim: “The good man is perished out of the earth: and
there is none upright among men.” “The best of them is as a brier: the most
upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.” Micah 7:2, 4. “Except the Lord of
hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,” declared Isaiah, “we should
have been as Sodom, and ... Gomorrah.” Isaiah 1:9.
In every age, for the sake of those who have remained true, as well as
because of His infinite love for the erring, God has borne long with the
rebellious, and has urged them to forsake their course of evil and return to
Him. “Precept upon precept; line upon line, ... here a little, and there a
little,” through men of His appointment, He has taught transgressors the way
of righteousness. Isaiah 28:10.
And thus it was during the reign of Ahaz. Invitation upon
invitation was sent to erring Israel to return to their allegiance to
Jehovah. Tender were the pleadings of the prophets; and as they stood
before the people, earnestly exhorting to repentance and reformation,
their words bore fruit to the glory of God.
Through Micah came the wonderful appeal, “Hear ye now what the Lord saith;
Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of
the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with His people, and He will
plead with Israel.
“O My people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
testify against Me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and
redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
“O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may
know the righteousness of the Lord.” Micah 6:1-5.
The God whom we serve is long-suffering; “His compassions fail not.”
Lamentations 3:22. Throughout the period of probationary time His Spirit is
entreating men to accept the gift of life. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from
his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye
die?” Ezekiel 33:11. It is Satan’s special device to lead man into sin and
then leave him there, helpless and hopeless, fearing to seek for pardon. But
God invites, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with
Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” Isaiah 27:5. In Christ every provision
has been made, every encouragement offered.
In the days of apostasy in Judah and Israel, many were inquiring: “Wherewith
shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I
come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will the
Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of
oil?” The answer is plain and positive: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is
good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:6-8.
In urging the value of practical godliness, the prophet was only repeating
the counsel given Israel centuries before. Through Moses, as they were about
to enter the Promised Land, the word of the Lord had been: “And now, Israel,
what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to
walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord,
and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deuteronomy
10:12, 13. From age to age these counsels were repeated by the servants of
Jehovah to those who were in danger of falling into habits of formalism and
of forgetting to show mercy. When Christ Himself, during His earthly
ministry, was approached by a lawyer with the question, “Master, which is
the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40.
These plain utterances of the prophets and of the Master Himself, should be
received by us as the voice of God to every soul. We should lose no
opportunity of performing deeds of mercy, of tender forethought and
Christian courtesy, for the burdened and the oppressed. If we can do no
more, we may speak words of courage and hope to those who are unacquainted
with God, and who can be approached most easily by the avenue of sympathy
and love.
Rich and abundant are the promises made to those who are watchful of
opportunities to bring joy and blessing into the lives of others. “If thou
draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall
thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the
Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make
fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of
water, whose waters fail not.” Isaiah 58:10, 11.
Psalm 118:9
9 It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
2 Kings 16:10-18
10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria,
and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the
priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its
workmanship. 11 Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that
King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King
Ahaz came back from Damascus. 12 And when the king came back from Damascus,
the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar and made offerings
on it. 13 So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he
poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on
the altar. 14 He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord,
from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the
Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 Then King Ahaz
commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new altar burn the
morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt
sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people
of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle
on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the
sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” 16 Thus did
Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.
17 And King Ahaz cut off the panels of the carts, and removed the lavers
from them; and he took down the Sea from the bronze oxen that were under it,
and put it on a pavement of stones. 18 Also he removed the Sabbath pavilion
which they had built in the temple, and he removed the king’s outer entrance
from the house of the Lord, on account of the king of Assyria.
2 Chronicles 28:20-25
20 Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and
did not assist him. 21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of
the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it
to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.
Apostasy and Death of Ahaz
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful
to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of
Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of
Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they
were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24 So Ahaz gathered the articles of
the house of God, cut in pieces the articles of the house of God, shut up
the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself altars in every
corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every single city of Judah he made high
places to burn incense to other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of
his fathers.
2 Chronicles 28:20-23
20 Also Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him and distressed him, and
did not assist him. 21 For Ahaz took part of the treasures from the house of
the Lord, from the house of the king, and from the leaders, and he gave it
to the king of Assyria; but he did not help him.
Apostasy and Death of Ahaz
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful
to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of
Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of
Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they
were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
Tuesday – What’s in a Name? (Isa. 8:1–10)
Isaiah 7:10-13
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for
yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height
above.”
Isaiah 8:1-10
Assyria Will Invade the Land
8 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll, and write on it with a
man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself
faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of
Jeberechiah.”
3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the
Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; 4 for before the
child shall have knowledge to cry ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of
Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of
Assyria.”
5 The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:
6 “Inasmuch as these people refused
The waters of Shiloah that flow softly,
And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
The waters of the River, strong and mighty—
The king of Assyria and all his glory;
He will go up over all his channels
And go over all his banks.
8 He will pass through Judah,
He will overflow and pass over,
He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
9 “Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
Give ear, all you from far countries.
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
Speak the word, but it will not stand,
For God is with us.”
Wednesday - Nothing to Fear When We Fear God Himself (Isa. 8:11–15)
Isaiah 8:11-15
Fear God, Heed His Word
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that
I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:
12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
14 He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble;
They shall fall and be broken,
Be snared and taken.”
Revelation 14:6-12
The Proclamations of Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every
nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and
give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him
who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that
great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication.”
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone
worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or
on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends
forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast
and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Matthew 22:37
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
1 John 4:18
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
1 John 2:15
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Matthew 10:28
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Jeremiah 10:2, 3
2 Thus says the Lord:
“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
Thursday – Gloom of the Ungrateful Living Dead (Isa. 8:16–22)
Isaiah 8:16-22
16 Bind up the testimony,
Seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait on the Lord,
Who hides His face from the house of Jacob;
And I will hope in Him.
18 Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me!
We are for signs and wonders in Israel
From the Lord of hosts,
Who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who
whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek
the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If
they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen,
when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and
their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see
trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into
darkness.
2 Kings 16:3, 4
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son
pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the
Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed
and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green
tree.
2 Kings 16:10-15
10 Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria,
and saw an altar that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the
priest the design of the altar and its pattern, according to all its
workmanship. 11 Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that
King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. So Urijah the priest made it before King
Ahaz came back from Damascus. 12 And when the king came back from Damascus,
the king saw the altar; and the king approached the altar and made offerings
on it. 13 So he burned his burnt offering and his grain offering; and he
poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on
the altar. 14 He also brought the bronze altar which was before the Lord,
from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the house of the
Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar. 15 Then King Ahaz
commanded Urijah the priest, saying, “On the great new altar burn the
morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt
sacrifice, and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people
of the land, their grain offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle
on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the
sacrifice. And the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.”
2 Chronicles 28:2-4
2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images
for the Baals. 3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and
burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the
nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 4 And he
sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under
every green tree.
2 Chronicles 28:23-25
23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying,
“Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them
that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 24
So Ahaz gathered the articles of the house of God, cut in pieces the
articles of the house of God, shut up the doors of the house of the Lord,
and made for himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And in every
single city of Judah he made high places to burn incense to other gods, and
provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
Deuteronomy 32:17
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.
1 Corinthians 10:20
20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to
demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
Isaiah 8:21, 22
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen,
when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and
their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see
trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into
darkness.
2 Chronicles 28:22, 23
Apostasy and Death of Ahaz
22 Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful
to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed to the gods of
Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of
Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they
were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
2 Chronicles 28:27
27 So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in
Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel.
Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
Leviticus 20:27
27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall
surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall
be upon them.’ ”
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
Avoid Wicked Customs
9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you
shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall
not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through
the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium,
or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things
are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord
your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before
the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened
to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not
appointed such for you.
1 Chronicles 10:13, 14
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the
Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he
consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the Lord;
therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of
Jesse.
Friday: Prophecy Fulfilled (Isa. 7:14–16)
Ellen G. White, “Can Our Dead Speak to Us?”, The Great Controversy,
pp. 551–562.
Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 555-558.
It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by
beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the
subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that
which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher
than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest
ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will
constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt
man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward.
To the self-indulgent, the pleasure-loving, the sensual, spiritualism
presents itself under a less subtle disguise than to the more refined and
intellectual; in its grosser forms they find that which is in harmony with
their inclinations. Satan studies every indication of the frailty of human
nature, he marks the sins which each individual is inclined to commit, and
then he takes care that opportunities shall not be wanting to gratify the
tendency to evil. He tempts men to excess in that which is in itself lawful,
causing them, through intemperance, to weaken physical, mental, and moral
power. He has destroyed and is destroying thousands through the indulgence
of the passions, thus brutalizing the entire nature of man. And to complete
his work, he declares, through the spirits that “true knowledge places man
above all law;” that “whatever is, is right;” that “God doth not condemn;”
and that “all sins which are committed are innocent.” When the people are
thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that liberty is license,
and that man is accountable only to himself, who can wonder that corruption
and depravity teem on every hand? Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that
leave them at liberty to obey the promptings of the carnal heart. The reins
of self-control are laid upon the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul
are made subject to the animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps
into his net thousands who profess to be followers of Christ.
But none need be deceived by the lying claims of spiritualism. God has given
the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the snare. As already
shown, the theory which forms the very foundation of spiritualism is at war
with the plainest statements of Scripture. The Bible declares that the dead
know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they have no part in
anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of the joys or
sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth.
Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with
departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class
of people who claimed, as do the spiritualists of today, to hold
communication with the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these
visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by the Bible to be
“the spirits of devils.” (Compare Numbers 25:1-3; Psalm 106:28; 1
Corinthians 10:20; Revelation 16:14.) The work of dealing with familiar
spirits was pronounced an abomination to the Lord, and was solemnly
forbidden under penalty of death. Leviticus 19:31; 20:27. The very name
of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold
intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages.
But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands,
yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which
has invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and
even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in
a new disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.
If there were no other evidence of the real character of spiritualism, it
should be enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference
between righteousness and sin, between the noblest and purest of the
apostles of Christ and the most corrupt of the servants of Satan. By
representing the basest of men as in heaven, and highly exalted there, Satan
says to the world: “No matter how wicked you are; no matter whether you
believe or disbelieve God and the Bible. Live as you please; heaven is your
home.” The spiritualist teachers virtually declare: “Everyone that doeth
evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where
is the God of judgment?” Malachi 2:17. Saith the word of God: “Woe unto them
that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light
for darkness.” Isaiah 5:20.
The apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict
what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. They deny
the divine origin of the Bible, and thus tear away the foundation of the
Christian’s hope and put out the light that reveals the way to heaven. Satan
is making the world believe that the Bible is a mere fiction, or at least a
book suited to the infancy of the race, but now to be lightly regarded, or
cast aside as obsolete. And to take the place of the word of God he holds
out spiritual manifestations. Here is a channel wholly under his control; by
this means he can make the world believe what he will. The Book that is to
judge him and his followers he puts in the shade, just where he wants it;
the Saviour of the world he makes to be no more than a common man. And as
the Roman guard that watched the tomb of Jesus spread the lying report which
the priests and elders put into their mouths to disprove His resurrection,
so do the believers in spiritual manifestations try to make it appear that
there is nothing miraculous in the circumstances of our Saviour’s life.
After thus seeking to put Jesus in the background, they call attention to
their own miracles, declaring that these far exceed the works of Christ.
It is true that spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of
its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its
utterances from the platform and the press have been before the public for
many years, and in these its real character stands revealed. These teachings
cannot be denied or hidden.
Even in its present form, so far from being more worthy of toleration than
formerly, it is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle, deception.
While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept
both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the
unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect.
Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a
weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good and evil. God’s
justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His holy law, are all
kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue as a dead
letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the senses and lead men to
reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith. Christ is as verily
denied as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people that the
deception is not discerned.
There are few who have any just conception of the deceptive power of
spiritualism and the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper with
it merely to gratify their curiosity. They have no real faith in it and
would be filled with horror at the thought of yielding themselves to the
spirits’ control. But they venture upon the forbidden ground, and the mighty
destroyer exercises his power upon them against their will. Let them once be
induced to submit their minds to his direction, and he holds them captive.
It is impossible, in their own strength, to break away from the bewitching,
alluring spell. Nothing but the power of God, granted in answer to the
earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these ensnared souls.
All who indulge sinful traits of character, or willfully cherish a known
sin, are inviting the temptations of Satan. They separate themselves from
God and from the watchcare of His angels; as the evil one presents his
deceptions, they are without defense and fall an easy prey. Those who thus
place themselves in his power little realize where their course will end.
Having achieved their overthrow, the tempter will employ them as his agents
to lure others to ruin.
Isaiah 8:20
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.