The Silver Trumpet, Vol. 1, No. 2

THE SILVER TRUMPET

Let Elohim arise, let Their enemies be scattered; and let those who hate Them flee from Their Presence - Ps. 68:1

Vol. 1, No. 2 Day of Atonement Ethanim (October 6, 2014)

Yahweh spoke to Moses, Make two trumpets of silver; you are to makethem from a single hammered piece. And they shall be for assembling thecommunity and for directing the traveling of the camps. When they blowthem both, all the community must come to you to the entrance of the tentof meeting. But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the headsof the thousands of Israel must assemble themselves. When you blow analarm, then the camps that are located on the east side must begin to move.And when you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that arelocated on the south side must begin to move. An alarm must be soundedfor their journeys. But when you assemble the community, you must blow,but you must not sound an alarm. The sons of Aaron, the priests, must blowthe trumpets; and they will be to you for an eternal ordinance throughoutyour generations. If you go to war in your land against an adversary whoopposes you, then you must sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you willbe remembered before Yahweh your Elohim, and you will be saved fromyour enemies. Also in the time when you rejoice, such as on your appointedfestivals and at the beginnings of your months, you must blow with yourtrumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifces of your peaceofferings, so that they may be a memorial for you before your Elohim: I amYahweh your Elohim. - Numbers 10:1-10

The Silver Trumpet Vol. 1 No. 2 1

At-One-Ment in the Sanctuary and theRoot of Pollution

by Trent Wilde

Unto 2300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. - Dan. 8:14

The cleansing of the sanctuary is in many ways the centerpiece ofthe third angel's message and is the only truly unique doctrine of theSeventh-day Adventist church. The importance of this pillar truth iswell expressed in the following lines penned by V.T. Houteff:

Though it is the crowning work of our salvation and of thesetting up of the kingdom of Christ upon earth, yet the "investi-gative judgment" is one of the least understood and most mystifedand confused Bible subjects of the age. Were it not essential to oursalvation, the enemy would not have expended every possible effortto envelop it in darkness. Imperative, then, is the unremitting needto search the Scriptures "as for hidden treasure," and to beseechGod for the guidance of His Spirit in order rightly to understandthis all-important subject. In vain though, is any search for truthunless the motive be to learn and to do the will of God. Hence, "ifany man," says Jesus, "will do His will, he shall know of thedoctrine, whether it be of God." John 7:17.1

As we enter into investigation of this little understood reality, let uspurpose in our hearts (Dan. 1:8) to obey any instruction from theSpirit that comes to light herein. Let us also keep in mind that muchlight is yet to be shed upon this subject and that this realization shouldonly serve to stimulate us to study it all the more urgently as we aregreatly behind in our understanding.

Prior to threshing out the main substance of this short article, wewant to remind our readers of some foundational points which willhelp to keep the whole thing in perspective. First, as we have welllearned in the third angel's message, the earthly sanctuary was madeaccording to the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary (Ex. 25:9, 40;Heb. 8:5), and thus stands as a type of it. Also, the purpose andservices of the earthly sanctuary typify the purpose and services of theheavenly sanctuary (GC 420).

1 The Judgment and the Harvest, Tract No. 3, p. 3

2 The Silver Trumpet Vol. 1 No. 2

This brings us to our second foundational point; that being, thepurpose of the sanctuary. The importance of grasping its purpose is atleast somewhat discovered while reflecting upon the experience of theIsraelites in the wilderness when the sanctuary service was frstinstituted. In addition to this, think of the experience of theirdescendents who, over the next two thousand years, had their livesrevolving around the cycles of the sanctuary system. Imagine what itmust have been like to be surrounded day after day by a culture whichhad its epicenter at the Jerusalem temple. No person in all Israel couldescape the knowledge of the sanctuary, for it was an integral part oftheir lives. What would have been their understanding of this systemwhich they knew had been given to them by God Himself ?

Since the system of sacrifces and temple offerings had becomesuch an enormous part of the lives of the Jews, the devil could notaltogether remove the awareness of it from their minds. Even theseventy year captivity in Babylon and the subsequent satanicallyinduced delays in building the second temple could not utterly removethe sanctuary from the people. The enemy did succeed though, to alarge extent, in covering the meaning of the various rites andceremonies with a thick cloud of mystery, which still remains even tothis day. By the time the Son of God arrived on the scene, the Jewshad become so blind to the truth of the meaning of these symbols,and the whole system had become such a dead form to them, that theydid not perceive the grand fulfllment of many of the rites taking placebefore their very eyes.

For the Netzarim2 though, it was another story. Bright rays of lightflashed forward from the ceremonial system such as they had neverbefore beheld. They were amazed at the wonderful simplicity of thetruths taught in the message of righteousness (the gospel), and howthis message, in connection with the prophecies, unlocked for them themeaning of the once-dead forms with which they were so familiar.They realized that the very purpose of the Son of God becoming flesh becoming one of us was in order that he might become a mercifuland faithful high priest (Heb. 2:17). They understood that thelevitical order was only temporary (Heb. 10:9) and that a differentorder had been established (Heb. 7:12). Christ had become a ministerof the sanctuary, the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and notman (Heb. 8:2).

2 This was the name for the original followers of Christ (Acts 24:5, 14).


As you can see, the sanctuary and its services was not only thecenter of the Jewish economy as given to them by our HeavenlyFamily, but was also the center of the message of the followers ofChrist. For the former, it was a message of types and symbols, and forthe latter, it was the message of the transferal of the system from typeto anti-type, from the earthly shadow to the heavenly reality. With thisin mind, one can see that to miss the truth of the sanctuary is nothingless than to miss the truth. Let us now consider, with eyes keen to see,and ears keen to hear, what the purpose of the sanctuary is:

And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.- Ex. 25:8

Though this statement on its own is thoroughly clear in answeringthe question at hand, a brief look at the context will only serve tomake it all the more plain. In Exodus 19 and 20 we have the record ofevents leading up to, including, and succeeding the giving of the tencommandments on mount Sinai. After the ten words were spoken,the people said to Moses,

You speak with us, and we will hear, but do not let Elohim speakwith us, lest we die. - Ex. 20:19

Following this, Yahweh explained a number of judgments to Moseswhich he was to relate to the people (Ex. 20:22-23:33). After this,Yahweh commanded Moses to take Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, alongwith the seventy elders up to see Yahweh (Ex. 24:1, 9).

And they saw the Goddess (Elohi) of Israel: and there was underher feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was likethe body of heaven for clearness and they also saw the Gods (haElohim) and did eat and drink.3 - Ex. 24:10-11

Moses then went up into the cloud to talk with Yahweh. Yahwehcommanded him to tell the children of Israel to bring an offering ofgold, silver, brass, etc. in order to build a sanctuary for Her to dwell in.

From this broader context we learn that the children of Israelactually did not want to hear or see Yahweh, but that Yahweh wanted

3 For the translation Goddess and the Gods in this passage please see Divine Plurality, Vol. 1, Nos. 1-2


to dwell among them anyway. This brings to mind what took place inthe garden of Eden when Adam and his wife hid themselves from thePresence of Yahweh Elohim amid the trees of the garden. (Gen. 3:8)The fact is that sin cannot dwell in the Presence of Yahweh (Isa. 59:2).

For perverse thoughts separate people from God, and when hispower is tested, it exposes the foolish: because Wisdom will not livewith a deceitful soul, or dwell with a body enslaved to sin. For theHoly Spirit of instruction will flee from deceit, and will leave foolishthoughts behind, and not abide at the approach of unrighteousness.- Wisdom of Solomon 1:3-5

Though Wisdom was rejected (1 En. 42:2), even from Eden, Herdelight was still among the children of men (Prov. 8:31) and Sheeventually found a resting place:

Among all these [the nations] I [Wisdom] sought a resting place;in whose territory should I abide? Then the Creator of all thingsgave me a command, and my maker chose the place for my tent.He said, 'Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive yourinheritance.' Before the ages, in the beginning, he made me, and forall the ages I shall not cease to be. In the holy tent I ministeredbefore him, and so I was established in Zion. Thus in the belovedcity he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my dominion.I took root in an honored people, in the portion of the Lord, hisheritage. - Sirach 24:7-12

Unmistakably then, Wisdom our Sister (Prov. 7:4) was theGoddess who dwelt among the children of Israel in the wildernesstabernacle. Exodus 25:8 informs us that the sanctuary was made inorder for Her to dwell among them. Since She cannot dwell with sin(Wis. 1:3-5), the sanctuary system was necessarily given for thepurpose of cleansing the people from sin in order that She mightdwell among them as well as to shield them and Her from each other'spresence while sin remained. Let us keep in mind though that it isnot possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins(Heb. 10:4) but that it is the better sacrifces (Heb. 9:23) which areable to purge your conscience from dead works to serve the livingGod (Heb. 9:14). This is to say that the typical system itself was onlysymbolic and that only as people perceived the meaning of thesymbols could they grasp the reality and be saved from their sins.


The idea that the purpose of the sanctuary was to cleanse from sinis also emphasized by the fact that the frst instructions givenconcerning its building pertained to the ark of the covenant and themercy seat, better translated atonement plate. The ark of thecovenant was to contain the law of the ten commandments, thebreaking of which is sin (1 John. 3:4). On top of this ark was to beplaced the atonement plate, with its cherubim, upon which sat theShekinah (Wisdom). The reason why this lid was called theatonement plate or atonement lid is because that was where thetrue source of atonement resided. The word atonement literally meansat-one-ment; or, the condition of being at one. The idea of beingat one in a scriptural context is to be at one with the Godhead, asThey are one with each other.4 Since, as we have seen, it is sin whichseparates us from our Heavenly Family, it can only be the removal ofsin which can make us at one with Them. This same thought isconveyed in the following verses:

He touched my mouth with it and said, Look, this coal hastouched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is atoned for. -Isa. 6:7

So, in this way Jacob's sins will be atoned for, and this is all thefruit of removing his sin. - Isa. 27:9

These scriptures do indeed teach that to be atoned for is to haveyour sins removed,5 and that this is done by the Shekinah, the life-giver, the Spirit of truth.6 One of the important truths which thesanctuary service was to reveal is that when sin is removed, it isremoved to somewhere, or rather, to something. A clear example ofthis is the removal of the sin to an animal when it is about to besacrifced:

He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and itwill be accepted for him to make atonement (removal of sin) on hisbehalf. - Lev. 1:3

4 See John 17.5 This is further supported by the fact that the primary meaning of the Hebrew

word for atonement ( kipper) means wiping away.6 There are many other passages of scripture which teach this same truth that the

Wisdom is the life-giver, the giver of righteousness, but we will only mention a few of them here Prov. 3:18; Eze. 37:9; John 4:14; 7:38-39.


Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat andconfess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all theirtransgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he has put themon the head of the goat... - Lev. 16:21

The sin itself (the act of breaking the law) being a thing of thepast, cannot actually be transmitted from one thing to another. Theonly way in which the past sin can now be transmitted is as guilt as arecord of sin. For a yet clearer understanding of the transferal of therecord of sin we will quote a couple verses pertaining to sin offerings:

Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it ismost holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of thecongregation, to make atonement on their behalf before Yahweh. -Lev. 10:17

But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought intothe Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not beeaten. It must be burned up in the fre. - Lev. 6:30

We see that in the frst instance, the record of sin was transferredfrom the people to the animal and then from the animal to the priestswhen they ate it. Later it was to be transferred to another animal andfrom there to the sanctuary, and fnally to be carried away by thescape-goat on the Day of Atonement. In the second instance we seethat the atonement was made by the transferal of the record of sin bythe blood to the furniture of the sanctuary, particularly the horns ofthe altar of incense, the base of the altar of burnt offering, and towardthe most holy place (Lev. 4:6-7, 16-18). Again, from there it wouldeventually be removed on the Day of Atonement.

The Day of Atonement is truly the day of removing, or wipingaway sin and the record of it. Since sin is recorded in the heavenlysanctuary by means of the books of record,7 it is only natural that thecleansing of the heavenly sanctuary consists of cleansing the books ofrecord, which includes removing the record of sins for the repentantas well as removing the names of the unrepentant.

7 Ex. 32:32-33; Ps. 69:28; Isa. 4:3; Dan. 7:10; 12:1; Mal. 3:16; Luke 10:20; Ph. 4:3; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 2 Esdras 6:18-20; 1 En. 47:3; 81:2; 90:20; 97:6; 98:7-8; 104:1; 106:19; 107:1; 108:3, 7; Jub. 30:22; 36:10; 2 Bar. 24:1


Daniel 7:10 and Revelation 5:1 point to the great anti-typical Dayof Atonement as being one of book work. The seven seals ofRevelation unfold the history of the world from beginning to end,8

and thus, they are the overview of the cases of all mankind, which isthe investigative judgment. As we have learned in the Branch message,the investigative judgment for the dead ended and the investigativejudgment for the living began in 1955.9 So long as Gods' professedpeople continue to sin, their sins will continue to be recorded in theheavenly sanctuary. Since the cases of those who lived prior to 1955have now already been investigated, the only sins remaining whichdelay the fnishing up of this anti-typical Day of Atonement are thesins of those who are now alive. Imperative it is then, that we take toheart the system of salvation which our Heavenly Family has given tous that we may stop sinning, and fnally allow the sins of all to becarried away.

Now that we have summarized a few foundational points and havehopefully brought them out with additional clarity, let us turn to theconsideration of the purpose for instituting the Day of Atonement inthe typical system in order to further understand why there is a needfor cleansing the sanctuary in the anti-typical system.

You must not offer strange incense on it [the altar of incense],nor burnt offering, nor meal offering, and you must not pour out adrink offering on it. Aaron is to make atonement on its horns oncein the year [on the day of atonement] with some of the blood ofthe sin offering for atonements; once in the year he is to makeatonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy toYahweh. - Ex. 30:9-10

Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons whenthey approached the presence of Yahweh and died, and Yahwehsaid to Moses: Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter atany time into the holy place within the veil in front of theatonement plate that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I willappear in the cloud over the atonement plate. - Lev. 16:1-210

8 See To the Seven Churches, Tract No. 15 by Victor Houteff.9 See The End of Davidian Quiescence by Trent Wilde and When the Siege has Ended by

Doug Mitchell.10 The remainder of Leviticus 16 describes the activity of the high priest and others

on the Day of Atonement.


What is interesting about both of these references is that theyconnect the Day of Atonement with the sin of Nadab and Abihu,Aaron's sons. Surely there is a reason why Yahweh gave directions forconducting the Day of Atonement ceremonies immediately followingthe death of Nadab and Abihu. And surely there is a reason formentioning the offering of strange incense just prior to the very frstreference to the Day of Atonement, as recorded in Exodus 30. Let ustake a closer look at the circumstance to better understand theconnection:

Then Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fre pan andput fre in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fre beforeYahweh, which he had not commanded them to do. So fre wentout from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them so that theydied before Yahweh. Moses then said to Aaron, This is whatYahweh spoke: 'Among the ones close to me I will show myselfholy, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.' SoAaron kept silent. Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, thesons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, Come near, carryyour brothers away from the front of the sanctuary to a placeoutside the camp. So they came near and carried them away intheir tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken.Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his othertwo sons, Do not dishevel the hair of your heads and do not tearyour garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath does notcome on the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house ofIsrael, are to mourn the burning which Yahweh has caused, but youmust not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent lest you die,for the Lord's anointing oil is on you. So they acted according tothe word of Moses. Then Yahweh spoke to Aaron, Do not drinkwine or strong drink, you and your sons with you, when you enterinto the Meeting Tent, so that you do not die, which is a perpetualstatute throughout your generations, as well as to distinguishbetween the holy and the common, and between the unclean andthe clean, and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that Yahweh hasspoken to them through Moses. - Lev. 10:1-11

We can learn from this passage that Nadab and Abihu offeredstrange fre, they drank strong drink,11 and they did not distinguish

11 This is apparent from the command to abstain from strong drink immediately following their death. See also Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 361.


between the holy and the common. Each of these sins which theycommitted have anti-typical application to sins which we must avoid atall costs today, otherwise, our fate will be no different than theirs.

STRANGE FIRE

The strange fre was fre which Yahweh had not commanded(Lev. 10:1). The sacred fre is a symbol of the Spirit of Truth (Ex. 3:2;Acts 2:3; 1 Thess. 5:19). This strange fre must then represent anotherspirit, one not commanded by Yahweh.

What man knows the things of man, save the spirit of man whichis in him? - 1 Cor. 2:11

He will represent the sacredness of the work, he will magnify thetruth, and will ever present before men and angels the holyperfume of the character of Christ. This is the sacred fre of Godsown kindling. Anything aside from this is strange fre, abhorrent toGod...12

This strange fre, then, is anything which someone may say or do

which does not come through inspiration. It is guile in the mouth.Nadab and Abihu chose to not use the fre which Yahweh Himselfhad kindled, but rather chose to use fre of their own kindling. Ourown ideas will only get us as far as theirs got them.

Behold, all you that kindle a fre, that encircle yourselves withsparks: walking in the light of your own fre, and in the sparks thatyou have kindled. This shall you have of my hand; you shall liedown in sorrow. - Isa. 50:11

STRONG DRINK

Strong drink is used in the scriptures as a symbol of false doctrine -doctrine which clouds our understanding and numbs our senses.

The great sin charged against Babylon is that she made allnations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Thiscup of intoxication which she presents to the world represents the

12 Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 357


false doctrines that she has accepted as the result of her unlawfulconnection with the great ones of the earth.13

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whoseglorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fatvalleys of them that are overcome with wine! The crown ofpride, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden underfoot: these men stagger because of wine, they stumble because of strongdrink priests and prophets stagger because of strong drink, theyare confused because of wine, they stumble around because ofstrong drink; they stagger while seeing visions, they totter whilemaking decisions. - Isa. 28:1, 3, 7

MINGLING THE COMMON WITH THE HOLY

As we learned in the last issue of The Silver Trumpet,

there is truly no fellowship between righteousness andunrighteousness, nor between light and darkness (2 Cor. 6:14).There is no concord with Christ and Belial (2 Cor. 6:15); youcannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too (1Cor. 10:21); you cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24); if you arenot for Christ you are against him; if you gather not with him youscatter abroad (Matt. 12:30).14

To mingle the sacred with the common, the clean with theunclean, is to loosen our grip of the above stated truth. To illustrate: Ifwe were to sanction the thought that someone could be sinning andyet serving Christ, we would be mixing the clean with the unclean.Likewise, if we profess to be a branch yet practice unrighteousness,we would be mingling the clean with the unclean. Again, if we were toadvocate the message of present truth to someone and then proceedto promote to them the writings of uninspired men, or their teachingsin any form, we would be mixing the clean with the unclean.

We need to learn that none can become clean by touching theunclean. We each need to undergo the experience of Isaiah we needto view Christ in the sanctuary doing His work on our behalf, see oursinfulness, and then come in contact with the coals from the altar.15

13 The Great Controversy, p. 38814 The Silver Trumpet, Vol. 1, No. 1 p. 1015 See Isa. 6:5-7 and Ex. 29:37.


The sins of Nadab and Abihu are to be a lesson for us today. Theybrought their sin into the sanctuary, the dwelling place of theShekinah. Their fate was death which only served to further pollutethe sanctuary, bringing about the defnite need for its cleansing. Thelesson is that our sins reach unto heaven and that the sanctuary willcontinue to be in need of cleansing so long as we remain unclean. Letus then accept the inspired truth of the fery coal and put aside allprivate interpretation (strange fre), teachings from uninspired men(strong drink), and half-hearted convictions and positions (minglingthe sacred and common) in the work of our Heavenly Family. If thesesins and their effect left such a sad story in relation to the typical Dayof Atonement, how much more sad would it be for those of us now inthe fnishing up of the anti-typical Day of Atonement to perpetuate itsduration by committing those same sins.

The fact that these are the sins specifcally pointed out asinstigating the institution of the Day of Atonement should settle inour minds forever that they lie at the root of polluting the sanctuary. Ifwe forsake all private interpretation, doctrines of men, and double-mindedness, we will surely forsake all other sin.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man histhoughts, and let him return unto Yahweh and he will have mercyupon him; and to our Gods, for he will abundantly pardon. - Isa.55:7

Land Watch Updateby Teresa Wilde

Greetings! Trent and I are currently in Ajax, Ontario staying with adear friend, Alice, as we continue our search for property for theministry. This is a manifold blessing as it provides us with a place fromwhich to work on our regular duties while we're looking for property,in addition to the company and opportunity to study together.

Last week, Trent and I investigated two properties; one was 50 acresnear Billings Lake and the other was 100 acres in Trent Hills. We havebeen praying for guidance as to whether one of these properties (oreven both) were meant to be obtained for the ministry. We asked that


if we weren't meant to obtain them, that they would just be taken outof the picture. We are happy to announce that the 50 acres is nolonger for sale, so we know that we no longer need to be consideringit. Please pray for our continued guidance in this matter as it is veryimportant. It may even be that the 100 acre piece of land is not whatour heavenly Family wants for the ministry. At the moment, these werethe only two properties that we've found that were worth considering,but we shall see what ends up happening.

We are so relieved to know that it will be made plain to us when thetime and location is right. Thank you all for your prayers and pleasecontinue to uplift us and the work before our Family in heaven. Welook forward to fnishing the Gospel work so that our dear Brotherneed no longer bleed on behalf of fallen mankind. Let us behold theLamb slain from the foundation of the world and be changed into theimage and likeness of our heavenly Family!

Questions and Answers

DO YOU TEACH SALVATION BY WORKS?

Question No. 3:It is apparent that you teach that a person cannot be saved if they

still have sin. If this is so, aren't you teaching salvation by works?Answer:

While it may appear on the surface that we teach salvation byworks, this could not be further from the truth. We shall endeavor toexplain in as straightforward and yet thorough a manner as possible.

Since Paul's letter to the Galatians deals most directly with thisissue of faith and works we'll start with a few observations inrelation to it. First, The controversy which creates the backdrop forGalatians is indeed between the two principles of (1) justifcation byfaith and (2) justifcation by works.16 Because of modern folk readingGalatians, not in the light of its own context, but rather in the light oftheir own context, the majority today have ended up applying thosesame terms to a modern religious controversy, not perceiving that it is

16 See Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:2, 3, 5, 11; 5:4.


different than the controversy in the days of Paul. That debate todayis, of course, the controversy of whether we are saved by faith or byworks.

The fact of the matter, though, is that when Christians debate thistopic, they do so without knowledge, for in order to intelligentlydiscuss whether we are justifed by faith or by works, one frst has togain a comprehensive understanding as to what justifcation itself is.The word justifcation itself means to be made just or to bemade righteous.17 One may be resistant to the dictionary defnitionand therefore we offer an example of how Paul used the termjustifcation as meaning the same thing:

And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment,resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but thegracious gift, from many failures, led to justifcation. For if, by thetransgression of one man, death reigned through the one, howmuch more will those who receive the abundance of grace and thegift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came throughone transgression, so too through the one righteous act camejustifcation of life for all. For just as through the disobedience ofthe one man many were made sinners, so also through theobedience of one man will many be made righteous. - Rom. 5:16-19

In other publications, we have taken the time to show that to berighteous is to be entirely obedient to the law of God, to be truly freefrom sin.18 With this in mind, we can see that the controversy thatmost Christians engage in over faith and works is not actually aboutwhether one is justified by faith or works, since they do not believe it ispossible to really be justifed (made righteous/sinless). Sadly, thedebate over whether we are saved by faith or by works in Christiancircles today is not much different from debating whether one needs aknife or a spoon to julienne vegetables without knowing whatjulienne means. Upon learning that julienne means to cut food intoshort, thin strips it becomes apparent that the task cannot be donewith a spoon, but rather necessitates a knife.

17 The words just and righteous are the same in Hebrew.18 See The Lost Gospel of Christ by Trent Wilde and The Silver Trumpet, Vol. 1 No. 1 p.

7-15.


Likewise, when we learn that justifcation and salvation are thesame thing (Rom. 5:9-10) and that they both mean to be made entirelyrighteous, free from sin and that the unsaved are free fromrighteousness (Rom. 6:20), it becomes apparent that they have norighteous works they can do in order to be saved. All their works areunrighteousness, and since one cannot become righteous by doingunrighteousness,19 his only option left is to grasp hold of the free gift ofthe righteousness of Christ by faith.

ARE WE TO FAST ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT?

Question No. 4:Should we fast on the Day of Atonement?

Answer:We know of no scripture which commands a fast on the Day of

Atonement. That said, we are told,

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a dayof atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shallafflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fre unto Yahweh. -Lev. 23:27

The affliction of our souls is a very important aspect of the Day ofAtonement. Indeed, so important that we are told,

Any person who does not afflict their soul on this same day willbe cut off from his people. - Lev. 23:29

Elsewhere in scripture, we do fnd the idea that fasting is one wayto afflict the soul:

But when they were sick I wore sackcloth; I afflicted my soul withfasting; I prayed with my head bowed on my chest. - Ps. 35:13

Why have we fasted and you don't see? Why have we afflicted oursouls and you don't take notice? - Isa. 58:3

It may be necessary for some to fast on the Day of Atonement inorder not to disrupt the solemnity of the day, that is, perhaps if they

19 See The Lost Gospel of Christ by Trent Wilde p. 5.


tend to light-heartedness, jesting, or gluttony during meals. It mustever be kept in mind though that simply abstaining from food is notfulflling the command to afflict our souls on the Day of Atonement.In truth, if one is able to keep a proper supper of the Lord, thatexperience may be even more humbling than abstaining from foodentirely since the meal contains the reminders of the death andintercession of our dear Brother as well as the long suffering love ofour Sister. As branches know, eating suppers of the Lord is the anti-typical way of observing the daily burnt offering and since the dailyburnt offering also took place on the Day of Atonement, it is naturallypart of the observance of the day.20 For a fnal thought we offer thefollowing text:

Shout loudly! Don't be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confrontmy people with their rebellion; confront the house of Jacob withtheir sin! They seek me day after day; they want to know myrequirements, like a nation that does what is right and does notreject the law of their Gods. They ask me for just decrees; theywant to be near to Gods. They lament, Why don't you noticewhen we fast? Why don't you pay attention when we humbleourselves? Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfshdesires, you oppress your workers. Look, your fasting isaccompanied by arguments, brawls, and fstfghts. Do not fast asyou do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven. Is thisreally the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when peoplemerely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed andstretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call afast, a day that is pleasing to Yahweh? No, this is the kind of fast Iwant I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away theropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and tobreak every burdensome yoke. I want you to share your food withthe hungry and to provide shelter for the homeless and oppressed.When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don't turn your back onyour own flesh and blood! Then your light will shine like thesunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your righteousness willgo before you, and Yahweh's splendor will be your rear guard.Then you will call out, and Yahweh will respond; you will cry out,and he will reply, Here I am. You must remove the burdensomeyoke from among you and stop pointing fngers and speakingsinfully. You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed.

20 See The Lord's Supper Daily Part 3 Supplement, by Lois Roden.


Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will belike the noonday. Yahweh will continually lead you; he will feed youeven in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, andyou will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continuallyproduces water. Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; you willreestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called, The onewho repairs the broken walls, the one who makes the streetsinhabitable again. You must observe the Sabbath rather thandoing anything you please on my holy day. You must call theSabbath a pleasure and call Yahweh's holy day honored. You musttreat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, andby refraining form your selfsh pursuits and speaking idle words.Then you will fnd joy in Yahweh, and I will cause you to ride onthe high places of the land, and cause crops to grow on the land Ihave given to your father Jacob. Know for a certainty that Yahwehhas spoken. - Isaiah 58

An Open Letter From A Burdened Heart

Dear Fellow Believers,We are at a very solemn time of year, the time of Atonement.

During these past ten days leading up to Atonement, I have felt aheavy burden for many of you as well as for the work. I have feltimpressed for several days that I may need to include this personaltestimony in the hopes of conveying an important message thatotherwise might be hard to accept.

All who have been investigating this phase of present truth in thepast year and a half have shared some experiences which werediffcult. We had been without a guide for the entirety of our Davidianexperience, thinking that there were no living prophets after VictorHouteff or Ben and Lois Roden. Then, we learned of Doug and(praise the Lords!) many of us accepted that he was the mouthpiece ofour heavenly Family while he was still alive. Some others have, sincehis death, also voiced an acknowledgement that he was indeed aninspired messenger.

The reason I bring this up is that I've noticed how easy it is for usto accept the dead prophets and their testimony but reject the livingprophets, especially if their testimony is directly to us. There is great


danger in this because, in rejecting the testimony to us given by amessenger of our heavenly Family, we are in truth directly rejectingTheir testimony to us and thus rejecting Them. Messengers such asEllen White, Victor Houteff, Ben and Lois Roden and Doug Mitchellwere called and anointed by Yahweh. The same is true for the present-day messenger. Each one can rightly be referred to as Yahweh'sanointed or the LORD'S anointed.

Now, before I go any further in this line, I want to take a littledetour for the sake of getting the point across. This is not a pleasantthing for me to do, but I see no better way of illustrating the point. Iam going to share an email exchange between Doug and myself fromSeptember 19, 2012. These emails are sad for me to read, even now,but I praise our heavenly Family for Their love in prompting Doug towrite what he did. He was the frst to admit that his bones were as dryas the rest of ours, and at times that came across in the way he spoketo people. Almost all the prophets during the world's history were menand women with sins in their lives of one sort or another. This did notmake them any more or less of an anointed one. Their message wasas inspired as if they were sinless. I kept that in mind when thissituation arose.

Here are the emails. I will not need to set the stage for them. The content will do that.

9-19-2012Dear Br. Doug,I've been praying about this for a couple weeks now and hope I am

getting a clear understanding of what I should say. I'd like to suggestthat you consider taking time off from doing the webex meetings. Orat least reduce the frequency. You have been overwhelmed with a lotof different issues lately and especially now that you are dealing withyour health issues it will be important for you to keep your stress leveldown. I attribute what I have been noticing in your behavior to thefact that you are trying to do too much and are frazzled. For weeksnow, I have been noticing that you especially seem to be very shortwith _________ on the meetings. But, in general you also seem to beshort with a lot of people, including myself. You appear to jump toconclusions as to what a person is saying before they even have theopportunity to fnish their sentence (and sometimes you're on themark) but you come across as very unapproachable. We all know thatyou love us and we all love you....but if things go on the way they have


been, it seems to me that feelings are going to be hurt and peopleturned off by the way people are talking to one another. You have aheavy burden. I wish there was more that could be done to lightenthat load. All I know to do is continue to pray.

As for myself, at this time I plan to not be on webex for at least aweek even if there are studies set up. I just can't take it anymore. Igained a huge blessing from the early meeting yesterday, and wish ithad been left at that because by the end of the 2nd call I was veryturned off and my feelings were hurt more than a little. I am tired ofbeing misunderstood and called down for it. If I continue to besubjected to these types of conflicts I am going to put up walls and notbe able to let love flow out of my heart toward others because I'll betoo busy guarding it from pain! That's not a healthy way to be,especially between brethren. But even more than that, I cannot takehearing _________ being spoken to the way you often do. I wouldimagine he has had his feelings hurt more than once as well. I'm notthe only one who has noticed this. He has admitted that his memory isnot that good and everyone has a different way of learning and speedof learning. People are delicate pieces of furniture. If they gethammered too much, dents and damage may be the result. You seemto be hammering on ________ in particular.

I hope I have come across in loving ways in this email. I am so verygrateful for your perseverance over the years that I never even knewyou existed! I know it has been hard! I want to be one of those peoplewho can help hold up your arms so-to-speak. That's one reason I felt Ihad to say something.

May the Gods bless you and keep you and make Their faces toshine upon you and give you peace.

Shalom.9-19-2012

Dear Teresa,

"Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judgethis rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fallin his brothers way." Rom. 14:13.

While I can understand the truth of my imperfect character, you

seemed to have overlooked a major factor in what has been going onin the Webex meetings. You may not understand the fulness of the


situation with the "Dry Bones" being the "whole house of Israel."That is, people have been using it as a place to talk about personalissues that are pretty much out of place there. It's not that personalissues should not fnd a place of discussion there, but some have beenabusing the privilege. And, unfortunately, you are one who has beendoing that, and are seemingly, unaware of or indifferent to the fact.

I can recall a number of times when we have had to listen to yoursituation with _________ for a least 10 minutes, and as much as 20minutes at a time. I found that to be quite rude to the others who werethere to discuss the messages. To me, the fact that you would do that isa sign that you were engaging in "the unhealthy mental/emotionalstate of being motivated by feeling rather than by reason or thoughtknown as sentimentalism." (to quote myself).

As for me, you know that I have a heavy load, and am not well, sowhy have you been burdening me with all of the insanity you and________ are involved in, both in emails and on Webex. I mean, yousent me that email exchange between you two and thought that itmight be something I should read. I understood your situation wellenough long before you sent me that. It's not that I am not willing tooffer some one a shoulder to cry on, but how can I get anything donewhen it happens so often. I wonder how Ellen White would havereacted had you been doing the same with her? What do you thinkwould have been Br. Houteff's reaction?

What got you into the situation with _______ must not be a wholelot different than what he has been displaying as of late. The degreemay be different, but the underlying cause seems to be the same self.I can certainly sympathize with you concerning the "baggage" youhad with you when you came in contact with the Branch, but I can'tsay that you have dealt with that matter the way the Lord would havewanted you to. Do you think that we have been edifed by yourrepeatedly bringing up the matter in the way you have? I am speakingabout the way you have presented it, not your actually presenting it. Isaw more of a licking of wounds rather than godly sorrow for you orhim.

Regarding _________, I am quite honest in saying that heregularly interjects things that if he stopped and thought about whathe was going to say before he said it, he might not have said them.

You know, as many times has I have had to say something to_______ about things like that, he keeps coming back, and that in a


generally humble state of mind. So, he may see his conditiondifferently than you do, and is willing to acknowledge it. Did _______complain directly to you about the rebukes, or is that something youconcluded on your own or with others? Remember what Ellen Whitesaid about those who sympathize with those reproved for sin are oftenin the same condition themselves.

One last thing (hopefully). At the end of the 2nd meeting yesterdayyou started talking about getting together some place for theupcoming feasts. I had addressed the impracticality of that at this timein the not too distant past. Yet, even when I said something about thatwhen you frst started talking about the matter, you kept on going. Sowhat was I to do but cut you off abruptly? If I was harsh in doing so,was it because there was a stumbling block put before me, or was itsomething on my part? The matter was closed for discussion as far as Iwas concerned because of our former discussions on the matter. So,why were you bringing it up again? Because you wanted to have thefellowship of like-minded believers, which is well and good. But Icertainly would not want to spend but a mere moment or two at sucha gathering talking about the situation with you and ________, whichI'm sure you would have brought into the gathering.

So, with all of that said, I was hoping to have fnished the newstudy today, but I have had to read what you wrote and respond to it.So now I may be up late trying to fnish the study. But, as Mr. Dylansaid, "Don't think twice it's all right." You suggested that I take aburden off myself by staying away from the Webex meetings, while atthe same time putting a burden on me. The burden comes not somuch from your rebukes, but from me knowing that things are in suchturmoil in your life that you don't consider the things I havementioned in here.

About you staying away from the meetings you have to decidewhether that is based on your feelings or on a strong conviction fromthe Holy Ghost. I would just as soon forget that you sent me the emailaltogether and not discuss the matter again. But that's up to you. Ihave seen so much of the dry bones condition everywhere that I reallydon't expect much from people these days.

What can I say to close this off ? You know my concern for you,and I know yours for me? I don't know what else to say.

LITB, Doug


9-20-19 Br Doug,

If it is your wish to forget my email and not discuss it then who amI to try? By all means, forget I said anything. As for your email to me, Iwon't say anything about that either. You have made yourself veryclear. My apologies for taking up your time today.

May you be blessed.

Okay, so there are the three exchanges. I think it is important topoint out a few things. The frst thing was my email to Doug, and in itI felt I should bring to his attention some things I had been seeing inhis behavior, but what our heavenly Family did was take theopportunity to show ME some things in MY behavior! Thank you,heavenly Family! When I read Doug's email to me, at frst I wasthinking that he wasn't being fair and that the reason I was talkingabout my issues with __________ was because people asked me, sonaturally I was justifed in talking for however long about it. But as Iasked our heavenly Family if what Doug said was true, I was convictedthat it was true and that I should not be taking up other peoples' timeon webex to go on about my situation! It was very humbling. Theother thing I should mention is that it taught me the all-importantlesson that before we go trying to take the splinter out of someoneelse's eye, we should remove the beam from our own eye so that wecan see clearly in order to actually help someone. I mean, do we reallythink that we are qualifed to instruct others in matters of righteousnesswhen we ourselves are not righteous? I knew I had to leave Doug'ssituation up to our heavenly Family. My number one duty was to focuson my personal issues and submit to the Gods so that They could useme!

The other thing of vital importance to mention is that I knew thatDoug was the inspired messenger at that time. I also knew that thismeant he was anointed by Yahweh. I couldn't help but be reminded ofthe story of David and Saul. I knew that it was a very serious thing tolift your hand against Yahweh's anointed one. And why is that? It isbecause by so doing, you are not simply taking action against the personwhom Yahweh anointed, but rather you are truly taking action againstYahweh! I knew that Doug was anointed by Yahweh and that wasgood enough for me. I also had to accept the fact that Yahweh knows


me better than I know myself ! If our heavenly Family saw ft to giveme a testimony through Their messenger, Doug, then I knew I neededto listen because They would only be telling me this because They loved me andwanted to see me freed from all sin! It came down to the question of whether Ibelieved our heavenly Family or not. Did I believe Doug was an inspiredmessenger? If he was an inspired messenger, I had to accept histestimony to me regardless of how much self wanted to deny thetruth of it. I cannot fully express my gratitude to our heavenly Familyfor showing me the worst of my case. Even now, a sigh of incredulityescapes me as I contemplate Their immense love!

It isn't enough to be honest about something. I honestly thought (atfrst) that I was doing nothing wrong by talking about my situation onwebex. I was honest about it, but that didn't make it the right thing todo. Ellen White said:

The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startlingdenunciation, and is applicable to the people of God at the presenttime.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write:These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, thebeginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou artneither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So thenbecause thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spewthee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, andincreased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest notthat thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, andnaked.

The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to Hispeople by ministers whom He has called to warn the people is not apeace-and-safety message. It is not merely theoretical, but practicalin every particular. The people of God are represented in themessage to the Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. Theyare at ease, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition ofspiritual attainments. Because thou sayest, I am rich, andincreased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest notthat thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, andnaked.

What greater deception can come upon human minds than aconfdence that they are right when they are all wrong! The messageof the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest inthat deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the


sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves thatthey are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the TrueWitness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of theirtrue condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness.The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the TrueWitness who speaks, and His testimony must be correct.

It is diffcult for those who feel secure in their attainments, andwho believe themselves to be rich in spiritual knowledge, to receivethe message which declares that they are deceived and in need ofevery spiritual grace. The unsanctifed heart is deceitful above allthings, and desperately wicked. I was shown that many areflattering themselves that they are good Christians, who have not aray of light from Jesus. They have not a living experience for themselves inthe divine life. They need a deep and thorough work of self-abasement before God before they will feel their true need ofearnest, persevering effort to secure the precious graces of theSpirit.

God leads His people on step by step. The Christian life is aconstant battle and a march. There is no rest from the warfare. It isby constant, unceasing effort that we maintain the victory over thetemptations of Satan. As a people we are triumphing in theclearness and strength of the truth. We are fully sustained in ourpositions by an overwhelming amount of plain Scripturaltestimony. But we are very much wanting in Bible humility,patience, faith, love, self-denial, watchfulness, and the spirit ofsacrifce. We need to cultivate Bible holiness. Sin prevails amongthe people of God. The plain message of rebuke to the Laodiceansis not received. Many cling to their doubts and their darling sinswhile they are in so great a deception as to talk and feel that theyare in need of nothing. They think the testimony of the Spirit of God inreproof is uncalled for or that it does not mean them. Such are in thegreatest need of the grace of God and spiritual discernment thatthey may discover their defciency in spiritual knowledge. They lackalmost every qualifcation necessary to perfect Christian character.They have not a practical knowledge of Bible truth, which leads tolowliness of life and a conformity of their will to the will of Christ.They are not living in obedience to all Gods requirements.

It is not enough to merely profess to believe the truth. All thesoldiers of the cross of Christ virtually obligate themselves to enterthe crusade against the adversary of souls, to condemn wrong andsustain righteousness. But the message of the True Witness reveals the factthat a terrible deception is upon our people, which makes it necessary to come tothem with warnings, to break their spiritual slumber, and arouse them to decided


action. In my last vision I was shown that even this decided message of

the True Witness had not accomplished the design of God. Thepeople slumber on in their sins. They continue to declarethemselves rich and having need of nothing. Many inquire: Whyare all these reproofs given? Why do the Testimonies continuallycharge us with backsliding and with grievous sins? We love thetruth; we are prospering; we are in no need of these testimonies ofwarning and reproof. But let these murmurers see their hearts andcompare their lives with the practical teachings of the Bible, letthem humble their souls before God, let the grace of Godilluminate the darkness, and the scales will fall from their eyes, andthey will realize their true spiritual poverty and wretchedness. Theywill feel the necessity of buying gold, which is pure faith and love;white raiment, which is a spotless character made pure in the bloodof their dear Redeemer; and eyesalve, which is the grace of Godand which will give clear discernment of spiritual things and detectsin. These attainments are more precious than the gold of Ophir.

I have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God are nowI have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God are nowfound in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction.found in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction.Many have despised the reproofs and warnings given them. TheTrue Witness condemns the lukewarm condition of the people ofGod, which gives Satan great power over them in this waiting,watching time. The selfsh, the proud, and the lovers of sin are everassailed with doubts. Satan has ability to suggest doubts and todevise objections to the pointed testimony that God sends, andmany think it a virtue, a mark of intelligence in them, to beunbelieving and to question and quibble. Those who desire todoubt will have plenty of room. God does not propose to removeall occasion for unbelief. He gives evidence, which must be carefullyinvestigated with a humble mind and a teachable spirit, and allshould decide from the weight of evidence.21 3T p. 252-255

I knew that I had to accept the reproof given to me if I was tolearn how to surrender to our heavenly Family. I did not want to slapthe Gods in the face, so-to-speak, with disdain for Their testimony. Ididn't even fully understand yet the magnitude of my sins, but thanksto our heavenly Family, They opened my eyes so that I was able to see.

Another statement made by Ellen White on this all-important topic says:

21 Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 3, p. 252-255


There are too many who profess to accept the truth, and even toteach others, while they cling to the same old habits, manifest thesame self-esteem, the same perverted ideas and motives. Althoughthey claim to have been converted, it is plain to be seen that theyhave tried to join the truth to their untransformed characters,instead of submitting themselves to be transformed by the truth.

Every one who accepts the present truth should make the fullestpossible surrender of himself to God. He should fall upon theRock, and be broken. Old habits, hereditary and cultivated traits ofcharacter, must all be broken up; we must yield ourselves to bemoulded by the divine Spirit if we would become vessels untohonor. Do not seek to conform the truth to your peculiarities andimperfections. But as the Comforter shall come, and reprove you of sin and ofrighteousness and of judgment, be careful lest you resist the Spirit, and be left indarkness. Be willing to see your errors and yield up your self-will.Submit yourself to God, that he may work in you to will and to doaccording to his good pleasure. Gospel Workers p. 311

All praises to our heavenly Family for giving me a willingness toreceive correction by Them and thus not resist the Spirit! Our Sisterhad reproved me of sin and righteousness and judgment, but I knew itto be because She loved me and not long afterward is when She gaveme the dream where She actually told me how much She loved meand gave me that glorious embrace as I laid my head on her lap. I amgrateful to Doug as well for saying to me to be sure that it wasn't justmy feelings that was causing me to say I would not join on webex for awhile because when I asked our heavenly Family if They were tellingme to stay away from the meetings, I immediately knew that Theywould never tell someone to stay away from hearing present truth! Iknew that my only safety was in continuing to join in on webex so Iwould not miss being in the presence of our Sister through Hermessage.

Monday, October 6, 2014, is the Day of Atonement this year. Thisis the day to afflict the soul. Will you allow our heavenly Family toshow you the worst of your case and rejoice in the knowledge of it andturn it over to Them? Tears of compassion well up inside me as Iconsider what you will be going through. It is painful to face therealization of how wicked we have been. But, our heavenly Familydoes not show us the worst of our case because They enjoy it. Oh no!We are told,


Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasurein the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his wayand live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, Ohouse of Israel? - Ez. 33:11

And again They plead with us to,

Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye havetransgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for whywill ye die, O house of Israel? - Ez. 18:31

The message Doug was given pointed out the truth of the valley ofdry bones that Ezekiel saw in vision. In that vision, Ezekiel was told,...these bones are the whole house of Israel (Ez. 37:11). We mustfrst be able to acknowledge that as the whole house of Israel we arewicked and we must turn from our wicked ways. And once we do that,our next question should be, how do we turn from our wicked ways?We choose to put our will on the side of our heavenly Family's will.

In closing, I would like to leave you with the 30 th chapter ofDeuteronomy for your prayerful consideration:

When you have experienced all these things, both the blessingsand the curses I have set before you, you will reflect upon them inall the nations where the Lord your God has banished you. Then ifyou and your descendants turn to the Lord your God and obey himwith your whole mind and being just as I am commanding youtoday, the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pityon you. He will turn and gather you from all the peoples amongwhom he has scattered you. Even if your exiles are in the mostdistant land, from there the Lord your God will gather you andbring you back. Then he will bring you to the land your ancestorspossessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you andmultiply you more than he did your ancestors. The Lord your Godwill also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants sothat you may love him with all your mind and being and so thatyou may live. Then the Lord your God will put all these curses onyour enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. You willreturn and obey the Lord, keeping all his commandments I amgiving you today. The Lord your God will make the labor of yourhands abundantly successful and multiply your children, theoffspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lordyour God will once more rejoice over you to make you prosperous


just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, if you obey the Lord yourGod and keep his commandments and statutes that are written inthis scroll of the law. But you must turn to him with your wholemind and being.

This commandment I am giving you today is not too diffcult foryou, nor is it too remote. It is not in heaven, as though one must say,Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us sowe may obey it? And it is not across the sea, as though one mustsay, Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it forus and proclaim it to us so we may obey it? For the thing is verynear youit is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can doit.

Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the onehand, and death and disaster on the other. What I am commandingyou today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and toobey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then youwill live and become numerous and the Lord your God will blessyou in the land which you are about to possess. However, if youturn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serveother gods, I declare to you this very day that you will certainlyperish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossingthe Jordan to possess. Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witnessagainst you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, beforeyou. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants maylive! I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him andbe loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to livecontinually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestorsAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Amen. Thank you, heavenly Family.

Teresa Wilde

Health Principlesby Trent Wilde

While seeking for a place to establish a center for the work, we havebeen reminded time and again of the necessity for country living.Among the many reasons why our Heavenly Family has instructed us


to separate from the cities and live in the country is the effects ourenvironment has on our health. A few statements from the writings ofEllen White will serve to illustrate this principle, which is no lessimportant now than it was in the day when these words were frstpenned:

The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to health.The constant liability to contact with disease, the prevalence of foulair, impure water, impure food, the crowded, dark, unhealthfuldwellings, are some of the many evils to be met.

It was not Gods purpose that people should be crowded intocities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginningHe placed our frst parents amidst the beautiful sights and soundsHe desires us to rejoice in today. The more nearly we come intoharmony with Gods original plan, the more favorable will be ourposition to secure health of body, and mind, and soul.22

The plan of life which God appointed for our frst parents haslessons for us. Although sin has cast its shadow over the earth, Goddesires His children to fnd delight in the works of His hands. Themore closely His plan of life is followed, the more wonderfully willHe work to restore suffering humanity. The sick need to be broughtinto close touch with nature. An outdoor life amid naturalsurroundings would work wonders for many a helpless and almosthopeless invalid.

The noise and excitement and confusion of the cities, theirconstrained and artifcial life, are most wearisome and exhaustingto the sick. The air, laden with smoke and dust, with poisonousgases, and with germs of disease, is a peril to life. The sick, for themost part shut within four walls, come almost to feel as if they wereprisoners in their rooms. They look out on houses and pavementsand hurrying crowds, with perhaps not even a glimpse of blue skyor sunshine, of grass or flower or tree. Shut up in this way, theybrood over their suffering and sorrow, and become a prey to theirown sad thoughts.

And for those who are weak in moral power, the cities abound indangers. In them, patients who have unnatural appetites toovercome are continually exposed to temptation. They need to beplaced amid new surroundings where the current of their thoughtswill be changed; they need to be placed under influences whollydifferent from those that have wrecked their lives. Let them for a

22 The Ministry of Healing, p. 365


season be removed from those influences that lead away from God,into a purer atmosphere.

Institutions for the care of the sick would be far more successful ifthey could be established away from the cities. And so far aspossible, all who are seeking to recover health should placethemselves amid country surroundings where they can have thebeneft of outdoor life. Nature is Gods physician. The pure air, theglad sunshine, the flowers and trees, the orchards and vineyards,and outdoor exercise amid these surroundings, are health-giving,life-giving.

Physicians and nurses should encourage their patients to be muchin the open air. Outdoor life is the only remedy that many invalidsneed. It has a wonderful power to heal diseases caused by theexcitements and excesses of fashionable life, a life that weakens anddestroys the powers of body, mind, and soul.

How grateful to the invalids weary of city life, the glare of manylights, and the noise of the streets, are the quiet and freedom of thecountry! How eagerly do they turn to the scenes of nature! Howglad would they be to sit in the open air, rejoice in the sunshine,and breathe the fragrance of tree and flower! There are life-givingproperties in the balsam of the pine, in the fragrance of the cedarand the fr, and other trees also have properties that are healthrestoring.23

Notices

1Our weekly and festal meetings will, at least for now, no longer be

held on Webex, but rather will be hosted using a service known asFreeConferenceCall. Here are the call-in numbers:

Australia: +61 (0) 3 8672 0180Canada: (605) 562-3107Kenya: +254 (0) 20 5231002United States: (605) 562-3130

The access code for all countries is 93775324

23 The Ministry of Healing, p. 261-26424 See the most recent issue of The Silver Trumpet for up-to-date information.


The times for the meetings this weekend will be:Friday Night 8:00 (EST)Saturday Night 8:00 (EST)

Note: When using Webex, the weekly meeting invitationslisted the starting time according to the Pacifc Time Zone. From nowon we will be listing the meeting times according to the EasternStandard Time Zone.

We will not be able to host the meetings online at this time, thoughit is a feature of the service. Once we learn how to use this system wewill inform you and provide instructions as to how to join a meetingonline.

2With each issue of The Silver Trumpet we hope to include

contributions from those investigating and examining present truth.These contributions may be testimonies of how the message hasimpacted you, reports of how the work is going in your area, or storiesof trials you have undergone on account of the message. It could behealth tips, recipes, poems, articles, etc. Whatever it may be, pleasesend it in that it may be published and thus become anencouragement to others.

3As in the last issue of this paper, we urge all believers in present

truth to send all your tithes to the storehouse (Mal. 3:10), as the workis in great need of means. When at all possible, lay aside a penny to besent in to support the work.

While this need is very real, an even more urgent need is for full-time self-supporting laborers.

Ten truly converted, willing-minded, unselfsh workers can domore in the missionary feld than one hundred who confne theirefforts to set forms and preserve mechanical rules, working withoutdeep love for souls.25

25 Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 602


THEM DRY BONES WILL LIVE

The Lord showed me a valley of dry bones, drier than a desert's sun-baked stones.And wondered if the lost could be brought back to life again.

Then the Lord asked me if them bones can live, and I thought of His power to forgive.But the case looked hopeless from a human point of view.

But I said, O Lord, you're a-knowin', What happens when your wind is a-blowin'.The dead will rise, a mighty army for thee.

Then He told me to tell them bones so dry, to hear His word, that He will not lie,That they'll live again when He puts his Spirit in them.

So I did everything as I was told, and declared His word, then waited to beholdThe power of the Lord to restore all those who were lost.

Then I heard a noise and saw a shakin', Babylon was a-quakin'The dead were stirrin', and hell froze over in fright.

Then bone came together with his bone, no longer would they be cut off alone.A movement had begun and death was fleein' away.

Well, then came sinew, flesh and skin, but there still wasn't any breath in them.So, I said to the Spirit, Come and breathe upon these slain.

O Lord, you are a-knowin', What happens when your wind is a-blowin'.The dead will rise, a mighty army for thee.


I was wonderin' who them people could be, who from their graves would soon be free.They say, Our bones are dried, hope is lost: we're cut off from our parts.

Well, I know that the dead don't speak, or even know that they are weak.So I wondered who they were, and how and why they were slain.

He said they're the whole house of Israel, and as you can see, they're not doin' so well.They've been sold for nothin', but'll be redeemed without price.

They weren't slain in battle with the sword, but are dead because they didn't follow My word,They tried to work out their salvation in their own ways.

O Lord, you are a-showin' What happens when your wind is a-blowin'.The dead are risin', a mighty army for thee.

Well, if the whole house is needin' to be set free, then that must also include me.So I better quit thinkin' I'm rich and increased with goods and in need of nothin'.

I better buy me some gold tried in the fre, and some white raiment for my attire,And apply some eye salve so I can see where I am goin'.

I know whom the Lord loves He rebukes and chastens, so that our repentance He may hasten,That we may overcome and sit with Him on His throne.

He said, Behold I stand at the door and knock; the door to your hearts please unlock.And I will come in and sup with you, and you with Me.


But know that I'm bringin' the food and drink, you won't need your own bread, as you may think,I've prepared a feast that all souls may delight in.

Thank you Lord, for a-showin', What happens when your wind is a-blowin'.The dead are risin', a mighty army for thee.

I know that this thing here may be quite long, and may not even seem like much of a song,But it's written My people perish 'cause of lack of knowledge.

They been feedin' so long on husks so dry, it's no wonder that they all did die,But the reformation's been movin' along right on time.

As trials and tribulations do rise, my people will turn from all of men's lies,And safely enter the only shelter from the storm.

When I deliver you from every outward foe, then you will say that you truly knowThat I am the Lord who gives you life day by day.

Thank you Lord, for showin', What happens when your wind is a-blowin'.The dead are risin', a mighty army for thee.

When the Spirit breathes, they'll stand on their feet, prepared for any foe to meet.They'll go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.

They'll be the Lord's goodly horse in the day of battle, but the war's not one wherein sabers rattle;But with tambourines and harps the Lord's arm will win the day.

Then the kingdom all the saints have been praying for, the one that will last for evermore,Will sprout in the wilderness and grow to fll the whole earth.


Then the glory of Eden, the world will see, then they'll decide where they wanna be,Then Christ will come and take us to heaven , then later bring us back again.



Doug Mitchell

The Silver Trumpet, Vol. 1, No. 2

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