THE WATCHMAN
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G. I. BUTLER
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L. A. SMITH
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ENTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AT NASHVILLE, TENN.,
AS SECOND CLASS MATTER, APRIL 12, 1906.
Nashville, Tennessee, March 5, 1907.
ORGANIZATION. — No. 4
Organization in the Church in the Wilderness
N this series of articles we have reached
the consideration of God’s organization
of the “church in the wilderness.” The
patriarchal system had answered very
well in the early part of the world’s history.
When several millions of Israelites journeyed
to the promised land, settled there as a na-
tion, carried on wars by God's direction, and
maintained an elaborate system of worship and
religious laws and government, a far higher
form of organization was necessary. God gave
directions for it, demonstrating by this act
that he was a God of order and government.
In a brief period after leaving Egypt, the
necessity for a system of organization was
made apparent. Jethro, the father-in-law of
Moses, visited him in the camp at Sinai.
When Jethro saw Moses sitting from morning
till evening judging the people, he saw very
soon that Moses was making a great mistake,
and would soon wear himself out if he was to
be the sole judge.
Jethro gave Moses excellent advice: “Thou
shalt provide out of all the people able men,
such as fear God, men of truth, hating covet-
ousness; and place such over them to be
rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
them judge the people at all seasons, and it
shall be that every great matter they shall
bring unto thee, but every small matter they
shall judge; so shall it be easier for thyself,
and they shall bear the burden with thee”
Moses hearkened to this wise counsel; he
chose suitable men, and they judged the peo-
ple at all seasons. Ex. 18:13-27.
Here, we see, was laid the foundation of
what we might call the judiciary system of the
Israelites, the ordinary judges dealing with
the lesser matters and the priests being, as it
were, the supreme court of the nation. The
great system of religion and the worship of
God was brought into existence with all the
necessary services, feasts, ceremonies, sacri-
fices, ministrations, etc., etc. God gave them
these. The armies, the orderly arrangement
of the tribes for marching, the sanitary ar-
rangements, the services of the sanctuary, and
all their civil and military movements were
remarkable for such ancient times, and demon-
“could
And let’
THE WATCHMAN
strated that they were a wise nation.
thing was in perfect order.
Every-
The reader will find in the last four books of
the Pentateuch the whole system of laws and
government fully set forth. These laws con-
tinued to be observed more or less strictly all
through the history or polity of that people.
When they were seeking to serve God faith-
fully, they obeyed them, and prospered accord-
ingly. They prospered and became a mighty
nation, holding that vast country from the
Mediterranean Sea to the river
When they fell under the influence of the
apostasy, they suffered all sorts of calamities.
When they repudiated the King they had pro-
fessed to love and worship, and put him to
death, the close of their national existence
came.
The organization of the people of Israel has
been the study and wonder of many of the
greatest minds of this world. It was a govern-
ment peculiar to itself. No government in
this world was ever like it. It was originally
a theocracy, God really being their King, and
prophets were his mouthpiece.
But later they became tired of being ruled
that way. They wanted to be like other sur-
rounding nations and have a king and the mag-
nificence of royalty. The people desired posi-
tions among the great men of the earth, and
this ambition resulted in calamity at last.
One great lesson is taught in their history,
viz., that God is a God of order, of govern-.
ment, and the great Exemplar of organization.
God proposes to have the people he accepts
live up to rules and laws which he lays down.
There was nothing loose, low, degrading, or
careless in his government. The rich were
under subjection to his laws. The rights of
the poor, the helpless, the widow, the orphan,
the unfortunate, were cared for. He fixed the
laws concerning land so that a few nabobs
not absorb all the land within their
reach,
No other government on earth has ever been
so favorable to the poor and needy as was that
theocracy. In none have the poor ever been
so cared for as under those laws. Should a
family become so unfortunate as to sink to
abject poverty, the jubilee would give them
back their liberty and their landed property,
so that they could start again. Laws concern-
ing health, cleanliness, contagious diseases, and
many other important things can be found in
the so-called laws of Moses, which were the
laws of God for that time.
Many of these laws and regulations would
be useful in the governments of to-day. But
circumstances are now very different, and all
the provisions of that time could not now be
carried out, times have changed so much.
These laws continued more or less opera-
tive until the fall of Jerusalem under Titus.
The Christian dispensation was then taking
its place. An interesting question now arises,
Did God have any system of organization con-
nected with that important work which was
to continue till the second advent, when all
governments should give place to the one
government of the kingdom of God?
G. 1. B.
Euphrates.
IS THE LAW ABOLISHED?
H AS the law of God been abolished?
The Lord himself says it has not, and
that it will not be abolished.
his testimony on the subject :—
“Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear
unto me, O my nation; for a law shall go
forth from me, and I will establish my justice
for a light of the peoples. My righteousness
is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine
arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall
wait for me, and on mine arm shall they
trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and
look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens
shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth
shall wax old like a garment; and they that
dwell therein shall die in like manner; bat
my salvation shall be forever, and my right-
eousness shall not be abolished. Hearken
unto me, ye that know righteousness, the peo-
ple in whose heart is my law.” Isa. 51:4-7.
The people in whose heart is God's law
know righteousness, and his righteousness
“shall not be abolished.” Even when the
heavens vanish away like smoke, which will
not be until the end of the world, God’s right-
eousness, his law, will continue unchanged, ac-
cording to his word. And with this agrees
the testimony of Christ: “Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Matt. 5:18.
The law of God could be abolished only by
a power as strong as God himself; but there
is but one being who is omnipotent.
“The law of the Lord is perfect.” Ps.
19:7. If it has been abolished, only an im-
perfect law can have been substituted in its
place. God has certainly made no such sub-
stitution.
Here is
Without law there can be no government;
if God's law has been abolished, so likewise
has his government.
But the plain truth, stated and emphasized
throughout the whole Bible, is that the law
of Jehovah is as perfect and unchanging and
as holy and as eternal as God himself. Jesus
Christ came to the earth to magnify the law,
and he did this by his teachings and his death
on the cross to pay the penalty of its trans-
gression. He is our example. Let it be our
part likewise, as Christians, to magnify the
law of our God. L. A. S.
SA A
BE CAREFUL
ET Michael the Archangel, when con-
tending with the devil he disputed about
the body of Moses, durst not bring
against him a railing accusation, but
said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak
evil of those things which they know not: but
what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in
those things they corrupt themselves. Woe
unto them! for they have gone in the way of
Cain.” Jude 9, 10.
Michael was Christ, and when he came down
to resurrect Moses, Satan contended with him.
Had not Satan caused Moses to sin, and what
right had Christ to come and disturb the dead
until he had died on the cross?
So reasoned