The Ultimate Degree of Faith (Part 2)

By C.C. Crawford

There are three degrees, we might well say, in obedience to a positive command in attaining he supreme (ultimate) manifestation of faith: (1) To obey when one can see clearly that there is no logical connection between the thing commander and the end in view; (2) to obey a divine command when one can see clearly that the thing commanded cannot do any good in itself; (3) to obey when one can see clearly that the thing commanded is in itself wrong, that is, in relation to the structure of the moral life. Now for some examples:

1. Exodus 12.1-14. Can one see any logical connection between the sprinkling of the blood of a lamb on the side-posts and lintel of every Israelite habitation in Egypt and the preservation from death of the firstborn in all those households? What was there in the blood of a lamb to save anyone? Why did it have to be the blood of a male lamb, one without blemish, a male a year old? Why did the blood have to be sprinkled on the side-posts and lintels of all the habitations of the Israelites? Could not God have discerned where His own people were dwelling without all this "unnecessary" "irrelevant" "claptrap"? What an opening here for fulminations about "nonessentials," "mere forms," "mere outward acts," etc.! Had our modern "clergy" been present, no doubt they would have started an argument with God right on the spot. But how did it all turn out? Precisely as God had said it would: those Israelites were not so unbelieving as to refuse to take God at His word, especially in the exigencies under which they were suffering, and the next morning it was discovered that in every house where the blood was present as God had commanded there was salvation, there was life; and that in every house where the blood was not present as God had ordered, there was death, lamentation, suffering, on account of the death of the firstborn.

2. 2 Sam. 6:6-7: Note the statute in the Mosaic Law that forbade anyone who was not a Levite to touch the Ark of the Covenant: Num. 15:51; 3:10, 38; 4:15, 19, 20. The penalty for the violation of this law was death. But why should it hurt for anyone to touch the Ark, whether of the tribe of Reuben, Gad, Judah, Benjamin, or any of the other tribes, anymore than for a Levite to do it? Surely, the mere touching the ark in itself could not have harmed anyone! But what did happen when a non-Levite did put out his hand, as he thought, to prevent the Ark from falling off the new cart on which David was having it transported to Jerusalem? He fell dead on the spot, 2 Sam. 6:7. Does this mean that the Ark was a fetish, that it had magical power of some kind? Of course not. The tragic death which Uzzah suffered was for disobedience to God. Even his good intentions in doing what God had forbidden did not protect him from the infliction of the penalty! Uzzah followed his own wisdom (which should have told him that God Himself would have protected the Ark from any kind of hurt) and not the wisdom of God, as multiplied thousands have done in all ages and are doing today in greater numbers than ever before in the history of the race. What a warning this incident is against trifling- with God's Will and Word!

3. Numbers 21:4-9. The story of the brazen serpent. One can see at a glance here, that there was no efficacy in the thing commanded, that is, in itself. What was there in a piece of brass to heal a human being of disease? Did it have magical power of some kind? Of course not. The efficacy was in the willingness of the people to take God at His word; when their faith became active, God kept His promise. It was God who did the healing, not the serpent of brass; the latter was only the means of eliciting; their obedience of faith. It will be recalled that this brazen serpent became in itself an object of worship to the Israelites in a later age: they burned incense to it, we are told (2 Ki. 18:4-5). Whereupon King Hezekiah, calling it Nehushtan, "a piece of brass," ordered it broken into piece and utterly destroyed.

4. 2 Kings 5:1-14. What an array of details having no power in themselves to effect the healing of Naaman of his leprosy! What possible connections between the things commanded and the end in view? Was there some special cleansing power in the water of the Jordan River? Why should Naaman have to dip himself seven times? Could not God have healed him without all this "fol-de-rol"? Certainly, that is, had He chosen to do so? Bu God could not have proved Naaman's willingness to take Him at His word without some sort of procedure such a He ordered. How did things turn out for the Syrian chieftain? Precisely as God said that it would: whet Naaman had fully completed the required details, arising from the Jordan after the seventh dipping, "his flesh cam again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."

5. Joshua 6:1-21. What a war strategy this was, that Yahwe gave to Joshua to capture the city of Jericho What an array of "mere forms," "mere outward acts,' which apparently had no necessary connection with the end in view! What was there in all this marching t, bring down walls that withstood battering rams and other engines of destruction? 'What special kind of power was generated by the marching of Joshua's army, with the Ark at the center of the procession, once each day for six successive days and seven times on the seventh day? What could the people inside Jericho have been thinking about these repeated military parades? Why the final blowing of trumpets and shouting by Joshua's soldiers on the seventh day? We have heard in recent years of "pious" and "praying" and "Bible-reading" generals, but we doubt very much that any of them would have had the faith to carry out the war program that Joshua executed which brought about the fall of Jericho. Joshua took God at His word. He carried out the Divine strategy to the very letter, not expecting that what he and his army were doing would bring down the walls, but fully believing that if he did his part in faith, God would do the rest. And his faith was rewarded: "the wall came tumbling down."

What an array of "non-essentials" in all these instances of positive law! Think what the response would have been if our "theologians' 'had been on the ground when these orders were given by the Ruler of the universe! Why would God authorize all this "nonsense"? Why all these "mere forms," "mere outward acts," "mere external performances," etc., etc. What is all this but "blind obedience" to ordinations that are "without rhyme or reason"? Oh yes, the theologians, the clergy, the "princes of the church," all would have had a field day had they been recipients of the Divine instructions in these various instances of the operation of positive divine law. &

The Crucifixion and the Passover

By Bob Myhan

Inasmuch as some (due to misunderstanding John 19:14, 31) believe and teach that Jesus was crucified on the day before the Passover, it is necessary to consider this from time to time. Does “the Preparation Day of Passover” refer to the day before the Passover? Or does it refer to Friday?

Matthew 26:17-20; Mark 14:12-17; Luke 22:7-14 all show that Jesus and the apostles had already eaten the Passover meal before Jesus was crucified. It was to be prepared and eaten on the same day, the 14^th of Nisan at twilight, the period of time between the setting of the sun and the advent of darkness. Either this is what Jesus and His apostles did or they sinned.

“These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD'S Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it." (Lev. 23:4-8)

“The Preparation Day of the Passover” is Friday just as surely as “the Sabbath” is Saturday. While “preparation” by itself can mean preparation for anything, “the Preparation” and “the day of Preparation” refer to Friday. Jesus was placed in the tomb on Nisan 14 just as the Sabbath, Nisan 15, was about to begin. And "that Sabbath was a high day," since it fell on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread. &