Baal-worship and The
Long Delay
 How Long Will
Baal-worship Prevail?
God’s people
have the assurance from Malachi that before the Lord can return there
will again be a great work performed by Elijah (Malachi 4:5). Surely it
is needed. In a morning talk given by Ellen White at Battle Creek,
January 29, 1890, she intimates "Elijah" is that message begun
in 1888.18 It is no wonder the battle lines have been so sharp
and Satan longs to maintain indefinitely a counterfeit position.
It must be
understood that the confrontation on Mt. Carmel was the climax of a long
dialogue between Elijah and Israel. In vain he had tried to turn them
from their blasphemous blind idolatry. His soul was grieved and his
indignation was aroused. His heart was wrung with anguish as he went
before the Lord and implored Him to save His people—even "if
it must be by judgments. He pleaded with God to; withhold from His
ungrateful people dew and rain ... that apostate Israel might look in
vain to their gods. ... The Lord told Elijah that He had heard his
prayer and would withhold dew and rain from His people until they
should turn unto Him with repentance."19 Thus it was by
faith that Elijah went before King Ahab and solemnly proclaimed
"there shalt not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my
word" (1 Kings 17:1).
Who, in this day,
would dare go before the Lord with such a prayer? Yet the Adventist
conscience is impressed that current events in the church cannot be
construed as blessings from the Lord. The financial losses, the
political intrigue, the theological uncertainties, the confusion of
plans, all run counter to heavenly approbation. It is all too much like
a land without dew or rain in the midst of a famine. We need to
appreciate that now as then "the Lord abhors indifference and
disloyalty in a time of crisis in His work."20 But the Lord
has not left us without help. Indeed, it seems that He has given modern
Israel just the warning needed to know what to expect. Take note of this
admonition:
Unless the
church, which is now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall
repent and be converted, she will eat of the fruit of her own doing,
until she shall abhor herself. When she resists the evil and chooses the
good, when she seeks God with all humility, and reaches her high calling
in Christ, standing on the platform of eternal truth, and by faith
laying hold upon the attainments prepared for her, she will be healed.21
Notwithstanding
the frightful apostasy portrayed in these words, there is hope. When our
boards, our committees, our conferences, and our churches as corporate
bodies, and our members as individuals come to see our
"backsliding," we can take our place beside Peter. His Lord
knew that "which was unknown even to himself."22
The Master’s
solemn warning of denial so quickly forgotten, revealed in due course
his own ingratitude, his falsehood, his perjury, and his heart was
pierced with grief and bitter remorse. Then Peter repented in agony of
soul. This was the hour of his conversion. A similar experience awaits
God’s church today, and the promise is, "she will be
healed." But "until she shall abhor herself," and truly
experience remorse and repentance, Baal-worship must prevail.
The
1888 Message Destroys Baal-worship |
