Disgraceful Monuments

In the days of King Josiah a strange appearance could be seen opposite the temple of God. Crowning the eminence of the Mount of Olives, peering above the groves of myrtle and olive trees, were unseemly, gigantic idols. Josiah gave commandment that these idols should be destroyed. This was done, and the broken fragments rolled down the channel of the Kidron. The shrines were left a mass of ruins.

But the question was asked by many a devout worshiper, How came that architecture on the opposite side of the Jehoshaphat ravine, thus impiously confronting the temple of God? The truthful answer must be made: The builder was Solomon, the greatest king that ever wielded a sceptre. These idols bore testimony that he who had been honored and applauded as the wisest among kings, became a humiliating wreck….

His once noble character, bold and true for God and righteousness, became deteriorated. His profligate expenditure for selfish indulgence made him the instrument of Satan’s devices. His conscience became hardened. His conduct as a judge changed from equity and righteousness to tyranny and oppression…. Solomon tried to incorporate light with darkness, Christ with Belial, purity with impurity. But in the place of converting the heathen to the truth, pagan sentiments incorporated themselves with his religion. He became an apostate.27Manuscript 47, 1898.

The marks of Solomon’s apostasy lived ages after him. In the days of Christ, the worshipers in the temple could look, just opposite them, upon the Mount of Offense, and be reminded that the builder of their rich and glorious temple, the most renowned of all kings, had separated himself from God, and reared altars to heathen idols; that the mightiest ruler on earth had failed in ruling his own spirit. Solomon went down to death a repentant man; but his repentance and tears could not efface from the Mount of Offense the signs of his miserable departure from God. Ruined walls and broken pillars bore silent witness for a thousand years to the apostasy of the greatest king that ever sat upon an earthly throne.28The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 2:1032, 1033.
Conflict and Courage p. 200
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Share Thy Bread, a ministry which our church here has to help feed the poor. A local organization has offered to match donations to construct a new building which will expand our ability to serve the people of this area. Please pray that the pledged donations will come in, so we may begin to build. Wanangwa
—-Please pray that God will supply all the needs of E and her children. R
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Dear Friends,

My grandfather, Edwin Harmon, worked as a bookbinder throughout his life. He did such beautiful work that he was given the job of binding all of the local government record books. There was always book-quality paper, pressure sensitive paper, scraps of leather, and even tiny bits of gold leaf left over at the bindery. This paper looked the right size for a book, but it’s measurements showed the lack. These he brought home for me to play with.

As a child, I took these little gifts for granted. He gave me more paper than I could possibly use, and I wasted much of it. It was only when I was ten and went to live with my mother that I didn’t have all of that paper to play with. My grandfather retired and moved to Florida, so he no longer had access to it. My mother bought some paper from the store, but it was not the same quality or quantity that I was used to. The pressure-sensitive paper and the gold leaf was not available at all. Although it seems like a little thing, I really missed that never-ending supply of paper. I really felt the lace.

How often we take God’s gifts for granted just as I took for granted my grandfather’s paper. How often we waste them selfishly without regard to the needs of others. James tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 “In him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17:28 Think of it! Every breath that we take, every beat of our heart, is a gift from our Loving Creator. He gives us life and health and strength, yet how seldom do we think of these blessings until sickness or injury comes upon us. How often we misuse and abuse our bodies not realizing that we are accountable for what we do to ourselves. Paul tells us, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Cor 3:17

The greatest gift of all, is the gift of the Dear Son of God, Who gave His life for us that we might be saved. Our Dear Saviour “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil 2:7,8 How great is His love toward us! It is beyond our understanding! He, Whom all Heaven adored, stepped down from His Father’s throne, and became a tiny spark of life in Mary’s womb, born in a stable, enduring poverty, hardship, and all the hatred that the evil one could heap upon Him. He endured it all for us!

Moreover our Great Redeemer desires for us to “come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus said, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:11-13 Paul adds, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant….Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” 1 Cor 12:1-11 Notice, we cannot use the gift of the Holy Spirit, instead He uses us as He wills. These gifts the Holy Spirit gives us for the completion of His work. May we cooperate fully with Him that the work my soon be finished is my prayer.

Rose