Good News 1958 (Vol VII No 01) Jan_w

7/28/2019 Good News 1958 (Vol VII No 01) Jan_w

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VOL. VII , NUMBER 1

International Magaztne ofTH E C HU R C H OF GOD

JANUARY, 1958

We Saw PETRA!Last July two more of our ministers viewed the mysterious ruinsof Petra. Their trip opened up important facts about Petra thatwill surprise you!

by Herman L. Hoeh

SX MONTHS ago, on a hot July day,Dr. Meredi th and I found the doorto Petra suddenly opened to us.We had been notified upon our arrivalin Syria that no tours would take us toPetra in the summer. July is never thetourist season in the Middle East! Butwhen we came to Amman, the capital

of Jordan, events broke fast.We found a Lebanese businessmanwho let us hire his Syrian driver. Twodays later we were riding horses downthe rocky "Wady Musa"-the "valley ofMoses"-leading into Petra.An Unexpected Opportunity

This unexpected opportunity to viewPetra and the surrounding countrysidehas since opened up the vital importanceto us of the trek of Israel in the Wilderness under Moses.Why, for instance, should the valleyrunning through Petra be named afterMoses if Moses was never there? Couldit be that Moses and the children ofIsrael actually assembled in Petra beforeentering the Promised Land?Why are so many chapters in theBible devoted to the minute details ofthe journey of Israel from Egypt toPalestine? Have these chapters hithertotmdisclosed, bfit ~ ' i t a l , moaning for fiStoday?For years Mr. Armstrong has carefullywatched events in the Kingdom ofJordan. Within its borders lie themysterious, almost-forgotten ruins of theancient city of Petra. Mr. and Mrs. Arm-

strong, together w ith many others inthe Church, have long sensed the possibility that this city-hidden away inthe fastness of a mountain-wildernessis the place of escape which Jesus promised for His Church (Rev. 12:14).Not Yet Revealed

We do NOT yet know absolutelywhere the prophesied place of escapemay be. But the recent trips to Petrahave led to uncovering impor tant newBIBLE EVIDENCE strongly indicatingPetra to be the probable place of safety!For almost unrealized is the fact thatPETRA ISMENTIONED MORE OFTEN INTHE BIBLE THAN ANY OTHER CITY except Jerusalem, Samaria and Babylon!You may remember that Mr. Arm-strong wrote in his Co-worker Letterfrom the Near East, in 1956, that theapostle Paul spent nearly three years inPetra in Arabia, where he was taught ofChrist. Even the Catholic Church historian Eusebius preserved a record ofthis. "According to old tradition . . .Paul visited Petra when he went intoArabia (Gal. 1: 17)," states the International Standard Encyclopaedia.Petra was Paul's place of refuge andinstruction! Will it possibly be ours, ifwe are accoented worthy to escape? Wemust watch world events, as Jesus said,in order to know!But first, let us notice the almost incredible record about Pe tra from thepages of the Old Testament.Nearly all of you probably received

the 1956 PLAINTRUTHwhich containedMrs. Armstrong's account of Petra fromher diary. She gave you a splendid personal picture of "roughing it" in Petra.The Old Testament gives the same vividpicture of Perra, surprisingly enough, inthe journey of the children of Israel inthe wilderness!Scholars fundamentally agree upon thegeneral direction of the route of Israelfrom Egypt to Sinai. But today almostno two agree about where Israel wentfrom there!

After Mount Sinai-Where?Today, almost no one supposes Israelever saw Petra. Yet not more rhan twocenturies ago it was common knowledgeamong scholars that Moses, Aaron, Miriam and the children of Israel journeyedthrough Petra!Now notice what really happenedwhen Israel was about to leave Mr. Sinai.

I t is found in Numbers 10: 11-12. "Andit came to pass on the twentieth day ofthe second month, in the second year[a ft er the Exodus), tha t the cloud wasraken up from off the tahernacle.And the children took their journeys"the original Hebrew reads "set forwardby stages" (Jewish trans.) - "out of thewilderness of Sinai; and the cloud reseedin the wilderness of Paran."From Numbers 9: 15 to 23, we learnthat the encampments of Israel weredetermined by the movement of thecloud above the tabernacle. When thecloud was stationary, the people abode


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Page 2 The GOOD NEWS January, 1958

ministering to its membersscattered abroad

International magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

Address communications to the Editor,Box I l l , Pasadena, California.Copyright, January, 1958By the Radio Church of God

and beyond it." Sela is Petra!Consider another vital point. To reachKadesh from Horeb or Sinai [Horeb isanother name for Sinai (Mal. 4:4 andDeut. 1.:10-13 )], the usual ll-day routewent "BY THE WAY OF MOUNT SEIR"!Or, in other words, Israel journeyed BYTHE MOUNT SEIR ROAD! But where isMount Seir?Mount Seir is that chain of mountainsbetween Arabia and the Arabah or"plain" mentioned so often in the Bible.It lies east of the Arabah and extendsfrom the Gulf of Aqaba north to nearthe Dead Sea.Mos t maps in the back of a Bible willhave these places located correctly.These maps, however, misplace Kadesh.

The "Kadesh" usually located in theSinai Peninsula is no t the city Mosesdescribes, but is the "Kedesh" of Joshua15: 23 instead-another place altogether.Now consider this: if the wildernessof Par an and Kadesh were in the SinaiPeninsula southwest of Palestine, THERE

WOULD BENO REASON FOR TRAVELINGBY THEWAY OF MOUNT SEIRlThe only reason one would have totravel by the Way of Mount Seir-or bythe Mt. Seir Road-is that Paran andKadesh lay east of the Sinai Peninsulain other words, in the v ic inity of Petra!Take another scripture-DeuteronomyI: 6-7: "The Lord our God spoke untous 111Horeb, saying: 'Ye have dwelt longenough in this mountain; turn you, andtake your journey, and go to the hillcountry of the Amorites and unto all theplaces nigh thereunto, IN THE ARABAH

[in the King James Version it is called"the PLAIN"}, in the hill-country, in theLowland, and in the South, and by thesea-shore [o f the Mediterranean}; theland of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, asfar as the great river, the river Euphrates'" (Jewish trans.).Did you notice that? Israel was tojourney to the Arnorite hill-country,where Kadesh was located. From therethey were to enter the promised landf rom the east, to proceed westward tothe shore of the Mediterranean, and thengo north to Lebanon and the Euphrates(verse 21). The first part of the promised land they would enter was the ARA-BAH-the wilderness just west of Petra

in Mr. SeiriHere is just one more proof thatKadesh and the wilderness of Paranwere east of the Arabah-east of theSinai Peninsula-in Mount Seir, in thevicinity of Petra!Israel Whipped in SEIR

But this is not all the evidence.Notice! When Israel refused to trustGod, He sternly told them: "Surely theyshall not see the land which I sware untotheir fathers, nei ther shall any of themsee it" (Num. 14:23). Upon receiving

menr of the Lord" (Nurn. 13:3) .After 40 days "they came to Moses,and to Aaron, and to all the congregat ion of the children of Israel, unto thewilderness of Paran, to KADESH" (Num.13:26). Kadesh is a city (Num. 20: 16).

What Does "Kadesh" Mean?Why was this city called "Kadesh"?In Hebrew, the word Kadesh means"holy." (See Young's Concordance.)What made the place holy? God did!

God is holy. God dwelled in the cloudover the tabernacle. The cloud abode inthe wilderness of Paran in Kadesh. God'spresence sanctified the city and gave thename Kadesh to it.Kadesh has more than one name. Inthe book of Numbers, God commandedIsrael to go up and possess the land, beginning from "Kadesb" (Num. 13:26).But in Deuteronomy 9:23 we read:"Likewise when the Lord sent you fromKadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you;then ye rebelled. . . ." Kadesh-barneais therefore another name for Kadesh.Why should the city of Kadesh alsobe called "Kadesh-barnea"? The Hebrewword barnea comes f rom two Hebrewwords, bar and nua. The root meaning ofnua (sometimes spelled nuwa) is "towaver or wander." It is often translatedin the Old Testament as "wanderer,'}"vagabond," "fugitive." Bar means "son."It is used in such expressions as Bartimaeus, meaning "the son of Timaeus"(Mark 10:46), "Simon Bar-jona"-Siman the son of Jona (Mat. 16: 17).It was at Kadesh (Numbers 13:26)that the Israelites wavered in their faith.They refused to trust God (Num. 14: 1,11 ). As a punishment they had to wander or be fugitives in the wilderness."And the Lord's anger was kindledagainsl Israel, and he made them wander in the wi lderness forty years, untilall the generation that had done evil inthe sight of the Lord was consumed"(Numbers 32: 13).Kadesh was never referred to as Kadesh-barnea until after the Israeli teswavered in their faith and had to wander as a punishment (Numbers 32:8).The significance of the name barnes,then, is "the wandering sons."Observe, now, in what mountainrange Kadesh is to be found.

Located in Mount Seir!"And we journeyed from Horeb , and

went through all that great and dreadfulwilderness which ye saw, by the way TOthe h il l country of the Amorites, as theLord our God commanded us: and wecame to Kadesb-barnea" (Deut. 1:19).The "hill country of the Arnorires" isdefined by Moffatt in Judges 1: 36 as ex

tending "from the Scorpion Pass ["Akrabbim" in King James Version} to Sela

NUMBEROL VIIHerbertW. ArmstrongPublisher and EditorHerman L. HoehExecutive EditorRoderick C. MeredithGarner Ted ArmstrongAssociate Editors

in their tents. When the cloud ascendedand moved forward, the people followedit. The Eternal-the God of Israel, wholater came in the flesh as Christ-wasin that cloud! He was leading Israel. Hedetermined their movements. Where didHe take them? To "the wilderness ofParan," sap NUI l l . 10 : 12.But where is Paran?

Men assume it may mean the SinaiPeninsula, southwest of Palestine. Theyare only guessing! THEY don't reallyknow! Where does the Bible say it is?First, let 's understand what the word"Paran" means. Young's Concordancegives the surpris ing defini tion: "FULLOF CAVERNS." Paran comes from theHebrew root meaning "TO DIG OUT," or"TO CUT OUT," according to the Encyclopaedic/ Biblica; hence, " to embellishor decorate" (Strong's Concordance).Here is a wilderness famous for aplace in it which is full of caverns orccwesi-embelIished or decorated withtombs! Is this place Petra? We shall see.Certainly no city is more famous for itsbeautifully carved caves than Petra!Notice also that Ishmael-the ancestor of the Arabians-"dwelt in the wilderness of Parun' (Gen. 21:21). It docsnot say he dwelt in Sinai. The scripturereads Pcml1Z. And where is the ancestralhome of the Arabs? In Arabia, east ofthe Sinai Peninsula! That indicates thatthe wilderness of Par an borders onArabia!Now turn to Numbers 12:16. Notewhat it says-the children of Israelpitched their tents "in the wilderness ofParan." From here Moses sent the twelvemen to spy out the land of Palestine."And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the command-


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January, 1958 The GOOD NEWS Page 3somewhere in the Sinai wilderness. Thiswas in Seir. The Bible says so!

Yet Ano th er P roof !Kadesh is also said to be located in" the Wi lderness of Zin." "For ye rebelled," God told Moses, "against mycommandment in the desert of Zin, inthe strife of the congregation, to sanctify

me at the water before their eyes: thatis the water of Meribah in Kadesh inthe wilderness of Zin" (Num. 27: 14).Since Kadesh is located in the wilderness of Par an and in the wilderness ofZ in , it certainly appears that Zin andParan are two different names for thesame wilderness, doesn't it? What does"Zin" mean? Here is the answer!The spies began to search the promised land from the city of Kadesh-barnea.

That is recorded in Deut. 1:19-23. Kadesh was the ir s tar ting point. It was animportant city on the border of thepromised land. It was in fact one of the

CANAAN

this rebuke, they imperiously said:"La, we be here, and will go up untothe place which the Lord hath promised:for we have sinned. And Moses said,Wherefore now do ye transgress th ecommandment of the Lord. . . . Go notup, for the Lord is not among you; thatye be not smi tten before your enemies.. . . But they presumed to go up unto thehill top: . . . Then the Amalekites camedown, and the Canaani tes which dwel tin that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah"(Numbers 14:40-45).Notice where this disaster befell Israel. The people were defeated even toHormah. Where is Hormah?"And the Amorites"-who were Canaanites-"came out against you, as beesdo, and destroyed you in SEIR, even untoHorrnah"! (Deur. 1:42-45.)It was in Seir-in the mountain rangewhere Pet ra is located-that Israel washanded this severe defeat. This was not

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

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40 50 60..SCALE OF MILES

promised "gates of your enemies" (Gen.22: 17). But according to Numbers 13:21, we discover that "they went up, andsearched the land from the wilderness ofZin . . . . And they returned un to thewilderness of Paran, to Kadesh" (verse26) .The Wilderness of Zin is mentionedno less than 10 times in the Bible. Invariably the only city associated with itis Kadesh. Kadesh is also the only cityassociated with Paran, Remember thatParan means "caverns." But what doesZin mean?I t comes from the Hebrew root meaning a mountainous crag, as if pie rcingthe sky! (See Strong's Concordance.)Here is wha t the Encyclopaedia Biblicasays: Zin "may mean the 'wall' of rockwithin which the wilderness ofZin lies"!What better description could we findfor the region of Petra than this! Petrais famous for its s tupendous crags jutt ing high into the sky. Is it a coincidencethat Petra-with its rocky crags and itscaves-is the only city in the region ofArabia from which the words Paran andZin can both be derived?Some have been confused between the"Wilderness of Zin" and the "Wilde rness of Sin." They are not the same.They are spelled differently in Hebrew.The Wilderness of Sin was reachedby Israel before they even came to Sinai(Exodus 16: 1) . The wilderness of Zinwas reached after Israel departed fromSinai. Sin was northwest of Sinai. Zinwas far to the northeast of Mount Sinai.

Where Was the "Wildernessof Wandering"?The epoch-making night followingthe return of the 12 spies, "all the congregation lifted up their voice, andcried; and the people wept" (Num.14: 1). Their anger rose to rebellion nextday. They hurled the accusation "WouldGod we had died in this wilderness"(verse 2) .When God heard it, He orderedMoses to tell the people: /ITomorrowturn you, and get you into the wilder-ness by the way of the Red sea" (verse25, last half).Remember, Israel was already in thewilderness of Zin or Paran. Now God

orders them to leave Kadesh and go intothe wilderness by the Way of the RedSea-that is, by the Red Sea Road. Theyreached Kadesh by the Mount Seir Road.Now they are to leave by another routefor an area called "the wilderness."After their crushing defeat that morning at Horrnah, Moses reported: "Andye returned and wept before the Lord;but the Lord would not hearken to yourvoice, nor give ear unto you. So youabode in Kadesh many days"-howlong? "According unto the days [theforty days of anxious waiting for the


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Page 4 The GOOD NEWS January, 1958

The Valley of Eshcol today. From this once-fert ile area the Israelite spiescut down "one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff"(Num. 13:23). -Westminster Films

from Beeroth [Beeroth means "wells"]of the children of ]aakan to Mosera:where Aaron died" (Dent. 10:6). Thisscripture indicates that Mosera is another name applied to Mr . Hor and thatBene-]aakan is another name for Kadesb. Mosera means "chastisement" inHebrew (Young's Concordance). It wasat Mt. Hor that Aaron died as a chastisement for disobeying God at Kadesh. I tis certainly a fitting name for the Mount.Now what does "Bene-jaakan" mean?The name "Bene- jaakan" is merelyanother way of saying "children ofjaakan." The usual Hebrew word forchild or son is ben. So the locale designated Bene-Jaakan is the place wherethe descendants of Jaakan settled. Butwho was Jaakan?Jaakan is spelled Jakan in I Chronicles1:42 and Akan in Genesis 36:27. Jaakanwas a son of Ezer. Ezer was a son ofSeir the Horite (Gen. 36:20-21). Theword Horite means cave-dweller according to all authorities . That makes thechildren of Jaakan Horites or cavedwellers. And what city in Mr. Seir ismore famous for its caves than Petra?History tells us that the Horites originally cut out the gaping caverns in Petra.'Certainly Bene-Jaakan is anothername for Petra!

The children of Jaakan had wells dugfor wate-r (Dent. 10:6). Dr . Meredithand I had an interesting experience inPetra with water and the Bedouins. Inorder for us to find water to drink, we(Please cont inue on page 10)

In the list in Numbers 33, the name"Kadesh" appears only once as an encampment (verses 36-37). In this list itappears just before the short journey toMt. Hor . It is therefore the second timeIsrael entered Kadesh. Since the childrenof Israel were in Kadesh twice, it ishardly likely that the first stop the reshould have been omitted in Num. 33.Nor indeed is it!In Numbers 12: 16, observe that thecamping points between Hazeroth andthe wilderness of Paran are skippedover. In Numbers 33 :18-30 you willfind them listed. Mt. Shapher (verse 23 )is one of the famous mountain peaks inthe Mt. Seir range. "The Mt. Shapherof Moses ... is the Jebe l Shafeh of theArabs, [which gave its name to} the

mountain range lying NNE [northnortheast} of Akabah, and extendingfrom the head of that gulf to the neighborhood of Petra and Mount Hor,"wrot e Charles Forster in Sinai Photographed, p. 144. This one peak gave itsname to the entire range of mountainsinhabited by the descendants of Seir.The remaining stops afterMt, Shaphertake us east along Mt. Seir to Bene]aakan (verse 31).

Bene-Jaakan is Kadesh!Notice Numbers 33:37. In the fortiethyear of the exodus. Israel journeyedfrom Kadesb to Mr. Hor where Aarondied. But when Moses related the samemovements orally, he said: "And thechildren of Israel took their journey

spies' return] that you abode there"(Deut.1:45-46).God would not let them remain inKadesh any longer. He was determinedthat they were to leave that day fu r th ewilderness, rather than enter Palestine.They did not deserve the promised land.They despised it. The many days ofwaiting, in which they dwelled in Kadesh, comprised over 40 long days.When the spies returned, they rebelled.Thus, instead of entering the land ofCanaan, Moses wrote: "Then we turned,and took our journey into the wildernessby the way of the Red sea, as the Lordspake unto me" (Deut. 2: 1) .The children of Israel now move southwest from Kadesh. They take the roadthat leads to the Red Sea in order tojourney into the wilderness. This is thewilderness which they had asked to diein (Num. 14:2)-and in it they weregoing to die! Moses called it "that greatand dreadful wilderness"-the edge ofwhich they passed through when journeying from Sinai to Mount Seir (Deut.1: 19).This wilderness in the Sinai Peninsulahas been called rhroughout history simply Et Tih-meaning "the Wilderness";or Bddiyat et-Ttb Beni Israel-meaning" the Wilderness of the Wanderings ofthe Children of Israel." This designationruns back in the Arabian historians asfar back as we have any track of theirname for this desert," says Trumbull, onpage 67 of Kadesh-barnea.Nowhere in all the Bible is this areaever called Zin or Paran! I t is entirelymislabeled on most Bible maps today.Nearly 37Y2 years were spent wanderingin this desolate, arid region. No noticeis taken of any wilderness encampmentsduring those years. Only a few majorevents occurring during the pe riod arerecorded in Numbers 15 through 19.

Encampments Listed in OrderBefore we proceed further , let's consider Numbers 33. This entire chapteris devoted to the encampments of thechildren of Israel. This list of seemingly

unimportant encampments may bat: farmore importance for us today than wedream! Everything is placed in the Biblefor a purpose!Turn now to Numbers 33. Beginningwith verse 1: "These are the journeys ofthe children of Israel. . . . And Moseswrote their goings out according to theirjourneys BY THE COMMANDMENT OFTHE LORD." Then Moses lists the stopovers to Sinai (verse 15).We have read in Deuteronomy 1:2that the trip could be made from Sinaito Kadesh in eleven days of normaltravel. The Israelites took longer, ofcourse. Sornet iuies they remained aweek (Num.12:15) or a month (Num.11: 20) in one location before moving.


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HOWin

to KEEP UNITYthe CHURCH!

This Church-the True Church of GOD-is GOVERNED by theCreator, through Jesus Christ, its living HEAD. But are you sureit is the government of God-or do you "feel" it might be mereHUMAN rule?

T HE CARNAL mind is "ENMITYagainst God" (Rom. 8:7). ALL ofus, regardless of who we are, stillpossess a goodly amount of carnality!Paul told the brethren at Corinth,who were members of the CHURCH OFGOD-members of THIS CHURCH: "Forye are yet carnal; for whereas the re isamong you envying and strife, and factions, are ye not carnal, and walk [live}as men?" ( I Cor. 3:3.)Even t hough we have been begottenby the Father, we still have a great dealof our own HUMAN NATURE. That

human nature is antagonistic to God. Itis human nature that causes individualswithin the Church to begin wantingtheir own way, leading them to discountthe government of God within theChurch!Humans Rebel Against AuthorityYou need to recognize there is a t ra itof your nature which leads you toresist authority! God identifies the

Israeli tish peoples in His Ward by aspecial characteristic of rebelliousness!(Deut.9:13.)Typical carnal rebel lion against theauthority of God nearly always takes thesame course. Today, when individualslet their carnal nature exert itself, theyargue against God's government-justas did Korah in resisting Moses!God had called Moses, as we all wellknow. God too, called Mr. Armstrong tothis world-wide ministry by literallysweeping him into I lis work. Most ofyou are famil iar with some of the details, and are presently reading the autobiography being run serially in ThePLAIN TRUTH.Moses was human!Mr. Armstrong is human!Notice how those who despise authority always point to the human instru-ment to justify their own mistakes!The people who rebelled against

Moses refused to recognize him as onlythe instrument in God's hands. Theyreasoned around in their ownminds thatMoses and Aaron had PRESUMPTU-OUSLY SET THEMSELVES in office.Notice it!"And they rose up before Moses,

by Garner Ted Armstrongwith certain of the children of Israel,two hundred and fifty princes of theassembly, famous in the congregation[these men were 'popular' among thepeople}, men of renown. And theygathered themselves together [formed a'party' or 'group'} against Aaron .. ."(Numbers 16:2-3). Notice how thesehuman, carnal leaders did not recognizeMoses and Aaron as the direct repre-sentatives of the living God, bu t lookedon them as EQUALS, as mere human beings whose office was humanly appointed. They had reasoned themselvesinto feeling, in the face of such OVER-WHELMING evidence to the contrary,tha t Moses and Aaron had SET THEM-SELVES up as human leaders over thepeople.That is always the first accusationtoday, when carna lminded ones beg into question Church doctr ines or Churchauthority. They reason-begin to "ra-tionalize," which God condemns (I ICor. 10:5, margin)-that they are dealing with human beings who hold onlyhuman offices!So did Korah, and those with him."Ye take too much upon you," theyaccused, "seeing all the congregation archoly, everyone of them [the age-oldtheme, 'you're no better than I'}, andthe Lord is among them; wherefore thenlift ye up YOURSELVES above the congregation of the Lord?" (Num. 16:3.)Read this entire chapter! It clearlyshows that the attitude of the peopletoward the ir leaders-an a tt it ude ofrebellion, of accusation-was one of del iberately accusing Moses and Aaron ofhaving SET THEMSELVES up in office, notacknowledging their DIVINE APPOINT-MENT!Moses proved by the fruits it wasGOD who had called him to office(verses 28-31). But even in the faceof thi s great miracle from God to pun-ish the factious leaders, others still didn'tunderstand, and began to "point afinger" again, claiming Moses and Aaronhad somehow destroyed Korah by the irown power!And so it is today!When God's ministers must act tosafeguard the ENTIRE Church by putting

out an individual who is filled with aroot of bitterness, some do not understand. Some begin to accuse God 's ministers of acting on HUMAN REASONof acting because of HUMAN feelingsbecause of personal antagonism! Theyaccuse the Government of God of beingthe government of men!Human Nature Hasn' t ChangedMen are the same today. Weare allpotentially the same today, and, unlesswe have enough of the Spiri t of Christ

within us, we can allow OUR humanreason to begin act ing in the same manner as did Korah. Read the ninth chapter of John's Gospel and see how theJews did the same thing to the blindman who had been healed.Refusing to listen to the wisdom ofthe words with which he spoke, theybegan to accuse the physical individual,finally "casting him out" in order toavoid being reproved and corrected!They wanted their own way!But what about YOU? Has your nature been changed? Have you literallybegun to "put on the NEWMAN,whichafter God is created in righteousness andtrue holiness"? (Eph. 4:24.)I f so, then you have started on theroad to salvation. But Jesus describedit as a strait and narrow road, and said:"FEWthere be that find it" (Matt. 7: 14) .There is a great PITFALL your Bibleconstantly warns of-that of beginningto ACCUSE GOD'S MINISTERS! That ofbeginning to DESPISE GOVERNMENT, TOREJECT AUTHORITY!

jude's StrikingWarningJude wrote to the Church of certainungodly men who had slipped unnoticed

into the congregation. In describingtheir overall ATTITUDE, Jude wrote;"Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion [AUTHORITY, RSV} and speak evil of digni-ties" (Jude 8).The ones who had crept in with thetrue bre thren were typical of Korah(who is used as an example in this veryletter, verse 11) in that they were"murmurers, complainers, walking aftertheir own lusts, and their mouth speak-


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Page 6eth great swelling words, having men'spersons in admiration because of [inorder to gain} advantage" (Jude 16).Because of this great destructive influence ,ig,iinst gooernmenr, wanting toPLEASE THE PEOPLE in order to gainpersonal advantage, Jude wrote: "Youshould earnestly CONTEND for the faithwhich was ONCE DbLlVEKED TO THESAINTS" (Jude 3) .Jesus DID Establish AuthorityDuring His earthly ministry, ourSaviour told Peter, "Thou art Peter[Petros, or a little stone}, and uponTHIS ROCK [PRTRA, a large ROCK, or

CRAG, referring to Christ, who is theRock-I Cor. 10:4, and the Chief CornerSTONE-Eph. 2:20} 1 will build MyChurch; and the gates of th e grave[rightly translated} shall not prevailagainst it."And I will give unto you the keysof the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever you shall BIND [prohibit} on earthshall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose [PERMIT} on earthshall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16: 1819) .jesus DID build His Church, and HeDID give His true minis ters the "keys"to the Kingdom of Heaven.But Christ did not relinquish Hisposition as the living HEAD of theChurch! The pagan doctrines representChrist as hav ing "gone 'way off somewhere," too busy, supposedly, to be concerned with this earth. Presumably, Hegave PETER all the power as the "Vicar"in His stead-and the so-called "successors" of Peter have made themselvesthe literal heads of the Church ever since.Heads of a church, YES, but NOT THECHURCH OF GOD!Wherever you find GOD'S own Church-you'll find Jesus Chris t is still its living, active, RULER! (Eph. 5:23; Col.1:18.) Rather than turning the Churchover to men, Jesus promised He wouldbe with His Church always! "Lo, 1 amwith you ALWAYS, even unto the consummation of the age" (Matt . 28:20).

The authnrity placed in the Church isNOT THE AUTHORITY OF MEN-but ofJesus Christ! Paul told the Corinthians,"For we preach not ourselves, but ChristJesus the Lord ("BOSS," RULER); andourselves your servants for Jesus' sake"( I I Cor. 4:5).Various Offices Necessary

The Body of Jesus Christ, explainedPaul, is made up of many members,having many differing functions, orministrations. Yet it is one Body! Readthe entire 12th chapter of I Corinthians.Here, you see God lists the governmentalofficos HE has set within the Church."But now hath GOD set the memberseveryone of them in the body, as it

The GOOD NEWSha th pleased HIM" (verse 1R)_ "Anr ]God hath set some in the Church, firstapostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts ofhealings, helps, govornrnenss, diversitiesof languages" (verse 28). Paul givesthe organizational pat tern in his letterto the Ephesians. "And He [God} gavesome, apostles, and some, prophets: andsome, evangelists; and some, pastors andteachers" (Eph. 4: 11).The necessity for having differentoffices is fully explained in I Corinthians12. Just as ANY organization, as anymachine, must have its separate parts, allfunctioning smoothly together, so mustthe Church of God!WHAT is the function of these Godordained offices?"For the PERFECTING of the saints,for the WORK OF THE MINISTRY[preaching this Gospel of the Kingdomto all the world as a witness, and feed-ing the flock} for the EDIFYING of thebody of Chr ist" (Eph. 4:12).That's why Church Government isnecessary.

God's Government in Church TodayAs my father explained in his articlein the Feb.-March, 1955, Good News,the offices God has set in His Churchare once more fully represented! But didyou know these are not earthly, physicaloffices?"But God, who is rich in mercy, forHis great love wherewith He loved us,even when we were dead in sins, hathquickened us together with Christ ...and hath raised us up together, and made

us sit together in the heavenlies [or, inheaven-appointed offices} in ChristJesus" (E ph. 2 :4-6) . Notice: "Andthere appeared a great wonder inHEAVEN," wrote John, "a woman [THISCHURCH} clothed wi th the sun, and themoon under her feet, and upon herhead a crown of twelve stars" (Rev.12: 1). The Church is a SPIRITUALorganism. As a spiritual body, its officersoccupy SPIRITUAL (heavenly) officeswhich carry not physical, but SPIRITUALpower and authority!"But Jerusalem which is above [theheavenly city from which God's Govern

ment emanates} is free, which is themother of us all" (Gal. 4:26).This is the vital p rinc ip le Korah andthe others who rebelled with him didn'tunderstand! This is the truth those whomurmur today do not understand! God'sGovernment in His Church is DIVINELYappointed-directly from God theFather and throngh Jesus Christ theHead of the Church! It truly is Government, NOT from men, but directly fromGod!"Binding and Loosing"

God's ministers have the grave

January, 1958responsibili ty of prohibiting certainthings, and of permitting other things!This does not mean mere MEN mayarbitrar ily alter the divinely revealedLAWS of God! I t dues mean Jesus Christdecides, through His instruments, incertain cases where there is no specific,definite "Thus saith the LORD" found inScripture!The outstanding New Testament example is Acts 15. In reading the entirechapter, you see the apostles and eldersat Jerusalem had to decide what con-stitutes sin in a certain case.After this "binding" decision hadbeen made, the apostles delivered theoutcome of the counsel to the Church.These decisions were "decrees!" That is,they became a plain "Thus saith theLORD" since it was CHRIST'S decision,not the vain ideas of men contrary toChrist and His rule! "And as they wentthrough the cities, they delivered themthe decrees for to KEEP, that were ordained of the apostles and elders whichwere at Jerusalem" (Acts 16:4).God's ministers today are compelled

to make certain binding decisions. Inother cases, they must decide to "loose" acertain matter, according as God makesHis will known, as He reveals it. This istrue in deciding divorce and remarriagecases-where the couple concerneddon't really knoU/ whether or not theyare living in adultery. After prayer, andsometimes many hours of solemn coun-sel, going over the facts of the casemany times, a "binding" or a "loosing"decision is rendered. IN NO CASE DOGOD'S MINISTERS TAKE INTO CONSID-ERATION THE CARNAL "PEELiNGS" OPTIm PARTIES INVOLVED! There can beNO respect of persons! I think you allshould know that one of our own God-ordained ministers came to the otherswith a case of divorce to be decided. Hisdivorce occurred, of course, long beforehis ordaination. God's ministers couldclearly see it was Christ 's decision thatthe man was still bound to the woman-even though she had remarried sincetheir separation!This man, a true Minister of theGospel of Christ, must remain singledur ing this life because of a grave mistake prior to conversion! 1 cite this casefor YOUR GOODl Some are not FULLYCONVINCED that the rule and authori tyin the Church is truly from God!I t is the same when a certain doc-trinal point arises. There can be NOrespect of persons.As my father has explained, the SardisChurch made the mistake of wanting to"cowtow" to the wishes of the people!When a point was in question, the ministers would reason, "What will theTITHEPAYERS go along with? What willbe most satisfactory to the people?" Indoing this, they were guilty of rejecting


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January, 1958precious tr uth and God says of them,"THOU ART DEAD!"When the question arose on make-up,God's ministers had to find, NOT "whatwill the most people go along WIth," but

"WHAT ISGOD'S WILL?"God's expressedwill as revealed in many PLAIN scriptures was made clear in my father'sarticle on make-up. But some did notagree with God's ruling-and so immediately fell into the trap of Satan,just as did Korah, and began to DENYTHE GOVERNMENT IN THIS CHURCHWAS AND IS THE GOVERNMENT OFGOD!Because some "wanted their OWNWAY" they began to point a finger atthe human instruments of God, saying itwas NOT God 's ruling, bu t merely the"ideas" of MEN! As I have alreadyshown-this is inevitably the PATTERNfol lowed by those carnal minded persons who still want their own way!But it was GOD THE FATHER and

JESUS CHRIST who made the decisionon make-up! They revealed to theirhuman servauts the plain truth 011 thesubject-and it then became the dutyat those human ins truments to revealthat truth to YOU!But please note carefully that thesecarnalminded individuals never evenattempt to answer from the Bibleshowing plain, clear scripture: to provetheir point (because they know theycan 't ), but invariably, just as did theJews (John 9), they begin to ridiculethe individual persons of those whowere used in making the decision!Don't YOU ever fall i nto tha t decep

tive trap!Rule in the New Testament ChurchHave you never not iced HOW MUCHof your New Testament reveals thegovernment of the Church?Some have assumed Church Govern

ment is an "idea" of MEN. Some havesaid it cannot be protied from the Bible?What?Are any of YOU so ignorant of thescriptures?Every single letter of the apostle Paulpresents in i tsel f a clear picture of theexercise of government and authority in

the Church!Not ice! Paul wrote to the ROMANSin Rome, even though he hadn't yetbeen to Rome, and began the letter byciting his apostolic AUTHORITY! "Paul,a servant of Jesus Christ called to bean apostle, separated [ORDAINED! - seeActs 13:14} unto the gospel of God"(Rom. 1: 1 ). He rebuked iheru lIIallYtimes, giving them instructions on howto live a godly life.Notice his le tt er to the Cor inthi ans .After stating again his office and divineauthority, he begins to sharply REBUKEthis church, which he spoke of as being

The GOOD NEWSyet carnal (I Cor. 3: 1) . Paul rei te rateshe spoke through the mind of Chr is t(Gal. 2:20 and I Cor. 2:16). He rebuked certain who were "puffed up." Hewrote: "Now some are puffed up, asthough I would not come to you. But Iwill come to you shortly, i f the Lordwill, and will know, not the speech ofthem which are puffed up, but thepower. For the kingdom of God is notin word, but in POWER. What will ye?Shall I come unto you WITH A ROD, orin love, and in the spirit of meekness?"( I Cor. 4: 18-21). Does this sound likePaul had authority in the Church? Itmost certainly does!In the next chapter , he deals with theone who had been committing fornication. Again, after admonishing the entirecongregation, he ordered them to PUTAWAY (disfellowship) the sinning person! When he did, he pu t TEETH in it!"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,when ye are gathered together, and myspirit, with the POWER of our LordJesus Christ, to deliver such an one untoSatan for the destruction of the flesh,that the spirit may be saved in the dayof the Lord Jesus" ( I Cor. 5:4-5) .He ordered them to do i t - in thename of Jesus Christ!

Paul's Personal CriticsSome were Paul 's critics. Some were"examining" Paul 's motives. In the 9thchapter, he showed he had the authority to take a wife with him-though hewas unmarried , and have her full expenses paid! "Mine answer to them thatdo examine me is this. Have we not

POWER [authority} to eat and to dr ink?Have we not power [authority} to leadabout a [christian} sister, a wife, as wellas o ther apostles, and as the brethren ofthe Lord, and Peter?" ( I Cor. 9:3-5) .He then went on to explain abouttithing, showing it was the tithe thatwas to finance Paul on his apostolicjourneys to spread the gospel.All the way through this wonderfulletter to the Corinthians, Paul gives themreproof, correction, admonition-ORDERS!Notice its last chapter. "Now concerning the collect ion for the saints, as

[ have Riven order to the churches ofGalatia, even so DO YE!" ( I Cor. 16:1.)And: "I beseech you, brethren , . . thatye submit yourselves unto such, and toeveryone that helpeth with us, andlaboureth" ( I Cor. 16: 15-16).Paul concludes this let te r by reminding them to show respect and submissivespir its toward those who had addictedthemselves to the minis try and the workof God.But was this a harsh rule to make theChurch miserable? Was Paul an "overlord" who was cracking his own whipover the poor, helpless souls in the

Page 7Church? Not so!"NOT for that we have dominion overyour faith, bu t are HELPERS of your joy:for by faith ye stand" (I I Cor. 1:24) .And yet, even in this second letter, Paulshows fur ther the authority God hadvested in His ministry:"For though I should boast somewhatmore of OUR AUTHORITY, which theLord hath given us for edification, andnot for your destruction , I should not beashamed . . . 'For his letters,' say [some},'are weighty and powerful; but hisbodily presence is weak, and his speechcontemptible.' Let such an one thinkthis, that, such as we are in word byletters when we are absent, SUCH WILLWE BE ALSO IN DEED WHEN WE AREPRESENT" (I I Cor. 10: 8-11 ) .Paul, in his first letter, had to use theauthority God had given him to correctand reprove the Church. The problemsthey had were of a very serious nature!Think of it! Some were even gettingdrunk on the wine during the Passover!Is it allY wonder Paul had lO REBUKEthem sternly?Notice, too, how he referred to certainindividuals within the Church who "examined" or cri ticized him, and otherswho spoke s tultifyingly of his personality.Read especially verse 1 of chapter10: "We will not boast of things without our measure, bu t according to themeasure of the RULE which God hathdistributed to us, a measure to reacheven unto you" (I I Cor. 10:13).Through the 11th chapter, Paul

showed the Cor inthians the utter carnality with which some of them werejudging. They were concerned with thephysical appearances, as carnalmindedpeople always are. He warned againstfalse apostles (I I Cor. 11: 13-15 ), andthen, through the remainder of thechapter , li sted the many hardships hehad undergone for their sakes!Finally, he concludes this letter ofChurch government by authoritativelytelling them he was going to SETTLEthe matter, and do it SWIFTLY, when hearr ived in Corinth in person! "In themouth of two or three witnesses shallevery word be established" (I I Cor.13: 1). He showed how God's government within the true Church must beconcerned with THE GOOD OF THEWHOIE CHURCH, even if it means cutting our ONE "spoiled" member , thatthe others are not affected with the samespi ri tual rot and decay! "I wri te to themwhich heretofore IJa'lJe sinned, and toall other, that, if I come again, I WILLNOT SPARE!" (I I Cor. 13:2)."Therefore I wri te these things beingabsent," he continued, "lest being present I should use sharpness, ACCORDINGTOTHE POWER WHICH THE LORD HATH


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Page 8GIVEN ME to edification, and not todestruction" (11 Cor. 13: 10 ).

Only an Isolated Case?But somewill say,"Oh, but the Churchat Corinth was a carnal Church-theyneeded correction-we don't need anyof that kind of 'rule and authority'today!"Again, Me you so ignorant of theWord of God?Listen!Every single letter of the apostle Paulin your Bible constitutes, IN ITSELF,one of the strongest proofs of the realauthority and power God p ut w i th i n theministry, and shows how that authorityis to be used!Paul takes up the entire first chapter,and part of the second, PROVING hisapostolic AUTHORITY to the Galatians!Read it!He writes, "0 FOOLISH GALATIANS,who hath bewitched you, that ye shouldnot OBEY the truth?" (Gal. 3: 1.)In the le tter to the Ephesians, he ex-plains the offices of the Church (Eph.4: 11); and the entire 4th and 5thchapters const itute d irec t admonit iverules by which they were to live! Paulshowed the ljovernment within the ministry by saying, "Tychicus, a belovedbrother and faithful minister in the Lord,shall make known to you all things:WHOM I HAVE SENT unto you" (Eph,

6:21-22).The Church at Philippi was not experiencing the same problems as thosein Corinth, and therefore did not need

to be corrected as much. But this letteralso illustrates Government in theChurch! The enti re second and thirdchapters of Philippians show Paul'sdirect admonitions on how to conduc ttheir lives. Paul said this Church wasan OBEDIENT Church! "Wherefore, mybeloved, as ye have always OBEYED,not as in my presence anI,,!, but nowmuch more in my absence, WORK OUTyour own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12) . He included certainpersonal notes concerning the ministryin the second chapter, saying "But Itrust in the Lord Jesus to SEND Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also maybe of good comfort , when I know yourstate" (Phil. 2: 19). After mentioningtwo of the other ministers, Timothy andEpaphrodicus, Paul reminds the Philippians to "HONOUR SUCH!" Or, as theAuthorized Version renders it: "Holdsuch in reputat ion!" (Phil . 2: 29.)In the letter to the Colossians, Paulbegins again by cit ing his apostleshipand authority. He opens the letter with awonderful descript ion of our callingand hope in Christ, showing Christ'shigh OFFICE now, and explaining onceagain the GOVERNMENT OF GOD INTHE CHURCH!

The GOOD NEWSNotice it! "And He [Christ} is beforeall things, and by Him all things consist.

And HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY,THECHURCH, who is the Beginning, theFirstborn from the dead" (Col. 1: 1718 ) .When we understand the real inten tof Colossians 2: 16-17 we see again, NOTan annulment of God's laws, bu t a direct

s ta tement about Church government!Paul says, in effect, not to let any manbe your judge as to HOW you keep theannual Holy Days, new moons or Sabbaths, BUT, on the other hand, let theChurch of God judge the manner. Theword "is" in verse 17 is italicized, showing it was supplied by the translators.Dropping out this added word, the context can mean: "Let no MAN thereforejudge you ... BUT (or, on the otherhand, let) the BODY OF CHRIST!" (Col.2: 16-17).The 3rd chapter is a series of directadmonitions on HOW TO LIVE!

In ALL the EpistlesAnd so it is-throughout Paul's writings, and throughout the Gospels, andTHROUGHOUT the entire New Testament! The Bible itself is a book ofAUTHORITY! Paul oftentimes referred,in his letters, to the VERBAL authorityof his office."Fur thermore then we beseech you,brethren, and hXHURT you by the LordJesus, that as ye have received of us[when he had been with them personally] how ye ought to WALK [live] andplease God, so ye would abound moreand more. For ye know WHAT COM-MANDMENTS we gave you by the LordJesus!" ( I Thes. 4:1-2.)He then continues to direct them inthe matter of marriage--commandingthem to abstain from fornication. Noticefur the r how he tells them to "study [beambitious} to be QUIET, and to do yourown business, and to work with yourown hands, AS WE COMMANDEDYOu!" (I Thes. 4: 11). Could anythingbe plainer?Paul reminded this Church , as he didalso the others, to respect the minis tryand acknowledge the authority God hadplaced in the Church. "And we beseechyou, b reth ren, to KNOW them whichlabour among you, and are OVER YOU,IN THE LORD, and ADMONISH you; andto esteem them very highly IN LOVE,for their WORK'S SAKE!" (I Thes. 4: 1213. )In concluding this letter, he said, "ICHARGE [give orders, instructions] thatthis epistle be read unto all the holybrethren" (I Thes. 5:27) .In his second let te r to this Church atThessalonica, Paul had to deal forciblywi th them! Because they did not heedhis gentle warnings and admonit ions ofthe first letter, he had to COMMAND

January, 1958them-and do it with the very authorityof Christ!"Now we COMMAND you, brethren,IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS

CHRIST, that y'" withdraw yourselvesfrom every brother that walketh dis-orderly, and not after the tradition whichhe received of us. For yourselves knowhow ye OUGHT TO FOLLOW [Greek,"imitate"} us, for we behaved NOT ourselves disorderly among you . . . Foreven when we were with you, THIS WECOMMANDED you, that if any wouldnot work, neither should he eat. For wehear that there are some which walk[live} among you DISORDERLY, workingnot at all, bu t are busybodies" (I I Thes.3:6-11).Paul was having to take a hand!Paul was using his God-given author-ity to SETTLE a matter! Did he do it intimidity-in spineless whining as thescribes and Pharisees? No! He mostcertainly did not!"Now them that are such WE COM-

MAND AND EXHORT B Y OU R LORDJESUS CHRIST that with quietnessthey WORK, and eat thei r own bread"(I I Thes. 3:12).Further, Paul told them to MARK anyone who did not OBEY his commands,and have no further fellowship with thatperson! "And if any man OBEY NOTourword by this epistle, NOTE that man, andhave no company with him, that he maybe ashamed!" (I I Thes. 3: 14.)

Instructions to the MinistryIn the "Pastoral" epistles, Paul isspecifically concerned with Church

Government! Their very presence in theBible is DIRECT PROOF of the Government of God within the Church.Paul wri tes to the young evangelis tsunder his charge to INSTRUCT them concerning the welfare of the Church. Heurges them to hand down this authori tyto those under them, and to ADMONISHthem, tha t the Church can GROW.READ THESE LETTERS AGAIN!Notice the very qualifications for holding office in the ministry have to do withhow well a man can RULE and GOVERN."One that RULETH WELL his ownhouse, having his children in subjectionwith all gravity. FOR IF A MAN KNOW

NOT HOW TO RULE HIS OWN HOUSE,HOW SHALL HE TAKE CARE OF THECHURCH OF GOD?" ( I Tim. 3:4-5).Paul said those elders who RULEDWELL (who really "bor e fruit" in theministry-and were able to HANDLE theresponsibilities of the office) were to begiven DOUBLE WAGES! (I Tim. 5: 17.)I could easily write many pages aboutthe DOZENS (literally doz ens - countthem!) of places in the letters to theyoung ministers where Church Government and authority is illustrated!(Please continue on page 10)


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God's Church Rejoices!Increased progress in the WORK of God's Church is cause forrejoicing! Here is another inside picture of the personal activities

of the Church-especially for you scattered brethren.by Roderick C. Meredith

N EW GROWTH is taking place inthe body of Jesus Christthe true Church of God! Weare now in the process of "gather ing ourforces" and building strength for thefinal big PUSH of evangelism before theend of this age.This intensified effort ought to remindus now more than ever before tha t weare not just a religious "work," but aCHURCH-the very Church Jesus Christsaid He would build (Mat. 16: 18).

An Important Office to FillA very important and significant stephas recently been taken which is vital

to the growth of the ent ire Church. Youbrethren need to understand i t-andrejoice!You may remember that we recentlycontracted for many more foreign stations because the time was being released by Dr. Charles E. Fuller of the"Old Fashioned Revival Hour:' Dr. Fuller is dropping most of his foreignbroadcasting work and gradually ret renching because he is get ting older,and there is no one to replace him andcarryon the broadcast with the sameeffectiveness.The "W --u T o-morrrnu" p r o g r ~ m ,however, is not the work of an individual-but the work of God's CHURCH.And Jesus Christ will ALWAYS see to itt ha t someone is there to carry out II iswork through His div ine POWER.Recently, Mr. Armstrong came torealize the need of someone who couldbe in complete charge of the work during his absences on business trips orcampaigns in God's service. Also, although he has every reason to expectto live and direct the work many, manymore years (his mother is almost 92),yet he knows that God has given noabsolute guarantee of extremely longlife to any of us-and therefore it isimpor tant that someone be designatedwho would automatically be able to fillhis place of leadership in the Church,the work and the college.Until very recently, Mr. Armstrongwas hesitant about making such an important decision for rwo reasons. First,he had tried to work and co-operatewith o ther ministers t ime and again inhis early ministry. But always he wasdisappointed. These othermen-in nearly every case-evenmally turned to lying,

to stealing God's tithe money, to committing adultery and to causing divisionin God's Church.So Mr. Armstrong learned the hardway that he must TEST and PROVE anyman before placing him in an office inGod's Church-not to speak of designating another man to have full authorityto direct the entire work in his absence!Second, until the past few months therehas been no one who was in any wayqualified to take over the many andvaried types of responsibilities that fallon the shoulders of the one in Mr.Armstrong's office.The man in his pos it ion must be ableto take over the broadcast and reach theworld effectively with God's message.He must be able and competent to oversee the wri ting and edi ting of the magazines and booklets-and to do a considerable part of the writing himself. Hemust be able to teach and instruct inmany ways, and he must have the executive know-how, and the wisdom andbalance to guide the Church and Ambassador College in the sound policiesit is now following.This man must be able to be the

business executive for the Church andCollege, and be able to command therespect of businessmen, engineers, architects, printers , adver tising men, radiomen, educators and a host of others. Hemust have a sotend. mind. and a balancedpersonality. For wherever he is, he represents the entire Church and College!And he must have the vision to thinkBIG-to personally inspire and guide thework of the Church around the entireearth, as God intends.

Tn addition to all these qual iries, hemust, of course, be thoroughly yielded

1958 HOLY DAY CALENDARPassover, observed after sunsetThurs.,April 3.Days of UnleavenedBread begin sunset Fri., Apr. 4; end sunset Fri., Apr.11. Annual Sabbaths are Apr. 5 and11 .Pentecost, Monday, May 26.Feast of Trumpets, Monday, Set't. 1


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Page 10ranks in Goefs Church are those ofapostle, evangelist, pastor and elder.But legally, as Vice-President, andspiritually as presiding Minister, Mr.Ted Armstrong is now authorized tokeep God's work going full speed aheadin any emergency or prolonged absenceof his father. Now God's work will NOTbe left without an active human leader,under Christ, to guide all its activities.This is causefor REJOICING! God hasprovided a spiritualminded servant whocan ably fill a most important place inHis work!

When you consider the long yearswhen Mr. Armstrong was the only faithful minister in God's great work, youcan more fully appreciate the great in-crease God has granted in bringingmany other faithful ministers into HisChurch-and now providing one qualified to take o u r in Mr. Armstrong'sabsence.The apostle Paul tells us tha t when"one member be honoured, all the members REJOICE with it" (I Cor. 12: 26).We should all rejoice in this recent appointment-in the spiritual progress itshows-and in the lasting good to God'swork it holds in store.God's Church marches on with increasing POWER!

Headquarter 's Church VisitedAnother important advancement ISthe fact that we are finally able toproperly visit and counsel with Churchmembers and radio listeners here in thePasadena area. Literally hundreds arenow being visited!You brethren in the other congregations may not realize it, but the Pasadena congregation has had less personalattention than almost any other. Theministers here at Headquarters are keptso busy carrying on the radio broadcast,wri ting and edi ting the magazines andCorrespondence Course, and teachingclasses that we have had practically notime to visit the members and listenershere in the local area.Our ministers our in the field devotetheir entire time during the week togiving the members personal help, counsel and encouragement. This has beena BLESSING you perhaps should appreci

ate more! But our local Pasadena congregation has not shared in this untilrecently.Now, at last, teams of ministers andadvanced student s from AmbassadorCollege are visiting hundreds of our local members and interested radio listeners!For the most part, this is being organized and directed by Mr. RaymondCole, who is now stationed here inPasadena AIso, Mr Dick Armstrong,Mr. George Meeker, and some of theocher ministers find time to visit mern-

The GOOD NEWSbers in addit ion to their regular duties.

The members in the Pasadena areaare enthusiastic abour this blessing, andmany have expressed "how thankful"they are. Al l of us can be truly THANK-FUL for the increased spiritual growthand stabili ty this will mean for the members in God's Headquarter 's Church inPasadena.And the congregation here is reallyGROWING and is now approaching sevenhundred in regular attendance. Come outand visit us sometime! You wiII seehundreds of happy faces!Next month we will repor t to you thejoyous news of great blessings and heal-ings in the outlying churches, and in ourforeign church in London, England.Meanwhile, keep PRAYING for God'speople everywhere. And thank Him forblessing, guiding and EMPOWERING HisChurch so wonderfully!How to Keep UNITY

(Continued from page 8)Bur this is enough.Brethren-you shouldn' t need threedozen scriptures telling you to do thesame thing! When God says DU a thing

-H e should need to say it ONLY ONCE!It remains OUR decision as to WHETHERwe will obey!Does Government Remove FREEMORAL AGENCY?"Bur isn't this thing DANGEROUS?"some might say. "Doesn't this authoritygiven to the ministry take away MY

RIGHT TO DECIDE FOR MYSELF?"No, IT DOESN'T!N O N E OF YO U H A VE T H E

R I G H T-O R E VER WILL H A V ETH E R I G H T TO DECIDE FORYOURSELVES W H A T IS R I G H TA N D W HA T IS W R O N G - T O DE-CIDE W H A T IS SIN!God decides what sin is. And it is theresponsibility of His ministers to preachwhat God has revealed in the Bible!BUT! YO U then, as a FREE MORALAGENT, MUST DEClDE W H ETH ER ORNOT YOU WILL OB E Y!God gives you that privilege! As afree, voluntary being, you can make upyour own mind whether or not you willchoose the RIGHT WAY or the WRONGway. God WILL not choose for you. ButYOU can NEVER decide for yourselfWHAT ISSIN! That is God's prerogative!For there is "ONE LAWGIVER who isable to save and to destroy" (James4: 12).And that GREAT LAWGIVER IS ALIVE!HE IS WORKING IN AND THROUGHTH IS CHURCH!I f you BELIEVE your B i b l e ~ i f youHAVE the Holy Spirit-if you BELIEVECHRIST IS TO DWELL I N His Church-

January, 1958tben you bave thl;: faith to know JesusChrist is CAPABLE of ruling HisChurch, and capable of making theR I G H T decisions, and of REM O VINGfrom office any instrument of His that isacting contrary to HISwill!

What a Great BLESSING I t Is!Peter wrote, "The elders which are

among you I exhort, who am also anelder, and a witness of the sufferingsof Christ, and also a partaker of theglory what shall be revealed: feed theflock of God which is among you ...neither as being LORDS over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock . . .be clothed with HUMILITY, for God resists the proud , and giveth grace to thehumble" ( I Peter 5: 1-5) .I'm sure all of you well realize thereare no OVERLORDS in God's Church.God's ministers are pur in these officesNOT to inflate their vanity, or to decoratetheir persons-bur to enable them toSERVE YOU! The Government in ourChurch is one of the greatest BLESSINGSGod has given us!

Without i t-there would be division,strife, splits, party spirit, and every EVILwork-thus PREVENTING the very Bodyof Chri st from carrying out ItS GREATJOB of preaching this Gospel to all theworld!Just think of it! Mr. Armstrong hasNEVER had to write to one of our congregations as did Paul, saying, in effect,"Are you going to settle the rnatter-c-oaDO J HAVE TO COME WITH A BIG STICKTO SETTLE IT MYSELF?" Thank God wedo have a spi rit of love and harmony inthe Church today!Yes-THANK GOD, He has given usC HU RC H G OV ER NM EN T to PRESERVEthat precious spirit within the Church!

We Saw PETRA!(Continued from page 4 )

had to find a place in the stream-bed ofthe Wady Musa where the boulders wereremoved. This permitted the waterwhich was flowing beneath the levelof the Wady to collect so that we andthe Bedouins and the sheep and goatscould drink the cool, fresh water on thatJuly day!The few children of Jaakan at Kadeshdid not resist the Israelites when Israelcame to Kadesh the first time, or elsethey would not have been there to meetthe Israelites nearly 40 years later! It appears also that a few of the Kenitesdwelt around Petra and elominated theregion. The Kenites had their strongdwelling place "in a rock"-"in Sela" according to the original Hebrew (Num.24: 21). Scla is Petra. Moses' fatherin-Iaw-a priest himself-was a Kenite(Judges 1: 16) probably from Sela,


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January, 1958where rhe children of Jaakan also dwelt.And isn't this also an indicationthat Moses' experiences in the wildernessfor 40 years prior to the exodus were tofit him to lead Israel to the safety ofKadesh before entering the promisedland?Is this also why several of the min isters have visited Petra today?But to return to Numbers 33. Afterleaving Kadesh the first time, the children of Israel did not need to stop atMe. HoI. They proceeded southwest in

to the Arabah and came to Horhagidgad,then to jorbarhah, then to Ebronah(verses 32-34). This took them into theSinaitic wilderness where no further en-campments are recorded for about 37years! We do not need to know theroute of their miserable wanderings.The account in Num. 33 next picksup the journey of Israel from Eziongaher to Kadesh again (verses 35,36)about the beginning of the for tieth year

after the exodus.The Return to KadeshThirty-nine years have now elapsedsince the Exodus from Egypt. "Thencame the children of Israel, even thewhole congregation, to the desert of Zinin the first month [of the fortieth year,according to Josephus}: and the peopleabode in Kadesh; and Mir iam [rhe sisterof Moses} died there, and uas buriedthere" (Numbers 20: I ).The Bible records tha t Miriam wasburied in Kadesh. In William Whiston'sfootnote in Josephus' Antiquities of theJews, bk. IV, ch. iv, sec 7, we read that

"her sepulchre is still extant near PETRA,the old capital city of Arabia Perraea, atthis day; as also that of Aaron, not faroff"!Now notice what happened nexr."And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and againstAaron. . . . And the Lord spake untoMoses, saying, Take the rod, and gatherthou the assembly together, thou, andAaron thy brother, and speak ye untothe ROCK before their eyes; and it shallgive forth his water, and thou shaltbring forth to them water out of theROCK: so thou sha lt give the congregation and their beasts to drink."Then "Moses and Aaron gathered thecongregation together before the ROCK,and he said unto them, Hear now, yerebels; must we fetch you water ou t ofthis ROCK? And Moses lifted up hishand, and with his rod he smote theROCK twice: and rhe warer came Outabundantly, and the congregation drank,and their beasts also.""And the Lord spake unto Moses andAaron, Because ye believed Me not , tosanctify Me in the eyes of the childrenof Israel"-God had ordered Moses to

The GOOD NEWSspeak LO th e ROCK, nor ro strike it, toshow tha t it was God alone who couldproduce the water at the precise rnoment-"therefore ye shall not bring thiscongregation into the land which I havegiven them" (Numbers 20:2, 7-8,10-12).What rock is it that Moses struck?

It is SELA in Hebrew! - usuallyspelled "SELAH" in the King JamesVersion."SELA" Another Name fo r PETRAThe first t ime the word "sela" appearsin the Bible is in this account at Kadesh.Sela means a "lofty, craggy rock; therock-ci ty of Idumaea" (Strong's Can-cordonce], The "rock-city" is Petra. The

Old Testament often calls Petra "Sela"or "Selah."There are two Hebrew words commonly rendered rock. One is sela, theo ther is tsur. The word tSU1' may mean"a cliff, a rock, a boulder ."When Moses struck "the rock inHoreb," 39 years before, he did no tstrike Sela or Petra. He struck tsur!Observe: "Behold, I," spoke God toMoses, "I will st and before thee there

upon the rock [tsur] in Horeb; and thoushalt smite the rock [tsur] , and thereshall come water out of it. ... And hecalled the name of the place Massah[meaning " tempta tion"} , and Meribah[meaning "strife"}, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord saying, Isthe Lord among us, or 11m?" (Exodus17:6-7) .

This rock- tsur- is referred to spiritually in I Corinthians 10:4: "And theydid all dri nk the same spiritual dri nk:for they drank of that spiritual Rockthat followed them [a better translationis "went with them"}: and that Rockwas Christ."Upon that very rock the Lord stoodwhen Moses struck it in Horeb. Thatrock may very well be Jacob's pillow(Genesis 28: 11, 18), still to be seentoday in Westminster Abbey. Thatphysical rock wh ich accompanied or"went with" Israel represented Chris t

(Deut . 32:4; Psalm 18:31).The waters which sprang from the

two different rocks, nearly 39 yearsapart, were both called "Meribah"(Exodus 17:7; Num. 20:13, 24). Thathas led some to confuse the events.Me1'ibah means "strife." In both instances the children of Israel strove withGod. To distinguish between the two,Moses was inspired to use the expression"Meribah in Kadesh' (Num. 27: 14), or"Meribah-Kadesh" (Deut. 32:51), forthe later strife over water at Sela. Theplace of the first s tr ife is sometimescalled Massah (Ex. 17:7) to distinguishit from Kadesh.About four months have now elapsed

Page 11since Israel came ro Kadesh the secondtime. "And the chi ldren of Israel, eventhe whole congregation, journeyed fromKadesh, and came unto Mount Hor. Andthe Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron inMount Hor, by the coast of the land ofEdam, saying, Aaron shall be gatheredunto his people" (Num. 20:22-21).

Where Did Aaron Die?The same event is recorded in Numbers 33:37-38.A little to the southwest of Petra isa 4800 foot mountain called Jebel NebiHarun by the Arabs. I t means Mountof the Prophet Aaron. It is the traditional site of the death of Aaron. Dr.Meredith and I were able to view itf rom a top the crags of Petra at ed. Deir-a lofty, carved monastery.Josephus, the Jewish his torian in thet ime of the apostles, tells us that Aarondied on one of the "high mountains"which encompasses "Petra"! Mt. Hor isby Petra!-"by the coast of the land ofEdam" (Num. 20:23).

I f you WIll scrutinize modern Biblemaps you will see that some scholarsspeculate that Mt. Hor might have beenMt. Madurah in the Negeb, in the Southof Palestine. But this area was wellwithin the promised land. God nevergave it to Edam. It is far to the westof Edam's borders. It is not whereAaron died. Aaron died on the southernborder of Edam in Seir. This was as farsouth in the Mt. Seir range as Edamhad yet settled.Where Was the King's Highway?When Moses and the Israel ites wereat Kadesh they sent messengers to the

king of Edam asking permission to "goby the king's highway" (Num. 20: 17).Fdom refused passage."And the ch ildren of Israel said untohim, 'We will go by the highway: andif I and my cattle drink of thy water,then I will pay for it'." In response tothis second request we read: "And hesaid"-this is Edam's reply-v'Thoushalt not go through." They refusedagain. "And Edam came out against himwith much people, and with a stronghand. Thus Edam refused to give Israel

passage through his border: whereforeIsrael t urned away from him" (Num.20: 19-21).Israel was not permitted to go throughEdam by the King's Highway. Wherewas this highway?Part of it may still be seen today. Itlay east of the Dead Sea and east of Mr.Seir. It is nearly identical with today'smain-traveled road from Amman to theGulf of Aqaba. All of us who have vis-

ited Petra have had to travel the samegeneral route of this ancient highway!It is the only highway in the region!This rout e east of Palestine and Mr.


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Page 12Seir has always been known in historyas the King's Highway.What was Israel going to do, nowthat Edam refused them passage by thisroute?

Journey NORTHWARDin the ArabahJust before Israel moved from EZlOn

gaber to Kadesh, the second time, Godsaid to Moses: "Ye have compassedthis mountain long enough; turnNORTHWARD. And command thou thepeople, saying: 'Ye are to pass throughthe border of your brethren the childrenof Esau, that dwell in Seir . . . contendnot with them" (Deut. 2:2-5) .After Kadesh was reached and theKing's Highway closed to them, Mosessummarizes the next few months bysaying: "So we passed by from ourbrethren the children of Esau, that dwellin Seir, tbrougb the way of the Arabah[the King James Version has "plain"},from Elath and from Eziongaber"(Deut . 2:8 ) .Did you not ice that?In the last year of the wildernesswandering the children of Israel proceeded NORTHWARD to Kadesh through theArabah, which lies west uf Me Seir.They passed from Blath to Eziongaberto Kadesh through the Arabah. Thistime they entered Kadesh in Mt. Seirfrom the southwest, not from the eastas they did almost 38 years earlier."From the Araba travellers approach bya track which . . . enters the plain ofPetra from the south" (EncyclopaediaBritannica, article "Petra"). Moses purposed to go east through Kadesh inorder to reach the King's Highway.When refused, Israel had to turn back,pass by Mt. Hor, and continue northward through the Arabah to by-pass theterritory of Edam.Most Bible maps would have thechildren of Israel going southwardaround Mt. Seir and then t ak ing theKing's Highway in order to by-passEdam! It shows how little most scholarsread the ir Bibles. Israel had to go westof Edam through the Arabah in orderto avoid cutting t hrough the border ofEdam.Upon leaving Me Hor , Israel journeyed to Gudgodah and to jotbarh(Deut. 10:7). These two places on theroad from Petra to the Arabah Road areprobably spelling variants of the twolocations-Hor-hagidgad and Jotbathah-which Israel stopped at about 38years earlier when leaving Kadesh thefirst time (Num. 33:33).This clearly proves tha t the Eternalwas leading the children of Israel intothe Arabah from Kadesh both t imesthe first time southward by the Red SeaRoad into the wilderness; the secondtime by the same Red Sea Road north-

The GOOD NEWS1JJard to compass the land of Edom(Num. 21:4). This road is called the"Arabah Road" in Deut. 2: 8, because itran the length of the Arabah, nor th andsouth of Petra.When the Canaanites heard thatIsrael was proceeding northward (Deut.2: 3,8), "by the way of the spies" (Num,21: 1) - that is, by the way which the

spies used to enter Palestine when theysearched the land 40 days-then theCanaanites fought Israel and were thistime defeated (Num. 21: 3 ) .These verses show that Israel proceeded northward, not southward, on theArabah Way-the "Way of the Plain,"sometimes called the "Way of the RedSea." To go the way of the Red Sea doesnot mean one has to go to the Red Sea.It would, of course, be the route leadingto the Red Sea, but one may be goingin the opposite direction on the road-just as Israel did! This Arabah roadstretched from the Gulf of Aqaba northward to near the Dead Sea.En route north, they came to Punon(Nurn. 33:42 ). The set tlement of Punon is north of Petra and in the Arabah.It is an area of extensive copper mines.(See Keller's The Bible as History,p. 143.) Its modern Arabic name isPhenan.The stop at Punon immediately preceded the stop at Oboth (Num. 33:43 ) .Now compare this with Numbers 21:9and 10. Not ice tha t at Punon-the stopjust before Oboth-Moses made a "serpent of hrass"-an alloy of copper. Certainly there is no mistaking wherePunon is!The very next encampment is on "theborder of Moab" (Num. 33:44).Not until they reached the nor thernborder of Edam did Israel cut eastwardbetween Moab and Edom along thebrook Zered (Deut, 2:8 , last part, and13). This was 38 years after t hey l ef tKadesh the first time (Deut. 2: 14).They had to journey eastward becauseIsrael had rejected the direct route intoPalestine from the south nearly fortyyears earlier!

Petra Occupied by Is raelNext, let us skip over to the time

Israel under Joshua took the promisedland. Remember that Kadesh rightfullybelonged to Israel (Deut. 1: 19-20).Observe what Joshua did: "AndJoshua smote them from Kadesh-barneaeven unto Gaza, and all the country ofGoshen, even unto Gibeon" (Joshua10:41). Here the easternmost l imit ofsou thern Palestine is the city Kadeshbarnea. Compare this with Joshua15: 1-3:"This then was the lot of the tribe ofJudah ... even to the border of Edomthe wilderness of Zin .,southward. . . .And their south border was from the

January, 1958shore of the salt sea . . . and passed alongto Zin, and ascended up on the southside unto Kadesh-barnea."And again: "So Joshua took all thatland .. . (Nld th e Arabah ["the plain"in King James Version} ... even untothe mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir'(Josh. 11: 16-17). "Mount Halak" is notqui te a clear translation of the original

Hebrew. The word "Halak" meanssmooth, bare. Smith's Bible dictionary indicates it is "the mountain range on theeast side of the 'Arabah, or one of thebare mountain summits in that range."Hastings' Bible Dictionary declares:"The Arabah Valley gradually rises toward the summit level, which it reachesimmediately in front of Mount Hor onthe borders of Seir; and to this line ofelevation the term 'smooth' would not beinapplicable, while at the same t ime itwould be on the line of communicationbetween southern Palestine and Petra,the capital of Seir,"Observe that all these verses point outthat Israel occupied the Arabah justwest of Mr. Seir even to the barrenmountain region of Petra. Yet we found(Joshua 10:41) the easternmost bordercity is Kadesh-barnea.Surely Petra and Kadesh are the samefrom these verses!Years later Judah had to recapturePetra after the Edomites rebelled (IIKings 8: 20; 14:7). Petra belonged toIsrael. The capital of Edam was notPetra, but Bozrah (Amos 1: 12; Jer.49: 13,22). Perra was the gate by whichIsrael controlled their Edomite enemies.Consider another important fact.Josephus, Eusebius and Jerome wrotethat the Aramaic, Assyrian and Arabicname for Petra was Rekem (Antiquities,bk. iv, ch. 7, sec. 1). Rekem comes fromthe Arabic word for "ROCK." "But in theAramaic versions Rekem IS THE NAMEOF KADESH," according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica! This authority, underart icle "Petra ," fur ther states: "Sometimes the Aramaic versions give theform Rekern-Geya [for Kadesh}, whichrecalls the name of the village El-ji,southeast of Petra."Here are literally dozens of Scriptures-hidden from the world-whichclearly speak of Petra and the route toPetra!These Scriptures are profitable forour INSTRUCTION. Those events in OldTestament times are examples for ustoday ( I Cor. 10: 11). Under Moses,Kadesh-Petra-was the station fromwhich the promised land could havebeen entered. Will it again be the laststation today for those who are obedient,before entering the promised eternalKingdom of God?We do not absolutely know yet! Thatis why we must watch the shaping offuture events.

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Good News 1958 (Vol VII No 01) Jan_w