| Seven
Baskets Full
by George Hawtin
Treasures of Truth Vol. 19, "Seven
Baskets Full": The Six Statements of Malachi by
George Hawtin
The prophet Malachi was sent by God to preach to the remnant
of Israel who had returned from the captivity of Babylon.
It was indeed a grave and troublesome time for them, for,
though they had followed Ezra and Nehemiah out of the bondage,
sorrow, and night of their captivity, even the blindest men
can see that there was not a spirit of national revival among
them by any means. The Spirit of God had burdened many with
a great longing to leave Babylon and return to Israel now
that the opportunity was afforded them, but though many had
willingly left behind all they possessed in that kingdom of
captivity to return in hope to their native land, the evidence
suggests that only a very few of them had any true understanding
or delight in the things of God. Perhaps it is too much to
expect that a people who had been in captivity for a period
of seventy years, deprived of their worship and forced into
the corruption and idolatry of the Babylonians, would have
much understanding of the plans and purposes of the true God.
Those brave souls who follow the true God regardless of Baal
or the gods of Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar are always
in the infinitesimal minority. God never leaves Himself
without a witness. He always has his remnant who has never
bowed a head nor bent a knee either to Baal or to any of earth's
systems. We may have to spend days in travel to reach them,
for they are always scattered to the four winds, unrecognized
by the world and frequently unknown to each other as were
the seven thousand in Elijah's day.
As literal Israel in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah returned
from the literal Babylon, so today spiritual Israel
is returning from a spiritual Babylon to that Zion
which God is now preparing for His own. The parallel is this:
As they returned in much blindness and misunderstanding among
the many who are now leaving the dreary traditions of the
past with all the slavish forms of religion and monotonous
ceremony. When Israel came out of Egypt, they were not ready
to enter the land of Canaan, but with rebellious minds they
groped in the wilderness and in their hearts often turned
back to Egypt. So also it is now. But he who putteth his
hand to the plow and looketh back is not fit for the
kingdom of God. When Jesus said, "As it was in the day
that Lot went out of Sodom, so shall it be in the day of the
coming of the Son of man," He added these significant
words: "Remember Lot's wife." Let none of us be
like unto her who turned her eyes from the mountain
before her to look with longing and regret toward that city
of destruction from which she had so recently escaped.
It is not the fact that we start the journey to the
celestial realm that is important. It is not that we continue
in the way for a week or a month or a year. The thing that
really counts is that we continue year after year pressing
on through mists or rain, o'er crag and torrent, through
darkness and troubled seas, through misunderstanding and resentment
until we reach the goal and seize the reward, the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The world
is full of spiritual "drop-outs", people
who ran well or "also ran", but because
of adversity were hindered in the race and turned back as
a dog returns to his vomit or a sow to her wallowing in the
mire. Let us look diligently lest any man fail of
the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble us, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be
any fornicator or profane (worldly) person as Esau, who for
one morsel of meat sold his birthright, for we know
how that afterward, when he would have inherited the
blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place
of repentance, though he sought it bitterly with tears.
Heb. 12:15-17.
The prize that lies before the saints of God who are leaving
the blinding traditions of the past and who are on the march
to Zion is much greater than the hope of the Jews who returned
to Zion with Nehemiah or of their forefathers who left Egypt
with Moses, for "ye are come to Mount Zion and the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits
of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Heb.
12:22-24. Therefore, let us be sure we do not refuse to hear
the voice of God, for, if those who refused to hear those
who spoke on earth did not escape, how little chance of escape
is there for us if we refuse to hear the One who now speaks
from heaven? Then His voice shook the earth, but now He
promises, "Yet once more I will make to tremble,
not the earth only, but also the heaven." This means
that in the final shaking all that is not permanent,
that is, everything that is merely "made",
will be removed and only the unshakable things will remain.
Since, then, we have been given a kingdom that is unshakable,
let us serve God with thankfulness in the ways which please
Him, but always with reverence and holy fear, for it is perfectly
true that our God is a burning fire. Heb. 12:25-28.
To be continued....
Treasures of Truth, volume 2, "Seed for the Sower and Bread for
the Eater." Divine
Revelation
The writings of George Hawtin and A. P. Adams are available
from:
Treasures of Truth
P.O. Box 99
Eagle, Idaho 83616 USA
Links to more writings by George Hawtin:
www.kingdomlife.com/kingdom/hawtinwritings.htm
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