Parousia: Sabbathkeeping, Patriotism, and National Ruin
CITIZENS of the United States have realized some distinct and unique advantages in living and participating in a country that has enjoyed a special relationship with the great God of heaven and earth. It must be admitted, of course, that this relationship has been unbalanced and one-sided, but in spite of national coldness and unresponsiveness to the divine wooings, the blessings and providences of Heaven have been signal and abundant.
This gracious watchcare was especially evident during those early turbulent years of the Republic when so many discord ant and vested-interest factions struggled to overcome natural inclinations and to forge themselves into a viable federation. Indeed, the Founding Fathers were reminded repeatedly that they were caught up in an endeavor that bore the superscription of none other than God Himself. In his First Inaugural Address, delivered on April 30, 1789, President Washington gave characteristic expression of this heavenly mission.
“It would be particularly improper to omit, in this official act, my fervent supplication to that Almightly Being, who rules over the universe. . . . No people can be bound to acknowledge the invisible hand, that con ducts the affairs of men, more than the American people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
Adventist founders and pioneers, as well, were convinced that God had an energetic interest in the affairs of the American people. Ellen White gave credence to this conviction: “The United States is a land that has been under the special shield of the Omnipotent One.” The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, on Rev. 13:11, p. 975.
It would certainly’ appear that God wanted to use the fledgling nation, which, unlike others, had risen up “out of the earth,” in much the way that He had longed and purposed to use Israel of old. Protestant America was to be a national showcase where the treasured jewels of divine favor could be magnificently displayed, God was to work in a “marvelous manner” and “spread the shield of Omnipotence” over this country (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 206) as long as Republicanism and Protestantism remained its fundamental principles.
Unfortunately, like Israel before her, the American people have appeared bent on walking by sight and not by faith. Even though Christ has declared unequivocally that His kingdom is not of this world, herculean efforts have been made and will continue to be made to establish just such a kingdom here upon the earth. America will yet wrest herself wholly free of the divine embrace and will assume prerogatives that God has denied even to Himself.
Revelation 13 indicates that, while evincing the character of a lamb in the years of her juvenescence, and guaranteeing to all men life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, she will yet speak with the dreadful voice of the dragon. Total and absolute economic control will be exercised over the very populace that have combined their talents and strength to bring the Republic to heretofore unsealed heights of national prosperity and prestige. No man will be able to buy or sell unless he violates his precise conception of Tightness, and submits to the conscienceless mechanism of the majority.
The transition from lamb to dragon is a tragic spectacle, and becomes even more lamentable when one considers what might have been had the country fol lowed on to know the purpose of divine Providence. One cannot help but visualize the Saviour weeping over the American nation, even as He wept over Jerusalem. How oft would He have gathered the people together, but they would not.
The church has been warned, “. . . our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government.” Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451. This repudiation constitutes a final rejection of all that is unique to the American experience and endeavor. It is an ultimate disavowal of the nation’s manifest destiny. “Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity.” The Great Controversy, p. 441. When the very principles that underlie national greatness and prosperity are cast aside as obsolete and as belonging to an older isolationist and agrarian age, “national apostasy will be followed by national ruin” (The SDA Bible Commentary, Ellen G. White Comments, on Rev. 14:9-12, p. 977).
What does all this have to do with the observance of the true Sabbath? Much in every way. It is easy to see that this repudiation of basic principles holds tremendous consequence for the American people. It holds, however, even greater significance for the true church of God and its appointed ministry. As the judgements of God fall in increasing severity upon this once-favored nation, and as natural, social, political, and economic catastrophes and upheavals convulse the once-proud Republic, it will be declared that all of these calamities are a manifestation of God’s displeasure with the nation for countenancing in its midst those who uphold the seventh day as the one true Sabbath and thereby holy unto the Lord. It will be asserted that the nation will be returned to divine favor and economic prosperity only when the Sabbath is trodden underfoot and Sunday is exalted in its place. (See The Great Controversy, p. 590.)
This assertion is most arresting when one considers that just the opposite is the truth. It is the acceptance of the Sabbath and all that it signifies that could have preserved both national greatness and individual liberty. More than any other institution or instrument, the Sabbath is designed to promote the general welfare and to ensure domestic tranquillity. The Sabbath points men to the source of their inalienable rights.
The Source of Human Rights
Realizing that America’s Founding Fathers were not necessarily entirely altruistic in their motives, they did think long and seek far in their efforts to establish a system of government that was equal to the grand design they treasured in their hearts and would avoid the pitfalls into which all the others had fallen. They were pledged to securing a government that would be characterized by permanence and stability, as well as tolerance. They did not want it to become an oppressor of the governed. They knew full well that the answer to this great problem lay in locating the source of human rights. It was precisely here that nearly all the others had failed.
After searching the political philosophies of Greece and Rome, as well as those of the Enlightenment, with its great emphasis on natural law, they became convinced that the true source of man’s rights is found in his creaturehood. That is, they were given to him by his Creator. Therefore, human rights cannot be denied. They can only be recognized and protected.
This precious understanding eventually found expression in what Sister White has so fittingly described as “that grand old document . . . the Declaration of Independence” (The GreatControversy, p. 295). There, set forth in glorious terms, is found the truth that rights are not privileges to be extended to the human family at the whim of rulers, governments, or even the popular majority. Rather, “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. . . .” (Italics supplied.)
“The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle that man’s relation with his God is above human legislation, and his rights of conscience inalienable.” Ibid. The fact that man is endowed by his Creator with inalienable rights requires neither proof nor defense. We need not resort to logic or sustained reasoning to substantiate this self-authenticating principle. “We are conscious of it in our bosoms.” Ibid. Human rights are inextricably bound up with a sense and appreciation of Creation. Liberty results when men become conscious of their creaturehood and come thereby to acknowledge the love, worship, and obedience they now owe to their God and Maker. Liberty and freedom are spiritual in their essence. “Satan’s methods tend to one end to make men the slaves of men.” –Testimonies to Ministers, p. 361. In his Epistle to the Christians at Rome, the apostle Paul sets forth the principle that the refusal to serve and worship the Creator results in man’s worship of and subjection to his fellow men (see Rom. 1:25).
Rights and the Three Angels’ Messages
It is more than interesting or coincidental that around the year 1844 urgent messages of heavenly origin were dispatched to the earth. These communications called attention to issues of vital importance such as the judgment, the collapse of human religion and planning, and the need to keep holy the seventh day of the week as a memorial of God’s creative power and activity. All of the messages were designed to put man on his guard and to direct his mind to his Creator the source of his liberty. The true fountain of freedom was about to be concealed, and man’s only hope was to return to the observance of the true Sabbath and gain thereby a deep abiding Creator-consciousness.
It has now become strikingly evident that the continued preservation of individual rights and liberty were contingent upon acceptance of those messages. Refusal to accept them would place the American people in a position similar to that of the Jewish nation after the glory had departed from the Temple and they knew it not. Because they loved not the truth, they would soon be overcome with a strong, overmastering delusion.
The three angels’ messages and especially the truth of the seventh-day Sabbath were not arbitrary injunctions to be executed at the whim of some re mote, unconcerned deity. There was no reason for them to be considered at best as irrelevant or outlandishly sectarian. The Creator had sent the mes sages in love and concern, for they were desperately needed right at that time if the great American experiment in liberty was not to collapse in disastrous ruin. The Sabbath would have stood as an impregnable fortress in which the young nation could have found shelter from the relentless forces of evolution and naturalistic humanism that were preparing at that very moment to take the world by storm. Wherever they marched, they would leave behind in their wake loss of liberty and irreparable damage to the human spirit. Nothing human would be safe from the ubiquitous onslaught.
Dressed in garments of light, evolution and naturalistic humanism would gain access to the strongest and oldest of earthly institutions. While they promised liberty, they could not grant it, for they themselves were the servants of corruption. Evolution would hide from view the glorious truth of man’s divine origin and thereby the source of his freedom and rights. Naturalistic humanism would convince men that with enough time and effort (and money) a brave new world could be established right here upon the earth. Man kind was being taught to look to himself for the source of his lib erty. He would enslave himself in the process and actually destroy all that he was attempting to establish.
In what has been known as free America, the government will of necessity move from the position of protector of man’s Creator-endowed inalienable rights to that of assuming control of nearly every phase of life under the guise of social plans, “deals,” and “phases.” This is brought about by a baffling array of problems and conditions for which there seem to be no answers, let alone easy ones.
Isn’t this what Ellen White was talking about when she wrote: “There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis.” —Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 13.
As in the future it becomes more and more apparent that the country is failing economically, more stringent measures and controls will have to be implemented. The man on the street will not be able to fathom what is taking place and undoubtedly, in his panic, will demand that the government assume ever broader prerogatives, little realizing that increased economic controls result in loss of personal freedom. Increased controls will only result in further collapse. Won’t this be the time suggested in The Great Controversy when it will finally be declared that the country’s real problem is not economic or social, but spiritual? It will be emphasized that a return to God is the nation’s only hope for survival.
Predicted Loss of Rights
The outcome of all this will be that as man forgets the source of his own rights, it will be easy for him to trample with impunity upon the rights of others. Pragmatism will be the rule of the day. Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of preserving the nation. Sabbathkeepers will be denied the foundational right of exercising freedom of conscience.
“Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. … In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned.
“A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives. . . . Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected.” The Great Controversy, p. 592.
What are we to do? Are we to thank God that He has been pleased to extend to us this in sight into our country’s progressive failure, and then quietly fold our hands in calm expectation? Not for a moment! We are told to place ourselves in a proper light before the people before the emergency arises. We are to show our love of country and our concern for its well-being. When rights are being infringed upon with ever greater impunity, it is our God-given responsibility to point our fellow men to the source of their rights. We are to show that it is the Creator who endows men with inalienable rights. Let us demonstrate that in keeping holy the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation we are helping to preserve all men’s in alienable rights. Indeed, Sabbathkeeping is the highest form of patriotism. It is putting the same effort into preserving freedom that the Founding Fathers put into establishing it. How very applicable and appropriate are those moving words of James 1:25: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Author: Bill Rorick Ministry Magazine 1973
