The organization founded by Moses at Mount Sinai was a
judicial organization. It was concerned with judicial matters. Let me
illustrate.
Today, when a man breaks a civil law, the judicial
apparatus is called into action. A judge cannot direct anyone's behavior
if he has not broken any law. The only power which a judge has is judicial
power, which power is implemented only when the law is transgressed.
When Moses organized Israel he organized only the
judicial power, nothing else, as described in Exodus 18:21-27:
"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such
over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, ruler of
fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all
seasons:... And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them
heads over the people ... And they judged the people at all seasons: the
hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged
themselves."
This judicial power did not have any power to rule; it
had no possessions; it had no right to tax the people. All that it had
were God's Commandments, nothing else. This power could not legislate.
That is, Israel could not add, delete, or modify the law. Ellen White
explains:
"The government of Israel was administered in the name
and by the authority of God. The work of Moses, of the seventy elders, of
the rulers and the judges, was simply to enforce the laws that God had
given; they had no authority to legislate for the nation. This was, and
continued to be, the condition of Israel's existence as a nation. From age
to age men inspired by God were sent to instruct the people and to direct
in the enforcement of the laws." PP 603
The above statement tells us that the only power Israel
possessed was judicial power-not legislative power. A judge could not
create a new law. If it would have been possible for a judge to create a
new law, then he would have been able to judge every case before him in an
arbitrary way, changing the law as he saw fit. But legislation is not the
work of a judge. The only thing which a judge may do is to enforce
existing law. The only legislative power in Israel belonged to God
Himself. In this separation of power (legislation through God and
enforcement through the chosen elders) was the condition of Israel as a
nation.
In the surrounding nations it was completely different.
Therein was the reason that Balaam said: "lo, the people shall dwell
alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Numbers 23:9. Israel
was not a nation, in the true sense of the word, because in a nation there
are three powers: executive, legislative and judicial. God Himself was the
Executive and the Legislator. The people could only organize the judicial.
That is the reason why Stephen called Israel "the church". When he
referred to "the church in the wilderness," Acts 7:38 the word used here
in the Greek is our word for church. That means that Israel was not a
nation like every other nation; rather, it was a church. And God was the
only King in His church.
When the first human king arose in Israel, God gave
through the mouth of Jotham an object lesson regarding human kings in His
church. Jotham said about Abimelech: "Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem,
that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a
king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But
the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me
they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the
trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree
said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go
to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come
thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my
wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us.
And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over
you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come
out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon." Judges 9:7-15.
E. G. White comments on these verses:
"By the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine, in Jotham's
parable, were represented such noble, upright characters as Moses and
Joshua, who had been a living illustration of what a leader of Israel
should be. Such men claimed no kingly honors. It was their work to bless
their fellow man, and they did not aspire to rank or power." ST 8-4-1881.
The history of Israel shows that every king of Israel
was more or less a bramble. This bramble character of their kings was not
always the personal fault of the king, but it belonged to the character of
the kingship. God had warned them about this (1 Samuel 8). The kingship of
Solomon, for example, was nauseating for the people (1 Kings 12). He was a
bramble. Likewise will a human king in a church always be a bramble.
Solomon knew this, and was conscious of this fact. Hear
his words:
"If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the
matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be
higher than they." Ecclesiastes 5:8.
The Jerusalem Bible expresses the same thought in this
way:
"If in a province you see the poor oppressed, right and
justice violated, do not be surprised. You will be told that officials are
under the supervision of superiors, who are supervised in turn; you will
hear talk of `the common good' and `the service of the king'."
Ecclesiastes 5:8 (Jerusalem Bible, Popular Edition 1968).
In the Proverbs we read that in the animal kingdom God
has given us examples of organization which He desires in His church and
for His people. "There be four things which are little upon the earth, but
they are exceeding wise: The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all
of them by bands." Proverbs 30:24-27. In the sixth chapter he expresses
the same ideas:
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and
be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in
the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." Proverbs 6:6-8.
These proverbs are not lessons in biology, but rather
in organization. And so founded Jesus His church with no human authority,
no human ruler, only human servants. To the Corinthians Paul wrote "For we
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake." 2 Corinthians 4:5.
In the New Testament church it was impossible for one
person to be in the highest position, because the churches everywhere had
the command of the Lord to "ordain elders [plural] in every city." Every
church should have at least two elders, for the simple reason that we
should not build a hierarchy, a pyramid. Moreover, these elders had
executive power only within the framework of the judicial, to be used when
the laws of God were violated. But the final decision was in the hands of
the church (Matthew 16:18-19), and only in those cases where the keys of
heaven were used (that is, the Word of God). In Matthew 18:17 we read that
Jesus gave the church (not merely the elders) the power to purify the
church from transgressors. And remember, no one has the right to legislate
new rules or give new commandments.
According to E. G. White there is on this point no
difference between the Old and the New Testament churches. We previously
described the condition for Israel as a nation in Old Testament times.
Let's listen to her comments for our times.
"Teach the people, He said, to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you. The disciples were to teach what Christ
taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the
prophets and teachers of the Old Testament is here included. Human
teaching is shut out. There is no place for tradition, for man's theories
and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by
ecclesiastical authority are included in the commission. None of these are
Christ's servants to teach. The law and the prophets, with the record of
His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be
given to the world.... Nothing that does not bear His superscription is to
be recognized in His kingdom." DA 826.
Nothing whatsoever! Judges cannot legislate; they
cannot generate new rules, but may only enforce the rules and the laws of
the legislative power. That was and is the founding condition for the
Christian Church. In any other way, the judicial organization of the
church is perverted. Jesus Himself is King in the church. Israel was not
led by a human king, but by a prophet through the wilderness (Hosea
12:14). God revealed Himself through prophets (Hosea 12:11). So has He
guided His church. God does not want a human ruler, king or authority in
His church. He puts everyone on the same level, saying, "All ye are
brethren." Matthew 23:8. And when everyone of the church members has the
Holy Spirit as the organizing principle in his heart, then we will see an
organization as described by Ezekiel, "for the spirit of the living
creature was in the wheels." Ezekiel 1:21. That is always the case. When
there is a wrong spirit in the creatures, there is a wrong spirit in the
wheels. When the Holy Spirit is in the creatures, then the Holy Spirit
will be in the wheels. But to pray for the Holy Spirit to come in the
creatures without the will to allow Him also in wheels, is an attempt to
pervert God's church. Would it not be better to have the Holy Spirit, both
in the creatures and in the wheels? E. G. White tells us:
"To the prophet, the wheel within the wheel, the
appearances of living creatures connected with them, all seem intricate
and unexplainable. But the hand of infinite wisdom is seen among the
wheels, and perfect order is the result of its work Every wheel works in
perfect harmony with every other. I have been shown that human
instrumentalities seek after too much power, and try to control the work
themselves. They leave the Lord God, the mighty Worker, too much out of
their methods and plans, and do not trust everything to Him in regard to
the advancement of the work
"No one should fancy that he is able to manage these
things which belong to the great I AM. God in His providence is preparing
a way so that the work may done by human agents. Then let every one stand
at his post of duty, to act his part for this time, and know that God is
his instructor." GCB 1897, p.236
In this book we want to make manifest that:
1. The original SDA organization which was founded in
1863 was an organization of counselors.
2. In 1873 Elder Butler substituted human authority for
the organization of counselors.
3. Upon realizing this substitution, James White
protested, declaring that the newly-accepted principles were evil
principles.
4. E. G. White warned the brethren in 1896 that God
would take things in His own hands.
5. In 1901 God indeed took matters into His own hands.
He did it very elegantly, trying to sweep away all human authority. The
messenger used by God to do this was A. T. Jones. He preached two sermons
on organization, after Ellen White presented two sermons on the same
subject. Ironically, the man who invited Jones to preach these sermons was
A. G. Daniells.
6. In 1903 human authority was re-established in the
church through exactly the same arguments and the same man as in 1873.
7. After the 1903 Conference, Ellen White compared our
organization with the tower of Babel, declaring that we, as a church, had
rejected the light; that is, the light on church organization.
8. In 1909 the monarchy was fully re-established in the
church as E. G. White revealed.
All references presented herein have been carefully
selected and presented, preserving the original context. As you ask the
Holy Spirit to guide you through this book, let Him help you to decide
which are the true principles of organization within God's church, and
which are not.
Wim Wiggers
BOOKSTORE