7. Birds Respond More Quickly Than Men—The swallow and the crane observe the changes of the seasons. They migrate from one country to another to find a climate suitable to their convenience and happiness, as the Lord designed they should. But God′s people sacrifice life and health by seeking to gratify appetite. In their desire to accumulate treasure, they forget the Giver of all their blessings. Their health is abused, and their God-given powers are used to carry out their unsanctified, ambitious projects. Their days are filled with pain of body and disquietude of mind because they are determined to follow wrong habits and practices. They will not reason from cause to effect, and they sacrifice health, peace, and happiness to their ignorance (Manuscript 35, 1899).
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8 (Matthew 15:9; 22:29). Rejection of Truth Has Produced Present Condition—The prevalence of sin is alarming; the world is being filled with violence as in the days of Noah. Would the world be in its present condition if those who claim to be the people of God had reverenced and obeyed the law of the Lord? It is the rejection of the truth, man′s dispensing with the commandments of God, that has produced the condition of things which now exists. God′s Word is made of none effect by false shepherds. The decided opposition of the shepherds of the flock to the law of the Lord reveals that they have rejected the Word of the Lord, and have put their own words in its place. In their interpretation of the Scriptures they teach for doctrines the commandments of men. In their apostasy from the truth they have encouraged wickedness, saying, “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us.”Jeremiah 8:8. The words of Christ to the Pharisees are applicable to them. Christ said to these teachers, “Ye are both ignorant of the Scriptures and of the power of God”(Matthew 22:29)....
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The condition of our world today is just as the prophet has represented that it would be near the close of this earth′s history (Manuscript 60, 1900).
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16. Fruitless Branches Broken Off—[Jeremiah 11:16 quoted.] Where her branches should have yielded fruit without stint, they were broken off because of her stubborn disobedience. The wrong course of the people of Jerusalem brought its sure result upon them and upon those whom they influenced. They departed from the example of the holy men who caught their inspiration from Jesus Christ, their invisible Leader. They could not possibly form characters that God could approve (Letter 34, 1899).
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5. Dependence on World Is Fatal—[Deuteronomy 4:1, 2, 5-9; 7:1-6, 9, 10 quoted.] Under David′s rule, the people of Israel gained strength and uprightness through obedience to God′s law. But the kings that followed strove for self-exaltation. They took to themselves glory for the greatness of the kingdom, forgetting how utterly dependent they were upon God. They regarded themselves as wise and independent, because of the honor showed them by fallible, erring man. They became corrupt, immoral, and rebelled against the Lord, turning from Him to the worship of idols.
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God bore long with them, calling them often to repentance. But they refused to hear, and at last God spoke in judgment, showing them how weak they were without Him. He saw that they were determined to have their own way, and He gave them into the hands of their enemies, who spoiled their land, and took the people captive.
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The alliances made by the Israelites with their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God′s peculiar people. They became leavened by the evil practises of those with whom they formed forbidden alliances. Affiliation with worldlings caused them to lose their first love, and their zeal for God′s service. The advantages they sold themselves to gain, brought only disappointment, and caused the loss of many souls.
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The experience of Israel will be the experience of all who go to the world for strength, turning away from the living God. Those who forsake the mighty One, the source of all strength, and affiliate with worldlings, placing on them their dependence, become weak in moral power, as are those in whom they trust.
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