Knowing to Refuse the Evil and Choose the Good

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Knowing to Refuse the Evil

and Choose the Good

“Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” – Isaiah 7 : 14, 15.

The prophetic words of Isaiah 7 : 14 – 15 are very popular in the Christian world today. Most of us know for sure that it is the prophecy predicting the first coming of Jesus in the Palestine. However, there is no single statement in the Bible telling us that butter and honey were Jesus favorite food that He could always refuse the evil and choose the good. Jesus had just eaten nearly all the food available in that time. Therefore, what is truly meant by “butter and honey”, they must be prophetic words, that are yet to be interpreted in the time of the end. Even the “Immanuel” is also a prophetic word that is yet to be interpreted later in the time of the end.

However, we have also been informed in Matthew 1 : 23: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Jesus personally was born of a woman, which is Mary the virgin, because He was born out of the will of man. Therefore He is truly born of the will of God through His Spirit. Immanuel which means God is with us could not be with only Jesus Himself, but it would mean the entire Christians who have been born of the Holy Spirit. Butter, as we know, has derived from milk. It is the original part of the milk which has been hardened. Honey is known of its power and also of its sweet taste. Since the prophecy of Isaiah as well as the other prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures should have been interpreted in the time of the end, then the meaning of “Immanuel”, “milk”, “butter and honey” of the prophecy of Isaiah must be found in THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. To that end, let us follow on what the prophet further said in his testimonies in regard to:

Immanuel, Milk, Butter and Honey

The prophet Isaiah said : “And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter : for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.” – Isaiah 7 : 21, 22.

All the people of God, who are now living in this time of the end, would have taken the advantage of this prophecy of Isaiah. Thus the name “Immanuel” would eventually belong to them. You and I are the “Immanuel”, every one of us that is left in the land. That is why the Immanuelite Christians, who are now left in the land, would also be called “the remnant Church.” John the Revelator called them by the name “The remnant of her seed (the remnant of the seed of the woman), who keep the Law of God and have the testimonies of Jesus Christ.” – Revelation 12 : 17. ……….. “The testimonies of Jesus Christ are the Spirit of Prophecy.” – Revelation 19 : 10 margin.

“For butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.” – Isaiah 7 : 22. And that is the reason why they have been granted the capacity to refuse the evil, and choose the good. Therefore it is clear, that butter and honey must represent the truth of the word of God only. It is the truth of the word of God represented by the milk, which has been hardened into butter, whose power and sweet taste have become the honey. Since they are derived from the milk, then the milk itself must come from the two sheep and the young cow. The two sheep must represent the Bible that consists of the Old and the New Testament Scriptures. And the young cow, which was born later, must represent latter-day publications of the Testimonies of Jesus Christ, which have been developed into the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY in the time of the end.

From the fact that the hardened butter (and not milk) should be eaten by the Immanuelite Christians in these times of the end, hence we must study out and follow the development of the spiritual growth of the Immanuelite Christians, ever since their birth in the time of Jesus up to the time they reach their adolescence in the time of the end. We also have to study out and follow the development of the milk up to how it later transforms itself into butter and honey in this time of the end.

After the birth of the Immanuelite Christians in the time of Jesus, then by the Spirit of the Early Rain, all of them as babies ever since were fed and raised by the milk. That is the milk which represents “the all truth” mentioned by the apostle John in John 16 : 13. The same “all truth” was also mentioned by the prophet Joel in his prophetic word by the name “the former rain.” “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately…” – Joel 2 : 23.

“The all truth”, however, is not the only food enough to get the Immanuelite babies growing, because the apostle John said: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: …… and he will shew you things to come.” – John 16 : 13. During the days of the first Pentecost, the Spirit of truth has come, and the all truth has ever been freely given to the early Christians. The all truth, however, must yet be complemented by “the things to come”, which represent the interpretations of the Bible prophecies and the parables of Jesus. Thus said Joel also: “Be glad then, ye children of

Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.” – Joel 2 : 23, 24.

Thus it is how the former rain or the all truth has been complemented by the latter rain or the things to come, to become THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY in the time of the end. And how the milk has been transformed and hardened into butter and honey in this time of the end.

Honey has a power and a sweet taste, which is rejoicing. That is why the prophet Joel said: “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the former rain moderately.” Honey was also rejoicing in the time of William Miller and his associates prior to the year 1844. In the related prophecy John the Revelator said:

“And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; ……” Revelation 10 : 8, 10.

The former Rain + The latter Rain = THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. This is represented by butter and honey. Honey has a power and a sweet taste, which is firmly assuring, that butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.” – Isaiah 7 : 21, 22. That means, having fully investigated the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, we would be fully assured of the coming events that shall come to pass one after the other in the near future. And that the Immanuel would be savely delivered to stand with the Lamb on the mount Zion.

To be born again is required

to all who want to be deemed Immanuel

Brother Houteff said: “Having been pre-existent with His Father (Heb. 1, 2; John 1 : 1, 2), and then having been re-born in Bethlehem, Immanuel manifestly represents the “born again” Christians (John 3 : 3); whereas never having been pre-existent, Mahershalal-hash-baz can only symbolize those not “born again”—that part of the Church membership which cannot be represented by Immanuel. A parallel is found in the allegory of Ishmael and Isaac, typifying the “born after the flesh” and the “born after the Spirit” – the non-Christian Jew and the Christian Jew. (See Galatians 4 : 22 – 31) ” – War News Forecast, p. 35.

Prior to be born by virgin Mary, Jesus has been pre-existent with His Father in heaven. Therefore His being born in Bethlehem was a reborn. And all the followers of Jesus here on earth were required to be born again, because we have ever been born through our mothers’ wombs. Such “born again” was ever taught by Jesus Himself to Nicodemus in the Palestine, and He meant it to the” baptism by water”. So the requirements to be born again as well as to take the baptismal vow, must be fully honored and honestly obeyed, before someone is going to be baptized by water. So as well as Jesus Himself was reborn by the Spirit, all His followers on the earth should have been re-born by the same Spirit, through the baptism by water. Seeing of so many failures of baptism carried out in our churches up to this day, the fact is undeniably clear that no preparations have ever been made properly, either by the candidates of the baptism themselves, or by the ministers who are obliged to make them fit for the baptism. Most of the so-called Christians of today have not as yet shown themselves the new born again Christians of the Spirit. It is very difficult for us to get them categorized into the so-called “Immanuel”, because as soon as “butter and honey” be offered to them, at the same time they would reject it. Due to their premature born again, and their inability to digest “butter and honey”, they are to be categorized in this prophecy into Mahershalal-hash-baz. Read Isaiah 8 : 1 – 4.

As Mahershalal-hash-baz was born of the prophet himself, the Jew, then Immanuel and Mahershallal-hash-baz are the prophetic names, which are yet to be interpreted in this time of the end. We are to know them in this time, because we would have met them in the same Church of God in this time of the end. Since the name “Immanuel” has met its fulfillment in the born again Christians of the Spirit, then Mahershallal-hash-baz certainly must represent another class of the Christians who are not born again Christians of the Spirit, but they must be also of the same Church, the Seventh-Day Adventists. The prophet Isaiah further said:

“For before the child (Immanuel) shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”– Isaiah 7 : l6, and, “For before the child (Mahershallal-Hash-baz) shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. “– Isaiah 8 : 4.

This means that prior to the Immanuelite Christians be given butter and honey, and also before Mahershallal-hash-baz shall have knowledge of both their parents to cry: My Father, and My Mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Symbolization of

Syria, Israel, Judah, and Assyria

In the prophecy of Isaiah chapters 7 and 8 we get a story of how Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, had conspired to go up toward Jerusalem to war against Judah. But they could not prevail against it. The Lord God Himself had intervened to turn the war to the defeat of both the kings in the hands of the king of

Assyria. Thus how Damascus the capital city of Syria and Samaria the capital city of Israel had ever been left by both their kings, prior to when Immanuel had grown old enough to get the ability to refuse the evil, and choose the good, and before Mahershallal-hash-baz had grown enough to get the knowledge of their parent to cry: my Father and my Mother! Since we are now deliberating a prophecy which deals with the events to take place in the time of the end, therefore Syria, Israel, Judah, and Assyria would be the prophetic objects that should be fulfilled in the history of the New Testament.

Actually, Syria, Israel, Judah, and Assyria as the typical objects have already met their antitypical counterparts in the middle ages. When gospel proclamation by the early Christians gained entrance to most of the European countries, some Christian leaders then had been implicated in the activities of the Roman political elites. Though the motives at the beginning were purely to Christianize the world, however, the result was the establishment of the ecclesiastical Rome with its papacy dominating the world. For about one thousand years during the Dark Ages of Religion, millions of Christians had lost their lives as martyrs, under the persecution of the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church. Brother Houteff said:

“Necessarily, then, there must be found in the Christian dispensation a backslidden Christian power (Israel) confederated with a pagan one (Syria), to the end of assimilating or annihilating the orthodox Christians (Judah). And the only such confederacy in the Christian era was the unholy union of Church and State which ruled during the Dark Ages, and which sought the destruction of the “born again,” who refused to depart from the Apostolic faith and submit to a Christian-Pagan (Israel – Syrian) confederacy.” – War News Forecast, pp. 33, 34.

The Lord, however, has intervened by sending Martin Luther as the first Christian reformer and his Protestant people (Assyrian) to stand up against the pope and his power in the New Testament dispensation. At last, Luther and the first message of reform had successfully crushed the pope and his powerful regime, when the pope was imprisoned by the French army in 1798. Therefore, the ability of Immanuel to refuse the evil and choose the good, and for Mahershallal-hash-baz to have the knowledge of his parent to cry: Father and Mother, according to Isaiah’s prophetic words, should have come to pass later than 1798. The servant of the Lord later said:

“As a natural consequence, therefore, the type, ancient Assyria, finds it’s “double” in the power which in the middle Ages broke up that church-state union. And as that union was dissolved by the present Protestant nations, the conclusion inescapably follows that modern Assyria reaches down to our day, thus certifying the fact that Isaiah’s prophecy is correlative with Nahum’s.

“But since ancient Assyria overthrew the Israelite-Syrian confederacy centuries before Immanuel was born, and since modern Assyria overthrew the church-state alliance of the Middle Ages centuries after He was born, logic demands that as Syria, Judah, Israel, and Assyria are types, so also Immanuel must be. Wherefore, the virgin-birth prophecy does not refer alone to the birth of Christ, but even more significantly to His followers – the birth and development of Christendom. Correspondingly, Mahershallal-hash- baz must be symbolical of another group in the Christian era. And as he knows only to say “my father, and my mother,” while Immanuel (Christ in the person of His people) knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, Mahershallal-hash-baz manifestly cannot symbolize any who lived before Immanuel.

“Still further, the fact that both were to be born into Judah ( the church ), one of the Spirit and the other of the flesh, is conclusive evidence of their being, as the prophet says, for “wonders” and for “signs” of two classes of church members, living at the same time.” – War News Forecast pp. 34 – 35.

The Immanuelite Christian

and the Mahershallal-hash-baz

Having eaten butter and honey, which is now available in this time of the end, and then the Immanuelite Christians seem to be more adolescent now than ever before, that they are having the ability to refuse the evil and choose the good. This means that they are now under the guidance of the Holy Spirit which enables them to distinguish between the truth and the falsehood. The Mahershallal-hash-bash, however, have no other choice to eat than only to drink milk that provided them ever since their birth. Since only milk fed to them from the breast of their mother up to now, their growth have been stagnant, that they even cannot have the knowledge to cry: My Father and my Mother. Due to lack of spiritual growth they have been presented in the prophecy as dwarf, not as yet having the ability to know well their parent, to call them: Father! And Mother!

“Father” represents Christ, and Christ Himself is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ….And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Father), full of grace and truth.” – John 1 : 1, 14. The Word that must be known among us is the full and complete Word of God ever since the beginning.

“Mother” represents the Church, which is the woman who gave birth to us into the membership of the kingdom of God on earth. Therefore the woman here must represent the ministers of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, who have baptized us to become the Church membership. But what is about the leadership of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church themselves? Did they ever enjoy the butter and honey offered to them by the Lord through His servants the prophets? Actually, they did not. Since they have rejected every new light presented to them, that they are still lacking the butter and honey for the best of their own spiritual growth. In the condition they have given birth to Mahershallal-hash-baz babies in this time of the end, and then to raise them up with the only milk from their own breast. From time to time the Mahershallal-hash-baz being raised with the same milk, that they spiritually stay dwarfed and unhealthy, that no wonder if they are yet lacking the knowledge to cry : May father, and my Mother.

Actually there are very many among the Seventh-Day Adventists at this time, who are not as yet familiar with the Bible truth, to know Jesus as their “Father”. And even most of them are no more fully satisfied with their ministers as “Mother”, due to their lacking of the knowledge of the Bible and the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. The fact is to prove that the Lord God is no more willing to let His Holy Spirit leading the ministers and their die-hard followers into all truth, and to let them know of the things to come. The cause is clear as did the apostle Paul said:

“For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”— Hebrews 5 : 13, 14.

The Knowledge and the Doctrine = THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY

Since the prophecy of Isaiah as well as the other prophecies of Daniel, the Revelation, and the other prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, has just been interpreted in the time of the end, then for us now living in this time of the end, the Lord God through His prophet Isaiah had addressed the following words:

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little: for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Isaiah 28 : 9 – 11.

“This people“ mentioned above should mean the Seventh-Day Adventists. A certain prophet of God would emerge in the time of the end to speak with us. He would not speak in the language of the prophet Isaiah (Hebrew), nor in any other language, but in English, wherein this prophecy has been interpreted in the

United States of America. All the prophecies of the Bible have been interpreted by Sister Ellen G. White and Brother Victor T. Houteff in America. “With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people,” means the speaker is not a Native American. And the fact is clear, that the prophecies have been interpreted into the Shepherd’s Rod publications in English, by Brother Victor T. Houteff, an American Citizen of Bulgarian descendant. With stammering lips, because English is not his native tongue. So the prophecy of Isaiah 28 : 9 – 11 has been fulfilled with Brother Victor T. Houteff, who has come in 1929 to offer us the knowledge and the doctrine, even the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, which is the combination of the Spirit of Prophecy by Sister Ellen G. White with the Shepherd’s Rod by Brother Victor T. Houteff. This combination has met its fulfillment in the combination of the early rain and the latter rain as prophesied in Joel 2 : 23. And this is the butter and honey that is to be found in golden bowl of the prophecy of Zechariah chapter 4.

Butter and honey are the strong meat to be eaten by only those spiritual grown up Christians, whose stomachs are strong enough to digest. That is, only to “them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” Thus only the Immanuelite Christians who are no more dependent on the sermons and the Sabbath School lessons every Sabbath from the Mother that could be edified with butter and honey by him who is now speaking with us “with stammering lips and another tongue.”

The SPIRIT OF PROPHECY have been formulated in such a way “precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little,” because the church history from the beginning up to the end of time have been predicted by so many prophecies and the parables of Jesus, one supplemented the other, even each clarified the other. Therefore, the destiny of God’s people in this time of the end, has been clearly laid out before us, that no more use for us to be as if groping in the darkest night to find a way out.

Since butter and honey cannot be easily digested by Mahershallal-hash-baz, who has been familiarized with only milk from the breasts of Mother, and since the Lord in His loving kindness is still gracious enough to save also many of them into the kingdom, therefore to the divinely appointed ministers of the gospel, the Lord has instructed the following words:

“However, in conversing or studying with one whom you know to be a recent convert, you should exercise special care and judgment and tact in presenting only the simplest reform truths first, so as not to bewilder the mind of one who is only a “babe” (a “Mahershallal-hash-baz”) in the Scriptures.” – The Answerer, Book 5, p. 50.

The Change of Status

from Mahershallal-hash-baz to become Immanuel

In general, those who have been baptized or reborn through baptism by water, after the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans has been spewed out of the mouth of Jesus for rejecting the message of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1, they are just in this prophecy of Isaiah chapter 8, to be categorized into the babes of Mahershallal-hash-baz. Very few of them could be categorized as Immanuel. Nevertheless, not all the babes of Mahershallal-hash-baz have been implicated in the sin of “lukewarm ness”. as the consequence of rejecting the new light by the General Conference of SDA Church and its ministers. That is the reason why the Lord will yet give them a chance to renew their baptismal vow through rebaptism, that they could again be baptized by water and the Spirit. And that is the only way for them to change their status from Mahershallal-hash-baz to become Immanuel. This is the experience taken by the Jews in the time of the apostles, to be a type that should be followed by the present-day babes of Mahershallal-hash-baz, the anti-type. To this end the servant of the Lord said:

“There is still another lesson for us in the experience of those Jewish converts. When they received baptism at the hand of John they did not fully comprehend the mission of Jesus as the Sin Bearer. They were holding serious errors. But with clearer light, they gladly accepted Christ as their Redeemer and with this step of advance came a change in their obligation. As they received a purer faith, there was a corresponding change in their life. In token of this change, and as an acknowledgement of their faith in Christ, they were rebaptized in the name of Jesus.”– The Acts of the Apostles, p. 285.

“The honest seeker after truth will not plead ignorance of the law as an excuse for transgression. Light was within his reached. God’s Word is plain and Christ has bidden him search the Scriptures. He reveres God’s law as holy, just, and good, and he repents of his transgression. By faith he pleads the atoning blood of Christ, and grasps the promise of pardon. His former baptism does not satisfy him now. He has seen himself a sinner, condemned by the law of God. He has experienced anew a death to sin, and he desires again to be buried with Christ by baptism, that he may rise to walk in newness of life. Such a course is in harmony with the example of Paul in baptizing the Jewish converts. That incident was recorded by the Holy Spirit as an instructive lesson for the church.” — Evangelism, p. 372.

“Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of he Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” – 6 Testimonies, p. 91. Thus said Sister White. It means that only through the right baptism by water and the Holy Spirit that man’s status from non citizen could be changed to become the citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Or in other word, from a babe of Mahershallal-hash-baz to become a babe of Immanuel. However, how could we be assured that the baptism is also by the Holy Spirit?

Legitimacy of a right baptism does not depend upon the minister or pastor who does the baptism, because from the fact most of the Jews who were baptized at the hand of John the Baptist, they were later to be rebaptized by the apostle Paul. Therefore, those who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit should have been self-assured that through the Spirit they have been led unto all truths, and have been informed of the things to come (John 16 : 13), that they have suffered themselves to be baptized by water.

The Main Objective of this prophecy of Isaiah

In the time of the end

The servant of the Lord said:

Since modern Assyria reaches down to our day in this time of the end, and since Syria, Judah, Israel, Assyria, and even Immanuel, are types, we must inevitably find their antitypes in the Laodicean Church in the near future. From the study of the 144.000 Israelite of God in the future, we have found that they are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. This means that the 144.000 would not come out of the fallen Churches outside, because they are of the five wise virgins of the Laodicean Church. They are indeed the 144.000 elects of God. From all the five wise virgins only those who have no guile in their mouths will be elected into the 144.000. So Judah as a type would meet his anti-type in the five wise virgins in the Laodicean Church, whereas Israel as a type would meet his anti-type in the five foolish virgins of the same Church of God. And Immanuel as a type would meet his antitype in the 144.000 elects of God.

Syria the pagan must represent a power from outside the Laodicean Church, with whom the foolish virgins in the Laodicean Church may conspire in the future against his own brother Judah. This power could be the enforcers of law and order of the state or any other power of the government that could be consulted to help the five foolish virgins to crush Judah his own brother. And this is to cause to come in the time of the Jacob trouble that would befall the 144.000 Jacobites prior to their deliverance to the Palestine. From the past experience of God’s people as a type we read:

“Those who differed from the established doctrines have been imprisoned, put to torture and to death, at the instigation of men who claimed to be acting under the sanction of Christ. But it is the spirit of Satan, not the Spirit of Christ that inspires such acts. This is Satan’s own method of bringing the world under his dominion. God has been misrepresented through the church by this way of dealing with those supposed to be heretics.” – Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 74.

But according to the prophecy of Daniel: “And at time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” – Daniel 12 : 1.

The intervention by Michael at that time would be fulfilled in the prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 9 and its execution, which is especially to be carried out in the Laodicean Church. Here the Assyrian power as a type is to meet its anti-type, when the conspirator of the Israelite with Syria the pagan is to be crushed.

The Immanuelite Christians as a type are to reach their maturity in the election of the 144.000 of God (the anti-type). At that time they would have proven that by eating butter and honey, they have successfully at last refused the evil and chooses the good. And at last, “… in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” – Revelation 14 : 5.

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