FINDING THE ANCIENT PATHS
Part II
On a clear night, walk outside and count the stars. They should
remind you of the covenant Jehovah made as an enduring promise with our
father Abraham, and his seed after him, that Jehovah would be their God
forever—throughout all generations. Reflect for a moment on the anguish of
our Eternal Father in Heaven as He looks down upon earth and surveys the
lives of His covenant people. What does He find? He observes a people
who are spiritually lost, morally depraved, living amid chaos and confusion,
and without any moral compass to guide them. Essentially, they have lost
their way and are led by hireling preachers who themselves are just as lost
as the sheep they are trying to lead.
Our people have no North Star to guide them out of the moral and
spiritual darkness of the 21st Century. They have no clear voice, no moral
compass to guide them. What are we left with but an urgent and compelling
need to find the ancient paths that can lead lost souls out of the darkness
into the light of His truth. Will you join with me as we seek to rediscover the
ancient paths that can return God’s covenant people to the divine favor of
our King and spare our children from the anguish and suffering upon those
who have tried to live apart from God and the light of His Word?
Pastor Dan Gayman
With a fervent prayer that God will send His Holy Spirit to guide us,
turn to the book of Genesis as we continue to find the ancient paths that our
sovereign God set in His unchanging Word of truth. With as much zeal as
we can muster, we must heed these words from the Prophet Jeremiah when
he called Israel to accountability: “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the
ways, and see, and ask for the old paths where is the good way, and walk
there, and ye shall find rest for your souls…” (Jeremiah 6:16). Join me in
humbling yourselves and rediscover the ancient paths in this fallen, broken,
and chaotic world.
Having already reviewed several of the laws that preceded the
codified law delivered from heaven to Moses, let us turn our hearts and
minds to the pages of Genesis. With jubilation, let us revisit the timeless
ancient paths that are as true today as they were when the Holy Spirit
delivered them through Jeremiah. Return to Genesis, the beginning of God’s
revelation. God’s Word is the compass, the North Star, our Divine GPS
(God’s Promise of Salvation) to guide us through the darkness of this evil
1
and wicked world. As we travel through Genesis, we shall do what Jesus
often did. He called His children back to God’s original design for
everything. If we want to build a relationship with Jesus Christ, we must not
only claim the blood of Jesus as our own only justification from sin, but also
acknowledge that our lives must be patterned after His model.
Now, friend, it is one thing to profess a belief in Christ. It is another
test to model our lives after Jesus. “Christ in you, the hope of glory”
(Colossians 1:27) demands that we find the straight gate and the narrow way
(Matthew 7:13-14). The Holy Spirit will be our guide as we find the ancient
paths that Jesus walked and desires that we His children also walk.
The Law of the Sabbath
One of the most significant laws our sovereign God established
predates Moses and the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai. The pattern of a
seven-day week is established in Genesis 1:3-31. After completing six
twenty-four hour days, Jehovah ended His work of creation: “And God saw
everything tht he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the
evening and the morning were the sixth day” (verse 31). At the end of day
six, all the work of God was finished. “Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1). No new matter or
energy were created after this point in time. Following His creative work of
six days, Jehovah marked the boundaries of the seventh day of the week and
gave it special significance: “And God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God
created and made” (Genesis 2:3).
The seventh day of the week was set aside and sanctified unto
Jehovah by His own sovereign decree. The English word blessed is from a
Hebrew root word baw’rak’ and means to praise, salute, a primary root to
knell, to bless and praise God. Jehovah ordained that His children pause on
the Holy Sabbath to praise and worship God and rest from the labors of the
six previous days of work. The Sabbath was made for worshiping and
glorifying God. It is a day in which His children can recalibrate their
spiritual walk with God and find rest for their physical bodies.
No other day of the seven-day week was especially sanctified (set
apart as holy) and blessed (a time for man to praise and celebrate His
Creator). The Sabbath signified man’s freedom from slavery. While many
changes have come in man’s attempt to mark and measure time, one facet of
time has remained unchanged throughout all the calendar calibrations: the
seven-day week. The days we now call Saturday (the seventh day) and
2
Sunday (the first day of the week) have remained unchanged from the
beginning of time.
Moreover, not once did God ever alter the Sabbath day. The sevenday week is the oldest increment of time known to man. The words seven
and week are closely connected in Hebrew. When God reaffirmed the
Sabbath for ancient Israel, He demonstrated that it fell on the seventh day of
the week, for He clearly sent no manna on the seventh day: “And Moses
said, Eat that to day; for to day is a Sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye
shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it: but on the seventh
day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Ex. 16:25-26). Noah
measured time in increments of seven days (one week—Genesis 8). In
Genesis 29, the words week and seven are used interchangeably in regards to
Jacob and his pledge to serve one week (seven years) in return for Rachel,
the daughter of Laban.
The weekly Sabbath has an enduring place in God’s plan for His
covenant people and became an undeniable pillar in Israel’s history:
“Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a
sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the
LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was
refreshed” (Ex. 31:16-17). The weekly Sabbath became a perpetual
covenant between Jehovah and Israel. Furthermore, God incorporated the
weekly Sabbath of the seventh day in the top ten laws (Commandments),
which govern man’s relationship with His Creator as well as his neighbor.
The fourth commandment is a covenant within the covenant of the Ten
Commandments.
It is significant to note that the Sabbath was to mark two significant
events in salvation history. Firstly, the Sabbath celebrated the six-day
creation work of Jehovah (Exodus 20:8-11). Secondly, the Sabbath marks
the deliverance of His people from slavery into freedom (Deut. 5:12-15).
Israel was admonished repeatedly to remain faithful to the law of the
Sabbath: “I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my
judgments and do them; And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign
between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God”
(Ezekiel 20:19-20).
To the everlasting praise of Jehovah, there has always been a faithful
remnant of Sabbath believers. Jesus made His dramatic entry into His
earthly ministry during a weekly Sabbath convocation (Luke 4:16-30).
Along with other Israelites, Jesus had a custom of observing the weekly
Sabbath on the seventh day (Luke 4:16, 31). His apostles and disciples
3
followed His model, continuing to celebrate the Sabbath following Christ’s
Resurrection from the dead. The Acts of the Apostles carefully marks the
apostles’ and disciples’ history of Sabbath observance following Christ’s
ascension.
The New Testament records the weekly Sabbath of the seventh day of
the week as the Lord’s Day. Consider these words of Jesus Himself: “The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the
Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” This is further confirmed in
Matthew 12:8 and Luke 6:5. The Lord’s Day is the holy Sabbath, the same
day John the Apostle referenced in Revelation 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on
the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.”
Neither Jesus, His apostles after Him, nor their disciples ever celebrated any
other day but the seventh day of the week as the holy Sabbath.
The tension that continued between Christians and the chief priests,
scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees after the Jesus’ death and resurrection
ultimately caused some of the early Christians to worship on Sunday, the
first day of the week, while continuing to observe the Holy Sabbath. In an
effort to distance themselves from the Judeans who opposed Jesus Christ as
the Messiah, some early Christians gradually transitioned to Sunday as their
day of worship. The fact that Jesus rose on the first day of the week and the
Feast of Pentecost fell on that day reinforced this transition. However, there
is not a shred of evidence from Jesus, His apostles, or any other biblical
authority that ever changed the Sabbath day from the seventh day to the first
day. (For a more complete analysis of this history, please send for our
booklet on the Sabbath, available from the Missionary and Literature
Room).
Faithful observance of the Sabbath is perhaps the most authoritative
measure we have to evaluate the spiritual and moral pulse of God’s people.
Weekly observance of the biblical Sabbath keeps Christians connected to
God and His Word, providing us a weekly time of rest, worship, and repose
where we can recalibrate our lives and renew our spiritual and moral
connections to God. Untold blessings accompany Sabbath keeping,
including a vibrant spiritual life, better health, longevity, fulfillment,
restoration of the body, renewed mental and psychological health, and a time
for building family relationships. Jesus reminded us that the Sabbath was
made for man. We can never have the abundant life Jesus promised (John
10:10) apart from faithful observance of the biblical Sabbath.
The biblical Sabbath of the seventh day marks the covenant people of
God and is a perpetual sign between Israel and Jehovah. Christians in every
age have a clear choice: they can follow the ancient path of the weekly
4
Sabbath, or they can follow the tradition of man as established by the Roman
Catholic Church and observe Sunday. Sunday observance connects people to
the Roman Catholic Church, for they are the confirmed authors of Sunday.
History affirms and documents this fact. A Biblicist has but one option:
become a follower of Jesus Christ, Who worshipped and rested on the
seventh day of the week.
The Law of Marriage
No one seeking to walk the ancient pathways established by God will
want to bypass the sacrament of marriage. The marriage covenant is the
most foundational and enduring institution ordained of God. Marriage is
essential for the growth and preservation of a civilized people; it is the
foundation for the family, which then forms the bedrock upon which the
church and the nation are built. Jehovah’s call to dominion and the law of
multiplication necessitated the institution of marriage. Marriage is the one
and only institution that can provide for the procreation, training, and
education of children. God ordained that property, inheritance, and wealth be
preserved and passed from generation to generation through the family.
God expressly defined marriage when He set forth the union of Adam
and Eve: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
One man, one woman, of the same genetics (DNA) in covenantal union with
God constitutes the only means by which marriage can be defined. The call
to dominion (Genesis 1:28) requires the multiplication of children. God
ordained that only in the covenant of marriage should children be procreated
and properly nurtured.
God created men and women with unique body parts that complement
the other. As for their relationship, man was created to rule and lead, to
protect, provide for, and defend the woman and any children born to this
union. Secondly, the man was ordained to love his wife, become a model
father for his children, and be the spiritual head of His family. Conversely,
the woman was created foremost to be a helpmeet to her husband. Forming
the power of two, they become a formidable team in exercising dominion of
God’s earth. Secondly, the woman is to become the mother of children and
keeper of the home. She is called to nurture and enhance the husband’s life
vision and acts of dominion. As the spiritual and moral leader, the husband
should provide love and security for his wife. She in turn gives up her name
(personal identity) and takes on his name and life vision. She should
complement his work, or help complete it.
5
The love between husbands and wives is the most intimate human
relationship on earth and can be understood only by careful examination of
the relationship between Christ and His church. The man, first as the
spiritual leader of and provider for his family, is the role model for his
children. His life is the most important factor in the character development
of his sons and daughters.
The husband and the wife become “one flesh,” intimately joined in the
power of two. The two are one flesh. In Jesus Christ, they become a
powerhouse for the glory of God. Once joined, the breaking of the hymen in
conjugal relations seals the marriage as a blood covenant with God. The
marriage was ordained to be an enduring relationship in which children are
nurtured, trained, disciplined, and educated to become responsible citizens
for the glory of God and the dominion of His earth.
Marriage cannot be redefined to include any other definition than
what God ordained. Marriage must be one man and one woman sharing the
same genetics and heritage. Any attempt to alter this definition renders the
concept of marriage null and void. Marriage can exist only within the
definition our Creator established. It is He Who ordained this union.
Therefore, it is He alone Who should define this union. No one, not even
God Himself, can alter the definition of marriage. Why? Because God is
unchanging. He endures as unchangeable reality, absolute truth, throughout
all eternity. “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). God keeps His truth forever (Psalm
146:6). “His truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Jesus confirmed the covenant of marriage by performing His first miracle at
a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee (John 2). When questioned by the Scribes
and Pharisees about marriage and divorce (Matthew 19:3-12; Mark 10:2-12),
Jesus took them back to the Creator’s original design for marriage. The
Pharisees had asked Jesus this question: “Is it lawful for a man to put away
his wife for every cause?” Jesus responded by saying, “Have ye not read,
that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are
no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6).
Jehovah considered marriage so important that He ordained the
seventh commandment as a hedge of protection around marriage: “Thou
shalt not commit adultery.” While the word adultery can mean the
adulteration of anything from its original nature, including racial heritage,
money, food, clothing, etc., it has as its primary intent the prevention of a
6
third party from breaking the union between a husband and a wife. Neither
the man nor the woman can step outside the covenant marriage to entertain a
relationship with another person. In ancient Israel, breaking this covenant
resulted in the deaths of the guilty parties: “And the man that committeth
adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with
his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to
death” (Leviticus 20:10).
Divorce: The Enemy of Marriage
Today, culture in America has been brutal in its assault against
biblical marriage. No-fault divorce became a State-sponsored sin in 1971
and has become a universally accepted pattern. Prior to this 1071, it was
difficult to obtain a divorce in most states. Before the culture revolution of
the 1960s, divorce was unacceptable in the prevailing culture. Divorce has
now become the enemy of more than 50% of all marriages in the U. S.
Both men and women suffer untold damage in divorce, and that does
not even begin to consider the effects of divorce on children. Men suffer
immediate consequences in the separation from their children: child support
payments and potential loss of property and assets. Mothers frequently gain
custody of the children and collect child support and other benefits. But in
the long run, the family’s worth decreases dramatically, and the unforeseen
consequences on children in the absence of the father takes a tremendous toll
on the mental and emotional state of the women and the children in the
absence of the father suffer more than anyone can ever measure or fathom.
The pathway to divorce has been made so easy in America that growing
numbers of people are using just about any excuse to end the marriage.
Women file more than 75% of all divorces. The collateral damage done to
children is beyond human calculation. In the U. S., the mother is awarded
custody in 84% of divorce suits. Consider the following stats regarding the
emotional, mental, and psychological damages children suffer in divorce:
*40% of White children are born out of wedlock.
*43% of U.S. children live without their father (U.S. Bureau of the Census).
*63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services and U.S. Bureau of the Census).
*90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes (U.S.
Bureau of the Census).
*85% of children who show behavioral disorders come from fatherless
homes (Center for Disease Control).
7
*80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes (Justice &
Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26).
*71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services press release, March 26, 1999).
*71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (National
Principals Assoc. Report on the State of High Schools).
*75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless
homes (Rainbows for All God’s Children).
*70% of youths in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes
(U.S. Dept. of Justice, Sept. 1988).
*85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes (Fulton Co.
Georgia, Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992).
*61% of all child abuse is committed by biological mothers
The collateral damage inflicted upon children and society in general is
horrific. Moreover, the suicide rate among divorced men is four times higher
than women. The carnage that follows the dissolution of the marriage is so
great that one could wonder how it happens that adults who bring children
into the world find it so difficult to resolve their marital differences and for
the sake of their children make the necessary changes to keep the marriage
in tact. One can only pray that those who enter the state of marriage will do
so with full understanding of the commitment they are making to one
another and all children born to this union.
Divorce has another serious but perhaps unintended consequence:
that is the growing trend of young men to refrain from marriage for fear of
divorce and the evisceration that often follows for a divorced man when the
custody of children and the division of property are involved. Men tend to
believe that women hold the trump card in marriage because the deck seems
to be stacked against them in the court system. Men are left without any
leverage at all. For these and other reasons, young men are avoiding
marriage altogether.
Cohabitation outside of marriage has become the new mantra for the
millennial generation. Young people want to test-drive their relationship by
moving in together. Growing numbers of women are willing to enter
conjugal relations outside of marriage; young men are more than eager to
oblige. If young men can satisfy their desires without marriage, why bother
to get married and suffer potential divorce?
Cohabitation is an almost exploding occurrence today. Studies show
that there are powerful negatives to living together outside of a committed
marriage. Few young people are aware of these negatives and move in
together without regard to any potential side effects. But rest assured that
8
tragic consequences accompany cohabitation. Suffice it to say that God’s
moral law prohibits cohabitation outside of marriage. “Marriage is
honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and
adulterers God will judge” (Hebrew 13:4). Moreover, under God’s law,
any young man who robs a girl of her virginity must marry the girl unless
the father objects. In this case, the young man must pay a dowry to the father
of the girl (Exodus 22:16-17; Deut. 22:28-29). Cohabitation is an assault
against God-ordained marriage. Parents must properly instruct youth on the
human carnage that is part of the cohabitation mentality. God’s Word
allows absolutely no sexual relations outside of marriage: “For this is the
will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from
fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour” (I Thess. 4:3-4).
There you have it: two markers on the ancient pathways ordained by
our most holy God. We dare not stray from this pathway without suffering
enormous personal problems as well as societal ills. Some six thousand
years ago, our sovereign God ordained the Sabbath and the institution of
marriage. Jehovah created them, defined them, and gave no liberty to anyone
to change them. Both must continue to bear the original design of our
Creator. All Christians who keep the Sabbath day holy will be blessed. And,
no Christian can allow marriage to be redefined in the image of biblically
illiterate people. May God give us courage and inspiration to remain faithful
to the definitions of these ancient pathways! Let us purpose to heed the
words of Jeremiah: “Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and
walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).
9