CG : So we have the following logic:
A) Given: If it is "good" it comes from God. (James 1:17, Deut. 26:11)
Jak : OK, I'll accept that, although I'm not sure "good" really means anything, but I'll let that go.
May I add a thought here? It is good that Jak seeks the meaning of “good”. I want to quote this text from Young’s translation as it brings the full wordings of the original manuscript.
“YLT Ja 1:17
every good giving, and every perfect gift is from above;” The text talks about a “good giving”. When children receive treats or toys, they see these as “good giving”or a “perfect gift”. But when they receive discipline, their perspective of these is often seen as “bad” or “evil”. So good and evil is all relevant to the receiver and to their maturity. Discipline coming from the Lord is one of His “good giving” and is a “perfect gift”. However, for an immature child/Christian, it is often seen as “evil” and most attributes these as coming from Satan. The Christian that comes into maturity, will come to see that these “evil” were truly the Lord’s disciplines and sees that without them they wouldn’t of have grown, so these were in really “good” and perfect gifts despite at the time it was hard.
Heb 12: 4”
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
(If it isn't inspired, it isn't from God, right?)
Someone can be sent by the Almighty to do His bidings and may not be inspired(. In another word despite a source may not be speaking truth or "inspired", they may still be sent by the Lord. We see this principle at several places in the Bible but I’ll refer to two.
A. In Deut 13:1-5 defines a “false” prophets and says that even if “
a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass” these doesn’t prove that this is a true prophet. Then the Lord states the reason for sending him which is to test our hearts :v.3 “
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer or dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God which all your heart and with all your soul”. Dt 13:3 So the purpose the Lord sends false prophets is to test our hearts so we can come to see if we really follow the Lord or not.
B. I don’t think anyone would say that the King of Babylon was inspired at the time the Lord sent him to bring judgment on Israel. Nebuchadnezzar was referred as the Lord’s servants trice (Jer 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). Despite that, the King of Babylon had his own reasons to do what he did, he still did God’s bidding and he fulfilled the law in Lev 26 & Deut 28 upon Judah without having any knowledge of this.
Judah saw Babylon as “evil” and with reasons too; despite Nebuchednezzar was still sent by the Lord to correct them.
Recognizing an Inspiration and how to avoid “EVIL”(judgment)We can learn from Israel’s mistakes and avoid some “evil”. Now this “evil” that came upon Judah was quite harsh, however the intention behind this harsh judgment was purely “good” so to teach them righteousness. (Heb 12:11 quoted above & Is 26:9) This was not the first time the Lord had brought judgment upon Israel. In fact this was the 7th time. The Almighty had sold Israel to the foreigners 6 times prior :
#1. 8 years to Mesopotamia, Jud 3:8;
#2. 18 years to Moabites Jud 3:14;
#3. 20 years to Cannanites Jud 4:3;
#4. 7 years to Midians Jud 6:1;
#5. 18 years to Ammonites Jud 10:6-8; and
#6. 40 years to the Philistines Jud 16.
It is normal that a child need to learn a few lessons to grow into maturity. And often it takes some repetition like we see with Israel. But what Israel has repetitively failed is to study the Laws of the Lord, put it into practice by which would of taught them to know more deeply His mind and His ways. They would have been able to recognize His hands and purpose in the current events and able to distinguish true inspiration from the false.
We now face the same problem Judah had faced with Babylon today. Are we going to point our finger to Mystery Babylon saying “EVIL” and perceiving them coming from Satan? Thus failing to see the purpose in which the King of Babylon(for us Mystery Babylon) was sent in the first place?
Facing a harsh disciplinary judgment from the Lord, the words Jeremiah received for Judah was to submit to Babylon when he came tied to a WOODEN YOKE. If the people would of known the Laws in Lev 26 & Deut 28 and recall their 6 prior captivities
as coming from the Lord, they would of recognized that Jeremiah was speaking according to that Law and spoke INSPIRED words. But the Lord sent also Hananiah to test their heart. He broke the wooden yoke which was an act of contempt against the Lord’s judgment. The king and the people of Judah agreed with Hananiah words and made the error to perceived him as the “inspired” prophet.
So the word came to Jeremiah "
Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron."Jer 28:12 So by being ignorant of the Lord’s Laws and not recognizing His Judgments, thus they resisted it which only made the outcome of the “evil” worst.
They could have had a milder judgment with a WOODEN YOKE, from which by definition means they could of stayed in their land and only pay a tax to Babylon as it was with the 6 prior corrective captivities. However, having failed the lesson given to them in the past and by not submitting to the wooden yoke they chose the only other option there was, the IRON YOKE. This event fulfilled the law in Dt 28:48 “
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.”
How to Test if a word or Interpretation is InspiredTrue inspiration or correct interpretation of current events can be recognize mainly by testing all things with the foundation laid in the laws of Moses.
Is 8:20 “
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.”
Paul was not offended when the Bereans tested everything he said. Even they were praised for it above all other chruches. Thus it is the same thing with EGW writings – all things needs to be tested by each individual by the standard laid by Jesus. So JAK does right to question or test it and no one should criticize anyone for doing what the Lord told us to do in Deut 13 & 18 and Is 8:20 and etc...
I do not believe all things EGW wrote are inspired. Some is, but much is not. Our church never tested it and shunn those that does. So much work is to be done by the church to weed out what is inspired and what is not. I never felt called to use my study time to test EGW’s writings but rather I've been studying/testing the validity of doctrines and teachings against the Law and the Prophets.
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to the forum Barbaramelch 