Training Under Lockdown:

It’s not usual to write about the upcoming Fall Festivals eight weeks ahead of time, but we are not living in ‘usual’ times. Plans laid down in January have had to be scrapped, and with the Feast site canceled, the vast majority of us are facing a very different Feast experience this year. We seem to have gone full circle. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong kept the Feast for seven long years totally by themselves. They did it out of obedience – not knowing the reason why – but God revealed His plan to them after a further 12 years. When we come to my mother’s experience in the early 1960s, the Feast consisted of a crash course of lectures and Bible studies with two services each day 3 on the Sabbaths and Holy Days, with Bible studies, slotted in between. It was done this way because most of the members in the UK didn’t have a local church to attend. There were no cassette tapes to listen to, no radio broadcasts and certainly no internet! All that was available was in the written word: The Plain Truth, Good News, Bible Correspondence course (no Worldwide News back then), and a limited assortment of booklets.

By the time we reach the ’70’s the emphasis had changed yet again, as there were only a very few who couldn’t attend regular services. So the emphasis was on a depiction of the Millennium and the new world that was coming – the Wonderful World Tomorrow. Following the apostasy, however, we found ourselves once again scattered across the world and so the Feast became almost the only opportunity for fellowship that we’ve had.

But what of the Feast this year? What indeed is the big lesson that God wants to get across to us, in a world filled with lockdowns, canceled flights, self-quarantine, masks, and social distancing? Just as many are currently experience each Sabbath, it appears now that most of us will either be alone or with a very small group indeed perhaps just immediate family members. Yes, there will be services broadcast each day and two services on the Holy Days but without planned social activities of one kind or another, what is God wanting us to do the rest of the time? Could it be that He wants us to THINK? To realize that time is very short now and mentally divorce ourselves from the cares of this life and deeply meditate on the messages given? To really get to grips with the vital meaning of the Feast for this wretched world… ie. the peaceful, millennial rule of Jesus Christ and our own incredible place within that rule. To comprehend to a much greater level the fundamental reason for our individual calling, which is to become the loving teachers within the world – whose words and example, along with God’s Holy Spirit will produce a glorious Utopia for all mankind.

Becoming Teachers:

We need the spiritual perception to see God’s hand in allowing our current situation, to see how this will help fulfill His purpose for each and every member of His church. Just as the focus of the Feast has changed in the past according to the needs of the members so also the level of individual responsibility has been steadily increasing – particularly in these latter years – for each of us on a person-by-person basis.

Back in the zenith of WCG, it sometimes happened that the ministry was unnecessarily heavy-handed and felt they should be involved in the minutiae of the lives of the church members, even to the extent of advising what color car to buy and who to marry. Then along came, the apostasy and the membership, was faced with serious far-reaching decisions that only they could make. At the same time as having to decide who to fellowship with, the church of God groups became much smaller, giving the members many more opportunities to serve. Men were now giving sermonettes or sermons who in the past might have occasionally only been asked to give the opening or closing prayer. Many ladies found themselves organizing activities and holy day meals, whereas in the past they were merely bystanders. It appears that what God is doing is steadily advancing – refining the curriculum for those He has called to be those future teachers.

So the question is, are we learning? Will we be fit to teach when the time comes? Or will we be like those the apostle Paul admonished in the book of Hebrews:

It is vital that we truly appreciate our calling and the unique purpose of having been called now. That purpose is to become the teachers in the world tomorrow as Mr. Armstrong vividly brought out in his final Pentecost message – just months before he died. But do we yet understand what he was saying? Do we yet, “get it” – as he so often asked us:

A Unique Time:

Indeed, our entire calling revolves around us being trained – trained for a unique teaching position – trained during an utterly unique time in human history – a time totally unlike anything that has been before. Even the writing of these words graphically illustrates this fact: I am using a machine that existed only in the realms of science fiction when I was a boy. During the 1950s computers were barely a step removed from the hush-hush code-breaking world of Bletchley Park and the military secret service. When I was a student at Bricket Wood in the late ’60s, the mainframe computer rented from IBM and housed in a dust-free temperature and humidity controlled environment basically just churned out the address labels for the magazines and booklets. But today there is hardly a home in the West that doesn’t have at least one personal computer and printer of some description. And not only can I graphically type and edit these words with an ease that would make the apostle Paul gasp in amazement and drool with envy, but – with the click of a button – it can then be sent simultaneously to hundreds of separate locations across the entire globe in microseconds and then posted to a website where it can be accessed by millions. When Daniel was told to seal his prophecies until the time of the end, the angel described this end-time as a day when, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Today’s world of mass communication and science is indeed that time.

But there’s more. Along with communications and science, there is also a god completely unknown and un-worshipped by any of our forefathers. Evolution and all the myriad ideas and cultural changes that flow from it have changed, and continues to change our world dramatically – and it is most certainly not for the better. Today, for the first time in history, much of the world has blindly accepted the absurd concept of a creation without a creator, complex design without a designer. Accepting this philosophy, forces animals onto an equal footing with humans, and so we have ‘animal rights’ and simultaneous human degradation of all kinds. We do indeed, “worship and serve the creation more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), producing a world of spiritual human darkness that is becoming ever darker as the age moves toward its inevitable end.

The Elect:

But within this end-time – within this time of spiritual darkness, and in the midst of this awesome technical progress – and at a time when the true Church has been shattered – there is also prophesied to exist “the elect” (Matthew 24:22). The very teachers required for the world tomorrow being trained within this unprecedented time of human history, who will personally have a pivotal part in bringing Utopia to this earth. Without them, God implies that He would allow mankind to destroy himself. So the real question is: what is God doing with His elect at this time? Where is His focus, and what are His plans for them? The answer has to be that He is looking ahead to the future – placing them very clearly in the context of His coming Kingdom:

If we are in fact to be counted as part of that elect, this is also what we must be doing – viewing even our current position in the light of the future, and not bogged down by the cares of the present, however unsettling and disturbing they may be.

When the Kingdom finally comes, those who comprise it are to be the teachers – Spirit-born kings and priests – over all mankind. At that time they will need to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” (Malachi 3:18) They will be the ones to say, ” This is ‘the way’, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21). For years within the Church, we understood the Place of Safety would also be a place of final training. We understood that it would not be a time spent in idle ease, but used by God to complete the preparation of those He wants to use for ‘pillar’ positions in the Kingdom (Revelation 3:12). But what no one foresaw was the shattered time we find ourselves in today. And certainly not the age of Covid-19! According to Revelation, this too is a time of ‘final training’, though it describes it slightly differently. John was told in time sequence to, “Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” (Revelation 11:1). This measuring, this testing, this assessment is, quite frankly, “a time to spiritually mature”.

A Time to Mature:

“Mature” A dictionary definition (Merriam Webster): “having completed natural growth and development, having attained a final or desired state.” And synonyms expand on the concept… with: “adult, fit, grown, prepared, ready, ripe, seasoned, perfect”.

Thinking back on our years in primary school, and sometimes early on in high-school, we expected to be spoon-fed by our teachers. Lessons were a case of either memorizing facts presented to us or remembering the right approach to solve problems. Whatever was taught was then expected to be regurgitated at exam time. However, university or college life was very different. There we were expected to read around a subject and to a great extent, teach ourselves! We had some weekly lectures and tutors to guide us but in no way were we spoon-fed. It was designed to be a preparation for the real world where, as self-starters, we would have to put into practice the things we’d learned. In just the same way, the time of God’s Church today can be loosely compared to upper high-school or A-levels (‘advanced level’) over here in the UK, where the curriculum is readily available, but you are expected to read around each subject yourself and initiate your own deeper research. Half the school day – on the surface – appears ‘free’, but only those that make good use of that so-called free time will find they manage to pass the exam. A ‘last-minute cramming’ approach isn’t going to get us very far in the difficult situations we will inevitably face in the near future.

That ‘Way’ together with God’s spirit will be what will literally shape the Millennium into the Utopia prepared for the Great White Throne Judgment period. And the training of those future teachers is right now. The question is are we appreciating and valuing – using! – that training? All of us to one degree or another find ourselves currently in lockdown, being given free time to read around each subject. As I said above, today it is time for a much more mature approach to our learning – for each and every one of us. (Matthew 5:48, John 17:23)

An Article:

For example, some time ago I came across an article from the Good News of September 1966 on womens’ dress. The points brought out are as valid today as they were when they were written during the ‘swinging 60s’, but there are distinct differences. The onus given within the article at that time was very much on the ministry – who were expected to act almost as primary school teachers within the church to enforce the rulings. But in most cases today there is no minister around to correct the Church when outfits are too short, too tight, or otherwise revealing. The onus now is on each individual, in the privacy of their own homes, to ask themselves “where is my center?”, and to understand the Way of God when it comes to dress and personal grooming and this can apply as much to the men as to the ladies.

And that same principle applies in virtually every aspect of our lives. We may well find ourselves alone when logging in for the Feast services this year, so will we make the effort to appear before God and Christ in our best? The word “Laodicea” as we know means “let the people decide”, but it also carries the implication that around this time in history, God will be also deciding about us… where, if anywhere, we will be able to fit in His coming Kingdom.

Time is short and we are going to have to be ready to teach God’s Way in possibly just a few short years from now! Unless we can do so, accurately, honestly and properly, how can we be used? In such a case we are still babes, still needing to be spoon-fed, unable to “rightly divide the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). We all started life as helpless babes in arms, but we grew physically so we could fulfill our eventual calling as human beings, and so must we grow spiritually … not remaining children – needing to be watched over, corrected and guided 24/7… if we are to fulfill our spiritual calling and be chosen to be part of the loving, ruling Family of God.

Position as Firstfruits:

The Feast of Tabernacles is to remind us of the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ – and our role as teachers within it. Let us be sure we try to look at the present situation correctly – the way God is undoubtedly looking at it and realize we must aim higher than 1st or 2nd grade, if we are shortly to become sons of the Almighty God – sons with the kind of power that can create, or destroy, at a given word!

We now find ourselves out of kindergarten – no longer spoon-fed by the ministry. We are being prepared, measured, tested, assessed – by Jesus Christ Himself – being made ready so that we can “as living stones, be built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:5). In the few months since the last Feast, we have lost some dear friends, who probably didn’t realize they wouldn’t be alive right now. They have completed their course, their individual training program, while we’ve been given more time to work through ours.

This Year’s Feast:

I’ve had a few queries about whether brethren should maybe live in a tent in their back yard during the Feast … as a ‘temporary dwelling’. Over the years our condos and apartments have certainly added to our experience in that area, i.e. the temporary nature of this life while allowing us to enjoy the fellowship we’ve missed the rest of the year. But to really answer this question, let me leave you with an article that Mr. Armstrong wrote to the ministry shortly before the Feast in 1980. In it, he deals with the reason we do not make physical booths of branches as mentioned within Leviticus 23:40. But more than that, he shows that as part of the New Testament Church we must have a very different focus for the Feast than ancient Israel – the glorious future Millennial rule by the Kingdom of God in just a few short years from now. Also, notice how he wanted the messages to concentrate on an aspect of that Millennial rule. It was to be a spiritual feast – with each of us doing our part individually to ensure this.

The Feast of Tabernacles 2020 will probably mirror not only the early days of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong’s conversion but go much further back than that. In the past 2,000 years since the inception of the New Testament church, I would think most Holy Days and the Feast of Tabernacles were scattered, individual affairs more than large gatherings. This might even be the last Feast we have access to the internet! So even if we are having to keep it alone in our home this year, fellowshipping via video conferencing and deeply missing the usual face-to-face contact – we must still focus on the future – reading around the subject of each sermon in the extra ‘free’ time we will have been given. As the world around us careers to its destruction, we can rehearse to ourselves the glorious nature of the very meaning of life given to us within the structure of the Holy Days, revealing God’s Plan of Salvation… RESCUE of all mankind! And what an incredible privilege to have a part in the re-education of this suffering world. And what a reason for us all, even in lockdown, to obey the instruction in Deuteronomy 16:15 – to REJOICE!!