And the revelator declares, also referring to the papacy: “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.” Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.
Since the middle of the nineteenth century, students of prophecy in the United States have presented this testimony to the world. In the events now taking place is seen a rapid advance toward the fulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant teachers there is the same claim of divine authority for Sundaykeeping, and the same lack of Scriptural evidence, as with the papal leaders who fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command from God. The assertion that God’s judgments are visited upon men for their violation of the Sunday-sabbath, will be repeated; already it is beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday observance is fast gaining ground. Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false sabbath and that they are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed in bygone days. GC 578.3 – GC 580.1
Satan’s policy in this final conflict with God’s people is the same that he employed in the opening of the great controversy in heaven. He professed to be seeking to promote the stability of the divine government, while secretly bending every effort to secure its overthrow. And the very work which he was thus endeavoring to accomplish he charged upon the loyal angels. The same policy of deception has marked the history of the Roman Church. It has professed to act as the vicegerent of Heaven, while seeking to exalt itself above God and to change His law. Under the rule of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity to the gospel were denounced as evildoers; they were declared to be in league with Satan; and every possible means was employed to cover them with reproach, to cause them to appear in the eyes of the people and even to themselves as the vilest of criminals. So it will be now. While Satan seeks to destroy those who honor God’s law, he will cause them to be accused as lawbreakers, as men who are dishonoring God and bringing judgments upon the world.
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan by Ellen G White
God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’s constant resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.
Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives.
As the Protestant churches reject the clear, Scriptural arguments in defense of God’s law, they will long to silence those whose faith they cannot overthrow by the Bible. Though they blind their own eyes to the fact, they are now adopting a course which will lead to the persecution of those who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of the Christian world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of the papal sabbath.
The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet’s words: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. GC 591.1 – GC 592.3
Hebrew, Yiddish and Aramaic are the three major languages associated with Jewish history.
- Written by Amitabh Ranjan , Edited by Explained Desk, King Osiemo
- February 4, 2023 09:00 IST
The interior of a synagogue. Little Synagogue, Irish Town, Gibraltar (Wikimedia Commons)
In an unfortunate incident on January 27, when people had gathered at the start of the Jewish Sabbath in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood, a gunman shot dead seven worshippers. Almost all newspapers and media platforms which carried the news story had the word synagogue in their headlines.
A synagogue, which also has another but a less used spelling of synagog, is a place of worship in Judaism, the religion of Jews, just as a church, a temple, or a mosque is for Christians, Hindus and Muslims, respectively.
Also read |George Orwell’s death anniversary: A look at his lasting linguistic legacy
It has a Greek origin in ‘synagein’, meaning “to bring together”. It also refers to a place or building where people assemble and study their religion. Its traditional functions are reflected in three Hebrew synonyms which when translated into English read ‘house of prayer’, ‘house of assembly’ and ‘house of study’. The Yiddish word ‘shul’, which in turn comes from German ‘schule’, meaning a “school”, is also used to refer to a synagogue.
Hebrew, Yiddish and Aramaic are the three major languages associated with Jewish history. Originally, a dialect of Middle High German, Yiddish uses the Hebrew letters and has 15 per cent Hebrew words and smaller percentages of words from other languages. In an earlier write-up, I had mentioned chutzpah, a Yiddish word. There are many crisp and elegant words from Yiddish like, bagel, nosh, kosher, schmaltz and kibitz, all of which have added a punch to the English language. We will find an opportunity to deal with these some other time.
Sabbath
For now, let’s look into the meaning and origin of another word in the above-mentioned news story. Sabbath (often with a capital ‘S’ and article ‘the’) is the seventh day of the week observed by Jews from sunset on Friday till Saturday evening as one of rest from work, social gathering and prayers. The same for Christians is Sunday. Its origin is Greek ‘sabbaton’ which itself is traced to Hebrew ‘shabbat’, meaning “rest”.
Sabbatical, a word often used in academic circles, shares the same origin. Used as a noun, it means a period of time when a teacher at a university or a college is allowed to stop her normal work so that she may study, write or travel while being paid. For example: The professor has taken a year’s sabbatical to work on her debut novel. A professional may go on sabbatical midcareer to get rid of burnout.
Here’s another word with an interesting story behind it and its present-day usage. Shibboleth in Hebrew means ‘ear of grain’ (the part of a cereal plant which contains its flowers or seeds).
In ancient Israel, its two main tribes, the Gileadites and the Ephraimites, went to a war in which the former were victorious. Some of the Ephraimite refugees tried to escape by crossing the Jordan River but were captured. Those who denied their nationality were put to a linguistic test by the captors. The test was to pronounce the word shibboleth. Anyone who pronounced it sibboleth (without the sh sound) was put to death.
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A striking illustration of Rome’s policy toward those who disagree with her was given in the long and bloody persecution of the Waldenses, some of whom were observers of the Sabbath. Others suffered in a similar manner for their fidelity to the fourth commandment. The history of the churches of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of the Dark Ages, the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and the emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope as the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. An edict was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalties. (See Michael Geddes, Church History of Ethiopia, pages 311, 312.) But papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the Abyssinians determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible struggle the Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith was restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism, and the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm they were content to remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom.
The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan by Ellen G White
The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by the papal church before her complete apostasy. While they kept the seventh day in obedience to the commandment of God, they abstained from labor on the Sunday in conformity to the custom of the church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of Africa, hidden for nearly a thousand years, did not share in this apostasy. When brought under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the true and exalt the false sabbath; but no sooner had they regained their independence than they returned to obedience to the fourth commandment. (See Appendix.)
These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to honor the institution of her creating. The word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as Roman Catholics and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday.
The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns shall cause “the earth and them which dwell therein” to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the beast “like unto a leopard.” The beast with two horns is also to say “to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast;” and, furthermore, it is to command all, “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive the mark of the beast. Revelation 13:11-16. It has been shown that the United States is the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States shall enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special acknowledgment of her supremacy. But in this homage to the papacy the United States will not be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged her dominion is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration of her power. “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Verse 3. The infliction of the deadly wound points to the downfall of the papacy in 1798. After this, says the prophet, “his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Paul states plainly that the “man of sin” will continue until the second advent. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8. To the very close of time he will carry forward the work of deception. And the revelator declares, also referring to the papacy: “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.” Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.
Since the middle of the nineteenth century, students of prophecy in the United States have presented this testimony to the world. In the events now taking place is seen a rapid advance toward the fulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant teachers there is the same claim of divine authority for Sundaykeeping, and the same lack of Scriptural evidence, as with the papal leaders who fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command from God. The assertion that God’s judgments are visited upon men for their violation of the Sunday-sabbath, will be repeated; already it is beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday observance is fast gaining ground. GC 577.3 – GC 579.1
Ages later, the trick was used by American soldiers during World War II, when the Japanese were infiltrating their lines in the Philippines. Realising that the Japanese found it almost impossible to pronounce the letter ‘l’, Allied forces used ‘lallapaloosa’ as the password and sentries were told to fire at anyone who could not pronounce it. The closest the Japanese could come up with was ‘rarraparoosa’, leading to their swift elimination.
From this ruthless exploitation of speech variety, the word shibboleth is used to mean any speech sound or linguistic signature by which a person’s social background or native region can easily be recognized. It may also mean a repeated saying, a cliché, a slogan or a catchphrase by followers of a party or a sect. For example: What the country needs today are not the shibboleths of welfare but its dynamic processes to ensure growth with equity.
First published on: 04-02-2023 at 09:00 IST
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