Mt. Carmel in the Process of Restoring all Things as in the Beginning

“‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.’ ‘For he spake, and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.’ He ‘laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.’ {3SC2: 4.1.6}

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“…He who set the starry worlds on high, and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of his power, when he came to crown his glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life…. {3SC2: 4.1.7}

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“As man came forth from the hand of his Creator, he was of lofty stature and perfect symmetry. His countenance bore the ruddy tint of health, and glowed with the light of life and, joy. Adam’s height was much greater than that of men who now inhabit the earth. Eve was somewhat less in stature; yet her form was noble, and full of beauty…. {3SC2: 4.1.8}

“After the creation of Adam, every living creature was brought before him to receive its name; he saw that to each had been given a companion, but among them ‘there was not found an help meet for him.’ Among all the creatures that God had made on the earth, there was not one equal to man. And ‘God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.’ Man was not made to dwell in solitude; he was to be a social being. Without companionship, the beautiful scenes and delightful employments of Eden would have failed to yield perfect happiness. Even communion with angels could not have satisfied his desire for sympathy and companionship. There was none of the same nature to love, and to be loved. {3SC2: 4.2.6}

“God himself gave Adam a companion. He provided ‘an help meet for him,’–a helper corresponding to him,–one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. ‘For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.’ ‘Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one.’ {3SC2: 5.1.1}

“God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. ‘Marriage is honorable;’ it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature. {3SC2: 5.1.2}

“‘And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.’ Everything that God had made was the perfection of beauty, and nothing seemed wanting that could contribute to the happiness of the holy pair; yet the Creator gave them still another token of his love, by preparing a garden especially for their home. In this garden were trees of every variety, many of them laden with fragrant and delicious fruit. There were lovely vines, growing upright, yet presenting a most graceful appearance, with their branches drooping under their load of tempting fruit, of the richest and most varied hues. It was the work of Adam and Eve to train the branches of the vine to form bowers, thus making for themselves a dwelling from living trees covered with foliage and fruit. There were fragrant flowers of every hud in rich profusion. In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life, surpassing in glory all other trees. Its fruit appeared like apples of gold and silver, and had the power to perpetuate life. {3SC2: 5.1.3}

“The creation was now complete. ‘The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.’ ‘And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.’ Eden bloomed on earth. Adam and Eve had free access to the tree of life. No taint of sin, or shadow of death, marred the fair creation. ‘The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.’ {3SC2: 5.2.1}

“The great Jehovah had laid the foundations of the earth; he had dressed the whole world in the garb of, beauty, and had filled it with things useful to man; he had created all the wonders of the land and of the sea. In six days the great work of creation had been accomplished. And God ‘rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 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.’ God looked with satisfaction upon the work of his hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and he rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of his wisdom and goodness and the, manifestations of his glory. {3SC2: 5.2.2}

“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God’s great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God’s wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.”–“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pp. 44-47. {3SC2: 5.2.3}

The foregoing paragraphs make it plain that the only sacred institutions brought forth from beautiful Eden are the institution of marriage and the institution of the Sabbath–home and rest. And the former’s being instituted the first of the two, and solely for the use and benefit of man, clearly shows that, “the Sabbath,” as Christ declared to the Pharisees, “was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk. 2:27.) {3SC2: 5.2.4}

Our Eden parents, in celebrating the first Sabbath, not only commemorated God’s completing the whole creation, but also their own marriage. {3SC2: 5.2.5}

When Adam and Eve fell into sin, losing their beautiful garments of light, they lost “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,” besides possession of their Eden home, and access to the tree of life. (Gen. 1:26; 3:24.) Thus, when he sinned, Adam lost his dominion, surrendering all to Satan; whereupon unto the woman God said: {3SC2: 5.2.6}

“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Gen. 3:16-19.) {3SC2: 6.1.1}

Now arises the question, “When and how will the first dominion be restored?” to which the Scriptures answer: {3SC2: 6.1.2}

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Mal. 4:5, 6.) {3SC2: 6.1.2}

And Jesus says: “Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things.” (Mk. 9:12.) Therefore, Elijah’s coming must precede both the great and dreadful day of the Lord and His second coming; and when he comes, he must restore all things. {3SC2: 6.1.3}

Jesus’ statement found in Mark 9:12 proves that before He appears the second time, someone–antitypical Elijah–“cometh first, and restoreth all things.” Hence, the dominion and all that was lost must be restored in the time of Elijah’s message, yea even the curses of the earth must then be removed: “In that day,” saith the Lord, “will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies.” (Hos. 2:18, 19.) {3SC2: 6.1.4}

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:6-9.) {3SC2: 6.1.6}

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” (Isa. 25:8, 9.) {3SC2: 6.1.7}

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:4.) {3SC2: 6.2.1}

“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” (Isa. 66:22, 23.) {3SC2: 6.2.2}

“And He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” (Rev. 22:1-4.) {3SC2: 6.2.3}

The foregoing passages show that the message by antitypical Elijah shall bring again the dominion which Adam lost, and, as far as the prophecies above mentioned are concerned, the only institution that apparently seems to remain in darkness as to its continuance and restoration to its original sacredness is the institution of marriage. But how could the Lord possibly allow Himself, during the very time in which all things must be restored, to annul the first of all the institutions which He, Himself, instituted–the crowning act in the week of creation, and in favor of which He said, “it is not good that man should be alone”? {3SC2: 6.2.4}

Moreover, how could the Word say that Elijah must restore all things if he were not also going to restore the marriage institution? Furthermore, if God saw that it was not good for man to be alone originally in the Garden of Eden, then why should it be good for him when he returns to Eden? Or shall we all now, in this time of gathering, and of receiving the inheritance of the first dominion, divorce our wives? {3SC2: 6.2.5}

If the redeeming of saints must spell divorce for them, why, then, should God compose the kingdom of both sexes? Would Adam, who chose to die rather than to part from Eve, enjoy life, if, upon returning to his Eden home, his wife should be missing, or if he should then have to divorce her? {3SC2: 6.2.6}

Furthermore, the Scriptures say of Elijah, that “he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:6.) Hence, both the foregoing Scripture, and Joel 2:16, which says: “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts” prove that Elijah’s message is to unite families, not separate them. {3SC2: 7.1.1}

The Spirit of God revealed to Paul that in the latter days evil spirits would attempt to overthrow God’s plan for His people: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;… forbidding to marry.” (I Tim. 4:1, 3.) {3SC2: 7.1.2}

Whereas we need no doctrine that would forbid marrying, we do need to know why we marry, and how to live. Hence, we need a thorough reformation “a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices.”–“Christ Our Righteousness,” p. 154. {3SC2: 7.1.3}

“The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And He answered and said unto them, 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.” (Matt. 19:3-6.) {3SC2: 7.1.4}

Just as Satan has perverted the Sabbath day, so he has perverted the marriage relation, and therefore, marriage is looked upon, even by most Christians, as something questionable and in a way even evil and sinful, although, with but few exceptions, they all marry. Hence, though the Word says: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord” (Prov. 18:22), most marriages prove to be a curse. Therefore, “the fewer the marriages contracted, the better for all, both men and women.” (Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 5, p. 366.’ In fact, the only marriages that God can honor are those which are entered upon only after both parties inquire of Him and receive His sanction. {3SC2: 7.1.5}

“Marriage affects the after life both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will make no plans that God cannot approve.”–“Ministry of Healing,” p. 359. {3SC2: 7.1.6}

“The family tie is the closest, the most tender and sacred, of any on earth. It was designed to be a blessing to mankind. And it is a blessing wherever the marriage covenant is entered into intelligently, in the fear of God, and with due consideration for its responsibilities.”–Id., pp. 356, 357. {3SC2: 7.1.7}

Thus, “marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” (Heb. 13:4.) {3SC2: 7.2.1}

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.” (I Tim. 3:2-4.) {3SC2: 7.2.2}

However, as with the institution of Sabbath, so must God restore that of marriage. The words of Christ: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven” (Matt. 22:30), reveal that we have lost sight of the true marriage institution. And as God has not yet fully made known to us the state of our future life, we are, just now, unable fully to comprehend either the marriage or the family relationship after the resurrection. {3SC2: 7.2.3}

Upon the occasion of the Pharisees’ questioning Christ, after their characteristic fashion, as touching the sacred institution of marriage, “Jesus pointed His hearers back to the… institution as ordained at creation….He referred them to the blessed days of Eden, when God pronounced all things ‘very good.’ Then marriage and the Sabbath had their origin, twin institutions for the glory of God in the benefit of humanity. Then, as the Creator joined the hands of the holy pair in wedlock, saying, ‘A man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one,’ [Gen. 2:24], He enunciated the law of marriage for all the children of Adam to the close of time. That which the eternal Father Himself had pronounced good, was the law of highest blessing and development for man.”–“Mount of Blessing,” pp. 99, 100. Furthermore, the fact that a doctrine which forbids marriages is a doctrine of devils (I Tim. 4:1-3), shows not only that marriage is an everlasting institution, but also that in the time of the restitution of all things, it is of great import, for were it not so, the devils would not waste a moment in attacking it. {3SC2: 7.2.4}

But, “from the opening of the great controversy, it has been Satan’s” “studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations, and lessen its sacredness; for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in man, and open the door to misery and vice.”–“Patriarchs and Prophets,” p. 338. {3SC2: 7.2.5}

“Marriage was in God’s order; it was one of the first institutions which he established. He gave special directions concerning this ordinance, clothing it with sanctity and beauty; but these directions were forgotten, and marriage was perverted, and made to minister to passion. A similar condition of things exists now.”–Id., p. 101. {3SC2: 7.2.6}

“Like every other one of God’s good gifts intrusted to the keeping of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin, but it is the purpose of the gospel to restore its purity and beauty.–“Mount of Blessings,” p. 100. {3SC2: 8.1.1}

Inspiration further says: “And He answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things.” (Mk. 9:12.) “In the time of the end, every divine institution is to be restored.”–“Prophets and Kings,” p. 678. {3SC2: 8.1.2}

The foregoing passages make clear at least three main facts; namely: {3SC2: 8.1.3}

1. That the first institution which God ordained and established on earth was that of marriage; and that the second was that of the Sabbath. {3SC2: 8.1.4}

2. That God intended that both of these institutions should endure intact, but that Satan has perverted and corrupted them, until today they retain but little of their pristine purity. {3SC2: 8.1.5}

3. That consequently, in the time of the end, God will send Elijah the prophet to restore not only both of these, but also all other desecrated, divine institutions. {3SC2: 8.1.6}

Hence, as all things must be restored, and as Elijah must effect their restoration, it follows that, as the joint institutions of marriage and the Sabbath were the first to be instituted, and the first to be profaned and debased, they must, therefore, be the first to be restored. {3SC2: 8.1.7}

Moreover, as there is no truth where there is no type, the working out of divine design, in ordaining and establishing, on Friday, the sixth day of creation, the marriage institution, and on the seventh day, the Sabbath, thus gave type both to the reestablishing of these institutions, and to the restoring of them to the sanctity and beauty of their first estate. And as we must observe the Sabbath on the seventh day, likewise we ought to solemnize marriage on Friday, the sixth day of the week. {3SC2: 8.1.8}

Furthermore, as God foresaw that in the closing hours of probation, the order of events would be singularly anomalous and preternatural, He mercifully thus forewarned us in the following familiar statements: {3SC2: 8.1.9}

“Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that will be contrary to any human planning.”–“Testimonies to Ministers,” p. 300. Therefore, with the one who is to come in the spirit, and power of Elijah, men will find fault and say, “‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message.’”–Id., pp. 475, 476. {3SC2: 8.1.10}

Nevertheless, as representatives of the Elijah message, we are called to lead out by precept and example in the restoration of all things, especially the marriage and the Sabbath institutions, for the one represents the home, and the other the memorial of its creation. Therefore, before “we go forth to proclaim the Sabbath more fully,” we must lift up marriage, the first institution, from the sordid depths to which Satan has plunged it. {3SC2: 8.1.11}

Hence, the many friends of “The Shepherd’s Rod,” well remembering how that, from the very beginning that divine guidance has so strangely to human planning shaped and characterized the progress of the sealing message, will anew be greatly, surprised and rejoiced to see the oft’ fulfilled predictions lending still further evidence to the truth of the message by again fulfilling themselves with remarkable point and accuracy, this time in an event, in the singularly coincidental aspects of which, ‘the man of wisdom shall see’ more than mere fortuitous circumstance. {3SC2: 8.2.1}

Exactly at the close of the seventh year of the sealing message, and, as with our father Adam, on Friday, the sixth day of the week, January 1, the outworking of Providential purpose and design, restoring type in antitype, united in holy wedlock Brother V.T. Houteff and Miss Florence Hermanson, who has been connected with the message of Present Truth from its inception, and who, for the past three years, has been in active service to this cause. The ceremony, performed by Elder E.T. Wilson, was simple, solemn, and unforgettable, beautifully befitting the occasion. Moreover, it was the first marriage on Mt. Carmel, the home of the Elijah message, which is now in the process of restoring ‘every divine institution.’ {3SC2: 8.2.2}

“And now to these faithful two, who, from the outset of the sealing message, have labored so tirelessly in the interest of God’s people, the Symbolic Code bids ‘God Speed’ on their journey together to our long disinherited and abandoned Eden home.” M. J. B. {3SC2: 8.2.3}

After the institutions of marriage and the Sabbath were ordained for Adam and Eve, “God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:28.) {3SC2: 8.2.4}

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom, He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” (Gen. 2:8, 10.) {3SC2: 8.2.5}

“God prepared for Adam and Eve a beautiful garden. He provided for them everything that their wants required. He planted for them fruit-bearing trees of every variety. With a liberal hand He surrounded them with His bounties. The trees for usefulness and beauty, and the lovely flowers, which sprung up spontaneously, and flourished in rich profusion around them, were to know nothing of decay. Adam and Eve were rich indeed. They possessed Eden. Adam was lord in his beautiful domain. None can question the fact that he was rich. But God knew that Adam could not be happy unless he had employment. Therefore He gave him something to do; he was to dress the garden.”–“Fundamentals of Christian Education,” p. 38. {3SC2: 8.2.6}

Thus, in order of events, it is so even now. God is giving Mt. Carmel and its inhabitants a foretaste of the beautiful Eden. Mother Nature, in obedience to God’s laws, has begun as early as the middle of February to caress field and meadow and silvan floor with her vernal figures, calling forth to her magic touch, colorful blooms of field, tender leaves of oak and ash, and delicate, sweet scented blossoms of wild plums. In like manner, Mt. Carmel’s inhabitants also have gone to work to do their part by making a rose garden and a hot bed, dressing the trees, and planting an early spring garden, a vineyard of several varieties, and a fruit orchard of some nine hundred trees, that they may bless all their friends not only with manna from Heaven, “meat in due season,” but also with the fruit of the earth, such as pears, peaches, apples, figs, mulberries, and persimmons, and with a drink of the fruit of the vine. Moreover, as “a river went out of Eden to water the garden,” so now Mt. Carmel also has the prospect of satisfying thirsty souls with good running water. Thus, by faith, we are having a foretaste of beautiful Eden. {3SC2: 9.1.1}