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CHAPTER SIX

The Jacobites and the Voice

Now let us see if other biblical sources arrive at the same conclusion that we have already come to regarding the subject of the little company (God's special army). Remember that we are encouraged to compare scripture with scripture.

Isaiah, the gospel prophet, speaks about different groups of faithful souls in God's church in these last days. The prophet describes one group as being responsible for restoring or bringing another group back to God. We read:

"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name. And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid me; and said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes


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of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. 49:1-6.

In the Scripture verses above the Lord speaks about a group of people whom He refers to as "His servant" (verses 3, 13-14). He says that He has them hidden in a quiver, which means that they are unknown. Nobody knows that they are around. They are "the hidden ones" (5 T 81), hidden by the Lord until the time appointed. However, they have the job of bringing those referred to as "the tribes of Jacob" back to Him. It is because they have a mission to perform, one that requires them to act as a united front, the Lord refers to them by the singular title, "servant" (Isa. 49:3).

Let us find out who is represented by "the tribes of Jacob." Is Jacob symbolical of members of God's church, or does the name refer to people in the world? The third angel's message teaches the following concerning antitypical Jacob:

"Jacob's night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from the hand of Esau (Genesis 32:24-30), represents the experience of God's people in the time of trouble." GC 616.

Here we are told that Jacob represents God's faithful laity who experience a time of trouble called "Jacob's trouble" (see Jer. 30:7). It is logical to conclude, therefore, that the name Jacob is used to represent members of God's church and not people in the world. Furthermore, it is logical to say that those who gather these faithful ones


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are also found in God's church; since God calls them, "My servant, O Israel" (Isa. 49:3).

Note that those who constitute the "servant" and those who constitute antitypical "Jacob" are two different groups of people. The first group helps to revive or restore the second group, represented as Jacob, and bring it back to the Lord. However, the labors of "the servant" will not be confined to the church, but will eventually extend to the great multitude of those who "come from every nation and kindred and tongue and people" (Rev. 7:9; CT 532); that is, God's faithful sheep in Christendom and the world. Let all remember that God has true children inside and outside His remnant church.

All will be affected by the time of trouble or the coming crisis. Therefore, to labor to arouse only one group of people to the exclusion of another is a sad mistake that many make. Although Christ's work was mainly for "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24), He did minister unto individuals both within the church and without. Our Saviour will again do a similar work in this end time. He will gather all His people today through His servants using truth and love.

"And He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. 49:6.

Thus His servant (the first of the firstfruitsthe little company of medical missionary evangelists) shall become known internationally "unto the end of the earth," and Jacob (the firstfruitsthe 144,000) shall also


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become well known. These true workers for Christ will not be destroyers, but instead genuine healers. As healers of minds, bodies, and spirits, they will go forth to all the world to all in need. They will do the works of Christ, the Great Physician (Jer. 8:20-21).

Some believe that God's remnant today will not be found in a church where abominations exist. Hence they promote leaving God's latter-day church. Others teach that the remnant represents only those who are in good and regular standing with men in high places, irrespective of their spiritual conditions. Then there are those who have been wrongly dealt with or even "cast out" (Isa. 66:5) because of their actions or personal beliefs, and others are either victims or agents of those who "delight in war" (Ps. 68:30). Needless to say, all of these views and circumstances are really sad and unfortunate, especially since God's people can do so much more if they are united.

It would be so much better if everyone seriously took God's views, which are clearly brought out: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." John 13:34.

It is time for all God's true children to implement the valuable principles of Matt. 18:15-18, which deals with how we are to relate to each other in difficult circumstances or when disagreements arise. Loving and earnest efforts to reconcile, unite, and revive the spirit of Christ should always be made. In this regard we read: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." 1 Peter 1:22.


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We need to live to please Christ instead of ourselves. Self is our greatest enemy. By looking outside of ourselves and seeking to help others, we help ourselves. This is why medical missionary work is so valuable; it puts us in the same frame of mind as that of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are told: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. 2:5. Yes, brethren this is the mind of Christunselfish love. It is this mind that must take possession of church members. Hence, for the success of God's work the unification of all true believers or medical missionary evangelists is essential.

Caring for the physical and spiritual needs of others can make a big difference, not only with how we view ourselves, but also with how we view others. Such labor can help to strengthen the relationship of church members with each other, but first each member must strengthen their own relationship with Christ.

Note that medical missionary evangelistic work is not to be carried out only by doctors and nurses. This commission is not just applicable to those who are presently in the medical profession. No indeed, Christ's method of working is suitable for all the faithful:

"We have come to a time when every member of the church should take hold of medical missionary work. The world is a lazar house filled with victims of both physical and spiritual disease. Everywhere people are perishing for lack of a knowledge of the truths that have been committed to us. The members of the church are in need of an awakening, that they may realize their responsibility to impart these truths. Those who have been enlightened by the truth are to be light bearers to the world.


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To hide our light at this time is to make a terrible mistake. The message to God's people today is: 'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee' [Isa. 60:1]." 7 T 62. (Read also TM 416 and Ezek. 33.)

Church members should no longer be ignorant of the kind of work or the scope of work that God wants us to do in these last days. Remember, Isaiah shows that God's special army (His servant, the first of the firstfruits, the little company) will be known internationally, but so will the rest of the remnant (Jacob, the firstfruits, the 144,000) also be known worldwide. Those who constitute God's servants will be prepared to faithfully and lovingly labor in the Master's vineyard to awaken and bring God's true Jacobites and finally the entire great multitude back "again to Him" (Isa. 49:5).

"Wonderful possibilities are open to those who lay hold of the divine assurances of God's word. There are glorious truths to come before the people of God. Privileges and duties which they do not even suspect to be in the Bible will be laid open before them. As they follow on in the path of humble obedience, doing His will, they will know more and more of the oracles of God." 8 T 322.

In Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus told a parable of a marriage in which there were five wise and five foolish virgins, all of whom fell asleep. When the bridegroom, which represents Christ, was about to appear "a cry" or "a voice" awoke the sleeping virgins. (Please read the entire parable in Matt. 25:1-13.) When addressing the experience of the early Advent movement, Inspiration applies this parable to two different groups of people in the church at that time. The voice represented the faithful


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messengers who proclaimed the first and second angels' messages. They were then referred to as "the little company." The rest of the remnant fell asleep and later had to be awakened. The faithful remnant who fell asleep at that time were called "the wise virgins" (Matt. 25:1-6). This latter group, we are told, were then urged to join the little company who were their messengers or forerunners.

"Many who heard the first and second angels' messages thought they would live to see Christ coming in the clouds of heaven. Had all who claimed to believe the truth acted their part as wise virgins, the message would ere this have been proclaimed to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. But five were wise and five were foolish. The truth should have been proclaimed by the ten virgins, but only five had made the provision essential to join that company who walked in the light that had come to them. The third angel's message was needed. This proclamation was to be made. Many who went forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the first and second angels, refused the third angel's message, the last testing message to be given to the world." 16 MR 269-270.

As noted previously, prophecy can have more than one application, and why shouldn't the prophecy in Matthew, chapter 25, involving the voice and the sleeping virgins, also have a latter-day application? If it warranted an application in the time of the early Advent movement but failed to meet its complete fulfillment then, certainly there must be a latter-day application of this prophecy. The servant of the Lord tells us unequivocally that this parable is an illustration of


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"the experience of the church that shall live just before [Christ's] second coming." COL 406.

In these last days, the little company or special army actually fulfills the role of "the voice of the bride" that awakens the "ten virgins" (Matt. 25:1-6; COL 405-406). Even though all ten virgins in God's church (the rest of the remnant) are given the opportunity to "join" the little company (the forerunners) in order to proclaim the last message to the world, only five will do so faithfully. Both the Bible record and the experience of the early Advent movement attest to this fact. The following reference will then again be applicable:

"Had those who claimed to believe the truth acted their part as wise virgins, the message would ere this have been given to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. But five were foolish. The truth should have been proclaimed by the ten virgins, but only five had made the provision essential to join the company that walked in the light given to them." RH, Oct.31, 1899.

Certainly God would not have provided more than one application of a prophecy involving the different groups within the church's harvest (the firstfruit harvest) if He did not consider this subject very important. Furthermore, if the subject was not relevant for His latter-day saints, He would not have hidden so much truth on it within the types and symbols of the Jewish economy. But instead, we see that God has definitely designed the different parts of the typical ceremonial system with so much detail for the end-time harvest that it would be unwise for anyone to dismiss the importance of this subject. Remember that God Himself declares,


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"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55:8-9.

We should consider ourselves privileged to be called to be a part of God's little company of medical missionary evangelists. Thus, we can work with Christ to revive and reform the rest of the remnant (the virgins) in His church and eventually the faithful in the world. Christ, the perfect type of "the voice" that awakens the sleeping virgins, must be exalted; especially since we are told that, ". . . our churches are dying for the want of teaching on the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ, and on kindred truths" (GW 301).

Therefore, let us go forth and do the works of our Master in the spirit of love and in harmony with Christ's methods. All of us can then look forward to the day when the Jacobites (the waveloaves) join with God's servants (the wavesheaf) to bring to an end the work of God on the earth. This the little company and the 144,000 will accomplish by proclaiming the loud cry which shall result in their gathering the great multitude (the final fruits) from the world. What a privilege!


The five wise virgins had extra oil with their lamps.