I just finished the first book of the fictional series based on Bible prophecy written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins entitled, "Left Behind" and it brought back many memories of discussions I had with other Christians in previous years. Let me say first of all that I hope these books will stimulate many Christians to witness and will also introduce many non-Christians to Christ. However it is a shame that although these books are fictional accounts, they perpetuate several misconceptions concerning Bible prophecy. One of the proof-texts used by those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture is that at the same time Christians are raptured the Holy Spirit will also be removed from the world giving the anti-christ free reign. The removal of the Holy Spirit at the time of the rapture is based on 2 Thessalonians 2:7 "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."

Unlike most who perport the pre-tribuation rapture view, the authors of these books recognize the need for a Christian witness to be in the world during the tribulation. To fill this need, people are described as coming to Christ after the rapture. It is very difficult to believe these new Christians not only had to find salvation without the Holy Spirit, they also have to mature without His help. That doesn't make any sense. It is hard to believe that any Christians have to go through the tribulation when all the previous Christians get to escape it. Even more difficult to believe, these new Christians can face the tribulation and the anti-christ without help from the Holy Spirit.

The authors also describe new Jewish Christians witnessing to and converting other Jewish people until there are thousands of Jewish converts, all without the help of the Holy Spirit. No mention whatsoever of the fact that the Jewish converts would most likely be worshipping each Sabbath as they are actually doing now in real life. A glaring oversite!

Let me suggest these corrections to keep in mind if you read these books. Ignore the pre-tribulation rapture theory and expect the reality that all Christians at the time will go through the tribulation. Expect the great false church lining up with the anti-christ and expect these false Christians to be the ones who continue to worship on Sunday. Expect the thousands of Jewish converts (already actually beginning to happen in the world today) convincing the true gentile Christians they should join together in one Body and worship together every Sabbath, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Revelation ignored by these books: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." -Revelation 14:12. The true story is not called "Left Behind." Perhaps it would better be entitled "The Patience of the Saints."

NORTH LOUP -- VALLEY COUNTY NEBRASKA

By Doris Thomas, Box 156, North Loup, NE 68859

The settlement of North Loup was made by Seventh-Day Baptists from various churches within the denomination. A colony began organizing in the spring of 1871. In June a committee of four men (Rood, Prentice, Wellman, and Travis) was sent to find a location in Kansas or Nebraska.

They reached the North Loup Valley of central Nebraska on July 3rd, and after a short stay, returned to Wisconsin from which they came. The following October, C.P. and Herman Rood, John Sheldon, and Mansell Davis made a second trip. Sheldon and Davis filed homestead claims before returning. The winter was spent organizing the families who wanted to start a new home in the West.

In April 1872 the settlers began arriving. Many of the men came on ahead, without their families, but were joined by them in the fall. Their first homes were their covered wagons, but as soon as possible, they made more permanent shelters -- either dug-outs or sod houses. Still later, they built log houses from trees which they found in what is now called "Jones Canyon" north of Burwell, about 40 miles away. There were no trees in the locality which they had chosen for their settlement.

Valley County was formed in 1873. The village of North Loup was laid out, named, and declared a town in 1894.

The Seventh-Day Baptists brought with them their own Pastor, Rev. Oscar Babcock, plus their own doctor and teacher, Dr. Badger, and his daughter Kate. The first Sabbath church service was held on the banks of the North Loup River on May 18, 1872, in a grove of trees two miles east of the present village of North Loup. They built a church of logs in 1894, which also served as a school. It was struck by lightning in 1914 and replace by the present church.

Dr. W.J. Hemphill, who arrived in 1902, practiced until his death in 1949. He was succeeded by Dr. Murray Markley, who still serves the community.

Irrigation was developed after the drought of the 1890s. Along with irrigation came an introduction of a new cash crop -- pop corn! North Loup soon became known as the "Pop Corn Center of the World," and while it no longer holds that title, it still produces lots of pop corn. The pop corn was and is shipped by the carload to all parts of the world. A railroad into the town was completed in 1882, so transporting it to market was no problem.

The North Loup business men broached the subject of celebrating the town's claim-to-fame. In 1902 they sponsored the first "Pop Corn Days," and it has been celebrated every year since. It has grown from a one-day affair, to a three-day production, with exhibits, ball games, parades, the crowning of a queen, dances, programs, a carnival, and of course, free pop corn for everyone. It is considered to be one of the oldest continuous celebrations in the state.

The first school was a cave, dug in the banks of a creek. It was used for a very short time, until a log cabin was built. There were various other buildings over the years. The present schoolhouse was built in 1923 and is used as an elementary school. The North Loup School District has merged with a neighboring town, Scotia, with elementary school is held in North Loup and Junior High and High School in Scotia. Graduation of the first combined district senior class was held in 1959.

At one time there was a cheese factory in North Loup that also churned butter. With changes in farming, the number of dairy herds has diminished. The factory closed, and milk from the few remaining dairies is now hauled to Grand Island.

Our town's population peaked at nearly 700 in 1930. Many things have changed so that today we are a community of 400 citizens.

Agriculture continues to be our main industry. With irrigation expanding in the entire North Loup River valley, farming is given some degree of stability. As long as we continue to raise food for the nation and the world, our little town will prosper.

reprinted from- University of Nebraska, Valley County History

God's Holy Day
Seven Studies on the Sabbath Truth
By Lester G. Osborn

And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.  -Genesis 2:3

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Lesson Two

 CHRIST AND THE SABBATH

 

In Lesson 1, we saw that the seventh day is different from the other sabbaths. it was the specific act of God, and it has never been lost.

Did Christ Jesus change the weekly day of rest and worship? He had the right to do so, for He not only declared Himself "Lord... of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28), but He was actually its Creator John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2).

Since Jesus was the founder of Christianity, His attitude toward questions of Christian conduct is most important. He is our "final sanction" for the Sabbath, for His teachings in precept and example are the highest authority. 

A. Jesus' Observance of and Interpretation of the Sabbath.

1. Mark 1:21; 3:1-2; 6:2a; Luke 4:16,31; 13:10; 14:1.
From these passages and others, we see that it was Jesus' custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  There is no reference anywhere in the Bible that He went on any other day.

2. Matthew 12:9-13; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-5; John 5:1-18;9:1-16.
These verses refer to five miracles of healing which took place on the Sabbath. Jesus considered deeds of mercy consistent with the sacredness of the Sabbath. Evidently they were not the forbidden "your work," nor contrary to the "keeping it holy" of the fourth commandment.

3. Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.
Here we see that anything necessary to physical comfort is permissible, as long as it does not detract from one's spiritual welfare.

4. Matthew 12:7,12b; Mark 2:27.
The Sabbath is not a burden to be borne, but a day of blessing, spiritual uplift, and doing good deeds. Compare Isaiah 58:13, "call the Sabbath a delight."

5. Jesus' teaching was to purge the Sabbath of rabbinical restrictions, the "traditions of men," and petty details to free it from all ceremonial implications and lift it to its rightful position as a day of happiness, joy, and service. Someone has said that Jesus did for the Sabbath what a skipper does for his ship when it comes laboring into port, unable to make good headway because its hull is covered with barnacles. He puts her into dry dock and scrapes off the barnacles. Jesus did not repeal nor annul the Sabbath when He stripped it of the intolerable burdens which the ceremonialists had heaped upon it.

This is paralleled in Matthew 5:21-32, where Jesus goes beyond mere formal observance of the commandments and gets back to the principles involved.

6. Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; -Luke 6:5.
These passages give Jesus' authority for interpreting the Sabbath. He was not only its Creator, but its Lord as well.

7. Was not Jesus' observance of and teaching the real meaning of the Sabbath a practical reiteration of the fourth commandment?

B. Did Jesus Abolish the Sabbath?

1. Matthew 5:17 "I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them."
"Fulfill" does not mean to abolish. See Matthew 3:15; Galatians 6:2.

2. Colossians 2:13-17.
Christ did abolish "the written code, with its regulations, that was against us." But the Sabbath was not an "ordinance" nor "against us" it was made for mankind, for our welfare. Since they are mentioned with "new moons" and other ceremonial shadows, the "sabbath days" referred to in these verses must be ceremonial and ritual days, based on the phases of the moon. They do not refer to the weekly Sabbath, which is based on the weekly cycle. This concept is the same as the "barrier, the dividing walls of hostility" of Ephesians 2:13-16.

3. Matthew 24:20.
Evidently, Jesus expected His followers to be 6b serving the Sabbath sometime in the future whether this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem or to the end of the age.

Conclusion

Jesus and His disciples observed the Sabbath. He taught how it should be kept so that it would not be a burden but a blessing.
The true "Lord's Day" is the day of which He declared Himself Lord: the Sabbath.

By His example and teaching, Jesus exalted God's holy day, the Sabbath. Since He is our " final authority," shouldn't we "walk even as He walked" when it comes to the Sabbath? (1 John 2:6).

reprinted from- www.7thdaybaptistchurch.org