The Sin Of Bible Study

January 11  The Sin Of Bible Study

 

Son of Man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Eze. 3:17, 18, RSV.

William Miller's 1818 discovery that Jesus would return to earth in "about twenty-five years filled him with joy." That was good.

But, he noted, "the conviction came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind." If the end was near, it was important that the world should know it.

He supposed that his conclusions about the Advent might find opposition among the "ungodly," but he had no doubt that Christians everwhere would gladly accept them as soon as they had a chance to hear about them. But he feared to present his findings, "lest by some possibility I should be in error, and be the means of misleading any." As a result, he spent another five years (1818-1823) in continued study of the Bible. As he eliminated one objection to his view of the Advent another would come to his mind, such as "of that day and hour knoweth no man." During that five-year period, Miller noted in 1845, "more objections arose in my mind, than have been advanced by my opponents since; and I know of no objection that has been since advanced, which did not occur to me." But after continued study he believed that he could answer  all of them from the Bible. Thus after seven years of study Miller had fully convinced himself that Christ would return "about the year 1843."

At that point Miller reports that "the duty of presenting the evidence of the nearness of the advent to others-which I had managed to evade while I could find the shadow of an objection remaining against its truth-again came home to me with great force."

As a result, he began to speak more openly of his views in private conversations with his neighbors and minister. But to his astonishment, "very few. . .listened with any interest."

Miller continued to study the Bible. But the more he did, the more convicted he was that he had a duty to tell others. "Go and tell the world of their danger" was the message that assailed him day and night.

But that was the last thing he wanted to do. You see, like many of us, Miller loved studying the Bible, but he lacked ambition to do anything. Such is the sin of Bible study. We are all tempted to make it an end in itself rather than a means of motivation to action.

God's law is the law of love. He has surrounded you with beauty to teach you that you are not placed on earth merely to delve for self, to dig and build, to toil and spin, but to make life bright and joyous and beautiful with the love of Christ--like the flowers, to gladden other lives by the ministry of love(TFMB 97).