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We just finished celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles, and I have some cool things to share with you all. A few of us Branch Davidians (or “branches” as we say) finished some projects during the feast. This is actually one of the purposes of the feasts – offerings; not offerings of animal victims, but offerings of truth, to the glory of God and for the benefit of all who have ears to hear. As a bit of a fuller background to what I’m talking about, in the ancient world, there were many priesthoods that conducted systems of rituals in service to various deities. These priesthoods almost always involved sacrificing animals and various other food and drink offerings. One of the least understood, yet well-attested, facts about Jesus is that he established a priesthood, but one of a very different character from others. He didn’t teach his followers to sacrifices animals or grain offerings; he taught them to offer themselves, or devote themselves, wholly to God and Truth, and to offer truth and righteous acts, not as a means of ensuring the favor or protection of the Deity, but instead, to educate and uplift humanity and to exalt the truth over all falsehood. If you want to learn about this priesthood and what the ancient sources say about it, I recommend reading our study A Change in the Priesthood, A Change in the Law. For the purposes of this post, though, it’s sufficient to say that the festivals we branches celebrate are a part of this system, and thus, learning and spreading truth is a central part of the experience.
The great thing about offerings of truth is that all can consume them without decreasing the supply. In fact, the effect is just the opposite – the more is consumed, the more is available. So, here it is! First, we have three Q&As:
Q: Why study logic? Isn’t that just the wisdom of man? ─ answered by Melissa DiLernia
Q: Since Jesus’ resurrection is a supernatural event, isn’t it outside of the realm of historical investigation? ─ answered by Mary Zebrowski
Q: What is the SDA doctrine of the Personality of God? ─ answered by Teresa Wilde (my wife) and myself.
As a further item to feast upon, I also uploaded a series of articles by an SDA pioneer, Dudley Canright. The series is called The Personality of God and it explains one of the most foundational doctrines of Seventh-day Adventism, though unfortunately, one that has been almost entirely forgotten. An important fact about this series is that James and Ellen White personally helped Canright with it – you can learn the details by clicking the link and reading the introduction. I highly recommend reading the articles in full.
Lastly, Ed Zebrowski started a new Youtube Channel called Principles of Truth and has just uploaded his first video: Materialism. I recommend subscribing to the channel, and of course, click the bell so you’ll receive notifications for new videos. The first video is a great introduction to philosophical materialism and how we can know it’s true. If you’d like to read the transcript, you can do so HERE.
Also, for those of you who might not know yet, Ed and Mary Zebrowski offer a feast of truth every week in their videos intereacting with the SDA Sabbath School Quarterly. Their most recent video, the one offered during the feast, addresses a question asked in the Sabbath School Lesson about why we need to be careful to not think knowing the truth is all God requires of us. You can watch it HERE.
Enjoy feasting!
