The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 5: The Dedication
This chapter is based on Luke 2:21-38.
About forty days after the birth of Christ, Joseph and Mary
took Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice. This
was according to the Jewish law, and as man's substitute Christ must conform to
the law in every particular. He had already been subjected to the rite of
circumcision, as a pledge of His obedience to the law. {DA 50.1}
As an offering for the mother, the law required a lamb of
the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a
sin offering. But the law provided that if the parents were too poor to bring a
lamb, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering, the
other for a sin offering, might be accepted. {DA 50.2}
The offerings presented to the Lord were to be without
blemish. These offerings represented Christ, and from this it is evident that
Jesus Himself was free from physical deformity. He was the "lamb without
blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:19. His physical structure was not
marred by any defect; His body was strong and healthy. And throughout His
lifetime He lived in conformity to nature's laws. Physically [51]
as well as spiritually, He was an example of what God designed all humanity to
be through obedience to His laws. {DA 50.3}
The dedication of the first-born had its origin in the earliest
times. God had promised to give the First-born of heaven to save the sinner.
This gift was to be acknowledged in every household by the consecration of the
first-born son. He was to be devoted to the priesthood, as a representative of
Christ among men. {DA
51.1}
In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, the dedication of
the first-born was again commanded. While the children of Israel were in
bondage to the Egyptians, the Lord directed Moses to go to Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, and say, "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even My
first-born: and I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if
thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy
first-born." Exodus 4:22, 23. {DA 51.2}
Moses delivered his message; but the proud king's answer
was, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I
know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Exodus 5:2. The Lord
worked for His people by signs and wonders, sending terrible judgments upon
Pharaoh. At length the destroying angel was bidden to slay the first-born of
man and beast among the Egyptians. That the Israelites might be spared, they
were directed to place upon their doorposts the blood of a slain lamb. Every
house was to be marked, that when the angel came on his mission of death, he
might pass over the homes of the Israelites. {DA 51.3}
After sending this judgment upon Egypt, the Lord said to
Moses, "Sanctify unto Me all the first-born, . . . both of man
and of beast: it is Mine;" "for on the day that I smote all the
first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the first-born in
Israel, both man and beast: Mine shall they be: I am the Lord." Exodus
13:2; Numbers 3:13. After the tabernacle service was established, the Lord
chose the tribe of Levi in the place of the first-born of all Israel to
minister in the sanctuary. But the first-born were still to be regarded as the
Lord's, and were to be bought back by a ransom. {DA 51.4}
Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made
particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord's wonderful
deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to
be wrought out by the only-begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the
doorposts had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood of Christ has power
to save the world. [52] {DA 51.5}
What meaning then was attached to Christ's presentation! But
the priest did not see through the veil; he did not read the mystery beyond.
The presentation of infants was a common scene. Day after day the priest
received the redemption money as the babes were presented to the Lord. Day
after day he went through the routine of his work, giving little heed to the
parents or children, unless he saw some indication of the wealth or high rank
of the parents. Joseph and Mary were poor; and when they came with their child,
the priests saw only a man and woman dressed as Galileans, and in the humblest
garments. There was nothing in their appearance to attract attention, and they
presented only the offering made by the poorer classes. {DA 52.1}
The priest went through the ceremony of his official work.
He took the child in his arms, and held it up before the altar. After handing
it back to its mother, he inscribed the name "Jesus" on the roll of
the first-born. Little did he think, as the babe lay in his arms, that it was
the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. The priest did not think that this
babe was the One of whom Moses had written, "A Prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever He shall say unto you." Acts 3:22. He did not think that
this babe was He whose glory Moses had asked to see. But One greater than Moses
lay in the priest's arms; and when he enrolled the child's name, he was
enrolling the name of One who was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy.
That name was to be its death warrant; for the system of sacrifices and
offerings was waxing old; the type had almost reached its antitype, the shadow its
substance. {DA 52.2}
The Shekinah had departed from the sanctuary, but in the
Child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow. This
unconscious babe was the promised seed, to whom the first altar at the gate of
Eden pointed. This was Shiloh, the peace giver. It was He who declared Himself
to Moses as the I AM. It was He who in the pillar of cloud and of fire had been
the guide of Israel. This was He whom seers had long foretold. He was the
Desire of all nations, the Root and the Offspring of David, and the Bright and
Morning Star. The name of that helpless little babe, inscribed in the roll of
Israel, declaring Him our brother, was the hope of fallen humanity. The child
for whom the redemption money had been paid was He who was to pay the ransom
for the sins of the whole world. He was the true "high priest over the
house of God," the head of "an unchangeable priesthood," the
intercessor [55] at "the right hand of the
Majesty on high." Hebrews 10:21; 7:24; 1:3. {DA 52.3}
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. In the temple
the Son of God was dedicated to the work He had come to do. The priest looked
upon Him as he would upon any other child. But though he neither saw nor felt
anything unusual, God's act in giving His Son to the world was acknowledged.
This occasion did not pass without some recognition of Christ. "There was
a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death,
before he had seen the Lord's Christ." {DA 55.1}
As Simeon enters the temple, he sees a family presenting
their first-born son before the priest. Their appearance bespeaks poverty; but
Simeon understands the warnings of the Spirit, and he is deeply impressed that
the infant being presented to the Lord is the Consolation of Israel, the One he
has longed to see. To the astonished priest, Simeon appears like a man
enraptured. The child has been returned to Mary, and he takes it in his arms
and presents it to God, while a joy that he has never before felt enters his
soul. As he lifts the infant Saviour toward heaven, he says, "Lord, now
lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes
have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all
people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people
Israel." {DA 55.2}
The spirit of prophecy was upon this man of God, and while
Joseph and Mary stood by, wondering at his words, he blessed them, and said
unto Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of
many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword
shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may
be revealed." {DA
55.3}
Anna also, a prophetess, came in and confirmed Simeon's
testimony concerning Christ. As Simeon spoke, her face lighted up with the
glory of God, and she poured out her heartfelt thanks that she had been permitted
to behold Christ the Lord. {DA
55.4}
These humble worshipers had not studied the prophecies in
vain. But those who held positions as rulers and priests in Israel, though they
too had before them the precious utterances of prophecy, were not walking in
the way of the Lord, and their eyes were not open to behold the Light of life. [56]
{DA 55.5}
So it is still. Events upon which the attention of all
heaven is centered are undiscerned, their very occurrence is unnoticed, by
religious leaders, and worshipers in the house of God. Men acknowledge Christ
in history, while they turn away from the living Christ. Christ in His word
calling to self-sacrifice, in the poor and suffering who plead for relief, in
the righteous cause that involves poverty and toil and reproach, is no more
readily received today than He was eighteen hundred years ago. {DA 56.1}
Mary pondered the broad and far-reaching prophecy of Simeon.
As she looked upon the child in her arms, and recalled the words spoken by the
shepherds of Bethlehem, she was full of grateful joy and bright hope. Simeon's
words called to her mind the prophetic utterances of Isaiah: "There shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his
roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord. . . . And righteousness shall be the girdle of
His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins." "The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. . . . For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon
His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 11:1-5; 9:2-6. {DA 56.2}
Yet Mary did not understand Christ's mission. Simeon had
prophesied of Him as a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as a glory to Israel.
Thus the angels had announced the Saviour's birth as tidings of joy to all
peoples. God was seeking to correct the narrow, Jewish conception of the
Messiah's work. He desired men to behold Him, not merely as the deliverer of
Israel, but as the Redeemer of the world. But many years must pass before even
the mother of Jesus would understand His mission. {DA 56.3}
Mary looked forward to the Messiah's reign on David's
throne, but she saw not the baptism of suffering by which it must be won.
Through Simeon it is revealed that the Messiah is to have no unobstructed
passage through the world. In the words to Mary, "A sword shall pierce
through thy own soul also," God in His tender mercy gives to the mother of
Jesus an intimation of the anguish that already for His sake she had begun to
bear. {DA 56.4}
"Behold," Simeon had said, "this child is set
for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be
spoken against." [57] They must fall who would rise
again. We must fall upon the Rock and be broken before we can be uplifted in
Christ. Self must be dethroned, pride must be humbled, if we would know the
glory of the spiritual kingdom. The Jews would not accept the honor that is
reached through humiliation. Therefore they would not receive their Redeemer.
He was a sign that was spoken against. {DA 56.5}
"That the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed." In the light of the Saviour's life, the hearts of all, even
from the Creator to the prince of darkness, are revealed. Satan has represented
God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all, and giving nothing, as
requiring the service of His creatures for His own glory, and making no
sacrifice for their good. But the gift of Christ reveals the Father's heart. It
testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are "thoughts of peace, and
not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11. It declares that while God's hatred of sin
is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having
undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is
necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is
withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left
unemployed. Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasury of
heaven is open to those He seeks to save. Having collected the riches of the
universe, and laid open the resources of infinite power, He gives them all into
the hands of Christ, and says, All these are for man. Use these gifts to
convince him that there is no love greater than Mine in earth or heaven. His
greatest happiness will be found in loving Me. {DA 57.1}
At the cross of Calvary, love and selfishness stood face to
face. Here was their crowning manifestation. Christ had lived only to comfort
and bless, and in putting Him to death, Satan manifested the malignity of his
hatred against God. He made it evident that the real purpose of his rebellion
was to dethrone God, and to destroy Him through whom the love of God was shown.
{DA 57.2}
By the life and the death of Christ, the thoughts of men
also are brought to view. From the manger to the cross, the life of Jesus was a
call to self-surrender, and to fellowship in suffering. It unveiled the
purposes of men. Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were
listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him. The worshipers of
self belonged to Satan's kingdom. In their attitude toward Christ, all would
show on which side they stood. And thus everyone passes judgment on himself. [58]
{DA 57.3}
In the day of final judgment, every lost soul will
understand the nature of his own rejection of truth. The cross will be
presented, and its real bearing will be seen by every mind that has been
blinded by transgression. Before the vision of Calvary with its mysterious
Victim, sinners will stand condemned. Every lying excuse will be swept away.
Human apostasy will appear in its heinous character. Men will see what their
choice has been. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing
controversy will then have been made plain. In the judgment of the universe,
God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will
be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no
defect in God's government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all
hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in
declaring, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not
fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? . . . for Thy judgments are made
manifest." Revelation 15:3, 4. {DA 58.1}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"We Have Seen His Star"
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