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Dear Brethren

Imagine that it is one year into the millennium and you are serving with thousands of the faithful under the reign of Jesus Christ. However, not all of mankind has yet submitted to God's government. Some continue to assert their own will and refuse to honor the Almighty's great moral law, including His Sabbath and holy days. One such pocket of resistance is the nation of Egypt. God has already begun to deal with this rebellion by withholding rain from them. This was done in an attempt to encourage their repentance, but as yet they continue their defiance.

Now imagine that you have been dispatched to this land to speak to a small group who have begun to turn from their ways and to honor the true God. At one point during your message someone in your audience asks you the following question.

"Your Majesty, as you know our nation refuses to honor God's Sabbath and annual festivals. One way they profane them is by engaging in business during these holy times. Our question for you is this: May we purchase their goods? For example, may we dine out at restaurants on the Sabbath? We know that God does not approve of what they are doing at such places. One only has to see the affects of the drought He has brought upon us to understand that. But what about buying their goods? It isn't as if we are making them work on the Sabbath. They would be doing that anyway. What does your God desire of us in this matter?"

How would you answer this question? Remember, you now speak for Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath. Therefore, your words must reflect His perfect will.

If your answer is that you would permit these recent converts to buy their Sabbath meals at the very restaurants that are defying God's law, our question is: WHY? Why would your God permit His people to purchase the fruits of the very labor He abhors?

To suggest that God would actually embrace a practice that relies totally on someone else's sin is hypocritical to the core. Everything about it goes contrary to God's very nature. Throughout the scriptures God's people are admonished to come completely out of sin—not come out and later return to partake of someone else's sin. The example of Lot's wife strongly suggests that God doesn't even want His people to look back at sin, let alone go back to partake of its "benefits."

We at Blow the Trumpet think it is inconceivable that the Almighty would actually condone a practice that requires His people to seek out those who are desecrating His Sabbath and then pay them for the fruit of their sacrilege--in this world or in the world to come.

Respectfully,

Blow the Trumpet