Dean Rusk Arrives for SEATO Conference - Lcgmn.com

32
believe it when you said you would
mail it free and postpaid, but you certainly
have proved it to me after sending
it regularly now for several
months."
Miss K. S. K., India
• Suspicion is Ptll't of human natflre.
"J have noticed in the past issues of
The PLAIN TRUTH that all the letters
that are sent in were only initialed and
not signed in fu ll. A friend of mine
called thi s to my attention and said
that they were probably only 'made up'
letters because they were unsigned. J
told him if the letters were made up,
surely someone that would take the time
to do this could also find time to 'make
up' a name!"
Jerome P., Dalton, Georgia
• And here's YOlfrs ill print, lIVe say!
on the broadcast, "yoll1' Wlfne will not
be given 10 others." IVe leel we ca171101
pllblish filII names and add,.esscs unless
at lhe writer's request.
Autobiography
" J wish we could have further installments
of your . Autobiography.' It
was so interesting, but I have missed it
in these last issues of The PLAIN
TRUTH . ] like the ta lks wi th you
though and your letters very much."
Mrs. C. R. G., Akron, Ohio
"Why have you not had your 'Autobiography'
in The PLAIN TRUTH lately'
[ really enjoyed readi ng it."
Mrs. G. S., Corbin, Kentucky
Law and Grace
"We received our PLAIN TRUTH for
the month and have never been helped
with one thing as much as we were
with the one on 'The New Testament
Teaching on Law and Grace.' God
knows how this opened our eyes to
understanding a big question in our
minds."
E. E., Hobbs, New Mexico
" ] want to thank you for The
PLAIN TRUTH which I have been receiving
now for about a year. I believe
I first received the June issue last
year, so I am beginning my second year
as a reader of The PLAIN TRUTH. All
of the issues are worthwhile, but I be-
Tbe PLAIN 1RUTH
lieve the June ( 1966) is the best yet.
All of the articles are most interesting
and timely, but I believe the one most
helpful to me is the one on Law and
Grace. Perhaps this should have been
clear to me before, but it was not and
when ] thought 1 fi nall y understood,
it resolved into confusion again. I
think you finally got through to me
with enough clarity and explanation
that this question wil I not 'plague' me
again. Thank you very much for publishing
thi s article."
J. H ., Dallas, Texas
FRANCE - ENIGMA
OF OUR TIME
(Colltil/lled /1'0111 pl/ge 12)
beast hath devoured him; and we shall
sec what will become of his dreams"
(Gen. 37:18-20).
Notice well what took place. The
brothers CONSPIRED against Joseph;
fill ed with jealousy, they wanted to KILL
h im. Afterwards, they would LIE lo
their father, telling him that a wild
beast had devoured Joseph.
What about the next two verses,
some may argue? Well, let's once again
examine them in the light of the Bibli ­
cal account, and let LIS not be misled
by our h/{1/l(U/ reasoning. " And Reuben
heard it [the plot to ki ll Joseph], and
he .delivered him out of their hands;
and .said, Let us not ki ll him. And
Reuben sa id unto them, Shed no blood,
but cast hi m into this pit that is in
the wilderness, and lay no hand UpO:1
him; that he might rid him out of
their h ands, to deliver h im to his father
again (verses 21, 22).
At first glance, it may seem, indeed,
as though Reuben acted well. He proposed
an altemative to deliver Joseph
out of his brothers' hands. This sounds
good to our human mind, to our ca/'­
lit II W(LJJ of thi nking. But is that what
was expected of Reuben ? Is that all
he cou ld do-he, the fi rstborn ? Was
his duty to compromise with his brothers
over whom he had authority?
According to the Bible, a firstborn
In Israel had certain privileges his
brothers did not have. His huilag(;! was
bigger and he received the greater
portion of the bleHillg.r. H e was next
Augusr, 1966
to his father in power and authority.
Therefore, as the leader of his brothers,
Reuben was actuall y RESPONSIBLE for
what happened to Joseph . He should
have acted the way Jacob, his father,
would have acted had he been thereand
not have compromised with them .
Many overlook this important point
when they read this story. Consequently,
they don't see where Reuben fai led.
No, Reuben did NOT act with courage
and di gnity. He was afraid of his
brothers; he FEARED fo r his own life
if he tried to stop them by force.
COMPROMISE is all he could think ofbut
compromise is a very poor substirute
for one's own duties and res ponsibilities.
Would Jacob, his father, have compromised
with them if he were present?
W eren 't all the brothers combined
stronger than their father, phys ically
speaking? Yes, they were. But Jacob
didn't fear them; they fem'ed him!
They respected h is authority, his office,
because he fu lfi lled his job with "courage
and dignity." Reuben didn't. H e
f(,iled to shoulder his own responsibilities.
H e didn't even remain with his
brothers until the end to know what
they finally decided to do with Joseph
(verse 29).
A Striking Parallel
There may be a striking paraIJeI
between Reuben's behavior in the past
and that of France today. Indeed, in
a few years, Reuben's modern descendants
will be at the side of the prophesied
"beast" of Revelation when the
Anglo-Saxons (the descendants of Joseph
) are Itlken ((Iptive. France, like
her forefather Reuben, will probably
seek a (om/lI'omise to prevent her
former all ies- the very SONS of Joseph
- from being taken captive by the
enemy.
But what good will that really do?
What good did it do to Joseph ? A
compromise never relieves one from
one's own responsibilities.
Without a doubt, Reuben loved his
brother; he exerted hi mself in his OW11
ways, through his own huma/l reason·
ing, to save him. But the fact remains
that he ended up by acti ng like" foe!
France today also li kes her "kin ,"
her natural allies. But, unless she repents,
France will end up BEING a foe!