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Defiling the Temple of God
63
themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting ho-
liness in the fear of God. And Christ would drive from the temple
those who are defiled by the use of tobacco, polluting the sanctu-
ary of God by their tobacconized breaths. He would say to these
worshipers, as He did to the Jews, “My house shall be called of all
nations the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” We
would say to such, Your unholy offerings of ejected quids of tobacco
defile the temple, and are abhorred of God. Your worship is not
acceptable, for your bodies which should be the temple for the Holy
Ghost are defiled. You also rob the treasury of God of thousands of
dollars through the indulgence of unnatural appetite.—
The Signs of
the Times, August 13, 1874
.
Tobacco-Using Priests Would Have Suffered Death
—The
priests, who ministered in sacred things, were commanded to wash
their feet and their hands before entering the tabernacle in the pres-
[65]
ence of God to importune for Israel, that they might not desecrate the
sanctuary. If the priests had entered the sanctuary with their mouths
polluted with tobacco, they would have shared the fate of Nadab
and Abihu. And yet professed Christians bow before God in their
families to pray with their mouths defiled with the filth of tobacco....
Be Ye Clean
—Men who have been set apart by the laying on of
hands, to minister in sacred things, often stand in the desk with their
mouths polluted, their lips stained, and their breath tainted with the
defilements of tobacco. They speak to the people in Christ’s stead.
How can such service be acceptable to a holy God, who required the
priests of Israel to make such special preparations before coming
into His presence, lest His sacred holiness should consume them for
dishonoring Him, as in the case of Nadab and Abihu?
These may be assured that the mighty God of Israel is still a
God of cleanliness. They profess to be serving God while they are
committing idolatry, by making a God of their appetite. Tobacco is
their cherished idol. To it every high and sacred consideration must
bow. They profess to be worshiping God, while at the same time they
are violating the first commandment. They have other gods before
the Lord. “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.”—
Spiritual
Gifts 4a:127, 128
.
He Will Not Defile God’s Temple
—God desires all who believe
in Him to feel the necessity of improvement. Every entrusted faculty