God Hath Spoken

by Harris J. Dark

Of course, he had to build some number. The very command to build rooms authorized some number of rooms, but God did not specify the number so Noah was free to exercise his own judgment in that respect. God specified the animals that were to be taken into the ark. He told Noah to take certain ones but he did not tell him which animals to take into the ark first. You see, therefore, that the commandment to build the ark was specific in some respects and was generic in other respects.

2. The commandment to offer a passover sacrifice may also be used as an illustration. If God had merely commanded the Jews to offer an animal, that would have left them free to offer any sort of animal which they chose. But he specified that they should offer a lamb, which meant either a sheep or a goat. It was also specified that it should be of the first year, a male, and without blemish. These details were specified with the commandment. It would have been a sin for the Jews to have ignored any of these specifications. In those days the word “lamb” was understood to mean either a sheep or a goat. The Jews were free to offer either, but they had to heed the specifications that it be of the first year, without blemish, and of the male sex.

3. Coming to the New Testament for an illustration, we refer to the great commission as recorded by Mark in the 16th chapter of his book, verses 15 and 16: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Here again we have a commandment which is partly generic and partly specific. The word “go” is generic with respect to the means of travel to be used. The general form of this commandment leaves one free to travel by any suitable method. In obeying this commandment one may travel by rail, by boat, by airplane, by automobile, on foot, on horseback, or by any other method that is in decency and in order.

I recently held a meeting in Alabama which people attended by practically every means of transportation. They came by train, by bus, by automobile, on tractors, in buggies, on horseback, on foot, in wagons, in trucks—in almost every conceivable way except by airplane or motorboat. The general commandment to go leaves one free to travel in any of these ways.

But this same commandment is specific in respect to what shall be taught after one gets to the place of teaching. It specifies that one shall preach the Gospel. The message that is to be delivered is therefore specified. It must be the Gospel.

4. Matthew’s statement of this same commission says, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The commandment to teach is specific as to the message, but it is generic with reference to the method that shall be used in the teaching.

According to the general command to teach, the lesson may be either oral or written. The teacher may be either a man or a woman, and the size of the class may be whatever circumstances and expediency justify. This commandment to teach does not specify the number that shall be in the class, or the sex of the teacher, or whether the lesson shall be an oral one or a written one.

In this same great commission we have the commandment to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost those who have been taught. Since these names have been specified, it would be a sin to baptize in the name of any human being or any human institution.

The word “baptize” itself denotes the act. It means to be immersed, buried in water (Col. 2:12). However, this commandment does not tell us how the immersing shall be done. We may immerse one according to this commandment face foremost, sideways, lying down, standing up or in any other appropriate way, just as long as we obey the commandment to baptize; that is, to immerse or bury in water.