This is a parable of a man named Joshua; his bride, Christiana; and two evil characters named Anomos and Papalin who have conspired to break up their marriage.
Joshua was a wonderful husband. He did everything right, that a perfect husband should do. He was kind and loving, always seeking to be all that he could be for his wife. At their engagement, he had given his wife a beautiful engagement covenant. It was to tell her what he desired her to be to him and what he promised to be to her.
Joshua also set aside many special days to spend with his wife. He set aside one day each week, one day each month, and several entire weeks out of each year for them to spend extra special time together. Each of these special days was an anniversary of something that had taken place during their marriage. During these anniversaries they would go to special places and spend lots of time together. These special times together greatly strengthened their marriage ties and their love for each other.
But then things began to change. Not too many years went by before an evil character named Anomos entered the picture. Anomos hated Joshua and soon began to devise ways to break up their marriage. He hired a wealthy man named Papalin to try to lure Christiana’s affections away from Joshua. Papalin began to visit Joshua’s house quite regularly and soon became friends with Christiana. Christiana should not have associated with a man of sin like Papalin at all, but his mannerisms and wealth were intriguing. He had many houses filled with exquisite images and ornate paintings covering the ceilings; everything sparkled with jewels and gold. Christiana reasoned it was good to be friends with such a worldly person in order to be a good influence on him, and benefit from his wealth and power. Joshua had told her not to be close to worldly people, but she reasoned that this would be a good partnership and extend her influence among the friends of Anomos.
Slowly Papalin began to suggest “improvements” to Christiana which he said could better her marriage with Joshua. He let her borrow many of his images to decorate her house with. He suggested that if Joshua had any objection to the images Christiana should just tell him that these images were symbols to remind her of him. Actually the images had more of a resemblance to Anomos and his relatives, but Christiana reasoned that what mattered was what was in her heart, not who the images looked like.
Papalin also suggested that the anniversaries Joshua had ordained no longer had any meaning to her. Actually he told her that Joshua had abolished these anniversaries, along with their engagement covenant, and didn’t want Christiana to keep them any more. But of course a husband and wife still need to spend time together, so Papalin introduced Christiana to a new calendar which still had special days for her and Joshua to spend time together. Instead of special trips that were a whole week long though, this calendar shortened the anniversaries to only one day. This way Christiana could get more work done and still in pretense spend a little time with Joshua as well.
Actually Joshua didn’t have much part in these anniversaries at all. They became more like social parties; Christiana invited all her friends and relatives and they had a real high time, gorging themselves on food, giving each other gifts, and laughing and joking. And of course Anomos was usually there, sitting close to Christiana, and making sure she had a good time. Once in a while Joshua would come by to visit, but almost everyone ignored him. Very few people even cared if he was there. Only a few people offered him gifts; and many times even if they did, it was only the leftovers after they had given gifts to all their friends first. They also had other strange customs. They would cut down trees out of Joshua’s forest and, after bringing them into their own houses, would deck them with gold and silver (Jer 10:3-4) and use them for worshiping their friends and relatives. Also, they would pile up expensive gifts at the base of the tree. Joshua had hoped that those gifts might be for him so he could feed his hungry children, but almost always they were reserved for other friends and relatives; and of course most of the revenue from these luxurious treasures eventually ended up in the purse of Papalin and Anomos.
Joshua didn’t enjoy these gatherings at all. In fact, he wondered why Christiana had abandoned the days he had chosen for their anniversaries and instead chosen days that were significant to her friendship with Anomos and Papalin. What had happened to his dear wife? What had happened to their special yearly appointments? What was happening to their marriage? Why was Christiana no longer coming to the appointed times that Joshua had ordained?
Joshua had tried many things to win back Christiana’s affection, but with few results. So, at the end, he summoned his special friend, Eliyah, to take his beloved Christiana a special message from him. It was a message of hope, and a message calling her to come back to him one last time. He told her he would forgive her for leaving him to go after Papalin and Anomos. He would forgive her for filling her house with images, and forgetting to come to their anniversaries. He would forgive her for all that she had done if she would just come back.
Unfortunately, dear reader, we don’t yet know what the end of this story will be. Only time will tell. Much of Christiana is still following after Anomos, and leaving Joshua farther and farther behind. But there are rays of light shining, which are drawing many back to the old paths. Following is how we hope the story will end for you:
Eliyah faithfully brought the message to Christiana. He built the old waste places and restored the breaches made in the engagement covenant. Anomos and his bodyguards tried to kill Eliyah, but he continued to faithfully preach the message that Joshua had sent for his beloved wife, Christiana. She listened eagerly.
The message softened her heart. She was tired of doing the will of Anomos. She hadn’t realized how far she had wandered from Joshua, and now she longed to go back to him. She suddenly remembered all the happy times they had spent together, and was amazed when she realized that the holidays she was celebrating were not the days Joshua had chosen. Over time she had forgotten what he had told her (even though he had written it in their engagement covenant). Christiana had been led to believe that her husband had abolished their anniversaries and their engagement covenant.
Now Christiana’s eyes were opened. She saw Anomos for who he was, and Papalin too. She covenanted never again to serve them. She destroyed all the images in her house, and discarded all the customs and traditions Papalin had taught her. She washed her robes and made them white with the special cleanser Joshua provided for her. She was now dressed in the clean white robe Joshua had sent for her. She was ready to meet him in peace when he should return to take her home with him to live forever in the beautiful mansion that he had built for them.
Joshua was overjoyed! At last, his dreams had come true; his beautiful Christiana was ready to come home! He quickly set out to bring her to him. Anomos and his bodyguards tried vainly to oppose him, but to no avail. They were utterly destroyed. Joshua whisked his bride off her feet and carried her away with him to the wonderful home he had prepared for them. And they truly lived happily ever after.
Who’s who:
Joshua: See Matt 1:21 (Strong’s Concordance number: G2424, H3091)
Christiana: See Acts 11:26; Eph. 5:25 (G5546)
Anomos: See 2 Thess 2:8 (G459)
Papalin: See Rev 13:1 (Latin)
Joshua’s engagement covenant is found in Exodus 20-23, parts of Leviticus, and most of Deuteronomy. His anniversary days are found in Leviticus 23 (as well as other places, such as Exodus 20 and 23).
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.” (Lev. 23:1-2)
The Seventh-day Sabbath – Passover – Feast of Unleavened Bread – Wave Sheaf – Pentecost – Feast of Trumpets – Day of Atonement – Feast of Tabernacles
What has Papalin done?
“The new law has it’s own spirit…and it’s own feasts which have taken the place of those appointed in the law of Moses. If we would know the days to be observed…we must go to the Catholic church, not to the Mosaic law.” (Catholic Catechism, quoted in a Signs of the Times, Nov. 4, 1919)
“I still offer $1,000 to anyone who can prove from the Bible alone, that I am bound under pain of grievous sin to keep Sunday holy. We keep Sunday in obedience to the law of the Catholic Church. The church made this law after the Bible was written; hence the law is not in the Bible. The Catholic Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish Festivals.” (T. Enright of the Redemporist fathers of the Roman Church, in a letter dated April 26, 1902)