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The Bible Year

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 6, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 33.

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The Bible Year

Assignment for July 9 to 15

July 10: Isaiah 34 to 36.
July 11: Isaiah 37 to 39.
July 12: Isaiah 40 to 42.
July 13: Isaiah 43 to 45.
July 14: Isaiah 46 to 49.
July 15: Isaiah 50 to 53.

Arrangement of Isaiah

“Some commentators have proposed to divide the book of Isaiah chronologically into three parts, as if composed under the three kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. But this is of very doubtful propriety, since several of the chapters are evidently transposed, and inserted out of their chronological order. But a very obvious and striking division of the book into two parts exists, the first part including the first thirty-nine chapters, and the second, the remainder of the book, or chapters 40 to 66.
“The first part is made up of those prophecies and historical accounts which Isaiah wrote during the period of his active exertions, when he mingled in the public concerns of the rulers and the people, and acted as the messenger of God to the nation. These are single prophecies, published at different times and on different occasions; afterward, indeed, brought together into one collection, but still marked as distinct and single.
“The second part, on the contrary, is occupied wholly with the future. It wasapparently written in the later years of the prophet, when, having left all active exertions in the theocracy to his younger associates in the prophetical office, he transferred his contemplations from the present to that which was to come.
“The prophet first consoles his people by announcing their deliverance from the approaching Babylonish captivity, which he had himself predicted; he names the monarch whom Jehovah will send to punish the insolence of their oppressors, and lead back the people to their home. But he does not stop with this inferior deliverance. With the prospect of freedom from Babylonish exile, he connects the prospect of deliverance from sin and error through the Messiah. Sometimes both objects seem closely interwoven with each other; sometimes one of them appears alone with particular clearness and prominence. Especially is the view of the prophet sometimes so exclusively directed upon the latter object that, filled with the contemplation of the glory of the spiritual kingdom of God and of its exalted Founder, he loses sight for a time of the less distant future.”—Selected.

The Bible in China

The Sunday School Times of May 11 gives two incidents showing how highly the Word of God is prized in China:—
“‘THE LAST DISH.’—In a Chinese hospital a village Christian woman was asked, ‘Do you read your Bible much?’ for she possessed a well-worn copy. ‘I read it constantly,’ she answered, ‘every day. I never wish for the last dish when I am reading it.’ The word she used was the name of the dish which announces the end of a Chinese feast. Reading the New Testament was to her such a feast that she never wished it to come to an end.”
“OLD CHANG’S PRAYER.—In the province of Shen-si, the Rev. G. F. Easton, of the China Inland Mission, Han-chung, writes of an aged colporteur: ‘Though Chang is seventy-two years of age, he often tramps two hundred miles in a month, carrying his load of books himself, and calling at every place, however small, to sell and explain the gospel. A few days ago, when he was about to start out, I went to see him off. I found him in his room, committing himself and his work to the Lord. I caught some sentences: “Prepare men’s hearts to receive the Word. Help me to give my testimony. Don’t let conceited men argue with me. Don’t let the books get wet. Show me how I am to get over the swollen rivers. Don’t let the dogs bite me. Take care of my wife.” . . . When he had finished, I said, “It is very wet, you had better wait a day.” “No,” he said, “on wet days I can often sell books in the inn to weather-bound people,” and off he went.’”