In the Country by S. N. Haskell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · May 18, 1905

In the Country

By S. N. Haskell

FROM the beginning God has called his people to the country, where, in the quiet of nature, they can listen to his voice talking to the soul.

Abraham, the father of the faithful, was called to the country, while Lot departed from him, and chose city life, to the ruin, financial and moral, of his family. His only surviving descendants became an object-lesson of the grossest immorality, and enemies to both God and man. Jacob tried a city life for a short time, but it resulted in the ruin of his only daughter, Dinah, and became an occasion for the sins of his sons, which caused their long Egyptian bondage. The associations of city life are not good for the soul. The habits of city life do not give a divine mold. This truth is learned by many, when it has become too late to save themselves from the ruin that has come upon them.

Duty may call men to the city, as Jonah was called to give a warning, but when that duty is done, the country is the place for solitude and meditation. It was there that John received his fitting-up for his work. So with Moses and other men whom God has used. The Spirit of God has instructed his people to locate their schools and institutions in the country.

Forty years of country life fitted Moses for his great work. Daniel, who had his vision in Shushan, the palace, was taken to the country to behold one of the most wonderful visions on record. Dan. 8: 1-3. On another occasion he quietly retired to the great river Hiddekel to be alone with a few friends and with his God. Daniel 10. When God gave the wonderful prophecy of Revelation, he placed his prophet on a lonely isle away from even his friends. While it is true that the Lord goes with his messengers to the cities, the home in the country is the place to educate the children and commune with God.

S. N. HASKELL.