TO CORRESPONDENTS

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 8, 1879

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

15.—THE RIGHT EYE AND RIGHT HAND.

Please explain in the Review the meaning of the terms “right eye” and “right hand,” in Matt. 5 : 29, 30.

ANS. The two subjects introduced previous to this, beginning with verse 21, are murder and adultery. It is supposed by some that verses 29 and 30 refer to these, the eye being the eye of lust, and the hand the hand of violence. If we have any besetments in either of these directions, they must be eradicated from the heart, however painful the process. While the terms would certainly cover these, we think they may have a broader application, and refer to anything which, though seeming to be as dear and useful to us as a right eye or right hand, stands in the way of our obeying the truth. We must put everything of this kind away, rather than yield the truth. Dr. Clarke says: “The right eye may be considered the darling idol, the right hand the profitable employment pursued on sinful principles; these become snares and traps to the soul, by which it falls into the pit of perdition.” “Not one moment’s truce with an evil passion or a sinful appetite. If you indulge them, they will gain strength, and you will be ruined.”

16.—THE GENEALOGY OF CHRIST.

Please harmonize the first chapter of Matthew and the third chapter of Luke, in regard to the genealogy of Christ. T. W. AND J. A. B.

ANS. See this subject explained in full in Review, Vol. 51, No. 21. See also the Religious Encyclopedia, and the notes of Dr. Clarke.

17.—MALACHI 4 : 4.

Please explain Mal. 4: 4. Does the law of Moses have reference to the ten commandments? What are the statutes and judgments? Is Horeb the same as Sinai? W. S. C. AND J. A. B.

ANS. We understand Mal. 4 to refer to the last days, just before the coming of “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” We are now called upon to remember the law of Moses, the ceremonial law, to the extent that it sheds light on the closing work of our High Priest in the sanctuary above; and to remember the statutes and judgments, the ten commandments, according to other prophecies, which speak of the fact that the remnant people will be keeping all the commandments of God when Christ comes. “Elijah the prophet” we believe to be that work

which prepares a people for Christ’s second advent, as the work of John the Baptist, “in the spirit and power of Elias,” prepared the people for the first advent. It is the work symbolized by the three messages of Rev. 14. The last clause, “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,” according to the Septuagint reads, “Lest I come and smite the earth with complete destruction.” That is to say, this work of Elijah the prophet will prepare a people, so that the earth, meaning the people of the earth, when Christ comes, will not be smitten with complete destruction; for a remnant will be saved. Horeb and Sinai are used interchangeably in the Scriptures. But geographers tell us that Horeb is the more comprehensive term, embracing the whole cluster or mass of mountains, of which Sinai is a notable peak.

18.—DANIEL AND REVELATION.

Please give some light on the character recorded in Dan. 7 : 23, 25, and the two witnesses of Rev. 11. G. B.

ANS. For an answer to all questions arising on any point in the books of Daniel or Revelation, we refer first to the published works, Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation. Any questions not answered therein, we shall be happy, as far as opportunity permits, to try to consider further.

19.—IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

Please explain Rev. 17: 8. In what sense are names written in the book of life from the foundation of the world? Are not names entered in the book of life at conversion? T. B. S.

ANS. In chapter 13 : 8, we have the same idea in a little different form of expression: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Here the same papal power and the same worshipers are brought to view; but here the fact is brought out, not that names were actually written in the book from the foundation of the world, but that the Lamb was slain prospectively, and hence the book of life provided, from the foundation of the world, for names to be written in when persons should become personally interested in the Saviour. It would seem that the thought in Rev. 17: 8, considering the subject, must be the same, and that therefore the expression is elliptical, it being the book, not the writing, which dates from the foundation of the world.