A Coming Saviour by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 1, 1907

A Coming Saviour

By Editor

Editorial

A Coming Saviour

We may now think of our Saviour as making preparation to come for his people. Soon he will realize the fulfilment of that desire which he expressed just before his ascension: “Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.” All the signs of the times indicate that the Saviour is soon coming. Are we ready to hail his coming with joy?

Jonah as a Sign

THERE is a clear distinction to be made between the time of an event and the time when that same event is seen as a sign. This is made plain by what Jesus said concerning Jonah. When the Pharisees said to him, “We would see a sign from thee,” he answered: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it; but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” The people in the time of Nineveh knew of Jonah’s experience as a fact, and the knowledge of it had been transmitted through many generations, but by none of them was it seen as a sign until it was so interpreted to the Pharisees by Jesus. Thus it is with the signs for this generation. The sun was darkened, and the moon refused to give her light, in 1780, several decades before the beginning of the period designated as the last generation, but these events were seen as signs by this generation when they were so interpreted in this advent message. Before they were interpreted in the light of our Lord’s prophecy, they were well-known occurrences, but not signs. If this is borne in mind, it may help some to a better understanding as to the time when “this generation” began.