TO CORRESPONDENTS by Uriah Smith

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 9, 1876

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

By Uriah Smith

“Does the Seal of God as used in the scriptures, refer to the Sabbath in every instance? See 2 Cor. 2: 22; Eph. 1: 13; 4: 30. If not, what does it refer to?” C. H. Bliss.

Ans: We think the seal in 2 Cor. 1: 22; Eph. 1: 13; and 4: 30, refers not to the seal of God, but to the seal of the covenant or promises. This is imparted by the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest or pledge of the coming possession. The seal of God we understand to be something different, and to refer to the Sabbath in every instance.

In reply to your query in regard to making the use of tobacco a test of fellowship, we reply that we consider that it should be made a test without restriction, and that it is a proper subject for labor and discipline.

If it were true that Jeremiah did hide the ark of the Lord in a cave, as recorded in 2 Maccabees 2: 5, how were the Jews supplied with an ark in the temple for the space of five or six hundred years between the time of the prophet’s death and the final destruction of the temple. And if the Jews were in possession of the ark at the time of the destruction of the temple, was the ark destroyed with the temple? H. Abbott.

Ans.: Prideaux, in his “Connexion,” Vol. i. p. 157, says that the Jews reckon up five things which were in the first temple, but which were lacking in the second temple after the captivity. These were, 1. The ark of the covenant, and the mercy-seat which was upon it. 2. The Shechinah, or divine presence. 3. The Urim and Thummim. 4. The holy fire upon the altar. And 5. The spirit of prophecy. He adds that to supply the place of the ark, they made another of like form and pattern as the first, but having no tables of the law to be deposited therein, they placed within it a copy of their Scriptures. This ark, if such an one was made, perished with its contents, at the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70.

M. B. Pierce: For an explanation of “eternal fire,” Jude 7, and other like expressions, see “Man’s Nature and Destiny,” pp. 271-298.

D. D. Whitney: See a full discussion of the words of Christ to the thief on the cross in “Man’s Nature and Destiny,” published at this Office.

ANSWERED BY LETTER. E. O. Hammond, M. B. Miller, C. Lee, B. F. Terry, M. W. Harris, G. W. Hoyt, (wrote also to A. Carpenter) F. A. Barlow, A. C. Spicer, D. M. Canright, (to H. A. St. John). U. S.