p. 330 | QUESTION CORNER by Milton C. Wilcox

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 25, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 21.

QUESTION CORNER

By Milton C. Wilcox

CONDUCTED BY MILTON C. WILCOX, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA

NOTE.—This department is for the purpose of helping Bible students. Answers must of necessity be brief, often only suggestive, never exhaustive, never infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. Such questions only will be answered as seem to the editors to minister to the mission of the paper. Questions of the same import cannot be answered repeatedly in the same volume. Name and address must be given, not for publication, but as evidence of good faith and to insure reply by letter if thought best. It is well always to inclose stamp, not stamped envelope, unless answer is desired by letter alone.

124—THE CALENDAR AND THE DAYS OF THE WEEK

When the changes were made in the calendar by Julius Cæsar, Augustus Cæsar, or Pope Gregory, did it make any difference in numbering the days of the week? Are we sure that the seventh day is now His Sabbath? When were the days named? W. C. E.

The Gregorian calendar was an amendment to the Julian calendar, making it more exact. The Julian calendar was one prescribed by Julius Cæsar, in which three years of 365 days each were always followed by one of 366 days. Then came the changes by Augustus regarding the months and the number of days in the months, fixing the months as now adopted in Europe and America. This calendar is now twelve days behind the Gregorian calendar, and is called the old style. The Gregorian calendar is the calendar prescribed by Pope Gregory XIII, in which the Julian calendar was modified by calling October 5, 1582, October 15, and continuing the count ten days in advance, and by making the terminal years of the centuries 1700, 1800, 1900, etc., common years of 365 days, except when the year was a multiple of 400, as 1600, 2000, etc. This is the calendar now in use in nearly all Christian countries except Russia and Greece. It is called the new style.

When that change was made, there was no change made whatever in the day of the week. Russia has the same day of the week as we do at the present time. So does Greece. It was a long time after this that the change was made in England, but no change whatever was made in the day of the week.

There is no question among the nations or authorities regarding the identity of the day at the time of our Lord's crucifixion. The first day then was what was called the Roman Sunday. The seventh day was the Sabbath which the Jews kept. Luke 23:36 declares that was the Sabbath “according to the commandment,” and the commandment declares that the seventh day was the Sabbath. Ex. 20:8-11.

Now if there had been lost time between the giving of the law and the crucifixion, our Lord set it right. There can be no question about that. There is no lost time. The commandment is based on the great facts of creation when the Sabbath originated. Gen. 2:2, 3. If time had been lost between the time when the Sabbath was instituted and the time when the commandment was given, it was set right in the fall of the manna, where for forty years a great threefold weekly miracle marked the days of the week. Consequently there is absolute certainty in the Scriptures of truth of the identity of the Sabbath at the time when our Lord was crucified, and since that time there is no question whatever among authorities regarding the days of the week. In fact, the languages of nations show that the days are numbered as we now have them. Many of the eastern nations recognize the seventh day as the Sabbath; and some of the European nations, like the Portuguese, Spanish, and others.

The names of the days originated in the dim and distant past. It is almost impossible to tell just when. Some of them came from the Romans, some from the northern nations of Europe; Sunday from the worship of the sun, Monday from the worship of the moon, Tuesday from the god Tyr, the god of martial honor, Wednesday from Woden, Thursday from Thor, Friday from Frigga,—another name of Venus,—Saturday from Saturn.

125—THE DISCIPLES AND THE FIRST DAY

Give proof that the disciples did not keep the first day—that is, come together on the first day of the week to break bread and make their offerings for the poor, engage in common prayer, and listen to preaching. L. K.

The question is not as to whether some first-day meeting was held or not. It is more fundamental than this. The real question regards the government of God. God's character is immutably perfect. “I am the Lord, I change not.” He demands the same perfection of His subjects which He Himself possesses, and therefore He gave that law which was the reflection of His own character, and that law was to be observed in view of the Judgment in which that law itself would be the basis. “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13, 14.

At the time when that scripture was uttered, there can be no question as to what were God's moral commandments. They were comprised in the Decalogue, separated out from all other laws, distinguished by being spoken by God, and written by Him on tables of stone, to which He added no more. Deut. 5:22. James tells us, thirty or more years this side of our Lord's crucifixion, that the royal law, the kingly law according to the Scripture—the Old Testament Scripture—is the law of human conduct by which we shall be judged. James 2:8-12. And it is the work of grace in our Lord Jesus Christ to bring human hearts into harmony with that law. Therefore our Lord did not even assume to change it, or think to change it. Matt. 5:17. “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31.

Whatsoever was in the teaching of our Lord was bound by His blood upon the cross, sealed in the new covenant forever. In that teaching we have no sacred first day of the week; and if it comes into the Christian church one minute after the death of our Lord and Saviour, it is a counterfeit.

The first day, or Sunday, after the crucifixion of our Lord, was spent by the disciples in doubting. They met together on the evening of that day, and that was the first meeting they had. Jesus met with them at that time, because they were together, simply to show that He was risen from the dead. First we have the record of His meeting with the two who went down to Emmaus, probably on business, a distance of seven and one half miles. He walks with them in the way; their hearts are stirred, but they do not know Him. He sits down with them at meat, near the close of the day, when “the day is far spent.” He makes Himself known in the breaking of bread, and vanishes. Then they rise up and return to Jerusalem. They meet with the disciples who had come together in the very closing hours of that first day, and they tell the disciples that Jesus is risen. The first day then is past. The second day, according to Bible time, has already begun. But when they tell the disciples who you say have met together to keep that first day, that Jesus is risen from the dead, the disciples do not believe, and are terrified and affrighted when He enters. He has to give them physical demonstration that it is He Himself. See Luke 24:36-40. Mark tells us that He “upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.” Mark 16:14. And it was more than eight days after this before He appeared to them again, and then to convince Thomas, who did not believe that Jesus had risen. Certainly that would not have been the next first day. See John 20:19, 26.

The next meeting, the third, may have been on the first day of the week. That was a fishing occasion, where our Lord helped the disciples to catch fish. The day of the week is not mentioned.

We have an account of one meeting in Acts 20:7-9. It evidently came on the evening of what we call Saturday, for the day began with the evening. Paul broke bread with them on that evening after the Sabbath, for he had been there over the Sabbath

. It was his last opportunity of meeting with them, at least for some time; and if the breaking of bread referred to the Lord's Supper, he wanted to celebrate that with them before he left. One instance is a very insecure basis for founding a practice upon. The term, however, “breaking bread,” is used not simply for the Lord's Supper, but for common meals. It did not come in a fixed time. We read in Acts 2:46, A. R. V., that “day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.”

But in this meeting, held the evening of that first day, or our Saturday evening, Paul broke bread with them in order that he might start on his journey the next day; and the next day, Sunday, he went in crossing the isthmus from Troas to Assos. The other disciples were taking the boat around the promontory so as to meet him there. The meeting would probably not have been recorded at all except for the noted miracle performed at that place. Certainly there was nothing whatever to indicate that the day was a holy day, or that the disciples met together to observe it. The breaking of bread came after midnight.

1 Cor. 16:1, 2 is one solitary instance in which the apostle instructs the Corinthian brethren for each one to “lay by him in store” on the first day of the week. Let the reader please note that it does not say, “Upon the first day of the week let each one of you take your contribution to the church and place it in the collection box”—nothing of the kind; the very opposite of that. “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store.” The week was past; the Sabbath was over; the man knew just what money he had to give to God's cause. He had to take that money, and lay it up in some convenient place in his own house, “by him,” so that when the time came for the one whom Paul should send to visit them, they would have their money all ready. That is the simple teaching of the text.

The Syriac Version reads, “On each first day of the week let every one of you lay aside and preserve at home what he is able.” The translation by Rotherham, the Emphasized Bible, reads, “Upon the first day of the week let each one of you put by itself in store as he may be prospering.” The Douay Version reads, “On the first day of the week let every one of you put apart with himself, laying up what it shall well please him.” The Baptist Version, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store.” In fact, every translation gives the same thought; namely, that it was a private deposit of money rather than in a general contribution in the church.

On the other hand, we do have record after record of where the apostle Paul held meetings on the Sabbath, not only with the Jews, but with the gentiles also. See for instance Acts 13:42-44. After telling the Jews that they themselves were rejected, he was entreated by the gentiles that the words might be spoken to them the next Sabbath; and the next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God. In fact, many of the histories of the early church tell us that the Sabbath was kept by the early Christians. Therefore we have no record whatever in the Scriptures that the first day was celebrated as a holy day. And so far as the early fathers are concerned, the apostasy that began so early was manifest in the observance of Friday and Thursday as well.

126—THE MEMORIAL OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION

You say there is no more eternal life for Jesus in His resurrection than there is in His death. Then why was His resurrection necessary? His death we would never think of celebrating with joy, only with sorrow, but His resurrection is of such paramount importance, and such a glorious victory over death, which seems to us so hateful, that it would be the most natural thing in the world to celebrate the day weekly, and to make Easter the most joyous occasion in the church during the whole year. L. K.

Now in the first place, every act of our Lord was necessary in the plan of redemption. The virgin birth, in which “the Word became flesh,” was necessary—just as necessary as the death or the resurrection. The death was necessary—just as necessary as His birth or His resurrection. And the resurrection was necessary—just as necessary as the other two events. All of them were necessary. The apostle makes these the basic foundation of our hope in Jesus Christ: His death, His burial, His resurrection; and these three things are set forth in baptism,—His death, His burial, His resurrection. If we had His death alone, we would not regard it with joy. It was a time of sorrow to the disciples. But when we know that His death means our redemption from sin—for we are redeemed by His blood—it is a joy to the Christian. It means sorrow for sin, but it means joy of heart because sins are forgiven. We do have joy in the resurrection, because it means righteousness. It does not mean, however, our righteousness, but the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, wrought out by implicit, faithful obedience to God's perfect law, including the Sabbath. The only righteousness that will answer us in the day of God is the righteousness of God by faith, wrought out in the character of Christ Jesus. Consequently for our Sabbath breaking we have Christ's Sabbath keeping. We do not have Christ's Sunday keeping for our Sunday breaking. And if Sunday is a holy day, and men are violating Sunday, God has made no provision for the forgiveness of such a thing in the character of Jesus Christ. He has, however, for Sabbath breaking, as for every violation of His law, in the perfect righteousness of Christ Jesus. And the new man that rises from baptism is the man that is to show forth the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. Consequently we are baptized into His death, but we rise in His life; and the man does not know the purpose of baptism who cannot see these great facts—dying to sin, ceasing from the violation of God's law, the old man buried, and the new man rising to a life of righteousness in Jesus Christ. True, the carnal mind is against this; for “the carnal mind . . . is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” But the renewed mind fulfils in the life the requirement of God. Rom. 8:4.

127—WITH THE LORD IN PARADISE, LUKE 23:43

If Paradise and heaven are the same place, how do you reconcile Luke 23:43, where Jesus says, “To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,” and John 20:17, where He says, “I am not yet ascended to My Father”? Was not God in heaven or Paradise? Where was Jesus from the time of crucifixion to His resurrection? Was He not in heaven? If not, why did He say what He did to the thief on the cross? N. M. B.

First, that heaven and Paradise are the same is quite clearly evident from 2 Cor. 12:2, 4. The “third heaven” and Paradise are used there as referring to the same place. There are three heavens mentioned in Scripture: the aerial heavens, where the birds fly and the clouds float; the sidereal heavens, where the stars are; and the heaven where God dwells. Paradise is the heaven where God dwells. Compare Rev. 2:7 with 22:1, 2, which clearly show that the tree of life is by the throne of God. Therefore when Jesus said, “I am not yet ascended to My Father,” He expressly declared that He had not yet gone to Paradise.

Second. Note the request of the thief: “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” It was not, “when You go to the Father” or “ascend into heaven,” but, “when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” Our Lord's kingdom includes the whole earth made new. “Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25:34. “The meek . . . shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5. This means the earth renewed, as set forth in Rev. 21:1, the new heavens and the new earth. But the new heavens and the new earth are not now in existence. The beginning of them will come when our Lord comes the second time: not here, but in heaven, in the New Jerusalem, which will be the very center of Christ's kingdom when the earth is renewed. At the end of the thousand years, the city descends to earth from God out of heaven. See Revelation 21. At the beginning of the thousand years, however, the children of God are taken home to heaven to that glorious city, the future capital of the new earth. There our Lord's kingdom begins. When Jesus comes into His kingdom, He will come and take His own to Himself, and carry them to the mansions on high. John 14:1-3. For that the thief prayed. Regarding that, he had doubtless heard our Lord speak, as Jesus did preach many times upon the kingdom. And his request was that when our Lord came for His children, Jesus would remember him.

Third. Our Lord's answer is in harmony with the request of the thief. The thief asked Him at a time when His own disciples even had forsaken Him, and the most devoted were doubting, when our Lord's own people had crucified Him. Jesus seemingly had no power to do anything for the thief. Yet in that very darkest hour, the thief's faith pierced through all the darkness to the coming glory of Christ; and as he asked our Lord in that day, under those trials, so Jesus responded, “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” “Shalt thou” or “thou shalt” are equivalent terms. The pronoun could come before the verb as well as afterward. So that our Lord said, to put it in other words, “Verily I say unto thee to-day”—that day when thou hast faith to ask, and this day when I have power to answer, even though I am dying,—Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise in that day when I gather My children home unto Myself.”

The matter of commas is a very modern affair. Not until many centuries after Christ were commas used at all. The real question lies as to whether the adverbial phrase “to-day” modifies “shall be” or the verb “say.” It could modify either; but John 20:17, the request of the thief, and the words of our Lord Himself, show very clearly that the adverbial expression “to-day” modifies “I say.” Jesus said, that day, that the request of the thief should be granted.

This makes perfect harmony with all of the other scriptures. Otherwise there is no harmony at all. Jesus did not go to Paradise on that day. He died for man, and lay in the tomb until He was raised again from the dead. He was occupying our place there, dying for man, “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” See Heb. 2:14; 1 Cor. 15:1-3.

128—MAN IN DEATH

Please explain Job 14:21, 22. Verse 21 seems to indicate that man has no knowledge in death; but in the twenty-second verse it seems that the very opposite is taught, and means some eternal torment. INQUIRER.

Read from the twentieth verse: “Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Now that is the way it is with man in death. Verse 22 has reference to the time when he still lives; and while he lives, “his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” This is in perfect harmony with the beginning of the chapter, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” He does not get rid of this until he dies. Therefore the wish of Job in the thirteenth verse: “O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!” When that time would come, he would rest in the grave, not knowing what was occurring; but while he lived, “his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.”

129—“BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DO HIS COMMANDMENTS,” REV. 22:14

Will you kindly give the literal translation of verse 14, chapter 22 of Revelation? The old version reads, “Blessed are they that do His commandments”; the Revised Version, “Blessed are they that wash their robes.” A. C.

The Interlinear New Testament reads thus: “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that their authority shall be to the tree of life and by the gates should go into the city.” Rotherham's Emphasized Translation of the New Testament, a very literal version, reads: “Happy they who are washing their robes, that their right may be unto the tree of life, and by the gates they may enter into the city.” It is not a matter of translation, but a matter of original. Some of the early originals, and in fact the earliest original copies, have “wash their robes.” Some of the later Greek copies have “do His commandments.” Anybody who washes his robes in the blood of Jesus will be a faithful commandment keeper; that is, if he knows what being cleansed from sin means. Certainly there will no one enter into that city who is defiled or unclean, and the only way that the defilement or the uncleanness can be washed away is in the blood of the Lamb. There will no one enter that city who has a heart to do otherwise than God's will; consequently all within that city will be commandment keepers. So put it as we will, either is true; and whichever Greek text we may adopt, we have the truth.