Question Corner by Milton C. Wilcox

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 6, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 26.

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 Name and address must be given, not for publication, but as evidence of good faith and to insure reply by letter if thought best.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.

145 — The Face of the Lord

Please explain Gen. 4: 16, 17. L. F.

The first of these verses declares that Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Doubtless the center of God’s worship was in Eden, and doubtless there was manifest the Shekinah, or glory of God. From that presence Cain went away into the land of Nod, or wandering—for that is the meaning of the word “Nod.” And he became a wanderer there. Finally he built a city. This must have been many years after. By this time, Adam’s wife had borne him other children, and these doubtless had borne still other children; and from among these, Cain obtained a wife, and to this wife were born children. It is true, as our correspondent says, that when a man leaves the face of the Lord, or the presence of the Lord, he will do that which is wrong. He cuts himself off from the power that would save and hold him.

146 — How Many Beasts Went into the Ark?

Gen. 7: 2 and 7: 8, 9 seem contradictory. A friend says that God commanded Noah to take the clean beasts by sevens, and then in the other verse it reads as though he took them by twos, saying, “As God commanded.” E. C.

There is no contradiction. “Sevens”—not one seven, but two sevens; and two sevens are fourteen. Therefore the Lord took them by twos. There were just seven pairs, and they went in two and two, male and female, as God commanded Noah. But of the unclean beasts there were only two of each kind. The Hebrew language has three numbers—the singular, the dual, and the plural. Whenever the dual is expressed, the simple plural is used. Whenever the plural is expressed, there is some modifying word attached. So the term “sevens” means two times that amount, or fourteen.

147 — Satan Cast Out of Heaven

Was Satan cast out of heaven before the earth was created and inhabited by man, or after? F. R. B.

The book “Patriarchs and Prophets,” in its first chapter, will give more light upon this question than we are able to give in the brief answer to the question in the SIGNS. We would like to suggest that our querist read that book.

It seems clear to us that what Job calls the laying of the foundation of the earth was before Satan was cast out. God asks Job: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. . . . When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Just what stage “the foundations of the earth” implies, we do not know. It may have been the first presentation of God’s plan in the making of the earth.

The morning stars were two in number at that time,—Lucifer, the day-star, or son of the morning (Isa. 14: 12); and Michael, the Son of God, the bright and morning Star (Rev. 22: 16). There was harmony in God’s universe then, and the morning stars sang together at that time, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. None of the angels had then fallen. Just how soon after that the fall took place, we do not know. There are two events of that kind mentioned. The first is in 2 Peter 2: 4, Jude 6, and Rev. 12: 4. This was the first casting down from the heaven where God dwelt. Yet in a certain sense Satan had access to the heaven where the assemblies of God met from that time on until Jesus died upon the cross.

Immediately after the casting out of Satan and his angels we would naturally believe Satan came to this earth, tempted man, and man fell. Then began the warfare mentioned in Revelation 12—war in heaven, war in the spiritual realms, between the wicked spirits in high places, to which Paul refers, and the angels of God. Eph. 6: 12. On the one side were the Son of God and His angels; on the other side, the fallen Lucifer and his angels. And that struggle went on between those great spiritual forces over man until the devil had placed our Lord upon the cross and in the tomb; but His character had not been affected. He was still the Lord of life because He went down the road of righteousness. He was raised from the dead, and then that song was heard in heaven: “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

From the time that man fell until our Lord Himself conquered the devil, Satan had accused God. This is clearly set forth in Job, chapters 1 and 2, and in Zechariah 3, and also in Jude 9.

In some way, Satan had access to the great assemblies held in heaven when the representatives of the different worlds, called “sons of God,” came together. And he continued to accuse God of injustice and lack of wisdom, and accuse God’s servants, until the time when our Lord Himself conquered. And then it was said, “The great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Rev. 12: 9. Verse 8 declares that at this time, the evil angels prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. No more could they enter this spiritual conflict with the other angels. Their character was demonstrated beyond question when Christ was put to death upon the cross. From that time on, their warfare was not conducted on the same plane. They were bent on the one purpose of the destruction of humanity.

There is nothing to intimate in any way that Satan was cast down at the Flood. He was upon the earth at the time of the Flood, and the very cataclysm may have threatened his destruction; but his warfare lay in spiritual realms, indicated by the term “heaven,” yet not in the very heaven where God Himself dwells.

148 — Resurrection of Moses

Please tell me where I can find the resurrection of Moses in the Bible. J. P. C.

First of all, we have the statement in Jude, verse 9, of a dispute between Michael the Archangel and the devil. That dispute was about the body of Moses. Michael the Archangel was our Lord and Saviour as an angel from the time sin entered until He became flesh. Michael is the Prince of life. Satan is the one who has power over death. Heb. 2: 14. The only question that they could have about the body of Moses, it would seem evident, is the resurrection of Moses. Jude does not tell us how this dispute ended, but we may know that Michael was triumphant.

In addition to this, we have the transfiguration scene in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. That transfiguration scene, Peter tells us in his second epistle, the first chapter, verses 16-18, was a shewing forth of Christ’s second coming—our Lord Himself in glory, Moses representing the saints who will be raised from the dead at Jesus’ coming, and Elijah representing those who will be translated without seeing death. It was not Moses’ spirit and Elijah’s body that were with Jesus upon the mount, but Moses and Elijah. This, taken in connection with the passage in Jude 9, very clearly shows that Moses was raised from the dead, but not when.

149 — A Day, a Month, and a Year

Please explain Rev. 9: 15, where it mentions an hour, a day, a month, and a year. R. J. A.

We have not time or space to enter into a lengthy examination of this scripture. We refer the student to the book “Daniel and the Revelation” or to “Great Controversy.”