Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 30, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 50.

WE can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

4240 — DISTINGUISHING GLORIES IN THE RESURRECTION

Will there be distinguishing glories in the resurrection, as indicated by the text, “One star differeth from another star in glory,” or will we all be satisfied, and not notice such? R. R. J.

The psalmist says, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.” Ps. 17:15. Rev. 21:4: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, . . . for the former things are passed away.” Texts of this character—and there are many of them—show that there will be perfect joy and complete satisfaction and contentment in the world to come. But just as we have different individualities, so will we have there. As one star differs from another in glory, so does one individual differ from another. What an endless monotony it would be if all individuals were alike, and if all the different stars and worlds were alike! It is this infinite diversity that God is able to give throughout His creation that affords one of the keenest joys.

All who are immortalized in the world to come will have got rid of self completely. The self-serving and the self-glorification and all the rest of the selfish list of things that have come into the world are the devising of Satan. They are no part of God’s plan. Hence it matters not what may be the glory or the position of an individual, where there is no selfishness there will be no disposition to envy such a one, but, on the contrary, each individual will thoroughly enjoy all the qualifications, the attributes, and the work of every other individual in all the great realm of God. We will learn how, under the mighty power of the gospel, to divest ourselves of self and self-serving here, so that we may enter into the undisturbed joys of a realm where there is no thought on the part of any one to manifest self. And this will be true of all, from the infinite Father and His blessed Son on through the innumerable hosts of the unfallen worlds and the redeemed sons and daughters of God. There will be no envy, no jealousy, no self-serving, in the one who has been “satisfied” through awaking in His “likeness.”

4241 — ALL POWER IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH

Please explain Matt. 28:18–20. A. E. O.

These verses read: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” This text is the statement of an infinite truth. All power in heaven and in earth, says the Master, is given to Him, and we are to “go therefore,” to teach all nations. We are to go in the strength of all the power that is displayed in all the infinite creation of God. And the Master says, “Lo, I [the One who holds all this power] am with you.”

There is no possibility of failure for the one who walks with the Master in such infinite strength. It is well for us frequently, on the beautiful, clear evenings, to survey the great handiwork of God as displayed in countless stars shining in their strength, and marching in their orderly courses through the infinite expanse of space. It is well for us to meditate upon the great power displayed in all that we see about us upon this earth. And as we see these manifestations of infinite power, we should rejoice in the thought of the fact that all this belongs to our Saviour, and that He, holding all this power, is with us to keep us in whatsoever He calls upon us to do.

4242 — THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST

In a book that I have, I find this quotation: “According to Renan, the Antichrist of the Apocalypse was the emperor Nero, he being raised to this bad eminence by reason of his atrocities against the new religion. The mystic number 666, which Protestants have so often fastened upon the pope, answers accurately to Nero’s name and title. The numerical values of the Hebrew letters added together make up this number.” Is this true in reference to Nero’s name and title? W. S. H.

The text of Revelation which speaks of the number 666 reads as follows: “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.” Rev. 13:18. There have been many names suggested that, curiously enough, have letters in them which, when their numerical value is added together, give us 666; and for this reason some have been inclined to make light of getting any definite understanding from the Scripture statement. Take this word “Nero” as an example. In order to make this name answer to the description, we must first translate it into Hebrew, a language that was dead when Nero lived, and in which there would be no occasion to speak his name.

But the principal objection to such interpretations is that Nero in no sense of the word answers to the description given in this prophecy. The beast spoken of in Rev. 13:18 which has this number 666 is described in the preceding part of the chapter as a great persecuting power, and in the next chapter there is a fearful warning

given against this beast and against worshiping him, or receiving his mark. This shows that this beast power is something that comes in conflict with God and His work upon the earth, and the conflict is so intense as to call forth one of the strongest denunciations of God’s disapproval that can be found in the Bible. As we study the book of Revelation, we find that this conflict lasts right up until the end of time; for in Rev. 19:20 we find that this same beast, and the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that have received the mark of the beast, were all cast alive into the lake of fire at last. This shows that they would be living, active powers to the very end of time. Therefore characters like Nero could not come in to fulfil this prophecy.

But there is an ecclesiastical power that has always been a persecutor, wherever it has been strong enough to get hold of the civil authority. This has been its record for centuries, and there is no questioning it. Even in this very time, recognized writers who represent that power defend and explain the Inquisition and the persecutions of former days. They do not deny them, but believe that they were justifiable. Now this power has claimed for centuries that its supreme head was the vicar, or vicegerent, of Christ. The language of its whole ritual is Latin. Its literature is Latin. Its ceremonies have been and still are conducted in the Latin language. And in the Latin language, which is the official language of that church, we have the statement concerning the pope that he is “Vicarius Filii Dei” (Vicar of the Son of God). The numerical value of the letters of this title are as follows: V-5, I-1, C-100, I-1, U-5, I-1, L-50, I-1, I-1, D-500, I-1,—total 666. Now, to parry the force of these facts, many ingenious interpretations of that particular scripture have been devised; but here stand the facts, and here stands the scripture. Prejudices or inclinations might lead us to quarrel with them; but if we do the sensible thing, we will allow the facts of God’s own word to have the supreme place in guiding us.

4243 — “MEATS” AND “DAYS”

Will you kindly explain the fourteenth chapter of Romans? For some of the believers think, from said scripture, they can eat anything. Likewise some are deceiving their neighbors by telling them they will get to heaven by Sunday keeping. Is that true? Does the word of God teach that? S. E. M. and F. L. M.

We may depend on it that no passage of Scripture contravenes any other passage. God does not exhort us in one place not to do a thing, and in another place give us the permission to do it. He has told us plainly, in various scriptures, that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and we have no record in His word of His ever having reversed that command. He has said, “I am the Lord, I change not”; and His word is as changeless as His character. And if His word appears to be contradictory, we may be sure that it is our interpretation that is at fault.

It is impossible, in the brief space allotted to us in this department, for us to give a full exposition of the fourteenth chapter of Romans, but the following brief suggestions may be helpful.

The subject under discussion is the consideration due from stronger Christians to their weaker brethren. “Him that is weak in faith,” rather than “in the faith,”—him whose faith lacks that firmness and breadth which would raise him above small scruples,—they were to receive to cordial Christian fellowship, and not to the deciding of doubts—for the purpose of arguing him out of them. The church has no authority to decide questions of personal liberty in things not expressly forbidden in the Scripture. The two examples of “meats” and “days” are here used. One restricts himself to the eating of herbs, for fear he may eat something that has been offered to idols. Those who ate everything, without questioning whether or not it had been offered to idols, were not to look with contempt upon him that did not eat; and he that did not eat should not sit in judgment on them that did eat.

Chapter 14 is but a continuation of the argument in chapter 13. In the last two verses of the thirteenth chapter, Paul exhorts them to live temperately, and not to make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. That is, we should not do the things that our natures crave, simply to gratify our appetites. And the fourteenth chapter simply carries on the thought, and emphasizes the fact that we are not to sit in judgment on him who does that which our conscience tells us is wrong.

The import of the whole argument is centered in verses 7, 12, 13: “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.” “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” The question we should ask ourselves is not simply, Is this lawful? but, though it is lawful, Can it be used with safety to my brother’s conscience? Whatever we do which violates the conscience, tends to the destruction of the soul; and whenever we are in doubt, the only safe course to pursue is that about which there is no question as to its lawfulness.

The injunction in 1 Cor. 10:31 is a safe guide in all matters pertaining to the conscience: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” This scripture positively teaches that it is possible to eat in such a way as to glorify God, and therefore the contrary would be true,—that it is possible to eat in such a way as to dishonor God by gross habits. The individual who seeks to excuse himself from plain duties through such scriptures as the fourteenth chapter of Romans, if he will examine his conscience, will probably find that he is condemning himself in the thing in which he is indulging. “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth,”—who does nothing about the lawfulness of which he has scruples, but only that which he neither knows nor fears to be wrong.

4244 — SATAN DECEIVING THE NATIONS

Please explain Rev. 20:3, last clause, when the wicked are destroyed at the Lord’s presence. How could it be possible for Satan to deceive the nations, when there are no people supposed to be on the earth during the thousand years? J. L. S.

Commencing with the second verse, this text reads: “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

It will not be possible for Satan to deceive the nations during the thousand years, for the very reason suggested by our inquirer,—because there will be no people on the earth to be deceived. It is not till the end of the thousand years, at the resurrection of the wicked, that he deceives the nations again, by leading them to think that they can take the holy city. They then form themselves into an army, and with Satan at the head, march up to take the holy city, when they are destroyed. Read the rest of the chapter. “Bottomless pit” is derived from the same Greek word as “deep” in Gen. 1:2, and both are translated “abyss” in more literal translations, referring to this earth in its desolated condition. It is to this earth when desolated at the second coming of Christ that Satan is to be confined during the thousand years. For further explanation of this passage, see the comment on the same in the book “Daniel and the Revelation,” by U. Smith.

4245 — KINDLING FIRES ON THE SABBATH

Is fire kindling done away, or not? for as I understand it, it is not lawful to kindle fire to cook on the Sabbath, while others do kindle for cooking purposes on that day. S. E. M.

When the command was given in regard to building fires on the Sabbath, the Israelites were in the wilderness, journeying from the land of their bondage to the land of their promise. They had been under the idolatrous influences of the Egyptians for several centuries, and many of them had lost sight of the real significance of the Sabbath; and God, in the very nature of things, placed tests upon them while they were there in the wilderness, to emphasize the importance and the great moral value of His Sabbath law. But that command in regard to making fires on the Sabbath is no part of the Sabbath law itself. Where circumstances require, the building of a fire, or any other work of mercy, is permissible on the Sabbath, as shown by the teaching of Christ Himself. Christ gave them to understand that it was right to take the ox or the sheep out of the pit on the Sabbath day. When His disciples went through the field of wheat, and they were hungry, they plucked the wheat, separated it from the chaff, and ate it; and then the Master uttered the conclusion, “Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” There are certain things that are “lawful” to do on the Sabbath.

The method used by the Israelites in kindling a fire required a great deal of work; and where this work was not necessary on the Sabbath, it was not to be performed. They were journeying in a warm climate, where fires were not necessary for warmth, and they should not build them for the mere preparing of food. But in some climates, it is necessary to have fires on the Sabbath. Only such work should be done on that day, however, as is absolutely necessary. All food should be prepared the day before; and if necessary to warm some things, this should be done with as little work as possible. In cases of sickness, the patient may require hot food, but in many cases a hot meal is not necessary.

The man who was stoned to death for doing work on the Sabbath, did it defiantly and presumptuously, to show that he did not believe in the requirements.

4246 — “ACCUSED FROM CHRIST”

Kindly explain to me what Paul meant in Rom. 9:3. Did he really mean he wished he was away, or that he did not know Christ, because his brethren did not know Him? M. F. B.

This scripture reads as follows: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for [or in behalf of] my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Paul’s longing for the salvation of his brethren was so intense that he would be willing to lose eternal life himself, if by so doing he could accomplish the salvation of his people—not that he was desirous of being cut off himself from Christ, unless his brethren would be benefited thereby. He felt his whole being swallowed up in the salvation of his people. Moses manifested a similar spirit when, in his deep remorse for the sin of the children of Israel, he said, “Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.”

4247 — THE DATES IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS

Are the dates in the book of Genesis put there from man’s opinion? How long before Moses’ time was the world created? Is it true that science has proved there were pyramids before the date Genesis gives for the creation? F. L.

We presume our inquirer refers to the dates that are given in the margin of our Bibles. In the King James Version these dates are based upon Usher’s Chronology, and in the main they are supposed to be very nearly correct. As nearly as can be ascertained, Moses lived about 2,500 years this side of the creation of the world.

No, it is not true that “science has proved” that there were pyramids before the date Genesis gives for the creation of the world. We should regard true science very highly, because true science is doing and has done great things for the world, and true science is in harmony with truth, and therefore in harmony with God. But there is a lot of speculative science that is always seeking to figure out some so-called great truths in regard to the history of this world, all of which is speculation from beginning to end. And the speculative theorists of one decade are overthrowing the speculative theories of those in the decade preceding. And so the work goes on. It is safe to take our stand upon the divine Book, for it is inspired by Him who makes no mistakes, and with whom falsehood is impossible. Its great prophecies reveal what is to become of this world. And to discredit the strength and accuracy of these prophecies, Satan is continually working to throw “learned discredit” upon the great Book itself; because if he can discredit the Book, he overthrows the only light that can shine into hearts.