Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 10, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 36.

“Enquire, and make search, and ask diligently.”

No. 415. Mine Hour.

PLEASE explain John 2:4, “Mine hour is not yet come.”

W. H. S.

The hour when he should be manifested as the Son of God. His mother thought that then was a good time to manifest himself; Jesus said: What is that to thee and me? “Mine hour is not yet come;” that belongs to God.

No. 416. Pronoun “He” of Rev. 13:15, 16.

THE view is advanced by some that the pronoun “he” in Rev. 13:15, 16 refers to the papal beast. How may I know whether this be so?

T. H.

By the laws of language. In verse 11 John saw “another beast.” This beast he calls “he” in verses 12, 13, and 14. The law of grammar would demand that “he” in verses 15, 16 refer to the same antecedent, “another beast,” as does the same pronoun in the verses preceding. Notice what he does: “He spake” (verse 11), “exerciseth” and “causeth” (verse 12), “doeth” (verse 13), “deceiveth” (verse 14). “He had power” (verse 15), and “he causeth” (verse 16). The change in the form of the verb makes a repetition of the pronoun necessary in verses 15 and 16. By the common law of pronouns and their antecedents you may know that the above view is not so.

No. 417. Discerning of Spirits.

PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 12:10, “To another discerning of spirits, etc.

MRS. M.

The apostle is enumerating some of the spiritual gifts which God has bestowed upon various members of his church. One is given the power to work miracles, to do things contrary to or above the laws of a sin-perverted nature. “To another prophecy,” revealing present and future events and dangers, etc., or instructing in duties which the church might not see unless God called attention to them in that way. “To another discerning of spirits,” able to read the motives and animus of persons, especially Satan’s agents. See Matt. 22:17, 18 for a record of how it was exercised by our Lord; or Acts. 5:3, and 8:20-23, of its exercise by Peter. “To another divers kinds of tongues;” that is, speaking in foreign tongues as God saw there was need. “To another the interpretation of tongues,” ability from God to say what the speaker in an unknown tongue meant.

No. 418. Christ’s Coming to Earth.

DOES the Bible teach that our Lord will come to earth more than once more?

The Lord comes to this earth (in the sense of standing upon it) but once more, and that is at the end of the thousand years, when the New Jerusalem shall descend out of heaven from God. Compare Rev. 21:1-5; 20:9, 11; Zech. 14:4. When he comes for his saints, they will be caught up together with Christ in the clouds. 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. But then it is that the saints enter upon their eternal reward. It is true that that reward is not then upon this earth, and yet the New Jerusalem and the Paradise of God are a part of the new sinless earth. That glorious city is the capital and metropolis of the new earth. That Paradise is the garden which God planted for man on this earth in the beginning. It is because of this that we are told that Christians not only seek a country, but a continuing city. Heb. 11:14; 13:14. The city is a part of the eternal reward. Again, the time of Christ’s coming is sometimes spoken of as a single event and one day, when it all covers many events and all the great day of the Lord. In that day all these various events will be fulfilled. When the saints meet Christ in the clouds he comes after them; at the end of the thousand years he comes with them. For a fuller exposition of these things see Bible Students’ Library, Nos. 55 (“The Judgment, Its Events and Their Order”), 65 (“The Great Day of the Lord”), 124 (“The Manner of Christ’s Coming”), the prices of which are 15 cents, 5 cents, and 2 cents respectively. It will pay our readers to obtain these little publications. We believe they will make these matters plain.