Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 25, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 25.

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

No. 360. Earth Desolated.

IS THE earth desolate during the millennial period. Are the wicked destroyed? Where do the saints dwell during that period? W. P.

That the earth will be desolated by the destruction of the wicked is clearly shown by such texts as Isa. 24:1-3; 34:8-15; Zeph. 1:2, 3, and other scriptures. This is declared by the prophet to occur at the presence of the Lord (Jer. 4:23-27), and by the apostle at Christ’s coming, which is the same thing (2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 19:21). It will be noticed that those who have not been slain by plague and battle (“the remnant,” those who remain left) perish by the presence of Christ and the words he speaks. Previous to this, or in connection with Christ’s coming, the righteous dead are raised, and all the righteous are changed to immortality, and are taken by Christ to the mansions he has gone to prepare, in the New Jerusalem, the city of God in heaven. See 1 Thess. 4:16; compare with John 13:36; 14:1-3. In harmony with this we are told that the saints “have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.” Heb. 10:34. In holy vision John saw them there before the throne on the crystal sea (Rev. 14:1-3), and heard the sound of the multitude of voices praising God (Rev. 19:1). Now, as the righteous are taken to heaven and the wicked all slain, the earth must be desolate. How long it is desolate is shown by two scriptures, “many days” (Isa. 24:21, 22), “until the thousand years were finished” (Rev. 20:5). At the end of this period the wicked are raised from the dead; the New Jerusalem, the capital of the new earth, descends from heaven with the saints; Satan and his host strive to take the city (Rev. 20:7-9), and the devouring fire of God’s presence destroys them. The earth is then restored for the eternal inheritance of the righteous. Rev. 21:1-7. Thus the righteous are “recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner.” Prov. 11:31. A fuller setting forth of this subject is given in Bible Students’ Library, No. 65, entitled “The Great Day of the Lord.” Price, 5 cents.

No. 361. “Shall Be Set Up.”

DANIEL 12:11 says “the abomination that maketh desolate” shall be “set up” at the end of the 1,290 days. The Papacy was overthrown in 1798, not “set up.” Please explain. J. B.

Take the margin, “to set up,” or in order to set up, etc., reading thus: “And from the time that the daily [continual desolation] shall be taken away in order to set up the abomination of desolation,” etc. Rabbi Isaac Leeser’s translation reads: “And from the time that the continual sacrifice will be removed, even to set up the desolating abomination, there will be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” The setting up is at the beginning of the days instead of the end.

No. 362. The “Other Sheep.”

WHAT did Christ mean in John 10:16 by “other sheep I have”? F. R. M.

He meant those who would accept him among all the nations of earth, all uniting in the one fold, where there is no distinction made on account of nation or sex. Compare with Eph. 2:11-19; 1 Cor. 12:13.

No. 363. Who Was Melchizedek.

PLEASE explain who Melchizedek, of Hebrews 7, is. Do you think it was Christ? A. J. R.

Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem in the time of Abraham. See Gen. 14:18-20. His character, his name, and the city over which he ruled, made him a fitting type of Christ. Melchizedek means king of righteousness, so is Christ the “LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Melchizedek was king of Salem, or peace; so Christ “is our peace.” Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God; so Christ is our great High Priest. The priesthood of Melchizedek began with no other before him, nor ended with others after him, and we have no account of his genealogy; so also Christ’s priesthood came from no other nor passes to any other; it is the age-lasting priesthood, and, as a priest, he has no genealogy. In all these respects Melchizedek was a type of Christ, or Christ was a king-priest “after the order of Melchizedek.” But Melchizedek was not Christ; for he was a type of Christ.

No. 364. 1 Peter 3:18-21.

PLEASE give an answer to the following questions: 1 Peter 3:18, 19, 20, 21. Verse 21 would seem to make baptism essential to salvation. Did the Lord in spirit after his death and before his resurrection preach to the spirits in prison? G. B. D.

(1) Verse 18 states a very simple truth, that Christ died for us to bring us to God, and was made alive by the Spirit. (2) Verse 19 tells us that the same Spirit that quickened Christ, or made him alive, was the Spirit by which Christ preached to the spirits or souls of men shut up in the prison-house of sin. (3) Verse 20 tells us when this was, namely, in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing. The Spirit of Christ there spoke through Noah, a preacher of righteousness by faith. 2

Peter 2:5; Heb. 11:7; Gen. 6:3. (4) Verse 21 shows that what saved them there was not form, but faith, as effectual baptism must be. The mere form of baptism, the empty act, will avail nothing; it is faith—faith that lays hold of the resurrection power, that cleanses the conscience, that saves from sin. We may learn from the text that the Gospel is everlasting, that the “eternal Spirit” wrought in Noah’s day as in ours, and that Jesus Christ is the one unchangeable Saviour, yesterday, to-day, and forever the same.

No. 365. Meaning of Horns.

WHAT is meant by horns in Ps. 75:10 and 18:2?

It was customary among the nations of the east to wear one or more horns on the head as a symbol of power, and as such it is used in the above passages. The horns (power, honor) of the wicked God will destroy, but the horns (power, honor) of the righteous shall be exalted. In Ps. 18:2 David tells us that his horn, his exaltation, power, honor, is God; and in that great day of the Lord, God alone will be exalted. Isa. 2:17.

No. 366. Picking Hops Again.

A CORRESPONDENT finds fault with the SIGNS in what was said some time ago on hop-picking, and says:—

Tho the word “hops” is not mentioned in the Bible, is it not a most important question as regards temperance? Does not the Bible say, “Wo to him that giveth his neighbor drink”? In a way it is a matter of conscience, but whose conscience would let him pick hops that are to be used in making liquor? A great many are uneasy regarding the subject, but “the ministers do it, and it must be all right,” so they pick them against their conscience.

1. We say again that we know nothing in the word of God against picking hops. If any other person does, he or she should not pick them. It is better to starve than to sin. A Christian should regulate his conscience according to God’s word, not according to any minister.

2. Hops are largely used in brewing beer, but thousands of tons are put up in packages for domestic and medicinal use, for the manufacture of lupulin and yeast, and other purposes. So also barley is used for beer, corn and rye for whisky, molasses for rum, staves for barrels, and barrels for liquor. But should men therefore refuse to make staves or barrels, or raise barley or rye or corn or sugar cane? Has a carpenter no right to build a house for a mean man? Has a shoemaker no right to make a pair of shoes for a man whose feet he knows run to mischief? We see no harm in engaging in any employment that is honorable in itself; and the writer knows no reason why the raising of hops is not as honorable as the raising of beets or the digging of sarsaparilla roots. However, if any man has good conscience against picking hops, by all means let him not do it; for “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

No. 367. The New Covenant. Heb. 8:10-13.

If the Ten Commandments are referred to in Heb. 8:10-13 as you say, how are we to understand verses 8 to 12? How was the first covenant faulty? How was it to grow old and vanish away? J. B.

In the SIGNS of May 21, page 4, it is stated that “Heb. 8:10-13 has reference to the Ten Commandment law and no other,” but this does not mean that the Ten Commandments are the “old covenant.” The law mentioned in Heb. 8:10-13 is the Decalogue, the law of God. The “old covenant,” so far as man’s righteousness was concerned, was based on man’s promise. See Ex. 19:8. It was therefore faulty because the promise was weak. The law was not at fault, but the people were. Heb. 8:7, 8. In the new covenant, based on God’s promise, God writes that same law in the heart. Every soul which has not wholly yielded to Christ, and yet is endeavoring to do right, is attempting to do just what Israel attempted to do when they hoped to obey through their promise. They bring themselves into bondage. See Rom. 7:15-19. But when self is yielded and Christ is accepted, the old covenant of man’s works vanishes away in the glory of Christ’s power, which enables us to keep the law. There are other phases of the covenants which we have not space here to discuss.