Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 23, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 17.

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

No. 314. “Third Heaven” and “Paradise.”

PLEASE explain the meaning of the “third heaven,” in 2 Cor. 12:2, and “paradise,” in verse 4.

The “third heaven” is the place where God dwells by his own personal presence. The first heaven is where the birds fly, the aerial heaven, and the second is where the stars are, the sidereal heavens. See Gen. 7:23; Ex. 32:13; 1 Kings 8:30, and other texts. “Paradise” means a garden of delights, and the “paradise of God” is where he dwells, in the third heaven. See Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2. The “third heaven” of 2 Cor. 12:2 is the same as the paradise of verse 4.

No. 315. The Passover.

WILL you please explain Ex. 12:14, 17? Why do not the Seventh-day Adventists keep the Passover, as the Israelites did? Christ kept it, did he not? Did he keep the Passover, as it is stated in Ex. 12:14–17? I. E. H.

We do not know as we could make the matter any plainer in the limits of this department, than it is made in Exodus 12. The word “forever” pertains to that age, as long as the Passover should exist. When Christ came, he was the Antitype of which the paschal lamb was the type. That Passover lamb and feast constituted one of the shadows that pointed to Christ. When the shadow reached the cross, the substance, the shadow ended. Col. 2:16, 17. Since our Lord died upon the cross, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” 1 Cor. 5:7. Yes, Jesus kept that typical Passover which was ordered of God. Previous to his death the offering of the paschal lamb was faith’s expression of belief in a coming Saviour, as well as a memorial of deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Since the crucifixion we have the Lord’s supper, a memorial of deliverance from sin in the death of Christ, and faith’s expression of his coming again. 1 Cor. 11:23–26. Seventh-day Adventists do not keep the ancient Passover, because, (1) they were never delivered from Egyptian bondage, and (2) because all typical feasts and offerings ceased at the cross. They find their protection and covering in the application by faith of the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.

No. 316. The Camel for Food.

KINDLY explain Lev. 11:4. Does the camel divide the hoof and chew the cud, too?

The camel chews the cud; but it has no hoofs at all, simply a soft, cushioned foot. Cloven-footed is a hoof cleft, like an ox. In the camel only two of the toes of the foot are free, each of these terminating with a short and somewhat curved nail. The rest of the toes are connected by means of a broad elastic cushion, or pad.

No. 317. The Centurion’s Servant.

PLEASE explain the seeming contradiction, to say the least, between Matthew and Luke in the account of the centurion’s servant? F. M. J.

The account is found in Matt. 8:5–13 and in Luke 7:1–10. Matthew speaks as though the centurion did it all, while Luke says that the centurion sent his friends. This seeming difference may be explained on the simple principle, recognized in both legal circles and the Bible, that what a man does or says by his agents, he does or says himself. Thus the Bible declares that God created the world, but he did this through Jesus Christ. The men

sent by the centurion represented him, they stood in his place. This is illustrated by what the centurion said of his soldiers, and his faith that Jesus could send spiritual agents to heal his servant. He believed that Jesus could heal through angelic messengers, without being personally present, and yet the healing was of Christ after all. The principle was as true as regards the centurion.

No. 318. A Coming of the Son of Man.

EXPLAIN Matt. 10:23: “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another; for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”

The whole discourse of chapter 10 had reference not only to the times of the apostles, but to the Christian dispensation. The twelve apostles should not go over the cities of Israel till Christ should be revealed in the glory of his majesty, as he was on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matt. 16:28; 17:1–5, compare with 2 Peter 1:16–18), and in his suffering and death and resurrection for the race; but it is typical of the Christian dispensation, and the preaching of the Gospel to the nations of earth, and our Lord’s second coming.

No. 319. The “Four Beasts.”

WILL you kindly explain Rev. 7:11? What are the four beasts there mentioned? Also Dan. 12:11. Where does that period commence and where end? J. M. C.

1. The word “beasts” in Rev. 7:11 is an abhorrent translation. It is better as in the Revised Version, “four living creatures,” or “four living ones.” By reference to Rev. 4:6–8 and Ezekiel 1 we learn that these living creatures form the foundation of the living throne of God.

2. The 1,290 days of Dan. 12:11 are thought to begin in A.D. 508 and end in 1798, when papal supremacy was overthrown. See “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation.”

No. 320. Coming with His Saints.

WILL you please explain Jude 14, 15? Does it refer to the second coming of Christ? If it does, how is it in harmony with 1 Thess. 4:15–17; Matt. 24:31? How could he come after his people, and come with ten thousand of his saints? J. W. S.

The word “saints” in Jude 14 is translated from the Greek word hagiais, meaning simply “holy ones,” and God’s angels are holy ones. Rotherham’s emphatic translation reads, “Behold! the Lord came amid his holy myriads, to execute judgment,” etc. That angels are called “saints” see Dan. 8:13; 9:21; Luke 1:19. When Christ comes, it will be with the holy angels, after his holy people; both are saints, or holy ones. There is, therefore, no discrepancy between the texts cited by our querist.

No. 321. Spirits in Prison.

PLEASE explain 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6. S. C. G.

The first text refers to the Spirit of God, which quickened, or made alive, Jesus Christ, “by which also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” When? The next verse tells us it was “when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing.” Then the Spirit of Christ strove with men (Gen. 6:3); and then Noah by the same Spirit was a “preacher of righteousness” “by faith” (2 Peter 2:5; Heb. 11:7). The second scripture—1 Peter 4:6—reads as follows: “For, for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” It was not preached to men while dead; for “the dead know not anything.” Eccl. 9:5. Their thoughts are perished. Ps. 146:4. See also Ps. 6:5; 115:17. It was preached to them that are dead, but it was preached to them when they were alive. And the Gospel was preached to them then, before Christ came to die, for just the same purpose that it has been preached since,—that they might be able to give an account to God in the judgment; that, while being in the flesh, they might live and walk in the Spirit. The passage is difficult and obscure, and is so considered by all commentators; but it should be understood in harmony with all other Scripture.

No. 322. Contributions.

IS IT right to solicit contributions from the unsaved to carry on God’s work? “Smith’s Bible Dictionary” says publicans and sinners were not allowed to put money in the alms box. If this be true, why should we do it now?

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Ps. 24:1. All are his not only by creation, but by redemption. All persons are stewards, to whom God has intrusted life, intellect, influence, talent, property, means. Whether that stewardship is acknowledged by all or not makes no difference; all are responsible. But if any person, unconverted though he be, who holds in his possession the Lord’s means, gives it of his own free will to carry on the Lord’s work, let him give it. It belongs to God, and may be the means of bringing light to the sinner’s soul. But it is well to ask them for it in a reasonable, Christian way. If one unfaithful steward of God’s money should, however, give us money which we knew he had wrongfully taken from another steward, we should feel it our duty to restore it to whom it belonged. If we knew not, and the money was offered, we should take it as for the Lord, which his Spirit had stirred up his steward to give. What the Pharisees did or did not permit does not make law or right. Jesus said, “The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matt. 21:31. See also Matt. 9:10, 11; Luke 19:7, 8.

No. 323. Remitting Sins.

Please explain the meaning of the statement in John 20:23 which reads, “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.” J. H. S.

It means that God authorized them to proclaim his word, in which is not only stated the terms of salvation, but salvation itself to those who receive it. To those who believe the word of God preached by the apostles there is remission of sins, but to those who believe not, their sins remain. See 1 Thess. 2:13; John 3:18; 9:41. So Jeremiah was set over nations and kingdoms to root out, to pull down, to destroy, and to build and to plant, but the prophet did this by declaring the word of God and its conditions, through which all these results were accomplished. Compare Jer. 1:9, 10 with chap. 18:7–10. So with the apostles and all true ministers of God’s word; they are savors of life unto life or of death unto death. See 2 Cor. 2:15, 16.

No. 324. The Lord’s Supper and Its Time.

Why is it that Seventh-day Adventists [and others] meet every quarter to partake of the Lord’s Supper? G. M. A.

There is no command for such a meeting once a quarter or against it. The time of the Passover is expressly given in Exodus 12. So also of other yearly feasts, of which each year of Levitical service was a type of the whole of our Lord’s work. The Passover was not only a type of “Christ our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7), but a memorial of deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 12:14, 27). The Lord’s supper is an occasional symbol of a continuous feast on the word and life of Christ. It also looks forward to Christ’s second coming. Its frequency of celebration was left to the faith, discretion, and devotion of God’s people. When it is to be celebrated is thus stated, “As oft as ye drink it,” “as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord’s death till he come.” Among the early Christians it seems to have been celebrated daily. Acts 2:46. See No. 315, page 4.

No. 325. Is It Spurious?

REV. 20:5 is now considered spurious, not being found in the early MSS. or before the fourth century. M. H. W.

It is considered spurious only by those who have a point to prove. It is only omitted by the Peshito Syriac and Vatican MS. No. 1160; but it is found in the following MSS.: Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, No. 9, supposed to be of the fifth, seventh, and fifth centuries respectively, which are presumably not copies of each other, but of earlier MSS. than the Syriac and Vatican MS. No. 1209. The revisers adopted for their revision the text “for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating,” and when that differed from the Greek text “from which the Authorized Version was made, the alteration be expressed in the margin.” (See Preface to Revised N. T., Division II, ¶ 4.) But there is not even an indication of doubt over Rev. 20:5.