p. 4 (276) | Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 30, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 18.

Question Corner.

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

No. 326. Pillows and Armholes.

Please explain the words “pillows” and “armholes” found in Eze. 13:18. How would you compare with the present style of women’s sleeves? C. H.

Well, the present style of sleeves is large and full, and if stuffed with feathers and sewed up at the ends and covered with a pillow case, would look somewhat like pillows in general; but, brother, to answer your last question first, we do not make any comparison; it is not good so to do. The word “pillows” comes from a word which means a pillow or cushion, and the word “armholes” means the joints of the hands or arms. The margin of the common version is “elbows,” and of the Revised Version, “joints of the hands.” Did you ever think that the word might have reference to boxing gloves? The padded cushions and joints of the hands would be appropriate, certainly. But we do not believe the prophet referred to that.

The “wo” is pronounced against a class that lulls souls to ease and indolence and slumber, and so destroys them. Fashion is generally ridiculous and expensive and cruel and health-destroying enough to be condemned by the simple principles of the Gospel of Christ without torturing the word of God into what it does not mean.

No. 327. The Wicked—The Narrow Way.

(1) WHAT will become of all earth’s billions of ignorant wicked? (2) Why did God create that “narrow way” (difficult way) so obscure that few find it, and of the few who do, but a small proportion run to the “end of the race,” for the prize? M. H. W.

1. Those who are “willingly ignorant,” who are satisfied with themselves, will perish with that which they have chosen. Prov. 1:24–33. Those who receive the light, follow the light, with all the heart, even tho it is but the faintest ray, will have a part in the “inheritance of the saints in light.” Col. 1:12. God gives light enough to every man to lead him to salvation. He “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9. It is not the amount of light that saves, it is how man uses or treats that light.

2. God has not created the “narrow way” obscure to those who wish to know. Here is an infallible test: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” John 7:17. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.” Ps. 25:14. “The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way.” Verse 9. But man can not walk this way in his own strength; and the majority in their pride will not accept God’s power. If they would but do it, there is no such thing as fail; for “there is nothing too hard” for God. Jer. 32:17. The whole thing rests in the choice, the submission, the trust of the sinner.

No. 328. Meats and Idols.

PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 10:23, 25 and 1 Tim. 4:4. Are we to understand from these texts that we are at liberty to eat every kind of meat, if it be received with thanksgiving? A SEEKER AFTER TRUTH.

1 Cor. 10:23, 25, it will be seen by the context, has reference to the question whether it is right to eat things offered to idols or not, and the instruction of the apostle is to the effect that the offering to idols does not hurt the food; but if some brother feels that it does, that it makes the partaker of the food a partaker in idol worship, then do not partake of it for his sake. The Christian, however, of himself, may eat freely so far as the idol’s affecting the food. Read the context.

The expression “every creature” in 1 Tim. 4:4 includes not only animals, but anything created, but, to the writer’s mind, is limited by the expression in verse 5, “Sanctified by the word of God,” that is, set apart for food as declared in the word. For further information see article on “Meats and Drinks,” in SIGNS No. 7, February 13, of the present volume, page 4 (100).

No. 329. What Defiles the Man.

IF you would explain Mark 7:15 to me, I would be very thankful. So many say that that verse says we can eat anything we wish to, so long as we do not eat swine’s meat. J. S.

Mark 7:15 has no reference to foods whatever. This was not the question between Christ and the Pharisees. They did not condemn his disciples for eating foods forbidden by the law, nor did Jesus condemn them because of their strictness or laxness. The question was over washing hands before eating, a “tradition of the elders,” a foolish law, and one impossible to be carried out under all circumstances without suffering. Our Lord answers it by telling them that corruption or defilement is what is cherished in the heart, not what may accidentally adhere to a man outwardly, and thus be placed in his mouth. The will, the desires, the motives, the lusts, the passions, are what make the deed acceptable or evil in the sight of God. For a more general discussion on the meat question, see article “Meats and Drinks,” in SIGNS of February 13, this year.

No. 330. Names of the Days of the Week.

How did the seventh day get the name Saturday, if it is God’s Sabbath? W. L. F.

The present names of the days are all of pagan origin. The name Sunday is the name which sun-worshipers gave to the first day of the week, the day they observed in honor of the sun. The second day of the week was dedicated to the moon, hence the name Moon’s day, or Monday. The third day was called Tuesday, after the god Tyr, another name for Mars, the god of war. The fourth day was denominated Wednesday after the god Woden. The fifth day was called Thursday after the god Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder, war, and agriculture. The sixth day was named Friday after the goddess Friga, another name for Venus. The seventh day was called Saturday after the god Saturn. What men have called the days does not alter their character. Jesus Christ was called a demoniac, a publican, a deceiver, and many other names by men, but that did not change him. So with the seventh day. The Lord calls it, “My holy day,” “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and it is what God calls it, no matter what man may say. The names which the Lord gave to the days of the week were “One to the Sabbath,” “Two to the Sabbath,” etc., till we come to the Sabbath. If

man had always followed the names which God gave, he would never have forgotten the day of the Sabbath.

No. 331. The Day of the Sabbath.

I WOULD like to have you tell me how we know that the seventh day spoken of in Ex. 20:8–11 was Saturday, or Sunday, or for that matter any other day of the week, when God did not name the days. And if he did name the days, please tell me where I can find an account of it. F. T.

God’s names of the days are numbers. See question No. 330. These names are found in Genesis 1, and in the New Testament we have the name “the first day of the week.” See Matt. 28:1. We know that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seventh day now, beginning Friday evening at sundown and ending the following day at sundown, because of the following reasons: (1) God made the Sabbath in the beginning for man (Gen. 2:2, 3; Mark 2:27); it is not therefore reasonable that it should be hidden from man’s knowledge. (2) Twenty-five hundred years after he made it, he pointed it out each week by a threefold weekly miracle. Exodus 16. Had the Israelites lost the Sabbath before, they knew it then. Some among them have kept it ever since; and among all their scholars there is no dispute or question regarding the day. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week according to the Bible beginning and ending of the day. (3) At the time of the crucifixion Inspiration fixed the Sabbath again. It was the day just before “the first day of the week.” See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2; Luke 23:56 and 24:1. The first day of the week at that time was the day that the Romans and other idolaters called Sunday. The seventh day of the week synchronized with the pagan Saturday. There has been no change since.

No. 332. The Restoration of the Jews.

I WOULD be pleased to receive some light on the restoration and gathering of the Jews. B. C.

The writer sends a tract which endeavors to prove that the Jews will or were to be restored to the promised land. These promises are all from prophecies written before Christ, of which (1) some were fulfilled at the restoration from the Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. (2) Some of these promises were conditional, based on Israel’s obedience, fulfilled if Israel obeyed, but void if Israel refused to obey. See Jer. 17:21–27; 18:7–10. (3) The promises to be fulfilled in this dispensation or in the future must be fulfilled through Christ. All in him by faith are Israel, whether born Jew or gentile. The only way that the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament can be understood is from the viewpoint of the New Testament in both spirit and fact. On this point the apostle says: “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery [the Gospel], . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel.” Eph. 3:3–5. All Israel shall be saved by faith. See Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:6; 11:20, 23, 26; Eph. 2:18–20; Gal. 3:29.

No. 333. Special Grace and Three Witnesses.

(1) WHAT is the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ? 1 Peter 1:13. Is it that which will prepare us to meet him? (2) What are the three witnesses spoken of in 1 John 5:8, the “Spirit,” “water,” and “blood”? W. W. G.

1. The grace or favor referred to seems to be that which is bestowed at or in the “revelation” itself. It is a change from grace to more grace, from glory to glory. He who progresses in the Christian life is a constant recipient of more grace; it is “multiplied” to him “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2. As we near his coming, and with humble hearts meet the perils of the way, God “giveth more grace.” Before Christ is revealed in his glory, we will be fitted to bear the glory, and in the revelation itself will the change come from mortality to immortality. That is “the end of your faith,” the salvation, the grace to which we are to hope. The “grace” of verse 13 is the salvation of verse 9. A preparation for that event will be assured by a meeting of every event of life, however small it may be, in the Lord’s way. 2. The “Spirit” is the Spirit of God by which his word is given. The Spirit of God witnessed through all Christ’s ministry from baptism to resurrection. The “water,” his baptism, was another witness of his divine power. The “blood,” his crucifixion, was the third witness to the Son of God. And all these are effectual in the believer in regenerating, in cleansing, in adoption into the family of God. See John 3:3–5; Gal. 3:27; 1 John 1:7, and many others.