QUESTION CORNER

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 5, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 48.

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“If ye will inquire, inquire ye.” “But avoid foolish questions.”

No. 246. 1 Tim. 4:1-3.

To what party does 1 Tim. 4:1-3 apply?

J. F. T.

The passage reads as follows:—

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”

It applies to those in whom its predictions are fulfilled. To our mind its fulfillment is found in that system known as Modern Spiritualism more fully than in any other system or sect now before the world. Those intelligences who profess to be the spirits of the dead are devils (or demons) in that guise, building their profession on the old falsehood told by Satan, “Ye shall not surely die; . . . ye shall be as God.” Gen. 3:4, 5, R. V. Demonism, witchcraft, sorcery, Modern Spiritualism, paganism, saint worship, all are fruits of that old lie. That it has many sincere, conscientious believers we have no doubt. It is not against persons we write, but against the system, the error. We would save the people from its Satanic deceptions. The above predictions have been fulfilled in Spiritualism, and will be more and more as time passes. See pamphlet on “Modern Spiritualism,” published at this office. Price, 20 cents.

No. 247. Mark 9:44.

WILL you please explain Mark 9:44 and oblige J. E. M.

The verse reads, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” The previous verse connects this expression with “into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.”

1. The word “hell.”—This comes from the Greek word gehenna, defined by Greenfield’s standard Greek Lexicon as follows:—

“Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, once celebrated for the horrid worship of Moloch, and afterward polluted with every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and the dead bodies of malefactors, to consume which, in order to avert a pestilence which such a mass of corruption might occasion, constant fires were kept burning.”

Liddell & Scott’s Lexicon says, “which were consumed by fires kept constantly up.” Gehenna thus became a symbol of complete and absolute destruction of the wicked.

2. The “worm.”—This does not refer to a particular worm that never died, but that, as long as there were carcasses on which to feed, so long would there be worms to prey upon them. See Isa. 66:24, where it is shown that the worm feeds not on living men, but on their carcasses, the bodies of the dead; and also Isa. 51:8, where it is declared of the wicked, “The moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool.” The worm is therefore also a symbol of destruction.

3. The “fire.”—“That never shall be quenched” reads the common version in Mark 9:43. It should read as the Revised Version, “unquenchable fire,” that is, fire which can not be quenched till it has consumed what it feeds upon, even as the worms will not die till they consume all that they feed upon. The phrase comes from pur, fire, and asbestos, “unquenchable, inextinguishable, unquenched.”—Liddell & Scott. Homer in the Iliad, a Greek poem (XVI. 123, 294), speaks of the Trojans hurling “unquenchable fire” on the Grecian ships, though but one of them was burnt by it. Eusebius speaks of two martyrs, Cronian and Julian, who were consumed in unquenchable fire. If the reader will compare Jer. 17:27, where is found the strong term, “It [fire] shall not be quenched,” with 2 Chron. 36:19, 21, he will see that this fire “burnt the house of God” and “all the palaces thereof.” It then went

out; but it was not quenched till it did its work. So the fires of the last day will consume all of sin and all those who are then identified with sin. See Ps. 37:20; Mal. 4:1; Rev. 18:8. The words used in Mark 9:43, 44 mean absolute and utter destruction. But as from its ashes Jerusalem was rebuilt, so shall the new heavens and earth come forth by the word of God from the ashes of the old. 2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1-7.

No. 248. “Every Creature”—Swine’s Flesh.

PLEASE explain 1 Tim. 4:4. Does “every creature” include the swine? Do the shambles of 1 Cor. 10:25 refer to flesh-market? Was swine’s flesh sold in the “shambles” spoken of? Is it a sin to eat swine’s flesh? F. O. S.

The texts above referred to read as follows:—

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.”

“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience’ sake.”

1. To our mind the expression “every creature” would be restricted to the limitations set by the context both before and after the verse in question. We are told of a class that were to arise and command others “to abstain from meats [foods], which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” The fifth verse uses the expression, “For it [the food] is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” Now we have no record that God ever created swine’s flesh for food, nor have we any account of where it has been “sanctified,” or set apart by that word as food. In the light of the context it would seem just to limit “every creature” to those creatures which God created in the beginning for man’s food. See Gen. 1:29. At the most it could not go beyond that class of flesh food termed by the Bible “clean.” See Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

2. The term “shambles” means a place where all kinds of provision were kept for sale, and we presume in all probability that swine’s flesh and many other unwholesome foods were sold. But the “question for conscience’ sake” did not come over the kind of food, whether it was beef or pork, venison or mutton, barley cakes or wheat bread, but whether it had been offered to idols. That fact made no difference with the food, and should not be considered either in buying or eating, unless it was likely to cause stumbling on the part of some weaker brother. See 1 Cor. 10:27-29.

3. Whether it is a sin to eat swine’s flesh or not depends on circumstances. Had man in need of food no other, he would not be condemned for eating it. The Gospel for centuries has been carried to and accepted by many whose circumstances and environments made almost necessary the use of swine’s flesh in some form, and for that reason God removed the restrictions of positive law which obtained in the Levitical dispensation. But he also gave his word and Spirit to teach his people the good way. That word tells us that the swine is unclean. Lev. 11:7, 8. It associates its eating in the prophecy of latter times with the eating of other abominable things by a class of people who provoke God continually. See Isa. 65:2-5; 66:3, 4. The nature of the swine has not changed. It is still unclean, gross, corrupt, unwholesome. Now God’s rule is, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31. Will it be to God’s glory to willingly, selfishly, determinedly, indulge in what his word has so emphatically condemned? And in this the best medical men stand with revelation. Is it sin? Can we eat it believing it will glorify God? Read Rom. 14:23.