Announcements and Editorial Notes
By Editor
THE Review publishes the following telegram, for which let liberty-loving people praise the Lord:— PARS, TENN., FEB. 5.—All but two indictments quashed Friday, because names in indictments unlike the names in order for prosecution. Wm. Dorich acquitted on insufficient evidence, Tommy Dorich's trial set for Monday. Senator Tolley, ex-Governor Porter, and Ringgold volunteered services in case of appeals. THE Sabbath school lessons for senior classes, second quarter of 1893, will be entitled "The Coming of the Lord." They will be issued as No. 102 of the Bible Students' Library. Price, 5 cents per copy. They will be ready about March 1. Orders should be sent in early through your State Tract Society, or to Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal., or New York City. WE close, in this number, the valuable series of articles on "The Three Messages of Rev. 14: 6-14," by Elder E. W. Whitney. We trust these have been thoroughly studied. And we would ask special attention to the series on "India," by Elder S. N. Haskell, the first of which appears in this issue, under "Mission Fields." The great and growing prominence of Spiritualism gives importance to such articles as the one entitled, "Is It Not Spiritualism?," by Elder E. J. Waggoner. This will be followed next week by another of equal importance entitled "Spiritualism against the Gospel," by the same writer. THE Sunday Gazetver, of Denison, Texas, contains the following suggestion in regard to the opening of the World's Fair on Sunday:— Let the pastors of all the churches, not omitting the Seventh-day Adventists, unite in a week of earnest prayer for a sign that could not be mistaken even by the worldly. If the sign to close was not given, then the fair might safely be opened every day in the week and congress relieved from any further responsibility. Of course the suggestion is a quasi joke, but it suggests a remark on the matter of special signs. God reveals his will through his word. Where that speaks plainly, it is presumption to ask a sign. But some will ask, Does the Bible say positively whether it is right or wrong to open the gates of the Exposition on Sunday? We answer, Yes, if the only reason for closing be that Sunday is the Sabbath. The Scripture is very explicit, both in word, and in the example of Him who inspired the word, in the declaration that the "seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." And it is further stated in plain terms that if any "speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." There being no Scripture authority for observing any other day as a weekly Sabbath, it is, therefore, so far as Sabbath observance is concerned, perfectly right to open the Fair on Sunday. By the time this paper reaches its readers, the General Conference will be in session at Battle Creek, Mich. The more our work reaches out to distant fields, the more important these representative gatherings become, and the greater the responsibility resting upon the delegates. Upon this Conference rests the burden of planning for a world-wide work. They hold in their hands a precious message,—the last message of mercy to be sent to a dying world, and they are intrusted with the sacred duty of devising the most effectual and the most expeditious plans for accomplishing the great purpose. They are set to counsel in regard to the conduct of the grandest and the most sacred and the most extensive business that concerns the world at the present time. They must consider and decide financial, educational, charitable, medical, legal, ecclesiastical, missionary, corporate, and personal matters—all of which in some way come into account in the one comprehensive work of the salvation of souls. And they are all ordinary, fallible mortals, only as their deliberations are guided and supplemented by the Spirit of God. Brethren, pray for them; for your votes have sent them there. EDITOR SIGNS: Will you be kind enough to explain Isa. 45:7? The text referred to above reads thus: "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things." We presume the point that puzzles our querist is the phrase, "and create evil." Many people have stumbled at this expression, and some have made it the basis of charging God with being the author of sin. The judgments of God upon the wicked nations, or upon his own people when they rebel, are evil to them; but such evil is not sin. It is not sin for God to send his pestilence, or famine, or sword, or captivity upon a people who refuse to obey him. This is evidently what is meant by the evil which God creates. But it is better to let the Scriptures explain themselves. Read carefully the twenty-third chapter of Joshua, and you will better understand what God means by creating evil.