"THESE are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, . . . but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." God's plan is always perfect. Left in His order, nature always works in quiet ways. The contrast is very marked when we think of the earth, clean and pure from the hand of the Creator, sending forth from its hidden fountains a noiseless spray to water the whole face of the ground, and then compare it with the present thorny, barren, broken condition, deluged by torrents of rain, accompanied by the death-dealing cyclone, the flashing lightning, and the roaring thunder.
The devil goes about "as a roaring lion;" and every battle of the warrior is with "confused noise and garments rolled in blood."
It seems to be the mind of sin that a big noise is an evidence of great power, but not so with the mind of Him who controls all power.
When the prophet Elijah was alone in Horeb, the Lord appeared to him, not in the great and strong wind that passed by before him and rent the mountains and brake the rocks in pieces, nor in the earthquake that followed the wind, nor yet in the fire that came after the earthquake. In none of these did the Lord speak to the prophet; but after the tumult there came a still small voice, and God was in the voice.
In the midst of the raging of the heathen and the din of war, the Lord says to us, "Be still and know that I am God." When the demons of storm were shrieking around the disciples' little bark, and the roar of the maddened waves filled their hearts with fear, they awoke the Master of sea and sky, who said, "Peace, be still." "And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." The Lord exhorts us to study, to be quiet, and to attend to our own business. And He says: "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places."
There came a time when the American Colonies could no longer endure the oppression of England, and so declared their independence. This decision was reached on July 4, 1776. A bloody and cruel war settled the question of the right of sovereignty, and from that time until now the people of the United States have set apart the Fourth of July as a day especially devoted to noise-making. The greater the noise, the more intense and far-reaching the patriotism displayed.
July 4, 1899, found Honolulu all agog to show her loyalty to "Old Glory." We could hardly say, "To her country," for about all we have had of the United States thus far is the flag and the soldiers.
Nevertheless, the Fourth was celebrated in a way that did great credit to the aspiring capital of the Sandwich group. A "grand display" of fireworks and a "magnificent" ball completed the program.
The enterprising little town of Hilo, on Hawaii, could not make so much of a display as her older sister, but late in the evening the volcano came to her assistance. When Mauna Loa threw her rockets of fire skyward, all of man's efforts paled into insignificance. Mother Earth was again reminding the pleasure-loving world that that day is surely coming when the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth also.
Far away at sea the flaming heavens heralded the news, and erelong the newsboys were crying the burnings of Hawaii on the streets of Honolulu. All sorts of rumors were afloat, and if report could have done the work, Hilo would have been blotted from the map, and the island of Hawaii turned to ashes. Yet it remains a fact that there was a large lava flow, which continued for several days.
As the vapor settled down in the valleys, casting a vail, as it were, over the face of the sun, and from night to night the jets of fire were seen shooting far up into the air, a kind of fear that can not be expressed took hold upon the hearts of the people. There is something about such manifestations that brings over the mind more of a prayer-meeting spirit than the ordinary fireworks do.
The view was grand beyond any power of words to describe, and we daily meet people who say, "I wish I could have seen it." Many who read this will express the same desire. Do you think you would enjoy the sight? You may see, not only one small volcano belching forth fire, smoke, and melted rock, but you may see the old earth open her sides in hundreds, yea, thousands of places; you may see, not one small spot of lava, but you may look upon the whole earth's surface turned into one great lava bed. Methinks I hear you ask, "How can I get there?" "When will it be?" In the courts in heaven the roll is being called for the last time. If, when your name is called, the Judge finds you an overcomer, you may be within the jasper walls of the holy city, New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God.
It will rest in a place prepared for it by Him whose feet rest in that day upon Mount Olivet, on the east of Jerusalem. God will reserve a place for you upon the walls of the city. "With thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked."
The Word tells us that in the flood the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The waters that had been stored up in the earth mingled with the rain from the windows of heaven. To-day we have the evidence before us that the earth is stored, not with water, but with fire. So the apostle says: "The world that then was, being overflowed5with water, perished." "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
The volcano is God's great object lesson, given to the world as a warning that the day will surely come when every man's work will be tried by fire. When fire shall come down from God out of heaven and devour sin and sinners, all will be without excuse, for the Lord has not left Himself without witness.
While Israel of old were yet in the wilderness, they refused to execute the judgments of God, despised His statutes, polluted His Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their father's idols. For these things the Lord said that He lifted up His hand unto them, that He would scatter them amongst the heathen, and disperse them through the countries. Eze. 20:23, 24. They went over into the promised land, but there they forgot God, and would not walk in His ways. The Syrians came in and took some of the people away captive. The Midianites overran a portion of the country and laid it waste. The Moabites brought in their army, innumerable as the sands. Israel when in distress, would turn to the Lord, and He would raise up a deliverer. The Lord was trying to teach them that the word of the Lord was sure. But they soon forgot God and turned away to Baal. When the Assyrians and Chaldeans came in and carried Israel and Judah away captive, the scattering among all nations began. To-day in nearly every little hamlet, town, and city in the world, we find the Jew a living witness of the sure fulfilment of that word that the Lord spoke when He lifted up His hand in the wilderness over three thousand years ago.
Less than two thousand years ago the Lord said that the earth and all the works of sin in it would be dissolved by fire. In the active volcano, God has given to the world a warning that testifies that this melting will surely come. Now, reader, will we heed the warning, or, like Israel, spurn His love until it is forever too late? God is calling yet, "Turn ye; turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die?" Just as surely as Israel was scattered, so surely will this word of God be literally carried out.
Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii, in action. The cloud-like substances in the air, above the mountain, are melted rock and lava as thrown out from the crater. From the top of the mountain down to the front of the picture is the stream of flowing lava.
The thing for us to know is that, like the three Hebrew children, we can pass through the fire unharmed. At that time the Lord says: "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high." Isa. 33:14-16.
The harvest-time is near. The gathering call is sounding. Soon the sign of the Son of man will appear in the clouds of heaven, and He will send forth His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other; but all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, will be gathered out and cast into a furnace of fire.
Honolulu, H. I.
BAXTER HOWE.
Mauna Loa about 5 A.M. The cloud above the summit is the flame and vapor rising. One-half inch from the bottom of the picture and about the middle is a rather smooth dark spot. Here the lava was boiling. Just below is a whitish, ragged appearance, while the broad, smooth, dark part at the bottom is the living lava flow, in natural color a dark red, growing paler as it cools.
