4262 — OFFERED BY MAN OR BY GOD — WHICH?
By Editor
Was the suffering and death of Jesus as a sacrifice for sin an offering made by God Himself, or was Christ an offering made by mankind? E. M. M. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. This text very plainly says that God gave His Son; therefore He was an offering from the Father Himself. Another one of the many similar texts reads, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:32. God, in His love to humanity, did not withhold His most precious treasure. God gave His Son, and the Son was willing to be given as a sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. The love of both the Father and the Son was so great that They did not stagger at paying an infinite price to redeem these objects of Their love. Humanity had nothing to offer. The offering came from the great Father Himself. He has so barricaded it against error, that if we desire to know His truth we will find impregnable forts into which we may enter and from which we may readily perceive and understand the meaning of every other text. As already suggested, to have the robes washed is equivalent to keeping the commandments of God. They mean one and the same thing. The far-fetched excuses that some people invent to cast discredit upon the clear duty of the keeping of God's commandments will present themselves to all in their great absurdity in the Judgment-day, and there are many people who can see the absurdity of them now. Is the popular version of Rev. 22:14 correct? Does the original script read "do His commandments," or "wash their robes"? H. T. The Greek word from which "commandments" in Rev. 22:14 is translated in our King James Version is entole, and every time that entole occurs in the New Testament it is translated in the King James Version by either "precept" or "commandment." But some manuscripts read stole, and stole is translated by "clothing," "dress," "robe," etc. It all depends on which of the manuscripts we are following as to whether the translation is a correct one or not. But what difference does it make which of these original manuscripts we follow in this particular text? Those who have washed their robes and those who do His commandments are one and the same. Such things are only quibbles; for the manuscript of Tischendorf, and that of Westcott & Hort, both of which use stole in Rev. 22:14, agree in saying that Rev. 14:12 is entole in all the best manuscripts. And Rev. 14:12 reads, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Concerning this text, which describes a leading characteristic of the church that will be prepared to meet Christ when He comes, there can be no questionings; and so long as Rev. 14:12 stands as a mighty Gibraltar in defense of the observance of God's holy commandments, we can allow people to take their choice of translations and manuscripts in Rev. 22:14, for there is nothing involved that is essential. This is one of the great features of God's word. 4264 — WEAPONS FOR FIRE-WOOD
These verses give a prophecy of how complete will be the annihilation of the Israelites' enemies. The burning of their weapons would indicate that God designed that nothing belonging to them should be left to pollute the land. But there were a great many things prophesied for ancient Israel that were dependent for their fulfilment upon certain things that Israel herself was to do; but she did not fulfil her part, and so the prophecies remain without a fulfilment, so far as ancient Israel is concerned. But many of these prophecies, while having a local and incidental reference to ancient Israel, look forward for their great and complete accomplishment at the close of time, when all the true Israel of God will be redeemed and placed in possession of their everlasting reward. The setting of this prophecy would indicate that in the main it was pointing forward to the complete victories that will be given to the true Israel of God. By keeping this thought in mind when reading many of the prophetic utterances of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we will see much light in passages of Scripture that otherwise might seem obscure to us. I am sending you some views of the ancient cliff-dwellers of Colorado. Have been told that like things are found in Arizona. Will you please tell us what is known of the origin of that race of people? J. W. Better still than to tell you what is known of this race of people, we will suggest to you how you may investigate for yourself all such cases. You live in one of the large cities of our nation. There is no large city but has its extensive public library. These libraries may be found in most of our small villages, also, so there are very few people anywhere in the nation who do not have access to these storehouses of knowledge. The librarians in charge of these public libraries are usually able to direct you promptly to what books they have upon their shelves on any given subject, and thus you can study any question of this character much more extensively and much more satisfactorily than we could give it to you through the question department of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. And the same principle involved in the question of the cliff-dwellers would apply in any similar matter that you might want to know. About all we would have space to say concerning these dwellings is that they are found in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and western Colorado. Some of the most modern investigators have reached the conclusion that the cliff dwellers are ancestors of the Pueblo Indians. This suggestion in regard to visiting public libraries for information must not lead to the conclusion that we are averse to answering questions, and we particularly invite any question upon topics that specifically pertain to the Bible. But in reference to certain kinds of questions, we believe it is more helpful to suggest ways by which individuals may themselves find them out, than merely to answer single questions. In Matt. 26:6-13 the text speaks of the head of Jesus being anointed, but in Luke 7:36-50 and John 12:3-8 the feet only are mentioned. Would you please enlighten me about this? E. T. H. There is no contradiction in these texts. The ordinary anointing of hospitality was of the feet and head. Mary did both, but the apostles did not all record all the details. One mentioned one thing, and one another; but the omission of one detail in one account does not necessarily imply that it did not occur.