Questions and Answers

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 30, 1862

Questions and Answers.

QUESTIONS. I would like to have your explanation of Isa. xi, 6–9. Will the wolf dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid, &c., in the new earth? How came they there, when we do not anywhere read in the Bible of the resurrection of the beasts?

WILLIAM PEABODY.

ANSWER. Isa. ix, 6–9. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cocatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

Let it be particularly noticed that this is when the "earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Hence the new earth is here meant. Chap. lxv, 17–25, is more definite:

"For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed."

"And they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

The prophetic word says that the beasts will do so and so in the New Earth. How they came there, we are not told. If it had been very important for us to know just how they came there, whether by creation or resurrection, the Bible doubtless would have told us.

If you can be made to believe that the new heavens and earth mean the Christian age, or the work of grace in the heart, then you can make the words—wolf—lamb—leopard—kid—calf—young lion—fatling—cow—bear—their young ones—ox—bullock—serpent—mean almost anything you please but literal beasts. But when this is done, the Bible becomes, in the hands of those who thus expound it, too much, as the old negro said, "like a fiddle on which they can play any tune they like." Beasts were made for this world when it was filled with beauty and glory, as it came out of the hands of the Creator. Then why not have beasts on the earth when it shall be restored from the effects of the fall?

QUESTIONS. What are the qualifications necessary in order to be prepared to eat the Lord's supper? And what do you consider a proper form of invitation to eat the Lord's supper?

H. S. GURNEY.

ANSWER. As the table is the Lord's, all of his children have a right to it.

We should invite all who are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus in sincerity and truth, to eat of the supper, and should not refuse it to any who come forward, unless it was known that they stood in hostility to the work of the third message.