1. Does an orange tree bear oranges to make of itself an orange tree?—No.
2. Why, then, does it bear oranges?—Because it is an orange tree.
3. Will a sour orange tree produce sweet oranges?—No.
4. Why not?—It is a law of nature that like begets like. To produce sweet oranges would be impossible, since the tree is not sweet, and consequently does not have the sweet sap out of which to make a sweet orange.
5. Can the nature of the tree be so changed that it will produce sweet oranges?—Yes.
6. How is this change accomplished?—By grafting into it a sweet orange bud.
7. Since the character of the tree has been changed, what kind of fruit does it now produce?—Fruit like the bud.
8. How do we judge the character of a tree?—By the quality of the fruit that it bears. Matt. 12:33.
9. In the matter of bearing fruit, does the Lord compare men to trees? Matt. 7:15–18. The Lord would have us understand that it would be just as nearly possible to gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, as to see good works in men, while in their natural state, or condition. See Rom. 8:7, 8. Why can't we please God? Gal. 5:17.
10. By nature, what kind of trees are we? Are we sweet trees, and all yielding good fruit? or are we sour trees? Let the Lord tell us; for certainly he knows. Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10, 23; Mark 7:21, 22.
ALL of us believe that there is in everyone of us a spirit that controls and directs our body. We who are Christians believe that another spirit, the Spirit of God, can come into our bodies, and dwell there, as in a temple, while our own spirit is still in our body, and that that Holy Spirit can control and direct our spirit.
The Bible tells us that in olden time there were evil spirits that entered into men and took possession of them, sometimes singly, sometimes by sevens, and sometimes a whole legion of them. These evil spirits held men captive, drove men, tore men, denied men their liberty and personality. The question naturally comes up, “Is there anything of this sort in modern times?” I am afraid there is, and I want to be on the watch against the dread possibility.
Suppose I lived on Broadway, where the crowd is surging past in both directions all the time. Would I leave my doors and windows open, saying to the crowd of strangers, “Enter my door, pass through my hall, come into my parlor, make yourselves at home in my dining-room, go up into my bedchambers”? Would that be my way with my home and with the outside world?—No, no! I’d have my windows and doors barred and locked against intruders, to be opened only to me and mine, and those whom I would have as companions. That would be my way, and that would be yours.
Yet here we see poor, foolish men and women opening their ears, and eyes, and noses, and mouths, and stretching out their arms, and saying to the spirits of the vasty deep: “Come in, and take possession of me. Write with my hands, think with my brain, speak with my lips, walk with my feet, use me as a medium for whatever you will.”
Let us remember that God respects the sanctity of the dwelling-place of man’s spirit. So does he honor that, that even the Son of God himself says to each soul: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
O Holy Spirit, enter my being as thy temple, and there fill every room so that there shall be no space for any other to come in. Let me be full of thee, and controlled wholly by thee.
DAVID PAULSON
By David Paulson
I HAVE been very much interested in the articles in the REVIEW AND HERALD, entitled “The Starch Family,” as I have been trying, with what little knowledge I have, to cook our food as healthfully as I know how. I have found by experience that mushes are not the best food, so have discarded them; but last week your article gave me a new thought. I have tried the experiment of baking, in its dry state, my corn and oat meal, graham and white flour, for about two hours, or until a light-brown. From this I made mush, air biscuits, gems, light bread, cookies and pie crust shortened with cream or peanut butter. I am perfectly delighted with the test.
First, please tell me if there is any objection to baking the grains and flour before wetting, or cooking in water. They taste much better, and it is much less trouble; for one can have the flour and grains baked and put away, ready for use, doing away with the necessity of keeping up a hot fire for so long at a time this hot weather.
Second, if, by accident, we should get the flour, grains, or toasted bread a little too brown, does it seriously injure them, from a health standpoint?
The toasting, or browning, in the oven, of these various grains before they are cooked, is an excellent thing, as it tends to partly convert them into dextrin, or a form of sugar, which is very essential, especially to those with weak stomach power.
Whether this is accomplished for the grain in a dry state, or whether the grain is baked afterward until thoroughly toasted, is largely a matter of convenience, as the principle is the same in both cases. If in either case the particles become absolutely burnt or charred, they should be discarded, as there is apt to be developed substances that in some cases prove injurious to the stomach.
DAVID PAULSON
“ONLY ONE.”
By Viola Smith
VIOLA SMITH.
A thousand bonfires crowned the hills,
A thousand banners waved on high;
The cannon spoke in awful tones,
And shouts of triumph rent the sky;
For there had been a battle won,
The message read, at little cost.
It was a glorious victory,
And only one was lost.
But in a cottage near at hand
A woman mourned and wept alone;
And little children thronged her knee,
And wondered at the mother’s moan.
They were too young and innocent
To understand what they had lost,—
How hard an orphan’s lot may be,
How sad and tempest-tossed!
And she, the mother, heeded not
The booming cannons’ awful roar;
She heard, instead, a well-known voice,
Now stilled in death forevermore.
She did not mark the joyous throng,
Nor see triumphal banners wave.
She only saw, through blinding tears,
A soldier’s lonely grave.
She saw the ranks in battle stand,
The deadly bullet’s cruel flight;
It did its awful work too well,
It turned her day to darkest night.
Through the stern future she must fight
Life’s hardest battles all alone.
What wonder if she failed to see
The glory that was won?
Oh, long ago, while lightnings flamed,
And Sinai’s mount was all a-smoke,
While list’ning thousands quaked and feared,
The voice of God majestic spoke,
“Thou shalt not kill,” it loud proclaimed
To us, as to that waiting host;
And war is murder just the same,
Though only one be lost.
IS THE BIBLE WHAT IT USED TO BE?
By O. S. Ferren
O. S. FERREN.
While I was visiting a hospital, an aged man remarked to me that he had been trying to solve two propositions—how to become rich in this world, and how to go to heaven when he died.
I remarked that these were two hard propositions for him to grapple with, and especially to try to hold both. In the first place, Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” In the second place, dead men never go to heaven: it is the living who go to heaven, if they are poor in spirit and rich toward God. There are no cemeteries in heaven; the graveyards are all on this earth.
I replied, “The common version translated out of the original tongues.”
Then he said, with considerable emphasis: “The Bible is not what it was one hundred years ago; for I was taught from a mere child that people go to heaven when they die.”
I replied: “The Bible is the word of the living God, and is just the same as it was when you were a boy, or even when it was written on parchment.” I then told him that his teachers, not the Bible, taught such things.
He was sure his teachers were right; and said that not more than two thirds of the Bible is true.
I handed him my Bible, and asked him to be so kind as to separate the true from the false.
He left the room; but in a few minutes returned, and seating himself close to my side, said: “Will you please read some more to me?”
I asked which I should read, the true or false.
“Oh, any of it,” he replied.
When I looked on those white locks, and realized that that poor old man had served his time in slavery, and could not read a word, and now he was in a greater bondage, even the bondage of sin and death, my heart went out in pity and deep sympathy for him. What a responsibility rests upon teachers of the word of life!
Speaking of the power of God, Paul says: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Is the Bible what it used to be?
Growing in Grace Through Watchfulness and Prayer
“THROUGH constant watchfulness and prayer we may grow in grace, and perfect Christian characters.”
NOBILITY
By Alice Cary
True worth is in being, not seeming,
In doing, each day that goes by,
Some little good — not all in dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
Whatever men say in their blindness,
And spite of the fancies of youth,
There's nothing so kingly as kindness,
And nothing so royal as truth.
We get back our mete as we measure —
We can not do wrong and feel right;
Nor can we give pain and feel pleasure,
For justice avenges each slight.
The air for the wing of the sparrow,
The bush for the robin and wren,
But always the path that is narrow
And straight for the children of men.
'T is not in the pages of story
The heart of its ills to beguile,
Though he who makes courtships to glory
Gives all that he hath for a smile.
For when, from her heights, he has won her,
Alas, it is only to prove
There's nothing so royal as honor,
And nothing so loyal as love.
We can not make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in nets,
And sometimes the thing our life misses
Helps more than the things which it gets;
For good lieth not in pursuing,
Nor gaining of great or of small,
But just this — the doing and doing
As we would be done by — is all.
— Alice Cary.
THE FOOD OF CHILDREN.
Good Housekeeping.
Almost every intelligent person will admit that health depends largely upon food and the manner in which it is prepared. Yet how many mothers study the needs of their children? Scientists say that the human body can be sustained in a healthy condition by consuming daily about twenty-one ounces of heaters, five ounces of muscle-making food, and two ounces or more of vitalizer. Unbolted wheat contains all these ingredients in their proper proportions. It is not to be expected that the busy housewife can stop to weigh the different articles of food, but with a little study she may learn which are heaters, muscle makers, and vitalizers, preparing the food accordingly.
Prize fighters, football players, and others engaged in athletics, are fed upon a special diet, while a raiser of blooded stock gives careful attention to the food provided. But what about our children, who will soon be the rulers of this mighty nation? How many ounces of brain or muscle food are they being provided with? Are not three fourths of them being fed just to satisfy the appetite, and without any regard to the nutritive value of the food? If the little one wants anything between meals, it is invariably given the cooky, which contains but little nutriment; and our children are thus growing up with impoverished blood, and are subject to rheumatism, paralysis, and many diseases that were seldom heard of two decades ago. In nine cases out of ten it is the manner in which they are being fed which is the cause of all the trouble. Who can remedy this evil better than the mother or the mistress of the home?
Much has been written on the subject of scientific cooking; schools and clubs have been formed for the purpose of educating the people, which would be of great benefit if put in general practice. There ought to be some means provided for arousing every mother in the land to the necessity of providing proper food for the children. . . .
A true incident will serve to illustrate: A neighbor advertised for a cook and a coachman. An applicant for the position of coachman was asked by the master of the house as to his knowledge regarding the care and feeding of fancy horses. Did he know what to do in case of overheating, and was he experienced in all that was necessary for the proper care of the team? The employer not feeling quite satisfied with his replies, he was told to call the following day for further conference. About this time an applicant for the position of cook appeared, and was questioned by the mistress, as follows: “Do you understand how to make nice pastry, waffles, muffins, griddlecakes, cakes of all kinds, cookies, and all kinds of fancy dishes?” Not a word about the nutritive value of foods!
There were five children in the family, each one needing daily the most nutritious and health-building food. The mother should have been most particular in ascertaining the cook’s knowledge regarding the foods best adapted for producing bone, muscle, fat, brain, and a strong and healthy body. Nearly every vocation in life is filled with a view to getting the most out of it and producing the best results. As the health of the family is the foundation of a useful life, the kitchen ought to be, of all departments in the household, presided over by an intelligent and scientific artist.
A CHILD’S PRESENCE OF MIND.
Oregonian.
Clara Mac Ewan, the twelve-year-old daughter of Mrs. William R. Mac Ewan, of Portland, is not very large nor very strong; but to her presence of mind and courage her little sister and Earnest Stryte, a boy of about her own age, owe their lives. July 5 the children were bathing in La Camas Lake, near the shores of which Mrs. Mac Ewan and her family are spending the summer. Other children were with them, and all were splashing about in high glee in the shallow water, when the little Stryte boy suddenly got beyond his depth, and began to sink, shouting lustily for help. Without a moment’s hesitation, little Helen Mac Ewan swam after him, and seized his arm; but the lad’s struggles proved too much for her slender strength, and to the horror of the other children, all but one of whom were paralyzed with fear, she sank from sight.
Clara’s courage had not deserted her. She no sooner saw her sister disappear than she dived after her, but was unable to bring the two children, now locked in a despairing embrace, to the surface. There was no time to be lost, and she didn’t lose any. Coming to the surface, she made the other children understand that they must form a line by taking hold of hands. Then seizing the hand of the largest, she pulled the astonished children out up to their neck in water, and, still keeping her grasp on the tallest child, dived again, laid hold of her sister with her free hand, and the children waded ashore, dragging their half-drowned companions to safety. It was all done in the space of time that a man usually allots to thinking what to do in a case of that kind; and as an instance of courage and coolness it has probably never been surpassed.
THE USE OF ANIMALS.
Vegetarian Magazine.
“WHAT are all the animals created for?” asks the flesh-eater.
Bless your egotistic soul! to enjoy this beautiful earth, just like yourself. If you do not believe this, read some of the recently published works on the psychology of animals. Some animals even invent playthings for their children, just as you do. Think also for a moment what a cheerless world this would be without the sound of wings or melody in the air; without the shimmering beauty of the finny folks in the brooks and streams; without the busy hum of the “yellow breeched philosopher” in the clover; without, in fact, the musical voices of field and wood, and the exquisite beauties of form and coloring, in which sentient life enters and clothes itself, not to mention our more intimate friends in fur and feathers!
It would truly seem that all these manifold forms of life, if made for man, were to contribute to his higher, not his lower, nature; to the poet, not to the beast, that is in him.
Water-Drinking
WATER-DRINKING in summer may be either a source of health or of illness. Huge draughts of ice-cold fluids check digestion often, if one is overheated, in a dangerous way. As reaction is sure to follow, a rise of temperature after a brief space is inevitable. Yet there is a way to drink water cooled by standing in the immediate neighborhood of ice, so that it will be most wholesome. A distinguished scientist declares that sipping a liquid is a powerful stimulation to the circulation, which ordinary drinking is not. He continues: “During the action of sipping, the action of the nerve that slows the beating of the heart is much lessened. As a consequence, that organ contracts much more rapidly, the pulse beats more quickly, and the circulation is increased. In addition, the pressure under which the bile is secreted is raised by the sipping of fluid.”
It follows that the slow sipping of a glass of cold water not only serves as a stimulant to pulse action, it enters into the general circulation without depressing the digestion, and allays thirst much more effectually than the gulping down of double the quantity at one draught. Try it, fathers and mothers, and induce your children to drink slowly. When they come, heated and weary, from the street or from play, show them how to sip a tumbler of cool—not ice-cold—water, as rational beings ought, — not like animals. Otherwise the tone of the stomach, in time, will be permanently lowered.—Good Housekeeping.
Cleaning Wall-Paper with Dough
To clean your wall-paper, get the preparation that is made of dough, at any wall-paper store. Break off a little piece at a time, taking care to rub it up and down on the paper, and, as the dirt rolls off, take a soft cloth and wipe the paper as you go along. Turn the piece of dough, as it gets dirty on one side, to the other side; and when the entire piece is dirty, take a fresh piece, and continue as before until the whole wall is cleaned.
GOD IS WORKING.
By Rev. B. M. Smith
God is working, did you know it?
Working for us night and day;
And so faithful to his promise,
Don’t grow weary, “watch and pray.”
God is working, yes, he’s working,
Working for me day by day;
And his blessed Holy Spirit
Gently leads me in the way.
God is working, just remember,
Working out his plan for you;
Every detail of salvation,
Every promise, is so true.
God is working, working always,
Working for us rain or shine;
Circumstances can not hinder
Our blest God in any clime.
If the adversary hinders,
Tempting you to doubt God’s word,
Don’t you listen to his prattle,
All his talk is too absurd.
Satan is the base deceiver,
Filling us with doubt and fear;
But we must not listen to him,
God is working, God is near.
Faith must triumph in this battle,
In the thought that God is true;
Faith will help you walk the waters,
God will always help you through.
Never mind how things are looking,
God is simply testing you;
Just you stand the fiery trial,
God is working, God is true.
God is working, working in us,
Working by the Holy Ghost,
All for Jesus’ sake he’s working,
For the blood besprinkled host.
Don’t trust sense, ’t is so deceiving,
Learn to walk with God apace;
Then your soul will always triumph
In God’s all-sufficient grace.
—Rev. B. M. Smith.
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT.
By E. A. H.
E. A. H.
“Sisters, we may do a noble work for God if we will. Woman does not know her power. God did not intend that her capabilities should be all absorbed in questioning, What shall I eat? what shall I drink? and wherewithal shall I be clothed? There is a higher purpose for woman, a grander destiny. She should develop and cultivate her powers; for God can employ them in the great work of saving souls from eternal ruin.”
“Simplicity of dress will make a sensible woman appear to the best advantage. We judge of a person’s character by the style of dress worn. Gaudy apparel betrays vanity and weakness. A modest, godly woman will dress modestly. A refined taste, a cultivated mind, will be revealed in the choice of simple and appropriate attire.”
“To protect the people of God from the corrupting influence of the world, as well as to promote physical and moral health, the dress reform was introduced among us. It was not intended to be a yoke of bondage, but a blessing; not to increase labor, but to save labor; not to add to the expense of dress, but to save expense. It would distinguish God’s people from the world, and thus serve as a barrier against its fashions and follies. He who knows the end from the beginning, who understands our nature and our needs,—our compassionate Redeemer,—saw our dangers and difficulties, and condescended to give us timely warning and instruction concerning our habits of life, even in the proper selection of food and clothing.”
QUESTION BOX.
Why has the “reform dress” given to Seventh-day Adventist women years ago, been laid aside? Has the Lord ever given any other style of dress to take its place? S. E. C.
“The question may be asked, Why has this dress been laid aside? . . . The reason for this change I will here briefly state. While many of our sisters accepted this reform from principle, others opposed the simple, healthful style of dress which it advocated. It required much labor to introduce this reform among our people. It was not enough to present before our sisters the advantages of such a dress, and to convince them that it would meet the approval of God. Fashion had so strong a hold upon them that they were slow to break away from its control.” “As our sisters would not generally accept the reform dress as it should be worn, another, less objectionable style, is now presented. It is free from needless trimmings, free from the looped-up, tied-back overskirts. It consists of a plain saque, or loose-fitting basque, and skirt, the latter short enough to avoid the mud and filth of the streets. The material should be free from large plaids and figures, and plain in color.” If the sisters want further information on this subject, they will find it in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, pages 635–648.
Is it possible always to wear a neat, plain dress, and yet fail to reach the Bible standard of dress reform? A. G. W.
Yes; our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and if, under a plain dress, we mar or injure that temple, we are dishonoring God. “Dress reform comprised more than shortening the dress, and clothing the limbs. It included every article of dress upon the person. It lifted the weights from the hips by suspending the skirts from the shoulders. It removed the tight corsets, which compress the lungs, the stomach, and other internal organs, and induce curvature of the spine, and an almost countless train of diseases. Dress reform proper provided for the protection and development of every part of the body.”
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
I believe that a spirit of prayer should pervade everything we do. Many women do not think that they need to pray if they just go out to make a visit; but this is where a great many fail to accomplish that which might be done by such a visit. We should pray before we run into a neighbor’s to borrow anything; for who knows what opportunity may present itself at that very time, which we would fail to improve if we did not keep ourselves in the Lord’s hands by the attitude of prayer? We can not tell what may happen at any time, and we should pray about the very smallest things.
Several years ago the Lord gave me a burden for souls, and I had a great longing to do more than I was doing. It did not seem possible for me to get away from the duties that held me to my home, so I asked the Lord to send me work that I could do right there. The Lord answered that prayer, and since that time there have always been in our home those who needed a shelter and a friend. At present we have three young women with us. The Lord sends them right to us; and although we are poor, we always have enough for all who come. My daughters are with me in this work, and gladly welcome any unfortunate sister, and we all work together to keep up expenses.
We are glad to receive the following from the secretary of the Woman’s Gospel Work among the German sisters:—
I will translate a few letters for you as I promised, whereby you can see that the Lord is with me in my work. One sister writes: “My parents and my brother and his wife were wrapped in indolence until your letter came, and the little tracts from our dear Sister Henry. I can assure you that they have worked much good. My sister-in-law has improved so much that the love of Christ can be seen in her face. She does not return the tracts to me, and says that she can not do without them. Have you more? I have read them once, but that is not enough for me. The Lord will reward you for your work, and we sisters will, like Aaron and Hur, hold you up with prayerful hands.”
One sister, a young girl, who wrote very lamentable letters on account of sickness, now writes: “I have learned much from your letters. I will be quiet, and trust the Lord to make me strong. Your letters make me quite glad. I have learned how discontented I was. The devil comes every time in a different way. I thank you for the instruction. I will rest in the Lord, and be content.”
A sister who had just accepted the truth, and was in doubt about the Spirit of Prophecy, now writes, after a brief correspondence: “I read your letter with love and joy, and it did my heart good to read the instruction, to treasure it in my heart, and to live after it. The word of the Lord is working in me. The more I hear, the more I long to know. Now I can trust with strong confidence that our faith is the right one.”
To one sister I sent some picture-books for her little ones, and some kindergarten work for her little girl. She writes as follows: “May the Lord bless you for your kindness to me. My little girl diligently works away at what you sent her when she can not play outside, and enjoys it. I sorely miss the communion of the children of God. I can not talk with my husband about religion, but he daily hears me talking and praying with the children. My children and I pray aloud at noon now, and I am so glad that I have made the beginning. And at night when we retire, the children and I kneel in the room and have prayer. One child is five, and the other is three years old. They ask me many questions about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins, and my husband hears us as we talk and pray together. I am happy to say that in the last week I have been more in harmony with God, and have had more of his peace.”
I have now six hundred and eighty-two names and addresses of German sisters, and am in regular correspondence with fifty. The Lord helps me wonderfully in answering many perplexing questions, and I can already see some fruits of my labor.
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER.
A WIFE and daughter requests prayer for a husband and father, that he may be led by the Spirit into all truth.
A sister who has been an invalid for the last twenty-one years feels impressed to ask the prayers of her sisters for healing. She does not give the cause of her illness, but says that she is very nervous.
A sister asks prayer for the conversion of her two boys, and for the recovery of her sight, which is almost gone. The doctors think the only hope is an operation; but unless the Lord opens the way, this will be impossible.
“At one time my husband loved the truth, but he did not have enough faith to come out and keep the Sabbath, and gradually he has fallen into old habits. He knows that he is not living up to the light God has given him, but it seems as if he can not overcome. I request prayer in his behalf.”
“My husband has been helpless with paralysis for over two years, and requires a great deal of my time and attention. He is very bitter against the truth, and against Seventh-day Adventists. I ask the prayers of the sisters for my husband, and for me that I may meet each duty bravely, and have the right influence.”
“I have a dear sister for whom I desire special prayer. She has been an invalid for seven years. I think she is poisoned with drugs, but she is ignorant of it. It has affected her spine and heart so that she suffers intensely at times. I wish special prayer that she may see the poisonous effects of drugs, and look to the Lord for guidance, and accept the truth.”
“I watch for the requests for prayer, and join with you all in remembering them. I believe in prayer and in the promises of God; and I, too, wish to make a request. Please pray for my unconverted husband, and for one other member of my household who is not converted, and for me, that I may be able to hold my children for the truth against the influence that surrounds them.”
NOTICE!
By Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin
A LETTER has been received from a sister in Reynoldsville, Pa., bearing no signature. If this notice reaches the sister who wrote us, July 15, from that place, we shall be glad to hear from her again, with full particulars, and to reply to her letters. MRS. GEO. A. IRWIN.
THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE.
Its Basis in the Seven Trumpets.
IN the events of the first four of the Seven Trumpets, the Western Empire of Rome was completely blotted out.
Out of the tribes of barbarians, which, like mighty tides, in succession overflowed the territory of Western Rome, ten established themselves in ten independent kingdoms, and there stood as independent kingdoms in A. D. 476, when the last vestige of the Roman Empire had vanished.
The Western Empire of Rome was gone, and just ten nations stood in her territory, in her stead. The ten stood thus:—
1. The Alemanni in North Switzerland; Swabia, Alsace, and Lorraine.
2. The Franks in all Gaul north and west of the Moselle.
3. The Burgundians in west Switzerland and the valleys of the Rhone and Saone in southeast Gaul.
4. The Suevi in that part of Spain which is now Portugal.
5. The Vandals in North Africa, with capital at Carthage.
6. The Visigoths in Spain and southwest Gaul.
7. The Angles and Saxons in Britain.
8. The Ostrogoths in Pannonia—what is now Austria.
9. The Lombards in Noricum, between the Ostrogoths and the Alemanni.
10. The Heruli in Italy.
The details of this any one can trace out, any day, on any map that he will but hold before him and mark as he reads the history of the fall of the Roman Empire.
These ten kingdoms were first mentioned in the prophecy of Daniel, especially in the “ten horns” of the “fourth beast.” Dan. 7:7, 24. They are referred to later in the book of Revelation, in the description of the dragon, and also of the Beast, having “seven heads and ten horns.” Also, in the prophecy of Daniel it is related that there would come up among these ten another one, and by it three of the ten would be “plucked up by the roots.” The three which were plucked up, were the Heruli, who occupied Italy; the Vandals, who occupied North Africa; and the Ostrogoths, who had been instrumental in rooting up the Heruli, and who occupied Italy in their place. That “other one,” before whom these three were rooted up, is described as having “eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things;” and was, and is, the papacy.
Take three from ten, and seven are left. And these seven of the original ten kingdoms that divided Western Rome are in that territory to-day, and are the Powers of Western Europe to-day. The Saxons, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Visigoths, the Suevi, and the Lombards are the powers respectively of Britain, France, Germany (in the French language, and with the French people of to-day, the Germans are only Allemands, and Germany is only Allemagne), Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy of to-day. For after the plucking up of the third of the three kingdoms, the Lombards removed from their place on the Danube, and established their kingdom in Italy, and to a considerable portion of that country “communicated the perpetual appellation of Lombardy.” In the middle ages, Lombardy “was, indeed, for a time, the name for Italy itself.” Thus the Powers of Western Europe to-day are as definitely pointed out by the prophecy as they could be without specifically naming them.
Of these seven, some are very powerful, such as Britain, France, and Germany; while others are weak, such as Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal; while Italy stands, as it were, between strong and weak. So these seven of the original ten, stand just where Daniel, from the dream that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, said they would stand. They stand there in precisely the condition in which that prophecy said they would stand—“partly strong, and partly broken,” or weak. Britain, France, and Germany have spread their power over the whole world, and have so intertwined themselves in the affairs of the whole world that what touches the world touches them, and what touches them touches the world.
And these kingdoms, with the papacy, are the elements that compose the Beast and his power, against whose work, with that of the Image of the Beast, the Third Angel's Message utters its solemn warning.
Thus, in one way, through the Seven Trumpets we find the place of the great nations of Western Europe, as they are to-day. And, in another way, we thus find, through the Seven Trumpets, the basis of the Third Angel's Message.
And, in yet other ways, we shall find these same things through the remaining three of the Seven Trumpets.
Christ Endured Our Temptations
If we have in any sense a more trying conflict than had Christ, then he would not be able to succor us. But our Saviour took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which he has not endured.—“The Desire of Ages, page 117.”