Your ShelfYour Projects

Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 14.

THE BURIAL OF MOSES

Signs of the Times

Apr 5, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 5, 1905

THE BURIAL OF MOSES

By Cecil Frances Alexander

CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER
By Nebo's lonely mountain, On this side Jordan's wave, In a vale in the land of Moab, There lies a lonely grave. But no man dug that sepulchre, And no man saw it e'er; For the sons of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth; But no man heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth. Noiselessly as the daylight Comes when night is done, Or the crimson streak on ocean's cheek Fades in the setting sun;
Noiselessly as the springtime Her crest of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves; So, without sound of music Or voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain's crown That grand procession swept.
Perchance some bald old eagle On gray Beth-peor's height, Out of his rocky eyrie, Looked on the wondrous sight; Perchance some lion, stalking, Still shuns the hallowed spot; For beast and bird have seen and heard That which man knoweth not.
But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war, With arms reversed and muffled drums, Follow the funeral car; They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won, And after him lead his matchless steed, While peals the minute gun.
Amid the noblest of the land They lay the sage to rest; And give the bard an honored place, With costly marble dressed, In the great minster's transept height, Where lights like glory fall, While the sweet choir sings and the organ rings Along the blazoned wall.
This was the bravest warrior That ever buckled sword; This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word; And never earth's philosopher Traced with his golden pen On the deathless page truths half so sage As he wrote down for men.
And had he not high honor? The hillside for his pall, To lie in state while angels wait, With stars for tapers tall; The dark rock-pines like tossing plumes Over his bier to wave, And God's own hand in that lonely land To lay him in the grave,—
In that deep grave without a name, Whence his uncoffined clay Shall break again—most wondrous thought— Before the judgment day; And stand with glory wrapped around, On the hills he never trod, And speak of the strife that won our life Through Christ the incarnate God.
O lonely tomb in Moab's land! O dark Beth-peor's hill! Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still. God hath His mysteries of grace, Ways that we can not tell, He hides them deep like the secret sleep Of him He loved so well.

SOME OF THE

By Editor

NEW TRACTS

Probably the first in importance is entitled—

An Appeal to Clergy

It is an open letter, signed by a number of Sabbath-keeping ministers of Washington, D. C., and addressed primarily to the clergy of that city. It was published in the Washington Post, and has since been issued in tract form. Nearly half a million copies have already been circulated.
The price is ½ cent each; 40 cents a hundred.
Several hundred thousand of the old tract entitled—

Is Man Immortal?

have been circulated during the past few years. It has now been thoroughly revised, an article on the "tormented forever and ever" phase added, and the whole issued as No. 86 of the "Apples of Gold Library." The following is a notice concerning it, which recently appeared in the Pacific Union Recorder:—

IS MAN IMMORTAL?

This question is the title of a new tract of the "Apples of Gold Library," issued by the Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal. The question is clearly and Biblically answered in the fifteen pages it contains. The price is one cent each, or seventy cents a hundred. If ever there was one time more important than another when the truth on this subject should be given to the people, it is now in these days of inquiry in regard to the state of the dead, and the many false teachings concerning it. Order from your state tract society, or direct from the publishers.
Price, 1 cent each, or 70 cents per hundred.

Future Probation

This is a subject treated by a new number of the "Bible Students Library." Notice the introduction of this number as given by the editors:—
This issue of the Library contains an unusual number of articles, covering very important, because vital, questions. Prominent among these is the article, "The Millennium—No Future Probation." Other articles, especially "God's Unfailing Justice," have a bearing on the subject of future probation. In this number interested parties will find answers to the questions so often asked: Will there be a future probation? Will men have another opportunity beyond this life of being saved? Will the heathen be granted a more favorable time in the future to repent of sin, and turn to Christ for pardon and salvation?
THE EDITORS.
Price of this number, $1.40 a hundred, post-paid.

Waymarks to the Holy City

A very interesting study of the seventh chapter of Daniel, in which the prophecies relating to the different kingdoms of earth, and those pointing to the New Earth as well, are clearly tho briefly explained.
Price, 1 cent, or 70 cents a hundred, post-paid.

Who Changed the Sabbath?

The majority of people probably know that Sunday is not the day originally set apart for observance. How has the change come about? Perhaps this little tract contains the briefest statement of the reasons ever published. Read it.
Price, 1 cent, or 70 cents a hundred, post-paid.

The Gospel Message for To-Day

This 16-page tract is introduced by a brief study of the character of God's messages, how they are given, and the danger of rejecting them. The editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES then speaks of the present divided condition of the church, and points out the Gospel remedy, which is The Gospel Message for to-day.
Price, 1 cent each, or 70 cents a hundred, post-paid.
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY MOUNTAIN VIEW, CAL. 285 Salmon St., Portland, Ore. 1109 East 12th St., Kansas City, Mo. REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSN. 222 North Capitol Street, Washington, D. C. Battle Creek, Michigan

Terms of Subscription.

By Editor

Per Year, post-paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50 Six Months, 75 cts. Three Months, 40 cts. To Foreign Countries, per year, $1.75.

SPECIAL TERMS.

By Editor

1. One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.
2. Two new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or three new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $3.25.
3. Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $4.00.
Sample copies sent on application.

A BIRTHDAY GIFT.

To the Pacific Press Pub. Co., Dear Sirs:
I thought I could not afford to treat myself to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES this year, but I find I can not do without it. It is a great help and comfort to me. March 6 is my seventy-second birthday, so I will treat myself to a birthday gift.
Please begin my subscription with March 1. May God bless you in your good work is the prayer of your sincere friend and well-wisher.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Dear Editor:
I have been able to get out again a few days, and have secured four subscribers to the SIGNS, altho the weather has been very severe, and, besides, I am blind.
Below find list of names.
Yours in Christ,

Request for Sample Copies

ACCIDENTALLY I came across your paper. I would like to see it in the hands of every man who stops to think. Send me some sample copies, and let me know what you give your agents.
From a lady in South Carolina.

Request for Sixty Copies

By O. Lund

New York, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1905.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal.
Please send me sixty copies of the SIGNS a week for the next three months. I send you $13.50, as I believe that the club rate. O. LUND.

Missionary Work Through the Signs

By William Peake

I HAVE been a reader of the SIGNS for one year, and have been a Seventh-day Adventist from my first number. Right then and there I surrendered all my previous doubts on the Sabbath question, and yet I have done no missionary work, save remailing second-hand copies to my friends. This is my first experience. I would like to do much. It is a wonderful paper, and sending it to those who are yet in the dark seems to me the best that I can do. Find postal order and list enclosed.
Yours truly, WM. PEAKE.
Sends four yearly subscriptions.

SIBERIA AND THE NIHILISTS.

By Hon. Wm. Jackson Armstrong

*Or Why Kennan Went to Russia. By Hon. Wm. Jackson Armstrong. A thrilling volume by the pioneer of the Russian question. An exposure of the cruelties of the czar's government. The lecture on Nihilism, which forms part of the book, moves with majestic and manly eloquence from the opening sentence to its conclusion. Copiously illustrated. 160 pages. Price, 25 cents.

I. THE MIRACLE AT THE WEDDING.

JESUS THE MESSIAH, was the Son of God; He was also the Son of Man. He brought to men the life and righteousness and purity of God; but He brought it to us as a Brother-man, touched with all the feelings of infirmities, responsive to all pure, sweet thoughts, sympathies, aspirations, and longings of our race. This is manifest in His first miracle, recorded in John 2:1-11.
FOR thirty years Jesus had been under the anxious and fond care of His mother. All the sayings of men and angels, and the events of His birth, had been cherished by her, and she had waited all these years, tempted, no doubt, to question His mission, yet expecting His manifestation as the Messiah. A period of two months He had been separated from her. Now He comes, worn, doubtless, from His long fast, but with His glorious victory over evil stamped upon character and countenance. He is invited to a wedding feast, probably in the family of some relative, as indicated by His mother's relations and superintendence at the feast.
Cana as It Is To-day—a Heap of Ruins and Desolation.
Cana as It Is To-day—a Heap of Ruins and Desolation.
MARRIAGE, to the Jew, was a joyous occasion, but not a senseless one. The festivities lasted from three days to two weeks. At the beginning the bride, dressed in richest apparel, and heavily veiled, was escorted by friends, who sang her praises in the way, to the home of the bridegroom, where the ceremony took place. Before reaching there, they were met by the friends of the bridegroom, and escorted to the house. After the ceremony, more or less prolonged, in which the bride, in modesty, remained veiled, and the bridegroom pledged his means, and his honor, to his bride, came the festivities, but not debaucheries
INTO such a gathering as this came Jesus and His disciples. The feast was in progress. The wine had given out, which, if known, would have been a reflection on the bridegroom. The mother of Jesus came to Him; and He said, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come;" or, as others render, "O, woman, what hast thou to do with Me?" It seems almost disrespectful, but we may be sure it was not, from the character of Jesus, and from the way the mother received it. When twelve years of age, He had said to her, "Wist ye not I must be about My Father's business?" He goes further now, and tells His mother that He is no longer under human control; His time was in God's hands. His mother is satisfied, and instructs the servants, "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." And there she left it, seemingly assured that all would be well.
AT the entrance of the house were six large waterpots of stone, from which water was drawn for the numerous washings at the feast. The capacity of the six is estimated to have been about twenty-six gallons. Jesus said, "Fill the waterpots with water." The servants, in their zeal, filled them to the brim. "Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast," was the next command, and they drew, and bore the sweetest wine mortals ever tasted. It was "as the new wine . . . found in the cluster," in which is a "blessing" (Isa. 65:8); and we may be sure that it did not intoxicate nor degrade.
THIS was the first of the miracles of our Lord. It was not wrought in darkness or solitude, or before a select few. Practically before that company,—
"The conscious water saw its God, and blushed." All the servants knew it, the mother knew it, the disciples knew it, and we must believe that the whole company soon knew the wonderful miracle of giving to mortal needs, wine instead of water.
JESUS demonstrated in this that He possessed creative power. This was not the regular process of nature, of changing the elements of water, sun, and earth, through the vine and the grape. That is God working through nature, life subject to the living law of earth and sun and vine, and to some extent controlled by man, the higher creature. But this miracle is the direct interposition of the power of God, which rises above all natural law, and ignores earth and sun and vine, and changes the common water into uncommonly good wine. "And His disciples believed on Him." But our philosophizing and "new thought" teachers might have sat down by their side and tried to convince them, from that day to this, that Jesus was working constant miracles through the vine and the grape, and they would not believe. But they saw the manifest power of God work above all natural law, and they knew that One who could exercise creative energy was among them. And by this act Jesus showed that He was able to take the poor, weak heart of man, as characterless as that water was to the wedding feasters, and change it to the desirable wine, in which is blessing.
THERE is still another lesson: Among the holy things which have come down to us from a sinless Eden is the institution of marriage, ordained in the beginning. When the father of the race stood forth in all the beauty of his sinless perfection, it was his Creator who said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him,"—one fitted to be his companion in holy service for God and the race. Therefore from the man God took flesh and bone, and made woman. Not from man's head did the Creator take this portion, lest it should be said that woman was the head, and she should tyrannize over the man; not from the feet, lest it be said that man should lord it over her; but from near the heart of man, God took the substance of which the woman was made, indicative of heart companionship. It is the wise man who tells us that "a prudent wife is from the Lord," and that "she will do her husband good and not evil." Inspiration again tells us that "marriage is honorable in all." It is the great Divine-human Book which tells us of the simple, yet romantic marriages of Isaac and Rebekah, of Boaz and Ruth. The same Word of Inspiration, ever exalting marriage, uses it as symbolic of the union between Christ and the individual soul, Christ and His church, and Christ and His everlasting kingdom. When He takes to Himself that bride, the children shall all come home, and Bride and Bridegroom will rejoice together.
EVEN as of old, around the marriage institution clusters all that is glorious and beautiful, pure and peaceful, in state and church and home and heart. All the dear home ties and blessings, father and mother, brother and sister, son and daughter, husband and wife, all come to us through the sacredness (often violated) and the blessings (often abused) of the blessed marriage bond. And this tender and holy tie was sanctioned and cheered by the presence of the Lord Himself, manifesting His miraculous power that nothing might mar the solemn-joyous occasion. The Record declares that He here manifested forth His glory.
"Heaven and earth are witnesses That Thy glory goodness is."
He would have all men know in all ages that His goodness, His life, His blessing, were in the marriage institution as truly as any other in life. Let all of the pure and the good honor and uphold that blessed bond, which our Lord honored by His presence and power.

ADMONISHINGS TO THE UNRULY.

By S.

THE condition of this world being such as it is, God recognizes the necessity for the existence of human law. The true Christian will recognize the necessity for the existence of divine law—the law of God. In this recognition, God has set man an example that he should not be slow to follow. He says, through His Word: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake; whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well.” 1 Peter 2:13, 14. “Honor the king,” is another injunction from the Lord. Again: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Rom. 13:1, 2. “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” Verse 7.
God never instituted or recognizes the necessity for anarchy. That condition, however, began in heaven, and is now being culminated in this earth. But right at the time when that work of discord is being finished, when riot and wrath are reveling in the earth, and justice standeth afar off, God sends the warning to His children to resist the temptation to anarchism. The remainder of the thirteenth chapter of Romans shows to what particular period of this world the warning above quoted has application. It is in that time when it is “high time to awake out of sleep;” it is in that period when our salvation is “nearer than when we believed;” it is at that time when it can be said that “the night is far spent” and “the day is at hand.”
Why was such a warning given for this particular time?—The answer is given in unmistakable language in every daily paper that comes to our table; for all kinds of wantonness, rioting, lawlessness, are now abroad in the land, and are multiplying in rapid ratio. Then there are crimes against crimes—crimes for the punishment of other crimes—begetting a popular disrespect for law that is equally deplorable because of its influence upon those who witness such things. But crime is never cured by crime; arsenic is no antidote for arsenic; and the punishment of crime by crime is breeding criminals. Children who look upon these summary executions, soon learn to imitate their elders in breaking law themselves, or in executing individual vengeance upon others.Hatred for the law-breaker thus becomes hatred for the law itself.
The fearful prevalence of crime, as God knew it would be in these last days, was ample reason for God's admonition to the people of this age. This admonition and the prevalence of crime now, are indications both of the infallibility of God's Word, and of His loving forethought for His children. When God admonishes us, it is because admonition is necessary to our safety; and, at this time, when anarchy is abroad in the land, He would have His children to “walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying;” because “the night is far spent,” and “the day is at hand.”
Let us remember this one thing, that, while we are counseling respect for law, we do not teach that worst of all anarchy, disrespect for the law of the Infinite, by claiming the abolition of the law of God. Satan tried it in heaven, and brought discord into the whole universe of God. He is still trying it on earth, and he has many valiant supporters in the pulpits of the land to-day. It is a sad thing that it is so, but it is so nevertheless. He who teaches the abrogation of God's law, is teaching the very root of all anarchy, the anarchy that brought sin into the world, with all its accruing consequences. Christ, speaking through the psalmist, declares, “All Thy commandments are righteousness;” and “the righteousness of Thy testimonies is everlasting.” Ps. 119: 172, 144. “Let God be true,” and let all His followers honor His law, setting an example to all the world in loving obedience to Him.

SELFISHNESS IN DISGUISE.

By G.

SELFISHNESS is so interwoven in the human web that it often becomes a part of what we had thought to be the very best of motive. This fact is so well known that it needs only to be stated in order to be recognized. Every one may not be able at first glance to see it in himself, but he has always been able to see it in others. Many illustrations might be cited, but that which will come home with force to people of to-day is the confession of the woman who has been idolized more than any other of modern times. In one of her able annual addresses (of which she delivered so many), Frances E. Willard gave expression to these words:
Our very love of one another, and delights in each other's achievements and success, has also become a delusion and a snare. Men had long and often said that women did not much admire each other. For one, I meant to prove our power of mutual admiration boundless. But a higher outlook has been given me in these last days. Confession is a good thing for the soul, and I confess with sorrow, yet in hope, that a sense of self-hood, a purpose of self-recognition and the flattering unction of self-gratulation, had grown upon me far beyond my recognition.
Then she gave acknowledgment to the fact that some evangelists in her home town (Evanston, Ill.) became the instrument of God to teach her “what true self-surrender is, and how in newness of life we may become habitations of God through the Spirit.” And, later on in her remarks, we find this commendable utterance:
Now, then, I have, by God's grace, written my last laudatory paragraph in the Union Signal, or anywhere else, and I sincerely trust that my name will never again be seen in that paper, or any other, accompanied by words of praise. Beloved sisters, let us blot out the whole vocabulary of familiar adulatory adjectives, and go straight to our work in gladness and singleness of heart.
Readers of the Signal, and of other W. C. T. U. papers, will bear witness that Miss Willard's idea has not been carried out, but rather ignored. It is a good thing that “the dead know not anything” (Eccl. 9:5) else Miss Willard would surely be grieved at the continual sounding of her praise, in almost idolatrous strains, by her former co-workers and present admirers. Her own public confession, and her express resolution and desire in this connection, is her greatest manifestation of Christian heroism, and certainly ought to be respected by her friends.
We have no more insidious enemy than self, and there is no evil to which even Christian men are more susceptible than the service of self-interest. There is no sinister trait of character to which we are more prone to close the eyes and give a blind encouragement. Therefore there is no leaven that finds such ready admission to the heart, that can cause us to so unwittingly mar the work to which we have supposedly attached our greatest interest and given our best efforts.
The remedy is in unwavering faith in Christ, and rigid self-denial. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. . . . This do and thou shalt live.”

“BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST.”

By G.

THERE is much unnecessary speculation concerning the significance of this expression, as used by the Saviour. Much confusion regarding His words results from the notion that long, abstruse dissertation is necessary in order to make them plain. But the nearer we come to taking the Lord at His word, believing that He said just what He meant and meant just what He said, the closer we will get to the pith of His lessons. The following plain definitions are from the Standard Dictionary:
“Blaspheme: I. To speak in an impious or irreverent manner of; utter revilings against (God or sacred things).”
“Blasphemy: I. Evil or profane speaking of God, derogating from His power, or claiming His attributes; the expression of defiant impiety and irreverence against God, or things held sacred.”
With these definitions in mind, let us note the Saviour's words, and the circumstance under which they were uttered. Some Pharisees had said, “This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” In replying to this blasphemous charge, Jesus said positively that this sin could not be forgiven. What had they done?—They had boldly attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil, calling it the devil's work. Here was a sin at which the Pardoner of sins drew the line. He said:
“All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matt. 12: 31, 32.
Now, no man can express the Lord's meaning any more plainly than He has in the foregoing words, and to attach any other meaning to these words, is to pervert the Lord's teaching. He does not say that to reject the pleadings of the Holy Ghost, or to neglect its proffer of mercy, is unpardonable, else no one who had ever done so for a moment would be pardonable; and even should such an one continue in such passive opposition until the end of human probation, it would still be true that, had he repented at any time previous to the close of his probation, he could have had pardon. Not so the one who utters his blasphemy against the Holy Ghost; he, that moment, cuts himself off from the possibility of pardon.
To say that men who persistently reject or neglect the Spirit's appeals till it is too late, could not have pardon, would have no special significance under such a circumstance as that which we have cited. That is all implied in the simple, positive statement of the Gospel. It would not place those blasphemers against the Holy Ghost in any position different from other sinners. But the Lord emphatically does place them in a category by themselves—stating to them that there is no pardon for them from the moment that they declare that the work of the Holy Ghost is identical with that of the devil. Such a condemnation is not laid upon any other sin, or upon any other class of sinners.
G.

Question Corner

By Editor

FROM time to time under this head, we will answer pertinent questions, the answers to which we believe will be generally helpful to our readers. Some questions we can not answer here. They are of special interest only to the person who asks them. We will not answer what seem to be mere quibbles or cavils. We do not propose, for instance, to explain, more than once a year, where Cain got his wife. In all cases we must have the name of the questioner. We may wish to write them. To the questions we sign only the initials, or another term, if preferred by the questioner. But we have neither time nor space to bother with unsigned letters or questions. One more thought: 'Foolish and unlearned questions avoid.'
1635.—Rebuke the Devourer. Mal. 3: 10, 11.
I raise wheat, and the little ground squirrel does lots of damage when the wheat is growing, mowing down acres, when the wheat is in the "boot." Does Mal. 3: 11 mean that the Lord will rebuke the devourer in this instance?
If you have complied with all of the conditions of text and context, it is for faith to say whether the promise shall be yours or not. If it were in your power to destroy the destroyer, would not that be your first effort? If a dog were biting our child, would we be content to sit still and pray that God would rebuke him? Do all in your power in His name and seek Him to do in His power apart from you what He can not do in or through you. Let faith work.
1636.—Sold in the Shambles.
Do you understand 1 Cor. 10: 25 to mean pork also?
The question upon which the apostle is speaking is not of clean or unclean food, or of kinds of flesh, but of idolatry. It could not glorify God to eat unhealthful, unclean, corrupt food. See 1 Cor. 10: 31. But it did not injure the quality of that food to offer it to idols, because the idol is nothing. Yet there were acutely-conscientious persons who had once been idolators who could not thus eat of food so offered. The apostle's instruction is that believers should not raise the question as to whether it has or has not been so offered. See verses 27, 28.
1637.—Eating and Drinking. Luke 10: 7, 8.
Shall we take Luke 10: 7, 8 to mean that if lard were used in cooking, and meat of any kind set before us, we are not to refuse it?
We should take that scripture for just what it is. It is instruction to seventy disciples sent as forerunners of Jesus throughout the towns and cities of the Jewish people. They would find in all these places presumably no swine's flesh or products used. There is not one time in a thousand where one is called to eat among strangers where he can not get sufficient of fairly good food without violating conscience or offending the uninstructed. In all such circumstances follow 1 Cor. 10: 31 and do the best you can. God asks no more.
1638.—Where Cain Got His Wife.
Will you please answer me through the SIGNS where Cain got his wife?
There are many curious questions about Bible facts and people. We could help greatly to solve them in our own mind if we would remember: (1) That the Bible record is very brief, not aiming to give a detailed history in any way. The book of Genesis, for instance, covers a period of God's providential dealings with men of over 2,500 years according to the shortest reckoning. (2) The Lord never records events to satisfy human curiosity. Therefore he has not told us who Cain's wife was. But putting obvious facts together we must see that Cain married his sister, the only thing he could do if he were to have a wife at all. Gen. 4: 1-24 gives an account of Adam's posterity through Cain, but enters into few particulars. Genesis 5 gives the posterity of Adam through Seth, and incidentally mentions the birth of other sons and daughters. Gen. 5: 4. Of these doubtless there were many. For his wife Cain doubtless had to wait as long as did the righteous seed, Seth. Then there were hundreds of years in which to rear a family. Between verses 16 and 17 of Genesis 4 there may have intervened a period of from 200 to 400 years.
1639.—Blindness and Sight. John 9: 39.
Please explain John 9: 39.
A careful reading of the whole chapter will make it clear, especially verses 40, 41. The Jews professed in their self-righteousness to see; but the coming of Jesus manifested that they did not see after all. If they had admitted, what they were, spiritually blind, He would have given them sight, even as he did the blind man. Those who acknowledged their nothingness found Him; those who boasted of their superiority were shown to have nothing.
1640.—Repented that He Made Man. Gen. 6: 6.
Please state through the Question Corner what you understand by the expression in Gen. 6: 6, "It repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth." If God can not do a wrong act, and foreknows all things, how could he do an act to be repented of?
God is speaking after the manner of men in language that men could understand. Looking upon that generation of itself, utterly depraved as it had become, if there were to be nothing more, it were better that man had never been created. And, therefore, God proceeded to uncreate those who had so corrupted themselves as to be beyond hope. Out of all Satan's efforts God will eventually bring the greatest good; but looking upon it then, from the view-point of that time, it seemed a failure, and the heart of God was sad that so many had destroyed themselves.
1641.—A Sabbath-day's Journey.
Is it right to take a team and drive to church on the Sabbath day? If so, how far? What is a Sabbath-day's journey?
Yes, if the team has sufficient rest through the week as it ought to have, and the purpose of the journey is the worship of God. "A Sabbath-day's journey" rests wholly on the tradition of the Jews, about seven-eighths of a mile, the supposed distance from the tabernacle to the farthest corner of the camp. The term came to mean in common parlance about a mile.
Continue reading: ROMISH ENCROACHMENTS IN GERMANY