Signs of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 41. (10/21/1913)

Signs of the Times

Oct 21, 1913

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 21, 1913

Our Bible Band

Schedule for the Week Ending October 25, 1913

Sunday October 19 Luke 13; Psalm 66 Monday " 20 " 14; " 67 Tuesday " 21 " 15; " 68 Wednesday " 22 " 16; " 69 Thursday " 23 " 17; " 70 Friday " 24 " 18; " 71 Sabbath " 25 " 19; " 72

This week's reading includes Luke's Gospel chapters 13 to 19, and Psalms 66-72, giving us a single chapter and a single psalm for each day. It ought to be a week's reading of great profit. Very important lessons are taught by Luke regarding personal experience in prayer, and the use of the gifts that God bestows upon us, and the sure accounting that must take place at the end.

Question Corner

“IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE.”

This Inquirers’ Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer these questions does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as, to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

4204 — Who Were the Jews?

Of what race were the Israelites, Jews or Gentiles? and where does it explain it in the Bible? J. B. H.

The Israelites got their name from Jacob, when he wrestled with the angel and prevailed with God. The Lord told him then that his name should “be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Gen. 32:28. The term “Jew” primarily came from “Judah,” one of the twelve sons of Jacob; and when the ten tribes separated from the other two, those who followed the two tribes were spoken of as belonging to the kingdom of Judah. It finally came to be a term that applied to all of the Israelitish nation, without distinction. For questions of this kind, we would suggest that individuals, where they can not afford a good Bible dictionary themselves, club together as Bible students in a neighborhood, and get a few books like Bible dictionaries, concordances, and Scripture atlases, and they will find it intensely interesting to study up all such questions as this themselves. We say this, not because we are averse to helping people to understand such questions, but because we know it is the best thing for people to become student investigators.

4205 — Those Who Fall Away

Please explain Heb. 6:4-6. C. F. L.

The text referred to reads: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” Another text from the same book speaks similarly upon the same subject, and they should be studied together. It reads: “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” Heb. 10:26-29.

Some people are troubled over these texts, thinking possibly they may have reference to the ordinary backslider, who has simply grown careless or indifferent, but who in his heart has never given up the Lord, and who is continually thinking that some day he will enter His service again. And oftentimes when he begins to think seriously of taking up that service without delay, then the enemy of all souls will confront him with these texts, the same as he confronted Christ Himself with texts of Scripture, and sought to give them a wrong application. The text is talking about individuals who have actually been enlightened. They have really tasted the heavenly gift, and know from experience what it is. They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. They tasted the word of God, and also the powers of the world to come. Their experience reached out to the depth of definite knowledge, so that they knew the positive grounds of the divine gift. And now these individuals break away from all this, and, according to the text quoted from the tenth chapter of Hebrews, they call the blood of the covenant, wherewith they had been sanctified, an unholy thing. They have despised the Spirit of grace. The text speaks of an actual falling away that leads a man to renounce things that he really knows are truth, and to treat with disrespect and despite the Holy Ghost, whose influence in all their blessed realities he has felt upon his own heart and life. And having fallen away after this manner, it can be readily seen that he has broken off from all the influences that would draw him to heaven, and has purposely and with determination placed himself beyond hope, and beyond the reach of God. The text shows that he has done this wilfully,—he has exercised his will to do the thing. But the poor backslider, in the place of exercising any will-power, has simply allowed his will to be overcome and dethroned by the persistent attacks of Satan; and to all such the Lord sends many such gracious appeals in His word, as this: “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God.” Jer. 3:12-14, 22.

4206 — Without My Flesh

In Job 19:26, the Revised Version reads, “And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God.” Where do they get their authority for this change? J. B. A.

By referring to the marginal reading for the same text, it will be seen that the revisers were not clear that they had full authority for making such a change, for the marginal reading is, “And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, yet from my flesh shall I see God.” Job was in the midst of great afflictions when he uttered these words. His body was being consumed away with disease, and his words are the triumph of faith rising out of and above the conditions in which he was placed. In the twenty-fifth verse he said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and at last He will stand up upon the earth.” Job would thus say to us, When my Redeemer stands up to vindicate my cause, even tho this flesh be completely destroyed, yet will I see Him. Resurrection power would give him the immortal body that is promised so clearly in the word of God; and even tho he would go down in death, and the body that he then possessed would be completely destroyed by the worms, yet the infinite power of the great Creator would give Job life and immortality.

If you take the reading in the text of the Revised Version in the light of other scriptures which are plain upon the subject, there is no difficulty; for Job is contending that he was not dependent for his existence upon the flesh that he then possessed, but he was dependent rather upon the power of the mighty Redeemer.

4207 — Gift of Tongues

Please explain the subject of the gift of tongues as found in 1 Corinthians 14. What does it mean by saying, “In the Spirit he speaketh mysteries?” H. G. M.

Among the gifts of God recorded in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians are mentioned “divers kinds of tongues” and “the interpretation of tongues.” A “tongue” that is a gift of the Spirit of God is an intelligible thing. It speaks intelligently, whether the individuals who are listening may understand it or not. The individual who is talking knows what he says, and is saying something in some language known to earth. A very clear illustration of the Spirit’s gift of tongues is recorded in the second chapter of Acts. There were in Jerusalem, on the Day of Pentecost, doubtless most of them having been drawn there to attend the Jewish feast, people of all nationalities, and the holy city was stirred because of the events connected with the crucifixion of Christ. The story of the cross must be told, and must be understood by all these various nationalities; and when the Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, the text says, “They were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?” Acts 2:7-12. Now that gift of tongues on that occasion, which is an illustration of God’s plan, shows intelligence. It shows a need for this particular gift at this particular time, and it shows the people listening to the gospel and understanding “the wonderful works of God” as they were presented.

There are people who claim to have the gift of tongues, but there is no intelligence connected with it. It is one of the deceptive counterfeits that Satan is foisting upon the world with which to delude and destroy people. In the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, note that after enumerating the various gifts, the apostle says, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.” These gifts are bestowed upon individuals who will appropriately and intelligently use them, and as the need arises for such gifts. Otherwise they would not be given. They are not to be seized by individuals and exercised upon their own authority, or in harmony with their own whims.

Study closely all that God’s word says in regard to God’s gifts, and you will not be led astray. God is seeking continually to reveal the mysteries of His truth, and He asks us to base our faith upon mysteries that have actually been revealed, and not upon some mysterious something that no one can understand. We will ever be studying into the unfolding mysteries of God’s great truth; but our faith is based upon what we understand, and not upon something that is ever bewildering. There is something divinely dignified in the gifts of God, and they carry convincing power to intelligent people.

4208 — All Animals for a Purpose

Please explain the reference in the Bible which says every animal is created for a purpose. Of what use is the swine? J. B. H.

Certain animals and birds, like the swine and the turkey-buzzard, seem to have had their abilities turned in the direction of being useful as scavengers. There was no need for any such animals in the original creation of God, so the nature of these creatures must have been changed from what they were at first. We can not judge of God’s original creation by what we see at the present time. The curse of sin has been visited upon the lower animals along with man, and there has been degeneracy. The evolutionist’s theory is the reverse of what is true. It is a mistake to believe that God has created all of the varieties of animals, birds, and insects that we have at the present time. A great many of these are the result of amalgamation. For instance, God did not create a mule. By recognizing a few of these facts, we can be saved from a lot of perplexity as we study conditions in nature, where sin has been at work for so long. When the curse of sin is removed, at the second coming of Christ, then we will see nature as it came from the hand of its Author, and not until then.

Treasures of Wisdom

By L. A. Reed

By L. A. Reed

The word of God is the highest and most perfect educational book in our world. It is like a towering rock that fronts the sea, forever receiving on its granite wall the onslaught of the waves. One moment, the waters strike and break in forceless spray upon its fending sides; the next, the sunbeams touch and transfigure the old water-washed gray rock with diamond gleams of light. Thus, with radiant and unbroken front, the Word has stood the attacks of ages, and to-day this mighty citadel of truth remains impregnable as ever.

The Word is God’s verbal revelation of truth to man. Although it is a complete revelation, the Creator has filled the world about us with object lessons to teach us all the more surely and perfectly the same great truths. The truth of science and the truth of the Word is one truth. Truth is a unit. The manifold and many-sided, it is but one truth. And this one truth, revealed in Holy Writ, “is reflected, as from a mirror, in the face of nature.”

We must know, if we think carefully, that there is no truth revealed to man except through Christ Jesus, the Word. True, many wicked men, and even the devil, have seen some of these truths; but they hold them down in unrighteousness. Rom. 1:18, R.V. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that evil men and the devil have misappropriated and distorted truths, the fact still remains that all truth is of God, and its principles are given through and in the Word.

In Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Col. 2:3. “He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom.” Eph. 1:8. “He [the Spirit representing Jesus Christ, John 16:14; 14:18] will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13. “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Col. 1:9. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” Col. 3:16. “That now . . . might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Eph. 3:10.

These scriptures are the eternal words of God. We do not know how much is included in the expression “all wisdom,” further than that it is the unsearchable and unfathomable wisdom of God. Inspiration, catching in one glimpse what was meant, cries out in wonder at the sight, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” O, what depths!

All the knowledge there is, all the wisdom there is, is revealed in Jesus Christ.

“All things that the Father hath are Mine.” And these “all things” the Spirit receives to show to the followers of Christ. All things that the Father has are Christ’s, the Word’s, and are revealed to us by the Spirit.

“Truth, revealed in Holy Writ, is reflected, as from a mirror, in the face of nature”

What a wonderful sweep is revealed in that expression, “All things that the Father hath”! How much has God? Look yonder into the heavens, and behold a thousand suns rolling in the infinitude of space—worlds upon worlds, but they are only a fraction of what He has. Take a five-inch telescope and look at yonder spot in the heavens. Wonder of wonders! It is transformed into hundreds of suns, so closely studded that we can not number them.

Get a stronger glass. Still other suns appear—suns upon suns, and worlds upon worlds, like the sands of the seashore, innumerable. “All things that the Father hath”! Is it enough? Are the “all things” of God sufficient for you, or do you long for something else? Does it take more than this to satisfy? Is it possible to be dissatisfied with the infinite?

God has given us in Christ all that He has, and there is nothing outside. If we are not satisfied with all the fulness of God, and must seek elsewhere, only nothingness awaits us. If we seek, as did Lucifer, for that something else, we can find, as he did, only that which lies outside of God, and that is nothing—the silence of nothing—death. Shall we seek that? And yet all who hate God love death. Prov. 8:36.

We are therefore sure that God has made, in the Word, a complete revelation of the principles of all truth. We dare make no exceptions. That word “all” bars all exceptions. We dare not except the truths of mathematics or science, or any other study whatsoever, and say, “The Bible does not speak of that.” The Spirit is given us to guide us into all truth, and this it does by means of the Word; and therefore, all truth, in principle, is in the Word.

Christ’s life on earth was a complete manifestation of all truth to men. Speaking of His life, one has said, “He who came forth from God to our world gave instruction on every subject about which it is essential that man should know in order to find the pathway to heaven.” That the Bible contains all knowledge in principle is readily seen from the fact that whenever science essays any false philosophy, it at once clashes somewhere with the Word.

God has not been illiberal with us. He gave us all truth in the life of His Son. In that life is contained all possible human experience. But in the written Word, He has given us a repetition and explanation of these same truths—that is, of truth itself.

But all this is not saying that the Word records every possible phrasing or expression of truth. Any one truth may be stated in many ways, for it has many relations. We are told that if all Jesus did were written—and His deeds were truth exemplified, for He is truth—it is supposed that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. John 21:25.

But we are sure, nevertheless, that the

Word contains every truth which His life exemplified. And that the world could not contain the books which might be written, is due to the fact that the truths represented are infinite truths. An infinite truth, to be fully expressed, requires infinite expression. But these truths infinitely expressed would more than fill the world.

We may take for an example the passage, “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.” In that one infinite truth of the formation of man are all the truths and facts that man can gather in his study of the anatomy, physiology, hygiene, histology, physics, chemistry, mechanics, and all the rest of the “ies” and “ologies,” of the human frame. If all that men know of these things were written, how many books would be required to tell all that we, even now, see is meant in that passage, “The Lord God formed man”?

Man’s expressions, like all else of his, are finite. The only way he can conceive of approaching the infinite is by multiplying expressions. Thus he hopes, in time or eternity, ultimately to tell something of these infinite truths.

It was a task for God Himself to make the finite comprehend the infinite. But through Jesus Christ, and by His unspeakable love, He has done it. Looking down the ages from eternity, God saw all that men need know, all that men could know. Then He purposed that they should know all this. Eph. 3:10, 11. One has said, “That which, in the counsels of heaven, the Father and the Son deemed essential for the salvation of man, was defined from eternity by infinite truths, which finite beings can not fail to comprehend.” Also, “From God, the fountain of wisdom, proceeds all the knowledge that is of value to man, all that the intellect can grasp or retain.”

All that is of God is in the Word. It is locked in infinite truths, which we can not fail to understand, and which we can not exhaust until we have exhausted eternity and God. And all that is not of God is utterly valueless, is utter sin, is not in the Word, and should never be in our minds. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5. That mind takes in God, and with Him, the universe.

It is too early now, therefore, no matter how long we have lived, for any of us to attempt to say that any special truth is not in the Word. God says all truth is in the Word. With an experience of even a hundred years of study of that Word, it would be folly for one to attempt to question God’s statement. And when we have lived and studied it for ages, we shall see that it can not be questioned.

And thus all that we need know, “all the knowledge that is of value to man, all that the intellect can grasp or retain,” is given to us in principle in these infinite truths; yea, in Him who is both the Infinite and the Truth.

These infinite truths God has committed to man. True, they are locked in His great storehouse, the Word; but He has given us the key. They are hidden; but He has told us to seek, and we shall find. The door is closed; but if we knock, it shall be opened to us.

Let us study that Word as never before. Let us search it as for hid treasures. May it be our wisdom and our knowledge. Thus only can we gain understanding. And God Himself will be our teacher, eternity the term of our pupilage, and His everlasting habitation our schoolroom. And there our vision will forever widen with the process of the suns.

The Glory Departed from Israel

By Ellen G. White

By Mrs. E. G. White

Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.” From one extreme of the land to the other, Samuel’s claims to the prophetic office were established, and he received further revelations of God’s will in the tabernacle at Shiloh.

The messages of warning and reproof to the house of Eli were made known by him to the whole nation. By so doing, he hoped to counteract, in some measure, the evil influence of his past neglect. But these warnings were disregarded by the people, as they had been by the priests. The surrounding nations also, who were not ignorant of the iniquities openly practised in Israel, became still bolder and more determined in their own course of idolatry and crime. They felt no sense of guilt for their sins, as they would have felt had the Israelites preserved their integrity.

Again the Philistines gathered their forces for war. And Israel, without asking counsel from the Lord, without the concurrence of Eli or Samuel, rashly went out to battle. But the hand of God was not with them, and in the first engagement they were defeated, with a loss of four thousand of their number. When the people returned disheartened to their tents, the elders of Israel said, “Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day before the Philistines?” The nation was ripe for the judgments of God, yet so blinded by their unbelief and rebellion that they could not see in their disaster a token of the Lord’s displeasure.

That Which Brought the Defeat

Instead of confessing and forsaking the sins that had wrought defeat upon them, they now set about devising some other means by which to obtain the victory. Then they thought of the ark of God. What wonders had been wrought when the priests bore it before the people into Jordan. How the waters of the river parted, leaving a safe path for that vast company! They remembered also how it was borne about the city of Jericho seven days in solemn silence, and then as the trumpets pealed, and the people gave a great shout, the massive walls fell flat upon the earth.

The recollection of these glorious triumphs inspired all Israel with fresh hope and courage, and they immediately sent to Shiloh for the ark, “that, when it cometh among us,” said they, “it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.” They did not consider that it was the law of God which alone gave to the ark its sacredness, and that its presence would bring them prosperity only as they obeyed that law. While they talked of the “ark of the covenant of the Lord,” they ignored the real significance of the title. A covenant is an agreement between parties, based upon conditions. If Israel would obey the divine law and thus fulfil the conditions of their covenant with God, He would verify His promises to them. But what presumption for them to expect a blessing while they were violating the conditions upon which alone it could be bestowed!

Unheeded Warnings To-Day

Yet we see a similar blindness and inattention on the part of many at the present day. Having a knowledge of God’s law, they are confident and boastful, as tho especially favored of Heaven, while they are not from the heart obeying its precepts. God has given to modern Israel warnings, counsel, and reproof, to bring them to repentance and reformation of life. But too often these produce but a momentary impression. The persons warned soon return to their own ways. They flatter themselves that because they have a form of godliness, they will be accepted of the Lord; and they go on presumptuously devising and executing plans in accordance with their own finite judgment, and giving little heed to the special manifestations of divine providence. It is one thing to acknowledge the claims of God’s law, and quite another thing to render faithful and willing obedience to all its requirements. And let it be remembered that to the obedient alone will the promises of blessing, support, and guidance be fulfilled.

The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, eagerly acceded to the proposal to bear the ark into the camp. Without the consent of the high priest, they ventured presumptuously into the holy of holies, and took thence the ark of God. Filled with pride, and elated with the expectation of speedy victory, they bore it to the camp. And the people, beholding, as they thought, the token of Jehovah’s presence, “shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.”

They Were Blind to Their Condition

They overlooked the distinction between the divine presence vouchsafed to an obedient and believing people, and the ark, which was but a symbol of that presence. Hence they confidently looked to the ark for those blessings which God alone could bestow. They saw not the wide contrast between the condition of Israel when the Lord wrought so mightily in their behalf, and their present state.

They were then walking in obedience to God. The ark was borne by holy men in accordance with His express command, and the Captain of the Lord’s host went before the repository of His law. Then His arm brought deliverance for them. But they were now following their own plans, in opposition to the divine counsel and authority. The ark was borne by sons of Belial, who were doomed to destruction. Yet the people were so infatuated by Satan as to imagine they could induce God to fight for them, when the law under the mercy-seat condemned them to defeat, disaster, and death.

Terror in the Enemy’s Camp

The Philistines looked upon the ark as the god of the Hebrews. All the mighty works which Jehovah had wrought for Israel, were attributed to its power. As they heard the shouts of joy and triumph at its approach, they said, “What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, . . . “Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.”

The Philistines feared for their nation; yet still they trusted to the power of Dagon their god, and sought to strengthen the courage of the people: “Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.” They well knew how bitter was the servitude which Israel had endured when in their power, and the thought of themselves becoming slaves to endure like oppression nerved them with the courage of desperation.

A fierce assault upon Israel resulted in their defeat with great slaughter. Thirty thousand men lay dead upon the field, and the ark of God was taken, the two sons of Eli having fallen while fighting to defend it.

Chastised and Rebuked

The Lord sorely chastised His people Israel, revealing their hypocrisy and rebuking their presumption, and thus left upon the pages of history the testimony for all future ages, that the iniquities of His professed people will not go unpunished. The greater the knowledge of God’s will, the greater the sin of those who disregard it. God is not dependent upon men to cause His name to be feared and honored in the earth. He accepts the labors of those who walk in faithfulness and humility before Him, but He will reject all who profess to serve Him, and yet follow in the course of the unrighteous. God can carry forward His work in the earth without the coöperation of those who would pervert or disgrace it.

While the army of Israel went out to battle, Eli, blind and old, remained at Shiloh. Seating himself at the gate of the tabernacle, he anxiously waited for tidings from the field of conflict, “for his heart trembled for the ark of God.” Days of agonizing suspense followed. At last there fell upon his ears a sound of lamentation from the town. Soon a messenger drew near, his clothing rent, and dust upon his head, and repeated to the high priest his sad tidings: “Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead.” Eli could endure all this, terrible as it was, for he had expected it. But when the messenger added, “And the ark of God is taken,” a look of unutterable anguish passed over his countenance. The thought that his sin had thus dishonored God and caused Him to withdraw His presence from Israel, was more than he could bear; his strength was gone, he reeled upon his seat, and fell, “and his neck brake, and he died.”

The wife of Phinehas, notwithstanding the impiety of her husband, was a woman who feared the Lord. The death of her father-in-law and her husband, and above all, the terrible tidings that the ark of God was in captivity, caused her death. She felt that now the last hope of Israel was gone, and she named the child born in this hour of adversity, Ichabod, or inglorious, with her dying breath mournfully repeating the words, “The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.”

Continue reading: The Significance of Earth’s Curse