Review and Herald, Vol. 36, No. 14. (9/20/1870)

Review and Herald

Sep 20, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 20, 1870

Has God ever been Seen?

By George Ide Butler

This is a question of much interest. The impression generally prevailing among those who regard the Deity as an essence, is, that in his very nature he is invisible, and therefore cannot be seen; while we think it is because of man's weakness, sinfulness, and corruption even in his best estate, that he could not endure to look into the face of Heaven's glorious King. Our “God is a consuming fire.”

There are several scriptures quoted on both sides, which we wish to examine. “No man hath seen God at any time.” John 1: 18. “Whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” 1 Tim. 6: 16. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,” &c. 1 Tim. 1: 17.

On the other hand, it is said: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Gen. 32: 20. “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” Isa. 6: 1. “Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. . . . Also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” Ex. 24: 9-11. “Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, [face in the Douay] that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight.” Ex. 33: 13. Verses 20–23 say: “And He said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.” Chap. 34: 6–8.

In these texts of Scripture there is an apparent contradiction, which the infidel tries to make the most of, but which the child of God will try to harmonize consistently with truth. The question involved is certainly one of interest. To avoid the apparent contradiction it has been argued that the appearances spoken of in the last class of Scriptures quoted, were those of an angel of God, and that the Deity has never manifested himself personally to any of the race of man. The texts in proof of this are, Ex. 23: 20, 21: “Behold I send an angel before thee. . . . Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions; for my name is in him.” And Acts 7: 38: “This is he [Moses], that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the Mount Sina, and with our fathers; who [Moses] received the lively oracles to give unto us.” From these it is argued that as the angel of God had the name of God in him, when the Lord is represented as appearing, it was simply the angel of his presence, especially as it is said that he was with Moses in the Mount Sina, and so the God of Heaven has never manifested himself, personally, to man. I cannot accept this position, but must still believe that God has in a certain sense been seen by man.

The text quoted from Gen. 32: 20, without doubt refers to an angel. It is Jacob who says he saw God face to face. He evidently thought so, as John did on one occasion when he was in the act of worshiping one of the heavenly messengers. Hosea makes this very plain: “Yea, he [Jacob] had power over the angel and prevailed.” Hos. 12: 4.

But the case in Ex. 24, seems to me different. In this, and other chapters in connection, we have an account of the conversation of two parties, one called “the Lord” and the other was Moses. The question is, Was the one called “the Lord,” the angel with the “name of the Lord in him,” or God himself? In the chapter preceding, verse 20, the party speaking to Moses says: “Behold I send an angel before thee. . . . Beware of him, . . . for my name is in him.” Surely the one sending, and the one sent, must be two different beings. The one sending is the one called “the Lord.” In the 24th chapter, the same being calls Moses into the mount with the elders of Israel. Verse 10 says, “And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.” Either this was the true God, or the God of Israel was an angel. It says so.

The circumstances under which he was seen are every way befitting the appearance of the Deity. How sublime! In all the recorded appearances of angels we have none like this. “Upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand. They also saw God, and did eat and drink.” Verse 11. “And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Verse 17. The testimony is so positive, and the circumstances so fitting, so well calculated to give the children of Israel a true sense of the majesty of Heaven’s King, that to my mind it could not be made plainer by human language that the Deity was there.

Verse 12 of the same connection reads: And the Lord said unto Moses, “Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written.” So the same being that was seen by Moses and the elders of Israel, was the one who wrote and spoke the law. If that was an angel, we should forever cease to speak of the ten commandments being written with God’s own finger. It was all the work of an angel, and therefore God did not give any special prominence to the law in its promulgation as we have been so ready to claim. We have always considered it a strong argument for the superiority of the ten commandments, that God spoke them himself and wrote them himself, while much of the Bible was given through angels, to men. But if the appearance here was that of an angel, we can claim no such exception in their favor, and this argument is taken from us. But some may quote Stephen’s words in Acts 7: 53, “Who [the Jews] have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it,” and claim from them that it is established beyond question that the moral law was given through angels. On this passage Dr. Albert Barnes, who is good authority in criticism says, “There has been much diversity of opinion in regard to this phrase (translated disposition of angels). The word translated disposition does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. It properly means the constituting and arranging of an army, disposing it into ranks and proper divisions. Hence it has been supposed to mean that the law was given amidst the various ranks of angels, being present to witness its promulgation. Others suppose that the angels were employed as agents or instruments to communicate the law. All that the expression fairly implies is the former, that the law was given amidst the attending ranks of angels as if they were summoned to witness the pomp and ceremony of giving the law to an entire people, and, through them, to an entire world.” This criticism, to my mind, is most reasonable and forcible, and worthy of God, and consistent with the circumstances mentioned in Exodus, and with the great work there being done. While to suppose this was the work of angels, belittles the majesty of the transaction as represented in many scriptures, and contradicts the plainest testimony of

the Bible. The fact that Stephen declares that the angel was with Moses in the Mount Sina, does not prove but that God was there also.

We now come to Ex. 33. Space forbids that I should notice many points in it which I would desire to. But I think this chapter settles the question in regard to the Deity’s showing himself to his servant. The whole chapter should be read. The children of Israel had sinned greatly in worshiping the golden calf. God says to Moses that he will not go up in the midst of such a stiff-necked people, verse 3, but will send his angel before them. How plain then that it is God himself who is speaking. Moses pleads for Israel, and manifests such a spirit that he finds grace in God’s sight. Moses pleads with God. He is not satisfied to go on without God’s presence. “And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people; and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way” (face, Douay). Verses 12, 13. “And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found grace in my sight.” Verse 17. “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live.” Verses 19, 20. Part of Moses’ request is to be granted; and part, not. He is going to manifest himself more closely to him than to any man who ever lived before or since; and yet even he could not come where the face of the Creator could be seen. Even his strength and perfection were not sufficient. “And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen.” Verses 21–23. “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! The Lord God! merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.” Chap. 34: 6–8.

From this record we deduce the following facts:

1. God, who speaks to Moses, and the angel he promises to send with him, are plainly two beings.

2. When Moses desires to see his face, he informs him he cannot, as no man can do this, and live. This would not be true of the angel, for we have many recorded instances where men have seen the faces of angels, and lived and are not harmed by them. This could only be true of the eternal God, which shows conclusively that it was he with whom Moses spake.

3. Moses was placed in a cleft of the rock, and did get a view of a portion of his person.

4. When he thus passed before him, Moses worshiped him, which would have been improper had it been an angel, for John was told not to do this, Rev. 19: 10, but to worship God. This proves that it was the Creator.

5. The titles this being took to himself proves that it must have been God: “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious.” How sublime! It would have been blasphemy for an angel or any created being to have assumed these titles, and deception, to have thus appeared to Moses. He evidently thought it was the Deity.

6. The very facts spoken of in the second commandment are applied to this personage—the one who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. To my mind these are decisive.

Isa. 6: 1, however, furnishes another text very much to the point: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” There can be no doubt who is referred to here; for the prophet adds, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is filled with his glory.” And further the prophet says, “Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” This testimony is so strong that I can add nothing to it. If the prophet can be believed, in some sense he saw God.

I now desire to notice those texts which are thought to contradict this. 1 Tim. 6: 16: “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” This last clause taken by itself seems to contradict the position I have taken above; but read it in connection with the clause preceding it, and it seems to me to furnish a key to the whole question. Why has God not been seen in the sense spoken of here? Why cannot he be seen in this sense? Because he dwells in the light unapproachable. If no man can approach unto this glorious covering of light, of course none can see Him who dwells within it. It would not follow, however, that he could not be seen, or that in his nature he is invisible to those who could thus approach. This peculiarity in the appearance of God is referred to in many scriptures, but in none more beautifully than this. Isaiah represents this in the scripture quoted by the phrase, “His train filled the temple.” In another scripture referred to when his presence was manifested, it is said, The glory of the Lord was like devouring fire; and in another passage it is said, “Our God is a consuming fire.” Such is his appearance when his glory is seen. So when Moses saw his glory, it is represented as dazzling beyond expression. Moses, when he came down from the mount from communing with God, reflected in a small measure his glory from his own countenance. “His face shone” so the children of Israel were afraid to look upon him and talk with him. So we learn that the glory of God will be the light of the holy city. And the “shekinah,” or visible presence of God in the sanctuary, is another illustration. We poor mortals can have no adequate comprehension of this glory that enshrouds the God of Israel. The prophets anciently seemed to realize it more. They speak in some instances as though it were a great wonder that they could see it, and live. In this age of irreverence people seem to have no sense of this. Here we see the true reason why God cannot be fully seen: it is on account of man’s frailty, and of the light that surrounds his person, which no man can approach unto. This is the reason why he is spoken of as the “invisible God.” This makes it very plain.

The Saviour says: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” John 1: 18. On this Mr. Barnes in his notes says: “This declaration is probably made to show the superiority of the revelation of Jesus above that of any previous dispensation.” Moses, from time to time, with others, had a glimpse of him, dwelling in the light, but not able to behold fully his person, certainly not his face. Jesus dwelt in the very bosom of his Father, and was thus intimately acquainted with his person. He was therefore best qualified to speak of him and his will. But in this strongest text of all, I see no real contradiction of the view I have advanced. To use a most humble, poor illustration of such a sublime subject, we often say, as we see a man passing for instance in his carriage, in the winter’s cold, covered with clothing, I saw Mr. A. this morning. We may not see a particle of his person and yet no one would think for a moment that we spoke an untruth. How much more the God of Heaven enshrouded with glory and light unapproachable! In this sense I understand God has been seen. In the other, such as the Saviour, and apostles speak of, where his glorious person is referred to, he never has been seen. He says to Moses, where he has just spoken of manifesting himself, No man shall see my face, and live. Here both senses are brought to view in the same connection. May God give us strength to live so that we, poor, weak, and mortal, may be enabled finally to behold him in glory.

GEO. I. BUTLER.

Winterset, Iowa, Aug. 26, 1870.

LORD, UNTO THEE.

By L. D. Santee

Lord unto thee, Thou who hast suffered on Calvary's tree, Poured out thy blood that the world might be free, Praying for mercy I come unto thee, Humbly I offer the penitent's plea, Lord, unto thee.

Save or I die; Lord turn upon me thy pitying eye; Prone in the dust here before thee I lie, Saviour of mercy, O list to my cry, Spurn not my pleadings, O pass me not by; Save or I die.

Wounded and faint, I am corrupted by sin's foul attaint, And most unworthy the name of a saint, Such is my misery, ah! who can paint— To thee, O Lord, now I raise my complaint, Wounded and faint.

Hasten the day When wars and tumults shall all pass away; When friends who now in the sepulcher lay, Shall greet us; and sin shall no longer sway His scepter so vile. For this we will pray; Hasten the day.

There, there is light Up far above all the gloom and the night; There is the city with Christ for its light, Jasper its walls, oh! how lovely the sight; Angels are gliding, surpassingly bright; There, there is light.

L. D. SANTEE.

Dixon, Mo.

The Coming Doom.

[By request we give the following extract from the Coming Earthquake, by D. T. Taylor, pages 77–81.—ED.]

“The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”—2 Pet. 3:10.

What will one day occur right in the face and eyes of a sneering philosophy, which declares it cannot be, is ably set forth, not only in the tendencies already copiously given, but also in an able article on “The Relations of Geology and Theology,” by Prof. R. D. Hitchcock, who has recently said, “The earth contains within itself the agencies necessary to its dissolution by fire. Its crust is supposed to be several hundred miles thick, while the interior is in a state of fusion like lava. The three hundred active volcanoes on the crust are the breathing-holes of the internal fire. At present, counteracting agencies prevent this lava from bursting forth. But let the order be issued for its liberation, and these vents will belch forth fire and desolation. The works of man, in which we take so much pride, may be crumbled in a moment by the concussion of the crust. Liberated gases may combine explosively with the oxygen in the air, so that the heavens should pass away with a great noise.”

“And there are grounds of belief,” said the late Prof. George Shepherd, in one of his published sermons on Matthew 24:37–39, “that this great coming with fire is indeed not far before us. We have the same word for this greater coming with fire. And we have the fire; a world with all its caverns and bowels filled full of it; and it rages and presses against and shakes the crust on which we now stand, and it snorts out at all the openings in columns that reach to the clouds, and quantities that whelm vast tracts with the molten ruins. The whole world may disbelieve it—this uttered thing of God will be.”

Long ago did the unerring voice of prophecy solemnly announce the conflagration and last mighty convulsion of our globe; (1) by the bursting forth of its elementary forces and internal fires, and (2), by the ignition of its aerial gases. And we are told in plain words who kindled the fire, and when, and where, and why, it was kindled. These scriptures are already quoted. It is the work of a sin-avenging Deity, whose mighty angels wait to bring the last throb, and blow up the last flames, ere this sad earth, again as at the first, “shall all be Paradise.” Nevertheless, worldly-wise and persistently evil men love to deceive and be deceived concerning the approach of such a fearful day.

The unscriptural, “igneous theory” of creation, originating in the dreamy brain of the German chemist Leibnitz, in 1680, now scarcely two hundred years old, a theory which well nigh sets aside the Creator, and one which ignores the birth of our world by water, as not only attested by Moses, but confirmed by all the highest profane writers and historians; a theory which declares that the granite rocks could only be formed by fire, and consequently the earth was born of fire, and has been for countless ages gradually cooling, and hence its crust where man dwells is getting thicker and thicker, and so earthquakes, age after age, are occurring more and more seldom; this mere theory, which was never received by all, and is doubted and disproved by the most eminent scientists; this theory on which so many false hopes rest, is entirely at fault and upset.

First, by the well-known fact recorded by Humboldt; viz., “That the decrease of the mean heat of the globe during a period of two thousand years has not, therefore, taking the extremest limits, diminished as much as one three-hundredth part of a degree of Fahrenheit,” which, considering the uncertain data from which even this calculation is arrived at, and the fact that it would show the earth to have cooled but the one-hundredth part of a degree in six thousand years, amounts simply to just nothing:

Second, by the researches and experiments of modern chemists, who have discovered, says Dr. Robert Patterson, that “granite is an aqueous formation, formed by the overlaying, sedimentary rock,” and which goes to confirm the truth of the Mosaic doctrine of the birth of the world of water; and

Third, by the evidence herein presented, exhibiting

the fact that for centuries past, and more especially since the present one came in, both slight shocks and great earthquakes are more and more frequent, which would seem to show greater activity of the unseen forces, and an increasing thinness of the earth’s surrounding crust.

Why, then, will mortals be blinded to coming events, which must inevitably take place? Why lull the world to sleep with dreams of security and future aggrandizement, when in one awful and unlooked-for moment, the great globe may be shattered with a universal and resistless earthquake bolt, and amid the wailing and tumult, amid the vanishing of the heavens, and the roar of the reverberating trump of doom, the Judge of all the earth appear in the clouds? Alas! who will live when God doeth this? And with this array of evidence, this mass of scientific and scriptural fact before us, how can popular writers deceive both themselves and others, by arguing the impossibility of a great earthquake’s ever occurring in our own country, and the absence of all danger to New York, Paris, and London? The facts and admissions put forth by these writers themselves overthrow their own conclusions. Who, that knows the eccentricity of the earthquake’s path, or remembers the suddenness of the destruction of the great and proud city of Lisbon, where no convulsion of importance had occurred for over a century and a half, or has read of the great earthquake in New England in 1755, and that in the great valley of the West in 1811, both of which agitated more or less the whole country east of the Rocky Mountains, or is made acquainted with the fact that a great chain of extinct volcanoes stretches from New Jersey to Montreal, or that reflects how suddenly the coming mighty earthquake will convulse the entire globe, can ever be deceived by this insane and senseless cry of “Peace and safety”?

Standing in Our Own Light

Most of our shadows that cross our path throughout life are caused by our standing in our own light.

Napoleon's Downfall.

On the fifteenth of July the Emperor of France declared war against Prussia. On the second of September his armies were annihilated and he was a prisoner in the hands of the Prussian King. Never since war began to be made has there been such a military spectacle. It is not the overthrow of a barbarous nation by the discipline of a veteran army; the Roman against the Gaul, or the English against the effete Oriental Indian nations or the Chinese. France was on every hand accounted the first military power on earth. Her system has been the model on which the American army has been patterned. She was regarded, at least until within a few years, as the strongest and most inexpugnable of the nations of Europe. The colony of Algeria was a school of practice for her armies. Her shops, foundries and yards, were supposed to be unequaled, and her iron-clad navy bade fair to dispute the supremacy of the sea, even with her island neighbor.

Prussia, too, especially since the war of 1866 against Austria, has been deemed a first-class military power, and no greater compliment could have been paid, until now, to her reputation, than that it was among military men a doubtful question whether France or Prussia would be the stronger in the field.

The result of this campaign is no more a surprise to the French than it is to the whole world. It is said that earthquakes disturb men's minds, not so much by their imminent danger as by unsettling their confidence in the stability of nature and the relation of cause and effect. Stable things become movable. Solid ground heaves like water. Nothing is strong—nothing immovable, and for the moment it seems to the bewildered imagination as if the world's nerve had been cut, and all regulative influence was gone.

Something like this we feel in looking upon France. In an hour all our ideas are revolutionized, and we need time to get agoing with new ideas and corrected estimations.

Not Prussia against France, but all Prussia against the army of France. Its military system makes Prussia itself a camp, and its whole population an army. The whole nation, in successive moves, was precipitated upon the few hundred thousand men of the standing army of France! There were present also the two elements without which this military organization will be but a fine dead body—the spirit of the whole people, and consummate leadership! Germans are slow to kindle, but very hot when fully on fire.

When Von Moltke precipitated Prussia upon Napoleon's army, the movement was more like that of a natural flow such as we see in tropical storms, or in the movement toward the shore of gigantic waves bred by earthquakes, than the effects of ordinary human will. Everything was large, and everything irresistible. All obstacles seem to have lost their opposing power in the presence of an irresistible Fate. From the moment that the Crown Prince broke upon Weissenberg like an avalanche, there was no stopping the monster-motion. Every day swept on with devouring power. The right wing was shattered at a blow. The center, fatally hesitating for a few days, was smitten, and thrust back into prison at Metz. Whatever was left, hastily rolled together, under MacMahon, was next assailed, devoured, and utterly consumed! Then the sword fell from the hand of France, and the crown from her ruler, and Paris was conquered without a siege or a blow. And so in six weeks the first military power on earth is stripped to the ground, without an army, or an Emperor, and lies suppliant at the feet of King William, as sixty-six years ago Prussia lay desolate and unpitied at the feet of a remorseless Napoleon! Prussia is avenged! The long-delayed settlement is accomplished. Sooner or later the cruelty and the injustice of ambition come back upon the nation that indulged them, though not often in so sublimely dramatic a manner as now.—Christian Union.

The Cause in Princeville, Ill.

About ten years ago the message was preached first in this place. A few came out and took a stand on the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The soon coming of the Lord was their pleasing theme. A church was organized, which has gradually increased in numbers, and with many of the members knowledge and spirituality have also increased. The Lord has planted the vine, and still nourishes it.

Difficulties and trials have been experienced by us, and many who once were members here are members no more. Some have broken the covenant and brought shame and sorrow to us. They follow no more in the humble path the Master trod. They have gone into sin, having loved this present world. But does not a tear moisten the eye of such when they remember the sweet and melting seasons we have had together in the prayer and social meetings? Oh! what a gentle, cementing spirit moved our hearts and made us feel that our souls were knit together even as Jonathan’s soul was knit with David’s, when we have followed our Master’s example in washing feet.

Some have gone to other places to live; some east, some west; some have carried the holy fire kindled here to their new abodes, where now it is brightly burning. Would that we could say this of all.

Absent ones are not forgotten. Our love is still the same. We are longing for the glad day when we shall meet in the kingdom of God. Oft the ardent prayer ascends from the same altar for absent ones we love, who have often bowed with us there.

The 3d and 4th of this month, our quarterly meeting was held. Several were absent. Sickness kept some away who desired to be present. We did not receive letters from all the absent ones. Every one who is numbered with us should feel it duty to represent himself at the quarterly meetings.

Sabbath, at eleven, I tried to speak from Heb. 12: 28. The Hebrew letter is peculiarly applicable to us, as the circumstances that occasioned it were in many respects similar to those of our own; and the design of the epistle was to accomplish what we need accomplished for us. The letter was written to the converted Jews in Judea, who were then in a state of poverty, affliction, and persecution. The doctrines they had embraced were so contrary to the corrupt principles of those about them, that those who held to them were despised and persecuted. Although the Lord had said to the wicked Jews many years before, “If your house is left unto you desolate,” and had foretold the destruction of the holy city, yet their worship was carried on with great pomp, and the host of learned priests and scribes, together with their gorgeous synagogues, made their worship imposing. It was a time of trial to the followers of Christ. Many persecuted ones forsook the Christian religion and turned to the Jewish. Those who loved show and approbation more than the humble path of truth, of course, went with the Jews. Thus many apostatized from Christ, and it perhaps was feared that there would be a general apostasy. This state of things called forth this epistle. The doomed city had not yet fallen, but the cup of her iniquity was fast filling up, and her final overthrow was near. But seven short years, and Jerusalem was in ruins.

The design of the epistle was to establish the wavering disciples, and prevent them from apostatizing from Christ, to participate in empty, formal worship. The most powerful arguments against apostasy are found in this epistle.

If we are correct, our position is like this. Babylon is doomed to overthrow. The cup of her iniquity is fast filling up, and wrath is pending. But the priests, with giant minds and noble appearance, and the costly edifices in which they so grandly officiate, seem to forbid the idea of an overthrow as much as did the imposing scenes in Jerusalem, its overthrow, when the Hebrew letter was written.

The popular assemblies invite us to be numbered with them, and forsake this self-denying, cross-bearing way. We know that wrath is threatened, and that our Lord has promised to come. But wrath has long slumbered, and our Lord tarries. Many apostatize. It is a time of trial. Read, dear friends, in this epistle, the condition of apostates, and tremble. Read also the portion of those that endure and hold fast.

See how faithfully the apostle instructs, warns and encourages. In this letter he first shows that Christ is superior to angels. Then, that he is superior to Moses. His priesthood excels that of Aaron or Melchisedec. He shows the weakness of the blood of beasts, and the power of that blood that speaketh; shows that the many sacrifices only typified the one great sacrifice. The land of Canaan is spoken of with reference to the everlasting inheritance of the saints. A host of holy men and women are referred to, to inspire faith in them, “who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,” and others who were tortured, mocked and scourged, stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, and slain; all of whom endured as seeing him who is invisible, having heard his word and believed, and now wait a better resurrection.

The apostle exhorts the poor, despised company, in order that they may gain strength to “forsake not the assembling of themselves together.” He does not say that they should go to the learned priests, and attend their devotional services to gain strength, but to “exhort one another, and so much the more as they see the day approaching.” They were approaching the day when the rejected city of Jerusalem should be destroyed; we are approaching the day when Babylon shall receive her just deserts from God. The warnings, the exhortations, and the encouragements, given in this letter, are suited well to us. Let us heed them.

I trust all who attended our quarterly meeting felt paid. We had a good social meeting Sabbath afternoon, and in the evening, a solemn ordinance meeting.

On Sunday we held a business meeting, and at eleven, Bro. W. E. Bliss spoke concerning that wisdom that is from above.

During the summer, three persons have been disfellowshipped by this church. Some have received letters of commendation. I trust there is still life in the vine planted here, and that it will continue to grow, till the coming of Him who died for it. May we have the prayers and such help of our brethren as they can render.

Princeville, Ill., Sept. 7, 1870.

Camp-Meeting at Charlotte.

Ten meetings have been held on the Michigan Camp-ground, as we return to the Office, at 9:40 P. M., Sept. 17, to make ready this number of the paper for the press. Thirty-three churches have tents upon the ground, quite a number, two tents each, Battle Creek, five tents. There are in all forty-two church tents, besides the two sixty-feet circular tents, one of which is occupied by scattered brethren from different places. Nearly, if not quite, all the churches in the Michigan Conference are represented at this meeting. It is estimated that there are at least thirteen hundred believers upon the ground. The large number of tents arranged in one circle in the level grove of forest trees on the bank of the Battle Creek, constitute a most pleasant and interesting sight. A heavy rain fell Thursday night, but it was accompanied with no wind, and all were well prepared for it. Otherwise, thus far, the weather has been favorable. This is probably the largest camp-meeting ever held by S. D. Adventists.

Bro. and Sr. White have taken hold with their usual energy to labor for the people. It soon became evident that what was greatly lacking among those present, was the true advent faith. Many, and some who have been long in the way, have suffered this faith to wane away from their hearts; and in proportion as this has been lost, the spirit of the world has come in, and there has been a grasping after worldly treasures, and a turning to earthly things. The revival of this faith, which will lead to a cutting loose from this world, and will bring the coming of the Lord prominently and vividly before the mind, has thus far been the burden of the meeting. Bro. White gave two stirring discourses on Saving Faith brought to view in the epistle to the Hebrews, and the declaration of Christ, that this generation, the very one which hears the threefold warning of the second coming of the Lord, shall not pass till all is fulfilled. These, with a discourse from Bro. Matteson on looking up, for redemption is nigh, and some impressive exhortations that have been given, have begun to take effect. Some good positions have been taken by brethren of means and influence. The desire seems to be cherished by all, that the work may go deep and thorough, with every one, and much good be accomplished by the meeting.

Sabbath forenoon, a call was made for sinners and backsliders to come forward. Then occurred a scene, such as is calculated to touch every heart which is susceptible of feeling: sinners pressing forward under the burden of their guilt, expressing with deep feeling their determination to seek and serve the Lord; parents searching up and bringing forward their children; and others, their unconverted friends, with exhortations and tears. A season of prayer followed, and the blessing of the Lord was there.

Sabbath afternoon was occupied with remarks by Sr. White. Though feeble when she came to the place, she was enabled to bear testimony that God had wrought graciously in her behalf, and she was strengthened to speak to the people with freedom and power.

After a brief intermission, the tent companies had a season of social worship in their respective tents. This, as well as the similar season in the morning, was an occasion of great interest. So far as heard from, all enjoyed most excellent meetings; while at some, the blessing of God was very especially manifested. It was very encouraging to witness the general interest with which the brethren engaged in this season of worship, there being scarcely a person to be seen walking about the ground, while it was in progress.

Another point of interest is worthy of especial mention. That was the time when the whole congregation united in a covenant to seek the Lord more earnestly. To see about thirteen hundred persons all rise to their feet as a token of a pledge to each other and to God, to live nearer to him and serve him more faithfully for time to come, was a most impressive scene. That vow was recorded on high. How many will fulfill it? Some may fail to carry it out, and many of their brethren never know it. But God will note how faithfully it is fulfilled in every instance. It were better not to vow, than to vow and not pay. We would remind all of that solemn pledge, and we hope that all will fulfill it.

The sky became cleared of every cloud, the day was drawing to its close, the brethren and sisters were called together in front of the stand, and while we enjoyed a good season of prayer, and listened to most happy and timely remarks from Bro. Bates and Bro. White, the sun peacefully sunk below the horizon. Thus happily closed a blessed Sabbath for all upon the camp-ground.

We expect to be able to report increasing interest, during the further progress of the meeting.

Continue reading: Thoughts on the Book of Daniel