Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 28. (7/10/1913)

Review and Herald

Jul 10, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 10, 1913

The Day’s Preparation

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Unlatch the morn with prayer, Ope wide its door to sunshine of God’s love; Sweet perfumes fill the air Of promises, bedewed by heaven above.

Breathe deeply till thy soul Is flooded with the atmosphere of grace; ’Twill make thy being whole, And courage lend the dismal world to face.

Go forth to meet the day With songs of praise upspringing from thy heart, To sow upon thy way The joy of heaven that thy lips impart.

Portland, Ore.

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The Rending of the Kingdom

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

(Concluded)

REHOBOAM made a mistake at Shechem that was irreparable. Unwise and unfeeling in the exercise of power, he and his chosen counselors revealed the pride of position and authority. Had they understood God's purpose concerning Israel, they would have listened to the request of the people for decided reforms in the administration of government, but instead of following a plan in harmony with God's purpose, they announced their intention of perpetuating and adding to the evils introduced in Solomon's reign.

The Lord did not allow Rehoboam to carry out the policy he proposed to follow. Among the tribes were many thousands who had become thoroughly aroused over the oppressive measures of Solomon's reign, and these now felt that they could not do otherwise than rebel against the house of David. In doing this, they acted in harmony with the prediction of the prophet concerning the rending of the kingdom. Thenceforth the twelve tribes of Israel were divided, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin forming the lower kingdom of Judah, under the rulership of Rehoboam, and the ten northern tribes forming the kingdom of Israel, with Jeroboam as their ruler.

When Rehoboam saw the tribes withdrawing their allegiance from him, he was aroused to action. Through one of the influential men of his kingdom, “Adoram, who was over the tribute,” he made an effort to conciliate them. But the ambassador of peace received treatment which bore witness to the feeling against Rehoboam. “All Israel stoned him with stones, that he died.” Startled by this evidence of the strength of the revolt, “King Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.”

At Jerusalem, “he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of the Lord came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me.

They harkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord.”

For three years after his return to Jerusalem, Rehoboam tried to profit by his sad experience at the beginning of his reign; and in this effort he was prospered. He “built cities for defense in Judah,” and “fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.” He was careful to make these fortified cities “exceeding strong.” But it is not in these measures that the secret of Judah's prosperity lay during these first years of Rehoboam's reign. It was their recognition of the God of heaven as the supreme ruler that placed them on vantage-ground. To their number were added many God-fearing men from the northern tribes. “Out of all the tribes of Israel,” the record reads, “such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.”

Well would it have been for Rehoboam had he and his associates and all Judah remained faithful to the true God. But the pen of inspiration has traced the sad record of Solomon's successor as one who also led his people into the way of apostasy. Naturally idolatrous, headstrong, confident, self-willed, nevertheless had he placed his trust wholly in God, Rehoboam would have developed strength of character, faith in God, and submission to the divine requirements. But as time passed, the king began to put his trust in the power of position and in the strongholds that he had fortified. Little by little he gave way to inherited weaknesses, until he threw his influence wholly on the side of idolatry. “It came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.”

Sad and full of significance are the words, “And all Israel with him.” The people whom God had chosen to stand as a light to the surrounding nations, turned from their source of strength, and sought to become like the nations about them. As it was with Solomon, so it was with Rehoboam. The influence of their wrong example led many astray. And as it was with them, so to a greater or less degree is it with every one who gives himself up to work evil.

The influence of wrong-doing is not confined to the doer. “None of us liveth to himself.” None perish alone in their iniquity. Every life is either a light to brighten and cheer the path of others, or as a desolating tempest to destroy. We lead others either upward to happiness and immortal life or downward to sorrow and eternal ruin. And if by our acts we strengthen or force into activity the evil powers of those around us, we share their sin.

God did not allow this terrible apostasy to remain unpunished. “In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt. . . . And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.”

The people had not yet gone to such lengths in apostasy that they despised the judgments of God. In the losses sustained by the invasion of Shishak they recognized the hand of God, and for a time they humbled themselves. “The Lord is righteous,” they declared.

“And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

“So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which King Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king's house. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and fetched them, and brought them again into the guard chamber. And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well.”

But as the hand of affliction was removed, and the nation prospered once more, many forgot their fears, and turned again to idolatry. Among these was King Rehoboam himself. Humbled as he had been by the calamity that befell him from Egypt, he failed to make this experience a decisive turning-point in his life. Forgetting the lesson that God had endeavored to teach him, he relapsed into the sins that had brought the judgments of God on the nation.

The glory of the kingdom that had been ruled over by David and Solomon had departed, and there remained only a semblance of the former greatness. After a few inglorious years, during which the king “did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord,” “Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.”

Drifting Away

By L. D. Santee

L. D. SANTEE

Drifting away, drifting away, Sometimes to weep by a dead friend's clay, Sometimes tears by a couch of pain, But time brings smiles to the lips again; So through this life we wend our way, We are drifting, drifting, drifting away.

Drifting away, drifting away, Hair that was auburn is turning gray, Faces once smooth are furrowed by care, For the burdens of life are hard to bear. Flowers once fragrant are dead today: We are drifting, drifting, drifting away.

Drifting away, drifting away; Nearing ever the judgment-day, Nearer ever the city bright Or the awful gloom of a hopeless night; O let us weep, and God's pity pray, For souls to perdition are drifting away!

Drifting away, drifting away; Flowers that are fairest seldom stay. Sometimes the orange wreath weaves her spell, Sometimes to wear death's asphodel; Soon comes the shadow of dying day. We are drifting, drifting, drifting away.

Drifting away, drifting away. Over the heavens do lightnings play; Over the earth do mortals weep, Till the Lord gives his beloved sleep; Soon shall our earth-life pass for aye. We are drifting, drifting, drifting away.

Moline, Ill.

Our Blessed Hope

By W. A. HENNIG

W. A. HENNIG

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.

To those whose sins are put away by the blood of Christ, his second advent without sin unto salvation must constitute an object of longing expectation. Then it is that the Christian’s perfection and happiness are to be complete, for at that time he will behold his Redeemer face to face, to be with him forever; his body will be changed to a glorious body; he will be reunited with those who have fallen asleep in Christ, and together they will enter into their glorious inheritance, which has been provided for them through an infinite sacrifice. There certainly can be no more engrossing theme to those who love the Lord, their kindred, and their future.

The thought that impresses itself upon the minds of many who study the Bible is that the doctrine of the second advent is an essential part of the gospel. By essential I mean a doctrine to which the Holy Spirit has given a very conspicuous place throughout the whole Bible, and made clear that its omission or neglect would render the proclamation of the plan of redemption most incomplete.

The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets often dwelt upon this event in connection with their discourses on the first advent. Their minds were engrossed with this glorious theme. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of this coming. The psalmist looked to that day of days when all wrongs would be settled and all difficulties cleared away. Isaiah clearly portrayed Christ’s first mission to this earth, and never wearied in describing the events connected with his second coming. Jeremiah and Ezekiel longed for that event, while Daniel saw that crowning day in all his interpretations and dreams.

It is a doctrine upon which the Lord himself frequently discoursed during his earthly ministry, and which the apostles often emphasized in sermons and epistles. The Lord said but little about his sufferings and death, but spoke at great length and with minuteness concerning his second advent. Many of his parables,—as the burning of the tares, gathering and casting out bad fish that were in the net, the talents and the reckoning day, the widow praying for redress, the sheep and the goats, the wise and the foolish virgins,—as well as many of his longest discourses, related to this subject. Our Lord saw fit to go into all the minutiae of this great theme,—the state of the world preceding his advent; the character of the times; the signs and the manner; the consequences to all the world. Nor was the recording of all this overlooked, for it is fully given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Neither did he content himself with the clear enunciation of this matter to his faithful followers, but when “great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore,” he told them about the sowing, the harvest, the end of the world, the burning of the tares, and the righteous to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13.

This doctrine was taught alike to the simple multitude and the proud Pharisees. He told them that as it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so it would be at his second advent. This was his last theme before the tragic end of his personal ministry among men. When he was before his unrighteous judges and his blood was demanded by frenzied religionists, he declared: “I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” This advent doctrine so prominently advocated by the Lord himself and so minutely and forcefully taught before friend and foe, on almost all occasions, private and public, is beyond all doubt an essential doctrine of the gospel.

The last commission that Christ gave to the apostles was, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Even the most casual readers of the labors and writings of these followers of the Lord will be impressed with the prominence they gave to the second advent. Immediately after the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts, Peter declared that to David, who was a prophet, “God had sworn with an oath . . . that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” This, with the context, clearly indicates Peter’s teaching on this great subject; but even more to the point is his discourse, in the next chapter, when he urged the people to “repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things.” In his epistles the second advent, the end of the world, and the reward of the faithful are clearly set forth.

John, the beloved disciple, constantly extolled his Master. He spoke of him as one with the Father before the world was; of his part in the creation; how he became a man that he might bear the sins and penalties of mankind; how he returned to the Father after he came forth from the grave; but nothing seemed quite so dear to him as the fact

that this Saviour would come back to receive his followers unto himself, that they might be with him in the mansions at his Father’s home. His last statements as we have them recorded in the closing words of the Bible, are the soul-filled prayer, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

The apostle Paul makes more than thirty direct references to the doctrine of the second advent, and in two of his epistles reference is made to it in every chapter. But still more certain is the fulfilment of their commission, in this particular, from the manner in which the doctrine is applied.

If these disciples wished to comfort the church under trial, they said: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” If they wished to encourage the weak to steadfastness: “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” If the apostles wished to comfort the broken-hearted in the presence of the spoil that death had won: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” If necessity impelled them to repress a censorious and judging spirit, the coming of Christ was their plea: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” If they wished to encourage the necessity of victory over unlawful lusts and passions: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” Or if they wished to encourage patience under great monetary provocation: “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. . . . Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.”

A doctrine that was so often and so forcefully declared by our Lord, so strongly advocated by the early apostles, and of such manifold use for exhortation, for reproof, for consolation, and for encouragement, is most certainly an essential part of the gospel. There is another sense in which the doctrine of the second advent is an essential, for it cannot be omitted without rendering the proclamation of the gospel incomplete, unfinished. As regards the Lord, the apostle calls it “the glorious appearing,” and as regards us, he declares it to be “that blessed hope.” To omit the one would rob the Saviour of his glory, and to omit the other would take from the church its object of hope. To hide the first advent would be to conceal the incomprehensible condescension of God,—the mystery of divinity clothed with humanity, and the cancellation of man’s debt on the cross. To omit the second advent would equally veil the marvels of redemption, for it exhibits man in the glory of God.

At the first advent God appeared as man. At the second advent man will appear in the very image and glory of God. Mortal clay with which the great God shrouded his divinity was exhibited to the astonished universe at the first advent. At the second our poor fallen race, whom sin has debased and would utterly ruin, shall be seen not only redeemed, but exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and forever united to the Creator through him who is not ashamed, even now, to call us his brethren. At the second advent he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. This is truly the gospel, the glad tidings of great joy to both the Redeemer and the redeemed,—lost man not merely saved, dying man not only made undying, sinful men not only made pure, but manhood accepted into everlasting union with God. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Truly, then, without the doctrine of the second advent the preaching of the gospel would be incomplete and the Saviour himself robbed of a chief glory.

In teaching the first advent we recount many glorious achievements of our blessed Saviour. We speak of the shedding of his blood in our behalf; how he overcame death; how he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men; how he sent down the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth; how he forgave sins and filled our hearts with peace; how he inspired men with a hope that scattered the mists and made the future bright. This advent was the means, the second is the end. The sufferings of Christ were the means; the glory and crown, the end. He was manifested that all wicked works and ravages of sin might be destroyed, but much of this is a matter of faith, and will so remain until the second advent. The warfare with sin, with ourselves, and with the world never ceases. The sorrows incident to mortality are unavoidable. The great apostle Paul was led to exclaim, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” But the second advent, “that blessed hope,” “the glorious appearing,” enabled this same apostle to rise above every infirmity and sorrow, and to triumphantly declare: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Let us contemplate “the hope” that is laid up for us in heaven, and then instead of being of all men most miserable, we shall say with Peter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” It is certain that the doctrine of the second advent is as essential to the gospel in reference to our personal and complete redemption as it is to the glory of Christ.

Looking, waiting, for the second advent is another vital statement in the text, and is essential to the full enjoyment of the gospel. Jesus said, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Seventeen times the command to watch and wait for the second coming of Christ is repeated in the New Testament. The instruction to wait for the coming of the Lord was prominent in all the labors and writings of the apostles. Paul gave as a testimony of his work: “They themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven.” Peter fully recognized the importance of this attitude on the part of the Christian, and in his first letter speaks to the believers as those “begotten again unto a lively hope” of salvation “ready to be revealed in the last time,” and admonishes “to gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” John wrote: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

But even more specific is the teaching of Christ in Matt. 24: 42-51. A blessing is pronounced upon those who are watching and waiting for his return, while a curse rests upon those who declare he has delayed his coming and begin to eat and drink with the drunken and to smite their fellow servants. A promise of rulership over all his goods is given to those who wait, but the reward of the hypocrite is the sad fate of those who scoff at his coming.

To talk of faith, love, hope, or any other Christian grace without obedience is vain. The wise man builds in strict conformity to the commands of his master, and his structure will stand alike in

calm and storm. Just as sure as the foolish man knowingly disregards some of the commands, so certainly will he go down to utter ruin with his work of a lifetime. To obey is better than sacrifice, and is, in fact, the only infallible test of true discipleship.

Obedience in the matter of looking and waiting for the return of the Bridegroom is no careless, distasteful task to the true bride. He has ransomed her from bandit captivity, and saved her again from death. To her, he is “the chiefest among ten thousand,” the one “altogether lovely.” For her he left his Father and throne, and forsook the glories of paradise. For her he took the form of a servant and endured countless wrongs and indescribable hardships. Her heart swells with reciprocal love, and she often repeats the sweet promise that he will, in person, come back to her. She seeks him whom her soul loves, she counts the days until “the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; . . . the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs,” for that is a promised sign of his return. She will not sit down and idly wait for his return, but will stand as a watchman in the highways and byways. All her work will be done in the spirit of the One for whom she is waiting, and she will shout, when he does appear, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the seas, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”

Hearing, an Important Talent

By A. E. Place

(Continued)

A. E. PLACE

WHAT a life that must be where every soul, every being, every created thing, is not only in harmony, but is harmony itself! Think of a life whose breath enfolds no storm, and whose cadences can never be followed by a dirge or requiem,—a life from which has been eliminated even the minor chords, many of which are sweet to us today, because they speak of sorrow. But sorrow or its remembrance will not be there. As I consider this, my heart cries, O God, prepare my soul for that great day! Then comes the question, How can God prepare me, or any one, for that day, except by teaching us our part in the work of today,—the work of eliminating the discords, and encouraging and strengthening the harmonies and all things which tend to produce true harmony.

Can we look over life's experiences without exclaiming, “Alas, that language, designed by the Creator to be a source of gladness and joy, should become babel, or the human voice a jargon! Alas, that the innocent, cooing babe should later use his voice in cursing his own mother, or that he should flee in fear from the voice of his own father!

Alas, that men or women, created in the image of God, and posing before the world as followers of the divine Son of God, should use their God-given voices in carrying or extending a reproach against a brother, injuring a reputation, or questioning a character before any but the person in question! Alas, alas, that a brother should lend his ears for the reception of these things, or anything which he knows tends to discord and division! Did the poet have a view of these things when he wrote,—

“But sin hath darkened all the mind And veiled the heavenly light”?

It is useless for us to disregard the fact that sad discords are found in nearly all our experiences, or that we are face to face with discordant environment. But it is wise that we ask ourselves the questions, What lessons may I learn from the facts as they exist? What is my duty? What is the duty of every child, every young man or woman, every parent, yea, every individual soul? Is there anything that I can do to better present conditions, in my own heart, my own home, my church, and the world? If we are impressed that we can and ought to do something, let us first heed the counsel of the Great Teacher, “Take heed therefore how ye hear.”

These words of Christ indicate that hearing may and should be trained. And why not this gift as truly as any other? We have almost unlimited evidence that this is possible. The necessary training is that which teaches the ear to catch and hold melody and harmony, and as far as possible eliminate discords when it is not necessary or duty to hear them.

We might illustrate this in different ways. We sit at the table two or three times each day. If we are wise men and women, we educate our eyes and our tastes to accept such portions of food placed before us as we, by experience, have demonstrated to be for our after-meal comfort and health, and to positively discard those portions which the same experience has demonstrated to be injurious to us. If we are wise, we apply the same rule to the quantity even of the good food which we take. Reason should teach every one, whether he will follow it or not, that health and happiness depends upon faithful adherence to this rule. So each day, often more than two or three times, sometimes all the day long, we are at a table loaded with wholesome and unwholesome words and sounds. Reason here as emphatically teaches that if we would be healthy in mind and soul, we must apply the same rule.

This process of selecting, and especially of eliminating, is a hard and trying one for the dyspeptic at either table, but let no one say that it is impossible, for in the name and strength of God it can be done. Jesus said, “Take heed.” He can and will do the rest if we will let him. He who will take heed how he hears, will find he has taken a step in the work of eliminating discord from the world, a step in the direction of that kingdom which is free from the heartaches that discord causes.

San Jose, Cal.

(To be concluded)

Continue reading: Following the Presence of God